Clegane approached her, and there was something to him having no armor on that made him seem exposed, and in that, Lana saw him differently. She saw him more like a man rather than a solider, and it aided in her lack of fear of him. He could have slapped her by now, hurt her, followed through with any of his threats, but he didn't. He accepted her help, even if it was begrudgingly.

If he hadn't opened up to Arya about his past, Lana might have refused to help him once he started behaving like a jackass. But she remembered that he was a lonely bastard, living among manipulators and dishonesty. He had no option but to become the Hound, and she was a fool if she thought that that was easy to break. She knew many men like him, and most went to the grave without ever changing.

As long as he didn't hurt her anymore, she would help him. The fact that he hadn't, after her use with a hot blade, told her more than any words he could give her.

"You keep throwing those looks my way," he said with a rasp, his gaze intensifying as he neared her, staring into her like he was trying to read every small movement that she made.

Lana bit her lip and smiled as she looked down. He was so close that she could hear his footsteps. He even placed a hand on the tree she leaned against, and she looked up. He was right there, eyeing her, his thick arm next to her head. His shirt was loose, and she could see his chest was covered in a thin layer of hair.

She wondered if the wine had got to him, but he seemed more in pain than inebriated. She guessed that made sense. For the size of him, that wasn't much wine.

She decided to be honest with him, not out of any tomfoolery, but because something about him drove her mad. It was a rare thing for her to feel something genuine for someone else. "I know, I really shouldn't throw those looks," she said, a slight coyness about her. She really knew that she shouldn't indulge in him. It would complicate everything, making it difficult for him to become her guard, and it would create an awkward balance if they acted on it. "But fuck it, I just can't seem to stop."

He clenched his jaw, his eyes slowly roaming her face and neck as he spoke. "You realize me fucking you doesn't change anything? I am not going to fight any harder for you because of it. I'm not a fucking knight. I don't do shit like that."

She took in a slow breath, not sure what to make of this honesty. She rubbed one of her eyes as her mouth was agape, not sure what to say. Is he being a vulnerable right now? Honest, maybe? Is he trying to figure me out as well? She raised a brow and looked back up to him. "I am aware. So there, happy? You win," she said. She knew she should have backed off then, and yet, she didn't.

She just couldn't seem to.

His eyes vibrated in his skull as he bore an obscure gaze into her. What is he battling with in there? Shouldn't he be yammering on about fucking me now ?

As his eyes dropped to her lips, Arya yelled, "I got some dinner!"

They both nearly jumped, turning around to see that the Stark girl was walking in their direction, championing a fish in either hand. Clegane took in a deep breath and said under his breath, "She has the worst fucking timing." He turned around, his hand sliding against the bark with a rough sound before he walked back to the log he was sitting on.

Lana nearly told Arya to go back to the river so she could continue this conversation with Clegane, wondering what in the seven hells was going through his head. But with how proud Arya was, there was no way Lana could do that. Lana smiled at Arya and then said to Clegane. "Let me put some honey on the wound to help with the scabbing. I'd also leave your armor off for the night to let it breathe and let the honey do its job."

He grunted in return as he sat back down. As Arya approached, arms dropped with either fish in hand, Lana asked, "How'd you catch those?"

"With one of the sticks I sharpened."

Lana smirked, a curious pride forming inside of her. "You are more resourceful than you look."

"Father never took me fishing, but I overheard the boys talk about it a lot. Figured I'd give it a try," Arya said, unable to suppress her satisfaction.

Lana eyed the girl as she got the fish ready to be skinned. There was something about those words, and that pride on her face, that saddened Lana. Arya's smiled seemed so out of place, like it belonged to a ghost who lived in the past. That struck something deep in Lana. These wars are more brutal than dying. Truly, it is best to mourn the living, for the dead can't hear us, and those remaining are stuck in their sorrows.

Lana's mood was dampened form those thoughts as she moved over to Clegane, who stared at the fire, his eyes ruminating. Clegane mostly ignored Lana as she helped him, and she was desperate to know what was going on inside of his head. Perhaps the burn brought back dark memories? He wasn't this pensive often.

"Is his wound worse?" Arya asked with slight concern in her voice, distracting Lana.

"It was. Cut it off with a hot blade," Lana said, leaving him be and trying to reassure Arya with a smile. Lana sat down by her log and nearly crawled about to find some sticks to tie around her ankle for support.

