Fic: Sweetness is thy name (PG, slash, Merlin/Arthur)
Title:Sweetness is thy name
Rating: PG
Fandom/Pairing: Merlin, Merlin/Arthur
Wordcount: ~1200
Warnings: Romance, fluffy fluffiness
Summary: Clueless!Merlin and Frustrated!Arthur. Will they ever manage to be on the same page?
Notes: Written as welcome to the fandom for my lovely and wonderful friend genteelrebel . She gave me “sweetness” as prompt. And is the most awesome friend, because she betaed her own present. Thank you!
Constructive Criticism is ALWAYS welcome and much loved!
“Here, try this.”
“What is that?”
“Will you just eat it? I’ll make it an order if I have to! And no, I’m not trying to poison you.”
“All right, all right. Hmmm, this is good.”
“You like it then? Try this.”
“Arthur, are you trying to stuff me? I’ll look like Brunhild, the cook, if you keep doing that.”
“Don’t worry, Merlin. Until you look like Brunhild, you’ll have to eat as many pastries and sweets as would fit into our grain stores.”
“But those are huge.”
“Yes, Merlin, and ‘thin as a rake’ doesn’t cover it for you.”
*
Merlin is magnificent.
He stands proud and tall, his eyes glowing golden, fire and lightning blazing from his finger tips. His deep blue robes flow around him, his movements have a fluid grace he doesn’t achieve in day-to-day life.
To Arthur he’s breathtakingly beautiful and he aches so much, he wakes up.
*
“Meeerlin!” Arthur drawls as he enters his chambers.
Merlin straightens while he answers “Yes…ouch…Arthur?”, banging his head on the inside of the clothes cupboard as he does so.
Arthur just shakes his head.
“What are you doing in there anyway? Please don’t tell me, you’re trying to “sort” things? I’ll never find anything ever again.”
“Tried to find your favourite shirt for the feast tonight,” Merlin answers, holding it up. “The maid the other day didn’t put it where I like it.”
“Oh,” Arthur says. “So do you think I look good in it?”
*
The deep blue robes set off Merlin’s eyes beautifully. Arthur would rather have them in pendragon red but after his joke went bad, he’s happy that Merlin’s consented to wear robes at all. If it was up to Merlin he’d show up in his old servant garb for the ceremony. Considering he could turn them all into toads Arthur was half minded to let him, but then this is Merlin. So Arthur set off on this quest and he is glad he did so. Merlin looks good and Arthur wakes up full of want.
*
“Arthur! Why are we here?”
“Isn’t it nice here? And look at all those beautiful flowers. Isn’t there a girl you’d like to pick some for?”
“I guess I could bring Gwen some, she likes them.”
So of course, Merlin is the one who ends up with flowers in his hair like a girl and being smiled at when they come back to Camelot with their arms full.
Arthur gives his flowers to Merlin with instructions to put them into water.
*
“Arthur!” Merlin whines. “I have lots of things to do. What is it? And stop dragging me!”
He yanks the arm that Arthur has in a death grip. “Where are we going?”
“Here!” Arthur says finally, relieved that he can do so.
“This is a nice shadowy corner outside the castle walls, I’m sure. With lots of pretty green weeds growing. Yes, this is ...”
“Will you shut up? It’s for your garden. For growing herbs and plants and such. You...idiot.”
“Oh.” Merlin says and Arthur doesn’t want to but he knows he has to wake up now
*
“Thine eyes are as blue as the heavens,Your pallor the finest marble”
“Uhm, Arthur?”
“Red as cherries are thy lips”
“Arthur?”
“Sweetness is thy name”
“ARTHUR!”
“What?? I’m trying to recite poetry here!”
“That’s supposed to be poetry? It’s horrible. If you try that on Morgana she’ll run away as fast as she can!”
“Good thing she can’t run fast in those shoes of hers. And what? Why do you think I’m talking about Morgana?”
“Your not still pining over that girl Ysabell who was here last month, are you?”
“Merlin. You’re hopeless,” Arthur says with a deep sigh.
*
The fire dances merrily in the hearth, fuelled by nothing but air. Arthur’s sword and helmet are polishing themselves, the bath is filling with water by itself.
Merlin is humming under his breath, while thumping through his latest magical tome.
Arthur watches him and feels so comfortable, he doesn’t want to wake up.
*
“He’s picked flowers and gave them to me for putting them in water! And recites bad love poetry and I have to listen! And fusses over his clothes and asks me what I think! And he has me try out sweets and tell him which ones are best! And now he gives me THIS!”
