SORRY THIS IS SO LATE OMG
As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts
Oh the warmth in your eyes swept me into your arms
Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?
For every kiss your beauty trumped my doubt
And my head told my heart
Let love grow
But my heart told my head
This time no
-Mumford & Sons, Winter Winds
The calendar invite flashed on Jon's screen as soon as he logged into his computer. An invite from Daenerys Targaryen for a meeting at 9:00am till 11:00am with a subject titled 'Event Catch up' to take place in a downstairs conference room. Specifically the one they were in the first time they had their meeting.
He accepted the invite almost instantly whether it was for professional or unprofessional means.
That room was quite a secretive area where they could get to their meeting in peace or… Well, they should focus on the event, but at least half an hour could be spent doing something else. If that was even an option for them – despite him going all the way with Daenerys and them even discussing it afterwards, he felt like he still didn't know exactly where he stood with her.
And the way things were left on Saturday didn't help him out.
Saturday morning, 9:30am
Jon couldn't believe his luck and that's exactly what it felt like – luck. It wasn't a pre-meditated night to meet up with Dany and from Robb stealing his phone to her being around to respond straightaway, it all felt like a pretty lucky chain of occurrences.
When he had woken up in the flat that belonged to Daenerys on Saturday morning, he didn't know what was going to happen, but he had promised her that he wouldn't really think about it, because he got what she meant by that – the more he thought about the two of them, the more he would want her and that just meant he was going to lose focus on the promotion.
He knew she wouldn't want to lose focus on it either. They should have never done anything, but now that they had, how did he go about this?
If things were simple then he would assume that he could ask her on a date now and try to get closer and closer to her, but they were far from simple, so he had to play it cautiously and follow her lead.
Waking up on Saturday morning, she wasn't lying next to him and he wasn't sure if his phone buzzing or the low hum of music that trailed in from the living room was the cause to him stirring. He rolled over in bed and searched on the floor for his trousers from last night. He reached into the pocket to pull out his phone. It was later than he was expecting it to be.
It was slightly difficult to concentrate on reading his text, as enjoying a glass of wine before bed was never a good idea, but he had enjoyed it. They had talked for a while over their drinks and then had an additional exploration of each other's bodies before drifting off to sleep.
ROBB: How was your night? ;)
Jon simply smiled. He would never tell about that almost sacred night with Dany. Unless he was completely bullied into it due to his flushed cheeks, so actually he was most likely to say what had happened if Robb hadn't already guessed and informed both Arya and Sansa about it anyway.
Jon slid his trousers on before finding his shirt near the bottom of the bed. Two buttons were missing from it and he instantly thought back to the smashing noise of a vase or a photo frame from the hallway. Would he have to pay for the damages or should he be purchasing a new vase or whatever it was for her?
As he buttoned up the buttons he could manage on his shirt, he heart the soft meow of a cat. He realized that it was Drogon, the one he interacted with last night. Jon held his hand out and Drogon purred, approaching him to nuzzle against his hand. He had never really thought he was much of a cat person, but he could see why Daenerys was.
Taking a deep breath that did nothing to calm his nerves at seeing Dany again in the flesh, he left the bedroom to follow the soft music. What he saw there was an image he would have never expected – she was in an intricate, yet provocative, position for Yoga. Of course she practiced Yoga – she was so the type who would get up early in the morning and practice Yoga or go for runs.
He turned his eyes upwards, away from her teasing body, as if he hadn't seen her completely naked just a mere few hours earlier. Not wanting to directly disturb her, but also not wanting to remain in this bizarrely awkward situation, he cleared his throat. She pulled herself up and out of her stance, Jon thought she was doing it incredibly slowly on purpose to create some sort of reaction, then she turned around with a small smile.
"I wake up early," She said as way of explanation before turning off the music to force them into silence that had to be filled.
"Based on the time, I'd say I wake up late." She smirked at that, approaching Jon now and that allowed him to see even more clearly the outline of her body in her slinky yoga outfit.
