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[once_a_queen]

*Susan had a lovely lie in that stretched into a lazy morning. She is enjoying the company of her sister, despite all of the equally disturbing and wonderful events that have occurred since she walked through the door and found her family again.

She is lounging on the bed in a quilted robe procured from the bar. She can't remember the last time she felt at such ease.*

This bar, it can provide anything, can it? I mean to say, this robe is divine - I should think if it could give one a robe, it could give one anything.

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[called_lioness]

Lucy, for her part, is curled up in the armchair, munching on an pear, thoughtful as she considers the question.

"I should think so. I haven't found a thing yet I've wished for that it hasn't given me."

[once_a_queen]

And what have you wished for, Lucy?

*Her voice is quiet and solemn.*

[called_lioness]

"Oh, I don't know what all, Su. Tea, mostly, I imagine." Her smile's a bit sheepish.

[once_a_queen]

Tea. Yes. Anything is better with tea.

Have you any, by chance?

[called_lioness]

She laughs at that. "Yes, Susan. I thought you might like some." And so she'd gone down, while Susan had slept, and got a tray, which she now removes a cup from and hands to her sister.

[once_a_queen]

Thanks ever so.

Now, you said there was a long story you had to tell me. We've tea, and we've time.

Want to tell me?

[called_lioness]

"Ah." And yes, Lucy looks rather uncomfortable again.

"Well, the thing is, you see--you know how people don't really have much say about who their parents are and all?" And she might be fidgeting with what's left of the pear in her hand.

[once_a_queen]

Yes, one doesn't have much choice in the matter.

[called_lioness]

"Yes, well. Adam...didn't any more say in that matter than anyone else does."

[once_a_queen]

Tell me about him.

*She recalls that Lucy alluded to Peter being frightened of the young man. How this can be, Susan hasn't a clue, since Peter's the bravest man she's ever known, in Narnia or out.*

[called_lioness]

"He's very nice." To Lucy, at least. "And polite. And he brought me tea, which was rather sweet, as he isn't fond of the drink." A pause, as she bites the pear.




"And his father's, um. Lucifer."

[once_a_queen]

Lucifer?

Whatever do you mean?

*She assumes this is a title or an odd family name. It's so easy to slip into the default of denial.*

[called_lioness]

Mumbled a bit around pear, "Satan. The tempter and all. Lucifer the morning star. The devil."

[once_a_queen]

Oh, now, Lucy. What on earth has this boy told you? And you, a sensible girl, believed this?

Men can talk such nonsense to impress a girl.

[called_lioness]

"Erm. The thing is, Susan--not everyone who comes here is human. And. There's a friend I made, Aziraphael, and he's...rather an angel. And confirmed the fact." She studies her hands. "...And my cordial made Adam sick."

[once_a_queen]

But there's no such thing as...

*She stops. Didn't she just last night finally admit that there was such a thing as impossible things?*

Lucy, how much have you seen of this boy?

*Lucy is eighteen. Susan is not so very far away from eighteen to remember how it felt.*

[called_lioness]

Lucy's knees are pulled up to her chest, her chin on top of them. "...A bit."

[once_a_queen]

A bit as in you've talked together and made eyes at each other? Or a bit as in more than that?

*Henry certainly seemed the knight in shining armor when she'd met him. She wouldn't be surprised if Satan had played a part in his parentage as well.*

[called_lioness]

"...The second one."

[once_a_queen]

*She isn't shocked, but she's keenly concerned.*

Lucy, love, have you been with boys before? I don't recall mention of you seeing anyone, but that doesn't mean you've not.

And as I recall, you never quite know what to think about the suitors who sought you out.

[called_lioness]

"A few." Not quite defensive, though part of her wants to be, because...well. She obviously doesn't know what to do, and for all she's seen a few boys, she hasn't, not since Jonathan, and that had ended with casts in the hospital, for him. So perhaps she allows that she's in over her head, even if most people, if Susan, wouldn't be, here.

"I know." Biting her lip for a moment. "I still don't know what to think, really. Just. I like him. I like him an awful lot."

[once_a_queen]

*She thinks a moment, trying to decide how to proceed. Lucy is an innocent still, she hopes.*

Does he... try to talk you into doing things? Things that feel very lovely but also feel wrong?

[called_lioness]

"Not--not talking, really. Just. Not that," knowing that Susan knows what that is. "No. We--I stopped. And he did. Stop, I mean." Not quite meeting her sister's eyes.

Because, of course, Lucy knows it's wrong.

And because, at the time, it feels so very nice that Lucy doesn't quite think about that fact, at least not at first.

[once_a_queen]

I made mistakes, Lucy. Mistakes with a man who was very good at talking me into things.

I wouldn't want the same thing to happen to you.

[called_lioness]

"I don't--I don't want to," be bad she thinks, almost with a laugh, because that's a child's phrase, and the problem is that she isn't a child, "do anything wrong. I just." And she shrugs slightly, holding her knees a bit closer. "I just like him so very much, Susan."