Part 28: link


    Wheels have been turning in Gwen’s head all afternoon. She suggests they go back to Arthur’s flat again, even though they generally trade off.
    “I need to stop at 집 first, get some things. Like a new pair of knickers,” she says once they are alone, outside the pub.
    “Don’t 당신 dare,” he says impishly.
    “What?”
    “I’m thoroughly enjoying the thought of 당신 being, um, unencumbered under your proper little sundress,” he says, pulling her close. “It’s a huge turn-on,” he growls low in her ear.
    “You are so strange sometimes,” she laughs, though his voice in her ear like makes her knees wobble and her skin grow warm.
    Back at her flat, Arthur helps himself to a fresh carton of ice cream he’s found in her freezer while she gathers her things, and Gwen is grateful for his distraction as she grabs her Polaroid and an extra pack of film, tucking them into the middle of her bag.
    “Let’s go.”
    Gwen snuggles Iggy for a bit when arrive back at Arthur’s, as the cat seems overjoyed to see her again so soon. She reaches into the cabinet where Arthur keeps the cat treats, feeding him a couple morsels as she carries him around in her arms, talking to him.
    “All right, he’s not a baby, put him down,” Arthur rolls his eyes and pulls Gwen’s torn panties out of his pocket.
    Gwen sets Iggy down, and he bounds happily away. She notices Arthur isn’t throwing the knickers away.
    “And what do 당신 plan on doing with those?” she asks, hands on her hips.
    “You said I could have a souvenir. I’m keeping them.”
    “Yuck,” she sticks her tongue out. They’re not even clean. Of course, that’s probably part of their appeal. Kinky nutter.
    Arthur just laughs. “You’re flattered, 당신 just don’t want to admit it,” he says, pulling her into his arms, his hands roaming down over her backside, purposely feeling the smoothness of her curves beneath her dress, unhindered 의해 the telltale bumps left 의해 undergarments.
    “Arthur?” she asks, 키싱 his throat, touching her tongue to his skin.
    “Hmm?”
    “Can I see the closet?”
    “What?”
    “You said 당신 have a bunch of paintings in a closet,” she explains. “I want to see them.”
    “Oh, that. Sure,” he says, taking her hand and pulling her to a closet in his short hallway.
    “I still want some for my office, 당신 know.” Serendipitous timing, that.
    “Yep, I remember,” he says, pulling out a stack of about fifteen 또는 twenty canvases.
    “Wow, that’s a lot.”
    He flips through them, each canvas separated 의해 a large piece of blank newsprint paper.
    “So they don’t stick together,” he explains, setting them on the floor and switching on an overhead light so she can see.
    She blinks in the brightness, looking at them.
    A dragon, so detailed that she can see each scale, can almost feel the heat from the flames emanating from its jagged maw.
    An approaching storm at dusk, the sky dark oranges and bright yellows amongst a sea of deepest grey, thick with rolling fat clouds so close that one thinks they could be snatched from the sky. The silhouette of a large 나무, 트리 is off to one side, black against the already dark sky.
    A beautiful lake scene, puffy thick white clouds floating over the still lake, a lone 뗏목 floating in the center, offset 의해 rolling hills in the background. She can almost feel the cool breeze lifting from the surface of the water.
    His mother, a faraway look in her familiar blue eyes; wistful. She is pregnant, the 라일락 꽃, 라일락 bushes in full bloom beside her.
    “That was from a 사진 I found,” he says quietly.
    “It’s beautiful.”
    She moves to the 다음 one, a small canvas. “Is that Iggy?” she points, smiling.
    “Yeah,” he admits sheepishly. “Thought I’d try a non-human subject. He was a kitten.”
    “He was so cute!” she gushes, smiling at the image of the fluffy ginger kitten, a cloth 쥐, 마우스 under his paws.
    Another landscape, a rolling farm field of just-cut hay, glistening gold in the sunlight. Round bales sit here and there amid the shimmering stripes left 의해 the tractor. Not a 구름, 클라우드 in the sky, a silo off to the side.
    A lush green garden courtyard with a pergola from which wisteria blossoms hang like massive bunches of grapes over a flagstone path.
