Part 64: link
“I’m being told to say something about cake… No one wants cake, do they? Surely not. But if anyone is interested in such a thing, Arthur and Gwen will be doing their thing over there,” Minstrel points, “like, now.”
It’s not really an actual cake. What has been wheeled out into the parlor is a meza, jedwali covered in cupcakes. Some are on a beautiful tiered stand and some are scattered around the table. They are beautiful. And they are filled. Arthur and Gwen have each chosen a flavor: lemon, limau with a cream cheese filling for Arthur, with lavender icing, and chokoleti with karanga siagi filling for Guinevere, with red icing. All the cakes have a beautiful A&G piped on their tops in white icing.
“I told wewe you’d pick the right one,” Gwen teases Arthur as they approach the table.
“Ah, but which flavor should we choose?” he asks, eyeing them up.
“Let’s go with the lemon,” she says. “If you’re feeding me, I don’t want to risk getting any of that red icing on me.”
“You don’t trust me?” he asks, feigning shock.
“Nope,” she laughs.
He selects a lemon, limau cupcake from the very juu tier, and unwraps the silver foil paper around it. Not actually needing to cut the cake, he ponders it a moment, then holds it to Guinevere’s lips for her to take a bite.
She opens her mouth wide, but only manages halfway, the cake is so tall. She does get some of the filling, thankfully, and she chews, saying, “Oh my God,” her mouth full of cupcake.
“That good?” he asks, chuckling at her. She nods, and takes the cupcake from him and holds it up for him.
He takes a huge bite, removing a good third of the cupcake in one go. Gwen laughs, and makes a onyesha of counting her fingers to make sure they are still all there.
“This is really good, you’re right,” he says around the cupcake in his mouth. He swallows, kisses her, and pops the last morsel of the cake neatly into Gwen’s mouth.
The guests applaud again, and a queue forms of people wanting their dessert. Guinevere takes care to quickly nab one of the chokoleti keki before they songesha out of the way.
“So, what do wewe think? Aim the bouquet and garter for them?” Arthur asks as he and Gwen sit together at a table, close together, sharing their sekunde cupcake and plotting.
“Too difficult to choreograph,” Gwen says. She looks out. Paul has been hanging kwa himself off to the side. He looks as though he is enjoying himself, but Gwen knows he could be enjoying himself so much more.
“He says he enjoys watching the action,” Arthur says, following her gaze.
“This is not the time for that,” Gwen says, laughing. “Okay, I have an idea. Try to hang out near Autumn for a while…”
“What are wewe two plotting over here?” Merlin plunks himself down inayofuata to them, a cupcake in each hand.
“We’re trying to get Paul laid,” Arthur says, and Gwen bursts forth laughing, swatting his arm.
“Oh, wewe mean with Autumn?” Merlin asks.
“How did wewe know?” Arthur asks.
“Please,” Merlin says.
“Right. Yes, Autumn.”
“They’ve been peeking at each other all night, I noticed,” he says.
As if on cue, Minstrel plays a slow song. “Ooo!” Gwen jumps up, and walks across the room to Paul. Arthur watches as she holds her hand out to him and pulls him to the dance floor. On her way there, she looks pointedly at Arthur, and then at Autumn. Go!
Aha, Arthur thinks, and wanders to Autumn. “I’ve always wanted to dance with a Yank,” he says to her, holding his hand out.
“Oh, you’re a charmer, wewe are,” she laughs and takes his hand.
On the dance floor, Arthur tries to maneuver closer to Paul and Gwen without being too obvious about it. He spies them and almost laughs out loud. Paul is zaidi than a foot taller than Gwen and they look quite the pair. Autumn is several inches taller than Gwen, thankfully, but she’s still nowhere close to Paul’s gargantuan height.
Finally they are beside each other, and Arthur says, “Guinevere, wewe should be standing on a chair.”
They all laugh, and then Arthur makes his move. “Hmm.” He looks at Autumn, then Paul, then Gwen. He lifts Autumn’s hand, gently pushes her over to Paul and takes Gwen from his grasp.
“Autumn, meet Paul. Paul, this is Autumn. See? Better. She’s taller.” Arthur grins at Paul, who is blushing furiously, and he and Gwen spin away from them.
“Hi,” Autumn says.
“Hello,” he replies. “I, um…”
“Yes?”
“I really liked your singing.”
“Thank you. I liked watching wewe liking my singing,” she smiles at him.
“Oh, I…” he stammers, embarrassed.
“I meant that in a good way.”
“Oh.” He bites his lip.
“Are wewe nervous?” she asks after a time.
“A little. wewe can tell, huh?”
“Your hand is sweaty. And your face is bright red,” she says, venturing to touch his cheek, making him inhale sharply.
“Sorry,” she says, withdrawing her hand.
“No, don’t be. I… didn’t mind. I liked it, I mean. It just surprised me.” He releases her hand to wipe his sweaty palm on his trousers, and she takes the opportunity to put both her arms around his neck.
