You Don't Spy at Your Brother's Closet
Title: You Don't Spy at Your Brother's Closet
Author: anivhee
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, one-sided Merlin/Morgana & Arthur/Gwen.
Word Count: 1757
Warnings: I don't think espionage triggers anyone... right?
Summary: In which Morgana has the brilliant idea of spying Arthur because of Gwen's feelings for him--not because she's interested in Merlin, mind you--and find things they might not wanted to know. (Or, that time Morgana and Gwen got stuck in Arthur's closet watching Merlin about to show Arthur his... thing).
Disclaimer: Merlin doesn't belong to me--I don't make nor intend to gain any profit from this endeavor.
Author's Notes: Written for the kinkme_merlin prompt: Arthur/Merlin -- "I'll show you mine if you show me yours.". When I read that sentence this came into my head, so yeah. I tried to clean it up but I'm still not sure if everything's fixed (*still doesn't have a beta*). More notes at the end :)
Also at AO3!
You Don't Spy at Your Brother's Closet
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Gwen whispered for the ten thousandth time, and Morgana rolled her eyes-again.
“Shh! Don’t talk or he’ll listen!” was her answer, trying her best to not succumb at the hideous smell of Arthur’s dirty socks. Really, who leaves those in their closet? Talk about cleaning habits… “Look! Merlin’s here!” she whispered excitedly, and now it was Gwen’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Morgana, I really don’t think-“
“Shh! I can’t listen!” she made an atrocious effort to move without making any sound and lean against the door, eager to catch the conversation.
This had been their plan all along-with Gwen’s obvious infatuation with her brother, Morgana found a perfect excuse to hide in Arthur’s closet and find some horrible embarrassing things she could use against him-or that’s what she’d told herself, pretending it wasn’t about spying Merlin too. Besides, Arthur was only home for two days before he had to go to that stupid boy’s camp of his. Merlin wasn’t going-which was a good thing-but without Arthur in the house, he had no reason at all to visit. Not that Morgana minded.
She couldn’t fathom what they were saying, but it sounded like they were excited about something. Feeling left out, Morgana tried to lean even more against the closet door, with Gwen pulling at her arm backwards to avoid her from falling in front of them.
“You have to stop doing that!” Morgana hissed eventually, having missed the reason of Merlin’s laughter. “I can’t listen, I have to lean more!”
“If you do that you’ll fall, and they’ll see you, and they’ll be mad at us!”
“Oh, please Gwen, Arthur is not going to hate you for spying on him! Boys like that, it makes them feel wanted.”
Before Gwen could retort, or blush even, Merlin’s voice peered through the closet, freezing them for a moment. When they realized he hadn’t found them, they moved silently and paid attention to the conversation.
“You’re kidding, right?” Merlin was saying, and Morgana was cursing Gwen under her breath.
“Why would I be kidding, Merlin?” Arthur had his arm folded, and Gwen wasn’t biting her lip and tugging at her shirt at all. She squirmed when she felt Morgana’s judging eyes on her and, even in the dim light, she seemed to blush pretty hard. “Nobody has to find out.”
“That’s not exactly the problem,” Merlin blushed. Oh my God, he blushed! Morgana’s eyes were sparkling with delight-for some odd reason she couldn’t understand, naturally.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just… it’s unfair.”
“Why?”
“Well, you’re leaving in two days, and we haven't-“
“Oh, you think too bloody much, don’t you? It’s not like I’ll never return.” Arthur walked to his bed and sat down. “You’re such a girl,” he scowled and Morgana wanted to punch him. “It’s simple, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
And that was it. Gwen grabbed Morgana’s arm in a death grip that will surely leave bruises as Morgana bit her lip so hard she could almost taste her own blood. They grabbed each other in a mixture of panic, confusion, excitement and fear. It was difficult for them to breathe as they saw Merlin sitting down next to Arthur, his own lip being trapped by his teeth. Morgana had no idea of when she had grabbed Gwen’s hair and when Gwen had grabbed her head in a similar fashion, but their eyes couldn’t move away from the way they had suddenly fell silent and how Arthur--Arthur, goddammit-was fidgeting with his foot, clearly nervous. Before either of them could actually get the implications of his statement, Merlin finally spoke.
