Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Great. Just great. (Not really).

Not only had Brienne just gotten the news that she was to take over her colleague's story, but of course, being that that colleague was Ronnet Connington, he'd left her no notes or anything to go from before walking out on (or getting fired; the watercooler gossip wasn't completely sure which one. Yet) The Hum, an online news site that covered everything from politics over sports to celebrity gossip and random quizzes, video collections and trends. Now she had to scramble together an article about Beardwatch asap and until five minutes ago, she'd never heard of this Beardwatch thing to begin with. Well, there was nothing for it. Cursing Connington in her mind (albeit being fun) was not going to help her. With no time to procrastinate, Brienne got herself a fresh mug of coffee, sat down at her desk, cracked her knuckles, pulled her office chair in a good position and began researching.

Half an hour later, she knew at least what it was exactly that she was supposed to be writing about. And that Ronnet had really dropped the ball here, since, so Brienne found out from shooting an email to her superior editor, he'd gotten the assignment already weeks ago and delivered nothing. Now this year's Beardwatch was almost over. Brienne kind of regretted never having heard of it before. It was a good cause after all. Men let their facial hair grow freely for a month, starting out clean-shaven, doing daily instabran or yourclip posts and fulfilling certain pledges all in the name of making as much money and raising awareness for greyscale research as they could manage. Brienne really hoped her article would help bringing even more money in because surely donations were needed all through the year. She would've loved to have a well-researched piece, covering the history of the movement, the goals the participants had already achieved and what the money the men from all over Westeros had collected had managed to do so far, maybe an interview with the creator, but, being pressed for time (because Ronnet sucked) and having to work on three other stories at the same time, she went another route and used the fact that she was working for an online news outlet. She would pick one guy, watch all his posts and make a list of the best of them and his progress, shining a light on the movement this way that hopefully would entice people to want to know more. Letting chance decide, she entered "Beardwatch" into yourclip.wes to get started, put on some headphones and clicked the first video that said "Day 1" in its title.

Once the clip started playing, a (to be honest, very) good-looking man, possibly around her own age, came into view. His blonde hair was mostly covered by a black beanie with only a few locks peeking out behind his ears, he was fiddling with his camera until he seemed satisfied and finally took a seat on a comfy looking couch. Brienne sat back in her office chair and watched him make his introductions, a legal pad in her hand to take oldfashioned notes. The first thing she wrote down was his username: LannTheClever. So far, so good.

"Hey guys, it's Jaime," he began, waving at the camera. "So as promised, I'll be doing Beardwatch this year. No idea how that'll go, but the thrill is in the suspense, I guess. Anyway, this is it," he continued, before turning his head from side to side to show his clean-shaven jawline (that looked like you could sharpen a knife with, by the way). "That's the mug we'll be working with. Or that I'll be working with. Now, those of you that were already there for the series I did with the surprise unboxing and were witness to that unfortunate food poisoning incident with the Dornish box, which I didn't cool properly, so it was my own damn fault, I'm aware of it, you don't have to put it in the comments. Again. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah..those who know me, you know I don't do scripted stuff. And I don't edit much. Frankly, because my editing software still scares the heck out of me, but that's not important right now. I'm positive I'll figure it out eventually. Or stumble over a good tutorial. So anyway: be prepared for a lot of bitching about whatever it is that'll sprout from my face. I've never let it grow past serious stubble, so I have no idea how ridiculous I'll look in case the beard comes in all half-assed...looking at you, Theon Greyjoy."

He smirked at the camera for a moment and let the comment simmer, before he winked.

"You also don't have to write any comments about how I'm dissing your favorite movie star. I'm not. I actually never watched any of the Iron Hostage movies, not into that stuff, but you're gonna have to admit, his beard is not all that. So, anyway: this is day one of Beardwatch 2021, come back tomorrow to check the progress and don't forget to like, subscribe and comment. I'll be making a 100 dragon donation for every 1,000 likes on this very video until the end of the month, so hitting that button really counts. See ya!"

After the video had stopped, a quick glance to the bottom of the screen informed Brienne that the short clip had already acumulated a little over 30,000 likes. Jaime aka LannTheClever was already going to be shelling out 3,000 dragons if he was true to his word. She didn't know exactly what yourclip creators made (might be worth researching for another time) or if this Jaime was even a well-known one (she'd check that later), but 3,000 was not bad in terms of donations.

Brienne scribbled down some notes about how to work in the general purpose of Beardwatch and its history in between a handful of selected clips before clicking on the video titled 'Day 2 - and now the watch has started' which was, thankfully, already recommended to watch on the right side of the screen.

Again Jaime popped up, this time wearing a red beanie, and, to be honest, not looking very different from the first video aside from that.

"Hi everyone! This is Jaime reporting from day two of Beardwatch 2k21. Uh, as you can see, there is not too much to see just yet, I guess I'm more of a slow beard grower. So I'm just going to answer a few comments from yesterday today, because all the stuff that I have brainstormed to do doesn't work with what I have yet. Let's see... StokedLollipop27 says 'Never heard of Beardwatch, what is it?'. Well, Lollipop, that is an excellent question. Beardwatch is an annual movement of men growing out their beards for charity. Shining a light on the serious topic that is greyscale and raising funds for research. Because even though the chances of catching it are thankfully very low nowadays, it's still a serious disease that technically has no cure. I'll put a handful of links in the video description that'll take you to some sites where everything is explained much better than I ever could explain. Anyway, it's definitely an important topic, and every bit of money I'm making off these videos will go into that, so keep sharing the links to increase clicks. Not to worry, it'll be interesting, as I just said I have things planned. No, I'm not telling you what things those are beforehand, though I will say that they're not all beard-related."

That was good. Brienne knew she wouldn't be able to put all 30 videos into the article but would have to instead cherry-pick a few and one in which the whole thing was explained was certainly most welcome. Also, his link collection probably saved her the time to look official pages up by herself.