He hesitantly rests his abandoned hand around her waist with the other one, pulling her closer in the process. She smiles up at him and he bites his lower lip.
“Where in America are wewe from?” he finally thinks of something intelligent to say. “Your accent is interesting.”
“You’ve never heard of it,” she says, laughing.
“Try me.”
“Sheboygan.”
“You’re right,” he smiles.
“You have a really nice smile, Paul,” she says.
“Thank you. wewe have really pretty eyes,” he says shyly, looking down into large, bright blue eyes framed kwa long dark lashes.
“Thank you.”
“Where is, um, Sheb…?” he’s forgotten the name of the city.
“Sheboygan,” she supplies. “It’s in Wisconsin.”
“Oh, okay. That’s near… Chicago, right?”
Autumn is impressed. “In the vicinity. Chicago is just south of the state of Wisconsin. Then there’s Milwaukee, as wewe go north.”
“Happy Days,” he supplies.
“You know your old TV,” she smiles.
“A lot of free time at the station some days.”
“I see. So Sheboygan is about one saa further north of Milwaukee.”
“Is it on that lake, too?”
“It is. Lake Michigan. The long skinny one in the middle.”
“Yes, that one,” he smiles. “I had to ask because I was wondering if wewe were from Fargo. wewe sound a little bit like the people in that movie.”
Autumn laughs at this, and it makes Paul smile. “It’s a regional thing. North Dakota, where Fargo is, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan – that’s that bit that’s not actually attached to the rest of Michigan – a lot of people in that area sound like that. And actually most of Fargo the movie takes place in Minnesota,” she says, intentionally accentuating the flat oh sound in the middle of Minnesota.
Now it is Paul’s turn to laugh.
“They seem to be getting on quite well,” Arthur observes. They are near the deejay station so he leans over and asks Minstrel to play another slow one to give their charges zaidi time to dance and get acquainted.
“Honestly, my mother sounds just like Frances McDormand’s police chief character in the movie,” Autumn laughs. “I saw it, and was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s my mom.’”
“How did wewe end up here, then?” Paul asks, looking up as the song ends. Another slow song begins and he looks down at her. She only smiles, so he continues dancing with her.
Tom approaches Arthur and cuts in on her, demanding to dance with his daughter. Arthur hands her over reluctantly but respectfully, then decides to go and grab Helena. He finds he’s rather enjoying being able to dance with any woman in the room.
“I came over as part of a study-abroad program in college. I fell in upendo with the country and stayed. Simple as that. My family was a little pissed, I mean, um, upset, at first, but they’ve learned to deal with it.” She laughs, adding, “Sometimes I forget that words mean different things here. My family did not all get drunk because I left.”
“I knew what wewe meant,” he chuckles, enjoying being so close to her for this long. “I like how wewe talk, actually,” he admits, and he blushes again.
“My accent has lessened some since I’ve been here. Two and a half years now,” she says before he can ask.
“Really?”
She nods. “I was nyumbani this summer, and they all made fun of me.”
“No!”
“Yeah, I told my brother that he bollocksed something up and he looked at me as if I had suddenly grown feathers. And then I referred to an elevator as a ‘lift’ and it was all over after that,” she says, grinning.
“That’s not very nice,” he says, making a face.
“It’s fine, really, I know they’re just teasing me,” she laughs. “Besides, it’s hard to be offended when the people picking on wewe are the same ones for whom ‘yah, yah,’ is a complete sentence.”
He stares a minute, puzzled, then laughs again, “Please tell me you’re joking!”
“I wish I could,” she laughs with him. “My shoulders are getting sore,” she says and drags her hands down his shoulders to hold under his arms and around his back, much like Gwen was doing with Arthur before.
“Sorry,” he says, but he enjoys her hands running over him.
“Don’t be. I, um, like tall guys,” she says to his chest.
“I probably shouldn’t tell wewe that I’m the shortest of my brothers, then.”
She looks up at him, eyes wide, “Holy crap.”
He laughs again at her American turn of phrase. “Indeed. I have four brothers. I’m right in the middle; two on each side. And I’m the shortest.”
“Your poor mother!”
“Well, we weren’t born this big.”
The song ends, and Minstrel announces the wedding party dance. Paul and Autumn exit the dance floor. Paul takes her hand and leads her back to sit beside him in a corner so that they can continue talking. Gwen sees this and smiles at him. He blushes again and ducks his head, grinning.
“Husband,” Gwen says, meeting him halfway across the dance floor.
“Wife,” he nods at her, and pulls her to him.
Gwen looks around. She doesn’t see Elliot, and Freya is standing alone, waiting for her partner.
“Wayne!” Gwen calls. “Go and peel my brother away from Elizabeth, please, dear,” she says, pointing to where she sees Elliot and Elizabeth canoodling in a dark corner.
