Happenstance
Title: Happenstance
Characters/Pairing: Arthur/Gwen
Rating: PG
Word count: 1,954
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: They come upon the other at the wood
Note: Set after the end of s1. Fluff and flowers!
The wood was layered with a morning mist and under it a carpet of bluebells have flowered, their purple now dusky with the hazy vapour above it, like that of a wood pigeons breast. The hem of Gwen's dress, slightly damp, drapes through this as she picks them for her room and Morgana's. She crouches down and digs her fingers further into the earth for the bulbs, Gaius requesting her to collect them. Birds sing a dawn chorus that is deafening in it's intensity but gorgeous and she smiles to hear it. But then becomes stiff when she detects a sound of something moving along the undergrowth that then stops. The birds have fallen silent, cocking their heads this way and that and she stands up, dirt clinging to her skin.
As a girl she had been told stories about flowers and fairies, that they are a dangerous combination and especially to any mortal that gets trapped between the two. Gwen had taken these tales with a grave seriousness as a child but now with a wiser degree of scepticism. Even so she pinches the bell shaped flower between her fingers, superstitious fright if she should hear the sweet tinkling of their ring, announcing her imminent death.
Stop being an idiot! It's probably a rabbit... She shakes her head with a mulish expression and passing a tree comes to a stop with a small shocked scream when she almost slams into a man hidden there. His tall frame blocks the sun but she recognises him immediately with a surge of relief. Arthur's eyes are huge as he sees her but then sighs with relief, tense shoulders slumping.
"Guinevere, god..." his aquiline face settles into it's usual look of superiority but now with a delicate frown between his eyebrows. "You shouldn't sneak around like that, I could have hurt you."
"I wasn't sneaking. Sire. You gave me a fright, I thought you were a rabbit." Her features settle into her more equanimous temperament and she claps her hands together, sending some of the perched birds soring and then wipes the soil from her hands onto her apron and then shakes it. She bends to pick up her bouquet and bag of bulbs. He watches her every move, only speaking in his brusque manner once he's got her full attention.
"Well clearly I'm not. Next time I'll have to give you a bell so you don't do that to me again." He rubs his chest, over his heart and offers her a smile. Gwen laughs strangely at this before softening her face into something more concerned. She steps closer to him and peers more carefully at his face. Already very fair his skin is ashen and his eyes are ringed dark, not as deathly ill as he had been but not well enough to be traipsing out. Gwen frowns at him.
"You should be in bed Arthur, you need to recover."
He waves his gloved hand dismissively and avoids her eye by looking at the sea of flowers that cover the forest floor. "I'm perfectly fine. The only thing that's a danger to my health now is the susceptibility to die of absolute boredom." He lifts his eyes with a smirk but she still sports a worried, disapproving expression. He rolls his eyes and laughs. "I'm fine Guinevere...unless you're not going to take no for an answer and march me back?"
"I just might..." she utters softly with mischievous eyes and her cheeks burn. She had become closer to the Prince recently, not that she could comfortably call him a close friend but they were now more easily on speaking terms without the stiff formality of their respective stations being a complete hindrance. But she still feels it, it's deeply ingrained on her, no matter the new camaraderie of late. Clearing her throat she shrugs her shoulders and looks back towards the path. "I should be going..."
"Of course, sorry. What are you doing out here anyway?" As she walks he keeps at her side, hands clasped behind his back. She waves the flowers clasped in her fist at him and the earthy bulbs she had collected in a roughly woven sack.
"Gaius asked me to collect these as I was coming here anyway. He says he needs them to make styptic ointments."
"Shouldn't that be Merlin's task?" He says with scorn and she laughs.
"Yes it should be but the poor boy has come down with a cold. As has Gaius. Said they got caught in a storm..."
He snorts derisively and his hair glints gold in the rising light as he shakes his head. "A likely excuse. He probably forgot or would rather have a lie-in." Gwen doesn't answer because she can feel the need to tell him off resting on her tongue so she lifts her head up to the sky instead and sees dark grey clouds chasing each other, hear the oceanic rustle of the trees about them. A fierce wind had started, unbeknowst to Gwen and the birds seem to have gone with that squall. Not seeing where she is going she stumbles and he catches hold of her elbow quickly, producing a polite smile as she looks at him overlong and he lets go. But he considerately places his fingertips against her lower back, as if to keep her steady with a mere touch. Or he was too hesitant to lay a hand on her. A rain starts to fall softly but persistently and they can both feel that it will clatter down soon so they hurry, his fingers moving from her back to clasp her hand.
