Morgana was singing the lyrics to Before He Cheats at the top of her lungs, and although Arturia was also singing along, she wasn't belting it. Morgana had suggested that they sing out loud to different songs so that they could let out some of that repressed anger, and Arturia had to admit that it did in fact work quite a bit. There was a point they were singing and the windows were rolled down, letting the breeze flow through their hair. The song died down and something more calming played next, letting Morgana catch her breath and take a drink of water.
"Do you wanna switch? You've been driving for nearly two hours now," Morgana asked, her lips stretched in a concerned look.
Arturia shrugged. "We're almost there. If you wanna stop for something, I'm pretty sure there's a gas station up ahead."
Morgana nodded. "Yeah, let's stop for a bit and get something to munch on. We can switch then." She then looked out the window at the passing trees and brightly shining sun. She was thankful to have gotten away from work and finally get to enjoy some time with her sister, especially in these troubling moments.
"Do you mind calling Gawain and Lancelot?" Arturia turned to her sister and furrowed her brows.
"I hope they're doing okay," she mumbled.
Morgana nodded as she pulled out her phone. "I'm sure they're fine. And if I'm correct, Gawain told me they left earlier than us."
Before Morgana could dial their cousin, a call came in through the car's screen. "Call him and the devil comes knocking," Morgana chuckled before she pressed the small green button. "Hello," she answered.
"Hey Morgs, hello Artie!" The fluid voice of Gawain resonated through the car.
Morgana rolled her sky blue eyes. "I told you not to call me that, ass."
"Hey Gawain," Arturia replied with a smile. "Are you already there?"
"Yup, and so are your friends. It seems they got here before us. Anyways, how far are you still?"
"About twenty minutes?" Artie looked at an exit board that came up. "We're just going to stop for a few minutes, we'll be there soon, sorry to keep you all waiting, but Morgana took a million years to leave the house." Morgana nudged her. "The keys are inside a glass container under the front steps. You can all get settled, don't worry about it. Morgana and I can share my room and you can fight it out for the rest."
"Awesome!" Gawain chirped.
"Wait, who says I'm sharing a room with you?" Morgana argued, arms crossing over her chest.
"'Kay, I'll let you two go now, and just so that you know, we're not waiting for you to get in the water." Gawain's voice interrupted once more. "See ya." Soon after, he hung up the call and Morgana glared at Arturia.
"We're sharing a room? Seriously?" Morgana raised an eyebrow. "I deserve my own room."
"Morgana, for once just do something for someone else."
Morgana groaned as she rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm the worst person on the planet, all I need is a bit of privacy."
Arturia shook her head and didn't let her eyes off the road.
They had stopped at a Gas station and grabbed some hotdogs before they were back on the road, this time Morgana was driving. They barely talked the rest of the way, mostly just singing along to the songs that boomed through the car and some chit-chat here and there when they spotted an animal in a farmstead. It luckily didn't take them too long to reach the cottage, they were pulling up to the driveway only thirty minutes after they had spoken to Gawain.
Arturia jumped out of the car, nearly slamming the passenger's door behind herself. Yawning, she stretched as best she could, being stuck in a car for more than two hours had always been something she hated. Rolling her neck, she looked up at the cottage and sighed. Her heart began thumping at the thought of Diarmuid. She had never really cared about it before, in fact sometimes she hadn't really gotten all giddy and anxious when meeting with Gilgamesh. This isn't to say she didn't like Gilgamesh, she liked him very much, so much so it still pained her thinking about him...it still caused her stomach to drop when she thought of those gentle, loving moments they shared.
Arturia shook her head to rid herself of the sudden memories that flooded her mind. She grunted and opened the backseat door to pull out her luggage. The whole purpose of this weekend was to rid herself of Gilgamesh and focus on herself and her friendships, not sulk. She would not shed another tear for that good for nothing.
"Arturia," a voice called from behind her. She already knew who it was, and a thin smile lit her face as she turned.
"Diarmuid, hello," Arturia greeted as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.
Diarmuid had a bright smile on his face, his eyes docile and filled with mirth, and he also wore simple but well-fitting clothes. Nothing could be more simple than a white t-shirt and blue jeans, but Arturia had to silently admire how that shirt made his muscles look.
"How was the drive?" He asked in his golden voice.
Arturia's smile grew. "Not so bad. And yours?"
"Cú was a little reckless in his driving, but we arrived in one piece."
"Well, I'm glad you made it in one piece," Arturia tittered before she turned once more to pick up a handbag that carried all other essentials for her.
Diarmuid came up behind her and took the bag she was reaching for. "I can help you with these." He also took hold of one of Morgana's bags.
Arturia turned to him, looking up through her wispy bangs. She took a deep breath, noting how close they were, crowded in front of the open car doorway. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks, the knot in her throat forming, her stomach queasy. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sunlight glistening off his eyes caused them to look like jewels. What the hell was she thinking? She looked away. "Oh, there's no need. You're a guest here," she uttered, reaching for her bag.
