It's here everyone! It's finally here! I'm so terribly sorry for how long it's been. After my friend's accident, I developed depression and severe anxiety. After it had finally gotten better, to where I felt like writing again, I got a new job and then my computer decided enough was enough!
I lost my job in January and have been working on this little by little. But it is finally finished, and honestly, I love the path this story is taking. This chapter is all Sansa. We get appearances from other, but it is a Sansa heavy chapter. I'm also taking some liberties with tattoo healing time. It works with my story, leave me alone about it!
I will be working on a chapter for my other story next, so you can likely expect another chapter in a month or so.
I'll let you get to it!
As always, I own nothing recognizable in this story as they are all property of Mr. Martin.
Please read and review, but most importantly, please enjoy the very long awaited Chapter 13!
xoxo
Cassiopeia
Chapter 13
Arya was practically shaking with the excitement of her new tattoo. She'd been wanting something for a while but couldn't come up with exactly what she wanted. This worked out perfectly. Was this going to suck in training with Jaqen tomorrow? Yes. Is it going to be worth it? Absolutely. Sansa had just put her tattoo gun to her skin, so there was no turning back now anyway!
Sansa could see her sister buzzing with excitement. She was happy for Arya, but she couldn't help but wonder what sent her to the shop today. She hadn't even sent a quick text.
"Not that I don't appreciate the visit today, but what was it that send you flying into the shop today?" Sansa asked Arya.
Arya looked at the ceiling to avoid meeting her sister's eye. She wasn't even sure why she came here. She could have easily just gone home.
"Arya, I know you said your lesson ended early at the gym. Why?" Sansa stared her sister down. She was going to find out what happened to make her sister decide to suddenly get a new tattoo.
Arya sighed. 'Now or never' She thought to herself.
"I maybe...sort of...had a panic attack during my lesson." She stated wincing, as she wrung her fingers.
"Arya!" Sansa shouted, quickly rising from her arched position over her sister.
"I know Sansa, I know!" she cried, crossing her arms over her eyes to avoid looking at Sansa.
"Tell me what happened." her sister questioned.
As Arya took a deep breath, she tried to figure out where the best place to start would be.
"Okay, so we were practicing sparring today. Defensive stances. And Jaqen was trying to show me how to get out of a hold when someone is standing behind you. Well, when he did that, my head kinda just went back to that night. And it all came flooding back. Then I sort of passed out..." Arya winced again.
"ARYA" Sansa screamed, louder than before.
Suddenly Margery and Pod came flying into Sansa's room.
"Oh my gods, Sansa are you okay? Is everything okay?!" "What happened?!" Margery and Pod both questioned, simultaneously.
"Ugh!" Arya exclaimed. "My tits are out here guys!"
Podrick realized what she said was true, and quickly turned to look at the ceiling. "Um, I'm just gonna go. Sorry Sansa, sorry Arya." he told them both, before making a prompt exit.
"Well, nothing looks out of the ordinary here. So that means there must be some tea being spilled in here. I have no appointments and I'm all ears." Margery said, pulling the chair away from the wall to sit next to Sansa. "Ooh! Cute design Arya!" she told Arya, with a playful smack on the leg.
"There's not really anything all that entertaining being discussed. Arya fainted in her self-defense lesson today." Sansa informed her.
"I didn't faint, I passed out." Arya muttered, clearly sulking.
"Well, that, and after it happened, she ran away here to avoid talking to her instructor." Sansa said smugly, with a pointed look at her sister.
"Did not!" Arya argued. Sansa wasn't even there; how could she possibly know?
"Oh come on Arya! I'm your sister. I know you better than that." Sansa told her, finishing up on the last of the black, before moving on to the red.
"You can have a short bathroom break if you want. I'm done the black and need to switch guns. There's only one client in the shop with Brienne, and she's a woman. So, you're fine to walk to the bathroom without a shirt." Sansa informed her sister.
Arya nodded and quickly made her way to the bathroom. After she left the room, Margery turned to Sansa.
"What's her deal?" she asked, gesturing out the door with her thumb.
"I think she may have a crush on her self defense trainer. She's just in denial about it. Don't say I told you!" Sansa replied. "I'll text you about it later, I promise!"
"My lips are sealed bestie!" Margery stated, while pretending to lock her lips.
They chatted more about the design of Arya's new tattoo for a few more minutes until Arya came back in the room, after which Margery quickly left the sisters alone.
