The Magic of the Game 3
Part 2
Part 3
When Gwaine woke the next day, the mark was still there. Gwaine frowned at his reflection in the cracked mirror of the bathroom and grabbed his collared t-shirt and scarf from his still half packed bag.
On Friday Gwaine was running late for his morning seminar and didn’t even have time to tame his wild hair before he threw himself over the threshold to the classroom. That had earned him a stern look from the professor whose eyebrows had then raised even further upward and made a comment about how ‘night time activities are fine and dandy but should not interfere with the purpose of further education: learning’.
Gwaine had found the comment strange but had apologetically taken the remaining seat beside the window. However the comment was no longer confusing when he caught sight of his reflection in the window; his hair pulled back into a rare ponytail, his ‘Jam’ t-shirt he’d had since he was sixteen stretched tight over his chest all working together to spectacularly showcase the ‘M’ like bruise still ever present on his neck.
It perplexed Gwaine who had had his fair share of love bites in various interesting locations. First of all the shape and perhaps more importantly the inexplicable change in shape was weird, but the human body did all type of weird things. His mate in sixth form had a birth mark shaped exactly like a hand print on his arse. But in all his previous expertise he had never had one that lasted as long without even a fraction of fading.
Gwaine cheered himself up that afternoon by treating himself to lunch in the Uni canteen and flirting with the checkout girl. She had grinned and twirled her hair around her finger and he got a free muffin--all around a pleasant experience for all.
But Gwaine’s good mood lasted until he looked in the mirror at the house, applying a liberal amount of Jean Paul to his skin, he let the scent settle and peered intently at his reflection and felt his eyes narrow in disbelief. The mark was still there, he had been expecting no less; but instead of fading as the laws of biology would suggest the mark had gotten darker, deeper, and there was no more mistaking the ‘M’ branded across his skin for all to see.
*
The King’s Head was packed. Gwaine had been knowledgably informed by both Elyan, Percival and the curly haired girl from his tutor group that it would be; first Quiz night of the year.
But as crowded and loud as the pub was Gwaine’s eyes zeroed in on the tall figure as soon as the doors had swing shut behind them.
Merlin was chatting amicably with a tanned man at the bar, leaning his head slightly down to catch the man’s words over the din of conversation. Gwaine stared at him openly across the bar, letting Percival and his bulk take charge of the first round.
Merlin didn’t move his head from where his ear was canted towards his drinking partner but his eyes slowly gravitated upwards, across the crowds and landed on Gwaine. Gwaine narrowed his eyes and let the cogs in his brain whir gently around slotting pieces of information and facts into their allotted place.
Merlin, as usual, didn’t seem disturbed by Gwaine’s less than enthusiastic acknowledgment. Instead he looked painfully amused and raised his pint glass in mock toast. Gwaine could only frown harder and scanned his eyes around for safe passage over but when he looked back up Merlin was gone, his empty pint glass sat wobbling on the bar.
It wasn’t until after the first round of the Quiz that Gwaine spotted him again, slipping neatly out of the back fire door into the darkened gardens.
So of course Gwaine followed.
The gardens of the King’s Head were littered with picnic benches across the green lawn. One umbrella was erected by the back door and the few smokers brave enough and desperate enough to brave the brisk night air were curled underneath it, and more importantly; around the small electric heater placed underneath it.
But the object of Gwaine’s quest could be seen off to the side, in the light but shadowed, strong set but fey looking. Merlin was a confusing mix of metaphors and Gwaine was tired of being confused.
“What the hell did you do?” Gwaine asked lowly as he approached the figure leant against the beer shed.
Merlin, the devil, smiled at Gwaine from under his eyelashes. “I have no idea what you mean?”
“I mean this,” Gwaine growled, braving the chilly breeze to expose his neck. He blamed it on played it off to the cold night air when he shivered as Merlin’s fingers pressed lightly to the marked skin.
“I thought you liked being marked?” he shrugged, pulling his hand away slowly
Gwaine shook of the fizzling shiver still trying to overcome his body and glared back. “It hasn’t faded.”
“Hum,” Merlin murmured, smirking slightly into the night. “Funny that.”
“No, it’s not bloody funny.”
