A long way to go 5/16
Title: A long way to go 5/16
Author: bunnysworld
Rating: NC-17 (not in this part, but it’ll get there)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Spoilers: No spoilers
Warnings: modern AU, with a hint of magic, homophobia
Word Count: 15.800andafew
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the boys aren’t mine. Just took them out to play a little. I give them back unharmed - if I have to. Own nothing, no copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Arthur thinks his life is over. And then he meets Merlin.
Thanks to the wonderful tambear13 for being my cheerleader through this and for the quick beta.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Nursing another bottle of beer, Arthur sat on his couch in the dark. He hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set, too wrapped up in his thinking. What if Merlin was right? What if he should start to see the pain not as the normal state but as the usual that he should try to fight? Then again, it was so normal that everything else was unusual. And what did this bloke know anyway? Who was he, but a tall, gangly, wiry guy with the thickest black hair Arthur had ever seen, a smile that could light up a room and hands so gentle that just thinking of them made Arthur shiver?
But no, he couldn’t allow thoughts like this. This was how this all had started. Never again would he allow feelings. They only brought him into the situation he was in now.
And why should he go back to the healer? What had he done so far? Asked a lot of stupid questions, accused him of things that weren’t true and only brought temporary relief. Arthur popped in another pain killer and washed it down with the beer and a little while later, he took another one, just for good measure. Maybe he would be able to sleep for more than two hours this way?
When he was rudely woken by a hand roughly shaking his shoulder, Arthur’s mind waded through thick fog… Or more like… Wet cotton balls. He groaned and closed his eyes again quickly. Too much light. And Morgana… Talking to him, but he didn’t hear the words. Why didn’t she just go away? He’d had such a nice dream about himself being able to walk, able to play soccer again. And there was a nice young bloke, smiling at him, with a million dollar smile and… Arthur blinked again when he felt a hand on his forehead and saw the guy from his dream in front of him, but instead of the smile, a concerned frown on his face.
“Arthur… Arthur, do you hear me? How many of these did you take?”
An empty vial of his pain killers was held into his field of vision. He didn’t know how many he’d taken. Enough to let him sleep and have pleasant dreams.
“We need to keep him awake!” Darn, the annoying voice of his sister.
“’m awake,” he croaked out, his throat feeling sore and there was a taste in his mouth like something crawled in and decided to die there.
“Stay with us.”
“Merlin, do something!” Why couldn’t Morgana just leave?
Arthur still felt Merlin’s hand on his forehead and the other one on his stomach and then there was this tingling through his body again. After a while he opened his eyes again, feeling a lot better already. He tried to sit up. “What happened?”
Merlin was on his knees in front of the couch, his eyes closed, a concentrated look on his face, his hands still holding Arthur down. That bloke was surprisingly strong for someone so gangly.
“What happened?” Morgana almost shrieked. “You almost died, you idiot!”
“Didn’t,” he replied weakly. “I just wanted to sleep.”
“You wanted to sleep forever? “
That didn’t sound like the worst thing ever.
When Merlin opened his eyes and took his hands away, Arthur tried to sit up. But that wasn’t as easy as he’d thought, he still felt dizzy.
“Don’t. Stay where you are.” Merlin got up and reached for the book that lay under the junk that had collected on Arthur’s coffee table in the past few days. He scanned the pages and then frowned. “And these are only the ones you remember taking?”
Now Arthur frowned. “I noted everything down.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Merlin turned the book and there were little drawings and circles on the pages, a half-finished sentence here, some words that were out of context there.
Arthur sighed. Alright, he’d probably messed up big time. And there was nobody he could blame it on but himself and that fucking damn knee. Which he hadn’t felt in… He couldn’t remember. Even though he still felt sick, the tingling Merlin’s hands had produced in his body hadn’t stopped yet. And his knee didn’t hurt.
“So you’re going to get me into the closed-off ward of some mental institution?” His tongue still felt like lead and that ugly taste hadn’t gone away either.
“I should!” Morgana crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared.
But Merlin shook his head. “That would do no good.” He looked around as if he saw the room for the first time. “This house sure has more than one guest room.”
“Five, to be exact,” Morgana rolled her eyes as if the need for five bedrooms was something alien. Then again, she was probably right. Nobody had visited him in a long time.
Merlin got up. “Then it is settled. I’ll take one of them until the worst is over.”
Arthur was about to protest. He wasn’t a sick kid that someone had to watch over. So he’d taken a pain killer too much, this could happen, right? He’d woken up sooner or later on his own. Without the help of his sister and the healer who planned to make camp in one of his guest rooms!
“Thank you, Merlin.” Oh, now Morgana had pulled out her sweet-voice. “This is more than I could ever ask for.”
Merlin just nodded, gave Morgana instructions for the next hour and left.
“Is he gone?” Arthur closed his eyes, it was still too bright in this room.
“To get the stuff he needs for the next couple of days.”
“I don’t want him here.”
“Oh yes, you do.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“If I ever saw anyone in dire need of a babysitter, it was you, dearest brother of mine. You should be happy and thankful that he brought you back from the dead. That his magic pulled you out of this.” Morgana tried to keep calm, but her voice was vibrating with anger.
