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The last thing Merlin expected to happen on his first day of uni was saving a life of a blond prat. The same blond prat that laughed at him not two hours ago when he tripped over a stair and spilled his freshly borrowed books all over the hallway floor. Yes, he helped pick them up, but only after his friend started, and he didn’t forget to slip in a joke about Merlin’s ears in the process.
The said blond prat is now lying under him on the street, just a few feet from where a red golf crashed into his terribly expensive sports car. Residual magic is still tingling under Merlin’s skin as he breathes through the rush of adrenaline.
Everything is catching up with him and he’s starting to shake as he realizes how close to death they both were. The blonde is blinking up at him slowly. He hit his head pretty hard.
People are shouting and someone is crouching beside them, the prat’s friend, Merlin realizes.
“Are you okay?” he asks, probably not for the first time and Merlin nods, attempting to stand up from where he’s half-kneeling, half-sitting on top of the blonde.
It doesn’t work our very well and he just slumps to the side.
“Arthur?” the blonde’s friend asks and it takes a moment for Merlin to realize it must be the prat’s name.
~x~
One moment, Arthur is checking his emails, and then he’s on the ground, absolutely unaware of how he got there with worried looking Lance hovering above him.
“Arthur, talk to me,” Lance says and Arthur tries to sit up.
Pain in his head and neck stops him almost immediately and he lies back down with a groan.
“Don’t move, ambulance is on its way,” Lance says, squeezing Arthur’s arm.
He glances around, trying to make sense of the situation, and his heart nearly stops before launching back into overdrive when he sees the red car smashed into the side of his Honda.
“What’s your name?” Lance is asking above him and Arthur frowns, wondering why is Lance asking him that, but then he follows his gaze and finds the clumsy guy they met earlier sitting there, looking shaken and seconds from falling into shock.
“Merlin,” the guy stammers out.
“I’m Lance,” he says, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around the guy’s, Merlin’s, shoulders.
“Nice to meet you,” comes a shaky reply.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lance asks.
There’s no denying that Lance is going to be a great nurse once he finishes his studies.
“I’m fine,” Merlin says and smiles, pulling the jacket closer around himself.
“What happened?” Arthur asks to gain their attention.
“The car almost hit you. Merlin here saved your life,” Lance says.
He can hear the sirens in a distance and all he wants to do is close his eyes.
~x~
They’re sharing one emergency room. A nurse is taking care of the scrapes on Merlin’s palms, nothing he couldn’t do himself, but Lance insisted when he pushed him inside the ambulance after Arthur.
They pulled the curtain around Arthur’s bed after he first vomited, but it didn’t stop the sounds from coming through and Merlin feels sorry for him, hearing the pitiful moans as Arthur dry heaves.
~x~
Apparently, Arthur has concussion. He figured as much on his own, what with the head wound, nausea and sleepiness. Doctor assured him it’s only a mild one and they probably won’t even need to keep him overnight.
He’s surprised to see Merlin still on the bed next to his. He’s asleep, covered by a light blanket. Arthur hopes he fell asleep before his vomiting episodes. Just a thought of Merlin hearing him in such a state makes him flush with shame.
He watches Merlin’s sleeping form. There’s something about him. He has been sure of it from the moment Merlin called him a prat, only then he didn’t know he would be seeing him again so soon and under such circumstances.
Lance’s words replay themselves in his mind. “Merlin here saved your life.” A shiver runs down Arthur’s spine. He could have died in there. Throbbing in his head seems to grow tenfold and Arthur closes his eyes and lays his head back down, breathing through the pain and slight panic as he remembers the wreckage, the smell of burnt rubber and petrol.
~x~
Merlin’s not sure what woke him up, but it takes only a glance at Arthur and he’s glad something did. Arthur’s breathing is erratic, panicked even, his brow is furrowed, his palms pressed to his temples.
“Should I get a nurse?” Merlin asks, sitting up and slinging his legs down the side of the bed.
“No… yes… I don’t know,” Arthur mumbles without opening his eyes.
Merlin pads across the room to Arthur’s side and pulls his hands from his head.
“Let me,” he says and places his index and middle fingers on Arthur’s temples.
“What…?” Arthur starts as Merlin makes slow circles over the area with pads of his fingers.
“Mum suffers from migraines. I learned from her some massage techniques,” Merlin says.
He moves his fingers onto Arthur’s scalp, continuing the circular motion.
“Try to calm your breathing,” he says and smiles when he sees a bit of tension leave Arthur’s body with a long exhale.
