I forgot to post this, somehow, but it was written April 4th.
Transcribed January 29, 2024, but backdated to the original date of writing.
Note: I did read the parts of Fire & Blood with Alys Rivers in them,
but I don’t have that great an idea of how to write her. Please bear with me. I’ll
most likely also change the way I write her after season 2 comes out. My intent
is NOT to vilify her! The character in this who has a problem with her is
acting on personal issues that have nothing to do with my own opinion of
Alys. I love her.
While Lydia and I decided not to canonize Aemond living on campus, I’ve
decided to keep that in this solo because otherwise, I’d have to cut a line of
dialogue that I don’t want to cut. (That part’ll be orange.) Aemond himself is
also possibly very OOC π
This is also so far into the future that a lot of things will
have changed by the time we get even close to here; we might even decide we don’t
want to use this drama angle at all. But hey, I still want to post this up
because it was a lot of fun to write and it brings me joy to make my friends
read it >:D
Despite how
cool he acted, Troy was really quite sensitive. He didn’t care if his schoolmates
attempted to bully him, but any sort of conflict with his close friends devastated
him. He was quiet about it, perhaps too quiet. He did most of his usual
activities—schoolwork, sports, attending parties he was invited to—but instead
of being the brightest light in the room beckoning others to share his joy, he
did his best to fade into the background, to call as little attention to
himself as possible. He was entirely noncommittal, going with the flow so much
that he could get swept away like driftwood in a rip tide.
It’s difficult
to say how noticeable this was from the outside. Troy never shared plans for
the future with anyone. He’d gone to college because it was the natural next
step after high school, but he’d never declared a major. His first semester, he’d
taken classes the counsellor had recommended to him. This semester, he was
taking Aemond’s classes. Next semester, if things remained tense between them,
he’d either take Cygnet’s classes or only undergrad requirements. Several
faculty members lamented that a young man as bright as he was—straight A’s in
every class—had no real ambition. When the counsellor asked what career field
Troy was planning to go into, he’d given her a confused look and told her his
parents didn’t expect him to work. Team sport were seemingly the only thing he
did for the fun of it, but even there he showed no desire to stand out. So if
he was more listless than usual, it wasn’t a teacher or coach who would notice.
Cygnet had
never really liked Aemond. She tolerated him for Troy’s sake, but Troy had been
acting differently lately and Cygnet would bet quite a lot that his depression
had something to do with Aemond’s dalliance with Professor Rivers. Cygnet hated
them both for breaking Troy’s heart. One day she decided enough was enough and
went to confront Aemond. Suffice to say it went badly: Cygnet tackled Aemond
when he tried to walk away; he pulled a knife on her; she bit his hand, forcing
him to drop the knife; and both Troy and Professor Rivers stepped in to break
up the fight.
“Really?
The middle of the hall?” the professor demanded.
“Would the custodial
supply closet be preferable?” Cygnet shot back.
“Would you
stop?” Troy sounded more exasperated than Cygnet could remember hearing him. “We
don’t want anyone fired or expelled,” he added, picking up Aemond’s
knife and pocketing it. “Let’s just talk in our rooms or something.”
“My room,”
Cygnet muttered. “I don’t have a roommate and it’ll be less suspicious than using Aemond’s.”
“I do believe that’s the most considerate you’ve ever
been,” Aemond said dryly.
“Stop,” Troy repeated firmly.
Not another
word was said until they were inside Cygnet’s room.
“Who goes
first? Are we drawing lots?” she asked.
“Fuck that.
Troy, do you think I led you on so I could lay with you?”
Troy took Aemond’s
hand and led him to sit on the vacant bed. “You said you didn’t want to corrupt
me, and I want you to know that no matter what happened, you didn’t. But… when
you—" Troy’s voice began to tremble, and he swallowed. He took a breath,
then continued. “You didn’t want to be my boyfriends afterwards, I’m not gonna
lie, that hurt. I figured I’d give you some space if that’s what you wanted,
and I’m glad we’re still friends. But… when we got back to school, you
immediately got a girlfriend. So which is it? Did you sleep with me and decide
you don’t like men after all, or is it just me you don’t want a relationship
with?”
Aemond hadn’t
expected Troy to be both that complex and that dense. “You do realize your
parents basically proposed to me on your behalf,” he pointed out. “It’s too
much pressure. I don’t expect you to understand, but I can’t marry you.”
“I think I’m
gonna be sick,” Cygnet muttered. Aemond was about to tell her to shut it, but
she made a mad dash to the bathroom and ran the water.
“Bad sushi,”
Troy explained. “Aemond, Baba doesn’t speak for me. I just turned 18 a
few months ago. You really think I’m thinking about marriage right now?”
Aemond
blinked at him. “I was your first and your family gave us permission to date. I
thought you all expected it to lead to marriage.”
“No!” Troy
exclaimed. “I didn’t! You didn’t think to just ask me before telling
me you didn’t want to date me?”
Professor
Rivers finally spoke up. “I think now would be a good time to tell Aemond what you
do expect from him.”
Troy
nodded. “Yeah, of course. Aemond, I love you. I want to hang out with you after
class sometimes, go out to eat off-campus, snuggle up and play video games. You
know, all the things we used to do. But I also… Look, man, it doesn’t have to
lead to anything you’re not comfortable with, but I need the label if we… if we
kiss again or make love again.”
“You grew
up in a whorehouse and you still call it making love,” Aemond muttered.
“Only with
you,” Troy answered. “Letting Cygnet fuck me is completely different.”
“And
Shadow?”
“I don’t
touch Shadow. I’m not going to try replacing you with another guy, Aemond, you
mean too much to me. I let Cygnet do her thing because she wants to, but I like
it better when she’s sleeping with Shadow.” Troy paused. “I’d enjoy it
if you joined us,” he added, looking down at their hands, which were still
clasped together.
“What about
Alys?” Aemond asked.
Troy’s brow
furrowed in confusion, then he followed Aemond’s fond gaze to the professor.
“I mean, I
don’t mind you seeing each other as long as I get to spend time with you, too,”
he said. “Come to my big games and skip the little ones, you know, spend at
least a couple nights on campus with me.”
Aemond felt
all the tension leave his body. He pulled Troy into a hug and clapped his back.
Then he tensed right back up again as Cygnet came back from the bathroom.
“It would
seem Troy and I are now in an open relationship,” he informed her, “so we’d all
appreciate it if you could stop being such a bitch.”
To his
surprise, Cygnet laughed. “Yes. Totally. And I’m sorry, you guys. I know Troy
doesn’t like me like that, but I still have feelings for him and I’m still
protective.”
Aemond
grimaced. “If you know he doesn’t like you, you should stop fucking him.”
“No,” she
said. “But you’re welcome to join us.
“… I’ll
think about it.”