"RoseWithoutAThorn asks 'Why have you never grown a beard before? Beards rock!' Uh..I didn't want to? I don't know, I mean it's definitely not the most awesome feeling in the world to pull a razor across your face every day and give yourself cuts when you're still half asleep. And I have had a few days worth of stubble before when I just couldn't be arsed to do it, but I just always liked my skin better being smooth--ish. Besides, not to sound conceited or anything, but my jawline deserves better than to be hidden underneath hair."

Brienne was very much inclined to agree with that statement. It did look sharp enough to cut glass.

"Maybe I'll reconsider one day, who knows? Anyway, question answered, next one: JonnyTheSnowman asks 'Are you going to continue the unboxing series? I wanna send you something from the True North' ..Bring it. Or, well, mail it. DM me for details, Jonny. I'm always down for presents. Who isn't? Just put it on the box if I have to put it in the fridge. Not too keen on another trip to the emergency room. I swear there's one doctor there... let's just call him doctor B, that always gives me side eye. You show up only one time with a tiny plastic ball in your nostril and all of a sudden they treat you like you're 5 forever."

Jaime answered a few more questions that didn't really have anything to do with Beardwatch before saying his goodbyes. Brienne hoped there was going to be more focus on the movement in the next ones, because as entertaining as this had been, it wasn't going to be useful for her article after all. At least she had the links from this video, and she copied and bookmarked all of them.

As she watched video after video of Jaime and his apparently neverending collection of beanies, she started to see the progress on his face. His beard was coming along quite nicely, not patchy as he had feared but even and full. Contrary to his initial worry, his facial hair grew rather fast after an initial phase of slow growth. It gave him quite a rogueish appeal, to be honest. And while it was indeed a bit of a shame to have his jawline disappear underneath hair, he managed to look at least just as good with the beard (not that that was in the slightest bit important for her assignment, but it deserved being stated, even if only in her head). His daily videos weren't overly long, ten minutes tops, but always entertaining. He was certainly not afraid to make a bit of a doofus out of himself in the name of garnering clicks for charity and had, on day 12, even taken his camera outside with him to go planking in the Great Sept of Baelor. Until an angry Septon kicked him out, anyway, after catching him on the altar of the Warrior. You never knew what he was going to do next, and Brienne caught herself thinking more than once that she would've clicked on 'next video' even if there hadn't been the need to. She had subscribed to his channel around day 5 already, to be honest.

After taking a little break to write up a first draft for the first half of the article, checking her emails, and source checking a few things for other assignments, it was time to go home. Brienne got herself some takeout on the way and settled down on her couch for an evening of watching the rest of Jaime's videos and writing.

"Hey everyone! This is Jaime on day 21 of Beardwatch, and as promised, since I've hit 500,000 views on the whole series so far, thank you for that by the way, I will now pay my debt and do what I've said I'd never do: Give in to peer pressure. I will do that damn cinnamon challenge that you guys have been bugging me about for ages. I got my spoon ready and the cinnamon of course, so let's see what happens."

Oh boy. Brienne had a pretty good idea what was about to happen, having covered the challenge last summer for an article when it'd been a hot trend, and so she knew she was probably going to be in for a laugh.

Jaime ceremoniously picked up his tablespoon and stuck it into a canister of cinnamon. He went for a generous amount and then put it straight into his mouth. Only a second later, his eyes became big and he started coughing, little puffs of cinnamon appearing with each cough.

"Oh Gods, oh that is gross! Oh fuck me, this is horrible! Why do people come up with that shit? Blergh! Father, give me strength!" He choked out, all the while spewing cinnamon.

He continued to cough and wheeze for a full two minutes more, staying true to his initial declaration that he was not good at editing things out, before he finally calmed down, his green eyes quite watery.

"Well...hmmrrmmr...let that be a lesson to you folks. Nev...hrmmrmmr...never give in to peer pressure. Shit. Do I have the stuff in my beard? Hhrrmmmr..fuck, I can't stop coughing. Gotta wrap this one up. Next time on beardwatch: Eating noodle soup. Sloppily. Nah, just kidding. Hhrrrmrmrrh, tomorrow the beard and I will try out the various styling products available. Wax, mousse, I think I also got some glitter..should hrrmhhrmrh be interesting. Definitely healthier. Damn, I gotta go release a loogie or two. Never do this, kids, seriously. Donate to Beardwatch! Bye."

Brienne did feel bad for him, she did. But she also couldn't stop snickering. Since there were more videos, he apparently hadn't suffered any lasting damage, so she felt it was okay to laugh at another's misfortune (sometimes, one just couldn't help it). She finally made a donation to the cause in any case to make up for it.

Jaime did have comedic timing, that was for sure. And he clearly didn't care to learn from past mistakes, because only two videos later, on day 23, still with some golden glitter in his beard, he did another challenge with bananas and soda, thankfully ending the video just before he very likely projectile vomited all over the place.
After that, things calmed down somewhat in the next few videos, so maybe two mishaps had been enough for him to get the message, after all. Jaime didn't do more crazy challenges, for which at least his stomach must've been very grateful. He answered another batch of questions in one, attempted to do an ASMR video scratching his beard in another (didn't work too well) and did, by popular demand, another 'beautification' video with more glitter and some flowers.

When Brienne came to the last video in the playlist, she was quite bummed that the series was almost over. At least having to take over this assignment had given her a few good laughs and entertained her.

"Day 29 of Beardwatch, Jaime here. Time to finally let you know about the surprise. What surprise, you ask, since I haven't mentioned any surprise before? Well, let me explain. Tomorrow, on the last day, I will draw a name from the list of people who have made a donation to my Beardwatch fundmydream and the winner will get to come here, to King's Landing, on my dime, and shave my beard off, so that I can get to look like myself again. Whew! You have no idea how hard it was to keep that to myself for almost a month. So, if you want to have a chance of putting your hands on me, make a donation now. If you already have made a donation, you're awesome, and your name is already in the pot. Good luck to you all. Anyway, let's get to today's thing which has nothing to do with the beard because there are only so many things you can do with one, and if I spill even more glitter on my floors I may as well move because that stuff is hard to remove, but it is hair-related: you're gonna see me wax my leg. Note that I said leg, as in one, because I actually already filmed it last night, and I'm so not doing the other one. Not for all the gold in the world. It's too painful! Feel free to call me a wuss in the comments, I don't care. Also: disclaimer. The following clip contains very strong language. Enjoy. I didn't."

