[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]

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.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He's about to say not just of thee -- but then he thinks of how often he goes to the library seeking something specific he's heard from Susan and says instead, "Of thee-- and of what interests thee. So much of what thou know'st is new to me."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I suppose I did arrive from several hundred years in your future," says Susan, and has a moment of being fiercely glad that they've both ended up here.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He says, glad but frankly, "Just so. I want to know I can speak with thee on what thine interests are-- and at other times I just want to be sure I understand. It is luck that this place provides answers."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, you dear sweet man," says Susan, and holds her tea carefully out of the way so that she can kiss him fiercely.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He chuckles into the kiss, as if she's indulging him, but his answering kiss is just as fierce.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan does, it must be said, get a little caught up in the kiss. She's halfway to straddling his lap before a little tea sloshes over the edge of her mug and onto her hand and she stills, breaking the kiss and freezing in place so that she can lick the drops away. Breathlessly, she says, "I'm always happy to explain things you haven't got context for."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot is similarly breathless. He says, "Oh, I know. But I seek to impress or please thee. Thou dost understand, I've no doubt."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan thinks for a moment, and then takes another large gulp of her tea before leaning over to set her mug on the floor; while she's there, she takes Lancelot's half-full mug and places it next to hers. When she straightens, she brackets Lancelot's face with her hands. She doesn't bother trying to ignore the fact that they're both still naked - why should she? She delights in moments like this, when they're as close as can be. "You're very good at it," she says, frank, and leans in to kiss him again.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot's skin prickles sharply, all over, and he kisses back, gripping her arm firmly but gently, something else loosening within him -- not relief, but something else he can't name.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

It's a terrible line; Susan knows it before she says it. But she's so caught up in the taste of him, and the feeling of his hands on her, that she says it anyway: "Would you like to please me again?"