Merlin holds out the affront to Morgana and Gwen.
“Please tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Morgana takes the effrontery out of Merlin’s hands.
“Hmmm, finest silk from the far east, dyed in Pendragon red. Very bad and tasteless. I think you should wear it,” she purrs, stroking Merlin’s new neckerchief but the smirk is a mile wide.
“I do not appreciate you laughing, Morgana,” Merlin says indignantly. “You said I could come to you for help.”
“Relax, Merlin. Of course I’ll help you. You have to admit it’s a little bit funny though.”
“Yeah, all right. But Arthur’s such a …”
“Prat?” Morgana finishes for him and Merlin’s ears turn a little red.
Morgana smiles again and then turns serious.
“Arthur gave you flowers, serenaded you with poetry, tried to look good for you and gifted you with sweets and clothes. You can draw your own conclusions from that. I think what you should do is kiss him.”
“But…” Merlin splutters. “I’m not a girl! Those are all gifts for girls! And I can’t even wear the neckerchief, it’s too fine for day-to-day wear! How was I supposed to figure out from that that Arthur was trying to…to...”
“Woo you. I was trying to woo you, you idiot,” Arthur butts in from his observation point, where he’d been leaning, arms crossed, against the door jamb for the last five minutes or so.
Merlin’s face when he whirls around is a sight to behold and Arthur’s lips quirk in a small smile.
“But,” Arthur continues, closing the door firmly behind him and locking it, causing a raised eyebrow from Morgana, “even if I’d given you your own wizard’s tower full of magic books and the license to do as much magic as you wanted, you’d still be an idiot about it, so I’ve decided to stop being subtle.”
Morgana recovers quicker than Merlin and Arthur’d bet the whole not-yet-his kingdom that Gwen’s hand is on her mouth not in shock but hiding her laughter.
When Morgana’s sly grin emerges and Arthur is shocked to find something like pride in her eyes, Merlin still resembles a fish.
So Arthur whacks him on the head and suppresses Merlin’s indignant “Ow!” by holding his head between his hands and kissing him with all he’s got.
*
When Arthur wakes up there’s an arm draped over his hip and a dark head resting on his shoulder.
“What’d’you dream about?” Merlin mumbles, while the curtains around their bed draw back and the windows open by themselves.
Arthur smiles.
“You. I dreamt about you.”
.
Rating: PG
Fandom/Pairing: Merlin, Merlin/Arthur
Wordcount: ~1200
Warnings: Romance, fluffy fluffiness
Summary: Clueless!Merlin and Frustrated!Arthur. Will they ever manage to be on the same page?
Notes: Written as welcome to the fandom for my lovely and wonderful friend genteelrebel . She gave me “sweetness” as prompt. And is the most awesome friend, because she betaed her own present. Thank you!
Constructive Criticism is ALWAYS welcome and much loved!
“Here, try this.”
“What is that?”
“Will you just eat it? I’ll make it an order if I have to! And no, I’m not trying to poison you.”
“All right, all right. Hmmm, this is good.”
“You like it then? Try this.”
“Arthur, are you trying to stuff me? I’ll look like Brunhild, the cook, if you keep doing that.”
“Don’t worry, Merlin. Until you look like Brunhild, you’ll have to eat as many pastries and sweets as would fit into our grain stores.”
“But those are huge.”
“Yes, Merlin, and ‘thin as a rake’ doesn’t cover it for you.”
*
Merlin is magnificent.
He stands proud and tall, his eyes glowing golden, fire and lightning blazing from his finger tips. His deep blue robes flow around him, his movements have a fluid grace he doesn’t achieve in day-to-day life.
To Arthur he’s breathtakingly beautiful and he aches so much, he wakes up.
*
“Meeerlin!” Arthur drawls as he enters his chambers.
Merlin straightens while he answers “Yes…ouch…Arthur?”, banging his head on the inside of the clothes cupboard as he does so.
Arthur just shakes his head.
“What are you doing in there anyway? Please don’t tell me, you’re trying to “sort” things? I’ll never find anything ever again.”
“Tried to find your favourite shirt for the feast tonight,” Merlin answers, holding it up. “The maid the other day didn’t put it where I like it.”
“Oh,” Arthur says. “So do you think I look good in it?”
*
The deep blue robes set off Merlin’s eyes beautifully. Arthur would rather have them in pendragon red but after his joke went bad, he’s happy that Merlin’s consented to wear robes at all. If it was up to Merlin he’d show up in his old servant garb for the ceremony. Considering he could turn them all into toads Arthur was half minded to let him, but then this is Merlin. So Arthur set off on this quest and he is glad he did so. Merlin looks good and Arthur wakes up full of want.