His fingers on the back of Arthur’s neck, he feels the muscles there unknot. Arthur opens his eyes, looking at him like he’s a puzzle to solve.
~x~
The pain eases as Merlin massages it away and Arthur doesn’t know what to say. He knows nothing about the man, except for how clumsy he is, and still he feels completely at ease. Having your life saved probably does that to you.
He wants to say something, thank him, but his mind is still drifting in between confused from the pounding in his head and pleasantly relaxed from Merlin’s gentle touches. Merlin keeps smiling at him and that’s nice too.
That’s when the door burst open and Arthur’s father strides in. Merlin’s fingers are gone the next second as he backs away, and his father sits down on the side of the bed, laying his hand on Arthur’s shoulder.
“Have they been treating you well?” his father asks after a moment of silently checking him over.
Arthur nods.
“Good,” Uther says and looks around the room.
Merlin is pulling on his shirt, obviously getting ready to leave to give them some privacy. Uther stands up and heads towards him, Merlin’s eyes widening while he continues to fumble with buttons of his shirt.
“You must be the young man who saved my son’s life,” Uther says. “Uther Pendragon,” he introduces himself.
“Merlin Emrys,” Merlin says and shakes the offered hand. “I was just in the right place at the right time, sir,” he continues, fidgeting under Uther’s gaze.
“No need to be so modest,” Uther says. “You’re a student at Camelot University, am I right?”
“Yes, sir,” Merlin says.
“I suppose you live on campus,” Uther says and Merlin nods. “Have you unpacked yet?”
“A bit?”
“Good,” Uther says.
Arthur would find Merlin’s confusion amusing if he wasn’t concussed and confused as well.
~x~
It’s like a dream, or possibly a nightmare, Merlin isn’t really sure.
“Arthur has a spare bedroom in his apartment. I’ll arrange for your belongings to be moved there if it’s alright with you.”
Arthur’s father is not really giving him a choice, Merlin knows, so he simply nods.
“Father,” Arthur calls out, outraged.
“The rent will be covered of course,” Uther adds.
Merlin finds himself nodding again.
“That’s settled then,” Uther says and smiles at him.
It’s probably meant to be reassuring, but with all what happened that day…
“They’ll be releasing Arthur into home care later, but unfortunately I have a meeting at six and won’t be able to stay with him. Would it be possible for you to move in tonight?”
“I’m right here, you know,” Arthur calls out and Merlin glances in his direction.
The idiot is trying to stand up. Merlin’s on the move before he can register what he’s doing, pushing Arthur back onto the bed.
~x~
“No sudden movements,” Merlin chastises him, “it’ll make things worse.”
The worst is that he’s right.
Arthur closes his eyes to stop the dizziness and unsurprisingly it doesn’t help. Merlin’s fingers massaging his temples are much more effective.
“I’ll stay with him,” Merlin says and Arthur doesn’t have the strength to protest.
He doesn’t really want to anyway.
~x~
His Arthur watching duty was an easy one. Arthur went straight to bed when they arrived to his flat, so Merlin only did as instructed and came into his room every few hours to check up on him.
Next day, all his unpacked boxes were delivered and are now stacked on the floor of his new room. The flat is smaller than he imagined and very normal. He expected expensive furniture, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a huge flat screen in front of a leather sofa.
He got the flat screen right, but otherwise it’s an average student apartment. A relatively small kitchen with everything one might need, but nothing that would scream ‘I cost a fortune’, living room with comfortable sofa that Merlin remembers from his trips to Ikea. The mattress on his bed is heavenly, but the sheets are plain cotton.
Merlin’s not sure how things will work out. He’s been thrust into Arthur’s living space and it remains to be seen how Arthur will deal. He’s probably not used to sharing.
~x~
It’s almost ten when Arthur wakes up. It takes a moment for him to remember the previous day’s events and he groans into the pillow. His whole body aches from long sleep, but thankfully his head doesn’t hurt too much.
He slowly shuffles out of the bed and to the bathroom, going through the motions without having to think. There’s no need to rush. The doctor instructed him to take things easy and banned him from doing almost everything, so all Arthur can do is eat and try to get some more sleep to pass the time.
There’s a note on the fridge. ‘Went to get some food’, it says, with Merlin’s name and a smiley face under it.
Not for the first time since the accident, he wonders how he got himself into this. He’s not sure how he feels about his father giving Merlin the spare bedroom. He barely knows him, except for the fact that he’s obviously crazy enough to jump in front of the moving vehicle to save complete strangers.