"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but I was going to pour some water over you if you didn't get up soon." She stopped in front of him, that signature seductive smirk planted on her face. Jon let out a soft laugh.
"Oh, really?" He wondered whether he was allowed to lean over and kiss her, but he didn't know if that's what they were doing now. Like he had agreed in his head when he woke up, he would follow her lead.
"Yes, I'm a busy girl, you know, I've got things to do." She said it in a teasing enough tone, but he wondered if he was massively interfering in her personal life. What did she do at the weekends? He imagined her being a part of his normal weekend of taking Ghost for walks, shopping at the market and cooking a big dinner together or even… Hell, meeting his family.
He imagined how his family would get on with her. Sansa already seemed besotted with her after one glance at her photo, Arya would probably find her as confusing as Jon found her, Rickon would like her, because of her three cats as he was obsessed with animals, Bran would find her intelligent and he could see his aunt and uncle finding her a catch for Jon. Robb… well, he would be Robb about it and express his surprise over Jon managing to keep someone like her.
Imagining Dany being a part of his weekends was definitely a far-fetched dream.
"Yeah… I've got to actually see Robb anyway." He didn't want to suggest he stayed longer if she did actually have things to do, because that rejection would slightly hurt and anyway, he really should see Robb before he departed.
"Robb?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed. He realized that despite them talking so much the night before, he hadn't divulged much, or any, information about his family, because that would lead to more questions and secrets to be revealed to someone he barely knew.
"Oh, he's my cousin." She nodded and they were silent for a moment before Daenerys motioned towards her door.
"Well, I guess you better go then, Jon Snow."
From her pursed lips and complete sexual being, that statement sounded almost like a challenge; you could go or you could stay and have sex? He didn't want to bet on that though and so he nodded and headed towards the door. The more he thought back to this moment, the more convinced he was that he had heard her sigh behind him when he turned away.
"The vase… Can I contribute towards it?" He asked, as he noticed the mess that must have been caused the night before had been tidied away.
"Last night was enough of a contribution." Her voice was laced with undertones of suggestion and almost satisfaction.
Could he be so confident in his ability to think that she was satisfied with his performance the night before? Or was her cumming multiple times clause for him to suspect that she was completely satisfied.
Should he be doing something with this idea? Was she dropping hints? How had he slept with her (twice) and was still struggling with how to handle any situation in relation to the ever mysterious Daenerys.
He turned again, not acting on his will to pick up on what seemed like a hint from her and headed straight to the door. He opened it and felt Daenerys by his side, holding the door open for him. He turned to softly smile at her, which seemed to cause her to beam as well.
"Thank you for last night," He said, immediately regretting the words as soon as they left him. He couldn't have sounded more desperate if he tried. Daenerys simply let out a soft laugh and shook her head.
"Any time…" She paused, still smiling as she got her next words out. "We said we would keep this simple, didn't we?"
He nodded, not sure what else he could say to that. Of course he was already imagining doing things with her that you did when you dated someone, but that seemingly couldn't work. For now anyway. Once this was all over then maybe they could have something else, something better.
Deep down he knew that couldn't be the case though. If she won the promotion, then eventually he would be fine with it. If he won though… Daenerys would never be fine with that, she was determined in ways he could never be. He could see her completely regretting their decision to act so recklessly with each other, so how could this ever work out.
If he was smart he would say they should not keep this simple, in fact it should be nothing at all. This should stay as a one-night stand and be never spoken of again. Instead though…
"Yeah, simple." She seemed to exhale deeply at that, whether she was relieved that he wasn't saying he wanted something more with her or for another reason, he wouldn't know.
She leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek in a tantalizingly slow method that made him want to lean back in to her lips and kiss her one more time, but he didn't think he could ever stop at just one kiss with her again. He pulled back with a small smile, moving out of the doorway, as he didn't want to kiss her without permission. Unfairly so, she was still the one in charge here, the one he would be following for direction for how this situation needed to unfold.
"See you Monday, Dany."
