Lancelot has one of those moments in which he simply stops thinking, feels his awareness of himself step sideways. Laertes may feel it as a shuddering in Lancelot's pulse. King and vassal robs him of his breath for a moment, and by the time he's wrangled his focus back to what Laertes is saying, his brain is tumbling along the idea of praise or cruelty.

He has just enough space to think that what he would like most is loving care. Sweetness without worry. Enjoyment without guilt. He thinks that some of what Laertes describes sounds to him like punishment -- he has had enough of punishment, for now.

He gives himself a little shake; he tries to look as if nothing has affected him. "Nay," he says softly, "no, I think I would most like to simply feel thee."