“You sure?” Merlin grinned. Gwaine made the mistake then of looking directly into the man’s eyes, his very blue, blue eyes. He could feel himself being drawn further into their icy depths and by the time he blinked back to himself Merlin was still grinning at him, but stood five yards away and then disappearing back into the pub.
Gwaine blinked again, and then once more, hurrying back inside. He cast his eyes around the space; the majority of the students sat now to start the next round, but could find no trace of a raven head, as if he had disappeared into thin air.
When Gwaine woke up the next morning, his neck suspiciously bare of any marks, he knew some really weird shit was going on.
*
Gwaine rolled up to practice on Sunday with a tirade and demanding speech ready to impart.
But Merlin wasn’t there. Gwaine clenched his jaw in frustration and kicked the ball that little bit harder earning a wide eyed glare from Percival when he had to save his attempts on goal.
So Gwaine saved his tirade, and stored his annoyance, and added a few more fantastic lines to the speech before Wednesday…but the white posts stayed annoyingly bare. His frustration mounted, but it wasn’t until he found himself lurking suspiciously outside the lab rooms Thursday morning did he realise his small odd crush on the odd very frustrating science nerd had reached stalking stage. He immediately texted Percival and Elyan for a lunch time lash.
When Wednesday match day finally rolled around the Elyan, Percy and Gwaine booted and suited in the dressing rooms none truly suppressing their excited grins. Mercia vs. Camelot, first match of the season and they were all starting.
The team spilled out onto the pitch, all riled up from Arthur’s pep speech, jumping, jogging, and dodging across the pitch in their pre-game warm-up show. Gwaine ignored the hoots and calls of the crowd, got his head in the game, put his head down and got stuck in.
Camelot was doing well, they were tight, alert and constantly on Mercia’s backs. The score remained a very narrow 2-1 to Camelot at half time. Gwaine could feel the frustrations of the Mercian mid-fielder he was tailing radiating off the man in waves. And it seemed that whatever was said in the Mercian dressing room at half time had done nothing to temper Gilli’s [DC1] anger.
The narrowed eyes that met him as Gwaine jogged into position before the whistle just made Gwaine grin and give the boy a playful wink. Gilli then let out a sound akin to a baby bear growl and then play began again.
Percival had just punch-saved a very lucky Mercian corner and the field began to run the length of the pitch, all trying to keep up with the ball. Somehow it ended on the end of Gwaine’s boot and he surged forward, to the hardly defended Mercian goal. He could see the goalie jumping on his toes, almost smell the anxious sweat forming on his top lip.Gwaine could feel the dogged presence of Gilli storming along beside him, his elbow pushing into Gwaine’s ribs as he tried to get a foot, a knee, anything to the ball and veer Gwaine off course.
But Gwaine’s course was set; he fixed his eyes to the net and swung his right foot back.
And then Gilli’s foot made contact, not with his right foot just about to make contact with the leather ball. But to his left ankle, his stationary leg, his only pillar.
Then Gwaine was going down, and he was going down hard. He could already feel the jar of his knee to the ground, desperately trying to right the angle of his leg before he landed, but it was no use, he could feel the earth pulling him down, and down. He winced and braced himself for impact.
And then the sizzle… the familiar fizzle and burn down the back of his neck was there, scorching across his skin but strong and more intense, more urgent than anything he had felt before. It rushed like a wave across his body. Just for a fraction Gwaine managed to lift his eyes and just about managed to catch a glimpse of the brightest gold he had ever seen, and hauntingly beautiful rustic colour that swirled and danced.
And then Gwaine blinked… and blinked again. He blinked over the field from where he sat neatly on his arse in the wet grass. Gwaine blinked at the intact ankle at the bottom of his leg and then at Gilli sprawled out on the turf a few inches away, looking hacked off and shocked as Elyan sailed the ball past the goalie’s head.
The next time Gwaine blinked Elyan was pouncing on him in celebration, the rest of the team piling in for the huddle and then the final whistle blew, 3-1 to Camelot: their first match and first victory of the season.
But Gwaine was detached from that; he stood shakily from the ground, tentatively bouncing on his limb and feeling no pain, not even the burn of over exerted muscles.
Gwaine looked over to see Arthur shaking the ref’s hand, expecting to see at least a glimpse of jubilation on the blond’s face, and definitely a hint of smugness but the man wasn’t even listening to the referee sing his team’s praises, instead he was scowling menacingly across to the crowd. Gwaine followed his eyesight just in time to see a black head of hair disappear down the sides of the bleachers.
