Part 20: link


    “Let’s see if these guys are any good, shall we?” Arthur asks, sliding his new record from its cardboard jaket and paper sleeve, spinning it between his palms as he walks to the stereo.    “Not too loud, though, I’m trying to rest,” Gwen says from her place curled on the couch. Arthur’s brought her a blanket and a decent pillow, and Iggy has curled himself behind her bent knees.
    “Of course not. The bloke upstairs hates it when I play my musik too loud anyway,” he says, fitting the record on the spindle and dropping the needle at the edge.
    “So I presume that means anda play records at full volume as often as possible, then?” she asks, her eyes closed now.
    “Naturally.”
    The musik comes forth, and while Gwen doesn’t yet have as deep an appreciation for this particular genre, she can already tell that it was a worthwhile purchase. They’re good.
    She smiles as she feels his soft lips press her forehead, then her cheek, as he walks back to his easel, muttering something about his cat being lucky.
    The buildings are tall around me. It’s warm and humid, but an occasional cool breeze blows my hair from my shoulders, whips the rok around my legs.
    I’m back in Chicago, walking downtown, on Michigan Avenue. People walk around me, going about their busy lives, paying us no heed whatsoever. Across the jalan, street I see a berwarna merah muda, merah muda and green kuda zebra, zebra trotting down the sidewalk. A garden gnome carrying a tiny tas kantor, tas strides past, muttering a tiny “Excuse me,” as he passes.
    “Guinevere, look at that,” Arthur says, pointing. I follow his finger and see Buckingham air mancur straight ahead in the park. I look at Arthur, and he is my same Arthur, just with no Mohawk, no nose ring, no earrings. Ridiculously handsome with his golden hair falling across his forehead, glinting in the sun.
    “Let’s go,” I say, smiling at him, squeezing his large hand in mine. We wait at the corner for the traffic light to change. The cars speed oleh us, honking, bumper to bumper. A maharaja passes, membaca a newspaper and riding an elephant. People yell, police sirens blare in the distance.
    “I like it here. It’s so busy,” Arthur says, leaning down to ciuman my cheek.
    “I think it would wear on me after a while. I like a bit of quiet, anda know.”
    The light changes, and we hurry across the street, knowing we don’t have a lot of time. Sure enough, the signal starts to flash before we’re already across.
    “Is that the lake?” he asks me, pointing again.
    “No, it’s the Atlantic Ocean. Of course it’s the lake, silly,” I say, giggling at him as he scowls at me.
    “Okay, yeah, I suppose that was a stupid question. Come on, let’s go check out the fountain.” He pulls my hand and starts heading towards the fountain. “Which lake is that again?”
    “Lake Michigan,” I say, looking over at its vast bright blue surface, shimmering in the sun. As we approach the fountain, it starts snowing, but the weather is still warm, so we don’t mind.
    We sit on the edge of the fountain, enjoying the snow, watching it float around us, landing on the roses, the palm trees, the cacti.
    I watch Arthur again, marveling at his appearance. He is always devastatingly handsome, but it amazes me that he can look just as wonderful yet so completely different.
    “I cinta you, Guinevere,” he says suddenly, taking my hands in his, lifting them to his lips to ciuman my fingers.
    “Oh, Arthur, I’ve been waiting to hear those words. I cinta you, too, so much it hurts sometimes,” I say. I can feel the tears pricking my eyes as I beam at him, my jantung filling to the point that I feel as thought it may burst from my chest.
    He leans meneruskan, ke depan to capture my lips with his, and I cling to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, parting my lips for him, meeting his tongue with mine. I feel him leaning over me, laying me back into the fountain, but instead of getting soaked, we float in the surprisingly warm water, completely dry.
    The air mancur cradles us, secludes us from the world, as we pass under its spray into its center, where Arthur continues to ciuman me, trailing his lips to my neck, his fingers reaching to the strap of my sundress. He slides it down over my shoulder and the dress disappears completely.
    Both naked, inside the fountain, he caresses my skin, kisses my breasts, whispering how much he loves me all the while. I float in the water, my hands in his hair, holding his head, guiding it where I want him to go.
