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mimiswitchywrites · 3 years

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Not A Burden: Chapter 7

TW: SH references, attempted s****de and references, child/s***al a**se references (not graphic but enough that could be triggering).

Master list or read on AO3

1.8k words

If you want to be tagged for updates, message me or comment!

One more chapter tomorrow and then a week or so of hiatus while I sort some life stuff out

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Merlin had been dreaming about a certain sandy haired royal for the last few weeks and he couldn’t figure out if he loved it or hated it. It made serving him far harder than it needed to be as all he could think about was the way dream Arthur had pinned him to his desk as he cleared it or how dream Arthur would give him the day off so they could go to the market together and how real Arthur would never do something like that. Real Arthur could barely look at him, let alone want to go out in public with him like that. On the other hand, dream Arthur was really fucking hot, and Merlin enjoyed that. He knew he could never have real Arthur, so it made him happy to at least have a version of him at night.

Was that sad? Maybe a little.

But, regardless of his feelings towards these dreams, he did not appreciate them being interrupted. Especially not by his frantic father-figure. Especially not when Dream Arthur had just got onto his knees and was beginning to undo the ties on Merlin’s breaches…

Gaius was rather insistent that Merlin wake up and help him find Miriam who, he guessed as he hadn’t really been listening properly, had vanished. He threw on yesterday’s clothes, too tired to look presentable, and made his way into the main chamber where, unsurprisingly, the spare cot was empty. He sighed, giving into the fact that he wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep, and ran out the door to ask the guards at the bottom of the stairs if they had seen her. Well, tried to run. Instead, he ended up inches from headbutting Miriam and, Lancelot? The latter of which seemed to be leaning in for a kiss that the former looked as if she really didn’t want to partake in.

He heard Gaius sigh from inside the room and settle down to get started on the days work. After letting the poor girl hurry inside and close the door behind her, Merlin decided to have some fun (it was only fair after such a rude start to the morning which Lancelot had played his part in.)

He started with a raised eyebrow, something he was getting far better at after being on the receiving end of Gaius’ for so long. The love-struck knight stuttered, trying to form a feeble defence.

“You know, out of all the knights, I thought you were the most responsible. Kidnapping a sick, defenceless young maiden? Whatever would the king say?” He bit his tongue to keep from laughing at Lancelot’s reddening face. He cracked, snorting unceremoniously and slapping the man’s arm in the hopes of getting him to lighten up a little.

“Relax, my friend, I don’t tell Arthur of every person his knights sneak off with – I would be there for years on Gwaine alone.” Lancelot finally let out a small laugh, still hot with embarrassment.

“I apologise if we worried you, I meant to have her back before you woke but we got… distracted.” He drifted off, thinking about how beautiful the shadows her lashes had cast on her cheeks as they watched the stars were.

“Distracted?” Merlin gave him a look that said: ‘you-know-how-much-that-sounds-like-you-took-a-tumble-in-the-hay-right?’ and, for the umpteenth time that morning, Lancelot turned beet red. He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck and stumbling over No’s and That’s Not What I Meant’s.

Merlin could only shake his head at his friend, once again clamping his mouth shut to avoid laughing at him. He loved Lancelot like a brother, but the poor man was helpless, sometimes. He shoved the man gently, finally telling him to leave and get some sleep before training started in a few hours. The flushed knight (who, Merlin observed, matched the red of Camelot’s banner remarkably) made his way down the stairs, playing the night over and over, in his head.

It had not ended quite as he would have liked but gods be dammed, it was one of the best meals Lancelot had ever had. His free hand (the other still holding the picnic basket) ghosted over his lips, imagining how hers would have felt pressed against them.

Merlin entered the chambers, hopping into his room to prepare himself for his day with the king. Arthur would be holding a council meeting that afternoon so Merlin had to brush up on the topic (they would be discussing solidifying more roads between Camelot and its villages to help with trade, he was falling asleep just thinking about it) and he still needed to wash off the sweat from his dreams the previous night.

He made his way down to the kitchens first, parchments about the roads under his arm, and gathered the King’s breakfast, and an extra roll and sausage for himself. He overheard Cook muttering about how she needed more hands around and that one of her ‘good for nothing’ staff had stolen the excess that was meant to go to the dogs. He kept that in mind and made his way up to the Royal Chambers, nearly tripping over on one of the many staircases, only just keeping all the food on it’s platter.

