Morgana's Gift Pt. 12

Interruption Four - She's Got Balls

It turned out Fatima's entrance into Kevin's life upended more than a few things because however fast he might have thought she'd wanted them to go, it wouldn't have been as fast as Fatima had made it happen.

Within a week, she and her security team had moved everything Fatima owned from her LA home into Kevin's. They were partners now, and Fatima intended to spend as much time with him as she could, even when her work schedule kept her busy. It also meant bringing her security detail - Jackson, the black man, and Mike, the white guy - into the fold in terms of knowing what was going on, in terms of magic, Merlin, Morgana and Strazo. Watching the two giant, lumbering men reduced with wide-eyed children in wonder at the sight of the tiny dragon was easily one of Kevin's favorite things to happen to him since the entire chain of events had started.

True to her word, Fatima did like getting her way, and there had been a few points in the first couple of weeks of their relationship where things had gotten a little tense, but eventually they'd found middle ground and worked through it, by listening to one another and by Kevin refusing to be walked all over.

All the girls in the house had taken to her incredibly well, and the first time that he, Fatima and Ashley had played together had been far spicier than expected. Fatima had taken a very firm hand with the teenager and had turned her into a rather filthy and eager play partner for both of them, leaving Ashley so exhausted and fucked out that she'd skipped the next day of classes. Even when she'd come to dinner, she'd been limping a little, much to Kevin's amusement. He might have been worried they'd overdone it with her, except Ashley couldn't stop grinning all through dinner.

After dinner, he'd gone to spend a few hours in the studio, working on starting to put together some initial music thoughts for the Robert Rodriguez project when Fatima and Miriam came to swing by. He had a little silent buzzer so that people could let him know they were outside without them knocking, so if he happened to be recording something, it wouldn't get interrupted. It was a nice little orange sign that said "visitors" which would flash, and when he saw it blinking, he finished up the drum pattern he'd been laying down and then moved over to open the door for them.

"Hey ladies, what's up?" he said. It was unusual for them to come by his studio workspace, much like Kevin had learned to leave Fatima be when she was in the room she'd converted into her office in the house, so their presence, especially together, meant they likely had something important to talk over with him.

The two women moved past him and into the studio, moving to sit down on the couch he had had there. "So Miriam tells me you need to walk me through what's going to end up happening tomorrow, because it's, in her words, 'a magic thing,' which I can't say pleases me much," Fatima said as she looked up at him. "Fine. Tell me, what's Midas Day?"

"Ah shit," Kevin grumbled. "That's tomorrow, isn't it?"

"It is," Miriam confirmed, "and while I know that I'm permitted to hang around you, I don't know that she is, and I figured you might want to tell her in advance why she's going to feel compelled to be away from you tomorrow."

"I'm sure you told me some of it, but tell me again, because I'm certain based on Miriam's face when she was reminding me about it, I clearly wasn't paying anywhere near enough attention," Fatima said, perching her chin on top of her folded hands. "What is it and why should I be worried?"

"So, as I told you before," Kevin chuckled. "It's the day every month when I wake up apparently irresistible to all women in the immediate area, and that area slowly increases minute by minute, and Midas Day ends when I have sex with somebody I've never had sex with before. On the last Midas Day, all the girls of the house mysteriously had reasons not to be around me, and nobody thought it strange, so I imagine that'll happen again. You'll probably get some urgent business call that you have to handle in person or something. No kidding, magic does strange things."

"Alright," Fatima said, her hand reaching out to stroke along Kevin's thigh in a gesture more reassuring than sexual. "And what's the point of it?"

"Other than Merlin fucking with me? He says it's to play with Morgana's gift to me, but also just to have a little fun with someone newly exposed to the world of magic. To escape it, he said I have to do something specific on Midas Day, something I've never done before, because I would surely remember it. For a while, I thought it might just be to survive a Midas Day without having any sex, but I've gone plenty of days in my life without having sex, so I reasoned that couldn't possibly be it."

"This Merlin sounds like a clever bastard indeed, much like his namesake."

"Not his namesake," Miriam corrected. "All those old stories are about him."

