CHAPTER 21

ROMEO & JULIET

Gendry stood, running his hands through his hair, as he watched Renly pick up the photographs. By the time Renly got to the second one, he was also running his free hand through his hair.

"For Fuck's sake Gendry! In the open air, in full view of every pervert who happened to be passing? Involving Arya?" he flicked through another few "Does Cersei know Daenerys is Jon's aunt?"

"No" Gendry mumbled.

"Well I suppose that's something."

When Renly got to the last, most damning picture, he raised those immaculately shaped eyebrows. "I didn't know you and Jon were…so intimate. He seems to have indicated to Loras that he's strictly hetro."

Gendry glared at his uncle.

"He is and we're not!" Gendry growled and then, thinking he'd better explain the hand between Jon's legs muttered "And it's not what it looks like either."

Renly's eyebrows went even higher, waiting on an explanation.

"I was just…well, a few minutes before that picture was taken Danni, at least I think it was her, was…you know tickling my balls."

Renly looked as if he was trying very hard to maintain his dignified composure.

"And…?" Renly wondered as Gendry didn't elaborate.

Gendry had given up running his hands through his hair now and was standing with his hands clasped on top of his head, as if he was facing a firing squad. Dear God, this was torture. It was worse than the time his mum caught him having a wank. At least then he hadn't had to give her a blow by blow account of the events leading up to her catching him jerking off in the bathroom sink.

"Ok, if you must know…it felt so fucking good that I wanted Jon to feel the same thing and, I obviously couldn't ask Arya, Danni was busy with my fucking balls, so I did it…I GROPED JON'S BALLS! There! I admitted it! Happy now?"

"Not as happy as Jon looks in that picture! Are you sure you didn't slide a finger up…"

"I'M FUCKING SURE!" Gendry yelled as Renly tried to contain himself, his shoulders shaking.

The door sprang open and Loras stomped in and straight over to the drinks cabinet without looking at either of them.

"Christ I hate that woman!" he exclaimed as he grabbed a bottle and a glass. He muttered "Fucking bitch" to himself as he unscrewed the cap on a bottle of Glenmorangie and poured a double measure.

"Renly?" he asked, holding up an empty square, crystal glass.

Renly still didn't seem to be able to speak, so he avoided making eye contact with Loras, bit his lip and shook his head.

Loras poured another large one anyway and handed it to Gendry.

"I heard the last part of your conversation with the Queen Bitch, so I know you need this."

Gendry took it gratefully; it wasn't just the alcohol he was grateful for, it was the fact that Loras had heard enough to know that he needed a drink. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he was rather scared of Loras' reaction. Gendry wouldn't have been entirely surprised if Loras felt he deserved a beating or something equally painful and degrading as punishment for his stupidity.

Loras dropped into the empty leather armchair in front of Gendry's desk and took a gulp of his whisky. Renly had an elbow on the arm of the chair, with his hand resting against the side of his head, shielding his face from Loras. Gendry could tell from his uncle's shaking shoulders that he was still trying to recover his composure.

"Well done for not killing her, by the way. You're self control is obviously coming on." Loras took another hit of his Glenmorangie. "Even I find it hard to stop myself punching her and that's without her goading me the way she goaded you."

Praise from Loras? Was that a pig flying past the window?

"Photos?" Loras commented to no-one in particular, putting down his whisky glass and picking up the sheaf of glossy A4 photographs.

Gendry took a big gulp of his whisky, steeling himself for Loras's reaction.

Loras' shock was evident as soon as he looked at the first photograph, but he didn't pass any comment. That was typical of Loras – no snap judgements; assess the whole situation before deciding on a course of action.

Gendry took another gulp. The burning whisky was a welcome distraction from the excruciating wait for the Head of Security's reaction. Renly was still keeping his head down.

The next half dozen photographs were of Jon fucking Danni in various ways and Loras' eyes narrowed as he flicked through those ones until he got to the last one - the damming one with the hand. Loras' eyebrows shot up.

"You fucking selfish Bastard!" he snarled, glaring at Gendry.

Gendry stiffened, and felt the blood drain from his face. He had witnessed Loras in action before and didn't fancy being on the receiving end of the kind of treatment Petyr Baelish got in the brothel.

"You had the fucking nerve to have a fucking orgy in our room and you never even invited us!?" he yelled and then he laughed and it wasn't an ironic snigger it was actually a real, big laugh. Gendry couldn't remember ever hearing Loras laugh before and it was shocking. Shocking because it was so unexpected and shocking because it was Loras and, well, Loras was a miserable pain in the arse and just didn't laugh – until now.

Renly, who was trying to pull himself together, took his pristine handkerchief out of his breast pocket and wiped the tears from his eyes. Loras looked across at him and that sent Renly off again, his shoulders heaving with suppressed laughter. He started spluttering so much he just had to open his mouth and start guffawing.

