closed RP: Stephen and Susan: how will we ever look one another in the eye again?

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

It is well into the afternoon of April 2 when Stephen finally finds Susan's note, folded together with the one he had sent to his own body, in the pocket of his coat.

The leaf sign reassures him that it is not a ploy. Quickly, he writes a reply.

Yes. Greenhouse. This afternoon. And his own approximation of a leaf, rather less than the perfectly detailed rendering that he would have liked to give any botanical specimen, but then, time is always of the essence.

Comments

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan, astonished, accepts the kiss. It is a very pleasant kiss, and Stephen is certainly an attractive man, but ...

She blinks at him, looking a bit uncharacteristically owlish and nonplussed. "I feel like I just kissed my brother. If I had a brother, which I don't. And not entirely like a brother perhaps --" her gaze flicks towards his lap, and she blushes again "-- but. A near relation, anyway." She clears her throat. "Er. Is that what you were wondering, then?"

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen waits to be entirely certain of his own reaction before answering. "Yes, that is what I sought to test, precisely. I am most relieved to find we are in agreement." And he is. For one thing, River would kill them both if it were otherwise. He can only laugh. "Do you know, I had no idea whether I would ever get back to my own body again, and I wondered whether she would be willing to remain married to you."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan, equally relieved, laughs as well -- something about the kiss seems to have obliterated all the worry and awkwardness she'd felt before seeing Stephen. "Well, if Eros's day was any indication, at least we know there'd have been no legal hurdle to it." She smiled. "You know, when Rukia told me that you'd been in my body, one of the reasons I was so relieved was that at least the person subjected to the contents of my lingerie drawer was someone I trusted."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

This earns her a wry smile. "And why do you think I needed to see Book? Though I must commend you on your taste in lingerie." It was very much the kind of talk he might have shared with Jack, or with Clarissa, someone wholly familiar and wholly unthreatening, and he felt his experiment must have cleared the air for them both, risky though it seemed at first. "But tell me, now, did the occasion allow you to learn anything new of Teatime? Perhaps this invitation to dinner represents an opportunity for you, quite beyond whatever River's body may have had in mind for it."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"I hope the good Shepherd was able to clear your conscience. That being said, should you ever want a gift for River along those lines, I'd be happy to help you shop," she said with a grin.

"As for Teatime, I'm not sure how much I learned, exactly, but I think that the invitation is an opportunity. It's been suggested to me that I try being nice to him ... and though in general I don't do 'nice' particularly well, any time I can pick his brains a little without having to worry about -- well, literal brain-picking is potentially useful. Assuming it wasn't just a whim of the moment, I do plan to go through with it."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"For my conscience he did little, but he was able to suggest a possible cause for what happened: a god, or gods, or pretender to godhood. By now, of course, none of it much matters." Stephen shrugged, and gave her a self-deprecating smile in return. "I would certainly send her shopping with you, if not for the ultimate futility of buying any such thing." With ample access to their quarters and persons, Susan must have realized what sort of use the pair customarily made of sharp implements.

"Any means of information should not be dismissed out of hand, so I cannot say I disagree with your intention regarding the notion of dinner with Teatime." For perhaps the first time, Stephen's mind mapped the orthographic representation of Teatime's name against its pronunciation, and he could not suppress a snicker. "Dinner with Teatime. Jack would be in fits."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan groans good-naturedly. "'IT IS A PUN, OR A PLAY ON WORDS,' as my grandfather would say. He'd like it too." Stephen's allusion to his activities with River escapes Susan somewhat; wanting to respect their privacy, she'd not poked around in shelves or drawers any more than was absolutely necessary to get Stephen's body dressed.

