30 \o/
Happy birthday to meee! Happy birthday to reulann, too! Everyone, have some (completely unbeta'ed, sorry, please tell me if I made a mistake all the mistakes I made!) drabbles!
For these, I had to research sea urchins, cephalopods, sea kayaks, semen, Dr. Who, medieval kitchen equipment (thanks, icarusancalion) and lyres. Meaning: the ratings are everywhere between G and NC-17. Spoilers for everything, though actually I don't think there are all that many.
~~~
SGA
~~~
1. jayel_fox: John/Rodney, "By The End Of April", John coming home after a long day to Rodney & the kittens.
"Honey, I'm home!" John called, dropping the keys on the kitchen counter.
"Oh, don't even," Rodney started as he came around the corner from the bedroom, but he broke off when he saw John's face. "Oh, geeze."
"It's not that bad." John hissed as Rodney grabbed his jaw and turned his head, scowling at the blisters stretching out below John's ear and down his neck.
"I saw the News, but… You were right in there, weren't you? God, you're an idiot." And Rodney kissed John, hard and scared, and John closed his eyes, feeling the burn, and Rodney, and alive.
~~~
2. tagetes, for spacedmonkey: penguin!John and skateboard.
Then there was that time when they turned on the sensor array that would sweep the corridors of Atlantis for Replicators, and discovered it wasn't a Replicator-searching sensor array after all.
It did sweep the corridors, at least.
"All right." Lorne pinched the bridge of his nose. It didn't help. "Who have we got so far?"
"They just found Dr. McKay, sir." Campbell placed a small rubber duck holding a coffe mug on the desk.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Campbell pointed wordlessly at a plastic penguin on a skateboard, sitting unmoving right next to the duck.
Lorne sighed.
He hated these days.
~~~
3. almostnever: John/Rodney, sea urchin/octopus (may I just say that I have some strange people on my f-list?).
The common sea urchin is a marvellous creature. It is delicate, symmetrical, and covered in protective spines that can be quite sharp, rendering the sea urchin virtually untouchable to any predator that might desire a bite.
However, to some desires even the prickliest sea urchin proves quite touchable.
"Tides, yes, harder!"
"Well, since you're asking so nicely," the small octopus drawled, driving his tentacle a little deeper into the urchin's anal vent. A second tentacle was circling the opening, suction cups clinging and releasing teasingly. "Though really, I think I'd like it if you begged."
The sea urchin just moaned.
~~~
4. & 5. telesilla and vida_boheme: John/Rodney suddenly have each other's hairstyles.
Last night, John had teased Rodney about his hair, and the lack thereof. He'd felt a little bad about it when Rodney had stormed out of his room in a snit, but hey, if a guy couldn't take some friendly ribbing, then… well, he didn't actually know, but there had to be some guy code thing. Ronon would know.
That had been last night, though. Today, well…
"I can't believe it really does stand up like that on its own," Rodney marvelled, plucking at his thick mop of light brown hair for the umpteenth time since they'd met in the infirmary. It was a mess of whirls and cowlicks. It looked really stupid on him. "I thought you were lying."
John scowled. "At least I had something I could have been lying about, McKay," he snapped, ignoring Rodney's glower.
His own scalp felt decidedly… drafty. Brushing his palm over the soft fuzz, John could feel the receding hairline, the pronounced widow's peek. And yeah, he'd kind of done that before - a lot - but it had always been on Rodney's head, and the attraction hadn't been so much the hair but the sounds Rodney made. John's head felt cold.
"This sucks."
~~~
6. winter_elf: John/Rodney - holiday kissing.
"I'm going to kiss you now," John had said, his eyes as warm as his hands where they rested on Rodney's cheeks, and Rodney had nodded stupidly and said, "Okay."
And John had kissed him, had kept right on kissing him, small kisses to Rodney's mouth and nose and cheeks.
And when Rodney figured it out, he had to clench his hands into John's jacket, desperate for something to hold on to.
One kiss for every Christmas ruined or missed. One kiss for every snowflake, every bell, every stupid, schmoopy song.
John was going to make up for them all.
~~~
7. with_apostrophe: Gen. John and Rodney in a kayak. Some kind of aquatic creature as a bonus.
The world Ronon has led them to is drenched in water, its people spread across dozens of small islands. Too wet to land a jumper on them, Ronon had told them, but Rodney still goes bug-eyed at the sight of the kayaks lying by the Gate, slender paddles stacked neatly beside them. John swallows a laugh.
He looks across the wide lake toward the dots of land, like clumps of mud and grass with small fins circling between them.
"Come on, buddy," he says, slapping Rodney's shoulder a little harder than necessary just to make him sputter, "you're with me."
~~~
8. sonadorita: John/Rodney, hunger.
Two days since they'd split their last powerbar, and John had to watch as Rodney slowly faded away. They had plenty of water, it just… wasn't enough.
