Beta'd by myself, couldn't find one. :(
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Elena/Vivian
Notes: Written for writing community challenge. Challenge 4 bonus, Weddings.
He and Merlin were supposed to be having a private stroll on the beach. Arthur would have walked hand in hand, taking Merlin to a secluded area that Arthur knew very well. He's grown up taking family vacations to this area and as had many adventures exploring the sands, water, and rocky crevices the beach featured. Arthur knew the perfect place and it was to be a perfect outing.
Yet, he's on a vacation with Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival at one of his father's summer vacation homes to 'solidify the manly bonds of friendship,' as Morgana would say. It was the perfect impression of a friendly trip, nothing to give away Arthur's perfect plan to Merlin. It was supposed to be a nice private stroll on the beach, just the two of them so he could propose.
But then Merlin allowed Lancelot to tag along, and the rest had followed suit, because Arthur had told his plan to them. He hadn't trusted any of them to give it away to Merlin even if they weren't trying, which is why he's strolling hand in hand with Merlin, surrounded by the rest of the guys throwing a volleyball around to each other. It's how they stumble across a wedding for two of Arthur's acquaintances.
It's strange the way high class society can stick together. When Arthur told his mother he was gay, his parents instance response is to give him playmates of the same inclination—though Arthur always had a suspicious inclination that his father and the girls' fathers were hoping their mind would suddenly change being around the opposite sex. They obviously didn't know Vivian and Elena.
If anything, it pushed him to want boys more. Those girls were scary.
So he isn't completely surprise to find they had choose to go for a nudist wedding, for the pure pleasure of trying it out.
Arthur could tell it was a combined effort from both girls. There were rope nets cast down onto the beach with goose feathers and pink rose petals weaved between the folds and twists, and he wondered how comfortable it could be for the attendees to stand on. The archway Vivian and Elena would stand under was compiled of driftwood and green vines interweaved and tacked on with orchids. The platform was a gargantuan man-made open clam shell made of frosted glass, decorated with red sand that shaped a heart on the base and the number five to the backing.
"Arthur?" A familiar voice calls out.
If it wasn't for the times all three of them would run around naked in games of dares, he would have been slightly disturbed by a nude Vivian trotting up to him.
"Oh it is you! I didn't even know you were here. You always had such good timing. Now you and your friends undress, we don't have enough males attending."
"They were all too scared," Elena says, popping in beside her. "I don't get why, you'd think they'd want to."
Arthur looks to his mates and notices how they're discretely trying not to stare and appear unflustered by the women's lack of clothing. Except for Gwaine, who is completely ready to enjoy this event to the fullest extent.
"Sure," he agrees, to the horrified stares of the men except Merlin and Gwaine. His boyfriend had luckily met them before and already knew that a 'no' to Vivian is impossible, because she gets what she wants. As for Gwaine, he is simply an incorrigible dog.
As Vivian and Elena walk away with their arms wrapped around each other to further prepare their wedding, Merlin turns to him and asks, "Why's there a five on that seashell?"
Arthur can see that Gwaine is already undressing, while the rest of them do so cautiously. "Wedding number five, one for every year. Vivian loves it and Elena does too, but in secret."
"If we ever get married, I just want the one," Merlin says knocking into his shoulders before pulling off his shirt.
Arthur suddenly remembers the ring in his pocket, and is happy that one of the girls had for foresight to have a 'coat-check' near a dry rock wall. He wasn't going to propose with the guys tagging along, and he definitely wasn't going to propose at a nudist wedding.
