Work Text
Aegon had seen Daenaera before, mostly at tense family meetings that never ended well when his father and grandparents would go at it with their uncles. They also saw each other whenever Baela and Rhaena, as well as someone named Cregan who his brother was fond of, came by to visit Jace and Luke, Daenaera trailing behind the twins. And they attended the same school, but were hardly close friends. Over the years, Aegon had only exchanged a few smiles with her and half-hearted hellos but he had never had a genuine conversation with her. But the first time Aegon truly ever spoke to Daenaera, she was sitting alone on a swing. Her silver hair flailed in the wind as she cried over the rejection of other children on the playground.“You're not particularly pretty, are you?” A redheaded girl had said with pursed red lips and a cold judging stare that had chilled Daenaera to her bones. “In simpler terms, get lost horse-face.” Tears had immediately welled up in Daenaera’s baby blue eyes as she quickly turned around and took off running, away from the playground, away from the venomous words, and away from the haunting laughter of the other girls and boys who had been deemed pretty enough.Aegon was clearly at war with himself. He looked down at the bag of sweets his mother had packed for him sorrowfully for a few seconds. Then he lifted herself up from the ground and marched up to the empty seat next to the younger girl, silently offering his bag of sweets to her.Daenaera blinked up at him in surprise and looked back and forward before carefully taking the bag from his tiny, pale hands.“Thank you.” She sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes with the sleeves of her shirt. Aegon nodded and leaned back slightly, watching carefully as Daenaera dug around for his favorite sweets before handing the bag back to him. "I don't get it," Daenaera said quietly. "Mommy and daddy think I'm pretty, Grandpa Vaemond thinks I'm pretty. All the grown ups that mommy makes me introduce myself to, think I am.”She turned her sad gaze back to the gaggle of girls and boys. "Because they're stupid." Aegon said bluntly.Daenaera flinched. "I don't think-""They are," Aegon insisted firmly. "Yesterday I heard one of them asking how to spell butterfly.""Really?" Daenaera couldn't help but giggle at that."The rest of them didn’t know how to spell it either." He groaned.She smiled what Aegon thought was a really beautiful smile. "That is absolutely-""-stupid." He finished with a grin.They both gazed at each other with a look of complete and utter awe, him admiring her beauty and her wondering why she had never bothered talking to him before.Daenaera walked up beside him and nervously shifted from one foot to another as her bright pink backpack swayed behind her. "Egg?""Yeah." He answered, through a mouthful of food."Do you..." She stuttered looking at him shyly.Aegon frowned. "What is it?""D-d... do you think I'm p-pretty?""I think you're absolutely beautiful."Daenaera jerked up at him with her eyes wide in surprise and her mouth agape in disbelief before she embraced him tightly. Aegon stood still for a moment, his face scrunched up in discomfort for a moment.A smile slowly crept on his face as she hugged him tighter and he just couldn't help but embrace her right back, just as tightly.