Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry that I didn't post in a while - I didn't realize that I only updated on AO3, evil me. So, I have decided to carry on with it.
Though you are free to leave off with chapter 4. I think that works out just fine.
If you want to dig through the life of those two cuties for a bit longer, you are more than welcome to keep your seatbelts fastened.
To the kind guest reviewer(s): Thank you! I am glad that you enjoy the fluffy tail ;)
Please enjoy.
"Blue Eyes! You are out of coffee, again!" Jaime calls out of the kitchen.
"Because you use it up all the time," Brienne curses from the bathroom. "And I may add that I pay for the stuff when you are in fact the rich boy of us two."
Really, Jaime makes any effort to live up to his odd antic the best he can, or rather the worst he can.
"I pay with my stunning looks and my charming personality," he replies.
"That still doesn't pay the coffee," she argues. "And in any case, there are also teabags."
"And I told you that I don't drink tea from teabags. If you want to drink tea, you do it right," Jaime shakes his head. "With kettle and tea leaves."
"You are free to grow a tea plant if that makes you happy," Brienne snorts as she makes her way over to the kitchen counter, towelling her wet hair, dressed in a loose greying shirt that leaves one shoulder bare, coupled with short baby blue sweatpants.
It's odd, really, back when Brienne had her first relationships, she never felt comfortable revealing herself like that. Brienne tried her best to look fancy. She even got up early when one of them spent the night, to put on a bit of make-up before her partner woke. She simply thought that if she didn't, the man would realise how much uglier she is at daylight, and make a run for it, but with Jaime, she is completely… at ease. She feels alright wearing no make-up, or walk around with sparse, or totally baggy clothing.
Brienne has never been at ease with her looks, but with him, she is for some reason she can't really explain other than that they love each other the way they are.
"I told you often enough that you can't just come in here with wet clothes, Blue Eyes. For that you're too damn hot. I have to be on time for work," Jaime grins at her like a predator. Brienne ignores him to take a juice out of the fridge. She shakes it up before uncapping it and taking a sip. Jaime uses the moment to snake his arms around her, burying his face in the nape of her neck.
"I thought you had to be on time," she snorts, but then has to swat his hand away when it means to sneak under her shirt.
"Oh c'mon, you could give me a bit to make it through the day," he pouts.
"I could, but I don't want to," she replies. Jaime grabs her around the waist tightly before picking her up in one swift motion and placing her on the kitchen table. Brienne can only shriek once. She tends to forget that he is actually strong enough to do that.
Brienne never had someone who was strong enough.
Jaime stands between her legs, both palms on her hips, "Say again that you don't want, Blue Eyes."
"You are late for work," she tells him with a grin, sticking out her tongue before she takes a mouthful of her juice. Jaime kisses her, Brienne swallows, their mouths clash, and once he pulls back, he only chuckles, "The juice is good."
"Whatever," she huffs, pushing him by the shoulder.
"Well, at least I will be rewarded for making it through the day without any action once I get home," Jaime sighs.
"Yeah, nope, I told you that Margaery, Renly, and Loras are coming over tonight," she argues.
"Oh, no. That's today?!" Jaime throws his head back, before he leans it against her shoulder. "And here I thought I would finally have all the time in the world to fling you down and do all the things that leave you like jelly in my arms."
"I told you, three times. I saved it into your phone to remind you five times. If you still don't get the hint, it's hardly my problem," she argues.
"Can't you just say that we are busy or so?" Jaime mewls.
"Busy with what? In the late evening?" Brienne makes a face.
"Sex, Brienne, sex. What humans do ever since humans existed," Jaime replies bluntly, gesturing with his hands.
"You are running late," Brienne replies unimpressed. "And I expect you to behave yourself civilly. Those are my friends, alright?"
"Me? Civilly? I am everybody's darling," Jaime argues.
"Yeah, show that tonight for once," Brienne huffs.
"What do I get as a reward?" Jaime grins.
"I will tell you what you do wrong when you shoot arrows?" Brienne replies, flipping one leg over the other to hop off the table and walk off.
"What? You know why I've been off in ages and you don't tell me?! What a betrayal!" Jaime cries out, tagging after her.
"I thought you'd figure it out yourself. So, you behave yourself and then I might tell you," Brienne tells him.
