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(no subject)

Who: Maximus Boltagon (

ininhuman) & Theon Greyjoy (

reek)
What: An urgent discussion.
When: February 3.
Where: Their shared home.
Warning(s): Mild paranoia, Theon in general.

This won't do. This won't do at all. It's only been a couple of days since Maximus had gone to visit his family in stasis, but a couple of days is sometimes all it takes. He'd played nice with Medusa. He spoke softly and offered his assistance, he'd extended the notion of a truce in the face of their circumstances, though nothing is ever quite as it seems with him.

A truce, kindness, those are just ways to mask everything else.

In his own mind, Maximus found Medusa more of a threat than any other Attilantian. Her stubbornness would prove problematic. The more he thinks about it, the more he paces, and what for? He's got no kingdom here. He's got a small selection of people who know him as king but how can he lose that? How can he let the truth die here?

No. It won't do.

So he'll start, of course, at the easiest place. Home. Theon may not have much pull with the rest of the refugees, but right now he's all Maximus has. Maximus cannot let Theon waver.

"I have something important to tell you." He says it abruptly, after a stint of restless pacing.

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Theon’s life has been wholly uneventful since Ramsay’s departure. He can do none of his favorite activities with his injured hand, and thus he’s been confined to a dull existence by Claire’s orders. He allows Maximus his pacing, asks no questions, and instead tries to focus on scrolling through the network with a vague hope that he might find his sister’s name or Robb’s. Alison is almost uncomfortably close by, her black eyes watching Maximus far more closely and suspiciously than any dog has the right to.

"Now that you’ve stopped wearing a hole in the floor?," he inquires, raising his eyes at last. Despite his attempt at humor, he can tell that Maximus is worried about something, and his anxiety is both irritating Theon and raising his anxiety level by proxy.

"What is it?"

He moves to sit across from Theon, aware of the dog watching him but paying it no mind. It's important for Maximus that he sees Theon while they speak, that Theon sees him.

"A woman as awakened up in Thesa Station. Her name is Medusa, she is from Attilan, my sister in law."

Most people are usually happy to see friends or loved ones. Maximus does not look quite so pleased.

"Do you remember the people I told you about? She's one of them."

Alison growls as Maximus comes closer, but she doesn’t move from Theon’s side. The dog would ordinarily attack anyone she considers to be a threat to Theon, but Maximus has a familiar face and his tone of voice is similar to that of her master’s. He’s confusing, and she doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Theon doesn’t offer his trust easily, but anyone who braves Ramsay’s hound like this just to look him in the eye must be worthy of it. His eyebrows knit together as Maximus speaks. He does recall that conversation, and recalls likening it in his mind to how what had become of Robb.

"What do you think she’ll do here?"

The question comes slow and suspicious. He and Maximus are similar when it comes to friends or family who have woken here. They’ve only made Theon angry, skeptical, upset, or sent him into a flurry of guilt and regret. It’s never good, and it never truly pleases him.

"Are you worried?"

"You would be worried, too, if you knew her." Not that Medusa can do anything. A rational person would see that, but Maximus is inherently threatened. He can imagine any number of things she could do to compromise his comfort and security.

"She'll no doubt start spreading her lies. Her people cast her out because they distrusted her. Is that someone we can truly accept into our growing community?"

"No," he admits, worry settling into his expression. It sounds too much like his own situation; or what he believes his own situation to be. He can’t trust people he’s known for half his life, people he grew up alongside.

"People of my world have done the same. They spread lies, and they try to deceive others."

They try deceive me is what he really means, but what he refuses to say. That’s fine. It shows on his face.

"And others believe them without question."

This is why Maximus likes Theon so much. Theon, unlike anyone else, unlike all the supporters Maximus had gained and then lost, truly understands. Maximus does not need to convince him of what is right and what is wrong in the world. Theon knows, and Maximus appreciates it.

"People will believe Medusa. She's good at hiding what she is." His eyes glance up to a nearby window, though nothing's there, but it's as if he's worried that something somehow is listening. "You won't believe her, though, will you?"

He shakes his head quickly, tensing so much that Alison pulls her gaze away from Maximus to worry at Theon’s hand, as if to calm him. She’s a good dog, really, but her efforts are wasted. Who does he trust anymore? The list is very short, and his own name isn’t even on it. Maximus is, though. They seem to understand one another, and that’s something that Theon desperately needs, especially now.

"No."

His eyes are wide, following Maximus’s gaze to the window. He hasn’t told anyone where he’s staying, but would anyone really be surprised?

"Do you—have you managed to find out if she’ll be settling in Olympia or Wyver? Either one comes along with its negative aspects."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Do you have that saying in Westeros?" Maximus assumes they must have some version of it. The principle is the same and, from what he knows of Theon's home, enemies were abundant.

Either way, he doesn't bother to explain it. He trusts that Theon will understand well enough what it means.

