WHEN ARTHUR MET GUINEVERE
Summary: This is the story of how Arthur and Guinevere first met told as a modern fiction so there's a fair bit of AU and OOC. Multi chapters and rated T just in case. In this one there's good ol' Uncle Aggy doing what he does best, action taken (all kinds), a Maroon 5 song (just because), oh and in case some of you are interested - ArWen fluffiness Islandgem style :)
AN: Italics denote POV and Real Time is in normal font so I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Thank you all for the alerts, favourites and reviews for chapter 31, I read every single one and they help me keep my motivation up, although I love writing so even if no one reviews I will still post 'cos that's just how I roll. Anyhoo they're much appreciated...Hope you all enjoy the update! :) Oh and in case you guys are looking for some great ArWen fics out there and haven't spotted it yet, please check out my girl Justineofqueens "Above the law". Its very very good :)
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Merlin or the characters, but if I did Gwaine would've had better hair in S4 and I would organise for Percival to wear a coat...I get cold just looking at his bare arms! ;)
Chapter 32: The One With Actions
Merlin is slumped in his favourite chair in Gaius' living room and watching as Gaius takes a long sip of his Earl Grey and sets his cup back down on the saucer. He continues to taps the spoon on the rim of his own saucer with barely concealed patience. Gaius had texted him earlier that day and asked him to have a late lunch with him at his home so they could talk about the latest turn of events in private.
More tapping ensues.
Finally the older man looks at him in half exasperation, half fondness.
"Okay, let's hear it then", he says nodding at the younger man.
Merlin pounces on the invitation to speak and abandons his spoon, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"We need to tell Arthur instead of just talking about it or planning things in the background…" Merlin's voice trails off as Gaius shakes his head so Merlin takes that as his cue to continue with his tirade.
"Why not? Okay, so we know that he is getting information about the company and Arthur's activities from Marilyn, although we don't know how or why she would do it in the first place, I mean she's worked for this company for over fourteen years, and we don't know what exactly he's doing with it or to the company. I mean Gaius, after you held back the contract last week I went back through that thing with a fine toothed comb and then you did too. He didn't do anything to it. So what gives?"
Gaius points at Merlin and nods triumphantly.
"That's exactly it Merlin. We don't know the why or how but we fear he's up to something. I want to tell Arthur as much as you but I'm afraid that without concrete evidence of foul play we cannot do that just now. Now before you jump in, give me a minute to explain! When this whole merger business started and a few of us started to smell a potential fire we brought it to Arthur's attention and he wouldn't hear of it. Now we discover that Marilyn is assisting Agravaine in his schemes in some capacity but we don't know what it is. Or how. Think it through Merlin; at this point, do you honestly want to approach Arthur, who is already feeling the pressure from his uncle and father with half a theory that may not even turn out to be negative for him and the company? For all we know Agravaine may be just trying to cut some corners for some extra profits for PI?" Gaius raises his eyes when he sees the expression on Merlin's face and nods grimly before continuing.
"I don't think he's doing that either Merlin but right now, it's just a gut feeling. Nothing more. That's all I'm saying".
Merlin nods slowly, and then sits up, more serious this time.
"Well a hunch is good enough for me to know that we need to keep an eye on him! Watch him, watch Marilyn, check every damn document that crosses his desk and make sure he's legit. I get what you're saying Gaius, and Arthur may be acting like a bit of an asshat this days but he's still my friend and I do care about this company so I will be watching that slimy, snake-oiled –"
Gaius pats Merlin's arm kindly, cutting off his heated rant and smiles.
"We'll both be watching him closely from now on - and Marilyn too".
Merlin nods, satisfied and grabbing his and Gaius' tea things, gets up to take them into the kitchen.
"Oh and Merlin?"
Merlin looks back to see Gaius still perched in his chair staring at him pointedly.
"Yes Gaius?"
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid?"
Merlin gives him a broad grin and nods.
"Wouldn't dream of it Gaius", he says before walking out.
Gaius shakes his head and stands up to follow him out.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of", he mutters to himself.