"Wait, it's not someone just using the name Merlin, but the actual Merlin? Does that mean Morgana La Fey is-"

"Most assuredly so," Kevin replied. "And the relationship between Merlin and Morgana is depicted a lot of different ways over a lot of different stories, so who the hell knows what parts of them are true and which are fake? In any case, it doesn't seem like either of them really wants to hurt me. Morgana's gift in particular was taken straight from my mind because she thought I would ask for something too small for the high reward of saving her nearly immortal life. Based on how Merlin's acted since I've seen him, I'd assume it's best to think of them as friendly rivals at worst, affectionate contemporaries at best."

"Lovers?" Fatima asked.

"Maybe," Kevin admitted. "Merlin plays it insanely close to the vest, so getting him to give anything up without giving up even more seems nearly impossible. But he did seem to think of his minor modifications to Morgana's gift to me as his way of saying thank you for helping keep her alive, so I wouldn't be surprised to find out if they had been lovers at some point, maybe even currently. It strikes me as a bit more of an on-again, off-again sort of thing, though. Both of them seem very much like people who carve their own path first and foremost, and without any consideration for any partner's thoughts or feelings on the matter."

"Back to the original thing," Fatima said. "How irresistible are we talking here, luv?"

"On the last Midas Day, I ended up having to flee a public beach chased by probably a hundred women in swimsuits, only to be captured by a van full of college girls, who had their way with me before I even really got my bearings."

Fatima started giggling, holding her tan hands to her mouth, trying to keep herself somewhat quiet, but it was clear the image was absolutely delighting the woman. "That sounds mental!"

"I couldn't get into my car because I knew I wouldn't be able to drive it away - they were ready to completely surround it, and even if I got in and locked the doors, they'd probably eventually have just smashed the windows in and pulled me out and taken me right there on the pavement."

"A lustful zombie horde," Fatima managed to get out before starting to giggle all over again, completely unable to contain it at this point. "I know! I know it's serious, luv, but even you have to see how bloody ridiculous it all sounds, how wild it had to have looked to anyone not affected by the magics. Even with all this, Merlin promises you're going to be safe?"

"Within reason, he told me," Kevin sighed, sitting down on the couch between them finally. "He can't completely guarantee I'll be safe, but he says none of the women will ever want to hurt me, they'll always be of a fair age range and they'll never bring any illness upon me. And when it comes to that much, I certainly believe him."

"Oh?" Fatima asked.

"Mmm. It would ruin his game if I was sick or wounded for the next Midas Day, and that would mean he couldn't have his fun," Kevin said. "And I think the thing I've learned I can count on most with Merlin is that he likes a good show, and that he's going to be watching me. I'm certain he was watching me on the last one."

"What on earth were you doing at the beach if you knew it was going to be Midas Day?"

"I suspect there's some magic compulsions involved that prevent me from doing things like just not leaving the house, or isolating myself somewhere completely inaccessible," Kevin said with a smile. "Although the idea of locking myself in a bank vault and watching a swarm of beautiful women breaking me out does have a certain appeal to it."

"Do you own a bank vault, luv?"

"I do not," he responded patly.

"Then let's not worry about things you cannot do," she sighed. "I'm going to assume that Merlin's magic will take me away from you, so I'm going to have to insist you do whatever it takes to ensure his safety, Miriam."

"Naturally, ma'am."

"Couldn't you just accept the first woman to approach you, and be done with it?"

Kevin tapped a finger in the air. "You know, I thought about that a lot after he'd told me the rules, but for some reason, when it all started to happen, I felt compelled to run, as if it was my obligation to make it as difficult as possible for the women to catch me. I suspect that may be part of the game, some side effect of the spell. A need to flee from women in general, otherwise where's the sport in it?"

"So I'm going to need to prepare for a good amount of running then, I take it?" Miriam asked him. "All on foot?"

"Vehicle transport is too easy to swarm and physically prevent from getting far. Even if we were already in a car when the whole thing starts, all they really need to do is surround us and we're stuck where we are."

"You don't think they'd get out of the way of a car speeding at them?" his bodyguard queried, as if she found it all very hard to believe.