Munching on his cereals, his mind wanders and he recalls Merlin’s soothing massage the day before, his fingers on Arthur’s forehead during his check-ups. He’s surprised he even remembers that because he tends to be a heavy sleeper. Must be the concussion.
~x~
It’s almost noon when Merlin stumbles into the flat with two bags full of groceries. He managed to sort out the official part of his moving out of the room on campus before going shopping, so he feels pretty good about his productivity.
Arthur’s nowhere to be seen, but the note is no longer on the fridge and there’s a bowl and a spoon in the sink that wasn’t there when Merlin left, so he’s sure Arthur had to be awake at least for a while.
He puts all the perishables into the fridge and starts going through the cupboards to familiarize himself with the system when Arthur shuffles in, all pink-cheeked from sleep with the most ridiculous bed hair Merlin has ever seen.
“Hi,” Merlin greets him with a smile.
Arthur grunts something that might be ‘hi’, pours himself a glass of water, downing it in one go and filling it again.
“How’re you feeling?” Merlin asks.
“Never better,” Arthur says, pressing the cold glass to his forehead.
“So…” Merlin says after a few moments of silence.
Arthur glances at him and it’s very obvious he’s not happy about being involved in a conversation.
“About our situation…” Merlin continues, hoping he’ll get some verbal response from Arthur this time.
Arthur glares at him some more.
“You know, I’d really like to know the do’s and don’ts here.”
“Just clean after yourself and don’t make too much noise after midnight and we’ll be fine,” Arthur says and turns to leave, presumably back to his room.
“I’m making pasta for lunch. Would you like some?”
Arthur shrugs.
“I mean, it’s not a problem. For me. To make more.”
Smooth, Merlin, really smooth.
“Okay, I’ll just…” Arthur says, gesturing in the direction of his room. “Let me know when it’s ready.”
Merlin lets out a sigh of relief the moment he hears the click of closing door. That went relatively well.
Not really in the mood for doing things the hard way (and when is he ever?), he lets his magic loose to stack the groceries into the cupboards while he starts working on their lunch.
~x~
Days are passing by in a blur for Arthur. He tried to go to one of his lectures once, but had to leave half way through, unable to concentrate on anything other than his increasing headache.
Walks around the park, and in later days even light jogging, seem to be the only physical activity making him feel better, so he’s been spending about two hours each day on fresh air, discovering all the available routes.
His father stopped by the third day of his recovery, bringing news about the accident which, as it turned out, wasn’t really accident. The driver of the car, woman named Mary Collins, blamed Uther for her son’s death. After losing his job, her son committed suicide and she claimed he did so because of his deep depression after Uther fired him just because he was a sorcerer. Killing Arthur was supposed to be her plan of revenge.
Uther insisted that the man’s magic was not the reason for which he was let go, and Arthur hoped it was truth. He knows his father’s not fond of magic. Well, it’s quite an understatement. The man doesn’t openly hate it, but it’s very close. Arthur knows something bad happened during his birth, causing his mother’s death, and he knows that sorcery was involved, but he never heard the full story from his father and nobody else will tell him.
He doesn’t blame his father for his distrust towards magic, but he hopes it doesn’t make him irrational in his decisions. Discrimination of sorcerers is illegal and, more importantly, amoral. Arthur can’t help but think about his cousin, Morgana, who still hasn’t told Uther about her powers, and Arthur is glad that she trusts him with her secret.
She’s like a sister to him, growing up with him after her parents’ death. She’s still suffering from nightmares, and from what she’s told him, it’s often difficult to discern between dreaming and a premonition. She told him to be careful on his first day at uni. She didn’t dream about anything specific, just knew something would happen. He also found a text saying ‘I told you so’ the morning after.
Merlin got fidgety when Arthur told him about his father’s findings. Arthur’s still not sure what to think about it. He seemed genuinely upset by something and disappeared into his room soon after, which was very out of character behavior compared to the endless chatter from the previous evenings. Not that Arthur cares.
~x~
He’s slightly surprised when Arthur tells him about the woman’s plan of revenge. They haven’t really talked much before. Well, Merlin’s talked a lot, and Arthur’s grunted a few words in reply occasionally, but he’s never initiated a conversation until then. Now it was Merlin’s turn to be the silent one as his brain finally caught up with all the facts.
How could he ignore this? It’s not like there’s many Pendragons here. Of course his flatmate’s father would be the owner of the multimillion company specializing in absolutely everything. And of course Uther Pendragon is known for his aversion to magic. And it took Merlin a week to connect the dots, even with Uther introducing himself to him on that first day. Maybe Arthur was right when he called him an idiot.
