Title: A Series of Incidents
Author: Elizabeth Wilde ()
Summary: A disconnected series of drabbles/vignettes created by playing ten songs on a Pandora station and writing something for each song.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, mentions of Arthur/Gwen, Lancelot/Gwen, hint of Arthur/Morgana
Distribution: My site at .net/wilde, anyone who asks and gets permission
Disclaimer: I don't own any Merlin characters. Sad, I know. No money is being made here.
Completed: December 23, 2010
I got this from loveronhermione's awesome series of Kurt/Blaine drabbles. Cuteness abounded, and since I *have* been wanting to do some Merlin ficness... well, it all came together for me. Let's do this thing! I'm using my Adult Contemporary station at Pandora.
Rules: Put your music player on random and write a drabble for the song that plays. When the song ends, stop writing! Make 10 of these drabbles! No cheating!
1. "Name (Live)" Goo Goo Dolls
"I have to tell you," Merlin insisted, still shuffling his feet and looking ridiculously nervous. He felt as if there were insects running around underneath his skin, bugs of his own making causing him to be utterly unable to focus and put things the way he really wanted to. /Why am I doing this?/ Arthur knew nothing. He noticed nothing. He never had. But that had to change. Merlin swallowed and opened his mouth to speak just as Arthur interrupted again.
"No, you don't. Look, I don't know what it is that's got you so worked up, but you're making me nervous, Merlin." The prince's inflection - or lack thereof - on his name told the sorcerer that Arthur was telling the truth. He wasn't being dismissive or haughty. He was scared to hear what came next.
Merlin swallowed and became all the more certain that he had to tell the truth. "I'm magic." It was too blunt and too simple, but it was there. The words hung between them, and Merlin began to wonder if Arthur was going to pass out. The prince certainly looked pale enough. "Arthur-"
The smile on the prince's lips was almost sad. "I already knew that." When Merlin's face fell and his eyes opened with with the shock, Arthur pressed a finger to his lips. "Our secret."
2. "Mr. Jones" Counting Crows
Arthur is so at ease. He slips through the party laughing. He puts a hand on the shoulder of a knight, winks at a lovely lady, stares a bit too long at Morgana's cleavage despite having told her in icy tones that it was far too low cut to be decent. She notices but simply smiles. They always smile. And why wouldn't they?
Merlin understands the desire to have Arthur's attention. It troubles him how well he understands. Sometimes as he stands in the back of the parties at the ready to fill his master's goblet, Merlin feels oddly gray in the lush jewel tones of the room. He becomes invisible, and that hurts more than he'd like. It isn't the loss of notice, it's the loss of *Arthur's* notice that troubles him. The loss of Arthur's gaze.
All it takes to bring him back from his frustration is Arthur catching his gaze from across the room. The prince smirks and rolls his eyes, sharing Merlin's antsy desire to be away from the crush of bodies. Merlin smiles back, and suddenly the party doesn't seem so terrible after all. The color rushes back into Merlin's cheeks and back into the room.
3. "Mad World" Adam Lambert
They both know that it's coming. Merlin shivers at the thought. He feels old, so much older than his years. Experience has taught him how to master his emotions and put on a brave face. He can stand at the king's side and look every inch the wise adviser that he is. At night, he lets himself go. He cries over a loss that has yet to come. In the morning light, Merlin pulls himself together and stands tall once more.
No one else knows. Arthur doesn't know. Not officially. Merlin sees it in his eyes. The King can feel it. The rift has grown to wide. Lancelot and Gwen gone away, Mordred's forces cutting down too many of theirs. Every day Camelot's golden image crumbles further, and nothing eases that pain. Merlin wishes that he could soothe the king's worries as he once could have. Arthur looks more haunted every day. He confessed one day that the only nights he spends in peace are the ones in which there is nothing. Dreams bring pain and fear. Arthur prefers the quiet.
It is moments like that in which Merlin wants to kiss him and quiet him and take him away from the battle. Because Arthur is going to die, and he's going to die very soon.
4. "Need You Now" Lady Antebellum
Arthur tries to take a breath, but he can't. The betrayal hurt him more than he'd expected. Everyone knew, and they whispered. He had known but closed his eyes purposefully. When he finally saw the lie in Gwen's eyes, Arthur felt his heart break. It was different than he'd expected. He loved Lancelot, loved Gwen. His wife was dearer to him than almost anyone.
Almost.
When the pain truly hit, there was only one person who he wanted. The wine sang through him, and Arthur stumbled into his adviser's room with no grace, no dignity. "Please," he whispered before grabbing the startled sorcerer and dragging him into a kiss that spoke of years of longing unfulfilled. "Please, Merlin, I need you. Please."
Merlin kissed away the tears, held him fast, and whispered in Arthur's ear that he'd been waiting all along.
5. "Under the Weather" KT Tunstall
"You'll catch cold."
Merlin sniffled and wiped the rain from his eyes. "Won't," he protested, half-pouting as he stumbled through the brush after Arthur. It wasn't his fault he hadn't known there would be rain. The Prince, of course, was wearing a leather hood and well protected against the drizzle. He sneezed and tried to muffle the sound.
Arthur heard it anyway and looked at him sharply. "You will." The prince rolled his eyes. "We're going back, *Mer*lin. Idiot," he added for good measure before leading his servant in the direction of Camelot.
"I won't!" Merlin was actually rather excited at the idea of being back indoors with a warm fire and dry clothes, but he wasn't about to say so. Arthur already treated him like he was a child. "I'm-" Another sneeze blocked his attempted protest.
