Timing is Everything; Merlin Modern AU
Title: Timing is Everything (5b/5)
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Arthur, Gwen, Merlin, Morgana. Special guest appearances from Gwaine, Lance, Leon, Percy, Freya and Uther. Plus others inc OCs. (Eventual Arthur/Gwen and Merlin/Morgana. Slight Gwaine/Gwen and Merlin/Freya)
Warnings: Occasional spouts of bad language.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG13
Summary: Their lives were never meant to be intertwined... but you can't rewrite destiny.
Author Notes: December 2nd 2010, was my one year Merlin fic anniversary! Woohoooo! To celebrate I started to post my 50,000 NaNoWriMo story that I wrote for the gorgeous Queen of Jenalot; mustbethursday3.
As usual these days, thanks go to sgmajorshipper for her beta work on this part and extra thanks to xxkezziexx for an extra helping hand =]
My Merlin Prompt Table
PART One | Two | Three | Four | Five a | Five b
The fine May morning started like any other. The run rose over the South Gloucestershire countryside like it did every other. The grounds surrounding Badminton House were full with Marquees and cars ready for the weekend of events ahead and the custom it would bring.
Arthur Pendragon had woken that morning with a new sense of self. This was his competition. He was returning champion. He had a history of wins to continue. His last few competitions he had placed at, but all his efforts went into this one.
No other competition mattered to him more than this.
His father would be there for each of the days. He'd watch and he'd realise the years of teenage arguments he'd had with him had been worth it. He’d put his life on hold once again to train for the competition. Nobody truly understood his reasoning for it other than his sister. Gwen had happily taken a step back; she had been busy with rehearsals for the sixth formers summer exams and the school’s summer play so she’d rarely had a free moment. They’d seen each other a few times but they were still sitting on the early stages of a relationship. They’d started with a new policy; one they both lived by, with their closest confidants, and wanted the same from each other.
Before they could commit themselves to anything long-term and completely- terrifyingly - life changing they’d wanted to clear the air and work through their baggage with both each other and everybody else.
It had been a long process but it was nearing its end.
Arthur had invited Gwen - and Merlin on default - along to the three day event that had been marked in red marker on his calendar since he’d bought it the last September. He wanted Gwen to finally see what it was that consumed every other thought he had.
“I’ll be bad luck, I can feel it now.”
“No, Guinevere, you’d bring me the best of luck,” he’d said and had finally managed to convince her that it was no mistake. He wanted her there, win or lose.
The doorbell rang early the Friday morning of the first event. Arthur and Morgana had already been down to the site the day before for all of the more formal proceedings but today the competition really began. Gwen had been happily standing on the other side of the door with Merlin stood by her side looking a little worse for wear; 'Morgana,' was what Gwen said in way of explanation with a smirk on her face and a nudge of her elbow in Merlin's ribs. Arthur screwed his eyes shut against the mental image he didn’t want and let them in. He directed them towards the kitchen where Morgana adorned an apron and a chef’s hat.
"Today is the day I cook the Breakfast of Champions," she declared as she scrambled eggs. There was sausages and bacon under the grill, bread in the toaster and beans in another pan on the hob. Merlin approached her and gently kissed her on the cheek so not to get in the way of her Nigella act.
"Coincidentally it's also the only day she cooks."
"Can't be giving you this treat every day. You'll get fat."
"Perhaps you should feed it to Merlin everyday then." Merlin didn't disagree.
X
The four of them arrived not long after 9. It was already bustling with people. Gwen hadn't known much about horses or in fact how the competition worked but Arthur had tried his hardest to explain it to her vacant expression; "You're not going to remember any of this are you?"
"Not in the slightest," her features split into a grin. As much as she had tried to remember everything he had told her, and that she’d researched for herself, she really couldn’t remember. And between that and teasing Merlin about Morgana - which would never get old - Gwen had overloaded her brain and given up trying.
Arthur laughed; "Copy Morgana."
"That I can manage."
"I'd better go get changed” he said checking his watch, “As much as I'd love to, they won't let of compete go jeans and t-shirt."
"See you in a bit then," he’d offered her one final smile and hugged her before parting.
“Don’t get lost.”
“Yes, sir,” she saluted him loosely and turned back to find Morgana talking to an elder man as Merlin loitered by one of the shopping stalls and feigned interest in what looked like an oversized dog bed.
X
Arthur knew he looked most ridiculous in his Dressage jacket. It wasn't a particularly good look on anyone. But he never felt more of a tit than he did parading around go it. This year though he hadn't argued with Morgana just before she had ordered his jodhpurs so he's gotten black ones rather than the horrid beige attire Morgana had gone for previously. In black he looked like less of a gimp.
He zipped up his boots and brushed off his jacket one last time. He wasn't competing for an hour or so. He planned on sitting and watching with the others for a while then going and spending a little time before with CK. They would have their one sided pep talks just before Arthur led him out towards the entrance to the arena.
"You are completely incapable of dressing yourself aren't you?" Morgana chastised. She grabbed his collar and started to straighten it out. He was about to complain that re-tying his tie was a step too far but he was too late. She wound it about itself into a Windsor knot and pulled it back into place, she nearly strangled him in the process, "There. You are now more presentable."
“Apparently so,” he chuckled adjusting his cuffs.
“Very dapper,” Gwen commented looking him head to toe.
“I look like a tool, always do,” he said honestly, “But thank you.”
“Any time, Tool Boy,” Gwen jabbed.
“If we hurry up we can check out some of the competition before you’re up.”
“Any hot names this year?” Arthur asked swiping the program guide from Morgana’s hand. He scanned the competitor pages.
“Some new ones. Nobody completely surprising though.”
“Good.”
“Good chance?” Gwen asked not knowing the left from right of the horse riding world.”
“Competition is pretty much as last year which means if everybody performs the same Arthur will win hands down.”
“Being slightly out of practise and with them probably a lot more trained than I am, it makes it harder.”
“Arthur is being modest-“
“Realistic-“
“He’ll wipe the floor with them.”
“No pressure then,” Gwen said with a sympathetic smile.
“None at all,” he said with a fraction of worry inset into his expression.
“You’ll be fine,” Gwen assured him gently batting his shaking hand slightly with her own, “Where’s the cocky Arthur I know so well?”
“Back at the yard.”
“You’ll be fine,” she gave him an understated kiss on the cheek. Morgana and Merlin, she hadn’t failed to notice, were busy making themselves scarce, “Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he disappeared towards the stables alone. He rounded the corner and spotted Sophie standing outside of Camelot King’s stall stroking the horse affectionately on the nose, “Hey Sophie,” he greeted reaching up to scratch behind CK’s ear.
“Good luck today, Mr P.”
“Thanks,” he smiled down at her, “Can I have a minute,” he nodded towards his horse.
Sophie grinned, “Sure. He tells me he is very excited,” she said. She pecked the horse on the end of his nose and took off towards the arena to find a good seat.
“Come on then you,” Arthur started, “Are we ready for this?”
X
The three of Arthur’s main supporters were sat in the ‘royal’ box along with the families and close friends of the other competitors. Each of them had something to say about Arthur Gwen hadn’t failed to notice. Some of them weren’t particularly positive and she had to bite her tongue in order not to take a swipe out at them.
“Rider number thirty; Arthur Pendragon returns his year with his horse Camelot King,” there was a loud cheer from the crowd. He had a lot of support from the people around the arena. Gwen couldn’t help but beam.
“Dressage was always his weakest,” Morgana explained to the pair of novices, “He’s a jumper, he has the perfect seat but sometimes CK gets other ideas in the sand arena. A foot wrong there a pace change not subtle enough there. Hopefully he’s not concentrated on the jumping too much.”
“Right, okay.”
“Don’t worry too much about knowing what’s going on. Just go with it. If it looks right, it probably is.”
