#no i do not know how the castle of camelot works i just wanted to write angst

[toomanyfanficsbruh]

@theroundbartable here you gooooo!

I went kinda slightly sideways with the prompt, hope you like it!

Swept Away (Feather Dusters & Dust Mites)

"If I hear of you cleaning your own chain mail, shining your own boots, washing your own laundry, OR ANYONE ELSE'S…I can assure you, that you will regret it."

Cleanliness, as a standard, was something that brought about Arthur’s demise. It was not being clean that was an issue for him, it was that, there is nothing to do, if it is.

An important thing to commit to memory about Arthur Pendragon, is that he is stressed. At any moment in time, he is stressing. Emotionally tired, physically strained and mentally unable to deal with the adrenaline that is a constant in his position as King, once being Prince, or just being related to a line of Pendragons.

Unfortunately for him, amongst all that, he loves to clean. To let the strain seep out of his muscles and tendons, he mops floors, joins Mary in the kitchen to make bread, sharpening his swords and so on. In any other circumstance, it would be a wonderful thing - but Arthur is not in another circumstance, instead he was raised by the Great King Uther Pendragon of Camelot.

When his father was still physically breathing down his back, every time Arthur opened the wardrobe to a pile of messy clothes, reaching out to begin folding them, he tensed up. If his father found out, he would be forced into the room in the Western Wing, tidied so well that you could eat off the floors, kept there without anything to do, buried in tension. Or at least until he promised not to do so again. And without doubt, knowing he would end up back there in no time.

Even with his allergies, Arthur was fond of dusting. After learning of the particles with Gaius as a young boy, Arthur would stare at the dust on his windows for days, noting down the movements and sizes. He found wonder in the particles built up around him, reminding him the world was far greater than he had known. He would dust and sneeze, dust and sneeze, repeating this until Uther found out. His father had broken his feather duster, lovingly given by a maid who cared for him, and placed a sword in his hand, pulling him back into a reality he tried so hard to run from. Remind him that he was to be King, not a servant.

Then there was Merlin. In ways related to tidiness, it seemed to make more sense for the two of them to switch positions as manservant and regent. Merlin, in all his ways of wonder, did not seem to do anything properly. Especially so, when they first met, all those years ago - Arthur would walk into his room with clothes everywhere, half-shined armour and unstacked plates of finished food. It was a double-edged sword, Arthur was constantly on edge as he could not lift a hand, but was also calmed, that maybe he wasn't the only one who did not follow the expected standards in a social hierarchy.

It was only so for about four months. Then Arthur started telling Merlin how the castle expected him to work, so that he would not be fired in the long run. Slowly after that, Merlin almost cleaned as Arthur did, not as a chore, but as something else. Unbeknownst to Arthur, Merlin found cleaning exactly how he did - a stress reliever from his newly reigned powers as a warlock.

It brought about laughter and inside jokes, a fresh room and a little speck of freedom for the two of them. It was a surprise, that a clean room could lead to much more.

But even as this happened, Arthur still felt an itch, a need to straighten the pillows, rinse his cutlery, dust that one corner of the cupboard that Merlin wasn't aware of. He couldn't, but he wanted to.

Following this chain of events, one day Uther had been called to meet with another King past their own land. Arthur was told his father would not be back for twelve days and to make sure he didn't make any stupid decisions that would lead to Camelot burning. Uther held his son to a high standard.

Three days after Uther had left, Merlin had fallen sick. He had contracted some form of a fever, heightened by his lack of sleep and hydration. Arthur found himself stressed once again. More stressed than he had been the last few times, but tense nonetheless.

He did not know what to do. He paced the throne room, rode his horse, threw a few spears, launched a few arrows. He tried desperately to keep himself busy, not to overthink, not to walk into a room that had been cleaned up George. It was torture.

Arthur was not allowed to see Merlin either, which made matters much worse. Gaius had Merlin in his room, hidden from people and Arthur (because Arthur isn't people, he's Arthur, Merlin's destiny). Arthur tried sneaking into Merlin’s room and was caught every single time he tried. (Eight)

On the second day of Merlin’s sickness, Arthur had a feather duster placed into his hands by a tired Leon, telling the Crown Prince to "stop fidgeting and just start cleaning" if he needed to.