The two of them rolled around laughing at Gendry. He didn't find it funny. At all.

His self control might have held in front of Cersei, but not in front of this ridicule.

"I'm fucking glad you find it so fucking funny!" Gendry snarled, making them laughed harder.

"Stop fucking laughing at me!" he roared, slamming his fists down on the desk.

To his horror, the desk groaned and then slowly collapsed in on itself, breaking neatly in half, straight down the middle, between where his fists had landed. He could only watch as all the papers, the laptop, the pens and his coffee all slid slowly down the crevasse created by the two collapsed halves of his desk.

The two of them were now laughing so hard, Gendry though his uncle was going to fall out of the armchair.

The intercom that had been on his desk started ringing. That would be Val wondering what the hell was going on. Gendry had to scrabble around on his hands and knees amongst the valley of coffee soaked paperwork to find it. Sure enough, she was buzzing him to find out what the noise was and if he was alright.

"Umm, yes, but I think I broke my desk. Can you look into ordering me a new one please Val?"

"He thinks he broke his desk!" Renly gasped to Loras between uncontrollable sobs of laughter. Loras was trying to wrestle Renly's handkerchief off him to wipe the tears away from his own eyes, but Renly wasn't for letting it go. The handkerchief ripped, for a second they stopped laughing, both staring at the ripped piece of pink cotton in their hand, then they started laughing again, even harder than before.

Gendry threw the intercom at Loras, aiming for his head. Without even seeming to look at it, Loras deftly caught it in the hand that wasn't gripping the half hankie.

"No need for that!" Loras yelled back. But he seemed to get the message. "Come on Renly. Calm down. We need to talk about this."

Renly nodded and wiped the tears away from his eyes with the pink scrap of cotton.

"Right! Come on!" Loras exclaimed as if he was giving himself a pep talk and coughed to clear his throat, deliberately not looking at Renly for fear he would start laughing again or at a fuming Gendry for the same reason.

"What did she say she was going to do with the photos Gendry?"

Now he thought about it, she hadn't actually said.

"She said she would keep them quiet in return for our not going public with her kid's parentage."

"Well, it's an empty threat. Who'd publish these? They're too 'racy' for the papers." Renly coughed and Loras immediately shot him a warning look. "And there are still some privacy laws in this country. You can't publish personal photos unless they're in the public interest and these aren't – nobody knows who you are. So, she's got the racy photos but she can't do anything with them and, to be honest we probably wouldn't disclose our DNA evidence anyway – would we Renly?"

"No." Renly confirmed, having regained his composure. "It's the kids that would suffer the most from that and it's hardly the kid's fault that their parents are idiots."

"However, we will use this to our advantage." Loras added with a wicked gleam in his eye.

"How?" Gendry wanted to know. How could you salvage something from this mess?

"We're not the only ones with dirty little secrets. The best form of defence is attack! And I intend to make sure we give as good as we get – better in fact!"

"But how are we going to do that?"

"Leave it with me, but let's just say - it may involve you taking one for the team!"

"No fucking way! I'm not going anywhere near that bitch!"

Loras picked up the photos and waved them at Gendry.

"You need to make amends somehow for this mess and you'll do whatever are in the bests interests of The Pack won't you?"

Gendry glared at him. Emotional blackmail was usually Renly's bag.

"Relax; we'll not make you fuck her, like she wants."

So Loras had heard that part of Cersei's proposal! Renly's eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"She's not as smart as she thinks she is and you can bet your arse old Tywin Lannister doesn't know anything about her offer to give you the Lannister 25%."

Renly's jaw dropped open. "Really? This could be the opportunity we've been waiting for! Robert would have done anything to get that 25% back, God knows he tried everything."

"But Gendry's not Robert." Loras snapped at Renly. "and I don't expect him to do anything for the company and neither should you." The two of them glared at each other.

"You and I need to discuss this, alone." Loras shot Renly a warning glance, but Renly didn't take the hint.

"Why not now? He's part of The Pack too. Anything we need to discuss can be said in front of him." Renly nodded at Gendry.

"Not this." Loras was adamant.

"Yes this." Renly was equally firm.

Loras groaned, partially giving in to Renly's demand. "Because it involves his children and us and the whole fucking same old argument about you wanting kids."

"Oh that." Renly replied, shifting in his seat and looking very uncomfortable.

Gendry noticed that neither of them would make eye contact with him now. This was obviously a biggie. Gendry now felt as uncomfortable as the two of them looked.

"Anyway, while we're all together, we've got two more things we can discuss." Loras diplomatically changed the subject.

Renly looked at his watch. "You've got ten minutes. Varys is popping in today and you know how he hates it if I'm late."

Loras rolled his eyes, the contempt he felt for Varys plain to see.

"First – Jon."