Sansa was hoping to get the rest of the tattoo finished in the next half hour, Sandor had his next appointment at three and she was hoping to get Arya out of there before the two had the chance to meet.
But of course, that was too much to ask. She was a few minutes away from finishing the rose when she heard the bell from the front door and his powerful steps walking towards her room.
"Shit." She muttered under her breath, as she braced for this interaction.
Not one to wait, Sandor didn't bother stopping at the front desk and promptly made his way into Sansa's room.
"Hello Little Bir-what the fuck?!" Sandor exclaimed seeing a half-naked girl laying on the tattoo chair.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Arya yelled at the man, not intimidated by his looming size in the least, but attempting to cover her chest none the less.
"Sandor, I'm so sorry but I am with a client right now, would you please mind stepping out? I promise it'll only be a few more minutes." Sansa informed him, hoping he would leave.
"Aye Little Bird." He replied, making note of the wolf tattoo on Arya's bicep with the word 'Stark" elegantly written in a delicate script. Clearly this was Sansa's sister. "I'll leave you and the little she-wolf alone." Sandor continued with a smirk, before making a hasty exit from the room.
Sansa turned back to her sister to finish her work.
"Um…who the fuck is that?" Arya demanded, louder than necessary.
"Just another client. His appointment is for three. I was hoping we'd be finished before he got here." Sansa answered. "HE CAN BE SORT OF OFF PUTTING!" she added, loudly, knowing he was standing right outside the door.
"I heard that, Little Bird!" he shouted in reply.
Sansa smiled, knowing that he couldn't help but reply.
"You were meant to!" she retorted, still smiling.
Arya did not fail to notice the smile that was continuing to stay on her sisters face.
"What's wrong with your face?" Arya asked Sansa.
Sansa kept her head down and focused on the last few strokes of the needle. She debated on whether keeping quiet or giving Arya another brief answer was the better choice.
She decided on the latter. "He's just a client that's coming in for his tattoo. For some reason, he's decided on referring to me only as 'Little Bird'." She replied. "Oh, yea…and he works with the boys."
With that, she finished the last bit of the rose and Arya's tattoo was now complete.
Sansa raised up from her crouched position to admire her work with a smile. She really loved it and she thought it suited Arya well. A little bit of femininity with a lot of bite. It was perfect.
"Well sis, there you go. Its all finished. Please rise and admire my hard work and dedication." Sansa said, as she smirked at her sister, while gesturing to the mirror on the wall, on the far side of the room.
Arya chose to ignore her sister's words but did get up to admire her new tattoo, as Sansa busied herself with preparing her aftercare kit.
She loved it. Exactly the amount of sharpness she needed in her life. She smiled and turned back to her sister to get her new piece wrapped.
Sansa quickly applied the saran wrap before Arya grabbed her shirt and threw it back on.
"Sansa, do you mind if I leave my bra in your bag, and you can take it home? I didn't bring a bag." She inquired, holding the item in question.
"Yea, that's fine. Here." She told her sister, trading the small bag of aftercare for the bra.
"Thanks again Sansa…for everything." Arya said, looking up at her sister.
Sansa quickly pulled Arya into a hug, not giving her the opportunity to make a speedy getaway.
"It was my pleasure sis. You know you can always come to me, for anything." She responded, before letting her go. "Well, you know how to take care of it, so I'm not going to give you the speech. I'll see you at home later. Pick out a menu, we'll order in tonight."
Arya gave Sansa one last smile before walking out the door, staring up at Sandor as she passed.
"The fuck are ye lookin' at she-wolf?" he demanded.
After she paid Myrcella, she looked him over from bottom to top, noticing the hound tattoo on his arm. "A fucking ugly dog!" she replied.
"Arya!" Sansa yelled at her from the doorway to her room.
"Bye Sansa!" Arya shouted back, as she flipped off Sandor and quickly ran out the door.
Sandor chuckled lowly and followed Sansa into the room.
"I'm so sorry about her Sandor. That was my sister. She can be so rude sometimes." Sansa informed him, terribly embarrassed about how the events transpired.
"Ye have nothing to worry about Little Bird. I can handle the she-wolf and anything she can throw my way." He stated.
She was sure he could. She was certain there were very few things that would affect the beast of a man in front of her.
"Well, since you were here so promptly, I just need to finish getting a few things ready. You can use the restroom if you need to before we start." She told him, turning around to grab the Vaseline out of the cupboard.
He said nothing as she turned back to him, already having taken his shirt off and mounted the chair.
