FIC: A Spanner In The Works

[fifty_fifty]

Title: A Spanner In The Works
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Character(s): Merlin, Arthur Pendragon
Word Count: 6,305
Rating: Explicit
Summary: Everything was going so well, and then Mordred shares some news that shatters Merlin's world.
Notes: Partly written for Prompt #283 - Insomnia for Camelot Drabble, and finished for Finish That Fic! Merlin 2017. Part 4 of my Rio Medals series, but can be read as a standalone. Part One | Part Two | Part Three | On AO3 here.


Merlin sighed and leaned his head back on the sofa. He just couldn’t sleep. He was too amped up and pumped full of caffeine from all the coffee, Monster and Red Bull he’d been drinking in order to finish his essay. He had pulled an all-nighter to finally get it done. Now it was 3 in the morning the next day and he had nothing to do but wallow in his own self-pity that he was unable to sleep. As well as dread the bollocking he knew he’d get from Gaius in the morning when he went to swimming training.

There was nothing on TV and so he decided to grab his laptop to put on Netflix and start binge watching some Doctor Who. He flicked over to another tab on his browser to check his Facebook page whilst waiting for it to load. There was a message from Mordred who was in his tutor group.



Merlin frowned. What the fuck was Mordred on about? What article? He typed back a reply to him.



Merlin opened a new tab and googled Arthur’s name and sure enough, there was an article in The Sun Online about the world-famous, all-round hunk, Arthur Pendragon, wining and dining a mystery blonde. She had later been identified as Elena Gawant, an “It” girl, whose claim to fame was spending her daddy’s money on racehorses.

Merlin scowled. Well, he didn’t like it, but he understood. All the time that they decided to stay in the closet, the media and world at large were going to assume that he and Arthur were straight. And the article didn’t look that bad. He scrolled down the page and skimmed the articles content. Then he came across a picture. Oh.

His heart sunk when he laid eyes on the picture. It was definitely Arthur—even though his back was to the camera he’d know him anywhere. He’d spent enough time watching him after all. The girl – Elena – was holding his face in her hands as they kissed full on the lips, Arthur’s arms were wrapped around her in a loving embrace. There were further images that had been snapped through the restaurants’ windows from earlier in the evening of them smiling, laughing and flirting together.

He closed his laptop, tears burning in his eyes. He felt sick to his stomach. How could Arthur do that to him? Sure in the past, back when they were sworn enemies, he’d have absolutely have believed Arthur capable of cheating. But now that he knew him, he knew how kind and sweet Arthur could be. Or at least, he thought he had. He’d never believed that Arthur would even think about cheating on him. He thought they had a good thing going and yes, they were currently living apart, but they saw each other as much as they could and chatted pretty much every night either through WhatsApp messages or on Skype.

Biting his lip, he pushed his laptop under his bed and crawled under the covers, where he absolutely didn’t cry himself to sleep. Miserable and unhappy.

***

Merlin spent several days holed up in his room, eating whatever crappy food he could get delivered by the local takeaways; fuck his clean-eating, performance-enhancing diet Gaius had devised for him. He emerged every morning shrouded in an extra-large University of Cardiff hoodie and beanie for his swim training at the pool. He couldn’t throw everything away, after all. His phone laid uncharged on the floor of the room so that he didn’t have to hear his phone ring and beep at all hours with phone calls and messages from Arthur and Lance.

Lance had tried to approach him at training, but he rebuked him; making it clear he wasn’t interested in speaking to him. Drawn and pale with dark circles under his eyes, Gaius had tried to send him to the doctor, worried that he was getting ill. Merlin had said he would go just to placate him, but he had yet to make an appointment. Gwen had stopped by several times with notes from various lectures they shared and tubs of home-made vegetable soup. Thanks, Gwen. You’re wonderful. No, best not come in, don’t want you to catch it. At least he could fake being sick with her.

***

The article in the newspaper had been published over a week ago now and Merlin was still morose, determined to ignore everyone’s calls. He had however graduated from his bed and duvet, to the sofa and duvet. He’d even managed to complete another essay, immersing himself in it.

Currently, he had a few days free from uni work and training and he fully intended to spend it slobbing out on the sofa eating soya ice-cream and watching the most depressing movies he could find.

There was a knock on the door and Merlin hauled himself up. That would be the delivery guy. He grabbed his wallet from the top of the cabinet by the door and opened his front door whilst pulling out a £10 and £20 note to pay with.