He’s not proud of his next move, but hiding in his room gives him the much needed space for panicking. He’s registered magic user and everything, but he doesn’t like the world to know. He had enough problems with his first coming out, he’s not ready for another wave of hate yet.
He grabs his sketchbook and a pencil and starts drawing. Pencil’s running over the paper without much conscious thinking. It helps him unwind, drags him away from reality. It’s soothing.
The end product is a picture of a coniferous forest with a small cottage on its edge. It’s cheesy and reminds him of his childhood doodles. His mum used to pin all his works to the fridge and she saved the older ones that no longer fit in there into special drawer. She still has them all.
He could send the picture to her as an apology for not telling her about the accident earlier. She read about it on uni’s news feed which Merlin didn’t even know existed. There weren’t any names mentioned, but there was a photo. Arthur’s face was hidden as Lance was leaning over him, but Merlin was in plain view and clearly recognizable.
She was scolding him for the first ten minutes of the call and Merlin spent next half an hour trying to convince her not to come. He succeeded eventually, but not without promising her weekly email reports and daily texts.
He puts his signature in the corner and is thinking about where he could get an envelope and stamp when there’s a knock on his door.
“You can come in,” he says after a quick look around his room, making sure there’s nothing embarrassing in plain view.
Arthur opens the door, but doesn’t enter.
“I’m about to order takeaway and I was wondering if you wanted some.”
“Chinese?”
“Italian.”
“Can I look at the menu?”
“Sure,” Arthur says and steps into his room, probably for the first time since Merlin moved in.
He hands Merlin the menu and leans on the desk, hands crossed over his chest.
~x~
Arthur looks around the room. It’s very different from the impersonal guest room from before. There are posters strewn over the walls, a few sketches here and there.
He pushes from the desk when he remembers how long it took for Merlin to pick a meal last time and gets a closer look at what he supposes is Merlin’s work. He recognizes the church from campus and the fountain from the park. Most of the people on the sketches he doesn’t know, but he smirks when he gets to his own. It’s the only one partially coloured, yellow for his hair, blue for his eyes, and red for his lips. It’s not a detailed portrait, but there’s no doubt Merlin has talent.
Merlin’s watching him when he turns back around, but quickly goes back to studying the menu, his cheeks turning red.
The easel catches his attention and he steps closer, hand already on the cloth covering it when he realizes he should probably ask first. He pulls his hand away and turns back towards Merlin.
“Working on anything right now?” he asks, nodding towards the easel when Merlin gives him a blank look.
“Just first part of my semestral project,” Merlin says and Arthur would swear that his blush even deepens.
“Can I?” he asks.
Merlin bites his lip and yes, the blush is definitely darkening.
“Sure, go ahead,” Merlin says.
Arthur doesn’t waste any more time and carefully uncovers the canvas, revealing the half-finished drawing of a man, naked, shamelessly sprawled over a sofa, hiding absolutely nothing. Merlin’s blush explained.
“There’s nothing more perfect than human body,” Merlin says, not looking up. “And there’s nothing more difficult to capture.”
“Is that… uh… does everyone in your class…?”
“No, we choose individual assignments. And before you ask, Gwaine’s a friend of mine and he practically begged me to make this. He’s very proud of his body. He’ll probably hang this in his bedroom or something.”
“Familiar with his bedroom habits?” Arthur asks with a smirk, covering the strange twinge of… something. It’s not jealousy, Arthur’s fairly sure.
“Oh, god, no. That… just no! We’re friends. Nothing more. Ever. Geez.”
Arthur laughs out loud, the not jealousy giving way to relief.
“You should see yourself right now,” he says and collapses into another fit of laughter.
~x~
He should have seen that coming. Arthur would not act like an adult. No, right now it was the teen from the word nineteen that took over.
“Prat,” Merlin mutters, gets up and shoves Arthur to the side on his way to cover the drawing. “I’m not showing you my work ever again.”
“Oh, come on, Merlin. Why so serious?”
“I’ll show you serious,” Merlin mutters and tackles Arthur onto his bed.
It takes Arthur by surprise and Merlin uses the few moments of Arthur’s shock to climb on top of him and start a tickle attack. Arthur is squirming under him, trying to push him away, but his strength is seeping out of him with each giggle, rendering him helpless. Merlin continues running his hands over various parts of Arthur’s torso, watching Arthur squirm and huff out laughs under him.
He freezes when Arthur presses his hands to his temples, remembering Arthur’s concussion.
“Are you okay?” he asks, lifting most of his weight off Arthur.
Big mistake.
