Fic: Firsts for Everything, 2/2
Rating: R
Word Count: 4,400 (9,300 total)
Warnings: none; reincarnation, modern au, fluff
Summary: Sometimes, people seem to forget, in all this fighting for equal rights, that 'gay couples' are just 'couples'. Merlin and Arthur living their life together, and a first-time hundreds of lives in the making.
AN: Born from a conversation I had with one of my (gay) friends, who told me she wished that people would remember that 'gay couples' are the same thing as 'couples'. This one's for you, even if you don't know it. x
Back to part 1.
Read on AO3.
It was so easy to forget that Merlin was the most powerful warlock that time had ever seen. These days, with the biggest threat to their everyday lives being eating too many of Gwen’s biscuits, Merlin’s magic tended to be used for things like washing the dishes when they couldn’t be bothered, or tearing Arthur’s clothes off when their fingers were too slow. Sometimes the sheer power of his magic would just coil and burn beneath Merlin’s skin from neglect, and Arthur would come home to find their walls dancing with colour and a dragon made of stars soaring through the sitting room, with Merlin at the center of it all. The two of them always had a purpose in living. A new incarnation meant a new task, with Merlin’s magic always at the read. Their purpose hadn’t yet appeared this time, though Arthur knew it was close. He could feel it, a looming presence pressing ever closer.
He was still taken by surprise, anyway.
---
“Ever get the urge to invent a time machine just to go back and go into anything but law?”
Arthur snorted as he flipped through his file for the thousandth time. “Let me know if you manage it, yeah?”
“Sure,” Leon laughed. He winced as he tried to stretch out a kink in his neck. “God, what I wouldn’t do to never read another legal document again.”
“You don’t have to be a lawyer to wish for that,” was Arthur reply. Leon chuckled, but a curt knock on the door interrupted before he could say anything else, and George the secretary stepped into the office.
“Mr. Penn, sir, Mr. Emerson on the line. He wants to know if you’ll be joining him for dinner, as he’s just arrived.”
Both Arthur and Leon had to smother their laughter at Arthur’s secretary’s censorship. Merlin enjoyed nothing more than torturing poor George, who had never quite been able to disguise his astonishment at the way Merlin and Arthur spoke to each other. It was much more likely that Merlin’s actual message had involved at least one swear word and called Arthur a prat.
“Thank you, George. Tell Merlin I’ll be down in a minute.”
“I’m surprised George hasn’t snapped yet,” Leon chuckled after the secretary had retreated and Arthur had started gathering his belongings. “He twitches whenever someone so much as mentions Merlin.” Arthur snorted
“He should know by now that only encourages him. Merlin has the mentality of a ten year old sometimes.” He swung his bag over his shoulder. “You staying?”
“Yeah, for a bit. Going to read up on one of my cases before my meeting tomorrow. You go on, don’t keep Merlin waiting.”
Arthur smiled and obeyed, waving over his shoulder as he walked out of his office. A few people called greetings as he passed, but none asked him to stop, so within a few minutes he found himself blinking up at the cloudy late-afternoon sky. There was already a crowd of people just getting off from work on the pavement, but Arthur found Merlin straightaway, standing by the road with his bag slung over his shoulder. He waved when he noticed Arthur, who grinned back as he ducked past a woman in a business suit.
The first shot hardly even registered in Arthur’s mind until the screaming started. The businesswoman shrieked as a nearby bin clanged loudly from the shot, and Arthur lost sight of Merlin in the suddenly frantic crowd. Before the peculiarity of the situation could even register, centuries of being a soldier kicked in, and Arthur dropped his bag, seizing the arm of a panicking teenager and shouting “Get down !” as he pushed him towards a bin. A split second later, he was forced to release the woman he’d been urging to safety as the bullet brushed his arm. He hissed in pain, clutching his suddenly torn and bleeding sleeve as a fresh wave of panic erupted along the pavement.
