"Who's this?"
Arthur pursed his lips. "Morgana, this is the new TA for the chemistry program," he said peaceably.
Morgana looked the man up and down. He was skinny. She didn't really like skinny.
"Merlin, this is my sister, Morgana," Arthur told the TA. "She's graduating this year in communications, and she's taking chemistry for one of her cores."
"Lovely to meet you," Morgana said, simpering.
Merlin smiled. "You too, my lady."
Arthur saw the look on his sister's face and grimaced. As he walked by her he whispered, "Try to be nice," before leading Merlin through the rest of the labs.
"I think he's gay," Morgana said abruptly.
Arthur was in the middle of tying his tie. "What? Who?"
"Merlin," she said with distaste.
"Morgana, he's not gay," Arthur assured her. "He has a girlfriend. Besides, why bring that up?"
"He has a girlfriend?" Morgana exclaimed, appearing at her brother's side.
Arthur sighed and looked at her. "You're being childish. I only just met the man."
"But he's been following you around for the past three days," she pointed out.
"It's his job," Arthur retorted. "He's supposed to shadow me for the week. Get the feel of the place. You know."
Morgana gazed up at him, putting a little glare in her pout that made Arthur sag with exasperation. "What do you want," he conceded.
"More information," she said simply.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well since you can't seem to get this bloke out of your head, you may as well come with us."
"Where are you going?"
"Dinner," Arthur said. "With Father. At the Parisian."
"What for?" Morgana cried.
"Morgana, he saved my life."
"When!?"
"Yesterday morning—good God, do you listen at all? A driver lost control and he pushed me out of the way. He almost died for me."
Morgana raised an eyebrow. "And you don't think he's gay."
Arthur gave her a withering look. "Are you coming or not."
"Yes, I'm coming. I'll go get changed."
Uther bought champagne.
Of course he did. He always bought champagne. He loved the stuff.
"So, tell us, Merlin," he said, setting his half-drunk glass down, "why did you decide to be a chemist?"
Merlin licked his lips slightly before he answered. "It's going to sound stupid," he began uncertainly, "but it's pretty much magic, and... well, I like magic." He grinned idiotically.
So gay, Morgana thought with annoyance. She sipped her champagne and did not take her eyes off him.
"Why didn't you bring your girlfriend?" Arthur inquired, smiling. He, too, loved the sweet intoxication of champagne and wine. "What was her name? Freda?"
"Freya," Merlin corrected, nodding. "And, um, we're not together anymore."
An awkward somberness fell over the table. Merlin sensed it and grinned. "But it's fine, don't worry. It was mutual."
"Ah," Uther said, smiling again. "Well, Merlin, I brought you here to thank you for saving my dear Arthur's life. Really, a fancy dinner is not enough."
"Believe me, sir, working for your school is all the reward I need."
He's not even trying to hide it! Morgana's expression turned sour. She placed her napkin on the table. "Do excuse me," she said, and she stood up. Merlin looked up at her. She held his stare for a moment before striding away.
She went to the restroom and examined herself in the mirror. Merlin could be gay all he wanted. It wasn't like she was attracted to him, or anything. She had no desire to pull off his damned suit jacket and rip his white shirt in two, to see if that long, pale neck led to something more interesting, more perfect.
She blinked. Something was very wrong with her.
Even if he wasn't gay (which he was, and definitely gay for Arthur) he just got out of a relationship. And Morgana was not a rebound. Not to anyone. Not ever.
She gave a little huff to boost her self-confidence. She didn't need Merlin. Even his name was dumb.
Feeling better, Morgana fixed the way her breasts sat in her dress, checked her teeth, and left the restroom.
She returned to the table and enjoyed the rest of the night, and did not glance at Merlin once.
...Well, maybe once.
Morgana kept seeing Merlin everywhere. And it was really starting to irk her.
He wound up, as luck would have it, as Arthur's friend. Best friend. As in, they went to lunch together and saw films and had inside jokes and everything. It was sickening to watch.
The final straw, though, was when Morgana came home from class to find the front door unlocked and Merlin's car in front.
"What the fuck!?" she cried, storming into the kitchen. Merlin was sitting there, at her kitchen table, looking like an innocent little fuck. "How the hell did you get in my house?"
"Arthur told me to come over and wait for him," Merlin said.
"He gave you his key?"
"Um, no."
Morgana's eyes widened. (It needs explaining here that Morgana and Arthur live together, because neither can stand their father. They have a nice apartment not far from the campus and live in near harmony.) "He gave you your own key?" she inferred.
Merlin pursed his lips and looked away.
That was it. That was all Morgana could take. She retreated to her room and locked her door, to plan what she would scream at Arthur the instant they were alone.
Arthur would not be reasoned with. Merlin was his errand boy. Of course he would need a key to the apartment: how else could he retrieve materials Arthur had left at home, or prepare dinner for him? Morgana laughed. They were so gay.
And then Gwen came along.
Gwen and Morgana had been close when they were children. But, for family reasons, Gwen had moved away.
But after chemistry one day, when Morgana was finishing up her notes and Merlin was grading essays, a dark-skinned girl poked her head in the classroom, and smiled at him. His face split into a huge grin.
Morgana felt jealousy before recognition. Gwen rushed over and hugged Merlin fully. They laughed at seeing each other and seemed to be the best of friends.
"Morgana?" Gwen said, and that was when Morgana realized who she was. For a moment she forgot all about Merlin, and was reunited with her old friend.
A week later she stumbled upon Gwen and Arthur (it was a small apartment, it happened sometimes) doing things Morgana herself had not done for awhile. It was all very awkward and ended with Gwen baking a cake to apologize (while she wore Arthur's shirt and fought him off with a spoon).
