fic: Merlin On Ice 1/?
Title: Merlin On Ice 1/?
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Spoilers/Warnings: I'm pretty sure that there aren't any. [It IS an AU, after all] Despite the title, THIS ISN'T CRACK!
Summary: Figure Skating Merlin has a crush on Hockey Player Arthur (which might be returned.)
AN: I'm pretty sure this is unfinished, but I'm a bit out of ideas. Wanted to share it either way. Also, I apologize for the surnames.
Merlin met Arthur when he was eleven years old. He had just entered the awkward years of his life - the middle school years - and he knew a grand total of four people at Camelot Preparatory School. His best friend and neighbor for his whole life, Will Prince; his skating partner since age five, Morgana LeFey; her best friend Guinevere Queens; and Lancelot Sirre, who lived across the hallway from him and Will in a rather nondescript apartment complex.
Merlin knew, of course, just how ridiculous it was that they were all (with the exception of Will) characters from a stupid legend. Knew that their school name, Camelot Preparatory Middle School only made it worse. The final piece of straw for the camel’s back, however, was the fact that Merlin was a little bit magic. He had heard all the jokes, and endured years of mocking from his friends - the only ones who knew that particular secret.
And then he met Arthur - not only a gigantic prat - but also the missing character in their unwilling legend. It was three weeks into the school year when they met. He hadn't spent the entire time staring at Arthur's backside - he hadn't even been aware of Arthur. They hadn't met at school at all, but at the skating rink, while doing warm-up's with Morgana.
Morgana looked up suddenly, spied a boy on the other side of the rink and had declared, "That’s my brother."
This was a surprise, because Morgana didn’t have a brother. She didn't even have a sister who might consider a gender change operation. Her father had died early in her life, and her mother had never remarried. Morgana's mother worked, and that was about it.
"Oh." Merlin said a bit dazed. Morgana sometimes said things like that, predicted the future with unlikely scenarios. And she was always right. Then Merlin got a good look at the boy. "Oh," he said again. "Wow."
He hadn't thought somebody could be better looking than Lancelot.
"Well, come on then," Morgana said, standing up. "Nimweh says we're supposed to be working on jumps again today."
Merlin nodded and followed her onto the ice.
His mother claimed it was an accident, because five year old Merlin had wanted to play hockey, but his mother had filled out and turned in the forms for figure skating. Will had nearly died laughing. So not only was Merlin a bit skinny with a funny name, and a little magic - he also had a very girly past-time activity. He supposed it could be worse, seeing as Lancelot spent a good deal of his free time shoveling horse manure, and Will played non-violent, family friendly video games.
That was, really, the closest Merlin got to Arthur for a good three months. Then came the wedding, which Morgana dragged him to because she didn’t think she could bare to be in a room with her new brother without trying to shove his face in the wedding cake. Merlin acted as a buffer - an extremely wide-eyed, blushing and unable-to-string-a-sentence-together (but rather good at insulting him) buffer.
And that pretty much described Merlin’s interactions with Arthur for the next seven years.
==
There was a three second gap in time between the moment Merlin’s feet left the ice, and the moment his back met the ice. Again.
He grunted, not feeling the cold, because he had been on the ice for hours. His back was probably covered in bruises because of the number of falls he’d taken - but no matter what he did, he just couldn’t get the new jump done properly.
His skating partner, Morgana LeFey had grasped the concept and the physics behind the jump almost immediately and she had tried to help Merlin get it right, but he had shooed her off to practice something else, and was now regretting that decision immensely.
Instead of standing up and trying again, Merlin lay flat, cursing himself. He knew that he could help himself get it right. Just a little tweak and he could do the move and remember each little movement which made it right. However, Morgana had expressly forbid him to use magic to train his body into the right movements.
So deeply immersed in his thoughts about using magic to aid his task, Merlin missed the soft footsteps which echoed slightly as somebody walked across the ice - towards him.
“You really shouldn’t be on the ice, you know that - right?”
An annoyingly perfect blond head suddenly was staring down at the man on the ice, who stared moodily back.
“Not that it’s your business,” he replied snappily.
Arthur Pendragon tilted his head slightly to one side, offering Merlin a crooked smile. “Well, no it’s not, but I don’t really enjoy watching you fall over yourself either.”
“Oh?” Merlin muttered dubiously, slowly standing up again. With his skates on, he was several inches taller than the blond, though he didn’t feel it.
“Well, maybe I do enjoy it - but I’m still the one stuck driving your concussed ass to the hospital,” Arthur amended with a grin.