"Let me see if I can find you something to eat." Who cared about snow storms, anyway?
Rodney had been sitting against the cave wall, shaking slightly, his eyes glassy as he stared into the distance. Now his gaze focussed on John.
"'s fruit sugar in semen," he said, smiling tiredly.
John raised his eyebrow. "So is citric acid."
"Don't care."
Well. John cleared his throat.
If it was for a good cause…
~~~
9. sorchasilver: John/Rodney, making wishes.
They had each received a copper token from the head councillor's husband, to throw into the wishing well. It was an ornate thing, blue and red, the ground covered in brown and green tokens.
So," John said, not quite asking what Rodney had wished for.
"So," Rodney gave back. His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but he had raised his chin and held his back straight. His gaze didn't waver.
John ducked his head and pulled in a breath. Then he reached out, carefully, and brushed his fingers against Rodney's.
In his experience, just wishing wasn't much use for anyone.
~~~
10. beadattitude: John/Rodney, midnight, tremble, ermmmm, thigh.
The clock ticks its way into midnight, but the change of hour goes by unnoticed. Soft moans fill the air, quiet gasps, the rustle of sheets. A breathless name - "John," - thrown in here and there - "Rodney," - but by and large the small sounds are wordless, helpless, without aim.
The two men on the bed seem lost inside their own, timeless world. One of them, the darker-haired, is lying on his back, his thighs trembling as he holds them apart. The other one is kneeling, crouched down as if he's worshipping as he licks, and sucks, and kisses.
The clock ticks.
~~~
11. spacedmonkey: John/Rodney (but with Merlin undertones), what if John really was the once and future king? (I TAKE YOUR CRACK AND MAKE IT WORK, DARN YOU!)
"You're a good friend, Arthur." The name slips out before he can stop it.
Arthur - John, these days, and not a king, not yet - stares at him, then he bursts out laughing, and Mer- and Rodney laughs, too.
"You never could hold your drink," John says, and if his voice holds a different accent now… well, they're alone.
"Gaius always said that, too." It's strange, how the past seems much closer now than the present. And everything's slipping away, changing as it goes.
"Hey. It'll be okay."
Except… this. Rodney's trust in John - Arthur, doesn't matter - will always stay unchanged.
~~~
12. kensieg: John/Rodney aka tulip/sunflower.
Soliel Tulipe isn't stupid. She knows all about blossoms and seeds and pollination and such (no matter what her brother says, who is stupid) and where she really came from (the Breeder's, duh).
But that doesn't mean she gets the why of it.
"Dad," she asks, "why do you and Dad pollinate so much?"
She can hear her father nearly swallow his roots, and her other father shakes with laughter. Soliel Tulipe doesn't roll her petals (much), because they're always like that.
"To keep him from spreading his pollen over half the greenhouse," Dad says, and she nods.
Makes sense.
~~~
BvP/Thoughtcrimes
~~~
13. tipsywitch: Brendan/Emmett. The guys go out on a "proper" first date. Hilarity and smooching ensues...
"Okay. I admit that didn't quite go as planned," Emmett said, and, "Whoa!" as he grabbed Brendan's elbow and hauled him back onto the sidewalk. "Easy!"
Brendan swayed on his feet before listing against Emmett and grinning goofily up at him. Looked like someone couldn't hold their liquor. But with the way their date had been going, of course Brendan would get drunk on two glasses of red.
"Are we gonna go home now?" Brendan's voice was slurred, and his lopsided eyebrow-waggle was… pathetic.
God help him, Emmett found it cute.
"Yeah. To sleep." And maybe molest him. A little.
~~~
14. debris_k: Brendan/Emmett, Brendan being the slightly-supernatural one this time.
Emmett's mind is a strange place, cool and clinical and with little passion. Like the snakes he devoted his life to - partly for a little girl (so still skin so grey) and partly for his own fascination - he likes to keep away from others. To live in peace (green leaves warm humid air dark home) rather than with company.
With every glimpse Brendan takes, he promises himself that this will be the last. But the pull is too strong.
He can't stop.
And so he keeps looking, waiting to see himself among the snakes and leaves. Waiting to have meaning.
~~~
15. kimberlyfdr: Brendan/Emmett. "He knew his boyfriend was weird, but this went above and beyond."
"You, uh," Brendan paused, blinking at the unexpected sight before him, not for the first time cursing a memory that wouldn't let him forget what he'd seen, ever. "You have snakes in your bedroom," he finished faintly, completely creeped out by the dozens of beady little eyes that seemed to be staring at him.
He knew his boyfriend was weird, of course, but this went above and beyond.
"Just pictures," Emmett said, shrugging.
"You have live snakes in the lab."
"Yeah, but-"
"Take them down," Brendan said firmly. "I won't have sex in front of an audience." Pictures or not.
