Nota bene: I'm sorry for the delay. Excuses are the worst so I'll just say that I'm quite sorry. I'll try not to take a month to update from now on.
The sunlight filtering into the room awoke Pippa who found herself in Robb's bed with her head on Robb's chest and her hand entwined in Jon's. She lifted herself to her elbows and surveyed the tangle of bodies. She sighed and rolled her eyes though there was no one awake to see it, the idea of having to untangle what had become a pile of interwoven limbs was more than she could possibly handle. Her head was aching so fiercely that she thought her very eyes were liable to pop out if she didn't keep her eyes closed against the light. She felt Robb shift beneath her and that started to wake Jon. She closed her eyes and pretended to still be deep in sleep again, she almost added some snoring but that seemed to take things too far. Besides, she needed to feign waking up at some point. She felt Jon pull his hand from hers and she took that as her cue to lazily stretch out and moan her dislike of the current situation.
Upon closer examination, Robb's shirt was completely gone underneath his vest and Jon's was half undone. Pippa's overdress was draped over her legs like a blanket, and her corset's laces were horribly knotted. She pointed to it, raising an eyebrow, "Would anyone be able to explain this? Why were we trying to unlace my corset?"
Robb laughed, ever the summer child and in good humor as he gathered his own clothing, "A drinking game gone perhaps a bit far, Pip. Though I do believe it was your suggestion that we play it."
Pippa glanced over at Jon who was turning an odd shade of pink as he gathered his boots and tried to find his belt. He was avoiding her eyes as of his very being depended on it and she didn't know whether to smack him or shake him. Neither would have been appropriate. "And I'm sure you both protested so strongly." That got his attention; he glanced up at her and shrugged, as if to say Damned if I remember what happened.
He had already been deep into his cups when she found him outside the stable the night before. A sword hung from his grasp and the dummy he had been beating was sliced thoroughly and sporadically through. Jon was a brilliant sword fighter, but his strokes were clumsy by the time she got close enough for him to see her. He barely noted her presence until she spoke.
"Is he dead yet? I know when I've lost my arms and most of my organs, I tend to stay down." She leaned against the wall, trying not to let her concern show. He hadn't been nearly this bad when she had left to tend to the children and now he seemed to be almost a man possessed.
His reply was curt and short "I spoke to Benjen."
She didn't reply right away, choosing instead to hitch up her skirts and stand beside him. She took a moment to make sure he wasn't about to start swinging again and then pried his fingers from the sword. She wasn't accustomed to its weight but it had a gravity that she liked. She held on to it and looked back to him, tilting her head slightly as if to say Go on.
"I don't want to talk to you about it." He reached out to take his sword back, but Pippa stepped back and out of his reach. He was sloppy with drink, his dark eyes followed her in the dark with a delay she didn't like and each step seemed to veer off its course a bit before he could find his center again. "This isn't a joke Pippa."
She shook her head, "It isn't. But you'll cut off your own leg if I give this back. Come drink with me and Robb. Leave this night behind, it'll still be waiting for you in the morning." She leaned the sword against the stable and extended her hand to him. He overstepped to reach for her and they ended up almost chest to chest. Too close by half. She shifted to check that no one could see them but the darkness was a decent cloak and his dark clothing took care of the rest.
Jon huffed as she shifted away from him. Of course she wouldn't want to be seen alone in a stable with the Bastard of Winterfell, she was low enough in the ranks not to be bothered, he had thought. She was a bastard herself, worse even than him and still she backed away. "Pippa…"
She grinned up at him, suddenly all good spirits and charm again, "Yes?" Now that she was far enough away that he couldn't see her blush, she was collected again. She captured his hand and brought him with her as she left the stable, bringing the sword along with her. It was too lovely to leave lying in a dirty stable.
The sword lay on the corner of Robb's room seemingly cushioned on what appeared to be half of Robb's bedding. The gleam of it caught Robb's eye as he leaned over to help Pippa retie her corset. Jon still wouldn't look at him, which was a problem he hadn't expected. They were brothers and this was hardly the worst thing they had woken to together. He frowned at the back of Pippa's head as she stepped out of his reach the moment she felt he was finished. In one quick move she had put on her dress and was tying it up herself. Her hair hung in heavy waves down her back, the ties and pins that had held it in place were forgotten somewhere on the floor and in his covers. A bird's screech whistled through his window and all three of them jumped, the cold silence finally broken.
It was Pippa who started laughing first. Her shoulders shook as she buried her face in her hands and slowly the burble of her amusement filled the room. Robb stared at her for what seemed like years before he was caught up in it and laughing just as loudly as she was. Jon was the last to join. He surveyed his companions as if they were slowly going insane, but even he couldn't keep it from affecting him. They were all bent double, tears streaming from their eyes. Pippa made it to the bed and collapsed on it, holding her stomach and balanced precariously on the cliff between laughter and tears. She had been stupid, stupid and reckless and she had gambled two friendships to feel like she was a part of their world for a night. These boys could destroy her with a word. Luckily they were laughing as hard as she was. Their arms were around her and that stale silence that had woken them and the forced courtesy was melting away. Somehow, when the laughter ended, it took the awful feeling that something had been broken with it.
Jon passed Pippa her boots and held her hand a moment too long, quietly, so Robb could barely hear, he asked to walk her to her room. To talk to her. A knot tightened in her stomach but she nodded, whatever he had to say wouldn't disappear because she pretended to have duties to attend to. She pushed her hair out of her face and he picked up the sword and there was no reason to stay safe in Robbs' room anymore. They would have to talk in the hall.
The three of them agreed to meet that night and try to piece together the previous evening but no one particularly felt like discussing it then and there. The Lannisters were still in Winterfell and there was a king to please. The night of festivities would have to wait a few more hours before being uncovered.