Hyde Park, Sunday Afternoon

[geoff_chaucer]

House had been called on another page to the hospital, except that this one actually appeared to be an emergency, so Geoff decided to take the time to do a little exploring. He'd told House not be concerned if he wasn't there when the doctor returned, and pulling on his coat headed out into town

Comments

[shane_mcc]

It figured that the day her library books were due would be a Sunday. She has no idea if the place is even open on Sunday, but she figures it's probably best to go over and at least check. Maybe they have a book-return slot or something

[geoff_chaucer]

A park is the absolute perfect place for people-watching, due in part to the fact that a rich cross-section of humanity can be found in a park. And this one is definitely meeting Geoff's expectations. He looks around casually, with a smile on his face, and only wishes that he'd thought to bring House's dog with him for company.

The sound of a skateboard -- and for someone from the fourteenth century, that's not a sound that's easily forgotten -- draws his attention, because it has a bittersweet memory attached to it. Turning his head, Geoff looks toward the source of the sound.

And his eyes widen, jaw dropping, as he sees a surprisingly familiar figure.

"Shane?" He stands, taking a step as he squints a little, trying to be certain. "Sweet Jesus. Shane!"

[shane_mcc]

And, oh, Jesus, it is him. Hearing him speak, there's no way of denying it or doubting it or writing it off, now. If he hadn't spoken, it could have been anyone else... it could have even been a hallucination.

It's him.

Pulling her sunglasses off, her eyes are wide behind them... wide and astonished and beginning to fill with tears.

It can't be. It's not possible.

It shouldn't be... but it is.

He said it - he said her name and it's him and he's really here and she should talk, now, she should say something but all she can do is stare and keep staring, a tear slipping down her cheek when she finally has to blink.

[geoff_chaucer]

For a moment, the thought hits him that maybe he's mistaken, maybe it isn't Shane, and the woman is staring at him because she thinks he's some sort of madman and is hoping he'll realize his mistake and leave her alone.

Except that it couldn't possibly be anyone else. And a couple of hesitant steps brings him close enough to see that she's crying. Which strangely enough tells him that he's right after all.

"Lady Shane," he says again, and then he's moving quickly toward her, until he's close enough to pull her into a tight embrace.

[shane_mcc]

"Edward?" She asks, but then a second later, she blinks, recalling that Geoff had been working for the king. "Ohh, right. So... how was France?" She arches her eyebrow as she gives him a knowing look. He'd told her that Will had been in France the last time he'd gone back to England to take care of more royal business, so the mention definitely makes her curious, but she won't prod. Well, too much.

Ten months. Not nearly as long as Rogue, but it felt like five years, for Shane. Shaking her head in amazement, her eyes are filled with apology. There are so, so many things she needs to explain, has to explain. "I... you know I never would have left if didn't have to," she whispers, giving a light tug to his lapel as she meets his eyes. "You know that."

[geoff_chaucer]

"Yes, I do know that. You explained in your letter, and I don't hold it against you. We don't always have a choice in what we do."

Realizing that they're still standing in the middle of the park, and that Shane's backpack and sunglasses are still lying on the ground, Geoff bends to pick them up and glances back at the tree where he was sitting.

"Come sit down with me, Shane. And I'll answer your question about France -- although to be honest, it was pretty dull."

[shane_mcc]

"Yeah, but I... really didn't get a choice this time," she murmurs, her tone resigned but sad. "I -- I just... didn't want you -- I mean, I..." She sighs. "Fuck. I'm just sorry."

Bending down to retrieve her skateboard, Shane nods as she straightens up again. "Okay," she replies.

[geoff_chaucer]

Once she's picked up the skateboard, Geoff takes hold of Shane's shoulders and leans in to look her in the eyes. "Apology accepted, Shane. I'm not angry, I never was. I'm just very very glad to see you."

With a grin, he grabs her hand and pulls her along with him, back to the tree. Shrugging out of the coat, he lays it out on the ground and pulls Shane down to sit with him. "Now...you're studying magic? That must be pretty exciting. And I'm glad to hear you're keeping up with your physics studies. All that time spent with Ten must have paid off."

[shane_mcc]

"It wasn't the kind of letter you send," he says finally, curling his fingers around hers. "It was the kind of letter you write because there are things you need to say. But I wouldn't ever so those kinds of things to Will. So...I wrote it, but I didn't send it."

Shane listens intently, nodding as she holds his hand in a sure but gentle grip. "Did it help?" She asks quietly.

Another shrug, and a smile. "You were headed someplace, Shane. Am I keeping you from going somewhere?"

A humorless quirk of her lips. "The library. I have a bunch of books I need to return," she murmurs. "They can wait. Everything else can wait..."

[geoff_chaucer]

"Yeah. I think it did. It was...hard to write. But I think it helped." He smiles and squeezes Shane's hand. "I didn't have you to talk to about it."

