[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

[ravkanwitch]

"Hmm. Let's see," Nina considers. "Who do we have in common? Who do we both know fairly well?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"You mentioned Susan," with a smile. "We are close."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina catches something in that smile, just a glimpse, but she doesn't say anything. "Susan," she thinks, tilting her head. "I've only spoken to her a few times before we started our project together, but she's so much more proper than I am and she keeps her emotions close to the chest-- or at least tries to." She tilts her shoulders back, emulating Susan's posture, and schools her expressiveness into something more solemn and refined. She does try to affect an accent that's more refined as well, but she's not sure if it carries through the translator. "Much like this," she says, with a hint of a smile that carries just enough warmth.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot laughs softly, "Aye, 'tis much like her. Is this what you mean?"

[ravkanwitch]

Nina nods. "Acting... and watching theater... it transports your mind."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"It's fascinating to think about," still smiling. "We've not much like it, in my own time. Or at least, none that I've seen."

[ravkanwitch]

"Do you have musicians at all? Many of the smaller villages in Ravka don't have the ability to put on plays and shows... but they still have traveling musicians who tell tales and sing folk songs in the local taverns."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Aye, we have musicians, and folk songs, and that sort of thing. But nothing like what Susan described."

[ravkanwitch]

“Hm. I was going to say that it’s similar… just bigger. It’s all just telling a story.” She snaps her fingers. “That’s what I love it about! Story-telling. Acting is telling a story about someone else. How they act and who they are.”

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot looks thoughtful, "I can understand that, I think."

[ravkanwitch]

“We’re all just stories in the end— and I mean that figuratively and not literally,” she adds, with a nervous little laugh. She’s heard the rumors.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot gives Nina a look, skeptical but amused -- he ignores the feeling that's a little like a cold wind meant only for him. (That is all he is now, at Camelot; perhaps that's just as well.)

"I think I would like to see a play, here."

[ravkanwitch]

"I hope we can get enough people," Nina frowns slightly. "Otherwise it might just be me, Luo Binghe, and Tally up on that stage. Maybe Susan."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I do not know Luo Binghe or Tally, but I think even with just a few that would be something to see."

[ravkanwitch]

Oh, the coffee's been done for a while now! She pours it out into two mugs and hands one to him. It's good coffee but the flavor is probably quite sweet. "Luo Binghe is my best friend," she declares. "We had the short skit at the talent show."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Oh-- I recall, now. You were quite good."

[ravkanwitch]

"Thanks," Nina says with a smile. "I don't think I really understand what the original movie was about -- but it was a fun scene."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He laughs, "I understood very little, but I was entertained."

[ravkanwitch]

"That was the point of it," Nina says, satisfied. She takes a sip of her coffee. "Entertainment. I'm not used to having so much free time."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"No? I can understand that; I prefer to keep busy as well."

[ravkanwitch]

"Well," Nina says a little dryly - but quite gently, "I've been busy getting kidnapped, participating in a heist, then another heist, then keeping tabs on the start of a war. This place is relaxing in comparison! At least I'm well-fed for my troubles."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He laughs a little, out of pure surprise, then says, "Forgive me. That-- that is quite the change."

[ravkanwitch]

"My life has not been boring," she says wryly.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I should say not," in a tone of appreciation.

[ravkanwitch]

"Well," Nina says, with a smile and a little wave of her mug of coffee. "I'm going to enjoy this with a good book now -- but I'll be sure to let you know if we end up putting on a play! Though I'm sure Susan will tell you first."