Merlin looked up with the notes outstretched in his hand, straight into the face of Arthur.

In a moment of blind panic, Merlin withdrew and slammed the door shut. It bounced back at him with a hiss and a bitten-off curse. “Fffuuu-! Merlin,” Arthur levered the door open. “I came to see you and find out why you’ve been ignoring my calls. Can I come in?”

Merlin was still pushing at the door to close it. “G’way,” he mumbled.

“I won’t Merlin,” said Arthur insistently. “I’m not leaving until you speak to me.”

“We are talking,” muttered Merlin.

Arthur sighed and stopped pushing back against Merlin. “You know what I mean, Merlin! Now can I come in, or not?”

Merlin sighed and turned away from the door and flopped down on the sofa. He gestured sloppily to the nearby armchair in amongst the dirty dishes and empty fast-food wrappers. Arthur took a seat.

“Merlin,” he said softly, trying to get him to look him in the eye. “What is this all about? I’ve been so worried. So has Lance.”

Merlin’s eyes snapped to his. “Oh, been having a good time gossiping about me, have you?” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Arthur threw up his hands in frustration. “For crying out loud, Merlin! We’re concerned with what’s wrong with you!” he said, his voice raising with exasperation.

“Concerned about me!? Why? I’m only a guy whose boyfriend cheated on him with a gorgeous blonde girl! Why didn’t you just tell me you were fed up of us, Arthur!” yelled Merlin.

Arthur looked wrong-footed and flabbergasted. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve not done anything!” Arthur insisted.

Merlin rose from his seat, enraged. “Oh my God, are you actually fucking denying it? Get out, Arthur. GET OUT!” Merlin yanked at Arthur and pushed him towards the door. “I never want to see you ever again!”

He forced Arthur out of his flat, so furious he refused to allow Arthur the privilege of saying another word to him and closed and bolted the door, swiping angrily at the tears that had made it down his face.

Merlin refused to unlock his door for anything for the rest of the night, including the food delivery he’d been expecting when he’d opened up the door to Arthur. He had retreated back to his bedroom and curled up on his side. He wondered how Arthur could have cheated on him. It just didn’t make sense. And then he had the nerve to show up at his door and deny that it had even happened! And Merlin was filled with rage again. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, he drifted off into a restless sleep.

***

The next morning Merlin woke with a massive headache, as if he’d spent the whole night drinking rather than tossing and turning. A thin strip of sunlight peeked through the gap in his bedroom curtains and rudely shone directly on his face. With a hmpf of dissatisfaction, he hauled himself up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He sniffed inquisitively. Was that coffee? And toast? And all sorts of other amazing things. It couldn’t be. He was completely out of food. Had been for several days now, and now he thought about it, who the hell would be in his flat cooking him breakfast? Had Arthur somehow managed to get in and this was his apology? Well he had another thing coming if he thought that he could just waltz in, cook Merlin breakfast and it would all pass over.

He threw back his covers, tugged on a hoodie he’d picked up off the floor and padded out of his bedroom towards the kitchen to give him a piece of his mind!

“Fuck off, Arthur! If you think cooking breakfast will get me to forgive you you’ve another thing coming,” he called. “So you can get the fuck out right now, you utter arsehole!”

A determined, decidedly female voice called back at him from the kitchen.

“Merlin Ambrosius Emrys! Wash your mouth out with soap. I did NOT bring you up to talk to people like that!”

Merlin had the good grace to blush from his cheeks to the very tips of his ears as he sheepishly slunk down into a seat at the table. “Sorry, Mum,” he muttered, shamefaced.

She plunked a plate down filled with a huge omelet and another plate heaped full of beans on toast and returned to the stove where she was cooking French toast in one frying pan and pancakes in the other. Since when do I have two frying pans? he wondered, as he tucked into the omelet and eyed up the beans on toast hungrily. Suddenly he realised with a flash of guilt just how much he had been neglecting his diet.

“No, ‘Hi Mum, how are you?’ ‘Sorry I haven’t contacted you in over a week and haven’t been contactable in any way shape or form’?” she asked, passive-aggressively.

“Sorry, Mum,” he muttered again.

She brought the food over once it was done and sat down at the table across from him with her own plate of toast and two cups of tea. She nudged the cup across the table at him and smiled at him when he looked up at her.

