cat_77: Merlin in fog (Merlin)
cat_77 ([personal profile] cat_77) wrote2009-05-11 09:48 am
Entry tags:

Merlin - Tapestry

Title: Tapestry
Genre: Merlin, OT4/pre-OT4
Rating: R to be safe.
Spoilers: None, really.
Synopsis: Individual pieces woven together can complete something far more beautiful.
Notes: Written for the [livejournal.com profile] merlin_ot4 celebration of reaching 100 watchers, but got far too long for a comment fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine, this particular interpretation of the myth belongs to people with far more money. I’m just borrowing them and making no profit from this.


~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur stormed into his chambers, mud and grass and various other bits and pieces hanging off of his once glistening armor. He tore off his gloves and tossed them to the table with a resounding thud. It still was not enough. He huffed and looked around for something expendable to destroy as he had been told to leave the knights alone for at least a day.

It was then that he saw them. Lined up along the wall by the window in near identical poses: arms crossed, lips twitching in amusement, were the very three people he was trying to avoid.

“Problem, Arthur?” Morgana asked, stepping forward slightly from the others.

He whipped around away from them, preferring instead to stare at a tapestry that he had memorized years before. “Training has been called off for the foreseeable future,” he replied. He shifted, armor creaking, a tiny rock in his gauntlet making itself known in the process.

“So now you have nothing to do?” Morgana verified with less than pity.

He glanced down at the grass stains and clots of mud. “I have my armor to take care of,” he told her. “It will take a while and I know how you abhor a mess. You might wish to leave to save your precious dress.”

“Your armor is my duty,” Merlin spoke for the first time.

“And my lady’s cleanliness is mine,” Gwen chimed in.

Morgana chuckled and he flinched at the sound. He could do little more, however, as at least one of his foes had moved forward, soft boots silent on the stone floor. Hands were pulling at his armor, exposing the buckles and making short work of them.

“Just what do you think you are doing?” he demanded.

Merlin stepped around to the front, rolling his eyes as he handed the sword and scabbard to Gwen. “My duty as your manservant,” he replied as if to the young, or the daft.

Arthur watched as Gwen neatly set her burden down upon the table, next to the other pieces already neatly aligned. When Merlin reached for the laces of his shirt, Arthur raised a hand to stop him. “I am pretty certain that your duties do not include that,” he said, feeling his face heat slightly.

“Actually, they would, if you took full advantage of my services,” Merlin said under his breath. The servant had the gall to slap his hands away and continue.

Arthur reached up to stop him, to grab his hand and feel skin hot beneath his own. Merlin looked up at him through his lashes and Arthur blushed as he realized he was being toyed with.

He cleared his throat nervously and, with as much authority as he could muster, declared, “It is not proper while there is a lady present.”

“How’s that?” Morgana asked, striding forward. “You have nothing I have not seen many a time and, besides, this is sort of the point of this whole exercise.”

Now he knew he was flushed red as he uttered a rather undignified yelp. “What?” he repeated, a bit deeper this time, removing her hand from beneath the back of his shirt. He tried not to remember the coolness on his overheated skin, the way his back wished to arch under her touch.

“You have been avoiding us for far too long,” she said, throwing his secret right into his face. She brazenly replaced her hand to its previous position, silently daring him to move it once more. “Instead of weakening the King’s army, you could have expended your energy in far more enjoyable ways.”

He blinked, trying to come to terms with such a direct approach. His defenses were down just long enough to be infiltrated. He felt two more hands reach out and caress his exposed skin, his mind automatically cataloguing the differences in texture, surety, and pressure. “But…” he protested, weaker this time. It was hard to mount a defense when your enemy already knew your secrets.

“But you want it, we want it, and really, it will save the knights a lot of energy and Gaius a lot of bandages,” Merlin said as if it were all very practical.

“We are aware of your secret, though others are not,” Gwen told him, breaking down another wall.

“Though, if you hold out on us for much longer, all of Camelot will surely know your frustrations,” Morgana chimed in. Quieter, emphasized by nails pressing gently against his skin, she added, “As well as our own.”

He swallowed, seeking to find his voice once more. “So you are saying...?”

“That, really, it’s in the best interests of all involved,” Merlin said cheekily.

“And those involved would be...?”

“Us,” the trio replied in near unison.

He turned, hands skimming against his own. Looking to Morgana, then Gwen, and then back again, he asked, “Are you sure about this?”

She huffed. “Do, please, not make us change our minds,” she told him, grabbing him by the head and pulling him in for a kiss. It was sweet, it was warm, and it was a promise of much more to come.

As Merlin resumed his duties of divesting him of any and all clothing, he looked to the tattered tapestry once again. This time, he rolled his own eyes and determinedly turned to where Gwen was doing the same for Morgana. As Merlin stepped around, untying his own laces, he grinned. Yes, this view was far preferable indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Feedback is always welcomed.


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