“Stay where you are!” he roared, ignoring his wound and reaching for a man trying to bolt from behind a bus stop. “Get down, everyone-“
“Arthur!” Merlin’s voice rang out, and Arthur looked up to see him pushing his way over, eyes wild. For one moment, Arthur was no longer crouching in a crowded street in London, but a wild hilltop in Wales, and then a dusty clearing in the colonies, a muddy battlefield in Germany. “Arthur, get up, move dammit!”
Arthur blinked, banishing the images of neckerchiefs and uniforms from his mind, just in time to hear a third shot. Instincts took over again and he rolled out of the way, coming to rest at the foot of the stairs leading to an office building. The streets were mostly empty now, most people left cowering behind bins or fleeing into one of the nearby buildings. Merlin had been forced to stop running after the last shot, taking refuge behind a bench, and Arthur finally caught sight of his would-be killer. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about him. He was average height, wearing jeans and a t-shirt under a worn leather jacket, and completely blended in with the people around him, except for the pistol in his hand and the rage twisting his face, both directed at Arthur as the man started shouting.
“You bastard Penn! You fucking fag! My brother was killed by people like you, and you helped his murderer escape!”
Suddenly, Arthur recognized the man-from the courtroom, weeks ago, when one of his clients had been proven innocent of murder charges on grounds of self-defense. Arthur’s shooter-Glen, he remembered, Glen Pepper-was the brother of the so-called victim, and, Arthur had suspected, a second party in the violent hate crime against his gay client that had started the whole mess, though they hadn’t been able to prove it.
Arthur had a brief moment to think “He’s insane,” then, “This is insane,” before Pepper brandished his gun again.
“I’ll fucking kill you, Penn!” he shouted, and it was so hopelessly movie-villain that Arthur couldn’t stop himself from letting out a hiccup of disbelieving laughter. Pepper scowled and pointed his gun at Arthur, at the same time someone jumped into the open. Merlin didn’t even glance at Arthur, but Arthur couldn’t look away from him. He was vaguely aware of Pepper shouting something else, but then Merlin’s eyes flared gold.
As if he’d been waiting for that very signal, Arthur leapt forward. Pepper stumbled in the sudden wind blasting through the street-too strong to be natural, Arthur knew-just enough to give Arthur an opening. The gun went flying as Arthur tackled Pepper to the ground, conveniently knocking his head against the pavement. Dazed, he let his fists fly in wild arcs towards Arthur’s face. He landed a lucky blow against Arthur’s bleeding arm, and Arthur hissed as he ducked and gave Pepper one swift knee to the stomach in response. Arthur used his advantage to seize Pepper’s shoulders and flip him onto his stomach.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Pepper screamed into the pavement as Arthur straddled him. Suddenly a third pair of arms appeared, seizing Pepper’s thrashing legs and securing them. Arthur looked up to see Leon, red-faced as though he’d run all the way from the office.
“Are you going to knock him out or should I?” Leon demanded.
Arthur grimaced. He turned forward again over Pepper’s shouting (“Murdering fucking fag! Go to hell, you disgusting-“) and struck him once in the head. Pepper went limp at once. Cautiously, Arthur eased off of his shoulders. His arm protested violently, but he ignored it in favor of pushing himself shakily to his feet.
Before he’d even managed to turn around, he heard running footsteps, and suddenly he found himself with an armful of frantic warlock.
“You stupid pillock, what the fuck were you thinking?” Merlin demanded, eyes still gold around the edges. The fury in his words was completely tempered by his hands clutching somewhat desperately at his shirt as he checked Arthur for damage. “He was trying to kill you and you just bloody stood there-“
“I’m fine, Merlin,” Arthur tried to interrupt, but Merlin cut him off.
“You are not fine, Arthur, you prat, you got shot!”
“It’s just a scratch,” Arthur pointed out. “You stopped him before he could do worse.”
Merlin made a strangled sound before throwing himself at Arthur. Arthur returned his embrace, murmuring reassurance after reassurance as Merlin clung to him. They were still standing that way minutes later when the police arrived, ambulance in tow, only separating as much as necessary when someone came to take care of Arthur’s still-bleeding arm.