"You definitely shouldn't be out in this Sire!"
"Oh hush Gwen." As he says this they are drenched with a heavy shower and he drags her to a stop and pulls her under a thick canopy of trees, both panting. "Seeing as you're so concerned with my welfare we'll just have to wait it out." He sits on a large felled branch, thankfully dry and after she doesn't sit forces her down with a sharp tug of her dress. Once seated she grumbles under her breath and he stares at her intensely. "What is it?"
"I should be back now, Lady Morgana will be expecting her breakfast." She had been out of sorts for a awhile now and Gwen was concerned.
"She knows where the kitchens are if she gets hungry enough." He says and she doesn't have to look at him to know he's truly vexed. In fact she was finding it harder to stare at him the longer they were alone together, not knowing what to say and feeling more nervous about what comes out of her mouth. She keeps silent as he peers at her closely, half smile in place as the rain pitapats against the leaves. "Not speaking to me anymore?"
"I'm sorry! I just don't have anything interesting to say." She says, turning to him sharply. "Unless you want to hear about the buttons I shined last night?"
His features soften with something she can't place. "I wish you would stop apologising to me Guinevere. I'm not going to punish you for speaking."
She smiles with a wince, "it's not that I think you'll be harsh, I know you won't. I just sometimes have the misfortune to spout things before I mean to."
"Ah, so you're being more careful. Well then, that makes me wonder what you're holding back from me..." He leans against her arm and gives a playful nudge.
"Nothing! I mean, nothing bad." She relaxes when he smiles teasingly at her and she can't help but think he can be like a little boy at times, frustrating but she enjoys it non the less. She drags her gaze away from him and picks a head off a flower only for it to be pinched quickly by Arthur. She exhales sharply, almost tutting and folds her hands into her lap, watching him as he brings the bluebell up to his face.
"My wet-nurse used to tell me stories about these, wives tales. Turn one of these inside out and your love will be yours. Silly, really..." But he pushes the flower's base up, trying to turn it inside out but it splits and he scowls, throwing it away and reaches for the bunch resting in her lap. He picks another one and tries again, Gwen watching humorously as he concentrates but gets progressively more annoyed as flower after flower slits apart. As he delves his fingers into her lap again Gwen suddenly has the body burning thought that he's plucking flowers from between her legs and the visual will not fade. Arthur grits his teeth, eye shining. "Damn it! Give me another one!" He reaches for it but she pulls it away from him, behind and above her head and he leans into her.
"You've almost taken all of them. I have more stem then flower now! I'm afraid you haven't won your love yet..." She teases breathlessly but just as suddenly as the words leave her mouth she wishes she had taken them back. He stares into her eyes, breath blowing against her cheek as he becomes very still and she feels suspended in a moment, breath held in suspense. She wants to blurt out that she didn't think she was the one he was going to give the flower to but she couldn't speak. And it was probably better if she didn't. His eyes start to flick and he licks his lips and the dazed, almost febrile look to his face clears as he sighs and sits back and Gwen straightens up, her heart beating hard. He gets to his feet quickly and she does the same, feeling awkward.
"The rain is easing off, lets go." He speaks stiffly and begins walking before her and she ducks her head, brushing the destroyed flowers from her skirts and catches up to walk by his side. As the path clears and becomes more smooth he comes to a sudden stop and turns to Gwen and she stares up into his face. He looks serious. "I think you should go on ahead. Don't worry, I'll be following behind." She darts her eyes away with a nod. Of course, it would look suspect if both came out of the forest alone together. Her blood sings embarrassment through her veins and heats her skin with prickles.
"Yes Sire." She nods and walks around him but he catches her wrist and she's relieved to see his jovial expression back in place.
"Guinevere...you might have to check up on me."
"I will?" She narrows her eyes.
"Yes, seeing as Gaius and idiot are too ill to attend to me..."
Gwen cocks her head and her lips quirk. "But I thought you were on the mend? And he's not an idiot, I know you're fond of him really."
"That's what you think!" He utters with a long suffering displeasure but she knows he's joking. His face falls into a more considerate look, the set of his lips uncertain. "I would like you to, if you're not to busy."
"If that's what you wish then of course I will." She smiles at him and they stand in silence until Arthur looks at her significantly and she gasps and begins moving, waving to him and he smiles at her retreating back. Once she's out of sight he turns on his heel and goes back to where they had met. As he picks the flowers he had absconded from her he hopes no one sees him doing this. It was harmless but even so it had the vibrant, delicious undercurrent of the forbidden that he couldn't ignore.