"He doesn't like fire," Arya reminded, holding the sticks over the flames, cooking the fish.

"Still fucking don't," Clegane finally rumbled, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"How'd you convince him of that?" Arya asked, turning over the fish.

"It helps when you have a nice pair of tits," Clegane said, although there was more intimidation that banter in his eyes, which still watched the dancing flames. Lana held her tongue, although the corner of her mouth crooked.

Arya's face contorted. "Oh, shut up," Arya scolded and nearly threw the stick of fish at him.

"It's true," he said darkly, a slight humor finally coming to him.

Lana looked at Clegane and said, "Well, if I had known that, I would have just shown my tits when it first happened. You'd be a lot less slow by now."

To her shock, Clegane laughed, still looking at the fire. "Maybe I'll find myself stabbed on accident soon. Could use some more healing," he said, his gaze cutting over to her. As soon as their eyes connected, his eyes revved with carnality before he looked back to the fire.

"Wait, is he drunk?" Arya asked with reproach. "I smell wine."

"Hits his system faster when he hasn't drank in a while," Lana said with a smile. "But aye, he had some wine."

"You shouldn't have given him wine," Arya said with a miserable tone.

"It's not been called liquid courage for nothing."

Once the fish was ready, Lana's belly was grumbling like bubbling water. And yet, as Arya walked over with a serving of fish and cheese, Lana held her hand up. "Give it to him," she said. Arya glanced to Clegane.

Finally, that seemed to provoke something in him. "You need to eat," Clegane said, looking her way.

"You need it more. Your body will be fighting your shoulder, and you just drank a bunch of wine."

"You're already growing thin. Eat something," he said with the rare serious tone.

"I'll eat in the morning when we share some bread."

It took more convincing, but once the food started to grow cold, he ate it, and she went to bed hungry that night. She doubted, more like hoped, that they would be hungry for long.

She didn't look at him for the rest of the night. Even though his sheer size while donning armor was impressive, there was just something about the unadorned Clegane that really illustrated the virility of his arms, hands, and shoulders. It made Lana's mind grind to a halt. On top of all of that, she was starting to notice a fondness for him. Ever since he yelled at Arya about the fire and revealed that his emotions were deeper than fury. He seemed like a real man, just one who had been scarred and jaded.

A part of her still regretted not eating the fish; however, as sleep was impossible to come by that night with her stomach clawing at her from the inside out.

In the morning, Lana and Arya aided Clegane in putting his armor back on. He was in an unpleasant mood. Lana didn't know if that was from her or his shoulder. It prompted her to ask, "How is the pain?"

"Better," he curtly said.

She left it at that and continued about their morning, too tired to deal with him that day. Lana seemed to be able to put slightly more weight on her ankle, especially with the sticks giving her support. As long as she didn't put her full weight on it, it was alright. She cleaned up her area and readied her things back on Arya's horse. She couldn't stop yawning, her eyes watering more and more. She passed around pieces of nearly stale bread, and it seemed to wake her up for a time.

When they were ready to go, Clegane helped her up on Stranger, with her legs dangling off of the side.

It wasn't long into the ride that she started to yawn again, her eyes with near permanent tears flooding her vision. On top of her hunger, she kept having nightmares about men returning from the Shadow Lands.

She was essentially without sleep today.

Clegane's mood was definitely fowler, and it reminded her he was still the Hound. It resulted in the ride being rather silent. The slow sway of her body on Stranger didn't help either as it tempted to lull her into sleep. When the sun was at midday, its warm rays wrapped around her like a blanket and she was struggling to stay awake. Her head started to bobble back and forth, and she jolted awake, her heart racing as she looked around.

"Didn't sleep well?" Clegane finally asked, although his tone was still miserable.

"Nightmares," she said, not wanting to mention that she had been hungry as well.

"Well stop falling asleep. You're going to throw yourself from the damned horse," he warned.

She tried her best and kept opening her eyes, staring wide-eyed in the distance. Can't sleep if my eyes are open. But it didn't work, and her eyes started to go cross-eyed, resulting in her nearly falling asleep again. She was exhausted, pure and simple. She was reaching the end of her stamina, needing just one good night's of sleep with a full belly.