---
The next morning, Arthur work to the late-morning sun and Merlin’s limbs tangled with his. He slid from the bed as gently as he could and put on a pair of boxers before going to put the tea on. Their mail was already waiting at the door when he ambled over to fish out the paper with a yawn. He was about to toss in onto the table when the front page caught his eye, and he froze.
‘PENN TAKES HIT FOR SAME-SEX PARTNERS-LGBT COMMUNITY RALLIES AGAINST HATE CRIMES.’
There was a picture attached to the article, and he stared at it in slight bemusement. It was of him and Merlin holding each other close, apparently completely oblivious to the flurry of police and witnesses around them. Merlin’s head was buried under Arthur’s chin, a gentle hand placed over the bandage on his arm, and Arthur had his face buried in Merlin’s hair and his hands fisted in his jumper. Beneath it was the caption, "Penn and Emerson comfort each other at the shooting. LGBT community is praising the couple as “ideal spokes models for the charge against hate crimes”.
Arthur blinked. Behind him, the kettle squealed, and a loud thump in the bedroom announced Merlin’s rolling out of bed. Something settles in Arthur’s stomach, and he lets his eyes close, shaking his head.
It feels like destiny.
Merlin hummed cheerfully to himself as he poked around in Lance and Gwen’s kitchen for drinks. He could hear his friends in the other room, the chatter nearly drowning out the Christmas music on the stereo. He laughed when Will started to sing along, followed shortly by a wail from Brian, Lance and Gwen’s five-month-old son. He’d just managed to find an unopened bottle of wine when the kitchen door opened and Arthur walked in.
“Hey, you,” Merlin said with a smile as he worked at opening the bottle. “Having a good time?”
Arthur smiled back before he answered, “Not as good as you. That was a very impressive game of charades.”
Merlin laughed.
“I blame Morgana. She’s the one that kept refilling my glass at dinner.” Arthur chuckled, and wrapped his arms around Merlin’s waist from behind.
“You never could hold your alcohol,” he replied, pressing his forehead against Merlin’s hair. He sighed, so softly it was hardly more than a wisp of air. But Merlin heard it anyway. With a frown, he shifted slightly in Arthur’s grip and poked at Arthur’s arm. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine,” Arthur replied a shade too quickly.
“Arthur,” Merlin began threateningly, “don’t lie to me. What’s wrong?” Arthur sighed.
“Lance keeps asking me when I’m going to ask you to marry me,” he admitted into Merlin’s neck.
“Ah,” Merlin sighed. He put down the bottle of wine and turned in Arthur’s grip to look at him. Arthur was frowning down at their shoes, but he looked up at the touch of Merlin’s fingers to his chin. “You know they’re just winding you up, right? It’s what they do. They’re happy for us, Arthur.”
“I know, I know,” Arthur groaned, “I just-“
“Hey, we talked about this,” Merlin interrupted. “We’re going to get engaged when it feels right , not just because we can. We deserve that as much as any other couple.” He leaned up and kissed Arthur once, gently. “Alright?”
“Alright,” Arthur relented. He paused, and then added, “Gwaine’s taking bets on when it’ll happen, you know.” Merlin laughed.
“Typical Gwaine. I hope he’s learned not to include Morgana in his bets by now, or he’ll lose to her again. Come on, let’s go back to the party.” He smiled slyly, leaning in close to murmur, “Just think, we make it through tonight, and we’ll be able to have Christmas day all to ourselves. No interruptions. We won’t even have to get out of bed.”
That got a laugh out of Arthur. “When you put it like that, how could I object? Alright, let’s go brave the masses.” He allowed himself to be towed out of the kitchen into the sitting room, where their friends had organized themselves into a haggard circle in their absence.
“There you two are!” Gwaine cried when he spotted the couple. “About time, we were about to send a search party.”
“Stuff it, Gwaine,” Arthur replied conversationally. “What’s with the circle?”
“Gift exchange,” Leon supplied, waving them over. “Join us!”