    And on and on. Flowers. Children at play. A beautiful portrait of Morgana, looking like a 도자기 goddess. The requisite bowl of fruit. Two young boys that look suspiciously like Arthur and Merlin.
    “Is that…?”
    “Yeah. From another photo. We were about six.”
    “What were 당신 studying there?” Their heads are together, both looking intently at something in Arthur’s dirty hands, hidden from view.
    “I caught a frog.”
    Gwen smiles. “Who took the photo?”
    “Merlin’s mum.”
    “Your hair was really blonde, wasn’t it?”
    “In the summer it would turn almost white,” he laughs. “I looked so strange. I was outside all the time, so I was this skinny tan boy with white hair.”
    “Well, the composition of your light blonde hair against Merlin’s shiny black hair is stunning.”
    “I thought so, too. 당신 have a good eye, Guinevere.”
    “Thank you,” she smiles, moving to the 다음 one. It is a man, silhouetted against the last dregs of an 주황색, 오렌지 and 담홍색, 핑크 sunset, facing away but in partial profile. Though she can’t really see him, she can sense the grief about him, the heaviness of his posture, the weight of sadness on his shoulders as he gazes at what appear to be the same lilacs, no longer blooming. It seems to be early autumn, and they are losing their leaves.
    “Your father?” she guesses. She peers closer, his image a mystery to her. Certainly she’d heard his name but he is reclusive, only seen when he chooses to be seen, so she actually has no idea what Arthur’s famous father even looks like.
    “Yes. He didn’t know I saw him.”
    “So this isn’t from a photo?”
    “Just the one in my head. It was our tenth birthdays, Mo’s and mine. Also the tenth anniversary of mum’s death, of course. He thought we were in bed.” He speaks quietly, sadly. “I got up looking for a drink of water, and when I didn’t hear him in the house, I went looking. Found him outside, staring at the 라일락 꽃, 라일락 bushes.”
    She takes his hand in hers and squeezes it.
    “He was crying. I’d never seen him cry before, not once. Always caught hell from him when I did. 당신 know, falling of my bike 또는 from a 나무, 트리 또는 hit in the head with a football.”
    Gwen thinks she can see the faintest glimmer of a tear on what little bit of Uther’s 프로필 she can see. Could be my imagination putting it there, though.
    “This is a very sad painting, Arthur. It made me sad to look at, even before 당신 told me the story.”
    “Um, thank you, I guess.”
    She chuckles. “It was a compliment. You’ve certainly conveyed the emotion quite effectively,” she says quietly, setting it aside, unable to look on it any more.
    “Oh, and then there’s these,” Arthur says suddenly, turning to pull out two worn sketchpads.
    “Goodness, Arthur!” Gwen exclaims, taking them and paging through. They are full, each page bearing a sketch, some image. Some are odd and random: a boot, a toaster, an old tire, a broken doll’s head. Some are beautiful and almost haunting in their detail: a large iris blossom, a small waterfall 의해 a stream, and finally, a self-portrait.
    “I was wondering if you’d ever drawn yourself,” she says, looking at it.
    “I don’t like to. Seems self-indulgent.”
    “Says the alpha male,” she teases. “This is beautiful, Arthur.” Gwen longs to touch the drawing but doesn’t, not wishing to smudge a single line.
    “Thanks. It actually grew quite tiresome. Too much time with a mirror. I ended up picking at pimples 더 많이 than I was drawing in the end,” he laughs.
    Gwen turns the page, laughing with him. “Merlin… Gwaine… Phil? Does she know you’ve drawn her?”
    “No, and don’t 당신 dare tell her!”
    “Well, you’ve drawn her beautifully. 당신 were on a kick with portraits for a while,” she observes, flipping past 이미지 of Leon and Ox before finding one she doesn’t recognize. It’s a woman with dark hair, handsome but not gorgeous, with strangely familiar eyes. She seems very sweet and personable, even in the pencil sketch.
    “Yeah, they’re fun. I like trying to capture people’s personalities.”
    “Well, you’re very good at it,” she says. “Who is this?”
