Fic: Pommel
Title: Pommel
Author: phantomreviewer
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Belongs to the BBC (basically...)
Warnings: Violence mentioned.
A/N: This was meant to be smushy Arthur teaching Merlin to fence and then bang, surprise stabbing, don’t ask. I tried to get it fluffy from that but I don’t know if it worked…
Anyone who gets the author's in joke get's a cookie, in fact there are kind of two of them, two cookies then for getting both of them. :-D
Summary: Merlin frowned and held the apple core as though it were a deadly weapon.
“What? You don’t know how to fence?”
Merlin shrugged and lifted his apple to his mouth; taking a bite with a crunch.
“Never saw the need too.”
Another crunch of the apple.
“But… Lance said that you’d been to loads of matches… I assumed that you’d…”
Another bite into the apple and then Merlin’s lips and tongue caressed it as he spoke; not having removed it from his lips.
“I was repaying a debt, of sorts.”
He stilled as he spoke, fingers no longer strumming the tabletop and Arthur frowned.
Merlin was sitting up at his kitchen table whilst Arthur was standing. His hair dripping wet from the shower he had taken. It was about the third of fourth time that Arthur had stayed the night, seemingly preferring Merlin’s flat to the house that he shared with his father.
The day had every likelihood of being a lazy one until,
“Debt?”
There were thoughts running though Arthur’s head which rather alarmed him.
“Debt?” He asked again.
Merlin lowered the apple to the table and turned his head up, sad eyes meeting Arthur’s anxious ones.
“I was cornered by a gang, a few years back. They did like me and… my sort and well, things started to get a bit… nasty-”
He gestured to his right shoulder.
“- Lance came at just the right time, my ‘knight in shining armour’. Well, like I said, I owe him.”
He trailed off.
Arthur stepped closer and squeezed Merlin’s shoulders. Fingers playing lightly along the scar tissue under his shirt.
Merlin shrugged him off, Arthur noticed, for the first time how his left was stronger than his right.
“Had to have physio for a year. It’s as good as its ever going to get now. Very rarely hurts. They didn’t get caught though…”
Arthur replaced his hands on Merlin’s shoulders.
“So yeah, never learned to fence. What with being right handed, would have been too much of a strain.”
Arthur tightened his grip fractionally and then let go. Patting Merlin’s left shoulder he stepped back.
“High time you leant that.”
Merlin spluttered into the apple he’d lifted back to his mouth.
Arthur smiled as he dumped the towel he’d been wearing in the bathroom and shimmied into his boxers. His shirt from yesterday was dirty and needed washing so he relieved Merlin of one of his ‘Penn’ polonecks, he picked up his jeans from the bedroom floor.
Merlin was still sitting at the kitchen table when Arthur walked back in.
“Ready?”
“What for?”
Merlin frowned and held the apple core as though it were a deadly weapon.
“Someone needs to teach you to fence after all.”
“But…?”
“Ah-ah, I’ve got one of Ewan’s left handed pistol grip for re-buttoning, you can use that.”
Merlin opened his mouth to argue but seemed to think better of it.
“Let me bin this then.”
There was enough room in the short hallway for them to practice and so Arthur was re-buttoning Ewan’s foil when Merlin came out.
“Looks sharp.” Merlin gestured to the unbuttoned foil, “Wouldn’t want to get hit by that.”
Arthur spat out the button he’d been loosening into the palm of his hand and then threaded it on.
“You won’t.”
He wiped the join of the button and foil with the edge of Merlin’s borrowed shirt and then flexed it against his hand. He smiled.
“Hold out your hand… your left one.”
Merlin did so and Arthur enclosed it in one of his own.
He placed the grip of the foil into Merlin’s left and manipulated his own hand until he was holding Merlin’s hand in a loose approximation of the fencing grip.
He squeezed slightly.
“That okay? Got the weight of it?”
Merlin nodded, and Arthur stepped forward, so that Merlin’s hair tickled his face.
He was standing as close to Merlin as he felt that he could whilst still keeping the fencing ‘lesson’ on the correct side of clean.
One of his legs slide between Merlin’s own and Arthur’s free hand crept down Merlin’s body until his could clasp his right hand. He caught it gently and then prised it upwards, tucking his thumb into the palm and raising it above the body. They stood for a moment, almost a parody of the beginning of Dirty Dancing’s most famous dance until Merlin giggled and Arthur smiled into his hair.
Directing Merlin like a puppet from behind Arthur began to shift him into the correct stance, using his legs to move Merlin sideways on.
“And salute.”
He started to raise his arm, pulling Merlin’s left arm and the hand holding the sword with it. The foil wobbled a little in an uncertain grip but Arthur tightened his hold on Merlin’s hand causing Merlin’s to tighten on the hilt as well.
