While Morgana was having one of the most tumultuous weekends of her life, Gwen on the other hand was having probably one of the most boring weekends of her life. She'd done the lesson plans for the first month before school had started, so she had no work to do, and she had no plans. She spent Friday night curled up with a book that disinterested her so much, she stopped trying after chapter 11, which wasn't like Gwen at all. She tried to watch a movie, but even that didn't strike her as interesting. Just one of those days, I guess, she thought to herself bitterly. Saturday was spent catnapping and eating ice cream. She realized that she'd been exclusively eating the mint chocolate chip ice cream, and her mind flashed to Morgana. She sat up and stared at Morgana's number in her phone, debating whether or not to call her, for a solid ten minutes, two halves of her mind battling in a rigorous debate the pros and cons of making the call. In the end, she decided against it, since she knew Morgana had dinner with her estranged family the following day. So she went back to attempting to enjoy Netflix, but still, nothing gave her any appeal. She tried drawing or writing poetry, two of her favorite hobbies, but nothing she did really excited her (plus most of her work in these areas began reflecting a certain raven-haired beauty, which was all the more frustrating for Gwen). She was just in a slump. Come Sunday, she'd hit her limit, and she called up her brother and Gwaine, asking them to come over.
When they arrived at her apartment, Elyon opened the door with the spare key, and as they entered, they looked around in shock. Papers containing poems and drawings were strewn everywhere, most of them crumpled into paper balls. Elyon picked one up, grimaced, and showed it to Gwaine, who openly winced. It was so bad and cheesy and corny, they couldn't stand it. Gwaine snagged a sketch off the back of the couch. This was much better than the poem, and he recognized the subject, pointing it out to Elyon.
"No wonder it's the only thing clean here, it looks just like Morgana," Gwaine pointed out.
"That's probably why she's so pissed. She's fucking smitten, and it's only been a week," Elyon explained.
Gwen cleared her throat. The men jumped, spinning quickly to find Gwen standing behind them, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. Gwen's look reflected the disaster that was her apartment; old, rumpled pjs, messy bedhead, and a tired expression were the prominent points that Gwaine and Elyon noticed, Gwen giving each of them a glare as they pointedly analyzed her appearance.
"I know, I know, I'm a complete disaster. I think I just need to talk everything out and get it all off my chest. That's why I called you guys; if I talk things out with other human beings, I can figure out my feelings and how to get over them and move on."
"Alright, but if I'm doing this, I need some whiskey," Gwaine commented as he pulled a bottle out of his bag. Elyon was in the kitchen grabbing a beer from the fridge, and he grabbed a glass for Gwaine while he was there. Gwaine gave him a cheesy grin as he set the glass down and began to pour.
Gwen spent the afternoon pacing around the living room, talking about all the things she found alluring in Morgana. Her hair, her eyes, her figure, her smile, her laugh, her sense of humor, her slight accent (her mother was from Ireland, Morgana had told Gwen), her nose, her faint freckles, barely noticeable on her pale skin. While Gwen talked about this, Gwaine feigned gagging, and Gwen whacked him upside the head playfully, while Elyon laughed and Gwaine fake-pouted until Gwen began laughing as well. The day was spent in this teasing manner, and Gwen felt her anxiety about having feelings for Morgana lessening. She could handle some unrequited feelings, as long as she had her support system, which albeit was not always the most helpful, but was at the very least entertaining.
So when Gwen looked up from her desk in her classroom on Monday morning to find Morgana standing there, she did her best to remember that, but succeeded more in getting lost in Morgana's eyes. They were tricky things, her eyes. Half pale blue, half pale green, all radiantly gorgeous. Morgana cleared her throat, and Gwen shook her head subtly and finally spoke.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you until this weekend." Gwen, Morgana, Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Gwaine, and Elyon had made a groupchat on Saturday and were planning to meet the following Saturday for game night.
"Well, that was the plan, but I needed to talk to you about something," Morgana responded cryptically. Gwen gazed at her curiously. It was quite early; none of the other students would be arriving for about twenty minutes. Gwen glanced behind Morgana to locate Mordred, who sat quietly at his desk on the other side of the classroom, nose buried in a book. Gwen gestured at the chair on the other side of her desk, indicating for Morgana to sit and talk.
Morgana took a sharp, bracing inhale, before she began. "Well, as you know, Mordred and I had dinner with my horrible uncle last night."
"Yeah, I remember you telling me about that. How did it go? Well, I suppose it couldn't've gone too well, otherwise we likely wouldn't be having a private conversation about it at 7:15 on a Monday morning."
Morgana nodded solemnly. "Quite right. See, I knew it was going to be messy, but I didn't think it would be this disastrous…" Morgana recounted the previous night's events to Gwen, her eyes widening in shock and incredulousness at appropriate times, gasping when she heard Uther's cruel words.
"Holy shit, what a plot twist." Gwen whispered in exclamation when Morgana was finished with her tale. "That's absolutely horrible."
"I know. The reason I'm telling you now, instead of waiting until Saturday, is because I'm worried about Mordred. I know he had to have picked up on some of the tension last night, and I'm just hoping to a merciful god that he didn't hear any of Uther and my fight last night. But Uther did insult his manners directly besides that, so I'm just a little worried about him, and I know he'll try to put on a brave front for me. That's why, if you could, I would ask you to keep a bit more of an eye on him, and call or text me if you see anything off about him. Please," Morgana begged. Gwen looked into her pleading eyes, and found that she couldn't say no even if she wanted to. She didn't think she'd ever be able to refuse those eyes. Plus, Morgana's cause was just, and the favor she asked wasn't a tremendous one. Gwen agreed wholeheartedly.