“Now why don’t you eat up – I know your training diet and I’m sure you’ve not been following it - and then you can tell me exactly what that boy of yours has been doing that’s got you so upset.”

Merlin scowled, when his mother was on the warpath she was worse than even Morgana, Arthur’s sister. She knew all of Merlin’s weaknesses and exactly how to get him to talk, and it certainly wasn’t on an empty stomach.

Whilst Merlin ate and after Hunith had finished her toast, she chatted to him, telling him all about what was happening back in Ealdor. How Will and Freya were busy enjoying their second little baby and how little Sophia was getting so big that next year she’d be going to Ealdor Primary, just like him and Will. How Old Man Simmons had finally cut down the old apple tree, after half of it had been pulled down in the last storm.

Merlin had to smile at himself at this, as he remembered back in his pre-teens how he had brought down a huge branch of the tree with his magic, after an experiment gone wrong with Will, when they’d attempted to get apples from the tree from outside his garden with magic.

His mother was in the middle of recounting the story herself when she came over with coffee for him.

“…and I remember just how scared you were when you came running into me. I admit, I was angry that you’d taken a silly risk. But I was so relieved that both you and Will were safe.”

He took a long sip of his coffee and grinned at her, finally feeling more human. “Thanks, Mum,” he said placing his hand on hers and squeezing it.

She smiled back at him. “I'm just glad you're okay, sweetheart. You had me worried when even your phone was off. I couldn't help it. Mothers prerogative and all that. And you don't have to talk to me about Arthur, but I think it might help.”

Merlin pushed his final plate away from him and folded his arms on the table, resting his chin on them. “He cheated on me,” he told her, figuring out was best just to say it and get it over with.

Hunith’s face faltered for a moment before she recovered. “Have you talked to him about it? How did you find out?”

With a sigh, Merlin pushed himself up. He used his magic to float his plate over to the sink and turn on the tap in an attempt to fake nonchalance. “It was all over the papers. There were pictures. Him all over this blonde girl, wining and dining her. Kissing her. And no, not really. He came here and when I let him in, he asked me what the he—on Earth—I was on about,” he bit his lip. “Then I kicked him out.”

He focused his attention on the dishes, using his magic to squirt washing up liquid on a plate, scrub another with a sponge and rinse it before stacking it in the drying off rack, he avoided looking his mother in the eye.

“Oh Merlin!” The sponge and a piece of cutlery fell with a splat and clatter as his mother wrapped her arms around him and pulled him crushingly close against her shoulder. She pulled away from him, holding him by the shoulders and then bushed his dishevelled hair from his forehead. “My poor boy. No wonder you said what you did.”

She hugged him again and then took her plate and the empty cups to the sink and proceeded to start washing them the traditional way. After the dishes and cups were clean, she took up a tea towel and started drying.

Turning towards him she started to speak again. Breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen over the kitchen. “I still think that you should talk with him – properly. But I understand. So why don’t you go take a shower and get cleaned up, then at least meet with him and see what he has to say about himself. Things like this are never as straight forward as they seem.”

“But Mum he-!” She shushed him a single look and he threw up his hands in resignation. “Fine! I’m going, I’m going!”

He stopped by his room to grab clean clothes and switched his phone on. He ignored the pings of messages that started flooding in and opened a new text message to Arthur. They rarely texted, preferring to use chatting apps, but even here there was a missed text from Arthur. He disregarded it and typed a quick message:



***

Arthur waited impatiently at a table in the coffee house Merlin had specified. His leg jigged restlessly. He hoped that they would actually get to speak properly this time. When he’d gone to Merlin’s place last week, he had no clue what he had done to have Merlin ignore him for what was coming up to two entire weeks now. But now he had had a while to think about it, one thing Merlin said to him had clicked.

I’m only a guy whose boyfriend cheated on him with a gorgeous blonde girl!

Elena. A few weeks ago he had taken her out when she was visiting in London at both their fathers insistence. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It would get his father off his back about his perceived lack of dating and he would be able to provide some comfort to Elena who had recently come out of a bad relationship with a famous musician. So they had gone out to the latest trendy restaurant Elena had said she’d wanted to try; their combined names easily getting them a table within minutes of calling.

He had spent the evening listening to Elena talk about her Ex, agreeing with her that he was a complete and utter bastard who should have his balls cut off with a blunt, rusty knife (even if he had winced and crossed his legs at that point). But by the end of the night they had been having a good time and Elena was much happier. As it turned out Elena had a wicked sense of humour.

