[for cameron] a talk too long delayed

[fallen_ancient]

It had been on her mind since Daniel mentioned it, both getting her own hut built and why she had not wanted one. After all, the last time she had to choose whether to live amongst primitive humans, she had secluded herself and sought Ascension

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[sgmitchell]

He was carrying some of dinner-lunch leftover things from the kitchen, trying to figure out what tune was playing in his head like a portable jukebox. It'd been playing all day, and it was starting to get distracting. The worst part was all he could catch was musical bits.

He swore the Jukebox had played that bit when he went by just to screw around with him.

When Cameron came into view of the hut, however, the music was momentarily forgotten. Morgan was sitting outside--serene as ever, but...the problem was that she was always serene. It was entirely possible something was wrong.

Frowning slightly, he picked up his pace to approach her, and offer a slight smile of greeting--along with the plate of food. "Hungry?"

[fallen_ancient]

Morgan watched him approach, wondering at the frown that creased his brow when he saw her. It faded into a smile quickly enough, but it concerned her.

She took the plate from his hands and set it down beside her. "I've eaten today," she said with a gentle tease to her tone, because he worried. "But I will sit with you, if you have not."

[sgmitchell]

He sat down next to her, grin faintly teasing. "You know, its okay to eat more than once a day, Morgan. Tastier that way."

His smile softened with fondness, in case the words were unintentionally stinging, and he hooked an arm around her shoulders in a casual half-hug. "Waiting for the stars?"

[fallen_ancient]

"I will have you know I ate both a breakfast meal and lunch," Morgan said mildly, her concerns for his mood washed away by the arm around her shoulders. She settled into the crook of his arm, tilting her head to press a soft kiss to his jaw.

"In fact not. I had been waiting for my favored companion, but he has arrived bearing gifts, and so I wait no longer." The warmth in her voice belied the formality of her speech, an affectation no longer necessary, as she wished no particular distance from him. Now it served only as play. "Fun" as Cameron would have it.

[sgmitchell]

He grinned slightly. Her formality was a nice distinction of hers. At times it could be soothing. At others, it worked to distinguish her as the Morgan Le Fay. Somewhere in the back of his mind, if he stopped to think about it, might have been fanboying that just a bit.

"So what are your plans now, then?"

[fallen_ancient]

His grin, by turns boyish and wicked, summoned an answering smile from her as she straightened the fabric of the sundress he favored over her thighs. Her gaze lingered perhaps a little too long on the gown before she met his gaze again. She had no better sense of whether she would arrange for her own hut than she had before.

"I had hoped your evening would be free, so that we might spend it together." Morgan paused, making certain he had time to hear that she wished to be with him before continuing, "But before that I would like to speak with you about something that has been troubling me."

Now the formality masked her disquiet. Its rhythms created the serenity she wished to project.

[sgmitchell]

Spending an evening with her? He definitely didn't object to it. And, okay, he admitted that he had to keep a firm grip on his thoughts to keep them from straying toward the day after the body swap...but troubles? Troubles were just what he was worried about initially.

He watched her for a few moments, hoping that whatever troubles they may be, they were caused by someone else, whom he could deal with, and not by him. Especially not that she found things awkward--he wasn't sure what he'd think of himself if that were the case.

"What troubles, Morgan?"

[fallen_ancient]

She supposed most people found him difficult to read, or simply failed to see the shifts of more subtle emotion beneath the cheerful facade and easy warmth. Morgan tracked each shift of his thoughts by the tensing of the muscles of his chest and shoulder, the brief tightness in his jaw, and finally the almost dangerous softness to his voice when he inquired.

Wishing to be explicit that her concerns had nothing at all to do with him and there was no one he need harm on her behalf, she reached up and curved a hand around his cheek, collecting and holding his gaze before she spoke. "Shortly before you inhabited Isabel's body, Daniel implied I ought to have a hut of my own. My thoughts on the subject are unsettled. As it concerns you, I hoped we might discuss it."

