[au] Narnia and the North

[the_seafarer]

There's a chill bite to the air, these days. The horses have been growing out their winter coats, and they look shaggy and plump as Caspian turns them out into the paddocks. Behind the stables, in the makeshift woodshop he'd cobbled together, the sleigh from his drawings is starting to come together. 

He hopes he'll have it finished by Christmas. With a little luck, and maybe some assistance, he thinks it should be possible. The tack, he's largely left up to Susan's devices, though he'd commission Gimli the dwarf for the various buckles and other metal pieces they'll need.

Once the horses are turned out, he gets to his other morning chores with a will, whistling cheerfully as he does. The stable stays strangely quiet around him. It takes him the better part of an hour to realize the strangeness is because he's become accustomed to Susan's cheerful presence working alongside him, talking or humming or simply working in companionable silence. 

Caspian pauses in his task – refilling the grain chest – and looks around. Susan's nowhere to be seen, and when he later wanders through the stables, checking each stall and outside, he can't find her there, either.

Comments

[sai_delgado]

She smiles down at him as he comes slowly back to himself, and is unable to keep herself from reaching to cup his cheek, then to smooth her palm over his shoulder, gentle and soothing.

[the_seafarer]

He smiles back up at her, slow and sweet, and curves his hands over her strong legs, then moves them up to her sides.

"Lie down with me," he murmurs. "Come here, Su."

[sai_delgado]

"Gladly," she murmurs. There's naught she could refuse him when he asks so sweetly, but it's not as though she's any wish to.

Susan shifts and goes into his arms, curling up beside him with her head on his shoulder and her hair spread across his chest.

[the_seafarer]

He hums, long and low and content, and puts his arm around her as she curls beside him. Once she's set her head on his shoulder, he turns his own to press a kiss to her hair, then reaches a lazy hand for the sheet to pull over them both.

[sai_delgado]

So much difference a year makes, she thinks, then resolutely pushes the thought away and edges a little closer to him. Susan rests her hand over his heart, feeling the beat of it under her fingers.

[the_seafarer]

After the long day and strain and their spent passion just now, he could fall asleep almost before his eyes closed. But he holds himself awake, drowsing lightly, and cuddles her close in the circle of his arms. "Are you warm enough?" he murmurs. "Shall I fetch a blanket?"

There's one muddled down at the foot of the bed, he thinks, but it may well have slipped to the floor.

[sai_delgado]

"I'd rather thee not go anywhere," she says, softly, and turns her head just enough to press a kiss to his shoulder.

"I'm warm enough here with thee."

[the_seafarer]

"Then I shan't."

He shivers a little as her lips press against his shoulder. "I'll not go anywhere. I promise."

[sai_delgado]

"Thee very dear." Just as soft as before. She smiles, a little, and lays her head back down.

[the_seafarer]

He rests his cheek against her hair and strokes his hand gently over her shoulder. "Rest, Su," he murmurs. "When you open your eyes, I'll be here."

[sai_delgado]

She gives the faintest of nods, not wishing to disturb him.

"I will, too," she whispers. "I'll not leave thee, Caspian."

(ka is cruel)

"I won't."

[the_seafarer]

(you're go to on)

His arms tighten around her.

(and I'm to go back)

"Beloved," he whispers, and draws a breath that's only a little shaky. "Don't be afraid to wake me, if you should need."

[sai_delgado]

She nods again, and this time tips her head back to look up at him. After a moment, she brings her hand up to touch his cheek.

"Shh," she soothes. "It'll all come right somehow."

[the_seafarer]

He smiles down at her, his eyes tired but clear and warm, and nods back beneath her hand.

"It will," he agrees. "Now – "

He presses a kiss to her forehead and gives her a mock-stern look. "Sleep, Su. The morning will come soon enough."

[sai_delgado]

She wrinkles her nose at him, but obediently lays her head back down on his shoulder.

"Dream sweet," she murmurs. It's a wish for him, and a hope for them both, say true.

[the_seafarer]

"And you," he whispers back, eyes closing, lashes dark against his cheeks.

He tries his best to hold onto consciousness while Susan's still awake, but in the end he can't be certain that he doesn't beat her down into the warm and welcoming darkness of sleep.

[sai_delgado]

She's tired, aye, weary down to her very bones, but not yet ready to sleep. Susan stays still, held close in Caspian's arms, and listens to the sound of his breathing as it deepens, feeling his heartbeat under her hand, and tries to remember all the wonders the day had brought.

She tells them over in her head like stories to herself--

(the stories are true)

--as memory and promise both, as reason to hold fast as she can to what's been found rather than what's lost, and breathes a silent vow to all those who love her and who she loves in turn that she'll not give up trying, come

(Reap)

whatever storms.