Paying a visit [TAG: jeannie]

This wasn't part of the original plan, not of the lord commander at least, but Eric was sure that, as long as the lord commander didn't know, it couldn't hurt anybody. After all, being a crow or not, he had responsabilities that he had no intention to give up, and bing out of Castle black one more day couldn't awake any suspect. He had to pay a visit to some houses asking for more men, and he was on his own, how could the lord commander ever get to know where he was heading in that moment? He had done that so many times in the past, even monthly when he could, he was sure that he was safe enough. As he approached the familiar old house he smiled to himself. He had done been seing her for seven years and nobody knew that she even existed! He surely picked a good place to keep her, she was safe there, the family who took care of her seemed good enough, they lived away from the other people and they seemed able to keep a secret, he couldn't pick better.
Eric dismounted from his horse, entrusting it to the son of the lady of the house, then he walked in. The old lady was already waiting for him and as he stepped him she greeted him bowing "M'lord". Eric nodded to her with a smile. "I'm here to see her. Take her to me in the living room, as per usual, then leave us alone" he ordered in a kind tone but without loosing any time. The woman nodded again "Surely, m'lord. I'll be quick" with a second bow the woman left him, going upstairs.
Eric followed her with his eyes for a short while, then he walked in the living room: the house surely wasn't a royal palace, but it was good enough and surely more comfortable than castle black, beside he was used to sit in there. He sat down in his usual chair and waited for the old lady to obey his order.
Meanwhile the woman had reached the first floor where now she was knoking at a door "Jeannie, m'lord Tully is here to see you. Come down."

Jeannie had been sitting at the edge of her bed for almost an hour now. An orange and white cat, which she had taken to calling 'Sugar', sat on her lap and buried it's head in her stomach. Hearing that her father had arrived, she sprung off the bed and placed the cat on the ground. It meowed loudly as it scurried up a banister and outside on a windowsill. Next to the door was a small mirror, that she used to make sure she was presentable. Her hair was neat and tied back, and her dress was reasonably clean, giving the fact she'd been cleaning all morning. With a small smile- she trotted down the staircase gleefully, humming a tune to compliment the tapping of her shoes on the ground below her. She paused at the foot of the stairs with a wide smile, before skipping over to the lord Tully, curtsying. She giggled and threw her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. "I've missed you!"

Eric had to wait just a little while before he could hear a tapping of steps accompanied by a tune that was matching them. As he turned toward the door of the, he could spot the little girl walking gleefully toward him. He was a bit surprised when she threw her arms around him, hugging him: she wasn't supposed to do that, she was supposed to keep a decent distance and always call him by his title. She knew that, and by the look on the old woman's face she was going to get a reminder later. But after all they were not in public, there was no harm done and he had never managed to be tough with that little girl. WIth a gesture he dismissed once and for all the old lady "You can leave us now" and as she left them with a bow he caressed gently Jeannie's hair and smiled to her "How are you, child?"

Jeannie winced, realizing she'd probably out stepped her boundaries. There was a chance she'd be punished for it afterwards. She stared up with large eyes, in a silent apology, and gave a small smile. Watching as the woman left, she bounced on her heels. She always found it hard to contain her joy when it was time for his visits. Sure- the house she lived in was quaint, and the people were fairly kind- but something about being around her own flesh and blood was a giant relief. "I'm well. I learned a  new song on my wood harp since last time you visited!" She boasted pridefully, her small pink cheeks bulging with a grin. "How was your ride?"

As the girl moved away from him with those scared and sorry big eyes he felt sorry for her: a part of him wished that the etiquette wasn't so strict, mainly he wished she would have had a better father, a better family. He was fond on her and he thought he even loved her, but as much as he wished the best for her he knew he wasn't cut out to be a father. Nevertheless, he was the best she got and the last thing he wanted was to let her down, especially since that cute human puppy was so in love with him. "Long and dull as always" he replied shrugging with a smile "A new song, uh? Why don't you play that for me?"

Jeannie swayed to the side slightly, in a bashful sort of excitement. Skipping over to the corner of the room, she dragged a small harp from behind a bureau. It was poorly built and chipped at the sides, but it was quite possibly one of her favorite things in the world. Pulling up a stool, she leaned in to the splintered instrument close. Her fingers danced over the strings for a moment, as she giggled out of nervousness. Taking in a deep breath, she began to play a sweet song, reminiscent of a bird's music early in the morning. She'd learned it from the lady of the house, who used to play when she was younger. As she finished, she turned on her seat to face him, with hopeful eyes and a tiny smile. "It has room to improve." She spoke quickly, pushing a strand of red hair away from her eyes.