They watched on in anticipation. A few sharp intakes of breath behind them told them that the others felt threatened by the run he was giving. One woman tisked when Morgana pointed out that CK had put a foot out by taking off on the wrong foot into a trot before he should have. There wasn’t much to be done about it.
Time seemed to drag before Arthur was leading his horse down the centre of the sand and finishing on the centre point and saluting the judges. The crowd clapped, more impressed by his run than a lot of others; “How did he do?”
“Quite well,” a voice answered behind her. Gwen turned to see the older man Morgan ha been talking to earlier sitting there. She smiled at him politely but didn’t say anything more to him, nor him to her.
“He’s second,” Morgana confirmed, “Which means it’s far from game over.”
X
Merlin and Morgana broke away from the other two later in the afternoon and took advantage of the quieter crowds that the Friday always possessed and headed for the shops. There were so many to get around and Morgana feared it might take a fair while; “You know I hate shopping don’t you?”
“But with the promise of the food tent that’s more of a mini mansion full of food and free samples I’m sure you can forgive me whilst I look for a new gilet and chaps.”
“But why take me with you. You could have taken Gwen.”
“She’s busy. She has good luck to distribute.”
“Something I didn’t need to know, thanks Morgana.”
She smiled at him and gently patted the front of his new shirt and pulled him towards her capturing his lips in a soft kiss before dragging him into one of the leather stalls to check out their supply of riding gear.
“It’s all a bit kinky, isn’t it?” Merlin asked flicking through a pot of riding crops as Morgana thumbed through a pile of paired chaps.
“If you’re into that kind of thing, I guess,” she shrugged as she triumphantly found her side and pulled the plastic wrapped leather from the jenga-style pile, “Success!” she checked the price tag and her smile grew, “Fabulous.”
“Why do you need chaps, again? You don’t even ride.”
“Because at things like this you need to look the part.”
“I don’t.”
“That, my darling, is because you are a hopeless case. I, however, shall be more publicly scrutinized if I don’t remotely look like I know what I’m talking about. Joules shirts and chaps it is.”
X
The Saturday started in much the same way for the competitors. They arrived before the crowds and readied themselves for the day of events. The only difference for one of them was the state in which he woke up. Fully clothed in a pair of jogging bottoms and loose polo shirt, Arthur Pendragon had woken up with a rogue curly hair in his face. He’d batted it away in his half-awake state and nearly freaked out before he realised that Gwen was perched asleep against him still holding onto the empty plastic bowl that their popcorn had been in the night before as they’d watched Black Beauty in his room without the prying eyes of Merlin and Morgana.
He had placed a soft kiss to her forehead and she’d woken from her slumber.
“Morning,” she mumbled rubbing her eyes trying to unfuzz her vision, “What time is it?”
“About half-six,” Gwen let out a short groan, “I know. I’m going to go shower and get dressed. We need to leave in an hour.”
“Okay,” she said with her eyes closed.
From then on he’d been in a good mood; throughout his shower as he’d thought of anything but sleeping in the same bed as Gwen to keep himself calm. He was worried enough about the tournament to need anything else to panic about as well and having guilty feelings whenever he looked at Gwen was something he could do without.
He showered in cold water.
When they reached the grounds that day it had been busier. There were younger kids running rings around their children and girls from the local Pony club on their horse riding around looking pretentious and self-important.
Saturday, Cross Country Day, was the crowd pleaser.
There was already a healthy crowd of people gathered by the water. If anywhere he’d have liked to set Gwen and Merlin up there, it would be more interesting for them but something in him told him that no, he wanted them watching his every move on the screen and knowing exactly what was happening with assistance from Morgana.
“You’ll be great,” Gwen had assured him and kissed him on the cheek as she had done the day before when he’d gone to get changed. It had worked for him the day before; it could potentially have the reverse affect without it.
“Don’t screw up,” Morgana said with a smile in her voice.
“Thanks, Morgana. Your confidence is charming.”
“I didn’t say you would. I just said don’t.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I didn’t plan on spending hundreds of your winnings yesterday, but it still happened… you have to win so we can actually afford to pay for them.”
“We can afford it? Why are you spending my money?”
“I’m getting a cut; you just have to win it.”
“Thanks. I’m going to get changed now. We’re on early today so I’ll see you later.”
X
Gwen had noticed that the same older male was sat behind her once again in the Royal box in the arena. She’d not paid him much attention before now but something about the way his eyes were burning into the back of her head made her weary.
His attention wavered. He didn’t seem to pay attention to anybody else other than Arthur. Should he be there for Arthur’s support then surely Gwen would have been introduced to him before now.
Cross Country was something Gwen could actually understand. Jump the jumps; don’t refuse; don’t knock it. Arthur’s run hadn’t been flawless but his lack of penalties had taken him to the top of the leader board with complete ease.
The three of them found him surrounded by journalists once they’d ventured away from the arena clocking that he wasn’t coming any time soon. The older man Gwen had keep seeing was brandishing at them making them disperse and had his arm clapped around Arthur’s shoulders.
“Who’s that?” Gwen said out of the side of her mouth to Morgana and Merlin’ whoever could answer her.
“That’s our father,” Morgana said approaching the man with a smile on her face. Gwen’s face fell. She hadn’t been expecting that one. Then again, there weren’t any pictures of the family in Arthur and Morgana’s house. She had no idea what the man would look like.
“Time to meet the parent?” Merlin said with a smile on his face.
“You’ve already met! This isn’t fair,” Gwen protested as se was gently dragged towards the Pendragon family.
“You forget; you and Arthur aren’t anything yet. To Uther you are just a friend. He gets the chance to like you first. You won’t get the scrutiny I did. Besides, it’s not like you have to be a man and protect Arthur from all the horrible things in the world. Apparently I don’t look manly enough to protect Morgana from a sheep let alone a rogue knife-wielding attacker.”
“Oh good, that was helpful. Just the sort of person I want to be,” she said through her teeth as she smiled at the pair of Pendragon men.
“Dad, meet Guinevere.”
“Lovely to meet you, Guinevere.”
“Please, call me Gwen.”
“My son does not…”
“No, but that is because he is a little strange in the head, sir,” insulting his son probably wasn’t the best place to start.
To her surprise he seemed to take it quite well. He laughed at her joke and even continued it himself; “Landed on his head one too many times as a baby,” Uther laughed and held out his hand to her, “Nice to meet you, Gwen.”
She took his hand and shook it as firmly as she could manage. She was no push over; “You too, sir.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Starting with this weekend last year,” Arthur cleared his throat purposefully and Uther looked to him, “Still. Nice to put a face to the name.”
“Likewise. Well done, Arthur,” Gwen said turning her attention to him over his father who now seemed more interested in Merlin than her. The elder Pendragon started to talk to Merlin about things that passed so far over Gwen’s head she wouldn’t have been able to reach them on her tiptoes in Spice-Girl-platforms.
“My lucky charm struck again,” Arthur said with the cheesiest grin on his face.
“It would seem so,” Gwen said with a red tinge on her cheeks and shifting her weight from her left to right foot. She tucked a lose curl behind her ear.
“Best keep it up, hadn’t I?” he smiled bending his knees so that he could force Gwen to look at him.
“You had,” the reporters came back to him then, like moths to a flame, and started probing him for a response. Gwen excused herself and gracefully escaped to talk to Morgana rather than be scooped into Arthur’s world.
X
When Gwen woke the next morning she was alone. She distinctly remembered not falling asleep alone. She shut off the alarm that signalled half-six and got out of Arthur’s bed. She pulled her socks back on, feet cold from the layer of chill in the room that had been created by the open door than led onto a small balcony.
“Morning,” she greeted as she stepped out onto the balcony. She’d grabbed the first jumper she could find on her way out and pulled it over her head. She didn’t get a response from Arthur. “You okay?” she tried again.
