Part 26: link
When they enter the pub, a very strange scene greets them. Phil is there, which is unusual in itself. She is seated at a table, and there is a cast from her toes to just below the knee of her right leg. The casted foot is elevated and is being cradled gently in Leon’s lap as he sits opposite her at the table. And they appear to be having a very nice and very intimate conversation.
“…The fuck?” is all that Arthur can manage as they stare.
“Gwen, what’s going on? Why are we just standing here?” Freya whispers.
“It’s a really long story. I’ll have to catch anda up later,” Gwen explains, smiling broadly, wondering what on earth happened while they were away.
Leon looks up and over at them, blushes, grins, and then returns his attention to Phil, shyly taking her hand in his now.
She lets him, and Merlin says, “I need a drink.”
There are no empty tables, so Arthur approaches one where a man is sitting, alone and nearly unconscious. “Oi, Tony. Push off, we want the table,” he says, hauling the man up oleh his shoulder and passing him to Justin, who came over to help.
“Call him a taxi, mate, he’s done,” Arthur says, and Justin nods as he takes Tony to the door. Merlin has grabbed a cloth and wipes the meja and the chairs before pulling one out for Freya. She smiles at him and sits.
Merlin and Arthur go to the bar to get them drinks, and that’s when Gwaine decides to saunter over and introduce himself.
“Well, well, the Sparrow has brought a friend with her,” he purrs, sitting in Merlin’s chair. “So, little mousie, what is your name?” He leans against the table, angling towards Freya.
“Gwaine, this is my friend Freya. Freya, this is Gwaine, a semi-harmless scoundrel who owns the tattoo parlor selanjutnya door where Arthur works.”
“Nice to meet you,” Freya says as Gwaine takes her hand and kisses it, following with his best smolder, looking directly into her eyes in that way he has.
Merlin is scowling as he and Arthur approach, looking daggers at Gwaine as he kisses Freya’s hand.
But Freya is giving Gwen a look that clearly says is this bloke for real? and Merlin’s face relaxes.
“Looks like someone’s beaten me to it, hey?” Gwaine asks Gwen.
“Move it,” Merlin says, setting their glasses down.
Gwaine sighs and pulls up another chair, selanjutnya to Gwen now.
“So spill. What the hell happened?” Gwen asks him, nodding towards Leon and Phyllis.
“Oh, God, this has been a hell of a night, let me tell you…”
Phil closes the door to the flat above the tattoo toko that she shares with Gwaine and heads down the stairwell, fumbling with her keys as she heads out to grab a bite to eat. Five steps from the bottom, her tangled keys drop from her hand, and, cursing quietly, she bends to retrieve them, not paying much attention to what her feet are doing. She misses the step and falls, tumbling down the last bit, turning her foot painfully beneath her in the process.
“Fuck!” she yells, the pain in her ankle like a hot knife. “I need this, too,” she says sarcastically. “Fucking shit.”
She tries to stand, but it is immediately clear that her injured ankle will beruang no weight, and the pain is making her feel a little nauseous. She sits back down.
“Leon!” she yells, knowing he is up there, across the corridor, in his flat. “Leon!” she tries again, louder. “Leon, anda wanker, come and help me!”
She stops yelling for a moment to will the tears away, determined that whoever finds her will not find her crying.
“LEON!!”
A few detik later, she hears the door open, and his puzzled face appears at the puncak, atas of their shared stairwell.
“Oh, shit, hang on,” he says hurriedly, disappearing again.
“Where are anda going?” she yells, frustrated and angry.
“Shoes!” she hears him yell back. He reappears a moment later and flies down the stairs.
“What happened?” he gasps, stupidly.
“I fell down the bloody stairs. What the fuck do anda think happened?” she asks crossly.
“Sorry,” he apologizes. “Where are anda hurt?”
“Ankle. Hurts like a bitch.”
“Here,” Leon bends down and he is about to help her up when he spies her keys. “Ah, I presume these are responsible?” he asks, handing them to her.
“Yes,” she snaps, taking them and stuffing them in her bag.
He helps her to her feet, his arm around her waist. She wobbles and closes her eyes.
“No good. Dizzy as hell.”
“Did anda hit your head?”
“No, don’t think so. The fucking pain from my fucking ankle is making me fucking ill.”
“We need to get anda to hospital, I think. Get anda an x-ray,” Leon says, bending again to lift her in his arms.
“Whoa,” she says, blinking in surprise at how strong the slender man is.
Leon stands a moment, thinking. My car is too far away. Wow, I never noticed how green her eyes are.
“Um, Leon?” she says, gingerly bringing her arm up around his neck, holding on. The action brings her closer to him, and she momentarily forgets about the pain in her leg. He smells really good, she thinks, resisting the urge to lean in closer and press her nose into his neck.
“Right. Thinking,” he says, and he starts to the door. “My car is down the street, so I’ll have to set anda down and go get it.”
She reaches down and turns the knob on the door, and he pushes it open with his foot, carefully stepping through sideways so as not to bump her.
He walks to the door of the pub, and a very surprised-looking Justin quickly opens the door.
Gwaine’s head snaps up immediately when they come in. “What happened?” he asks, knowing that the only way his sister would allow herself to be carried is if she couldn’t walk.
“I fell down the fucking stairs,” she says angrily, blinking back tears again, now as much from embarrassment as anything else.
“She may have broken her ankle,” Leon says, setting her carefully in a chair that Gwaine has pulled out. He hovers close, not really wanting to leave her to go get his car.
Gwaine kneels down selanjutnya to his sister, concern clearly etched on his face. “Did anda trip on something? I didn’t leave my boots out there atau anything, did I?”
“No, I dropped my bloody keys and fell when I tried to pick them up. Just down the last bit. I didn’t fall the whole way,” she says, wincing as she tries to find a comfortable position.
“I’ll go get my car,” Leon says, but then Phil grabs his hand.
“Can anda send someone to get it?” she asks, her voice very quiet.
“Justin,” Leon calls immediately. “Go get my car, mate,” he says, tossing his keys.