Gwaine got caught up in the obligatory field celebrations for a while before he managed to break off, his feet following the path set out before him around the side of the bleachers, his brain a confused jumble of different facts, none seeming to fall into place.
“Merlin you need to be more careful!” Gwaine heard growled from the alley behind the umpires hut.
“It’s fine Arthur.” Gwaine heard Merlin’s voice sigh.
“No,” Arthur growled. Gwaine rounded the corner now to see Merlin leant against the rough brick wall, Arthur hovering closely in front. “No, it’s not bloody ‘fine’ Merlin! Anyone could have seen that! I did, and you sure as hell know that-“
Gwaine chose that moment to cut in, clearing his throat purposefully at the mouth of the alley. Arthur snapped his eyes around, immediately zeroing in on Gwaine. He looked back and forth from Merlin leaning cross armed against the wall and Gwaine standing languidly ahead.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Arthur spoke after a moment deliberation, pausing to shoot Gwaine a hard look before disappearing from sight. Silence hung between them, heavy and weighted for the first time. Merlin’s stance looked uncaring, even a little sullen but Gwaine could see where his hands were clenched against the fabric of his jacket, and he could see the man’s Adam’s apple bobbing with every heavy swallow.
“What was that?” Gwaine asked eventually.
“What was what,” Merlin shrugged.
“Don’t Merlin,” Gwaine grit out coming closer into the alley. “I know it was something, if it was nothing what Arthur talking about?”
“I left the door to the flat unlocked again,” Merlin responded scuffing his feet a little against the floor.
“No,” Gwaine mused. “You didn’t. Come on, you can trust me. What did you do out on the pitch today?” Merlin swallowed again but didn’t look at Gwaine and Gwaine couldn’t stand that. “I felt it,” he spoke softly moving in closer until he could feel Merlin’s heat. “It felt like nothing I’d ever felt before.”
Merlin swallowed once more, his eyes finally flicking up tentatively to Gwaine’s. “What did it feel like?”
“It… it felt like,” Gwaine unconsciously licked his lips trying to describe the acute sensations, “like fire? And water and wind, all at the same time. I thought I was going down and then I just,” Gwaine chuckled shrugging, “didn’t.”
Merlin’s eyes had skidded down again, his full pink lips caught nervously between white teeth. This was Merlin looking nervous, it was not a sight Gwaine had come to associate with the strange little man that had irrevocably caught his attention and gaze from the very first day on campus.
“What was it Merlin?” Gwaine whispered giving into the urge and placing his hand’s lightly on Merlin’s trim waist. “You can tell me.”
MerIin looked up and then down and then up again, his blue eyes glistening slightly from under thick black lashes making Gwaine’s stomach twirl in a very pleasant way. “I can… do things?” he shrugged eventually.
“Things?”
“Things,” Merlin glared with a slight hysterical edge to his voice, “like make the world’s worst hangover disappear, like make love bites inflicted by hussies change shape-”
Gwaine grinned at the petulant tone Merlin developed at the end. But shook his head. “That doesn’t explain anything to me.”
“You’re being thick,” Merlin pouted.
“Sorry,” Gwaine shrugged unapologetically with a smirk. “Not all of us are science nerds. Explain better.”
Merlin huffed a very-put-upon sigh and wiggled his gloved hand up in-between the small gap between their two bodies holding it out between them.
“I dunno. I’ve just always been able to… do things.” Without a word Merlin’s eyes turned gold, that swirling rustic gold Gwaine had seen on the pitch. Gwaine blinked and then looked down to Merlin’s hand between them, hovering above the gloved hand was a orb, a swirling blue completely impossible orb. Gwaine looked at it wide-eyed and open mouthed and then back up at Merlin.
“That is,” he whispered to Merlin’s face which was contorted as if awaiting a blow, “brilliant!”
Merlin looked up at him and blinked, and then blinked again. “What?”
“Ha!” Gwaine barked out a laugh. “So…you jumped in to save me. Am I your damsel?” Gwaine leered, pressing even closer to Merlin’s body. Now it was Merlin that looked like a startled rabbit, his eyes confused as Gwaine leaned in closer. “Is it my luscious locks? Or my strapping thighs?” Gwaine breathed and sobered for a moment, feeling Merlin’s thin frame pressed tightly up against his and thought about what he had just seen. “Merlin, why would you do that? Anyone could have seen…you need to be careful. …“
“Because I won’t sit back and watch you be hurt if I can do something about it!” Merlin interrupted his eyes sparking with passion.
