The Gorgon cave, 2003

[mycursedface]

Medusa leads Sam through the front door of Milliways into her home. Her cave. Although, really, 'cave' doesn't quite cover it. It's cool, though, and directly in front of them is an open courtyard (the roof of that cavern had fallen in a thousand years before, and the girls had always been practical). There are blue tiles, mostly, all in perfect, quiet geometric patterns. Some potted plants, and a fountain (not drip, drip, drip - it's a proper wall fountain, steady as pouring out a jug). It's late afternoon, judging by the sun.

The other thing that is noticable is the magic. The girls have lived in that cave since the Sahara was an Eden of rivers and lakes, and in all those thousands of years, the magic has built up and up until it's a mesh of protection, safety, warding and comfort that not even the girls themselves really know how to unravel.

This is Medusa's home, though, and she knows it. What she doesn't know is the expression on Sam's face.

Comments

[mycursedface]

"You're an idiot."

[necessary_child]

"So I've been told. Am I at least worth it?"

[mycursedface]

"Worth taking my jeans off?"

[necessary_child]

"Uh-huh."

[mycursedface]

Bluntly,

"Your hair is making me feel ill. Jeans can come off after your hair is clean."

[necessary_child]

"...Okay!"

He can live with that.

[mycursedface]

didn't have to think long, course not, it's Lucifer, Luce, Luce.

"Hush," she tells her snakes before getting to work. She really, really wasn't joking in regards to his hair.

[necessary_child]

There wasn't much to think about, really.

Sam stands still and lets her do it, his eyes closed and face tilted into the waterstream, concentrating on the sound of her snakes and her voice and the feel of her touch and not the sound of slamming doors or the feeling of drowning, drowning, drowning in voices.

[mycursedface]

Medusa washes his hair twice, her fingers quick and gentle and thorough. She's soaked; jeans sticking to her, singlet see-through and wings dripping, but at least the water is running clear.

She hugs him, then, from behind with her head resting between his shoulder-blades.

"You okay, rouhi?"

[necessary_child]

"Yes. No."

Sam leans forward, resting his head against the cool tiles of the shower wall.

"I don't know. I will be."

[mycursedface]

"You can, um. You can stay here as long you need, really. We won't mind."

At least, Euryale won't mind and Stheno may or may not, but Medusa has arguments she can employ. Some of them even involve words.

[necessary_child]

"...Okay." Sam looks over at her, offering a tired smile.

"Thanks, Beautiful."

[mycursedface]

She smiles at him, crooked but then most of her smiles are.

"Not a problem."

[necessary_child]

He reaches over to her, touching her face with the tips of his fingers.

"Lovely, lovely Meda," he murmurs, almost to himself.

[mycursedface]

Medusa doesn't say anything, just stands there and looks at him and doesn't move away.

[necessary_child]

Sam's fingers move slowly down her face as he watches her carefully, moving away from her skin once his fingers trickle down her jaw to reach for her hands instead and pull her towards him under the water of the shower as Sam leans against the tiles.

[mycursedface]

She unfurls her wings. Not all the way, just a bit - get them properly wet and they shine in the soft light. She lets herself be pulled (and has to duck and move forward to avoid the water streaming directly into her face) and then bites her bottom lip.

Not that she looks away, oh no. Her eyes are brown in the light, rich chocolate brown with slit cat's pupils, and oddly questioning.

[necessary_child]

Sam laughs, softly, laughs and tugs her just that little bit further forward to kiss her.

[mycursedface]

Medusa ignores her snakes (yay, they went), and kisses him back. Somewhere along the line, she's gotten a lot better at it.

[necessary_child]

He approves! Although really, as far as he was concerned, she was pretty good at it before.

One hand (blissfully clean, no longer blistered) cups her chin, but the other drops to her waist, slipping under her sodden shirt to rest on the skin of her side.

[mycursedface]

Medusa's always ran hotter than most, and standing underneath hot water hasn't really altered this much. Now her hands are free, she has one on his shoulder and the other pressed firmly against his beating heart.

Almost a reassurance that he's okay.

[necessary_child]

Sam's fingers trace small circles along her side, for a little while, before the hand moves slowly to the flies of her jeans, slow enough to give her plenty of time to react and stop him if she wants to, his eyes flicking open, briefly, to watch her face.

[mycursedface]

Ask him to stop? Not really. Ask him to please, do continue, darling?

Only if he stops.

Her smile is a quick, darting thing as she kisses his mouth again, lightly, then his jaw, then his neck.

[necessary_child]

To be fair, he's not exactly up to speed when it comes to new, modern Medusa yet.

Her jeans are carefully undone and pushed down, nonetheless, because after all she did promise.

[mycursedface]

So she did. And now comes the tricky part, and if anyone has worked out how to get out of soaking jeans gracefully, she doesn't know it. She breaks away and wriggles out of them, kicking out of the way once they fall to the tiles.

She ducks her head then, twisting her arms behind her to undo the buttons of her singlet.