Fic: Camelot Enterprises 1/4: Please Don't Stop the Music, Gwen/Arthur Merlin/Morgana, PG-13 UST
Title: Camelot Enterprises 1/4: Please Don't Stop the Music
Author: kepp0xy
Rating: PG-13, UST
Characters/Pairing: Gwen, Morgana, Merlin, Arthur; pairings are eventually Gwen/Arthur & Merlin/Morgana
Words: 1877
Warning: Cracky AU!
Summary: Morgana and Gwen head to the Avalon Nightclub to dance the stresses away and Gwen ends up with a surprising dance partner.
Author's Notes: This is a cracky AU in which Camelot is a computer business owned by Uther Pendragon. Arthur Pendragon is a Junior Executive in the company, Merlin is his PA and a computer whizkid; Morgana Le Fay, Uther's neice, is in charge of Marketing and Gwen is her PA. This series is in 4 parts; 3 written by me and 1 by tater_mae. She and I have had fun playing in this 'verse, so there may be more fics forthcoming, but for the time being, we hope you enjoy these!
Gwen pushed through the bodies to reach Morgana's side. Her boss was clearly pretty tipsy, arms flailing in the air to the beat of the music, mouth yelling the words to the song. She smiled hugely when her eyes fell on Gwen, and threw a hot arm around her assistant's shoulders.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Morgana yelled into Gwen's ear.
"Oh, definitely!" Gwen hollered back. And she was, though she hadn't expected otherwise. She may not frequent the club scene like Morgana, but she liked dancing the stress away sometimes too. "I just need to get a drink!"
Morgana nodded her understanding, turning back towards the DJ, who had been making eyes at her all evening. As Gwen turned to go, Morgana's hand closed on her wrist. "Grab me a water, would you?"
Nodding, Gwen pushed carefully through the crowd of dancing bodies (though, eyeing one couple in particular, she didn't consider it all dancing). When she finally broke free, she spotted Merlin sitting at the bar and crossed quickly to him.
"Hi!" she yelled, smiling warmly at him.
"Gwen!" he said, face breaking into a smile that could outshine the sun. When they'd first met, Gwen had been impressed at Merlin's sense of self: not many would stand up to a temp boss on their first day. Evidently Uther had been equally impressed, hiring Merlin to stay on permanently and work directly below the same man he'd stood up to. Gwen was sure Arthur had loved that. The two got along well enough now though, and Gwen assumed that their friendship was due to Merlin's permeating warmth. And she couldn't deny how much easier it was to be around Arthur these days; he was no longer so arrogant that any suggestion from his support staff went ignored, and indeed, had taken several of Gwen's ideas to heart.
"Been here long?" he asked with a smirk as he ran his eyes up and down her. She wiped her hand across her sweaty forehead and slipped onto the seat beside him.
"An hour or so?" she responded, signalling for the bartender. "What are you drinking, Merlin?"
Her friend raised an eyebrow at her, lips turned up in a half grin. "Isn't that the question I'm supposed to ask?"
"Since when have we done things the proper way?" Gwen retorted with a laugh.
"Mmm, true. But I'm all right," he raised his half-full glass to her. "Still working on it."
Gwen inclined her head to him, hollering for a shooter and two waters when the bartender finally made his way to them. Merlin watched, bewildered, as she threw the China White back and licked her lips in satisfaction.
"Looking at you in the office, I would never have guessed you a drinker."
"Not much of one," Gwen conceded before eyeing him speculatively. "But looking at you, I would never have guessed you a dancer."
"I'm not a dancer."
She smiled expectantly at him, her toe tapping in time with the song. Merlin stared resolutely at the bar. Gwen just kept looking at him, focusing her attention as strongly as she could on him, and finally his shoulders slumped. "All right. But only one!" Gwen grinned and took his hand as he stood, Merlin throwing back the remainder of his drink.
They wended a way through the gyrating bodies until Merlin finally pulled her hand back and indicated he would go no further. Gwen rolled her eyes and Merlin shrugged, obviously intent on having a fast exit after their one dance.
