Thank you for the reviews! I'm happy you found the last chapter fairly humorous. I hope that you will like this chapter - FLUFF - but it never hurt anyone, right?
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
"What are we celebrating, then?" Merlin asks as he bites into a cheese sandwich. They are sat on a bench in the town centre. He was on his lunch break and intent on finishing his food, when Morgana had waltzed into the shop with a massive grin on her face, asking if she could talk to him outside for five minutes.
"I've got a new job!" She says excitedly and he raises his eyebrows in surprise.
"I thought you already had one?"
"Well, I did. Sort of. But now I've got a new one," she explains.
"Oh, right. Congratulations, then! Where are you working now?"
"Oh, you know, I'm just a jet fighter pilot," she says and then starts giggling.
Merlin rolls his eyes at her. "Really? That sounds like fun! But don't you have to train to do that?"
"Well, that's what I thought, but apparently I'm fully qualified to fly a jet at hundreds of miles per hour."
"And shoot missiles."
"That too."
"Okay, so where are you really working?" He asks.
"In an office," she smilew proudly and Merlin tries to restrain a laugh. "What? What's wrong with that?"
"I'm sorry, I just can't imagine you sat at a desk all day, answering phone calls and taking messages," he says.
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm perfectly good at answering calls!" She objects.
"Not a good as Gwen," he mutters. "Or should I say, Guinevere." Merlin corrects himself.
"Don't be mean!" She scolds him with a smile. "She was only worried."
"'Don't trust him! He could be an axe-murderer!" He mimics Gwen's frantic tone and Morgana starts laughing.
"Okay, so maybe that was a bit over the top, but you can't blame her," she defends.
"True," Merlin admits. "But just for the record, I'm not a serial killer."
"I know," she sighs. "Gwen's just very..."
"Motherly?" Merlin offers.
"Yes. I suppose she does act like my mother at times," she says distantly and then smiles. "When we were at school, I was always the rebelious teenager and she was more the responsible adult who told me not to do something. Or tried to."
"Like me and Gwaine. Except we were both the naughty pupils. But I bet having Gwen as a friend made it easier for your real mother."
"Hmm?" She seems to be wrapped up in another memory, somewhere.
"I said, having Gwen as a friend must've made it a bit easier for your real mother." He repeats.
"Yes, of course," she agrees, not really focussing on what he is saying.
"What's she like?" Merlin asks, curious now.
"Who, Gwen?"
"No. Your mother?"
"Oh." She frowns. "She was always kind. Very helpful. Pretty, too."
He nods, taking in the phrasing of the words. Past tense.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know she was-"
"It's okay," she reassures him.
"Um, how? If you don't mind me asking," he mumbles awkwardly.
"Cancer."
"Oh."
"I was only six, so I don't even remember her that well," she adds and then turns away, blinking rapidly to clear her eyes of the bluriness. Merlin tries to be comforting and goes to take her hand in his, but she snatches it away as soon as their finger brush together.
"Don't." She says. "Don't be nice to me."
But he ignores her request and pulls her into a hug, deciding this is not the time to ask about her father or tell her about his own. He catches a glimpse of his watch as he reaches out to hold her and so does Morgana.
"Shouldn't you have been back two minutes ago?"
"It doesn't matter."
She sniffs hard and sits up straighter. "It does, Merlin. You should go back - I don't want to get you into trouble."
He gives her a reluctant look. "Okay. See you later."
"Yeah, see you," she says and watches as he starts weaving through crowds of people to get back to the store. She turns and walks in the opposite direction, just as someone comes up to her and links their arms together.
"So, that's the axe-murderer, then?" Asks a dark-skinned girl with black, curly hair.
"Gwen!" Morgana stops and goes to embrace her friend tightly. "Er, yep, that's Merlin."
"He does really bad impressions, by the way," Gwen comments as they start to walk again, but Morgana immediately halts them.
"You were listening in on our conversation?"
"Of course! Well bits of it."
"Gwen!"
"Yeah, yeah. I was just looking out for you! Who's Wayne, anyway?" Gwen asks.
"Wayne?" She frowns. "Oh, you mean Gwaine!"