Arthur definitely needed to. Slowly starting with his own room, Arthur dusted his windows, his bed, the little crooks that Merlin always seemed to forget. Arthur made way from one side of his room to the other, straightening the table, folding clothes and even asked for a mop and bucket because the floors were apparently not clean enough.

It was truly a surprise how Arthur managed to complete his duties without the tension relief of cleaning.

On the third day of Merlin’s sickness, Arthur had made his way through half of the castle, starting from the second level (which consisted of his, Uther's and Morgana's rooms), mopping, dusting and sweeping through the worries. He walked straight into the infirmary and began rearranging the texts that lay on the ground, alphabetically (a surprise really, that Arthur knew the alphabet), asked Gaius if he needed more shelves and proceeded to make some that afternoon anyway.

He was a third of the way through mopping the floors when the servants started whispering - the Crown Prince? Cleaning?

Some servants were concerned, assuming Arthur was possessed. Some servant were shocked, the floors were basically glittering, reflecting their faces. While some servants decided to lay back and let the Prince de-stress and gave themselves a day off. Overall, none of them could believe that Arthur was doing this willingly.

On the fourth and final day of Merlin's sickness, Arthur had come across the magical contents of the books in his room. He didn't mean to. Gaius had been out for some herbs and to attend some people, when Arthur was putting the shelves in the infirmary.

He had heard Merlin call out for him, heated by his fever, Arthur took a cold cloth to Merlin’s head and noticed the gorgeously bound book that lay underneath the bed. After picking it up and inspecting it, he found the spells and enchantments that Merlin had desperately tried to hide since stepping into Camelot.

Arthur took no care of it and decided that when Merlin wanted to tell him, he would. And Arthur would listen. After all, one does not clean the entirety of the castle for just a servant.

Now, after those few days of Arthur's stress filled cleaning, he allowed himself to dust his own room, as King. Mop his own floors and fold his own clothes, without a single person questioning him.

Sometimes, Merlin would join, laughing at him for even having a servant, since Arthur could dress himself and clean his own armour, but let him complete the tasks anyway, knowing how he thought. The Court Sorcerer would even sometimes knock a bucket over or mess the King’s clothes, just to give him another task that wasn't related to a battle or crop fields.

Arthur allowed himself to clean, to dust, to bake and cook but distanced himself from one thing. He would have anyone else in the castle, clean his father's portrait that was hung in the meeting room. In a way, he allowed his father one last moment of peace, without ruining his own. In this time, it was not his father's rule that mattered, but the Great King of Albion, Arthur Pendragon, who's peace ensured that the people of his lands were at peace too.

And after years of having peace and hope, just out of his grasp, Arthur knew their value and would not give it up for the world.

[maddybthorne]

I want a BBC Merlin fanfic where Hunith visits Camelot as a surprise. Merlin doesn't know she's coming, only Gaius knows that she plans to visit. This is set in a time period where all the knights are alive (I'm looking at you Lancelot.) and Arthur is Prince, but running the Kingdom as Uther is unwell.

Hunith pulls up to Camelot and is walking towards the Castle through the citadel, burdened by her bags, when a cheerful voice rings out. "Do you need any help, miss?" It's one of the many Castle servants.

Hunith explains that she is heading to the Castle to visit her son who works there, the servant then offers to carry her bags.

"Oh I don't want to be a bother." Hunith replies

"It's no bother at all! Really, I was heading that way already." The servant insists and they both make their way to the castle, "What's your son's name by the way, I might know him if he works here."

"His name is Merlin." Hunith responds with a smile. The servant stops walking and looks at her. It's not only him that stops at this announcement.

"Y-you're Merlin's Mother?!?" A nearby servant who had been close enough to hear the conversation says in awe.

The courtyard that they're walking through gradually fills with hushed whispers as the news spreads. Everyone knows of Merlin. The Prince's manservant who had managed to not quit in the first week of serving him. Merlin, who changed the Prince from a spoiled brat into a good man whom the Kingdom was proud of and eagerly awaited the day he would be crowned King. Merlin, who had followed the Prince into battle time and time again to save Camelot.