“Where is it?”
“Down the block, that way,” Leon points.
Justin leaves, and Leon pulls up a chair selanjutnya to Phil.
“We should try and get this boot off,” Gwaine says, sitting cross-legged on the sticky pub floor. He carefully pulls his sister’s foot into his lap and starts to unlace her boot.
“No, leave it,” she protests, hissing in pain as he works.
“Philly, it’s either we take it off here, now, atau they cut the sodding thing off of anda in the emergency room,” he says, flipping his hair out of the way to look up at her.
“Fine. And don’t call me ‘Philly,’” she scowls.
Gwaine smirks and goes back to unlacing her boot, and she reaches for Leon’s hand again, squeezing it hard. He clenches his jaw, both from her surprisingly strong grip and his hating to see her in pain. He watches Gwaine, who is not merely untying and loosening the laces, but is pulling them free from the eyelets, opening the boot as wide as he can.
As Leon watches Gwaine gently and carefully remove the boot from her swollen and painful foot, seeing the determination and concern in his friend’s normally relaxed face, he realizes for the first time that Gwaine truly loves his sister.
Justin comes back in and shouts to Leon that his car is right outside. Leon stands again, he and Gwaine lift Phil from her chair, and she totters between them on one foot. She loops one arm around her brother’s shoulders and the other around Leon’s waist, as his shoulders are too high. They get her outside and into the passenger kursi of Leon’s car.
“I’m coming, too,” says Gwaine, and he jogs around to the driver’s side and climbs into the back seat.
Leon looks over at Phil and slowly reaches over to wipe a tear hovering at the very corner of her eye before he shifts the car into drive and peels out for the hospital.
“And they’ve been secluded over in that corner since we got back,” Gwaine concludes, glancing over there with just the slightest hint of a scowl.
“Gwaine, anda know he’ll take good care of her,” Gwen says, placing her hand on his arm.
“I know. But she’s still my little sister, anda know? Since our folks died I’ve been looking after her.”
“Well, it looks like it’s time to let someone else take over that responsibility, mate,” Arthur chuckles. “Come on, Gwaine, it’s not like this is a surprise. You’ve known for ages that he liked her.”
“Yeah,” he admits.
“And she could do a hell of a lot worse that Leon,” Ox pipes in, pulling up his own chair.
“Right,” Arthur nods.
Gwaine looks over at Freya and Merlin. They each have one hand on the table, and their other hands, the ones between them, are below. It appears as though Merlin is holding her hand in his lap.
“Blimey, everyone seems to be pairing off. What the hell is this?” he suddenly exclaims, looking around. Drag and Gwen. Merlin and Freya. Leon and Phyllis.
Impulsively, he leaps from his chair and plants himself in Ox’s lap, declaring, “I guess that leaves anda and me, then, big boy.”
“Get off me, anda wank,” Ox complains, shoving Gwaine. He falls to the floor amid a chorus of laughter.
Leon looks over at them, shakes his head, and turns his attention back to Phil.
“Ox, this is my friend Freya,” Gwen introduces them, and shakes his hand, surprised at how her bones are not crushed within his massive hand.
“The policeman?” she guesses.
“In training,” he says, sitting a bit straighter in his chair.
“All right, all right, enough posturing,” Gwaine says, shoving at Ox’s shoulder ineffectively.
They all laugh again, and Gwen looks over at Leon and Phil. “That must be some conversation they’re having.”
“So that’s why anda haven’t tried? Because of that menggerutu, jalang Marisol?” Phil asks, finally learning why Leon had never asked her out if he’s liked her for so long.
“It was quite a blow, anda know? Felt like… I don’t know. Like I didn’t know… like I couldn’t trust my own feelings any more.”
Phil looks down at her lap, at her destroyed jeans, cut off at one knee to allow for the cast. Those people have no consideration for fashion. “When anda came back from Spain, I… I wanted to hop the selanjutnya plane over there, find her, and… cut her,” she admits quietly, not looking up.
“You did?” he asks, puzzling over this surprise.
“You didn’t deserve what she did to you. No one does, but especially not you. You’re a… a really good man, Leon.”
He winces slightly, feeling that this may be code for being friend-zoned.
“No, really. She was a complete twat with no consideration for others. And from what I’ve seen over the last few years,” she pauses, “you do nothing but be considerate of others.” She finally looks up at him again.
“And look where it got me,” he frowns.
“Here. And here isn’t so bad, is it?”
He caresses the back of her hand with his thumb and says, “Not at the moment, no.”
She smiles one of her rare smiles, and says, “Look. I’m not friendly and I’m not even particularly nice. But I know I have a good heart. I may not even be beautiful atau charming, but at least I’m not a gold-digging, two-timing slut. I have morals.”
“You’re wrong about a couple things, there,” Leon says, leaning in a little closer, careful not to jostle her foot too much.
“Am I, now?”
“You are beautiful, Phyllis. And charming. And nice.”
“That’s three things,” she corrects, suddenly feeling quite warm as his blue eyes gaze intently into hers.
“Don’t argue when I’m complimenting you,” he chuckles, lifting his other hand hesitantly to stroke her cheek once.
“Thank you. For thinking I’m beautiful,” she says, looking down again. “No one has ever called me that before.”
“Get used to it,” he smiles, lifting the hand he is holding and pressing a soft ciuman to her knuckles.
“Doubtful, but maybe if I hear it enough…” she smiles again, this time broader with an impish glint to it.
Leon’s eyebrows rise. “Are anda actually teasing me?”
“Certainly not,” she deadpans, glancing over to see Gwen approaching. “Hey, Girlie,” she greets her.
“Phil, Gwaine told us what happened, are anda all right?”
“I’ll live,” she shrugs. “Going to be an interesting month.”
“They wrecked your jeans,” Gwen notices, frowning.
“I know. Bollocks, that. I don’t really know what I’m going to bloody wear.”
“You don’t have any shorts? Sweats? God forbid, skirts?”