Arthur takes the chance and rolls them over, sitting on top of Merlin, grinning like an idiot.
“Get off me, you’re heavy,” Merlin says and tries to push Arthur off.
Arthur grabs his wrists and pins them to the bed above Merlin’s head, looming over him like a predator over a prey, dangerous smile on his face.
“Are you saying I’m fat?” Arthur says and pushes Merlin’s wrists deeper into the mattress.
Merlin can’t stop the gasp that escapes him, and suddenly he’s aware of every single point of contact between their bodies.
~x~
Merlin tenses under him, his eyes going wide, and for a moment Arthur worries he hurt him, but then his gaze falls on Merlin’s slightly parted lips, he can feel Merlin’s pulse quickening under his fingers.
He leans down a bit more without thinking, watching the rapid rise and fall of Merlin’s chest.
“Arthur,” Merlin says, and it’s different from all the times he’s said it before.
It sounds desperate. For escape, for more, Arthur doesn’t know. Maybe it’s a bit of both.
“Could you just…?” Merlin asks, tensing even more, wriggling his wrists in a futile attempt to get free.
“Could I just what?” Arthur asks back.
Merlin licks his lips and that’s it, the breaking point. Arthur presses his lips to Merlin’s, takes advantage of Merlin’s gasp and deepens the kiss. He slows down after a moment, nips at Merlin’s bottom lip. He lets go of Merlin’s wrists and presses himself closer to him. Merlin goes pliant under him, responding to each nibble or flick of Arthur’s tongue with a quiet moan, his hands finding their way to Arthur’s hair and back.
Eventually, the kiss ends, but they don’t part yet. Merlin keeps petting Arthur’s back while Arthur rests his forehead on Merlin’s shoulder.
“That, I didn’t see coming,” Merlin says. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Arthur huffs out a laugh.
“So, I’m no longer heavy?”
“I got used to it.”
“Of course you did,” Arthur says and sits back up, admiring the view of disheveled, red-cheeked Merlin who’s no longer trying to get away from under him.
“So what do you want for dinner?”
“Is this you asking me out?”
“Takeaway, Merlin.”
“Still could be a date,” Merlin says with a grin, running his hands up and down Arthur’s arms.
“Maybe I just want us to be friends with benefits,” Arthur says, pretending to think about it.
He regrets it when he sees Merlin’s smile falter for a moment.
“Then you won’t mind me getting it on with Gwaine, right?” Merlin says.
Not regretting anymore.
He kisses Merlin again, wild and bruising, pulling Merlin’s shirt up so he can touch. Merlin gasps into the kiss when Arthur’s hand brushes his nipple and Arthur drags his lips over Merlin’s cheek to the shell of his ear.
“After I’m done with you, you’ll be ruined for any others,” Arthur whispers.
“A bit too sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Merlin says, followed by a moan as Arthur changes his position and presses his thigh against Merlin’s groin.
“No,” Arthur says, pressing one long lingering kiss to Merlin’s lips before scrambling down the bed to open Merlin’s fly and pull his jeans and briefs down enough to get to his cock.
Merlin moans something that sounds like ‘ngh, ahh’ and could be ‘oh god, Arthur’ and Arthur looks up at him, licking his lips suggestively. Merlin’s hips hitch up while his head falls to the mattress with another moan.
~x~
They didn’t get past one embarrassingly short blowjob and one uncoordinated handjob and fell asleep right after, waking up in the morning in an awkward tangle of limbs with dried come all around.
Arthur acts like an oversized kitten, huffing when Merlin tries to get up to go to bathroom and pulling him back to his chest, but Merlin escapes with a (very manly) giggle.
He’s staring at himself in a mirror when he realizes Arthur might have actually been right about ruining him for others. (Well, mostly right. He still wouldn’t say no to Tom Hiddleston.) He forgets all about his planned shower and goes back to cuddle.
Two hours later they go on a date. It’s just coffee and lots of pastry and it still feels like proper first date with tentative touches and embarrassed blushes even when they’ve had sex already.
Next days are busy for both of them. Merlin spends a lot of time in the library, doing research for the psychology essay that’s due on Friday, and works on Gwaine’s painting too (Arthur’s jealousy when Merlin talks about his progress is hilarious). Arthur is finally cleared for studying, so he’s catching up with everything he missed past week.
There’s no energy left for more than a few kisses and cuddling in the evening, and it’s nice, Merlin doesn’t mind going slow.
~x~
They’re spending the Saturday afternoon in a park. It’s warm, one of the last summer days before autumn kicks in. It’s not just the two of them and they still didn’t tell anyone about their thing, so they keep their contact strictly in friend zone.