When they’d left, Elena had been more than a little tipsy from the wine she’d been drinking (Arthur had declined, with his training regime and early swimming training the next morning in mind). She had clung to his arm like a limpet and he should have really seen it coming, but he didn’t. Morgana didn’t refer to him as Captain Oblivious for nothing.

Outside the restaurant she had turned to him and thanked him for a wonderful evening, even as she started to stumble. He’d steadied her and then before he could even register it, she had pulled his face down to hers and full-out snogged him! It had taken him a few moments to disengage and when he’d explained to her that she was lovely, but that he just wasn’t interested. She had burst into a flood of tears at that point and Arthur was useless when it came to girls and crying, he hadn’t a clue what to do. So he had ended up hailing a taxi and made sure she got home safely. Then he’d gone home, sent Merlin a goodnight message and went to bed.

How could Merlin ever have thought he would cheat on him? He’d never felt so strongly about any one in his life as he did about Merlin. Sure, initially it had been focused as an irrational hatred, but he hadn’t quite figured out that he was gay then and Merlin was an infuriating little shit who had seemed to piss him off simply by being there (and by his complete lack of cur-towing to Arthur’s seniority on the national team and in the swimming community). He ducked his head and smiled when he remembered how they got together, having their first kiss in the showers at Rio. How fucking irresistible Merlin had been wanking in that shower. He would take that image to his grave.

He looked up when the bell above the door rang and he saw Merlin immediately; head ducked, headphones on, hoodie pulled up. He noticed the darkness under his eyes and he felt sure that Merlin was thinner than normal. He instantly felt guilty that Merlin had been suffering so much over a misunderstanding. He looked miserable.

“Hey,” said Merlin, he flopped down into the chair opposite him and slipped his headphones off. Arthur pushed over a coffee cup at him. It was Merlin’s favourite drink. Merlin accepted it with a nod. “So, I’ve been told we should talk.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. “Hunith?” he asked.

“Who else?” replied Merlin. “Wait – How did you know?”

Arthur scratched at his neck uneasily. “Lancelot might have told me that he let her into your building.”

Merlin scowled at him. “So you’ve basically known that this...” he waved his hand between the two of them. “Was going to happen since this morning?”

“Not known, Merlin. But I hoped. I hoped that you’d give me a chance to talk to you. To explain things.” Arthur was eager to put right Merlin’s perception of the situation.

Merlin crossed his arms and leant back in his chair as he nodded at him. “Well? I’m listening.”

“Merlin, look. It took me a few moments to know what you were going on about. But let me assure you, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.” Merlin raised a sceptical eyebrow at him that was reminiscent of his coach Gaius’ Eyebrow Of Doom™. “What I mean is– and I don’t know how you knew, by the way-”

“Paparazzi,” said Merlin, clipped and short.

“Fuck!” exclaimed Arthur under his breath. “Really? Look, let me start over, okay? The other week, my father asked me to take his friends’ daughter out for dinner. You know my father doesn’t know about us. He’d flip his lid.”

Merlin sighed heavily. It was a big bone of contention in their relationship that Arthur wasn’t out to his father yet. But Merlin had always tried his best to be patient about it.

“I know, Merlin. I know. Anyway,” Arthur licked his lips and then continued, “she was visiting and had just got out of a bad relationship. She seemed a nice enough girl, so I did it as a favour to my father. To get him off my back for once. It was just dinner between friends. I swear, I never framed it as a date. I just offered to take her out for dinner as friends so that she could take her mind off things. Anyway, she ended up having too much to drink and took my being nice to her all wrong. She was the one who kissed me. There was no reciprocation from me, I promise. I pushed her away and then we took a cab back to the flat she’s renting so that I could make sure she got to her door safely. That’s it. Nothing more. You have believe me Merlin. She was a mess after I told her I wasn’t interested. Tears and everything! You know I can’t do girls, Merlin. Let alone girls AND tears.”

Arthur looked at Merlin earnestly, waiting for him to respond. “Well?” he prompted eventually when the silence got too long. He couldn’t read the expression on Merlin’s face.

Merlin bit his lip and frowned finally. Like he was battling conflicting thoughts. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked finally.