A dakika later Elliot is being shoved onto the dance floor kwa Wayne, who then blows a kiss to Gwen. Merlin dances with Morgana, and Elliot dances with Freya.
“You and Freya seem to be getting on well,” Morgana says to Merlin.
He nods. “You and Wayne?”
“Fantastic.”
“Good. I’m happy for you,” he says, smiling.
“We never would have worked out, wewe and me,” Morgana says, addressing their own personal tembo in the room.
“I know. Sorry I wasn’t zaidi fun on our date. I’m kind of boring,” Merlin grins.
“No, you’re not. We’re just too different, that’s all. I would have eaten wewe alive, dear,” she laughs.
“Probably,” he relaxes and laughs as well.
Morgana looks over at Elliot and Freya, dancing politely together. “Let’s go,” she says, pulling Merlin in their direction.
“You two look pathetic. No one should have to dance with their cousin,” Morgana says, swapping partners.
“Hi,” Merlin says to Freya. “Have I told wewe how beautiful wewe look today?”
“Three times, yes,” she says.
Tom asks Helena to dance, and they jiunge the couples on the dance floor. Elizabeth strides up to Uther and pulls him to the dance floor with her. Arthur sees this and laughs at the expression on his father’s face as the saucy ginger drags him along.
“You’ve packed for tonight as well, haven’t you?” Arthur asks.
“Yes,” she says. “But wewe haven’t told me why. Are we staying here?”
“If wewe think I’m spending my wedding night under the same roof as my father, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“So where, then? Obviously not home.” She runs her hands along the contours of his back. His waistcoat and ascot are now off as well, and his sleeves are also rolled up to his elbows. Nice that he can make himself comfortable, Gwen thinks, wishing she could slip into come cozy pajamas and continue partying in them.
“We’ve got reservations,” he grins, but says nothing further, deciding instead to lift a hand to touch her shoulder just where it meets her neck, the place that has been tormenting him since he first laid eyes on her this afternoon.
She closes her eyes and enjoys the feel of his hand’s caress, angling her head to the side to allow him better access. He takes the hint and bends to kiss the spot, his lips warm against her skin.
He wants nothing zaidi than to continue exploring her neck and shoulders, but he resists, knowing full well that everyone in the room is watching them. So he lifts his head and kisses her lips once, softly, just as the song finishes.
The muziki changes abruptly, launching into Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) kwa Beyoncé.
“Okay, children, wewe hear Beyoncé calling you, it’s time to start throwing things,” Minstrel announces.
Morgana hands Guinevere a small bouquet to throw, and joins the rest of the single females gathering at one end of the floor. Some are clamoring to be in the front, some are hanging towards the back, clearly not interested in receiving the bouquet. Arthur comes mbele with a handkerchief, blindfolding her. She peeks at the group under the blindfold for a moment before Arthur spins her around. Once, twice, three times… four, five…
“Arthur… you’re only… supposed to spin me… three times!” Gwen complains as she’s being spun.
“Says who?” he says, and finally stops. “How many times did I do?” he asks her quietly.
“Nine,” she says, reeling slightly. He chuckles, and holds her shoulders, steadying her a bit.
She flings the bouquet over her head, hoping that it lands with Morgana au Freya. She pulls off the blindfold and sees a very surprised-looking Elana standing there with the flowers.
“Landed right in her hands,” Arthur laughs. Gwen smiles, goes over to Elana and hugs her.
It’s Raining Men, starts to play. Arthur spins on his heel and looks at Minstrel, an amused smirk on his face. The deejay just gives a friendly wave. The man clearly has a sense of humor, Arthur thinks.
“All right. Gents, and I’m using that term loosely, your turn. Drag your drunken asses out here to catch a bit of the bride’s delicates.”
Gwen cracks up as the guys assemble much in the same manner as the ladies did before. Some eagerly in front; others, like Elliot (not exactly keen on catching his sister’s garter), hang to the back.
“Merlin! Best man, front and center. Mrs. Pendragon needs someone to sit on,” Minstrel summons Merlin from the middle of the group of men.
Now it is Arthur’s turn to laugh as he pushes Merlin down on one knee and perches Gwen on Merlin’s other.
Minstrel changes the muziki again. An old burlesque tune called The Stripper.
Arthur kneels down and slowly lifts the hem of her skirt, making the most of the moment. He picks up her foot, places it against his thigh, and starts running his hands up her leg, waggling his eyebrows at her.
Gwen laughs, but her insides are flipping around at the trail of moto his hands are leaving on her leg as they climb higher and higher till they reach their destination. They get to the garter, but keep climbing, pushing the skirt, upindo up further.
“Arthur!” she exclaims just as he stops exposing her leg. He leans mbele and grabs the garter with his teeth, and Gwen falls backward into Merlin’s chest, laughing uproariously. Merlin loses his balance slightly, but regains it before they fall.
