Tickets to Fate

October 15, Saturday Afternoon

"Two tickets please," Diarmuid told the staff member as his hand was caressing his girlfriend's. The man in the ticket booth nodded and told him the amount it was, which he had told Arturia that he would pay for because what else would a gentleman do? With that, Diarmuid received the tickets and handed one to the petite blonde next to him. "Here you are."

"You're so good to me," she whispered to him for the second time that day, going on her tiptoes and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It feels like we've been dating forever, does it not, Dia?"

"It does. We've only been together for a few days, but it feels like it's been years. And not only that, but I think my brother and your best friend were close to having a good-ole fashioned tongue wrestle." Arturia laughed at the statement, recalling the funniest look that she had ever seen on Jeanne in her life. Those two had been together since they were in second grade, and she had never witnessed the Frenchwoman so flustered. "They would make a rather cute couple though. I wonder if Cu had the balls to ask her out yet?"

The blonde glanced at him perplexedly with her emerald irises. "Was he planning on asking her out?" Jeanne is going to freak out. Her celebrity crush has a crush on her. What kind of ironic shit is this? She watched her boyfriend nod with a smirk. She almost gasped in excitement. "Oh, my god, are you serious? You know, he has been her all-time favorite artist since she first heard his debut single four years ago. She has loved his music ever since. In fact, she has posters of him all over her room. I can't believe he was going to ask her out! Wait, how did you find this out?"

"Well, the morning on the day we met he was yelling at me that I had to go out and find some friends or a girlfriend or something of the such, because I hadn't done so in a long time. We chatted about it for a bit before he told me that if I found a 'lovely, little lass', then he'd find one himself. That's why he spoke about him finding a girlfriend the first time you came to our apartment. Last night when he was having his weekly drinking night with Archer, I went over there and told him that he had to keep his side of the bargain." That wasn't exactly the truth, but he did not want the woman knowing of Grainne.

"Oh my god, I was kidding when I commented on him liking her! I guess he really was hitting on her," she exclaimed. "Anyway, can we go see the lions first? Pretty please? I love them." She held Diarmuid's arm like she was a young child clinging to her parents to get her something.

Diarmuid's face reddened. He would have never guessed that she would act as such. He couldn't help but chuckle at her actions. "Of course, we can go see the lions." With that, he watched as Saber's face lit up before she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the zoo map only a few feet away (forgetting that they both had a map in their hand). "Haha, they aren't that far from here. Ooh, they have rides here! Can we ride some?"

"Heh, I was thinking the exact same thing. Oh, and there's the restaurant area, but I say we ride rides before we eat."

"And than make out afterwards," Arturia commented under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, you'll find out later," she informed him before taking his hand once more. They made their way toward the lion exhibit hurriedly, because Artie just couldn't wait to see her spirit animal in physical form. On the way, she was yapping about how much she loved them and why she loved them, but Diarmuid's attention seemed to have slipped to the beauty he was hoping to...maybe his foster mother was correct when she had told him that he acted like his brother. He shook his head, trying to rid of the thought that had kept going to his mind even though he was well aware that doing such was impractical.

"Diarmuid, are you alright? You seem to be in a different world," stated his woman after she had noticed that he had entered into a daze. Once again, he shook his head violently like a dog trying to get water out of his hair. He blushed and nodded at the question. "Hehe, you weren't thinking naughty thoughts were you?" she jested, even though she assumed that that was what he was actually doing. He tended to do so when they were together..

"Ha, um, no. I mean, it's not like that that I would never think that, because you're se-ah, urm, beautiful, but we are only just getting to know each other as significant others so I do not want things to go too, you know, quickly." She giggled at his shyness (and especially giggled at the obvious lie in which he told). "Um, can we just hurry to the lion exhibit?" he questioned, clearly wanting to aim her attention towards something other than teasing him.

Arturia nodded, squeezing his hand and leaning against his body as they walked. She never realized just how much of a difference in height they were until that moment. Her head was quite a few inches below his shoulder. "You're too tall."

"Maybe you are just too short."

"But, you told me that you loved your women short."

"I'd be lying if I disagreed with that statement," he laughed with a bit of guilt. "But, I have my reasons for liking short lasses opposed to tall ones."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Men are normally taller than women, so if my girlfriend would be taller or almost as tall as me I would feel as though I would need to become more manly." This caused Arturia to laugh. Men had such weird reasonings for liking certain qualities, and this was definitely one of them. Although, she couldn't really say much because females tended to have just as strict characteristics in which they would want their future spouse to have. No, neither she nor Jeanne were very picky, especially with finding a man with money, but there were some that were so strict that they would never deserve such a man.

The two walked in silence until they reached their destination, and when they got there Arturia was basically fangirling and drooling over the "kings of the jungle." He could only wonder how she came to like them so much. He would have first guessed that her favorite animal would be a horse, but he guessed that it made sense. The only animal that would attract the liking of a king would be the animal king. "I wish I was a lion. Do you know amazing that would be? I could sleep all day without a care in the world, and hunt whenever and whatever I pleased, not having to worry about bills or rent or any shit like that."

"Heh, that would be pretty nice, but if you were a lion then I would have never met you so I am not in favor of that idea."