Arthur snorted. “Magic, yeah, right. Only you believe in such crap.”
“Yes, Arthur, I happen to believe in it. And I’ve seen him work, he’s doing magic.”
“He works with acupressure and other stuff that stimulates some nerve ends in the body. That’s more traditional Chinese medicine than magic.” Every time Merlin had tried something new, Arthur had done the online research about it later.
“Call it what you want, as long as it works!”
They spent the rest of the time until Merlin’s return in silence, Morgana sitting in an armchair, her foot nervously tapping, Arthur on the couch, still enjoying that tingling feeling, his eyes closed.
))))))))))))
Arthur woke up hours later. How many, he didn’t know. But it seemed he had slept through the night as it was dawning already. His head was pounding and he felt awful. When he tried to sit up, the world around him was spinning and he felt sick. He groaned and sat up anyway, immediately reaching for his cane. He needed to pee, no matter if the earth around him tried to move.
He startled when he noticed the sleeping man in the armchair. Oh, right, Merlin had infiltrated his house. But he had one of the guest rooms, Arthur was sure Morgana made sure of that, why did he sleep in one of the arm chairs?
Making his way over to the bathroom - had that always been so far away from the living room? - Arthur knocked a few things over and had to brace himself against a wall or two on the way. When he finally reached the bathroom, he needed to sit down. But he miscalculated the distance and sat down…next to the toilet, hitting the back of his head against the tub in the process. He groaned.
Next thing he knew was Merlin being at his side, checking his pulse, feeling the back of his head and that tingly feeling was back.
But he still felt sick. “Gotta…”
Merlin seemed to understand and lifted the lid of the toilet just in time for Arthur to throw up. After a while he just heaved, nothing else in his stomach that would want to leave him this way, so he sank back against the tub, closing his eyes until the room once again stopped spinning.
“Better now?”
“Kind of. Still need to pee.”
“Go ahead.”
Feeling too wobbly to care if someone was watching, Arthur let Merlin help him sit and then just did what he came here to do.
When he was done, Merlin helped him up, steered him over to the sink and made him wash his hands. And brush his teeth. When Arthur caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he stared for a moment. Fuck. How low had he sunk?
He splashed his face with water and let Merlin dry it with a towel. He was no kid who needed help with it, but he couldn’t muster the energy to protest. He’d do that later.
Arthur even let Merlin help him back to the couch and didn’t protest against the hands that were back on him, making his whole body tingle.
“Sleep now,” was the last thing he heard before he sank back into slumber.
Part 6
Author: bunnysworld
Rating: NC-17 (not in this part, but it’ll get there)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Spoilers: No spoilers
Warnings: modern AU, with a hint of magic, homophobia
Word Count: 15.800andafew
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the boys aren’t mine. Just took them out to play a little. I give them back unharmed - if I have to. Own nothing, no copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Arthur thinks his life is over. And then he meets Merlin.
Thanks to the wonderful tambear13 for being my cheerleader through this and for the quick beta.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Nursing another bottle of beer, Arthur sat on his couch in the dark. He hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set, too wrapped up in his thinking. What if Merlin was right? What if he should start to see the pain not as the normal state but as the usual that he should try to fight? Then again, it was so normal that everything else was unusual. And what did this bloke know anyway? Who was he, but a tall, gangly, wiry guy with the thickest black hair Arthur had ever seen, a smile that could light up a room and hands so gentle that just thinking of them made Arthur shiver?
But no, he couldn’t allow thoughts like this. This was how this all had started. Never again would he allow feelings. They only brought him into the situation he was in now.
And why should he go back to the healer? What had he done so far? Asked a lot of stupid questions, accused him of things that weren’t true and only brought temporary relief. Arthur popped in another pain killer and washed it down with the beer and a little while later, he took another one, just for good measure. Maybe he would be able to sleep for more than two hours this way?
When he was rudely woken by a hand roughly shaking his shoulder, Arthur’s mind waded through thick fog… Or more like… Wet cotton balls. He groaned and closed his eyes again quickly. Too much light. And Morgana… Talking to him, but he didn’t hear the words. Why didn’t she just go away? He’d had such a nice dream about himself being able to walk, able to play soccer again. And there was a nice young bloke, smiling at him, with a million dollar smile and… Arthur blinked again when he felt a hand on his forehead and saw the guy from his dream in front of him, but instead of the smile, a concerned frown on his face.
“Arthur… Arthur, do you hear me? How many of these did you take?”
An empty vial of his pain killers was held into his field of vision. He didn’t know how many he’d taken. Enough to let him sleep and have pleasant dreams.
“We need to keep him awake!” Darn, the annoying voice of his sister.
“’m awake,” he croaked out, his throat feeling sore and there was a taste in his mouth like something crawled in and decided to die there.
“Stay with us.”
“Merlin, do something!” Why couldn’t Morgana just leave?
Arthur still felt Merlin’s hand on his forehead and the other one on his stomach and then there was this tingling through his body again. After a while he opened his eyes again, feeling a lot better already. He tried to sit up. “What happened?”