Arthur has the garter down below Gwen’s knee now. He releases it and it drops to her ankle. He removes it, kisses her knee, and stands. He gives Gwen his hand to help her up and then Merlin stands stiffly, rubbing the knee he was kneeling on as he limps back over to the crowd.
Gwen takes the handkerchief, ties it around Arthur’s eyes, and leans up and kisses him, saying, “Payback time.”
I hadn’t thought about that, Arthur thinks.
Gwen spins him and spins him, then abruptly stops, grabbing his shoulders. “Twelve,” she declares.
“I feel like I’m drunk,” Arthur says, then raises the garter over his head and slingshots it backward into the guys, where it hits Freya’s younger brother Ethan square in the chest.
“Who caught it?” Arthur asks, removing the blindfold.
“Ethan!” Gwen says, surprised and a little relieved.
“Interesting,” Arthur says quietly to her as he goes and shakes the young man’s hand. Gwen gives him a hug and brings him over to introduce to Elana before they have to dance.
Minstrel is turning out to be an excellent and observant deejay, and noting that the recipients don’t know each other, chooses an appropriate song. Beyond the Sea kwa Bobby Darin.
Elana and Ethan dance shyly together, but neither of them seems unhappy. In fact, they seem to be getting on quite well.
“Boy, we’re just pairing them off left and right, aren’t we?” Arthur says to Gwen as they jiunge the other two on the dance floor. He nods over to Autumn and Paul, who are stepping out on the floor. Paul holds her close, smiling down at her as she rests her head on his chest.
On their other side they see Morgana and Wayne locked together tightly but sweetly, Merlin and Freya are clinging to each other, and Elliot and Elizabeth are becoming quite cozy as well on another section of the floor.
The song ends, and Leon and Thea approach, coats in hand.
“Leaving?” Arthur asks.
“Yes, we need to get Alec home,” Thea says.
“Where is he?” Gwen asks, looking around.
“Oh, Leah saw he was getting sleepy so she showed us up to your old room. He’s up sleeping in your bed. We’re just going up to retrieve him and take him home.”
“That was very sweet, I’m glad she did that,” Arthur says. They all hug and say their goodbyes.
Minstrel continues the muziki well into the night. Everyone dances with everyone else, it seems, and the dance floor is constantly full. Arthur even dances with Merlin at one point and Gwen with Morgana. Uther and Dr. Gaius both get an opportunity to spin Gwen around the floor, and Arthur even drags an embarrassed Leah out of the jikoni for a dance.
A wide variety is played, ranging from House of Pain’s Jump Around to Anarchy in the UK kwa the Sex Pistols, during which the dance floor is filled with slam-dancing firemen and, since some of Elliot’s teammates were invited, a few rugby players thrown in; to Benny Goodman’s Sing, Sing, Sing.
It becomes apparent during this last tune that Arthur has had zaidi than a few dance lessons at some point in his life. He spins and bounces Gwen around the dance floor, but after a couple dakika it becomes clear to her that she cannot keep up, and she throws her hands up in surrender, laughing and gasping for air, and decides to go to the side and watch instead.
“Oh, come on! I need a partner!” Arthur yells, laughing as well. He looks around, arms out. He sees Irene fidgeting and biting her lip. She wants to come dance. Wonder if she can? He raises his eyebrows at her, and she bites a fingernail nervously.
“Can wewe keep up?” he goads, grinning.
She takes a deep breath, drops her hand from her mouth and comes forward, taking Arthur’s hands.
She does indeed know what she’s doing.
Soon Arthur and Irene are the only ones dancing because everyone else has stopped to watch. He twirls her, lifts her, slides her on the floor between his feet; everything one would expect to see at a dance hall in the 1940s.
Everyone cheers when the song finishes, and Arthur hugs Irene. “Thanks, that was fun. Haven’t done that in a long time!”
“You are very good. A little… how to say? Rusty,” she teases.
“Oh!” he exclaims, laughing. “Where did wewe learn to dance like that?” he asks as they walk back over towards Gwen.
“I took lessons for many years in Poland. I wanted to be professional dancer,” she tells him.
“Why didn’t you?” Gwen asks, hearing this last bit of the conversation.
“Teachers kept telling me I was too big,” she frowns.
“Too big?” Arthur asks, confused. Irene is no taller than Gwen.
“Tłuszcz. Um, heavy. Fat,” she explains.
“That is ridiculous,” Gwen says. Irene is curvy, but she certainly isn’t overweight kwa any means.
“Is okay. I am happy here. I like working with Morgana at salon, and I can send money nyumbani to family to help out,” she shrugs, smiling. “Thirsty now. Thank wewe for dance, Arthur,” she says, leans up to kiss both his cheeks, and walks away.
“You are full of surprises,” Gwen says, kissing him. He wraps her in his embrace and deepens the kiss, bringing a hand up to her neck, his thumb caressing her cheek as his tongue slips between her slightly parted lips, nudging them open further for him, her own tongue sliding against his deliciously as she melts into him.