~~~
Merlin
~~~
16. xandutch: a Dr Who/Merlin crossover something!
The secret that no one in Camelot and the surrounding lands could ever know, was that the Great Dragon King Uther kept chained beneath the castle was not, in fact, a dragon.
He was a Time Lord.
Come from a distant time and land, he was truly the last of his kind, the Lonely God, Master of Time and Destiny. But he was not stood outside the Circle, for the Dragon followed a destiny of his own, bound to watch over the once and future king and his young warlock, until their time would come and the Legend would unfold.
~~~
17. jade_dragoness: a scene [set sometime in the future] of Merlin giving Arthur the sword Excalibur.
"Haven't I seen this sword before?" Arthur asks, and he wears a puzzled frown.
"No," Merlin lies easily. The times when even the slightest dishonesty would land him in the stocks are long over now. He has learned to school his face, and learned it well.
Necessity is a great teacher.
Arthur turns Excalibur in his hand, admiring the way the hilt fits his palm. As if it had been made for him.
"Do you like it?" Merlin can't help asking, thinking the Great Dragon would be laughing at him by now, if it were still alive.
Arthur nods.
"Yeah."
~~~
18. custardpringle: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin worrying after Arthur's been hurt. Or Merlin being generally possessive/jealous.
The manticore strikes, its tail ripping through the chain mail as if it weren't even there. Arthur cries out, and then he falls.
Arthur falls.
"Arthur!" Merlin cries out, time slowing almost to a stop as he reaches out, whispering words he can't remember knowing before. It doesn't matter. They work. The manticore dies.
"Arthur!" Merlin moves to Arthur's side in the space of a heartbeat, hands red as he tries to stem the bleeding. More words rise from the unknown; the wound closes, leaving Arthur pale but alive because Merlin will never, never let him die.
Arthur is his.
~~~
19. doomcanary: Merlin/Arthur: Merlin's grouchy in the mornings.
For all that he smiles at the silliest things, Merlin is surprisingly grouchy in the mornings. Often, he is already well back on his way to his usual high spirits when he arrives, but sometimes Arthur has to call him early in the day.
Then it's all, "I thought you'd been training to kill since birth. Can't you train to put on your own chain mail? Oh, I suppose that's too lowly for his Highness. Do you want me to fetch you a stick you can throw for me to bring ba-"
And Arthur always, without fail, kisses him silent.
~~~
20. mariana_oconnor: Merlin/Arthur including a cat, a bucket of water and the line 'I don't think you're meant to be that way up.'
Arthur, predictably, laughed his arse off.
"I don't think you're meant to be that way up," oh, and sure, he wasn't the one lying dripping wet on the floor, with a bucket on his left foot and a cat perched precariously atop a very delicate place, the promise of claws clear through Merlin's thin trousers.
"How about you help me?" he snapped, but his heart wasn't in it. Arthur often laughed, but not like this, honest amusement instead of mockery.
"Yeah. How about?" Arthur agreed, and carefully lifted the cat before he pulled Merlin to his feet and kissed him.
~~~
21. aleathiel: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin dressing Arthur for a banquet.
The undergarments came first. Then the trousers, the shirt, the fine velvet jacket he liked so much, each button polished to shiny perfection. Merlin's fingers skimmed over Arthur's nipples, brushed along the inside of his thighs, tugged at fabric and sighed across skin until Arthur was dizzy from it, breathless, trembling.
Then Merlin stepped back, eyed him critically up and down, his gaze lingering on Arthur's groin.
"No, it's no use," he said, shaking his head with mock sadness, "I can't let you go like that."
And he stepped closer again, and all thoughts of the banquet left Arthur's head.
~~~
22. 20thcenturyvole: Merlin/Arthur, involving any combination of Gwen, Morgana, Gaius, and eavesdropping.
Gaius hears them, sometimes. His sleep is not quite as deep as the boys would seem to believe, and the very idea of sneaking goes against Arthur's nature.
Not to mention that the floorboards creak.
So yes, Gaius hears them. Sees the muted flicker of candlelight shine beneath Merlin's door, seemingly dancing in counterpoint to the quiet laughter. He hears their voices and wonders what they might talk about, and doesn't want to know. And sounds that they would just as soon suppress, he hears them. Like the creaking bed.
He hears, and he knows, and he keeps the secret.
~~~
23. slashedsilver: Merlin/Arthur, if they had met in a different way instead, but with the chemistry and the 'two sides of the same coin' thing still pulling them together somehow.
Merlin was the best knight that Arthur had ever seen, quick with his sword and with a sense of honour matching that of Arthur's master, the Prince.
And yet, he was a commoner.
"I'm certain," Merlin said, smiling as his horse pranced underneath him, "we will meet again, some day."