"I think Merlin promised that I would be safe, and the women not having any sense of self-preservation is very on brand for him, especially since it gives me constraints to have to work within. So, no, I don't think they'd get out of the way of a speeding car."

"What if we were in a helicopter?"

Kevin chuckled, shaking his head. "I think they would get in a second helicopter and would attempt to swing over to us on grappling hooks or something similar," he told them. "You need to take me seriously on this. It's going to be one of the most overwhelming things ever, but eventually, some woman's going to get a grip on me, and then it seems like it's just a matter of going with the flow from that point onward."

Fatima took his hand in hers, holding it gently. "You'll do wonderful, I'm sure of it, babe. Not much I can do but wish you good fortune and to at least have a little fun with it. And don't stop thinking about what might be Merlin's exit route he's laid down for you."

"He did say if I was still completely clueless by the time the next season rolled around, I could play him again for another hint."

She looked over at Miriam and grinned a little. "Might I ask a small favor from you?"

"Of course, ma'am," Miriam replied. "You're as much my boss as he is at this point."

"Can you both wear GoPro's clipped to your chests, so I can watch this back on film later?"

Kevin smirked, shaking his head. "It almost sounds like you're taking a little enjoyment in this," he said to her.

She put on the most over-exaggerated expression of offense he'd ever seen. "A little enjoyment, babes? Oh no. I'm going to take a lot of enjoyment from this. I can't wait to hear what sort of madness you get up to tomorrow, and being able to watch it back will bring me endless amounts of joy," she said, snuggling up against him. "Beyond that, I'm just going to have to trust in the magic, won't I? And hope that Merlin's good for his word, and that he'll keep you safe during all of this."

"He's particular about each and every word, ma'am," Miriam said, "but he's good for it."

"Then I wish you both a fun and enjoyable Merlin Day tomorrow-"

"Midas Day, ma'am," Miriam corrected.

"I know what I said, Miriam," Fatima teased. "Anyway, enjoy the day and we can watch the footage together over family dinner when you're all done, yes?"

The rest of the evening passed quietly enough and, as expected, next morning, he awoke again to an almost completely empty house, with Miriam curled up naked against his side, her arm draped over his chest protectively, as if even in her sleep she considered it her duty to keep him safe. He shook her to wake her from slumber as she grumbled at him. "Can't we stay in bed a little while longer?" she muttered, even as she was starting to move.

"You can if you want, Miriam, but I think my body's getting a head start with or without my consent," he told her as he stood up and started pulling on clothes with little care as to whether or not they matched or even looked good together. Not that he normally cared about his appearance all that much, but generally even he wouldn't have put on green camo sweatpants and a purple t-shirt together a as a combination.

"Right right," she said, hopping very quickly out of bed, tugging on clothes as fast as she could, as if the muscle memory of needing to get dressed in a hurry was coming back to her. "I won't bring the gun, simply because I don't want the risk of it just going off."

"Whatever, Miriam," Kevin said, his legs starting to take him down the hallway, as Miriam grabbed two GoPros and moved to keep up with him. "It looks like we're going!"

The two of them moved out to the front of the house and climbed into the red Tesla Roadster parked out front, and Miriam was making a point of staying one step ahead of him, because Kevin seemed to be completely out of control of his own actions.

"It's so strange," he told her as he started up the vehicle, heading down the hill from their home up in the Hollywood Hills. "I can feel my body doing things, but I don't feel like I have any control of it right now, and I also don't feel at all alarmed about it, which should, in and of itself, be alarming."

"Any idea where we're going?"

"The last time I drove down to the beach, so I can't imagine we're going to do the same thing," Kevin told her, while she was hanging a GoPro on a lanyard around his neck before doing the same with herself. "It clearly hasn't actually started yet, by the way."

"How can you tell?" she asked.

"Nobody in the cars we're driving past is looking at me yet," he said with a chuckle. "This sort of happened last time as well, with my body sort of wanting to get me to some starting place, as if it was important for me to get positioned before the whole game began." He glanced at the map, trying to discern where it was they were headed. "Looks like we're heading towards West Hollywood, maybe?"

