The receptionist - Darren according to his name tag - squinted at the screen, lifted his head and glared at them from above his thick glasses. "It says here that you made a reservation for a twin room. The terms and conditions clearly state that the room is for a maximum of two adults." He paused, probably for dramatic effect. "There are four of you."

"Yes," said Gwen. "This is why I'm asking for another twin room. Please."

Darren frowned, then dropped his gaze back to the screen. "There are no more twin rooms available. There's an art and media conference happening tomorrow and we're almost full."

"Surely -"

Arthur was suddenly beside her. "Almost? That means you have other rooms."

"Well, we have a single room and the honeymoon suite."

"Brilliant," said Arthur. He pulled out his wallet and handed over his credit card. "We'll take the suite."

Merlin dropped their bags on the carpeted floor, put his hands on his hips and studied the room. "Why did Morgana and Arthur get the honeymoon suite?"

"Because they paid for it?"

If their standard twin room was anything to go by, the honeymoon suite was probably just as bland and sterile. Perhaps with a larger area, probably a soaking tub, some towel animal on the bed and roses. Always roses. It made Gwen think of Lancelot again. He was always giving her roses, even when she'd pointed out that she much prefered daffodils. Roses were much more romantic, he said.

"Frankly," said Merlin as he hefted his bag onto his bed, "they should have offered you the room. How weird is it that they are going to be sharing a bed? They are brother and sister."

"Step-brother and step-sister."

Merlin shuddered. "So that makes it ok?"

"I'm sure they will both survive the night with their virtues intact. Perhaps you're more upset that you're not spending the night with Morgana."

"She snores." And with those words, Merlin grabbed something from his bag, then marched to the bathroom, leaving Gwen grinning at the closed bathroom door.

After his shower, Merlin emerged from the steam-filled bathroom in a much better mood. He ran his hand through his damp hair - his version of combing - then flopped onto the bed. "The water pressure is great. And I'm famished."

"Arthur called," said Gwen. "He made reservation at some restaurant. We're to meet them at the lobby in half-an-hour."

"Arthur always has good taste in food. Do you want to shower?"

"I'll shower after dinner."

Merlin sat up. "Shall we go visit the incestuous couple then? I want to see the honeymoon suite."

"You have to admit that if they weren't related, they would make a very handsome couple."

"Morgana wouldn't want someone like Arthur," said Merlin. "She prefers her men more -"

"More?"

"Charming."

Gwen tried not to smile. "I think Arthur is very charming."

"You would, wouldn't you?" This time, Merlin was the one grinning.

In return, Gwen shoulder-bumped him.

As expected, the honeymoon suite was rather beige. And boring. And the poor towel swan looked like it was about to keel over and die. The best thing about the room was the fact that Arthur was standing shirtless in it. When Morgana opened the door to them, he was standing next to the large windows, speaking into his phone. It was obvious that he'd just come of the shower, his blonde hair damp and a towel wrapped snuggly around his hips.

An elbow jabbed into her ribs. "Close your mouth."

Arthur turned at that moment, his eyes meeting hers, and he smiled. Something became mush in Gwen but within moments, his attention was back on his phone.

"How is your room?" asked Morgana. She was now sitting cross-legged on her bed and didn't look the least like she'd just been sprawled across the back seat of a car, sleeping. "This honeymoon suite is certainly not what I expected."

"It's clean."

Morgana wrinkled her nose. "I suppose. Next time we go on a vacation, I'll book the lodging. At least Arthur promises me that dinner would be exquisite." She slanted a disapproving look at Arthur. "That man can't stop working for one moment."

"So, you two are going to share this bed?" Merlin picked up the towel swan by it's neck. Slowly, the swan unravelled. Merlin let go of it and it fell in a clump back on the bed. Gwen wondered if Merlin saw any symbolism in that.

"Is that a problem?"

"I just think it's weird."

Morgana rolled her eyes but before she could say anything, Arthur finally hung up.

"Let me put on some clothes then we can head out."

Dinner was, as expected by both Morgana and Merlin, exquisite. It was all very classy and adult, until Merlin decided to attempt a magic trick and managed to set the table cloth on fire before dessert. Needless to say, the four of them were booted out of the restaurant, despite Arthur's attempt to soothe the owner's ruffled feathers with money.

"Did you see his face?" Morgana, much to Gwen's surprise, seemed to have found the whole thing hilarious. "The waiter. I bet he thought that his beard was going to catch fire."

"What do you have against facial hair? I was thinking of growing a beard myself," said Merlin as he stroked his chin. "I think it would make me look really dapper."

Morgana stopped walking, made a sharp turn and looked at Merlin, her eyes scanning him up and down. Gwen would swear that she saw Merlin puff his chest up, a tidbit she stored for later use.

She shook her head, then started walking again. "Nah."

"Nah?"

"Have you seen Arthur during his hippie days?"

"Morgana -"

Merlin interrupted immediately. "Oh no, this is a story I want to hear."

It was Gwen's turn to examine Arthur. A hippie? The man dressed in a crisp red shirt and fitting pressed trousers, whose cheeks were now a light shade of blush - a hippie? Gwen grinned at the image forming in her head.

"It was funnier than whatever is in your head," laughed Morgana, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Let me tell you all about it."

"Hey, share it with me too!" And the next thing Gwen knew was that she was squashed between Merlin and Morgana.

"I feel ganged up upon," said Arthur as he stepped in front of them, arms crossed. His eyes twinkled and a smile crept upon his face.

"We should do this over some drinks," said Morgana.

Arthur shook his head, the smile still on his face. "I think there's a bar about 10 minutes away."

Gwen was about to agree, when her eyes caught sight of the time. She sighed. "I should go back. I need to look through my notes again and get some rest. But don't let me stop you from enjoying the night. Merlin, take notes."

"You know what," said Arthur. "You two enjoy gossiping about me. I'm going to walk Gwen back to the hotel."

"Oh no -"

"I insist. Morgana, you'll look after Merlin, won't you?"

"Arthur -" Merlin started.

Morgana slipped her hand in Merlin's. "Come on, Merlin. I'm dying for a drink."

She babbled all the way back to the hotel, starting with a story of how she'd passed a hippie commune on a holiday with her family once. That segued, somehow, into another story of how her first life nude portrait painting and now she was telling him about her pretty ordinary art college life.

He nodded and smiled and asked the occasional question, and for some reason, that kept her talking and talking.

Then, suddenly, they were at the hotel and Arthur was pushing open the main door for her.

"Sorry," she said as they stood in front of the lifts. "I talk too much when I'm nervous. Not that I'm nervous here because why would I be? I mean, I know you're Merlin's boss but we're kinda friends now right? And -"

She stopped there, because the most cliched thing happened.

To shut her up, Arthur kissed her. His lips, warmer and softer than she'd expected - not that she had thought about it, not that much anyway - moved gently across hers, his hand resting lightly on her hip.

"Now, you're thinking too much," he murmured against her lips.

"I can't help it," whispered Gwen.

Arthur kissed her once more, then took a step back. His hand lingered against her hip. "I'll see you to your room."

At the door to her room, even more thoughts ran through Gwen's head - should she invite Arthur in, would he kiss her again, she should really be looking through her notes - but Arthur short-circuited them all with a quick squeeze of her hand.

"Good luck tomorrow," he said.

And as Gwen watched him walk back to the lift, she didn't know if they had just started something, or if this hasty retreat by Arthur meant whatever they started had already ended.

AN: Thanks for reading! And I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)