@ [closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan has been having the dreams with greater frequency, lately¹: Narnia ablaze as the dying stars sink into the sea, giant lizards and dragons ripping every tree and rock from the earth and rending the last of Cair Paravel's ruins into so much rubble, laying all that devastation onto the blaze and then dying themselves as the mountains crumble and the seas rise and leave nothing behind but an empty, starless black.

Nothing, that is, save an open door, and her family standing before it, watching the devastation, and then the door swinging shut.

I've been doing better she tells herself firmly, rising from her bed before the sun has even started to think about peeking over the horizon. The waning moon is hanging low in the sky; the waxing one has already set. She turns on all her lights against the lingering dark and watches them blaze merrily in her vision until she has to glance away, dark spots dancing in their aftermath. She still feels cold as a lifeless, dark world, but at least there's no denying that she isn't in one.

Then, even more firmly, she makes herself get up. She dresses warmly - those thick woolen stockings that join up at the waist (she has since learned they are called tights; the Mansion has been supplying ones lined in a thick, fuzzy material remarkably suitable for winter), a dress similarly appropriate for winter, her woolen coat and leather gloves. Her hair she braids down, not up, so that it's easier to wear a hat against the chill that is resting both deep in her chest and sharp in the morning air outside.

She grabs her longbow and her quiver in addition to the latest of her pile of books - it's good to have contingency plans - but instead of heading toward the range or the woods to seek out a place to sport with Little John, she goes to where she knows Lancelot practices in the morning, stopping only to fill a thermos up with tea. It is, she thinks high time to make good on her threat to watch him.


¹Thanks, Aornis!

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot is, of course, where she expects to find him. Even as it gets colder, he keeps his routine -- it's not as if he is unused to drilling in cold weather, and there is still something within him that feels that if he doesn't keep his skills up then ... who knows what may happen. So he's in the training yard, running through his paces.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan leans against a fence post, watching him, fingers curled around her canteen and bow hooked over her chest. Watching Lancelot train while the morning twilight gradually lightens is like staring at her bedroom lights in some queer and inexplicable way: her vision dances, the cold recedes.

She doesn't bother making her presence known, yet. She's feeling a little quiet at the moment, and anyway, she's happy to drink in the way he exercises his strength and precision while he doesn't know he's being observed.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He gets nearly all the way through his sequence before he realizes anyone is there; when he does realize someone is watching, he finishes a little more rapidly than he otherwise would. But once he's done he turns and is finally able to see that it's Susan observing, at which point his face lights up.

"Lady!" He grins, and comes across the grass to where she stands.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Lancelot," says Susan, with no small measure of relief. It surprises her, actually, how comforted she is to see him. She sets that aside for later and, with only a very little difficulty, pulls on a flirtatious air. "I don't mean to alarm you, but I must say you are rather handsome like this."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot comes to her, reaching for her, and only at the last moment stopping himself from simply greeting her with a kiss. He laughs a little, "With sword in hand? Aye, I'm told this is one of my better qualities."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan, however, has no such qualms. She reaches for him, too, putting her hand on he forearm that isn't holding his blade and leaning up for that kiss hello.

[lanselos_du_lac]

He is very happy to oblige her, kissing her sweetly, though with a degree of propriety.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Once she has settled back onto her heels, she fusses with his shirt, straightening it. (It does not require straightening.) "The sword in hand, the faint dew of sweat upon your brow... you make quite a picture, sir."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Well, at least now I know how to attract thee."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Sir," laughs Susan, despite the melancholy still clinging about her like a cloak tossed over her clothes. "I believe you've had that well in hand for weeks."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He reaches up to brush her cheek lightly, "I am glad to hear it. Good morning, by the by."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Better now, she thinks, slipping an arm around his waist, mindful of her bow - she doesn't want it to whack him. This thought, too, she sets aside. "Good morning," she echoes. "Are you done? I'd be happy to watch you for longer."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I could keep going, but I'm glad to see thee, and so now would rather spend time with thee," he flushes a little, "if I'm being honest."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan doesn't bother to insist that she'd like to see him in full form. Now that she knows what he looks like when he's training, she'll absolutely be coming down to watch him again. Possibly even several times a week, schedule allowing. Maybe she'll find some opera glasses and watch from afar, so as not to distract him.

Plus, she also wants to spend time with him. "I suppose I can make this sacrifice," she says, aiming for a teasing tone and mostly hitting it.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Very generous of thee," he draws back a little to look at her. "Hast thy bow-- art thou off to an adventure?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"A backup plan," she confesses. "I thought, 'if I can't find a comely knight with his sword outside at the crack of dawn, then I suppose I can shoot some things instead.'"

[lanselos_du_lac]

He gives her a fond smile, though there's a little concern there, "And what need hast thou of knights, comely or otherwise?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Oh, it feels so silly to say 'I had a bad dream!' She hasn't got a pithy little joke to make here, though. Thinking of Lancelot made her feel better, so she sought him out, and that's the truth of it.

"I heard a rumor one might also be an early riser," she says. "And so I thought I might make good on my threats to watch him train." Then she sighs - she hasn't got the energy, right now, to uphold her usual level of banter. (Ingrid would tell Susan that her banter is a tool to keep people at a safe emotional distance, because Ingrid is a horrible person. Susan misses her terribly.) "I," she says, quietly, and pauses. Missed you. "Wanted to see you."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He can sense there is more behind her words than she will say outright, but he keeps his expression easy. He takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. "I am glad. I wanted to see thee, as well."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Well," she says, a little inanely. "Here I am."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"So thou art," warmly, and with real pleasure, "and lovely besides. Shall we walk? 'Tis cold, this morning."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, let's," says Susan, looping her arm around his, feeling that surprising blush of relief again. This time, at least, she can ascribe at least part of it to a clear objective. "I've been meaning to chart the woods north of the lake for days now."

[lanselos_du_lac]

He covers her hand with his own, and starts off in that direction. "That sounds a worthy project."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Possibly slightly mad, actually," says Susan. "I last mapped it a month ago. But I believe I am more stubborn than this queer place and one day it will stop shifting things around the second I'm done cataloguing them."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"I do not doubt it will come to obey thee."