I want a fanfiction where The Entire Of Camelot loves Merlin and is thankful for his role in making Arthur a good person. Where not only the Knights, but the Castle staff meet his mother and collectively decide that she is That Woman and treat her with Respect. Where they treat her like Royalty.

Ofc Gwaine loves her. That's his best friend's mom. Hunith looks at all the knights and adopts them on the Spot.

And Merlin is either really confused by this behavior or knows and just lets it happen.

Arthur has no idea what's going on or why but he treats her with reverence and love because that's his future Mother in Law and he's very much starved for parental affection which she gives him (and the knights) in spades.

But yes, I just want a fic of people meeting Hunith and being like "Thank you for giving birth to your son. I'd die for you both" and her being like "...please don't."

(Bonus if Leon meets her and is just like. "How did you survive being around that little shit (Merlin) for so long?" And she just laughs and gives him advice, which makes him cry because he's just so tired. #LetLeonRest2024 I will push this agenda till I die)

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Ok, I don't really post here, but there's a Merlin AU idea that's been rattling around in my skull like it's a pinball machine and I need to get it out, so here we go:

Imagine an AU where Balinor doesn't die and banishes Kilgarrah before sneaking away so Uther doesn't catch him and can't put his newfound son in danger. Of course, both he and Merlin are heartbroken about having to be separated again after just finding each other, but they work out a way to keep in touch and occasionally meet in secret.

And this is all well and good, and everything in the show just kinda proceeds as normal up until about season 4, where we have the knights of the round table well-established in Camelot.

It'd make sense that after a few years of travelling around with Kilgarrah, Balinor would be pretty well-known and well-feared throughout all the five kingdoms as "that dragonlord who escaped the purge and now travels around on the back of a giant dragon", and people all over Albion are kinda terrified of the guy.

Rumors say that he never smiles, that he can kill a man in a split second without even utterring a spell, and can decimate kingdoms with the dragon under his total command. That makes for a formidable figure!

And then one day, Balinor is trying to sneak into Camelot to visit his son (he heard Merlin got hit by a dorocha and wants to make sure he's ok!), and the knights see him and freak out because holy shit that's one of the deadliest guys in Albion!

They're in a tense standoff, with Balinor threatening to call down the dragon on them if they don't let him through. The knights are all ready to give their lives to at least buy the people in the castle time to evacuate, when suddenly Merlin and Arthur make it to the standoff. Arthur immediately starts strategizing with his knights on how they're going to negociate with the sorcerer in an attempt to make sure that they aren't all slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Merlin just laughs and pushes through the rows of knights blocking Balinor's path to the castle. The knights, being very fond of Merlin and not wanting to see their kind little friend be brutally murdered by one of the most terrifying men in exsistence, are trying to grab Merlin and pull him back to safety or shouting at him to get back, but Merlin manages to avoid them as he walks up to Balinor.

For a horrifying moment, the knights and Arthur think that Merlin is about to sacrifice himself for them, but Merlin breaks into a huge grin, yells "Dad!", and runs right into Balinor's arms.

(Merlin and Balinor reason that now that Arthur's king, they might as well start easing him into some of Merlin's less shocking secrets)

And even more shockingly to the knights, Balinor hugs him back, asking Merlin all about how he's been doing, how are his studies under Gaius, etc etc.

And all of the knights just bluescreen. Because the math isn't mathing on this one. Hunith + Balinor = MERLIN?! Does not compute.

They're all pondering how could someone as joyful, friendly, and kind as Merlin be the spawn of a terrifying man like Balinor?? They just cannot comprehend it. The manservant who they all know and love came from this sorcerer who's name is synonymous with the threat of death and destruction??

They're all jolted back to reality however when Balinor asks Merlin if he wants to come back to Balinor's newly-renovated stronghold in the mountains (that's only accessable by riding a dragon) to learn more about one day becoming a dragonlord. And suddenly, the knight understand why Balinor's here. He wants to kidnap Merlin from them and twist him into a terrifying sorcerer to carry on Balinor's legacy!

It all basically dissolves into a long game of high-stakes tug-of-war between Balinor and the knights + Arthur, and Merlin's just enjoying spending time with his father and his friends.

Balinor will just casually crash one of their quests while riding Kilgarrah and "kidnap" Merlin while the knights fight to keep Merlin with them.

