Chapter Text
Early March
“Honey, I’m sorry to tell you this, but we have to cancel our honeymoon.” Brienne hated breaking the news to Jaime. He took it just like she expected.
“But I got an amazing deal on that,” he mumbled glumly.
It was supposed to be a cruise, which got a discounted rate on, of course.
But cruises were hotbeds for spreading the virus and were canceled for the time being.
Jaime wrapped his arms around her. “And more importantly, I was looking forward to seeing you in a bikini for days on end.”
Brienne snorted at that, having noticed that when Jaime first did the packing he neglected any other clothes for her than her bikini.
“I added to the suitcase.”
He grinned. “I know, I took out what you added. Oh well, it’s pointless now. We’ll just have to go later in the year, I guess.”
Jaime surprised her with the news of their honeymoon just last week. Since their wedding had been something he sprung on her at the spur of the moment, she shouldn’t have been shocked that he planned to do the same with their honeymoon in early March.
“I guess I’ll just make some margaritas and we can pretend we’re somewhere tropical,” Jaime said, ever the optimist.
She brightened his evening by showing up for their drinks in one of the bikinis.
Mid-March
“This happened just in time,” Jaime said as he kept his fingers over Brienne’s eyes. “No peeking yet.”
Brienne’s office was now sending employees to work from home, which made Jaime’s announcement that he had finished her study absolutely perfect.
“Jaime, please, I just bumped my knee into what I assume is my chair. The room isn’t big enough for me to walk around with my eyes covered,” she complained, but her husband wouldn’t let up until she was seated in an office chair.
He finally let her look at the beautifully decorated room. While his other home renovations had been…questionable, it was clear that Jaime had put a lot of time into this room. Even some of her art from her childhood bedroom on Tarth now hung on the wall.
“Your father sent those,” Jaime said as she ran a finger along the edge of their frames. His voice sounded nervous, as if he didn’t realize how wonderful this room was.
“Jaime, thank you. This is…I can’t even say. It’s amazing.”
Jaime’s shoulders relaxed at her words, but he surprised Brienne by taking off his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
He grinned at her. “Well, we have to christen the new room, of course.”
She rolled her eyes, but did not object at all when they had sex on every surface in the room that evening.
New normal
They settled into a new routine. Jaime’s university moved all their classes online. She loved hearing him teach his students in Zoom. It made her so proud of how far he had come.
Brienne would also spot him peeking in on her and smiling from time to time. And occasionally he would bring her a cup of tea and give her a kiss on the shoulder. For the most part, he left her alone while she worked.
Being an introvert, she didn’t mind not seeing people every day. But her husband, he whined at least once a day about not being able to go out.
“It’s just Tyrion. He’s my brother. And we are supposed to be able to still see family.”
Brienne shook her head at him. “Immediate family in your household, my love. That just means you and me.”
He tried valiantly not to grumble at this, lest he insult his new wife, but Brienne new that this was hard on him. She started arranging video calls for him with a friend or family member at least once a day.
They also passed their time learning new recipes and Jaime made her do a TikTok dance just once. And she vowed never again.
In the evenings, they binge-watched television and did puzzles.
“I’m bored wench,” he whined a few weeks in while they were finishing another board game. “Let’s spar.”
They had been using their fake swords to try to reenact the fight scenes in their favorite medieval show. She was sure any professionals would laugh heartily at them, but it kept them busy.
“I don’t know, Jaime. My arms are a little sore from yesterday’s fight.”
He tossed her a sword. “Come on, wench. You know it’s good for us, it keeps our juices flowing.”
Jaime was not wrong. Their sparring sessions almost always ended up with passionate lovemaking on the living room floor.
Tonight was no exception. Brienne knocked Jaime flat on his ass and straddled him, her sword pointing at his neck. He yielded his pants immediately.
Supplies
When things started going wrong at the grocery stores, Brienne was not worried. They would never run out of toilet paper.
“I feel like my entire life has been preparing me for this moment!” Jaime was too giddy when he looked over his collection of cleaning supplies and paper products that he had stocked up on throughout the years because of his extreme couponing. They had shelves and shelves full in the storage room he made in the attic.
And of course, in when posts started showing up in the online neighborhood forum they were part of about mysterious baskets of supplies that started appearing on everyone’s doorsteps, especially the elderly, Brienne knew exactly who the toilet paper angel was.
Jaime may be crazy with his couponing, but he was a kind and honorable man. That’s why she loved him. She went with him when he delivered a crate of hand sanitizer to the hospital that he had gotten for two dollars last year after coupons.
When she saw the nurses’ happy tears, Brienne decided she could never be annoyed with his excessive couponing ever again.
Being trapped together in their little house by the sea was not what Jaime and Brienne had envisioned for the few months of their marriage, but they could think of worse things that could happen to them. They had their health and they had each other.
And toilet paper, they had plenty of that.