“Fine,” he snipped and pushed back into the house.
Gwen looked after him and frowned.
X
“He can’t afford to knock a single fence. If he does then the other guy has a better chance of winning,” Morgana explained quickly. It certainly explained why Arthur was so snappy. He didn’t like to lose; that was the one thing Gwen had learnt in the last year.
“And if he does?” Gwen didn’t quite understand the logistics behind each and every round. She knew Arthur did stand a good chance of winning but like every championship running there were a number of other competitors that could still strip him of the title he so craved.
“Then we hope that the other guy falls.”
“Right,” Gwen nodded, slightly uncomfortable at the sudden change in atmosphere. They walked out to the car. Arthur was already in the driver’s seat, Merlin behind him waiting for Gwen to join him.
“Or hits every single fence.”
“So we go for a clean run for Arthur then?”
“Basically,” neither of them wanted to wish an ill run on another contestant. They needed to show sportsman ship and it wasn’t something that would come easily. But the crowds were behind Arthur the last two days; hopefully they would remain the same.
When the two girls climbed into the jeep it was tense. Arthur didn’t say anything before he pulled away from the front of the house.
“Alright, Gwen?” Merlin said before Morgana shot him a look that told the both that they should be quiet. Arthur needed to be only with his thoughts.
X
“Come on then, CK,” Arthur said into his horse’s ear as he leant forwards as he took to the arena, “Time to do me proud,” he trotted around the edge of the field once as the last competitor took the last fence with a good ease, “We can do this.”
Arthur kicked on into a canter and aimed CK at the first jump. He did it smoothly as he always had in practise. ‘One down’ Arthur thought to himself calmly rounding the corner to take the next three fences in a row with a great ease.
Fence after fence the pair took with confidence. The spectators watched on and clapped each jump, getting more excited with every jump that he did, “Good boy,” he said as he leant forward into one of the jumps.
With five jumps left to the course CK had only clipped one of the fences but it hadn’t fallen. The water jump had always been the horse’s downfall but right now Arthur aimed him at it with a new found confidence; he could do this.
“Come on, boy, we can do it,” he nudged his horse on and took the jump with a bit of added speed, leaving CK to clear the jump only touching his hoof to the water. Slight penalty but not enough to worry Arthur at all. He guided CK around the last jumps to the finish line with a beam of a smile on his face.
“Good lad,” he rubbed his hand beneath CK’s mane and kissed his neck as they slowed, “Good boy,” Arthur looked up then to the box and saw Morgana, Merlin, Gwen and his father all stood applauding him with big smiles on their faces.
It was a good, clean, run.
A new confidence coursed through Arthur. He could win this.
He caught Gwen’s gaze and grinned.
He jumped to the ground with a cheer when he got out of the arena and pulled his helmet from his head. He flung his arms around CK’s neck and kissed his horse affectionately before he was taken down to the stables to cool down.
“Good run, Pendragon,” his closest competitor said to him as he walked through towards the stands; “Really impressive.”
“Thanks, Tom,” he shook his outstretched hand quickly before he slipped up the steps towards the box and his friends.
X
Only a perfect run from Tom Billing would knock Arthur from the top spot. He was sat forwards in his seat. His foot was tapping repetitively on the floor of the stands. He kept rubbing his hand over his chin and over his mouth. Gwen was watching him more than she kept an eye on the action in the arena.
Tentatively, Gwen reached out and slipped her hand onto his knee. She gently squeezed his knee. He turned to smile at her but quickly looked back to the arena, an eager eye on the rider in the ring. So far so good for him, so far so not-so-good for Arthur. She’d never wished ill on any person before now, but she couldn’t help but want him to knock something. Anything.
She suddenly felt a warmth on her hand and she gently moved her hand to intertwine her fingers with his.
At that moment Billing’s horse caught one of the jumps with one of its back legs as it came down to land. Morgana celebrated as the fence came down. Billing continued to the next jump and the same happened.
Gwen squeezed his hand, she knew what it meant. His father clapped him on the shoulder. Arthur sat there speechless, the usually overly confident, boisterous Arthur completely gone.
“Congratulations,” she said to him. A mix of pride and nerves coursed through her as they watched Billing finish his run. Arthur was staring at the scoreboard, his name didn’t move. He slowly grinned as it dawned on him. He dropped her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. It was over as quickly as it began before he was pulled into another hug by Morgana.
X
The four guests Arthur had with him accumulated at the front of the crowd at the prize-giving.
Arthur jumped down from the podium and towards the four of them. He immediately reached to hug Gwen again. He pulled her from her feet and span in a quick circle. She wrapped her arms around his neck in case he lost grip so she didn’t fall. “Kiss for the lady,” one of the photographers started to say continuously once Arthur had put her feet firmly back on the ground.
“Congratulations Arthur,” she said quietly once again into his ear as she hugged him on her toes. They didn’t lose contact when he moved his head back to look at her.
“Kiss for the lady!”
In front of all these people? Gwen bit the inside of her lip, “Screw it,” she murmured under her breath and kissed him firmly on the lips. She felt him smile against her lips before he gently kissed her back. She had her fingers around his lapels, holding him to her.
The flashes around them went crazy; the local papers taking a constant stream of pictures of their winner and the woman he appeared to be involved with.
They parted and rested their foreheads together.
Merlin and Morgana and clapping a mixture of Arthur’s win and the kiss that had been a long time coming. The younger male kissed his girlfriend’s temple and waited for them to finish celebrating.
Uther clapped his son on the shoulder, rousing him from his daydream; “Congratulations, son. Well deserved,” the man looked to Gwen and nodded down at her. That was acceptance if ever Arthur saw it and he didn’t waste time before he leant down to kiss her again.
“Thank you,” he breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her again to the pleasure of the photographers around them.
“Any time,” she pressed a light kiss to the side of his neck.
The group of the escaped the hounding of the local papers quickly after that. They’ all wanted to know what it felt like to return to the championships and claim his title for the fourth year in a row. Arthur had responded with an unprintable “Fucking Fantastic,” before they had all taken off towards the riders quarters to find a bottle of champagne and celebrate.
X
The sixth form students started to drift it at eight-thirty as the last alert bell sounded. Tom walked in with a paper tucked under his arm. He approached the small table in the corner and laid the paper down. He ripped off the back page. He dug around in the draw and found a stray blob of blu tack.
When Gwen walked out of the office two minutes later she was greeted with a wolf whistle; "Good morning to you too," she said with a bemused grin on her face. She looked at each of her Sixth Form students in turn. They were smiling at her a mixture of smirks, pride and suggestive looks on their faces, “What?”
"Nice pull, Miss," Tom stepped forwards and grinned. Gwen squinted at him. He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. Gwen's eyes followed it, leading to his decoration of the drama room wall with the article and picture about Arthur’s win at the Trials that weekend, "The Chronicle loved you. Very photogenic."
They couldn’t have used one of the pictures of Arthur and his trophy. They had chosen to go with the headline ‘Pendragon Victors a New Man’ to accompany a picture of the pair of them as she’d kissed him; "Oh sweet Jesus..."
"He's gorgeous," Amy said simply. The other girls in the class all agreed loudly, “Fit too, eh, Miss? Stamina of a horse…”
Tom laughed, "As I said: nice pull."
"Okay, okay,” Gwen started raising her hand to quieten the hubbub of noise that had started, “enough of my private life. We have rehearsals to do."
"Gwen and Arthur sitting in a tree..."
"Thomas," she warned, pulling his artwork down fro the wall and crushing it in her hand.
"I'm rehearsing..."
Gwen watched her students with glee as they began to act out their modern rendition of a Greek Tragedy. Full of incest, gods and death it was perfect. Until the end when they went ad-lib and started to madly interpret the scene given to them in the press; “Oh Arthur, you hunk of a man, whisk me from my feet and take me now!” Amy said as Tom had embraced her for their big kiss in the piece.