"I'll never forget you for saving my life," Arthur said earnestly, wishing he were the King's son. He'd have found a way to make Merlin a knight.
"As you saved mine," Merlin gave back, and then Arthur was left looking after him as he rode away through the castle gates.
~~~
24. oximore: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur understands that Merlin doesn't age like humans, that he could live forever when Arthur himself will age and die.
It was easy to forget that Merlin was no mortal man. His blood half-made him one of the Sidhe, sharing his veins with magic. It was easy, when Merlin smiled and jested and called him Sire, his stupid ears looking even more ridiculous now that his hair had begun to thin.
Easy, too, to forget that it was all a lie. That beneath the glamour, Merlin was still barely a man, when Arthur had passed his prime some years ago. That the soft skin he touched every night truly shouldn't be so smooth.
That Arthur would die long before him.
~~~
25. ilovedoyle: Merlin/Arthur, anything that involves either of them singing, or some other form of musical talent.
"You play the lyre," Arthur repeated, as unable to believe it as the first time he'd said it.
"Of course I play it," Merlin said, strumming the plectrum across the strings like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Doesn't everyone?"
"No," Arthur said slowly, "no, they don't. Women play the lyre. Bards play the lyre. Idiot servants from the countryside do not play the lyre."
"My mother taught me." Merlin shrugged, and kept playing, and Arthur kept pretending not to like it, even as he sat down next to Merlin, close enough for their knees to touch.
~~~
26. julesoh: Merlin/Arthur, biting.
He's in a frenzy, and he doesn't know why, doesn't care. Doesn't care who he is, or how he got here, or where 'here' might be.
He only cares about the body beneath him, around him, bucking and moaning and pressing back against him as he drives inside, again, deeper, faster, harder. He cares about the way his hips are pumping and how good it feels, so good, and he tightens his arms around the other one's belly and runs his nose through the dark hair and down the long neck, sniffing and biting and leaving his mark right there.
~~~
27. & 28. ezazahaz and ionaonie: Merlin/Arthur, Arthur knows about Merlin's magic. (Spoilers for "The Moment of Truth")
Arthur knew, of course, that Will hadn't been the one to work the magic. Just as he knew that Lancelot hadn't been the one to slay the gryphon, not unaided. But as much as he would like for Merlin to entrust him with his secret, he understood the need for silence. Magic was banned in Camelot, on pain of death. Arthur was King Uther's son. Merlin had known him for barely a few months. It was reasonable not to tell him.
That didn't mean it didn't smart.
And it didn't help that Merlin was an idiot, sneaking in spells left and right when he thought that no one was watching. Well, Arthur was watching him, and he saw, and every time he wanted to cuff Merlin over the head and tell him to, "Stop it, you stupid git, it's dangerous!"
But he didn't.
Much as he hoped that Merlin was ready for someone to know, he wasn't sure if his knowledge would be welcome. And he would rather his servant stay with him a little longer - forever, maybe, although of course that was nonsense - than leave for fear of being betrayed.
So yes, he knew. But he would never tell.
~~~
29. freedomdarkness: a gen drabble of young Merlin doing his first bit of magic.
If you asked Merlin what his first bit of magic was, he'd shrug and tell you he doesn't remember. If pressed, he'd say that it was probably saving the soup when the kettle fell and he stopped it in mid-air, but really, he doesn't remember.
If you asked his mother, she would deny any knowledge of what you are talking about. If pressed, she might admit that it was when he made his toy horse fly.
If you asked the Great Dragon, he would smirk at you (he always does) and tell you it was being born to a human.
~~~
30. jenihenpen: angsty or hurt (or both!) Arthur and Uther actually being a caring dad over him.
When the plague strikes the land and Arthur is amongst those to fall ill, Uther goes to Gaius first.
"You must know something," he says, and "Surely there's a remedy," and, "He is my son."
Gaius fails him.
Uther sends an envoy to the druids, begging for his son's life and offering any price they demand, and be it his own blood.
The envoy doesn't return.
And then he remembers Arthur's manservant, the one with the mental affliction, who once boasted of being a sorcerer.
"Help him," he asks, and Merlin says, "I already did."
And Arthur opens his eyes.
~~~
EXTRA: special_schizo: Gaius giving Merlin the 'birds and the bees' talk.
"Merlin." Gaius's voice is stern, and Merlin looks up with a sense of dread.
"Yes?"
"Has your mother talked to you about fornication?"
Merlin drops his gaze and feels his cheeks heat up, even as he grins. "I know how sex works, Gaius."
"Of course you do."
Merlin allows himself to relax again, thinking that surely this will be the end of it.
"Then will you perhaps explain to me how it is that Guinevere claims to be with child." A pause. "From you?"
Merlin falls off his chair, and Gaius laughs.
"I will never tire of April Fool's Day."