Diarmuid shook his head and pulled the bags out of the car and away from Arturia's reach. "It's the least I could do. You're kind enough to have me over, I can't possibly let you do everything." His smile returned, unruly lock of hair dangling between his eyes, and the smell of his cologne froze Arturia...well, more like melted her. Error 404.
"Uhm," she stuttered, highly uncharacteristic of her, really. "If you so insist," she cleared her throat.
Diarmuid's smile widened as he looked down at her, amber eyes honeyed over with something beyond friendship. If this is how he'd look at her this weekend, she might as well just ask him out. There'd no way he wanted to be 'just friends'. Or maybe Arturia was just being dramatic.
Arturia's heart swelled in her chest and she felt something bubble up within her, she had to swallow her feelings. This was not the time to be developing any sort of romantic feelings for anyone.
"Artie!" Morgana sang as she rounded the car, causing both Diarmuid and Arturia to jump and look away from one another. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Ah, yes." Arturia turned to her sister as she cleared her throat once more. "Morgana, meet Diarmuid. Diarmuid, this is Morgana, my sister."
Diarmuid extended his hand and Morgana took it. "An honour to meet you," he greeted.
Morgana grinned as she looked him over. "What a man…" She whistled under her breath. "I mean, nice to meet you too. Oh, thank you for taking my bag." She looked down at her bag in his hands. "Such a gentleman," she cooed.
"Morgana," Arturia nagged, "you can carry your own bag."
Morgana rolled her eyes and huffed. "The handsome man wants to take it, let him." She then turned to Arturia before giving her an even look. "You should let him if he wishes to make himself useful," she remarked before making her way up the wooden porch and inside the house. The booming voice of Gawain calling out to her as soon as she took one step inside.
Arturia's eyes were wide and her cheeks were set aflame in embarrassment. She was left speechless with her sister's lack of common courtesy. "I am so sorry," Arturia finally breathed, "that was highly uncalled for."
Diarmuid chupsed in an embarrassed manner. "Don't think she likes me."
Arturia shook her head. "Oh, it isn't that. She's probably just a little weary. Doesn't excuse how she treated the situation though. I just told her about my ex and she was very riled up. I really hope this trip will help her calm down and lay back for a bit."
Diarmuid offered Arturia a soft smile. "I hope it can also help you focus on yourself."
Arturia smiled back at him and just stared at him for a few seconds before she caught herself and picked up her stuff once more. "We should head in," she mumbled under her breath before she made her way inside, Diarmuid soon following after her.
"Cos!" Gawain ran up to meet Arturia at the foyer, taking her immediately into his arms and squeezing the breath out of her. "Ugh, how are you?" He grunted.
Arturia squirmed in his arms before she dropped her bags and pushed him away. "What the hell?" She glared at him before she bent down to pick the bags back up, she was unsuccessful, however, as Gawain was faster and picked her bags up.
"Where to, my king?" He asked, ruffling her hair.
The short blonde glared at her cousin before she gave him a warning look. "Where else?"
Gawain grinned sheepishly before he went off ahead of her into the only room that was left, the master bedroom she was to share with Morgana.
The foyer of the cottage was grand, a chandelier hanging above them as they stood on stylishly carpeted hardwood floors. The foyer opened up immediately to the living room and faced the angled wall of windows that gave a perfect view of the lake and the opposing forested hills. The living room itself had a golden carpet and antique-looking red velvet sofas facing the windows, as well as a dark wood coffee table in the middle.
Although the cottage had a modern architectural look, it was decorated the way an earl's house would be in the 1920s, rather chic, if one could say, and most certainly fancy. Diarmuid had to admit that when he first walked in he was astonished and immediately felt out of place, of course he would not admit it to Arturia even if she tried to force it out of him.
"Did you already get settled?" Arturia asked, turning to Diarmuid and offering to help him with Morgana's bag at the very least. Once he refused, she led him towards the bedroom so they could drop the bags there before joining everyone else outside on the patio.
Diarmuid nodded in reply. "Yes, Scathach and Cu already settled themselves in after Gawaainn led us to our rooms. Thank you again for having us over, it's so kind of you to invite us."
"Oh, it's my pleasure. I hope Gawain and Lancelot weren't hard on you or anything, I know Gawain can sometimes be overbearing and Lancelot a little too stoic."
Shaking his head, Diarmuid set the bags down at one corner of the room. "They were very kind. In fact, Cu seemed to get along with them instantly. Gawain is kind o a big personality, sort of intimidated me at first," he laughed.
"I'm glad to hear they didn't bother you. Thank you for helping me with the bags, it's really kind of you. Should we head out to join them? I'm pretty sure Lancelot wants help in making lunch if you haven't already made it."
"Ah, yes," Diarmuid laughed again, "we left him making the burgers by himself." They continued to make their way towards the patio, chatting and catching up. Arturia was excited to meet Cu and Scathach, after hearing about them from Diarmuid, they seemed like very interesting individuals.