On sleeping arrangements on The Queen Trahere

[consultmybooks]

On the one hand, yes, it's nice to get a cabin with a proper writing desk at the least. Once the train starts filling up a bit, I shudder to think how problematic it's going to be to have to navigate the lounge car.

On the other? You are really much too amused at the fact that our current arrangements require Helios and I to share a bed. And whatever you're thinking is going to happen most certainly isn't, I assure you.

I can't wait until we can get off this ridiculous thing.

Comments

[folklorist]

Wh-what is she thinking?! P-probably the same thing as my own. [ SIIIIGH. He is so awkward right now. ]

I, ah, h-hope we get off the train soon as well.

[consultmybooks]

More than likely. So at the least, I don't have to spell it out. [Pardon him if he sounds a bit short, Helios. It's just...Giles does not deal with awkwardness very well.]

...it, um, i-it was probably just a hallucination, but...have you seen the sorts of places we're passing by out the window?

[shadedsunlight]

[......gigglefit.]

[consultmybooks]

[...sigh.]

I've never understood how everyone finds matters like this quite so funny. I-It's just, um, it's just a cabin. [With one bed.] Rather a nice one, at that.

[shadedsunlight]

I'm sure it is. Nice and cozy I bet.

[consultmybooks]

[Haven't you missed making Giles blush, Ginia?] N-N-Not so cozy, actually. Might have been, if we'd gotten stuck in one of the other cabins, but, um, we, we certainly have room.

...it's about the size of our room, back at the house, but, um, w-what else would you expect, from a train?

[shadedsunlight]

It sounds quite nice. I've always liked trains, something nice and romantic about them. [Smirk.]

You two have fun.

[consultmybooks]

With a, um, minimum of motion sickness in the bargain. B-Better than planes, at least. [Yeah, he's babbling, just a bit, if only to avoid the big issue currently looming.]

...we'll, um, certainly do our best. When we aren't hallucinating, of course.

[shadedsunlight]

Hallucinating?

[consultmybooks]

Hallucinating. [He nods, looking...well, miserable.]

Last Halloween all over again, m-more or less. Um, be glad you weren't around for that year.

[Unconsciously, Giles scratches at one arm - the one that always seems to pick up the scars, the one bearing the Mark.]

[shadedsunlight]

I'm sorry.

[She makes a tiny 'hm.' It wasn't as if last year was any better.

Habitually, she reaches out to touch his arm, what she always does when she's trying to comfort him.]

[consultmybooks]

[It's a mark of trust that he lets her, and the scratching stops - at least for the right one. The fact that she never did ask about the Mark of Eyghon helps somewhat...]

S-So am I.

At least it, um, w-won't be as bad as last year. Or, it, um, it shouldn't be. Hallucinations and masks bring out t-two, um, v-very different sides of me.

[shadedsunlight]

You two have to stay safe, okay? Don't... [she laughs quietly.] No, I suppose asking you two not to get hurt is futile, but... you two need to take care of each other.

[consultmybooks]

W-We will. We're, um...halfway decent at that, at least. Or, um, Helios is. I...tend to be the one to ruin things, actually.

[He covers her hand almost tentatively with his.] Right now, I...well, I actually feel rather like I did, after, um, a-after he died.

[shadedsunlight]

I wouldn't say ruin as much as the powers that be like to mess with you. And by the powers that be, I mean your mundane. [A glare past the fourth wall.

Her smile fades slightly and she raises herself up to kiss his cheek.] You are seeing him again in a place that isn't Luceti. ["And you aren't dead."]

[consultmybooks]

[And he's not dead. Won't be for a very long while - his mun is cruel, but not heartless, she says in the face of that glare.]

Th-That, um, that isn't what I meant. [But he smiles faintly at the implications.] I mean, it feels as though I'm just...waiting for time to go faster.

[shadedsunlight]

Until you two can go? [Back to Luceti?]

[consultmybooks]

Until, um, I can go. Helios is in that utterly fascinating state where he can more or less be wherever he pleases.

...but I should, um, be able to return. S-Soon.

[shadedsunlight]

Grune and Helios and Buffy and everyone else will be happy to see you. You've been missed.

[consultmybooks]

[A beat. Then, in a tone of mingled amusement and puzzlement:]

Will, um, w-will you be happy to see me as well?

[shadedsunlight]

[Ginia doesn't say anything right away. She steps in and hugs him, lighter than all her usual hugs, almost gingerly, but no less loving and caring than the last. It feels like she's backsliding sometimes, hitting a point where she's okay without him, then having a new memory or reminder pop up. Seeing him, wanting to be with him, loving him.]

What do you think?

[At least she's not crying this time. That she's thankful for.]

[consultmybooks]

[The hug he responds with is equally ginger, almost hesitant, but all the emotions there haven't faltered. He still misses her, even if he's grateful beyond words for the fact that he's allowed to remember her at all, that he still has her dagger to keep him safe on their long trip to nowhere.]

...s-sorry.

I was just, um, very pointedly reminded once that...three months can still be a very long time.

[It was the argument that would kick off a great many things in Giles' Luceti life.]

[shadedsunlight]

[Ginia tucks her head under his chin and closes her eyes.]

I have a very good memory. You made a very lasting impression.

[consultmybooks]

[And Giles closes his, letting himself believe for just a moment that they're back in the room they shared at House 44.]

I never used to, funnily enough.

S-Something about Luceti just...always brought that out in me.

[shadedsunlight]

I fail to see why such a handsome, charming, sexy Englishman wouldn't leave an impression. [Oh, but she knows. She knows and she teases because she knows he doesn't mind.]

I hope you realize I'll be stealing you away for a day when you return. Adele's been kind enough to promise she'll clear the house. And I do owe you a birthday lapdance.