Monday morning, 8:50am
Jon was leaving the staff kitchen with two cups of coffee, one for him and one for Dany. He didn't know if she drank from the staff kitchen, she probably just went out to get it from the nearest high-end café, but he thought it would be a nice enough gesture for her to give him one of her stunning smiles.
As he walked past the offices to approach the lifts to head to the conference room, he heard his name being called and it caused him to stop in his tracks and compose himself before turning around to the source of the sound.
"Have you got a sec?" Daario was leaning against the doorframe of his office with his typical Cheshire cat smile on his face. He couldn't look at Daario without thinking about him and Daenerys being together and seeing of how things had progressed between the two of them the previous weekend, he didn't want to imagine her being with Daario.
"I've got a meeting at 9," Jon said, lifting up his hands that held the mugs of coffee as further physical evidence that he was occupied. He didn't want to speak to Daario privately, but he was also his superior, so he couldn't decline his invitation without a suitable excuse.
"It'll just be a minute," Daario confirmed that he was not going to take no for an answer. He turned and headed back into his office before Jon could say anything. He followed through shortly, after a sigh and making sure that his face was composed in a straight-faced expression, so Daario wouldn't know what Jon was thinking of as he stayed in the office with him.
Daario was already sat at his desk, his legs propped up on the table. Jon shut the office door with his foot, as his hands were full before taking a seat in front of Daario.
"I know that you're aware of my relationship with Daenerys. We appreciate your discretion for Daenerys's sake."
Jon was taken aback that firstly Daario was not even attempting small talk and secondly the fact that he even knew that Jon had found out about it. Daenerys hadn't informed him of the fact that she had told Daario about it, only that they were over, but were they over in Daario's eyes? 'My relationship with Daenerys' seemed like it was still ongoing.
How could Jon tell Daario he was wrong without revealing too much? This interaction was going to be pretty much the dictionary definition of awkward.
"It's not for Daenerys, I wouldn't want to be given this for the wrong reasons." Although yes, this was Jon's motive for not telling anyone about Daario and Daenerys, he wanted to speak as blunt as possible, because there should be no indication that both he and Daario had seen Daenerys in a similar way.
"Is that so?" Daario chuckled, as if this was a funny situation, as if Jon wouldn't win. "I can assure you that she would not be winning for the wrong reasons either."
Jon imitated his chuckle, because that sentence coming from Daario was actually quite hilarious to Jon.
"Apologies for believing you might be biased on that front." Jon said, not changing his tone or taking his eyes off Daario. He didn't know what Daario wanted to achieve from this conversation, but he wasn't about to let Daario bring down Jon's defences and give away any information. Daario shifted in his seat uncomfortably before speaking, so Jon knew he was succeeding in making sure he wasn't being intimidated by Daario, in fact it could be working the other way round.
"No, I am completely impartial here." His tone had changed and before continuing on, he shrugged as if he was about to be honest. "Of course I would like her to be promoted, but you definitely have traits that might appear more appealing to Tyrion. He likes an underdog."
Underdog. Jon hated that he had to be referred to as that compared to Daenerys. He didn't think he was and it just made it that if he got the promotion, Daenerys would be more infuriated that she lost to an underdog – taking away any chance of
"I think I'm proving that I'm not one." Jon's tone came off as a little more defensive than he meant it to. Daario began to smile.
"Well, compared with Daenerys – her background and loyalty, you do look like an underdog to any outsider." Daario looked comfortable again, as he could see he was beginning to make Jon feel uncomfortable instead with a conversation about why Daenerys was better than Jon at everything.
"I'm sorry, loyalty? I've been here longer -," Jon started, coming in too quick to stand his ground, making him look offended, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Daario seemed to take too much joy in interrupting him.
"Yes, her loyalty to the company, I mean, she turned her own brother in. That's loyalty." He said it with such ease, but Jon was, for lack of a better word, shocked by this news. He didn't know what else to say apart from the obvious.
"What?"
"Oh, come on, its common knowledge at this point." Daario waved a hand dismissively.
Was it common knowledge? How come Jon wasn't aware about it then?
Daenerys had turned Viserys in for what he did to the company.
She had turned her own brother in for embezzlement.