Gwaine smile softened into something fonder and he drew right up against Merlin body, his strong arms circling the man’s waist. Merlin still glared at him defiantly but didn’t pull away which was all the indication the Gwaine needed.
“So,” he whispered softly, his lips almost brushing Merlin’s, “I am your damsel.”
Merlin’s laugh sounded like it had been forced out of the man’s throat involuntarily but then Gwaine watched up close as the crinkles formed around Merlin’s eyes as he began to smile. “God,” he groaned, his forehead falling forward onto Gwaine’s. “Arthur is going to be very mad at me.”
“You know he’s probably hiding around the corner watching us,” Gwaine replied trying to shift closer to Merlin’s body. It wasn’t possible, so all that happened was that they swayed together for a moment before settling. It perhaps should have been strange, slightly odd that Gwaine was stood so close to a man he hadn’t even kissed yet, quite comfortable with his arms around him nestled into each other’s space just sharing heat.
It maybe should have felt strange, but it didn’t. The odd fizzling that Gwaine always felt in Merlin’s presence now tingled and caressed over his skin, feeling like a third hand cocooning him in an embrace.
And then Merlin grinned, that same, devilish, wicked grin Gwaine recognised and leaned in closer to Gwaine. “Well perhaps we should give him something good to watch.”
Gwaine was only too happy to oblige.
*
“Merlin!” Arthur groaned. Gwaine blinked up from his perusal of Merlin's tongue and looked over the back of the sofa to see Arthur standing in the hall, a hand slapped over his eyes. “What have I told you about making out on the sofa?”
Gwaine looked back at Merlin below him, his pale cheeks flushed just the way Gwaine loved. Merlin smiled up at Gwaine and Gwaine couldn’t help but swoop back down for another taste of his lips, Arthur’s presence be damned.
“Merlin!” Arthur growled. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Sorry,” Merlin muttered between sloppy pecks to Gwaine stubbled jaw, his teeth grazing the skin making Gwaine’s spine tighten with lust. “Did you say something?”
Arthur growled again, something unintelligible about ‘the worst roommate ever’. Gwaine just grinned and bared his neck, allowing Merlin further exploration. He lost himself in the feeling of lips on his sensitive skin for a moment, every touch and sensation intensified by the hover of Merlin’s magic over each inch of his skin.
It wasn’t until Merlin reached for his fly that Gwaine looked back up to where Arthur had stood what seemed like a moment ago to find the apartment empty. “Where did he go?” he mumbled, his breath hitching when Merlin got a skilled hand through the folds of his boxers and around his throbbing cock.
“Dunno.” Merlin mumbled against his neck before languidly pulling Gwaine’s prick free from the folds of his clothes, giving it a squeeze. “Now I want you focused, Gwaine!” Merlin growled in a mock low voice. “You are never going to score with your head in the clouds.”
Gwaine looked down upon Merlin with wide eyes for a moment. “Don’t ever imitate Arthur when you have my cock in your hand again.” He mock shuddered. “Ever.
Merlin just grinned pulling a tight fist up and down Gwaine’s erection making him shiver. “Come on now Sir Gwaine, I need your best performance today!”
Gwaine rolled his eyes, and decided the best way to shut the man up was to otherwise occupy his lips. Merlin seemed to be on board with his plan and arched up into Gwaine body as their lips locked together.
Things progressed quickly and soon Gwaine was gagging for a condom and some lube. He reluctantly pulled away to grab supplies only to see Merlin’s gorgeous eyes flaring gold beneath him and a silver packet and a tube of Durex’s finest hovering near his head.
Gwaine barked out a laugh and leaned down to kiss Merlin thoroughly.
“You’re amazing you know?”
Merlin just grinned up at him and let his legs fall open before Gwaine, his eyes still flaring gold. “Yeah,” he grinned, hooking an impatient ankle round Gwaine back. “I know.”
Gwaine relished in the powerful burn of Merlin’s aroused magic and fell back down on top the man below him, he had enough experience to know what happened when you made Merlin wait.