“I tr-”

“No, not when you came to my flat. When it happened. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Arthur shrugged. “It didn’t mean anything to me, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. Look, If I’d known there was a photographer following me, I would have let you know. But since I didn’t, I just figured I would mention it when we were next together. You would like Elena I think, Merlin. And you can’t tell me you wouldn’t have made sure that Sefa got home safely when she was completely sloshed that time she tried to kiss you.”

Merlin sat up straight and narrowed his eyes at him. “THAT was different. She thought I was straight and didn’t know I had a boyfriend. Plus I told you.”

Arthur sat back and raised a single eyebrow. “Is it, Merlin? Is it really?”

“How on Earth did you manage to turn this around on me!?” said Merlin.

Arthur reached for Merlin’s hand and took it as a good sign that he didn’t pull away. “Merlin, I’m not trying to turn anything around on you. I just want to ask you to forgive me for not telling you straight away. I don’t want us to throw away what we have over a misunderstanding. I would never do that to you.”

“All right.”

“All right?”

“Yes, I said all right. I forgive you for not telling me. I can see why you wouldn’t have thought about it at the time.”

Arthur smiled back at him, so brightly that it could have lit up the room. “I’ll go pay for these,” he nodded at the drinks and asked hopefully, “and then we can go back to yours?”

The bell over the door rang again when Arthur had gone to pay for their drinks.

“Oh, hey Merlin!” called Mordred, who came over and sank into the seat Arthur had vacated. “Look, I wanted to say, I’m so sorry about Arthur and about telling you the way I did. I just wanted to let you know just what an arsehole he really was.”

Merlin examined Mordred curiously. “Really?”

Mordred nodded and relaxed into the chair as if he owned it. “I always thought that you were way too good for that pompous, arrogant tosser.”

Merlin cocked his head. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

Mordred slid his chair closer so that his knee was pressing against Merlin’s. “Have you looked at yourself lately, Merlin? You’re gorgeous! I’ve always thought so. And you won a gold medal. Not many people can say that. You deserve someone who won’t cheat on you and who won’t decide that they’d rather live in London than come and be with you. After all, it’s not like you can transfer, can you? But he could easily move his degree here. I’m sure the swimming training is the same, yeah? You deserve someone who will worship and adore you.” He shuffled closer still, pressing his thigh against Merlin’s and then placed his hand over Merlin’s.

Merlin swallowed and pulled his hand away. Suddenly, a lot of things started to click in Merlin’s head. Mordred had always been a little bit too eager to be friends. A little too touchy-feely. A little too familiar. In fact, now he thought about it Mordred had always tried to bad mouth Arthur as much as he could when there was no one else around to overhear. Not that Merlin had ever paid it much attention. And he had been away in London visiting friends the other week... Surely he hadn’t..? Had he? That just seemed crazy. But was it? He recalled suddenly the way that they had seemed to become friends. After he’d started back at Uni this year, Mordred had suddenly been everywhere. In the same buildings at the same time for lectures. Eating at the same lunch halls. In the same bars. Integrating himself with his friends. So Merlin had found them becoming friends. He had been funny and charming, but Merlin had always felt a sense of unease around him. One too many times he’d found his pale blue eyes watching him unnervingly. A few times he’d shown up in places that Merlin hadn’t even told anyone that he was going to as well. Surely, surely he hadn’t stalked Arthur, too?

“I don’t think you’re sorry at all,” Merlin said lightly.

Mordred had let out a laugh. “Okay, you got me. Maybe I’m not really sorry if it means that you’re rid of him finally. Hey, why don’t we get a drink to commiser-brate? Commiserate/celebrate, get it?” he smiled softly at Merlin. “I’ve always thought that you were special, Merlin.”

Suddenly Mordred looked up as he felt a presence hovering over him. He shrank into his seat when he realised it was Arthur.

“Hey, ready Merlin?” he asked innocently.

“Yeah. We’re done here,” Merlin replied, shooting Mordred a poisonous look.

***

As soon as they got through the door of Merlin’s flat Merlin shoved Arthur against the wall, possessively. He pressed his lips to Arthur’s with a growl and licked into his mouth hungrily. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on Arthur now that he knew the truth and knew that he believed him. Mordred’s shit-stirring was the final push he needed for everything to click into place, to ‘forgive’ Arthur as well as making him realise just how protective he felt over their relationship. He still had such intense feelings for Arthur that hadn’t faded one bit from the day they had first got together.

“What a little shit,” Merlin murmured against Arthur’s lips, finally breaking their kiss as Arthur chased his lips for more. “Such a fucking creep.”