“You’re a bloody git.” And then he stood up. Oh my God, oh my God, he’s doing it, Morgana thought. “I still don’t get why we can’t wait ‘till you come back.”
Before Arthur could answer, Merlin turned on his heels, facing Arthur, and Morgana wanted to shoot herself. Of course he wouldn’t be facing the closet, out of all things, when he stripped in front of Arthur-hold on. Strip in front of Arthur? Realization dawned over her like a bucket of cold water and her mouth dropped down. No, was all she could think. Why would Merlin strip in front of Arthur? Arthur! As if sensing her thoughts, Gwen whined something incomprehensible and dropped her gaze, hiding her face in Morgana’s neck.
Merlin said another thing, but Morgana’s brain was wild with the mad thoughts she was having. Things like “I’m so going to murder Arthur in his sleep” or “Why can’t I be a guy” were flooding through her skull, making her press Gwen’s head harder into her neck. Gwen whimpered softly, and for a brief moment, Morgana let her trial of thoughts divert to her and wonder if she was crying because of the force on her grip or because her beloved Arthur turned out to be gay.
Gay. She let the word sink in. Oh my God, my brother’s gay. She let go of Gwen’s hair, who was now helplessly sobbing against her hands, and finally looked at Arthur, who was still watching Merlin fighting with his pockets. She found the sparkle in his eyes disgustingly adorable, as he watched Merlin in a different light now that they were alone. It seemed stupid, but it was almost like-like he actually cared about a human being other than himself.
Morgana scowled.
“What are you doing?!” Gwen hissed panicky when Morgana pressed her hands against the door. “They’ll see us!”
“Do you really want to stay and watch?” she questioned her, one eyebrow raised. Gwen bit her lip and looked at her sheepishly. “Oh my God! Gwen!”
“Oh, please. It’s not like we’ll ever have another shot,” she whispered, and Morgana wondered where the hell was the sobbing mess of a few minutes back, as Gwen grinned evilly and took her hands away from the door, so they could watch.
“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” Merlin said before Morgana could. They both forgot about how wrong this was or I’m about to watch my brother’s crotch and leaned in, their heads colliding in the cusp of vision, fighting each other silently to get a better view.
“Get over it,” Arthur scoffed, standing up.
“You said you’ll do it first,” Merlin retorted, childishly. “I’m not going to show you…that, until you show me yours first.”
“Really,” Arthur said, pretending to be annoyed, but Morgana knew better. His eyes were telling so many other things. “What a girl,” he said, and then he moved towards the closet.
“What are you doing?” Merlin asked, confusion clear in his voice. Morgana was screaming the same thing in her head, as she was sure Gwen was as well.
They both froze when Arthur’s hand was about to reach the doorknob, Gwen’s hand on Morgana’s mouth and vice versa.
“You said I should go first, didn’t you?” Arthur asked, as casual as ever.
And before Merlin could answer, before Gwen could scream, and before Morgana could try to hide them behind Arthur’s clothes, Arthur opened the closet door, still gazing at Merlin, and when he saw the confusion on his face, turned and found his sister with her friend, eyes opened wide, hands clasping mouths, and holding each other like there was no tomorrow.
“What…?” he started, but lost the trail of whatever he was about to say when he realized that they’d been there all along. “Morgana! What the hell are you two doing there?!”
They took a while to answer, pretty much because they couldn’t let go of the other, afraid of the stupid sounds they would probably make, and did anyway. Gwen looked from one to the other, an apologetic-embarrased-killmenow smile on her face, and Morgana just looked around for the fastest route out, only to find Merlin laughing quietly at them.
Arthur saw Merlin too, and his frown deepened. When he turned, Morgana felt like the moment to escape had vanished way before it appeared.
“We-we, er, we were just… um, picking your dirty socks!” she tried, smiling watery and then sighed, giving up. “You really are disgusting,” she scowled.
“Excuse me?!” he shouted, the entire house probably listening.
