Same Place, Same Time (2/2)
Part One
---
“He really is quite attractive,” Arthur commented, holding his arms out to the side as Merlin helped to tie the sash to his tunic. “Aesthetically speaking. Rather feminine looking too.”
“Yes, my lord,” Merlin grumbled.
Arthur had been talking about the “lovely framing of Brendon’s hair” and “the way that he smiled so unabashedly” for the last hour. Frankly, Merlin was sick of it.
“I just think that he’s a charming fellow,” Arthur continued.
“Of course, sire.”
“Friendly.”
“Seemed to be.” Merlin frowned. Very friendly.
At first he had thought that Brendon and Ryan were…involved. He had gotten some vibes, but now he wasn’t so sure. Brendon did look awfully happy with Arthur’s arms around him.
“We should get going to the great hall,” Arthur said.
Merlin was definitely not looking forward to hours of Arthur and Brendon fawning over each other. Arthur would probably prattle on about some stupid adventure where he was brave and chivalrous and perfect. And of course Brendon would be stupid enough to find that impressive.
Dinner was going to be brutal. He should just feign sick and skip it. Just then, however, a loud knock sounded.
“Well, get the door,” Arthur ordered. Merlin considered flinging the door open with his magic, just out of pure irritation, but he made his way over to open the door by hand.
It was barely a foot open before the king swept through.
“Father!” Arthur exclaimed, immediately standing a little straighter.
“I need to talk to you immediately,” Uther said, not paying any attention to Merlin, still standing by the door.
“Can it wait until after dinner?” Arthur asked. “I have some guests that will be dining with me tonight.”
Merlin watched as Uther shook his head in annoyance. “No, it cannot wait, Arthur.” He threw his son a look, a look that Merlin noticed made Arthur shrink a little into himself. “You and I have important matters to discuss and it cannot wait. Your guests will have to dine without you.”
The disappointment was easy to read on Arthurs face, and even though Merlin didn’t care for hearing about all the wonders of Brendon, he felt a little bad that Arthur was so upset. His own relief quickly overran that, however.
"Yes, father.” Arthur answered, following his Uthur’s lead out the door. He turned back to Merlin. “Will you tell Brendon and his companion that I’m terribly sorry that I can’t have dinner with them tonight and that I’ll plan something even better for tomorrow?”
Merlin didn’t know whether to snort about the thought of Arthur planning something when it was always he who did or throw something at Arthur for being so stupid when it came to what was glaringly obvious right in front of him.
“Of course, my lord.” Merlin watched as Arthur left and headed towards Ryan’s room to tell him of the change of plans.
“Come in,” Ryan yelled through the door after Merlin knocked. Ryan was sitting on his bed, staring rather angrily at the corner as Merlin came in the room. He looked exactly like Merlin felt, and for a moment, Merlin felt an overwhelming rush of gratitude towards the other boy.
“I just wanted to tell you that Arthur won’t be able to come to dinner tonight,” Merlin said. “He has to go over some business with his father so he’s likely to be occupied all night.”
A flash of relief, a small smile passed over Ryan’s face before he developed that nonchalant gaze again, but Merlin had seen it.
“That’s too bad,” Ryan said, not looking regretful at all. Merlin smirked. It really wasn’t bad at all. It was wonderful, but still, he couldn’t help but think of Brendon.
“I guess I’ll have to go tell your friend that his shining knight won’t be there.” He couldn’t help the grimace or the infused anger in his voice.
“Oh,” Ryan said, his own voice soft, a little hurt. “I don’t think that Brendon will do anything. He doesn’t…um, he won’t. You don’t have to worry about him and Arthur.” The way that Ryan was speaking, the broken expression just visible casting over his face, it made Merlin pause.
“Are you and Brendon…” He didn’t really know how to finish that question, it wasn’t something that people talked about. No, that was far too dangerous.
Ryan looked startled. “Oh, well… It’s not like…He and I…” Ryan sighed. “I guess it’s just something that I’ve always assumed will eventually happen, you know?”
