Fanfic: Up The Duff
Chapter - 2
Arthur and Gwaine squirmed under the combined glares of their parents as they were forced to sit together to complete the humiliation.
Merlin and Morgana were sitting opposite to them while Uther and Igraine sat at the right side of the head table, Annis and Carleon were sitting immediately next to Uther and Igraine facing Arthur and Gwaine who had yet to look up from scrutinizing the table intently.
They were all waiting for the Queen to start the dinner and everyone in the room knew now about Gwaine's predicament.
While Uther and Carleon looked to be in two minds about the pregnancy, Igraine, Morgana and Merlin were more hopeful and in Igraine's case ecstatic and trying to control it.
Annis just looked incredibly worried for Gwaine and kept shooting not so subtle glares at Arthur.
Suffice to say Gwaine was not looking forward to this particular family dinner and he had to refrain from snorting aloud at the thought of them being a family, he'd long since stopped being part of the family. To sit and pretend that just last week they'd been discussing divorce proceedings with the Royal family on the phone was not remiss with Gwaine and Arthur's presence so close to him was throwing off all of his barricades that he'd carefully built up in the last year to protect himself.
Arthur's body radiated warmth like it always did and they were sitting close together that if Gwaine moved just a little his thighs would brush together with Arthur's.
Unbidden a memory of Arthur putting his hand on Gwaine's thigh and making him choke inadvertently on his wine in a similar family dinner came to him and Gwaine's throat closed up with feeling and his chest felt tight as he thought on how far away from that scenario they were now.
Arthur's body was coiled tight with tension now and Gwaine had no doubt that if he were to lay even a finger on Arthur he would slap his hands away.
He just knew the Queen was making them all stew just for the hell of it, even though he liked the old natter he knew today she was probably going to embarrass them even further.
Finally when the tension was so high in the room that it could be cut with a knife the Queen of England came into the dining hall immaculately dressed in a pale suit sans hat.
They all rose together with her entrance as they all knew there would be hell to pay if any of them showed anything other than complete respect for her, she was even scarier than Uther in that way despite being a short, stout, nearly ninety year old woman.
Agatha Pendragon smiled at them all her eyes coming to rest on Gwaine and Arthur making them feel like naughty children caught stealing out of a cookie jar.
Agatha extended her arms out in a beckoning gesture then and Gwaine and Arthur slumped in defeat knowing they couldn't get out of it as Merlin and Morgana snickered from the sidelines, Igraine was biting her lip and managing a modicum of decorum while Annis, Uther and Carleon all still looked like they had a stick up their arses.
Arthur and Gwaine went to meet her halfway as she walked with swift strides to them both and crushed them together in a group hug, Gwaine ending up on her right arm and Arthur on her left and though they were both actively trying to not brush up on each other it was quite impossible and Gwaine felt Arthur's body right against his sides and tried not to feel overwhelmed by it all.
Agatha released them from her crushing hold eventually and then looked right at Gwaine and exclaimed "So I hear you have a bun in the oven"
Gwaine flushed scarlet at the Queens all too candid observation and then just as he predicted she made it worse.
"I'm not surprised, I never doubted in dear Arthur's virility you know…although I can hardly say the same for my own son!"
"GRAND MOTHER!"
"MOTHER!"
Both Uther and Arthur exclaimed at the same time and Agatha threw her head back and laughed as she made her way to the head table and sat down.
And everyone else followed her cue and sat down as well as the maids came in to serve them all.
They were all afraid of addressing the massive elephant in the room which was that were it not for Gwaine falling pregnant this might have been a conversation about divorce proceedings.
Agatha however had no taste for dilly dallying so she said "Now you can put all that nasty divorce talk behind…."
Surprisingly it was Arthur who objected though Annis and Gwaine were just short of doing so anyways.
"Grandmother I don't think this changes anything…"
Agatha looked down at Arthur like he was particularly stupid and proclaimed "You foolish boy, this changes everything! You can't tell me you are still thinking of divorce as an option…you still like him enough to have gotten him pregnant!"
Arthur's cheeks were ruddy with color and it was Gwaine who interjected this time, "We've not discussed what we're going to do about the baby yet your highness."
"Oh stop with the titles! And what is there to discuss about, you both are obviously going to raise my great grand son or daughter together."
"That is a decision that's best left to Gwaine…" Annis said her tone sharp as she glared at the Queen, "I believe he has the right to see this through alone if that's what he wishes for."
"And why would he wish for that?" Queen Agatha asked skeptically waving a maid from refilling her wine glass.