“Mmm,” hummed Arthur when he had finally reeled Merlin back in for another searching kiss, lips and tongues clashing. His fingers grasped for the zipper of Merlin’s coat, as his lips continued wrestling with Merlin’s and in the back of his mind he realised that this was Merlin truly forgiving him. “Forget about that prick.”

Once Merlin’s coat was off and his gorgeous, long, lean neck exposed, Arthur licked a stripe along it and then bit a tendon gently. He loved licking and biting this long expanse of skin and Merlin loved him doing it, he was sensitive there and Arthur took full advantage. Merlin’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting as Arthur lavished attention on his neck and his breath hitched as he replied in a rather shaky voice. “Y-yeah.”

A shiver travelled down his spine as he felt Arthur’s mouth curve into a smile against his neck and heard him whisper hotly into his ear, “...think about mine instead.”

Merlin growled again and pushed Arthur harder against the wall, pining his hands above his head. His cock pressed insistent and hard against Arthur’s thigh as he pushed against him and parted his legs by shoving one of his between Arthur’s. “Maybe you should think about mine,” he suggested instead, his head filled with lust and the desperation to have Arthur there and then. He thrust sharply against Arthur’s hip and Arthur let out a guttural moan as Merlin slid his hand between them and rubbed the heel of his hand along his hardening length. Fuck that felt good. He loved Arthur, and he loved his cock. He loved how it grew hard for him almost at his command. Then Arthur drew his legs up and wrapped them around Merlin’s waist, pulling him close to him so that they could kiss again.

“God, to think I almost gave up on this,” groaned Merlin, their foreheads pressed together. "Have you got any...”

“Yeah, yeah. My wallet.”

Merlin pulled Arthur’s wallet out of his back pocket and fished out a packet of lube before discarding it. He didn’t care where it fell, all that mattered was getting his cock inside Arthur’s fantastic arse as quickly as he possibly could. He idly wondered if he shouldn’t just use his magic to prepare him, having him wet, loose and dripping for him whenever he wanted it. But then again, he loved opening Arthur up. He squirmed and groaned so beautifully for him and it would be a shame to miss out on that sight.

Arthur let his legs fall from around Merlin’s waist when Merlin’s hands scrabbled at the buttons of Arthur’s jeans and he quickly undid them. Merlin’ fingers then fumbled as he tugged at his own jeans and he had a feeling that in the end, his magic had helped him out. Then without ceremony, Arthur shoved down his jeans and underwear, stepping out of them as Merlin pulled him in close, grasping Arthur’s arse in his hands with a sigh of contentment. “Fuck, Arthur. Your arse.”

“Mmm,” grinned Arthur arrogantly as he fisted his own cock. “Missed it?”

Merlin felt a surge of annoyance course though him. God Arthur could be a conceited prat. But despite his preening and arrogance, it was the truth. As he smoothed his hand down Arthur’s perfectly sculpted thigh and hitched his leg up and back around waist he said, “Shut up you, arse. You know I have.” He kissed him, trying to press all his repressed feelings into the kiss; love and hate, which had once been equally as intense and the overwhelming feelings he had for Arthur now. I love you, I missed you. Let’s never fight again.

“W-why don’t you stop feeling me up with the l-lube and do something useful with it?” shivered Arthur as the cold packet slid over his skin.

“Mhmm, not sure if I should,” teased Merlin. He deliberately and playfully rubbed the cold packet over Arthur’s hip and into the crease of his groin for a moment, before ripping it open with his teeth. His other hand fondled and groped Arthur’s arse, fingers skimming over his hole. Without even a conscious thought, his magic pressed Arthur into the wall as Merlin slicked his cock and then used the remaining lube to finger Arthur open with one, two and then three fingers. He was so hot and tight around him, Merlin felt the stirrings of heat and arousal starting to pool in his groin as Arthur trembled and writhed so perfectly around his fingers.

“Better,” critiqued Arthur and he gasped as Merlin twisted his fingers sharply.

Merlin knew that he needed to get his cock inside Arthur now, or he would go off like a teenage boy before they’ve even got to the point of having sex. “I’ll show you useful,” he rasped as he lifted Arthur legs over his shoulders and held his cock steady as he lowered Arthur down onto him. He was so very, very tight and his internal heat enveloped his cock like a furnace. Merlin scrunched his eyes shut as he focused on not coming. “Oh fuck, Arthur. Shit.”

