Author's Note: Just a little something inspired from listening to Shakira's Waka Waka. Enjoy!
"Would you help me instead of standing there looking stupid?"
Merlin sighed and handed Arthur his shirt. There he went with the yelling again. The rest of the team was already giving him looks.
"Oy, Art, just lay off a while, huh? The game hasn't even started yet. Can't get worked up over nothing."
Arthur shot Gwaine a severe look that might have sent other people running. Gwaine just looked at Merlin and shrugged. He walked past and slapped the lanky man's shoulder. "He'll cheer up. You'll see."
"This is the single biggest day of our careers and you're making jokes!"
Gwaine rolled his eyes and gave Merlin another pat. "Just get out there and cheer for us ok? Can't do anything without a good cheerleader in the stands."
Merlin laughed and bent to kiss Arthur's cheek. "Good luck. You'll be fantastic."
And it would have been fantastic, if after the first half there weren't an insane number of fouls and a decidedly dismal amount of points. Merlin couldn't help fidgeting in his seat on the front row. Arthur's face was set in a scowl and he threw himself onto a bench while the coach started yelling at them. Good old Uther.
The team was in tatters, all of them sweating profusely and glaring at each other, even Gwaine. But Merlin couldn't really say he blamed them. Most the men on the team were sore losers and it was looking bad.
"Ooh, this looks bad. Why can't they all just…buck up and get on this? It's like they're not even a team!" Gwen bounced in her seat a bit beside him and he had to agree. If they weren't banging into the other team they were trodding on each others' feet.
"They know they're playing last year's champion team. Still, the ninnies should know better than to let it get to them." Morgana gave an unladylike snort and put a hand on Gwen's elbow. She calmed slightly but still worried her lip even as Merlin felt the soft wave of calm rush over the three of them.
He caught Morgana's eye and she gave him a soft smile unlike she would most the others. He shook his head though he was smiling. She amazed him at times, they all did. He glanced back at the field. "They can still win if they pull themselves together."
"If anyone can do that, it's Arthur. He'll manage it, somehow. Don't fret, Merlin. It isn't becoming."
Merlin smiled at her teasing but he couldn't help being on the edge of his seat the same as Gwen through the next half. He hissed and cheered along with the crowd of England supporters in the stands behind him. At times he was sure he was being so loud that the pitch would shake, but then he would realize it was just someone further down rattling the railing he'd gripped onto during a particularly bad play.
And then, miraculously, they started to catch up. Merlin wasn't sure when he noticed it but at some point, maybe it was the impromptu timeout Arthur called, or the sudden change in the team's attitudes. Either way the Knights were suddenly playing fluidly. There were no more accidental bumps, less missed passes, and a lot more grinning from the team. And Uther seemed beside himself trying not to show his glee at the gaining score.
It was down to a final possession, with the game tied, before Merlin knew what was happening. Arthur had the ball, Gwen's fingernails were digging into his bicep, Gwaine cut a German player off and sent the ball to Lance, Morgana was sitting on the edge of her seat but still managing to look dignified and regal, Arthur sent the ball whizzing toward the goalie. Merlin was out of his seat before he knew it.
And the ball went in.
There was silence a moment before the stands erupted. Gwen flung her arms around Morgana and then around Merlin and jumped up and down, shouting herself hoarse while Merlin did the same.
And then there was Arthur vaulting up the side of the stands and hooking a hand in his shirt to pull him into a frantic kiss. The distant cries of "Camelot" and "England", and the announcers going wild in ten different languages and Lance on his knee near them proposing to Gwen just washed away as background noise. They were back where they belonged and they could do anything, even if leading Britain just meant to a World Cup victory this time around. And if there were a few more fireworks in the sky than there was supposed to be no one but them would know.
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