Part 66: link
“I’m being told to say something about cake… No one wants cake, do they? Surely not. But if anyone is interested in such a thing, Arthur and Gwen will be doing their thing over there,” Minstrel points, “like, now.”
It’s not really an actual cake. What has been wheeled out into the parlor is a meza, jedwali covered in cupcakes. Some are on a beautiful tiered stand and some are scattered around the table. They are beautiful. And they are filled. Arthur and Gwen have each chosen a flavor: lemon, limau with a cream cheese filling for Arthur, with lavender icing, and chokoleti with karanga siagi filling for Guinevere, with red icing. All the cakes have a beautiful A&G piped on their tops in white icing.
“I told wewe you’d pick the right one,” Gwen teases Arthur as they approach the table.
“Ah, but which flavor should we choose?” he asks, eyeing them up.
“Let’s go with the lemon,” she says. “If you’re feeding me, I don’t want to risk getting any of that red icing on me.”
“You don’t trust me?” he asks, feigning shock.
“Nope,” she laughs.
He selects a lemon, limau cupcake from the very juu tier, and unwraps the silver foil paper around it. Not actually needing to cut the cake, he ponders it a moment, then holds it to Guinevere’s lips for her to take a bite.
She opens her mouth wide, but only manages halfway, the cake is so tall. She does get some of the filling, thankfully, and she chews, saying, “Oh my God,” her mouth full of cupcake.
“That good?” he asks, chuckling at her. She nods, and takes the cupcake from him and holds it up for him.
He takes a huge bite, removing a good third of the cupcake in one go. Gwen laughs, and makes a onyesha of counting her fingers to make sure they are still all there.
“This is really good, you’re right,” he says around the cupcake in his mouth. He swallows, kisses her, and pops the last morsel of the cake neatly into Gwen’s mouth.
The guests applaud again, and a queue forms of people wanting their dessert. Guinevere takes care to quickly nab one of the chokoleti keki before they songesha out of the way.
“So, what do wewe think? Aim the bouquet and garter for them?” Arthur asks as he and Gwen sit together at a table, close together, sharing their sekunde cupcake and plotting.
“Too difficult to choreograph,” Gwen says. She looks out. Paul has been hanging kwa himself off to the side. He looks as though he is enjoying himself, but Gwen knows he could be enjoying himself so much more.
“He says he enjoys watching the action,” Arthur says, following her gaze.
“This is not the time for that,” Gwen says, laughing. “Okay, I have an idea. Try to hang out near Autumn for a while…”
“What are wewe two plotting over here?” Merlin plunks himself down inayofuata to them, a cupcake in each hand.
“We’re trying to get Paul laid,” Arthur says, and Gwen bursts forth laughing, swatting his arm.
“Oh, wewe mean with Autumn?” Merlin asks.
“How did wewe know?” Arthur asks.
“Please,” Merlin says.
“Right. Yes, Autumn.”
“They’ve been peeking at each other all night, I noticed,” he says.
As if on cue, Minstrel plays a slow song. “Ooo!” Gwen jumps up, and walks across the room to Paul. Arthur watches as she holds her hand out to him and pulls him to the dance floor. On her way there, she looks pointedly at Arthur, and then at Autumn. Go!
Aha, Arthur thinks, and wanders to Autumn. “I’ve always wanted to dance with a Yank,” he says to her, holding his hand out.
“Oh, you’re a charmer, wewe are,” she laughs and takes his hand.
On the dance floor, Arthur tries to maneuver closer to Paul and Gwen without being too obvious about it. He spies them and almost laughs out loud. Paul is zaidi than a foot taller than Gwen and they look quite the pair. Autumn is several inches taller than Gwen, thankfully, but she’s still nowhere close to Paul’s gargantuan height.
Finally they are beside each other, and Arthur says, “Guinevere, wewe should be standing on a chair.”
They all laugh, and then Arthur makes his move. “Hmm.” He looks at Autumn, then Paul, then Gwen. He lifts Autumn’s hand, gently pushes her over to Paul and takes Gwen from his grasp.
“Autumn, meet Paul. Paul, this is Autumn. See? Better. She’s taller.” Arthur grins at Paul, who is blushing furiously, and he and Gwen spin away from them.
“Hi,” Autumn says.
“Hello,” he replies. “I, um…”
“Yes?”
“I really liked your singing.”
“Thank you. I liked watching wewe liking my singing,” she smiles at him.
“Oh, I…” he stammers, embarrassed.
“I meant that in a good way.”
“Oh.” He bites his lip.
“Are wewe nervous?” she asks after a time.
“A little. wewe can tell, huh?”
“Your hand is sweaty. And your face is bright red,” she says, venturing to touch his cheek, making him inhale sharply.
“Sorry,” she says, withdrawing her hand.
“No, don’t be. I… didn’t mind. I liked it, I mean. It just surprised me.” He releases her hand to wipe his sweaty palm on his trousers, and she takes the opportunity to put both her arms around his neck.
