(no subject)

[pwyll_twiceborn]

The trip to England is long, but compared to the months of waiting, it seems to pass in no time at all. They're at Heathrow airport, and then they're in a rented car, and now they are at a small ancient hotel called the New Inn, in Amesbury.

By Stonehenge.


The months of waiting have finally resolved, and even Kevin's erratic and high-speed driving can't shake Paul's sense of overwhelming relief. He goes inside to register, leaving Dave and Kevin by the car to handle the bags.

Comments

[inthetapestry]

Kevin slips out of the car, shaking out his shoulders as he does so.

It's been a long, tense time of it, pretending to be interested in law reviews and tax codes, when in reality all he could think of was Fionavar, and Jen, and the long road ahead of them all.

Speaking of bars--he pauses fractionally as they pass the one in the hotel, eye caught by a lovely freckled barmaid making her twisting way through the lunchtime crush.

"Do you know, I can't remember the last time I was laid?"

He sounds mildly startled.

[inthetapestry]

Dave grunts. This is largely due to the fact that he has somehow gotten stuck carrying the majority of the bags, but there's also the fact that he can't remember either - and, he's pretty damn sure, with greater justification.


"Get your mind out of your pants, for once."

[inthetapestry]

He knows it's frivolous, he does.

But it does not change the fact that all his life he's been looking for something in the act of love, something deeper than just the sex, than just--

Well, than just the orgasm.

Something that carries him farther than anyone else he knows has ever been able to follow him.

He wishes he knew what it was, wishes he could explain, but he can't. He never could.

Not even to Jennifer, and it left its mark.

Oh, Jen.

Dammit.

[pwyll_twiceborn]

"All right," Paul says, coming back from the front desk.

"We've got two adjacent rooms, one for us, one for the girls."

His eyes flick out beyond Kevin and Dave, to where Kim and Jen are emerging from the ladies' room in the lobby.

"After we drop the bags, we should probably head out to Stonehenge. Do the tourist thing."

Scout out the terrain.

[bannion_sight]

She has been silent nearly this whole time, lost in her thoughts and in the memory of her dreams, but at this she looks up at them.

At Paul, in particular. Kim holds out her hand for a key.

"Go without me. I need to be alone."

[still_golden]

Jen glances over at her roommate, green eyes searching.

"Are you sure?"

It feels like it's been weeks, but it's hardly been any time, really, since she woke up in Toronto to Kim's cry.

[bannion_sight]

She can't smile, not quite, not now, but from somewhere she finds enough clarity within her to look at Jen with clear sight and to put reassurance into the sound of her voice.

"I'm sure."

[still_golden]

Jen nods. "Okay."

Then, looking to the others -- "Tourist thing, then?"

[inthetapestry]

Kevin shrugs, half distracted by his own thoughts.

"Sure."

But even the tackiness of the daytime tourist activities isn't enough to distract him from what must be done, and from what awaits them in the night.

I really hope this works. I really do.

It's unthinkinable, what might happen if it doesn't. Absolutely unthinkable.

[inthetapestry]

Dave's never been out of Canada before - trip to Fionavar excepted, of course.

Part of him wishes that the rest of his mind could concentrate on it. He's at Stonehenge, of all places; wonder of the damn world, right before his eyes, and all he can think about is that night, is Kim and Fionavar and the unholy hand thrown up from Rangat before they left.

He'd virtually quit his job to get away on twenty-four hours' notice. A part of him is still wondering at that, too.

But those parts of him are insignificant next to the insistent voice that says they need to get there, they need to do their thing and be gone. It's not even a contest.

Which is why he's fighting a bad case of nerves all the way through the trip, and the plans they make at dinner. Which is why his eye is constantly on the clock in the dining room, and why he asks "What time is it?" for the fifth time in spite of the fact that he already knows.

[pwyll_twiceborn]

"After eleven," says Paul. There's more than a touch of impatience in his voice, but it's not directed at Dave.

He flips a spoon around in his fingers, and checks his watch again.

[inthetapestry]

Kevin, meanwhile, is leaning on the bar, elaborately casual and smiling at the freckled waitress.

He looks to be having a very good time.

A very good time.

So does the girl, which is no surprise.

Kevin Laine is who he is, after all. That will never change.

[inthetapestry]

"When the hell is she coming down?"

Maybe it's watching Kevin Laine (unbelievably) chatting up the waitress that puts the edge in Dave's voice.

Or maybe it's not.

[pwyll_twiceborn]

Paul doesn't answer - after all, he doesn't know, any more than Dave does - but he strives for a calmer, controlled tone, as he asks, "Does everyone know what they have to do?"

Stonehenge is going to be a very different place at night.

[still_golden]

"Yes, Paul," Jennifer says, calm. They've gone over the plan as thoroughly as possible since their return from Stonehenge.

It's just a matter of waiting for Kim, now -- but the other girl hasn't been down since they arrived.

[inthetapestry]

And now Kevin strolls back, pint of beer in his hand, looking remarkably satisfied.

That waitress must have been quite something.

[inthetapestry]

Kevin and Dave really do get along better these days.

But there are times when Dave remembers exactly why he spend all those years wishing that Kevin Laine would just make like a tree and leave.

Sharply: "Have you been drinking?"

[inthetapestry]

Kevin refrains from shooting Dave a dirty look.

Barely.

"Don't be an idiot. While you two have been sitting here doing nothing, I've gotten the names of two of the guards out there. Len is the big bearded one, and there's another named Dougal, Kate says."

Because while she was pretty, and warm, and willing, some things take precedence.

For now.

[inthetapestry]

Dave and Paul are silent.

[still_golden]

Jen glances between the three of them, and tells Kevin, "Nicely done."

She smiles, slightly.

[bannion_sight]

"Okay. Let's go."

Her voice is sharp as she hurries up to the table, wrapped in a jacket and scarf, clear gray eyes wild and face almost as pale as the lock of hair she impatiently shoves back behind an ear.

Kim holds up both gloved hands, looking around at all of them.

"It started to glow five minutes ago."