Chapter Text
A short while later Audrey entered the sitting room, Jess and Dash trailing behind her. "Daft beggars! I told them there's no biscuits, just tea, but they still wanted to be sure they weren't missing owt." She carefully handed one cup to Siegfried, placed her own down on the side table, and then lowered herself to the sofa.
"I found Helen and Richard hiding from us in the kitchen, by the way. I've sent them off to The Drovers, so we'll have peace and quiet as long as the phone don't ring and young Jimmy stays sleeping. Helen's left the bedsit door open so we can hear him if he starts to fuss."
Siegfried nodded. "Did you send them from your purse or theirs?"
"Mine of course. It were us they were hiding from," she reminded him with a sideways glance.
"You should reimburse yourself from the pint pot, as it was my fault they were scared off," Siegfried insisted firmly.
She shot him an incredulous look. "It weren't your fault and I won't be taking any money from the pot! It were me that came slamming into the house like a maniac. I feel awful for how I acted."
"Please," Siegfried was pained at the thought of her heading down the path of self-blame again. "We both stood in that hallway rather oblivious to the others, wouldn't you agree?" Without waiting for a response he offered a compromise. "We can go half and half. Would that be acceptable?"
She looked resigned, but agreed. "Aye. That'll do."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hall--for that, and for the tea. Biscuits, or not, this is exactly what I need right now--a hot beverage, a warm fire, and time to relax." And as if to prove his point, he reached down for the nearby pouf and pulled it over, propping his legs upon it with an exaggerated sigh of bliss. "And if the phone rings," he began conspiratorially, "I vote we ignore it!" He waggled his eyebrows like a child up to no good.
She watched his antics with affection, and then thinking on it for just a moment, she gave a dimpled grin, tinged with a touch of mischief, herself, and followed suit. She carefully toed off her shoes, and rearranged herself, tucking her legs up under her, pressing her stockinged feet against the arm of the seat, and in doing so, placing herself her slightly closer to Siegfried. "If I'm going to relax, I might as well do a proper job of it," she announced.
"Righto!", he agreed and held out a hand in invitation. She placed her hand in his, and once again he brought it to his lips in a short, sweet kiss. "I am fully in favor of you taking more time to relax, my dear. You don't have to be remarkable every moment of the day, after all." And he gave a saucy wink.
She took back her hand, giving him a playful smack on the shoulder along the way, then reached for her tea and cradled the warm cup in her hands, breathing in the fragrant steam rising from the beverage. After a careful sip, she returned the cup to its saucer on the table, and turned back to her companion on the sofa.
This time she reached out for his hand, an apprehensive look upon her face; and she licked her lips in preparation for whatever it was she was trying to work up the nerve to say. Siegfried's breath caught in his throat at the vision of her--her body looking so relaxed next to his, yet her face indicating that perhaps there was yet still more for the two of them to achieve today; and her hand, soft and warm around his own.
"I.." Looking down at their entwined hands, she started again, quietly, a bit timidly. "Do you remember what you said about Vonolel? About us being friends and setting out our---what did you call them?"
Surprised and a bit confused by her segue, Siegfried thought back for a moment. "Ah! Yes, 'relationship parameters', I believe."
"Yes, that. I want to thank you for your friendship, as well, Siegfried. It's meant so much to me, always, but especially this year what with the war, and our lads being gone, and me...well...with the divorce." Her words started off slowly, hesitantly, then finished in a rush as if trying to get them out before her apprehension won its battle and caused her to change her mind about saying these things to him.
"You're ever so welcome. Your friendship is one of the things I hold most dear and I'd like to always be here for anything that you need."
She nodded gratefully, thoughtfully. "And maybe, in time, maybe we can talk about those..." She trailed off again, still feeling indecisive about the sudden change in the way they were relating to one another. To the monumental things they had been sharing and admitting. To the shock of moving from just occasionally holding hands to repeated tender kisses in the space of just one conversation.
