A/N: Wow, um... Sorry. Time gets away from you, doesn't it?
Thing was not quite the word Gwen would have used to describe it.
"This is it?" she asked, scarcely believing her ignorance of the event had persisted for so long.
"The theme changes every week," Arthur explained as they approached the building. "Sometimes there are loads of people, and sometimes fewer."
The museum was much larger than she expected, with a classical facade and extensive gardens surrounding it. But if its graceful columns promised knowledge and enlightenment, the florescent pink and violet spotlights that backlit them said nightclub.
There was a sizable queue stretching along its length, but Arthur pulled them around to a shorter queue for visitors with special passes.
"So it's adults only?" Gwen watched the doormen admit visitors ahead of them in twos with the occasional cluster of friends. Practically couples only.
"Mmm." He escorted her inside. "That's what's so great about it. It's much less crowded than during the day. Plus, you can get a drink pretty much wherever you are. Even in the aquarium."
He wasn't kidding. They didn't make it quite as far as the aquarium, however, stopping at the first makeshift bar near the entrance.
Arthur was trying his best to answer her questions about his work conference as they waited, but they were both distracted by the couple enthusiastically snogging behind them. He widened his eyes at Gwen as he spoke and she had to cover her face to stifle her giggles. When it was their turn, Gwen insisted on paying for their order.
Drinks in hand, they made a wandering circuit of the exhibits, winding up in front of a glass wall where visitors could observe the taxidermists working in the lab on the other side.
"This feels strange, doesn't it?" Gwen murmured. "Like we shouldn't be allowed to watch."
"What do you reckon they put inside?" Arthur asked, indicating the bird a bespectacled woman in a white coat was meticulously sewing up.
She snorted. "Not sweets, I'm betting."
"So you're saying I shouldn't order my birthday piñata from here?"
"If you do, I'd go for something a little bigger." She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and Arthur's gaze followed to regard the enormous model of a whale skeleton suspended above their heads.
"I have got a budget, you know."
"Oh, right. Financial planner, and all."
"Consultant."
"Then maybe you ought to go for one of those," she pointed to the gorilla in the exhibit they'd just emerged from. "That's a fair compromise."
Arthur pulled a face. "Wouldn't blend well with my apartment furnishings, don't you think? Besides, Atticus would probably just bark at it."
Gwen giggled and sipped at her drink, looking back at the lab. "It does look sort of fun in a disgusting way."
"I'm rubbish at sewing. I could glue the wobbly eyes on, though."
"God," she laughed. "Can you imagine?"
An announcement came over the speakers, echoing over the soft chatter. The planetarium show would be starting in five minutes.
"Bollocks," Arthur looked up, and then grabbed her free hand to tow her along. "Let's go!"
They reached the end of the queue just before the docent replaced the rope, sneaking into the packed auditorium. Arthur craned his neck, looking for free seats.
Gwen let him guide her, enjoying the feel of his larger hand surrounding hers.
It was a steep climb to one of the top rows where they found only two empty seats near each other, separated by a large, burly man. They squeezed past a few couples as the lights began to dim.
"Excuse me," Arthur leaned to ask the man if he would mind moving over one seat.
Darkness fell and ethereal music began, drowning out his voice.
He gestured at the man, but all he received was a glare. Gwen squeezed Arthur's hand.
"It's okay," she mouthed, dropping his hand and tiptoeing past the stubborn man to sit beside him.
They settled into their seats apart from one another and turned their attention to the show while the narrator began a presentation about the majesty of the universe.
As the audience hushed, Gwen watched the couple in the row below her share a lingering kiss. She wondered if Arthur was as disappointed as she that they couldn't be closer, but the night was still young. Heat flooded her cheeks as she imagined him leaning to brush his lips to hers in the same way, his hand perhaps on her knee.
It reminded her of their day at the beach, and how close they'd been to doing just that.
An enormous expanse of space yawned before her eyes, commanding her attention as animated stars and planets materialized on the screen.
She was jarred from her reverie when the rude man next to her shifted and bumped her arm. Leaning away from him, she focused back on the show and let it overtake her senses. Wide-eyed and lured into fantasy by the narrator's calm voice, it was surprisingly easy.