“Oh, good,” Merlin said and went to plop down beside Will. Arthur took the seat on his other side, and Merlin saw him visibly start to relax while their friends bickered over who should go first. Gwen won, and Percy handed over her gift with a smile, which turned bashful when Gwen thanked him and immediately wrapped her new scarf around her neck. Mithian handed Percy his next, and Elena hers after that. Some of the gifts were earnest, but most were amusing. Soon it was Merlin’s turn to hand Gwaine his and watch as Gwaine tore open the package & laughed along with everyone else at its contents.
“Just what I wanted,” Gwaine chuckled, holding up his new garishly colourful copy of Manners are Important! . “Thank you, Merlin. I’ll never know how such a thoughtful person wound up shackled to Penn.”
“You’re just jealous because I turned you down first,” Merlin teased, to everyone’s general amusement. Gwaine scoffed and placed a dramatic hand over his heart.
“You wound me, Merlin. I take everything back; you and Penn deserve each other.”
“Don’t be an arse, Gwaine,” Elyan interrupted, grinning. “Now who had Merlin?”
“That would be me,” Morgana announced, with a smirk that made Merlin a bit nervous. He opened his gift warily, conscious of Morgana’s smug look and Gwen’s muffled giggling. Morgana’s smirk turned downright gleeful when Merlin pulled out two silk robes, both pearly white and nearly translucent. He saw when he held them up that one of them was significantly longer than the other, with the word ‘Mr.’ written on the breast in curly script. With a sense of dread, Merlin looked at the other one, which, sure enough, was embroidered with ‘Mrs.’.
“I do hope they’ll fit you both,” Morgana said over the sudden roar of laughter. “I had to estimate your sizes.”
Merlin was unable to hold back his own snort of laughter, and he glanced over at Arthur to gauge his reaction. Arthur looked back at him with an amused expression, no trace of discomfort in his eyes. As Merlin watched, Arthur leaned forward, plucking the shorter robe from his hands and holding it higher for inspection.
“Thank you, Morgana,” he said after a moment, smirking now. “Here, Merlin, this one will look great with your legs-“
-which set which set off a whole new round of laughter (Merlin included, after a token protest and a punch to Arthur’s shoulder), which ended when Brian was startled awake and began to cry.
Later, after Brian had been put to bed and the rest of the gifts exchanged, and after Gwaine and Elena started throwing peanuts into each other’s mouths (dangerous enough with Elena sober and bordering deadly now), Merlin and Arthur called it a night. Merlin hummed Christmas songs all the way to their flat, the bells on the elf hat he’d acquired at some point jingling as he watched Arthur smile at the passing street. The smile remained as they slipped into their flat and bubbled into laughter when Merlin nearly brained himself trying to take off his trousers. Merlin automatically draped himself across Arthur’s chest when they finally crawled into bed. From there, he couldn’t see Arthur’s smile anymore, but he could hear Arthur’s gently beating heart, and could smell his favourite soap on his skin when he nuzzled in closer with a happy sigh.
And he definitely, definitely felt the press of lips against his hair and the whisper of air on his cheek as Arthur breathed, “I love you.”
The flat was quiet when Merlin let himself in on Friday evening, the soft glow of light from the sitting room the only sign that Arthur was home. Merlin kicked off his shoes with a grateful groan before making his way towards the sitting room, where he found his boyfriend sprawled out on the sofa with a book, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. He smiled when he saw Merlin and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
“Hey, you,” he said, accepting Merlin’s hello kiss. “You’re home later than expected.”
“I know, sorry,” Merlin sighed as he settled back into Arthur’s chest. “We had a few students come in in a panic about exams, but we sorted them out eventually.” Arthur chuckled, his hands playing with Merlin’s hair. Merlin let his eyes close as he leaned into it. “What about you? How was work?”
“Long,” Arthur answered. He smoothed away Merlin’s fringe from his eyes. “Glad to reach the weekend.”
Merlin hummed in agreement.
