(no subject)
A light humming permeates the apartment as Kelsey wanders about it, hair damp with a recent shower. A fluffy robe is slipped on in the meantime, towel gently wringing water out of wet curls as she putters around the kitchen getting herself a glass of water.
The ratatat that comes at her door is, perhaps, a little more subdued than prior ratatats have been. It doesn't come in any particularly amusing pattern.
Ohno! Where is the amusing pattern? "Come in!" Kelsey calls, in lieu of opening the door for her visitor, as she pours water on top of newly retrieved ice in her glass. The other hand rubs the towel over her hair in an idle manner.
There is a brief pause, and then the doorknob turns and the door slides open to admit Percy. He knocks it shut afterwards with the lean of his hip, dressed in casually in a snug, and rather ancient, black t-shirt and navy jeans over dark sneakers. His @wearing ALMOST matches. Almost. He greets, "Kelsey," from just inside the threshhold, thumbs tucked loosely into the empty beltloops of his jeans.
She's out of the kitchen in a moment, towel dropped over her shoulders, glass of water in one hand. The smile that greets him is bright. "Hey there, sassenach," Kelsey says. "Come in, come in. Dinnae stand there like ye're about tae leave." To provide a proper example, she pads over to the nearby living area.
"Well, funny you should say that," Percy begins, auspiciously, but he falls quiet without concluding his thought on this airy note. Instead, he drifts over to the living area, and stands over the couch. He slants a look over her, absently noting the towel and robe with a vaguely acknowledging speculation that these things signify recent nudity. "I need to talk to you."
"Is this about your intensely passionate feelin's for me?" Kelsey wonders, drying behind one ear. The humor is short-lived, however, and she dips her head a bit apologetically, in case there are super-serious-things-not-be-joked-about to come. "Sorry." She curls up on the sofa, tucking feet underneath her and setting the glass of water on the coffee table.
"Obviously." Percy stands irresolutely for a moment, and then drops onto the sofa beside her, although he stretches his legs out to their full extension before him, heels tipped against the floor. "Actually, well," he says, letting his hands fall loosely against his thighs, "Bahir and I are going home."
The strangely new behavior from him helps her put a lid on her humor, and Kelsey watches him carefully as he finally seats himself. The news takes a brief moment to process. "Ye mean...tae New York?"
Tipping his head back against her sofa so that he can watch her with a slight arch to his eyebrows, Percy tips his head once in her direction in a nod. "To New York," he says quietly. "To much of what we left behind and a few things we never had before."
"Oh." This requires some /real/ processing, Kelsey looking down to her lap, picking at her nails in gesture clearly just to fill dead air, bottom lip chewed lightly between her teeth.
Silence rarely lasts long with Percy around, and this one is no exception, despite all the weight that it could carry. He says, "His whole life, his whole career is ahead of him out there. Brilliant and bright with promise. He would stay, yet, if I asked it. He has such deep loyalties, such depth of ... of devotion. I've seen it. Beyond-- beyond..." He trails off, reaching for the indescribable with the outward stretch of his manicured fingers before he lets his digits fall loosely to his legs again. "It doesn't matter. I don't want to ask it. I'm not needed here either. Not /really/. So we're going home."
"Okay." There's a hint of a smile behind the word, seeing the clear display of love, but it's almost covered by quiet sadness. "I'll miss ye," Kelsey finally says, leaning her head against the back of the couch. "Even if ye are a right wanker an' I've only known ye a couple o' months."
Swallowing a moment, Percy reaches out to take one of her hands in his. He winds their fingers together into a warm clasp of his skin against hers, and tips his head to brush his lips and breath against the back of her hand. "I'm not sorry we didn't meet before, because there's no guarantee I would have given you a second thought," he says, smile pulling at his lips with a hint of an edge to the humor gleaming in his amber eyes. "But I am sorry to leave a nascent friendship of such tender growth. I make so very few, you know."
"Not mean enough tae catch your fancy?" Kelsey wonders, the humor an obvious front for the grief underneath. A soft smile widens as he brings her hand to his lips, the glittering on her eyelashes suggesting the threat of tears. "Maybe ye just need tae try a wee bit harder," she suggests, a mother sending her child off to their first day at school. Worried that he won't make friends. The hand in his squeezes.
"Well, yes, exactly." Percy turns his hand in hers, drawing his thumb along the curve of her palm. His mouth twists, reflecting a partial grimace. "But I don't expect to lose contact, madam. And if you are ever in New York, you can use our spare bedroom. We may even allow you to use the hot tub."
Kelsey scoots closer, stuffing toes comfortably between the warmth of his thighs and the sofa. "Ye'll be the first one I'll call if I'm headin' that way," she promises, setting her chin on her knees and brushing away a stray tear. IGNORE THAT. "An' I'll call all the time tae make sure ye get your proper dose of optimism."
"Oh," Percy says with a strangled laugh in his throat. "Good." He rubs his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose. "I'll look forward to that."
"Hey. Ye'll need it in New York." The smile grows easier as she watches him, affection rich in her expression. "What'll /ye/ do there?"
His smile flashes, breath ghosting past his teeth in voiceless humor. He says, "Well, I'm surrounded by people with doctorates."
"Aye." Something like concern grows on her face. "But what'll /ye/ do?"