Even though it had nothing to do with her assignment and she could've skipped it, Brienne went on to watch Jaime cursing up a storm while waxing his lower leg (a good journalist was always thorough, after all), and finally throwing his tub of wax in the bin with a face of utter horror before hobbling away from the camera and muttering about wanting a band aid and a beer. As for that giveaway, well, her name was already in the pot due to her donation of 100 dragons, but she wasn't going to hold her breath. She was just going to write her article and maybe keep an eye out for more videos from LannTheClever in the future.

***

One day later, Brienne had to eat her thoughts from the night before. She was back at the office, just uploading the final version of a piece on squatters in Flea Bottom to the Hum website when her email pinged. Once her article was up, she checked the mail program to see that there was a message from LannTheClever waiting for her and immediately clicked it open.

"Dear B. Tarth,
This is LannTheClever from yourclip.wes. I got your email address from the fundmydream website where I have set up the donation account for my Beardwatch contribution.
Congratulations! You won the lucky draw. Please send me your contact information as soon as possible so that I can make arrangements, book your flight, hotel etc.
Thank you for your donation to Beardwatch in my name. Don't tell anyone yet, but my little series managed to, with your help, collect almost 23,000 dragons! Awesome, isn't it? I'm looking forward to meeting you and so is my chin because it would very much like to see the light of day again.

Regards,
Jaime Lannister"

Chapter Text

Great. Just great. (Maybe? Possibly?)

Brienne couldn't believe it and therefore  read the mail again immediately. She was the winner? Damn. That was..unexpected. There had to be hundreds of people at least that had donated if Jaime had collected 23,000 dragons. But then she had another thought. This was a great opportunity, a lucky draw indeed. Seeing as she still had a few days before the article was supposed to go up (after all, late was late, and it didn't make a huge difference if it went online 3 days late or 5), it would make an awesome addition if she could actually put in a comment or short interview with a Beardwatcher (Even if she had to shave a guy for it). And so, although she was not too keen on possibly appearing in one of Jaime's videos (maybe that part was negotionable), Brienne clicked on the reply button, and wrote back.

"Dear Mr Lannister,
Thank you for informing me about winning your lottery. I would very much like to accept the offer/prize. Seeing as I live in King's Landing myself, there will be no need for you to arrange for my travel and accomodations. However, I would like to ask you for a different favor: I am currently writing an article about the Beardwatch movement for an online publication and would much like to include an interview with an actual participant. Would it be possible to meet up before I'll be removing your facial hair and ask you a few questions? 
Please let me know at your earliest convenience.

Regards,
Brienne Tarth"

It wasn't twenty minutes before she got a reply.

"Hey Brienne,
Thanks for letting me know I won't have to try to navigate the jungle that is the travelplanner website! I will instead donate the money I had anticipated spending for your roundtrip ticket etc. to the cause, I think that's what they call win-win situation. Anyhow, of course we can meet and talk before you get to shave me; there's always room for coffee, right? Seeing as I am kind of dependent on when you have time, I hadn't planned a definitive date for the shave anyway. Though I am hoping you'll put me out of that misery rather sooner than later. You wouldn't believe how much a beard itches at times..Also, seeing as you'll get very close to me with a razor, maybe it's better if we get to know each other a little first. Just let me know when you have time; I'm pretty flexible.

Looking forward,
Jaime"

Brienne quickly shot back another email, telling Jaime that, even though it was going to be late anyway, she was a little pressed for time with the assignment, and would therefore suggest the next day, leaving time and place up to him. It happened to be a saturday, so she was somewhat positive she wouldn't interfere with his work or whatever plans he might have. Jaime replied quickly, agreeing and suggesting they meet at 3pm at a small coffee house on Rhaenys Street he liked to visit. She had never been to the place, but she was not going to have any trouble finding it, so Brienne accepted. When the next email only contained a 'OK, see ya' plus two smiling face emojis, she assumed the conversation was over for now and went back to her work. The article about 25 debunked historical myths wasn't going to write itself, after all.

***

The next day, after making sure she'd find the right coffee house in time, Brienne found herself in the correct place a little early. She walked in, picked a booth in the back and waited, looking out the big shop window and watching the people passing by. It was at 2:59 when a tall man that looked like the guy she'd watched in all those videos briskly walked in and took a look around. Seeing as there weren't too many patrons, and she was the only one currently sitting alone, she was the first one he walked up to.

 "Brienne Tarth?" He cautiously asked.
"That's me," Brienne confirmed. "Jaime?"
"Hey!" He smiled at her, before sliding into the booth across from her and holding out his hand over the table. "Nice to meet you in person. I'm not late, am I?"
Brienne shook his hand.
"You're good, I was early. Nice to meet you too."

Jaime took off his coat and pulled off his (dark green today) beanie to reveal a full head of blonde, tousled hair. He ran a hand through it quickly and scratched his beard.

"Damn, it's itching again. Sorry. So? Have you ordered already? I know we said coffee, but the milkshakes here are sublime. Unless one is lactose intolerant, I guess. Are you?"
"What? Uhm..no. I am not."
"Then I recommend the chocolate malt shake with whipped cream. None of that spray can crap, they're old-school and make it fresh. There's tons of other flavors too, but I'm kinda old-school myself and stick to the classics."
"That actually sounds delicious, I'm definitely going to try one."

"Excellent decision! Be right back!" He got up and went to the counter to order their drinks. By the time Jaime returned, carrying two tall glasses with enough whipped cream to almost count as a meal of its own on each one, Brienne had gotten her notepad and an assortment of pens out.

