Fic-A Rose By Any Other Name, 3/?
Title: A Rose by Any Other Name, Chapter 3/?
Author: ne_rien
Rating: PG14-ish
Word count: This chapter runs at about 1,808 words
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin, Morgana, Morgana/Merlin if you squint really hard and stand on your head
Spoilers/Warnings: Modern AU so it’s slightly crack-tastic. Contains mild language and sexual content. Also, this hasn’t been Brit-picked and I know almost nothing about football so forgive any errors.
Disclaimer: If I owned this show, it would be sexy!times all the time bbs. I also didn’t write the lines from the play; that was all good Mr. William Shakespeare. Quotes taken from Buffy (thanks to The Joss Whedon) and “King Lear” (Shakespeare).
Prompt: Written for camelot_love's Spring Fling prompt U-5: Arthur, Gwen, Morgana, and Merlin all get in their high school spring play "Romeo and Juliet” courtesy of the lovely wickedvampirate .
Author’s notes: Sorry, it’s another short chapter. I’m posting this early in anticipation of a hectic week bbs! I’m not sure when my next update will be, but I can promise you it’ll be well worth the wait! El Jay is messing with my formatting, I'm working on fixing it!
Comments=♥♥
** **
Gwen collapsed onto the floor in a fit of giggles, bruising her bum a bit from the fall off of the couch and not much caring. She and Arthur had finished eating and moved to the main room of his flat to start studying. Any awkwardness she’d been feeling initially melted away as she’d launched into an explanation of a solution to a discretized partial differential equation (obtained with the finite element method) gesticulating excitedly as she did so.
Arthur seemed fascinated by her enthusiasm; he’d been silent and attentive the whole time, an indecipherable smile on his face. Afterward, he finished his maths homework without making a single mistake earning an enthusiastic cheer from his tutor who poured them both tall glasses of wine, toasting the flushed faced Arthur as her best pupil to date.
“Don’t tell her I said this, but Morgana’s so stubborn that it takes ages to persuade her she’s made a mistake. It’s exhausting,” she’d confessed in a conspiratal whisper.
Arthur had snorted. “She’s been like that since she was nine. She broke her leg twice within a year jumping out of her bedroom window, trying to prove me wrong for saying it was simply too high to jump out of.”
By half ten, both were on their third glass of wine; Arthur had found another bottle on Merlin’s side of the kitchen and only managed to convince her to help him drink it after reminding her of the horror of a pissed Merlin.
“I can’t believe you are a Buffy fan,” Gwen got out between giggles. “Not that it’s a bad thing, but you seem, well, rather serious and that show is anything but.”
Arthur only shrugged sheepishly from where he was sat on the couch Gwen had recently abandoned.
“I bet the ladies love when you quote bits to them,” she teased, feeling her stomach clench painfully as she realized what she’d just said: Arthur AND other ladies. Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so cheery.
He didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. “Not really. That is…I’ve never told another soul about it other than Merlin.” He flushed at the confession, not looking at her.
Gwen felt the gentle fluttering of butterflies in her stomach again. “Your secret’s safe with me Arthur,” she told him gently, reaching up and patting his arm reassuringly. God he’s fit. And warm. “Have any favorite quotes?” she asked in an attempt to stop her mind from continuing down its current lust ridden path.
Arthur’s blue eyes met hers with such intensity that she gasped without quite realizing it. “I have a few. Would you like to hear one?” She could only nod ‘yes’ mutely. “All right then. This is from the final series towards the end when Buffy’s up against the Big Bad and she’s lost hope.” He took a deep breath and suddenly he’s kneeling on the floor in front of her, holding her hands in his, eyes so full of raw emotion that she couldn’t look away even if she’d wanted to.
“I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one..."
She was silent a moment after he finished, her face flushed-either from the 3rd going on the 4th glass of wine or with the sudden realization that while he may have been quoting a character from the show, the words were meant for her. “That…was truly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” Gwen said finally, her voice a bit shaky.
Arthur said nothing, he only continued to gaze into her eyes and seemingly right to her very soul.
“My favorite quote until today was from a Shakespeare play actually. In the context of the play it’s rather sordid but out of context it’s quite lovely.” She tightened her own grasp on his hands as she continued:
“Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valu'd, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
…A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.”
Arthur’s expression was rather conflicted. “That was…wow. You’re, uh, very good you know.” He cleared his throat in an effort to regain his composure. “That is, your acting is…brilliant. It’s so believable.”
Gwen’s lips quirked upwards into a mischievous smile. “Who says I was acting any more than you were?” she murmured leaning forward so that her lips landed very purposefully on his.