Siegfried could certainly understand her trepidation, as bringing all of these feelings out into the open was also terrifying for him. "Are you perhaps wanting to establish new relationship parameters between us as well?" Hope continued its new habit of flaring up in his chest, and he tried to hold back on his enthusiasm for the idea, as not to scare her off, nor to cause himself as much pain if he was wrong in his cautious assumption.
Audrey looked up at him, worrying her lip again, as she contemplated her next words. Siegfried reached out to touch the corner of her mouth. "You'll hurt yourself doing that," he whispered. She looked at him with wide eyes, then smiled softly, but with concern marking its presence in the lines between her eyes.
"You once told me there was a line between employer and employee. I don't know where that line is anymore, Siegfried." Her words were barely above a whisper, vulnerability weighing them down, making them ever so difficult for her to voice. "I don't know where you want it to be. I don't know where I want it to be."
Siegfried closed his eyes and for a moment, mentally flogged his past self for ever uttering such nonsense in the first place. Opening them again, he did his very best to assure her of his feelings in regards to the "line". "I loathe that bloody line. I've done so from very nearly the first moment I mentioned it's supposed existence."
He noticed her gaze had lowered again, and he felt determined to ensure that she understood and truly believed what he was saying. Reaching out tentatively, he brushed the back of his index finger down the lovely sweep of her cheek. She looked up at him, and he restarted his response, making sure to maintain eye contact as he did so. "I only said that ridiculous drivel because I felt bombarded by people suddenly trying to convince me to do things I wasn't sure I wanted to do. I said it for no reason other than to try to have the last word, and I apologise." He waited for her acknowledgment and she placed a hand on his forearm, indicating that she was still listening, that she had no reason to question his words.
He covered her hand with his own and continued, deliberate in his delivery. "As far as I am concerned, that line can officially cease to exist. And whatever new relationship parameters you are comfortable with, I will gladly agree to, because I am so incredibly pleased to have you here with me."
"This is the only place I want to be Siegfried. I just don't know how or what to think right now, or how I feel, exactly." Her brow furrowed further in frustration over her inability to express herself as eloquently as she'd like.
"You don't have to know right now. And you certainly don't have to explain anything right now." Siegfried, sensing Audrey could use a chance to settle herself, opted to try to lighten the mood for a moment. "I do realize establishing a new set of parameters with me is a bit more complicated than with Volonel after all."
Audrey rewarded his efforts with another slight giggle, and Siegfried felt as though his face might begin to ache from smiling so broadly as he facetiously asked her what she found so funny. "What did I say?", he asked, his words laced with innocence, as if he didn't know.
"It's so ridiculous, and yet so right that we're here, trying to talk about our feelings and we've wrapped the entire thing around a rat! Only with you, Siegfried Farnon! Only with you!" Her expression turned soft and affectionate, and Siegfried had to take a moment to sternly remind himself that she had only just said that she wasn't yet sure what she wanted, what she was ready for; else he would have absolutely honored his own ardent wish to kiss her senseless.
"The fact that you're willing to have this conversation, and 'wrap it around a rat', as you say--and furthermore a rat I know you'd prefer lived somewhere other than our house--is just one more way in which you're remarkable."
His repeated easy referral to Skeldale as "our house" soothed places inside of her that she rarely stopped to notice required such care. She knew that line of thought was a road best travelled another day, however, so she opted to keep things light and cheerful by giving him her well-utilized look of mock annoyance instead. "Don't even start with that again!", she laughed.
Siegfried held out one arm towards her. "May I?" And at her nod of assent, he forgo the pouf and moved closer to this most remarkable woman, placing one arm around her upper back. She smiled shyly and tucked her head against his shoulder.
"I'm not really upset about that any more," she murmured softly, nestled against his side.
"About the toast?", he clarified. She nodded against him.
"I'm glad." He paused a moment. "Does that mean I may keep calling you 'remarkable'?", he gently teased. "Perhaps we can work it into our relationship parameters?"
She glanced up at him with a bemused shake of her head. "Can we work in how often I can call you 'ridiculous', then, too?"
He let out a laugh and pressed a kiss into her hair. "As often as you'd like, my dear. As often as you'd like."