Nodding to the guards on watch, he opened the door with his elbow and shuffled in backwards, knocking over the chair that was dangerously left in the doorway. Arthur moaned from his bed (a sound that Merlin knew he would end up replaying that evening once Miriam and Gaius were asleep) and pulled his pillow over his face. After dropping the breakfast on the table, Merlin made his way to the curtains, pulling them open.

“Up and at ‘em, time to brighten the Lords’ day with your cute little face” Merlin intended to say this with a sarcastic lilt but, distracted by those mouth-watering abs, failed to.

Arthur slowly pulled the pillow from his face, a look of confusion on his features as he watched his pitiful manservant watch him in some sort of daze. The pillow went flying from his hands, bashing Merlin back to reality.

Why must such a prat be so beautiful, he pondered as he gathered the Kings clothes for the day. He chose the tighter white shirt which he knew would be soaked after training later. He blushed at the thought, hiding a grin as he rummaged through the cupboard.

Arthur groaned, bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. If Merlin had to wake him up each morning, why couldn’t it be something nice like with a kiss or his long fingers adventuring? Was that truly so much to ask? Well, to fantasise about – Arthur knew there was no way he could actually ask for that. Merlin could say no or tell someone which would lead to a civil war or him overthrowing or, even worse, he could say yes and then Arthur would be the one that had to say no to prevent the aforementioned civil war or overthrowing. Arthur quite liked his head being attached to his body, but he knew it was unlikely to stay that was if his people discovered that he had certain inclinations towards men. Merlin was incapable when it came to keeping secrets and one as big as sleeping with the king was too much of a risk.

Arthur groaned again, finally rolling out of bed and allowing Merlin to help him into his clothes. He picked at his food, giving the leftovers to Merlin because gods knew he didn’t eat enough. The boy looked exhausted and sat on the trunk at the end of Arthurs bed as he devoured a sausage (don’t you dare go there, Arthur).

Pushing out from his chair, Arthur leant back against the table, so they were facing each other.

“What’s got you so tired? Sneaking off to the whore house in the dead of night?” Gods, he hoped that wasn’t it. He didn’t like how jealousy bubbled in his chest at the thought. Merlin’s brows shot up, practically jumping off his head, and he choked on the bread roll that he had tried devouring in a single bite. The boy turned red as he struggled to breath and Arthur, being the gallant knight that he was, hit him on the back, dislodging the food and perhaps a vertebra or two. His hand lingered longer than it should have, rubbing a few gentle circles before dropping to his side.

Finally getting air into his lungs, Merlin responded, “Took me forever to get to sleep and then I dreamt all night and didn’t get any proper rest and then, before the sun had even risen, Gaius woke me to say that Miriam had gone missing.” At that, Arthur straightened, worrying about the girl. Merlin noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed, and eyes drifted to the door and so added, “she was okay, she snuck off with Lancelot on a date or something. He said they got ‘distracted’.” Merlin wiggled his eyebrows at this, and Arthur’s head tipped back, laughing.

“I was hoping they would return at a decent hour, I’m sorry they caused you to lose sleep. Because, well you know, you’re terrible at your job when you’re tired?” A sloppy attempt at his usual façade but Arthur was busy focusing on the purple bags under Merlin’s eyes. He wanted to rub the pad of his thumb over them, cupping his face. The boy really should sleep more. He would get a great night’s rest in a bed like Arthurs (especially after their activities exhausted him). Arthur turned away from Merlin, forcing himself to get his thoughts under control.

“Wait,” said Merlin, finally catching up, “you knew about this?”

Arthur paused to think about his answer. Should he not have known? He hadn’t meant to, but he’d bumped into Miriam and they had a particularly useful conversation which he was sure Merlin would be proud of. “Yes?”

“Are you asking me that?” Merlin’s lipped curled at the ends and Arthur’s heart fluttered.

“I knew, yes. I found Miriam looking out at the courtyard in a brooding stance that would put even my father to shame. We talked and I think things are mostly resolved between us. Turned out she was only up there as she got lost trying to find Lancelot, so I lead her down to him and they went off. Looked like he had a basket, so I believe they had some sort of late-night picnic. It seemed sweet, really.” He muttered the last part, craving the opportunity to take Merlin on a picnic – late-night or otherwise.

Merlin hopped off the trunk (with the grace of a drunk, new-born, calf) and closed the distance between the pair, tentatively placing his hand on his master’s bicep. “I am glad you talked; I know you were struggling with the idea of doing so.” Arthur turned his head to look at Merlin. He loved the soft blue ocean that coloured his eyes and, had they been anywhere else, been anyone else, he would spend days looking into them. But he was the King, Merlin was his servant, and Camelot was no place for such things.