“Oh Gwen. I love you,” he declared and pulled Amy into his arms. He spun her around and dipped her. She squealed loudly as he did so, cut off by him kissing her very much in their own characters, “Meet me behind the stables,” he said dramatically.
Gwen cleared her throat; “And on that note can we please go back to the actual script and finish this? It was perfect until this last bit.”
“That last bit was the best bit,” Tom defended as he walked back to his position to start the scene again, “Too much? Over the top, Miss?”
“Pretty accurate,” she said with a suggestive grin.
The students all looked at her with gaping mouths and wide eyes.
X
Working at her desk in the drama office she wasn't expecting anyone to knock on the door. "You've got a visitor," Ellis announced nodding towards the door. Gwen looked up and smiled.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile on her face. She moved out of the office and away from Ellis' prying ears. Arthur stooped quickly kissing her on the lips. She smiled against him before remembering she was stood in the middle of her classroom. She withdrew from him.
"I got some weird looks when I came in," he said in partial wonderment. He’d known where the drama department was from his days in the school a decade ago. It had barely changed at all which had made it slightly easier on him rather than having to ask around.
"Uh yeah,” she reached into the bin and pulled out Tom’s screwed up news paper. She uncrumpled it and flattened it against her stomach, “A few of them picked up on the papers...” she handed it to him, “Back page news. I feel so special."
"Ah," Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and flattened his hair down, "so would it be inappropriate to take you to lunch?" he asked looking up from the picture with an awkward smile. He’d never thought his personal life was the stuff of newspapers; but it had been a feed they could take up for the local story.
"I've only got fifteen more minutes of my lunch break left. But you're welcome to stay here for a bit. I've got a free lesson after registration. You can help me mark the year seven work," she joked.
"Sounds like fun."
"Liar.”
"You're right," he smiled, “But I can entertain you whilst you work,” she didn’t think the school would like it particularly if she kept him with her, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. She could always write it off as an educational plight. Just a long as they both behaved.
"The year thirteens will be in later rehearsing for their exam next week."
"I can disappear then if you want."
"They could do with an audience."
"In that case I'll happily stay."
"Be prepared for teasing."
"Like a group of kids could put me off."
"They've got a talent for it," Gwen checked her watch and double checked on the classroom clock. She had to check her pigeon hole in the staffroom before she headed to the English department to her tutor group, "I should get going to registration. I'll be back in 10 minutes. You'll be okay with Ellis?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine."
"He shouldn't bite. Though sometimes I fear he might."
"Duly noted," she quickly pecked him on the cheek, "What about dinner? Are you free for dinner?"
"I think I can manage that. I better go to registration."
"I'll see you in a bit then?"
"Yeah," she grabbed her papers, "I'll be back soon."
He grabbed her hand and tugged her back towards him. He kissed her chastely on the lips before he let her go; "Now you can leave."
X
The summer sun was low in the sky as Arthur pulled up outside of Gwen's building. The pair of them regarded each other for a moment before she took off her seatbelt; "Thanks for a lovely evening," she beamed as he shut the engine off.
"Thank you for the company," he shifted in his seat to face her. She smiled as she leant in to kiss him. He reciprocated in kind. He raised his hand to the nape of her neck. Gwen kissed him again feeling a rise of assertiveness as she ran her tongue over his lip. She felt his tongue against her own. His hand moved down her arm to her waist, gently caressing the muscles beneath her shirt.
Arthur rested his forehead against hers with a small smile on his face. She pecked him on the lips, "Would you like to come in?"
"I'd like that."
X
Two miles away in the pub on the outskirts of the city there sat one couple and four other men. Each of them jolly and happily drinking their beverages with glee. There was something missing for them though; “Where did you say he was?” Percy asked with a confused frown on his face.
“He’s celebrating with Gwen,” Merlin answered and grinned. Gwaine wolf-whistled and solemnly downed the rest of his pint. His last chance well and truly gone (even though he had known for a while now that he was never going to actually get the chance he liked to hope).
“I don’t want to know,” Lance said pushing his fingers into his ears for comic effect, “What they do in their spare time isn’t something I wish to hear about.”
“We don’t get a choice,” Merlin interjected.
“To the happy couple and the incredibly happy champion,” Percy toasted, “May they be happy and sprightly forever.”
“Or until Arthur’s next competition when he’ll drive her insane and she’ll impale him with a fork,” Morgana suggested raising her glass to Percy’s.
“Or that!” Percy said and the group of them clashed their glasses together.
Leon, who had sat quietly in the corner finally spoke up, “You know,” he started, “We should celebrate for him if he’s going to be a boring sod and celebrate alone. Champagne all around?”
“Make mine a pitcher,” Morgana had said loudly, “Champagne gives me a headache.”
X
Arthur reclined against the arm of the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Gwen nestled against his chest as they watched the late night comedy. Arthur's body shook as he laughed. Gwen smiled into his chest and cuddled into his side.
"You know, you never celebrated your win, not properly," she said, she splayed her fingers against his chest and rested her chin on her hand as she looked up at him.
"I did," he stated simply, "I spent my evening like this."
"Exactly; the same as a non-celebratory night," Gwen frowned. Surely he wanted to do something, anything, to celebrate his victory for a fourth year in a row.
"Perhaps the celebration is continuing still," he moved to kiss her and smiled, "I don't need anything else," he ran his hand along the small of her back, catching her skin as the material of her shirt lifted.
"We could have done something more interesting, like go to the cinema or hang out with the guys or something."
"And have them fawn over my girlfriend? I'd rather have you to myself. What?" he noticed Gwen smiling at him dopily.
"'Girlfriend'," she smiled coyly, "Boyfriend."
"'Sex god’,” he corrected.
"I wouldn't know about that," Gwen said honestly; her imagination agreed with her. She thought him to be the tender lover who would make it as much about her and her pleasure as much as his own.
"Ask Gwaine," he smirked.
Gwen laughed heartily, "That really doesn't surprise me."
"I was joking."
"I wasn't."
"I know."
Gwen kissed him firmly on the lips. He pushed up from the sofa cushions gently nipping her lip, "I'm sure I could find out," Arthur raised an eyebrow at her with a teasing smile on his lips, "What?"
"Nothing," he kissed her, “I didn’t mean for you to think that I meant-“
“No,” Gwen buried her head into his shoulder and smiled, embarrassed, “I know. In time I’ll find out. I have no plans or rules as for when it shall be. Should be come about tonight or tomorrow or next Thursday or in three months; it’ll happen for the right reasons and it’ll be the right time.”
Arthur silenced her with a kiss; “You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he said with a positively gorgeous smile on his face. How she’d managed to resist him at all during the nights she’d spent in his bed she had no idea. She didn’t know if now the barriers had been broken she’d be able to fight to keep any of them erected, “I know I’m a sex god, I don’t need you to tell me.”
“Only Gwaine to,” they both laughed. The notion really wasn’t that disturbing to Gwen. They pair were very close. Even if the conclusion didn’t come from first-hand experience it would come from accounts of personal experience and one-upping each other over the years, “But I’m serious; don’t you want to do something to celebrate?”
“Like drink one of your god awful bottles of wine?” Arthur jibed with a wicked grin flashing across his face. He nuzzled into the top of her hair as she stared off into space.
“Yes, like that.”
“Do you have any god awful bottles of wine for me to get you drunk on? Having you powerless to resist me-” she elbowed him in the side. He caught her hand and stretched it out so she was unable to attempt an injury again.