“Why?” Merlin asked. He knew about destiny, about things that you couldn’t escape. “Don’t you think that you have to make a move?”
“I guess,” Ryan admitted. “But then again, maybe you should take your advice too.”
Merlin shot Ryan a bewildered look, but he didn’t ask Ryan what he meant by his statement.
“You and Brendon go well together,” he allowed.
Ryan shrugged. “That’s what they say.”
“Who says.”
“Fans, friends, ex-girlfriends…” Ryan smiled a little smile, one that looked as though it couldn’t remain harnessed in. “And they’re right. We just…match.”
Ryan’s words sparked a constantly repeated line in Merlin’s mind about him and Arthur. He shook his head, amused. “You’re two sides of the same coin,” he said, and maybe for the first time, he actually got it. It made sense.
“What?” Ryan asked. “Dude, that’s the stupidest metaphor ever.”
Merlin frowned.
---
After Merlin left to go tell the kitchens to downsize their dinner, Ryan couldn’t get Merlin’s words out of his head.
Two sides of the same coin… It was actually a little bit poetic. Pete would probably love it. But still, Ryan knew that Merlin was right. He should do something about Brendon. About how he felt. Even if he had just really admitted it to himself.
Apparently Spencer was right: he was a ridiculously emotionally repressed moron. The problem was, now that Ryan was suddenly horribly self-aware, he didn’t really know what to do. Obviously he should talk to Brendon, but god, what if Brendon didn’t feel the same way?
In Ryan’s mind he thought about all the looks, all the seemingly carless touches, the way that Brendon always seemed to lean into him when they were sitting close together, the way that Brendon always seemed to know what to say - all that must mean something.
When Brendon opened the door to his room, Ryan was vacillating between scared and hopeful. Mostly he was just jumbled.
Brendon greeted him with a wide smile and ushered him in the room. “What’s up?”
“Arthur can’t come to dinner,” Ryan started, carefully watching Brendon for any expression of disappointment, but Brendon just shrugged.
“That’s too bad.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said, feeling suddenly supremely awkward just standing there in the middle of Brendon's room. He pushed the door shut behind him, too distracted by his overwhelming nerves to see that the door didn’t close the whole way, bouncing back a fraction of an inch.
“So, is that all you wanted to say?” Brendon asked. Ryan wondered if Brendon knew what he was about to say. He doubted it would make thing easier even if he did.
“No,” Ryan admitted.
Brendon frowned. “Are you okay, Ry? You seem a little upset.”
Ryan took a deep breath. “I’m fine.” He bit his lip, looking over at Brendon. “I’m just going to go out and say this.”
“Say what?” The thing was though, Ryan didn’t say anything, because just then Brendon bit his own lip, mirroring Ryan’s action, and Ryan couldn’t help himself as he took a step closer to Brendon and kissed him, bringing their lips together. The kiss was soft and lingering. Ryan didn’t try to force anything, but mere fractions of a second after he finally took the chance and their lips touched, he could feel Brendon start to kiss back.
Brendon’s eyes were wide and dark when Ryan pulled back. “Yeah?” he asked. His cheeks blushed. “Do you really mean that?”
Ryan smiled and reached down to grab Brendon’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “I do,” he promised.
“About fucking time,” Brendon growled before he wrapped his arm around Ryan and pulled him forcefully up against himself, joining their mouths again, teasing the line of Ryan’s lips with his tongue. Ryan opened his mouth easily for Brendon, allowing the other boy to push him back towards the bed.
About fucking time indeed.
---
Merlin didn’t know what was taking Brendon and Ryan so long. He told Ryan that it would only take him a couple of minutes to sort out dinner and that he would meet the two of them in the great hall.
After fifteen minutes, Merlin started to get a little concerned. Maybe Arthur had figured out that Brendon and Ryan were from the future and Uther ordered to have them killed! Or maybe, worse still, Arthur had slipped free of Uther’s hold and come to see Brendon and…
No, it couldn’t be that. Not with the way that Brendon had looked at Ryan; the way that Ryan had looked at Brendon.
