The Opening
Author: Brunettepet
Title: The Opening
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, Mordred
Summary: Arthur goes to an art opening
Warnings: None
Word Count: 538
Prompt: 110, Picture Prompt
Author's Notes: This is ridiculous fluff. Again.
Arthur grabbed a plastic glass of red wine from a passing server and glanced around the crowded gallery. Everyone seemed to be eyeing each other rather than the art they were presumably here to see.
He picked up the artist’s biography and a price list by the front door. This Mordred bloke had an impressive smattering of letters after his name and a suitably pretentious biography to match.
Arthur moved on to the first piece, a yellow metal arrow pointing toward the ceiling with the word HIGHWAY written on it. Arthur rolled his eyes. Trite didn’t even begin to cover it.
The next piece did nothing for him either, nor the next. They were all cute or mildly amusing but nothing worth looking at longer than a few seconds. Arthur wandered on to a gilt framed mirror and stared at himself incredulously. This was art? He glanced at the title of the piece: Privilege
“Well, that’s just bullshit,” mumbled a voice beside him. “How can he have the nerve to ask fifteen hundred pounds for something I could pick up for a tenner at a church sale? It’s not even clever.”
Arthur laughed , meeting the eyes of the outraged patron scowling at the mirror. The man’s cheeks were flushed and the scowl was a surprisingly good look on him. “I have to assume the artist is boning the gallery owner. There’s no way they got here on talent.”
Arthur glanced across the gallery at Morgana holding court. She had a possessive hand on a beautiful young man in a well cut black suit.
He pointed in their direction “Gallery owner in the low cut green dress and I’d hazard a guess that’s the artist boy toy on her arm.”
The man made a disgusted noise low in his throat and stalked on to the next piece on display. Arthur followed, admiring his broad shoulders and slim hips. Finally there was something in this show that was worth looking at.
Next was a sheet of white drawing paper with two silhouettes of open hands with the instructions Place your hand here and Have stranger place hand here. Across the bottom read Remove hands when no longer strangers
The man was shaking his head, eyes flashing. He turned to Arthur, “Do you want to get out of here? I need a drink.”
Arthur looked back over at Morgana who raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He turned to the man at his side and held out his hand. “I’m Arthur and a drink sounds great.”
The man laughed, “I’m Merlin and I guess this stupid picture did its job because now we’re officially no longer strangers.”
Arthur grinned. “Yes, when we look back on this years from now we’ll remember that bad art brought us together.”
Merlin smiled back “Years from now? It’s just a drink not a date.”
“We’ll just see how it goes,” Arthur answered. “It’s not a date. Yet.”
“Yet,” Merlin said thoughtfully, “I like the sound of that.”
Years later they did say bad art brought them together. Morgana gave them Mordred’s “No Longer Strangers” as a wedding gift and even though they agreed the piece was still stupid, they hung it over their bed anyway.
Title: The Opening
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, Mordred
Summary: Arthur goes to an art opening
Warnings: None
Word Count: 538
Prompt: 110, Picture Prompt
Author's Notes: This is ridiculous fluff. Again.
Arthur grabbed a plastic glass of red wine from a passing server and glanced around the crowded gallery. Everyone seemed to be eyeing each other rather than the art they were presumably here to see.
He picked up the artist’s biography and a price list by the front door. This Mordred bloke had an impressive smattering of letters after his name and a suitably pretentious biography to match.
Arthur moved on to the first piece, a yellow metal arrow pointing toward the ceiling with the word HIGHWAY written on it. Arthur rolled his eyes. Trite didn’t even begin to cover it.
The next piece did nothing for him either, nor the next. They were all cute or mildly amusing but nothing worth looking at longer than a few seconds. Arthur wandered on to a gilt framed mirror and stared at himself incredulously. This was art? He glanced at the title of the piece: Privilege
“Well, that’s just bullshit,” mumbled a voice beside him. “How can he have the nerve to ask fifteen hundred pounds for something I could pick up for a tenner at a church sale? It’s not even clever.”
Arthur laughed , meeting the eyes of the outraged patron scowling at the mirror. The man’s cheeks were flushed and the scowl was a surprisingly good look on him. “I have to assume the artist is boning the gallery owner. There’s no way they got here on talent.”
Arthur glanced across the gallery at Morgana holding court. She had a possessive hand on a beautiful young man in a well cut black suit.
He pointed in their direction “Gallery owner in the low cut green dress and I’d hazard a guess that’s the artist boy toy on her arm.”
The man made a disgusted noise low in his throat and stalked on to the next piece on display. Arthur followed, admiring his broad shoulders and slim hips. Finally there was something in this show that was worth looking at.
Next was a sheet of white drawing paper with two silhouettes of open hands with the instructions Place your hand here and Have stranger place hand here. Across the bottom read Remove hands when no longer strangers
The man was shaking his head, eyes flashing. He turned to Arthur, “Do you want to get out of here? I need a drink.”
Arthur looked back over at Morgana who raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He turned to the man at his side and held out his hand. “I’m Arthur and a drink sounds great.”
The man laughed, “I’m Merlin and I guess this stupid picture did its job because now we’re officially no longer strangers.”
Arthur grinned. “Yes, when we look back on this years from now we’ll remember that bad art brought us together.”
Merlin smiled back “Years from now? It’s just a drink not a date.”
“We’ll just see how it goes,” Arthur answered. “It’s not a date. Yet.”
“Yet,” Merlin said thoughtfully, “I like the sound of that.”
Years later they did say bad art brought them together. Morgana gave them Mordred’s “No Longer Strangers” as a wedding gift and even though they agreed the piece was still stupid, they hung it over their bed anyway.