Arthur’s too shocked to react initially but once he recovers he’s able to return her kiss with all the restrained desire that came from wanting this extraordinary woman for months. Guinevere was perfect; she tasted of wine and something sweet he can’t quite put his finger on-he briefly considers strawberries in the part of his brain that’s still capable of thought but quickly dismisses the notion.
Her hands move up his muscular chest and then she tangled her fingers in his hair, smiling against his lips as a quick tug on his disheveled locks produces a moan from Arthur who’s holding her as if he never wants to let her go. Good, Gwen thinks as she pulls away from him slowly, nipping his bottom lip gently as does. “I think I’ve always wanted to do that last bit especially,” she admits in a husky breathless voice as she looks up at him from underneath her lashes.
He still hasn’t recovered enough to speak and so he kisses her instead, with that stirring intensity she’d sensed in him earlier that night but then eventually his kisses become so sweet and heady she’s lulled into returning them in kind, shaking now with her need for this man. After what feels like both forever and just a moment, they separate once again, both panting. His eyes say everything she needs to know about his intentions and she feels her heart constrict painfully as he cups her face reverently with his hands, staring deeply into her eyes.
Gwen stroked his face fondly, flushed but pleased. “Arthur, I need to confess that I never thought-“ A jaunty tune interrupts whatever it is she’s about to say and for a moment neither reacts, as if they’d forgotten there was a world that existed outside of them. Gwen eventually realizes it’s her cell ringing and with an apologetic glance in his directions answers. “Hello? Oh…Morgana. Hi!”
Arthur groaned inwardly as it seemed that mood-killer Morgana was up for a most likely lengthy chat.
“What am I doing right now? I’m-that is we just finished going over lines together,” he heard Gwen say, which wasn’t a lie exactly, but still hurt to think that they couldn’t be honest about whatever it was that had happened between them, especially if, God forbid, Guinevere counted it all a mistake.
There was a considerable silence on Gwen’s end of the conversation as she seemingly listened to a lengthy speech from Morgana. She gasped at one point. “Morgana Le Fay!” she squeaked, flushing as she met his gaze and then quickly looking away. “He wouldn’t do that,” she continued in a low voice, her back turned to him.
Brilliant. Now she was bad mouthing him to the one person whose opinion of him actually mattered. Arthur found himself wishing not for the first time that his father had never brought the bratty Le Fay into the family so he could hate her properly.
Gwen didn’t say much more after that, ringing off less than five minutes later.
“So,” Arthur began, trying to force himself to sound calm and not as if he knew that Morgana had just finished slagging him off. “Is everything all right?”
Her expression was unfathomable as she turned to face him once again and he noticed with some sadness that she wasn’t smiling any more. “Yes, everything’s just fine. Morgana seemed to think I needed to be warned of your unspeakable sexual prowess and reminded of crazy Vivian.” Both of her brows arched at this as if she was inviting him to explain the meaning of his sister’s words.
He blanched at this; especially at the mention of his mad, stalker ex. “Guinevere, it’s not how she makes it sound. I-“
Gwen smiled suddenly and he was struck dumb by the transformation over her features. “I know. It’s a good thing she doesn’t realize I’m the one that attacked you, eh?” She burst into laughter at Arthur’s incredulous expression.
“Well yes,” he admitted once her giggles died down, a hesitant smile on his face. “I just didn’t expect to hear you actually say it.”
Gwen smiled at him a bit shyly. “That’s because you don’t know me all that well yet.”
Arthur took her hand in his, on impulse kissing the top of it while gazing into her eyes. “Then I’d like the opportunity to learn everything there is to know about you Guinevere…if you’ll let me.”
She shivered slightly as she gazed into those mesmerizing blue eyes of his. Gwen had no real idea how she wound up at this point (with Arthur Pendragon of all people), but there was something about him that made her want to forget any prejudices she may’ve had toward him over the years (thanks to rumors and conjecture by her peers) and just trust in him and the incredible feeling of euphoria he created in her.
“Guinevere?”
Gwen squeezed his hand back as she replied, smiling; her voice breathy in a combination of excitement and several other emotions she was unable to identify at that point in time. “Yes. I’d like that more than anything Arthur.”
He let out an exuberant victory whoop and stood up wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her in a circle in the middle of his living room before letting the laughing woman of his dreams plant her feet on the ground. Arthur kissed her until they both were breathless and nearly incoherent. “You won’t regret this Guinevere,” he murmured once he had a moment to recuperate.
She looked up at him, a dazed smile on her face. “I know.” And strangely, she did. No matter what came of their relationship, she would treasure these moments for the rest of her life. No man had ever made her feel so beautiful or intelligent or more like the Guinevere she wanted to be perceived as by the world. Arthur Pendragon was truly unique.
** **
Click Here for chapter four