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

[necessary_child]

Sam's black eyes are still wide and haunted, with a sort-of-here, sort-of-not kind of look to them, and there are dark scratches along his pale face.

"'s nice." Absently. "My head hurts."

[mycursedface]

"I know," she says, quietly. "It does that. But we need to clean you up and then you can rest, mmm?"

[necessary_child]

"Don't want to sleep," he says, distracted, and dabbling the filthy fingers of his free hand in the fountain.

"Didn't like it."

[mycursedface]

"I didn't say 'sleep', I said 'rest'." Medusa dumps her blouse on the tiles and steers him towards the bath-house (which is up a flight of stairs and technically mostly above ground). "Which are two different things. And you, rouhi, need to rest, and eat."

The internal door to the bathhouse is cedar and elaborately carved with a hand as the centrepiece (hand of the Prophet's daughter, she protects as well as Medusa), and as she opens it she flips a switch to turn the dark into warmth and light. But before she steers him in, Medusa turns and kisses the corner of his mouth. She can smell the blood and other things, taste it, but over the centuries she has become good at ignoring the urge to gag; Asilah has smelt, tasted, worse, and as the Ocean as her witness, she will not do that to Lucifer.

"You're safe here, yes?"

It is not exactly a question.

[necessary_child]

"Yes. No. I don't know." Sam hums 'Hello Goodbye' under his breath, badly, obediently letting himself be steered.

When she kisses him, though, he pulls away a little. "Don't, Meda. You don't want to do that right now."

[mycursedface]

She raises a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"It was a gesture of love and affection, not an invitation."

[necessary_child]

Sam looks away. "Didn't mean that. But. 'm filthy."

[mycursedface]

"I know. Which is why," more steering, "you're going to take those clothes off, I'm going to heal you, and then you are having a shower."

[necessary_child]

"Well." Sam cracks a slightly lopsided grin. "When you put it like that..."

[mycursedface]

"Memo to self: naked catches the boy's attention," she says drily. Another door into the bathhouse proper. There are cabinets and tiles and, along one wall, a sunken bath that requires steps. She walks over to the showers (yes, more than one - three girls, after all), and turns one on.

"Clothes off. Now."

[necessary_child]

"You were..." Sam trails off into a coughing fit. "Surprised by this?"

[mycursedface]

"I...sometimes." She bites her bottom lip and turns back to face him. Flexing the fingers of her left hand just enough to unsheathe her claws, she lightly slashes the palm of her right. Her blood wells up, bright and vibrant red. A couple steps and she presses her palm against the scratches on his face.

[necessary_child]

"Drip drip drip."

Sam stares at the blood in her hand.

"Drip -- drip -- drip."

[mycursedface]

"Lucifer." She reaches up with her left hand, catches his chin and forces his head up. She doesn't move her hand away, not even now that his body is fine and perfect.

"Look at me."

[necessary_child]

Sam looks, wide black eyes like the ending of the world.

Softly, "Hey, Beautiful."

[mycursedface]

Just as softly,

"Ana ohibok min koli kalbi, Lucifer. It's all right now. I promise." Medusa holds up her right hand - perfectly healed. "See? No more blood."

[necessary_child]

Blink.

"...You do?"

Yay for distraction! When crazy, confusion works. Apparently.

[mycursedface]

"Yes. Nhabek. You are amour de ma vie. I. Love. You."

[necessary_child]

"...Huh."

Blink blink blink.

"S'pose you've had long enough to decide."

Sam is, apparently, at his most gracious when slightly crazy. Clearly.

[mycursedface]

"Four thousand years, I'm not about to change my mind, Luce." Brief pause as she runs over that sentence and when exactly they both are form, and moves around to take his coat off.

Well...maybe he won't be surprised when she tells him the first time?

[necessary_child]

It's always worth a shot, but chances are he'll always be surprised by that.

"Huh. Okay."

Sam wriggles out of his coat. He's still covered in bandages underneath, thanks to Atton, but has no shirt.

[mycursedface]

Well, he didn't freak out at the time she mentioned, so Medusa just breathes out gently and moves on.

"Trousers, too, sir, and mind if I cut the bangages?"

He doesn't need them anymore, after all.

[necessary_child]

"Well, if you insist..." Sam murmurs, offering her a surprisingly cheeky half-grin.

[mycursedface]

For her part? Medusa turns a deep, deep red. Clearly, the proper response is to smile back and then hurry off to a cabinet to find a sharp pair of scissors.

Just before she turns any redder, you understand.

"I'm burning those trousers, too," she calls out, not facing him.

Stupid cheeks.

[necessary_child]

"Okay." Sam takes a few slow, deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"But not the coat. I'll be upset if you burn the coat."