Also! I'm going to make a thank-you post tomorrow when I'm less overwhelmed, but seriously, thank you for all the amazing presents I got. You guys are awesome
For these, I had to research sea urchins, cephalopods, sea kayaks, semen, Dr. Who, medieval kitchen equipment (thanks, icarusancalion) and lyres. Meaning: the ratings are everywhere between G and NC-17. Spoilers for everything, though actually I don't think there are all that many.
~~~
SGA
~~~
1. jayel_fox: John/Rodney, "By The End Of April", John coming home after a long day to Rodney & the kittens.
"Honey, I'm home!" John called, dropping the keys on the kitchen counter.
"Oh, don't even," Rodney started as he came around the corner from the bedroom, but he broke off when he saw John's face. "Oh, geeze."
"It's not that bad." John hissed as Rodney grabbed his jaw and turned his head, scowling at the blisters stretching out below John's ear and down his neck.
"I saw the News, but… You were right in there, weren't you? God, you're an idiot." And Rodney kissed John, hard and scared, and John closed his eyes, feeling the burn, and Rodney, and alive.
~~~
2. tagetes, for spacedmonkey: penguin!John and skateboard.
Then there was that time when they turned on the sensor array that would sweep the corridors of Atlantis for Replicators, and discovered it wasn't a Replicator-searching sensor array after all.
It did sweep the corridors, at least.
"All right." Lorne pinched the bridge of his nose. It didn't help. "Who have we got so far?"
"They just found Dr. McKay, sir." Campbell placed a small rubber duck holding a coffe mug on the desk.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
Campbell pointed wordlessly at a plastic penguin on a skateboard, sitting unmoving right next to the duck.
Lorne sighed.
He hated these days.
~~~
3. almostnever: John/Rodney, sea urchin/octopus (may I just say that I have some strange people on my f-list?).
The common sea urchin is a marvellous creature. It is delicate, symmetrical, and covered in protective spines that can be quite sharp, rendering the sea urchin virtually untouchable to any predator that might desire a bite.
However, to some desires even the prickliest sea urchin proves quite touchable.
"Tides, yes, harder!"
"Well, since you're asking so nicely," the small octopus drawled, driving his tentacle a little deeper into the urchin's anal vent. A second tentacle was circling the opening, suction cups clinging and releasing teasingly. "Though really, I think I'd like it if you begged."
The sea urchin just moaned.
~~~
4. & 5. telesilla and vida_boheme: John/Rodney suddenly have each other's hairstyles.
Last night, John had teased Rodney about his hair, and the lack thereof. He'd felt a little bad about it when Rodney had stormed out of his room in a snit, but hey, if a guy couldn't take some friendly ribbing, then… well, he didn't actually know, but there had to be some guy code thing. Ronon would know.
That had been last night, though. Today, well…
"I can't believe it really does stand up like that on its own," Rodney marvelled, plucking at his thick mop of light brown hair for the umpteenth time since they'd met in the infirmary. It was a mess of whirls and cowlicks. It looked really stupid on him. "I thought you were lying."
John scowled. "At least I had something I could have been lying about, McKay," he snapped, ignoring Rodney's glower.
His own scalp felt decidedly… drafty. Brushing his palm over the soft fuzz, John could feel the receding hairline, the pronounced widow's peek. And yeah, he'd kind of done that before - a lot - but it had always been on Rodney's head, and the attraction hadn't been so much the hair but the sounds Rodney made. John's head felt cold.
"This sucks."
~~~
6. winter_elf: John/Rodney - holiday kissing.
"I'm going to kiss you now," John had said, his eyes as warm as his hands where they rested on Rodney's cheeks, and Rodney had nodded stupidly and said, "Okay."
And John had kissed him, had kept right on kissing him, small kisses to Rodney's mouth and nose and cheeks.
And when Rodney figured it out, he had to clench his hands into John's jacket, desperate for something to hold on to.
One kiss for every Christmas ruined or missed. One kiss for every snowflake, every bell, every stupid, schmoopy song.
John was going to make up for them all.
~~~
7. with_apostrophe: Gen. John and Rodney in a kayak. Some kind of aquatic creature as a bonus.
The world Ronon has led them to is drenched in water, its people spread across dozens of small islands. Too wet to land a jumper on them, Ronon had told them, but Rodney still goes bug-eyed at the sight of the kayaks lying by the Gate, slender paddles stacked neatly beside them. John swallows a laugh.
He looks across the wide lake toward the dots of land, like clumps of mud and grass with small fins circling between them.
"Come on, buddy," he says, slapping Rodney's shoulder a little harder than necessary just to make him sputter, "you're with me."
~~~
8. sonadorita: John/Rodney, hunger.
Two days since they'd split their last powerbar, and John had to watch as Rodney slowly faded away. They had plenty of water, it just… wasn't enough.
"Let me see if I can find you something to eat." Who cared about snow storms, anyway?