Characters/Pairing: Arthur/Gwen
Rating: PG
Word count: 1,954
Disclaimer: Do not own.
Summery: They come upon the other at the wood
Note: Set after the end of s1. Fluff and flowers!
The wood was layered with a morning mist and under it a carpet of bluebells have flowered, their purple now dusky with the hazy vapour above it, like that of a wood pigeons breast. The hem of Gwen's dress, slightly damp, drapes through this as she picks them for her room and Morgana's. She crouches down and digs her fingers further into the earth for the bulbs, Gaius requesting her to collect them. Birds sing a dawn chorus that is deafening in it's intensity but gorgeous and she smiles to hear it. But then becomes stiff when she detects a sound of something moving along the undergrowth that then stops. The birds have fallen silent, cocking their heads this way and that and she stands up, dirt clinging to her skin.
As a girl she had been told stories about flowers and fairies, that they are a dangerous combination and especially to any mortal that gets trapped between the two. Gwen had taken these tales with a grave seriousness as a child but now with a wiser degree of scepticism. Even so she pinches the bell shaped flower between her fingers, superstitious fright if she should hear the sweet tinkling of their ring, announcing her imminent death.
Stop being an idiot! It's probably a rabbit... She shakes her head with a mulish expression and passing a tree comes to a stop with a small shocked scream when she almost slams into a man hidden there. His tall frame blocks the sun but she recognises him immediately with a surge of relief. Arthur's eyes are huge as he sees her but then sighs with relief, tense shoulders slumping.
"Guinevere, god..." his aquiline face settles into it's usual look of superiority but now with a delicate frown between his eyebrows. "You shouldn't sneak around like that, I could have hurt you."
"I wasn't sneaking. Sire. You gave me a fright, I thought you were a rabbit." Her features settle into her more equanimous temperament and she claps her hands together, sending some of the perched birds soring and then wipes the soil from her hands onto her apron and then shakes it. She bends to pick up her bouquet and bag of bulbs. He watches her every move, only speaking in his brusque manner once he's got her full attention.
"Well clearly I'm not. Next time I'll have to give you a bell so you don't do that to me again." He rubs his chest, over his heart and offers her a smile. Gwen laughs strangely at this before softening her face into something more concerned. She steps closer to him and peers more carefully at his face. Already very fair his skin is ashen and his eyes are ringed dark, not as deathly ill as he had been but not well enough to be traipsing out. Gwen frowns at him.
"You should be in bed Arthur, you need to recover."
He waves his gloved hand dismissively and avoids her eye by looking at the sea of flowers that cover the forest floor. "I'm perfectly fine. The only thing that's a danger to my health now is the susceptibility to die of absolute boredom." He lifts his eyes with a smirk but she still sports a worried, disapproving expression. He rolls his eyes and laughs. "I'm fine Guinevere...unless you're not going to take no for an answer and march me back?"
"I just might..." she utters softly with mischievous eyes and her cheeks burn. She had become closer to the Prince recently, not that she could comfortably call him a close friend but they were now more easily on speaking terms without the stiff formality of their respective stations being a complete hindrance. But she still feels it, it's deeply ingrained on her, no matter the new camaraderie of late. Clearing her throat she shrugs her shoulders and looks back towards the path. "I should be going..."
"Of course, sorry. What are you doing out here anyway?" As she walks he keeps at her side, hands clasped behind his back. She waves the flowers clasped in her fist at him and the earthy bulbs she had collected in a roughly woven sack.
"Gaius asked me to collect these as I was coming here anyway. He says he needs them to make styptic ointments."
"Shouldn't that be Merlin's task?" He says with scorn and she laughs.
"Yes it should be but the poor boy has come down with a cold. As has Gaius. Said they got caught in a storm..."
He snorts derisively and his hair glints gold in the rising light as he shakes his head. "A likely excuse. He probably forgot or would rather have a lie-in." Gwen doesn't answer because she can feel the need to tell him off resting on her tongue so she lifts her head up to the sky instead and sees dark grey clouds chasing each other, hear the oceanic rustle of the trees about them. A fierce wind had started, unbeknowst to Gwen and the birds seem to have gone with that squall. Not seeing where she is going she stumbles and he catches hold of her elbow quickly, producing a polite smile as she looks at him overlong and he lets go. But he considerately places his fingertips against her lower back, as if to keep her steady with a mere touch. Or he was too hesitant to lay a hand on her. A rain starts to fall softly but persistently and they can both feel that it will clatter down soon so they hurry, his fingers moving from her back to clasp her hand.