"There you go, enjoy!"

Jaime slid her glass over to her before taking his seat again, nodding at her with an expectant face to try her shake. Brienne grabbed the straw and put it between her lips, taking a sip. Damn, that was indeed a good shake. Her enjoyment must've been plain to read on her face, because Jaime grinned and took his own straw.

"Told you."
After he'd taken a generous sip of his own drink, he looked at her.

"So? How do we do this? I mean, do we have to talk only about Beardwatch? Kinda feels weird, I'd like to just chat for a while."
"That's fine. We can talk, no worries. I'm not planning on giving you the third degree or anything. I just have some general questions, nothing too intimate."
"Great, because I gotta say, I don't really have some deep philosophical statement or reason for participating. It just seemed like a good thing to do, using what little platform I have to help spread awareness, and it also meant finding content for my channel. Kinda two birds, one stone, you know?"
"How long have you been working as a yourclip creator?"
"Oh, I wouldn't call myself that. Usually, outside of this month, I don't make daily posts, not even weekly ones if I can't come up with something interesting. This is just a side thing. It's a fun hobby and takes my mind off classes occasionally."
"So you're a teacher?" Brienne asked, already wondering if that made him the coolest teacher in school, or the dorkiest one.

Jaime shook his head.

"No, not a teacher. For now, I'm still a student."
Huh. Brienne would've guessed him to be older than her. At the very least, her age.

"I actually went back to school. This is my second time at KLU," Jaime elaborated.
"Really? How come?"
"Well, when I was younger, the first time around, I went to study business. There was a certain expectation put on me by my father to do so, you know? There's a family business and that. I never really was into it. After getting my degree, I started working for him, but it was soul-suckingly boring. A few years and I just couldn't do it anymore, the thought of having to continue for decades was horrible. So, since I was secure enough to do it, financially I mean, I quit the job and went back to study what I actually can see myself doing until I'm old."
"And what would that be?"
"History. When it's all said and done, I'm gonna be a historian."
"History happened to be my favorite subject in High School," Brienne smiled. 
"It's the best. So..what about you? How did you become an online journalist at...I don't even know where, sorry."
"It's TheHum. It's totally okay if you've never heard of it. Well, I really don't want to say 'because they actually hired me' because that makes me look like I'm not good at what I do and I am good at what I do, but that's what it boils down to. I was fresh out of school and they were the only ones that didn't require like 10 years of experience."
"So you're gaining the experience there now?" Jaime asked, before taking another sip of his shake.
"You could say that. I'm not planning on being there forever. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's a good job, but articles about real topics are more the exception. My bread and butter are more shallow pieces and I'd like to get away from 'Who wore what to the Varys Awards' and 'Answer 7 simple questions and we'll tell you what decade you belong in' eventually and move on to more serious things," Brienne confessed, before quickly adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with these lighter topics. They're just not my favorite."
"Eh, you still have time," Jaime shrugged. "You're what? 24?"
"29."
"Okay, before you leave, I'm going to need to know your exact skin care routine, but don't sweat it about the job: you still have all the time in the world. I mean, I'm 35 and there's apparently still time for me, so.."
"..so here's to us working towards our dream careers?" Brienne suggested.
"I'll gladly drink to that."

They clinked their glasses and took a healthy sip each.

"I gotta say, when you wrote that you live in Kings Landing, I was surprised," Jaime said. "Didn't even occur to me that the winner would be so close to home."
"Certainly not bigger than my surprise over winning was. I was not expecting that. At all. The only thing I've ever won was 50 dragons on a scratch ticket."
"Well, I don't know if shaving me will come close to that high, but for my part, I might actually pay 50 bucks to get rid of this beard," Jaime laughed, before scratching his chin again.
"It does suit you though, if I may say so."
"Yeah? Well, sorry, but it's gotta go anyway. And not just because I promised the community. You would not believe how much food can get lost in there. I wasn't playing that up for the video. Well, not much," he added with a (quite cute) crooked smile.
"Is that so?"
"You have no idea how much I'm jonesing for a decent croissant, but it's just too many crumbs," Jaime said, a long-suffering sigh ending his sentence. Brienne couldn't help but chuckle and Jaime quickly chimed in.

They continued to chat about all kinds of random things and trying another milkshake each (and a slice of pie). Jaime was really easy to talk to. Just like in his videos, he was entertaining and had no problem babbling away and going off on a tangent here and there. At the same time, whenever she spoke, he was an attentive listener. It felt like only minutes, half an hour tops, so Brienne was surprised when Jaime's phone alarm went off, and he informed her, not without regret, that he needed to go because it was already six o'clock and he had plans with his brother later tonight.

"Six? Really?" Brienne exclaimed. "Crap. And we never even got to talk about Beardwatch!"
"Right, sorry about that. I totally forgot. Look, I would cancel on my brother if it were a regular night, but it's a dinner party, so..my sister in law will kill me if I disturb the perfect seating order she probably thought about for two hours."
"Yeah, no. Of course you have to go. It's my own fault," Brienne said, with a hint of annoyance over her own stupidity.
"Hey, at least 50 percent of it is my fault. Tell you something: why don't we meet again tomorrow? We still have to work out the details of the actual beard removal, and you can ask your Beardwatch questions then. Sounds good? Or is that too late? For your article?"
"No, it's not too late," Brienne hurried to say, "I..I'd be really grateful. I promise I won't fudge it up again."
"Not a problem, Brienne. I had a really good time here with you. Plus, we still have that new Strawberry Surprise shake to try. How about we swap phone numbers and then you can text me when's a good time for you?"
"Sounds good," Brienne agreed.

They exchanged numbers, and Jaime slid out of the booth, putting on his coat and beanie.