"…Yes, if you could please give him a message to return Arthur Pendragon's call on this number that would be much appreciated. No, it's about my father….Yes, Mr. Uther Pendragon. Yes I am aware of that Miss but I just wanted to verify something regarding his latest annual physical for the company. Yes please, that would be great. Yes I have a pen and paper go ahead. Yes…mhmm….yes…Okay, got it. Thank you. Good bye".
Arthur hangs up and sighs. He had managed to get hold of the company physician's private number so he would call him in the morning. Besides, he is starving and the smells coming from Gwen's tiny kitchen are making his mouth water.
Walking back into the kitchen area, he puts the phone on the counter and watches her as she stirs her chowder at the stove and bops, singing along to that 'Payphone' song blaring from the little radio on the window sill.
Call it bordering on slightly creepy or whatever but he loves to watch her sing, dance, and do…things. If work and his responsibilities get to be too much sometimes then watching her be normal reminds him of the simple things in life. He knows that she sings and plays guitar and keeps asking when she'll sing and play for him and she just laughs and says "one day when you least expect it" in that annoying but charming way of hers.
Arthur's POV
She is…Wow…Yeah, if it was possible to take a picture of you standing here with your mouth open and drool and all…You're exaggerating, there is no drool. But you admit to the open mouth and the glassy eyed stare. Well look at her! My girlfriend is…well everything about her is great. Even her voice! I've never heard her sing before. She has a lovely voice...it's the kind of voice that you could happily go to sleep hearing, and when we have kids they will go to sleep hearing it…Whaaat? Oh man, you were just imaging Guinevere and you having children? No, that's not what I meant? Reeeally? Yes! I meant, figuratively. Not necessarily me! Ha ha! Sure…Oh give it a rest! Insert evil grinning from your sub-conscious here. Stop it. Too late…Well at least she's forgiven me for not telling my dad on Sunday like I said I would. Of course she did, its Guinevere – she understands. But it doesn't mean you can stall for much longer! You still need to tell him. I will!
"Earth to Arthur? Hellooo?" Gwen is smiling at him and holding a spoon out to him for a taste. He shakes himself free from those thoughts that he was not just thinking about the two of them being parents because that would just be too much too soon and makes his way over to her to sample the food. It's delicious and he mumbles his appreciation and she nods in satisfaction, turning back to give it a final stir.
Taking advantage of the closeness, Arthur wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her back against his chest, resting his head on her shoulder. Gwen smiles and leans into the embrace, enjoying the scent of his cologne and his warmth. They haven't seen each other in a couple of days so it's nice to be able to have dinner and hang out. He had told her he would be off to Brighton city again in a couple of days so she was happy for the alone time when they could get it.
"Mmm…Delicious food and a gorgeous girl who smells like flowers on a summer's day in an empty apartment for a whole night. This day is turning out to not be as shit as it was an hour ago", he murmurs into her hair and on her neck, his warm breath causing her to shiver slightly as she giggles, then frowns, turning to look at him and breaking the embrace, reluctantly.
"Really? Well that makes two of us", she sighs, then moves away to get the toasted bread from the grill.
Arthur helps her set the table and they sit down to eat. After a few minutes of eating in silence Gwen nods at him and pours them both a glass of white wine.
"Righto; shit day reports. You go first".
Arthur grins and shrugs, taking a sip of his wine.
"Meetings that went longer than needed, and Merlin and I have been dealing with a temp since Marilyn's called in sick – three days now. Dunno what's wrong with her, she was fine last week but she hasn't been...well all there. Not like she's losing it or anything, but I did ask her if everything was okay last Friday and she looked like she was going to burst into tears and said no really quickly. She's worked at the company for a long time, since I was still at school so I am a bit worried about her. I spoke to Merlin about it today and he seemed quite casual about it, which I found a bit odd. He has always looked out for Marilyn too so yeah…there's that. Then, the building inspectors for the two construction projects we have in downtown are having some issues over the contract. They were accusing the company of trying to cheat them out of the services rendered and Uncle Agravaine had a go at Gaius. I had to go down there and sort it out. I don't understand why because Gaius is always on top of things and perhaps this time, something was incorrect. Still, it was easily rectified, though Uncle Agravaine was furious, and Gaius as always remained polite and aloof, which pissed him off even more. I know they don't see eye to eye, but they tolerate each other – for work. Sorry, I know this is a lot of stuff you probably don't want to know about. So...on to more important stuff; what happened in your shit day?"
