Learning

She was completely embarrassed at being caught sneaking in the Armory by no other than Podrick who seemed equally embarrassed at having stumbled from the shock of seeing her there and then dropped the armful of weapons he had been holding.

"My lady, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting to find anyone here" he said while retrieving the weapons he dropped.

"Gods, Podrick, What are you doing here? It's barely dawn" her tone was huffy as she didn't like being caught sneaking, never mind that this was her castle so technically she was allowed anywhere any time.

He chuckled "Lady Brienne likes me to make sure her swords are sharp and ready to use at the earliest"

"And you do this every day, at this hour?"

He shrugged with a smile "It's what squires do, my lady. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"I—it's silly", she wasn't sure what made her

"Silly?"

"I thought… well I'm not a fighter, but maybe I could try to learn something to defend myself against the dead,"

"That's not silly at all, my lady" that explained the outfit, he noticed. Not one of her usual leather bodices that covered her completely and made her look regal and fierce, now she wore a looser, purple dress, to move better he thought, but one that made her look softer.

"Arya says I should always keep a dagger with me." her voice broke through his thoughts.

"Ser Bronn used to say the same thing, my lady." He offers kindly.

"Well, I'd be foolish not to heed the advice of two of the most dangerous people I know, right?"

"A dagger can be handy" he took the one he carried with him and handed it to her. "Here, see if suits you"

If she was surprised by his sudden familiarity she didn't show it, instead, she palmed it and studied it feeling the dagger's weight on her hand and looked up to see Podrick looking at her with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Now attack me" uncertain, she raises an eyebrow at him.

"Really, attack me" he gestures to himself with a grin that makes her chuckle.

Her first attempt was pathetic, she thought, trying to stab Pod from above and making it easy for him to side-step her. She huffed and tried again, this time aiming at his stomach in a faster motion, which he encouraged with a "That's better".

After a few more attempts she was getting more comfortable at attacking right after he avoided the blade, at one point Pod ended up gripping her wrist in his hand in a motion that somehow pulled her dagger-wielding arm away from them while bringing her body close to his.

It went on for a brief few seconds but the proximity and their ragged breaths made her falter, he must have felt her discomfort because he swiftly released her and took a couple of steps away from her.

"I'm sorry, my lady, I hope I wasn't too forceful" his voice betraying shame at having scared her.

"It's alright Podrick, you didn't hurt me, you surprised me, is all." and it was true, even it he had caught her unawares, the immediate look of regret in his face was enough to put her at ease, the last think Podrick would do was hurt her.

"And you surprised me, you're a quick learner, my lady" his attempt at diffusing the tension was palpable and she decided to go with it.

Deciding she was done with this for the rime being, she returned the dagger to the squire "Maybe, but I fear, I might end up hurting myself if I really start carrying one of these"

"A sword is out of the question, then" he teased as he sheathed the blade and she mocked glared at him before grinning, she was enjoying this new found ease with Podrick.

"What about the bow and arrow? Would you help me with that?"

"Well, I'm not much of an archer but I may help you get started" he was surprised at her eagerness to have him train with her still.

"I mean, it can't be too difficult, right? Arya was hitting the bull's eye by ten. And that's with my parents discouraging her from learning to shoot."

Podrick's laughter at that statement had her grinning from ear to ear.

"Something tells me you shouldn't hold me to your sister's standards, my lady, you'll be greatly disappointed."

The look she aimed at him was full with intent as she said "I don't know Podrick, you are the one of the least disappointing people I know"

He was visibly touched by her earnest statement, he cleared his thought."erm. I- I'm glad I don't disappoint, my lady" he lowered his eyes as he finished.

"right, so… I'll get the bow and arrow, would you help me with.."

"off, off course" and so he helped her set up the target and when he got back to her she was studying the arrow she had chosen.

"May I?" he nodded indicating that he was going to take the hand holding the arrow, she assented to give permission and he closed his hand over hers making sure she was only holding the arrow with three of her fingers.

"If I remember correctly, you should only grab it with these fingers, the others will only get in the way" he explained softly as he stepped behind her to take the other arm and help her grab and position the bow correctly in front of her.

"Now, pull back the string with the arrow" he spoke into her neck, which made her stiffen as she has now very aware of his presence behind her. She fought against her instinctive reaction at having a man close to her like that and did as told, the outcome being that she unconsciously backed against to avoid being hit by the string as it got close to her face.

She heard Pod give a soft grunt behind her as he stepped away from her as he put his hands on her waist holding her in a steady position though he removed them almost as soon as he realized what he was doing "don't back away from the string, my lady" he said quickly "it won't hit you" he tried smiling to hide his discomfort, but his blush was telling.

Again, she did as instructed trying to keep a steady position with the fletching resting just below her cheek as she had seen archers do all her life. Podrick stepped aside to assess her posture and for once she actually like feeling a man's stare on her, he wasn't looking at her as a trophy or with pity, he just gave her his warm eyes as he told her how to steady her footing.

"Now aim and hold" Pod instructed and she did, out of the corner of her eye she saw him coming closer to her.

"What?"

"Lower your aim" he chuckled

"Really? I'm aiming at the bull's eye"

"Not from where I'm standing" he dared "trust me, lower it"

"Fine, I hope you're right" she proceeded to aim lower and lower until he told her to stop

"Alright, my lady, I think you're ready, shoot"

She didn't hit the bull's eye, of course, but the arrow actually hit the target and he couldn't help but feel pride in the way in which she stood tall, happy with the outcome and then turned to him with a smile he had only seen directed at her family.

"Not bad at all, Lady Sansa"

"Well I have a good teacher" she stated with a sly smile as she took another arrow and got ready to shoot minding his previous advice.

Sansa shot several more times with Podrick offering comments here and there that worked quite well, every time she got closer to hitting the center she looked up at Podrick watching intently with a lovely smile on his face. It filled her with something she couldn't really name.

When she was done, her shoulder and arm starting to ache, she realized something.

"Podrick, I'm so sorry… weren't you supposed to be sharpening the swords…" her words had his eyebrows shooting up which made her giggle despite his distress.

"oh gods… she's going to kill me" his panicked face slowly turned to the entrance of the training yard and when heck turned it back, Sansa was standing just a step away from him, placing her hand on his arm.

"Don't you worry Pod, I'll protect you from lady Brienne" she grinned at him.

And as she made her way to the exit he couldn't help but follow entranced, wanting to hold on to the feeling of her hands on his arms and the memory of all of the smiles he got from her that morning.

Later in the afternoon she found Podrick leaving the dining hall with a few other men.

"Podrick, a word please"

"Of course, my lady" he gesture to the men to go along without him.

"I wanted to thank you, for this morning. It was, well it was fun, I appreciate you taking the time to teach me, I want to be able to protect myself."

"You're welcome, my lady. I enjoyed it as well."

"Then, I hope you don't mind that I asked Brienne to let me have you in the mornings"

"H-have me?" his eyes went wide and she enjoyed his blush, even with his reputation it was easy for her to make him blush.

"…to train." She deadpanned.

"Oh… of course, I'm here to serve, my lady" he said as he was trained to do but the statement bothered her.

"No, you're not"

"Pardon me?"

"You're not my servant Podrick, I'm asking this… as a friend, maybe?"

"I— I'll be honored to help you, as a friend, my lady."

"Good, then I'll see you in the morning"

"Of course my lady" she took a few steps before she turned to look at him, rooted on the spot watching her leave.

"Oh, and Pod?"

"Yes, my lady?"

"It's Sansa, my friends can call me Sansa" and she turned back and took off before he could manage a response.

"Sansa" he whispered with a smile when she was out of sight.