"I told her I'd be her guide. Dangerous to have her so near, but easier to watch what she does. If she truly believes I've forgiven her for her actions, then perhaps there'll be no problems at all."

Not the exact saying, but certainly the sentiment. It hits a little too hard, and perhaps not in the way Maximus intends. Theon scowls as unpleasant memories of his childhood flood back.

"Aye, we have it," he huffs. "For half of my life, I lived that saying. I was the enemy they sought to keep close."

It didn’t help either side in the end, did it?, he thinks bitterly, gently pushing Alison away from his hand before she can destroy the bandages. He offers Maximus an uncertain glance, wondering briefly how fool he must be to put himself so close to someone who could betray him at any moment. Theon has distanced himself from those who he finds distrustful. Maximus is no fool, though. Theon has gathered that much. He’s smarter than most, and always on his toes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be breaching this subject at all.

"And if she doesn't believe that you've forgiven her?"

Maybe Maximus had been living it, too, and he never realized. It's not something to think about - not right now.

"She will." The conviction in Maximus' voice does all the convincing most people might need. "She's, stupidly, merciful. And full of misplaced pity." A fact which Maximus hates, because he has asked for neither of those things and yet she offers them so freely. "Medusa is intuitive, but she's not clever like you and I are. She'll convince herself to believe me, and I won't have to do anything."

Theon is thoroughly convinced. What is there to doubt. Maximus seems to know this women, and after all, he has yet to doubt Theon’s word when it comes to the other Westerosi. He can’t help but give a proud little smirk at being called clever. It’s been a long time since he’s heard a compliment, and it does his heart good.

"It would still be wise to have a second course of action," he points out, falling right back into the role he played at Robb’s side. An advisor, a follower, a supporter, offering sage advice that may or may not be accepted. "Even the dullest minds can grow cautious."

Maximus hums. Theon is right, and Maximus always has a plan or two up his sleeve. He gets up to move to the window, to look out at the street and the people walking by in their quiet reverence. All Maximus sees is pawns. Mindless drones. People who may never amount to anything or who are undeserving of what they've got.

Without reason, he hates them all.

"I've detained her before. She'd do well to remember it."

"Aye, she would do well to," he admits, rising to his feet to join Maximus at the window. He sinks onto his elbows immediately, leaning against the sill to watch the figures rush by. The two of them are more similar than Theon realizes. He finds himself hating every single one of those people as well, wishing they were just as miserable as he is.

"The real question is whether she will or not."

He glances up, smirking.

"A backup plan is all I’m suggesting."

Maximus looks to Theon, barely turning his head to glance that way from the corner of his eyes. He regards the other man for a moment before going back to the people on the street.

"I know. I'll need to see how she fares for her first week here. Who she starts to befriend, who she starts to avoid. Will you help me?" Theon is, after all, a member of the Guard. Easy enough for someone to trust and easier still to move around the city and watch what happens.

“Of course.”

It’s a quick enough response. The request puts something of a weight on his shoulders, but he says nothing in regards to that. The Royal Guard has its few perks, but he’s begun to approach and leave his post with the same dissatisfaction and twisted feeling in the pit of his stomach. He blames his uncle and Ramsay. They both requested things of him that have sparked an irritating, nagging guilt somewhere in the back of his mind. He tries to silence it by telling it that he did what he had to do, but it never seems to go away. He’ll still help, but eventually he’s going to have to shed himself of his guard duties.

“What would you have me do?

"I'm stuck up at Simwe all day. The only people I see or speak to are the same people there with me, and I doubt Medusa will come up in conversation. You have the advantage of being on the streets, among the people. You've got eyes where I don't."

And maybe, somehow, Maximus senses that Theon might need an extra touch of encouragement. So he turns again to look at him, expression softer.

"I'd never ask you if I didn't trust you."

He hasn’t been trusted for some time. As far as he’s concerned, the ironborn never truly trusted him and what little trust the northmen placed into him was stripped away the minute he betrayed Robb. So he doesn’t mention his plans to quit the Royal Guard, not when the position is of use to the situation at hand. He doesn’t want to lose what little trust he’s been granted now.

“I know,” he confirms, and he thinks that much is true. He thinks he has Maximus figured out well enough to know that he wouldn’t ask this much of him if he didn’t truly trust him. They’re both suspicious men. Whether or not time and experience has made Maximus suspicious as it has with Theon is still a question that needs to be answered.

“I’ll listen. I’ll watch. If I catch wind of anything, I’ll let you know.”

"Thank you, Theon."

Maximus reaches over, clasping Theon on the shoulder and giving it a squeeze. He'd trusted people in Attilan, of course, and they'd all turned on him. He has a way of dealing with those sort of people, though, so for now, having Theon on board is well enough.

Maximus doesn't think Theon will betray him.

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