Lance brought along his girlfriend Gwen, who’s altogether lovely and Merlin can’t help but love her right away. They’ve been dating since high school, are all sugary sweet, and Merlin can see himself at their wedding in just a few years time.
He gets to meet Arthur’s cousin, Morgana. He has this strange fear of embarrassing himself in front of her. She’s Arthur’s family after all, he wants to make a good impression. It’s a bit disconcerting how invested he is in the relationship. They didn’t even establish what they are. For all he knows, Arthur might be taking this as a friends with benefits scenario. Merlin feels a bit sick just thinking about it.
They talk about their studies and the accident that led Arthur and Merlin together. They even talk about weather. Merlin is dealing with nervousness in his own way, sketching. It’s another portrait of Arthur, at least tenth this week.
“So, Merlin, you have a crush on my cousin?” Morgana asks, but somehow makes it sound more like a statement.
Merlin can’t stop the blush rising to his cheeks and shrugs, concentrating on capturing the life in Arthur’s eyes.
“Then I should warn you. Arthur is a man of equal opportunities, but he’s also a bit of a womanizer. Like right now.”
Merlin whips his head up from the picture and there really is a girl flirting with Arthur. And not only that, Arthur seems to be flirting right back. Now he knows what Arthur felt when Merlin talked about his sessions with Gwaine.
He stands up, ignoring the amused snort coming from Morgana, and heads in Arthur’s direction. Arthur spots him and smiles at him. It eases Merlin’s jealousy a bit, but only until Arthur speaks.
“Have you met Sophia? She’s a first year like us, studies sociology,” Arthur says, giving Sophia his patented charming smile.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Merlin,” he says, trying for a smile, but doubts it reached his eyes.
Sophia glares at him for no good reason and moves closer to Arthur.
“We were thinking of going for a walk, weren’t we, Arthur?” she says. “You promised to show me around.”
“Yes, there’s so much to see,” Arthur says, his eyes never leaving Sophia.
~x~
Arthur doesn’t come home that night. If anybody should ask, Merlin doesn’t feel heartbroken at all.
~x~
He does not expect Morgana to come knocking at their door the next morning.
“Where’s Arthur?” she asks without saying hello.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he left with Sophia yesterday,” he says, injecting as much venom into the name as possible.
“Something’s wrong,” Morgana says and now that Merlin’s really looking, she doesn’t look good.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“The girl is trouble. She’s dangerous.”
“Did you run a background check on her or something? You rich people do that, right?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says. “Did you try to call him?”
“Why would I?”
“Because you care about him?” Morgana says, rolling her eyes at him. “Just try it. He’s no answering my calls.”
“And why do you think he’ll answer mine?”
“I don’t know, just do it, okay?”
“First tell me why you think she’s dangerous,” Merlin asks.
“It’s complicated. Can’t you just trust me on this?”
“I barely know you.”
“And I barely know you, but you saved my cousin’s life once and now I’m trusting you to help me save it again.”
“Whoa, stop right there. His life is in danger?”
“Merlin, please, just call him!”
Her worry seems genuine.
“Okay, I’ll call. But you’re not off the hook,” he says, pointing at her.
He pulls his mobile from his pocket and dials Arthur’s number. It rings and rings and Merlin’s about to give up when Arthur picks up.
“Hey, what’s up?” Arthur says, sounding more than happy.
“Hi, we were just wondering if you were okay,” Merlin says.
“Never better. It’s the best day ever.”
“Really, glad to hear that,” Merlin says drily.
“Ask him where he is,” Morgana whispers and Merlin does.
“We’re in some little town. Sophia wanted a countryside wedding.”
“Countryside wedding?” Merlin asks, not catching up.
“We just got married,” Arthur says and suddenly there’s rustling sound and the call gets disconnected.
“Fuck,” Merlin swears.
“What? What’s with the wedding?” Morgana asks.
“He married Sophia.”
“Oh my god, I was right then. This is bad.”
“He sounded completely besotted. It must be some sort of an enchantment,” Merlin thinks out loud. “How did you know? What do you know about Sophia?”
“I know nothing about her. I… uh…”
“You what? You said it yourself, Arthur’s life’s in danger. Talk!” Merlin nearly yells at her.
She looks at him as if seeing him for the first time, but eventually nods and starts talking.
“I had a dream. I saw Sophia dressed in white standing over Arthur sleeping in bed. And then… flames.”
“You’re a seer,” Merlin says, surprised.
“Yes,” she says.
“Does Arthur know?” he asks.