Jon's mind was so slow to process all this information, but once he had then all the ideas that were formed from this information filled his brain at lightning speed.
How could she not be more loyal than Jon when this information was coming out? She had turned her own flesh and blood in for what he did to the company – it wasn't like he had done anything to her, it was the company. He tried to picture himself turning in Bran, his uncle, Robb or, arguably his closest family member, Arya in and no, he couldn't. Even if it was something as bad as embezzlement or, worse, murder.
Yet she had turned in her brother, everyone knew they were closer than most couples were to each other. Why would she do that? Jon could only think of one logical reason to that; the company, and ultimately her own ambition and power, were more important to her than any other relationship could be to her. If Viserys was still around then wouldn't he be up for this promotion? He was close enough to the top as you could be and trusted completely by Cersei.
Viserys could have been her huge competition to the top, not Jon, but here he was now – the one thing that stopped her getting that position.
As soon as his mind got to that conclusion, he heartbreakingly knew that he had to get out of this. How had he be so blinded by beauty and her reasoning to think that she was good? She had used Daario, Viserys and almost himself. She was the dangerous woman that Jon had been warned about – an innocent flower who was a serpent underneath, the jailbait and yet, a small, horrible part of him hoped that she could still prove him otherwise.
If that small thought was not proof enough that he was trapped in her spell then what could have been? He had to escape.
"I was out of the loop," Jon eventually replied, watching Daario grow somewhat smug as he had been observing Jon's very visual downward spiral.
"Well, I'm sorry, I said I would only keep a minute of your time – you have a meeting, don't you?" Daario was giving that all too familiar Cheshire Cat grin as he leaned further back in his chair. He was making it clear to Jon that his intentions for this conversation hadn't been so innocent.
And yes, Jon did have a meeting. One that seemed all too important to him now. He left, leaving behind a smug Daario and forgotten cups of coffee.
Jon's hand was hovering over the meeting room door handle. As soon as he opened that door he would have to keep his emotions capped, he had to cut ties with Daenerys so they were merely professional. It was going to be beyond tough now that he had witnessed the perfect curves of her body and this would be the hardest part, but as long as he stayed strong he could get through it and be fine with just the memories of her smile, her laugh, her lips and that body.
He took a deep breath and then opened the door with one sole purpose. Daenerys was sitting at the other end of the table and everything was set up like that very first meeting they had. Jon knew that this would be even more intense than that meeting. That had been the start and this would be the end.
A smile filled her face, clearly she had been anticipating Jon's arrival. She stood up practically instantly at his entrance and strutted beside the table in order to meet him halfway along. Jon stayed stoic in his expression and his movements in an attempt to show that this was not a social meeting.
"You're late, Jon Snow." She commented and Jon swore that her voice was sultrier than he had remembered. When she reached him, her hands began adjusting his tie. Her face was tilting and reaching closer to his, but Jon stopped her by carefully holding her hands still.
With furrowed eyebrows, she dropped her hands.
"Did you turn your brother in?"
Her face fell in the similar way that it had when he questioned her the first time about herself and Daario, but this time it was more a crumbling of her exterior. He watched as she tried to gather herself, but it seemed to be impossible. He didn't need her next answer to know that it was true.
"That's uh… How would you hear that? That was supposed to be confidential amongst -," Her voice trailed off as a clear idea seemed to form behind her eyes and then anger settled there. "Daario told you?"
Jon simply nodded, giving her time to provide some sort of defence or at least an explanation. She didn't, she simply turned away and stared hard at the ceiling.
"Why would you turn him in?" Her head snapped back to him and he saw her anger had suddenly switched to him completely. His line of questioning was clearly surprising her and Jon wondered how that could be. Obviously he would ask her that. He continued on, in an attempt to show her that he was right for asking. "I would never be able to do that to someone in my family."
"He did a bad thing." The words left her in a fairly collected manner considering the fact that she looked like she wanted to rip Jon's head off.