"Shit, I'm late for work!" Jaime cries out, checking his wristwatch.
"No really?" Brienne rolls her eyes. Jaime grabs his suitcase and jacket in a hurry, before he plants a kiss on her lips and hurries outside, "Till later, Blue Eyes. Love you!"
"Be on time!" she calls after him as the door closes. Brienne exhales, running her hand through her wet hair.
She never thought that she would have that odd bit of normalcy.
Just like she never expected someone like Jaime to walk into her life.
Yet, here they are, bickering over breakfast, yelling "love you" at each other as though it was the most normal thing in the world... because it is.
Though she still has to get used to him making advances on her. If Cersei lied about many things, she didn't lie about Jaime being passionate. He always teased her about being sexy, but now that they took that hurdle as well, Brienne would go as far as to say that he is greedy… for her.
Not that she'd ever say that out loud.
That Jaime wants her, as in really wants her, is still something new to Brienne. She learned by now that people care about her, that people like Jaime love her, but that there is someone aching for her, waiting for her, needing her, wanting her and her body… that still leaves her blushing like a stupid teenager. Because Jaime always muses at those things she hated about herself.
She never liked her fleshy thighs. He compliments her on them almost daily, even if it earns him a bruise for trying to squeeze her there.
She always found her bony, edgy shoulders odd and bulky, he says they are fierce.
She always felt a little ashamed over the fact that she had a small bosom, he says it fits perfectly into her hand, plus a feral, dark grin each time he says it.
He really wants her and needs her.
Just like she needs him.
And that is perhaps what is so new and so wonderful to Brienne, that it is a give and take. That she isn't just bound to marvel at a man, but that he, in all earnest, seems to appreciate things about her she usually kept to herself.
Which is also why Brienne wants him to like her friends – and that her friends like him. They all matter to her, and she wants them to be as enthusiastic about the bit of odd happiness she found for herself with Jaime as she is.
"I should better get changed. Or else I'll run late, too."
Gladly, Jaime was on time after all, though he made his displeasure no secret, grunting and mewling like a cat.
"I get make-up sex for that, just so that you know," Jaime tells her. He traded suit for a loose white shirt and black jeans while Brienne chose washed jeans with a navy blue top, upon his insistence.
"Just so that you know, if you think you'll ever get that from me for something like that, you'd better head to your own apartment, because that means you won't be sleeping anywhere near this bed any time soon," she warns him.
"Tough love," he grunts. He means to say something else, but that is when the doorbell rings. Brienne is at the door at once.
"Saved by the bell," Jaime huffs, though he could still marvel at her bursts of enthusiasm all day long. He loves it to see Brienne all loosened up. Of course he likes her tensed up, too, squirming and blushing, but Jaime knows that she cares about her friends and that this is why she is so excited.
And of course he is certainly something to show off.
"Brienne! It's been far too long!" Margaery's voice rings out first. The two women embrace each other. "Oh, I like that top. Is it new?"
"No?" Brienne makes a face.
"It looks new," Margaery shrugs, but then tears her eyes over to Jaime. "So you must be the infamous heir of the Lannister Empire."
"In fact," Jaime agrees. Margaery walks up to him, presses a quick kiss on his cheek as she gives him a loose hug. "I would definitely hire you as a model if I could afford it."
"Ah, right, the fashion designer, I almost forgot," Jaime chuckles.
"Hi, Loras," Brienne greets Margaery's brother,
"Hey," he greets her, pressing against her quickly with a wink.
At first, those two didn't get along at all. Loras thought that Brienne was having a crush on his, up to that point, secret boyfriend, which is why he didn't want to be close to her, but Margaery insisted. At first Loras thought his sister had just found herself a new charity project, since she is a Samaritan often enough, but he had to learn soon that Brienne is grotesque, but at the same time a real good friend, simple as that. She has always been supportive of Renly and Loras, even when they both didn't have their coming out yet, and she was the one to beat up whoever dared to make false claims about them, or ever dropped a comment or accusation.
To the day, all will remember that one time one of the usual bullies called Renly and Loras faggots. Loras was about to beat the guy up, but as he was about to advance, something giant came flying from his right and moments later the bully was on the ground, with Brienne on tops as she knocked sense into him. It took two teachers and one of the football team to tear her off of him. That she got a detention seemed to be the least of troubles for her, in fact, Brienne held her head high the whole time, even though she bled from he nose, Loras remembers.