"Whatever his name is. Who is he?"
"Merlin's friend. Not that it's any of your business."
"What's he like?" She questions, ignoring the last comment.
"He's okay. I don't really know him that well, I've only met him once," Morgana admits casually. "But he's reliable."
"And what about Merlin?"
"Stop being so nosy!" Morgana teases her.
Gwen holds her hands up in defence. "I'm just being your friend. Soooo, what's he like?"
"Merlin's great," she replies quietly, a small smile playing across her lips. "He's very... kind."
"Yes, I saw him hug you. I must say, he's better looking than I thought he would be," Gwen says with a nervous giggle.
"Hmmm," Morgana agrees and they continue the walk to the bus stop in silence.
Gwen gasps suddenly and grabs her arm. "You like him don't you?"
"Yes, he's my friend," Morgana says, pretending that she has no clue what Gwen is on about.
"No, I mean you fancy him! You do, I can tell!" She laughs gleefully.
"I do not!" Morgana hisses at her.
"Yes, you do! See, you're blushing!" Gwen pinches her cheeks with her thumbs and they go an even deeper shade of red.
"We're just friends," Morgana protests as they lean against the bench in the bus shelter, a few dots of rain starting to gather on the clear plastic.
"Of course, that's why you're staying at his house!"
"He's just trying to help me! Especially since Alvarr-"
"Hey, you never did tell me about you and Alvarr," Gwen interrupts. "So go on, fill me in!"
"I think I should tell you somewhere more private," Morgana looks around at the people starting to gatheras they also wait for the next bus, as it starts to pull in.
"Okay, ring me later, then, if you don't want to speak about it here," says Gwen, as they board the vehicle and hand the driver their money in exchange for tickets.
"I will."
They both take a seat and hear the rain come hammering down on the bus roof. January is such a dark and depressing month. Gwen nudges her with her elbow.
"Tell me about Merlin, then. I want to know all about him," she demands excitedly and watches the smile re-appear on Morgana's face.
"Well, he has blue eyes. Really nice blue eyes. And he has black hair and he's tall, but then again, most people are tall compared to me. Apart from you," she says slyly and Gwen smacks her on the knee. "He works in HMV and he has a cat called Aithusa." She bites her bottom lip, debating whether to say the next bit or not. "I've held hands with him twice. Oh, and he's seen me with virtually no clothes on," she finishes with a smirk as she watches Gwen's eyes widen.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing," Morgana mumbles with a grin and refuses to make eye contact with her friend.
"No, you said-"
The bus driver thankfully stops her from asking any more questions as he announces the next stop, which, coincidentally, is Gwen's.
"Saved by the bell," she mutters and Morgana laughs in triumph. "You will ring me later, won't you?"
"Yes!" She reassures her and watches the woman thank the driver and then turn back to her and holds up her hand to her ear in the shape of a phone. Morgana mouths a "YES!" to her and then she disappears from view.
"I forgot to ring Gwen," she says suddenly.
"Oh?"
"I saw her in town earlier and I said I would call her."
"But you forgot."
"Yep. I shouldn't let you distract me so easily."
He smiles and sweeps her hair over one shoulder before starting work on the other. She groans as his hands push at the muscle.
"When are you starting your new job?"
"No idea. Well, they said they'd ring me the day before they needed me." He is sat on the sofa and she is sat on the floor at his feet, while he rubs her shoulers. He had offered - insisting that she was always hunched up and she hadn't complained.
"Oh, right. You're really tense, by the way," Merlin notes.
"Can you blame me?" She asks and then gasps as his thumb presses into a particularly sensitive bit near her spine.
"Nope. I'm so sorry about Alvarr and everything - it can't be easy. Have you told Gwen, yet?"
"No, that's what - Ow!" Morgana interrupts herself as his knuckle digs into her lower back.
"Sorry," Merlin apologises quickly.
"It's okay. It was a good ow," she says and lets her head lull back against his knees. They sit in silence for a while before she retraces her thoughts. "I was supposed to tell her tonight, but I don't think I can face making her angry and upset. I just feel so relaxed."