But a few minutes later, she was trying once more to ignore a nudge to her shoulder.
Ugh. Frowning, she turned to the man beside her, only to find he wasn't moving. Nor was the spellbound woman on the other side of her.
Gwen dropped her head back to look behind her neighbor's seat and met Arthur's eyes, doing the same. He lifted his hand to point out a constellation, graceful index finger tracing the way the stars connected.
For a moment, she couldn't tell what the shape was meant to be, but he repeated the movement for her until her eyes went wide in understanding. He'd drawn a G in the sky.
She turned back to him with a surprised smile and he bit back his own, sinking back into his seat.
It was not even twenty minutes into the show when Gwen began to hear soft snores. They became louder and louder until she couldn't concentrate, and a quick peek confirmed the man beside her was indeed asleep, mouth gaping wide with a charming sliver of drool sliding between the corner of his lips.
She leaned forward to catch Arthur's attention over the man's lap and he grinned, his eyes twinkling as the light shifted on the screen.
He reached over to offer his hand to her, careful not to touch the man between them. Confused, Gwen placed her smaller hand in his. Arthur dipped his head and raised his brows, tugging gently until she got the idea.
Does he want to leave already? She thought there were at least another fifteen minutes left.
Standing up, she eased her way around the sleeping man, trying not to wake him. He gave an awful shuddering snore that startled her, but did not otherwise move.
Safely on the other side, Gwen expected Arthur to stand up too. Instead, he waited until she was in front of him to tug her down onto his lap.
Sweeping music hid her squeak of surprise as the scene changed. He was warm and solid beneath her, and gradually she let herself relax against him.
If she had trouble concentrating before, there was no hope now.
Arthur's arms came around so he could lace his fingers around her middle, ostensibly to keep her secure in the seat. Gwen bit her lip, grateful that the darkness hid her face.
"Now I can tell you the real facts," his low voice caressed her ear, raising goosebumps down her neck. Heart pounding, she slid her hands up her lap until the back of her thumbs brushed his fingers.
As the show continued, Gwen leaned further into him, laying her head back until they were practically cheek to cheek. She fought shivers at his warm breath against her skin when he added his own commentary to the lecture.
"Actually, it's more like an elephant, don't you think?" he whispered, pointing out the shape as the narrator introduced another constellation. "And I believe the technical term for that one is triangle."
Gwen giggled at his interjections. The cloak of darkness and familiarity setting in made her bolder, and by the time the presentation started to wrap up, her own clammy hands covered his where they linked over her waist. A gentle caress of his fingertips against her palm stoked the ember of desire smoldering steadily within her to flame, flickering through her extremities. She tilted her head to feel his jaw brush against her temple with a hint of stubble.
And in the space of silence when the final credits rolled, all she heard—all she felt, was Arthur's steady breathing and her own thudding heart.
Then the screen was blank, and the light returned, and people began to shuffle and chatter around them. Like a dream shattered by a boisterous alarm clock she was dragged, heady and disoriented, back into reality and forced to find her feet once more.
They both applauded with the rest of the audience at the conclusion and burst out laughing as the man next to them startled violently awake, reprising his disgruntled glare.
Filtering out of the auditorium, they almost lost one another in the crowd, but reunited once they reached the walkway outside the exit.
It was a bridge stretching over a shallow aquarium. Beneath the surface, starfish clung to rock formations, colorful fish darted to and fro, and tiny crabs ambled along the sandy floor.
"Did you like it?" Arthur asked as they leaned against the railing.
"It was amazing."
"Which part?" He quirked an eyebrow.
She narrowed her eyes with a knowing smile.
He chuckled to himself, and they stood in silence for a while as they watched the water below.
"Look!" Gwen leaned over the railing to point as a ray glided past.
It happened so quickly; she barely had time to panic. The delicate chain snapped from her neck and her hand came up to capture it against her chest, but it was too late.
"Oh!" she gasped as the necklace plopped into the water, a hurricane of bubbles swirling as it sank into the sand at the bottom of the tank.
"What was that?" Arthur asked.
"It's my necklace! Shit!" she said, covering her mouth. "It's my mother's necklace!"