The question was addressed to Annis and Annis' eyes radiated hatred as she declared too bluntly "Well Arthur has not exactly been the best partner for my son has he?" Annis cast a glare at Arthur at that and Arthur met her glare with an icy stare of his own, Annis had never approved of him after all and took every opportunity to undermine him even before Gwaine and Arthur had drifted apart.
Agatha waved her hands in the air again and said "Lover's tiff and all that, which marriage doesn't have those? If I remember right you and duke Carleon hit rough waters long back and you are still together are you not?"
Annis narrowed her eyes at the Queen and snapped "I and my husband are different to Arthur and Gwaine, he left my son for a year and when he came back he couldn't be bothered to even talk to Gwaine, my son didn't deserve to be deserted!"
Igraine couldn't contain herself from defending her Arthur at that, "He didn't desert Gwaine, he left to fight in a war that would have threatened all our lives had he not gone!"
"I'm talking about the time after the war, he didn't return for two months while my son had to wait and wonder along with the rest of the world just what his husband was doing instead of returning to him like he should have! And when he did come back he threw my son to the curb without a thought!"
"I didn't throw him out, he walked out on his own!" Arthur snapped rightly pissed off with Annis and her incessant insults on his character.
"Because you treated me like I was inexistent to you!" Gwaine snapped back as he faced Arthur, "You didn't want anything to do with me."
"Because you were being clingy when all I wanted was some space!"
"Space? You came back two months late and then left me again the same week you came back! And then you had the gall to say I was having an affair with Percy!"
"You certainly seemed chummy enough to warrant my suspicion!"
"I certainly wish I'd have done something now to warrant your suspicion!" Gwaine imitated Arthur's voice and they were both vying for a fight now and every one could see the figurative steam billowing out of Arthur and Gwaine's ears.
"ENOUGH!" that was Merlin and when everyone turned to look at him with surprise he gulped before he Morgana squeezed his hand and he looked at Arthur and Gwaine resolutely.
"You both have issues to deal with fine, you're not going to solve anything by screaming at each other. And everything has changed Arthur…you have a baby to think about now not just yourselves and I hope you both start acting like responsible adults instead of kindergarten children throwing endless accusations at each other and making no progress in the end."
"I couldn't have said it more accurately myself!" Queen Agatha said and raised her wine glass to Merlin in praise.
Arthur lifted his own wine glass to distract himself from the situation he'd got himself into and as he was sitting so close to Gwaine the smell triggered Gwaine's sensitive stomach and he got up abruptly holding a hand to his mouth and rushing out to the bathroom.
All of a sudden his predicament became all too real for Arthur and when five minutes had passed where they were all at an impasse and the room reigned with uncomfortable silence Merlin said "You should go check on him" to Arthur.
"No need, I'll go" Annis said and made to get up.
Arthur beat her to it and was out of his chair before Annis and when Annis gave him a disapproving stare Arthur said "I'm still his husband, I hope you remember that Lady Annis" and walked out in search of Gwaine.
Arthur found Gwaine slumped and leaning on the edges of the porcelain sink in the bathroom and when he looked up and saw Arthur's reflection in the mirror his eyes narrowed in suspicion "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think? Checking up on you apparently, though you certainly don't seem to be needing it." Arthur didn't know what was compelling him to be an ass, he knew he was being an ass but he just couldn't seem to stop his words.
"Get out Arthur!" Gwaine said his eyes hard and angry.
Arthur was going to protest vociferously, tell Gwaine he couldn't tell Arthur what he could and couldn't do inside his own house but then Gwaine got this funny expression and then bent over retching again and even from where he looked it looked painful to Arthur so his feet took a mind of its own and so did his hands as they closed in on Gwaine and in the end Arthur was holding Gwaine's head keeping his lush hair away until Gwaine stopped regurgitating and just took deep breaths in and out.
Unbidden his hands sneaked around to Gwaine's stomach and started rubbing comforting circles, this was the closest Arthur had been to Gwaine in so long, the last time being the night they'd slept together and his couldn't seem to contain his hands motions even if he wanted to as Gwaine settled leaning his weight lightly on Arthur and trying to recover from his bout of sickness.
Arthur was still rubbing his stomach still amazed that his baby was growing inside said stomach, it was all a bit surreal to him.
"What are you doing?" Gwaine asked once he'd recovered enough to become disconcerted that he was taking comfort from Arthur.
Arthur didn't say anything and continued rubbing Gwaine's stomach as he took in Gwaine's scent and the feeling of having him so close again.
Gwaine moved away from him then casting Arthur's arms aside as he turned and said "You don't get to do this now Arthur….not after everything, stay the fuck away from me!"
Arthur's hands clenched but when Gwaine left the bathroom Arthur didn't protest, and once he was out the door Arthur banged his fist hard on the tiled walls letting out all his frustration and anger at how they had ended up here and how he was going to fix this mess!