"You already are. Damn it, Merlin, why didn't you go back for a coat when you saw he clouds?" The prince grabbed for Merlin's cold hand, rubbing it between his own until the color returned a bit before repeating the process with the other.
Merlin flushed at the contact, ears turning pink too. "I'm not sick," he whispered uncertainly.
"No? Fine, then." Arthur dropped his hands as though he'd never touched them and stalked more quickly toward Camelot. "Then try to keep up."
6. "Clocks" Coldplay
Arthur stared at his servant. Merlin frustrated him to no end. The boy got under his skin. He hit closer to the mark than anyone ever had before, and the longer he spent with Merlin, the worse it got. He became distracted. He became more and more certain that he was missing something obvious about Merlin. Some secret. Every time he thought that, Arthur found himself spitting some sort of curse or insult even when he didn't mean it.
The words made Merlin flinch, and it wasn't satisfying at all. In fact Arthur grew angrier all the time because hurting Merlin was the opposite of satisfying. He was going mad with the want to hold himself back and throw himself forward at the same time. Nothing was as good as the sight of a smile on the man's lips, the blush that sometimes ran from his skinny neck right up to the tips of his ridiculous ears.
Arthur knew it was time to take matters in hand. He grabbed Merlin by the arm, pulled him close, and laid a kiss on those too-soft-looking lips. When Merlin melted against him and they fit together as they'd always been meant to stand that way, Arthur was sure he'd finally found the secret.
7. "Free Falling" Tom Petty
"I'm corrupting you."
"Idiot."
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to call you?"
Merlin rolled over onto his stomach and narrowed his blue eyes in a way that was anything but properly threatening. "And who says I'm not corrupting you, *sire*?"
"I do." Arthur tried to sound haughty but faltered slightly. "*I'm* corrupting *you*," he repeated.
Long, pale fingers trailed up over the prince's stomach, making him shiver, and then up to his neck before finally stroking his cheek. "Are you?"
Arthur's breath caught, but he maintained, "Obviously."
"Hmm." Merlin's hand traced a trail back down, finally stopping just at the sheet that covered Arthur from the waist down. He knew that the prince said Merlin's fingers on his stomach always made him feel as if he was falling or flying. It tickled and didn't. Merlin grinned up at him. "If you say so, sire," he finally allowed as he drew the sheet down.
8. "All the Right Moves" OneRepublic
"Everything was absolutely perfect until you came along." Arthur's gaze narrowed suspiciously. "I was set to meet a nice girl, settle down, have heirs and..." He waved his hand to encompass everything that went along with such things."
Merlin actually looked abashed. "I know. It's more complicated than it should be." He honestly hated making Arthur's life harder. It was why he'd held back for so long. He hadn't told Arthur about his magic, he hadn't told Arthur that he was in love. He had said nothing, kept it all in until Arthur finally reached in and tore the wall down. There were no secrets anymore. That part was easier, but the rest... Merlin knew how much more complicated the prince's life had become hiding so much from his father and everyone else. "I will make it up to you."
Hating that he'd brought that fear and doubt into Merlin's eyes, the prince kissed him soundly. "You do. Every day, you do. I wouldn't worry about it if it wasn't worth the trouble. You're worth the trouble. Mostly." A hint of a smile twisted his lips upward. "Though maybe you should remind me why, *Mer*lin."
The sorcerer grinned. "I'd be glad to."
9. "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" Bryan Adams
It was Arthur who broke the silence at last. Merlin had kissed him. His servant had gotten a bit tipsy at the end of the party. He'd come stumbling back to Arthur's room to help him dress for the night, but halfway through getting his shirt off, his servant had kissed him. Merlin had let out a soft sigh and leaned in and kissed him. "You're drunk."
Merlin's brow furrowed, and he shook his head, the action alone making him stagger so that he had to grip Arthur's shirt to keep from tumbling over. "No! Yes. But... I love you. Been in love with you... Arthur..." The words trailed off into a sound of misery as Merlin tried to find the right words through the alcoholic haze and failed.
"You love me."
Merlin nodded miserably and threw himself against the prince's chest as if to escape Arthur's gaze. At first Arthur thought he was simply ashamed - and then he felt dampness against his chest and, when his hands rose to Merlin's shoulders, they were shaking with sobs. "I've done everything... all for you... 'm sorry, Arthur..."
The words broke his heart, and Arthur found himself kissing the shaggy strands of Merlin's hair and holding him tight. "Don't be." In the morning, when Merlin was sober again, Arthur could tell his idiot servant that he loved him too.
10. "Dare You to Move" Switchfoot
Merlin breathed in the morning air. The chilly wind burned into his lungs, and he smiled. He loved it outdoors. He was away from books and dust and lessons, and the world was alive around them. He hated getting up most of the time, but sometimes the world was too beautiful to sleep. He was so lost in the moment and the sound of the birds singing that he almost missed the sigh. Arthur's sigh.
Whirling he saw Arthur standing just outside the tent they'd been sharing on the trip. The prince's hair was askew and his face still pale and sleepy. He froze like an animal caught in a hunter's sights.
Merlin wasn't used to Arthur looking uncertain let alone frightened. He hesitated uncertainly. Had he done something wrong? A glance down proved that his shirt was mostly fastened, his pants on. Just as Merlin opened his mouth to ask what the prince was staring at, he found his lips covered. A kiss. Arthur was *kissing* him. Merlin let out a squeak against the prince's mouth and felt Arthur tense. He tensed himself. Kissing. Merlin's body caught up to his brain and the tension was gone. He melted against the prince and the morning chill became a distant memory.