“No skirts. Maybe I can borrow some of Gwaine’s joggers atau something. I don’t really have any shorts. Well, I will if I lop of the other leg of these things. Hell, I don’t even know how I’m going to get these off,” she muses, wondering if they’ll fit over the cast atau if she’ll have to completely destroy them.
“Not even any sleep shorts?” Gwen asks, ideas formulating in her brain now.
“I, um, don’t wear any…” she says, avoiding looking at Leon. “Just a kemeja and my knickers, usually.” If that much, she thinks, but decides not to say it.
Leon blushes furiously and studies his fingernails.
“I might have some things anda can borrow. atau I could make anda something, I’m a whiz with a sewing machine.”
“Really? You… anda would do that for me?”
“Of course. On one condition, though.”
“What’s that?”
“You let me sign your cast.”
“You want to sign my cast?”
“Well, yeah. That’s what anda do when your friend has a big shitty cast on, anda decorate it for them so they don’t feel so bad about having to wear it,” she says, smiling.
Arthur has wandered over now. “Hey. Fucking ankle, huh?”
“Fucking staircase,” Phil corrects.
“And don’t forget the keys,” Leon adds.
“I don’t have a pen,” Phil suddenly says.
“Why do anda need a pen?” Arthur asks.
“I want to sign her cast,” Gwen looks at him.
“Oh. Hang on a tic,” Arthur jogs off, disappearing through the door behind the bar that leads to the kitchen.
Three menit later he is back with a flat box.
“Hey, those are mine!” Gwaine yells, standing and intercepting Arthur.
“Yeah, and we’re going to use them on your sister’s cast. I’m inspired, so sod off,” Arthur brushes past Gwaine, who follows him.
Arthur opens the box to reveal a selection of colored marking pens.
“My idea, me first,” Gwen says, choosing a purple marker. “These aren’t going to get all smudgy, are they?”
“They’re permanent,” Gwaine says, “and very expensive,” he scowls.
“I’m not going to chew on the topi atau anything,” she rolls her eyes at him.
“Stay away from this area here,” Arthur indicates the area around the bottom of the cast, just about Phil’s foot.
“What, you’re staking a claim now?”
“Of course I am. I have a plan.”
Gwen sighs and bends down, grumbling something about “Bloody alpha male,” and “why don’t anda just pee on it,” under her breath. Phil is the only one who really hears it and she laughs. It is a surprisingly loud laugh, and heads turn.
“There,” Gwen says, standing and putting the pen carefully back into the box.
Phil leans over and reads, “Next time, use the lift. –G.” She chuckles, and Arthur steps over, lifting her casted foot carefully from Leon’s lap.
“I need your chair, Leon,” Arthur explains, and Leon reluctantly stands. Arthur sits and holds her cast in his own lap now, setting the markers on the meja and going to work. Leon pulls up another chair and sits beside Phil, taking her hand again while they all watch Arthur draw.
Merlin and Freya come over to watch, their hands intertwined still.
“Wow, he’s really good,” Freya says to Merlin as she sees a dragon come to life, black and purple and green, wrapping around the base of Phil’s cast. “It looks like it’s…”
“Moving,” Merlin finishes. “He’s bloody brilliant, I know.”
“Why isn’t he…?”
“We don’t know. Not enough exposure in the right places, I guess. I’m sure the wheels in Gwen’s head have been turning for weeks over it, though,” Merlin chuckles.
“Undoubtedly,” Freya agrees, and shifts closer to him. Grinning ridiculously, Merlin releases her hand and wraps his arm around her.
Phil leans in to see what Arthur is doing. “Wicked, Drag, thanks,” she says, impressed.
“Hey, like Gwaine said: We’re family, Phil. Besides, this thing was too white.” He picks out a red marker, then an jeruk, orange one and then yellow. Holding all three pens at once and switching back and forth between them, he draws a plume of api emanating from the dragon’s mouth.
“Drag, you’re taking up too much bloody space!” Gwaine complains. “Leave some for the rest of us!”
“Shove off, she likes it. And you’ve got plenty of room to mark the X that signifies your name.”
The lads laugh as Gwaine scowls and fidgets, waiting his turn.
“Almost done,” Arthur finishes the green tip of the dragon’s tail with a flourish, then takes the black pen. Down at the very bottom, just above where Phil’s still swollen and slightly blue toes are peeking out, he writes, “Leon: These go in your mouth” with an panah pointing to the tiny digits.
“There,” he declares. “Next?” he calls, as if he worked at a butcher’s shop.
“Me. Gimme.” Gwaine leaps over, and Arthur carefully makes the transfer to Gwaine. He sits and leans over her cast, drawing with a brown marker on the side.
Phil leans over again and this time she groans. “Gwaine…”
“What? anda cinta Otto.”
“Yeah, when I was ten.”
“You still cinta him.”
“Who is Otto?” Leon asks.
“A cartoon berang-berang that Gwaine used to draw for me when we were kids,” Phil explains reluctantly.
“She likes otters,” Gwaine says plainly. “Says they’re cute.”
Everyone stares at the revelation.
“Piss off,” Phil snaps. “I’m allowed to like something cute, so anda lot can fuck right off if anda don’t like it.”
“I think otters are fabulous,” Gwen says immediately. “And they are really cute. I cinta watching them at the zoo.”
“They are cool,” Leon pipes up.
“Nothing wrong with otters. Nothing at all,” Ox adds, leaning in to look at the drawing. “Gwaine, anda are a nutter.”
“What’s he done now?” Phil asks.
“The berang-berang has a cast on his leg, too.”
Phil groans again, dropping her head onto Leon’s shoulder, again surprising them all. Especially Leon.
“Phil, this is Freya,” Merlin introduces her as he bends to write on the cast. “Freya, this is Phyllis.”
“Nice to meet you. Sorry about your leg,” Freya says, reaching down to touch the other woman’s arm.
Phil shrugs. “It happens, thanks. And it got Chicken Man here off his arse to finally admit he liked me,” she adds quietly.