Guiding his hands to her hips, Gwen laughed affectionately as he started to move with the music. "I told you I wasn't a dancer," he whined, attempting to pull away. Her hands, still awkwardly grasping the water bottles, went to his hips and she tried to get him in time with the music.
"It's not about skill!" she shouted at him over the music, releasing her hold and raising her hands in the air to demonstrate. "It's about feeling the music!"
"I can't do that either!"
"You promised me one, Merlin!"
A pause and he threw his hands in the air in surrender. "All right, all right!" Gwen took his hands in hers, partly to ensure he couldn't go anywhere, and partly because she felt like she could manipulate his movements a bit better. When finally he began to get the hang of it, she stepped closer to him, guiding his hand to her lower back.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised this is the best you can muster, Merlin," came a voice from over her shoulder and Merlin froze in front of her.
"I suppose you can do better then," Merlin retorted, disentangling himself from Gwen so she could turn around. She looked nervously up at Arthur, unfairly and devilishly handsome as he tipped a smile of greeting in her direction. All of the women in the office talked about him all the time, but Gwen made sure not to throw in her two cents; her thoughts on the Junior Executive and her fantasies about the man remained her own. Even Morgana had no inkling to them. She'd be blind not to admire him tonight though, his shirt sleeves rolled up, displaying well defined forearms and obvious wealth in the soft material sitting naturally on his muscular shoulders and chest.
She really ought to give Morgana her water. She ought to escape the dance floor. She ought to leave.
Instead, she stared. And Arthur noticed.
"As a matter of fact," he responded to Merlin slowly while eyeing her thoughtfully. "I can. Guinevere, would you mind if I cut in?"
Her mind seemed to slow. Office gossip would run rampant if any of the others saw them dancing; Morgana would ask uncomfortable questions, if only to see Gwen squirm a bit; and Merlin... Well, Merlin wouldn't really think anything of it, his eye roll was evidence enough of that. But what worried her most was that if she were to accept, her dreams would be all the more vivid.
"No, sir," she heard herself saying and almost literally kicked herself.
"Really, Ms. Smith. It's Saturday night, I think we can drop the formalities," he responded as Merlin slipped the waters from Gwen's fingers - meeting her surprised glance with a secretive smirk - and melted away into the dancers around them.
"Of course, si... Arthur." Gwen's heart thudded in her chest. No assistant ever dared call Arthur Pendragon by his name. Except Merlin, but their dynamic was of a whole new ilk. This was strange, and Gwen wondered if she'd had more to drink than she originally thought.
But the feel of his long fingers entwining slowly with hers, of the strength in his arms as he spun her carefully, and the heat of his body as he pressed up behind her were far too real to be imagined or dreamed.
Gwen swallowed thickly and decided that, as she had already written the self-torture order, she might as well go ahead and sign it. She took his hand not already entwined with hers, and moved it delicately to her waist.
As they began moving to the song, Arthur raised her hand to the air, and disentangled his fingers to drag them slowly along the bare skin of her arm. Gwen fought the urge to slide her body against his even as his hand now skimmed down her side, his other on her hip keeping her close.
As they danced, it was almost easy for her to forget who exactly she danced with, not being able to see his face. The longer they moved together, the more relaxed she became and the closer she wanted to get. Gwen leaned back into him, stretching her arms over her head to wrap around his neck. His head dropped as her palms pressed to his nape, his hot breath hitting her shoulder and sending shivers down her spine.
When the tempo changed as the DJ dropped a new song, Gwen succumbed to temptation and twisted in his arms to face him, sliding her hands along his chest as she moved. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, instead closing her eyes, allowing the music to wash through her mind and take her away.
Their rhythm was fast, and she fought herself from pressing up so tightly to him they might as well have been one person. His hands were splayed against her bare lower back and as the heat from his long fingers spread, she wished fervently that she'd worn a shirt that revealed nothing.