"You definitely shouldn't be out in this Sire!"
"Oh hush Gwen." As he says this they are drenched with a heavy shower and he drags her to a stop and pulls her under a thick canopy of trees, both panting. "Seeing as you're so concerned with my welfare we'll just have to wait it out." He sits on a large felled branch, thankfully dry and after she doesn't sit forces her down with a sharp tug of her dress. Once seated she grumbles under her breath and he stares at her intensely. "What is it?"
"I should be back now, Lady Morgana will be expecting her breakfast." She had been out of sorts for a awhile now and Gwen was concerned.
"She knows where the kitchens are if she gets hungry enough." He says and she doesn't have to look at him to know he's truly vexed. In fact she was finding it harder to stare at him the longer they were alone together, not knowing what to say and feeling more nervous about what comes out of her mouth. She keeps silent as he peers at her closely, half smile in place as the rain pitapats against the leaves. "Not speaking to me anymore?"
"I'm sorry! I just don't have anything interesting to say." She says, turning to him sharply. "Unless you want to hear about the buttons I shined last night?"
His features soften with something she can't place. "I wish you would stop apologising to me Guinevere. I'm not going to punish you for speaking."
She smiles with a wince, "it's not that I think you'll be harsh, I know you won't. I just sometimes have the misfortune to spout things before I mean to."
"Ah, so you're being more careful. Well then, that makes me wonder what you're holding back from me..." He leans against her arm and gives a playful nudge.
"Nothing! I mean, nothing bad." She relaxes when he smiles teasingly at her and she can't help but think he can be like a little boy at times, frustrating but she enjoys it non the less. She drags her gaze away from him and picks a head off a flower only for it to be pinched quickly by Arthur. She exhales sharply, almost tutting and folds her hands into her lap, watching him as he brings the bluebell up to his face.
"My wet-nurse used to tell me stories about these, wives tales. Turn one of these inside out and your love will be yours. Silly, really..." But he pushes the flower's base up, trying to turn it inside out but it splits and he scowls, throwing it away and reaches for the bunch resting in her lap. He picks another one and tries again, Gwen watching humorously as he concentrates but gets progressively more annoyed as flower after flower slits apart. As he delves his fingers into her lap again Gwen suddenly has the body burning thought that he's plucking flowers from between her legs and the visual will not fade. Arthur grits his teeth, eye shining. "Damn it! Give me another one!" He reaches for it but she pulls it away from him, behind and above her head and he leans into her.
"You've almost taken all of them. I have more stem then flower now! I'm afraid you haven't won your love yet..." She teases breathlessly but just as suddenly as the words leave her mouth she wishes she had taken them back. He stares into her eyes, breath blowing against her cheek as he becomes very still and she feels suspended in a moment, breath held in suspense. She wants to blurt out that she didn't think she was the one he was going to give the flower to but she couldn't speak. And it was probably better if she didn't. His eyes start to flick and he licks his lips and the dazed, almost febrile look to his face clears as he sighs and sits back and Gwen straightens up, her heart beating hard. He gets to his feet quickly and she does the same, feeling awkward.
"The rain is easing off, lets go." He speaks stiffly and begins walking before her and she ducks her head, brushing the destroyed flowers from her skirts and catches up to walk by his side. As the path clears and becomes more smooth he comes to a sudden stop and turns to Gwen and she stares up into his face. He looks serious. "I think you should go on ahead. Don't worry, I'll be following behind." She darts her eyes away with a nod. Of course, it would look suspect if both came out of the forest alone together. Her blood sings embarrassment through her veins and heats her skin with prickles.
"Yes Sire." She nods and walks around him but he catches her wrist and she's relieved to see his jovial expression back in place.
"Guinevere...you might have to check up on me."
"I will?" She narrows her eyes.
"Yes, seeing as Gaius and idiot are too ill to attend to me..."
Gwen cocks her head and her lips quirk. "But I thought you were on the mend? And he's not an idiot, I know you're fond of him really."
"That's what you think!" He utters with a long suffering displeasure but she knows he's joking. His face falls into a more considerate look, the set of his lips uncertain. "I would like you to, if you're not to busy."
"If that's what you wish then of course I will." She smiles at him and they stand in silence until Arthur looks at her significantly and she gasps and begins moving, waving to him and he smiles at her retreating back. Once she's out of sight he turns on his heel and goes back to where they had met. As he picks the flowers he had absconded from her he hopes no one sees him doing this. It was harmless but even so it had the vibrant, delicious undercurrent of the forbidden that he couldn't ignore.