Renly Baratheon (selfcrownedking) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-12 00:49:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, cersei lannister, renly baratheon |
Who: Renly Baratheon and Cersei Lannister Baratheon
When: Backdated: Monday, September 2nd. Afternoon
Where: A Restaurant in Laguna Beach
What: Renly tells Cersei about his engagement
Rating: Pretty Much Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Renly sat, sipping the complimentary water as he waited for Cersei. He didn’t know whether or not Myrcella had told her mother about his engagement. It wasn’t as if he’d told her not to or anything. He had a pretty good idea of what Cersei thought of his lifestyle and he really didn’t care one way or the other. The only thing he really cared about was being able to see his niece and nephews and so far his being gay hadn’t stopped that, but Cersei could change her mind with the blink of an eye, so he tended to tread lightly around her, but she did deserve to hear about his engagement, because no matter what, she was his sister-in-law and was family. He didn’t want her to think he was keeping anything from him even though, technically he was, because she was still in the dark about Gendry. Until Renly was able to tell his brother about Gendry, Cersei would stay in the dark about him.
It wasn’t so much his lifestyle that she found distasteful, it was the way he flaunted it. Such matters were best kept private and away from the eyes of children. Even if he was the most tolerable in-law she had, that didn’t say much.
She slipped into the seat in front of him, a wine glass already in hand. For the sake of appearances and for her daughter, she’d be civil. “Renly.”
Renly looked up as Cersei sat down across from him and he set his glass of water down, “Thanks for coming out, Cersei. How’re you?” She had one thing right, between Renly and Stannis, Renly definitely was the most tolerable. Trying to talk to Stannis was like talking to a brick wall half the time.
“I’m well. And you? How is your…” She waved a hand and fought the urge to wrinkle her nose. “Person.”
“I’m very well and so is Loras,” Anyone else would have probably been offended by the way Cersei referred to their significant other, but Renly had known Cersei for a long time now and he knew how she was. The waitress came then to ask if they wanted anything else to drink as she laid a menu down in front of Cersei.
She could have used worse words than person. She was putting on a diplomatic face, for the sake of the family. God, she hated ‘for the sake of the family.’ “That’s good. I’ve been meaning to ask, how do either of you feel about books?”
Renly’s brows rose slightly at the question, not having expected it, “I enjoy reading. Loras spends a lot of time training and competing, so he doesn’t really have time to read.” Considering, whenever he wasn’t in the gym or the ring, he was with Renly, which meant they could usually be found in bed. “Why?”
“I’ve found this wonderful rare book store. It’s making Myrcella quite happy.” And the owner was handsome and god she wanted in his pants.
Renly hadn’t expected to be having a conversation with Cersei about rare book stores, but he’d take it for the time being, because she was being civil, “Sounds interesting. I might have to check it out sometime.” Speaking of Myrcella, he wondered if Cersei knew about her friend Jeremy and what was going on with him right now. He decided not to bring it up though, just in case she didn’t know and Myrcella didn’t want her knowing. “Just how rare are the books?”
It seemed like a safe subject, Cersei thought. That made it something they could talk about where she could remain civil. She was trying, after all. “Thousands of dollars rare. And some less rare. A few that looked very,very old.”
Renly found himself wondering if any of the books looked as old as the ones that came along with his tent. “Where is it located?” He was going to get to the reason he’d asked Cersei to meet him, but for now he’d go along with this conversation.
She smiled, and pulled out a pen to write the address on a napkin for him. “It’s a lovely shop, really.”
Renly took the napkin after Cersei wrote down the address, glanced at it then folded it and slid it into his pocket, “I’ll be sure to check it out. Always looking for new things to read.” Now seemed as good a time as any to tell Cersei why he had asked her to meet with him, “So, there’s a reason I asked you to meet me today.”
“Isn’t there always? Go ahead and tell me.” She picked up her wine glass to take a sip.
Renly took a deep breath, but tried not to appear nervous. He could be a good actor when he needed to be, “Loras and I got engaged the other night and considering we’re family, I thought you should know. I thought it was better if you heard it from me before hearing about it on Valarnet or from someone else.” He was going to have to tell Robert and Stannis eventually, but for now Cersei was the closest location wise.
Her mouth formed a perfect O shape, and she blinked at him once, then twice. She knocked back the rest of her wine and beckoned the waitress to refill it. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
Renly hadn’t expected Cersei to be as excited as everyone else had been, so he wasn’t offended by her question. “I am. I’ve known Loras for over a year now. He’s the only one for me.” Renly wasn’t going to go into detail about the dreams and how it felt as if he’d known Loras for more than just a year, with the exception of the few months he’d been back in England after Steffon had died.
“Trust me when I tell you that a lot of things can change with marriage. The person could be this amazing vision in your eyes, and then the light dims and all you’re left with is memories of what could have been.” She didn’t even try to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
Renly had no doubt that she was referring to her and Robert’s marriage, but he knew that, that wasn’t going to happen with him and Loras, “I appreciate the advice, Cersei, but I doubt there is anything that could change the way I see Loras.”
“I once thought the same, but your funeral.” She raised her glass in a mock toast. “I wish you luck, and all that. When is the wedding?”
Renly was naive enough to think that Cersei actually wished him luck, but he raised his own glass regardless and took a sip, “We haven’t decided yet. We’ve only been engaged for a few days. Soon though. We don’t plan on having a long engagement.” He left out the part where they’d exchanged their own vows that night, in his tent.
"Not too soon." Cersei laughed. "Though I suppose shopping with Myrcella might be fun." She assumed her daughter would go.
Cersei being at the wedding was going to be extremely tricky, considering Gendry would more than likely be there as well and now that Myrcella knew who he was, it was going to be harder to keep Cersei from finding out about him. But there was plenty of time to figure that out, “I bet she’s going to love shopping for the wedding.”
“That’s the best part,” Cersei promised, still oblivious. And if she found out about Gendry…? Well, she was friends with a serial killer...