It didn't take long until Gwen was almost gasping: the music pounded through her blood, which boiled by Arthur's closeness, which set her heart thumping so that she almost imagined their hearts beat together as one, as loud as a taiko drum.
Another change in music speed and Arthur pulled her roughly closer to him. The musky scent of his cologne and sweat filled her nose and his body was intoxicatingly hot against hers. Her hips were pressed flush to his, she could feel the wet fabric of his shirt against her stomach where hers had ridden up slightly.
Gwen's hands crawled up his chest, fingers spreading on each line, her eyes hungrily taking in the contours of his arms. She swallowed thickly as desire coiled tightly in the bottom of her stomach; one of her hands rose to grasp the back of his head, the other sliding to his back and she pulled herself as close to him as she could.
He responded feverishly; his hands skimmed her bare back and sides, once daring to glance across her bum. Arthur's chest rose and fell as quickly as hers, and the heat of him was everywhere around her, his hands burning her as they moved.
She tilted her face up to see his expression, and his head dropped to meet her. His sweaty temple rested against hers, the moist heat of his panting hitting her shoulder and sliding down her chest. Gwen couldn't stand it; she wanted him and could guess he wanted her and she would be damned if she wouldn't just take what she wanted for once in her life.
Gwen's fingers slid into his hair and she was about to turn her face to find his mouth when the music changed dramatically, slowing to a snail's pace and sending such a rough dissonance through the club that several people in the crowd shouted obscenities at the DJ.
She froze at the change and Arthur straightened. He looked over her shoulder, and released her quickly, stepping back slightly. Gwen looked up at him, her cheeks, neck, chest, everywhere burning hotly and his eyes burned back at her.
He licked his lips and closed his eyes briefly. "Need a drink?" he asked, voice rough and low.
"Shot. Anything strong," she said breathlessly. He nodded and disappeared into the crowd without another word.
Gwen swallowed thickly and glanced over her shoulder to discover a wall. Her stomach swooped at the possibilities. If the music hadn't changed, she'd likely be pressed against that wall, doing...
Her hands went to her hips as her breathing came in pants once more. She'd take the drink, go home and take a very cold shower.
And then pray that she could manage to never think of this night again.
Part 2
Author: kepp0xy
Rating: PG-13, UST
Characters/Pairing: Gwen, Morgana, Merlin, Arthur; pairings are eventually Gwen/Arthur & Merlin/Morgana
Words: 1877
Warning: Cracky AU!
Summary: Morgana and Gwen head to the Avalon Nightclub to dance the stresses away and Gwen ends up with a surprising dance partner.
Author's Notes: This is a cracky AU in which Camelot is a computer business owned by Uther Pendragon. Arthur Pendragon is a Junior Executive in the company, Merlin is his PA and a computer whizkid; Morgana Le Fay, Uther's neice, is in charge of Marketing and Gwen is her PA. This series is in 4 parts; 3 written by me and 1 by tater_mae. She and I have had fun playing in this 'verse, so there may be more fics forthcoming, but for the time being, we hope you enjoy these!
Gwen pushed through the bodies to reach Morgana's side. Her boss was clearly pretty tipsy, arms flailing in the air to the beat of the music, mouth yelling the words to the song. She smiled hugely when her eyes fell on Gwen, and threw a hot arm around her assistant's shoulders.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Morgana yelled into Gwen's ear.
"Oh, definitely!" Gwen hollered back. And she was, though she hadn't expected otherwise. She may not frequent the club scene like Morgana, but she liked dancing the stress away sometimes too. "I just need to get a drink!"
Morgana nodded her understanding, turning back towards the DJ, who had been making eyes at her all evening. As Gwen turned to go, Morgana's hand closed on her wrist. "Grab me a water, would you?"
Nodding, Gwen pushed carefully through the crowd of dancing bodies (though, eyeing one couple in particular, she didn't consider it all dancing). When she finally broke free, she spotted Merlin sitting at the bar and crossed quickly to him.
"Hi!" she yelled, smiling warmly at him.
