Jojen had never been good at resisting his desires. He was prudent, yes, and often considered wise, so his behaviour usually seemed quite restrained. All that meant was that he considered the consequences when deciding his actions. For most of them, they were either minimal and he did what he pleased, or large enough that his aversion outweighed his desire. There were, however, the rare cases when his urges were great enough to eclipse the dangers he knew, and the blond teen was unable to resist following through. This was one of those cases. After all this time at Winterfell, all the months of studying and learning by each other’s side, Jojen had finally admitted his feelings to Bran a few weeks before. To his surprise and glee, the brunette returned his affections. Since then, they had been sneaking moments alone—holding hands, sitting close, staring at each other in moments that previously would have awkward but now were simply comforting. They had done little intimately—only a few small, tentative kisses. But the previous week, Jojen had risked sneaking into the smaller male’s room during the night, and both had slept well, wrapped in each other’s arms. For a pair of teens tormented by dreams,the relief from their nighttime visions only compounded the comfort they found when sharing a bed. Since then, Jojen had found his way to the brunette’s room more nights than not. But they had begun to grow worried. Hodor didn’t really understand, so he was of no concern, but if other servants began to notice, their closeness could become a major scandal. They had agreed to stay away for a week, while they worked to see if there was a way to move their quarters closer together—to find a way to make their relationship manageable. The pair had done well, for several days. Both had remained strong in front of the other during the day, despite missing them dearly in the night, and Jojen had gone three nights without sneaking through the castle halls at night. But this night broke their streak. Shutting the door behind him, the blond moved inside. He was wearing his smallclothes, a long tunic, and a fur he had wrapped about himself to keep warm during the long walk. His deep green eyes were dark, haunted, taking on the “little grandfather” quality that gave the young crannogman his nickname. He slowly shook his head. Approaching the bed, the older male hesitated. He would rather not burden the young prince with this knowledge, but he felt that he needed to tell the Stark—for both their sakes. "I had a dream…" The Reed admitted. "An old dream. One that I’ve had many times before." Keeping the fur wrapped about his shoulders, the larger male sat down on the other’s bedside, before turning his head and staring at the other, green eyes holding the younger teen’s gaze. After a few seconds, Jojen looked away, glancing towards the floor. "The dream of the day I die…" he said quietly.
Although having only just woken up, the concern Bran felt definitely outweighed the tiredness. At first, he thought that maybe Jojen had came into his room simply because he couldn't stand the distance between them anymore. He missed the elder male's presence beside him too at night, and it always helped put his mind at ease, but this wasn't the case. There was something different, something wrong. The Stark could see it in those mysterious green hues of Jojen's, and just the way he carried himself into the room had been enough to signify he wasn't simply looking for cuddles.
Bran's gaze was fixed on the blonde as he began to explain his reasoning for sneaking into his room, and instantly he felt a sudden clenching sensation in his chest and stomach. Concern was unmistakable on the brunette's face, and he was at a loss for words for a few moments. Their dreams weren't just regular old dreams; not even close, so the fact that Jojen was coming to him with this information was nightmarish. The thought of losing Jojen was just...Unbearable, really.
It was lonely enough, having the space beside him in bed empty for those few nights after the two of them had come to an agreement, but it would be even lonelier to have Jojen not be able to fill that space again. No more side-long glances that held nothing but affection, no more holding hands or feeling the familiarity of his lips against his own, no more hearing his voice delivering sweet words in a hushed tone as to ensure that nobody else heard. No more anything.
What scared him most was the fact that Jojen had decided to come to him now with this information, as if his time was near or something. Exhaling quietly, the younger placed his hand on Jojen's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Look at me, Jojen." His tone was on the gentle side, but there was an underlying strictness in it, implying that this was hardly a request. "Why did you wait so long to tell me?"
He didn't know whether he should be angry or sad, but he felt a mixture of both. Regardless of those emotions, all he wanted to do right now was hug his secret significant-other and try to comfort him. Night's were always better when they were wrapped up in each other's arms, and if he were to leave now, Bran was certain that he'd get no sleep. He'd be up all night, thinking about the information he'd been given.
Questions swirled behind inquisitive eyes, and he hoped that Jojen knew well enough how to answer them. The main two questions being how and when. In a way, Bran almost didn't want to hear the answers, because he feared hearing the worst. Yet at the same time, he needed to know what Jojen knew. The straight up truth, as harsh as it could be, was better than playing make believe and pretending that nothing was going to happen. Even if Jojen knew the answers, or at least one of them, it wouldn't make parting with him any easier when that time came. Perhaps there was a way to prevent it or at least push it back some, but it seemed unlikely, as much as he hated to admit it.
Removing his hand from the Reed's shoulder, Bran rested his hands in his lap and awaited an answer. Whether it be years away, months away or days away, or even unknown, he wasn't going to let Jojen leave the room until the sun showed itself again.