“Yes, he does, but it’s not the point right now. We need to find him before she…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence, but Merlin knows exactly what is missing.
“Did he say where he was?” she asks.
“No, he didn’t,” Merlin says and tries to dial Arthur’s number again, only to go straight to voicemail.
“The bitch must have turned off his phone,” he says and tries to come up with any other solution than the one that keeps popping up in his brain.
He’d be happy if there was something less exhausting.
“We need to do something,” Morgana says. “I’m calling the police.”
“No, no police,” Merlin says. “What would you tell them?”
He looks at the phone in his hands, feels the thrum of his magic deep inside. Sophia made him believe that Arthur was just playing him and it nearly broke his heart. Now the pain is gone, replaced by anger. Merlin doesn’t let anyone endanger his family.
He looks back up at Morgana and he knows his eyes must be shining gold. The magic is waiting to be released, it’s eager to make Sophia pay.
Morgana’s eyes widen in surprise, but he raises his hand to stop any questions she might want to ask.
He goes to the bathroom, rummaging through the pile of dirty laundry until he finds Arthur’s T-shirt. He probably looks like an absolute creeper, sitting on a closed toilet lid with Arthur’s tee pressed to his face, but Morgana doesn’t comment on it and Merlin is eternally grateful for that. He concentrates on Arthur’s smell. It centres him. He keeps his eyes shut, calming his breathing and pulling an image of Arthur the way his magic sees him to the front of his mind. It needs to be as clear as possible for this to work so he takes his time, minutes ticking by in complete silence.
Magic rises up in him when the image seems right and he doesn’t stop it this time, lets it drag him through space towards where Arthur is.
~x~
Of course, when he reaches the destination, he falls on his butt and hits his head on something because sitting when teleportating isn’t a good idea. He should probably lie down next time. Or even better, no next time.
He’s in a relatively small room with a small window in one of the walls. The room itself is in bad shape, seems to have been unused for years. The bed is what he hit his head on and it’s also where Arthur is lying.
Merlin scrambles to his feet and tries to shake Arthur awake. It’s no surprise it doesn’t bring Arthur out of the enchanted sleep. Merlin tries a few spells with no effect and then pushes a strand of raw power in Arthur’s direction. Arthur stirs, his eyes barely opening before falling shut again.
That’s when the bed curtains catch on fire. Merlin yelps and pulls Arthur off the bed right before the flames spread to the mattress. He summons a shield around them both as the fire spreads through the room with unnatural speed. Arthur is still completely out of it and they don’t have time to waste, so with a little help from his magic, Merlin lifts Arthur into a fireman’s carry and starts towards the exit, his magic leading him through the smoke-filled area, extinguishing fire beneath his feet.
Carefully, he climbs down the stairs. Arthur stirs and mumbles Merlin’s name before going still again. The main door fly open without him needing to even think about saying a spell and Merlin steps out just in time to see Sophia turn and start to run. He makes a grabbing gesture with his hand and pulls back, watching as invisible force catches Sophia and throws her back towards him.
She tries to get up, but he knocks her out and traps her under a barrier just to be sure. Then he lowers Arthur to the ground and checks him over while calling 112.
~x~
First thing Arthur registers is the smell of smoke. He opens his eyes to an open sky above him, soon replaced by Merlin’s face. It takes a moment to focus enough to realize that Merlin is worried. Also, he’s talking. It requires a bit more focusing before the meaningless jumble of sound turns into words. Questions, to be precise.
Arthur coughs before trying to speak and attempts to sit up only to be stopped by Merlin’s hand on his chest.
“Does anything hurt?” Merlin asks.
Arthur thinks about it. He feels kind of numb. It’s a bit like being drunk but less pleasurable. He shakes his head eventually because no, he doesn’t feel any pain. Merlin smiles at him.
“What happened?” Arthur asks, looking around, his eyes landing on the burning house.
“How much do you remember?” Merlin asks.
“We were at the park and I was talking to this blond girl and then…”
“She put an enchantment on you and dragged you here, to the outskirts of Abergavenny.”
“Abergavenny?”
“Don’t ask me. I didn’t know this place existed until my GPS told me so,” Merlin says with a small laugh. “When I called, you told me you two were married and then she tried to kill you, which I didn’t let her do, obviously.”
Arthur closes his eyes, trying to remember any of it, but comes up blank. But then something does pop into place.
“You carried me out of the house.”
“Yes.”
“Fire was dying under you feet.”
“Yes,” Merlin says and this one’s much more tentative.
“You’re a sorcerer,” Arthur says eventually.