And Brienne definitely had his respect once she managed to tackle him down during the football try-outs where she had posed as a boy. Because he is good at sports, has been for all his life – and usually, no one overpowered him, but she did.
You have to accept defeat sometimes. And in the end, he gained from it, or so he reckons, because Renly got to tell him that he told him so – that Brienne is loyal beyond reason, but that this is what makes her such a good friend.
"Renly!" Brienne cries out loudly as the raven-haired man comes inside, readily taking her into his arms as she flings her limbs around him. Jaime blinks a few times, "She definitely doesn't react like that when I come home."
"You'll have to get used to that," Loras shrugs. "Like I did."
"You are an odd bunch," Jaime grimaces.
"If you haven't guessed, I'm starting to doubt you already," Loras huffs.
"Hey, I am all into odd people, I'm one myself," Jaime shrugs.
"So we heard," Margaery chuckles.
"Brienne, you can let go of him now," Loras tells the blonde woman, who flashes a small smile, still holding on to Renly's arm, "I'm sorry. I haven't see him for so long now."
"It's alright. I missed you, too," Renly winks at her. "You know that."
"I hope you have something decent to eat," Margaery sighs. "I'm starving."
"Be our guest," Brienne nods at the kitchen counter.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Margaery exhales before digging through the small buffet Brienne lined up.
"Women all eat their hearts out that my sister can eat like two men and not gain any weight at all," Loras snorts.
They start to chat after that – and Jaime can't deny that he finds the company quite charming, in fact, he finds himself drawn in at once. What he finds almost curious is that they almost instantly treat him as one of their own, though Jaime reckons that this is also why Brienne is so fond of them. Because they don't make the difference. They only see the togetherness.
And to tell the truth, Jaime always had people admiring him, but he never had real friends outside his family, so it's really nice for a change to… be part of a group.
Because you can't buy friends, he knows that in a long time.
"… What was that song again?" Margaery asks.
"What? What song?" Jaime frowns.
"The one you had for your solo performance in the school choir. Someone help me out here," Margaery says, snapping her fingers at Brienne, gesticulating nervously.
"Margaery!" Brienne cries out, her cheeks reddening at once.
"What? You didn't tell him that you have some pretty singing voice?" she huffs. "In case you didn't know, she sang in the school choir. In fact, she was the school choir."
"I was forced," Brienne insists.
"Because our choir was shit otherwise," Loras shrugs. "They pretty much recruited the one person at school who didn't sound like a canary that's brutally murdered."
"Blue Eyes, I had no idea," Jaime grins maliciously. She punches him in the arm, "Stop that."
"Red, Red Wine," Renly jumps in.
"That one!" Margaery gesticulates wildly.
"They seriously let you perform a song about alcohol?" Jaime chuckles.
"When no one ever really shows up, people tend to give a damn on what you do," Loras shrugs.
"Your school was an odd place," Jaime makes a face.
"I cheer to that," Renly chuckles, holding up his glass of red wine, and the others join the chorus. "Cheers."
"So… Brie said that you saved her from sure death when you first met," Margaery goes on.
"Just like she told you not to call her Brie," Brienne narrows her eyes at her.
"In any case, is it so?" Margaery asks, blinking at Jaime. "I want to know all about it. We haven't heard your side yet."
"Well, I can't deny that I saved her from a car running her over," Jaime shrugs.
"And after that?" Margaery smiles.
"I told you what happened after that," Brienne argues. "He was a gentleman and brought me home. There you have it. Now stop with your sensationalism."
"That I know. But what did you think about her? What was going through your mind?" Margaery goes on with her canny grin.
"Margaery!" Brienne cries out.
"I just thought that reality must play a trick on me for sending me the woman of my dreams right into my arms," Jaime grins, snaking his arm around her.
"Awwwww," Margaery mewls.
"Stop that," Loras exhales. "You sound like a cat."
"But this is romantic," she argues.
"Have you met her father yet?" Renly asks.
"Now you, too?" Brienne exhales.
"What?" Jaime makes a face.
"I told you about my father. That is why you didn't meet him yet," Brienne replies, tilting her head to the side. Jaime furrows his eyebrows, thinking back to what she said about him…
"Oh," his eyes open a bit wider.