“Indeed.” Without looking again, Merlin slowly started to skate back to his starting point, in order to try the maneuver again. He was fairly certain that he was going to end up flat on the ice again, but he had promised himself that he would get it right.
“Hey, don’t run away!”
“From you?”
“Well, there’s no one else here. I’d hate to think you’re running away from the ice.” Arthur watched carefully as Merlin carefully posed himself. “What are you doing, anyway?”
“Practicing.” The answer was short, Merlin’s eyes closed as he visualized the scenario in which he would use this move.
“For?”
“How long have you known me?” Merlin sighed, dropping his body and frowning at the blond. “Isn’t it obvious? When I throw your sister across the rink, I have to coordinate myself and counter-spin so I don’t fall over in the middle of the routine. And shut up, I know what you’re thinking.”
A set of teeth clicked shut, an amused smile hiding them from view.
“You really did pick a girly sport, Merlin,” Arthur sighed, moving forward a bit.
“Well, not everyone can knock out teeth in a hockey fight,” came the terse retort as Merlin concentrated on his pose again.
“I’ll have you know that hockey is a very complex sport which involved more than just-”
“A group of testosterone ridden men trying to prove who had the biggest cock?” Merlin supplied, skating forward and attempting to maneuver his body as though he were throwing Morgana.
“What? No,” came the distracted reply. “It’s-”
“A bunch of men who never realized that beating each other with sticks is a pastime for children?”
Merlin leapt into the air and spun tightly but wobbled again on his landing, crashing into the ice and skidding to a stop a few feet from where he had landed.
Arthur sighed and crouched over the still form on the ice. “You’re just annoyed because my father put me in hockey and your mother put you in figure skating.”
“You’re just mad because I have the chance to win Olympic medals and you’re stuck on a crappy team in Ho-town.” Was the muttered reply.
“You don’t like me, do you?” Arthur extended his hand down and helped Merlin back to his feet. He carefully checked the back of the dark haired head for bumps or bleeding, but found nothing.
“What’s to like?”
“My charm? My wit? My-“
“-Pratishness of exaggerated proportions?”
“Oh, ha ha. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner. You’ve been here all day.”
Merlin was quiet for a moment before looking at Arthur with a shy smile. “Thanks,” he said softly, before his skates hit a bump in the ice and sent him crashing back to the floor of the rink.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Spoilers/Warnings: I'm pretty sure that there aren't any. [It IS an AU, after all] Despite the title, THIS ISN'T CRACK!
Summary: Figure Skating Merlin has a crush on Hockey Player Arthur (which might be returned.)
AN: I'm pretty sure this is unfinished, but I'm a bit out of ideas. Wanted to share it either way. Also, I apologize for the surnames.
Merlin met Arthur when he was eleven years old. He had just entered the awkward years of his life - the middle school years - and he knew a grand total of four people at Camelot Preparatory School. His best friend and neighbor for his whole life, Will Prince; his skating partner since age five, Morgana LeFey; her best friend Guinevere Queens; and Lancelot Sirre, who lived across the hallway from him and Will in a rather nondescript apartment complex.
Merlin knew, of course, just how ridiculous it was that they were all (with the exception of Will) characters from a stupid legend. Knew that their school name, Camelot Preparatory Middle School only made it worse. The final piece of straw for the camel’s back, however, was the fact that Merlin was a little bit magic. He had heard all the jokes, and endured years of mocking from his friends - the only ones who knew that particular secret.
And then he met Arthur - not only a gigantic prat - but also the missing character in their unwilling legend. It was three weeks into the school year when they met. He hadn't spent the entire time staring at Arthur's backside - he hadn't even been aware of Arthur. They hadn't met at school at all, but at the skating rink, while doing warm-up's with Morgana.
Morgana looked up suddenly, spied a boy on the other side of the rink and had declared, "That’s my brother."
This was a surprise, because Morgana didn’t have a brother. She didn't even have a sister who might consider a gender change operation. Her father had died early in her life, and her mother had never remarried. Morgana's mother worked, and that was about it.
"Oh." Merlin said a bit dazed. Morgana sometimes said things like that, predicted the future with unlikely scenarios. And she was always right. Then Merlin got a good look at the boy. "Oh," he said again. "Wow."
He hadn't thought somebody could be better looking than Lancelot.
"Well, come on then," Morgana said, standing up. "Nimweh says we're supposed to be working on jumps again today."
Merlin nodded and followed her onto the ice.