"Gwen!" he said, face breaking into a smile that could outshine the sun. When they'd first met, Gwen had been impressed at Merlin's sense of self: not many would stand up to a temp boss on their first day. Evidently Uther had been equally impressed, hiring Merlin to stay on permanently and work directly below the same man he'd stood up to. Gwen was sure Arthur had loved that. The two got along well enough now though, and Gwen assumed that their friendship was due to Merlin's permeating warmth. And she couldn't deny how much easier it was to be around Arthur these days; he was no longer so arrogant that any suggestion from his support staff went ignored, and indeed, had taken several of Gwen's ideas to heart.
"Been here long?" he asked with a smirk as he ran his eyes up and down her. She wiped her hand across her sweaty forehead and slipped onto the seat beside him.
"An hour or so?" she responded, signalling for the bartender. "What are you drinking, Merlin?"
Her friend raised an eyebrow at her, lips turned up in a half grin. "Isn't that the question I'm supposed to ask?"
"Since when have we done things the proper way?" Gwen retorted with a laugh.
"Mmm, true. But I'm all right," he raised his half-full glass to her. "Still working on it."
Gwen inclined her head to him, hollering for a shooter and two waters when the bartender finally made his way to them. Merlin watched, bewildered, as she threw the China White back and licked her lips in satisfaction.
"Looking at you in the office, I would never have guessed you a drinker."
"Not much of one," Gwen conceded before eyeing him speculatively. "But looking at you, I would never have guessed you a dancer."
"I'm not a dancer."
She smiled expectantly at him, her toe tapping in time with the song. Merlin stared resolutely at the bar. Gwen just kept looking at him, focusing her attention as strongly as she could on him, and finally his shoulders slumped. "All right. But only one!" Gwen grinned and took his hand as he stood, Merlin throwing back the remainder of his drink.
They wended a way through the gyrating bodies until Merlin finally pulled her hand back and indicated he would go no further. Gwen rolled her eyes and Merlin shrugged, obviously intent on having a fast exit after their one dance.
Guiding his hands to her hips, Gwen laughed affectionately as he started to move with the music. "I told you I wasn't a dancer," he whined, attempting to pull away. Her hands, still awkwardly grasping the water bottles, went to his hips and she tried to get him in time with the music.
"It's not about skill!" she shouted at him over the music, releasing her hold and raising her hands in the air to demonstrate. "It's about feeling the music!"
"I can't do that either!"
"You promised me one, Merlin!"
A pause and he threw his hands in the air in surrender. "All right, all right!" Gwen took his hands in hers, partly to ensure he couldn't go anywhere, and partly because she felt like she could manipulate his movements a bit better. When finally he began to get the hang of it, she stepped closer to him, guiding his hand to her lower back.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised this is the best you can muster, Merlin," came a voice from over her shoulder and Merlin froze in front of her.
"I suppose you can do better then," Merlin retorted, disentangling himself from Gwen so she could turn around. She looked nervously up at Arthur, unfairly and devilishly handsome as he tipped a smile of greeting in her direction. All of the women in the office talked about him all the time, but Gwen made sure not to throw in her two cents; her thoughts on the Junior Executive and her fantasies about the man remained her own. Even Morgana had no inkling to them. She'd be blind not to admire him tonight though, his shirt sleeves rolled up, displaying well defined forearms and obvious wealth in the soft material sitting naturally on his muscular shoulders and chest.
She really ought to give Morgana her water. She ought to escape the dance floor. She ought to leave.
Instead, she stared. And Arthur noticed.
"As a matter of fact," he responded to Merlin slowly while eyeing her thoughtfully. "I can. Guinevere, would you mind if I cut in?"
Her mind seemed to slow. Office gossip would run rampant if any of the others saw them dancing; Morgana would ask uncomfortable questions, if only to see Gwen squirm a bit; and Merlin... Well, Merlin wouldn't really think anything of it, his eye roll was evidence enough of that. But what worried her most was that if she were to accept, her dreams would be all the more vivid.
"No, sir," she heard herself saying and almost literally kicked herself.