    I close my eyes for a moment and just feel. His full lips. His amazingly beautiful hands. His tongue. His erect member. The light hair of his chest.
    When I open my eyes, it is night and we are in some impossibly soft rumput now, under the stars. The waves on the nearby lake crash against the rocks below, the soft rhythmic roar reaching our ears.
    It feels like Arthur is all around me, enveloping me, and I feel loved; safe. Secure. A full moon shines down on us now, soft and orange, as we make cinta in the park, his shaft sliding into me as if it belongs there, as if we are two halves of one whole.
    “Arthur…” I breathe his name, wrapping myself around him. The sound of the waves serenades our love, birds gabung in as well, along with a peculiar ringing sound…
    “Bloody fucking hell,” Arthur grumbles, stomping to the phone. “What?” he says crossly into the receiver, glancing back at Gwen as she blinks her eyes open, looking around the flat, appearing slightly confused.
    “Good afternoon to anda as well, your bloody highness,” Merlin’s sarcastic voice jawaban back at him.
    “Guinevere was sleeping, dipshit,” Arthur says, still grumbling. And I was having a wonderful time watching her.
    “Oh, sorry. The lads and I are wondering if anda two were going to come up for air at some point.”
    “We went out for lunch with her dad,” Arthur says. “So we’ve been out.”
    “Oho, lunch with Daddy, eh? Is he still giving anda the business?”
    “I’m starting to win him over.” He looks back at Gwen, who is now sitting up and petting Iggy. She smiles at him and he blows her a kiss.
    “Good. Now. Haul your sorry backsides out to the pub and have makan malam with us.”
    “Guinevere, Merlin wants us to come to the pub for dinner,” Arthur says to her.
    “Sure, I can give them their souvenirs,” she says. Arthur scowls, and she chuckles. Clearly he didn’t want to go. Now what the hell was I dreaming about?
    “I guess we’re coming,” Arthur tells Merlin.
    “Don’t put yourself out atau anything, Drag,” Merlin says.
    “Shut it. Guinevere has presents for anda blokes, though I can’t imagine what anda did to deserve anything.”
    “She didn’t have to do that!”
    “That’s what I told her.”
    “Good thing she doesn’t listen to you.”
    “See anda later,” Arthur says, ignoring him.
    “Later, Dungbrain.”
    Arthur hangs up the phone and switches the record off. “What on earth were anda dreaming about?” he asks.
    “It’s a little fuzzy now,” she says, pulling the elastic band holding her hair back and running her fingers through it, her face puzzling.
    “It was, um, quite entertaining to watch,” he says, walking over to gabung her on the couch. “Down,” he tells Iggy, and the cat hops off the dipan, sofa flicking his tail in Arthur’s face as he does so.
    Gwen laughs, and Arthur says, “He does that on purpose.”
    “Of course he does.”
    “So…” he prompts.
    “I’m trying to remember. It was kind of… weird.”
    “Weird? It didn’t look weird. It looked… erotic.”
    “Oh! Um, yeah,” she thinks, realizing that she is still quite warm and parts of her are rather tingly as well. Oh God, did I say anything? Was I moaning? “It was that, too, I think. It must have been…” she trails off as Arthur’s eyes rake over her face, pausing at her chest, down, then back up again.
    She definitely looks aroused. Like when are… “Yes,” Arthur agrees, his voice cracking a little. He leans over to ciuman her neck, her throat.
    “We were in Chicago,” she suddenly remembers. “But strange things kept happening.”
    “Oh?” he asks, his hand starting to explore.
    “Yeah. There was a… a zebra? It was the wrong colors, though. And a talking garden gnome with a briefcase.”
    “What?” he pulls away, laughing now.
    “It was summer, but it started snowing. And there were cacti in the park. And palm trees. Neither of which grow in Chicago.”
    “Anything else?”
    “We were making cinta in a fountain,” she remembers, eyes widening.
    “Kinky,” he grins, nibbling her ear now.
    “No, no, it wasn’t like that at all. People weren’t watching us atau anything.”