~x~
Merlin’s not sure what he expected, but it’s sure as hell not the casual acceptance he got. Arthur doesn’t seem to mind Merlin has magic, he even seems kind of pleased, especially when he finds out Merlin teleported blindly, letting his magic drag him towards Arthur.
It’s swarming with activity around them. Firefighters are trying to get the fire under control. Sophia is being handcuffed and escorted away by the police. Apparently, she’s wanted for two murders already. Paramedics insist on getting Arthur into hospital for proper check-up.
They don’t stop Merlin from climbing in the ambulance after Arthur so they can continue their quiet conversation on the way.
“I should probably call Morgana. I was so focused on getting to you that I forgot to tell her what my plan was,” Merlin says, grinning sheepishly. “You probably don’t remember her number, do you?”
“Call Lance, he’ll let her know,” Arthur says, closing his eyes.
Merlin does, explaining only basics of what happened and promising the full story after their return.
“How come you’re so comfortable with my magic?” Merlin asks after a few moments of comfortable silence.
Arthur looks up at him, seemingly lost in thoughts.
“I had this Biology teacher on high school,” he says eventually, a fond smile spreading over his face. “He kept telling me my destiny was waiting for me, that it would arrive with sound of rustling paper, push me out of the harm’s way and carry me through flames without heat touching my skin.”
Merlin’s heart is beating fast and he leans down to press his lips against Arthur’s, projecting all his feelings and hopes into the simple kiss.
“Wild and untamed, he said. Bending forces of nature to his will. Just for me,” Arthur murmurs against Merlin’s lips and Merlin can’t contain the gleeful laugh that escapes him.
“It didn’t make sense at the time,” Arthur continues. “It does now.”
If Arthur was lying in a proper bed and not on the gurney in the back of an ambulance, Merlin would climb next to him and cuddle him to death. Well, not to death, obviously. It would be kind of counterproductive.
He might have said some of it out loud because Arthur is laughing now, pulling Merlin in for another kiss.
~x~
Two weeks later
“Okay, now bend your knee a bit more,” Merlin says. “No, the other knee. And turn just a bit more to lie on your belly.”
Arthur wriggles a bit, getting comfortable, but Merlin shakes his head and comes to the bed, settling his hands on Arthur’s hips and guiding him into the desired position.
“Did you rearrange Gwaine’s pose like this too?” Arthur asks with a playful grin.
“You mean spreading his legs wider than he did originally?” Merlin asks, raising his eyebrow. “It’s not physically possible, you know.”
“He’s quite shameless, isn’t he,” Arthur says. “But I was wondering, you drew his full frontal, but I’m on my stomach. Should I be offended?”
Merlin sits down on the edge of the bed and presses his lips to Arthur’s shoulder-blade, his hand travelling down Arthur’s spine.
“Trust me, you have nothing to worry about,” Merlin purrs into his skin. “I’m more than happy to show the world how lucky I am, but I’m not sharing all of you.”
He smacks one of Arthur’s buttocks, grinning at Arthur’s exaggerated ‘ow’ and goes back to his easel.
“And keep still,” he instructs Arthur and starts drawing.
He’s barely done with a rough sketch of Arthur’s figure when he notices the slow roll of Arthur’s hips against the mattress. He ignores it for a moment, as much as he can with his blood travelling south, but when Arthur bites off a moan…
“Could you stop that,” he snaps at him.
“Nope,” Arthur says and puts more force into his thrusts.
“I won’t give in so easily, you know?” Merlin says and concentrates on his work again, willing his fingers to stop shaking.
“Do your thing, I’m quite okay in here,” Arthur says, a breathy moan following.
“You’re such a prat,” Merlin says, pressing a heel of his hand to his crotch to take the edge of.
“You watching me like that,” Arthur moans, his hips snapping into the mattress out of rhythm.
Merlin takes a few deep breaths and wills himself to continue drawing.
“It’s almost as if you were touching me, your eyes all over me.”
Arthur gasps at the end of the sentence and his whole body goes taut, his breath coming in harsh pants, before he relaxes back into the mattress with a dazed expression. Charcoal falls from Merlin’s fingers.
“Did you just..?” he asks.
“Yep,” Arthur answers, blinking at him sleepily.
“God,” Merlin breathes out and forgets all about the drawing in his haste to shrug off his clothes and get to Arthur.
~x~
Arthur drags his finger through the black and white mess of their come and charcoal from Merlin’s fingers spread all over his belly.
“Body painting is considered a form of art, isn’t it?” he says and Merlin growls something about dating a pervert into the pillow.