"I'd walk you to your car or the subway, but I'm kinda running late already.."
"It's fine, really," Brienne waved him off, getting up herself and bending over to get her jacket from the booth.
"See you tomorrow?" Jaime asked.
"Absolutely," she replied, putting her notepad and pens away into her messenger bag.
"Great! Bye, have a good night."
"You too."
"Meh. Not too likely. Marge is a stickler for etiquette. There probably will be more forks than I have fingers on one hand."
"I never understood that. Fresh cutlery for every course."
"Me neither! It all goes in the same mouth! I don't switch that out between courses either!"
"Fingers crossed there'll be no flaky dinner rolls," Brienne grinned, rubbing her fingers over her own chin. Jaime's eyes widened comically.
"Shit, you're right!" He said, laughing. "Thanks for the warning. Keep those fingers crossed. Bye!"

He made a little waving gesture and was off. Brienne looked out the window of the cafe and saw him jogging by only moments after.

Well.
This had been an amazing afternoon. She was already looking forward to the next day (and seeing Jaime again). Although this time, she certainly would make sure not to forget to ask the questions they had met to discuss in the first place.

Two hours later, when she was vegging out on her couch, just starting to catch up with Steelcrafters, a show she liked about forging swords and other sharp items, Brienne's phone vibrated. Picking it up, she saw that Jaime had texted her and sent a picture of a beautifully set plate with four sets of forks and knives on the sides. 
'It's a nightmare! Wanna go for burgers tomorrow? I need food I can eat with my hands.' He'd written underneath. She quickly texted back.
'Burgers sound good. 1pm at Red Keep, the one on Visenya Hill?'

It was not too far from the coffee shop they'd met in today, so he probably wouldn't have to go way out of his way to get there.

'It's a date!'

Brienne knew it was just a figure of speech, and that, as friendly as their conversation had been and likely would be again tomorrow, this was still a work-related thing, but reading the word date did give her a small (okay, pretty palpable) flutter in the stomach area. Oh well. He certainly hadn't meant it that way, so she was not going to get worked up over that flutter and start down the whole road of 'what can it mean'. It would go away.

***

The next evening, Brienne was not so sure about that anymore. This second afternoon she had spent with Jaime had been another blast, and the flutter had made several strong comebacks over the span of the hours they'd spent together. Although, she did commend herself for not forgetting the work part of their meeting again (so what if she'd made a note of it on top of her notepad in all caps to be on the safe side) and had asked all the questions she wanted to, dutifully taking down Jaime's answers. They'd eaten lunch, and she had introduced him to the secret menu that she'd covered in an article a long time ago and that he'd, so far, had no idea about. He declared to be mind-blown and vowed to eat his way through it over time. He'd shared some stories of the dinner party he'd been to the night before, and although Brienne had no idea who the people were he mentioned, Jaime managed to make it interesting. In return, she regaled him with a few tales of her life (They weren't all that captivating in her opinion, but they made him smile or laugh often enough) which then led to Jaime sharing stuff about his everyday life. They'd discussed the when and where of Jaime finally getting rid of his beard, and Brienne agreed to meet him at his place tomorrow, because seeing as he clearly was ready to be free of it, she couldn't in good conscience make him wait for the next weekend (or make herself wait that long to hang out with him again). This time, it was Brienne who eventually regretfully said she needed to go. After all, she still had to write the article that was supposed to go online tuesday (and call her dad as she did every sunday). Jaime understood, but, and maybe that was wishful thinking on her part, he seemed a little regretful too over the end of their meeting (Not a date).

Brienne really hoped they would keep in contact after tomorrow. Jaime could be the easiest friend she'd ever made, and one could never have too many friends. The Gods knew she could need a little more fun in her life; she was running out of new Steelcrafters episodes fast and two of her best friends, Arya and Sansa, were still way up in the North, visiting their parents in Winterfell for their 30th wedding anniversary and watching their house and dogs for two weeks while the parents enjoyed a second honeymoon. Besides, someone had to help Jaime make sure he sampled everything on that secret menu, right?

Chapter Text

When Brienne stepped off the elevator in Jaime's (very nice) building the next evening, she took a moment to ponder the situation. Come to think of it, it was kinda strange, wasn't it? Going to a man's place to shave him? After all, she was not a professional barber, and the whole shaving business was supposed to be a prize. Yep. Definitely weird. If Jaime had been a complete stranger still, she likely would've backed out at the last minute or asked for a neutral meeting place at the least. She was really glad she'd spent some time with him before, that they weren't strangers anymore and knew each other at least a little. It was still a little strange, but tolerably so. She trusted him, and so she rang the doorbell.

It took only a few moments before the apartment door swung open, revealing Jaime.

"Hey, you found it!" He smiled at Brienne, making a gesture for her to come in.
"Hi Jaime. It wasn't all that hard," she replied, walking into the apartment and taking a first, quick (hopefully casual) look around. "Your description was very detailed."

And kinda superfluous, since simply providing her with the address would've been enough. But he'd only put it at the end of a long string of texts and if he'd only texted the address, she would've missed out on stellar descriptions such as 'turn left and walk down the next street until you're past the restaurant with the shittiest salad bar ever'. 

"When it matters, I'm nothing if not thorough," Jaime nodded. "So, do you want the tour before we get started? Something to drink? Sandwich?"
"I'm not thirsty or hungry right now, but if you want to show me the place, I'd like to see it."
"Sure. Give me your coat?"

Brienne shrugged out of her suede jacket and handed it to Jaime who went to put it on the coat rack by the front door. Turning back around, he clapped his hands once, before walking back to her.

"Alright. Well, surprise surprise, this is the living room. All my video equipment is over by the desk, I set up for later over there too because there's more room than in the bathroom.. what else? I guess you've seen the couch a bunch of times in the videos, uh..over there I know I need to get a new bookshelf cuz that stack of books is getting dangerously high..it's actually kinda strange to present all the things I see everyday..makes me feel like I'm the assistant on a very boring episode of  'Guess the price'."
"No worries. You have a nice place."