“No…”
He gave a hearty laugh and reclined further into the cushions; “Then there goes that plan…”
END NOTE: Thanks to everybody who has read this along the way =]
I had great fun writing it so this probably isn't the end of this verse... big thanks go out to sgmajorshipper and xxkezziexx for there beta work and mustbethursday3 for the original prompt =]
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Arthur, Gwen, Merlin, Morgana. Special guest appearances from Gwaine, Lance, Leon, Percy, Freya and Uther. Plus others inc OCs. (Eventual Arthur/Gwen and Merlin/Morgana. Slight Gwaine/Gwen and Merlin/Freya)
Warnings: Occasional spouts of bad language.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG13
Summary: Their lives were never meant to be intertwined... but you can't rewrite destiny.
Author Notes: December 2nd 2010, was my one year Merlin fic anniversary! Woohoooo! To celebrate I started to post my 50,000 NaNoWriMo story that I wrote for the gorgeous Queen of Jenalot; mustbethursday3.
As usual these days, thanks go to sgmajorshipper for her beta work on this part and extra thanks to xxkezziexx for an extra helping hand =]
My Merlin Prompt Table
PART One | Two | Three | Four | Five a | Five b
The fine May morning started like any other. The run rose over the South Gloucestershire countryside like it did every other. The grounds surrounding Badminton House were full with Marquees and cars ready for the weekend of events ahead and the custom it would bring.
Arthur Pendragon had woken that morning with a new sense of self. This was his competition. He was returning champion. He had a history of wins to continue. His last few competitions he had placed at, but all his efforts went into this one.
No other competition mattered to him more than this.
His father would be there for each of the days. He'd watch and he'd realise the years of teenage arguments he'd had with him had been worth it. He’d put his life on hold once again to train for the competition. Nobody truly understood his reasoning for it other than his sister. Gwen had happily taken a step back; she had been busy with rehearsals for the sixth formers summer exams and the school’s summer play so she’d rarely had a free moment. They’d seen each other a few times but they were still sitting on the early stages of a relationship. They’d started with a new policy; one they both lived by, with their closest confidants, and wanted the same from each other.
Before they could commit themselves to anything long-term and completely- terrifyingly - life changing they’d wanted to clear the air and work through their baggage with both each other and everybody else.
It had been a long process but it was nearing its end.
Arthur had invited Gwen - and Merlin on default - along to the three day event that had been marked in red marker on his calendar since he’d bought it the last September. He wanted Gwen to finally see what it was that consumed every other thought he had.
“I’ll be bad luck, I can feel it now.”
“No, Guinevere, you’d bring me the best of luck,” he’d said and had finally managed to convince her that it was no mistake. He wanted her there, win or lose.
The doorbell rang early the Friday morning of the first event. Arthur and Morgana had already been down to the site the day before for all of the more formal proceedings but today the competition really began. Gwen had been happily standing on the other side of the door with Merlin stood by her side looking a little worse for wear; 'Morgana,' was what Gwen said in way of explanation with a smirk on her face and a nudge of her elbow in Merlin's ribs. Arthur screwed his eyes shut against the mental image he didn’t want and let them in. He directed them towards the kitchen where Morgana adorned an apron and a chef’s hat.
"Today is the day I cook the Breakfast of Champions," she declared as she scrambled eggs. There was sausages and bacon under the grill, bread in the toaster and beans in another pan on the hob. Merlin approached her and gently kissed her on the cheek so not to get in the way of her Nigella act.
"Coincidentally it's also the only day she cooks."
"Can't be giving you this treat every day. You'll get fat."
"Perhaps you should feed it to Merlin everyday then." Merlin didn't disagree.
X
The four of them arrived not long after 9. It was already bustling with people. Gwen hadn't known much about horses or in fact how the competition worked but Arthur had tried his hardest to explain it to her vacant expression; "You're not going to remember any of this are you?"
"Not in the slightest," her features split into a grin. As much as she had tried to remember everything he had told her, and that she’d researched for herself, she really couldn’t remember. And between that and teasing Merlin about Morgana - which would never get old - Gwen had overloaded her brain and given up trying.
Arthur laughed; "Copy Morgana."
"That I can manage."
"I'd better go get changed” he said checking his watch, “As much as I'd love to, they won't let of compete go jeans and t-shirt."
"See you in a bit then," he’d offered her one final smile and hugged her before parting.
“Don’t get lost.”
“Yes, sir,” she saluted him loosely and turned back to find Morgana talking to an elder man as Merlin loitered by one of the shopping stalls and feigned interest in what looked like an oversized dog bed.
X
Arthur knew he looked most ridiculous in his Dressage jacket. It wasn't a particularly good look on anyone. But he never felt more of a tit than he did parading around go it. This year though he hadn't argued with Morgana just before she had ordered his jodhpurs so he's gotten black ones rather than the horrid beige attire Morgana had gone for previously. In black he looked like less of a gimp.
He zipped up his boots and brushed off his jacket one last time. He wasn't competing for an hour or so. He planned on sitting and watching with the others for a while then going and spending a little time before with CK. They would have their one sided pep talks just before Arthur led him out towards the entrance to the arena.
"You are completely incapable of dressing yourself aren't you?" Morgana chastised. She grabbed his collar and started to straighten it out. He was about to complain that re-tying his tie was a step too far but he was too late. She wound it about itself into a Windsor knot and pulled it back into place, she nearly strangled him in the process, "There. You are now more presentable."
“Apparently so,” he chuckled adjusting his cuffs.
“Very dapper,” Gwen commented looking him head to toe.
“I look like a tool, always do,” he said honestly, “But thank you.”
“Any time, Tool Boy,” Gwen jabbed.
“If we hurry up we can check out some of the competition before you’re up.”
“Any hot names this year?” Arthur asked swiping the program guide from Morgana’s hand. He scanned the competitor pages.
“Some new ones. Nobody completely surprising though.”
“Good.”
“Good chance?” Gwen asked not knowing the left from right of the horse riding world.”
“Competition is pretty much as last year which means if everybody performs the same Arthur will win hands down.”
“Being slightly out of practise and with them probably a lot more trained than I am, it makes it harder.”
“Arthur is being modest-“
“Realistic-“
“He’ll wipe the floor with them.”
“No pressure then,” Gwen said with a sympathetic smile.
“None at all,” he said with a fraction of worry inset into his expression.
“You’ll be fine,” Gwen assured him gently batting his shaking hand slightly with her own, “Where’s the cocky Arthur I know so well?”
“Back at the yard.”
“You’ll be fine,” she gave him an understated kiss on the cheek. Morgana and Merlin, she hadn’t failed to notice, were busy making themselves scarce, “Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’m going to need it,” he disappeared towards the stables alone. He rounded the corner and spotted Sophie standing outside of Camelot King’s stall stroking the horse affectionately on the nose, “Hey Sophie,” he greeted reaching up to scratch behind CK’s ear.
“Good luck today, Mr P.”
“Thanks,” he smiled down at her, “Can I have a minute,” he nodded towards his horse.
Sophie grinned, “Sure. He tells me he is very excited,” she said. She pecked the horse on the end of his nose and took off towards the arena to find a good seat.
“Come on then you,” Arthur started, “Are we ready for this?”
X
The three of Arthur’s main supporters were sat in the ‘royal’ box along with the families and close friends of the other competitors. Each of them had something to say about Arthur Gwen hadn’t failed to notice. Some of them weren’t particularly positive and she had to bite her tongue in order not to take a swipe out at them.
“Rider number thirty; Arthur Pendragon returns his year with his horse Camelot King,” there was a loud cheer from the crowd. He had a lot of support from the people around the arena. Gwen couldn’t help but beam.
“Dressage was always his weakest,” Morgana explained to the pair of novices, “He’s a jumper, he has the perfect seat but sometimes CK gets other ideas in the sand arena. A foot wrong there a pace change not subtle enough there. Hopefully he’s not concentrated on the jumping too much.”
“Right, okay.”
“Don’t worry too much about knowing what’s going on. Just go with it. If it looks right, it probably is.”
