[Closed Post] ..lines we're leaving behind..

[lanselos_du_lac]

He doesn't really mean to, but Lancelot keeps to his rooms for a time in the wake of the latest mansion upheaval. He doesn't disappear for days, and he mostly keeps his routines -- he does spend a little more time riding -- but he is subdued and not idly floating about for socializing.

It could have been worse. He knows this. He knows, too, that no one did this on purpose; he's grateful for Susan and Nightingale's understanding. But none of that makes it easier to regain his emotional balance. Much like that day (which felt very long), he is still grappling occasionally with that sensation of being... just outside of himself, a step removed, dizzy and longing to be even further away.

Still, he does not want to punish Susan and he knows they should talk. So this morning after he puts up Rivelin, he goes to find Susan, wherever she might be.

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Oh, aye, terribly selfish," his arm around her waist.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I like you selfish."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Mmm," he chuckles, kissing her cheek. "Then I shall continue."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Very good," she says, twisting her head so she can catch the edge of his lips with hers. "And I shall thank you as much as I like."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Aye, I cannot stop thee when thou'rt determined."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I so often am," Susan says, tilting her head back so that it's resting against his shoulder. She closes her eyes. "Might that be another item for your list?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I think so, aye." He sighs, satisfied and happy. "Thou'rt a force. A lovely one, but still a force."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I do believe you're right, sir," she says, deeply satisfied by this observation. "Perhaps even a formidable one."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Ach, a better word by far, aye."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, I liked 'lovely' very much, too."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Well, lovely is obvious."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Yes, yes, I'm very beautiful." She trails her fingers along the back of his hand, where it's curved around her waist, and presses her cheek against his neck, and lets the fluttery feeling deep inside of her suffuse her body.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He makes another contented sound, relaxing such that his hand rests more heavily on her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan likes the weight of him - in truth, she likes everything about him. She rests there, cozy, for a good few minutes, arguably lightly dozing, warm down to her toes and worn out from her days of fretting over the entire bodyswap situation and (frankly) all of the sex she's had today. Eventually, though, she reaches one dripping hand over the side of the tub and retrieves a bar of soap. As she leans back against him, she remembers something. "Oh," she says. "I suppose I ought to mention - I slept with Janet."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Oh?" He sounds a little surprised, but pleasantly so. Lancelot pauses for a moment, working out how to ask his next question in a way that shows interest but doesn't pry. "Art happy, then? Is it well between you?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Yes, I believe so."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Then I am glad," kissing her cheek.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan shifts, water lapping around her as she pulls away far enough that she can turn to face him. She leans up on her knees to kiss him, once, soft and sweet, cupping his cheek with a wet hand, and then sits back. Her hair clings to her chest; its ends float around her like a cloud. "Come," she says, gesturing with her other hand - still holding the soap - for him to close the distance again. "I should like to clean you, and be cleaned by you."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot smiles, perfectly happy to give her anything she asks. (He also must admit the idea is very appealing.)

He shifts forward and reaches for the soap. "Ladies are served first," with a little laugh.

~~

After they've finished and have helped each other towel off, Lancelot helps her back into her robe and then pulls his on.

"Is there aught else thou wouldst have? An thou hast a wish, I would fetch it for thee."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan smiles up at him, straightening his robe and then tucking herself against his front. "I might fancy a walk later," she says. "Perhaps around the lake if it isn't too windy."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"That would be well. Have you seen Rivelin?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Not in a few days," Susan admits. She takes a step back and stretches - between the sex, and Lancelot, and the bath, she's feeling more properly like herself than she has ever since she woke up as Thomas Nightingale.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"An it suits thee, we might check on the horses as well, then."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"That suits me fine."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Excellent," sliding both arms around her.