A/N: Okay...even if I'm a fan of the GoT characters, I'm such a huge Gendrya shipper. Which means, I have no idea if it's going to steer towards the SanSan ship, or the JoffSan ship. Because I've gotten messages about wanting a JoffSan angle because Joff is nice in this story. A lot want the SanSan ship too, so I'm seriously at a loss. A little help from my friends, please? XD
Oh, and to isabranco, I hope you find the easter egg :D
His hands were gripping the bar firmly as he lifted it off the rack and positioned it directly above the middle of his chest. She could see him inhaling and exhaling as he lifted and lowered the bar, careful that he does not bounce the bar off his chest. His muscles were working as he extended his arms, doing eight repetitions for his first set.
Yes, she counted.
Arya knew she should not be staring but she couldn't help it. Here she was in a room filled with large, sweaty, grunting men, some even half-naked as their shirts were discarded to the sides as they went about their work out routines. She could see Robb, Jon, Theon and Joffrey doing runs at the treadmill and lifting weights. They were equally sweaty and nearly as buff as the other gym clients, but it was only one person she was interested in gawking at.
"Ooomfff…hrrrrmm…uuuurrggggh…" she heard him grunt as he lifted the weights up and down with great effort, until he finally placed it back on the rack and ended with a mighty, "Fuck! Hooh!"
Arya swallowed painfully. Her throat felt so dry it feels like she had been wandering up and down the Barchan sand dunes in the Grand Erg Oriental in the Sahara. She continued with the starefest; her eyeballs almost jumping out when he started doing pull-ups that even more so emphasized those bulging arm, shoulder and back muscles.
Fuuuuuuuuck yeaaaaaah.
"Oh my effing god," Sansa whined, making her sound like Lady during that time when her leg got stuck under the garage door in Winterfell.
Arya's head snapped in her sister's direction, already on defense mode in case she gets told off for staring. But Arya fought back laughter when she saw how wide her eyes went when the guy nearest them took his sweaty shirt off and flung it to the side, landing right on Sansa's feet. The guy look at them apologetically and slowly sauntered towards them with a lopsided grin.
"Sorry about that," the guy said as he picked up his shirt and placed it on top of the bench he was flinging it to. "I'm not a very good pitcher, it seems."
Quickly recovering from her initial surprise, Sansa quickly went into Princess Sansa mode and gave the guy a shy smile. "No problem. It's just a shirt. Sansa!"
Arya would have rolled her eyes, thinking that if it were normal Sansa, she would have shrieked at the thought of anything (or anyone) sweaty touching her. But what made this time different is this stunningly gorgeous guy standing in front of them who's trying to strike up a conversation. Well, with Sansa, at least.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Gorgeous said with a small laugh.
Sansa was quick to recover. "Oh, sorry! I'm Sansa," she explained, giving the guy one of those bright Sansa smiles.
Mr. Gorgeous extended his hand. "Daniel," he said, showing a fine set of biters.
I'm Arya! Nice to meet you too! Arya said, but only in her thoughts, of course. She was used to this, actually. People usually notice Sansa first before they noticed her. Most of the time she was okay with it, but there are times when they were actually face to face but she still gets ignored, so those were the times when Arya gets annoyed. But she let this one go because who needs Mr. Gorgeous right here when she has her very own right across the room.
She looked over to him and saw that the guys suddenly stopped moving. They were watching her and Sansa as this stranger struck a random conversation with them. Arya could see Gendry's jaw work; the muscles clenching and unclenching as he probably thought the guy was bothering them. She shook her head to appease his worry. He acknowledged her with a small nod, although none of the guys stopped watching over them from across the room.
Finally, with Sansa declining Daniel's offer to take her out for coffee, Mr. Gorgeous gave a shy smile and walked back to the locker room. Arya looked at her sister and asked, "Why'd you turn him down? He looks exactly like your type."
Sansa did a one-shoulder shrug. "Exactly. Which means Daniel looks exactly like the last guy I dated, which again means that I need to find a new type."
