[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

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I suppose that's reasonable. I certainly have no plans to take my hands off of you anytime soon."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"To my great fortune."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Yes," says Susan; there's a private smile tucked at the corner of her mouth, but she pulls back far enough away for Lancelot to see it as she shifts to run her fingertips along his hairline.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He smiles up at her, "I'll grant thee another. Thou'rt very beautiful -- which I am certain sure is a thing already known to thee."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"It is," Susan admits. "But I shan't tire of hearing it."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"That's well. I'll not tire of telling thee."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You're a sweetheart," Susan says, brushing one more kiss to his lips before sitting up, reluctantly, and starting to gather her hair back into some semblance of order.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He smiles and then lingers, watching her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

And so Susan - it must be said - poses a little. She knows what the lines of her naked body look like, stretched like this, arms curved above her head to shake her mess of half-braided hair loose of its tangle. She knows, too, that her chest is still a little flushed from their coupling, and that the marks he left on her body are visible in the weak wintery daylight streaming through her window. She shakes her head more vigorously than is strictly necessary, allowing her body to shake with the effort, and then runs her fingers through the strands to make sure they're all smooth and loose.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot lets himself take in the sight, his smile soft, as if he wants to hang on to that vision as long as possible.

Still, he eventually lets out a little sigh and makes himself sit up. He touches her knee, "Wouldst like some tea?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

The lines of Lancelot's body are also delicious in the sun. It's Susan's turn to watch him, appreciative, as he sits. Then she leans in for a quick little kiss. "I'd love some," she says.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He restrains himself from chasing that kiss, and clambers out of bed to find the tea and mugs.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"The mugs are where we left them; the tea is on the table. A good splash of milk for me, I think," Susan says, still openly watching him move around the room. She has half a mind to drag him right back to bed.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He would not be likely to protest if she did.

"Aye," says, relaxed and content. He gets both mugs together, Susan's doctored accordingly, and then brings it to her. "There. For thee."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan wraps her fingers around Lancelot's as she takes the mug, and uses the leverage to lean in for another kiss. It's natural that she's feeling clingier than she typically does. Surely this is only because it's been a few days.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He smiles, granting the kiss with that same sweetness, and then arranges the pillows so they can lounge as they talk.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan curls up at his side, taking a cautious sip of the tea and then a bigger one - even in the thermos, it's cooled off in the past hour. Still, she runs a hand, warmed from the side of the mug, along his side as she leans her head against his shoulder.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Art well?" As if the answer to that isn't wholly obvious.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Obviously she is. "We already established that I missed you," she says, affecting a forlorn and anguished tone. "I should like to have another item off the list. In recompense."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Mm. Eminently fair," he sips his own tea. "One of the first things I noted in thee was thy sharpness. I find that very alluring. Thou dost notice everything, and makest consideration of it."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Some find it off-putting," Susan says, droll. She's clearly pleased that Lancelot likes it.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"There are many," he says lightly, "who know not something wondrous when they see it. It has always surprised me."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Especially given that she has few issues with confidence, Susan, to her own surprise, flushes. She takes a busy sip of tea. "You've a keen eye," she says, eventually.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I do try to notice," grinning at her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"So whilst I make a study of the world, you make a study of me?" Susan asks, as if she doesn't spend just as much time studying Lancelot.