A/N: AAARRRRGGGHHHHH. It's been a crazy month, and I have so much writing to do if I'm going win NaNo this year (like, 2600-2900 words per day kinda writing – aaaaaahhh!) *ahem* November's been a fun month so far. J However, I've completed my final edits on my novel (goes live December 1st – eeek!), so I should now be able to concentrate on NaNo and, when I need a break from writing, I'll be editing and posting the next chapters/episodes.
Teaser
The days after Jaime and Brienne's return from Essos pass much as always. They take on new cases as they arrive, and Brienne and Bronna are smugly pleased when they discover Bitterbridge Security has closed its doors.
"Where do you think they've gone?" Jaime asks them.
"We don't give a damn," Bronna says, and Jaime laughs.
*/*/*/*/*
Maester Aemon pays them handsomely, thanks them for their help, and explains Maester Marwyn is notoriously absent-minded when he's pursuing new evidence down whichever rabbit-hole it leads him.
"Was the pottery shard really from K'Dath?" Brienne asks.
"The other Maesters are still debating," Aemon says, his voice dry. "Marwyn swears to it, but I will let the others determine if the find is real or no." He sighs. "I am worried; Marwyn is also notorious for forgetting to eat or sleep when he's in the throes of discovery. If he's not careful, he will need to take another leave of absence to recover his health."
"Another?"
"We are all academics. We are also historians. We all get immersed in the worlds we're researching, sometimes to the detriment of our own health. Of course, Marwyn's last sabbatical was twenty-five years ago, more or less, so mayhaps I should stop holding it against him."
Brienne stared unblinking at the man before she finally says, "Mayhaps."
*/*/*/*/*
Jaime and Brienne spend their nights together at one or the other's apartment, except for Thursdays, which is Brienne's Girls' Night with Bronna. Jaime goes to Tyrion's, if Tyrion is in town, and one Thursday, Jaime invites a rather forlorn-looking Sam to go with him to Tyrion's. Somehow, Jaime is not surprised that Tyrion and Sam immediately become fast friends.
They've become a close trio of friends, or as close as they can be when two of the three men cannot share too much about their work or their pasts. Still, while Brienne and Bronna play trivia and talk about everything other than men and work, Jaime, Sam, and sometimes Tyrion, watch movies and talk about everything other than women and work, even if Jaime can barely follow one word in ten of the discussions between the other two men.
Jaime loves every moment of it, except for his empty bed at the end of the night. It's the only night he and Brienne spend alone in their apartments...for the first month. Then, one Thursday, during their good-night phone call, Jaime can no longer resist the lure of Brienne's softly slurring voice, and begs to come over.
She's says yes without hesitation.
*/*/*/*/*
A slightly tipsy Brienne is as warmly affectionate as she sounds, and Jaime happily lies back on the couch with her sprawled on top of him. The television has WNN playing low in the background, and a distant part of him thinks they should turn it off and go to bed, but Brienne is sleepily kissing him, and while she's utterly delicious all the time, she's especially so when she's in this mood. Besides, there's no rush, even if they do have work in the morning.
Jaime has Brienne's blouse unbuttoned, her breast warm in his hand, when the words he just heard sink in.
He freezes and pulls away to look at the television with a frown. Brienne blinks and turns to give the TV a puzzled look.
The blandly attractive news anchor stares out at them with a somber face and says, "To repeat: breaking news tonight - Robert Baratheon, Big Bobby B, the King of Rock and Roll...is dead."
*/*/*/*/*