Rodney had been sitting against the cave wall, shaking slightly, his eyes glassy as he stared into the distance. Now his gaze focussed on John.
"'s fruit sugar in semen," he said, smiling tiredly.
John raised his eyebrow. "So is citric acid."
"Don't care."
Well. John cleared his throat.
If it was for a good cause…
~~~
9. sorchasilver: John/Rodney, making wishes.
They had each received a copper token from the head councillor's husband, to throw into the wishing well. It was an ornate thing, blue and red, the ground covered in brown and green tokens.
So," John said, not quite asking what Rodney had wished for.
"So," Rodney gave back. His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but he had raised his chin and held his back straight. His gaze didn't waver.
John ducked his head and pulled in a breath. Then he reached out, carefully, and brushed his fingers against Rodney's.
In his experience, just wishing wasn't much use for anyone.
~~~
10. beadattitude: John/Rodney, midnight, tremble, ermmmm, thigh.
The clock ticks its way into midnight, but the change of hour goes by unnoticed. Soft moans fill the air, quiet gasps, the rustle of sheets. A breathless name - "John," - thrown in here and there - "Rodney," - but by and large the small sounds are wordless, helpless, without aim.
The two men on the bed seem lost inside their own, timeless world. One of them, the darker-haired, is lying on his back, his thighs trembling as he holds them apart. The other one is kneeling, crouched down as if he's worshipping as he licks, and sucks, and kisses.
The clock ticks.
~~~
11. spacedmonkey: John/Rodney (but with Merlin undertones), what if John really was the once and future king? (I TAKE YOUR CRACK AND MAKE IT WORK, DARN YOU!)
"You're a good friend, Arthur." The name slips out before he can stop it.
Arthur - John, these days, and not a king, not yet - stares at him, then he bursts out laughing, and Mer- and Rodney laughs, too.
"You never could hold your drink," John says, and if his voice holds a different accent now… well, they're alone.
"Gaius always said that, too." It's strange, how the past seems much closer now than the present. And everything's slipping away, changing as it goes.
"Hey. It'll be okay."
Except… this. Rodney's trust in John - Arthur, doesn't matter - will always stay unchanged.
~~~
12. kensieg: John/Rodney aka tulip/sunflower.
Soliel Tulipe isn't stupid. She knows all about blossoms and seeds and pollination and such (no matter what her brother says, who is stupid) and where she really came from (the Breeder's, duh).
But that doesn't mean she gets the why of it.
"Dad," she asks, "why do you and Dad pollinate so much?"
She can hear her father nearly swallow his roots, and her other father shakes with laughter. Soliel Tulipe doesn't roll her petals (much), because they're always like that.
"To keep him from spreading his pollen over half the greenhouse," Dad says, and she nods.
Makes sense.
~~~
BvP/Thoughtcrimes
~~~
13. tipsywitch: Brendan/Emmett. The guys go out on a "proper" first date. Hilarity and smooching ensues...
"Okay. I admit that didn't quite go as planned," Emmett said, and, "Whoa!" as he grabbed Brendan's elbow and hauled him back onto the sidewalk. "Easy!"
Brendan swayed on his feet before listing against Emmett and grinning goofily up at him. Looked like someone couldn't hold their liquor. But with the way their date had been going, of course Brendan would get drunk on two glasses of red.
"Are we gonna go home now?" Brendan's voice was slurred, and his lopsided eyebrow-waggle was… pathetic.
God help him, Emmett found it cute.
"Yeah. To sleep." And maybe molest him. A little.
~~~
14. debris_k: Brendan/Emmett, Brendan being the slightly-supernatural one this time.
Emmett's mind is a strange place, cool and clinical and with little passion. Like the snakes he devoted his life to - partly for a little girl (so still skin so grey) and partly for his own fascination - he likes to keep away from others. To live in peace (green leaves warm humid air dark home) rather than with company.
With every glimpse Brendan takes, he promises himself that this will be the last. But the pull is too strong.
He can't stop.
And so he keeps looking, waiting to see himself among the snakes and leaves. Waiting to have meaning.
~~~
15. kimberlyfdr: Brendan/Emmett. "He knew his boyfriend was weird, but this went above and beyond."
"You, uh," Brendan paused, blinking at the unexpected sight before him, not for the first time cursing a memory that wouldn't let him forget what he'd seen, ever. "You have snakes in your bedroom," he finished faintly, completely creeped out by the dozens of beady little eyes that seemed to be staring at him.
He knew his boyfriend was weird, of course, but this went above and beyond.
"Just pictures," Emmett said, shrugging.
"You have live snakes in the lab."
"Yeah, but-"
"Take them down," Brendan said firmly. "I won't have sex in front of an audience." Pictures or not.
~~~
Merlin
~~~
16. xandutch: a Dr Who/Merlin crossover something!