"Hm well then, you could be my mate, and all of the other lionesses around would be so jealous because I have the greatest mate of them all. Oh, and of course Jeanne and Cu would be there too, but I couldn't imagine them being lions."

"I could see them being domesticated dogs - maybe German Shepherds. But if we're staying with the wild animal theme, then wolves definitely."

"Hehe, most definitely. Well, Cu for sure a wolf. I could see Jeanne being either a white dove or a heron honestly. Something that doesn't hurt even a fly." The two chuckled as they walked (and created other odd parallel universes), allowing their footsteps to be the ones deciding their fate.

October 15, Sunday Evening

The sounds of crickets chirping through the night sounded through the open windows, the blinds of them blowing from the wind going in through them. It had been around five hours that the couple had arrived at the small apartment, and luckily Jeanne was considerate enough to wait for the text that gave her the signal to come home (which still hadn't been sent).

It seemed that Saber had forgotten about making sure that her roommate knew when she could enter their living quarters safely without having to accidentally walk in on business she did not desire to have knowledge about. But, the shorter blonde was a bit distracted at the moment by the feel of lips against her own and the curious hands that explored her body. It was difficult to think about such a thing when she was (quite literally) pinned on the couch by intimacy. Love could do some strange things to the mind.

"You might want to wear a scarf tomorrow," Diarmuid informed her as he broke free from the kiss to get some oxygen in his lungs.

"Why? Is it supposed to be cold?" Arturia questioned, also forgetting that there were red marks all over her neck and shoulders. When she realized this, she blushed (one reason because she had forgotten about the makeout session the two had had that morning and the second reason is because there would be a bit of talk at the office on Monday). "Never mind," she mumbled as she stared into amused, amber irises.

"You're so cute," Diarmuid breathed, leaning in closer.

"Shut up, and kiss me already, will you?" she laughed at herself. With that, the gap between them closed once more. Although, they were interrupted by the sound of Arturia's ringtone. They parted as they jumped from the sudden sound. "Oh crap, Jeanne!"

She reached for her phone hurriedly that was placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Oh my god, Jeanne, I am so sorry! Diarmuid and I got a bit distracted, and I forgot that you were still at Cu's apart-!"

"Who's Diarmuid? Do you need to tell me something, Artie? And Jeanne is at a man's home? Wow, how much have I missed?" a feminine voice called from the other end of the line.

Diarmuid watched as his girlfriend froze. He had not been able to understand what the woman on the phone responded. "Artie, is everything alright?"

"Ooh~! His voice is handsome! Let me speak with him, Artie! Please? Please?"

Arturia's brain finally unfroze, and she exclaimed, "G-Guin?! Wh-why are you calling? I-I thought you were Jeanne! That was Jeanne's personal ringtone. I thought that-!"

"Oh yay! My plan worked! I thought that you would answer the phone more if you believed I was Jeanne. Yes, it only really works once, but that once was so worth it! Now tell me everything, my darling! Seriously, I would like to know of this Diarmuid you are speaking of. Don't tell me that he has you pinned down on a couch in a suggestive position as the two of you tongue wrestle! I do not want my Artie becoming known as a little slut now."

Arturia glanced at the position her body was in - right arm tossed around her boyfriend's neck, legs around his waist and torsos pressed together. "Um…" she could only manage.

"Oh, I am only kidding. I know that you would never do such a thing without my permission! Anyway, I called to tell you that we were all going to visit in two weeks, but now that you mentioned everything we must visit asap! So, expect us there in London by Friday!" Guin exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait a second, who do you mean by 'we'?!"

"Oh, you'll see! See you soon! Love you! Bye!" With that, the call was ended with Saber being rather frustrated at the fact that she had no idea how big of crew was going to be arriving on Friday and also by the fact that Guin had decided to come earlier because the apartment was not designed to hold a gathering between a large group of friends (which she assumed to be coming).

"What's up? Is something wrong?"

Arturia hesitated at the question before sighing to herself, aggravation with her actions overwhelming her. "I need to learn how to fucking read who is calling."

"Why?"

The woman placed her hands on her face. "I think that our whole group of friends is coming for a visit on Friday, although I am unsure if they are. I just know that our friend Guin is bringing other people. And the reason why she is coming on Friday is because I thought she was Jeanne and let our relationship status slip, which I did not want her having knowledge of."

Diarmuid sat up, allowing his arms to rest. "Why's that?"

"She's one of those girls who just about stalks her friends' lives and relationships." The statement made Diarmuid laugh. "Stop laughing. It's not funny."

"Hehe, I'm sorry."

"You're right; I'm not. You look too cute for me to not laugh."

"You're mean." With that, Arturia got up, immediately lying back down with her face in Diarmuid's lap. She felt his hand start combing through her hair (which she loved).

"Am I really?" he questioned, already knowing what answer he was going to receive.

"No." There was a moment of silence with the exception of Diarmuid's small chuckles. "Ugh, I hope that Jeanne has nothing going on Friday."

A/N: Hi, everybody! Sorry for the wait! I've just been extremely stressed and worn out lately with school and work! I know this chapter probably sucked, but I hope I can find my creativity back sometime soon. Look forward to the next chapter of either Crime of Fate or Of A King's Knight and Tears soon! Thanks for reading! Have a WONDERFUL Day!

P.S. - The conflict of Jeanne's date and Guinevere and friends visiting was completely accidental.