Ficlets of the fluffy sort
After reading two very sad, sweet MPregs that both ended tragically, I was moved by how people wanted a happy ending and healthy bebbehs for Our Boys, so I wrote two fluffy-as-pancake ficlets of my own to offer. With bebbehs, Mpreg and happy endings. Hey, give the people what they want. This is my first time posting here. I do hope I did everything right.
Title: New Development
Rating: PG
Warning: Mpreg
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Summary: Merlin needs new trousers.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters or my show. But I play with them anyway.
“Arthur?”
Arthur turns from plugging in the kettle to look over at Merlin, who’s still in his green dressing gown at ten in the morning and looks like he hasn’t slept all night.
Arthur sighs and braces himself. From the looks of it, Merlin’s feeling glum and moody this morning. Again.
“What, Merlin? What’s happened?” His initial feeling of impatience gives way to a tender sort of exasperation when Merlin fumbles with the belt of his dressing gown and shrugs helplessly.
“It can’t be that bad,” Arthur persists, crossing over to touch Merlin’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Merlin mumbles something. Arthur frowns and cocks his head.
“Didn’t catch that. Speak up.”
Merlin looks up and meets his eyes. “I said I need to borrow your clothes.”
Arthur almost laughs in relief. “Is that all? Whatever for? You’re welcome to them, but you’d be swimming in them.”
Merlin gulps and shakes his head.
“Not for long.”
Arthur pauses, and Merlin takes his hand and pushes aside the terrycloth of the robe to let it rest against his lower stomach.
Arthur moves his hand a bit tentatively over the area, and he can feel it-a definite, firm curve that seems to have appeared overnight-through Merlin’s pajamas.
He can’t keep a ridiculously bright smile off his face and he kisses Merlin so hard that Merlin stumbles back a step, causing Arthur to break the kiss immediately and remember that he needs to be a bit more careful kissing Merlin these days, especially like that.
“You’re gorgeous. You’re absolutely brilliant,” he breathes, still smiling, and Merlin manages to smile back.
“I still need larger trousers.”
Arthur planted a messy kiss on his forehead.
“Wear mine if you like for now, but I’m buying you new ones. I insist.”
He can’t keep his hands off the new bump, and Merlin’s fingers brush against his own when he touches it again.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Merlin says quietly. “It makes it so…real.”
Arthur tears his eyes away from Merlin’s stomach and searches his eyes. Merlin’s moods change so abruptly these days that sometimes he has to make sure that Merlin’s actually happy about this.
“You okay?” he asks.
Merlin blinks and his smile widens. He reaches a hand up and gently twines it around the back of Arthur’s head, tugging him in for another kiss.
“Yeah,” he says when they end it, long moments later. “I’m very okay.”
And this one...
Title: Day at the Museum
Pairing: Merlin/ Arthur
Rating: G
Summary: A baby, a dragon portrait, and the boys. Nuff said.
Disclaimer: Still not my show or my characters.
Author's Note: This could be a continuation of "New Developments" or a stand-alone. You decide.
“Aren’t you done looking at those yet?”
Arthur tore his eyes away from the display of a suit of armor mounted on a plaster horse and threw a smile over at Merlin, who had a wriggling Gawain strapped to his chest in a baby harness.
“Want me to take him?” Arthur volunteered, holding out his hands. Merlin gave him a grateful look and carefully lifted Gawain out of the harness, handing him over to Arthur.
“Thanks. He’s been fidgety for a while now. I think he’s getting tired.”
Arthur held Gawain close to his side, pointing up at the display.
“Look at that!” he said. “Can you say ‘knight?’”
Gawain sniffled and buried his face in Arthur’s shoulder, obviously not impressed. Merlin snorted.
“I don’t think he can appreciate knights just yet,” he commented. He glanced over his shoulder at the room leading off from this one.
“Mind if I go take a look at the paintings? I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”
Arthur saw him eyeing Gawain anxiously.
“Merlin, go on. He’ll survive without you for ten minutes.” Merlin was a good father, but sometimes Arthur felt a bit left out. Gawain and Merlin had such a close bond that sometimes he felt the need to remind Merlin that he was here to help, too.
