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Aerion can be a good sibling (occasionally)
1-Aemon
Aerion was quite a simple person, when it really came down to it. He liked training and dragons and knowing that he was simply better than most people around him. He did not like almost everything else. Maybe once upon a time he was a happier child, at least Daeron seemed to think so, but there was not much left to be happy about anymore. Not after mother.
Aerion did like a good routine though. He felt it was imperative that he stayed in peak condition. That was why, he decided that some of the best hours of training happened while everyone was asleep right at dawn.
Usually he enjoyed this time alone, but today he felt unsettled, like there was someone watching him.
“Who’s there?” He called out, hand resting on his sword.
A few breaths later, the silver hair of his brother Aemon peeked out from behind a pillar. Aerion was about to tell him to go away, but paused. Something was off.
“A-Aerion! Fancy seeing you here brother-“ Aemon began speaking, but Aerion held a hand to interrupt him.
“What happened to your arm?” Aerion was no idiot. He saw how his brother was favoring one arm over the other.
Aemon tried to back away but he was faster, grabbing his tunic and pulling the sleeve up. He hissed at the sight, red burns crawled up the arm like it had been shoved in fire.
“Did you stick your arm into an open flame?” Aerion asked incredulously. Aemon was supposed to be the smart one, he expected this stupidity from Aegon or even Daeron.
Aemon blushed. He mumbled something that had Aerion shaking him to get him to speak up. Finally he looked at Aerion and admitted:
“I was trying to rescue my books. They had been thrown in the fire and I wanted to save them. It was too late though.” Aemon sounded upset. Aerion groaned, where was his older brother when you needed him? He was always better at dealing with tears. He paused, reconsidering Aemons words.
“Wait….threw them? Someone did this on purpose? Who?”
Aemon shook his head. “No it’s fine. They’re not important.”
“They burned your books Aemon. Don’t make me ask again. Who. Did. This?” Aerion did not want to lose his temper but his little brother was testing him.
“Why do you even care? Haven’t you threatened to do the same before?” Aemon shoved away, stalking.
Aerion did not blame him, he definitely had made that threat before. But Aemon should realize that it was okay for Aerion to do it, they were related. What was not okay was for someone else, some random person, making his brother upset enough to cry. He sighed, before walking in Aemons direction, unwilling to let this go so easily.
The next day, much to the entire families surprise, Aemon walked in at breakfast with his bandaged arm, walked straight to Aerion, and gave him a quick hug before running off. Even Aerion did not know how to react. The stunned silence did not last for long though, because Aegons cat chose that time to jump on their father’s head, thus derailing the moment.
(Aerion later admitted to Daeron what had happened, how Aemon had eventually given him descriptions of the boys and how he had tracked down those boys and possibly held them upside down by the ankles until they promised to apologize to Aemon and leave him alone. Daeron looked both proud and a little concerned but ultimately chose to say nothing)
2- Rhae
Aerion would never admit it, not even under pain of death, but he was very occasionally intimidated by his littlest sister. Or, more accurately, intimidated by the power she held. As the youngest granddaughter she was doted upon by everyone in the family, and all she had to do was pretend to cry and suddenly everyone would be at her beck and call.
That was why Aerion learned it was best to avoid her. If she complained to father one more time and he made Aerion do extra reading, he was going to find a way to burn her dolls and blame Aegon for it.
Her stubbornness and strength of character is exactly why Aerion was so shocked when he was walking down a hallway, and he saw her sitting on the edge of a window seat crying.
He began to slowly back away, hoping someone more qualified would come and deal with her, unfortunately she looked up and saw him, and before Aerion knew it, he had an armful of sobbing little girl.
“Oi….Rhae….whats going on?”
She continued to sob, making his shirt sticky with snot. How annoying. He shook her lightly to get her to focus. She finally looked up at him, her eyes red and face splotchy.
“The little sisters of the noblemen who came. They said that I wasn’t a lady like them because my mother didn’t raise me and that’s why I don’t act ladylike.”