Balinor eventually gives Merlin Aithusa so he can get practice raising dragons, and the knights see it as some evil scheme to make Merlin betray Camelot and attack it from within, but damn it Merlin's already adopted the damn thing so now they're stuck with a baby dragon.

IDK if I'd ever write a fic about it since I'm pretty busy writing another fic rn, but I thought that it was a funny idea to throw out there!

PS: if anyone wants to read my current project, where I'm giving Sir Leon more anxiety with each chapter after a kinda-botched magic reveal on Merlin's part (and Merlin may or may not be an eldritch god), feel free to check it out here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54027337/chapters/136771564

Thank you all for sticking with my incoherent rambling! :D I hope you have a great day/night!

Also, please let me know if you guys wants to hear more of the ideas that pinball around in my head!

[larluce]

Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU

Tagging @aceauthorcatqueen , @fallenxjas , @smileytrinity ,@lucifertookmyshoe , @an-entity-i-think , @thecornerofbelu , @griffonskies , @odinjm , @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu , @thelady-mary , @bennedict , @nightninjaboy , @st8-of-grace , @star-rie , @error-username-not-availablea , @dogberryrowan , @jamieweasley13 Since you asked for Arthur and Merlin to still be oblivious for series 2 ;)

LINKS TO THE OTHER PARTS OF THIS AU HERE: PART 1 , PART 2 , PART 3 , PART 4 , PART 5 , PART 6 , PART 7 , PART 8 , PART 9 , PART 10 , PART 11 (You're here) , PART 12

In "The Curse of Cornelius Sigan"

Arthur: (falls of his horse)

Merlin: Arthur! (Goes to him worried)

Arthur: I’m fine (stands up)

Merlin: (checks Arthur for injuries, anxiously)

Arthur: (smiles and stops Merlin by the shoulders, gently) Merlin, I’m fine, really.

Merlin: I’m sorry. I did that girth up myself. I don’t know how-

Cedric: (appears bringing back the horse) Would you like me to fit the girth properly for you, sire.

Merlin: (Kills him with his eyes)

Arthur: (realises it was him who sabotaged Merlin the first time but decides to play along for now) Thank you.

Cedric: (makes a bow) It is an honor to be of service to the Prince.

Arthur: And not an honor everyone can have. Right, Merlin?

Merlin: (dryly) Right.

Cedric: Allow me the honor of brushing your clothes down- (is about to touch Arthur’s clothes but Merlin grabs his arm midair)

Merlin: (smiles politely, but his grip is strong) I can do that myself, you don’t have to worry.

Cedric: (pulls his arm free, taken aback, but turns to Arthur) Anything else I can do for you, sire?

Arthur: (between bewildered and pleased with Merlin’s reaction) Thank you, but my servant has everything under control.

Merlin: (brushes Arthur’s clothes and gives Cedric a very smug smile)

Cedric: (thinking) The little shit. (forces a smile). In fact, I’ve come to Camelot in search of work. It would mean everything to me to have the pleasure to work at the castle near your highness.

Merlin: (coldly, after he finishes brushing Arthur’s clothes) There is a procedure for that.

Arthur: Merlin, it’s okay. (to Cedric) What’s your name?

Cedric: (makes another bow) Cedric, your highness.

Arthur: Cedric. We’re short of a man or two in the stables. You can start there. (gets on his horse) Merlin?

Merlin: (gets on his horse too and they leave together)

Cedric: …

Cedric: The servant has his own horse?! 😨

Time skip. Later in the stables.

Arthur: (furious) You fell asleep? That’s your excuse?

Cedric: (scared) I didn’t mean to-

Arthur: To what? To lose ALL the horses?

Merlin: (enters) Sire. Don’t be too hard on him. He's just tired.

Arthur: On his first day?

Cedric: Sire, please-

Arthur: Enough! You’re fired. (leaves but shouts from outside) Merlin!

Merlin: (cheerfully) I’ll go in a moment, sire! (looks at Cedric, his face turning serious)

Cedric: I did not fall asleep.

Merlin: No, you did not (throws the cloth that had Cedric’s sleeping draught at him). Thank you for the trick though, it’s quite effective.

Cedric: (angered) You stole it from me!

Merlin: Says the thief. (shakes his head and gives him a sack with treasure of Sigan’s tomb) Here, I hope that’s enough for you.

