Sandor and Sansa can't stop, won't stop touching each other
So after having another attack of Sansan feels, I was compelled to blog about them again, and it occurred to me that these two are ALWAYS touching one another. In fact, in nearly every single Sansa chapter, from the beginning to the end of their interactions, they are making bodily contact. Here’s the proof for your shipping pleasure:
1. Their first encounter:
Strong hands grasped her by the shoulders, and for a moment Sansa thought it was her father, but when she turned, it was the burned face of Sandor Clegane looking down at her, his mouth twisted in a terrible mockery of a smile. “You are shaking, girl,” he said, his voice rasping. “Do I frighten you so much?”
2. After the Hand’s tourney, when he is escorting her back to her room:
Sandor Clegane put a huge hand under her chin and forced her face up. He squatted in front of her, and moved the torch close… His fingers held her jaw as hard an iron trap. His eyes watched hers. Drunken eyes, sullen with anger. She had to look…
The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand. “He was no true knight,” she whispered to him…
The Hound caught her by the arm and leaned close. “The things I told you tonight,” he said, his voice sounding even rougher than usual…
3. In the aftermath of her father’s death when Joffrey comes to her:
Sandor Clegane scooped her up around the waist and lifted her off the featherbed as she struggled feebly. Her blanket fell to the floor. Underneath she had only a thin bedgown to cover her nakedness. “Do as you’re bid, child,” Clegane said. “Dress.” He pushed her toward her wardrobe, almost gently.
“Here, girl.” Sandor Clegane knelt before her, between her and Joffrey. With a delicacy surprising in such a big man, he dabbed at the blood welling from her broken lip.
4. Returning from the godswood:
She was racing headlong down the serpentine steps when a man lurched out of a hidden doorway. Sansa caromed into him and lost her balance. Iron fingers caught her by the wrist before she could fall, and a deep voice rasped at her…
The Hound gave her a push, oddly gentle, and followed her down the steps. By the time they had reached the bottom, he had lapsed back into a brooding silence, as if he had forgotten she was there.
“That one there is nothing to fear, girl. The Hound laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Paint stripes on a toad, he does not become a tiger.”
“A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he’ll look you straight in the face.” He cupped her under her jaw, raising her chin, his fingers pinching her painfully. “And that’s more than little birds can do, isn’t it? I never got my song.”
Sandor Clegane cantered briskly through the gates astride Sansa’s chestnut courser. The girl was seated behind, both arms tight around the Hound’s chest.
6. On the eve of the Blackwater battle, atop Maegor’s Holdfast:
A stab went through her, so sharp that Sansa sobbed and clutched at her belly. She might have fallen, but a shadow moved suddenly and strong fingers grabbed at her arm and steadied her.
7. Night of the battle; Sansa’s room:
“I could keep you safe,” he rasped. “They’re all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I’d kill them. He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He was too strong to fight.
Some instinct made her hand and cup his cheek with her fingers. The room was too dark for her to see him, but she could feel the stickiness of the blood and a wetness that was not blood.
My brief, completely unnecessary analysis:
Physical contact has been a hallmark of their relationship right from the start. Whether Sandor is being gentle in his touch, or roughly holding her jaw in place, he’s never been afraid of touching her in order to communicate frustration and anger, or comfort and reassurance. Sansa on the other hand, touches him mostly to confer empathy and understanding. Even in the chapters where there’s no physical contact, we still see a natural connection between the two: the name day tourney when the Hound backs up her lie to Joffrey, and later when she’s beaten in the court and he passes her his cloak. Their moments of contact can be classified in three main categories: accidental, intentional and instinctive, which happen to mirror the development of their relationship in King’s Landing, as they are gradually drawn together in a kind of perverse camaraderie. It’s fitting then that their final time together should see them reaching a climax of sorts in physical intimacy, as the dark confines of her bedroom provide the perfect setting to give vent to the emotional strains that have been building in both of them. Between his pulling her closer, and later when she cups his cheek and feels the mixture of blood and tears, they’ve each managed to communicate something that goes way beyond what they were capable of dealing with at that particular time. What is clear though, is that the familiarity they’ve achieved with one another and the desire it seems to inspire afterwards, holds within it a promise for future fulfillment (if, you know, GRRM doesn’t turn into a massive troll).
janainaart
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
gummygunk
baratheonpilled
titsay
andulkaphoto