Gods? Well, that figured. "You know, I was never all that fond of the gods back at home, but I think I like the ones here even less. What with Eros's little prank, and this, it's almost enough to make me think that someone has it in for me -- for both Teatime and me, specifically -- as well as a very strange sense of humour. It's starting to go beyond mere coincidence."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"It does strike me as less than coincidental that yourself and Teatime should be drawn together not once but twice by such pranks," Stephen agreed. "Perhaps Teatime himself may have some thoughts on the subject, which may be worth exploring. Whatever else one may say of the man, he is far from slow." It was a grudging compliment, of sorts, but only went so far; Stephen much preferred his enemies to be of the dull variety.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"He is that. We'll see what happens, I suppose -- and of course I'll keep you informed." Which reminds Susan of something else. "I haven't been entirely sure of how to communicate with you, not since your last letter. I don't want to cause trouble or inconvenience, of course, not for you or for River, but I'm not entirely sure of what would work best."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen nods. "The question of correspondence is not without its difficulties. It is not that she would suspect anything untoward between us -- between you and I. It is that she has a loyalty toward Mr C, and feels she therefore owes certain courtesies to Mr Teatime as his lover. I trust her with my life, but I do not trust her with yours." It pains him to say it.

He considers for a moment. "I am told by many students that Snape had been given to the practice of offering private tutorials to select pupils. Of course, the man did it to curry favor with those he felt to be worth cultivating, and I have no intention of continuing the practice in the vast majority of cases. However, it strikes me that his habits may prove useful to us in this case. Simply owl me that you wish to see me in my office, when you have something that needs saying, and that should suffice. Whether it seems to others to be something other than a potions tutorial concerns me not at all, though of course for the sake of River's -- reading -- I would need you to go through the process of making some potion or other on such an occasion."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan looks very uncomfortable. "I hate to be a cause of any dissembling between you and River -- even if it's for the best, given the messy loyalties involved here. Nor am I signed up for your potions class. However, if you think that detail could be finessed, it seems like a workable strategy. Would any of your regular students pressure you for tutorials, though, if it were thought I was benefiting from such?"

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen snorts. "None of my regular students are in any condition to request advanced lessons, if the last class meeting is any indication. And if they were, I would feel obliged to accommodate them regardless. As it is, I currently have a student who thinks himself quite above enrollment in the normal class, and requires independent study, as he terms it, which will be supervised by Ryuuji and myself. Oh, supervised most closely, indeed." A wicked gleam may be perceptible in Stephen's eye.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"Remind me never, ever to get on your bad side, Stephen," she said with a smile. "Very well, this seems like a workable plan. Perhaps I should go ahead and sign up, for formality's sake, in any case. If it's not too late, that is."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"By all means," said Stephen, getting up from the bench and offering Susan a hand to help her up as well. "I am still permitting enrollment, so there will be no irregular appearance in that. But we have been too long away, I think, and should return now to the castle. As far as any dissembling between River and myself, believe me, it is easier to explain potions tutorials than trips out to the greenhouses." River associated the greenhouses with the person whose acquaintance had led Stephen to frequent them, Katya Ivanova, and while Katya had not been around the school much lately, River still came up with awkward questions about his reasons for meeting her there from time to time.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"Very well, I'll do that, then." Susan rose and clapped Stephen on the shoulder, a casual, friendly gesture. "Thank you for looking after my body, Stephen."

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

"And my thanks for your doing the same -- for both myself and River." Her parting gesture touches him, something almost brotherly in the way she claps him on the shoulder -- so very like Jack -- and impulsively he gives her a quick hug before heading off toward the part of the castle where he now lives, a different direction from Ravenclaw.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan watches him go, almost forgetting to snap her fingers and start time again. She is overwhelmed with relief, really -- she'd been so worried about the effect the mix-up would have on her friendship with Stephen, that it would somehow shut them down in mutual restraint. Instead, quite the opposite seems to have happened. It's a very pleasant feeling.

With a smile on her face that is frankly rather goofy -- and enormously surprising to anyone who might catch a glimpse -- she returns to Ravenclaw.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

(( Excellent. I do so love GOB. ))