Merlin stroked Gawain’s dark curls and smiled at Arthur, heading out of the room. Gawain whined loudly seeing him go, and Arthur shushed him, bouncing him slightly in his arms.
“It’s all right, he’ll be back. I’m here. Don’t you like me?”
It was a light-hearted question, but for a moment Arthur wondered if his son would cry or turn away, as if an innocent baby gesture would confirm what Arthur was most afraid of.
Instead, Gawain just looked at him, then back up at the knight display, and pointed the same way Arthur had.
“Da!” he proclaimed. Arthur beamed. “Da” was Gawain’s word for everything, but it was a promising start.
“That’s right! And what’s that over there?” He pointed to a shield mounted on the wall, depicting a gryphon rampant.
Gawain’s brow furrowed and he contemplated it seriously before deciding, “Da.”
Arthur laughed. “Well, at least it doesn’t scare you.”
Gawain smiled when he heard Arthur’s laugh, and Arthur let all his insecurities disappear when his son smiled at him. It was the same as his own, after all.
“And what’s that?” Arthur said, pointing to a small mirror in another display, whose age-spotted surface reflected them both.
Gawain blinked and ventured another “Da.”
“Almost right,” Arthur said, stepping closer to it. “That handsome little devil is you, and the very handsome man he obviously takes after is me. See?”
Gawain waved his arms and giggled when he saw his reflection mimic him.
“He likes you!” Arthur said, ruffling Gawain’s hair. For a moment, he just took in the sight of himself and this amazing little person in the mirror.
Sometimes it still surprised him that he’d helped to make this child. Gawain had his eyes and his smile, but was still so separate-so much himself.
“Let’s go see your mum,” Arthur said, using the parental title that Merlin hated, even though it was technically pretty accurate.
Merlin was adamant that their son call them whatever male derivative of “Dad” he wanted once his language skills developed further, but Arthur snuck “mum” in whenever he could, just to irritate Merlin for fun.
Pointing things out to Gawain meant that he didn’t catch sight of Merlin immediately until Gawain crowed and twisted in his arms, pointing at a figure across the room who was gazing raptly at a large painting of a dragon.
Merlin turned at the sound of Gawain’s cry and smiled as they approached. He held out his arms to Gawain, but the baby maintained a firm grip on Arthur’s jumper and Merlin let his arms drop with a look of mild disappointment.
Arthur tugged Merlin closer in reassurance, curling an arm around his waist and holding Gawain firmly with the other.
“Who’s this by?” he said, scrutinizing the painting.
It was a magnificent piece of work, featuring a large green dragon stretching its’ wings to the sun, perched on what looked like a mountain crag. Arthur admired the amount of detail that the artist had managed to depict. The scales alone almost looked real.
“I’m not sure,” Merlin said. “It just caught my eye.”
Gawain stared at the painting, two small fingers in his mouth. Arthur boosted him up slightly for a better view.
“What’s that? Can you say ‘dragon’?” he said.
“Agon,” Gawain pronounced. Arthur nearly dropped him in surprise, and Merlin let out a gleeful laugh.
“He said it! He said ‘dragon!’ Arthur, that’s his first word!”
“Who’s a clever boy?” Arthur said, kissing Gawain’s cheek. “Who’s taking after their father more and more?”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Yes, that’s where he gets it from, not the one who reads him fairy tales every night.”
Arthur laughed. “How do you know I didn’t mean you? Much as I’d like to, I can’t take all the credit for creating a perfect child.”
Merlin’s eyes went soft, and Arthur knew that look-that “If we weren’t in a public place, I’d been snogging you within an inch of your life” look.
“Later,” Arthur said in a sotto voice. “When this one’s taking his nap.”
Merlin slipped his hand into the crook of Arthur’s arm.
“You know, I think I’ve seen enough art for today,” he said, ratcheting up the look. Arthur grinned.
“Same here.” He helped to settle Gawain back in his baby harness, and they walked out of the room with their arms around each other. Before they left, Arthur turned back for a last look at the painting of the dragon.
It was absurd, really, but for one flash of an instant-probably a trick of the light-he could’ve sworn he saw the dragon wink.