Still, it was a little unsettling that neither boy was there, so Merlin excused himself and made his way down to where the guest rooms were.
Ryan’s room was empty, and just as Merlin turned away from the room to walk towards Brendon’s, he heard it. It was a low, slightly scratchy sounding groan. One that was almost like a word, a long, drawn out R-sound, but the rest of the letters got lost as the noise crescendoed.
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Merlin knew that he shouldn’t come closer and investigate. It certainly wasn’t a pained noise, no, the happy, haggard breaths were too telling, but still, Merlin found himself walking closer towards Brendon’s room.
The door was slightly open, an inch or so open, the sound easily filtering out through the space, and when Merlin moved towards the wall, he could see into the room, a tiny sliver of vision that made his own breath catch. Barely visible in the dim light of the room, Merlin could just make out the figures of Brendon and Ryan.
Ryan was stretched out on the bed, hips arching up into the air, and Brendon was situated between his open legs. They were both naked.
Merlin couldn’t exactly see what Brendon was doing, but he could see the tensing in Brendon’s forearm, watched as his body as it rocked back and forth, each jolt forward bringing a startled moan from Ryan’s open lips. One of Ryan’s legs wrapped around Brendon’s waist, pulling him closer, pulling him down, and Merlin watched as their mouths fused together.
Even from far away, he could see the slick, wet shine of Ryan’s lips as they separated. He could see the shiver run through Brendon’s spine.
He couldn’t look away, couldn’t look away from their bodies moving, moving, moving; he couldn’t close his ears from the noises that they made, the noises that they swallowed up.
Merlin continued watching, watching as Brendon pulled back, brought his hand to his mouth then down in front of him and Ryan shifted on the bed.
It clicked a second after Ryan threw his head back, panting into the pillow exactly what it was that Merlin was seeing, and suddenly, the flex of Brendon’s muscles, the hurried, frantic push of Ryan’s hips, seemed far too intimate for Merlin to watch anymore, and he tore his eyes away from the scene, stumbling down the hall a little, the space between him and the open room helping for his mind to clear.
Merlin ambled almost blindly towards his own rooms, a strange feeling settling in his stomach. Brendon and Ryan were still dancing around his mind, moving together, beckoning out noises, but suddenly, as Merlin made it to his bed, finally, the figures transformed, dark hair changing to light, Arthur’s features bleeding in, his own self following.
He was hard by then, of course he was, and with Arthur’s shadow dancing around in his mind, his own body trapped underneath that of the prince, Merlin couldn’t help but do something about the aching pressure. One shaky hand made its way down Merlin’s chest, and even though he had done this before, thought about this before, this time he didn’t feel guilty. This time he didn’t feel anything but the urge to get off. Now.
His fingers wrapped around his cock, the first couple of firm strokes already helping with the buildup, and he let his head fall back, let his eyes fall shut as he imagined.
In his head, instead of Brendon and Ryan, it was him. He was laid out on the bed. He was bucking his hips up, asking for more. He was wrapping his legs around a trim waist, and it was Arthur who brought his lips down to swallow his moans. Merlin quickened his strokes, hips starting to thrust up into the tight fist, and Merlin bit his lip, thinking of how maybe Arthur would want to show his dominance even in bed. Wondering if Arthur would hold him down, wondering if he would make Merlin beg - make him work for it.
He thought of strong thighs forcing his own open, of callused hands running down his stomach, and then Merlin thought about an open door. He thought about a single beam of light and a watching eye taking in everything - the force of Arthur, the yearning want of Merlin - everything.
Merlin came so hard that that beam of light blinded him, leaving him panting on his bed, all too aware that he was alone.
---
Brendon had his arm wrapped around Ryan, and even though normally Ryan usually wasn’t much for cuddling, he snuggled against the curve of Brendon’s neck, letting their bodies mold together.
“You’re an idiot,” Brendon murmured, the breath of his voice causing errant strands of Ryan’s hair to flutter up.
