Night Sky Changing Overhead (the Brighter When We Come Remix) by flammablehat (NC-17)
Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Length: 5387
Author on LJ: flammablehat
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
For the gorgeous description and vivid capturing of all the feelings. This is one of my favorite fics to come out of Camelot Remix earlier this year. It contains two of my favorite things, being a historical!AU (set in Edwardian times) and pining with absolutely gorgeous writing. There's something about pining and having the courage to say what you feel about someone...and somehow Merlin finds the courage to do just that. It's a first time fic that begins around a bath and the writing is really what elevates this into something more. There is such vivid imagery that feels almost surreal at moments, so much unresolved tension between Arthur and Merlin that you can feel it. And it is super-hot. It's the remix to teprometo equally hot Brighter When We Come.
Summary: "Merlin discovers it is one thing to want something, and another thing entirely to have the courage to say so."
Excerpt:
"Arthur’s fingers skittered at his trouser placket, clumsy over the buttons. He worked with what felt like excessive care, pausing before he skimmed the fabric down Merlin’s legs, undergarments and all. Arthur was a kind man, Merlin rationalised. He knew the distance Merlin had journeyed, and was tending to him with a friend’s gratitude. This was a gesture of reciprocity, an acknowledgment of everything Merlin did in his service. Arthur’s hands on his body were not Merlin’s to keep, just as his warmth and his closeness and his bath were not Merlin’s to keep.
But then Arthur knelt before him, and Merlin suffered a shock of heat to his face and groin. In apparent ignorance to the effect he was having, Arthur cupped Merlin’s calf with one hand and tugged at the heel of his boot with the other. Unbalanced, Merlin caught himself on Arthur’s shoulders, heart galloping at the sudden intimacy. He chastised his own weakness, quelling the shiver climbing his spine. The wear of travel and distance had made him susceptible to his most inexcusable fantasies."
Night Sky Changing Overhead (the Brighter When We Come Remix)
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Length: 5387
Author on LJ: flammablehat
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
For the gorgeous description and vivid capturing of all the feelings. This is one of my favorite fics to come out of Camelot Remix earlier this year. It contains two of my favorite things, being a historical!AU (set in Edwardian times) and pining with absolutely gorgeous writing. There's something about pining and having the courage to say what you feel about someone...and somehow Merlin finds the courage to do just that. It's a first time fic that begins around a bath and the writing is really what elevates this into something more. There is such vivid imagery that feels almost surreal at moments, so much unresolved tension between Arthur and Merlin that you can feel it. And it is super-hot. It's the remix to teprometo equally hot Brighter When We Come.
Summary: "Merlin discovers it is one thing to want something, and another thing entirely to have the courage to say so."
Excerpt:
"Arthur’s fingers skittered at his trouser placket, clumsy over the buttons. He worked with what felt like excessive care, pausing before he skimmed the fabric down Merlin’s legs, undergarments and all. Arthur was a kind man, Merlin rationalised. He knew the distance Merlin had journeyed, and was tending to him with a friend’s gratitude. This was a gesture of reciprocity, an acknowledgment of everything Merlin did in his service. Arthur’s hands on his body were not Merlin’s to keep, just as his warmth and his closeness and his bath were not Merlin’s to keep.
But then Arthur knelt before him, and Merlin suffered a shock of heat to his face and groin. In apparent ignorance to the effect he was having, Arthur cupped Merlin’s calf with one hand and tugged at the heel of his boot with the other. Unbalanced, Merlin caught himself on Arthur’s shoulders, heart galloping at the sudden intimacy. He chastised his own weakness, quelling the shiver climbing his spine. The wear of travel and distance had made him susceptible to his most inexcusable fantasies."
Night Sky Changing Overhead (the Brighter When We Come Remix)