They watched on in anticipation. A few sharp intakes of breath behind them told them that the others felt threatened by the run he was giving. One woman tisked when Morgana pointed out that CK had put a foot out by taking off on the wrong foot into a trot before he should have. There wasn’t much to be done about it.
Time seemed to drag before Arthur was leading his horse down the centre of the sand and finishing on the centre point and saluting the judges. The crowd clapped, more impressed by his run than a lot of others; “How did he do?”
“Quite well,” a voice answered behind her. Gwen turned to see the older man Morgan ha been talking to earlier sitting there. She smiled at him politely but didn’t say anything more to him, nor him to her.
“He’s second,” Morgana confirmed, “Which means it’s far from game over.”
X
Merlin and Morgana broke away from the other two later in the afternoon and took advantage of the quieter crowds that the Friday always possessed and headed for the shops. There were so many to get around and Morgana feared it might take a fair while; “You know I hate shopping don’t you?”
“But with the promise of the food tent that’s more of a mini mansion full of food and free samples I’m sure you can forgive me whilst I look for a new gilet and chaps.”
“But why take me with you. You could have taken Gwen.”
“She’s busy. She has good luck to distribute.”
“Something I didn’t need to know, thanks Morgana.”
She smiled at him and gently patted the front of his new shirt and pulled him towards her capturing his lips in a soft kiss before dragging him into one of the leather stalls to check out their supply of riding gear.
“It’s all a bit kinky, isn’t it?” Merlin asked flicking through a pot of riding crops as Morgana thumbed through a pile of paired chaps.
“If you’re into that kind of thing, I guess,” she shrugged as she triumphantly found her side and pulled the plastic wrapped leather from the jenga-style pile, “Success!” she checked the price tag and her smile grew, “Fabulous.”
“Why do you need chaps, again? You don’t even ride.”
“Because at things like this you need to look the part.”
“I don’t.”
“That, my darling, is because you are a hopeless case. I, however, shall be more publicly scrutinized if I don’t remotely look like I know what I’m talking about. Joules shirts and chaps it is.”
X
The Saturday started in much the same way for the competitors. They arrived before the crowds and readied themselves for the day of events. The only difference for one of them was the state in which he woke up. Fully clothed in a pair of jogging bottoms and loose polo shirt, Arthur Pendragon had woken up with a rogue curly hair in his face. He’d batted it away in his half-awake state and nearly freaked out before he realised that Gwen was perched asleep against him still holding onto the empty plastic bowl that their popcorn had been in the night before as they’d watched Black Beauty in his room without the prying eyes of Merlin and Morgana.
He had placed a soft kiss to her forehead and she’d woken from her slumber.
“Morning,” she mumbled rubbing her eyes trying to unfuzz her vision, “What time is it?”
“About half-six,” Gwen let out a short groan, “I know. I’m going to go shower and get dressed. We need to leave in an hour.”
“Okay,” she said with her eyes closed.
From then on he’d been in a good mood; throughout his shower as he’d thought of anything but sleeping in the same bed as Gwen to keep himself calm. He was worried enough about the tournament to need anything else to panic about as well and having guilty feelings whenever he looked at Gwen was something he could do without.
He showered in cold water.
When they reached the grounds that day it had been busier. There were younger kids running rings around their children and girls from the local Pony club on their horse riding around looking pretentious and self-important.
Saturday, Cross Country Day, was the crowd pleaser.
There was already a healthy crowd of people gathered by the water. If anywhere he’d have liked to set Gwen and Merlin up there, it would be more interesting for them but something in him told him that no, he wanted them watching his every move on the screen and knowing exactly what was happening with assistance from Morgana.
“You’ll be great,” Gwen had assured him and kissed him on the cheek as she had done the day before when he’d gone to get changed. It had worked for him the day before; it could potentially have the reverse affect without it.
“Don’t screw up,” Morgana said with a smile in her voice.
“Thanks, Morgana. Your confidence is charming.”
“I didn’t say you would. I just said don’t.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I didn’t plan on spending hundreds of your winnings yesterday, but it still happened… you have to win so we can actually afford to pay for them.”
“We can afford it? Why are you spending my money?”
“I’m getting a cut; you just have to win it.”
“Thanks. I’m going to get changed now. We’re on early today so I’ll see you later.”
X
Gwen had noticed that the same older male was sat behind her once again in the Royal box in the arena. She’d not paid him much attention before now but something about the way his eyes were burning into the back of her head made her weary.
His attention wavered. He didn’t seem to pay attention to anybody else other than Arthur. Should he be there for Arthur’s support then surely Gwen would have been introduced to him before now.
Cross Country was something Gwen could actually understand. Jump the jumps; don’t refuse; don’t knock it. Arthur’s run hadn’t been flawless but his lack of penalties had taken him to the top of the leader board with complete ease.
The three of them found him surrounded by journalists once they’d ventured away from the arena clocking that he wasn’t coming any time soon. The older man Gwen had keep seeing was brandishing at them making them disperse and had his arm clapped around Arthur’s shoulders.
“Who’s that?” Gwen said out of the side of her mouth to Morgana and Merlin’ whoever could answer her.
“That’s our father,” Morgana said approaching the man with a smile on her face. Gwen’s face fell. She hadn’t been expecting that one. Then again, there weren’t any pictures of the family in Arthur and Morgana’s house. She had no idea what the man would look like.
“Time to meet the parent?” Merlin said with a smile on his face.
“You’ve already met! This isn’t fair,” Gwen protested as se was gently dragged towards the Pendragon family.
“You forget; you and Arthur aren’t anything yet. To Uther you are just a friend. He gets the chance to like you first. You won’t get the scrutiny I did. Besides, it’s not like you have to be a man and protect Arthur from all the horrible things in the world. Apparently I don’t look manly enough to protect Morgana from a sheep let alone a rogue knife-wielding attacker.”
“Oh good, that was helpful. Just the sort of person I want to be,” she said through her teeth as she smiled at the pair of Pendragon men.
“Dad, meet Guinevere.”
“Lovely to meet you, Guinevere.”
“Please, call me Gwen.”
“My son does not…”
“No, but that is because he is a little strange in the head, sir,” insulting his son probably wasn’t the best place to start.
To her surprise he seemed to take it quite well. He laughed at her joke and even continued it himself; “Landed on his head one too many times as a baby,” Uther laughed and held out his hand to her, “Nice to meet you, Gwen.”
She took his hand and shook it as firmly as she could manage. She was no push over; “You too, sir.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Starting with this weekend last year,” Arthur cleared his throat purposefully and Uther looked to him, “Still. Nice to put a face to the name.”
“Likewise. Well done, Arthur,” Gwen said turning her attention to him over his father who now seemed more interested in Merlin than her. The elder Pendragon started to talk to Merlin about things that passed so far over Gwen’s head she wouldn’t have been able to reach them on her tiptoes in Spice-Girl-platforms.
“My lucky charm struck again,” Arthur said with the cheesiest grin on his face.
“It would seem so,” Gwen said with a red tinge on her cheeks and shifting her weight from her left to right foot. She tucked a lose curl behind her ear.
“Best keep it up, hadn’t I?” he smiled bending his knees so that he could force Gwen to look at him.
“You had,” the reporters came back to him then, like moths to a flame, and started probing him for a response. Gwen excused herself and gracefully escaped to talk to Morgana rather than be scooped into Arthur’s world.
X
When Gwen woke the next morning she was alone. She distinctly remembered not falling asleep alone. She shut off the alarm that signalled half-six and got out of Arthur’s bed. She pulled her socks back on, feet cold from the layer of chill in the room that had been created by the open door than led onto a small balcony.
“Morning,” she greeted as she stepped out onto the balcony. She’d grabbed the first jumper she could find on her way out and pulled it over her head. She didn’t get a response from Arthur. “You okay?” she tried again.
“Fine,” he snipped and pushed back into the house.