He hesitantly rests his abandoned hand around her waist with the other one, pulling her closer in the process. She smiles up at him and he bites his lower lip.
“Where in America are wewe from?” he finally thinks of something intelligent to say. “Your accent is interesting.”
“You’ve never heard of it,” she says, laughing.
“Try me.”
“Sheboygan.”
“You’re right,” he smiles.
“You have a really nice smile, Paul,” she says.
“Thank you. wewe have really pretty eyes,” he says shyly, looking down into large, bright blue eyes framed kwa long dark lashes.
“Thank you.”
“Where is, um, Sheb…?” he’s forgotten the name of the city.
“Sheboygan,” she supplies. “It’s in Wisconsin.”
“Oh, okay. That’s near… Chicago, right?”
Autumn is impressed. “In the vicinity. Chicago is just south of the state of Wisconsin. Then there’s Milwaukee, as wewe go north.”
“Happy Days,” he supplies.
“You know your old TV,” she smiles.
“A lot of free time at the station some days.”
“I see. So Sheboygan is about one saa further north of Milwaukee.”
“Is it on that lake, too?”
“It is. Lake Michigan. The long skinny one in the middle.”
“Yes, that one,” he smiles. “I had to ask because I was wondering if wewe were from Fargo. wewe sound a little bit like the people in that movie.”
Autumn laughs at this, and it makes Paul smile. “It’s a regional thing. North Dakota, where Fargo is, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan – that’s that bit that’s not actually attached to the rest of Michigan – a lot of people in that area sound like that. And actually most of Fargo the movie takes place in Minnesota,” she says, intentionally accentuating the flat oh sound in the middle of Minnesota.
Now it is Paul’s turn to laugh.
“They seem to be getting on quite well,” Arthur observes. They are near the deejay station so he leans over and asks Minstrel to play another slow one to give their charges zaidi time to dance and get acquainted.
“Honestly, my mother sounds just like Frances McDormand’s police chief character in the movie,” Autumn laughs. “I saw it, and was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s my mom.’”
“How did wewe end up here, then?” Paul asks, looking up as the song ends. Another slow song begins and he looks down at her. She only smiles, so he continues dancing with her.
Tom approaches Arthur and cuts in on her, demanding to dance with his daughter. Arthur hands her over reluctantly but respectfully, then decides to go and grab Helena. He finds he’s rather enjoying being able to dance with any woman in the room.
“I came over as part of a study-abroad program in college. I fell in upendo with the country and stayed. Simple as that. My family was a little pissed, I mean, um, upset, at first, but they’ve learned to deal with it.” She laughs, adding, “Sometimes I forget that words mean different things here. My family did not all get drunk because I left.”
“I knew what wewe meant,” he chuckles, enjoying being so close to her for this long. “I like how wewe talk, actually,” he admits, and he blushes again.
“My accent has lessened some since I’ve been here. Two and a half years now,” she says before he can ask.
“Really?”
She nods. “I was nyumbani this summer, and they all made fun of me.”
“No!”
“Yeah, I told my brother that he bollocksed something up and he looked at me as if I had suddenly grown feathers. And then I referred to an elevator as a ‘lift’ and it was all over after that,” she says, grinning.
“That’s not very nice,” he says, making a face.
“It’s fine, really, I know they’re just teasing me,” she laughs. “Besides, it’s hard to be offended when the people picking on wewe are the same ones for whom ‘yah, yah,’ is a complete sentence.”
He stares a minute, puzzled, then laughs again, “Please tell me you’re joking!”
“I wish I could,” she laughs with him. “My shoulders are getting sore,” she says and drags her hands down his shoulders to hold under his arms and around his back, much like Gwen was doing with Arthur before.
“Sorry,” he says, but he enjoys her hands running over him.
“Don’t be. I, um, like tall guys,” she says to his chest.
“I probably shouldn’t tell wewe that I’m the shortest of my brothers, then.”
She looks up at him, eyes wide, “Holy crap.”
He laughs again at her American turn of phrase. “Indeed. I have four brothers. I’m right in the middle; two on each side. And I’m the shortest.”
“Your poor mother!”
“Well, we weren’t born this big.”
The song ends, and Minstrel announces the wedding party dance. Paul and Autumn exit the dance floor. Paul takes her hand and leads her back to sit beside him in a corner so that they can continue talking. Gwen sees this and smiles at him. He blushes again and ducks his head, grinning.
“Husband,” Gwen says, meeting him halfway across the dance floor.
“Wife,” he nods at her, and pulls her to him.
Gwen looks around. She doesn’t see Elliot, and Freya is standing alone, waiting for her partner.
“Wayne!” Gwen calls. “Go and peel my brother away from Elizabeth, please, dear,” she says, pointing to where she sees Elliot and Elizabeth canoodling in a dark corner.