Gendry's ears pricked up.

"We're on the countdown to the next full moon. What's the plan?"

Renly shrugged noncommittally. "I don't see the hurry myself. He's not had much time to get used to the idea."

"I think the opposite. Strike while the iron is hot with him – give him too much time, he'll over think it and we might lose him."

For once Gendry had to agree with Loras. Jon might believe he thought things through, but he usually didn't. He was impulsive and liked to nurture a grudge. At the moment Jon was obsessed with his Krav Maga training and had nowhere else to go. He was also still livid at Ned for having lied to him, but give him enough time and Ned might be able to talk him round. Ned or Arya, or if Robb cancelled the damn wedding, perhaps even Robb.

"I say we bite him this month too." Gendry agreed.

"We?" Renly echoed. "Who said anything about 'we'?"

"Loras did! When we were talking to Stannis." Now Gendry was confused. He looked to Loras for support – who would have ever thought that would have happened? "You said to Stannis that all three of us would bite him - just to be sure."

"I know I did, but the truth is, I don't know how it's going to work. Robert bit us all, so he's the only Alpha we've known and it's not as if there's some manual we can look up or anyone we can ask."

"Does Stannis not know? Was Robert his Alpha too?" Gendry wondered. It seemed unlikely. He couldn't imagine Stannis playing Beta to anyone.

Renly snorted. "Stannis is what I suppose you could call a lone wolf."

"Omega is the technical term" Loras added.

"Not that Stannis would accept that! An Omega in a pack is the lowest, the outcast. However, in Stannis' mind, Stannis is his own Alpha, but to the rest of us, well…"

Renly trailed off, searching for the right words to describe his brother.

"He stinks." Gendry added, helpfully.

Loras and Renly both laughed and the unspoken tension in the room was broken.

"So you've noticed?" Renly asked. "I think, as a pack we develop an affinity for the smell of our brothers…our pack brothers obviously, not our real brothers." Renly grimaced, as if he has a bad taste in his mouth, as he unwittingly turned the conversation back to Stannis.

Gendry thought of his own brother.

"What about Edric?" His half brother had started his internship with Baratheon Enterprises already and, by all accounts, was taking to it like a duck to water – obviously he and Gendry didn't share that particular gene.

"Well, it's a Werewolf rule, we have such a thing, that you don't get bitten until you're twenty one. Any earlier and there's too a great a chance that you'll rebel, change your mind and, basically you can't. So he's off the menu, as you might say, were, for another few years." Renly explained.

Thinking of twenty first birthdays reminded Gendry of Arya. It wasn't long until hers now, but he never had time to dwell on it as Loras had something else to tell them.

"Before you go Renly, the second thing I need your opinion on is the Romeo and Juliet love story, unfolding right under our noses."

"Oh?" Renly was suddenly interested and animated. "Do tell!"

For an awful moment Gendry thought this was something to do with Arya and him. He'd ever considered them to be doomed lovers, but Renly loved a bit of drama and romance and Loras obviously knew it.

Loras smirked, enjoying holding the other two in suspense; enjoying knowing something they didn't and making them wait.

"Loras!" Renly said sharply, obviously annoyed at Loras' little game.

"Ok, ok…well, right under our noses, right in front of this building, every lunchtime our little Edric is met by a beautiful girl, who brings his lunch in a basket and the two of them walk along the river to the same bench …and do all the things young lovers do." Loras revealed.

Gendry unexpectedly felt pride swell in his chest. So they had something in common after all – Edric was a hit with the ladies too, despite those ears.

"So who's the 'beautiful girl'?" Renly asked.

Loras only smirked, deliberately teasing Renly by not immediately answering. In his frustration, Renly leant over and slapped Loras' thigh playfully.

"Tell me!"

Gendry groaned and closed his eyes, unable to watch. He would have much preferred that they played their silly little lovers games when he wasn't around.

Loras still wouldn't share his information and Renly threatened to 'make him' in a rather lewd way. Mercifully Loras decided to talk, before Gendry was forced to watch Renly inflict whatever punishment he had in mind.

"Myrcella Lannister, formerly Baratheon. They must have hit it off at the funeral while we were all otherwise engaged." Loras looked pointedly at Gendry.

Gendry ignored the reference to his 'problem' in the car park with Arya. He was too surprised at Edric. Gendry had assumed Myrcella was way out of Edric's league, but it seemed the girl liked brains instead of brawn. If Gendry had anything to do with it, young Edric would soon have both.

"Let's leave them alone and hope the Lannisters do to." Renly decided. And the meeting was adjourned.

-o-

It was ten minutes to three o'clock and Arya was nervous. Really nervous. What if Renly didn't like it? What if he didn't buy it? What if he put conditions upon buying it? And most importantly - what was he going to say about Gendry?