“Silver lining, then,” Freya smiles. “Um, can I sign? I know we just met and everything, but I hope to be around more…” she leaves the words hanging, glancing at Merlin.
“Definitely,” Merlin says, handing her the pen.
“Sure anda can sign,” Phil says, looking down. Holy shit. “If anda can find a place.”
Freya smiles, and finds a small spot. She chooses an jeruk, orange marker and writes, “Nice to meet you. Get well soon, Freya” on the cast.
Everyone gets their turn signing Phyllis’ cast, even Justin and Craig, the other barman, and a few other regular pub patrons. Phil is a little overwhelmed that they all want to come and wish her well, muttering, “Maybe I should have broken something sooner.”
“No, dear, anda just needed to let them get to know anda a little bit,” Gwen says quietly, touching her on the shoulder. “But when anda hang around mostly blokes, anda can’t have your expectations very high, can you?” she adds with a chuckle, brining a smile to Phil’s face as well.
“Did anda hear what Merlin said?” Gwen asks Arthur as they enter her flat.
“About what?” He tosses her keys on the table.
“He told Freya that she was ‘on the way’ when he offered to take her home.”
Arthur laughs. “He doesn’t even know where she lives. Not only that,” he pulls his boots off, setting them oleh the door, “he bloody lives above the pub.”
“I know,” Gwen laughs, kicking her own shoes off. “I hope she gets the truth out of him, because he’ll turn all cute and red like he does.” She is walking down the hall, undressing as she goes.
Arthur groans low in his throat and follows like a man under a spell, collecting garments on the way back to her bedroom.
Hands full oleh the time he reaches her room, he stands and stares a moment as she calmly pulls back the covers to the tempat tidur and reclines languidly on it, a glint in her eye and a challenge on her face.
“Um,” Arthur looks around, forgetting where her hamper is. Right. Over there. He walks over to it, eyes locked on her. He drops her clothes in the hamper, missing it almost completely, and walks to the bed, pulling his kemeja off.
He sits on the bed, and Gwen lifts her foot up and presses it against his side, curling her toes into his skin.
“Oh,” he grunts, reaching for it and ciuman it before releasing it so he can remove his trousers.
In a flash he is back on the tempat tidur with her, lifting her foot again to his lips, ciuman each toe, his thumbs kneading her muscles. She reaches over and places her hand on his leg, caressing his knee and sliding it higher, to his thigh, her fingers persuading him to pindah closer.
“I want to touch you,” she says softly, her voice reaching that sultry tone that he loves.
“Mmm,” he hums his assent into her foot as he sucks her delicious little toes, scooting closer so she can reach him. He slides his tongue up her arch, ciuman it, nibbling the side.
Gwen yelps when his teeth make contact. “Tickles,” she protests.
He just chuckles and does it again. This time he is rewarded oleh her hand squeezing his shaft, and he grunts again.
Arthur switches to her other foot, always wanting to give equal time, and he closes his eyes as he places small open-mouthed kisses all over her foot while Gwen strokes him.
While he runs his tongue around her toes, he feels her shift her body, bending her knee.
“Bloody…” the curse dies on his lips as he feels her lips close over him, slipping his length in and out of the warmth of her mouth. He almost forgets what he’s doing for a moment, but then dives back in, relishing her, giving her foot a few final kisses and nibbles before releasing it.
He curses again and grabs her hips, lying back on the bed, pulling her over him so he can plunge his tongue into her.
She squeaks in surprise when he moves her, then releases his member to gasp as she feels his tongue on her, sliding around, giving her pleasure as she pleasures him.
Arthur swirls his tongue around her sensitive nub. Gwen swirls her tongue around the tip of his manhood. He plunges his tongue deep within her; she takes him as far as she can into her mouth. He suckles that little button; she very gently nibbles her way along the length of him. Back and forth, ante paid and upped, gauntlet thrown down and retrieved until they are both squirming and panting, Arthur thrusting his hips up into her mouth as Gwen presses hers down, practically grinding against his face.
“Guinevere,” he pulls his lips away just to gasp her name, his voice hoarse, straining with his own desire.
“Don’t stop, Arthur,” she commands frantically, grabbing the base of him in her hand now before sucking him back in. Her fingers reach down and stroke him underneath while her mouth draws him in, tightly, almost forcefully and he can take no more, rushing forth into her mouth, hot and pungent down her throat.
Moments later Arthur, mindless now in the throes of his climax, slips two fingers into her as he works his tongue on her and that’s all it takes for her to start gasping and crying out, her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his thigh as her head rests there. She turns her head and bites his leg as she comes, whimpering desperately.
Gwen collapses over him, moving slightly so she is not smothering his face. He rolls them, and rotates himself so his face is up on the pillows with her now. He kisses her gently, each tasting themselves on one another.
“Wow, did anda plan that, Sweet?” he asks.
“Not really. I figured I’d just get naked and see what you’d do,” she giggles.
He laughs, squeezing her to him, then reaching down to pull the blankets over them.
“Evening went well. I think Merlin and Freya really got on,” Gwen says, ciuman his shoulder.
“Yeah. Hate to use the word, but they were really cute together,” Arthur laughs.
“And what about Phil and Leon? Good for them!” Gwen exclaims, lifting her head and smiling at him.
“Yeah, about bloody time,” Arthur laughs. “I’m just glad she didn’t shoot him down.”
“She’s really a good person, Arthur.”
“I know she is. But I was afraid that she would keep that wall up against him. The one that she uses to keep everyone at arm’s length, anda know.”
“I think that dinding is crumbling.”
They lay quietly for a time, and Arthur reaches over to switch off the light. Gwen’s fingers are light and comforting on his chest, and Arthur closes his eyes and slides his palms against her skin, pulling a contented sigh from her.
Say it now, Clotpole.
“How long do anda think it’ll be before they get into a fistfight?” Arthur asks instead, losing his nerve.
“Who?”
“Leon and Gwaine.”
Gwen shakes her head. “My money is on Phil punching Gwaine before Leon does.”
Arthur laughs. “You’re probably right, there. anda usually are.”
