Work Text:
“Fine, whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow at Mom’s.” Clang!
"Ow..." Bronn said, his ear now ringing from the sound of Sandor hanging up his ancient phone so hard. "Just take a freakin' joke, man." His foster brother turned adopted brother had never really appreciated Bronn's humor, at least not when Bronn was trying to help. He had wanted to mention that the pretty redhead from the fabric shop would probably say yes if Sandor ever had the courage to ask her out. He had seen the way she watched Sandor, but it was kind of hard to convince him of that when the guy was a stubborn as a bulldog. He hit the power button on his phone and plugged it into the charger. He turned to get back to wrapping gifts when the neighbor across the hallway started blaring his music. It was a lot of metal and hard rock, which Bronn wasn't opposed to, but this guy blasted it at all hours of the day, and on Christmas Eve, no less. Bronn considered gift wrapping an art, and art required the right mood. The Bloody Mummers, Cannibal Star and Oathkeeper, all fine examples of the genre, were not setting the right mood for gift wrapping.
Bronn grit his teeth. Not going to let it bother me. I am NOT going to let it bother me...I am not...oh, for fuck's sake, of course I am. Can't have Christmas cheer with THAT going on. He threw open his front door, the bass of the music was reverberating down the hallway, causing the Christmas decor to bop in time to the beat. He made a fist and banged on his neighbor's door. "Oi! Can you turn the music down a bit?! You're ruining my Christmas cheer over here!"
The door flung open, a petite woman stood in front of him. Her thick, soft brown hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail. Her chocolate brown eyes showed that she was as startled as he felt, but she gave him a once over. He felt oddly naked under her careful eye. The corner of her mouth twitched into a slight smile, just the hint of a dimple showing in her smooth porcelain skin, marred only by some red gunk. He noticed similar marks on her hands. She turned around and grabbed a remote. Pushing a button, the music ceased and quiet ruled the apartment building once more. "Sorry about that," she said with a half-grin. "Guess I'm going a bit deaf. The music helps me work."
"What kind of work, body dismemberment?" he said with a grin. She laughed.
"Oh, nothing that messy. I assume you're my neighbor, Mr. 5C?" she asked.
He nodded. "Name's Bronn. And you, Mrs. 5D?" he asked, purposefully giving her a title.
"Not a Missus," she said coyly. "Just a miss, single as single can get."
"Not even a casual date?" he asked, the grin never leaving his face.
She laughed, "Straight-shooter, then? No, no dating of any sort at the moment. And I'm Margaery, pleased to meet you Bronn. Would you like to come in? I can show you my work, if you like."
"Ah, I would normally love to, but I have a mountain of presents to wrap. Probably be up half the night. My grinch of a brother dumped all his presents at my place and asked me to do the honors." Bronn hadn't minded at the time, but right now, it was preventing him from learning more about the cute neighbor.
"You must be very good at gift-wrapping for him to trust you with such an endeavor." She leaned against the door frame, giving Bronn the impression she didn't want him to leave any more than he did.
"I'm just really good with my hands, I suppose." Let her take from that what she will.
"I bet. Well, if you would like to come over in the morning, my brother will probably have stopped by with his usual delivery of a home cooked breakfast. He seems to think I might forget to eat, and always brings too much. You are welcome to partake of it with me." She bit her lip and looked up at him through her lush lashes. "Unless there's a Mrs. Bronn I need to watch out for."
"No...no missus. Just me and...me."
"I'll keep the music down. Maybe Santa will bring me headphones for Christmas. I've been a very good girl this year." She leaned forward, her shirt slipping open a little, allowing Bronn a glimpse at an electric green bra. "Then again, it's you who's bothered by it. If anything, it would be a gift to you if I received headphones. So, Bronn of 5C, have you been a good boy...or a naughty one?" The glint in her eyes made him think she was hoping he would say naughty.
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, minx," he said, taking a step forward.