A dakika later Elliot is being shoved onto the dance floor kwa Wayne, who then blows a kiss to Gwen. Merlin dances with Morgana, and Elliot dances with Freya.
“You and Freya seem to be getting on well,” Morgana says to Merlin.
He nods. “You and Wayne?”
“Fantastic.”
“Good. I’m happy for you,” he says, smiling.
“We never would have worked out, wewe and me,” Morgana says, addressing their own personal tembo in the room.
“I know. Sorry I wasn’t zaidi fun on our date. I’m kind of boring,” Merlin grins.
“No, you’re not. We’re just too different, that’s all. I would have eaten wewe alive, dear,” she laughs.
“Probably,” he relaxes and laughs as well.
Morgana looks over at Elliot and Freya, dancing politely together. “Let’s go,” she says, pulling Merlin in their direction.
“You two look pathetic. No one should have to dance with their cousin,” Morgana says, swapping partners.
“Hi,” Merlin says to Freya. “Have I told wewe how beautiful wewe look today?”
“Three times, yes,” she says.
Tom asks Helena to dance, and they jiunge the couples on the dance floor. Elizabeth strides up to Uther and pulls him to the dance floor with her. Arthur sees this and laughs at the expression on his father’s face as the saucy ginger drags him along.
“You’ve packed for tonight as well, haven’t you?” Arthur asks.
“Yes,” she says. “But wewe haven’t told me why. Are we staying here?”
“If wewe think I’m spending my wedding night under the same roof as my father, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“So where, then? Obviously not home.” She runs her hands along the contours of his back. His waistcoat and ascot are now off as well, and his sleeves are also rolled up to his elbows. Nice that he can make himself comfortable, Gwen thinks, wishing she could slip into come cozy pajamas and continue partying in them.
“We’ve got reservations,” he grins, but says nothing further, deciding instead to lift a hand to touch her shoulder just where it meets her neck, the place that has been tormenting him since he first laid eyes on her this afternoon.
She closes her eyes and enjoys the feel of his hand’s caress, angling her head to the side to allow him better access. He takes the hint and bends to kiss the spot, his lips warm against her skin.
He wants nothing zaidi than to continue exploring her neck and shoulders, but he resists, knowing full well that everyone in the room is watching them. So he lifts his head and kisses her lips once, softly, just as the song finishes.
The muziki changes abruptly, launching into Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) kwa Beyoncé.
“Okay, children, wewe hear Beyoncé calling you, it’s time to start throwing things,” Minstrel announces.
Morgana hands Guinevere a small bouquet to throw, and joins the rest of the single females gathering at one end of the floor. Some are clamoring to be in the front, some are hanging towards the back, clearly not interested in receiving the bouquet. Arthur comes mbele with a handkerchief, blindfolding her. She peeks at the group under the blindfold for a moment before Arthur spins her around. Once, twice, three times… four, five…
“Arthur… you’re only… supposed to spin me… three times!” Gwen complains as she’s being spun.
“Says who?” he says, and finally stops. “How many times did I do?” he asks her quietly.
“Nine,” she says, reeling slightly. He chuckles, and holds her shoulders, steadying her a bit.
She flings the bouquet over her head, hoping that it lands with Morgana au Freya. She pulls off the blindfold and sees a very surprised-looking Elana standing there with the flowers.
“Landed right in her hands,” Arthur laughs. Gwen smiles, goes over to Elana and hugs her.
It’s Raining Men, starts to play. Arthur spins on his heel and looks at Minstrel, an amused smirk on his face. The deejay just gives a friendly wave. The man clearly has a sense of humor, Arthur thinks.
“All right. Gents, and I’m using that term loosely, your turn. Drag your drunken asses out here to catch a bit of the bride’s delicates.”
Gwen cracks up as the guys assemble much in the same manner as the ladies did before. Some eagerly in front; others, like Elliot (not exactly keen on catching his sister’s garter), hang to the back.
“Merlin! Best man, front and center. Mrs. Pendragon needs someone to sit on,” Minstrel summons Merlin from the middle of the group of men.
Now it is Arthur’s turn to laugh as he pushes Merlin down on one knee and perches Gwen on Merlin’s other.
Minstrel changes the muziki again. An old burlesque tune called The Stripper.
Arthur kneels down and slowly lifts the hem of her skirt, making the most of the moment. He picks up her foot, places it against his thigh, and starts running his hands up her leg, waggling his eyebrows at her.
Gwen laughs, but her insides are flipping around at the trail of moto his hands are leaving on her leg as they climb higher and higher till they reach their destination. They get to the garter, but keep climbing, pushing the skirt, upindo up further.
“Arthur!” she exclaims just as he stops exposing her leg. He leans mbele and grabs the garter with his teeth, and Gwen falls backward into Merlin’s chest, laughing uproariously. Merlin loses his balance slightly, but regains it before they fall.