Merlin was on his knees in front of the couch, his eyes closed, a concentrated look on his face, his hands still holding Arthur down. That bloke was surprisingly strong for someone so gangly.
“What happened?” Morgana almost shrieked. “You almost died, you idiot!”
“Didn’t,” he replied weakly. “I just wanted to sleep.”
“You wanted to sleep forever? “
That didn’t sound like the worst thing ever.
When Merlin opened his eyes and took his hands away, Arthur tried to sit up. But that wasn’t as easy as he’d thought, he still felt dizzy.
“Don’t. Stay where you are.” Merlin got up and reached for the book that lay under the junk that had collected on Arthur’s coffee table in the past few days. He scanned the pages and then frowned. “And these are only the ones you remember taking?”
Now Arthur frowned. “I noted everything down.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Merlin turned the book and there were little drawings and circles on the pages, a half-finished sentence here, some words that were out of context there.
Arthur sighed. Alright, he’d probably messed up big time. And there was nobody he could blame it on but himself and that fucking damn knee. Which he hadn’t felt in… He couldn’t remember. Even though he still felt sick, the tingling Merlin’s hands had produced in his body hadn’t stopped yet. And his knee didn’t hurt.
“So you’re going to get me into the closed-off ward of some mental institution?” His tongue still felt like lead and that ugly taste hadn’t gone away either.
“I should!” Morgana crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared.
But Merlin shook his head. “That would do no good.” He looked around as if he saw the room for the first time. “This house sure has more than one guest room.”
“Five, to be exact,” Morgana rolled her eyes as if the need for five bedrooms was something alien. Then again, she was probably right. Nobody had visited him in a long time.
Merlin got up. “Then it is settled. I’ll take one of them until the worst is over.”
Arthur was about to protest. He wasn’t a sick kid that someone had to watch over. So he’d taken a pain killer too much, this could happen, right? He’d woken up sooner or later on his own. Without the help of his sister and the healer who planned to make camp in one of his guest rooms!
“Thank you, Merlin.” Oh, now Morgana had pulled out her sweet-voice. “This is more than I could ever ask for.”
Merlin just nodded, gave Morgana instructions for the next hour and left.
“Is he gone?” Arthur closed his eyes, it was still too bright in this room.
“To get the stuff he needs for the next couple of days.”
“I don’t want him here.”
“Oh yes, you do.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“If I ever saw anyone in dire need of a babysitter, it was you, dearest brother of mine. You should be happy and thankful that he brought you back from the dead. That his magic pulled you out of this.” Morgana tried to keep calm, but her voice was vibrating with anger.
Arthur snorted. “Magic, yeah, right. Only you believe in such crap.”
“Yes, Arthur, I happen to believe in it. And I’ve seen him work, he’s doing magic.”
“He works with acupressure and other stuff that stimulates some nerve ends in the body. That’s more traditional Chinese medicine than magic.” Every time Merlin had tried something new, Arthur had done the online research about it later.
“Call it what you want, as long as it works!”
They spent the rest of the time until Merlin’s return in silence, Morgana sitting in an armchair, her foot nervously tapping, Arthur on the couch, still enjoying that tingling feeling, his eyes closed.
))))))))))))
Arthur woke up hours later. How many, he didn’t know. But it seemed he had slept through the night as it was dawning already. His head was pounding and he felt awful. When he tried to sit up, the world around him was spinning and he felt sick. He groaned and sat up anyway, immediately reaching for his cane. He needed to pee, no matter if the earth around him tried to move.
He startled when he noticed the sleeping man in the armchair. Oh, right, Merlin had infiltrated his house. But he had one of the guest rooms, Arthur was sure Morgana made sure of that, why did he sleep in one of the arm chairs?
Making his way over to the bathroom - had that always been so far away from the living room? - Arthur knocked a few things over and had to brace himself against a wall or two on the way. When he finally reached the bathroom, he needed to sit down. But he miscalculated the distance and sat down…next to the toilet, hitting the back of his head against the tub in the process. He groaned.
Next thing he knew was Merlin being at his side, checking his pulse, feeling the back of his head and that tingly feeling was back.
But he still felt sick. “Gotta…”
Merlin seemed to understand and lifted the lid of the toilet just in time for Arthur to throw up. After a while he just heaved, nothing else in his stomach that would want to leave him this way, so he sank back against the tub, closing his eyes until the room once again stopped spinning.
“Better now?”
“Kind of. Still need to pee.”
“Go ahead.”
Feeling too wobbly to care if someone was watching, Arthur let Merlin help him sit and then just did what he came here to do.
When he was done, Merlin helped him up, steered him over to the sink and made him wash his hands. And brush his teeth. When Arthur caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he stared for a moment. Fuck. How low had he sunk?
He splashed his face with water and let Merlin dry it with a towel. He was no kid who needed help with it, but he couldn’t muster the energy to protest. He’d do that later.
Arthur even let Merlin help him back to the couch and didn’t protest against the hands that were back on him, making his whole body tingle.
“Sleep now,” was the last thing he heard before he sank back into slumber.
Part 6