Aerion didn’t think that this was a huge insult, more a statement of fact seeing as at 6, Rhae would rather climb trees than attend lessons with Daella. But this was Kings Landing and the people seemed to be harsher than Summerhall. This is why Aerion hated it when father dragged them all along for visits.
Regardless, they made his sister cry, so they must pay.
“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it.” He promised Rhae. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do, seeing as he couldn’t exactly hit little girls, but he would figure something out.
Two days later, Daeron unceremoniously entered his room, plopping down on the bed as he looked around expectantly.
“I have nothing to eat or drink brother.” Aerion groaned, hoping Daeron wasn’t in one of those moods again.
Daeron shrugged and muttered something about being a terrible host before turning to look at Aerion, an amused glint in his eyes. “Just thought I’d let you know that father and uncle Baelor heard some interesting stories from some of the lords. Something about little girls being really scared of dragons due to a big scary man telling them horror stories.”
“Tell cousin Valaar to stop messing around then. What they do here in kings landing is not my business we hardly ever visit.” Aerion said haughtily.
Daeron stared at him a bit more before shrugging. He stood up and winked to his little brother, heading off to the kitchens most likely.
Aerion grinned, knowing that at least Rhae would no longer be bothered anymore.
3- Daella
“A delegation from the Tully family will be arriving tomorrow.” Maekar announced to his children at dinner.
Aerion and Daeron both met each other’s eyes and shuddered, this meant more time with their ‘political duties’ and less time for doing whatever they want. Now that Aerion was 16 and Daeron 20, they could no longer escape such trivialities.
“They will be here with one of their sons, he is to meet you, to see if a suitable match can be made.” Maekar continued, looking at his eldest daughter who had suddenly gone pale.
Aerion’s eyes narrowed, realizing he would have to pay close attention to this delegation.
The next couple of days were filled with awkward meetings and everyone paying close attention to Daella and the young Lord Braedon. He seemed normal enough, but he did not seem very engaged in the idea of marriage.
One evening, Aerion was taking a nightly stroll down to the kitchens, wanting to get some extra salt beef, when he saw Daella hiding behind a corner, very clearly eavesdropping on someone in the other side.
She made a shushing motion and gestured for him to come stand next to her. Aerion did not feel like getting into another argument with her so he complied. He strained his ears before managing to make out the words, the voice sounding like his sisters soon to be fiancé and his buddies.
“And she’s quite plain, honestly. You would think for a Targaryen she’d at least look good to make up for the fact that I’d have to marry into that crazy house. Not to mention the fact that she clearly acts like a simpleton.”
There was a round of laughter and jeers of drunken men.
“Yeah! I mean she’s pretty young so at least she’d be a nice fresh cu-“
Aerion didn’t hear the rest of it as he was too busy dragging Daella away from the door, his grip hard on her arm. They reached his room and that was when he turned around, not at all surprised to see tears streaming down her face.
Aerion and Daeron had initially protested to their father in private, saying that Daella was still too young and that she deserved to wait a little longer. Well, Daeron had been launching most of the protests, he just wanted Aerion there to help glare their father into submission. It didn’t work, but now Aerion was definitely regretting not protesting more.
“Hey, calm down. Why are you crying?” Aerion asked Daella. The man was a loser and Aerion would make him pay, but there was no need to cry over someone so irrelevant.
He tried voicing his thoughts to Daella, but she seemed to not agree seeing how she started crying harder.
“You suck at this. I want Daeron!” She continued to sob, betraying her true thoughts by clinging to him tightly.
Aerion sighed wishing his older brother was available, not blacked out somewhere.
“Look, if you stop crying, I’ll tell Daeron or one of the guards to take you to buy a dress tomorrow.” He tried bribing her. Slowly she started calming down, sniffling in his shirt.
“Fine. But you’re going to pay for it.”
Aerion groaned as she left, probably to wake up Daeron.
He sighed cracking his knuckles, time for the real work to begin.
