Friend or Foe? (Tag: Alyssa)

Tulio wasn't the hugest fan of gardens, but he did enjoy going there every once in a while. It was usually a pretty quiet place, and Tulio always enjoyed quiet. The only time it got noisy was when a bunch of girls came to pick flowers at once. But that usually only happened before a festival or a big event of some sort. Right now, the only sound was the wind blowing and the chirp of a cricket or two. Tulio soon sat himself on a bench with a huge tome in his lap. Big books frightened some people, but Tulio loved them. He soon became lost in his reading, his eyes solely on the pages in front of him. In fact, he was so absorbed in his reading that he didn't even notice another person enter the garden.

Alyssa was taking a break from her work when she had spotted the man with the large book blinking at the sight she quietly ordered her servant to take her over to the young man, it was not someone she recognized but considering the book perhaps a lower noble? or a knight of the house? she began going over a mental list of the people she knew about by rumor or raven in the Lannister household.

Deciding to play with him for her amusement she waited till all his attention was on his book before she leaned in speaking to him "Mmm the first edition copy explains everything a bit better you know~ before the maesters did all the editing"

Tulio nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice suddenly sounded behind him.  He spun around to see that it was a young girl, one that he didn't recognize.  She looked about Madeline's age, maybe a bit younger.  She seemed harmless enough, but it still took Tulio a moment to calm down and get his breath back.  Being paranoid all the time didn't do many good things for his heart.  "Who are you?" he asked bluntly, if a bit rudely.  Social graces weren't exactly Tulio's strong point and it was something that put most people off.  There were a few exceptions, but this made it hard for him to have any friends.

"Hmmm.... brash, rude to a lady, an avid reader and without lannister crest....around 20 years of age" she noted aloud with a bemused smile, she couldnt help it but this poor rude boy amused her it let her true colors show but for a moment as she took a breath then only giggled donning her mask soon trying not to giggle maiden "forgive me for being rude, I just never met anyone else that likes reading as much as me.... I am Alyssa Baelish, Lady of Harrenhal and Lady Paramount of the Trident and I think you are the Lannister's foster child? then we have alot more in common, we are both orphans though my incident was more recent then your own"

Tulio's brow furrowed. "Pointing out the obvious isn't really a skill, you know," he said. The girl certainly had guts though. Most people probably would have left by now. Not many of them could handle Tulio's company for very well. He gave a little nod when she asked if he was the foster child of the Lannisters. "Tulio...Voss," he said, introducing himself. He felt it only fair since Alyssa had done the same. Although his brow furrowed once again when she said they were kind of alike. "Unless your parents were eaten by a dragon, I think the similarities pretty much end there," he replied.

"No.... my mother wasted away by disease and my father could not bare life without her so he killed himself.... and the same disease that killed my mother destroyed my brothers. I believe eaten by a dragon would have been kinder" she stated firmly not going to put up with this childishness from a man older then herself.

A lot of people had lost loved ones through some kind of tragedy the gods didnt care who lived or died, so she found complaining or tossing it up like a wall pointless "Voss... a vassel house not a great house but rich in resources making it a rival to the Lannisters. But then again here you are, your head of your house and not a boy anymore... you must love it here then or else you would not stay unless... there is another reason" she said her last statement to pierce as her eyes focused into Tulio's as if she was discerning every part of him before nodding her head.

Smilling again as if she knew something he did not before declaring quite simply "I like you, I think we should be friends if your not scared of a little girl that is" challenging him by catching him between a rock and a hard place well... more like between her and admittance to cowardice

"I doubt that," Tulio said. Being eaten alive sounded painful, especially when you were still alive on the way down. At that point, you were probably just slowly disintegrated by the dragon's stomach acid. "There's not exactly any other place I can go," he said defensively. "Except maybe the Wall. But I'd never last there, so staying here is my only option." Phoebus would probably never let him live on his own until he was married. He, and some of the other Lannisters, claimed they were worried about him, and concerned about his health. Whatever that meant. He raised an eyebrow when Alyssa suggested that they should be friends. "Friends?" He gave a hollow laugh. "Nobody wants to be friends with me, unless they like having a thorn in their side." The phrase had been used to describe him more than once, from people in the castle that loved to gossip. The Lannisters had never said it to his face, but Tulio would bet a hundred gold pieces that they had thought it at least once.

"Did you know dragons do not eat raw meat? they cook it in their fire first... it is the only animal other then humans to do such.... its kind of an odd habit when you think of it" looking at him, he was a pitiable excuse for a head of house but his wealth would be useful and he seemed to think he was trapped.... she could work with that.