"So I'm going back to school to get one of my own," Percy says, cocking an eyebrow at her. "It's been awhile but I think I'll get the hang of it again. It will be a bit strange not sucking off anybody in the campus bathrooms--"
"Oh!" Her sudden comprehension is bright and very approving. "Maybe Bahir will visit ye on campus," Kelsey says, grin crooked. "Ye can pretend he's your student. Verra naughty." She curls up against him, hair damp on his shoulder when she sets her chin there. "So linguistics, I presume?"
"I used to visit him on campus." Percy brushes his knuckles thoughtfully along the line of his jaw, the twitch of his smile turning his mouth up at the corners. He ruffles his fingertips through her hair, then, instead, and tugs at his shirt with his other hand. "Actually I have some quite fond memories of doing that."
"That's settled, then. He clearly must come and sex ye up during lunch." This is settled with a bright finality as Kelsey raises a hand to ruffle his hair in a distinctly unsexy way. "Well, at least Andrew'll be happy. He was less than enthused tae be goin' out with ye two."
"I'll tell him you said so," Percy says with perfect frankness. He bats at Kelsey's hand. "Yes, well. You have my permission to make him do something else as an adequate substitute for the experience. Maybe you can make him walk naked over hot coals. It's not /exactly/ comparable but it might be fun to watch."
TOO LATE. His hair is already ruffled. Take that, perfectly designed appearance. "Ye assume I'm as horribly sadistic as ye are."
He's actually pretty casual at the moment. Percy crinkles his nose at her and manufactures an appalled tone. "You think I'm a /sadist/?"
Kelsey holds up a thumb and forefinger, offering an infinitesimal distance between them. "Just a touch. Sometimes. About some things."
Percy closes his eyes with a very slow smile. "Only to /other/ people's boyfriends," he says.
"How generous of ye. Restrictin' your sadism so much." Kelsey slips an arm around his waist, giving him an affectionate squeeze.
"Well, I might have overstated that restriction," Percy admits lowly, brows pulling down over his closed eyes. "A wee bit."
"I dinnae judge," she assures him, voice colored with sincerity.
Opening his eyes again, Percy slants a sidelong look at her, and says, gravely, "Thank you."
Kelsey hugs tighter, head resting on his shoulder as she lives in comfortable, blissful ignorance. "I would totally have shagged ye back in your slut days. No cheatin' needed on your part."
All modesty, Percy replies with a blithe, "I bet."
And, in some natural progression in her head from slut to husband-in-all-but-name, Kelsey tells him, "It's good ye're doin' this for 'im. Not askin' him tae stay."
"It's not just for him," Percy says. He shifts in place, almost if not quite squirming in a minor fidget, and studies his fingernails. They are quite neat. "I never thought going back to school was a real, true option. I let my world be closed to a lot of possibilities, because of ... oh, a lot of things. I accepted constraints I built for myself out of ... possibly imaginary expectations. This ... this, perhaps it shook me loose." The broad sweep of his gesture indicates the breadth and length of Chemekata Base. "Broke the life I was living apart. Well," he adds, on a long intake of breath, "I'm taking the pieces back, now, and maybe making something of them. Something really mine."
Kelsey leans back a touch, giving him room to properly fidget and express himself. When he finally finishes, there's a faint smile on her lips that might almost be described as proud. "I'm happy for ye."
Looking a trifle awkward, Percy scratches his thumbnail along the side of his nose. He says, "Well," and breathes out in a snort. "Right."
The smile spreads with his awkwardness, and Kelsey touches a finger to his nose. "Ye're really out o' practice with the friendship thing."
"I like to think I do it right where it counts," Percy tells her loftily, and scrunches his nose. Less loftily.
"I think ye do, too," Kelsey agrees, dropping her hands obligingly. "Except maybe with the whole friend's-boyfriends part." But the easy grin on her face doesn't suggest any serious malice. At the moment.
"If my friends had better /taste/," sneers Percy, true to type.
"If ye tried to /know/ the boyfriends before making judgments," Kelsey counters in classic Kelsey fashion.
"Please," comes the dismissive reply. "As though my snap judgments are ever incorrect." He scratches behind his ear. Then, sitting up as though preparing to stand, Percy says, "I do wish you luck with him, Kelsey. With him and with everything. And I will miss you."
Kelsey hugs tight for a moment, as if unprepared for him to leave. But then she loosens her arms, sitting up straighter in anticipation of his departure. "Thanks, sassenach. It means a lot comin' from ye."
"And well it should," Percy murmurs. He draws away from her and rises, drawing another long breath through his nose. "We'll still be around for a few days more, you know. But."
"Careful gettin' through the door. Dinnae want ye tae scratch my paint with your ego." Kelsey grins, standing up after him, her hands slipping into fuzzy pockets. "Aye. I get it."
"Your paint will surely recover." Percy tips an imaginary hat to her, and then turns on his heel to move for the door on steps that drag, a little. "Good night for now, my dear."
"I'll bill ye." Kelsey brushes a damp lock of hair behind one ear, stepping close to the door as he heads for it. "Aye. I'll see ye around." For now.
Reaching the door, Percy tips a crooked smile over his shoulder, but he doesn't say anything else; he sketches a little bow, and then opens the door and slips out of it. As exits go, he supposes it will do.
Perhaps it's more like au revoir.