“What do you have planned for the evening? Elyan said something about a movie the other day,” he ventured after a moment. They usually spent Friday nights with their friends when they could, wrapping up the work week with a dinner party or a few hours at the pub, before heading home for a weekend of curling up on the couch and arguing over the remote. It was nice, and Merlin usually looked forward to it, but tonight, he was far too comfortable lying in Arthur’s arms to want to leave.
Fortunately, Arthur seemed to be thinking similarly.
“Why don’t we skip all that this week?” he suggested with a kiss to Merlin’s ear. “We can stay in instead.”
Merlin smiled against Arthur’s chest. “Are you cooking?”
“Does re-heating the pasta from down the street count as cooking?”
“It does in this house.”
“Then yes, I’m cooking.” Merlin laughed. He lifted his head for a kiss, which Arthur gave him. Merlin had just managed to sneak the tips of his fingers beneath the waistband of Arthur sweats when Arthur tried to pull away. “We’re never going to have dinner if you keep distracting me like this,” he murmured against Merlin’s lip when the sorcerer chased him. Merlin hummed.
“That’s fine with me,” he replied cheekily, nipping at Arthur’s lip, but Arthur was determined. He gripped Merlin’s hips and firmly pushed him away, ignoring Merlin’s protest.
“Go change, you horny bastard. We both know you’ll be hungry and complaining in an hour if I don’t feed you.”
Merlin made a face, but obeyed. They peeled themselves off of the sofa, Arthur heading into the kitchen and Merlin slipping into their bedroom. By the time he re-emerged, wearing a t-shirt (his) and sweats (Arthur’s), Arthur was just scooping out pasta onto a pair of plates, and the table had been set, complete with a candle in the middle of it. Merlin raised his eyebrows at it, but Arthur just shrugged and plopped down into his seat. Merlin sat beside him. They’d done away with circular tables centuries back, but they still liked to sit this way, side-by-side rather than across from each other. It was easier for Merlin to prop his feet up on Arthur’s chair, and for Arthur to steal food from Merlin’s plate.
Tonight was no different. They chatted idly while they ate, about Merlin’s job (“My students love me, you prat, it’s my exams they hate.”), and Elena’s pregnancy (“And I thought she was clumsy before…”), and whatever else came to mind (“One Direction is forteenage girls, Mer lin-“ “Oi, don’t be sexist.”). Merlin’s toes brushed absently against Arthur’s hip from time to time, turning into jabs whenever Arthur made to swipe some of his pasta.
“At least finish your own food before you start stealing mine,” Merlin grumbled the sixth time this happened, watching morosely as Arthur popped his fork into his mouth.
Arthur smirked at him. “Where’s the fun in that?” he asked and Merlin flicked a noodle at him in response. It hit Arthur square on the mouth, leaving a splash of sauce, before falling into his lap. “Merlin!” Arthur sputtered, obviously trying to hold back his laughter as he glared at his boyfriend. Merlin giggled back at him.
“I’m sorry, sire ,” he said, with a completely unapologetic smile. “Here, let me get that for you.”
Arthur said nothing as Merlin leaned towards him, but a low groan escaped him when Merlin’s tongue flicked out to lick the corner of his mouth. Merlin smirked before following it with a barely-there kiss. Arthur moaned and turned his head the remaining half-inch to bring their lips together. Merlin dropped his fork in favor of cupping Arthur’s face in his hands as the kiss deepened.
“How about we get started on dessert?” he suggested, sucking Arthur’s lower lip between his teeth and nipping it gently. Arthur snorted.
“Idiot,” he said as he pulled Merlin from the table and into their bedroom, where he pressed him down against the mattress and chased the hems of his clothes with kisses to Merlin’s skin. Merlin let his fingers tangle in Arthur’s hair as the blonde licked and nuzzled at his cock, playing teasingly with his tongue along the head until Merlin thought he might die from waiting. He almost sobbed with relief when Arthur finally swallowed him down, coaxing Merlin’s orgasm from him with a clever tongue and fingers seeking out all of Merlin’s sensitive spots. When Merlin came, Arthur wasted no time in crawling up to draw him into a deep, filthy kiss, the taste of Merlin’s come still on his lips and tongue as he thrust shamelessly against Merlin’s hip until he found his own release.