She gasped as she promptly dropped the container she was holding.
"Shit!" she exclaimed, quickly dropping to pick it back up, a prominent blush appearing on her cheeks. Thankfully, the container was closed so there was none that had spilled. She could feel the heat on her cheeks and was praying to the gods that he hadn't noticed.
"Glad to see even an ugly hound like me can make a young lass blush." He whispered loudly. Staring her in the face.
Naturally her cheeks reddened even further, though she wasn't sure that was even possible. She was certain they were already the colour of a fire truck.
She chose to ignore his comment as she turned around to sanitize the container before she could take any out.
When she turned back, Sandor was already in position, with his back facing outward. She got a good look at the woman on her clients back. She thought that she was beautiful, and the outline had healed nicely. She had hoped to finish the outlining today, so they could knock out all the shading on his third and final session. She didn't think that would be too much to handle, she only had the wolf and hound remaining, before she could start with any shading.
She busied herself with getting the ink cups lined up, completely avoiding looking at Sandor at all costs. She couldn't come to an understanding as to why he was making her feel this way. She had always been nothing but professional with all of her clients. And man, has she had some devilishly handsome clients in her chair, whether they were attractive or not, she had never been as flustered and nervous as she was now. She hadn't felt like this since she met Ramsay, her toxic, piece of shit, excuse of an ex-boyfriend.
It had been just under a year since she finally ended things with him. They had spent two years together. Sansa couldn't believe that she stayed that long. 'Never again' she thought to herself, nodding as she finished filling the last ink cap.
"Yer awfully quiet over there Little Bird. No song for me today?" Sandor said to her, turning around in the chair slightly.
Sansa had just finished stacking the pieces of paper towel she anticipated using for the session, before putting the roll back on the counter.
"Sorry Sandor, got lost in my own head. I'm ready to start now, so turn your ass back around!" she told him.
The large man chuckled as he did what she asked.
She placed the stencils for him, and rolled her stool backwards to give him space to get off the chair to look in the mirror.
As he got off the chair, she noticed he stepped closer to her than she was anticipating. She tried to back up and give her imposing client more space, but her ankle bumped into her stool and she started to tumble backwards.
With far quicker reflexes than she was expecting, she felt his large hands grip her around her ribs. She quickly noticed how close his thumbs were to her breasts. Had he moved them only an inch, he would have made contact.
Her breath hitched as she realized. Her thoughts quickly turning to what it would feel like to have his calloused hands touching her in such away. These thoughts again making her blush, probably the reddest she had today.
"Are ye alright?" Sandor whispered to her, with a deep, husky voice, that made her overwhelmed with lust. She hadn't realized his already deep voice could go any deeper. It sent overwhelming feelings of arousal straight to her sex.
Everything had happened in only a few short seconds, but it felt like hours to her.
She quickly grabbed his hands and moved them away from her.
"I'm fine." She told him abruptly. "I'm getting a bottle of water; do you want anything?"
Sandor looked at her with a confused look appearing on his face.
"Uh…no. I'm good." he replied.
She made a hasty retreat from her room, not even giving him a chance to sit down before she was out the door.
Sansa quickly walked past reception and down the hall to the staff entrance at the back door. It didn't have a bell, so it made her exit less obvious.
Once she was outside she leaned against the wall and threw her hand to her chest, at an attempt to slow her breathing.
She had no idea where any of this was coming from. She had thought to herself only minutes ago, that she hadn't felt like this since the beginning of her relationship with Ramsay, but she was wrong.
She had never felt like this.
No man, had ever made her feel like this.
Sure, Sandor wasn't your conventionally attractive man, but there were so many things about him that intrigued her.
One stark comparison between Ramsay and Sandor, was their drastically different size. Sansa was taller than Ramsay by a few inches, even when she was barefoot. It was something he hated about her, he never let her wear heels because of it.
She looked at her feet, smiling as she saw what were now her signature, shiny black pumps. She loved wearing them. They made her feel powerful.
'Well that wouldn't be a problem with Sandor.' She thought to herself. Sandor may have towered over her, but as she had told Marg, it did not intimidate her.
As she listened to the sounds of the bustling city around her, she couldn't help but think that maybe Sandor came into her life for a reason.
She had literally just told Margery that she was considering dating again. Maybe this was the God's giving her a nudge in the right direction.
With one last look at her pumps to remind herself how strong she was, she turned and went back into the shop. Confident that she was going to make the best of whatever the God's were trying to tell her.