"Exactly," she nods.
"Do you have some kind of mental connection or what's the matter?" Loras snorts.
"You finish my sentences half of the time, too," Renly argues.
"Awwww," Margaery mewls.
"Margaery," Renly and Loras roll their eyes simultaneous.
"Hey, I have invested into this relationship a great deal, so let me harvest some of my hard work by being in awe," Margaery snorts – because if not for her, Loras and Renly wouldn't be a couple the way they are today, if they were a couple at all.
"But what's the matter with him meeting Selwyn? I don't think he'd be very disappointed, I mean, fine, he's a Lannister, but he can't help it, huh?" Loras shrugs.
"What now?" Jaime grimaces.
"Since our families operate in the same niche, and Selwyn is very loyal to the Baratheons, he doesn't like the Lannister firm much, out of principle," Renly explains.
"That will be fun," Jaime makes a face.
Hi, I'm the son of the family you hate, pleasure to meet you. That will be fun.
"Take pictures," Loras grins. "He's more intimidating than Brienne is, if he is really raging."
"Loras!" Renly cries out. "That's awful to say!"
They chatting continues thereafter and Jaime soaks up the information like a sponge. All those little anecdotes and stories about young Brienne leave him smiling and adoring her even more, especially since she goes on blushing like a teenager the moment on someone drops a story about her. Gods, does he love it when she blushes like that.
Sometimes Jaime really wished he had met her during his school time already.
At last, the three bid their farewells, and Jaime is more than surprised to get a very tight hug from Margaery, as though he was a family member now already.
"I start to like your friends," Jaime grins, helping Brienne with bringing the glasses and empty plates into the kitchen.
"I don't know where I would have been without them, to be honest," Brienne shrugs. "They have always been a great support for me."
"I was just surprised how easily they let me in. I thought I would have to prove myself a lot more," Jaime shrugs.
"You don't have to worry much about it," Brienne shrugs. "They are like that. I don't know. If not, I wouldn't be part of the group, I reckon."
The great thing about those three is that she never had to pretend to be anyone else. They accept people in their queerness, because they are queer as well.
"Though I must say I'm a bit jealous, still," Jaime looks at her with a grimace, coming closer to her.
"Why would you be?" she makes a face.
"Because you seem to like Renly more than me. You never squeal for me like that when I come home. I mean, I can make you squeal like that when you come home in bed, but I never got such a greeting, and I am your sweetheart," Jaime argues.
"You'll have to get used to it," Brienne shrugs. "Renly is… Renly. I don't know. It's hard to explain."
"Just say it already that you like me better than him," Jaime mewls, grabbing her by the hips to pull her closer to him.
"I actually like him better than you," she sticks out her tongue. "But! I love you more."
And Jaime knows how much that means – because her love for Renly is simply unconditional, after he was the one to save her from the prom disaster that still makes Jaime's blood boil hot and cold.
Jaime smiles as he presses his lips on hers, "The night's still young."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"It's either that, or that you sing Red, Red Wine for me," Jaime taunts her.
"I won't sing for you," she narrows her eyes at him, but at that he already picks her up again, "Oh, I will make you sing, Blue Eyes. I will make you sing my name."
"Gods, I hate you so much right now," Brienne hits him in the arm, but Jaime walks on, holding her close.
"You know that you love me," he argues. "You just said it."
"And sometimes I don't know why," she huffs as he simply plops her down on the bed without further ceremony, her hair falling into her face.
"Then it's high time that I show you why you love me," Jaime grins as he leans down on top of her, running his over her face to get rid of the hair and bring her sapphires back, before claiming her plump lips, cupping her chin.
"Do you really think that turns people on?" she huffs against his mouth.
"I know how to turn you on, even without those flawless pick-up lines."
"That means you'll shut up? Fine, deal."
"Blue Eyes?"
"What?"
"I have a new compliment for you."
"And what would that be?"
"You are my best friend."
Brienne blinks once, twice, but then leans on her forearms to climb up to kiss his lips.
"You're mine, too."
"But you still need to keep tabs on the coffee deposits, I say so as your best friend."
"Okay, that's it. We're going to sleep."
"I take it back! C'mon!"
"Nope, game over, fellow."
"Oh c'mon."
"Forget it."
"Please? Ow! Stop being violent! Ow! Ow! OW!"