Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

Crossing Time

Words: 300-500

Prompt: Laughter

Extra: Warm-Up Round

Susan Pevensie was grudgingly accepting the fact that she was lost.

It had been gradual: first she had been walking down the well-trodden paths in Aslan's How, following Trumpkin's directions to the room that contained the supplies for fletching arrows. But one of her new allies had a nasty sense of humor, stashing all the materials in some hidden niche deep in the bowels of the structure so that it was impossible to find without a map. Unfortunately for Susan, the status of High Queen of Narnia simply didn't come pre-equipped with a map of the How.

Scowling to herself, Susan refrained from using some of the more improper words that she had learned at St. Finbar's. After all, a Queen didn't swear.

No matter how much she wanted to.

"Honestly," she muttered instead, kicking at the floor angrily as she turned another corner that yielded a hallway that looked identical to the last, "You'd think they'd bother putting signs up. Or maybe scratch on the walls, 'Armory This Way.'"

"High Queen?" a hesitant voice asked, startling her out of her reverie. She glanced up sharply, hand automatically twitching for her quiver before realizing that she didn't have it and that she recognized the voice.

"Caspian?" she questioned incredulously, forgetting etiquette at the sight of his sheepish grin as he walked closer. The torchlight flickered over his features, casting a golden glow that brought out streaks of fire in his hair and made her breath catch in her throat.

Stop it, she told herself firmly. You shouldn't encourage this when you know it can't work.

"Good evening, High Queen Susan," Caspian finally said when he was close enough, inclining his head towards her.

The situation struck her as absurd. Here she was, lost somewhere in what was little more than a dignified cave, and he was acting as if they had casually passed each other in the halls of Cair Paravel. His decorum and manners were a welcome change, but she couldn't control the giggle that escaped her lips.

At first he looked stunned, as if she had done something far more unexpected than laugh. But then Susan caught sight of the way his lips were curving into a smile and knew that the surprise had been pleasant.

"Good evening, Prince Caspian," she replied formally, dropping into a curtsy. "A fine night to traverse these ancient halls, is it not?" His lips quirked even further into a grin as he dropped all pretences.

"You're lost, aren't you?" he questioned with a chuckle. Susan sniffed imperiously.

"Of course not. I'm merely…exploring."

She gave him a look that defiantly dared him to challenge her. Instead, he laughed, a deep, rolling laugh that made her want to creep inside of him and luxuriate in the vibrations.

"Of course, Queen Susan. Let's…'explore' together back up to the main halls."

The look she shot him wasn't enough to quench the infectious grin that seemed to jump from his face to hers.

A/N: This is my first foray into a non-HP fandom, so you guys are going to have to let me know how I do. :) These are going to be a series of drabbles for the casue_ldws (Caspian/Susan Last Drabble Writer Standing, for a translation) community on livejournal, which I joined on a lark. There should be a drabble up on average every week after the voting process.

All mistakes I make are mine, since my normal beta is mostly HP, and they're short enough that I don't want to bother her.

Thanks!

Roma