[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

[sagramore]

"Aye, nobler than me, with all thy purity and thy reasonable foundation."

[futaille]

"Oh, the slander you torment my ears with."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"His pinball score is his own," Lancelot says to Sagramore, "which is nobility of a kind."

[sagramore]

"I beg thy pardon!"

[futaille]

"Oh, I was unaware that the nobility were restricted to fair play."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"That is not what I said," mildly. "Let us find the paint so that we may answer the question of Sagramore's nobility."

[sagramore]

"Now it's thee distracting us," to Grantaire. "I'm innocent."

[futaille]

"In fairness, I am an excellent distraction." He pulls a closet open, just in case paint happens to immediately jump out at him.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"That was never in question."

[sagramore]

"It really wasn't. If we settle the pinball situation, wilt thou be happier, sir?" to Lancelot. "And more willing to get on with the painting?"

[futaille]

"Oh, is it actually going to be settled?"

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I would, aye," to Sagramore. And then to Grantaire, "I doubt it."

[sagramore]

"It's going to be settled, Christ almighty. Let's have a drink and go up."

[futaille]

"Excellent! I am broadly in favor of drinks at all times."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"This is a good plan, yes."

[sagramore]

"All right, it's settled. Pick a bar, sweet."

[futaille]

"Closest one, of course." And Grantaire, who has a keen recollection of all of the known bars in the mansion, starts directly for it.

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot cheerfully follows Grantaire. "I am certain he's picked the perfect one."

[sagramore]

"Oh, there's no question."

[futaille]

"I wouldn't say any are imperfect, as they all have the capability of providing whatever you'd like. The difference is all in the ambiance." He gets to the closest bar and enters.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Explain 'ambience.'" Then, after a moment, "I mean to say -- I understand the term but not what thou dost mean by it."

[sagramore]

"Indeed. Pontificate on the ambience here."

[futaille]

He picked it because it was close, but... "It's a small and charming one. Homey. Cozy, in a way."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Ah, so how a place feels?"

[sagramore]

"The coziness of having alcohol in it?"