Arthur and Gwaine squirmed under the combined glares of their parents as they were forced to sit together to complete the humiliation.
Merlin and Morgana were sitting opposite to them while Uther and Igraine sat at the right side of the head table, Annis and Carleon were sitting immediately next to Uther and Igraine facing Arthur and Gwaine who had yet to look up from scrutinizing the table intently.
They were all waiting for the Queen to start the dinner and everyone in the room knew now about Gwaine's predicament.
While Uther and Carleon looked to be in two minds about the pregnancy, Igraine, Morgana and Merlin were more hopeful and in Igraine's case ecstatic and trying to control it.
Annis just looked incredibly worried for Gwaine and kept shooting not so subtle glares at Arthur.
Suffice to say Gwaine was not looking forward to this particular family dinner and he had to refrain from snorting aloud at the thought of them being a family, he'd long since stopped being part of the family. To sit and pretend that just last week they'd been discussing divorce proceedings with the Royal family on the phone was not remiss with Gwaine and Arthur's presence so close to him was throwing off all of his barricades that he'd carefully built up in the last year to protect himself.
Arthur's body radiated warmth like it always did and they were sitting close together that if Gwaine moved just a little his thighs would brush together with Arthur's.
Unbidden a memory of Arthur putting his hand on Gwaine's thigh and making him choke inadvertently on his wine in a similar family dinner came to him and Gwaine's throat closed up with feeling and his chest felt tight as he thought on how far away from that scenario they were now.
Arthur's body was coiled tight with tension now and Gwaine had no doubt that if he were to lay even a finger on Arthur he would slap his hands away.
He just knew the Queen was making them all stew just for the hell of it, even though he liked the old natter he knew today she was probably going to embarrass them even further.
Finally when the tension was so high in the room that it could be cut with a knife the Queen of England came into the dining hall immaculately dressed in a pale suit sans hat.
They all rose together with her entrance as they all knew there would be hell to pay if any of them showed anything other than complete respect for her, she was even scarier than Uther in that way despite being a short, stout, nearly ninety year old woman.
Agatha Pendragon smiled at them all her eyes coming to rest on Gwaine and Arthur making them feel like naughty children caught stealing out of a cookie jar.
Agatha extended her arms out in a beckoning gesture then and Gwaine and Arthur slumped in defeat knowing they couldn't get out of it as Merlin and Morgana snickered from the sidelines, Igraine was biting her lip and managing a modicum of decorum while Annis, Uther and Carleon all still looked like they had a stick up their arses.
Arthur and Gwaine went to meet her halfway as she walked with swift strides to them both and crushed them together in a group hug, Gwaine ending up on her right arm and Arthur on her left and though they were both actively trying to not brush up on each other it was quite impossible and Gwaine felt Arthur's body right against his sides and tried not to feel overwhelmed by it all.
Agatha released them from her crushing hold eventually and then looked right at Gwaine and exclaimed "So I hear you have a bun in the oven"
Gwaine flushed scarlet at the Queens all too candid observation and then just as he predicted she made it worse.
"I'm not surprised, I never doubted in dear Arthur's virility you know…although I can hardly say the same for my own son!"
"GRAND MOTHER!"
"MOTHER!"
Both Uther and Arthur exclaimed at the same time and Agatha threw her head back and laughed as she made her way to the head table and sat down.
And everyone else followed her cue and sat down as well as the maids came in to serve them all.
They were all afraid of addressing the massive elephant in the room which was that were it not for Gwaine falling pregnant this might have been a conversation about divorce proceedings.
Agatha however had no taste for dilly dallying so she said "Now you can put all that nasty divorce talk behind…."
Surprisingly it was Arthur who objected though Annis and Gwaine were just short of doing so anyways.
"Grandmother I don't think this changes anything…"
Agatha looked down at Arthur like he was particularly stupid and proclaimed "You foolish boy, this changes everything! You can't tell me you are still thinking of divorce as an option…you still like him enough to have gotten him pregnant!"
Arthur's cheeks were ruddy with color and it was Gwaine who interjected this time, "We've not discussed what we're going to do about the baby yet your highness."
"Oh stop with the titles! And what is there to discuss about, you both are obviously going to raise my great grand son or daughter together."
"That is a decision that's best left to Gwaine…" Annis said her tone sharp as she glared at the Queen, "I believe he has the right to see this through alone if that's what he wishes for."
"And why would he wish for that?" Queen Agatha asked skeptically waving a maid from refilling her wine glass.
The question was addressed to Annis and Annis' eyes radiated hatred as she declared too bluntly "Well Arthur has not exactly been the best partner for my son has he?" Annis cast a glare at Arthur at that and Arthur met her glare with an icy stare of his own, Annis had never approved of him after all and took every opportunity to undermine him even before Gwaine and Arthur had drifted apart.