Arthur has the garter down below Gwen’s knee now. He releases it and it drops to her ankle. He removes it, kisses her knee, and stands. He gives Gwen his hand to help her up and then Merlin stands stiffly, rubbing the knee he was kneeling on as he limps back over to the crowd.
Gwen takes the handkerchief, ties it around Arthur’s eyes, and leans up and kisses him, saying, “Payback time.”
I hadn’t thought about that, Arthur thinks.
Gwen spins him and spins him, then abruptly stops, grabbing his shoulders. “Twelve,” she declares.
“I feel like I’m drunk,” Arthur says, then raises the garter over his head and slingshots it backward into the guys, where it hits Freya’s younger brother Ethan square in the chest.
“Who caught it?” Arthur asks, removing the blindfold.
“Ethan!” Gwen says, surprised and a little relieved.
“Interesting,” Arthur says quietly to her as he goes and shakes the young man’s hand. Gwen gives him a hug and brings him over to introduce to Elana before they have to dance.
Minstrel is turning out to be an excellent and observant deejay, and noting that the recipients don’t know each other, chooses an appropriate song. Beyond the Sea kwa Bobby Darin.
Elana and Ethan dance shyly together, but neither of them seems unhappy. In fact, they seem to be getting on quite well.
“Boy, we’re just pairing them off left and right, aren’t we?” Arthur says to Gwen as they jiunge the other two on the dance floor. He nods over to Autumn and Paul, who are stepping out on the floor. Paul holds her close, smiling down at her as she rests her head on his chest.
On their other side they see Morgana and Wayne locked together tightly but sweetly, Merlin and Freya are clinging to each other, and Elliot and Elizabeth are becoming quite cozy as well on another section of the floor.
The song ends, and Leon and Thea approach, coats in hand.
“Leaving?” Arthur asks.
“Yes, we need to get Alec home,” Thea says.
“Where is he?” Gwen asks, looking around.
“Oh, Leah saw he was getting sleepy so she showed us up to your old room. He’s up sleeping in your bed. We’re just going up to retrieve him and take him home.”
“That was very sweet, I’m glad she did that,” Arthur says. They all hug and say their goodbyes.
Minstrel continues the muziki well into the night. Everyone dances with everyone else, it seems, and the dance floor is constantly full. Arthur even dances with Merlin at one point and Gwen with Morgana. Uther and Dr. Gaius both get an opportunity to spin Gwen around the floor, and Arthur even drags an embarrassed Leah out of the jikoni for a dance.
A wide variety is played, ranging from House of Pain’s Jump Around to Anarchy in the UK kwa the Sex Pistols, during which the dance floor is filled with slam-dancing firemen and, since some of Elliot’s teammates were invited, a few rugby players thrown in; to Benny Goodman’s Sing, Sing, Sing.
It becomes apparent during this last tune that Arthur has had zaidi than a few dance lessons at some point in his life. He spins and bounces Gwen around the dance floor, but after a couple dakika it becomes clear to her that she cannot keep up, and she throws her hands up in surrender, laughing and gasping for air, and decides to go to the side and watch instead.
“Oh, come on! I need a partner!” Arthur yells, laughing as well. He looks around, arms out. He sees Irene fidgeting and biting her lip. She wants to come dance. Wonder if she can? He raises his eyebrows at her, and she bites a fingernail nervously.
“Can wewe keep up?” he goads, grinning.
She takes a deep breath, drops her hand from her mouth and comes forward, taking Arthur’s hands.
She does indeed know what she’s doing.
Soon Arthur and Irene are the only ones dancing because everyone else has stopped to watch. He twirls her, lifts her, slides her on the floor between his feet; everything one would expect to see at a dance hall in the 1940s.
Everyone cheers when the song finishes, and Arthur hugs Irene. “Thanks, that was fun. Haven’t done that in a long time!”
“You are very good. A little… how to say? Rusty,” she teases.
“Oh!” he exclaims, laughing. “Where did wewe learn to dance like that?” he asks as they walk back over towards Gwen.
“I took lessons for many years in Poland. I wanted to be professional dancer,” she tells him.
“Why didn’t you?” Gwen asks, hearing this last bit of the conversation.
“Teachers kept telling me I was too big,” she frowns.
“Too big?” Arthur asks, confused. Irene is no taller than Gwen.
“Tłuszcz. Um, heavy. Fat,” she explains.
“That is ridiculous,” Gwen says. Irene is curvy, but she certainly isn’t overweight kwa any means.
“Is okay. I am happy here. I like working with Morgana at salon, and I can send money nyumbani to family to help out,” she shrugs, smiling. “Thirsty now. Thank wewe for dance, Arthur,” she says, leans up to kiss both his cheeks, and walks away.
“You are full of surprises,” Gwen says, kissing him. He wraps her in his embrace and deepens the kiss, bringing a hand up to her neck, his thumb caressing her cheek as his tongue slips between her slightly parted lips, nudging them open further for him, her own tongue sliding against his deliciously as she melts into him.
Part 66: link