His mother claimed it was an accident, because five year old Merlin had wanted to play hockey, but his mother had filled out and turned in the forms for figure skating. Will had nearly died laughing. So not only was Merlin a bit skinny with a funny name, and a little magic - he also had a very girly past-time activity. He supposed it could be worse, seeing as Lancelot spent a good deal of his free time shoveling horse manure, and Will played non-violent, family friendly video games.
That was, really, the closest Merlin got to Arthur for a good three months. Then came the wedding, which Morgana dragged him to because she didn’t think she could bare to be in a room with her new brother without trying to shove his face in the wedding cake. Merlin acted as a buffer - an extremely wide-eyed, blushing and unable-to-string-a-sentence-together (but rather good at insulting him) buffer.
And that pretty much described Merlin’s interactions with Arthur for the next seven years.
==
There was a three second gap in time between the moment Merlin’s feet left the ice, and the moment his back met the ice. Again.
He grunted, not feeling the cold, because he had been on the ice for hours. His back was probably covered in bruises because of the number of falls he’d taken - but no matter what he did, he just couldn’t get the new jump done properly.
His skating partner, Morgana LeFey had grasped the concept and the physics behind the jump almost immediately and she had tried to help Merlin get it right, but he had shooed her off to practice something else, and was now regretting that decision immensely.
Instead of standing up and trying again, Merlin lay flat, cursing himself. He knew that he could help himself get it right. Just a little tweak and he could do the move and remember each little movement which made it right. However, Morgana had expressly forbid him to use magic to train his body into the right movements.
So deeply immersed in his thoughts about using magic to aid his task, Merlin missed the soft footsteps which echoed slightly as somebody walked across the ice - towards him.
“You really shouldn’t be on the ice, you know that - right?”
An annoyingly perfect blond head suddenly was staring down at the man on the ice, who stared moodily back.
“Not that it’s your business,” he replied snappily.
Arthur Pendragon tilted his head slightly to one side, offering Merlin a crooked smile. “Well, no it’s not, but I don’t really enjoy watching you fall over yourself either.”
“Oh?” Merlin muttered dubiously, slowly standing up again. With his skates on, he was several inches taller than the blond, though he didn’t feel it.
“Well, maybe I do enjoy it - but I’m still the one stuck driving your concussed ass to the hospital,” Arthur amended with a grin.
“Indeed.” Without looking again, Merlin slowly started to skate back to his starting point, in order to try the maneuver again. He was fairly certain that he was going to end up flat on the ice again, but he had promised himself that he would get it right.
“Hey, don’t run away!”
“From you?”
“Well, there’s no one else here. I’d hate to think you’re running away from the ice.” Arthur watched carefully as Merlin carefully posed himself. “What are you doing, anyway?”
“Practicing.” The answer was short, Merlin’s eyes closed as he visualized the scenario in which he would use this move.
“For?”
“How long have you known me?” Merlin sighed, dropping his body and frowning at the blond. “Isn’t it obvious? When I throw your sister across the rink, I have to coordinate myself and counter-spin so I don’t fall over in the middle of the routine. And shut up, I know what you’re thinking.”
A set of teeth clicked shut, an amused smile hiding them from view.
“You really did pick a girly sport, Merlin,” Arthur sighed, moving forward a bit.
“Well, not everyone can knock out teeth in a hockey fight,” came the terse retort as Merlin concentrated on his pose again.
“I’ll have you know that hockey is a very complex sport which involved more than just-”
“A group of testosterone ridden men trying to prove who had the biggest cock?” Merlin supplied, skating forward and attempting to maneuver his body as though he were throwing Morgana.
“What? No,” came the distracted reply. “It’s-”
“A bunch of men who never realized that beating each other with sticks is a pastime for children?”
Merlin leapt into the air and spun tightly but wobbled again on his landing, crashing into the ice and skidding to a stop a few feet from where he had landed.
Arthur sighed and crouched over the still form on the ice. “You’re just annoyed because my father put me in hockey and your mother put you in figure skating.”
“You’re just mad because I have the chance to win Olympic medals and you’re stuck on a crappy team in Ho-town.” Was the muttered reply.
“You don’t like me, do you?” Arthur extended his hand down and helped Merlin back to his feet. He carefully checked the back of the dark haired head for bumps or bleeding, but found nothing.
“What’s to like?”
“My charm? My wit? My-“
“-Pratishness of exaggerated proportions?”
“Oh, ha ha. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner. You’ve been here all day.”
Merlin was quiet for a moment before looking at Arthur with a shy smile. “Thanks,” he said softly, before his skates hit a bump in the ice and sent him crashing back to the floor of the rink.