Cedric: (confused)… what?

Merlin: You wanted jewels, gold? There they are. Now leave Camelot and don’t come back.

Cedric: You think I’m stupid? I know there’s more in that tomb!

Merlin: Don’t be greedy. I'm doing you a favor. Or you leave with your hands full or be arrested for theft. You choose.

Cedric: I can tell the Prince you stole that. You’ll lose your job.

Merlin: Go ahead. Tell him and let’s see who he believes.

Cedric: …

Merlin: That’s what I thought. (threatens) I expect you to be gone by noon. (leaves)

Time skip. Cedric in the woods alone counting his treasure, happily.

Arthur: (appears out of nowhere) Where did you get that?

Cedric: (nervous) ¡Ah! Sire, what a nice surprise… seeing you here. 😅

Arthur: (approaches threateningly, raising his sword) You stole from me.

Cedric: (steps back, hands up, frightened) No! Merlin, your servant, he-

Arthur: And now you want to blame my personal manservant.

Cedric: No! I would never! I-

Arthur: (barely contained fury) You tried to sabotage my servant and almost liberated the ghost of a dangerous sorcerer putting all Camelot at risk… (pointing the sack with treasure). Just for this?

Cedric: (on his knees, begging) I’m so sorry, your highness! Please forgive me!

Arthur: I would. But you see… (runs him through with his sword) I still need 283.

...

Do you find confusing that I'm writing kind of in disorder? If you do, please let me know. Also, I'm open to ideas as always :D. Love you.

[escespace]

Merlin and Arthur but maybe this continues like this:

Arthur doesn't believe shit. What do you mean Merlin doesn't remember him? HIM?! Who does he think he is? He's been looking for him for weeks like a jilted lover (not that he is one) and when they meet again he doesn't remember anything of what they have experienced but he does remember that Gwaine once split eight apples with his head?

As expected, Arthur lashes out. The guy tends to be a brute when his emotions get too much. Obviously, he clashes with Merlin who doesn't let anyone walk all over him. So the knights are forced to endure a back and forth of sarcasm and bad temper.

«You can't talk to me like that, I'm a prince»

«How could I be sure of that? Memory loss, remember, you royal idiot?»

«I couldn't forget it because you keep repeating it to me!»

«I wouldn't repeat it if it didn't seem like the one with head problems is someone else who isn't me. Could you tell me if there have been many blows to your head or if it's just the nobility inflating it so much that it doesn't allow anything new to enter?»

«I'll show you lots of blows to the...»

I don't need to say that they didn't manage to do much that day. The knights looked for an inn and rested with their hearts heavy with worry for the young ex-servant who seemed to have forgotten parts of his life.

The next day, Arthur goes out to find his knights already talking to Merlin. Everyone seems very happy, chatting and laughing like any other time, but from what he understood from the previous day, it's just him that he doesn't seem to remember. Again, what kind of memory loss is that?

Talking to the knights, Merlin finds out why they are there and offers to accompany them to talk to someone who other townspeople have pointed out as a possible witness and this is because, SURPRISE, coincidentally, he is on his way there. He is a hard-working man whose elderly mother is ill and Merlin has been hired to prepare the medicine she requires.

The truth is that the man was in the area where the whole incident against those who went to look for the sorcerer happened because moments before he had met with Merlin to exchange the brew. And now Merlin wants to know if he really saw something that could incriminate him or endanger the sorcerer he helped escape.

They go to the man's house, do what they have to do, get nothing because the man didn't see anything (bullshit but he believes in Merlin)

So they keep searching and investigating, and Merlin accompanies them because he needs to make sure they don't find the people he's helped move (not just in that town) so he bombards them with verbose until they spill the beans, and no one believes anything bad about it because this is sweet and naive Merlin, please...

And more verbal challenges are exchanged between Arthur and Merlin because Arthur can't stand the tall man acting like nothing happened with everyone but him and he must find a way to get Merlin to admit that everything ut's either a bad joke (which will earn him a few nights of polishing every brick in the castle) or he says something that finally makes sense of how he forgot Arthur and if this way irritates him to the point of his ears glow from how red they get, that's just a bonus

«If I don't remember that he's a noble and I stab him, is it really illegal?»