“Don’t be such a girls petticoat, Merlin.” They both ignored the break in Arthur’s voice.

“Prat.” Merlin offered in response.

Arthur watched out the window as Merlin cleared their breakfast up and tidied the mess Arthur had somehow managed to create between his dismissal and waking the clot pole up. There was a comfortable silence between the two that they had mastered over the half decade of knowing each other. At some point, Arthur turned to watch his manservant as he flittered about the room, sweeping clothes under the bed with his foot and wiping shapes into the table as he cleaned it. He truly was terrible at his job and yet Arthur didn’t think he had ever been matched with someone so well.

None of his previous servants would tolerate questions such as: “So, what were you dreaming about that kept you from resting so?” Merlin stopped in his tracks (bent over the bed, arse in the air, as he put the duvet back in its place. Arthur had to bite his knuckles to avoid doing anything he would regret.) He straightened and Arthur swore he could see a blush forming.

“Nothing really, I mean, I don’t remember. Dreams are so hard to remember and all that, right? I don’t remember. Uh,” he cleared his throat, “why?” A pause, “What did you dream about, sire?”

His previous servants most certainly wouldn’t ask something like that.

“You know what, I think I have training to lead now. We should go.” He nodded to himself, Merlin mimicking – still red – and the pair swept out of the room.

#merlin #merlin fic #merlin fanfic #merthur #merthur fluff #merlin x arthur #merlin pendragon #sassy merlin #mutual pining #just kiss already #lancelot x oc #not a burden #mimiswitchywrites

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hiddlydiddly · 4 years

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unto the breach

A Merlin and Dragon Age: Inquisition crossover, Chapter 1

ao3/ffn

Summary: Merlin wakes up in a strange land called Thedas. He needs to return to Camelot so he can protect Arthur from all who threaten him. But in the meantime the people of this world need his help.

Arthur should have listened to Merlin. Though he would never admit it, there were many times in his life that he regretted disregarding Merlin's little cryptic warnings and 'bad feelings'. But he had never regretted it as much as he did now.

A villager had journeyed to Camelot to report sightings of strange green lights coming from a cave near his village. He claimed that when a group of the braver villagers had gone to investigate they had been attacked by a strange creature the likes of which they had never seen before. This creature killed two of the villagers before finally being taken down.

Of course Arthur had agreed to investigate himself, along with a group of his best knights and (although this went unsaid) his personal manservant. And, of course, he wanted to leave immediately, which led to Merlin rushing around, trying to pack for both himself and Arthur, which included restocking his bag of medical supplies, getting the horses ready, getting Arthur ready and also trying to make time to see if Gaius would recognise the description of the creature.

"Are you sure you've never heard of anything like it before?" Merlin almost tripped down the stairs from his room as he asked the question, his spare clothes falling from his hands as he grabbed onto the wall to steady himself.

"I'm sure," Gaius responded. He was quickly flipping through the pages of one of his books, looking for any information. "If only you all weren't in such a hurry to leave, I might've had a better chance to find something."

Merlin brought his things over to the table Gaius was seated at and started packing it all into his bag. "And you haven't been able to find anything about green lights either?"

"I'm sorry Merlin," Gaius sighed. "I wish I could be more help, I really do."

"It's alright Gaius," Merlin smiled at the old man. "I've gone into dangerous situations with less knowledge than this. At least that villager warned us about its ability to move from one place to the next in an instant."

Merlin finished packing and hefted the strap of his bag over his shoulder.

"I should get going," he said.

Gaius walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Be careful Merlin," he said. "Come back to me in one piece."

Merlin smiled at Gaius, who he knew worried about him as a father would worry about their own son, and pulled him into a hug.

"I promise."

It was a good day for travelling, warm, with a cloudless blue sky above. Unfortunately Merlin wasn’t able to enjoy this, his mind stuck on what lay ahead. Though he acted brave in front of Gaius it did bother him, not knowing what they were going up against.

Merlin was so caught up in his own thoughts and worries that he didn't notice the intermittent glances that Arthur had been sending his way for the last several minutes. Finally Arthur huffed and slowed down his horse till he was beside Merlin.

"What's wrong with you now, Merlin?" he said, causing Merlin to startle and give Arthur a questioning look. Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb, you know what I mean. You've spent the whole day looking as a man does on his way to the executioner's block."

"Considering how little we know of what we're walking into we could be," Merlin retorted.

"Merlin, mate, you worry too much," Gwaine's voice comes from his other side and Merlin turns to frown at him.

"I worry just the right amount! That creature killed two people and we know next to nothing about it," he said. "If it can move from one place to the next in an instant who knows what else it might be able to do."