Gwen smiles faintly, putting down her spoon.
"I guess it's the normal politics of everything in life. In this case it's the school pecking order. I'm the freshman and with that come all the extra duties that newbies get, which is fine – I actually love spending more time with the kids on after school programs. The tutor for the music group left so I took over and made a few changes to the program after talking to the kids. Nothing too controversial; just changed some of the activities to include more modern stuff – there's a guy Elyan and I knew back in the day who is a member of a local hip hop group and he comes down every Wednesday to run beat box and hip hop/rap sessions, we also managed to get Alice's niece who is part of a dance crew to come in on Fridays to run that session, and the guy who owns Guitars Central even offered to give the school a great discounted deal on some acoustic guitars so yeah..There's stuff I've been helping to organise and the principal was pretty stoked about it so she announced today in the staff meeting that I will be assisting Mrs. Riggs on the fundraiser/sponsorship team for the annual benefit", Gwen pauses as she sips her wine and shrugs.
Arthur reaches over to grab her hand and smiles at her.
"You. Are. Freaking. Awesome," he says, kissing her hand and she bursts out laughing and shakes her head.
"Whatever!" Gwen is embarrassed by his statement.
Arthur nods his head, staring at her in wonder.
"No, I am being serious here! Guinevere, you've been a teacher there less than three months and you've managed to do a whole bunch of things to help the school, in your own special 'Guinevere' way. I would not expect anything less from you".
Gwen smiles back and him, and then shrugs, not wanting to seem conceited.
"Well, Mrs. Riggs is the top dog. Sort of female alpha male of the school and she has been the fundraising/sponsorship guru for almost fifteen years. She already barely conceals her disdain for "new fangled teaching practices these days" as she calls it, and last week she already got onto me for trying to suggest that some of the outer walls should be left alone with all the graffiti on them".
Arthur raises one eyebrow at Gwen who shakes her head quickly.
"I didn't say that. Well I did, but what I meant was, since she raised a complaint about how we are supposed to get rid of the graffiti permanently I suggested that why don't we let the local kids in the area get together with art supplies donated by the school and community business owners and ask them to do art work graffiti style on all the outer walls depicting positive images from the community and school? That's what I said, but yeah, I don't think she really likes me much. This is the school's thirty years anniversary benefit so it's supposed to be a very special one with a concert that the kids will perform in, as well as celebrities helping to man booths and participating. It's a big thing and I was quite surprised that Ms. Williams asked me if I would assist Mrs. Riggs but I can't wait! There's lot of ideas that I would like to share with her about how we can approach business houses, the local community and other sponsors. Even to get the media involved and all that".
Arthur sits back in his chair and watches Gwen's lovely chocolate eyes light up with excitement as she continues to talk about some of the things that the community and school students can do for the event. He wonders if she's already approached PI and their Communications division but refrains from saying anything because Gwen probably wouldn't want him to become involved and give her and the school some sort of favoritism.
"…Of course Mrs. Riggs has this thing on lockdown", Gwen continues, gesticulating with her hands, which is something she does more when she's working herself up, Arthur thinks.
"You know, at the meeting she even went as far as to suggest to the Head that I was too young and didn't know anything about dealing with celebrities and corporations for this sort of thing and that she didn't have enough time to train someone who was still green. I know that's true, but still, what's wrong with just giving someone a chance to prove that they can work with them and then make those sorts of statements? I don't mind learning the ropes from her but there's no telling her that while she's still in a mood. I know, it's silly isn't it? At the end of the day, we're all doing something and trying to help kids in our own way, so I shouldn't take notice of it. Sorry, this is some daft school stuff that you don't want to hear after your long day."
Arthur grabs her hand again, rubbing his thumb over her wrist so she looks up at him.
"Guinevere…You know you can talk to me about anything and I won't think it's too silly. Okay I might not listen to or understand everything on the first hearing, but being a mildly intelligent male I will wisely keep that to myself and play the ever attentive boyfriend who may sometimes say things that you think are extremely biased and you could be right. However, on a more serious note; I think you're a great teacher who just wants to do their best to help the school and the kids. There is nothing wrong with that and if the 'old guards' can't see that then forget about them and their fears. 'Cos the way I see it, this Mrs. Riggs is probably just threatened by you and your ideas. She doesn't know you and if she doesn't want to take the time to see that you're not out to steal her job or undermine her because at the end of the day you're all working towards the same goal then that's her loss. You know, it makes me glad to hear you talk about your work and the kids – 'cos you're happy and that's what's important here."
