Fic: Baths and Accidents, Gwen/Arthur, PG
Title: Baths and Accidents
Author: kepp0xy
Characters/Pairings: Gwen/Arthur
Rating: PG, humour, UST
Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Merlin is sick, so Gwen offers to help with his duties, like drawing baths for prince's prone to walking around in only a towel...
A/N: Inspired by this thread in a camelot_love discussion post. Posted it first here and am now posting in freemurmurs for posterity's sake. Dedicated to felix_aeternus ;D Unbeta'd.
Really, honestly, she had absolutely intended to finish drawing the bath and then have time to fetch Arthur (fully clothed).
But Merlin must have indicated the wrong time, or Arthur must have heard the water noises as she prepared, or she was later than usual, or something else which explained exactly how this happened.
All made the worse by the fact that Arthur had almost dropped the towel in shock. (If she hadn't known him to be honourable, she would have been suspicious.)
Now, her cheeks were surely thisclose to bursting into flames as she stared resolutely into the water. And by far the worst thing now - aside from the literally deafening silence - was the fact that she knew she was staring at the water almost entirely because otherwise she would be staring incessantly at Arthur.
Heavens.
He cleared his throat. "I didn't expect you," he said uncertainly.
"Merlin's sick," she said in a very small voice. "I offered to help with some of his tasks. Like this -" she flailed a hand towards the water. "I hope it's hot enough for you."
A brief pause.
"The bath, that is."
"The bath," Arthur echoed and if it were possible, Gwen would have sworn that the entire room's temperature increased. Though her heart pounded and her mind was decidedly telling her it was a bad idea, Gwen looked up.
She would never grow used to the way Arthur looked at her, and how he managed to look adoring rather than lecherous in a situation like this she had no idea because she was positive she was leering.
And she had never thought she would be one to leer.
But Gwen blamed him - it was he who had kept her pinned against a pillar yesterday for longer than was strictly necessary, meaning the feel of his mouth on her neck and the press of his body against hers were memories fresh in her mind.
And with that thought, the slight mark he left on her shoulder just beneath her dress line seemed to flare up.
"I ought to go," she mumbled.
"Of course," he replied, tone very precisely balanced on neutrality.
"I'll see you later," she added, edging to the far side of the room to pass him by.
"Yes," he said, and, neutrality suddenly lost, in that one syllable, Gwen heard every thought which had run through his mind with their meeting.
She fled the room.
Author: kepp0xy
Characters/Pairings: Gwen/Arthur
Rating: PG, humour, UST
Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Merlin is sick, so Gwen offers to help with his duties, like drawing baths for prince's prone to walking around in only a towel...
A/N: Inspired by this thread in a camelot_love discussion post. Posted it first here and am now posting in freemurmurs for posterity's sake. Dedicated to felix_aeternus ;D Unbeta'd.
Really, honestly, she had absolutely intended to finish drawing the bath and then have time to fetch Arthur (fully clothed).
But Merlin must have indicated the wrong time, or Arthur must have heard the water noises as she prepared, or she was later than usual, or something else which explained exactly how this happened.
All made the worse by the fact that Arthur had almost dropped the towel in shock. (If she hadn't known him to be honourable, she would have been suspicious.)
Now, her cheeks were surely thisclose to bursting into flames as she stared resolutely into the water. And by far the worst thing now - aside from the literally deafening silence - was the fact that she knew she was staring at the water almost entirely because otherwise she would be staring incessantly at Arthur.
Heavens.
He cleared his throat. "I didn't expect you," he said uncertainly.
"Merlin's sick," she said in a very small voice. "I offered to help with some of his tasks. Like this -" she flailed a hand towards the water. "I hope it's hot enough for you."
A brief pause.
"The bath, that is."
"The bath," Arthur echoed and if it were possible, Gwen would have sworn that the entire room's temperature increased. Though her heart pounded and her mind was decidedly telling her it was a bad idea, Gwen looked up.
She would never grow used to the way Arthur looked at her, and how he managed to look adoring rather than lecherous in a situation like this she had no idea because she was positive she was leering.
And she had never thought she would be one to leer.
But Gwen blamed him - it was he who had kept her pinned against a pillar yesterday for longer than was strictly necessary, meaning the feel of his mouth on her neck and the press of his body against hers were memories fresh in her mind.
And with that thought, the slight mark he left on her shoulder just beneath her dress line seemed to flare up.
"I ought to go," she mumbled.
"Of course," he replied, tone very precisely balanced on neutrality.
"I'll see you later," she added, edging to the far side of the room to pass him by.
"Yes," he said, and, neutrality suddenly lost, in that one syllable, Gwen heard every thought which had run through his mind with their meeting.
She fled the room.