Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur
Camelot_drabble Prompt: 506, Quality Time
Merlin bingo: M2045 I4 hunter
Author's Notes: unbetaed, modern AU, scenes from Return of the Jedi
Disclaimer: Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
As Merlin watched an increasingly frustrated Han Solo try to get out of the trap that the Ewoks set up, he remembered the time he and Arthur had been stuck in a similar situation. There were rabbits as bait just lying there, and before he knew it, Arthur and he were swinging high in the air, the ropes harsh against Merlin's skin, pulling, tightening.
Back in the day, Arthur had been as livid as Han Solo seemed to be, the prat grumbling mightily about Merlin being such a fool as to fall for the oldest trick in the hunter's handbook. But Merlin had never seen such a thing before, and besides, if Arthur was such a good hunter, how come he had followed Merlin into an obvious trap?
When Arthur came back into the lounge, beer in hand, and plopped down next to him, Merlin pointed to the telly, grumbling, "See, even the great Han Solo fell for it. So, I don't want to hear about I should have known better getting caught in that trap back then. If you hadn't been such a clumsy idiot—"
"But at least he had a droid to get him out again. We just hung there, swinging in the wind all night long." Merlin shoved Arthur over, then snickered and grabbed at the bottle when Arthur shoved him back.
Arthur just shook his head, not letting go of the beer. Taking a swig, nodding toward the movie, Arthur said, "Well, Luke could have used his lightsaber. Or you, my buffoon in sorcerer's clothing, could have used your magic to get us out."
"What, and let the Prat of Camelot cut off my head for it? No, thank you," Merlin said, rolling his eyes, then smirking when Luke and his cohorts landed in the bushes and were promptly tied up again.
It hadn't been so very different with Han Solo and Luke and the rest. Arthur and Merlin ended up captured by bandits, but at least they hadn't tried to roast Arthur like the Ewoks tried with Solo. It had been bad, though, meeting Mordred, but they hadn't known that at the time.
However, when they finally escaped and got back to Camelot, Arthur couldn't let it go that it had been Merlin's fault they got trapped in the first place. He muttered about nets and ropes for weeks after.
Arthur might be right about it being Merlin's fault, but Merlin would never admit it, not to Arthur at least. The prat would have never stopped crowing about it, and at least, finally, Arthur shut up about how Merlin fell for something so obvious.
What Arthur didn't know back then—and now if truth be told— was that Merlin had enjoyed that bit of roughness, the swing and pull of Arthur's body against his, the way the ropes tightened around them, keeping Arthur close. Arthur struggled for hours to get free, his arse rubbing up against Merlin's groin, and all that wiggling. It had been glorious.
But of course, Merlin never told Arthur about the real reason why he hadn't used magic to get them out. After all, when Arthur fell asleep, Merlin could have lied, mumbling something about a knife and sawing them free. But he hadn't. Because swinging there, tight against Arthur remained a memory that Merlin cherished over the years.
Besides, when Arthur came back—finally—, there were other things to deal with and feelings and the silken cords in Merlin's closet were the least of it. Merlin certainly wasn't going to bring it up because what good would it do?
"So do you think Luke enjoys being all tied up like that?" Arthur said, smirking a little as he nodded toward the telly.
"He's smiling so… maybe?" Merlin couldn't believe he said that, but Arthur's question had come out of the blue and brought back feelings about rope and Arthur and tight arses. "Although as the hero of a PG film, I doubt they'd go down that road. It's too bad, too. But we can always pretend that once the credits role, the afterparty got a bit out of hand and the Ewoks do have a lot of rope. I'm sure they'd give him as much as he wanted."
"And how much do you think he'd want?" Arthur said, looking at Merlin with an odd light in his eyes. Putting down the bottle, from his pocket, Arthur drew out Merlin's favourite silk rope and wiggled it a little.
"Umm… I… were you in my closet?" Merlin said, trying and failing to grab the cord. "That's private, you arse."
"You didn't answer my question," Arthur said, curling the silk around his wrists. "I always knew you liked rope. That snare trap, all that wiggling, your hard rutting against my arse that one time. Did you think I was asleep when I could feel you rubbing against me?"
"You… you… you never said anything. You utter git, you knew?" Merlin scowled at him, nodding down to the rope.
"Of course, I knew. I'm not totally oblivious, much as you tell me otherwise." Arthur tightened the cord around one wrist, then let the rest lay there between them. "But things were different then. And things are different now." He nodded down at the silk between them. "So do you want to watch the Ewoks have a victory dance or shall we… well?"
"I've seen the movie lots of times already." Merlin leaned closer, grabbing the end of the silken cord and drawing Arthur closer, he whispered, "I have a whole collection of those in my room. And any good hunter would know how to knot them in a dozen different ways, right?"
Arthur nodded, grinning. "At least a dozen, maybe more."
"You'll have to show me," Merlin said, as he tugged on the rope, nudging Arthur toward the bedroom.
Behind them, on the telly, there were fireworks and dancing and the Ewoks singing of victory. A fitting end to a new beginning.