“Arthur,” Merlin said, trying to control his chuckle, walking slowly and placing a hand to his shoulder. Morgana tried not to growl when he saw Arthur completely surrender at the touch. “They’re kids, it’s alright.” That wasn’t really helping them, Morgana thought. Especially since they’re not kids. Not at all. They’re fourteen!
“How could it be alright?! They were spying on us! Isn’t that-“
“Adorable?” Merlin completed, smiling at them. “Don’t kill them, for God’s sake.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “A girl. That’s what you are.” He sent them a final glare and shooed them away, neither of them thinking it twice.
They ran all the way down and into their kitchen, pouring glasses of water and swallowing them all. Morgana found herself laughing, and Gwen slapped her forehead with her hand. Before Morgana could question her about it, she said “We missed it!”
Morgana rolled her eyes at her, Gwen pouting, and then she grabbed her arm and tugged at it.
“What?” Gwen asked.
“Do you want to see if they’re doing it or what?” Morgana smirked and pulled her harder, Gwen losing her balance and going with her.
“Morgana!” she hissed. “They just kicked us out because we were spying on them! What makes you think this is a good idea?!”
“Trust me,” she winked at her. “I think they weren’t going to do that.”
“And then why do you want to see?” Gwen asked, confusion creasing at her brows, as they reached Arthur’s door.
“Just want to confirm something,” she replied, letting go of her and watching through the space between the door and the wall.
Merlin was reading something on a notebook, sitting on the floor beside the bed where Arthur was sitting. He was smiling, whatever it was that was written there, and Arthur looked so hopeless Morgana actually felt pity for him. She smiled softly when she found Arthur staring at Merlin with longing, and understood.
She closed the door gently, trying not to disturb them and faced Gwen, who couldn’t watch anything.
“Well?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, Gwen,” Morgana said as she held her arm and drag her away. “My brother’s taken.”
Last notes: When I first wrote it, I intended the "thing" to be something stupid, but then it went out of control and I never specified what it was. I think I came to the conclussion that it could be something in the notebook (wow, so brilliant). Then again, what? (coughcoughpoetrycough).
Author: anivhee
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, one-sided Merlin/Morgana & Arthur/Gwen.
Word Count: 1757
Warnings: I don't think espionage triggers anyone... right?
Summary: In which Morgana has the brilliant idea of spying Arthur because of Gwen's feelings for him--not because she's interested in Merlin, mind you--and find things they might not wanted to know. (Or, that time Morgana and Gwen got stuck in Arthur's closet watching Merlin about to show Arthur his... thing).
Disclaimer: Merlin doesn't belong to me--I don't make nor intend to gain any profit from this endeavor.
Author's Notes: Written for the kinkme_merlin prompt: Arthur/Merlin -- "I'll show you mine if you show me yours.". When I read that sentence this came into my head, so yeah. I tried to clean it up but I'm still not sure if everything's fixed (*still doesn't have a beta*). More notes at the end :)
Also at AO3!
You Don't Spy at Your Brother's Closet
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Gwen whispered for the ten thousandth time, and Morgana rolled her eyes-again.
“Shh! Don’t talk or he’ll listen!” was her answer, trying her best to not succumb at the hideous smell of Arthur’s dirty socks. Really, who leaves those in their closet? Talk about cleaning habits… “Look! Merlin’s here!” she whispered excitedly, and now it was Gwen’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Morgana, I really don’t think-“
“Shh! I can’t listen!” she made an atrocious effort to move without making any sound and lean against the door, eager to catch the conversation.
This had been their plan all along-with Gwen’s obvious infatuation with her brother, Morgana found a perfect excuse to hide in Arthur’s closet and find some horrible embarrassing things she could use against him-or that’s what she’d told herself, pretending it wasn’t about spying Merlin too. Besides, Arthur was only home for two days before he had to go to that stupid boy’s camp of his. Merlin wasn’t going-which was a good thing-but without Arthur in the house, he had no reason at all to visit. Not that Morgana minded.
She couldn’t fathom what they were saying, but it sounded like they were excited about something. Feeling left out, Morgana tried to lean even more against the closet door, with Gwen pulling at her arm backwards to avoid her from falling in front of them.