Morgana thanked her profusely as the two women stood and Gwen stepped out from behind her desk to offer her a hug. The taller woman swept Gwen into her embrace, her arms around Gwen's shoulders, as Gwen's went to her waist. Gwen could feel her slim, but surprisingly toned abdomen beneath her hands, and felt a wave of heat wash over her. Meanwhile, Morgana was being bludgeoned with the intoxicatingly sweet aroma of Gwen's shampoo, which smelled of oranges and berries, like a summer's breeze. They both pulled back reluctantly, each trying to hide their disappointment, neither noticing the change in the other's breathing as it hitched in each of their chests.
They bid each other farewell, as Morgana crossed the room to kiss her son on the head, waving back at Gwen as she walked out of the door. Gwen sighed. She was so screwed. No amount of talking was getting her over this.
The rest of Gwen's day was rather quiet. She went about her normal routine, taking attendance, getting through the lecture plans, and releasing the students for their group work before their lunch bell. All the while, she kept an eye on Mordred. He seemed perfectly alright, chatting emphatically with his friends, Percival and Freya. When the bell rang for lunch, while the other students dashed to the door, lunch money and/or lunch boxes clutched in hand, Mordred lagged behind. He pulled his packed lunch from his bag, and turned to Gwen instead of to the door. Gwen raised an eyebrow at him curiously, before beckoning him to her desk, where she pulled out her own lunch. Mordred sat down, unpacked his lunch, and began eating in amicable silence with Gwen. While they ate, Gwen studied Mordred's face, trying to see through his eyes into his mind to figure out what was going on. He hadn't eaten with her since their second day of class, and although she had assured him that he could eat with her any time, she was still concerned.
"So what's going on, dude? Not that I'm not glad for your company, but why aren't you eating with Percival and Freya? Is everything alright?" Gwen searched Mordred's face for answers as he sighed and put down his sandwich, which he was only halfway through.
Mordred searched Gwen's eyes as she peered into his own. "I like you, Miss Mallory. I know my mom likes you, and she trusts you. That's why I need your help. I'm worried about my mom, but I don't want her to worry about me any more than she has to, because I know she's got a lot on her plate. Dad and Uncle Art want to help, but I think Mom will figure out something is up if they start helping a lot more. Dad's awful at keeping secrets, and Uncle Art isn't subtle."
Gwen saluted Mordred playfully. "Reporting for duty, sir! What are my marching orders?"
Mordred giggled before responding. "I want you to hang out more with my mom. You're her only real friend other than Dad and Uncle Art, and the first friend she's made since I can remember. Please, be her best friend. She needs one. And I know you like her and want to be friends, too. Mom told me your only friends are your brother and his best friend."
"First off, ouch. Second off, I know your mother didn't say "only". Third off, they are not my only friends, they're just… okay, maybe they are my only friends. But that's besides the point. I would love to be your mom's best friend, but it's not that easy. These things take time. And right now, I barely know your mother. I can't be best friends with her if I hardly know her, no matter how much I like her."
Mordred nodded. "I know that. That's why I want you to ask my mom and I over for dinner tonight. Monday is takeout night for us, and you were over last week, so I figure you're free again. We could switch who hosts Monday night dinner." Mordred paused a moment, before he blushed scarlet. "Sorry, I just realized I invited us over to your house, and I didn't mean for that. Sorry."
"It's alright. You're right; I have no plans after school, and I think that would be a great way to get to know your mom." The bell rang, making Gwen and Mordred jump slightly. "Why don't you run along to recess, and I'll call your mom and invite the two of you over for dinner this evening, and set up weekly plans. Sound good?"
Mordred nodded enthusiastically and gave Gwen a bright grin and a thumbs up before practically skipping with glee out the door. Gwen shook her head in amusement, before slumping back in her chair once Mordred was out of view.
How am I supposed to get over my stupid crush now if she's going to be coming over once a week. Not to mention game night, which we were hoping would become a weekly occurrence! Gwen's mind began to panic. But on the other hand… if she's over every week, maybe you'll become close enough friends that you won't be able to see her in any other context beyond a platonic one! It's kinda perfect, thank you Mordred!
With a satisfied nod, Gwen made the call.
Morgana picked up after three rings. "Hello?"
"Hey, Morgana, it's Gwen. Though I suppose you have caller ID so you probably knew that." Gwen could hear Morgana chuckling on the other end of the line.
"Yes, I knew it was you. Good to hear from you! How's your day? How's Mordred?"
"Everything's great, Mordred's great. I was actually calling because I had an idea."
"What idea?"
"Well, remember how I came over for dinner last week?"
"Yeah. Do you want to come over again?"
"No!" Gwen winced. "No, I mean, yes I would, but not tonight. Uh, what I meant was, I was thinking you and Mordred could come over to my place for dinner tonight? If you guys were free, I mean. And if you wanted to, we could make it a weekly thing and alternate who hosts? I don't know, I just thought it would be nice, so we don't go an entire week without seeing each other, since you're kinda my only friend, outside of Elyon and Gwaine of course -"
Morgana laughed heartily on the other end. "Whoa, slow down there tiger. I would love to come over this evening. I'll have Mordred get changed and ready to go as soon as I get home from work." Morgana paused for a moment. "And you're kinda my only friend outside of Arthur and Merlin, too, so I think this would be good for both of us."
"Perfect, see you around 6:30? I'll text you my address."
"Perfect."
"Okay, bye!"
"Bye," Morgana said, something unreadable in her voice. Anticipation? Fondness? If Gwen didn't know better, she'd think it was loving adoration in her voice, the kind the one hears in the tones of couples that had been together for decades.
God, did she want that with Morgana, she thought to herself as she hung up the phone, before pinching her arm lightly to snap herself out of it.