Arthur scoffed. "You're forgetting that those men were farmers and we are knights with all the training and knowledge that goes along with the position."

Percival twisted around on his horse to grin back at Merlin. "If anything happens we'll protect you Merlin," he said, earning a few chuckles from the other men.

"See?" Arthur said smugly. "Nothing to worry about."

He nudged his horse to go faster so he could take his place at the front of the group, leaving Merlin alone to stew in his annoyance. Not for the first time, he wished he could tell the others that he had magic. That more than likely he would be the one protecting them. That maybe they should listen to his concerns instead of dismissing him and seeing him as just a frightened servant.

As they approached the cave conversation fell to a hush. They could all see the eerie green glow emanating from within. Merlin swallowed nervously but dismounted with the others. There was an air of tense anticipation as they tied their horses to nearby trees, and gathered together near the cave's entrance.

"I want everyone on high alert from here on out," Arthur said. "Stay quiet, keep an eye out for anything strange. And," He glared at Gwaine and then at Merlin. "No mucking around. This is serious."

Gwaine snorted and rolled his eyes. "It's like he doesn't trust us," he muttered to Merlin.

"I wonder why," Merlin grinned. Gwaine shrugged and tried his best to look innocent and Merlin laughed, which caused Arthur to turn and glare at them again. Merlin and Gwaine both gave him wide eyed looks and he just sighed and entered the cave.

Merlin and Gwaine grinned at each again before following along after the king.

There was something wrong in the cave, something that Merlin couldn't quite name but left him vaguely nauseous, his heart jack-rabbiting in his chest. It was almost like the world was thinner here, not as real as it was outside and it made Merlin want nothing more than to leave this place and never return.

"Arthur, I don't like this," Merlin said, reaching out to grab onto the sleeve of Arthur's shirt, as if that would stop Arthur from running off into danger as he always did.

Arthur shrugged Merlin off and gave him an exasperated look.

"I'm aware," he said. "And I was aware the last time you said, and the time before it. Go wait outside the cave if it's bothering you that much."

Arthur continued to lead the way into the cave and the knights followed, Gwaine patting Merlin reassuringly on the shoulder as he passed. Merlin let out a loud sigh and made to follow when-

"Someone, help me."

He froze.

The woman's voice had echoed through his head, similar to when a druid spoke to him through his mind. A quick look at where the knights confirmed that only he had heard her. Merlin reached out with his magic, trying desperately to figure out where the call had come from.

The knights continued onward, unaware that they were leaving their friend behind.

The cave path eventually opened up into a cavern and everyone's attention was drawn upwards where a swirling mass of sickly green mass was floating in the centre of the cavern. Gwaine tightened his grip on his sword as the others slowly drew nearer to the unearthly glow.

"Bet this is the strangest thing we've seen yet, hey Merlin," Gwaine said.

There was no reply. Gwaine frowned and turned around. There was no one behind him.

"Merlin?"

Gwaine had only taken a single step back in the direction they had come from, the mission unimportant compared to the safety of his friend, when there was a loud crack behind him accompanied by shouts of alarm from the other knights and he spun around, heart hammering from the sudden shock. The glow in the centre of the cavern had changed, contracting in tight, now resembling some kind of amalgamation of sharp jagged rocks. Not that Gwaine really cared , his attention instead drawn to the creatures that had appeared in the cavern, seemingly out of nowhere.

There were three of them and they were just as the villagers had described them. Tall and spindly, their limbs branchlike in appearance, their faces almost looking like they had partially melted down towards their emaciated chests. While Gwaine stared one of the creatures seemed to fall into the ground, disappearing from view. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and it was only due to years of experience on the battlefield that Gwaine was able to spin around in time to block the blow from behind him as the creature lunged out of the ground.

It now stood between Gwaine and wherever Merlin was and he snarled, kicking out, his boot connecting with the creatures midriff, knocking it back. There was the sound of battle cries from behind Gwaine, the metallic clash of swords, and Gwaine let out a shout of his own as he lunged forward with his sword.

There was a side passage that they had originally missed, so intent they were on finding the source of the green glow, and Merlin slipped inside. The side passage seemed to run parallel to the main passage so the strangeness of the atmosphere continued to grow stronger, though perhaps not as strong as it would if he had continued with the knights. Somehow Merlin knew this was where he needed to be.

It felt like the air should be thin, Merlin should be struggling to draw a full breath, but that wasn't it. No, it was magic, strange and unfamiliar, all around him. The pleas for help echoed in his head again and he reached out with both hand and his own magic, and then-

Everything was green.

