Title: Clean Linen and Oiled Steel
Show: Merlin
Characters/Pairings: Gwen/Arthur
Rating: PG
Word Count: 227
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or its characters. If I did… there would be a lot more scenes in Arthur's bed.
Summary: The prompt was "she smells of clean linen, he smells of oiled steel"
A/N: For the Merlin Fic Battle on LiveJournal, hosted by angelqueen04.
Very experimental.
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Most mornings, she smells of clean linen, he smells of oiled steel.
She carries the aroma of lavender, soap, and her lady's fresh laundry: the smell of her morning chores.
He carries the tang of sweat, metal, and the grass of the training field: the smell of his morning exercises.
Most mornings, they revel in the smell of each other while they embrace, familiar to their senses.
But not this morning.
He anxiously awaits news of her and sighs into the empty room.
She steps over the threshold of his door, her face weary but her expression soft.
"You're safe," he says, smiling. He'd been afraid she would be killed on the battlefield.
"And you're well," she sighs in return. She'd been afraid he would die from his fever.
He beckons her to lie next to his uninjured side, his face tired but his expression loving.
She carefully wraps her arms around him and sighs into his shoulder.
It is a life-altering morning.
This morning, they revel in the feel of each other while they embrace, comforting to their hearts.
He carries the aroma of lavender, soap, and fresh bedclothes: the smell of a recovered patient.
She carries the tang of sweat, metal, and that coppery scent of blood: the smell of a returned warrior.
This morning, he smells of clean linen, she smells of oiled steel.