"Wait, what?" Arya said.
"Holy shit! Look!" Sansa pointed over to the entrance to the locker room.
"Don't distract me with-"
"Shut up," the older girl snapped. "I said, look…" Sansa put both hands on either side of Arya's head and literally turned it towards the locker room.
Arya was taken aback by a 6 foot 5 giant of a man, bulging muscles and all, walk towards the directions of the Starks and Baratheons. He was flanked by two gym instructors on either side of him (they do look like instructors, to be honest, although not as muscular as the giant) who looked like they were immensely popular too. Clients shouted out greetings to the three as they walked towards the guys.
"M'atchomaroon! Hash yer dothrae chek asshekh? (Hi! How are you today?)" The giant of a man called out to her brothers, who in turn rewarded him with high-fives and fist bumps.
The sisters watched as the guys and this small group interacted with each other through hand signals, broken english and manly grunts of affirmation. It finally dawned on Arya that this must be Khal Drogo, thegym's owner, and those two are his best instructors, Jorah and Jory, the Doublemint Twins as Theon puts it.
"Anha dothrak chek asshekh! (I feel well today)" Drogo replied to Joffrey's question. Arya noticed that either Jorah or Jory made the necessary translations for everyone, making Arya wonder if they were really giving out the right interpretation. It would be funny if they guys get trampled to death by Drogo just because they made wrong interpretations like I'd like to do your wife instead of I'd like to do your work out.
"Arya! Sansa!" Robb called out to them, making both sisters jump from surprise. The guys signaled for them to come over, each one of them wearing a stupid grin on their faces and making Drogo, Jorah and Jory watch them with appraising eyes.
"What do they want?" Sansa whispered to her sister as they slowly walked to the other side. She would have gripped her sister's hand for support, but she could see that Arya was equally nervous as she.
"No idea," Arya muttered before she taking Gendry's side once they've crossed over. Gendry grinned widely as he held on to her hand possessively.
The introductions confirmed Arya's suspicions: this is Drogo and his fiercely loyal friends, Jory and Jorah, The Instructors.
"Athchomar chomakea! (Respect to those that is respectful!)" Drogo exclaimed as he spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Drogo welcome lovely bitches!"
Arya choked back a laugh and Sansa's jaw dropped in shock at Drogo's words. The guys looked equally shocked as they were, although Arya found it funny than offensive. It appears like Drogo has been hanging out and learning english from the wrong people.
"Yer zheanae sekke (You're very beautiful)," Drogo said to both sisters, but immediately turning to Jory for translation.
"The Khal says you're very beautiful, both of you," Jory explained.
"What is a Khal?" Sansa blurted out of curiosity.
"It means Dothraki warlord," Jory answered.
"He goes to war?" Sansa asked.
"No," Jory replied. "He goes to the gym."
"I don't understand," Sansa said, her pretty brows furrowing in confusion.
"Me neither," Jory said with a shrug.
With the help of Jorah and Jory, Drogo explained to the girls what the work out does for the guys. Then with a sudden inspired look on his face, Drogo started clapping and waving his hands around and speaking rapid Dothraki. Arya and Sansa whimpered and hid behind Gendry and Jon, as if the guys would provide some kind of shield in case Drogo started busting out warhammers and flinging spears and arrows all around the premises.
Jorah and Jory looked comical as they nodded their heads enthusiastically at what the Khal said. Finally, after delivering a long speech, the giant of a man walked towards one of the rooms at the back part of the gym. They had no idea what was happening until Jorah explained that the Khal was out to get his wife from her class so he could introduce her to the girls.
"He said that?" Arya asked Jorah.
The man nodded. "Yes. He said 'This is a great idea! I will fetch my Khaleesi!'
Arya's brows shot up so far up her forehead. "I thought he was delivering the Gettysburg address in alien speak and it turns out he only meant something that literally translated to just two sentences?"
Jorah nodded sadly. "Dothraki is a very complex language."
