No, Not Awkward At All [Arthur | Morgana]

[Guinevère]

^ஜஜஜஜ

Guinevère was in the kitchens for the moment. She was talking to the chief while he made Morgana a plate for a late supper. Gwen was smiling and laughing at the older man's silly jokes and jest. He was a friendly sort and it felt good to relax around others.

Once it was done, Gwen took the plate and began walking to the dinning room. It had been a few weeks since she had been kidnapped and everything seemed to be calming down, (even Uther's anger at Arthur for going to save her). Gwen hoped everything would return to normal soon, but at the moment a visiting princess and her parents were staying in the castle, so Uther was making sure everything was perfect for their guest.

Gwen opened the servants doors the the dinning room and froze for a moment, shocked to see Arthur there with Morgana. She had not really be 'avoiding' Arthur, but nor had she been around when he was. "Lady Morgana, I have your supper, here."

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had been in a strange mood ever since he returned from the little rescue mission. His father was furious -- Arthur was just thankful he didn't get sent to the dungeon again -- and a royal family was visiting, and Arthur -- as always -- was obligated to show the princess around Camelot. But none of this was of Arthur's primary concern. His mind rested on the thought of a servant girl, though she was not just a servant to him. His mind was constantly distracted, especially when talking to the visiting princess, which he did feel a little guilty for as he was not being entirely respectful by fully giving her his company. How could he after everything that had happened?

While Arthur was bad at talking about his emotions, he was not bad at concealing them. He would just become withdrawn, and perhaps overcompensate by acting a little more arrogant than usual, at least that stage had not come yet though. But now, he was sitting with Morgana, enjoying the rare opportunity to just sit with her. He did not often hide things from her, but his feelings for Gwen was something that he absolutely had to keep concealed from her. It was getting increasingly difficult, as they were growing stronger by the day. Which was also part of the reason that he had been trying to avoid her . . . he had not talked to her much since their return. He doubted anyone noticed since they only recently began talking more than usual.

It was very hard however, to hide ones feelings from someone, when that very person entered the room. And there she was. He looked at her, trying not to look too intensely. He just watched her enter with a plate of food, and while he was trying to force himself to get up and leave, he remained fused to the chair. He had better saying something so that Morgana did not catch on. "Guinevère," Once he quickly said her name, he looked away from her focused his gaze at the table, but in a very casual way. Yes, Arthur would have to keep this up for . . .who knows how long.

[coconut]

It was nice to have a quiet, civil chat with Arthur once in a while. They argued a lot now and then and it was a nice, welcomed change. Of course, Morgana had yet to stop thanking him for saving her maid, and best friend, Gwen. She had felt so terrible leaving her there to her potential death and running, even though Gwen had told her to leave without her. Had she stayed, Gwen would not have been held hostage all that time alone. Poor girl, she must have been terrified. Morgana knew she couldn't sleep at all while Arthur and Merlin were gone to bring her back — not that she got much sleep at all because if her nightmares. She was so worried. But luckly Guinevère was back safe and sound.

The door to her chambers opened and there was Gwen. "Thank you, Gwen. Please come in." Morgana smiled, inviting her in. She wasn't intterupting anything nor intruding.

(short)

[Guinevère]

^{ஜ ஜ ஜ ஜ}

Guinevère walked in slowly, unsure as what she should do. Walking closer tot he table, Guinevère began to sit the tray down and move the plate to it's stationed place. She stared at the plate and cup and did her best not to look at either of them. It was like having an inch you had to scratch. Arthur was there and she HAD to look at him and the more she tried not to the more she had to. Finally she glanced up his way for a second before lowering her eyes. "Shall I get you something from the kitchens, Sire?" She asked him.

She hoped he would give her something hard to make so she could disappear for a while. If it was something simple she might have to drag out the making of it. Guinevère had never demand fresh bread from the kitchens but if he asked for bread she could make them make it and that would give her time away from them. Guinevère recalled how she used to hope Morgana would be Arthur's queen. . . . not she wondered if she could live thought it.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Sire. Arthur would have slightly cringed if he had not been making so much of an effort to stay still. He did not look at her. It was getting more and more difficult to hide his feelings for Guinevère . . . especially from Morgana. And this type of situation, where the three of them were in the same room, made it practically impossible. Still. He would do as best he could. He would be dismissive, lack an emotional tone in his voice whenever he spoke . . . but did he really want to be that cold to her? No. Did he feel he had to . . . for her sake, yes. Who knows what his father would do to her if he ever found out. He was angry enough that Arthur risked his safety rescuing her, Arthur could only imagine the worst if he found out that the heir of Camelot was in love with a servant . . . even if Arthur felt it was not as wrong as he was raised to believe it was.

"No," he said plainly, looking at the table while he spoke, trying to act as casually as possible. "Thank you," he added. Normally, did not thank servants but in this case . . . well, it was Guinevère! He wanted to say something else to cut the awkward tension . . . or maybe that was all in his mind. He just hoped Morgana would not pick up on it. Was Morgana going to ask her to stay? It would be her decision; Arthur knew it would look odd if he asked Gwen to stay with them. Even if he wanted her to, despite the awkwardness. At least he would be able to steal a few glances at her if nothing else.

[coconut]

Their convesation did not continue when Guinevère came it. But there was nothing that Morgana knew that she would not want her maid to know. Perhaps it was just Arthur then. Morgana smiled at her friend as she placed her plate infront of her. "Thank you." The food did look delicious, it always was, however Morgana dis not start to dine yet. Morgana listened to Gwen offer Arthur something and he refused. "Surely you would like something, Arthur? Gwen wouldn't mind." She offered. "Besides, you saved her. And we both greatly appreciate what you did. We are both greatly in debtted to you." By saving Gwen, Arthur had saved Morgana from long weeks of endless sadness. Arthur had also been the one to find Morgana herself when she was running away from the bandits. She owed him her life, practically. Though they teased each other some, Morgana knew — hoped — he wouldn't take advantage of that. Arthur was an honorable and respectable person on the inside.

( short and suckish )

[Guinevère]

^{ஜ ஜ ஜ ஜ}

Gwen remained silent for a moment after Morgana encouraged Arthur to have Gwen bring him something. The moment could have been only as long as a heartbeat, or it could have been an hour. Finally Gwen spoke up, "Yes, my lord, I would not mind. Not just because you saved me, though I am very much grateful and in your debt." she spoke to him, hoping the only emotion in her voice was thankfulness.

She looked over at Morgana for a moment, again wondering how things stood between the two. Once, Gwen had wanted Morgana to be queen and Morgana had enjoyed dressing to please Arthur and the other knights. It seemed that had cooled but Gwen had been distracted ever since her father died. She had not been watching the signs to see if they had cooled to just friendship or turned into something more.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Ordinarily, Arthur would have taken this opportunity to boast about what Morgana owed him, and such. But not this time. This time, he felt no desire to brag and act cocky about what he did. Whether it was because he had feelings for Gwen, or maybe it was just because he had been so fearful that he would never have seen either one of them again . . . the reason did not matter. Arthur, for once, acted a tad more modest than usual. "Neither of you owe me anything," he said in a low voice, exchanging glances between Morgana and Gwen -- trying his best to look more at Morgana for it would avoid any risk of looking a little too closely at Guinevère -- .

"You two should have ever been in that situation." He should have gone with them, or had more guards escort them. Whatever happened, Arthur would take responsibility for, and learn from those mistakes of allowing King's ward and her maid servant venture off to another pilgrimage with minimal security. "And it will never happen again," he added, assuring them that they would not be placed in that kind of danger . . . ever.