"You're really bony," he frowns as he moves his hands back up to her shoulders.
"I'm not. You are! I feel like I'm resting my head against two rocks!"
"Maybe Gwen was right. I should give you more than pizza," he says and she tilts her head up to see the worried expression on his face.
"Merlin," she whines, not wanting him to be concerned.
"I'm serious."
She huffs and faces forwards again.
"Nice socks," she smirks as she looks down at the odd pair currently occupying his feet.
"Thank you. I pride myself in my appearance," he jokes.
"Well, you should," she advises and then strokes a finger down the arch of his foot. She grins when he flinches.
"Don't."
"Why? Ticklish, are you?"
"I'm warning you."
She does it again.
"Morgana."
One more time.
"NO!" She screams as his fingers scrabble around her ribs and she tries to slap them away. He traps her shoulders between his knees and she shrieks, begging him to stop as he tickles harder. She manages to wriggle free but her falls on top of her and they end up wrestling on the carpet. He grabs hold of both of her hands and stations them above her head so that she can't defend herself. She half-laughs, half-screams as he attacks her ribs again, before getting her hands out of his grip and fighting back. Now he is flat on his back and she sits triumphantly on his stomach, her knees pinning his arms to the floor.
"I win!" Morgana yells in victory and punches the air with her fist.
"Yeah, yeah, I let you - Oof!" He groans as Morgana moves forward to sit on his chest.
"Of course you did," she rolls her eyes and then giggles as he starts miming that he can't breathe and makes his body go limp and his eyes close. Thirty seconds go by and he doesn't breathe.
"Merlin?"
One minute.
"MERLIN!"
"What?" He opens his eyes and gives a dorkish grin.
"Don't do that!"
"I was waiting for you to do mouth to mouth!" He laughs and then blushes as she dips down to playfully kiss his cheek.
Alvarr stalks towards her, a broken bottle in his hand. Her feet stumble backwards until they reach the wall and she cowers under him. There are so many shadows. They dance over his face as he closes the distance between them.
"What's the matter, Morgana? You're not scared are you?" He asks, pretending to care.
"No." She feels herself tremble.
"Really? Because you look it."
"Alright! I am scared!" Maybe if she admits her fear, then maybe he'll leave her alone. Maybe not.
"Well, then prepare to be absolutely terrified," he says with a sickening grin and he swings the jagged edges of the bottle down.
The first thing she does is scream. She kicks and thrashes at the sheets in an attempt to get off of the sofa, but the blankets are tangles around her legs and she falls to the floor. It is pitch black and the sheet has somehow become wrapped around her head and arms. There is a distant clanking sound and then a bang as the living room door flies open. There is a click and then she can see sillhouettes of the room through the cotton. The sheet is suddenly torn away from her and she squints under the unatural, yellowish glare of the light.
Merlin stands over her, a saucepan raised above his head, ready to fight off any unwelcome guests. It is only for a split second, but she mistakes him for Alvarr and screams again, curling herself up into a ball to protect herself. The saucepan falls loudly to the floor and Merlin crouches down next to her, gently pulling her into his arms.
"Morgana, what's happened?"
She says nothing, just takes deep, shuddering breaths.
"Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head.
"Was there someone in here?"
She repeats the action.
"Then I don't understand," Merlin sighs. "Why did you scream?" He waits until she has calmed down for her answer.
"Nightmare," Morgana chokes out and he frowns.
"It was really that bad?"
She removes her arms from over her head and nods.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs softly and strokes a few dark, silky strands of hair behind her ear. "But why did you scream when you saw me?"
"I thought you were going to hit me with it," she says quietly and points at the discarded saucepan.
"Oh," he tries to hide the hurt on his face. "You know I'd never hurt you, don't you?"
She sits up, still cuddled against him. "Yes."
"Good," he says and she buries her face into his shoulder.
Okay, please, before I get any comments about Alvarr, he has never hit Morgana (I'm not that evil) it's just something she has always feared, hence the nightmare.
Anyway, FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF! I hope you liked it! And please review, you all make me as happy as a hippo! I love you all and thank you for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing, dearies! Long live Mergana! :)