"You think?" Arya retorted.
"Okay!" Gendry said cheerfully, placing a hand over Arya's mouth and steering her to his side. "That was a great work out today!"
Arya would have bitten his palm if only Gendry had not tightened his hand over mouth, not giving her any chance of exposing her teeth and sinking it into his flesh out of anger. It looked like he was giving her a headlock, but with his hand over her mouth instead of his arm around her neck.
"Hello, everyone," said the woman beside Drogo. Heads turned in their direction, making Drogo look every bit as smug as a real Dothraki warlord must be after winning a battle. He looked so proud and smitten by the petite, blonde-haired, violet-eyed beautiful woman beside him. Arya wondered who the woman is.
"Jalan atthirari anni (moon of my life), Khaleesi!" Drogo said as he introduced (attempted) the woman to the group.
They were all staring at her because of her flawless skin, startling violet eyes, blood red lips and long, curly blonde hair. She was petite in frame, but she had all the right curves in all the right places. The guys were ogling her with hungry, adoring eyes, including Gendry.
STOP! Rewind.
Even Gendry was ogling this Khaleesi, whatever that is again. He didn't even notice that she was studying his reaction as he stood there, open-mouthed like the others, openly staring at this Khaleesi's beauty.
"Hello everyone," she greeted with a melodic voice. It sounded husky to Arya's ears, something that would probably be described by others as a bedroom voice, and she sure hoped that it wouldn't come to the point where Gendry had to literally find out what this woman's voice really sounds like in the bedroom.
"You need a drool bucket?" Arya muttered to Gendry under her breath.
He gave her a sideways glare, snorting his irritation at her question. "I wasn't drooling."
"If that wasn't drooling, then I don't know what is," Arya muttered angrily. "You could at least be discreet, you know, since I'm standing here beside you."
"I wasn't drooling!" Gendry hissed angrily.
Okay, he looks kind of pissed right now, the idiot.
"This is Dany, or more properly known as Daenerys Targaryen, the Unburnt Mother of Cupcakes, Khaleesi of the Dothraki, Trueborn Queen of Yoga, and Lady of the Seven Most Lethal Martial Arts Ever Created," Jorah gave the introduction as if he's already tired of reciting this all the time.
"What does that even mean?" Sansa whispered to Arya, who moved back to her side and away from a fuming Gendry, who was by the way, still ogling this mother of cupcakes and queen of yoga and all that shit.
"I don't know and I don't care," Arya muttered under her breath. "I don't even know if that's her entire family name and if it is, I wonder how that works out on her ID's."
"My husband tells me you might be interested in doing yoga?" Dany addressed Arya and Sansa, although the entire group were listening too. "Who would like to learn yoga in my class?" she asked, her gaze moving from Arya to Sansa and back again.
Five hands shot up, and each one belonging to either a Stark or Baratheon male. Arya shot Gendry a glare, but he seemed to be ignoring her on purpose, holding his right hand up high like the rest of them.
What the fuck did he need to know yoga for?!
"I encourage you, girls, to enroll in my class," she added with a smile. "Yoga is said to improve a lot of physical and mental aspects in one's life, even your sex life."
Arya's back suddenly straightened in attention.
"For example," Dany continued, aware that even the guys are listening to her explain about the benefits of yoga to one's sex life. "There are many poses that would help give someone more explosive orgasms , especially for the ladies. The Upavistha Konasana or the Wide-Legged Straddle Pose, increases the flow of blood to the pelvis. It strengthens the muscles that play an important role in building and getting orgasms. With this to consider, would you girls like to try yoga?"
"No!" Robb and Jon cried out simultaneously.
"Yes!" Arya cried out the same time as her brothers did, earning a deathly glare from both.
A red-as-beet Gendry was uncharacteristically nervously biting his nails.
"Where should we sign up?" Arya said breathlessly, ignoring the glares her brothers are throwing her way.
"I hold classes every Saturday and Sunday so take your pick," Dany said with a smile.
