[ Galahad didn't much want to get involved with Elaine, but his duty dictated that he ought to at least go check on her. The fact that she had been lacking as a mother did not mean he should be lacking as a son- that would be something that would be on his concience. He didn't want to sin when being a son should not be a chore.
It was though.
He knocked twice on the door (rapping the wood with his knuckles to avoid doing something to the door) of the address he had committed to memory and waited.
Nothing was allowed to be touched unless she wanted another snapping turtle on her hands. Elaine was doing better, truth be told, but she was still deeply frustrated because going to work was impossible. And then Hermes had come along and said the wrong things at first and she felt not shame but annoyance.
And when the knock on the door came, Baldric yipped, Rhett lifted his head to observe and Elaine went to the door. Once seeing who it was through the peep hole she took a step back. And before touching anything, she took several deep breaths and then swiftly unlocked it, yanking it open.
"I didn't expect you."
Galahad tilted his head a little, betraying that he was a little bit confused as that sort of greeting but said nothing of what he was actually thinking. "No, I suppose not. I was merely passing by to see if you were doing fine. To see if you required something." Nothing more than a duty of a son to his (somewhat deranged) mother.
Galahad didn't seemed annoyed at having to do this, he might have felt so but his duty had never been something that annoyed him. Doing things out of duty was too natural for him.
Deranged was just a flavour she could provide. ...not that it was a good thing. She knew that. She nodded to his reply and took a step back, her nerves threatening to overtake her. Elaine wasn't a fool about what the state of her relationship was with her son. She had something to accomplish and she did. Then it was all on him to do what he was meant to do. That was the way it was. No warm fuzzies, no coddling or sweet tuck-ins at night. She was his container and he the answer to their problem.
Yet sometimes, she just wanted to grab him and tell him what a fat baby he had been and it had hurt like hell getting him out. "Do you want to come in? Please? Just for a moment?"
"Sure." Galahad would not refuse most of the requests his mother made of him, but he remembered now- so clearly, the loving whispers of Morgause against his brow when she came to check up on him during night. He remembered the encouragement of her words, the conviction that he was the right choice for the throne. Things not easily forgotten or dismissed. He missed being loved as a son.
"Is there anything you need?" He closed the door behind him with a nudge of his shoulder not wanting to risk anything again.
Morgause had been a true mother to her children, to all five sons. Even the one that turned on her later. Elaine could never even claim to be one-tenth that maternal. Babies were adorable but raising them...perhaps there were some good books about that somewhere.
With Galahad here and her building generally safe enough, she left the door unlocked for now. Closed was good enough. "Me? I'd like to go to work, that's all. Idleness isn't for me," she admitted. "I saw that your Bible was taken from you. I'm sorry. And I'd offer you something to drink but..." Well, they both knew why that wasn't possible.
Which would've been fine had Galahad not experienced Morgause's mothering. Now there was a bigger elephant in the room between them. "Please do not concern yourself." Politeness was always his default mode for dealing with most situations. Most. "I came to see if you required help with something, I believe I might have less trouble than you handling things." He lifted one hand, staring at his palm in thought and then curled his fingers. "If you find that acceptable."
Lord, his politeness would slay her one day. There was only so much a woman could take before she cracked a man over the head with something heavy. But today would not be that day. She nodded once more and then said, "You might end up changing something as well if you touch it so I'm not sure how much help you can give but...I think it's just nice that you came. Even for a bit."
Galahad rubbed the bridge of his nose, a sign that there was the vaguest hint of annoyance lurking. "It is no problem, I shall stay here for a little longer, in case you find something you urgently need and cannot grab yourself, yes?" He didn't really wait for a yes or no, instead he strode over to the couch and sat down. It was not a relaxed posture, he sat straight, looking at the coffee table and whatever had been left on it. Well, he had never been much of a talker in general. Now? Now it was just the same.
Except he felt like he couldn't even approach Percival without sinning. It bothered him. Galahad suppressed the urge to sigh, it wasn't like Elaine would be any comfort to him. Not then, not now, not in future.