THE END
Part 3
When Gwaine woke the next day, the mark was still there. Gwaine frowned at his reflection in the cracked mirror of the bathroom and grabbed his collared t-shirt and scarf from his still half packed bag.
On Friday Gwaine was running late for his morning seminar and didn’t even have time to tame his wild hair before he threw himself over the threshold to the classroom. That had earned him a stern look from the professor whose eyebrows had then raised even further upward and made a comment about how ‘night time activities are fine and dandy but should not interfere with the purpose of further education: learning’.
Gwaine had found the comment strange but had apologetically taken the remaining seat beside the window. However the comment was no longer confusing when he caught sight of his reflection in the window; his hair pulled back into a rare ponytail, his ‘Jam’ t-shirt he’d had since he was sixteen stretched tight over his chest all working together to spectacularly showcase the ‘M’ like bruise still ever present on his neck.
It perplexed Gwaine who had had his fair share of love bites in various interesting locations. First of all the shape and perhaps more importantly the inexplicable change in shape was weird, but the human body did all type of weird things. His mate in sixth form had a birth mark shaped exactly like a hand print on his arse. But in all his previous expertise he had never had one that lasted as long without even a fraction of fading.
Gwaine cheered himself up that afternoon by treating himself to lunch in the Uni canteen and flirting with the checkout girl. She had grinned and twirled her hair around her finger and he got a free muffin--all around a pleasant experience for all.
But Gwaine’s good mood lasted until he looked in the mirror at the house, applying a liberal amount of Jean Paul to his skin, he let the scent settle and peered intently at his reflection and felt his eyes narrow in disbelief. The mark was still there, he had been expecting no less; but instead of fading as the laws of biology would suggest the mark had gotten darker, deeper, and there was no more mistaking the ‘M’ branded across his skin for all to see.
*
The King’s Head was packed. Gwaine had been knowledgably informed by both Elyan, Percival and the curly haired girl from his tutor group that it would be; first Quiz night of the year.
But as crowded and loud as the pub was Gwaine’s eyes zeroed in on the tall figure as soon as the doors had swing shut behind them.
Merlin was chatting amicably with a tanned man at the bar, leaning his head slightly down to catch the man’s words over the din of conversation. Gwaine stared at him openly across the bar, letting Percival and his bulk take charge of the first round.
Merlin didn’t move his head from where his ear was canted towards his drinking partner but his eyes slowly gravitated upwards, across the crowds and landed on Gwaine. Gwaine narrowed his eyes and let the cogs in his brain whir gently around slotting pieces of information and facts into their allotted place.
Merlin, as usual, didn’t seem disturbed by Gwaine’s less than enthusiastic acknowledgment. Instead he looked painfully amused and raised his pint glass in mock toast. Gwaine could only frown harder and scanned his eyes around for safe passage over but when he looked back up Merlin was gone, his empty pint glass sat wobbling on the bar.
It wasn’t until after the first round of the Quiz that Gwaine spotted him again, slipping neatly out of the back fire door into the darkened gardens.
So of course Gwaine followed.
The gardens of the King’s Head were littered with picnic benches across the green lawn. One umbrella was erected by the back door and the few smokers brave enough and desperate enough to brave the brisk night air were curled underneath it, and more importantly; around the small electric heater placed underneath it.
But the object of Gwaine’s quest could be seen off to the side, in the light but shadowed, strong set but fey looking. Merlin was a confusing mix of metaphors and Gwaine was tired of being confused.
“What the hell did you do?” Gwaine asked lowly as he approached the figure leant against the beer shed.
Merlin, the devil, smiled at Gwaine from under his eyelashes. “I have no idea what you mean?”
“I mean this,” Gwaine growled, braving the chilly breeze to expose his neck. He blamed it on played it off to the cold night air when he shivered as Merlin’s fingers pressed lightly to the marked skin.
“I thought you liked being marked?” he shrugged, pulling his hand away slowly
Gwaine shook of the fizzling shiver still trying to overcome his body and glared back. “It hasn’t faded.”
“Hum,” Merlin murmured, smirking slightly into the night. “Funny that.”
“No, it’s not bloody funny.”
“You sure?” Merlin grinned. Gwaine made the mistake then of looking directly into the man’s eyes, his very blue, blue eyes. He could feel himself being drawn further into their icy depths and by the time he blinked back to himself Merlin was still grinning at him, but stood five yards away and then disappearing back into the pub.