    “Not even the business gnome?”
    She laughs now. “No, not even him.”
    “Always thought those little buggers were suspicious. Little perverts, probably.”
    Gwen laughs harder now, pushing him away. “Now I know what to get anda for Christmas,” she teases.
    Arthur leans back in, ever persistent, and kisses her lips.
    He told me he loved me, she remembers. Her eyes fly open and she gasps.
    “What? Did anda remember something else?”
    “Um, no. I just… my mouth is all nasty from sleeping,” she says hurriedly, grabbing the nearest excuse.
    “I don’t really care,” he says, leaning back in.
    “Well I do. Plus I have to pee. What time are we going to the pub?” she asks, standing.
    “Whenever you’d like, I guess.”
    “Well, let me freshen up a bit and we can go.” With that, she disappears to the bathroom, leaving a very confused and slightly frustrated Arthur sitting on the couch.
    What else was in that dream?

    “Gwen!” Merlin exclaims as they walk into the dimness of the pub, scurrying out from behind the bar to give her a hug.
    “Hello Merlin, it’s good to see you, too,” she laughs, hugging him back tightly.
    As if on cue, Gwaine and Ox walk in, and Leon emerges from the back of the pub, wearing an apron.
    “Sparrow!” Gwaine exclaims, striding up to her and pulling her body flush against his. “Welcome home,” he says, his voice low and soft, and he leans in to ciuman her when Arthur clears his throat loudly. oleh now Gwen is laughing too hard anyway, so Gwaine just kisses her cheek and hands her over to Ox, who, as usual, hugs her oleh lifting her off her feet.
    “Ox, it’s good to see you,” she says, smiling up at him as Leon strides over her, giving her a quick hug, careful to not get any grease from his celemek on her. “Hi, Leon, what’s on the menu tonight?”
    “Going simple tonight. Burgers and chips.”
    “Sounds delicious.”
    “Leon makes the chips himself, too. Chops up the potatoes and everything,” Merlin says as Leon heads back.
    “Don’t hurry off, Leon, I have something for you,” Gwen calls back.
    “You didn’t need to bring me anything,” he says, pausing.
    “Well, I have souvenirs for all of you, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
    “Sparrow, your returning so that Drag stops akting a royal twat is present enough,” Gwaine says, and they all laugh. Except Arthur.
    “Okay, okay,” Gwen says, sitting at the bar, setting her bag on the top. Merlin sets pints down for her and Arthur.
    “Leon, I’ll do yours first so anda can get back,” she says, handing him a flat paper bag.
    “Feels like a book,” he says, sliding it out. It is a cookbook called Chicago Cuisine, which he immediately opens, flipping through the pages, eyes alight, looking at the pictures, muttering to himself.
    “He likes it,” Merlin chuckles, shoving him on the shoulder. “Hey.”
    “Oh. Thanks, Gwen, this is brilliant. I cinta it. Will have to try some of these this week,” he says, grinning like a giddy child.
    “I’m glad. I thought anda would enjoy it. Now, Ox, my dear,” she gives him a bag containing something soft and floppy.
    “What on earth could this be?” he wonders, and pulls out a t-shirt that says Chicago Police Department across the front. “Oh, wow. The lads at the Yard will be so jealous,” he grins.
    “Except my dad, he has one similar,” Gwen laughs, “but not exactly the same.”
    “Well, that’s good. Wouldn’t want people mixing us up, now,” he says, eyes twinkling.
    “Yes, there’s certainly a danger of that,” Arthur says, as they all laugh.
    “Ox!” Merlin exclaims as the large man peels off his current kemeja and puts the new one on.
    “Fits. Would anda be terribly offended if…”
    “If anda cut the sleeves off?” Gwen finishes. “Be my guest. It’s your shirt. I’m glad it fits; I kind of had to guess. My brother is nowhere near your size, so I couldn’t even use him to compare.”
    Ox peels the kemeja off again and puts the other one back on, presumably so he can make the necessary alterations before he actually wears the thing.
    “Gwaine,” she says and hands him a wad of tissue paper wrapped around something hard.
