AU week - telling the tale.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin takes Athelstan's hand and leads him through a door and then another, and up a narrow flight of stairs that seem to be hidden in the walls. To another door that looks like it should be locked but isn't. (Or isn't locked anymore.)

The journey leads them into the roof and a flatish section of tiles where they can sit and look out over the lake, protected from the breeze.

"Come, sit with me." Sin strolls across the tiles, sure as a mountain goat till he finds a good spot to sit with their backs against a chimney.

Comments

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Your professors must have either loved or hated you," Ragnar grins. "There you are, being totally brilliant, and then you just up and left, to come back after a few years and go 'can I go on, pretty please'?"

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan leans into their arms.

"But then, you'd come back with interesting stories to tell. And you did finish."

[thewidewideworld]

"International law took me four attempts to finish but each time I came back with some rather interesting case studies to put to the class. I think my Latin teacher took my vanishing act the hardest. He was desperate for me to graduate so I wouldn't be his student any more and he could fuck me without risking his job."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"What degree was that Latin class for?" Ragnar asks.

[athelstanthescribe]

"One of the medical ones? A lot of medical words are Latin."

[thewidewideworld]

"It did help for those but I took that and ancient Greek primarily as part of a history degree. It's amazing how much understanding Roman expansion can help you navigate half the cities in Europe. Once you can see how they were built, the rest makes perfect sense."

Sin smiles nostalgicly. "And I was fascinated by it. Enough to flatter an old professor into wanting me so I could spend more time in his personal collection of original texts."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"That is not something most old men are used to be flattered over," Ragnar says.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I hope he saw your brains as well as wanting you", Athelstan says with another squeeze of his hand. "But I admit, I'd do a lot for some time in a collection like that."

[thewidewideworld]

"Oh, sweet Athelstan. Never whore yourself out for books. You're worth more than that." He kisses Athelstan's cheek. "He enjoyed my company for several reasons but my ass was very high on his list. He was a surprisingly kinky old sod but that was just fine with me. I enjoyed his company too and for more than just his library."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"And so that's how you got another degree," Ragnar says, grinning.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Are you still studying at all?" Athelstan asks. "Or just informally?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Hey!" Sin leans over Athelstan to smack Ragnar's arm. "I never asked for or get credits I didn't earn. I may have scored higher because of the extra study I did in his library but not the extra-curricular activities."

He snuggles down back behind Athelstan, apologising for squashing him with a kiss to his shoulder. "Not at the moment. I have stopped off at a university for a while to see if there's anything that interests me. There's a course in First Nation shamanism I've considered but it's not a formal thing."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Ow!" Ragnar says, but he's laughing.

"I guess I deserved that."

Beat.

"Who teaches that course?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"You must have met real First Nations shamans in your travels", Athelstan says thoughtfully.

[thewidewideworld]

"Damn right you deserve that." Sin can't help but giggle, failing to stay serious.

"I try to. I feel very connected to the spiritual side of the land. In fact the course is being taught by a friend of a friend of the people who run the retreat we're going to after the festival."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Is he or she based out of that part of the country?" Ragnar asks.

He leans over Athelstan to kiss Sinric's shoulder, and then kisses Athelstan's as well as he's at it.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan lifts a hand to brush Ragnar's face in passing.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them."

[thewidewideworld]

"From what I understand, he's a bit of a wanderer like me. The retreat is on land that was considered sacred to several of the native tribes of the area. When Jack inherited the land from his father in the 60s, he got rid of the cattle and stated replanting and rehabilitating the land. He invited the traditional owners back to help preserve the sights. It's become a bit of a crossroads for the spiritual and alternative life style community."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"So you met your teacher there, when both of you happened to pass through?" Ragnar says. "It'll be great to have some days there, after the festival and before we head back."

[athelstanthescribe]

"How long is this course he teaches?" Athelstan asks. "And is it a regular thing?"

[thewidewideworld]

"I did, last time I passed through that way. He told me he coukd feel the spirit energy in me and I begged him to tell me more. We talked then about him teaching but he didn't feel he was ready. That was a couple of years ago and I get a message through the grapevine he was pulling things together to run it as a full retreat and I should let him know if I was still interested." Sin bites his lip. "I think it's something that could be very enlightening for me."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"So you'd be among the very first students?" Ragnar says.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I hope he'll think I'm as much worth teaching", Athelstan says shyly.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin kisses Athelstan sweetly. "I can't make any promises that White Raven will be at Jack's while we are but if he is, I promise to introduce you. I'm sure he's see your spirit as brightly as I do."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"I'm sure you'll learn a lot as it is," Ragnar says, "because what you're looking for is actually inside you, not outside knowledge."