"Really, Ms. Smith. It's Saturday night, I think we can drop the formalities," he responded as Merlin slipped the waters from Gwen's fingers - meeting her surprised glance with a secretive smirk - and melted away into the dancers around them.
"Of course, si... Arthur." Gwen's heart thudded in her chest. No assistant ever dared call Arthur Pendragon by his name. Except Merlin, but their dynamic was of a whole new ilk. This was strange, and Gwen wondered if she'd had more to drink than she originally thought.
But the feel of his long fingers entwining slowly with hers, of the strength in his arms as he spun her carefully, and the heat of his body as he pressed up behind her were far too real to be imagined or dreamed.
Gwen swallowed thickly and decided that, as she had already written the self-torture order, she might as well go ahead and sign it. She took his hand not already entwined with hers, and moved it delicately to her waist.
As they began moving to the song, Arthur raised her hand to the air, and disentangled his fingers to drag them slowly along the bare skin of her arm. Gwen fought the urge to slide her body against his even as his hand now skimmed down her side, his other on her hip keeping her close.
As they danced, it was almost easy for her to forget who exactly she danced with, not being able to see his face. The longer they moved together, the more relaxed she became and the closer she wanted to get. Gwen leaned back into him, stretching her arms over her head to wrap around his neck. His head dropped as her palms pressed to his nape, his hot breath hitting her shoulder and sending shivers down her spine.
When the tempo changed as the DJ dropped a new song, Gwen succumbed to temptation and twisted in his arms to face him, sliding her hands along his chest as she moved. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, instead closing her eyes, allowing the music to wash through her mind and take her away.
Their rhythm was fast, and she fought herself from pressing up so tightly to him they might as well have been one person. His hands were splayed against her bare lower back and as the heat from his long fingers spread, she wished fervently that she'd worn a shirt that revealed nothing.
It didn't take long until Gwen was almost gasping: the music pounded through her blood, which boiled by Arthur's closeness, which set her heart thumping so that she almost imagined their hearts beat together as one, as loud as a taiko drum.
Another change in music speed and Arthur pulled her roughly closer to him. The musky scent of his cologne and sweat filled her nose and his body was intoxicatingly hot against hers. Her hips were pressed flush to his, she could feel the wet fabric of his shirt against her stomach where hers had ridden up slightly.
Gwen's hands crawled up his chest, fingers spreading on each line, her eyes hungrily taking in the contours of his arms. She swallowed thickly as desire coiled tightly in the bottom of her stomach; one of her hands rose to grasp the back of his head, the other sliding to his back and she pulled herself as close to him as she could.
He responded feverishly; his hands skimmed her bare back and sides, once daring to glance across her bum. Arthur's chest rose and fell as quickly as hers, and the heat of him was everywhere around her, his hands burning her as they moved.
She tilted her face up to see his expression, and his head dropped to meet her. His sweaty temple rested against hers, the moist heat of his panting hitting her shoulder and sliding down her chest. Gwen couldn't stand it; she wanted him and could guess he wanted her and she would be damned if she wouldn't just take what she wanted for once in her life.
Gwen's fingers slid into his hair and she was about to turn her face to find his mouth when the music changed dramatically, slowing to a snail's pace and sending such a rough dissonance through the club that several people in the crowd shouted obscenities at the DJ.
She froze at the change and Arthur straightened. He looked over her shoulder, and released her quickly, stepping back slightly. Gwen looked up at him, her cheeks, neck, chest, everywhere burning hotly and his eyes burned back at her.
He licked his lips and closed his eyes briefly. "Need a drink?" he asked, voice rough and low.
"Shot. Anything strong," she said breathlessly. He nodded and disappeared into the crowd without another word.
Gwen swallowed thickly and glanced over her shoulder to discover a wall. Her stomach swooped at the possibilities. If the music hadn't changed, she'd likely be pressed against that wall, doing...
Her hands went to her hips as her breathing came in pants once more. She'd take the drink, go home and take a very cold shower.
And then pray that she could manage to never think of this night again.
Part 2