Gwaine blinked again, and then once more, hurrying back inside. He cast his eyes around the space; the majority of the students sat now to start the next round, but could find no trace of a raven head, as if he had disappeared into thin air.
When Gwaine woke up the next morning, his neck suspiciously bare of any marks, he knew some really weird shit was going on.
*
Gwaine rolled up to practice on Sunday with a tirade and demanding speech ready to impart.
But Merlin wasn’t there. Gwaine clenched his jaw in frustration and kicked the ball that little bit harder earning a wide eyed glare from Percival when he had to save his attempts on goal.
So Gwaine saved his tirade, and stored his annoyance, and added a few more fantastic lines to the speech before Wednesday…but the white posts stayed annoyingly bare. His frustration mounted, but it wasn’t until he found himself lurking suspiciously outside the lab rooms Thursday morning did he realise his small odd crush on the odd very frustrating science nerd had reached stalking stage. He immediately texted Percival and Elyan for a lunch time lash.
When Wednesday match day finally rolled around the Elyan, Percy and Gwaine booted and suited in the dressing rooms none truly suppressing their excited grins. Mercia vs. Camelot, first match of the season and they were all starting.
The team spilled out onto the pitch, all riled up from Arthur’s pep speech, jumping, jogging, and dodging across the pitch in their pre-game warm-up show. Gwaine ignored the hoots and calls of the crowd, got his head in the game, put his head down and got stuck in.
Camelot was doing well, they were tight, alert and constantly on Mercia’s backs. The score remained a very narrow 2-1 to Camelot at half time. Gwaine could feel the frustrations of the Mercian mid-fielder he was tailing radiating off the man in waves. And it seemed that whatever was said in the Mercian dressing room at half time had done nothing to temper Gilli’s [DC1] anger.
The narrowed eyes that met him as Gwaine jogged into position before the whistle just made Gwaine grin and give the boy a playful wink. Gilli then let out a sound akin to a baby bear growl and then play began again.
Percival had just punch-saved a very lucky Mercian corner and the field began to run the length of the pitch, all trying to keep up with the ball. Somehow it ended on the end of Gwaine’s boot and he surged forward, to the hardly defended Mercian goal. He could see the goalie jumping on his toes, almost smell the anxious sweat forming on his top lip.Gwaine could feel the dogged presence of Gilli storming along beside him, his elbow pushing into Gwaine’s ribs as he tried to get a foot, a knee, anything to the ball and veer Gwaine off course.
But Gwaine’s course was set; he fixed his eyes to the net and swung his right foot back.
And then Gilli’s foot made contact, not with his right foot just about to make contact with the leather ball. But to his left ankle, his stationary leg, his only pillar.
Then Gwaine was going down, and he was going down hard. He could already feel the jar of his knee to the ground, desperately trying to right the angle of his leg before he landed, but it was no use, he could feel the earth pulling him down, and down. He winced and braced himself for impact.
And then the sizzle… the familiar fizzle and burn down the back of his neck was there, scorching across his skin but strong and more intense, more urgent than anything he had felt before. It rushed like a wave across his body. Just for a fraction Gwaine managed to lift his eyes and just about managed to catch a glimpse of the brightest gold he had ever seen, and hauntingly beautiful rustic colour that swirled and danced.
And then Gwaine blinked… and blinked again. He blinked over the field from where he sat neatly on his arse in the wet grass. Gwaine blinked at the intact ankle at the bottom of his leg and then at Gilli sprawled out on the turf a few inches away, looking hacked off and shocked as Elyan sailed the ball past the goalie’s head.
The next time Gwaine blinked Elyan was pouncing on him in celebration, the rest of the team piling in for the huddle and then the final whistle blew, 3-1 to Camelot: their first match and first victory of the season.
But Gwaine was detached from that; he stood shakily from the ground, tentatively bouncing on his limb and feeling no pain, not even the burn of over exerted muscles.
Gwaine looked over to see Arthur shaking the ref’s hand, expecting to see at least a glimpse of jubilation on the blond’s face, and definitely a hint of smugness but the man wasn’t even listening to the referee sing his team’s praises, instead he was scowling menacingly across to the crowd. Gwaine followed his eyesight just in time to see a black head of hair disappear down the sides of the bleachers.