He uses his other hand to gently brush a curl back behind her ear and she looks up at him, noticing how the lighting makes his blue eyes brighter as they look sincerely into hers.
"Thank you Arthur. You really are…-"
"Amazingly wonderful in every way?" he asks mockingly as he attempts to flutter his eyelashes at her.
She laughs and shakes her head.
"Uh…I was going to say not as bad at this caring, sensitive stuff as you think you are…Come on, 'amazingly wonderful in every way' is slightly pushing it don't you think?"
She laughs again at his over dramatic pout and leans towards him, giving him a quick kiss on his lips before moving back to her place.
Arthur's face forms into an evil smirk and nudges her foot under the table so she looks back at him.
"So if I continue to shower you with compliments will I be rewarded with another kiss? Or possibly I'll get a little luckier tonight?" he wisecracks.
Gwen rolls her eyes and grins at him, moving from her seat towards him as he grabs her hands and pulls her down she is now sitting in his lap.
Knotting her hands around his neck she pulls him towards her and they kiss again. And again.
Slightly out of breath Gwen pulls away from him and looks into his eyes.
"At least you can't say I'm not an 'amazingly wonderful' kisser though right Guinevere?" Arthur attempts to up his score points when he gets his own breath back.
Shifting so that she's now straddling him, Gwen pulls him back down towards him.
"Arthur Pendragon?" she whispers in an extremely sexy and oh so distracting way.
"Y-yes?" Is his voice cracking? His addled brain thinks for a millisecond.
"Stop talking now", she commands.
"Yes mi'lady", Arthur replies as he feels her warm lips on his and loses the ability speak. Or think straight after that.
Arthur hears the low buzzing from his cell phone alarm and knows it's only a quarter to 6 and barely light outside. Opening his eyes, he stifles another yawn and looks around the room. For half a second he frowns, wondering where he is then remembers that he spent the night with Gwen at her house.
He looks down at her, curled up in a ball with her back against his chest with her soft, even breathing and that mass of hair, some of it tickling his nose which doesn't even annoy him in the slightest. He can smell that faint whiff of white ginger lilies and he remembers that thought he had that night when they danced at Elyan's party amongst all the empty beer bottles and tiki torches.
Arthur's POV
I was imagining what it would be like to wake up to that scent each morning and here I am. Uh…hello? You're not married to her – yet. What are you on about? I didn't say I wanted to marry her. I said what it would be like. Get your tenses right! M'eh; tomato tomayto. Huh? You heard. No… I really care about Guinevere. More than I've ever cared about a woman before. I think of her all the time. I can't wait to see her whenever we plan to meet up. I love that she gets my sense of humor and my crazy work schedule. She has this amazing laugh that-Okay would you just listen to yourself? You should tell her! Tell her what? Geez is there an echo here today or are you just horny as hell 'cos you aren't getting any yet! That is none of your business! Oh wait, we're the same person so…Yeah that's another thing; you totally care for her in a serious way! If you didn't you wouldn't have agreed to wait on the whole sex thing. I know you want to jump her bones! Okay I don't appreciate that kind of talk. Truth hurts. Still! Don't…say it like that…Fine. But you should be honest about how you feel. What if she doesn't feel the same way? Only one way to find out. Besides if you thought that you looked like a mini stalker last night for watching her dance and cook think how you look right now, lying here staring at a sleeping lady. Are you done? Yup all good here now!
He hates to move away from her, but he knows he needs to leave now and get home before work because he wants to talk to the doctor too. As he makes to shift away from her, she half opens her eyes.
"Good Morning Guinevere", Arthur murmurs as he kisses her shoulder, wanting to stay right where he is possibly forever, but knows he has to leave now.
With a sleepy groan, Gwen opens her eyes fully and pulls Arthur's warm body closer to her and he gives in because…well, its Gwen.
It's early. It's cold and she and Arthur just slept together.