She knew she shouldn't have had that second espresso Jaqen had offered her. She felt jangled, as if she was wound as tight as a spring. She had paced the gallery, stood at the window - watching, sat down, paced the gallery again and all in the last sixty seconds.

She walked over to the window again and was just trying to decide if it was worth going to the toilet to try and kill another five minutes, when she felt Jaqen behind her. He had a most disconcerting habit of being able to walk around the gallery almost noiselessly. He must have rubber soles or something on his shoes she thought. Arya had on sling-backs with kitten heels that clicked loudly whenever she walked across the wooden floor and there had been a lot of clicking in the past hour.

This was the first time she had been back in the Gallery since they had agreed the deal. They had spent most of the afternoon going over paperwork and drinking too much strong coffee.

Arya had thought she had learned her lesson from the last time she had been here – no fancy underwear. She had left her legs bare this time. She had on a fitted linen dress, probably subconsciously copying his style of dress, and had decided bare, tanned legs were acceptable on this beautiful, sunny day. The dress had a scoop neck and little cap sleeves. Quite demure she had thought, until she had got inside the air conditioned gallery. She had worn a simple, sheer bra which did nothing to hide her nipples as they reacted to the cold air. She hadn't even thought to bring a cardigan, so 'hello boys' – Arya's nipples were standing to attention for all to see. God, she thought, Jaqen might assume she was doing this deliberately. She couldn't help notice him sneaking sly glances at her chest when he thought she wasn't looking.

"A girl shouldn't be so tense and nervous." He said softly as he stood beside her at the window.

"Oh, I know, but there's a … a lot of history with this friend." She thought that would cover the general position with Renly without going into unnecessary detail.

"Was he a lover?"

Arya stiffened. What a thought! Renly as her lover. Oh God. What a question!

Jaqen had asked the question quite matter-of-factly. Arya knew that foreign people weren't as embarrassed and uptight about these things, so she tried not to be shocked or defensive, but to answer his question equally matter-of -factly.

"No. He's very attractive but I'm…not his type."

"So, a girl wanted this man?" Jaqen asked slowly.

Arya had to stop herself yelling at him to mind his own business, but he didn't seem to be mocking her. Perhaps where he came from it was acceptable to ask such intimate questions.

"Umm, no." It would be so easy to simply say 'he's gay', but it didn't seem right to be telling Jaqen so much about the Head of Baratheon Enterprises. Arya wasn't even sure if Renly was 'out'. She played with her hair. She had put it in a high ponytail, making sure she had left enough hair out to wrap around the band. Very business like she had thought – and the ponytail was very useful to fiddle with. Why did Jaqen have to ask such awkward questions right now when she was already uptight and nervous?

"I used to date his nephew and it ended badly. But Mr Baratheon – the man who is coming - is still a friend." She explained. Then muttered "I hope" under her breath.

"Baratheon" Jaqen rolled the unfamiliar word around his mouth, just as he had 'Werewolf' the last time they had met. Oh God, please let Renly arrive soon.

Arya was absentmindedly rubbing the back of her neck. She hadn't even realised she was doing it until Jaqen calmly took her hand and lifted it off her neck, dropping it by her side. He then started massaging the back of her neck himself and, Oh God, was he good. He must have learned massage or acupuncture or something as his fingers immediately found the little knots of tension at the base of her neck and expertly began working on them. Strong, sure fingers seemed to know exactly what she need and where. Arya found herself closing her eyes and groaning as he worked up her neck and then along her shoulders, drawing the tension out with every firm stroke.

She hadn't realised how tense she was or how wonderful a real, expert massage could be. He wasn't simply rubbing her neck and shoulders the way the beauticians did when she got a facial; his fingers seemed to know exactly where and how to touch her for maximum pleasure and effect.

"Oh, that feels wonderful" Arya moaned as his thumbs worked down, towards her shoulder blades. "Where did you learn how to do this?"

"Braavos and other places." He replied softly, while continuing his wonderful ministrations. "A man could teach a girl if she likes."

"Hmmm, I'd like that very much" Arya sighed, feeling her earlier tension just float away under his sure hands.

"Soon then…but not now." And he stopped suddenly. Arya was about to urge him to keep going when she simultaneously felt his lips brush the base of her neck and heard the door creak. Her eyes sprang open to see Loras holding the door open for Renly. Shit! She felt like she'd been caught with her hand in the sweetie jar, or worse…caught with her knickers down. Had they had seen? Who was she kidding…Loras always saw and heard everything!

Sure enough, he was looking at her with a disapproving expression on his face. Damn him and his supernatural spying powers!

Jaqen was entirely un-phased, smiling in welcome as the two big men strode in.

Renly nodded to Arya and held out his hand to Jaqen. The head of Baratheon Enterprises was the very personification of easy elegancy as usual. Today he wore a steel grey suit and a deeper grey open neck shirt. The grey of his clothes only served to emphasise the brilliant blue of his eyes.