He really did. It wasn't overly large, but neither was it cramped (like her apartment was in some places). There were big windows that would make the room very light during daytime and the floor was hardwood of a nice, warm shade. 

"Thank you. I bought it back when I was still in my first career. Grew up in a really large house, so I wanted something smaller and cozier for myself."
"Mission accomplished, I'd say," Brienne smiled. The room did indeed give off a cozy vibe. 
"Kitchen is through here, but it's utterly unremarkable, so please don't expect too much. I'm afraid I'm only good at eating, not at cooking," Jaime explained, as he led the way through the first door. Brienne walked in and did a double take when she looked at the space on the wall above his dining nook. This was familiar..

"What do you know, I have the same poster over my fridge!"
"Shut the front door. Really?" Jaime asked with astonishment.
"Yep. I love The Song Of The Sword. Greatest movie ever made."
"It really is, isn't it? Wow. What a coincidence!"

Jaime shook his head with a little smile on his face.

"Well, unless you want to inspect my fridge, and spoiler alert: it's not that exciting, let's move on to the bathroom."

He showed her the rest of his apartment, except for his bedroom, which Brienne totally understood (even though saying she wasn't curious would've been a big, fat lie), before they went back to the livingroom to get this shaving business done.

"Okay, as I said earlier, I set up in here, because, well, you've seen the bathroom. It's okay, but since I insisted on a tub and a shower stall both, it might get a little cramped in there with a chair, me and you on top. I'll just grab a bowl with water and then we can get to it."
"Don't you have to set up your camera and..stuff?" Brienne wondered aloud when Jaime came back from the bathroom, carefully carrying a plastic bowl of warm water to his desk and putting it down next to where he'd already put down two towels, and the other equipment earlier.
"Uh..I hadn't really planned on filming all of this, to be honest," he replied, scratching his beard. "I mean, we totally can if you want to, but I didn't want to assume..after all, not everyone wants to see themselves on the interweb. Also, it's not like it's going to be a huge reveal; it's been only a month. Besides, unless I'd edit the shit out of it, it would likely make a superlong video."
"So, you're still not on good terms with the editing software, hmm?" Brienne asked (or stated knowingly, more like). 
"I swear the instructions are written in some language that I don't speak, and I even took classes in High Valyrian and Dothraki!" Jaime exclaimed with a grin.
"You'll crack the code eventually," Brienne encouraged him. She had to say though, the idea of not filming the shave was perfectly fine with her. It was very considerate of Jaime to leave the decision up to her. And he was right: she definitely didn't want to have her face on the interweb. Last thing she needed was reading comments under his video about who that unattractive woman with the razor was. 
"I hope so. I'll simply take a few quick pics of the progress with my phone, make it a slideshow or something. Anyway, let's see if we have everything...razor, scissors, shaving cream..towels...I think we're good."

Jaime sat down in his office chair and swivelled around to her, a grin on his face.

"Okay, I'm putting myself in your hands," he said, holding out the scissors to her with an encouraging nod. "Let's do this. Trim away."

Brienne swallowed hard and stepped up to Jaime, taking the scissors from him. Since all of the hair would come off, she at least didn't have to worry about making him look funny by styling him all wrong, but there was still the risk of cutting him sooner or later. 

"Try not to fidget around, alright?" She cautioned, before gently angling his head to the side and carefully snipping away the first hairs on his cheek. 
"Does this mean I can't talk? Cuz that's going to be hard," he mumbled.
"No, you can. Just...carefully. I know shutting up is a hard concept for you, generally speaking."
"I guess you do by now. You know, I kinda feel like I'm the winner of my own giveaway lottery. Not for the shaving, although that is of course a very nice perk, but for meeting you. I'm really glad we got to know each other."
"As am I," Brienne said with a small smile, all the while carefully snipping away at Jaime's beard. Ronnet messing up had turned out to be a good thing for her in the end. Without it, she'd never watched Jaime's videos, and never would've met him. Even knowing him less than a week now, they had already had a couple of moments that were worth remembering.
"And we still have to go back to the coffee house some time and try that Strawberry Surprise shake. Don't think I've forgotten."
"We can do that," Brienne agreed, trying to not let it show too much that it made her quite happy that Jaime apparently also wanted to keep in contact after tonight.
"Tell me when I start looking ridiculous, that's when I'll take a pic."
"I don't think you could look ridiculous...although, wait until I'm finished with the moustache area, then ask me again."

Jaime snickered.

"Clearly I need to show you the pictures of when I shaved my head that one time."
"Why'd you do that?" Brienne asked, forgetting to cut for a moment and giving him a surprised look. His hair was so...pretty.
"Wow, your eyes are really astonishingly blue, you know?" Jaime said instead, leaning forward a little to get a better glimpse. "When we first met, I thought they may be contacts, but they're real, aren't they?"
"T-they are," Brienne replied, a little flustered (and hoping she wasn't currently blushing as she was prone to do in all kinds of situations). Usually people didn't scrutinize her face, and they certainly didn't do it with a look on their own face that was...pleased?
"Astonishing," Jaime repeated, "Where was I?"
"You were telling me why you shaved your head?"
"Right. It was a run of the mill teenage rebellion, I guess. Was not allowed to go to the Lannister christmas gala that year. But since I never wanted to go in the first place, I wasn't unhappy with the punishment. Although, in hindsight, considering it was december, it was probably not the smartest idea to go bald to begin with."
"Let me guess: that's when you started your collection of hats?"
"That's right! As soon as summer is over, the beanies come out, every year since I was sixteen."
"I'm like that with scarves. I have a sizeable collection, I've been knitting since I was a teen."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Broke my leg one summer and couldn't move around much, and my dad got our neighbor to hang out with me, so that wouldn't be alone all day. She was an avid knitter and taught me. I made two scarves that summer. I find knitting to be very relaxing and it's creative too. Working on a sweater right now."
"Well, I didn't make any of my hats myself, but maybe you can teach me. As they used to say in the olden days: winter is coming. One can never have too many hats. Or scarves."
"Might take a while."
"That's fine. After all, there's a winter every year. Wait. How'd you break your leg anyway?"