"You chose the company over your brother. I just think…" He knew this was going to be hard, but seeing her reaction, her shock, over Jon being surprised at her turning in her own brother, made him lose confidence in what he was saying. He wanted her to explain first now more than ever.
"What do you think? Say it." She was spitting the words out at him, getting close to him so he could feel the full wrath of her challenge. For someone so little she could put fear in Jon.
"Daario, Viserys… You would do it all for the company, for increasing your power. What are you planning on doing to me?" Forced into getting his thoughts out by Daenerys allowed him to sound more convinced in his statements than before. It didn't matter what she said or how she said it, he told himself, she was using him and he needed her to admit it.
"You are being ridiculous. I've already explained about Daario and -,"
"Yes and I was stupid for believing that fucking story, because there's clearly more to it. I'm the only thing now standing in your way." She was antagonizing him to reveal how he truly felt, he knew that, and yet he was rising to it, getting rightfully angry at the unanswered questions and the holes in her story.
She stared at him hard, not showing emotion behind her eyes or in her expression, as he told her the ultimate thing – he thought she was using him. As quick as she was to start eyeballing him, she then loudly groaned and threw her hands up, waving them as if she was defeated.
"Stop, stop, stop."
He thought that was her admission. He was right, sadly so, but he was right. She had used Daario, she had seen her brother as competition and now the complicated relationship with Jon was only to make him weak whilst she swooped in to get the promotion.
She leaned against the table, her head in her hands and all he could hear was her hard breathing. He waited silently for her to admit the truth, but still a part of him wanted to take her up in his arms and say that he would rather be oblivious for another day if he could kiss her lips one more time.
"Viserys is a horrible, disgusting person and I hope he rots in prison. You must have known he was terrible and yet you choose to see the worst in me." She practically mumbled this as her head stayed in her hands and Jon realized this wasn't the admission he had been expecting. His face crumpled as she extended her body and revealed her face along with her close to tears eyes. "He was all I had in this world. Our parents didn't pay us much attention, just gave us money and let us run our own lives. I followed Viserys around on the tight leash he put around me. He moulded me into what he wanted, going to the same university, the same work – the same everything. He even helped me buy my flat before the embezzlement – that's why I'm still allowed to have it. He helped me with it on the condition I stay under his thumb."
The way she spoke was spellbinding, like it was just a story, but the way her eyes looked away from Jon, full of suppressed tears, was evidence that every word was true. She shifted, perhaps getting to an uncomfortable part of the story. She took a step away, making it harder for him to see her face.
"It got worse and worse. He was abusive; emotionally, definitely, physically, debatable. Every time he lifted his hand and didn't hit me, it was a blessing." A humourless laugh left her and her words got slower. Perhaps because it was getting to a difficult part or because her voice was getting too choked up to speak at a normal pace anymore. "He controlled my friendships and he's the one who told me to see Daario to better my career. I felt powerless, because without him, surely I would be nothing. Me finding out about the embezzlement was by chance, but it was what I needed at the time to be free. So yes, I turned him in just for the power, for the company."
Her last sentence was completely sarcastic, seemingly bringing her back to the present. She turned around, getting a grip on her emotions as he couldn't see the tears as much in her eyes. Jon could feel nothing other than guilt running through him and the uneasy stare of Daenerys on him now made it impossible for him to say anything.
His mouth was hanging open, as if words were there that he could say; he should have said something. He should have taken her in his arms and told her he was sorry, that he was stupid, that she was more fragile than he ever knew and that upset him, but he couldn't when she was walking towards him, getting right into his face with a twisted smile on her face that suggested she was the one saying this was over and not the other way around, like he had intended on happening.
"That's the most personal, disgusting secret I possess and sadly you're the most undeserving person to listen to it."
Her words cut through him, but all he could do was watch the difference between that smiling mouth and her watery eyes. As if she could see his eyes flickering, she abruptly turned away, her hair kissing his face as she did so, and brought her hands to her eyes as she stormed out the room.
"Dany…"
He weakly called out her name, but he didn't want her to turn back, because there was nothing he could possibly say to her that could make this better. He just did it to say he tried to get her to come back.