The secret that no one in Camelot and the surrounding lands could ever know, was that the Great Dragon King Uther kept chained beneath the castle was not, in fact, a dragon.
He was a Time Lord.
Come from a distant time and land, he was truly the last of his kind, the Lonely God, Master of Time and Destiny. But he was not stood outside the Circle, for the Dragon followed a destiny of his own, bound to watch over the once and future king and his young warlock, until their time would come and the Legend would unfold.
~~~
17. jade_dragoness: a scene [set sometime in the future] of Merlin giving Arthur the sword Excalibur.
"Haven't I seen this sword before?" Arthur asks, and he wears a puzzled frown.
"No," Merlin lies easily. The times when even the slightest dishonesty would land him in the stocks are long over now. He has learned to school his face, and learned it well.
Necessity is a great teacher.
Arthur turns Excalibur in his hand, admiring the way the hilt fits his palm. As if it had been made for him.
"Do you like it?" Merlin can't help asking, thinking the Great Dragon would be laughing at him by now, if it were still alive.
Arthur nods.
"Yeah."
~~~
18. custardpringle: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin worrying after Arthur's been hurt. Or Merlin being generally possessive/jealous.
The manticore strikes, its tail ripping through the chain mail as if it weren't even there. Arthur cries out, and then he falls.
Arthur falls.
"Arthur!" Merlin cries out, time slowing almost to a stop as he reaches out, whispering words he can't remember knowing before. It doesn't matter. They work. The manticore dies.
"Arthur!" Merlin moves to Arthur's side in the space of a heartbeat, hands red as he tries to stem the bleeding. More words rise from the unknown; the wound closes, leaving Arthur pale but alive because Merlin will never, never let him die.
Arthur is his.
~~~
19. doomcanary: Merlin/Arthur: Merlin's grouchy in the mornings.
For all that he smiles at the silliest things, Merlin is surprisingly grouchy in the mornings. Often, he is already well back on his way to his usual high spirits when he arrives, but sometimes Arthur has to call him early in the day.
Then it's all, "I thought you'd been training to kill since birth. Can't you train to put on your own chain mail? Oh, I suppose that's too lowly for his Highness. Do you want me to fetch you a stick you can throw for me to bring ba-"
And Arthur always, without fail, kisses him silent.
~~~
20. mariana_oconnor: Merlin/Arthur including a cat, a bucket of water and the line 'I don't think you're meant to be that way up.'
Arthur, predictably, laughed his arse off.
"I don't think you're meant to be that way up," oh, and sure, he wasn't the one lying dripping wet on the floor, with a bucket on his left foot and a cat perched precariously atop a very delicate place, the promise of claws clear through Merlin's thin trousers.
"How about you help me?" he snapped, but his heart wasn't in it. Arthur often laughed, but not like this, honest amusement instead of mockery.
"Yeah. How about?" Arthur agreed, and carefully lifted the cat before he pulled Merlin to his feet and kissed him.
~~~
21. aleathiel: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin dressing Arthur for a banquet.
The undergarments came first. Then the trousers, the shirt, the fine velvet jacket he liked so much, each button polished to shiny perfection. Merlin's fingers skimmed over Arthur's nipples, brushed along the inside of his thighs, tugged at fabric and sighed across skin until Arthur was dizzy from it, breathless, trembling.
Then Merlin stepped back, eyed him critically up and down, his gaze lingering on Arthur's groin.
"No, it's no use," he said, shaking his head with mock sadness, "I can't let you go like that."
And he stepped closer again, and all thoughts of the banquet left Arthur's head.
~~~
22. 20thcenturyvole: Merlin/Arthur, involving any combination of Gwen, Morgana, Gaius, and eavesdropping.
Gaius hears them, sometimes. His sleep is not quite as deep as the boys would seem to believe, and the very idea of sneaking goes against Arthur's nature.
Not to mention that the floorboards creak.
So yes, Gaius hears them. Sees the muted flicker of candlelight shine beneath Merlin's door, seemingly dancing in counterpoint to the quiet laughter. He hears their voices and wonders what they might talk about, and doesn't want to know. And sounds that they would just as soon suppress, he hears them. Like the creaking bed.
He hears, and he knows, and he keeps the secret.
~~~
23. slashedsilver: Merlin/Arthur, if they had met in a different way instead, but with the chemistry and the 'two sides of the same coin' thing still pulling them together somehow.
Merlin was the best knight that Arthur had ever seen, quick with his sword and with a sense of honour matching that of Arthur's master, the Prince.
And yet, he was a commoner.
"I'm certain," Merlin said, smiling as his horse pranced underneath him, "we will meet again, some day."
"I'll never forget you for saving my life," Arthur said earnestly, wishing he were the King's son. He'd have found a way to make Merlin a knight.
