Lion in Savannah(A Jaime Lannister Story)

Total Honesty and Trust

After several minutes of silent glances between them, Jaime and Bronn began their tale. Scarlet sat and listened, interrupting with questions every now and again. The story continued as Scarlet made the three of them lunch, and while they ate. It went well into the early evening.

"Well that is...one hell of a story, fellas," Scarlet breathed out when they'd finished. "You don't believe us?" Scarlet smirked. "I didn't say that. I think it's so crazy it just might be true." Jaime and Bronn exchanged a surprised glanced. "Really?" Scarlet nodded. "Well yeah. I mean, ya'll showed up in the middle of the river wearing armor for god sake. Not to mention, ya have a gold hand rather than a prosthetic one. Nothing like that around here. And the fact that you're both tellin' me the same story tells me you're bein' truthful."

"So, where do we stand now?" Bronn asked. Scarlet sat back in her chair, pulling her legs up. "I'm not sure. I wouldn't know where to begin on gettin' ya back. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as ya want. I'm gonna be rather busy for the next couple of weeks what with St. Patrick's Day comin' up, but I'm sure we can find somethin' for ya'll to do."

"What is this St. Patrick's Day?" Scarlet smiled. "Well, it's traditionally an Irish celebration. Ireland's a country in this world. Anyway, it's a celebration there. Here, it's an excuse for everyone to get rip-roaring drunk. To be honest, I think Noah thought ya'll started the celebratin' a bit early," she said with a giggle. Neither Bronn nor Jaime could fight their own smiles.

"You're not drunk, are ya?" Scarlet asked with a smile. "I'm not. I can't say the same for Bronn." Bronn glared at Jaime and Scarlet giggled. "Ya'll must be really good friends to joke around with each like that." Bronn turned back to Scarlet. "I don't have friends, luv. Lannister here fuckin' owes me." As Bronn's voice got a little louder, Chief came over and tried to jump in his lap. "I see. Well, then I guess there's no point in tryin' to be your friend then, is there?" Scarlet quipped and Bronn backtracked.

"No. You can most definitely be my friend, luv." Scarlet rolled her eyes. "You're a flirty one, aren't ya?" Bronn didn't answer and Scarlet continued, "Now, since it looks like ya'll are gonna be here a while, I think we should get ya some clothes. Ollie's really don't fit ya that well. I told John to take over the rest of the day so I can get ya'll situated. So, let's go. We're takin' Ollie's car."

A while later, Jaime and Bronn were sitting quietly in Oliver's car. Scarlet had taken them somewhere called a mall. It was one of the most terrifying things either man had ever experienced. Luckily, Scarlet wasn't the kind of woman who would spend hours shopping. They were in and out as quickly as possible. "Am I lucky ya'll aren't picky," she said as they pulled back into the bed and breakfast. "Now, let's get back to the house and I'll show ya how things work and cook some supper."

Back at Scarlet's house, Jaime and Bronn watched in amazement as the woman moved around the kitchen, almost dancing around the two dogs that would not stay out of her way. She didn't even seem to notice them. Scarlet put some music on and sang along while she cooked. She would stop singing long enough to ask Jaime and Bronn questions or answer theirs and then would go back to singing. Her voice wasn't that great, but she had so much fun with it that it didn't matter.

Scarlet and Bronn seemed to get along really well. Jaime noticed right away when the three of them sat down to eat dinner. "Now why's a pretty thing like ya not got yerself a man?" Scarlet nearly choked on her food. "Wow. Is that the best ya got, Bronn? You're gonna have to do better than that with me," she quipped back after she caught her breath. Bronn frowned playfully. "Well damn, guess I'll have ta keep tryin'."

Scarlet rolled her eyes then looked at Jaime. "What about you, Jaime? You have a girl back home? Or maybe a boy?" Jaime opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He wasn't sure how Scarlet react to knowing about Jaime's relationship with his twin, but he also didn't want to lie to her. "I do." Scarlet smiled. "Tell me about them."

"She's a right bitch. Killin' everyone who gets in her way," Bronn interjected and Jaime glared at his friend. However, when he started to argue, he couldn't. Bronn was right. Cersei wasn't a nice person. Never had been. Jaime found it funny that it always took time away from Cersei for him to realize the kind of woman she really was. There had been multiple times where he feared for his own life because he went against her.

"Well then, sounds like your friend here doesn't have a high opinion of her." Bronn shrugged. "I mean, if he wants ta fuck his sister, that's on him." Jaime kicked Bronn under the table. Scarlet stared at Jaime with wide eyes. "Y-Your sister?" Jaime's face revealed the truth even though he wanted desperately to lie.

Scarlet cleared her throat. "Well, I suppose that could be normal where you're from. People around here marry their cousins. Just...don't tell anyone else. Anyway, ya'll still hungry? There's plenty." Scarlet fought back a sigh of relief when her phone rang. It would get her out the awkward situation she was in. She excused herself and walked out of the room.

"Why in Seven Hells did you tell her that?" Jaime hissed. Bronn's blue eyes narrowed at Jaime. "Because, we could be stuck here fer a while. We want her ta trust us. In order for that ta happen, we gotta be honest with her. Besides, it's not like she kicked ya out or nothin'. I think she handled it well." Jaime groaned and ran his flesh hand over his face.

Meanwhile, Scarlet hung up the phone in the other room, her mind racing. Her new "friend" was in a relationship with his sister. It was unsettling, but not for the reason most people thought. When Scarlet was younger, she had a crush on her own twin. They had always been together and Scarlet never had the chance to get to know anyone else.

Obviously, she never acted on it and it went away after they started high school, but apparently not with Jaime. Granted, if Jaime never had time away from his sister, it was no wonder. Maybe, now that he was separated from his twin, Jaime would have a chance at getting over her. For his own sake. With that knowledge, Scarlet put on a smile and returned to the dining room. "I wanna thank ya for bein' honest with me. I know it was hard for ya to admit and I appreciate it. Since you're stayin' here, I want us to trust each other."

Jaime looked at Bronn, who wore a smug "I told you so" grin. "Um, I suppose you're welcome. I...appreciate you keeping calm." Scarlet shrugged a little. "I have a twin too, sweetie. I know what it's like to feel like your twin is the only person there for ya in the whole world. Now, I never had with Ollie what you have with your sister and I'm glad of that. Maybe you'll find somethin' here that ya didn't have in Westeros. Something that'll show ya that your sister's not the only person in the world who cares for ya."

Jaime blinked at her in silence. He had no idea how to respond to that. Maybe she was right, maybe she wasn't. The only question in Jaime's mind was yelling louder than anything else. It was burned into his head and he couldn't shake it. Did he want Scarlet to be right?