Nodding at her assurance that she isn't missing anything important, he wraps his arm around her again, like he always did when they used to sit and talk. "Tell me what you've been up to, what I've missed."

[ooc: No. comment. notification. *kicks email HARD*]

[shane_mcc]

Shane meets Geoff's eyes, apology and more than a little bit of reluctance shining there. "I -- I'm sorry I... didn't write more," she says softly. Eyes becoming brighter with tears, she looks down. "I just didn't expect it to hurt so much..."

Nestling against his side, Shane takes a deep breath, her head settling onto his shoulder. God, she'd missed this. "I've been... I don't know, going to class, being with Tara, helping her with her foundations class... I'm sort of like her dry-run student, since I'm not allowed to take her classes. She goes through it with me to see how it'll go with a real class."

[geoff_chaucer]

"Well...if I can get on at the school here, maybe you can be my dry-run student too," he replies, nudging her a little again and grinning.

"C'mon, Lady Shane. No more tears, all right? We're both here, in the same place again. And it doesn't matter if you didn't write more, or if I didn't write more. We'll have lots of stories to stay up into the wee hours of the morning telling each other, right?"

[geoff_chaucer]

"Pool..." He takes a minute to think about it, and then realizes what she means. "Tables with balls, and you sort of...poke them with a long stick, right? They had some at Spike's, didn't they? I saw people play a few times, but I never tried it myself."

Geoff smiles, continuing on the topic of entertainment and trying to get Shane's mind off Red and the cubs. "The Planet, Callahan's, and Triangle. I'll keep those names in mind, that way I know I'll be at a place that's recommended."

[shane_mcc]

"Yeah," Shane says, returning the smile after a moment. "There's this other place that Tara likes, but they mainly just serve tea and stuff - it's Mr. Phale - he's here, now, too. She's gonna be doing tarot readings a couple of times a week for people." If her eyes become shadowed when she says the words 'tarot reading' then they only remain so for a brief moment.

[geoff_chaucer]

Nodding, Geoff replies, "I'm supposed to meet Dr. Wilson at the tea place this week. We've got some...things we need to talk out, and seeing as how he's Greg's best friend, I think it might be a good idea to try and patch things up. And, honestly -- he's a nice guy."

His eyebrows went up a little at the mention of the tarot readings, and he did notice the look in Shane's eyes but thought it might be a conversation better suited to another time. "I didn't know Tara read fortunes," was all he said. "That's interesting. Maybe I should get her to read mine sometime."

There was a teasing grin on his face at that last, because he knew he pretty much could go to the library and find out his future if he wanted.

[shane_mcc]

"Yeah, we had them over for dinner... Mr. Phale and Wilson -- did you know they hooked up?" She says, looking over at him, eyes widening just slightly. "But yeah, Wilson's a nice guy. I'm glad Mr. Phale is happy."

"She can, yeah," Shane replies, letting out a quiet chuckle as she nods. "I'd really like her to teach me, but... one thing at a time, I guess."

[shane_mcc]

"Oh, man," Shane groans, doing her best to sound like a bratty, much put-upon sister. After a moment, she chuckles again, shoulder shaking. "Yeah, I guess I could drop Necro. I mean, Anita already sees me for Practical Magic three days a week, she's bound to be getting tired of me, by now."

[geoff_chaucer]

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I haven't even seen the school yet. They may not want me. Anyway...if I do teach a class, it'll probably be something informal, maybe something like the independent studies I did with Kiki and Phoebe. So...there's no need to drop anything. It's not like I have a schedule myself to worry about."

He slipped his arm around her shoulders and hugged. "You know what? I missed this. Just...walking and talking. I could always talk with you better than anyone else"

[shane_mcc]

"It'd have to be pretty informal, then," Shane says with a faint chuckle. "I'm in school, plus I'm apprenticing at this salon in the Tamarind district like almost every day and I'm gonna start volunteering at this runaway shelter on the weekends with Tara..."

"Yeah... me, too," she replies softly, smiling up at him. "I really missed you a lot."

Talking about Geoff with Susan, Shane had told her just how alike she and Geoff had always been. Talking about some things was usually easier for her with people she didn't know very well and when she talked about her feelings for Geoff - at least, she was pretty sure they were feelings - Susan had told her that if they were that much alike, then chances were slim that Geoff would push her away because that was something she, herself, wouldn't do. The talk had certainly helped to comfort and reassure her, but still hadn't done much in the way of convincing her that she should sa a word.

[geoff_chaucer]

"You do keep busy, don't you!" Geoff looks impressed. "Now I feel like a laze-about. Well...we'll just have to work the poetry around your schedule. Maybe I'll come down to your homeless and shelter and teach it there," he adds, grinning.

"We're going to have to plan to get together very soon and just...stay up all night, drinking beer and talking. Catch up on everything we've been missing."