"As you saved mine," Merlin gave back, and then Arthur was left looking after him as he rode away through the castle gates.
~~~
24. oximore: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur understands that Merlin doesn't age like humans, that he could live forever when Arthur himself will age and die.
It was easy to forget that Merlin was no mortal man. His blood half-made him one of the Sidhe, sharing his veins with magic. It was easy, when Merlin smiled and jested and called him Sire, his stupid ears looking even more ridiculous now that his hair had begun to thin.
Easy, too, to forget that it was all a lie. That beneath the glamour, Merlin was still barely a man, when Arthur had passed his prime some years ago. That the soft skin he touched every night truly shouldn't be so smooth.
That Arthur would die long before him.
~~~
25. ilovedoyle: Merlin/Arthur, anything that involves either of them singing, or some other form of musical talent.
"You play the lyre," Arthur repeated, as unable to believe it as the first time he'd said it.
"Of course I play it," Merlin said, strumming the plectrum across the strings like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Doesn't everyone?"
"No," Arthur said slowly, "no, they don't. Women play the lyre. Bards play the lyre. Idiot servants from the countryside do not play the lyre."
"My mother taught me." Merlin shrugged, and kept playing, and Arthur kept pretending not to like it, even as he sat down next to Merlin, close enough for their knees to touch.
~~~
26. julesoh: Merlin/Arthur, biting.
He's in a frenzy, and he doesn't know why, doesn't care. Doesn't care who he is, or how he got here, or where 'here' might be.
He only cares about the body beneath him, around him, bucking and moaning and pressing back against him as he drives inside, again, deeper, faster, harder. He cares about the way his hips are pumping and how good it feels, so good, and he tightens his arms around the other one's belly and runs his nose through the dark hair and down the long neck, sniffing and biting and leaving his mark right there.
~~~
27. & 28. ezazahaz and ionaonie: Merlin/Arthur, Arthur knows about Merlin's magic. (Spoilers for "The Moment of Truth")
Arthur knew, of course, that Will hadn't been the one to work the magic. Just as he knew that Lancelot hadn't been the one to slay the gryphon, not unaided. But as much as he would like for Merlin to entrust him with his secret, he understood the need for silence. Magic was banned in Camelot, on pain of death. Arthur was King Uther's son. Merlin had known him for barely a few months. It was reasonable not to tell him.
That didn't mean it didn't smart.
And it didn't help that Merlin was an idiot, sneaking in spells left and right when he thought that no one was watching. Well, Arthur was watching him, and he saw, and every time he wanted to cuff Merlin over the head and tell him to, "Stop it, you stupid git, it's dangerous!"
But he didn't.
Much as he hoped that Merlin was ready for someone to know, he wasn't sure if his knowledge would be welcome. And he would rather his servant stay with him a little longer - forever, maybe, although of course that was nonsense - than leave for fear of being betrayed.
So yes, he knew. But he would never tell.
~~~
29. freedomdarkness: a gen drabble of young Merlin doing his first bit of magic.
If you asked Merlin what his first bit of magic was, he'd shrug and tell you he doesn't remember. If pressed, he'd say that it was probably saving the soup when the kettle fell and he stopped it in mid-air, but really, he doesn't remember.
If you asked his mother, she would deny any knowledge of what you are talking about. If pressed, she might admit that it was when he made his toy horse fly.
If you asked the Great Dragon, he would smirk at you (he always does) and tell you it was being born to a human.
~~~
30. jenihenpen: angsty or hurt (or both!) Arthur and Uther actually being a caring dad over him.
When the plague strikes the land and Arthur is amongst those to fall ill, Uther goes to Gaius first.
"You must know something," he says, and "Surely there's a remedy," and, "He is my son."
Gaius fails him.
Uther sends an envoy to the druids, begging for his son's life and offering any price they demand, and be it his own blood.
The envoy doesn't return.
And then he remembers Arthur's manservant, the one with the mental affliction, who once boasted of being a sorcerer.
"Help him," he asks, and Merlin says, "I already did."
And Arthur opens his eyes.
~~~
EXTRA: special_schizo: Gaius giving Merlin the 'birds and the bees' talk.
"Merlin." Gaius's voice is stern, and Merlin looks up with a sense of dread.
"Yes?"
"Has your mother talked to you about fornication?"
Merlin drops his gaze and feels his cheeks heat up, even as he grins. "I know how sex works, Gaius."
"Of course you do."
Merlin allows himself to relax again, thinking that surely this will be the end of it.
"Then will you perhaps explain to me how it is that Guinevere claims to be with child." A pause. "From you?"
Merlin falls off his chair, and Gaius laughs.
"I will never tire of April Fool's Day."
Also! I'm going to make a thank-you post tomorrow when I'm less overwhelmed, but seriously, thank you for all the amazing presents I got. You guys are awesome