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

[lanselos_du_lac]

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.}

Comments

[timebethine]

"What did he advise thee?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

He laughs a little, "Usually? To have patience. To wait out her moods. This will certainly surprise thee, but when it comes to relationships, I am inclined to think everything is urgent or terrible."

[timebethine]

"What! Thee? The paragon of stoic endurance?" He kisses Lancelot's cheek. "Should I treat thee as she treated thee, thou shouldst upbraid me for it, and enlist Sagramore to thy cause. Thou didst deserve better of her, and thou wilt deserve better of me."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"It is not in thy nature to react as she sometimes did," he leans over to kiss Laertes' cheek in turn. "Bors was most often right, except for the last time. I think he tried to help me then, too, but I would hear no one." This last is a little more subdued; he has come a very long way from the roiling, painful nothing he felt during his last weeks at Camelot. He usually simply tries not to think about that time.

[timebethine]

He settles his head against Lancelot's shoulder. "As Claudius would say, 'Look to thy wisest friends.' Thou hast many here--Grantaire and Sagramore to lift thee out of melancholy, Susan to give thee sensible counsel, me to urge thee to action. Hear us. We love thee."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I know," quietly warm. He turns his head to kiss Laertes' hair. "Thou dost. I am better, now, than I was, and I have more help."

[timebethine]

"What help wouldst thou have of me?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

He laughs, and then shifts to raise Laertes' chin and kiss him, sweetly.

"Thou'rt enough, in thyself. Love me, be my friend, spend a little of thy time with me -- that is all that's needed."

[timebethine]

"Live," says Laertes, catching Lancelot's chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Let not this place's hunger for violence touch thee."

[lanselos_du_lac]

A little smile, "I have lived well, these last few months."

[timebethine]

"What would Bors say, to see thee now?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

At that, Laertes gets that bright and open smile again. "He would no doubt be surprised. I was ever reserved, over-serious. He would be glad to see me this easy."

[timebethine]

"No doubt it would ease his heart in kind, if he's watched thee like a brother since childhood."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I am sure thou hast the right of it," he shivers a little and presses closer. "Why again did we leave our clothes all the way over there?"

[timebethine]

"So that I could warm thee." Laertes presses his lips beneath Lancelot's ear, and shifts to draw Lancelot into his lap. "And after I've warmed thee, thou canst borrow some of mine to fetch thine own. We're of a size with one another, or near enough to it."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot goes easily, happy to be held. "Ah yes. Thou'rt clever, it is a good plan."

[timebethine]

"But, an my body does not suffice, we've sleeping bags close by," says Laertes, just a warm purr against his neck. "And lotions, shouldst thou find the strength for one more feat of endurance."

[lanselos_du_lac]

This time, the shiver is not due to any chill. He kisses Laertes, long and slow and frankly a bit teasing, then murmurs, "Show me."