POV Addam (does he know j and b are hooking up!!!)
For a while, Addam worried that Jaime would run off Brienne Tarth. It would’ve been a shame. It took her a while to settle in and find her voice and confidence, but once she did, she swiftly became one of their best hires. Ever. But Jaime seemed to take it upon himself to test her mettle.
Or perhaps it started out as testing her mettle, but once it became clear that Tarth could more than hold her own against him, it turned into something wholly different.
Addam spent years wondering if they were going to tear each other limb-from-limb until something changed. Seemingly overnight, Jaime and Tarth went from an almost uncomfortable intensity to nearly every single interaction to dancing around one another awkwardly.
It was weird and more unnerving than anything they’d done previously, including the time they almost scarred Podrick Payne for life.
Addam was pretty sure that whatever shifted the vibe between them, it was Jaime’s fault. It was always Jaime’s fault when Tarth walked around the office looking like she wanted to punch something.
Weirdest of all, that’s not how Tarth was acting. She seemed perfectly normal until she saw Jaime, then her whole face changed into something approaching nervous rabbit.
Addam was going to kill Jaime.
--
Just as quickly, they went back to their usual tenuous peace.
Almost.
Whatever Jaime had done seemed to fundamentally shift something between them, but as they went back to functionally irritated, Addam pushed it to the back of his mind.
--
It got weirder.
Addam would love to believe it’s because they’d spent weeks wrangling everyone’s least favorite asshole, Euron Greyjoy, but he couldn’t be certain.
It just wasn’t quite that sort of tension. Addam couldn’t figure out what sort of tension it was, though.
Jaime claimed they were exhausted, but refused any redistribution of resources that might give them a break. Tarth had shifted uncomfortably but insisted they could handle it.
Addam had given up on them.
The results were still good. Ilyn seemed unconcerned (though, that’s par for the course with Ilyn). Neither Pod, Pia, nor Peck noticed anything in particular.
Addam was left feeling slightly paranoid and overly suspicious. But he knew Jaime, known him since they were children, and he knew something was up and was completely sure he would figure it out.
Eventually.