«IT'S ILLEGAL IF YOU STABB ANYONE, MERLIN"

"What if no one sees it? Is it still illegal?»

«Now you're just playing dumb»

«No, no, Lance, I do think he has a couple of good points»

«Don't encourage him, Gwaine»

Anyway, somehow they end up discovering that the men who were sent to find the accused are a group that every time they are sent they return to Camelot with stories sufficiently disturbing to avoid too many questions since the sorcerers this group Usually look for never make it to Camelot.

Perhaps they find out while they are divided. One group is at the inn eating and it is there that they meet the derailed knights (we would call them the haters)... So the round table connects the dots and a fight breaks out.

On the other hand, half of the round table that was not looking for food finds out about the haters from a survivor who explains to them that these so-called knights seek to exterminate sorcerers by his own hand.

«It is not their right to judge. The king's law must be given by the king» Arthur says

«It's not as if the judging part happens much in front of the king either» Merlin attacks. «more like simply sentence and death. Even if they are not really sorcerers or even if there was no harm or injury»

Lancelot is the one who silences Merlin before a fight breaks out, calming him down by speaking comfortingly because there is no time to waste.They must meet up with the others because if they are lucky perhaps the group of haters will still be around and they can catch them there instead of in Camelot where the situation is still tense as to prove that there are even weaknesses within the army...

The problem is, as we know, that the haters are fighting at that very moment with the other members of the round table and they outnumber them.

So as he opens the door of the inn a dagger immediately flies towards Merlin, who is the one who is going ahead. But it does not hit him but Arthur who somehow quickly got in the way.

Blood blooms like a dam that overflows before Merlin's eyes, eyes that instantly turn golden, causing every Rebel knight (every hater) to fall unconscious. And isn't Arthur supposed to be unconscious at times like this too? Because he definitely shouldn't have seen that, he didn't want to see it and now that he has he must acknowledge that Merlin has magic

.

.

.

Continuation

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Birthday!!! 🎂🎂🎂 Can I have a Merlin prompt? 🎂🎂🎂

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5

Merlin manages to avoid the arrival of Nimueh and her kidnapped apprentice and it’s not even suspicious at all because everyone is avoiding them, and Tristan, because of the huge fight they had about the actual legitimate kidnapping of an unwed, barely of age lady from a neighboring kingdom.

“Does it count as kidnapping if they go along willingly?” Elyan asks, standing above Merlin while he polishes his armor and being no help at all despite being the son of a blacksmith.

He shrugs. “How would I know?”

That gets him a snort of laughter and a slap on the back that only has him stumbling a little bit. If nothing else, his time as Arthur’s servant running around doing chores, and usually running after Arthur and Elyan and their newest terrible idea, has made it so he sort of has muscles now. Access to the castle’s kitchens certainly hasn’t hurt either.

He feels sort of guilty about it. Sure, he’s barely earning any wages himself since it’s mostly going to Ealdor’s debt, but they’re out there working hard to irrigate the land and fix up the village and he’s eating well and sleeping in the nicest room he probably ever will, and sure, he’s working, but he also spends a lot of time just hanging out with Arther and Elyan.

“She’s pretty alright actually, for a noble,” he continues. He hasn’t been going to nearly the lengths Merlin has to avoid her. “Especially for one that grew up in Camelot.”

“You grew up in Camelot,” Merlin says.

For a moment Elyan looks a strange cross between forlorn and wistful. “Yeah, but me and my dad and my sister are just commoners. It wasn’t so bad for us, after the queen died and the prince went missing, but the nobles got it the worst. The king had never been the most comprising of men, but he really became something else after all that. I assume that’s why the de Bois left.”

Merlin startles. “The de Bois are from Camelot? They said that this was their grandfather’s castle!”

Elyan blinks at him. “What? Of course they are! And this was his castle, it’s just that familial relations broke down,” sometimes Elyan says things that make it so clear he spends too much time with Arthur, “and so their father’s was in Camelot. Is in Camelot, and still abandoned because no lord is willing to take up there and risk the king’s ire.”

“Why would the king care if someone else lived there?” he asks.

“Well, he took his brothers-in-law fleeing his kingdom a little personally, Merlin,” he says, rolling his eyes.