Brienne told him about the little accident she'd had involving a pair of rollerblades, the steps leading to the entrance of Evenfall plaza and a cat while she carefully snipped away at Jaime's moustache area and finally his chin.

"Okay, I think this is as good as it gets," she finally declared, stretching. 
"Time for the main event," Jaime said, taking out his phone to take a quick picture of the work-in-progress.
"Maybe we should get you a towel or something, I don't want to get your shirt dirty. Or more dirty, because there's already quite a lot of hair on it."
"No worries," Jaime shrugged, and in one fluid motion unbuttoned his shirt,shrugged out of it, balled it up and threw it to the side. "I can just shake that out later."

Damn. His chest matched his face. It too was gorgeous. Toned with the perfect amount of hair.

"Did I just make it weird?" He asked with a hint of worry, when Brienne was trying not to ogle him and blinking rapidly because of it.
"No, no. You didn't," Brienne hurried to say, shaking her head a little to snap herself out of whatever it was that had just taken possession of her. It was just a chest, she'd seen those before. (Though never one that well-shaped up so close). She walked to the desk to pick up the shaving cream, a towel for her hands, the bowl of water and the razor.

"Lean your head back for me?" She asked, after giving Jaime the bowl to hold. He did and Brienne pressed the button on the can, releasing a good amount of the shaving cream into her left hand. She gently coated his beard with the cream creating a lather, and wiped her hands on the towel, before preparing to make the first pass with the razor.
"You look so concentrated, one might think you were trying to diffuse a bomb," Jaime murmured after a few passes of the razor over his skin, trying not to move his mouth too much, lest it disturbed her. His warm breath still tickled her skin.
"I really have to focus here, don't want to cut you. My experience is pretty much limited to armpits and legs." (And the area of her body she was certainly not going to mention right now.)
"I imagine that to be challenging."
"Why?"
"Well, they're fantastic, but your legs are a mile long, how do you reach the back of your ankles?"
"Same way a shorter person would? You prop your leg up or bend over."
"Hmm," Jaime made and Brienne could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, followed by a very quiet mumble she couldn't make out even standing so close to him.
"You okay?" She asked, looking up into his eyes.
"Yep. Fine," He was quick to reply, nodding his head for good measure. "Carry on."

Brienne shrugged and focused on his cheek again in order to continue.

"Crap, I must've pressed down too hard and irritated the skin. Now you have a red blotch on your cheek. Sorry," she said, as she discovered the reddened area that hadn't been there when she'd begun.
"Uh..that's.. okay," Jaime said with a tiny croak.
"I'll try to be more gentle."
"Mh-hm."

Rinsing out the razor again in the bowl, Brienne set out to finish the right side of Jaime's face, focusing on really not pressing down too hard and just letting the blade glide over his skin in light strokes.

As she worked on, after a while, Jaime went somewhat quiet which was a little atypical for him, but then again, moving his mouth and jaw for talking might have disturbed her efforts, so maybe he was just being considerate and wanting to make sure she didn't give him any more razor burn. The thing though was, that, right about now, Brienne would've really welcomed some distracting babble, some music, anything. It was so quiet, she could hear their breathing. And the lack of conversation, the otherwise silent apartment, it heightened her other senses and made her aware of it, too. She could smell Jaime's cologne a little better (which was a pleasant fragrance and he clearly knew not to douse himself in it), she could feel the heat coming off his body a little better as she kept gently pulling his skin taut, feel his gaze upon her as she worked, and quick glances now and then (personal reward) let her see and appreciate his fine physique a little better. The flutters in her stomach were back, too, with a vengeance. There was something about this whole endeavour that felt sort of...hot. Okay, so she was using a Kingsguard razor which was a safety blade with protection to prevent serious cutting, but when it came down to it, in a very basic sense, Jaime was trusting her with himself. If they had been living back in the old days, when there had been only straight razors, he would've been effectively putting his life in her hands. Trusting her not to hurt him. Giving her all the power over him.

"I think we're halfway there," she finally said, just so that something was being spoken, clearing her throat after hearing that her voice had come out a little husky. 
"Yeah?" Jaime asked quietly.
"I think so."

Running her fingertips over his freshly shaved cheeks, Brienne made sure that she hadn't missed any spots (and not because she wanted to feel his smooth skin under her fingers).
"Sorry," she said, when she saw Jaime shiver lightly, "are my hands cold?"
"Nope. Just the opposite."

Brienne looked up for a moment. Jaime was decidedly not looking at her, but at a vague spot somewhere over her shoulder. Hm. It seemed he wasn't unaffected by all this either and picking up the vibe in the air. Which would've meant there was indeed a vibe and she wasn't just imagining it. Looking back to her work so far, she realized that there was another red blotchy spot on his other cheek, and she was positive she hadn't given him another razor burn. Could it be that he was blushing too? Interesting. She hadn't thought him the type for blushing. But then again, there hadn't been any situations in their acquaintance so far that had had potential for such a thing. 

She was probably reading too much into it. Freshly shaven skin always felt more sensitive. Everyone knew that. It wasn't anything to do with it specifically being her fingers that had been checking (okay, caressing) his cheek. That would've been highly improbable. After all, Jaime had been seeing her face all this time tonight in close-up and that surely wasn't a sight to inspire blushes or heightened emotions of the kind she was experiencing. Still, it would've been a lie to say the idea that it could've been because of her specifically didn't feel good (or make the flutters in her stomach act up like they were enjoying the mother of all rollercoaster rides).

"You're gonna have to be quiet for a moment now, I'm doing the 'stache" Brienne said after a moment of pause that felt like it had been too long, deciding not to linger on all of it. Sure, it was a nice ego boost to be thinking that Jaime was getting a little worked up over her ministrations, but in reality it still was not because of her in particular, therefore only an illusion, and dwelling on it wouldn't be helpful, longterm. That little indulgence of thinking it for a few moments already had the potential to make their next few meetings awkward. She rinsed the blade out once more, taking a deep breath to get herself under control again. 

