Office Hours [6.24]

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima's final class had been... interesting. She hadn't actually expected people to climb on the sandworms, let alone jump into it.

The children never ceased to amuse amaze her.

Still, she'd made great progress on her books, and Ghanima now had five tidy copies of the abridged Training Manual finished, written neatly in unassuming bound

Comments

[bigdamndestiny]

"Lady Ghanima?" Merlin knocked politely on the frame before... coming in anyway to sit down.

[atreideslioness]

"Merlin," Ghanima answered, looking up from her work with a smile. "Come to raid the herbal chest again?"

[bigdamndestiny]

Merlin was, of course, forced to return the smile. "Not today, no. I wanted to talk, actually."

[atreideslioness]

Well now.

"Of course," Ghanima answered, moving to start the tea. Better safe than sorry. "I'm always happy to assist however I can."

[bigdamndestiny]

"Do you remember what I told about the more recent--" Remember the squirrels, Merlin. "--bits with Arthur?"

[atreideslioness]

"Of course, dearest," she replied, keeping her tone light as she moved to shut the door.

The one nice part about an interior office with no windows; the damn squirrels would have to work for their gossip.

"I take it there's been a development of some sort?"

[bigdamndestiny]

"I--don't know." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Do you think I protect him because of it or out of duty?"

[atreideslioness]

"Do you remember what I said a few weeks ago?" she asked gently. "You protected him long before you slept with him, Merlin. It does not need to be one-or-the-other, but duty, freely given, is always a form of love."

[bigdamndestiny]

Merlin nodded, still looking thoughtful. "I don't know if my actions are jealousy or protectiveness right now."

[atreideslioness]

"They're not mutually exclusive, you know," Ghanima teased. "What happened?"

"If there are more mice running around, you are going to have so many Latin lines to copy about the responsibility of power, that you will be muttering verbs in your sleep."

[bigdamndestiny]

"No mice," Merlin said, cracking a true smile there. "Arthur spoke to me about a girl he had been training and how he was... concerned about her abilities and temper. So I went to keep an eye on things the next time.

[atreideslioness]

"A girl with a temper?" she asked, looking at him skeptically. "What, has your prince not figured out the finer art of pacifying furious women yet?"

Although that would require tact, which Ghanima suspected that Lord Arthur lacked.

[bigdamndestiny]

Merlin gave her a look of amusement.

"She asked my why I was there and I told her it was to have a care for my lord's safety. And then ran off rather quickly after asking if she hadn't seen me before. I told her I hadn't been hiding, but it was possible."

Though... unlikely. Not to mention a bit confusing, considering how much time he spent around Arthur.

[atreideslioness]

"She got spooked by someone watching her train?" Ghanima really didn't understand what was going on; it was just training, there was no reason the girl should have been uneasy about an additional spotter. "What happened then?"

[bigdamndestiny]

"She--spoke with someone who had a word with me," Merlin replied carefully. "And I wanted to know your opinion on the matter."

[atreideslioness]

"I believe the expression is 'shoot,'" she said, folding her hands and watching him.