    “Hmm,” he says, peeling back the layers of tissue to reveal a shot glass with the Sears Tower on it. “Perfect.”
    “A shot glass with a phallic symbol on it. Yes, that is quite perfect,” Arthur laughs.
    Gwaine sets the glass on the bar with a bang. “Fill me up, my good man,” he declares. Merlin takes the glass from him and washes it first before pouring out a measure of whiskey for him. He lifts the glass to Gwen in a toast, then knocks it back. “And it works,” he declares.
    “Finally, Merlin. anda were kind of difficult, actually,” she says, handing him another wad of tissue, this one larger, heavier.
    “Hmm, what could this be?” he asks, unwrapping it. He holds up a glass globe on a black base, filled with water and containing a miniature of downtown Chicago. But instead of fake snow inside, when he turns it, iridescent glitter swirls and floats, shimmering over the buildings. “Cool,” he breathes, staring at it.
    “Do anda like it?” she asks, biting her lip.
    He looks up. “I cinta it, thank you, Gwen.” He smiles his crooked smile at her.
    “I’m so glad. I really was stumped for yours,” she says, watching him as he turns the globe again, smiling as his bright blue eyes track the glitter as it moves.
    “It’s perfect,” he says.
    “They had a kind with snow, but somehow the glitter seemed lebih interesting. Better.” More magical, like your story.
    “Definitely,” he says, turning it yet again.
    They all chorus various thank-yous to her, and she smiles and waves them off. “It was nothing, really. Gwaine, is your sister around? I have something for her as well.”
    He looks at her. “You bought something for Phil?”
    “Well, of course.”
    Merlin is already on the phone, ringing the flat she shares with Gwaine selanjutnya door, above the shop. “Hey, Phil, it’s Merlin. Sorry to bother you, but could anda come down to the pub for a minute?”
    He pauses, and looks up to see all eyes on him.
    “Um, Gwen is back and she has a souvenir for you.”
    “No, I don’t know what it bloody is. Just please come down, okay?”
    He hangs up the phone with a sigh, and looks at Gwen. “You’re lucky she likes you.”
    A few menit later she comes through the door, and Justin, the new bouncer, gives her a rather appraising look as she passes him, causing Gwaine to chuckle fiendishly and the rest of the lads to wince sympathetically.
    “Poor ignorant sod,” Ox mutters quietly, and Gwen punches his arm. “Is there a nyamuk in here? I think I just felt something tiny brush my arm,” he asks the group, looking around. Gwen laughs and then heads over to Phil.
    “Welcome home, Girlie,” Phil greets her, and Gwen carefully hugs the other woman, knowing it may be rebuffed. What is it with their family and names, anyway? Gwaine calls me ‘Sparrow’ and Phil apparently has settled on ‘Girlie.’ Oh well, could be worse, Much to everyone’s surprise, Phil pats Gwen’s back once, quickly but kindly, before Gwen backs away and hands her a small box.
    “I saw these and knew I had to get them for you,” Gwen says.
    “Oh, really?” Phil says, suspicious, taking the box. She opens it, and suddenly there are five pairs of male eyes (Leon has emerged from the dapur once again) looming over the two small females, nosy as a cluster of old hens.
    Phil laughs, withdrawing a pair of earrings shaped like tiny Tommy guns from the box. “These are fucking great,” she declares, immediately pulling her own silver hoops out and replacing them with the machine guns.
    “I’m so glad anda like them,” Gwen smiles, relieved.
    “Where the hell did anda find those?” Gwaine asks, and Gwen gets the impression that he was wishing she’d brought him a pair.
    “At the same place I got the album I got Drag and the kerah I got Iggy, actually,” she says. “It was technically a record store, but it was lebih of a… punk emporium. anda blokes would have loved it.”
    “You got Iggy a collar?” Leon finally asks, breaking the silence.
    “That’s the tidbit anda choose to grab?” Gwen asks. “Yes, I got Iggy an amazing collar, and he loves it.”
    “But only because she gave it to him,” Arthur chimes in. “It’s actually a very cool collar. It looks like this,” he points to his belt, “and the tag is shaped like a skull. She even had his name engraved on the back.”