Wait. Wait – “Their sister was the queen of Camelot!?”

Elyan stares at him for a long moment then reaches out to rap his knuckles on the side of Merlin’s head. “What kind of schooling does that village have over there? I’ll tell Arthur to add it to the list.”

Better schooling wouldn’t be a bad thing, but, “I know her name was Ygraine! Ygraine Pendragon. No one told me her maiden name was du Bois!”

“Well,” Elyan says, looking uncertain, “maybe they just didn’t want it spread around. It’s not like they left under the best of circumstances. But I’m from the city proper, and everyone knows about the queen’s family there.”

“Right,” he says faintly.

How do things just keep getting worse?

He’s serving the king of Camelot’s nephew!

[fluffywing-e-tarot]

What I am not (Fic Idea)

Summary.

Merlin of Ealdor, son of Huneith, was many things that revolved around Prince Arthur Pendragon. He is not Arthur Pendragon.

Where, Merlin changes all but Afew’s perception into believing he is Prince Arthur Pendragon.

~*~

Leon returned to Camelot after spending time away with his family and managing his land. Leon knew he would need to go out on patrol soon.

“Sir Leon”, a squire greeted him with groomsmen from the stable. Taking the reign as he dismounts

“Prince Arthur requests your presence.”

Leon walks to the prince’s chamber, contemplating the topic. There's the Harvest count. Patrol routes. Potential knights. A new training regiment.

Leon arrived, knocking on the door.

“Enter,” his lord grants. Leon enters the room, ready to do whatever Arthur deems necessary to reevaluate. Standing over the table in the prince's chamber, a map and papers strewn across the surface weren't the blonde prince but the raven hair of the Manservant.

“Merlin?” Leon asks.

Merlin’s head snaps to look into his eyes.

“Leon, you recognise me,” Merlin said. A look of disbelief on his face

“Of course, Merlin,” Leon said

“Close the door.” Merlin looked stern as one of the guards outside the door. They noticed the conversation.

Leon closed the door. Then looked around the room for the blond prince. “ Where is Arthur?”

“Leon, I need you to promise me something,” Merlin said. Blue eyes giving a frigid satire.

“What do I need to promise?”

“What I'm about to tell you doesn’t make it to King Uther.” Merlin started to pace; he looked frustrated.

“I cannot promise you, Merlin. If what you tell me is a danger to Camalot. Then, as her knight, I must tell him.”

“I’m Prince Arthur,” Merlin said. Leon scoffed.

 “That’s impossible. I would have remembered growing up with your scrawny limbs on the training ground,” Leon said 

Merlin continued, “That’s what the entire castle believes.”

“ You don’t resemble Arthur at all. And you’ve worked for him for years.”Leon said the pieces fell into place. Leon whispers, “There’s magic involved.”

Merlin snapped towards the quiet declaration.

“Are you cursed, Merlin?” Leon asks. “You never liked Royalty; must have cursed you.”

“In a manner.”Merlin said, “But it hasn’t affected everyone.”

“Who else knows?”

“Gaius, Gwen, Arthur, and now you,” Merlin said.

“How do you know Arthur knows.”

“I designed it that way,” Merlin mumbled 

“Say again?”

 “It was during Negotiations,” Merlin said clearly. Leon’s stomach dropped.

“This happened when Camelot was in negotiation with another Kingdom?”

“Yes,” Merlin said, slumping.“ They had already known Arthur's appearance and mannerisms. I didn’t want to panic the delegation, so I did something stupid.”

Leon felt his chest tighten and worry that a curse was upon his friend to pose as Arthur. However, both Gwen and Gaius know Arthur is currently the manservant.

 “You Cast the spell.” Leon pointed his blade at Merlin. Merlin didn’t resist; a small trickle of blood fell from his neck. Merlin looked resigned to his fate of death. Leon let him keep talking.

“Two days after the Noble delegation arrived, Arthur decided to go Hunting. At the third watch of the Night, he burst into my room and took me hunting for the morning. While we were hunting, I tripped, and during my recovery, someone attacked, overwhelming and taking Arthur, disappearing before I could follow.”

Leon could tell where this was going.