Eric followed Jeannie's movements while she run to take her little harp, barely managing to hide his amusement at the child's enthusiasm. He hid his smile behind a hand that he put in a casual way under his nose, giving the idea he was just reflecting over something. Eric then listened as the little girl started playing: such a sweet song. She was right, there was room for improvement, probably out of nervousness she took a couple of wrong notes, but for a girl of her age she was surely good, she had nothing to envy to a little lady. "That was lovely, Jeannie. You're truly talented." he replied to the child with a smile, not making any mention of the wrong notes. "And beside learning this new song, what else have you been doing while I was gone?" He asked after a short while. He wanted to know what he always needed to know: did she eat well and enough? Did they treat her good? Did she learn anything, beside the song she just told him about? Did she have anything to complain about? They were always the same questions, he didn't have to ask them any more for the child to know what she needed to say.

Dragging the harp back to where it belonged, Jeannie kept a smile on her face. "I've been keeping up with my work, so they haven't had a reason to punish me." She nodded. There were times where her little mind got distracted and she forgot to do her chores. She was surely punished on those rare occasions, and lost her dinner for the night. Her nose wrinkled in attempt to wrack her brain for something else to talk about. It was really amusing- before his arrival she had a giant list of things to tell him. But now that he was in front of her it was all forgotten. She sat down on the ground with her legs folded beneath her. "The boy has been teasing me again." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's alright though. He doesn't mean anything too bad." The boy of the house towered three heads over her, even though he only held a few years in age over her. He would pull on her hair, or push her in the mud every now and then- but she wanted to believe he only did it out of fun. She'd hoped it was a game of some sort. Still smiling, she shrugged again.

Eric had to keep smiling, but it hurt him when she mentioned the punishment, even though she said she hadn't been punished. But wasn't being an orphan and a bastard a punishment hard enough? Why did the old lady have to punish her? He tried to discuss that in the past with her, but she brushed him off with the argument that he knew nothing about how to educate kids. She was right, of course, so in the end he just had to trust her with her ways.
The fact that the boy teased her, though, made him frown. "I'll speek with Lady Anne" she reassured her, but he was actually thinking to have a word himself with the boy. Jeannie was under his protection, the young man had to understand it.
"And lady Anne? Was she nice with you? Did she give you enough to eat?" he asked after a few moments

"She's very kind to me!" Jeannie beamed, dimples poking through her cheeks. "She feeds me well. She even says soon I won't be so skinny." She spoke, sitting up straight. She was a tiny child, and it seemed like if you squeezed her too hard she'd snap in two. But what she lacked in size, she made up for in the size of her heart and spirit. "But i like being so small. I can fit through the smallest spaces." She spoke with an innocent sense of pride, seeing it as a great achievement.

Eric nodded at her words, happy to hear that the old lady was kind toward the child, the gods knew if she didn't deserve it! He was also happy to hear that she was eating properly, even though a part of him felt almost sad thinking she would have put on some weight. He loved how tiny and cute she was, she looked like a delicate little puppy, something that awakaned a sense of protection in him. "I'm glad to hear that" he nodded once again with a smile, then he rose up from his sofa. As much as he loved to spend time with her, he had to start to get going: the lord commander would have just been furious for his delay.

Jeannie swayed for a moment, her bright blue eyes watching him intently. "Oh Must you go?" She pouted for a moment, but quickly reverted back to a somber face of acceptance. She knew the visits needed to be short. They needed to basically be nonexistent. "Safe Travels M'lord." She said sweetly, as the Lady entered the room, noting it was time to walk him out.

When she asked if he had to go, pouting in that way, he felt a sting of pain in his heart: he knew how much she loved to see him, and he could come only now and then and only for short times... but he was already stealing time, he couldn't afford a stronger delay. "I'm sorry, child... I wish I could stay more..." he felt always so guilty when he had to leave, but as the lady entered in the room he realized it really was time to go. He bent down to be at the same level as the child and caressed her cheek "Until next time, child. I'll be back as soon as I can"