    They are still staring at Gwen. Gwaine looks at Arthur. “You’re sure it’s your cat?”
    “Quite sure. He still treats me like I’m a squatter in his flat.”
    “Right, fair enough. Leon, where’s the grub, mate?”
    “One minute, just toasting the rolls,” he says, heading back to the kitchen, grabbing Merlin around the shoulders as he goes. He pokes his head back out the door and calls, “Phyllis, fancy a burger?”
    They all turn and look at Phil, who pauses a moment before shrugging and saying, “Yeah, all right.”
    Leon grins and his curly head disappears again behind the door.
    The group moves from the bar and pushes a few tables together, sitting. “So, tell us about Chicago, Gwen,” Ox says, leaning forward.
    “I’d better wait till Merlin and Leon come back out atau they’ll kill me. I’ve brought photos.”
    “Excellent,” Gwaine declares, standing and taking his shot glass to the bar again, hopping up and laying across it to pour himself another measure of whiskey.
    “Leon’s going to kick your backside,” Phil komentar from her place beside Gwen, not even turning around to see what he’s doing.
    “Not if he doesn’t find out,” Gwaine says, but as soon as he lifts the glass to his lips, Leon and Merlin emerge, laden with food.
    “You’re paying for that one, Mick,” Leon says, eyeing him as the two men walk out from behind the bar to the tables.
    “Yeah, yeah, put it on my tab,” Gwaine says dismissively, sauntering back to the table, but instead of sitting back beside his sister, he plunks down between Ox and Merlin, so that the only available kursi for Leon is selanjutnya to Phil.
    Am I missing something? Gwen thinks as she sees Merlin and Gwaine biting back their smirks. She looks at Arthur, who just nods slightly before he leans over and kisses her cheek.
    “So let’s see this brother of yours,” Phil declares as they all dig in to their food, passing around condiments and napkins.
    “Mmm, hang on,” Gwen says, wiping her hands after popping a chip into her mouth. “Oh my God, Leon, these are fabulous.”
    “Thanks. My gran taught me everything I know about food, actually.”
    “Well, your gran is to be commended. Here,” she says, handing the first picture to Phil. It’s of Elyan, selanjutnya to a large planter overflowing with petunias outside the hotel.
    “Ooo, he’s cute,” Phil declares, much to all the lads’ surprise. “Not very tall, though, is he?”
    “No one in my family is tall,” Gwen says with a sigh.
    “Yeah, her dad is, um, stocky. Powerfully built. But tall? No,” Percival says, taking a bite that effectively removes a full third of his burger in one go.
    “You have the same eyes,” she says, passing the picture on to Leon, who takes it gently, carefully, his eyes lingering on Phil for just a fraction longer than they should, and Gwen catches it this time.
    Aha. Wonder how long he’s been pining. Wonder if she even knows?
    Gwen takes a bite of her burger and then hands the selanjutnya picture to Phil. “Buckingham air mancur in Grant Park. Nothing to do with the palace. I asked,” she chuckles, glancing at Arthur for just a brief moment, remembering her strange dream. He catches her eye and gives her a look that seems to say fountain, hey? She blushes and moves to the selanjutnya photo.
    “Lake Michigan. Very cold. El warned me, but I had to dip a toe in anyway. Just about froze my foot off! And yet there were people swimming in it. It was like an ice bath!”
    She continues alternating eating with handing out pictures, which get passed around the table, ending with Arthur, who stacks them neatly beside him.
    Pictures and food exhausted, they all lean back in their chairs. “That was probably the best burger I’d had in a long time, Leon. Not that I eat a lot of burgers, but if they all tasted like that, I probably would do,” Gwen says. Leon just smiles and blushes slightly.
    “Guinevere, tell them where Elyan took anda Thursday night,” Arthur prompts, placing his hand over hers.
    She looks around the meja at them and declares, “A disco.”
    There is a collective groan, and Gwaine drops his head to the tabletop.

    “So what’s the deal with Leon and Phil?” Gwen asks, back in Arthur’s flat.