Part 28: link
When they enter the pub, a very strange scene greets them. Phil is there, which is unusual in itself. She is seated at a table, and there is a cast from her toes to just below the knee of her right leg. The casted foot is elevated and is being cradled gently in Leon’s lap as he sits opposite her at the table. And they appear to be having a very nice and very intimate conversation.
“…The fuck?” is all that Arthur can manage as they stare.
“Gwen, what’s going on? Why are we just standing here?” Freya whispers.
“It’s a really long story. I’ll have to catch anda up later,” Gwen explains, smiling broadly, wondering what on earth happened while they were away.
Leon looks up and over at them, blushes, grins, and then returns his attention to Phil, shyly taking her hand in his now.
She lets him, and Merlin says, “I need a drink.”
There are no empty tables, so Arthur approaches one where a man is sitting, alone and nearly unconscious. “Oi, Tony. Push off, we want the table,” he says, hauling the man up oleh his shoulder and passing him to Justin, who came over to help.
“Call him a taxi, mate, he’s done,” Arthur says, and Justin nods as he takes Tony to the door. Merlin has grabbed a cloth and wipes the meja and the chairs before pulling one out for Freya. She smiles at him and sits.
Merlin and Arthur go to the bar to get them drinks, and that’s when Gwaine decides to saunter over and introduce himself.
“Well, well, the Sparrow has brought a friend with her,” he purrs, sitting in Merlin’s chair. “So, little mousie, what is your name?” He leans against the table, angling towards Freya.
“Gwaine, this is my friend Freya. Freya, this is Gwaine, a semi-harmless scoundrel who owns the tattoo parlor selanjutnya door where Arthur works.”
“Nice to meet you,” Freya says as Gwaine takes her hand and kisses it, following with his best smolder, looking directly into her eyes in that way he has.
Merlin is scowling as he and Arthur approach, looking daggers at Gwaine as he kisses Freya’s hand.
But Freya is giving Gwen a look that clearly says is this bloke for real? and Merlin’s face relaxes.
“Looks like someone’s beaten me to it, hey?” Gwaine asks Gwen.
“Move it,” Merlin says, setting their glasses down.
Gwaine sighs and pulls up another chair, selanjutnya to Gwen now.
“So spill. What the hell happened?” Gwen asks him, nodding towards Leon and Phyllis.
“Oh, God, this has been a hell of a night, let me tell you…”
Phil closes the door to the flat above the tattoo toko that she shares with Gwaine and heads down the stairwell, fumbling with her keys as she heads out to grab a bite to eat. Five steps from the bottom, her tangled keys drop from her hand, and, cursing quietly, she bends to retrieve them, not paying much attention to what her feet are doing. She misses the step and falls, tumbling down the last bit, turning her foot painfully beneath her in the process.
“Fuck!” she yells, the pain in her ankle like a hot knife. “I need this, too,” she says sarcastically. “Fucking shit.”
She tries to stand, but it is immediately clear that her injured ankle will beruang no weight, and the pain is making her feel a little nauseous. She sits back down.
“Leon!” she yells, knowing he is up there, across the corridor, in his flat. “Leon!” she tries again, louder. “Leon, anda wanker, come and help me!”
She stops yelling for a moment to will the tears away, determined that whoever finds her will not find her crying.
“LEON!!”
A few detik later, she hears the door open, and his puzzled face appears at the puncak, atas of their shared stairwell.
“Oh, shit, hang on,” he says hurriedly, disappearing again.
“Where are anda going?” she yells, frustrated and angry.
“Shoes!” she hears him yell back. He reappears a moment later and flies down the stairs.
“What happened?” he gasps, stupidly.
“I fell down the bloody stairs. What the fuck do anda think happened?” she asks crossly.
“Sorry,” he apologizes. “Where are anda hurt?”
“Ankle. Hurts like a bitch.”
“Here,” Leon bends down and he is about to help her up when he spies her keys. “Ah, I presume these are responsible?” he asks, handing them to her.
“Yes,” she snaps, taking them and stuffing them in her bag.
He helps her to her feet, his arm around her waist. She wobbles and closes her eyes.
“No good. Dizzy as hell.”
“Did anda hit your head?”
“No, don’t think so. The fucking pain from my fucking ankle is making me fucking ill.”
“We need to get anda to hospital, I think. Get anda an x-ray,” Leon says, bending again to lift her in his arms.
“Whoa,” she says, blinking in surprise at how strong the slender man is.
Leon stands a moment, thinking. My car is too far away. Wow, I never noticed how green her eyes are.
“Um, Leon?” she says, gingerly bringing her arm up around his neck, holding on. The action brings her closer to him, and she momentarily forgets about the pain in her leg. He smells really good, she thinks, resisting the urge to lean in closer and press her nose into his neck.
“Right. Thinking,” he says, and he starts to the door. “My car is down the street, so I’ll have to set anda down and go get it.”
She reaches down and turns the knob on the door, and he pushes it open with his foot, carefully stepping through sideways so as not to bump her.
He walks to the door of the pub, and a very surprised-looking Justin quickly opens the door.
Gwaine’s head snaps up immediately when they come in. “What happened?” he asks, knowing that the only way his sister would allow herself to be carried is if she couldn’t walk.
“I fell down the fucking stairs,” she says angrily, blinking back tears again, now as much from embarrassment as anything else.
“She may have broken her ankle,” Leon says, setting her carefully in a chair that Gwaine has pulled out. He hovers close, not really wanting to leave her to go get his car.
Gwaine kneels down selanjutnya to his sister, concern clearly etched on his face. “Did anda trip on something? I didn’t leave my boots out there atau anything, did I?”
“No, I dropped my bloody keys and fell when I tried to pick them up. Just down the last bit. I didn’t fall the whole way,” she says, wincing as she tries to find a comfortable position.
“I’ll go get my car,” Leon says, but then Phil grabs his hand.
“Can anda send someone to get it?” she asks, her voice very quiet.
“Justin,” Leon calls immediately. “Go get my car, mate,” he says, tossing his keys.