As soon as he was sure he wouldn’t come, Merlin lifted him again, his eyes sparking with gold and he started to thrust into him hard and fast.

“Ah- ah, Merlin that’s- Oh God!” sobbed Arthur, as Merlin gave an experimental wiggle when he thrust and suddenly hit his prostate.

“Still think I’m not being useful?” gasped Merlin, an eyebrow raised as he stopped thrusting and held Arthur still, deep inside him.

“Shut up, Merlin. I- God! For to the love of all that is good and holy-” Arthur snapped, stopping mid-sentence when he realised that Merlin was no longer moving.

“Ooh, if Uther could hear you now.”

“Fuck, Merlin. Shut up about my Dad and get on with it! Don’t stop!” begged Arthur.

As much as Merlin enjoyed teasing and tormenting Arthur. He knew that he wasn’t going to last much longer, especially when Arthur was half-begging, half-commanding him to get on with it.

He used his magic to pin Arthur against the wall when his arms started to ache and shake with the strain of carrying his weight.

“Merlin, Merlin,” Arthur moaned, almost bent double against the wall.

Merlin leaned in to kiss him and said, “turn around.”

Arthur slid his legs off Merlin’s shoulders and Merlin slid out of Arthur. Then he whipped him around and pulled his beautiful round arse back towards him before slipping back inside, almost seamlessly, as Arthur rolled back against him. His hole taking him in and engulfing his length again and again, almost hypnotically. He smiled to himself. This was one of Arthur’s favourite positions when he bottomed, he was always so eager for Merlin to take him hard and fast.

“Mmm,” hummed Arthur and Merlin started to speed up. “God I’ve missed this Merlin. I’ve missed you.”

Merlin’s heart skipped a beat as it always did when Arthur made declarations such as this. They rarely talked about feelings, assuming that the other one felt the same way. But somehow it was easier to be emotionally open in the midst of such intimacy. He wanted to say it back he really did, but the intensity of what he felt for Arthur scared him. So he went for the safe option as he often did: teasing. He started to pull out and push back in at a maddeningly slow pace. “Miss my cock in you, did you?”

Arthur turned his head and scowled at him. “Merlin...”

Merlin grinned at him. “Just tell me that you love it,” he teased.

Arthur rolled his eyes at him. “Oh yes Merlin, I love you and your big huge cock! Give it to me!” mocked Arthur in porn-star style falsetto. “Seriously Merlin. Come. On.” He punctuated each word with a thrust back against him.

Merlin kissed along the back on Arthur’s neck as he started to pick up the pace. “I missed you too, Love. So very, very much,” he whispered with closed eyes. He slid his hand around Arthur’s waist and took his cock in hand as he felt a tight, tingling heat travel down his spine, twinning bright and happily with his magic. Lust, love and happiness all rushing to a peak. “Come for me.”

***

Arthur felt Merlin’s magic rush through him as he came inside him and it wrung his orgasm from him, like bubbles escaping from a freshly opened champagne bottle; fizzing, tingling and buzzing. Arthur pressed his forehead and hands to the wall to catch himself as he went completely boneless against it and Merlin collapsed against him. They slumped to the floor together and when Merlin had finally regained his breath he grinned lazily through his post-coital gaze.

“Well, that’s never happened before.”

“I’ll say,” said Arthur, still sounding dazed. “What the hell was it?”

Merlin smiled to himself. “I think I might have bonded our souls.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I think my magic missed you too much. It wants you, you know,” said Merlin, shaking his head with disbelief.

Arthur grunted. “You talk about it as if it’s a separate person. Didn’t know we were having a threesome. Guess I can tick that one off the list.”

Merlin burst out laughing and pulled himself up off the floor and tucked himself in. “Come on, you,” he said helping Arthur to his feet. “Let’s take this to the bedroom and we can have a look at the other things on your list.”

The phone in the back of Merlin’s pocket beeped and he checked the message between kisses as they made their way to the bedroom.



Merlin groaned. “Oh Jesus Christ. I officially have the Worlds Most Embarrassing Mum.”

Arthur grinned into Merlin’s neck as he held him close. “What? Let me see.”

Merlin showed him the text message and Arthur threw back his head back and barked out a laugh. “No way. Your mother is the best,” he said gleefully, then he threw the phone on bedside table and pressed Merlin into the bed. “Now, let’s talk about some of the other things on my list...”