    “He likes her.”
    “Thank you, Holmes.”
    “Well, he likes her, but he’s a little afraid of her. We all are.”
    “I’m not.”
    “I noticed that,” he says, pulling her into his lap.
    Iggy meows behind them, and Gwen stands. “I’ll feed him,” she says, heading to the kitchen.
    “Sure, get even further into his good graces,” Arthur calls, but he lets her do it anyway, leaning his head back against the back of the cushioned chair he is currently occupying.
    “Anyway, he really wants to ask her out, but he’s a bit shy with the ladies.”
    “He’s fine with me,” she says, emptying a can of cat food into Iggy’s dish.
    “That’s because he knows anda were already spoken for. His confidence with women has been nonexistent since the Marisol incident.”
    “Poor thing. Any woman would be lucky to have a bloke like Leon,” Gwen returns to Arthur now, having refreshed Iggy’s water and diberikan him a little scratch behind the ears.
    “Oh really?” Arthur says, raising an eyebrow.
    “Yeah. He’s handsome, tall, and those curls, of course. He’s polite and sweet. And he can cook. Huge turn-on, that. anda should see the reactions El gets when he tells ladies that he’s a pastry chef.”
    Arthur makes a face.
    Gwen laughs and says, “And that is the reaction he usually gets from other men, men who aren’t in the culinary industry, when he tells them what he does.”
    He quickly schools his face back to a neutral expression, and Gwen laughs even more.
    “I cinta your laugh,” Arthur says, a finger caressing her face, thumb grazing the corner of one twinkling eye.
    She smiles at him and kisses his forehead. “Does Phil know? That Leon likes her?”
    “I don’t think so. I don’t think Leon knows that we all know, actually. And honestly, um, we’re not sure if Phil, ah, likes men. anda know, like likes likes.”
    “You mean anda think she might be a lesbian?” Gwen says.
    “Um, yeah.”
    “I don’t think she is.”
    “Why do anda say that?”
    “Well, she hasn’t tried to go in for a grope atau chat me up atau anything,” she jokes. “I’ve seen the way she looks at some of the men in the shop. When she thinks no one’s looking, anda know. Seriously, though, she just doesn’t have a very good opinion of herself. I think that’s why she’s so surly. She figures since she doesn’t like herself, no one else needs to, either.”
    “That’s twisted.”
    “You try growing up with a brother like Gwaine, see how well-adjusted anda are. I mean, Gwaine’s a great guy, but I imagine she was in his shadow a lot,” she says.
    “Whoa. Never thought of it that way. He does always like to be the center of attention. Parents doted on him, actually. Got everything he wanted…” he trails off, thinking.
    “And poor Phyllis was always in the background, ignored, right?”
    “Yeah. Wow,” he says, looking up at her again. “You’re really smart.”
    “Yes, darling, there is lebih to me than my fabulous breasts.”
    “Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Arthur says, eyes dropping to them intentionally, his hands caressing her back now. “Wait, well there are your delicious lips,” he says, ciuman them. “And your delectable backside.” He drops a hand to squeeze a cheek. “And your wonderful…” his eyes drop to her lap.
    “Arthur!” she exclaims, blushing bright red.
    He grins fiendishly and continues. “Not to mention your amazingly gorgeous feet,” he says, reaching down for one, curled in his lap, unfolding her leg, running his hand along its length before squeezing her foot lightly, rubbing it with his thumb.
    Arthur leans in and kisses her, her foot still in his hand, caressing it as his tongue caresses hers. Gwen’s hands squeeze his broad shoulders, wrapping around him, pulling him closer.
    “Guinevere,” Arthur whispers, his lips on her cheek, brushing, feather-light. “I…”
    “Yes, Arthur?” she whispers back, her pulse quickening.
    “I…” he pauses again. “I need to use the loo,” he says, deflating against her, head on her shoulder.
    “Oh.” Gwen climbs down from his lap and he stands. She looks at him and he avoids her gaze, ducking his head and going down the hall.
    Fuck. Stupid clotpole cabbage head.

Part 22: link