Gwen's POV
Well sort of. Slept together but not that kind of sleeping together. Okaaaay…We get it. It's just…Well; I want to wait a bit longer. It's not that we haven't talked about it, we have but, I just don't want to rush it. He's being so wonderful about it and all. It's not like we won't, it's just I want it to be special and yeah, not yet. Last night we ended up watching a movie and then since we were both really tired I suggested he stay over so he did. He is a snorer...Not loud, annoying snores, but little cute ones. Cute snores? Seriously Gwen, you must really love this guy to call his snoring cute. Snoring is never cute unless you love someone. What? No…I really really like him. I care about him. I think he's a wonderful person who I can't wait to see every time we make plans, who I can talk to about anything. Who laughs at all my bad jokes and loves everything I cook, even when I am experimenting with new recipes. We just…get each other. Who said anything about love? Uh...you did. No I didn't! Did I? Crap! Crap! Crap! Just own it girl! Oh stop it!
Gwen turns slowly so she is facing Arthur and smiles up at him.
"Good Morning…You're off now?" she asks.
Nodding he presses another kiss to her forehead then gets up to go change in the bathroom. He had borrowed some old sweat pants that belonged to Gwen's uncle Peter to sleep in. She watches him stretch and tries not to perve (too much) at his nicely toned body. Damn! He can sleep in a white singlet next to her any day! She shakes the thought from her mind and grins to herself thinking that she is totally 'pulling a Morgana'right now.
After he leaves the room Gwen also gets out of bed, putting her long woolly cardigan on over her pajamas and slips on her slippers.
Arthur cannot remember what he's done with his phone and spends two minutes looking around the flat for it. He runs back into the kitchen to find Gwen pouring coffee into the mug with one hand and the other holding out the phone over her shoulder for him even though she can't see him behind her back.
Arthur grins at her and takes the phone from her hands, then envelopes her in a tight embrace from behind again, kissing the top of her head, then her neck, as he rests his head on her shoulder again.
"I could get used to this you know…" he murmurs thoughtfully.
Gwen smiles and leans back into his chest.
"Me too…", she replies quietly before turning back to him and letting him pull her towards him for a long kiss before she pulls away.
"Coffee on the go for you Sir", she hands the mug to him, and then leads the way to the door, her heart feeling like it's going to burst out of her chest at any moment now. Arthur opens her door and seeing her following him out with her keys, he looks at her, slightly confused.
"I'm coming downstairs to see you off. Don't look at me like that! You know our area! There is a 50/50 chance your car might be missing most of its body by now so let's just say I am doing my bit for the neighborhood watch by escorting you down".
Arthur throws her an amused look then bursts out laughing as he leads her into the elevator.
Gwen swats his arm and looks indignantly at him.
"Sorry…It's just that…I highly doubt that some street thugs would run off if they were faced with you right now. You do not look menacing at all in your Garfield PJs or the faded Man U slippers – as adorable and unconventionally sexy as hell as you look in them though…"he lets his voice trail as he pulls her towards him and kisses her passionately, spilling a little bit of coffee on his jacket in the process but he doesn't really care right now about a dry cleaning bill!
Arthur's car is still in one piece and they laugh about it again as he pulls Gwen towards him for a final kiss. It's so early there's no one on the street, save the occasional newspaper boy and delivery van.
Breaking away very slowly Arthur groans and hugs Gwen tightly, feeling her curls lifting in the early morning breeze.
"Guinevere…What was my life like before I ever met you?" the words leave his mouth before he can stop them and he freezes, holding his breath slightly to try and gauge her reaction.
Arthur's POV
Great Arthur old boy! Head not mouth! Head not mouth!
Gwen pulls back so she can look up at him and smiles, shrugging slightly.
"It was…life. Now it's life - with two people who want to be together…At least, well that's how I feel about you. I mean…Well, I thought we were talking about...um-"
Arthur silences her nervous stammering with his index finger on her lips and smiles at her.
"That's exactly how I feel about you too. Crap! This sounded so much easier in my head, possibly where it should have stayed but I have to say it before anything else happens today. Like what if Merlin were to come into my office and tell me that an atomic bomb is going to drop on PI HQ in the next two seconds and I wouldn't even have time to call you, or text you to tell you that-"
"Arthur I love you."