Gwaine got caught up in the obligatory field celebrations for a while before he managed to break off, his feet following the path set out before him around the side of the bleachers, his brain a confused jumble of different facts, none seeming to fall into place.
“Merlin you need to be more careful!” Gwaine heard growled from the alley behind the umpires hut.
“It’s fine Arthur.” Gwaine heard Merlin’s voice sigh.
“No,” Arthur growled. Gwaine rounded the corner now to see Merlin leant against the rough brick wall, Arthur hovering closely in front. “No, it’s not bloody ‘fine’ Merlin! Anyone could have seen that! I did, and you sure as hell know that-“
Gwaine chose that moment to cut in, clearing his throat purposefully at the mouth of the alley. Arthur snapped his eyes around, immediately zeroing in on Gwaine. He looked back and forth from Merlin leaning cross armed against the wall and Gwaine standing languidly ahead.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Arthur spoke after a moment deliberation, pausing to shoot Gwaine a hard look before disappearing from sight. Silence hung between them, heavy and weighted for the first time. Merlin’s stance looked uncaring, even a little sullen but Gwaine could see where his hands were clenched against the fabric of his jacket, and he could see the man’s Adam’s apple bobbing with every heavy swallow.
“What was that?” Gwaine asked eventually.
“What was what,” Merlin shrugged.
“Don’t Merlin,” Gwaine grit out coming closer into the alley. “I know it was something, if it was nothing what Arthur talking about?”
“I left the door to the flat unlocked again,” Merlin responded scuffing his feet a little against the floor.
“No,” Gwaine mused. “You didn’t. Come on, you can trust me. What did you do out on the pitch today?” Merlin swallowed again but didn’t look at Gwaine and Gwaine couldn’t stand that. “I felt it,” he spoke softly moving in closer until he could feel Merlin’s heat. “It felt like nothing I’d ever felt before.”
Merlin swallowed once more, his eyes finally flicking up tentatively to Gwaine’s. “What did it feel like?”
“It… it felt like,” Gwaine unconsciously licked his lips trying to describe the acute sensations, “like fire? And water and wind, all at the same time. I thought I was going down and then I just,” Gwaine chuckled shrugging, “didn’t.”
Merlin’s eyes had skidded down again, his full pink lips caught nervously between white teeth. This was Merlin looking nervous, it was not a sight Gwaine had come to associate with the strange little man that had irrevocably caught his attention and gaze from the very first day on campus.
“What was it Merlin?” Gwaine whispered giving into the urge and placing his hand’s lightly on Merlin’s trim waist. “You can tell me.”
MerIin looked up and then down and then up again, his blue eyes glistening slightly from under thick black lashes making Gwaine’s stomach twirl in a very pleasant way. “I can… do things?” he shrugged eventually.
“Things?”
“Things,” Merlin glared with a slight hysterical edge to his voice, “like make the world’s worst hangover disappear, like make love bites inflicted by hussies change shape-”
Gwaine grinned at the petulant tone Merlin developed at the end. But shook his head. “That doesn’t explain anything to me.”
“You’re being thick,” Merlin pouted.
“Sorry,” Gwaine shrugged unapologetically with a smirk. “Not all of us are science nerds. Explain better.”
Merlin huffed a very-put-upon sigh and wiggled his gloved hand up in-between the small gap between their two bodies holding it out between them.
“I dunno. I’ve just always been able to… do things.” Without a word Merlin’s eyes turned gold, that swirling rustic gold Gwaine had seen on the pitch. Gwaine blinked and then looked down to Merlin’s hand between them, hovering above the gloved hand was a orb, a swirling blue completely impossible orb. Gwaine looked at it wide-eyed and open mouthed and then back up at Merlin.
“That is,” he whispered to Merlin’s face which was contorted as if awaiting a blow, “brilliant!”
Merlin looked up at him and blinked, and then blinked again. “What?”
“Ha!” Gwaine barked out a laugh. “So…you jumped in to save me. Am I your damsel?” Gwaine leered, pressing even closer to Merlin’s body. Now it was Merlin that looked like a startled rabbit, his eyes confused as Gwaine leaned in closer. “Is it my luscious locks? Or my strapping thighs?” Gwaine breathed and sobered for a moment, feeling Merlin’s thin frame pressed tightly up against his and thought about what he had just seen. “Merlin, why would you do that? Anyone could have seen…you need to be careful. …“
“Because I won’t sit back and watch you be hurt if I can do something about it!” Merlin interrupted his eyes sparking with passion.