The Roadster kept heading south on N Curson Ave, even as it crossed Hollwood Blvd. He would've been surprised by the lack of traffic, but it was a Sunday and on a Sunday morning, driving through Los Angeles was just about bearable.

"Past Santa Monica Boulevard," Miriam said. "Where the hell are we going?"

"I can't imagine we're going over to Pink's Hot Dogs or something," Kevin told her. "But this is Merlin we're talking about. He does love his surprises." Kevin felt himself turning the wheel to the left, as they turn eastbound on Melrose Avenue, a dry chuckle lingering on his lips. "Although we are headed that way."

"Maybe you can stop at Yum Yum Donuts and we can get some breakfast," Miriam said to him, amusement in her tone of voice. She had seemingly decided to roll with the punches and just enjoy the madness that the day held before them.

"Not Pink's then," Kevin said, as they crossed North La Brea Avenue, then North Highland Avenue a minute or two later. "Oh. Fuck. I think I know where we're going."

"You sound a bit more concerned than you did a second ago."

"Well, Los Angeles is covered with endless places to hide, typically, but where we're going, it's going to be... well, a lot more complicated than that," Kevin said. "And the kind of people we're going to have to worry about, it's more than your average girl on the street."

Sure enough, Kevin felt his hands turning the wheel to the left on North Bronson Ave, heading up towards the main gate, as he heard Miriam gasp a little. "I mean, there's no chance they let us in, is there?"

Kevin pulled the car up to the security gate, and a guard walked out to meet him, smiling as the man recognized him, giving him a polite wave. "Hey there, Mr. Bishop," the guy said to him. "Mr. Wyllt said you'd be coming by to the studio today and that I was to give you and your bodyguard All Access badges. He also said to let you know there aren't any tours of the studio today, so only the talent and the crews would be around. He said you'd know what that meant."

A glance at the guard's name tag gave Kevin enough information to seem like he was supposed to be there. "Thanks, Marvin," Kevin said to him, as Marvin handed him a clipboard to sign in on. "I do know what that means, and hopefully we won't be loitering around your lot too long. I just have to make sure I come back out this way, right?"

"Yep," Marvin said, handing each of them a badge on a lanyard. "So you can return these. And if you leave the studio with them, they're got transmitters on them so we know where they are, and we'll have to bill you for the cost of sending someone to retrieve them, so please don't do that, okay, sir? I know you're one of Mr. Wyllt's favorite composers, so the last thing I'd want to do is disappoint him."

"No worries, Marvin," Kevin said, tossing the badge around his neck. "We will be back to return the badges before we head home for the night, although we may be here for most of the day."

"Yep, totally get that, sir," Marvin said, waving his hand. "One question, though. Uh, what are the GoPros for?"

"Mapping the path between my place and set, Marvin," Kevin said, not skipping a beat. "Mr. Wyllt asked us to do it. We know better than to take them onto active shooting sets, though."

Marvin shot him a thumbs up. "All I needed to hear. Have fun, Mr. Bishop, and welcome to Paramount Studios!"

Kevin gave a friendly wave as the gate was lifted, driving his Roadster onto one of the most famous places in the entire world. Even on a Sunday, the place was humming with activity, because filming never really stopped anymore at the movie studios, unless sets were being built or torn down.

He'd been given a tour of the studios once, a long time ago, but he barely retained any of the knowledge from that, as he'd been reasonably drunk at the time, the band celebrating after a relatively successful gig when a movie star fan had offered to show them around the lot, so how could any of them say no?

(Literally, the band had all forgotten the word 'no,' they were that drunk.)

Miriam let out a slight sigh of relief as they drove onto the Paramount lot. "Thank god Miss Rouchard's film is being produced over on the Fox Studios lot. I can't imagine running into her on a day like this."

"Or Alice, for that matter," Kevin said with a little nervous laugh. "How the fuck would I explain that at the next regular meeting to review my work? 'Sorry you couldn't help yourself with the overwhelming urge to fuck my brains out. That wasn't my fault. Magic did it."

Miriam giggled a little bit. "God, that shouldn't be as funny as it is." She glanced around, almost as if she was doing her best to memorize as much of the layout of the area as she could. "Who's Mr. Wyllt?"