Arya allowed herself a little smile. Renly as her lover. He certainly was easy on the eye. Like an older, sleeker version of Gendry. Oh dear, she had to keep trying not to think about Him, but it wasn't easy when another, identikit Baratheon was standing in front of her.

Jaqen had moved the Werewolf painting from the window to a stand in the centre of the room. You couldn't miss it, as soon as you walked in. The eight moons the wolf man juggled seemed to glow under the lights, while the wolf man himself was dark, bleak and menacing. She hoped Renly would like it.

Arya and Jaqen stood in front of the painting, waiting for Renly to join them, but he never bothered to look at it. He was looking at Arya when he confirmed that he'd buy it and asked Loras to attend to paying for it. Loras nodded and reached into his jacket, no doubt for his company credit card. Arya could tell that Jaqen was extremely surprised that Arya's 'friend' would spend £120,000 on a painting without asking any questions, without even taking a proper look at it.

"Arya, will you walk with me?" Renly asked solemnly, taking her arm in his and steering her further into the gallery while Jaqen took Loras over to the counter to pay. She caught sight of their reflection in a piece of glass. They did make a handsome couple, but she looked like the young mistress on the arm of her wealthy, businessman lover.

She noticed the heat of his arm, then as he walked beside her, his smell. Unlike Loras, he wore aftershave and, although she didn't recognise it, it was nice and smelled expensive. However, underneath that, once her nose got used to the aftershave, there was definitely something else…eau de wolf; dangerous, enticing and sexy as hell, but this wasn't the time or the place to think too much about that.

"Didn't you like the paining Renly?"

"Yes, of course I did, but it's not exactly subtle is it? I might as well hang a sign on my front gate saying 'Beware of the Werewolf.'" He muttered sarcastically.

"Oh." She hadn't thought of that.

"Don't worry, I'll find somewhere to put it." He squeezed her arm reassuringly "But no more Werewolf advertisements please. So, we had something to discuss…"

Arya had been dreading this part. She felt her heart beginning to pound and that tension return to her back and neck. Maybe Jaqen would massage it again later for her.

"The incident at the funeral was unfortunate…"

"Unfortunate! That's a bit of an understatement don't you think?" She replied angrily, trying to keep her voice down.

She tried to un-entwine her arm from his, but he had too firm a hold on her. She would cause a scene if she tried to wriggle any harder and she didn't want Jaqen to think there was a problem. She looked over at him. He was still doing something with Loras at the desk. God knows what Renly, or Loras or both of them would do to Jaqen if he tried to intervene on her behalf, so she quit struggling and kept walking.

"He's just learning Arya. Try and think of him as a wolf cub."

"Wolf cub?" she repeated incredulously. Was Renly serious?

"He might nip a bit, but he's learning and, meantime he's kind of cute and loveable – don't you think?" Renly smiled down at her as if he expected her to say 'yes, Renly, ok, Renly I'll take him back Renly'. And she wasn't!

She took a deep breath.

"I'm worried he kills me." There she'd said it.

He stopped and looked at her, concern now written all over his face.

"Ahhh, you're still thinking that he's Robert and you're Lyanna. Well looks don't tell the whole story and Robert was a very flawed human being." Renly snorted when he realised what he'd said. "Well, perhaps that's not as stupid as it sounds. A flawed human being doesn't somehow become a model Werewolf. When we're animals, we're still ourselves only more so, without the conventions that human society has imposed upon us since we were born. So if you're a psychopath in your human life, you're not suddenly going to be the best company as a wolf."

"Was Robert a psychopath?"

"Well, in that it means an absence of empathy – yes. I would also say that he was narcissistic and Machiavellian."

"That means you love yourself right? And that you like playing games?"

"That you live to play games, yes. Have all three of those character traits and you're onto a winning combination if all you care about is money and power and turning Baratheon Enterprises into the biggest fish in a small pond."

"And Robert was like that?"

"Absolutely. Now tell me is Gendry like that?"

It wasn't a hard question to answer -he obviously wasn't. The only games Gendry liked playing were sexy ones and he definitely had feelings.

"Hmmm, he's probably only the narcissist bit."

Renly laughed and squeezed her arm. "Well maybe that's a Baratheon trait none of us can escape. I have to confess I'm a bit like that myself" he whispered conspiratorially – as if it was news to Arya that Renly loved himself.

"Just give him a chance Arya. You know he loves you and he's going through a lot right now. He could really use all the support he can get and he wants yours most of all."

If Renly was trying to make her feel guilty it was working.

"But my father said this curse has ruined my family."

"I'd have to agree with him, but we're not some monsters running through the forest eating villagers Arya. This is the twenty first century and we've used this gift to our advantage. We've gone to great lengths and expense to keep ourselves and those we love safe. If you'd just give him a chance Arya, give us a chance, we could prove it to you."