"Until later, then," she said, another coy smile on her lips as she slowly closed the door. The music started up again, but the volume was immediately lowered to a tolerable level.
"Until later, indeed," Bronn said, going back into his apartment.
**********
Three and a half hours later, Bronn was done with all the presents. He even added in the annual gag gift labeled "Sandor's S.O." It had edible underwear in it this year. He fell asleep quickly, looking forward to Christmas morning like a child for the first time in years.
**********
He checked himself in the mirror. Teeth brushed, hair clean and tousled a little wildly, making him look rakish. Perfectly rakish. He had worn similar clothing as last night, since he didn't want to give the impression he was trying too hard, but he did tuck in the flannel shirt he was wearing. It was early, but her music had woken him up half an hour ago, so he figured she was probably ok with him coming over at this hour. He closed the door behind him, took two steps to 5D and knocked. A man who looked a lot like Margaery, and must therefore be the breakfast making brother, answered the door. He gave Bronn the same once over Margaery had given him, except Bronn felt even more exposed under this man's eye. "Can I help you?" he asked, his brow raising and a slight turn of his mouth giving a suggestion Bronn was more than a little amused by.
"Is Margaery here?" he asked, his voice a couple notes higher than usual. He cleared his throat. "She asked me to come by. Wanted to show me her work."
The man's face fell in disappointment. "Oh, right, you must be 5C. She mentioned last night that you might come by. Come on in." Bronn followed the man into the apartment. "I'm Loras, by the way. I was just on my way out." He grabbed a jacket and scarf from the couch. "She's in the back room. Maybe you can get her to eat."
"Uh, ok? I can try, I guess."
Loras sighed, "You haven't known her long then?" Bronn shook his head. "Ok, well, when she gets 'in the zone', she has a tendency to forget to eat, or drink anything besides water. She's locked the door and refuses to let me in. I know she hates breaking her 'zone', but I can't lose my only sister to starvation, you know?" He shook his head. "Good luck, man."
With that, Loras left. Bronn was a little startled that the man would leave his only sister alone with a guy he had just met. Not that he had any ill intentions towards the lovely Margaery, but still. He saw the containers of food sitting on the kitchen island. Ok, food's there. He said Margaery would be....in the back room? He walked around. Her place was dark, mostly because of all the wood paneling and wood furniture, but it felt natural. The large windows had light, sheer curtains on them. In the daytime, it would be a bright, happy place. Right now, it felt like a scene in a forest, as the dawn peeked into the apartment. There were plants everywhere. Lots of roses, and at the center, a red rose bush, planted in a wooden box that served as a large planter.
He finally found a door marked "Studio". It was painted very colorfully. A hand print and what looked like a face print were the most dominant features. He tried the knob first. Locked, just as Loras said. He knocked on the door. He heard a muffled Go 'way.
"Margaery? It's Bronn, your neighbor from 5C. Loras let me in." He heard nothing in response, and was about to turn away when the door suddenly opened. She has a habit of that, doesn't she? he thought.
"Bronn! Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Please, I need your help! Is Loras still here?" she asked in a rush.
"No, he left, he's probably still in the building. If you call him--"
"No! He can't be here. I can't let him see. Oh, please, come in, it will be easier to show you." She grabbed his hand and dragged him inside. There was a stack of neatly wrapped presents in the corner, but the rest of the room was an array of paintings, finished and unfinished. Stacks and stacks of paintings, easels, paint tubes, paint buckets, so many brushes. There was a painting in the middle of the room, unfinished, of a man fighting. He was dressed like a sellsword of Ancient Westeros. Margaery had captured the moment well, the fluidity of the sword and the man's movements. It reminded Bronn of a panther.
"Here," she said, pulling Bronn out of his thoughts. In front of him, sitting on a table and surrounded by torn wrapping paper, was a sculpture of a man, similar to the painting in the middle of the studio. This was of a knight, not a sellsword, and his armor was very detailed, with a flower design on it.