Gwen looked after him and frowned.
X
“He can’t afford to knock a single fence. If he does then the other guy has a better chance of winning,” Morgana explained quickly. It certainly explained why Arthur was so snappy. He didn’t like to lose; that was the one thing Gwen had learnt in the last year.
“And if he does?” Gwen didn’t quite understand the logistics behind each and every round. She knew Arthur did stand a good chance of winning but like every championship running there were a number of other competitors that could still strip him of the title he so craved.
“Then we hope that the other guy falls.”
“Right,” Gwen nodded, slightly uncomfortable at the sudden change in atmosphere. They walked out to the car. Arthur was already in the driver’s seat, Merlin behind him waiting for Gwen to join him.
“Or hits every single fence.”
“So we go for a clean run for Arthur then?”
“Basically,” neither of them wanted to wish an ill run on another contestant. They needed to show sportsman ship and it wasn’t something that would come easily. But the crowds were behind Arthur the last two days; hopefully they would remain the same.
When the two girls climbed into the jeep it was tense. Arthur didn’t say anything before he pulled away from the front of the house.
“Alright, Gwen?” Merlin said before Morgana shot him a look that told the both that they should be quiet. Arthur needed to be only with his thoughts.
X
“Come on then, CK,” Arthur said into his horse’s ear as he leant forwards as he took to the arena, “Time to do me proud,” he trotted around the edge of the field once as the last competitor took the last fence with a good ease, “We can do this.”
Arthur kicked on into a canter and aimed CK at the first jump. He did it smoothly as he always had in practise. ‘One down’ Arthur thought to himself calmly rounding the corner to take the next three fences in a row with a great ease.
Fence after fence the pair took with confidence. The spectators watched on and clapped each jump, getting more excited with every jump that he did, “Good boy,” he said as he leant forward into one of the jumps.
With five jumps left to the course CK had only clipped one of the fences but it hadn’t fallen. The water jump had always been the horse’s downfall but right now Arthur aimed him at it with a new found confidence; he could do this.
“Come on, boy, we can do it,” he nudged his horse on and took the jump with a bit of added speed, leaving CK to clear the jump only touching his hoof to the water. Slight penalty but not enough to worry Arthur at all. He guided CK around the last jumps to the finish line with a beam of a smile on his face.
“Good lad,” he rubbed his hand beneath CK’s mane and kissed his neck as they slowed, “Good boy,” Arthur looked up then to the box and saw Morgana, Merlin, Gwen and his father all stood applauding him with big smiles on their faces.
It was a good, clean, run.
A new confidence coursed through Arthur. He could win this.
He caught Gwen’s gaze and grinned.
He jumped to the ground with a cheer when he got out of the arena and pulled his helmet from his head. He flung his arms around CK’s neck and kissed his horse affectionately before he was taken down to the stables to cool down.
“Good run, Pendragon,” his closest competitor said to him as he walked through towards the stands; “Really impressive.”
“Thanks, Tom,” he shook his outstretched hand quickly before he slipped up the steps towards the box and his friends.
X
Only a perfect run from Tom Billing would knock Arthur from the top spot. He was sat forwards in his seat. His foot was tapping repetitively on the floor of the stands. He kept rubbing his hand over his chin and over his mouth. Gwen was watching him more than she kept an eye on the action in the arena.
Tentatively, Gwen reached out and slipped her hand onto his knee. She gently squeezed his knee. He turned to smile at her but quickly looked back to the arena, an eager eye on the rider in the ring. So far so good for him, so far so not-so-good for Arthur. She’d never wished ill on any person before now, but she couldn’t help but want him to knock something. Anything.
She suddenly felt a warmth on her hand and she gently moved her hand to intertwine her fingers with his.
At that moment Billing’s horse caught one of the jumps with one of its back legs as it came down to land. Morgana celebrated as the fence came down. Billing continued to the next jump and the same happened.
Gwen squeezed his hand, she knew what it meant. His father clapped him on the shoulder. Arthur sat there speechless, the usually overly confident, boisterous Arthur completely gone.
“Congratulations,” she said to him. A mix of pride and nerves coursed through her as they watched Billing finish his run. Arthur was staring at the scoreboard, his name didn’t move. He slowly grinned as it dawned on him. He dropped her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. It was over as quickly as it began before he was pulled into another hug by Morgana.
X
The four guests Arthur had with him accumulated at the front of the crowd at the prize-giving.
Arthur jumped down from the podium and towards the four of them. He immediately reached to hug Gwen again. He pulled her from her feet and span in a quick circle. She wrapped her arms around his neck in case he lost grip so she didn’t fall. “Kiss for the lady,” one of the photographers started to say continuously once Arthur had put her feet firmly back on the ground.
“Congratulations Arthur,” she said quietly once again into his ear as she hugged him on her toes. They didn’t lose contact when he moved his head back to look at her.
“Kiss for the lady!”
In front of all these people? Gwen bit the inside of her lip, “Screw it,” she murmured under her breath and kissed him firmly on the lips. She felt him smile against her lips before he gently kissed her back. She had her fingers around his lapels, holding him to her.
The flashes around them went crazy; the local papers taking a constant stream of pictures of their winner and the woman he appeared to be involved with.
They parted and rested their foreheads together.
Merlin and Morgana and clapping a mixture of Arthur’s win and the kiss that had been a long time coming. The younger male kissed his girlfriend’s temple and waited for them to finish celebrating.
Uther clapped his son on the shoulder, rousing him from his daydream; “Congratulations, son. Well deserved,” the man looked to Gwen and nodded down at her. That was acceptance if ever Arthur saw it and he didn’t waste time before he leant down to kiss her again.
“Thank you,” he breathed into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her again to the pleasure of the photographers around them.
“Any time,” she pressed a light kiss to the side of his neck.
The group of the escaped the hounding of the local papers quickly after that. They’ all wanted to know what it felt like to return to the championships and claim his title for the fourth year in a row. Arthur had responded with an unprintable “Fucking Fantastic,” before they had all taken off towards the riders quarters to find a bottle of champagne and celebrate.
X
The sixth form students started to drift it at eight-thirty as the last alert bell sounded. Tom walked in with a paper tucked under his arm. He approached the small table in the corner and laid the paper down. He ripped off the back page. He dug around in the draw and found a stray blob of blu tack.
When Gwen walked out of the office two minutes later she was greeted with a wolf whistle; "Good morning to you too," she said with a bemused grin on her face. She looked at each of her Sixth Form students in turn. They were smiling at her a mixture of smirks, pride and suggestive looks on their faces, “What?”
"Nice pull, Miss," Tom stepped forwards and grinned. Gwen squinted at him. He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. Gwen's eyes followed it, leading to his decoration of the drama room wall with the article and picture about Arthur’s win at the Trials that weekend, "The Chronicle loved you. Very photogenic."
They couldn’t have used one of the pictures of Arthur and his trophy. They had chosen to go with the headline ‘Pendragon Victors a New Man’ to accompany a picture of the pair of them as she’d kissed him; "Oh sweet Jesus..."
"He's gorgeous," Amy said simply. The other girls in the class all agreed loudly, “Fit too, eh, Miss? Stamina of a horse…”
Tom laughed, "As I said: nice pull."
"Okay, okay,” Gwen started raising her hand to quieten the hubbub of noise that had started, “enough of my private life. We have rehearsals to do."
"Gwen and Arthur sitting in a tree..."
"Thomas," she warned, pulling his artwork down fro the wall and crushing it in her hand.
"I'm rehearsing..."
Gwen watched her students with glee as they began to act out their modern rendition of a Greek Tragedy. Full of incest, gods and death it was perfect. Until the end when they went ad-lib and started to madly interpret the scene given to them in the press; “Oh Arthur, you hunk of a man, whisk me from my feet and take me now!” Amy said as Tom had embraced her for their big kiss in the piece.