After, the kisses grew long and languid, and Merlin hummed contentedly into Arthur’s mouth, feeling light and boneless. He let his eyes close when Arthur moved his lips down his body, squirming when Arthur’s tongue swept out to lick him clean. Arthur grinned up at him from beneath his lashes and swirled his tongue around Merlin’s bellybutton.
Merlin laughed.
“Oi, don’t get any ideas,” he scolded teasingly, pushing gently at Arthur’s head. “We’re not teenagers anymore, don’t be greedy.”
“Can’t help it. You bring out the worst of me.”
“That explains a lot.” Merlin laughed again at Arthur’s mock-outraged expression, which melted away the instant Merlin began to run his fingers through Arthur’s hair. Arthur nuzzled against Merlin’s belly, whatever argument he’d been prepared to make forgotten as he settled in. Merlin smiled down at him. Arthur had never been much of a snuggler, but from time to time they would do this, lie together in bed, Arthur’s arms hugging Merlin’s hips to his chest, sometimes talking but usually just sharing the silence. The gentle touches almost always melted into more sex, but Merlin felt no need to hurry the moment along, content for now with his fingers in Arthur’s hair and Arthur’s breath against his abdomen.
Merlin let his hand drift to thumb along Arthur’s cheekbone. Arthur turned his head so that he had one cheek pressed against Merlin’s belly, the other into his palm.
“I love you,” he said, and Merlin smiled, because it was so very Arthur to say that so seriously, as if the earth would stop if he didn’t say it right that instant .
“I know you do,” he replied, because he felt it, too, the world-stopping importance of making sure Arthur knew, without a doubt, that he was loved right back, that a thousand lifetimes had passed and a thousand more could come as long as Merlin got to have Arthur in his arms. “I love you, too.”
Arthur’s answering smile was so warm and so hopelessly happy, Merlin couldn’t resist moving to smooth his hair again with an identical grin on his own face. One of Arthur’s hands came up to catch Merlin’s, threading their fingers together easily.
“I’m glad,” he said. “That makes this easier.”
“Makes what easier?” Merlin asked, but Arthur was already crawling towards the nightstand and rummaging around for something. “Arthur?”
In answer, Arthur moved to sit beside Merlin, their thighs touching, and lifted up his prize. Merlin sat up to get a better look and felt his heart stop when he saw the small black box in Arthur’s hand. He had to press a shaking hand to his mouth to stifle a gasp when Arthur thumbed it open, revealing the shining silver ring inside. He looked back up at Arthur, dumbstruck, and saw him smiling back.
“I had this all planned out,” Arthur admitted. “There was going to be candles, and that ice cream you love, and possibly flowers. I was going to get down on my knee and everything.” Merlin let out a strangled sound that was meant to be a laugh. Arthur smiled at him, and Merlin thought he might actually explode as he reached for Merlin’s hand and finally, finally breathed, “Marry me?”
“Yes,” Merlin gasped at once, “yes, yes, oh my God .”
He surged forward to press a frantic kiss against Arthur’s mouth, laughing giddily when their teeth clacked and their noses bumped. Arthur laughed right back, and then they were kissing properly. It was a long time before they parted, and when they did, Arthur took Merlin’s hand in his to slip on the sleek silver ring. Merlin laughed again for pure happiness at the sight of it before drawing Arthur in for another kiss.
“I’m sorry you had to wait so long for this,” Arthur said after a moment, forehead pressed to Merlin’s and arms around his waist. “I would have given it to you centuries ago if I could have.”
“It doesn’t matter, Arthur,” Merlin replied, and he truly meant it. He didn’t care about the lives spent being lovers but not husbands, partners but not bonded, because they had right now, this moment and all the moments of the future meant just for the two of them. He ran his thumb over Arthur’s cheekbone lovingly and pressed a kiss to his lips. “From now on, we have forever.”
And they do.