Letting out a small chuckle "I like thorn's they show that even the most pretty things have their weapons... you are handsome so no doubt you have thorns if only you would use them. I must say I pity you, seeming so stuck behind Lannister walls, like a caged dog funny thing about situations like that? more often then naught it is the caged person who can free themselves"

Nodding her head as she turned her gaze from him to the flowers of the garden "Though if your happy being a pretty thing in the garden I wont stop you, though im surprised you havent picked up on something I was hoping it was because you didnt want to make a scene but your too blunt to not.... I kind of like that about you" smirking as she gazed back at Tulio

".... the title Lady Paramound of the Trident means I manage the Riverlands and my house holds the title of a great house, I am female crippled and about 8 years you junior yet.... I didnt hide behind the excuse of 'there's no place I can go' or 'they would never let me'. You must be either very scared of your lot in life or without any pride at all to your family name to do nothing but sit there..... SOOO as a sign of friendship ill offer this so you have no excuses. Tulio, Lord of House Voss I formally offer you the small hamlet I own in the fingers, it was my fathers before me... he did like to call it a 'noble's training ground' made all my brothers succeed at managing it before he ever considered them for next in line to his name. If you ever want to stop playing pretend and put your head and money to practical uses I would be more then happy to help"

"So you know some facts about dragons. Big deal," Tulio said, rolling his eyes. Why hadn't Alyssa left yet? He didn't understand it. Why was she not thrown off by his sarcasm and unsociable attitude like most people? It baffled him. He raised an eyebrow when Alyssa said she enjoyed thorns. "Well, then you'd be the first," he said.

Tulio gritted his teeth when Alyssa called him scared and that he had no pride to his family. And her suggestion that she put his money to good use made him even more suspicious. "What's your deal? Are you trying to be nice to me so you can get your hands on my fortune? Well you can forget it. I've managed to keep it away from the Lannisters' grubby little fingers, and I'm not about to let you have it. That fortune is the only thing I have left, and I'm not letting anyone else get it."

Alyssa rolled her eyes at him and dropped the young maidens mask from her face completely he was scared and she had him on his toes so when he talked about his money? she laughed at him, truly laughed with her honest and looked him straight in the face "your money is worthless to me, I have everything I need and I hardly count calling you prideless and cowardly 'buttering you up'. You have a nice brain between those ears right? USE IT"

leaning back in her chair as she looked around "mmmm perhaps I shouldnt be saying too many things here though, I do despise eavesdroppers...." smilling sweetly at the servant she brought with her "could you please walk 3 paces and sing something for me? as loud you can please" letting the servant go off to fufill the order as she gently wheeled herself closer to Tulio.

"you chose friend or else you would have left so how about we do away with pety court politeness? friends talk to one another bluntly do they not? your really a scared boy are you not? do you not hear what I said I am offering you a way out. Course whether you would succeed or fail would be your doing, don't think you could handle it? that would be... truly pitiable, wasted potential"

Was Alyssa seriously suggesting that Tulio was stupid?  Now that was a bit uncalled for.  "It's only because of my brain that I haven't been killed yet," he said.  "Ned Stark wasn't very smart, and look where that got him.  He couldn't last a year in King's Landing.  Meanwhile, I've made it several years in this place.  If someone's going to outwit me, they're in for a challenge."  He wondered if that was what Alyssa was trying to do now: outwit him so she could swindle something out of him.  Well, he wasn't going to fall for it.

"I haven't needed friends before and I certainly don't need any now," he said.  "Why are you so interested in me?  Why not talk to Rose or Madeline?  They'd probably jump for joy at the prospect of making a new friend."  What did Tulio have that his foster sisters didn't?  What was it that Alyssa saw in him, but not in them?  It was baffling to him, and he couldn't figure it out.

"I met the young Madeline in the capital, she was a sweet girl, I believe we are already friends" she stated simply ignoring his prattling on... perhaps the boy was completely useless, he was too paranoid to mad perhaps. She said nothing more on the matter seeming to ignore his prattling and simply more her chair next to where he sat reaching into the pouch on her chair and pulling out a book. It was not a book of poetry, flowers, or any such things normal young maidens would read it was actually about ships and oceans oddly enough.

She opened it up to the page she had been reading about the different classifications of ships as she looked up at Tulio ".... by the way, my mother was Sansa Stark so I thank you for making me remember my family history"

Tulio let out a slow breath through his teeth.  He felt like he was going in circles.  Not to mention, he hadn't realized that Alyssa was related to the Starks, technically.  But he wasn't about to apologize.  Tulio wasn't the type of person that did that often.  His mind always twisted what went on in his world, and made him think he was always the victim.  "Look, I don't think a partnership or a friendship or whatever you want from me, is going to work out," he said.  "I'm already at my wit's end worrying about myself.  I can't add anyone else to the list."

"I didnt say you had to worry about me.... heaven knows from the look of you if you tried you would die of a panic attack" she said letting out a small giggle before simply going back to her book. She seemed to just file away his childish behavior or was just as stubborn as him. Whatever it was, it was clear that she didn't intend on getting shoo'd away so easily. flipping over the pages of her book as she looked out upon the horizon "... have you ever been on a ship?" she asked nonchalantly.

Alyssa certainly changed the subject quickly.  Tulio let out a slow breath.  As long as the topic wasn't about him, he could stand having a conversation with her.  "A few times.  Not a whole lot, though.  Deep water makes me antsy."  There wasn't much in the world that didn't make Tulio nervous in some way.

Alyssa giggled at that last part before shaking her head "Did you know that King Tommen First of His Name actually wanted to name one of his royal navy battleships after a court jester? no one quite knows why but rumor had it that it was because the jester was kinder to him than his own father had been. He would have grown up a sweet lad perhaps even made a decent king before the dragons came, Queen Daenyrs Targaryen though was a lovely queen course she was also a terrifying conqueror"