The next day, Aerion was in his room, reading a book about the Targaryen conquests when he heard a commotion outside.
“Aerion!” His father thundered in, Daella and Daeron shuffling in behind him, both looking amused. He quickly stood up, hands behind his back. Aegon trailed in after, looking a little too gleeful. Aerion would have to torment him a little later.
“Father?” He raised his eyebrow, wondering how long he could keep it up.
His father took in a deep breath, the vein in his temple becoming very large and his face turning red. “Do you have any idea how the delegation, in particular Lord Baeron and his friends, ended up bloody and bruised and so scared they want to leave immediately and will not even reconsider opening talks for marriage with your sister?!”
“Absolutely no idea father. You should ask the guards.”
“Really.” Aerion worried that this level of sarcasm in his fathers voice wasn’t healthy.
“Yes. Really.”
Maekar was about to respond but before he could Daeron interrupted:
“It would be quite difficult father, for Aerion to do anything seeing as he was with me last night.”
Aerion schooled his features, nodding when his father looked between the two of them.
“Oh? And pray tell me what exactly were you doing last night?”
Daeron and Aerion glanced at each other, years of brotherhood passing between them in a single look before simultaneously saying:
“We were having a discussion about the affairs of the kingdom.”
Maekar looked between them, unsure of who exactly to hit first, before finally stalking out, to go placate the delegation.
Daella looked between her older brothers with a grin on her face. Even Aegon was giggling.
“Can you read each others minds?” Aegon asked.
“I hope to never gain that ability. No, we’ve just been through this before.” That was all the information Daeron offered before stalking out, Aegon following behind him.
Daella turned to follow, not before giving Aerion a quick hug and rushing out.
Aerion stood still in his room, finally revealing his bruised and bloody knuckles and deciding he had earned himself a good nap.
4- Aegon
Aegon and Aerion did not like each other. That was a fact of life. No one knew why, maybe Aerion never forgave Aegon for throwing up on him every time he was carried as a baby. Maybe Aegon knew that Aerion dropped him a few times as a baby. Whatever the reason was, they couldn’t stay in the same room for long without a buffer otherwise there would be blood. Which is why the current situation was a nightmare for all parties involved.
“Daeron if you don’t go get help now, I will find the most poisonous snake and put it under your bed.” Aegon threatened his oldest brother. He turned to look at Aerion, inching closer to the door.
Aerion sighed, wanting to slam his head against something, or Aegons head. One of the two. How they ended up in this situation was beyond him.
The situation being both brothers locked in an abandoned closet in the castle in kings landing. And of course their eldest brother thought the situation amusing enough that instead of rushing to get help, he was laughing hysterically behind the door. Aerion was seriously going to kill him.
“Alright stay there, I’ll come back soon.” Daerons footsteps.
Aerion and Aegon glared at each other, unsure of what to do next. The closet was not large, barely large enough for both of them to sit next to each other, knees held to their chests. Aegon kept squirming trying to get comfortable. Aerion had enough and shoved his shoulder, needing some space. He didn’t think he shoved that hard but Aegon cried out in pain.
Aerion frowned. There was no way his little brother was that delicate. He spent most of his day climbing trees and being a menace. He held him still and shoved his tunic down, showing his shoulder. Aerion hissed, it was a mess of blues and purples.
“What did you do? Jump off a building?” Aerion asked, surprised that Aegon wasn’t in constant pain with how bad it looked.
Aegon refused to answer, glaring at the wall away from Aerion. Aerion asked again, frustrated at the lack of response.
“Oi. I asked you a question. Answer me you little rat.” Aerion wanted to shake him again.
After a little scuffling, with Aegon crying out in pain again, he finally snapped.
“Why! Since when do you care? Or do you just want to join in and take a turn?” He slapped his hand over his mouth.
Aerion stared blankly, processing what he just heard. I mean sure, him and Aegon didn’t get along, and he wanted to hit him at least a few times a week, but the thought of other people doing that….he wasn’t too happy about it.
