[Open Post] ..Tuesday afternoon..

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot feels that things have been a strange mix of tumult and routine. This is probably because they have. But today, so far, is routine in all respects. His day has proceeded apace through his usual steps -- drills, tending to Rivelin, coffee, lunch with Susan -- and the afternoon is now stretching out before him in a very satisfying way. He feels good, settled.

And so it is that he's in the café, reading (or mostly reading), with more coffee at hand. Given that he seems to be splitting time equally between having his eyes on his book and gazing out the window, he will not be bothered if anyone comes to chat.

Comments

[kadewest]

"Then I'll cross turtlenecks off the list," says Kade, easily. "One of these sweaters is a cowlneck, which might feel different?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot nods and pulls the turtleneck off immediately. "Well. It is a good thing to know, at any rate."

[kadewest]

"Let's try a button-down next," Kade says, and pulls one out of the original pile for Lancelot to try. "You can do these with or without an undershirt." Kade would generally go with with. "You can also control high up it goes, if you don't like things up snug against your neck."

[lanselos_du_lac]

This one is familiar, in that it feels much like the shirt that he wore under the suit. He has it on and though it takes him a minute with the buttons -- which he does up to the top of his sternum -- he's clearly comfortable with it.

[kadewest]

"Okay, I dig the look. Try it with one of these?" Kade passes over a couple pairs of slacks - navy, with wide legs, and black, with narrow legs. "Oh, and this vest."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot laughs, "There is such variety."

[kadewest]

Kade laughs, too. "Just tell me if it's too much," he says. "I won't be offended. This kind of stuff is my bread and butter, you know? I think there's nothing better than when someone finds an outfit that makes them feels like themself, so I tend to get really into it."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Not too much," glancing at Kade, "Just-- I am one of the lucky ones, at home, in that I can choose what colors I prefer. Can have new things when I ask, as opposed to mending my clothes until they give out. I try to keep things nice, but--"

[kadewest]

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot has a moment of considering whether to ask Kade for clarification of some kind; but some part of him realizes that that would be a deflection. Kade deserves better, after the time and attention he's given.

He says, "It is because I am a favorite of the High King and Queen. I suppose I have their patronage, where others may not."

[kadewest]

"How does that relate to colors?" Kade asks, genuinely curious.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Dyes can be expensive, and often require extra care. For day to day things, many don't bother." He pauses, frowning a little -- what he's about to say is nothing he would ever have addressed, before coming here. (He is not sure he ever thought of it, let alone thought of it as a problem, before now.) "We, as knights, may serve the same king, the same crown, but that does not make us equal in all things."

[kadewest]

Kade laughs, a sharp bark of a sound that clearly startles him. "I know what that's like," he says, and then shakes his head. "I did totally forget about how dyes used to be harder to come by, though. That wasn't really a problem in either the World I went to or the one I came from."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot is not at all sure why this is funny -- from his perspective, it is a truth that none like to acknowledge, and he himself is trying to see Camelot more clearly. This is new.

Instead of asking he busies himself with struggling his way out of the jeans and into the somewhat looser pair of trousers.

[kadewest]

"Do you have favorite colors?" Kade is starting to think about what he might make for Lancelot.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Blues, mostly," he replies, working out how to close the trousers. "Reds are fine as well."

[kadewest]

"Those are harder to get in your neck of the woods, right?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"A bit, I suppose. Here, though, it has been simple."

[kadewest]

"Yeah, the closets here are insane," Kade says. He gestures at the pants Lancelot is still struggling with. "Do you need help with those?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Aye, they seem different."

[kadewest]

"Here." Kade comes over and takes the other pair of slacks so he can show Lancelot the closure. "They like to make 'em so that the lines are sleeker, you know? It's more--hidden."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He looks, considers, and then makes another attempt which is successful. "Ah-- I see. Thank you."

[kadewest]

"Sure, no problem. What's the verdict?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I like these well enough-- I think I prefer the others."

[kadewest]

"Why, exactly?" Kade asks, raising his eyebrows.