"It's, um, a very nice piece," he said. "Did you make it for your brother?"
Margaery smiled, "No, a friend of mine made it. He was inspired by my painting and I mentioned that Loras liked his work, so Ren decided to gift it to him. Ren has had a crush on Loras since forever, and this is his way of telling Loras that. I was supposed to keep it here and present it to Loras this morning, but I accidentally spilled paint water on it. The wrapping paper got soaked and I had to rip it off before it could stick to the sculpture. Now I need to re-wrap it, but..." She waved her hands helplessly at the torn wrapping paper. "I really, really suck at wrapping gifts. All of those," she pointed at the pile of gifts, "I had a professional come in and do those. She's my best friend, and would come back to help, but she already went back home to Tarth. This one was one of hers, too, but it's Christmas morning, I am at my wit's end, and can you please help me? You are my last hope."
Bronn chuckled, "Of course, milady. I would be honored to rescue you from your distress. Paper and tape, please?"
She handed over the wrapping paper, green with gold foil flakes, and a pop-up tape dispenser. "Why don't you have some breakfast while I do this?" She nodded and left him to work in peace. He set himself to his task, keeping the thought in mind that this was a present for a new love. He was adding in some ribbon he saw nearby, carefully curling it, when he heard Margaery reenter the studio.
"Oh, my," she gasped.
"You approve?" he asked.
She walked around the table. "The wrapping is art all on its own! How did you learn this?"
He shrugged. "Grew up in an orphanage, the septas assigned me to gift wrap duty one year. I had a knack for it, so they let me have it whenever it came up, birthdays, holidays, times like that."
"How can I ever repay you? Both Ren and Loras are going to love this!"
"I can think of a few things, but your number and a date will suffice." He gave her a soft grin.
She gave him a lopsided smile, "An exchange of numbers, you have to let me text you my brother's reaction, and I will think about letting you take me on a date."
"An exchange of numbers, texting, think about a date...and you let me kiss you, right now." Her eyebrows went up, but he saw that she was intrigued.
"What kind of kiss? I'm not the type to kiss on the first date to begin with." She took a step towards him. "So it really depends on what you are expecting."
"Lips to lips, no tongue, unless you want, and I'll keep my hands to myself," he offered. He made a show of putting his hands behind his back.
"Deal," she whispered, closing the distance between them. She placed her hands on his chest for balance and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. It was by far one of the most tame kisses he had ever received, but it was more enticing than the rest put together. Despite her flirtatious nature, she seemed to be more innocent than he had originally thought. She broke the kiss, a pink blush painting her cheeks. "Um, wow, that...that was..."
"I know..." he whispered. "So, let me know about that date then?" She nodded. "I should get going, unfortunately. My brother, the louse who asked me to gift wrap for him, is coming over to help cart them over to our mom's house." She walked him to the front door.
"Thank you, again. You have no idea how grateful I am," she said softly.
"Anytime," he chuckled. He moved to walk out, and she grabbed him, pulling him into a fierce kiss.
"Tomorrow night, 7pm," she said, before pushing him out the door. "And you have to text me a dress code," she said, closing the door, but he saw the bright red blush that reached down past her neckline.
"Will do, milady!" he shouted happily through the door.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He read the incoming text.
Margie 5D: I don't like spicy food. Just FYI.
He chuckled and wondered when she managed to sneak his phone out of his pocket and enter in her number. Her skill set was interesting all on its own. He texted her back.
Noted, minx.
Another text came in, this one from Sandor.
Idiot Bro: Downstairs. Friend coming with me to help. Couldn't make it home in time for Christmas with family, invited to come to mom's. Mom already gave ok.
Bronn shook his head and laughed, his brother didn't really have friends, so this was a first. He replied back, Great, can't wait to meet the saint that can tolerate you.
He laughed even harder when he saw the ASCII art that made up the equivalent of the middle finger.
Idiot Bro: <^> Jackass.