    “Merlin’s mum, Hunith.”
    “She’s lovely.”
    “Yes, she is. Like I said, I’m jealous of Merlin sometimes because he has her.”
    Gwen smiles and closes the sketchbook, turning back to the pile. “Now, let’s see… which ones do I want?” she thinks, pressing her index finger to her lips while she ponders.
    “Definitely this one,” she reaches for the garden one with the wisterias.
    “I knew you’d choose that one,” he smiles. “Do 당신 want one of you?”
    “For my own office? Um, no.” She considers the one of young Arthur and Merlin, but selects the hayfield instead.
    “Really?” he asks, surprised.
    “Yes. I like how shiny the fresh-cut 건초 is.”
    “That’s how it really looked; it was amazing. I never knew it could look like that, but the sun was just right and it must have just been cut to still be so shiny.”
    “Well, they’ll both look brilliant on my walls,” Gwen says, gathering them up carefully, placing the newsprint between them while he packs the rest away.

    “Hungry?” he asks, looking at the clock.
    “Yes. Do 당신 have any food?”
    “Nothing 당신 would consider for dinner,” he laughs. “You wanted Luigi’s, let’s go there.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes. Put those shoes back on,” he orders, pointing.
    She laughs. “Between these shoes and my lack of underclothes, are 당신 sure it’s a good idea to go out in public with you?”
    “I’ll try to behave myself,” he says, grinning.
    “Well, perhaps I had better go put on some—”
    “Hey!”
    She grins at him and kisses his nose before bending down to put her sandals on. He simply stands behind her, enjoying the view.
    She’s doing that on purpose, he notes, noticing that she’s bent at the waist, sticking her rear end up at him. Well, then, he thinks, stepping 앞으로 quietly and placing his hands on her hips before sliding them down her thighs.
    Arthur’s hands find skin and he starts sliding them back up, under her dress.
    “Arthur!” she yelps, jumping away from him.
    “You started it,” he protests, “bending over like that when 당신 could have used a chair.”
    “Right,” she says, smirking. “Come on. I want some pasta.”
    “And I want some—” his words are cut off 의해 the look she gives him. It’s a warning look, but it is also a promising one. He bites his lower lip and bounds out the door after her.

    “Can I watch?” Gwen asks later as Arthur works on his canvas, finishing his first painting of Guinevere.
    “Of course,” he says, eyeing her appreciatively as she pads over, in his Clash t-shirt this time. His eyes drop down to where the white of the 셔츠 meets the brown of her creamy thighs.
    “No, I didn’t put any on,” she rolls her eyes. “Damn, 당신 are positively fixated.”
    “One-track mind today, Sweet. And it’s all your fault,” he says, brushing confidently now, a marked contrast to the other night where he was sullen and hesitant.
    “Yes, yes, I kissed 당신 and left you,” she recites, sitting on a stool. After a minute, she asks, “So why didn’t 당신 just… take care of things?”
    “You mean have a wank? Guinevere, I’m surprised at you!” he says, grinning. “I may make a degenerate out of 당신 yet,” he laughs. “And I did,” he admits.
    “Oh,” she says, blushing slightly. I guess I didn’t realize quite how desirable he found me. I mean, I know he desires me, but wow.
    “Do 당신 want to try?” he asks.
    “Try what?” she asks, wary of what he may be asking.
    “Painting, silly,” he laughs, following her dirty little train of thought.
    “Oh, that!” she laughs. “No, I couldn’t. I was pretty hopeless in school at art. The only thing I seemed to be decent at was pottery. 당신 know, clay.”
    “Clay is fun. Ever use a pottery wheel?”
    “Once. It was really cool.”
    “I’ve often thought about getting one. Maybe one day,” he shrugs. “Here,” he sets the canvas aside carefully, then goes in 검색 of a blank one for her.
    “A small one!” she calls, nervous now.
    “Okay, okay, we’ll start small.”
    He returns with a small canvas, about one foot square, and sets it on the easel.
    “What am I painting?” she asks.
    “Ummm…” he looks around. Something simple. I don’t have any flowers. Fruit? Do I have any fruit? He goes to the kitchen, where he finds an apple, an orange, and a spotted banana. “Will have to do,” he mutters, putting them in a bowl and wandering back.