“You have to stop doing that!” Morgana hissed eventually, having missed the reason of Merlin’s laughter. “I can’t listen, I have to lean more!”
“If you do that you’ll fall, and they’ll see you, and they’ll be mad at us!”
“Oh, please Gwen, Arthur is not going to hate you for spying on him! Boys like that, it makes them feel wanted.”
Before Gwen could retort, or blush even, Merlin’s voice peered through the closet, freezing them for a moment. When they realized he hadn’t found them, they moved silently and paid attention to the conversation.
“You’re kidding, right?” Merlin was saying, and Morgana was cursing Gwen under her breath.
“Why would I be kidding, Merlin?” Arthur had his arm folded, and Gwen wasn’t biting her lip and tugging at her shirt at all. She squirmed when she felt Morgana’s judging eyes on her and, even in the dim light, she seemed to blush pretty hard. “Nobody has to find out.”
“That’s not exactly the problem,” Merlin blushed. Oh my God, he blushed! Morgana’s eyes were sparkling with delight-for some odd reason she couldn’t understand, naturally.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just… it’s unfair.”
“Why?”
“Well, you’re leaving in two days, and we haven't-“
“Oh, you think too bloody much, don’t you? It’s not like I’ll never return.” Arthur walked to his bed and sat down. “You’re such a girl,” he scowled and Morgana wanted to punch him. “It’s simple, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
And that was it. Gwen grabbed Morgana’s arm in a death grip that will surely leave bruises as Morgana bit her lip so hard she could almost taste her own blood. They grabbed each other in a mixture of panic, confusion, excitement and fear. It was difficult for them to breathe as they saw Merlin sitting down next to Arthur, his own lip being trapped by his teeth. Morgana had no idea of when she had grabbed Gwen’s hair and when Gwen had grabbed her head in a similar fashion, but their eyes couldn’t move away from the way they had suddenly fell silent and how Arthur--Arthur, goddammit-was fidgeting with his foot, clearly nervous. Before either of them could actually get the implications of his statement, Merlin finally spoke.
“You’re a bloody git.” And then he stood up. Oh my God, oh my God, he’s doing it, Morgana thought. “I still don’t get why we can’t wait ‘till you come back.”
Before Arthur could answer, Merlin turned on his heels, facing Arthur, and Morgana wanted to shoot herself. Of course he wouldn’t be facing the closet, out of all things, when he stripped in front of Arthur-hold on. Strip in front of Arthur? Realization dawned over her like a bucket of cold water and her mouth dropped down. No, was all she could think. Why would Merlin strip in front of Arthur? Arthur! As if sensing her thoughts, Gwen whined something incomprehensible and dropped her gaze, hiding her face in Morgana’s neck.
Merlin said another thing, but Morgana’s brain was wild with the mad thoughts she was having. Things like “I’m so going to murder Arthur in his sleep” or “Why can’t I be a guy” were flooding through her skull, making her press Gwen’s head harder into her neck. Gwen whimpered softly, and for a brief moment, Morgana let her trial of thoughts divert to her and wonder if she was crying because of the force on her grip or because her beloved Arthur turned out to be gay.
Gay. She let the word sink in. Oh my God, my brother’s gay. She let go of Gwen’s hair, who was now helplessly sobbing against her hands, and finally looked at Arthur, who was still watching Merlin fighting with his pockets. She found the sparkle in his eyes disgustingly adorable, as he watched Merlin in a different light now that they were alone. It seemed stupid, but it was almost like-like he actually cared about a human being other than himself.
Morgana scowled.
“What are you doing?!” Gwen hissed panicky when Morgana pressed her hands against the door. “They’ll see us!”
“Do you really want to stay and watch?” she questioned her, one eyebrow raised. Gwen bit her lip and looked at her sheepishly. “Oh my God! Gwen!”
“Oh, please. It’s not like we’ll ever have another shot,” she whispered, and Morgana wondered where the hell was the sobbing mess of a few minutes back, as Gwen grinned evilly and took her hands away from the door, so they could watch.
