He felt her grin at his lips and he pulled back to look at her. "I should not have done this," he said, but in his eyes hid a smile. "You show me the limits of my self-discipline."
For a moment, this was where both of them stood. In the middle of the dark room, only lit by the flames of the fireplace. He put his arms around her and listened to the beat of his heart. She seemed to be listening, too. Around them the shuttered laboratory extended upwards and into the depths, meaning nothing to her and too much to him to put into words and explain. It was strange; to make a life last, one needed to put furniture around it. It cost something. His existence as an Alchemist had solidified here, and this place had been a prison. Themis stood in his office, where he had sold his creations to the highest bidder, full of resentment, and her presence threw the loneliness of the past decade of his life into sharp relief. It shone a merciless light too, on the other dark thing that started to root itself in this place.
Samuel was nervous, he discovered. "This used to be my laboratory," he told her, because an explanation seemed obligatory. "For almost a decade, until I closed it down to start teaching. I might as well give you a tour," he said and laughed, because it felt absurd. She was very close. He shifted a little. A feeling rose in him that seemed not decided if it was excitement or anxiety and it mixed together with the dull hunger her absence left in his life. "I missed you too," he said, belatedly. "Very much."
For a moment, this was where both of them stood. In the middle of the dark room, only lit by the flames of the fireplace. He put his arms around her and listened to the beat of his heart. She seemed to be listening, too. Around them the shuttered laboratory extended upwards and into the depths, meaning nothing to her and too much to him to put into words and explain. It was strange; to make a life last, one needed to put furniture around it. It cost something. His existence as an Alchemist had solidified here, and this place had been a prison. Themis stood in his office, where he had sold his creations to the highest bidder, full of resentment, and her presence threw the loneliness of the past decade of his life into sharp relief. It shone a merciless light too, on the other dark thing that started to root itself in this place.
Samuel was nervous, he discovered. "This used to be my laboratory," he told her, because an explanation seemed obligatory. "For almost a decade, until I closed it down to start teaching. I might as well give you a tour," he said and laughed, because it felt absurd. She was very close. He shifted a little. A feeling rose in him that seemed not decided if it was excitement or anxiety and it mixed together with the dull hunger her absence left in his life. "I missed you too," he said, belatedly. "Very much."
