Part 3: link

    They make it to रात का खाना on time. Gwen has changed into the clothes she had Morgana bring, a fitted scoop-neck t-shirt in pale yellow and a short dark grey स्कर्ट that hugs her hips nicely and shows off her shapely legs. She has her sandals from the पूर्व night back on and her hair is down, having come mostly undone during their rendezvous in her office.
    While they wait for their food, they talk, happily discovering that they both actually rather like each other for और than just carnal reasons. They talk easily. There are no बिना सोचे समझे silences या awkward pauses.
    “You know, my father is the only person that calls me ‘Guinevere,’” she tells him.
    “Really? That’s too bad. I quite like it. Guinevere,” he repeats. He notices her breath catch. “Something wrong?”
    “I don’t know. Nothing, I guess. It’s just… weird. The way आप say my name makes me… Well, let’s just say that if my father कहा it that way I’d need to seek extensive counseling,” she grins and takes a sip of water.
    Arthur laughs, then admits, “I like hearing आप say my name as well.” He reaches across the table, offering his hand. She places hers in it.
    “He never used to. Call me that. My father, I mean. He was against naming me such an पुराने ज़माने का, पुराने जमाने name, but my mother insisted. When she died, he started calling me ‘Guinevere’ almost exclusively. I think he does it to try to hold on to her memory.”
    “I’m sorry,” he says, stroking her hand with his thumb, “I didn’t know.” He looks a little और troubled द्वारा this news than she thinks he should.
    “It’s all right; how could आप know? She died a long time ago. I was eight,” she reassures him, but he still looks a bit freaked out. “Arthur?”
    “I’m okay,” he says, noting her concern. “It’s just really weird. My mother is also dead. I never knew her.”
    Her eyes open wider, “Really?”
    “Yes. She actually died before I was born, if that makes any sense.” He continues, seeing the सवाल in her eyes. “She was in a car accident two weeks before I was due to be born. Driving to work one morning. Drunk driver broadsided the car. They were able to deliver me safely, but she had sustained too much head trauma. She was killed almost immediately.” He takes a drink of his water. She places his hand between both of hers.
    “That’s so heartbreaking,” she says, close to tears. “I’m so sorry for you.”
    “Thank you. So we’ve got that in common at least,” he smiles at her, trying to lift the mood, and she grins in spite of herself.
    “How about you? Does no one call आप ‘Art’ या ‘Artie?’” She asks after a time.
    “No, I’ve always been an ‘Arthur.’ Of course Merlin occasionally has some other choices that he comes up with, but आप don’t need to know about those,” he smiles.
    “I can imagine,” she says, oddly pleased that Arthur has such a good friend in his life.

    Their खाना arrives, and Arthur remembers to ask after Morgana. “How was your friend last night? I bet she feels great today.”
    “She was fine. She gets a little… affectionate, though. Guess how many times she told me she loved me,” she grins.
    “Um, four?”
    “Try fourteen.”
    “You counted?”
    “I always do. It’s a habit. Plus then I can tease her with it the अगला morning. At least she didn’t grab my boob this time,” she tells him, making him choke on his bite of steak.
    “What?” he sputters, laughing.
    “I told आप she was an affectionate drunk.”
    “Yes, Merlin mentioned something about that as well.”
    “What did she do?”
    “Um, let’s see… I believe his words were, ‘She stuck her tongue down my throat and grabbed my balls,’ if memory serves. He was just trying to fasten her सीट belt.”
    Gwen laughs at this, causing diners at surrounding tables to turn and look.
    “Oh, and he wants to know if he can have her number,” he remembers, and Gwen laughs her laugh again.
    The waitress arrives to check on things, and then asks them, “Are we celebrating anything this evening? An anniversary, perhaps?”
    Arthur looks at Gwen, then up at the waitress and deadpans, “No, actually, it’s our first date.”
    The waitress turns bright red, says, “Oh,” and hurries away. She could have sworn they were married या at least had been dating for a while.
    Gwen is smirking, her eyes twinkling. Then suddenly her face turns serious and she says, “I can see her point, actually. I feel like I have known आप much longer than I have. Like years.”
    “Thousands of years,” Arthur says. He is giving her that look again, the one that makes her skeleton turn to molten jelly.
    “I… had an interesting dream last night,” she says, mostly to the chicken on her plate.
    “Oh? Interesting how?” he asks, trying to sound casual, remembering the kinds of dreams he had the पूर्व night.
    “Just interesting. It was old; medieval. We were in a गढ़, महल या a fortress. The details are a little hazy now, but I was some kind of servant या maid and आप were a noble of some sort.”
    “And…?” he prompts.
    “And… um, we…” she blushes, regretting having brought the topic up now.
    “Shagged like rabbits?”
    She nods.
    “I had dreams of a similar sort myself. I don’t remember any castles, but I definitely remember the shagging,” he chuckles.

Part 5:link