“Such a sweet talker,” Ryan joked, nuzzling against Brendon, letting his lips kiss a trail up Brendon’s neck until his lips ghosted over Brendon’s. “And if I’m an idiot then you’re a moron.” Each word that Ryan spoke made their lips brush against each other, causing a thrill to run through him.
“I meant you’re an idiot for thinking anything other than the truth,” Brendon said, not bothering to let their lips linger as he ended his sentence with a very thorough kiss.
“And what would that be?” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow as he leaned back, giddy when Brendon’s lips followed.
“I don’t know how you could ever doubt that I want you, Ryan. I don’t know how you could ever think that I didn’t want to be with you.” Brendon’s words were so sincere, so genuine, and his eyes were shining so bright, Ryan almost thought that he was dreaming.
“Well, you’re still a moron,” Ryan argued, though there was no venom in it. No, he was far too happy for that. “You should have pulled me from my idiocy and made me see that you were there waiting for me.”
Brendon smirked. “Should I have just jumped you? Maybe push you up against the wall after a show and take you right there? Would that have made you wake up?”
Ryan could see that so vividly in his mind, could imagine Brendon, sweaty and vibrating from a concert, pushing Ryan back, pushing until he hit the hard, unrelenting wall. Directing Ryan with persistent hips, crowding him until all Ryan could see was Brendon.
“Probably,” Ryan admitted. “In fact, if we ever get the hell out of here we should fuck backstage on an amp or something. After all, we are rock stars. How sad would that be if we never fucked on an amp?”
“Pathetic,” Brendon agreed, his hand smoothing down Ryan’s skin, inching below the sheets. Brendon’s ministrations were distracting, but so was the thought of home. That is, if they ever got home again.
“Do you think Merlin will be able to send us back?”
“Of course he will,” Brendon assured. “He’s Merlin. Epically famous and all that. He’s like the most famous wizard of all time.”
“Harry Potter,” Ryan countered.
“Debatable.”
Ryan grinned, turning on his side as Brendon’s hand stopped it’s teasing travel and wrapped around his waist.
“Merlin will think of something,” he said confidently. “He doesn’t want you sniffing around his man.”
Brendon laughed. “I really don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Grinding his hips a little against Brendon, Ryan looked up coyly through his eyelashes.
“Is that so?” Brendon leaned down and kissed Ryan.
“Don’t be a moron,” he said, rolling on top of Ryan, bringing their hips flush together.
---
Merlin was pouring over all of Gaius’ books, looking for some way to send Brendon and Ryan back. It wasn’t really that he didn’t like them around, well, not really, but he had all this built up energy, energy that was there even after he got himself off another time, this time two fingers sliding tight into him, that he felt like it would probably dissipate after a few hours of mind-numbing research.
The words on the book all seemed to blur together, so Merlin summoned a glass of water, thinking maybe that would help. As the water floated over to him, a steady, only slightly wavering line, he thought about what Brendon had said about how one day he would be famous. He also thought about how they hadn’t said anything else about his future, but Merlin figured that more personal things were probably left out in history. Still, it would give Merlin some comfort knowing if he was just wasting his time with idle fantasies.
He probably was.
Suddenly, a passage in the book caught Merlin’s attention.
He blinked, reading over the words, unbelieving that he had actually managed to stumble across the needed answer with so little work. Maybe he was a secret genius after all. The spell didn’t look that difficult. It was startlingly simple, in fact, though Merlin pondered that it was probably the taking someone out of their timeline that was difficult. Restoring Brendon and Ryan to the future was just righting the wrong.
He marked the page.
Merlin didn’t want to go tell the boys now. Who knew what they would be up to. He would tell them tomorrow.
Merlin put aside the book and started cleaning up the table. Gaius would get mad if everything was a mess when he got back.
Just then, when he was gathering up some spilled ingredients, the door opened and Arthur came in. He didn’t even knock, but then again, he rarely did. Arthur was the tiniest bit flushed, obviously upset over something that had transpired between him and his father, but when Merlin saw the faint blush of red, he couldn’t help but think of other activities that could cause such a shade. And really, thoughts like that weren’t productive.