He turned her around to face him, laying his elegant, warm hands on her shoulders and regarding her seriously with those blue, blue eyes she found so hard to resist.

"Now will you promise me you'll give him a chance?"

"Ok" she mumbled reluctantly. God, Renly wasn't bad at the manipulative, game playing stuff himself.

"Good girl. Now tell me how you and Brienne are getting along."

As they walked back through the Gallery, Arya told him about the training and the cooking but omitted the bits about Fire & Blood, Duck and obviously Griff. Brienne had promised that, as she was off duty, that night was 'off the record'.

Jaqen shook Renly's hand again, thanking him politely for his business and expressing his hope that Renly would become a regular visitor to the gallery. Renly side stepped the invite with practiced ease and as he was leaving, Arya thanked him too.

"You're welcome dear, but remember what I said…"

Arya rolled her eyes.

"Yes dear!" she mimicked sarcastically. Renly didn't look very amused.

As the three of them walked out into the sunlight, Loras asked

"Arya can I have a word?"

She agreed, but she had no idea what he wanted 'a word' about as Renly had already got her agreement to give Gendry another chance. Anyway, whatever he wanted, it gave her another chance to enjoy the unique Loras smell – eau de Tyrell, she'd decided to call it.

"Walk with me. Give us 5 please Renly."

Renly nodded and was already starting to make a call as he got into the back of the car.

They walked slowly along the road together. He had his hands in his pockets, she had her arms folded across her chest. Why did he always make her so nervous?

"I know Renly's already spoken to you about Gendry, so I'm not going to repeat what he said, but…"

Arya rolled her eyes and groaned. That didn't stop Loras.

"Having this gift isn't all bad; in fact it's a hell of a lot of fun. Exciting too. You know you should enjoy yourself more - loosen up."

Oh God, where had she heard that before? Why was everyone so concerned with her having fun all of a sudden.

"Gendry's going through a lot of shit just now Arya; however he's actually trying hard. I never thought I'd say it… but once you get to know him, he's not so bad."

"I know, I know…just give him a chance." She moaned.

"Exactly! I like you Arya. I like that you think you're fierce and I like that you can twist our blue eyed boy around your little finger. You'd be an excellent edition to our family."

"Pack you mean!"

"Well there is that. But a word of warning…if you leave it too long you might find you've missed your opportunity."

"Eh?"

"Lord Baratheon of Storm's End; young, rich…Christ, I can't believe I'm saying this…handsome. Come on Arya, you're not stupid! I'm not so sure about him, but you're not! He's quite a catch now and how long do you think it's going to be before someone else gets her claws into him."

"I'd never thought about it…" and she hadn't – until now. Was that a little pang of possessive jealousy she'd experienced when Loras mentioned another woman's claws?

"Yeah, well you should, as there have been a few sniffing around already." And, unusually for him, Loras looked uncomfortable, pushing his hands further into his pockets, hunching his shoulders and not meeting her eyes. Strange. He obviously knew more than he wanted to say. Half of her was desperate to know; the other half knew she would be safer not to ask; not to get involved again.

"What do you know about Jaqen H'ghar?" Loras changed the subject abruptly.

"Umm, not much. Why?"

"First of all, I don't approve of that massage he was giving you. He's your boss for Chrissakes! And what age is he? Is that really appropriate? And don't think I missed him kissing your neck Miss Stark!"

Arya turned an unfortunate shade of beetroot. Loras only called her 'Miss Stark' when he was either in grumpy big brother mode or pretending to be Christian Grey and this definitely wasn't one of his Christian Grey moments.

"He was …I was just a bit tense. It was a one off." She mumbled.

Loras snorted.

"I don't think you realise what a catch you are yourself Arya. A beautiful, smart young girl like you could have any man she wants."

Arya didn't think she could have turned any redder, but her face was trying hard to prove her wrong. She stared as hard as she could into the window of the shop they were passing, not knowing what to say in reply to the compliment he had just paid her.

"Do you know anyone else that knows Jaqen? Has he said anything about his past?"

"No. I just saw the wolf painting in the window of the Gallery and walked in. Why?"

He sighed.

"Well, information is my job Arya and I don't like surprises. I like to know everything about everyone I'm dealing with."

He stopped walking and stared at her. At least she thought he was staring at her. He had those damned black aviators on and it was so hard to read him, even when you could see his eyes. Did he know about Griff? Is that what he meant? She felt as if he was accusing her of something and Griff was the only thing that she had done recently that she felt guilty about. Damn Brienne. She had promised she wouldn't mention it! Shit!

"Is this about Griff?" she demanded, hands on her hips. How dare Loras make Brienne spy on her when Brienne wasn't even working!

