narnia au;

[illuminescent]

how did you get here? through a wardrobe, or through death, or maybe a portal gone terribly astray. a ring. the roar of a lion. in the bottom of a cup. because you were looking for something, or missing something. no matter how you got there, this is where you belong.

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[curlytop]

[George peels off his boots and sighs as he wiggles his toes in the sand. He rolls his breeches up above his knees and straightens, watching Lucy a moment before he says anything.]

Before Calormen, people would say I looked as though I'd never frowned.

[Sometimes he remembers what that was like, but even his memories feel like they happened to someone else.]

[illuminescent]

Truly?

[She knows that he does not wish to go home - he has said it himself, to her - but she wonders if he would have been happier, there.

She walks a little in the frothing waves.]

I should like to imagine such a thing.

[curlytop]

Truly, my queen. I did not know so much of the world then.

[He steps into the water, letting it lap at his calves. The sea here smells like the sea at home, and it makes him feel grounded, somehow.]

I'm smiling more now, am I not?

[He smiles now, soft and affectionate.]

[illuminescent]

You are. Mostly in my company.

[She reaches a hang for him, so that he can hold her hand.]

But so many think you are gruff and unobtainable. The ladies of the court fan themselves and think how serious and devoted my guard is.

[curlytop]

I am unobtainable.

[He laughs, taking her hand.]

And serious, and devoted. The ladies of the court may fan themselves as much as they like.

[illuminescent]

Yes, they do just so. They imagine how romantic you could be.

They imagine how romantic it would be to woo you, how fierce you would be to love, and gentle.

[She beams when their hands meet.]

I am drugged by your touch. I love it so.

[curlytop]

And am I? Fierce and gentle and romantic?

[He interlaces their fingers.]

My touch is yours whenever you would command it, my queen.

[illuminescent]

You are.

But they cannot know it. They never will.

[It's Lucy's secret, Lucy's personal, private, and most intimate relationship. No one else gets to see him like this.]

[curlytop]

[George tugs her hand gently to his lips, kissing her fingertips and pressing his lips to her palm.]

No, my queen. That is all for you.

[illuminescent]

That is unfair. So much of you is only for me. What part of me is only for you?

[curlytop]

Perhaps it is, but you are a queen. Every part of you is for Narnia.

[illuminescent]

[She looks up at him, and her heart breaks just a little.]

You understand so much, and yet I still wish I could give you more.

You have given up so much for me. No marriage, no child, no privacy, no truth. I have given up so little for you.

[curlytop]

[George brushes the backs of his fingers over her cheek.]

You gave up your heart. That's everything.

[illuminescent]

Is it?

[She smiles a little, and winds their fingers together.]

I want so for you to be happy.

[curlytop]

I am happy with you.

[He smiles as well, keeping hold of her hand and splashing the water a little with his feet.]

When you smile, my heart feels lighter.

[illuminescent]

[She smiles wider. She reaches for him and tips up against her toes, and she tugs up and kisses him on the cheek, just next to the corner of his mouth.]

Then I shall always smile for you.

[curlytop]

And I for you, my queen.

[His eyes close as she kisses him, and his smile is warm and tender, the sort of expression her maids will never see.]

[illuminescent]

here