“Where is it?”
“Down the block, that way,” Leon points.
Justin leaves, and Leon pulls up a chair selanjutnya to Phil.
“We should try and get this boot off,” Gwaine says, sitting cross-legged on the sticky pub floor. He carefully pulls his sister’s foot into his lap and starts to unlace her boot.
“No, leave it,” she protests, hissing in pain as he works.
“Philly, it’s either we take it off here, now, atau they cut the sodding thing off of anda in the emergency room,” he says, flipping his hair out of the way to look up at her.
“Fine. And don’t call me ‘Philly,’” she scowls.
Gwaine smirks and goes back to unlacing her boot, and she reaches for Leon’s hand again, squeezing it hard. He clenches his jaw, both from her surprisingly strong grip and his hating to see her in pain. He watches Gwaine, who is not merely untying and loosening the laces, but is pulling them free from the eyelets, opening the boot as wide as he can.
As Leon watches Gwaine gently and carefully remove the boot from her swollen and painful foot, seeing the determination and concern in his friend’s normally relaxed face, he realizes for the first time that Gwaine truly loves his sister.
Justin comes back in and shouts to Leon that his car is right outside. Leon stands again, he and Gwaine lift Phil from her chair, and she totters between them on one foot. She loops one arm around her brother’s shoulders and the other around Leon’s waist, as his shoulders are too high. They get her outside and into the passenger kursi of Leon’s car.
“I’m coming, too,” says Gwaine, and he jogs around to the driver’s side and climbs into the back seat.
Leon looks over at Phil and slowly reaches over to wipe a tear hovering at the very corner of her eye before he shifts the car into drive and peels out for the hospital.
“And they’ve been secluded over in that corner since we got back,” Gwaine concludes, glancing over there with just the slightest hint of a scowl.
“Gwaine, anda know he’ll take good care of her,” Gwen says, placing her hand on his arm.
“I know. But she’s still my little sister, anda know? Since our folks died I’ve been looking after her.”
“Well, it looks like it’s time to let someone else take over that responsibility, mate,” Arthur chuckles. “Come on, Gwaine, it’s not like this is a surprise. You’ve known for ages that he liked her.”
“Yeah,” he admits.
“And she could do a hell of a lot worse that Leon,” Ox pipes in, pulling up his own chair.
“Right,” Arthur nods.
Gwaine looks over at Freya and Merlin. They each have one hand on the table, and their other hands, the ones between them, are below. It appears as though Merlin is holding her hand in his lap.
“Blimey, everyone seems to be pairing off. What the hell is this?” he suddenly exclaims, looking around. Drag and Gwen. Merlin and Freya. Leon and Phyllis.
Impulsively, he leaps from his chair and plants himself in Ox’s lap, declaring, “I guess that leaves anda and me, then, big boy.”
“Get off me, anda wank,” Ox complains, shoving Gwaine. He falls to the floor amid a chorus of laughter.
Leon looks over at them, shakes his head, and turns his attention back to Phil.
“Ox, this is my friend Freya,” Gwen introduces them, and shakes his hand, surprised at how her bones are not crushed within his massive hand.
“The policeman?” she guesses.
“In training,” he says, sitting a bit straighter in his chair.
“All right, all right, enough posturing,” Gwaine says, shoving at Ox’s shoulder ineffectively.
They all laugh again, and Gwen looks over at Leon and Phil. “That must be some conversation they’re having.”
“So that’s why anda haven’t tried? Because of that menggerutu, jalang Marisol?” Phil asks, finally learning why Leon had never asked her out if he’s liked her for so long.
“It was quite a blow, anda know? Felt like… I don’t know. Like I didn’t know… like I couldn’t trust my own feelings any more.”
Phil looks down at her lap, at her destroyed jeans, cut off at one knee to allow for the cast. Those people have no consideration for fashion. “When anda came back from Spain, I… I wanted to hop the selanjutnya plane over there, find her, and… cut her,” she admits quietly, not looking up.
“You did?” he asks, puzzling over this surprise.
“You didn’t deserve what she did to you. No one does, but especially not you. You’re a… a really good man, Leon.”
He winces slightly, feeling that this may be code for being friend-zoned.
“No, really. She was a complete twat with no consideration for others. And from what I’ve seen over the last few years,” she pauses, “you do nothing but be considerate of others.” She finally looks up at him again.
“And look where it got me,” he frowns.
“Here. And here isn’t so bad, is it?”
He caresses the back of her hand with his thumb and says, “Not at the moment, no.”
She smiles one of her rare smiles, and says, “Look. I’m not friendly and I’m not even particularly nice. But I know I have a good heart. I may not even be beautiful atau charming, but at least I’m not a gold-digging, two-timing slut. I have morals.”
“You’re wrong about a couple things, there,” Leon says, leaning in a little closer, careful not to jostle her foot too much.
“Am I, now?”
“You are beautiful, Phyllis. And charming. And nice.”
“That’s three things,” she corrects, suddenly feeling quite warm as his blue eyes gaze intently into hers.
“Don’t argue when I’m complimenting you,” he chuckles, lifting his other hand hesitantly to stroke her cheek once.
“Thank you. For thinking I’m beautiful,” she says, looking down again. “No one has ever called me that before.”
“Get used to it,” he smiles, lifting the hand he is holding and pressing a soft ciuman to her knuckles.
“Doubtful, but maybe if I hear it enough…” she smiles again, this time broader with an impish glint to it.
Leon’s eyebrows rise. “Are anda actually teasing me?”
“Certainly not,” she deadpans, glancing over to see Gwen approaching. “Hey, Girlie,” she greets her.
“Phil, Gwaine told us what happened, are anda all right?”
“I’ll live,” she shrugs. “Going to be an interesting month.”
“They wrecked your jeans,” Gwen notices, frowning.
“I know. Bollocks, that. I don’t really know what I’m going to bloody wear.”
“You don’t have any shorts? Sweats? God forbid, skirts?”