"No" he curled his lip. "But now you mention it – who or what is 'Griff'? Something I should know about?"

Shit! Shit! Shit!

"Oh never mind!" she said hurriedly "Just get back to Jaqen." And she started walking again, trying not to let him see how stupid and flustered she was. He shook his head and followed her.

"So I run the usual checks on this guy Jaqen H'ghar and you know what I find?"

Arya was intrigued. "What?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing and that just doesn't happen. There's always something; bank accounts, tax bills, parking tickets…something. But not this time. It's as if he doesn't exist."

"But he obviously does" she said sarcastically "Otherwise Renly just paid £120,000 to a mass hallucination."

"Don't play the smart arse with me Arya." Those black aviators glared at her. "The Gallery of Black & White is sub leasing the building. The original lease was to a pub called 'The Faceless Man'. It closed a couple of years ago, but it was owned by a holding company in Braavos, which, in turn, is owned by another in old Valyria… and there the trail goes cold. No accounts filed, no tax paid, no employees, no directors."

Loras grabbed the top of her arm and stopped her walking away from her.

"I've never seen anything like this and I'm trying to tell you to be careful."

Arya was forced to stop. She glared back at him.

"Are you telling me he's dangerous?"

"No" Loras replied thoughtfully, "…at least not in the way you mean. My life has depended on my being able to read people Arya and you have no idea how good I am at it."

Arya almost challenged him to tell her something about herself, but given her little Griff secret, that was apparently still a secret, she thought better of it and shut her mouth.

He smirked.

"You were just about to ask me to prove it, then realised you didn't want to draw attention to something you think you're hiding from me…probably something to do with 'Griff'."

She turned beetroot again.

"So, tell me I'm wrong." He drawled.

"Oh piss off Loras! Are you going to spit out what you have to say about Jaqen or not?"

He chuckled.

"The only person I can compare him to is someone I met long ago, someone who was so deep undercover, and had been for such a long time, that I don't think even he knew who he was anymore."

"Are you telling me Jaqen's a spy?" Arya asked incredulously.

"No, I'm saying what you see isn't all there is. It's as if he's wearing a disguise and it's so convincing that he has become the art dealer, the gallery owner, the painter, but I think there's more to him than that. Much more."

Arya thought about the collection of masks on the wall behind Jaqen's desk. Loras couldn't possibly have seen them as he was never invited upstairs. Arya shivered.

"You're scaring me Loras. Are you saying he's bad; that he could hurt me?"

"I wouldn't let you stay if I thought that, but strangely, I don't think that at all - in fact quite the opposite. I've lived my whole adult life with violent men; soldiers, killers, mercenaries, but he is something else again. I'm not saying Jaqen, or whoever he is, isn't capable of that, but that's not why he's interested in you Arya."

Loras shrugged and pushed his sunglasses up onto the top of his head, so she could see those penetrating golden eyes.

"I can't put my finger on it, but there are too many coincidences here; the Werewolf painting that Renly can afford to buy without a second thought, your degree in art history, you living so close. But they're all things that would have taken years to set up so I have to believe it is just coincidence…but still…" he trailed off and inhaled deeply. "I'm only saying; watch yourself ok? And don't take anything Jaqen does or says at face value."

"Ok" she mumbled and smiled weakly up at him. He had scared her. The illusion that she held until recently that the world was populated by basically decent people, was already in tatters and here he was, ripping it a bit more.

"Come here Arya." He groaned, and to her surprise, Loras held out his arms and, to her absolute shock, she found herself leaning into his chest. Loras Tyrell; arrogant, pain in the arse, lethal Head of Security, gave her a cuddle. A big brotherly, reassuring cuddle.

He waited a few seconds before asking "Still think I smell great?"

"Ohhhh!" she pulled away, wriggling out of his embrace. "I knew you must have had an ulterior motive for giving me a hug! You just wanted your massive ego massaged some more by me telling you how good you smell! Well I'm not! You smell like a wet dog!"

His smile disappeared in an instant, to be replaced by a petted lip.

"Oh, that's cruel Miss Stark! That is the biggest insult you can hurl at us Lycanthropes!"

"You what?"

"Google it – you'll need to know all about it Arya. You really should take more of an interest in your heritage and your future." He smirked.

The Range Rover pulled up and a blacked out window slid down to reveal an impatient Renly.

"If you're finished spreading the love Loras, can we go?"

Loras laughed and walked around the car to get in beside Renly, leaving Arya standing awkwardly at the end of the street on her own.

"Now, don't go spending all that commission in one go Arya! I don't want to have to buy a painting from you every month. Storm's End is only so big you know!" Renly teased.

Once Loras was in the car he draped an arm around Renly and leaned towards the open window to speak to Arya.

"See you soon. I wish I could say that every man or woman I meet finds my scent as alluring as you do Arya, but unfortunately they don't."