“Did you just get back?” Merlin asked, hoping that Arthur didn’t stop by Brendon’s room first. Or maybe that was where the flush came from. Maybe, like him, Arthur had liked what he had seen. Maybe Arthur was here to act on that desire.
“Yes. My father is unbearable.”
Or maybe not.
“Merlin, you are so lucky that you don’t have to bear the burden of being royalty,” Arthur said loftily. “Lucky that you don’t have any real worries or responsibilities.”
“Yes, sire, because doing chores for you is never a responsibility, it’s an honor,” Merlin said sardonically.
“Have you seen Brendon this evening?”
Arthur seemed a little distracted, constantly pushing his hair out of his eyes, and Merlin wondered what Arthur would do if he just pushed Arthur down on the bed. Would he like that? Like Merlin taking control? Maybe days full of being in charge made Arthur desperate to give it up.
“Only briefly,” Merlin answered.
He wondered what Ryan had done, how Ryan had gotten Brendon to surrender.
“You look stressed, my lord.” He walked closer to Arthur, testing the waters. “I could help you relieve the tension, if you want.” Merlin kept his eyes locked on Arthur’s, kept his movements slow, as to not startle him, but he tried to be as forward as he could.
Maybe that was what Ryan had done. Just told Brendon straight up, and if that had worked for him… A thrill ran through Merlin, something very much like the sensation that magic had when it coursed through his body, as he thought that he and Arthur could be in that exact same position that he had seen earlier, sweating and gasping into each other’s mouths.
“I’m fine,” Arthur responded. He didn’t look shocked or offended or angry like Merlin would have expected if Arthur had actually understood what Merlin had been offering and hadn’t wanted it. “I just have all this energy left over. My father really riles me up sometimes.”
“I could help you with that too,” Merlin said, this time trying to lace suggestion around every word. “Help you burn off that energy.”
Arthur scoffed at this. “I am not helping you with your chores, Merlin, don’t be ridiculous.”
Merlin was in love with an idiot.
---
A knock on the door woke Ryan up, and when he stirred, Brendon moved against him, obviously awake too. Ryan started, panicking a little, because there was no way that two boys sleeping together naked in the same bed could be good in Medieval Europe.
“Bren,” Ryan whispered urgently, “see who’s at the door.”
Brendon grumbled and snuggled deeper into the sheets. “You go. You sound more awake.”
Ryan poked Brendon’s side. “It’s your room, I can’t.”
“Fine,” Brendon grumbled, stumbling to the door, grabbing his pants as he went, pulling them on.
Ryan watched as Brendon opened the door the tiniest of a fraction. He quickly put on his own clothes, gathering them up from around the room, grinning a little to himself as he remembered Brendon tearing them from his body. He couldn’t hear what Brendon was saying.
“That was Merlin,” Brendon said as he closed the door. “He said he found a way to send up back.” He grinned. “He also totally knew you were in here, dude.”
“What?” Ryan asked incredulously. “He couldn’t even see me!”
Brendon shrugged. “He’s magic. Maybe he can see through walls. Or clothes.” He grinned deviously at Ryan. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you without clothes right now, Ryan Ross.”
Ryan swatted at him. “Later,” he promised. “When we get back to 2009.” Brendon grinned easily and started to get his clothing together. Ryan watched as the smooth lines of Brendon’s body disappeared under tight cotton. It was a shame they didn’t have more time.
Brendon caught Ryan staring at him unabashed and grinned. “Like what you see, Ross?”
“Shut up,” Ryan responded, flushing a little. “We have to get back to the future. Aren’t you sick of the past yet?”
“As long as you’re here with me I’m happy.”
Ryan rolled his eyes, but inside his heart skipped a beat. “Cheesy, Bren.”
“Maybe,” Brendon relented. “But that’s why you love me.”