Raising a foil in a salute was such a regular occurrence for Arthur but Merlin seemed oddly worried about raising the blade to his head, or at least his hold became more wobbly as the sword came up to his eyes.
“It doesn’t bite.” Arthur laughed.
“I know that, just- oww.”
Arthur cocked his head to one side and indicated that Merlin would lower the sword.
“Went cross-eyed… kinda hurt.”
Arthur rolled his own eyes.
“Typical you. Come on then, let’s see you lunge.”
Arthur started to unfold himself from Merlin removing his hand from Merlin’s grip and his other from the raised hand, but he didn’t remove his leg from its position between Merlin’s thighs.
He moved his hands down onto Merlin’s waist, to make it easier for him to push and pull him into an approximation of the correct stance.
“Well I don’t know how to do it? Do I?”
Arthur smiled into Merlin’s hair again.
“Come on you, you’ve seen me doing it enough times, left leg forward and arm extended.”
The sword wobbled again in Merlin’s hand but it did follow the graceful arch that it was supposed to, landing in roughly the correct place - had there been an opponent who had no skills of parrying - in a straight line from the centre of his chest to the button of the foil.
“See Merlin, it’s not that hard is it?”
“Well, I’m not fighting anyone am I?”
Arthur laughed at the hint of a pout on Merlin’s speech.
“I thought you didn’t want to learn to fence?”
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of fun when you get into it.”
Arthur smiled again and disentangled himself from Merlin.
“Bit like you when you come to mention it.”
“Oi.”
Arthur laughed again and loosened Merlin’s grip from the foil hilt and stowed it away in his kit bag.
“I only have enough equipment for one, and anyway, I’d wipe the floor with you.”
Merlin tried to sneer but couldn’t keep the smile out of his eyes.
“Bring it on then Pendragon.”
And there was nothing that Arthur could do to that blatant challenge and he zipped up the fencing bag with a florish.
Standing up with a predatory grin on his face he stalked towards Merlin, eyes flashing.
“Has anyone mentioned that you’ve got funny teeth?” Merlin interjected faux-innocently.
Arthur glared at him and the pounced.
Merlin squealed as Arthur’s fingers found their mark and he began fighting back in his best wresting stance.
This was dirty fighting, hands pulling hair and feet kicking legs out from under people and then lips abusing lips, hands turned from attacking to caressing and they never did work out who won.
Author: phantomreviewer
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Belongs to the BBC (basically...)
Warnings: Violence mentioned.
A/N: This was meant to be smushy Arthur teaching Merlin to fence and then bang, surprise stabbing, don’t ask. I tried to get it fluffy from that but I don’t know if it worked…
Anyone who gets the author's in joke get's a cookie, in fact there are kind of two of them, two cookies then for getting both of them. :-D
Summary: Merlin frowned and held the apple core as though it were a deadly weapon.
“What? You don’t know how to fence?”
Merlin shrugged and lifted his apple to his mouth; taking a bite with a crunch.
“Never saw the need too.”
Another crunch of the apple.
“But… Lance said that you’d been to loads of matches… I assumed that you’d…”
Another bite into the apple and then Merlin’s lips and tongue caressed it as he spoke; not having removed it from his lips.
“I was repaying a debt, of sorts.”
He stilled as he spoke, fingers no longer strumming the tabletop and Arthur frowned.
Merlin was sitting up at his kitchen table whilst Arthur was standing. His hair dripping wet from the shower he had taken. It was about the third of fourth time that Arthur had stayed the night, seemingly preferring Merlin’s flat to the house that he shared with his father.
The day had every likelihood of being a lazy one until,
“Debt?”
There were thoughts running though Arthur’s head which rather alarmed him.
“Debt?” He asked again.
Merlin lowered the apple to the table and turned his head up, sad eyes meeting Arthur’s anxious ones.
“I was cornered by a gang, a few years back. They did like me and… my sort and well, things started to get a bit… nasty-”
He gestured to his right shoulder.
“- Lance came at just the right time, my ‘knight in shining armour’. Well, like I said, I owe him.”
He trailed off.
Arthur stepped closer and squeezed Merlin’s shoulders. Fingers playing lightly along the scar tissue under his shirt.
Merlin shrugged him off, Arthur noticed, for the first time how his left was stronger than his right.
“Had to have physio for a year. It’s as good as its ever going to get now. Very rarely hurts. They didn’t get caught though…”
Arthur replaced his hands on Merlin’s shoulders.
“So yeah, never learned to fence. What with being right handed, would have been too much of a strain.”
Arthur tightened his grip fractionally and then let go. Patting Merlin’s left shoulder he stepped back.
“High time you leant that.”
Merlin spluttered into the apple he’d lifted back to his mouth.