*
“Arthur! Why are we here?”
“Isn’t it nice here? And look at all those beautiful flowers. Isn’t there a girl you’d like to pick some for?”
“I guess I could bring Gwen some, she likes them.”
So of course, Merlin is the one who ends up with flowers in his hair like a girl and being smiled at when they come back to Camelot with their arms full.
Arthur gives his flowers to Merlin with instructions to put them into water.
*
“Arthur!” Merlin whines. “I have lots of things to do. What is it? And stop dragging me!”
He yanks the arm that Arthur has in a death grip. “Where are we going?”
“Here!” Arthur says finally, relieved that he can do so.
“This is a nice shadowy corner outside the castle walls, I’m sure. With lots of pretty green weeds growing. Yes, this is ...”
“Will you shut up? It’s for your garden. For growing herbs and plants and such. You...idiot.”
“Oh.” Merlin says and Arthur doesn’t want to but he knows he has to wake up now
*
“Thine eyes are as blue as the heavens,Your pallor the finest marble”
“Uhm, Arthur?”
“Red as cherries are thy lips”
“Arthur?”
“Sweetness is thy name”
“ARTHUR!”
“What?? I’m trying to recite poetry here!”
“That’s supposed to be poetry? It’s horrible. If you try that on Morgana she’ll run away as fast as she can!”
“Good thing she can’t run fast in those shoes of hers. And what? Why do you think I’m talking about Morgana?”
“Your not still pining over that girl Ysabell who was here last month, are you?”
“Merlin. You’re hopeless,” Arthur says with a deep sigh.
*
The fire dances merrily in the hearth, fuelled by nothing but air. Arthur’s sword and helmet are polishing themselves, the bath is filling with water by itself.
Merlin is humming under his breath, while thumping through his latest magical tome.
Arthur watches him and feels so comfortable, he doesn’t want to wake up.
*
“He’s picked flowers and gave them to me for putting them in water! And recites bad love poetry and I have to listen! And fusses over his clothes and asks me what I think! And he has me try out sweets and tell him which ones are best! And now he gives me THIS!”
Merlin holds out the affront to Morgana and Gwen.
“Please tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Morgana takes the effrontery out of Merlin’s hands.
“Hmmm, finest silk from the far east, dyed in Pendragon red. Very bad and tasteless. I think you should wear it,” she purrs, stroking Merlin’s new neckerchief but the smirk is a mile wide.
“I do not appreciate you laughing, Morgana,” Merlin says indignantly. “You said I could come to you for help.”
“Relax, Merlin. Of course I’ll help you. You have to admit it’s a little bit funny though.”
“Yeah, all right. But Arthur’s such a …”
“Prat?” Morgana finishes for him and Merlin’s ears turn a little red.
Morgana smiles again and then turns serious.
“Arthur gave you flowers, serenaded you with poetry, tried to look good for you and gifted you with sweets and clothes. You can draw your own conclusions from that. I think what you should do is kiss him.”
“But…” Merlin splutters. “I’m not a girl! Those are all gifts for girls! And I can’t even wear the neckerchief, it’s too fine for day-to-day wear! How was I supposed to figure out from that that Arthur was trying to…to...”
“Woo you. I was trying to woo you, you idiot,” Arthur butts in from his observation point, where he’d been leaning, arms crossed, against the door jamb for the last five minutes or so.
Merlin’s face when he whirls around is a sight to behold and Arthur’s lips quirk in a small smile.
“But,” Arthur continues, closing the door firmly behind him and locking it, causing a raised eyebrow from Morgana, “even if I’d given you your own wizard’s tower full of magic books and the license to do as much magic as you wanted, you’d still be an idiot about it, so I’ve decided to stop being subtle.”
Morgana recovers quicker than Merlin and Arthur’d bet the whole not-yet-his kingdom that Gwen’s hand is on her mouth not in shock but hiding her laughter.
When Morgana’s sly grin emerges and Arthur is shocked to find something like pride in her eyes, Merlin still resembles a fish.
So Arthur whacks him on the head and suppresses Merlin’s indignant “Ow!” by holding his head between his hands and kissing him with all he’s got.
*
When Arthur wakes up there’s an arm draped over his hip and a dark head resting on his shoulder.
“What’d’you dream about?” Merlin mumbles, while the curtains around their bed draw back and the windows open by themselves.
Arthur smiles.
“You. I dreamt about you.”
.