"Guinevere I love you."
"Wait. What?"
"What?"
"You first!"
All of this is said at exactly the same time.
Silence.
Then…
"You do?" Gwen asks quietly, her dark eyes shining with happiness and warmth.
"You do?" Arthur echoes, laughing and then going red when she laughs and nods. He feels so light headed he picks her up and twirls her around while she laughs.
Setting her back down, he kisses her again.
"Well…Now that that's over and done with and I have a normal heart rate again…can I see you later? Dinner or something?" he asks, holding her tightly around her waist.
Gwen nods and kisses him again before releasing him so he can leave. Finally.
"I can't wait. Pending an atomic bomb of course," she quips, with a smile.
Grinning idiotically at her Arthur nods and gets into his car, driving off.
Gwen waits long enough to see his car turn left at the intersection before pulling her cardigan tightly around her and humming to herself, she walks back into the apartment block.
She doesn't see the petite woman sitting in a stationary car across from her building with a photographer who hasn't stopped taking pictures yet.
Jena Harders gleefully sends a quick text.
"They look like a happy couple don't they?" the photographer offers as he stops to check his lighting controls.
"That's always the way – in the beginning", she says cryptically with a grin.
Later that week…
Agravaine is deep in thought even though he is trying to scan through the weekly senior management report. He is too busy thinking of his next move. Uther: Check. Rumor Mill: Check. He had only just received another email from his newest associate this morning. Ms. Harders was certainly being a busy beaver about the whole thing. Something about having had her hand slapped over a hot little Pendragon story earlier this year and she was more than eager to come back for a second round. Agravaine didn't much care about the back-story; he just knew a good source when he saw one. Arthur: Check...Well check-ish. If he didn't know better, he would think something was a bit off about the young man after meeting with his father on Sunday. He could only hope that Uther hadn't said something incredible idiotic to have Arthur re-thinking his decisions again. That would mess up Agravaine's plans to no end. At any rate, it didn't matter much because right now Arthur was in Brighton with Merlin. Speaking of which; Meddling Insubordinates Who Don't Know Their Place: In the Process – thank goodness one was now in Brighton and the old man was taking a personal day! Out of sight, out of mind (for now) Merger: Check…Well, on schedule at least. He squints, and then re-reads the section from the PI Communications Director Jennifer Cain writing about their latest activity.
"…As per our normal charity and goodwill program practices, we will be sending them a reasonable donation. PI receives hundreds of requests each month and we try to help in any way we can. The Camelot Central Learning Centre has provided much needed educational and recreational activities for disadvantaged inner city children and young people and has been in operation for the last thirty years in our city. Therefore the Communications Division feels that this is a great opportunity for PI to be proactively supporting programs in the local community. Many of you that have worked for our company for many years will also recall that the late Mrs. Ygraine Pendragon was a founding patron of this establishment and she still holds an 'in memoriam chair' on the school's board. The proposed Arts and Crafts section was erected under her supervision over twenty eight years ago and we were informed by the organisers for this year's benefit that the newly renovated arts and crafts area will be named in her honor. I have written a formal letter to the Director of the Centre to offer PI's support to the sum of $_ to be used for their 30 Year Anniversary Annual Benefit pending the Financial Director and the Acting CEO's approval as per Section 3.2 of Pendragon Industries Assistance Manual (2011)."
Agravaine looks back through the article for the name of the establishment and then the penny drops, and with a smirk forming on his face; he reaches for his mobile phone sending a quick text to Marilyn to meet him. He mentally thanks his lucky stars for having a resource like Marilyn at his disposal. He leaves his room telling Mathieu that he is going out for an early lunch and to hold all his calls.
He waits until he's seated in his Mercedes with the windows up before calling.
"Always a pleasure to hear your voice Ms. Harders. Yes I am quite well thank you and yourself?"
Agravaine pauses as he listens to Jena talk about her crappy day.
"Well, I think I may be able to turn it into a much better one…"
"I think I may have just found a brilliant angle for a future edition front page".
A/N: Ahh Agravaine; the villian we all love to hate ;) How does everyone feel about ArWen in this chapter? As always thanks for sticking around and reading guys! If you have time, I love reviews and feedback, so please drop me a line. xoxox Islandgem