    “Lovely,” she says, as he puts them on the stool, moving it into place. “How old is that banana?”
    He shrugs, coming back around to her. “Now, 당신 might want to start with a pencil to get the basic shape…”
    An 시간 later Gwen is frowning at the canvas. “It looks like a blob with some blobs inside.”
    “It’s good. For a first attempt,” he says, tilting his head.
    “That code for ‘it’s total bollocks.’”
    “It’s… abstract, then.”
    She groans, jamming the brush into the jar of cleaner.
    “Worse?”
    “Yes!”
    “Would 당신 like me to attempt to sew a dress 또는 something to make 당신 feel better?”
    Gwen laughs now, picturing Arthur hunched over a sewing machine, 또는 better still, with a needle and thread, painstakingly stitching.
    “My luck, you’d be brilliant at it,” she says finally, stretching her arms over her head.
    Arthur’s eyes widen as the hem of the 셔츠 rises up her thighs, almost high enough for him to see…
    He groans and steps over to her, hoisting her over his shoulder and carrying her to his 침대 while she squeals and laughs.

    Guinevere turns over, and a shaft of early sunlight hits her in the face. She blinks her eyes open, squinting and wincing.
    What time is it? She looks at the clock. 6:33. Ugh. She is just about to roll over and snuggle back into Arthur’s arms when she remembers.
    Camera.
    She slides carefully from the bed. Arthur flops over and starts snoring loudly, his mouth hanging open.
    Sexy, she thinks ruefully, grabbing a 랜덤 셔츠 and throwing it on before digging into her bag and pulling out her camera. She grabs the extra packet of film as well, cringing as the thick plastic film around it crinkles loudly.
    Arthur doesn’t stir, just continues sawing logs, so she walks silently from the room, closing the door behind her.

    “Going to lunch,” Arthur announces at twenty past twelve Monday as he strides from the shop.
    “Meeting the Sparrow?” Gwaine asks, not looking up from his work.
    “Surprising her, yeah.”
    “Have a good time,” he answers, grinning devilishly.
    “Just lunch, piss off.” Arthur heads toward his motorcycle, stomping the ignition. Nothing. He tries again, and it sputters to life, then dies. Two 더 많이 tries and Arthur is cursing.
    Fuck it, it’s not far, I’ll walk.
    “So 당신 found us,” Gwen says as she walks out of Taliesin to find Lance waiting for her.
    “I did say I knew where it was, Gwen,” he smiles. “It’s good to see you.”
    “You, too,” she says, giving him a friendly hug. “There’s a café just up the block.” She slings her bag over her shoulder and takes his arm.
    Arthur glowers from the corner, where he arrived just in time to see Guinevere smiling as she finishes hugging a well-dressed young man with dark hair. He is fit and handsome with the kind of effortless good looks that would give Gwaine a run for his money. Tan and well-built, in clothes that seem to do nothing but highlight his physique.
    Arthur hates him immediately. Not only that, why is Guinevere, my Guinevere, hugging him and smiling at him?
    And why is she taking his fucking arm and walking away with him?
    Arthur sees green, then red. He starts walking, following at a careful distance.
    He watches from outside, lurking behind a phone booth, as they sit at the café, chatting companionably.
    “So 당신 were in Paris for a while, then New York?” she asks.
    “Yes. I got a job working at the Guggenheim Museum.”
    “Wow, fancy,” she teases. “Why did 당신 leave?”
    “Because I wanted to open my own place. And be closer to my mother,” he add sadly.
    “Is your mother here in London?”
    “No, she’s in Nice, at a beautiful hospital with a room that overlooks the sea,” he says sadly. “But I wanted to be here. I missed it too much.”
    “How is she?” Gwen asks softly, knowing that it is a delicate subject.
    Lance sighs. “I saw her last week. She doesn’t know who I am.”
    “That must be very hard,” Gwen sympathizes, putting her hand on his for a moment.
    “She thinks I’m her brother Jorge.”
    “What?”