[sgmitchell]

He was, very briefly, irritated that Jackson had brought it up to her, since they had already discussed it before, so there should have been no reason to bother her. Still, he knew Jackson meant the best for Morgan, so he could hardly be irritated long.

Of course, sooner or later Morgan would want to move to her own hut, that was the point...but it felt...odd. Maybe disappointing to think of her moving into her own now. He supposed it was just the instability of the island that made the change hard to consider.

Still, he smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

[fallen_ancient]

He kept his thoughts more hidden now, which concerned Morgan. She preferred to know rather more of his feelings than less, but she could hardly fault him for a habit she also possessed. Still, it made it more difficult to know how to proceed.

She held out her hand in offer, wishing him to take it, but began speaking before he did. "Since the hut is yours, I would begin with your preferences. Do you have one for me staying or having a hut built of my own?"

[sgmitchell]

He took the offered hand, and his smile widened slightly, before he shook his head. Honestly? He liked her staying with him. It was...nice. She had a soothing comfort to her presence just by being there, and without her...it'd be only the second time he'd been in his own hut alone on the island.

"I'm good with whatever you think will work best for you."

[fallen_ancient]

Watching his eyes, Morgan twined her fingers with his and rubbed her thumb against the side of his hand. In truth it was an uncharacteristically open expression of her uncertainty and of her deep affection for him, but she took comfort from it and he seemed to as well.

"It is my nature to want privacy, for seclusion and study, as well as meditation," Morgan said judiciously. "And yet, I find I enjoy your company, and I have become accustomed to sharing your bed."

[sgmitchell]

He nodded. It made sense, and he knew well enough it was her nature. She was often out on her own--in fact they mostly only spent any large amount of time together once they were done with doing everything else on their own.

And yet...cutting out that bit seemed...so...gloomy.

"Then stay." It was out of his mouth before he could quite check his words, and he lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean...if you wanna, then you're welcome to stay, Morgan. The bed's way too big for just me, anyway. No pressure to leave."

Alright. So that was more psychological than physical, but still.

[fallen_ancient]

Her eyes widened slightly at the vehemence of his phrasing. Caught and corrected, it was true, but in the time she had known him, in all the time she had watched them, Morgan had never once heard Cameron ask anything for himself larger than pie.

It might be a misinterpretation, but she did not believe it. Cameron wished her to stay.

Thumb still rubbing the edge of his hand, she sat quietly a moment and considered. She did wish a space of her own, very much so. And yet, neither did she wish to sleep alone, or, when she thought of it, for him to be alone when his nightmares took him. Even if he did not remember them in the morning, she would know and it...ached...to think of it.

"Cameron." Morgan lifted her chin, turning her head toward him. "Perhaps we might find some accommodation, so that I might have my own space without disentangling our evenings." As she spoke, her voice grew warmer and richer, softer, until the last few words were as much caress of breath as speech.

[sgmitchell]

There was, perhaps, a bit of disappointment that she really did want to live on her own, but it was minor, and passed quickly. It was entirely a Morgan thing to want, and he understood. In fact, really, it was an entirely normal thing. Which was quite possibly why Brendan hadn't moved into his own hut yet.

Her suggestion, though...he was not entirely sure how it would work out. They didn't use the one hut all that much, to his notice. Or, maybe they did and he hadn't noticed at all.

He lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Any ideas?"

[fallen_ancient]

Shifting on the porch steps to face him, Morgan nevertheless drew their joined hands toward her and settled them on her knee. In truth, she knew so little of human customs in his era, she had no antecedents for the answer she sought.

It helped not at all that the ideas floating through her mind had nothing to do with housing and everything to do with Cameron. Specifically, with finishing this conversation and spending the evening in far more pleasurable pursuits, like exploring their attraction to each other.

"In truth," she said quietly, trying to formulate a useful thought. "I don't know the options. I suppose rather than another hut, we might have a room added on for me to use as a study."