So. Confused Morgana.
It was like everyone was happy and getting along fine except for her, and she just could not figure out who was who in this mess.
And in this big mess, Morgana forgot to do her laundry.
It was a Sunday. She was going to go shopping because shopping always took her mind off things. She pulled on matching bra and panties—it ought to be said that Morgana does not own any undergarments that are not lacy—and tore apart her room before realizing the dress she wanted to wear was in the laundry basket by the front door (if the basket was not placed there, the laundry would never get done).
This was her apartment. Arthur was not home. Why should she not be able to walk across the floor in just her underclothes? It seemed perfectly harmless to her.
In reality, Morgana did not think that much about it. She only thought, oh, dress, and strode right out of her room.
She walked easily into the living room, to the pink basket by the front door, full of her dirty clothes. She leaned down and began digging through it. The dress was at the bottom, naturally, and terribly wrinkled. She sighed as she straightened up. She didn't want to iron i—
She stopped.
Merlin was in the middle of the living room. He had two files and car keys in his hand. And Morgana was in her underwear. In front of him. Her breath caught.
He's gay, she reminded herself. But gay men certainly didn't appraise women the way Merlin was appraising her. He had a shameful blush in his cheeks and ears, but he could not look away. His eyes hugged her curves, and his knuckles were white. He swallowed. His lips parted slightly, wet and glistening.
Morgana would be damned if she didn't find that sexy.
The tension in the room was almost unbearable. Morgana's skin warmed under his gaze. Finally, she cleared her throat. His eyes flicked to hers with the speed of a guilty man. "Um…" she began, "you're not my type."
Merlin blinked. "Nor you mine," he countered.
Morgana could not resist. She folded her arms. "So you are gay."
Merlin gave a nervous laugh. "Not unless you're secretly a bloke." Then he tensed, as if afraid of what he had said. "Look, um, you're… gorgeous but you are Arthur's sister and I really shouldn't be here."
"But you are here," she pointed out, and she stepped forward. She smiled, just enough. She wasn't entirely convinced he was straight, but that bulge in his trousers was starting to sway her. She drew closer, daring him.
Abruptly the papers and keys dropped from his hands and then he was against her, foreheads touching, his mouth fighting the urge to touch hers. His breathing was stuttered. But he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't kiss her.
Morgana stood on her toes and closed the distance between them for a brief instant.
That was all it took. Merlin picked her up and pushed her against the wall, devouring her mouth with an eager tongue. He was rough. He grazed her lips with his teeth and dominated her completely, tasting every inch of her. He finished off with her mouth by sucking on her swollen bottom lip before sliding off the corner, around her chin, and down her neck. Morgana gasped. This was more than she'd been expecting.
She loved it.
He came back up to her mouth and kissed her again, just as forceful, just as demanding. His erection was pressing against her, and he reached down a hand to rub at it.
Morgana felt his hand between her womanhood and his manhood. It aroused her more than it should have.
She slipped her hands into the neck of his jacket and pushed it off.
Suddenly Merlin stopped. He looked at her hesitantly. "Is this all right?" he murmured.
All right? All right? This was more than all right! This was everything Morgana hadn't let herself hope for!
"No," she said, because she was a stubborn thing and she liked to be in control. Merlin instantly tried to pull away from her, apologies forming on his tongue. Morgana tightened her legs around his waist. "Merlin don't you dare," she snapped.
Merlin paused. "You'll have to be a bit clearer, my lady."
Morgana pursed her lips to keep from smiling at that. Yes, treat me like royalty, she said inwardly. "I just can't respond very well pushed up against this wall, can I?" In fact, she very much liked the idea of him taking her like this, wild and dominating.
"Oh?" Merlin said. "Where would you like to go?" He thrust his hips up slightly. Morgana felt her blush rise as he did.
"The couch is nice," she said quickly. She couldn't keep up her act for very long.
"It is?" Another thrust, teasing and cruel.
"And close. Go, go, go, come on."
Merlin snickered and after one more teasing thrust obliged her.
The fucked like animals. Fucked the cushions right off the couch. And afterwards, they were not keen on being apart. So they remained entwined and kissed slowly for maybe hours. Merlin's phone rang twice before he finally broke away from Morgana's mouth to answer it.
"Hello?" he said, sitting up. He was looking quite disheveled, completely naked on the unmade couch with his hair sticking up in various directions and hickeys forming around his neck. Morgana knelt beside him, also nude, and nipped at his earlobe and neck. He closed his eyes and leaned into her, the little voice at the end of the phone seeming distant and unimportant. Abruptly he sat up. "Arthur!" he cried.
Morgana snapped her fingers, silently demanding the phone.
"Y-yes," Merlin said. "Yes, I meant to get your files, but, um, I—."
Morgana snatched the phone from his ear and leaned away from him. "Hi Arthur."
"Morgana?" Arthur exclaimed from the other end. "What are you doing with Merlin?"
"That's private," Morgana informed him.
Arthur groaned. "You're kidding me."
"It's not his fault," she went on. "If anything, you should let me know before you send attractive men to the flat."
"No, Morgana, I don't want to know. Just—." He broke off with a sigh. "Just not during work hours next time."
"Yeah, whatever, when you go to the store, get condoms." With that, Morgana hung up. She looked up and frowned at Merlin. "Don't look at me like that, you still have your job."
Merlin continued to look at her funny, however, so Morgana matched his gaze. Finally, he said, "Would you like to come over tonight?"
Morgana placed a hand behind her head. She was very naked, but that was fine. He was focused on her eyes, and nothing else. She thought about it.
"I'll cook for you," he went on.
How could Morgana say yes and still remain aloof…? She thought about it long and hard. "I would love that," she said, and she truly meant it.