Arthur smiled as he dumped the towel he’d been wearing in the bathroom and shimmied into his boxers. His shirt from yesterday was dirty and needed washing so he relieved Merlin of one of his ‘Penn’ polonecks, he picked up his jeans from the bedroom floor.
Merlin was still sitting at the kitchen table when Arthur walked back in.
“Ready?”
“What for?”
Merlin frowned and held the apple core as though it were a deadly weapon.
“Someone needs to teach you to fence after all.”
“But…?”
“Ah-ah, I’ve got one of Ewan’s left handed pistol grip for re-buttoning, you can use that.”
Merlin opened his mouth to argue but seemed to think better of it.
“Let me bin this then.”
There was enough room in the short hallway for them to practice and so Arthur was re-buttoning Ewan’s foil when Merlin came out.
“Looks sharp.” Merlin gestured to the unbuttoned foil, “Wouldn’t want to get hit by that.”
Arthur spat out the button he’d been loosening into the palm of his hand and then threaded it on.
“You won’t.”
He wiped the join of the button and foil with the edge of Merlin’s borrowed shirt and then flexed it against his hand. He smiled.
“Hold out your hand… your left one.”
Merlin did so and Arthur enclosed it in one of his own.
He placed the grip of the foil into Merlin’s left and manipulated his own hand until he was holding Merlin’s hand in a loose approximation of the fencing grip.
He squeezed slightly.
“That okay? Got the weight of it?”
Merlin nodded, and Arthur stepped forward, so that Merlin’s hair tickled his face.
He was standing as close to Merlin as he felt that he could whilst still keeping the fencing ‘lesson’ on the correct side of clean.
One of his legs slide between Merlin’s own and Arthur’s free hand crept down Merlin’s body until his could clasp his right hand. He caught it gently and then prised it upwards, tucking his thumb into the palm and raising it above the body. They stood for a moment, almost a parody of the beginning of Dirty Dancing’s most famous dance until Merlin giggled and Arthur smiled into his hair.
Directing Merlin like a puppet from behind Arthur began to shift him into the correct stance, using his legs to move Merlin sideways on.
“And salute.”
He started to raise his arm, pulling Merlin’s left arm and the hand holding the sword with it. The foil wobbled a little in an uncertain grip but Arthur tightened his hold on Merlin’s hand causing Merlin’s to tighten on the hilt as well.
Raising a foil in a salute was such a regular occurrence for Arthur but Merlin seemed oddly worried about raising the blade to his head, or at least his hold became more wobbly as the sword came up to his eyes.
“It doesn’t bite.” Arthur laughed.
“I know that, just- oww.”
Arthur cocked his head to one side and indicated that Merlin would lower the sword.
“Went cross-eyed… kinda hurt.”
Arthur rolled his own eyes.
“Typical you. Come on then, let’s see you lunge.”
Arthur started to unfold himself from Merlin removing his hand from Merlin’s grip and his other from the raised hand, but he didn’t remove his leg from its position between Merlin’s thighs.
He moved his hands down onto Merlin’s waist, to make it easier for him to push and pull him into an approximation of the correct stance.
“Well I don’t know how to do it? Do I?”
Arthur smiled into Merlin’s hair again.
“Come on you, you’ve seen me doing it enough times, left leg forward and arm extended.”
The sword wobbled again in Merlin’s hand but it did follow the graceful arch that it was supposed to, landing in roughly the correct place - had there been an opponent who had no skills of parrying - in a straight line from the centre of his chest to the button of the foil.
“See Merlin, it’s not that hard is it?”
“Well, I’m not fighting anyone am I?”
Arthur laughed at the hint of a pout on Merlin’s speech.
“I thought you didn’t want to learn to fence?”
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of fun when you get into it.”
Arthur smiled again and disentangled himself from Merlin.
“Bit like you when you come to mention it.”
“Oi.”
Arthur laughed again and loosened Merlin’s grip from the foil hilt and stowed it away in his kit bag.
“I only have enough equipment for one, and anyway, I’d wipe the floor with you.”
Merlin tried to sneer but couldn’t keep the smile out of his eyes.
“Bring it on then Pendragon.”
And there was nothing that Arthur could do to that blatant challenge and he zipped up the fencing bag with a florish.
Standing up with a predatory grin on his face he stalked towards Merlin, eyes flashing.
“Has anyone mentioned that you’ve got funny teeth?” Merlin interjected faux-innocently.
Arthur glared at him and the pounced.
Merlin squealed as Arthur’s fingers found their mark and he began fighting back in his best wresting stance.
This was dirty fighting, hands pulling hair and feet kicking legs out from under people and then lips abusing lips, hands turned from attacking to caressing and they never did work out who won.