Chapter Text
He’s walking into the bathroom to take a piss when he sees the boy climbing in through the window. He’s young little punk, probably fresh into secondary school and he’s trying to be tough by breaking and entering. Gendry is deciding whether or not he wants to get his old cricket bat or to if he throw the little brat out with his bare hands when he notices the bleeding lip and swollen eye.
“Sorry,” the boy says, and that’s when he realizes this little punk boy is a little punk girl. She shuts the window behind her and stands in the tub next to it, back pressed to the wall, panting. “I just need to hide for a bit to lose ‘em. I’ll be out of your hair in five minutes.”
He still wants to throw her out, girl or no. You don’t just come into a man’s bathroom unannounced in the middle of the night and expect everything to be okay. But the girl looks pretty bad off; in addition to the cuts and bruises on her face, her hair is filthy and looks like it’s been hastily chopped off with no regard to length or style. Her clothes are torn and covered in grime and he skin looks just as dirty. She has a hunted look about her as she listens to the sounds coming from the outside.
“The little bitch disappeared,” a gruff voice from outside says. Although the sound is a bit muffled, Gendry can tell the man from which it comes from is desperate and angry.
“People don’t just disappear!” a second voice answers. “It’s an alleyway, there’s only so many places she can go! Check in the piles of rubbish.”
There are the distinctive metallic sounds of the rubbish bins being kicked over and piles of stuff being ripped through. The two voices outside are swearing profusely. The girl shoots him a worried look before sneaking a quick peek out into the alley. She watches for a second before resting herhead back against the wall. She closes her eyes and lets out a nervous breath.
“Maybe she’s gone into one of the flats.” One of the men says.
The girl’s eyes shoot open and Gendry can see the fear in them plainly.
“She wouldn’t know anyone who lives in this part of town,” the other voice answers.
“She might’ve found an unlocked window and crawled in. You take the left building, I’ll take the right. We’ll sniff her out. She’s got nowhere to go.”
There is a slight scuffle and then the metal ladders of the fire escapes start to creak under the weight of the two men climbing them. The girl is starting to panic. She’s breathing hard now and her eyes are darting around the room, looking for either an escape or something heavy to defend herself with.
And even though Gendry’s angry about having his bathroom invaded by a stranger, he can’t just sit there and let these men come after this girl. Without thinking, he stomps towards the window and throws it open.
“Oy!” he bellows to the two men below. “The fuck are you doing?”
The two men freeze and stare at him.
“You robbing us, then?” he continues.
“No, mate, we’re just--” the one on his building begins.
“I’ll call the police on you if you don’t clear out this minute!”
“There’s no need for that,” the man tries to continue. “We’re just looking for--”
He doesn’t give them time to answer. Gendry reaches out for the nearest thing he can grab (his flatmate’s shampoo) and beams it right at him. His aim is true and it hits him square between the eyes.
“Seven fucking hells!” the man says, rubbing the spot between his eyes.
Gendry reaches for the bar of soap next and lobs it at him, hitting him on the shoulder.
“Get the fuck out or I swear the police will be here in three minutes!”
“We’re going, we’re going!” the man cries, scrambling to get off of the fire escape. He motions to the other man who tries to protest, but the first man cuts him off and tells him to leave.
Gendry reaches for his own shampoo and throws it at the two men for good measure. It doesn’t hit either of them, but it scares them enough to make them leave leave faster. He and his flatmate are going to have to shower with just plain water for a week before their next paychecks come, but the two men are gone. The girl looks relieved.
“Thank you,” she says. “Let me just wait and make sure they’re gone for good and I’ll leave.”
“Wait,” he protests. “You can’t expect me to have just witnessed that and to not have questions.”
Her look of gratitude disappears and is quickly replaced by one of distrust. She is suddenly suspicious of his motives.
“If I was going to give you up, I would have done it already,” he says to allay her fears. “Why were those men chasing you?”
She’s reluctant to answer at first.
“My father chose some very powerful people to make enemies of,” she finally says. “And they’re after me because of him.”
“Who were those men?”
She refuses to answer that one.
“Alright, alright,” he says, backing off. “Secrets, I get it. But why don’t you call the police?”
“They wouldn’t be able to help,” she says. “I tried. That’s how I ended up with this.”
She points to her black eye.
He woofs. “Those men weren’t--”
“No, they weren’t police,” she interrupts. “But the police are in their pockets.”
“Are you some sort of gangster’s daughter?” he asks.
She shoots him an angry look, almost as if he’s offended her.
“Nevermind,” he says quickly.
“I think they’re gone,” she says, looking out the window. “Thanks, and sorry again for dropping in unannounced. I’ll be off now.”
She starts to pull herself up through the window, but he stops her.
He feels like an idiot for this because he doesn’t know who this girl is and she is obviously tits deep into some bad shit that he does not need to be pulled into. But he’s got a soft spot for people who are down on their luck. And maybe an even softer spot for a girl who needs help. No matter how much like a boy she looks.
“You can stay here tonight,” he offers. “Just to be sure they don’t come back.”
She glances over her shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow. She still doesn’t trust him at all. And honestly, he doesn’t blame her. He doesn’t quite trust her either.
“As long,” he amends, “as you don’t steal my things.”
She snorts. Robbing him is the last thing on her mind.
“I’d offer to let you shower too, but I just threw all of our soap out.”
“Sorry about that,” she says, looking a little ashamed. “I’ve got some money. I can replace it.”
“Worry about it later, yeah? Right now just make sure you don’t bleed everywhere.”
She steps away from the window, but she doesn’t take a step forward. She’s still skittish.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he assures her.
“Don’t think you could,” she says confidently. Gendry has to stop himself from laughing at the thought of a skinny, broken thing like her besting him.
“Just let me take a piss, then you can clean yourself up,” he says. “And I’ll wake my flatmate up to let him know you’ll be sleeping on the floor tonight.”
“Don’t bother,” she tells him. “I’ll be gone in the morning before you all wake up.”
“Even so,” he says, stepping aside to let her exit the bathroom. “I’ll tell him all the same.”
She nods and starts to walk towards the door.
“My name is Gendry, by the way,” he says suddenly.
“Arya,” she answers. Then she shakes her head like she’s forgotten something. “Arry. It’s Arry.”
He thinks Arya sounds more believable than Arry, but if that’s what she wants to call herself, that’s what he’ll call her.
“Nice to meet you, Arry.”
She snorts again, as if this exchange of pleasantries is the strangest thing to happen that night. But even so, she returns it.
“Nice to meet you too, Gendry.”