* [semi-closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is still struggling, but she's established a little routine, specific to Dark: every morning, she goes to her favorite room - the one with all the rugs - and retrieves several bottles of alcohol. These, she ferries down to the cafe and arranges them on a corner table, where she sits for the next hour or so, passing bottles to anyone who needs a full one, and measures from the bottles to anyone who would prefer just a drink or two. By now, she's got a sense of the regulars, their preferences (though she cannot always accommodate these - it really is the queerest assortment of libations), and how much they require, but she always brings an extra bottle or two just in case.

Today, she's tireder than normal, and moving slowly. Her tea was running low, and so she's rationing it. She's even on the verge of capitulating and getting a cup of coffee to tide herself over.


[Primarily intended for Dionysus and Lan Wangji, but if anyone wants to play out the awkwardness of the daily alcohol retrieval I'm all in!]

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

Letting people who aren't Magnus see their room always feels a little strange, like opening the door on some secret, fragile part of himself and Claudius together -- but he knows the space is neat and organized, which he thinks she'll approve of, and there's nothing to see except a space that two people have made a home in together. He's proud of that; he doesn't mind if she sees it.

He puts the bottle of wine down on Claudius' desk, and the little rug on his side of the bed, where his feet can touch it in the morning when he gets up.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan does look around once, curiously - she's sorted out where everybody sleeps, but she hasn't snooped inside any rooms she's not been invited into. She had no expectations for what Claudius and Galahad's room might look like inside, but if she did, this would meet them exactly.

[onthewillowsthere]

"All right," he says, when he has the rug arranged exactly the way he wants. "Let's go."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Shall you need a coat?" Susan ought to nip by her room and get her own, now that she's thinking about it. "I suppose I might want mine."

[onthewillowsthere]

She's right. He goes to the closet and gets his long coat and scarf, carefully knotting it around his neck the way Claudius would, and then glances at her -- he doesn't know where her room is, but he's willing to follow.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

And Susan is willing to lead the way. She nods at him - her room is actually just one hall over. It's tidy, too. Less obvious is the fact that Lancelot is staying with her regularly, now, but Galahad might spot a familiar pair of shoes next to the door, and when she opens her closet to fetch her coat and change into outdoor shoes, some of his clothes are hanging next to it.

[onthewillowsthere]

He does notice, but he knew they loved one another. It isn't a surprise, only a confirmation.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"There," says Susan, once she's ready. "To the tower, then?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes."

It's another cold day, the ground covered in slushy snow about three inches deep and a serious wind blowing; Galahad turns up the collar of his coat so it protects the back of his neck and ears.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

And Susan pulls her coat more snugly around her. "Oh!" she remembers, as they walk. "Did you have any questions?"

[onthewillowsthere]

He gives her a curious look.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"From when Lancelot spoke to you," Susan says. She's still assuming Lancelot had taken care of that immediately. "I know he was fuzzy on the details. I'm not any clearer, of course, but I've got more distance and sometimes that's helpful."

[onthewillowsthere]

"He hasn't spoken to me."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan covers her mouth with her hand. Usually when she does this, it's an affectation designed to fake surprise and disarm someone into coming to a particular sort of conclusion. Right now it's all genuine. "I oughtn't have assumed."

[onthewillowsthere]

He doesn't tilt his head, because they're trudging through the slush, and he's squinting into the wind. "What about?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan wonders, briefly, if she should say, but then she decides that telling Galahad might soften him toward Lancelot when Lancelot does broach the subject. "It was about what happened to your friend," she says, carefully.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Magnus?" This time he stops still, turning to her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

She nods. "He didn't realize Magnus was asking for you. He felt terrible about it when he put it together."

[onthewillowsthere]

"He was there?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan glances over at Galahad, trying to read his mood. "He found him."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What happened?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

She's about to caveat that that Lancelot will explain it better, but honestly she's not certain that's true. He'd been ever so out of it. Instead, she says, "I'm afraid I don't have all the details. I know Lancelot found Magnus and removed the sword and tried to stop the bleeding until Magnus could heal himself. I know he took the sword and the glass to Lan Wangji, lest it disappear. I know it was unclear to him, what happened before he arrived. He looked a frightful sight when he came to me. He realized Magnus asked for you when his stress response started to recede." Susan never apologizes unless she's truly sorry about something. Now she says, "I believe I owe you an apology. I might've found you myself, but Lancelot was feverish and falling asleep when he realized, and I stayed with him."

[onthewillowsthere]

It takes a reeling moment to recall himself. The pocket of hurt from Passion Sunday has gaped into a great cavern, jagged with anger -- Lancelot knew, Lancelot should have gotten him, it's Lancelot's fault he wasn't there -- and he has to grasp at wheat to remind himself of the rest of what Susan is saying. He draws in a sharp breath and lets it out -- fish, following a river of qi.

Finally, he nods.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"If he hasn't spoken to you yet, I imagine it's because he wants to get it right."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad nods again.