“No skirts. Maybe I can borrow some of Gwaine’s joggers atau something. I don’t really have any shorts. Well, I will if I lop of the other leg of these things. Hell, I don’t even know how I’m going to get these off,” she muses, wondering if they’ll fit over the cast atau if she’ll have to completely destroy them.
“Not even any sleep shorts?” Gwen asks, ideas formulating in her brain now.
“I, um, don’t wear any…” she says, avoiding looking at Leon. “Just a kemeja and my knickers, usually.” If that much, she thinks, but decides not to say it.
Leon blushes furiously and studies his fingernails.
“I might have some things anda can borrow. atau I could make anda something, I’m a whiz with a sewing machine.”
“Really? You… anda would do that for me?”
“Of course. On one condition, though.”
“What’s that?”
“You let me sign your cast.”
“You want to sign my cast?”
“Well, yeah. That’s what anda do when your friend has a big shitty cast on, anda decorate it for them so they don’t feel so bad about having to wear it,” she says, smiling.
Arthur has wandered over now. “Hey. Fucking ankle, huh?”
“Fucking staircase,” Phil corrects.
“And don’t forget the keys,” Leon adds.
“I don’t have a pen,” Phil suddenly says.
“Why do anda need a pen?” Arthur asks.
“I want to sign her cast,” Gwen looks at him.
“Oh. Hang on a tic,” Arthur jogs off, disappearing through the door behind the bar that leads to the kitchen.
Three menit later he is back with a flat box.
“Hey, those are mine!” Gwaine yells, standing and intercepting Arthur.
“Yeah, and we’re going to use them on your sister’s cast. I’m inspired, so sod off,” Arthur brushes past Gwaine, who follows him.
Arthur opens the box to reveal a selection of colored marking pens.
“My idea, me first,” Gwen says, choosing a purple marker. “These aren’t going to get all smudgy, are they?”
“They’re permanent,” Gwaine says, “and very expensive,” he scowls.
“I’m not going to chew on the topi atau anything,” she rolls her eyes at him.
“Stay away from this area here,” Arthur indicates the area around the bottom of the cast, just about Phil’s foot.
“What, you’re staking a claim now?”
“Of course I am. I have a plan.”
Gwen sighs and bends down, grumbling something about “Bloody alpha male,” and “why don’t anda just pee on it,” under her breath. Phil is the only one who really hears it and she laughs. It is a surprisingly loud laugh, and heads turn.
“There,” Gwen says, standing and putting the pen carefully back into the box.
Phil leans over and reads, “Next time, use the lift. –G.” She chuckles, and Arthur steps over, lifting her casted foot carefully from Leon’s lap.
“I need your chair, Leon,” Arthur explains, and Leon reluctantly stands. Arthur sits and holds her cast in his own lap now, setting the markers on the meja and going to work. Leon pulls up another chair and sits beside Phil, taking her hand again while they all watch Arthur draw.
Merlin and Freya come over to watch, their hands intertwined still.
“Wow, he’s really good,” Freya says to Merlin as she sees a dragon come to life, black and purple and green, wrapping around the base of Phil’s cast. “It looks like it’s…”
“Moving,” Merlin finishes. “He’s bloody brilliant, I know.”
“Why isn’t he…?”
“We don’t know. Not enough exposure in the right places, I guess. I’m sure the wheels in Gwen’s head have been turning for weeks over it, though,” Merlin chuckles.
“Undoubtedly,” Freya agrees, and shifts closer to him. Grinning ridiculously, Merlin releases her hand and wraps his arm around her.
Phil leans in to see what Arthur is doing. “Wicked, Drag, thanks,” she says, impressed.
“Hey, like Gwaine said: We’re family, Phil. Besides, this thing was too white.” He picks out a red marker, then an jeruk, orange one and then yellow. Holding all three pens at once and switching back and forth between them, he draws a plume of api emanating from the dragon’s mouth.
“Drag, you’re taking up too much bloody space!” Gwaine complains. “Leave some for the rest of us!”
“Shove off, she likes it. And you’ve got plenty of room to mark the X that signifies your name.”
The lads laugh as Gwaine scowls and fidgets, waiting his turn.
“Almost done,” Arthur finishes the green tip of the dragon’s tail with a flourish, then takes the black pen. Down at the very bottom, just above where Phil’s still swollen and slightly blue toes are peeking out, he writes, “Leon: These go in your mouth” with an panah pointing to the tiny digits.
“There,” he declares. “Next?” he calls, as if he worked at a butcher’s shop.
“Me. Gimme.” Gwaine leaps over, and Arthur carefully makes the transfer to Gwaine. He sits and leans over her cast, drawing with a brown marker on the side.
Phil leans over again and this time she groans. “Gwaine…”
“What? anda cinta Otto.”
“Yeah, when I was ten.”
“You still cinta him.”
“Who is Otto?” Leon asks.
“A cartoon berang-berang that Gwaine used to draw for me when we were kids,” Phil explains reluctantly.
“She likes otters,” Gwaine says plainly. “Says they’re cute.”
Everyone stares at the revelation.
“Piss off,” Phil snaps. “I’m allowed to like something cute, so anda lot can fuck right off if anda don’t like it.”
“I think otters are fabulous,” Gwen says immediately. “And they are really cute. I cinta watching them at the zoo.”
“They are cool,” Leon pipes up.
“Nothing wrong with otters. Nothing at all,” Ox adds, leaning in to look at the drawing. “Gwaine, anda are a nutter.”
“What’s he done now?” Phil asks.
“The berang-berang has a cast on his leg, too.”
Phil groans again, dropping her head onto Leon’s shoulder, again surprising them all. Especially Leon.
“Phil, this is Freya,” Merlin introduces her as he bends to write on the cast. “Freya, this is Phyllis.”
“Nice to meet you. Sorry about your leg,” Freya says, reaching down to touch the other woman’s arm.
Phil shrugs. “It happens, thanks. And it got Chicken Man here off his arse to finally admit he liked me,” she adds quietly.