“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” Merlin said before Morgana could. They both forgot about how wrong this was or I’m about to watch my brother’s crotch and leaned in, their heads colliding in the cusp of vision, fighting each other silently to get a better view.
“Get over it,” Arthur scoffed, standing up.
“You said you’ll do it first,” Merlin retorted, childishly. “I’m not going to show you…that, until you show me yours first.”
“Really,” Arthur said, pretending to be annoyed, but Morgana knew better. His eyes were telling so many other things. “What a girl,” he said, and then he moved towards the closet.
“What are you doing?” Merlin asked, confusion clear in his voice. Morgana was screaming the same thing in her head, as she was sure Gwen was as well.
They both froze when Arthur’s hand was about to reach the doorknob, Gwen’s hand on Morgana’s mouth and vice versa.
“You said I should go first, didn’t you?” Arthur asked, as casual as ever.
And before Merlin could answer, before Gwen could scream, and before Morgana could try to hide them behind Arthur’s clothes, Arthur opened the closet door, still gazing at Merlin, and when he saw the confusion on his face, turned and found his sister with her friend, eyes opened wide, hands clasping mouths, and holding each other like there was no tomorrow.
“What…?” he started, but lost the trail of whatever he was about to say when he realized that they’d been there all along. “Morgana! What the hell are you two doing there?!”
They took a while to answer, pretty much because they couldn’t let go of the other, afraid of the stupid sounds they would probably make, and did anyway. Gwen looked from one to the other, an apologetic-embarrased-killmenow smile on her face, and Morgana just looked around for the fastest route out, only to find Merlin laughing quietly at them.
Arthur saw Merlin too, and his frown deepened. When he turned, Morgana felt like the moment to escape had vanished way before it appeared.
“We-we, er, we were just… um, picking your dirty socks!” she tried, smiling watery and then sighed, giving up. “You really are disgusting,” she scowled.
“Excuse me?!” he shouted, the entire house probably listening.
“Arthur,” Merlin said, trying to control his chuckle, walking slowly and placing a hand to his shoulder. Morgana tried not to growl when he saw Arthur completely surrender at the touch. “They’re kids, it’s alright.” That wasn’t really helping them, Morgana thought. Especially since they’re not kids. Not at all. They’re fourteen!
“How could it be alright?! They were spying on us! Isn’t that-“
“Adorable?” Merlin completed, smiling at them. “Don’t kill them, for God’s sake.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “A girl. That’s what you are.” He sent them a final glare and shooed them away, neither of them thinking it twice.
They ran all the way down and into their kitchen, pouring glasses of water and swallowing them all. Morgana found herself laughing, and Gwen slapped her forehead with her hand. Before Morgana could question her about it, she said “We missed it!”
Morgana rolled her eyes at her, Gwen pouting, and then she grabbed her arm and tugged at it.
“What?” Gwen asked.
“Do you want to see if they’re doing it or what?” Morgana smirked and pulled her harder, Gwen losing her balance and going with her.
“Morgana!” she hissed. “They just kicked us out because we were spying on them! What makes you think this is a good idea?!”
“Trust me,” she winked at her. “I think they weren’t going to do that.”
“And then why do you want to see?” Gwen asked, confusion creasing at her brows, as they reached Arthur’s door.
“Just want to confirm something,” she replied, letting go of her and watching through the space between the door and the wall.
Merlin was reading something on a notebook, sitting on the floor beside the bed where Arthur was sitting. He was smiling, whatever it was that was written there, and Arthur looked so hopeless Morgana actually felt pity for him. She smiled softly when she found Arthur staring at Merlin with longing, and understood.
She closed the door gently, trying not to disturb them and faced Gwen, who couldn’t watch anything.
“Well?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, Gwen,” Morgana said as she held her arm and drag her away. “My brother’s taken.”
Last notes: When I first wrote it, I intended the "thing" to be something stupid, but then it went out of control and I never specified what it was. I think I came to the conclussion that it could be something in the notebook (wow, so brilliant). Then again, what? (coughcoughpoetrycough).