“Come on,” Ryan said, pulling Brendon from the room. It was easier than responding to Brendon’s statement, Brendon’s all too true statement.
“We should probably say goodbye to Arthur,” Brendon said.
Ryan frowned. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
He made his way faster through the halls at Brendon’s words, wanting to distance them from the prince. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Brendon, he just didn’t want to have to see the way that Arthur looked at his…lover? Boyfriend? Fucking soul mate?
“Merlin will tell him that we had to leave,” he assured.
“Okay,” Brendon agreed. “By the way, it’s kind of cute when you get all possessive and jealous.”
“I’m not,” Ryan insisted. He had thought that he had been so covert with the silent panicking.
“You are,” Brendon said. “But it’s adorable.”
“Whatever,” Ryan relented. They were standing in front of Merlin’s door. He knocked and seconds later the door opened.
Merlin was standing in the middle of the room, pouring over a book. Brendon smiled and leaned to whisper into Ryan’s ear “He opened the door with magic. How fucking cool is that?!”
Ryan grabbed Brendon’s hand and pulled Brendon into the room, closing the door behind them, this time mindful to make sure that it actually shut. Apparently the night before the door had somehow opened a little. Ryan tried not to think about the shiver that had run through him when he had realized, thinking that someone could have possibly seen him and Brendon.
“Morning, wizard friend,” Brendon greeted.
Merlin looked up from his book. “Good morning.”
“So what do we have to do?” Ryan asked, looking across the rather busy looking table. He just hoped he didn’t have to drink goat’s blood or something. All of the tiny incantations that he and his friends had tried back when he was into draping vines over himself just involved vanilla scented candles and garbled Latin.
“It’s really quite simple,” Merlin said. “You just have to click your heels together three times while I perform a chant.”
Brendon giggled. “Are you serious?” He grabbed a hold of Ryan’s arm. “Ryan, this is so perfect.”
Merlin arched his eyebrow. “I don’t get it.”
“It’s one of our songs,” Brendon explained, and he launched into the chorus, his smooth voice making Ryan’s heart to clench. It had been almost five years and he still wasn’t used to the way that Brendon voice made him feel. “Or The Wizard of Oz,” he allowed.
Merlin just blinked. “Okay, well, just stand over there.”
Ryan followed Merlin’s point, dragging Brendon after him. “It was really nice to meet you,” Brendon said. “Surreal, but awesome.”
“It was…an experience,” Merlin said, but he gave Brendon a smile. “A really crazy experience.”
Brendon seemed to be pleased with that answer. “Tell Arthur we said thanks!” he said before turning to Ryan. “Let’s go home.” Ryan squeezed Brendon’s hand.
---
When Ryan and Brendon had told Spencer and Jon about what had happened neither one had believed it.
That probably had something to do with the fact that apparently Ryan and Brendon had never been missing. Either that or the other two just hadn’t noticed it.
They did, however, definitely notice it when Brendon pushed Ryan up against the counter of the tiny bus kitchen and stuck his tongue down Ryan’s throat.
Brendon had figured that the direct approach would be the best way to break the news.
---
“Brendon and Ryan had to leave, sire,” Merlin told Arthur when he asked. “I’m sorry. I know how much you liked Brendon.”
Arthur gave Merlin a look. “What do you mean?”
Merlin blushed. “Just that it seemed that you were rather fond of him.” He didn’t want to anger Arthur, not really, but he couldn’t help the way that his statement had come out.
“Fond?” Arthur’s eyes widened. “Oh!” He blushed. “I just liked the way he found me fascinating,” he relented.
“But you…You thought he was…You said that…” Merlin was stuttering over his words. “You liked him,” he asserted.
Arthur shook his head and took a step closer to Merlin, forcing the other boy up against the back wall. “You’re an idiot,” he said.
And just like that, Arthur kissed Merlin. It was everything that Merlin had been wishing for, and when Arthur pulled back, smirk on his lips, eyes twinkling, Merlin whined.
Arthur looked around the room at the mess. “But you’re still the worst manservant ever.”
---
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