“Silver lining, then,” Freya smiles. “Um, can I sign? I know we just met and everything, but I hope to be around more…” she leaves the words hanging, glancing at Merlin.
“Definitely,” Merlin says, handing her the pen.
“Sure anda can sign,” Phil says, looking down. Holy shit. “If anda can find a place.”
Freya smiles, and finds a small spot. She chooses an jeruk, orange marker and writes, “Nice to meet you. Get well soon, Freya” on the cast.
Everyone gets their turn signing Phyllis’ cast, even Justin and Craig, the other barman, and a few other regular pub patrons. Phil is a little overwhelmed that they all want to come and wish her well, muttering, “Maybe I should have broken something sooner.”
“No, dear, anda just needed to let them get to know anda a little bit,” Gwen says quietly, touching her on the shoulder. “But when anda hang around mostly blokes, anda can’t have your expectations very high, can you?” she adds with a chuckle, brining a smile to Phil’s face as well.
“Did anda hear what Merlin said?” Gwen asks Arthur as they enter her flat.
“About what?” He tosses her keys on the table.
“He told Freya that she was ‘on the way’ when he offered to take her home.”
Arthur laughs. “He doesn’t even know where she lives. Not only that,” he pulls his boots off, setting them oleh the door, “he bloody lives above the pub.”
“I know,” Gwen laughs, kicking her own shoes off. “I hope she gets the truth out of him, because he’ll turn all cute and red like he does.” She is walking down the hall, undressing as she goes.
Arthur groans low in his throat and follows like a man under a spell, collecting garments on the way back to her bedroom.
Hands full oleh the time he reaches her room, he stands and stares a moment as she calmly pulls back the covers to the tempat tidur and reclines languidly on it, a glint in her eye and a challenge on her face.
“Um,” Arthur looks around, forgetting where her hamper is. Right. Over there. He walks over to it, eyes locked on her. He drops her clothes in the hamper, missing it almost completely, and walks to the bed, pulling his kemeja off.
He sits on the bed, and Gwen lifts her foot up and presses it against his side, curling her toes into his skin.
“Oh,” he grunts, reaching for it and ciuman it before releasing it so he can remove his trousers.
In a flash he is back on the tempat tidur with her, lifting her foot again to his lips, ciuman each toe, his thumbs kneading her muscles. She reaches over and places her hand on his leg, caressing his knee and sliding it higher, to his thigh, her fingers persuading him to pindah closer.
“I want to touch you,” she says softly, her voice reaching that sultry tone that he loves.
“Mmm,” he hums his assent into her foot as he sucks her delicious little toes, scooting closer so she can reach him. He slides his tongue up her arch, ciuman it, nibbling the side.
Gwen yelps when his teeth make contact. “Tickles,” she protests.
He just chuckles and does it again. This time he is rewarded oleh her hand squeezing his shaft, and he grunts again.
Arthur switches to her other foot, always wanting to give equal time, and he closes his eyes as he places small open-mouthed kisses all over her foot while Gwen strokes him.
While he runs his tongue around her toes, he feels her shift her body, bending her knee.
“Bloody…” the curse dies on his lips as he feels her lips close over him, slipping his length in and out of the warmth of her mouth. He almost forgets what he’s doing for a moment, but then dives back in, relishing her, giving her foot a few final kisses and nibbles before releasing it.
He curses again and grabs her hips, lying back on the bed, pulling her over him so he can plunge his tongue into her.
She squeaks in surprise when he moves her, then releases his member to gasp as she feels his tongue on her, sliding around, giving her pleasure as she pleasures him.
Arthur swirls his tongue around her sensitive nub. Gwen swirls her tongue around the tip of his manhood. He plunges his tongue deep within her; she takes him as far as she can into her mouth. He suckles that little button; she very gently nibbles her way along the length of him. Back and forth, ante paid and upped, gauntlet thrown down and retrieved until they are both squirming and panting, Arthur thrusting his hips up into her mouth as Gwen presses hers down, practically grinding against his face.
“Guinevere,” he pulls his lips away just to gasp her name, his voice hoarse, straining with his own desire.
“Don’t stop, Arthur,” she commands frantically, grabbing the base of him in her hand now before sucking him back in. Her fingers reach down and stroke him underneath while her mouth draws him in, tightly, almost forcefully and he can take no more, rushing forth into her mouth, hot and pungent down her throat.
Moments later Arthur, mindless now in the throes of his climax, slips two fingers into her as he works his tongue on her and that’s all it takes for her to start gasping and crying out, her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his thigh as her head rests there. She turns her head and bites his leg as she comes, whimpering desperately.
Gwen collapses over him, moving slightly so she is not smothering his face. He rolls them, and rotates himself so his face is up on the pillows with her now. He kisses her gently, each tasting themselves on one another.
“Wow, did anda plan that, Sweet?” he asks.
“Not really. I figured I’d just get naked and see what you’d do,” she giggles.
He laughs, squeezing her to him, then reaching down to pull the blankets over them.
“Evening went well. I think Merlin and Freya really got on,” Gwen says, ciuman his shoulder.
“Yeah. Hate to use the word, but they were really cute together,” Arthur laughs.
“And what about Phil and Leon? Good for them!” Gwen exclaims, lifting her head and smiling at him.
“Yeah, about bloody time,” Arthur laughs. “I’m just glad she didn’t shoot him down.”
“She’s really a good person, Arthur.”
“I know she is. But I was afraid that she would keep that wall up against him. The one that she uses to keep everyone at arm’s length, anda know.”
“I think that dinding is crumbling.”
They lay quietly for a time, and Arthur reaches over to switch off the light. Gwen’s fingers are light and comforting on his chest, and Arthur closes his eyes and slides his palms against her skin, pulling a contented sigh from her.
Say it now, Clotpole.
“How long do anda think it’ll be before they get into a fistfight?” Arthur asks instead, losing his nerve.
“Who?”
“Leon and Gwaine.”
Gwen shakes her head. “My money is on Phil punching Gwaine before Leon does.”
Arthur laughs. “You’re probably right, there. anda usually are.”
Part 28: link