“Who did this?”
Aegon shook his head.
“Aegon do not annoy me further. You are the blood of the dragon you should not be scared of some random irrelevant people.”
Aegon sniffled, and Aerion prayed he did not start crying. His siblings needed to stop crying in front of him. They could do that with Daeron instead.
Aerion sighed as Aegon continued to sniffle, looking down at the much smaller boy, some dredges of brotherly affection being found deep down in his soul. He reached out and gently put an arm around Aegon, humming a tune he remembered Daeron humming when they were younger.
Eventually the door opened. Daeron looked at them questioningly but before he could comment, Aerion stood up and left, cheerfully calling out:
“About to go throw some kids off a bridge! Don’t follow me!!” Leaving Aegon to explain whatever he wanted.
5- Daeron
Aerion had mixed feelings regarding most things. People were too complicated most of the time, and it was much simpler to deal with his problems with physical solutions rather than talking things out. The only exception to this rule was Daeron.
Loath as he was to admit it, Daeron and him got along well enough. As children they were definitely closer and the differences in priorities and general life choices definitely made them drift apart, but despite that, Daeron was his first (possibly only) friend and confidant. He taught him quite a few things and definitely helped keep the younger children in place after mother. All this to say, despite their father’s regular complaints, Daeron was not as useless as people made him out to be. He was more delicate than Aerion though, and hated fighting and all forms of physical violence. He would never start a fight willingly, not if he could help it.
Which is why Aerion felt an undeniable amount of rage right now.
“Say that again.” Aerion bit out, his anger making almost blind with anger.
Daeron was sitting against the wall, his legs spread out and his head in his hand. The bruise blooming on his cheek was growing darker. He coughed and spit out some blood.
“I said….could you possibly help me to my room. I think my ankle is twisted.”
Aerion glared. “Not until you answer my question. Who did this to you?”
Daeron sighed. “Don’t worry about it. It is of no importance.”
Aerion was about to launch another protest when his idiot brother decided to try standing. Aerion caught him before he could fall.
“Oi! Did you manage to get your brain knocked out too?”
Daeron shuddered, before standing slowly again. Aerion sighed, slinging his brothers arm around his shoulder and helping him hobble to his room. Daeron was dressed like a commoner, and with the way he was swaying, Aerion knew exactly where he had gone.
They reached his brothers room and Aerion dumped him onto the bed. He hesitated, unsure of what to do next. His brother looked tortured, moreso than usual. Daeron must have sensed his hesitation because he gave him a small smile and told him he would be fine now. Aerion nodded slowly not exactly believing him but having set a mission for himself, he wanted to get it done before the morning.
He put on his commoner clothes, taking care to keep his hood up to make sure his hair wasn’t seen. He didn’t often go out with Daeron, but when he did there were always a couple of spots they frequented, his brother was quite predictable after all.
After an hour or so of searching, he finally found who he wanted to see. A group of large burly men, easily twice the size of his brother. They were obviously drunk, laughing loudly as they shoved each other. Their knuckles were bruised and one of them had a bruise on his jaw. Aerion grinned, at least his brother had gotten one good hit in, despite his aversion to fighting.
He hoped they provoked him to a fight.
They did.
It was over rather quickly, because unlike Daeron, Aerion knew he was no saint, and was willing to play dirty.
The next morning, Daeron woke up with a massive headache, and pain in his ankle. Somehow he made his way down to breakfast, thankful that his father and sisters had gone to visit their grandfather.
“Did you both get into a fight with each other?” Aegons loud voice exclaimed when he saw Daeron. Daeron was confused, until he turned around and saw Aerion walking in, matching bruises on his jaw.
He glared at his brother, who stared defiantly back at him. Despite his anger at Aerion for getting into an unnecessary fight, he couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. At least with the world seemingly against him, he knew and he was sure all his siblings knew too, that when push comes to shove, they could depend on Aerion to fight the harder battles with them.