Lana's eyelids started to droop, and she thought of cinnamon cake and coffee. She loved it together and would buy it after every mission as a treat. But she knew those treats were far away, as those were Essos luxuries.

Her head started to fall over again, and she gave in to the sweet temptation of sleep. Unfortunately, along with it, she lost her balance. She jolted awake again, pulling on Clegane's armor as she felt her stability disappear.

"The fuck did I just say?" he growled, more hostile than ever.

Lana could see why Arya had developed such an attitude towards Clegane.

He really was angrier than usual today, and it made him a hard traveling companion. "Well, usually, I'd just fall asleep on my horse. Can't do that, obviously," she said, returning the attitude. "If it bothers you so much just leave me on the ground and I'll catch up to you when I've rested my eyes for a few hours. It's not like we are moving very fast," she said, grumpy herself.

Clegane let out a sound that was a mixture of a sigh and growl. For a moment, Lana was awake from the surge of anger. But of course, sleep was like a poison in her veins, and she felt her lids start to droop. Fuck it. She needed to sleep, and since she was the odd man out, she'd take the risk for staying back. "Just leave me behind. I can't stay awake," she commanded.

Clegane didn't respond, and she was getting tired of this. She was about to get angrier, but he cut her off. "Quit your whinging. You can lean in and sleep if you must. I'll make sure you don't fall off. Don't need you staying here by yourself."

She didn't say anything in return, as she didn't know whether to be witty or grateful. It was a rather significant turn from him leaving her tied to a tree. With a heavy head, she leaned against his armored chest and closed her eyes. She drifted in and out of sleep, as she was in one of the least comfortable positions of her life, bouncing back and forth against a suit of armor, but it was enough to regain her energy.

The pale haired woman laid her head against his chest, her greasy hair was tightly braided. He could feel her drifting off into sleep, as the longer she was like that, the more her weight leaned into him. It wasn't long before her arm fell from the grip she had on his armor, going limp. She must have been exhausted if sleep found her that quickly.

He didn't want her to do this. He didn't want her to be kind to him. Her care was annoying and made him think of things that spurred a discomfort in his chest. And then she started to lean even further into him like a rag doll that he was keeping propped up. He knew she was exhausted and probably hungry, which was only because she gave him her food.

Dumb bitch should have eaten her fish.

He clenched his jaw. Even thinking about calling her a dumb bitch struck something wrong in him, and that is what worried him the most. No one should be above his ridicule. At some point in her sleep, repositioning as one does, she nestled into his chest for a better position. That spurred an instinctive, carnal feeling that he felt was right up there with killing. Of course, every man felt a surge of pride to have a woman rest against them. He imagined it was as similar to a woman enjoying when a man gutted another in defense of her. It was a senseless reaction, coming from such a primal place. And that was the problem, as it was hard to control.

He glanced down to her, only able to see the top of her head. She started to slip, and he adjusted both him and her so he could keep an arm on her to prevent her from falling.

How the fuck they all ended up in this position was laughable. Each one was someone who should have been sleeping on a soft bed with food in their bellies, and here they were trying to outrun the Lannisters.

But Lana was in this predicament because she couldn't protect herself. Not against Lannisters who wanted her for a bounty. As tough as she was, it showed him just how much she would really need someone to look after her. She was trained to take cheap shots, not deal with armored soldiers. And if she were going to enter a war for the throne, she'd be facing plenty more plated men. Whether or not he took up the offer didn't matter, as someone would have to do the job. It made him wonder why shouldn't he do it? It was a wasted opportunity for gold.

He sighed. This was precisely why he didn't like her giving him those looks, laughing at his jokes, and not bothered in the slightest by his face. Everything about her played right into the weakness that every man had. She was a glass sword, making others respect how sharp its edge was, but they were easy to shatter. It was natural for someone like him to want to be her sheath.

And like usual, he tried to squash those thoughts. But for one of the first times, he just couldn't do it. The longer she rested against him, the more he wanted to go with her to Essos. She needed someone like him, and it gave him some kind of meaning. It reminded him of when he was entering manhood and learned that he would have the highest honor of guarding the future king.

And look at what a cunt he turned out to be.

Everything was always spoiled in the end.

He knew it would just be a matter of time before this was spoiled as well, before she was a shit lady like all the rest of them.

And yet he savored it.