    “She’s regressed back to where she thinks she’s about seven years old, back 집 in Chile.”
    “So, when your father died, that was pretty much it for her, huh?”
    “Yeah,” he sighs again. “She wasn’t that… together to begin with. But when he finally succumbed, her fragile mind went with him, I think.”
    “How terrible. I read about your father’s death. There was a lovely 기사 in the Arts section of the Times all about him and his work. A big one.”
    “That’s nice.”
    “So what do 당신 do? When 당신 visit your mum, if she doesn’t know you? 또는 thinks you’re your uncle.”
    “What can I do? I humor her. I speak to her in Spanish, calling her Rosita the way he does. I let her show me her 인형 and tell me about how Francisco, who must be some boy that lived in her village, pulls her braids and runs away laughing.” He smiles a sad smile.
    “And your sister?”
    “She can’t handle it. Tells Josh that his grandparents have both gone to heaven.”
    “Wow. She’s not exactly lying, though, is she?”
    He shrugs. “Not really.”
    The waiter comes and takes their orders while Arthur tears his eyes away from them for a few moments, debating with himself.
    Should I go in there? No, she’d kill me. I should leave. It’s probably just a business lunch.
    But why was she fucking hugging him, then? She is much too friendly with him for this to be business.
    Go in. Pretend that you’ve just happened 의해 and spotted her. Ask to 가입하기 them. Be civilized.
    Yes. I can do that. And then I will 펀치 his perfectly straight nose directly into those ridiculous cheekbones.
    No. Just… no. Be good. Be friendly.
    When he looks back, she’s scooted her chair closer to the strange man’s and they are leaning towards one another, their heads together.
    Well, isn’t this nice?
    And when Guinevere leans her head back and laughs her merry laugh, the laugh that is normally like 음악 and sunshine, that tears it for Arthur. He kicks the phone kiosk and stomps away, his jealousy a blinding fury behind his eyes.
    “What’s this one?” Lance asks, puzzled.
    “Oh, that’s mine,” she laughs. “He was trying to teach me how to paint last night. I only took a 사진 of it to use up the film and because I thought 당신 would find it amusing.”
    “Um, don’t take this the wrong way 또는 anything, but what is it?”
    “Oh! How can I not take that the wrong way?” she exclaims, feigning hurt. “It’s a bowl of fruit. See, the pointy-ish yellow-ish thing? That’s a banana.”
    He holds the 사진 closer to his face, peering at it. “Ah. Not a sideway canoe, then.”
    “Shut up!” she shoves his shoulder.
    “I feel like I’m trying to guess at one of Josh’s drawings,” he says, purposely teasing her now, even turning the 사진 upside-down.
    “How old is Josh?” she asks, wary.
    “Four,” he grins at her, and she gives in, laughing loudly, throwing her head back as she does so.
    “You are such a shit,” she finally says. “But what do 당신 think of Arthur’s work?”
    He flips through the 사진 again and picks up the few drawings she’s brought, including the first one he did for her, on the back of the letter.
    “He is fucking amazing.”

    Phil looks up and sees Arthur stalk to the door of the shop, opening it only to stick his head in and declare that he is going home.
    “What the hell was that?” she asks, looking at Gwaine.
    “Bad lunch date?” he shrugs.
    Arthur eyes his motorcycle again. “This is your fault. If 당신 had started, I would have been there early enough to intercept him.” He kicks the tire, climbs on and attempts to start it.
    Of course it fires up on the first try. Arthur curses loudly and rides off, angry at Gwen and angry at himself for the tears he feels threatening.
    He rides aimlessly, avoiding any place where he might see anyone he knows. He finds himself driving past his father’s estate, slowing but not stopping. In fact, he hits the accelerator harder when he realizes he’s even slowed.
    “Meet me at my flat when you’re done working,” she had said to him that morning. “I’m going to drop these at the framer’s after work, so I won’t be stopping in at the shop.”
    Yeah, right. If 의해 “framer’s” she means “handsome olive-skinned Mediterranean-looking menswear catalog model’s flat for a quick shag,” he thinks bitterly, turning back towards his own flat.

Part 30: link