“Oh Gwen. I love you,” he declared and pulled Amy into his arms. He spun her around and dipped her. She squealed loudly as he did so, cut off by him kissing her very much in their own characters, “Meet me behind the stables,” he said dramatically.
Gwen cleared her throat; “And on that note can we please go back to the actual script and finish this? It was perfect until this last bit.”
“That last bit was the best bit,” Tom defended as he walked back to his position to start the scene again, “Too much? Over the top, Miss?”
“Pretty accurate,” she said with a suggestive grin.
The students all looked at her with gaping mouths and wide eyes.
X
Working at her desk in the drama office she wasn't expecting anyone to knock on the door. "You've got a visitor," Ellis announced nodding towards the door. Gwen looked up and smiled.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile on her face. She moved out of the office and away from Ellis' prying ears. Arthur stooped quickly kissing her on the lips. She smiled against him before remembering she was stood in the middle of her classroom. She withdrew from him.
"I got some weird looks when I came in," he said in partial wonderment. He’d known where the drama department was from his days in the school a decade ago. It had barely changed at all which had made it slightly easier on him rather than having to ask around.
"Uh yeah,” she reached into the bin and pulled out Tom’s screwed up news paper. She uncrumpled it and flattened it against her stomach, “A few of them picked up on the papers...” she handed it to him, “Back page news. I feel so special."
"Ah," Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and flattened his hair down, "so would it be inappropriate to take you to lunch?" he asked looking up from the picture with an awkward smile. He’d never thought his personal life was the stuff of newspapers; but it had been a feed they could take up for the local story.
"I've only got fifteen more minutes of my lunch break left. But you're welcome to stay here for a bit. I've got a free lesson after registration. You can help me mark the year seven work," she joked.
"Sounds like fun."
"Liar.”
"You're right," he smiled, “But I can entertain you whilst you work,” she didn’t think the school would like it particularly if she kept him with her, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. She could always write it off as an educational plight. Just a long as they both behaved.
"The year thirteens will be in later rehearsing for their exam next week."
"I can disappear then if you want."
"They could do with an audience."
"In that case I'll happily stay."
"Be prepared for teasing."
"Like a group of kids could put me off."
"They've got a talent for it," Gwen checked her watch and double checked on the classroom clock. She had to check her pigeon hole in the staffroom before she headed to the English department to her tutor group, "I should get going to registration. I'll be back in 10 minutes. You'll be okay with Ellis?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine."
"He shouldn't bite. Though sometimes I fear he might."
"Duly noted," she quickly pecked him on the cheek, "What about dinner? Are you free for dinner?"
"I think I can manage that. I better go to registration."
"I'll see you in a bit then?"
"Yeah," she grabbed her papers, "I'll be back soon."
He grabbed her hand and tugged her back towards him. He kissed her chastely on the lips before he let her go; "Now you can leave."
X
The summer sun was low in the sky as Arthur pulled up outside of Gwen's building. The pair of them regarded each other for a moment before she took off her seatbelt; "Thanks for a lovely evening," she beamed as he shut the engine off.
"Thank you for the company," he shifted in his seat to face her. She smiled as she leant in to kiss him. He reciprocated in kind. He raised his hand to the nape of her neck. Gwen kissed him again feeling a rise of assertiveness as she ran her tongue over his lip. She felt his tongue against her own. His hand moved down her arm to her waist, gently caressing the muscles beneath her shirt.
Arthur rested his forehead against hers with a small smile on his face. She pecked him on the lips, "Would you like to come in?"
"I'd like that."
X
Two miles away in the pub on the outskirts of the city there sat one couple and four other men. Each of them jolly and happily drinking their beverages with glee. There was something missing for them though; “Where did you say he was?” Percy asked with a confused frown on his face.
“He’s celebrating with Gwen,” Merlin answered and grinned. Gwaine wolf-whistled and solemnly downed the rest of his pint. His last chance well and truly gone (even though he had known for a while now that he was never going to actually get the chance he liked to hope).
“I don’t want to know,” Lance said pushing his fingers into his ears for comic effect, “What they do in their spare time isn’t something I wish to hear about.”
“We don’t get a choice,” Merlin interjected.
“To the happy couple and the incredibly happy champion,” Percy toasted, “May they be happy and sprightly forever.”
“Or until Arthur’s next competition when he’ll drive her insane and she’ll impale him with a fork,” Morgana suggested raising her glass to Percy’s.
“Or that!” Percy said and the group of them clashed their glasses together.
Leon, who had sat quietly in the corner finally spoke up, “You know,” he started, “We should celebrate for him if he’s going to be a boring sod and celebrate alone. Champagne all around?”
“Make mine a pitcher,” Morgana had said loudly, “Champagne gives me a headache.”
X
Arthur reclined against the arm of the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Gwen nestled against his chest as they watched the late night comedy. Arthur's body shook as he laughed. Gwen smiled into his chest and cuddled into his side.
"You know, you never celebrated your win, not properly," she said, she splayed her fingers against his chest and rested her chin on her hand as she looked up at him.
"I did," he stated simply, "I spent my evening like this."
"Exactly; the same as a non-celebratory night," Gwen frowned. Surely he wanted to do something, anything, to celebrate his victory for a fourth year in a row.
"Perhaps the celebration is continuing still," he moved to kiss her and smiled, "I don't need anything else," he ran his hand along the small of her back, catching her skin as the material of her shirt lifted.
"We could have done something more interesting, like go to the cinema or hang out with the guys or something."
"And have them fawn over my girlfriend? I'd rather have you to myself. What?" he noticed Gwen smiling at him dopily.
"'Girlfriend'," she smiled coyly, "Boyfriend."
"'Sex god’,” he corrected.
"I wouldn't know about that," Gwen said honestly; her imagination agreed with her. She thought him to be the tender lover who would make it as much about her and her pleasure as much as his own.
"Ask Gwaine," he smirked.
Gwen laughed heartily, "That really doesn't surprise me."
"I was joking."
"I wasn't."
"I know."
Gwen kissed him firmly on the lips. He pushed up from the sofa cushions gently nipping her lip, "I'm sure I could find out," Arthur raised an eyebrow at her with a teasing smile on his lips, "What?"
"Nothing," he kissed her, “I didn’t mean for you to think that I meant-“
“No,” Gwen buried her head into his shoulder and smiled, embarrassed, “I know. In time I’ll find out. I have no plans or rules as for when it shall be. Should be come about tonight or tomorrow or next Thursday or in three months; it’ll happen for the right reasons and it’ll be the right time.”
Arthur silenced her with a kiss; “You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he said with a positively gorgeous smile on his face. How she’d managed to resist him at all during the nights she’d spent in his bed she had no idea. She didn’t know if now the barriers had been broken she’d be able to fight to keep any of them erected, “I know I’m a sex god, I don’t need you to tell me.”
“Only Gwaine to,” they both laughed. The notion really wasn’t that disturbing to Gwen. They pair were very close. Even if the conclusion didn’t come from first-hand experience it would come from accounts of personal experience and one-upping each other over the years, “But I’m serious; don’t you want to do something to celebrate?”
“Like drink one of your god awful bottles of wine?” Arthur jibed with a wicked grin flashing across his face. He nuzzled into the top of her hair as she stared off into space.
“Yes, like that.”
“Do you have any god awful bottles of wine for me to get you drunk on? Having you powerless to resist me-” she elbowed him in the side. He caught her hand and stretched it out so she was unable to attempt an injury again.
“No…”
He gave a hearty laugh and reclined further into the cushions; “Then there goes that plan…”
END NOTE: Thanks to everybody who has read this along the way =]
I had great fun writing it so this probably isn't the end of this verse... big thanks go out to sgmajorshipper and xxkezziexx for there beta work and mustbethursday3 for the original prompt =]