Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur,
Camelot Drabble Prompt 522: Trick
Author's notes: Modern AU, no magic.
Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC version of Merlin; They and Shine do. I am very respectfully borrowing them with no intent to profit. No money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended.


"Can I show you a trick, Arthur?" Merlin said, shuffling a bunch of tarot cards in his hand.

"Just because your name is Merlin, doesn't mean you have magic, Merlin," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. Merlin had been really getting into magic tricks for a while now, and while Arthur found it charming, he wasn't always happy to be the experimentee. After all, Merlin juggling raw eggs could be unfortunate when dropped on Arthur's trainers, pulling a rabbit out of Arthur's hat only led to very messy hats, and never mind the amount of cello tape Arthur had to use on the tiny pieces of twenty-pound bank notes after Merlin was finished with them.

Arthur absolutely refused to be sawed in half.

"Just because your name is Arthur, doesn't mean you're the king, Arthur," Merlin shot back.

He loved the man, ridiculous as he was, and he could see that Merlin was nervous about something. Perhaps it was Merlin pushing for something new, perhaps the notion that he'd recently been promoted or that he talked about futures on the phone with his mum or that he looked at Arthur with such exasperation lately.

Exasperation, Arthur could understand. After all, Merlin had better prospects than a mere suit in a soul-sucking corporate office. Sometimes Arthur wondered why Merlin stayed his boyfriend. Sometimes he feared that Merlin would figure out the truth, that Merlin was as far above him as the stars in the sky. That Arthur wasn't good enough.

Last week, he even asked Merlin why. Merlin looked at him as if Arthur had hit his head one too many times, then fucked him until he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could barely speak except to beg Merlin for release. It was fantastic but even better was afterwards with Merlin whispering endearments into Arthur's skin and Arthur feeling completely, utterly owned.

Arthur still had the bruises.

Rubbing his fingers over one of them, he missed the next few seconds, only paying attention when Merlin flicked his finger against Arthur's head as he said, "Earth to Arthur, you still with me?"

Arthur nodded. "Always."

For some reason, Merlin took that as a yes, grinning as he started laying out the tarot cards. There was the Hanged Man, the Emperor, the Magician – Merlin smirked at that one, the Seven of Wands, the Two of Cups, the King of Swords – Arthur tried not to look smug, and then the Ace of Pentacles, the Tower, the Lovers, with one empty spot in the centre.

Merlin looked down at them all, humming as he shuffled them around. It was clear he had no idea what he was doing – Morgana had taught Arthur years ago about what each card meant and anyway, Arthur thought it was complete rubbish.

Spouting some kind of gibberish about futures and kings and magicians and how love conquers all, finally Merlin said, "Your future awaits." With that, he waved the last card around, not letting Arthur see it, then saying, "Abracadabra, hocus-pocus, bibbity-bobbity-boo."

With that final slap of the card onto the table, Arthur rolled his eyes again, not even looking down at it. "Really, Merlin, Sleeping beauty? At least the prince got to destroy the wicked witch. And you wouldn't even let me tell Morgana off last time. Boo, yourself."

He moved to get up, thinking to make them both a cup of tea, settle in for a night of telly and maybe, hopefully some shagging, too.

Merlin looked disappointed. Heck, he even looked devastated about something or other. It certainly couldn't be about the tarot reading. No one believed that stuff anyway.

But, sighing, Arthur knew he wasn't being a good boyfriend – it had been a hard day after all, and so he sat back down again, and grabbed Merlin's hand, tugging on it a little. "You know I love most of your tricks, right? Well, the eggs weren't your best and at least the rabbit found a new home but maybe talk to Morgana about the tarot. She used to scare the fuck out of me with her readings." His elbow jostled the cards into a mess, Merlin making a protesting sound in his throat as he started to gather the cards back up. "They're beautiful, though. Did you pay a lot for them?"

"They're Morgana's. She said you loved to play with them when you were younger. I thought… I thought you would… well, never mind," Merlin said, his voice going all wobbly.

The bells in Arthur's head started ringing loud and clear. "Umm, is there something you aren't telling me? Morgana doesn't usually lend out her cards. They're antiques."

"Doesn't matter. I'll put these away, shall I? Wouldn't want to ruin them." Merlin said, placing most of them back into the box. But the last card was still on the table, hidden under a couple of the others.

Arthur put his hand over Merlin's to stop him from gathering up the rest, then pulled out the last card. It was decorated with symbols, flowers, a sword and shield, a wand with little stars but in the centre, it said, Will you marry me?

Looking up, his heart beating as if trying to escape his chest, Arthur whispered, "Are you serious?"

"Of course not. All tarot cards include a marriage proposal," Merlin said, tart and worried and looking like he was about to cry. "What do you think?"

"I think that your tarot skills are crap, that rotten egg smell cannot be got rid of no matter how much you scrub trainers, and that I love you, you idiot," Arthur said. Then with Merlin staring at him, still looking as if he'd been run over by a pack of griffins or unicorns or whatever magical beasts would do the most damage, Arthur pushed the card back to Merlin. "Yes and yes and yes."

When Merlin surged up, shoving the tarot cards out of the way – Morgana would have a fit if she knew, and reached for Arthur, Arthur stopped him. "One thing, though."

When Merlin blinked at him, waiting, Arthur smiled. "I have a few tricks of my own," Arthur whispered, nodding toward the bedroom.

Merlin grinned.

And if neither of them could walk straight the next day, well, after all, it was in the cards.