Everyone who knew Gwaine knew that he loved to fight. When he was fighting he was able to give into that rush of adrenaline, the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent and coming out victorious. But this was different. There was something about the way that creature moved, the chilling shrieking sound it made that left Gwaine with goosebumps, his knees just barely trembling. But he couldn't falter, not when Merlin could be in trouble.

There was a flash of claws, slashing down towards his face and Gwaine lifted his sword and braced himself, his arms shaking with effort as claws clashed with sword, making a discordant metallic screech and the creature pressed it's attack, that horrifying mouth open wide and moving in closer to Gwaines' face-

Then a familiar burly body came in from the side, as Percival rammed his sword through it's middle, his momentum carrying himself and the creature into a sprawling heap on the floor.

In a single swift movement Percival rolled away from the creature and sprang back to his feet, standing at the ready, Gwaine already at his side to support his friend but- But the creature hadn't gotten back up. In fact it seemed to be disintegrating right before their eyes. Not phasing through the ground like it had done before but actually fading away into thin air till there was nothing left but some small bits of debris on the ground where it had lain.

Gwaine and Percival shared a bewildered look before turning to the battle behind them.

There was only one of the creatures left, and Arthur, Leon and Elyan were surrounding it. Elyan charged, stumbling as it quickly dropped through the ground, and they all looked around, waiting for it to pop up again. Gwaine noticed the beginning of a green swirl on the ground behind Arthur and yelled.

"Arthur!"

The king spun around, thrusting outwards with Excalibur. There was a screech of pain and it also faded away into thin air.

The green glow in the middle of the cavern contracted again, bursts of green striking out, hitting the ground, forcing the knights to back away. There was another loud crack, this time with an explosion of sickly green, and a burst of air that threw everyone off their feet.

When it was safe Gwaine sat up, looking back to the centre of the cavern, expecting there to be more creatures. But there was nothing. The green light was gone.

"Is everyone alright?" Arthur called out, pushing himself to his feet.

"I'm uninjured," Leon said.

"Same here," Percival said.

"I'm fine asides from the giant bruise I'm going to have on my ass come morning," Elyan muttered.

"Great!" Arthur grinned proudly. "Looks like that's done it."

Gwaine rolled his eyes at Arthur's preening and turned his attention to more important matters. Namely, Merlin. "In case you haven't noticed princess," he said, Arthur bristling as usual at the nickname, "but Merlin's missing."

Arthur tensed, then scoffed. "He's probably off hiding somewhere like he usually is." But none of the knights were fooled, they knew Arthur well enough to see the hidden concern in his eyes. "Spread out, we'll find him and let him know it's safe to come out."

There wasn't much of the cave to search. Only one side passage which led to a dead end. Yet Merlin was not there. Arthur was not worried. He stormed out of the cave, the stomp of his feet echoing satisfyingly from the cave walls and did a quick cursory look of the surrounding forest.

Then he drew in a deep breath.

"MERLIN!"

A few birds flew out of the trees as his bellow scared them away.

Merlin, that disobedient idiot, did not show up.

Arthur was not worried.

"Split up," he said to the knights. "He probably got distracted and ran off after a butterfly or something."

They searched till the sun slipped below the horizon. There was no sign of Merlin. No tracks, which was unusual. Merlin, as clumsy as he was, always left tracks. He wasn't skilled in hunting and stealth and not falling over his own feet like Arthur was.

"Arthur."

It was Leon, standing a respectful distance from his side.

"It's getting too dark to see. Perhaps we should stop."

"Not until we've found him," Arthur ground out, "and I've told him exactly how long he'll be spending in the stocks."

"For once I agree with the princess," Gwaine said.

Elyan shook his head. "We couldn't find any tracks or signs that could point to where he went when it was daylight, how are we going to find anything in the dark?" he said, and Arthur hated him a little for being so reasonable.

"We could go to the nearby village," Percival said. "Maybe he went there, or maybe the villagers know where he could've gone."

"Fine," Arthur said. "We'll look for him there."

They set off in the direction of the village, and Arthur felt a bit lighter than he did before. Of course Merlin would be in the village. He'd probably run off to the village at the first sign of danger. Arthur ignored the little voice in his head that said Merlin would never run away from danger when he could be throwing himself right at it in some misguided attempt to protect his friends. He ignored every instinct that told him that something was not right, that something had gone very wrong.

Arthur. Was not. Worried.

#merlin #dragon age #da #my fic #i'm just here writing xover fic that no one but me is interested in #unto the breach

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