Lyonels hear event HAS to somehow involve dancing
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Finally getting to Lyonel!!!! AND YES!
Context For Au: {Part 1} {Part 2} {Part 3} {Part 4} {Part 5}
TLDR: Dunk won a raffle to attend Royal Charm School, a university esc school made for the various royals of the continent of Westeros and Essos to meet, connect, and get a degree if they so choose.
Due to a holiday the students at Charm School are given a 4 day weekend and Dunk decides he wants to visit home and see how Arlan is doing. He did get a note that his cancer was now in remission a week ago and he wants to celebrate with the man, and despite Dunk's constant agonizing it turns out Arlan is perfectly fine and better than ever. In fact, since Dunk left his friend Robyn Rhysling moved in to help out (not old man yaoi, deeply platonic, still sharing a bed though) and two of Rhysling's nieces have been helping out and have basically taken over Dunk's room. Not that he minds much as he is eternally grateful to have people watching over the old man. They have just been sharing his old massive bed and they invite him to share as well but he refuses. (Mostly due to the fact they are 16 and 17 and kept blushing while mentioning it. Dunk would prefer sleeping on the couch to that)
Dunk catches up with the old man and other crazier old man when on Saturday Steely-Pate comes by with apologies spilling from his mouth as he asks if Dunk wouldn't mind helping with the pub and event space that Sunday. Steely-Pate's husband had to go help his mom and there was a last minute event booked that paid good money, and without hesitation Dunk agrees. The event is apparently a get together for a rich family to celebrate a lesbian engagement. So he dresses in a solid pair of black jeans and a provided yellow shirt, that Steely-Pate tells him to crop to fit/to earn him more tips with a wink.
(Steely-Pate is a good man who wants Dunk to marry rich. Steely-Pate married an older rich man when he was an Otter and now he owns a premiere pub and event space in the nice countryside and was fed enough to become a Bear. He wants that life for Dunk. He has no qualms with it, and Rhysling agrees, Arlan stays out of it.)
Next day he heads to the place in his freshly cropped shirt and helps set everything up, from drinking games, spare tables, and even getting the whole outside are set with various other games including Tug-o-war, which the family specifically requested. It isn't until Dunk is setting up the banners that he realized it is an event for the Dondarrions and Baratheons, lightning on one side of the bar and stags on the other. But he doesn't have time to question before guests start pouring in and Steely-Pate is having him grab another keg barrel because even he was ill-informed about the amount of guests there. (All while lovingly cursing his husband for not mentioning the eventees were royals OR Baratheons.)
With a barrel over his shoulder Dunk walks back in to see his coach, Lyonel Baratheon doing one hell of a speech for his cousin and her wife before locking eyes with Dunk and his hazel eyes glinting with interest like a magpie and a shiny coin. After the speech Lyonel summons Dunk over, telling him to bring the barrel and set it down before asking what gives Dunk the right to crash his families party and show up in their colors, to which Dunk stutters out he's working and helping out his Uncle Pate. (Said man behind the bar and looking intriguied). With a "Well that makes sense" Dunk is allowed to drop the barrel and allowed to go about his work, though when he dropped the keg and flexed his shoulders, there were plenty of wolf whistles.
Halfway through the event Dunk is cleaning a table when Lyonel grabs him by his hips turns him around and basically orders him to be on his side in Tug-o-war. Dunk can't refuse as he is dragged off to the field set up and has rope tied around his waist. He looks to Steely-Pate who instead of doing anything to help is pulling out his camera to record. Game starts and Dunk is giving it his best before Lyonel leaves to grab a drink/look straight at Dunk's back muscles in action, and returns after giving Dunk's ass a nice slap. (The video Steely-Pate sends to Rhysling, Arlan, and his Husband does include a bark of laughter from the man.). Of course Lyonel's side wins with many grumbling that he's cheating by getting Dunk, a non family member to play which the man has to pull the "He's my player, every person I coach is like family to me!" with an exaggerated wink. People still call bull but no one is winning against Lyonel.
Closer to the end of the night when all of the Baratheons and Dondarrions are quite buzzed music starts and dancing commenses. Dunk tries to stick to cleaning and helping about but he soon finds himself being pulled in by a few girls wondering if he could pick them up in a spin. Everytime Dunk tries to leave the group to continue working he is pulled back in or Steely-Pate quickly waves him away and takes care of whatever Dunk was going to do. At one point a buzzed Lyonel takes offense to him constantly trying to leave and stomps on his foot, and tries again, and again, and again until Dunk retaliates. With energy crackling like lighting in the group Dunk finds himself partying the rest of the night away with Lyonel before they all head out and Dunk helps Steely-Pate with the mess. (Though, the guests were rather clean.... probably due to a massive amounts of threats in the group chat from Lyonel about how they aren't going to be banned from another establishment)
They leave everything thats a non-priority for the next morning and Dunk heads home and passes tf out on the couch. Sleeping like a rock until he gets up the next morning to finish up cleaning Steely-Pates establishment. It is late afternoon when they are finished and when Lyonel comes around to give Pate a massive tip for his service and to offer Dunk a ride back with him. Dunk tries to refuse but Steely-Pate forces him to accept as he'll be "too busy" to drive him to the train station. With a sigh Dunk accepts and quickly finds himself in the passenger seat of Lyonels sport car and feeling too afraind to touch anything. But unlike his conversations with Baelor, it flows much easier as Lyonel is a bit more down to earth and they barely notice that 3 hours have passed before they're at the edge of the school grounds.
That night Arlan's old man groupchat wouldn't stop blowing up with Steely-Pate, his husband, and Rhysling plotting on how to get Dunk to become the next Stormlands regent. To throw fuel in the fire Arlan tells them all about the other royal interactions Dunk has had, from princess carrying Daeron to assisting Maekar's young kids to Kiera&Valarr "helping hands" to Dunk's private lunches with Baelor. Arlan then mutes his phone and lets the fire roar. Chaos.
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Arlan ABSOLUTELY knows how to use technology but only for chaos purposes. Man is the expert at finding the do not disturb button.
