[Semi-Closed Post] Sadmas Aftermath

[lanselos_du_lac]

Rather suddenly, after this latest mansion event or incursion of unexpected visitors, Lancelot will not be seen around and about as has come to be usual for him. He is not drilling in the field in the mornings. He is not in the café seeking pastries or companionship. He is not around the kitchens or libraries or, seemingly, anywhere.

Lancelot keeps to his room. If he bathes or shaves or uses the bathroom, he does so carefully and avoiding anyone he might meet. If Laertes leaves food outside his door, folk will find it still there later in the day. If anyone knocks, he will not call them in. He lets the mansion provision him with bread, cheese, water-- sometimes wine or whiskey -- but he doesn't much want any of it.

He cannot bring himself to speak to anyone. He cannot bring himself to do much of anything at all. The best concession he will make, with the understanding that there are those who will worry, is that he does not lock or bolt the door.

[Typist note: Anyone who might be really worried about Lancelot's sudden disappearance or withdrawal is welcome! Post is "semi-closed" really only because a character would have to deliberately decide to enter, and no one will stumble across Lancelot by accident.]

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

His immediate impulse is to decline, to tell her he would rather nearly anything than be out. But he can see the worry in her, and he has some better sense, now, of how dear she is to him. So instead he says, dubiously, "I will do as thou likest, but I am very poor company, lady."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"So it's your turn now," says Susan, who was poor company indeed the first several times they spoke. She crosses the room and offers him her hand, in case whatever has befallen him has made him feel too weak, emotionally, to stand on his own. "Come. What do you need? A coat? Some shoes?" Her concern, she registers, is making her sound a little prickly. Ah, well. Nothing to be done about that.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot takes her hand and gets to his feet; he has the sudden urge to pull her into his arms but he resists it. He moves around her, saying, "I will get my boots on."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Good," says Susan, firm as anything. She doesn't have a coat of her own, at the moment - hers is in her room - so she goes over to Lancelot's closet and bullies it into giving her one. It's a garish mauve monstrosity, but she hasn't got the focus to make it yield something more appropriate, so she just drapes it over her arm and goes to wait by the door for him.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Soon enough he's ready; he's got a cloak, which he puts on as well, and then nods toward the door and goes out.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is quiet as they walk through the mansion, trying to let the sharp, spiky concern fade into something softer. It doesn't, but she does manage to gentle her voice as they reach a side-door that leads out to the gardens. "You needn't tell me what's happened," she says, shrugging on her coat against the chill. "Unless you wish to discuss it. But I am happy to listen."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot walks beside her in silence for a few moments, and once they're closer to the garden he sighs, glancing down.

"The king was here," he says, quietly. It is easier to put it at a little distance. "He came to take me back to Camelot. He has been riding out nearly every day for weeks, seeking me."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Arthur," Susan says, gaze darting from the grounds in front of them up to the side of his face. Oh, he looks so very grave! Her heart twinges. She hadn't realized Lancelot had a visitor, too - but she supposes she should have done; it seems like most people had one. "A welcome reunion, or a foul one?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

He lets out a hapless, tiny laugh, "Both welcome and... not. More welcome. I have missed him, sorely." He stops, takes a breath. "We spoke of-- nearly everything. I had thought, though, that he would be held here, as the rest of us have been."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Oh. Oh, of course Lancelot is upset! At least Susan knew Lucy's visit would be a limited one from the start. "A surprising loss, then."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Quietly, "Aye."

Lancelot stays quiet for a minute or two, both trying to master his feelings and to figure out how much to say to Susan. He starts with, "He was so convinced he could take me back. That he had been given a quest to bring me back to court."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"So he thought you might leave with him, and you thought he might stay with you?" That does feel like a cruelty; she bristles on Lancelot's behalf.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He glances quickly at Susan, but keeps walking. "I-- it was a hard conversation. Eventually we came to an understanding. I have been better, here, and wished to stay. After he considered, he was glad. He was convinced he would return to Camelot. I-- I was sure he was mistaken."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan looks up at Lancelot for a long moment - she's well familiar with this part of the grounds, and doesn't need to watch her step - and then offers him her hand.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He takes it, gratefully, squeezing her fingers gently. There's another long silence before he says, quietly, "Susan, I love him. I had hoped, here--"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Of course you do," says Susan, who (despite her insistence with herself that she learn Lancelot as if she's totally unfamiliar with his legend, does still remember many details) would have expected nothing less. She wonders, idly, what sort of love he means, but then discards the question. "You hoped that here you might simply be Lancelot and Arthur, rather than knight and king?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Eventually," threading their fingers together. "I knew it would go hard for him to learn he could not go back." A pause, and he clears his throat. "We had a good evening, at the last. But-- it is like a death, for him to be gone."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I know that feeling well," says Susan, squeezing his hand. "Do you think the evening being a good one makes it worse, or better?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

Another sigh, "I don't know. Somehow it seems both are true."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

A pause. "What is most difficult for you, right now?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I do not know," he tries very hard not to sound bleak. "So much happened. So much was said. I do not even know that he understood me, in all."

After another few steps he halts, tugging gently at Susan's hand -- a suggestion, to turn and face him.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan does, easily turning on her heel and looking up at him. He really does look so dreadfully sad - it's impressive, actually; Susan has long since reached a point where her own sadness, when felt, barely shows on her face. She reaches with her free hand to cup his cheek, running her thumb gently over the unshaven scruff there.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot shifts closer to her, minutely. "There is something I should tell thee," quiet and serious. His expression is sad and earnest. "But-- I do not want to make thee feel as if--"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Say it."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He flushes -- it would be easier if Susan would demure, wave him away from the thought. But he knows that, if she did, she would not be Susan. He doesn't want that.

"I understood, once he pressed me, that there are several reasons I would stay here, rather than return to court, no matter how deep my love for the king and queen." He holds himself like a man who is bracing for something, for one more shattering thing to happen. "But foremost in those reasons, is thee. I thought of thee. I would stay with thee."