"You are such slut Loras!" Renly gasped in mock disgust.

"I know, but you love it!" Loras snarled back.

The two of them started laughing.

Arya could only stand and watch. She'd never seen them joke around together or even act like a couple before, and it was rather disconcerting to see now.

"Ask yourself why only you smell it Arya!" Loras yelled, as Renly slid the window up.

Before the window closed altogether she caught a glimpse of Loras leaning towards Renly with his mouth open, about to bestow a big, wet, tonguing kiss on his lover.

Yuk. It was like realised your Mum and Dad actually still shagged. Old folk snogging was just gross.

She had wondered why she was the only one who seemed to recognise eau de wolf. Brienne loved everything about Renly, but she had never mentioned his smell and Arya had even asked her specifically about it several times. When she'd asked Brienne how Loras smelled, she had been sworn at. No, it definitely seemed to be just her. Arya had an awful feeling that it was a Stark thing – something in her DNA. She suspected her Aunt Lyanna would have liked eau de wolf too and that scared her. It scared her more than she liked to admit.

Jaqen had champagne on ice for them to celebrate her first sale. She had been so looking forward to that and now bloody Loras had ruined that for her. She looked down the street to the Gallery of Black and White. It was quite a walk back and they hadn't even offered her a lift.

-o-

Myrcella couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her mother come out of the Baratheon Enterprise building.

It was five minutes before one o'clock and Myrcella was waiting in her usual spot for Edric. She hurried covered her face with the magazine she had been reading, hoping desperately that her mother wouldn't notice her. Why was her mother here? She had never come to her father's office when he had been alive and now he was dead she was here? What was she up to?

Myrcella peaked over the top of her magazine to see if her mother was gone yet. No, she was standing outside the revolving door with the blond man from the funeral, the one who looked like Angelina Jolie's baby daddy, and he didn't look happy.

Myrcella watched in horror as her mother tried her usual trick of grabbing and squeezing the blonde man's penis. Maybe strangers wouldn't notice, but Myrcella had witnessed it so often, she knew the signs – the way her mother tossed her hair over her shoulder first, the pout and then the hand. Her mother seemed to feel compelled to do it to every handsome man she met. It was as if she needed constant reassurance, to check the effect she was having on them; make sure she still 'had it' and could make them all hard. Myrcella had even seen her do it to Uncle Jaime. Uncle Jaime.

Myrcella might be young and naive, but she wasn't stupid. She'd heard the rumours about why her father had divorced her mother and, although she hadn't wanted to believe them, Joffrey had told her they were true. He seemed to glory in it. Joffrey thought it made him more Aryan; more pure of blood. Myrcella hated all that Nazi talk, and so had her father – Robert. She would always think of him as her father. Always.

She remembered the time her mother had bought some Nazi memorabilia at an auction and brought it home. Her father had gone ballistic. That was probably the biggest fight she could remember, and there had been a lot of fights. Now the Nazi stuff was all kept at Grandfather Tywin's place. The Lannisters seemed to think it was acceptable, normal even, to collect that stuff, but Myrcella hated it and everything it stood for – just like her father had. Joffrey had always been more like the Lannister side – and was by far her mother's favourite. Myrcella had always thought she was more like her father when he was focused and driven; not when he was drunk and angry. Now she felt like she didn't know who she was.

Just when her world felt as if it had fallen apart entirely, she'd met Edric. He was cute and smart and, most of all, he understood what she was going through. It was as if someone had thrown her a lifeline and Edric was it. He was keeping her afloat and giving her an anchor to hold onto when the rest of her world was spinning out of control.

Even the routine of meeting him everyday was saving her. School was finished for the summer and every morning she walked to the local deli to buy things for their lunch. She would go home and make the most exotic sandwich fillings she could think of. She loved to surprise him with the different combinations and had even taken to baking him cupcakes in the afternoon for his lunch the next day. It all kept her busy, kept her mind off what was going on at home and, most of all – kept her out the house and away from her mother.

Now here she was, up to her old tricks outside her father's old office. Myrcella was delighted to see the blond man anticipate her mother's signature move and catch her hand before she could grope him. Her mother didn't look happy. She didn't like it when she didn't get her own way and she hated it when men didn't succumb to her charms – not that it happened very often. It seemed to Myrcella that almost every man was ruled by what was in his trousers. She liked the blonde man already as he clearly wasn't.

After an exchange of angry words, her mother stormed off to a waiting white limousine. The blonde man stood outside the building until the car, and her mother, were well away. Before he went back inside he looked straight over to where Myrcella was sitting on the wall. She hastily covered her face with the magazine, but she was too late; he had smiled at her and winked too. When she dared to peek over the magazine again he was gone.

Definitely time for some smut next week! But who's getting some? You'll need to wait until next Friday to find out…