Jaime managed to keep his mouth shut as Brienne took off the hair above his (very kissable looking) lips, but he seemed to alternate between closing his eyes and opening them from time to time to quickly look at her and then, just as quickly, look away again. 

"One more and it's done," Brienne breathed as she was finally, thankfully, almost done with his chin.
"Thank the Gods."

He'd only mumbled it, but it had been loud enough for her to understand. Brienne was inclined to concur. She was glad when this was over and done. She needed a drink. A cold one, preferably. Screw her head back on right.

As soon as the last stroke was done, Jaime practically jumped out of the chair, still clutching the bowl, splashing sudsy, soapy water over its rim as he went.

"Shit!"
"Let me--" 
"I got it."

He put the bowl down and grabbed the other towel that was still lying on the desk, bending down to mop up the water from the floor. Brienne was treated to a prime look onto his jeans-clad backside. Maybe she could discreetly open a window or two? It was warm in here, wasn't it?

"I'm just gonna throw this in the laundry basket real quick," Jaime said, when he was standing upright again, hurrying on to the bathroom without waiting for a reply. Brienne was left to stand there, not quite knowing what to do with herself. Should she go sit down on the couch? Should she grab her coat and prepare a hasty exit because there was no way they could sit down to chat now without it being awkward? Should she ask Jaime where he kept his liquor (even though she was a lightweight when it came to alcohol)? Try to crack a joke?

When he came back from the bathroom a minute later, he was wearing a t-shirt. There were fresh water stains on it that implied that he'd splashed his face. Seemed a good idea.

"You still have a little shaving cream.." Brienne said, pointing to the spot on her face that was corresponding to the one on Jaime's still being covered in white.
"Oh?" He rubbed his hand over the spot close to his ear, but he'd mirrored her wrong and gotten the wrong side.
"Wait."

Brienne walked up to him, reached out and wiped it off. She shouldn't have, because although she'd spent the last half hour touching his face extensively, the flutters in her stomach still reacted like it was the first time she'd come into contact with him. Yep. She should've picked the hasty exit. Jaime closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, short as it was, exhaling slowly.

"You know," he began when her hand had left his face and he'd opened his eyes again, "I think it's only fair if we test if everything's really smooth."
"I already did." (Probably extensively so)
"Just to make sure."
"I told you, I did che--"
"I'm trying to kiss you here, Brienne," Jaime interrupted.
"What?" She asked, just trying to make sure that she had indeed heard what she'd just heard. 

He gave her a look so intense it made Brienne gulp.

"I swear I didn't plan for this, but... Tell me I got it all wrong. Tell me I'm imagining things. But there is something between us, isn't there? And it's not simply because we just shared what was probably the most erotic experience of my life while having clothes on. I felt it from the first time we met. I've never opened up so easily to anyone. Felt so at ease so quickly. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy, from the moment we sat in that coffee house together and just talked like we'd known each other for years. The thought of you walking away once the beard is off and maybe never seeing you again made me all anxious. I want to see you again. I want go out with you for real. And right now, I really, really want to kiss you."

The flutters in Brienne's stomach decided to travel lower and merge together to become a pleasureable throb.

This was still a surreal moment. Things like this usually didn't happen for her, and maybe this was a heated spur of the moment thing that wouldn't lead to anything long-term, make things awkward and all, but damn if she didn't want it to happen regardless. 

"You know..I do think I may have missed a spot," she heard herself say, before her brain had given her mouth express permission to give an answer. 
"You sure?" Jaime asked, already stepping up to her, his gaze smouldering. 

Brienne wordlessly nodded. With a smile that was to die for, Jaime cupped her cheek, his other arm snaking around her waist. He pulled her closer and leaned in (and a little up because she was two inches or so taller than him). Brienne's own hands found their way around the back of his neck as their lips touched. His mouth brushed over hers, softly, delicately, just getting to know hers; the gentleness and slowness contradicting the urgency with which he'd spoken before. Trying not to overwhelm either one of them, giving them both time to process what was happening and find their proverbial feet in this new dance.

At first anyway. 

He slowly pulled away, to gauge her reaction, his cheeks looking as flushed as hers felt, letting out a ragged breath. Brienne subconsciously licked her lips that were tingling in a wonderful way. Jaime's eyes widened infinitesimally and the grip around her waist tightened a fraction before he surged forward again to kiss her once more. Not so slowly this time. His lips moved over hers with hungry determination, taking her bottom lip between his, coaxing her to deepen the kiss. There was no hesitation on Brienne's side and she quickly opened for him, a tiny sound of pleasure escaping in the split second before his tongue slipped into her mouth, gentle but demanding, making her heart pound even faster and her knees feel even weaker..

It could have been mere moments or ten minutes; when they finally ended the kiss, Jaime pressing a few soft pecks to Brienne's lips before reluctantly pulling back a little, it still felt like it hadn't been long enough. She also didn't want to leave the warm cocoon of their embrace. Neither did Jaime though, it seemed, because while his grip on her waist had slackened somewhat, he still kept her loosely in his arms.

"That was..." he began and trailed off, a bit of a dazed expression on his face.
"Yeah. It was," Brienne replied, knowing perfectly what he'd meant.

And really, that was all that needed to be said at the moment.

They eventually moved to the couch and kissed some more. Talked, too. Made plans for the next evening and their first official date. Had a drink to mourn Jaime's beard but celebrate the fact that it got them to meet in the first place and shared a few laughs. All of it without any awkwardness at all.
By the time Brienne finally went home, stepping into the subway and waving to Jaime who'd been adamant about walking her to the train, it was rather late. She would need a whole lot of coffee come morning, but it was so worth it. Her lips were rather swollen, her skin was still a little flushed and she felt..

...Great. Just great. (Honestly. Totally).