Gwaine smile softened into something fonder and he drew right up against Merlin body, his strong arms circling the man’s waist. Merlin still glared at him defiantly but didn’t pull away which was all the indication the Gwaine needed.
“So,” he whispered softly, his lips almost brushing Merlin’s, “I am your damsel.”
Merlin’s laugh sounded like it had been forced out of the man’s throat involuntarily but then Gwaine watched up close as the crinkles formed around Merlin’s eyes as he began to smile. “God,” he groaned, his forehead falling forward onto Gwaine’s. “Arthur is going to be very mad at me.”
“You know he’s probably hiding around the corner watching us,” Gwaine replied trying to shift closer to Merlin’s body. It wasn’t possible, so all that happened was that they swayed together for a moment before settling. It perhaps should have been strange, slightly odd that Gwaine was stood so close to a man he hadn’t even kissed yet, quite comfortable with his arms around him nestled into each other’s space just sharing heat.
It maybe should have felt strange, but it didn’t. The odd fizzling that Gwaine always felt in Merlin’s presence now tingled and caressed over his skin, feeling like a third hand cocooning him in an embrace.
And then Merlin grinned, that same, devilish, wicked grin Gwaine recognised and leaned in closer to Gwaine. “Well perhaps we should give him something good to watch.”
Gwaine was only too happy to oblige.
*
“Merlin!” Arthur groaned. Gwaine blinked up from his perusal of Merlin's tongue and looked over the back of the sofa to see Arthur standing in the hall, a hand slapped over his eyes. “What have I told you about making out on the sofa?”
Gwaine looked back at Merlin below him, his pale cheeks flushed just the way Gwaine loved. Merlin smiled up at Gwaine and Gwaine couldn’t help but swoop back down for another taste of his lips, Arthur’s presence be damned.
“Merlin!” Arthur growled. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Sorry,” Merlin muttered between sloppy pecks to Gwaine stubbled jaw, his teeth grazing the skin making Gwaine’s spine tighten with lust. “Did you say something?”
Arthur growled again, something unintelligible about ‘the worst roommate ever’. Gwaine just grinned and bared his neck, allowing Merlin further exploration. He lost himself in the feeling of lips on his sensitive skin for a moment, every touch and sensation intensified by the hover of Merlin’s magic over each inch of his skin.
It wasn’t until Merlin reached for his fly that Gwaine looked back up to where Arthur had stood what seemed like a moment ago to find the apartment empty. “Where did he go?” he mumbled, his breath hitching when Merlin got a skilled hand through the folds of his boxers and around his throbbing cock.
“Dunno.” Merlin mumbled against his neck before languidly pulling Gwaine’s prick free from the folds of his clothes, giving it a squeeze. “Now I want you focused, Gwaine!” Merlin growled in a mock low voice. “You are never going to score with your head in the clouds.”
Gwaine looked down upon Merlin with wide eyes for a moment. “Don’t ever imitate Arthur when you have my cock in your hand again.” He mock shuddered. “Ever.
Merlin just grinned pulling a tight fist up and down Gwaine’s erection making him shiver. “Come on now Sir Gwaine, I need your best performance today!”
Gwaine rolled his eyes, and decided the best way to shut the man up was to otherwise occupy his lips. Merlin seemed to be on board with his plan and arched up into Gwaine body as their lips locked together.
Things progressed quickly and soon Gwaine was gagging for a condom and some lube. He reluctantly pulled away to grab supplies only to see Merlin’s gorgeous eyes flaring gold beneath him and a silver packet and a tube of Durex’s finest hovering near his head.
Gwaine barked out a laugh and leaned down to kiss Merlin thoroughly.
“You’re amazing you know?”
Merlin just grinned up at him and let his legs fall open before Gwaine, his eyes still flaring gold. “Yeah,” he grinned, hooking an impatient ankle round Gwaine back. “I know.”
Gwaine relished in the powerful burn of Merlin’s aroused magic and fell back down on top the man below him, he had enough experience to know what happened when you made Merlin wait.
THE END