"Count us in," Sansa confirmed with a determined tilt of her chin.
"What's your problem?" Arya asked as they got inside the car.
Sansa quietly slid into the back seat of the Impala, careful not to make a noise as she tried to blend in with the soft brown, leather-covered seats. Arya and Gendry had been bickering since before they left Drogo's and has not stopped taunting each other even as they crossed the parking lot and into his car.
"No, what's your problem?" Gendry snapped back, not even sparing her a glance as he slid into the driver's seat and thrust the key into the ignition. He didn't even look at the rearview mirror to check if Sansa has settled in the back, nor did he look sideways to check if his girlfriend was safely in the front seat.
"I don't have a problem, Baratheon!" Arya growled in rensponse. She started rummaging through the gym bag on her lap; looking around for something Sansa didn't know what.
"Oh! I just realized that I do have a problem," he said, his voice turning angrier by the minute. "And my problem is that you and your jealous fits!"
"You were ogling her!" Arya shot back in response. "You were practically undressing her with your eyes! She's married, for fuck's sake!"
"I wasn't even doing anything!" Gendry vehemently denied the accusation. "Stop being a jealous, spoiled brat, because this isn't even the first time I've encountered one of your jealous fits! Do you have to be fucking jealous of everyone because I'm getting fucking tired of all your fucking jealous fits! I can't just keep apologizing for everything that I don't even know what I've done because you know what? Not everything's about you, Arya!"
Gendry took a slightly sharp turn at the intersection, startling both Arya and Sansa in their seats. Gendry quickly reacted by pressing his foot on the brake, harder than he would have intended, causing the car to stop abruptly before eventually dying.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck! Shit!" Gendry shouted angrily, pounding the balls of his palms on the steering wheel in time with every word stressed. He took a deep breath before exhaling loudly, seemingly trying to calm his nerves before muttering an apology, although Arya thinks it was said to Sansa by the way he looked at her through the rearview mirror.
He didn't even say anything to Arya.
Fighting back frustrated tears before they fell, she pulled the door latch and quickly got out. She heard Gendry call out her name, noticing that there was more a sense of alarm and surprise in it than the anger that was there earlier. She took a quick turn of her head to look at her sister staring at her through the window, a scared look on her face. She ran down the end of the street towards somewhere she didn't know, moving as fast as she could before Gendry could even catch up to her.
When she rounded the corner, she realized she was at some part of Red Keep Park. She found some secluded spot underneath the acorn tree, plopped down on the grass and started crying.
"She's not picking up," Sansa said as she pressed her phone's End Call button. "I don't even know if she has her phone with her."
"She has it," Gendry mumbled from the farthest corner of Robb's room. He tried to stay away from the Stark brothers in case they decided to feed him to the wolves. "I rummaged through her gym bag. Her phone wasn't there."
Having had enough of waiting, Jon quickly strode over to Gendry and pulled him by the shirt front. "I told you I'll crack your skull if you hurt my sister!"
Gendry decided not to say anything and just waited for Jon's fist to connect with his face.
"Stop it!" Sansa shouted to everyone in the room. "We're not going to find her by beating anyone up!" She glared at Jon as she said this. "There's no need to make mountains out of molehills, really. I was in the car when it happened. They were just having a little argument and Arya just up and ran out of the car. But we'll find her, okay? What do you think she'll do, take the last flight out to Storm's End?"
Gendry froze at the thought.
"Now," she said, facing Gendry this time, her hands on her hips and her expression every bit as stubborn as the rest of her brothers. "I know we've tried the obvious places she might run off to, but wrack that brain of yours and think of somewhere she'd go if she's upset. Think. Hard."
Gendry almost flinched at her terse words. He didn't even know she could be as stubborn and headstrong as she is right now, considering she's such a dainty, graceful, girly girl. He wanted to say a lot of things, but he decided to just shut his mouth because nothing would be acceptable for the Starks except to find Arya.
Besides, he's partly to blame.
"I think I know where she is," he said as he got up to find her on his own.