Agatha waved her hands in the air again and said "Lover's tiff and all that, which marriage doesn't have those? If I remember right you and duke Carleon hit rough waters long back and you are still together are you not?"
Annis narrowed her eyes at the Queen and snapped "I and my husband are different to Arthur and Gwaine, he left my son for a year and when he came back he couldn't be bothered to even talk to Gwaine, my son didn't deserve to be deserted!"
Igraine couldn't contain herself from defending her Arthur at that, "He didn't desert Gwaine, he left to fight in a war that would have threatened all our lives had he not gone!"
"I'm talking about the time after the war, he didn't return for two months while my son had to wait and wonder along with the rest of the world just what his husband was doing instead of returning to him like he should have! And when he did come back he threw my son to the curb without a thought!"
"I didn't throw him out, he walked out on his own!" Arthur snapped rightly pissed off with Annis and her incessant insults on his character.
"Because you treated me like I was inexistent to you!" Gwaine snapped back as he faced Arthur, "You didn't want anything to do with me."
"Because you were being clingy when all I wanted was some space!"
"Space? You came back two months late and then left me again the same week you came back! And then you had the gall to say I was having an affair with Percy!"
"You certainly seemed chummy enough to warrant my suspicion!"
"I certainly wish I'd have done something now to warrant your suspicion!" Gwaine imitated Arthur's voice and they were both vying for a fight now and every one could see the figurative steam billowing out of Arthur and Gwaine's ears.
"ENOUGH!" that was Merlin and when everyone turned to look at him with surprise he gulped before he Morgana squeezed his hand and he looked at Arthur and Gwaine resolutely.
"You both have issues to deal with fine, you're not going to solve anything by screaming at each other. And everything has changed Arthur…you have a baby to think about now not just yourselves and I hope you both start acting like responsible adults instead of kindergarten children throwing endless accusations at each other and making no progress in the end."
"I couldn't have said it more accurately myself!" Queen Agatha said and raised her wine glass to Merlin in praise.
Arthur lifted his own wine glass to distract himself from the situation he'd got himself into and as he was sitting so close to Gwaine the smell triggered Gwaine's sensitive stomach and he got up abruptly holding a hand to his mouth and rushing out to the bathroom.
All of a sudden his predicament became all too real for Arthur and when five minutes had passed where they were all at an impasse and the room reigned with uncomfortable silence Merlin said "You should go check on him" to Arthur.
"No need, I'll go" Annis said and made to get up.
Arthur beat her to it and was out of his chair before Annis and when Annis gave him a disapproving stare Arthur said "I'm still his husband, I hope you remember that Lady Annis" and walked out in search of Gwaine.
Arthur found Gwaine slumped and leaning on the edges of the porcelain sink in the bathroom and when he looked up and saw Arthur's reflection in the mirror his eyes narrowed in suspicion "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think? Checking up on you apparently, though you certainly don't seem to be needing it." Arthur didn't know what was compelling him to be an ass, he knew he was being an ass but he just couldn't seem to stop his words.
"Get out Arthur!" Gwaine said his eyes hard and angry.
Arthur was going to protest vociferously, tell Gwaine he couldn't tell Arthur what he could and couldn't do inside his own house but then Gwaine got this funny expression and then bent over retching again and even from where he looked it looked painful to Arthur so his feet took a mind of its own and so did his hands as they closed in on Gwaine and in the end Arthur was holding Gwaine's head keeping his lush hair away until Gwaine stopped regurgitating and just took deep breaths in and out.
Unbidden his hands sneaked around to Gwaine's stomach and started rubbing comforting circles, this was the closest Arthur had been to Gwaine in so long, the last time being the night they'd slept together and his couldn't seem to contain his hands motions even if he wanted to as Gwaine settled leaning his weight lightly on Arthur and trying to recover from his bout of sickness.
Arthur was still rubbing his stomach still amazed that his baby was growing inside said stomach, it was all a bit surreal to him.
"What are you doing?" Gwaine asked once he'd recovered enough to become disconcerted that he was taking comfort from Arthur.
Arthur didn't say anything and continued rubbing Gwaine's stomach as he took in Gwaine's scent and the feeling of having him so close again.
Gwaine moved away from him then casting Arthur's arms aside as he turned and said "You don't get to do this now Arthur….not after everything, stay the fuck away from me!"
Arthur's hands clenched but when Gwaine left the bathroom Arthur didn't protest, and once he was out the door Arthur banged his fist hard on the tiled walls letting out all his frustration and anger at how they had ended up here and how he was going to fix this mess!