His worry transformed to determination and before she could say anything he knelt down and leaned through the gap in the railing. He rolled his sleeve up, his hand hovering above the surface.
With a wary look up at her, he beseeched her to keep watch. Nobody seemed to be paying them attention, but she didn't think the staff would appreciate what he was about to do.
Gwen bit her lip and nodded, and then Arthur's hand plunged into the water. The ray passed within inches of his knuckles and he didn't flinch; his eyes were focused on the glinting locket. Edging forward, he braced a knee against the railing for stability, but it was just out of reach.
Leaning further out, he managed to grasp a small section of the chain between his fingers. With a gentle tug he discovered it was stuck, tangled with a piece of coral. He sat up to extend his reach and—
"Arthur!" Gwen shrieked as he lost his balance.
Arms flailing, his top half pitched forward into the shallow tank with a splash.
Gwen's hands flew to cover her mouth before instinct kicked in and she knelt to wrap her arms around his middle to haul him up.
Head above water, he swiped a hand over his eyes to clear his vision. Still he looked wildly around the rippling water.
"Arthur, come on!" she urged him, still holding onto his waist.
A crowd began to assemble. Gwen glanced over her shoulder where a staff member wormed his way through the bystanders toward them.
She looked back just as Arthur pushed himself up and, digging her heels against the lower railing, she leaned back to pull him safely back onto the walkway.
They both panted as they spilled over the floor, Arthur soaking wet from the waist up, and Gwen not much dryer from the contact.
"Sir, are you alright?" The man reached them just in time, kneeling beside them with a hand on Arthur's shoulder.
"Oh, yes, quite. Thank you," Arthur said a little breathlessly when he finished coughing. He took the man's hand to help him up and they both stood, dripping on the walkway and surrounded by onlookers. Some of them laughed, some clapped, and some just looked annoyed.
"Good," the man breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll need you to file an incident report."
They nodded like guilty children, following the man toward the front of the building where he consulted with another staff member. Someone produced a towel for Arthur but it was of little use as he concentrated on filling out the form.
When he handed the clipboard in, the man's expression changed. "Well, now that's sorted, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave."
Arthur frowned. "What? It was an accident!"
"I'm sorry, sir," he touched Arthur's shoulder as if to console him, pulling the towel away. "Merely following protocol. Please don't make me call security."
"Let's go," Gwen whispered, tugging his sleeve, and reluctantly they did.
Not a word was spoken between them as they were ushered out but as soon as they met the night air they both erupted in laughter, their breath puffing like smoke in the brisk autumn night.
"Cheap bastards," she snorted, a little forlorn that their evening had been cut short by her own clumsiness. "I can't believe you did that."
"Me neither," Arthur chuckled with a shiver.
"Oh god, you must be freezing!" Gwen said, shrugging off her pea coat. "Here," she stopped him in the middle of the pathway. She pushed his shoulder down until he obliged her by crouching.
Standing on tiptoe, she whirled her coat around and rested it over his shoulders, steadfastly ignoring the way his shirt clung to his skin.
He was patient, watching her determined expression until she had arranged it just so.
"There," she said with a satisfied smile. He straightened, hands crossed in front of his chest to grasp the lapels of the coat. The shoulders were much too narrow to cover him completely, but his back was no longer exposed to the biting cold.
"Um, thank you," he laughed. "This is a first. But aren't you cold?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine. You're the one that's soaking wet. Atticus would be jealous," she joked, and they continued walking.
"You're right about that." He chuckled. "Hey—"
She halted to avoid colliding with his palm as he thrust it in front of her. Then her heart swelled.
"Oh my—Arthur! You got it!" she grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling as she reached up to take his face between her hands. Elation overpowered shyness and she pulled his head down to hers to kiss him, short and sweet.
Or at least that's what she'd intended.
When she drew back after a few lingering moments, he was slow to open his eyes. He looked a little drunk, but then a slow grin stole over his lips.
"Tell me, Guinevere," he said, swallowing. "If I somehow found myself in that fountain, is there a chance you might do that again?"
Gwen gave him a coy smile, reaching forward to take his hand. "If I'd known you were so eager for a swim, we could have started in the aquarium."
He laughed, lacing his fingers with hers and letting her tug him along.