lanselos_du_lac | [Open Post] ..only want to glean the purpose..

Since they learned of Shen Yuan's death, things have been subdued; rightly so, Lancelot reasons. He has done what he can to be a support for those he loves, and to keep his own worry and anxiety at bay. He worries about how they are all doing, about whether or not they are safe, about what he can do to make anything better -- which often feels like nothing. It's unsettling, and he wants to stay settled and present for them, so he determines to find a way to be so.

As has always been the case for him, being outside helps. The weather is warming and true spring is settling in. (He has difficulty keeping track of what time may be like back in Britain¹, but he suspects that it is early summer there. If so, then he supposes that means he is another year older, which is a strangely hopeful thought.) And so, after his lunch with Susan, he heads back out -- he might ride, or walk through the woods, or explore the lake. Whatever keeps him out in the sunshine, under the sky.

^{1: He has not quite realized this yet, but he has generally stopped thinking "at home" when he means Camelot, or Britain in general. That this place -- no, these people -- have become home in so short a span is something he has to take by degrees, lest he worry about what it means for his relationship with those he left behind there.}

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"Thank you. Did you know him?"

"Not really, no," he sounds rueful. "He introduced himself once, and said he was friend to you, and to Susan. I am sorry I did not get the opportunity to know him better."

"When you came, he realized you were from another time."

He looks a little surprised, "Do you mean-- a different time from you?"

"Yes."

"How could he know?"

"When I told him what happened he guessed. He said the same thing happened to him and Luo Binghe."

"Oh, I see," a little pause as he thinks this over. "I am glad he was a help to thee, especially on such a day as that."

"He was very kind," Galahad says.

"I know he had many friends here. I hope-- well. I hope you're keeping safe."

"Lan Wangji is training me."

"Oh," a little surprised. "That's well. Did you-- I thought you wished to put down your blade."

"I do." He stops there, turning over how much he wants Lancelot to know. In this place where Shen Yuan can be killed, he's rethinking his honesty about his loss of power.

Lancelot catches that hesitation, and instead of pressing he says, rather neutrally, "It does no harm to practice. It is good for the body, gives the mind something to focus on."

"You practice every day."

"Aye," with a nod, "I find it helps me. It is easier to stay centered. And anyway, it is what I am used to."

"Do you have enough time for other things you want to do?"

"Yes," a small smile, "drills are just part of the routine. After drills, I see to Rivelin and often have some time to myself. I have lunch with Susan nearly every day, and in the afternoons I have other arrangements or habits. Most evenings I have free to do as I like."

"Susan is an archer."

At that, the smile broadens, as it nearly always does when Susan is the subject of discussion. "Aye, she is. A fine one, too."

"Are you ever afraid she won't be safe?"

His expression shifts -- turns serious, concerned, though the light is still there. "Of course," he says, plainly. "Since Magnus... was hurt, and still more now."

He nods, and then, after a silence, says, "I am afraid for Claudius." It's an answer to an earlier question, if Lancelot is still tracking the path they've gone down.

Lancelot nods, "May I speak plainly?"

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