“I didn't want to be punished for losing Arthur. The negotiations were just starting, and Arthur needed to be present. I cast a spell to have the Bandits and Cort believe me as the Prince.” Merlin bounced his leg. “ I did it in hopes Arthur would be back by now. I can’t lift it until Arthur is safe. I can’t let up now.”

“You would immediately be charged with treason and impersonating royalty,” Leon said. But he understood. Merlin didn’t want to die. No one wanted to die. Merlin had to act dispassionate because that is what was expected of him, not to throw the kingdom into chaos. Leon dropped his sword. He was kneeling before Merlin.

“Sire,” Leon said affectionately, despite Merlin only posing as the prince.“I will find your manservant. I will bring him home.”

“Leon, I can’t in good conscience allow you to undertake such a feat alone.”

“Perhaps not. You must have allies outside the castle. Could your magic lead me to them?”

“Lancelot and Gwain. Those two would be the only people I trust to help.” Merlin said

Leon left Prince Arthur’s chamber with five letters. He dared not touch them for the magic that Merlin enchanted three of them with. He began to walk towards Gaius but was intercepted by a summons to Uther.

“How is Arthur?”

Leon had to remind himself that Merlin was currently Arthur.

“Missing his Mansurvant.”

“That boy can get another one,” Uther said. Leon knowing Merlin’s magic, determined. No other servant is out there with the magic or loyalty to Arthur.

Leon gathered his squier and another knight he knew who thought the private conversation wasn’t entirely adverse for magic to set out on patrol. Leon hoped that he wouldn’t report the use immediately upon seeing it.

“You rarely choose me as your partner, Leon.” Sir Dresden said.

“There is an important task given to me by his highness,” Leon said

“I didn’t hear anything different?“ Hurlburt, his squire said.

Once they left the city, Leon called to halt dismounting.

“What is it?”

“What I am going to tell you must be kept secret.”

“What is it?”

“ An enchantment has been placed on the whole of Camelot.”

They both looked stunned. “Leon, how do you know this?”

“A sorcerer is posing as Prince Arthur,” Leon said. They both laughed at him.

“There is no way Prince Arthur is a sorcerer.”

“King Uther enchanted and marring a troll,” Leon said. They both stopped laughing, remembering that such an alteration to the king’s perception had almost lost the kingdom’s stability and heir.

“I see.” Sir Dresden said. “ and why do you trust this sorcerer?”

Leon didn’t want to reveal that Merlin was the sorcerer, so he said, “The sorcerer gave me the quest to find the real prince.”

“And what must we do to aid you?”

“Continue on patrol. I hope my quest will yield results.”

“I will join you.” Sir Dresden said.

“ So will I.” Hulburt siad.

They mounted up again. Leon told Dresden where to meet on the patrol route, handed over one of the enchanted and standard letters, and demonstrated how to operate the enchanted letter.

He went for Gwaine and handed him the regular letter. Gwaine joined immediately after reading it. They went to the meeting spot and opened the final letter, leading him to the prince.

The battle to reclaim Prince Arthur was short, and he was glad he had accepted Sir Dresden's offer and his squire as there were more than he was comfortable with for the bandits and a sorcerer leading the troop. Lancelot delivered the final blow to the sorcerer.

Arthur was severely injured due to the torture he took. They found a farmer’s house near the woods and summoned Gaius for treatment. Gwain and Lancelot promised to stick around and watch Arthur on his recovery.

When Gaius cleared Arthur to return to the castle, Merlin declared he was going hunting. When he reached the farmhouse, he dispelled the enchantment and roughed himself up—with assistance. 

Merlin's return was appreciated by both Arthur and much of the surviving staff. Merlin’s normal workload was stressing many servants out. Leon smiled when Hespotted Merlin with the wash maids in intense discussion. Uther was none the wiser to what was happening around Arthur. 

[georgies-ftts]

just another Merlin headcanon/fic idea that i may or may not write… (AU: Post canon/nobody dies, Arthur knows about Merlin’s magic but not quite what Merlin does for Camelot in his spare time)

Merlin and Arthur have been teetering around each other since the Battle. Arthur showing a more protective and outwardly caring side to the younger man. Merlin leaving lingering touches and soft glances whenever he’s able, defending Arthur more openly and strongly to those he never would’ve dared to before.

The Knights have bets on their relationship. Leon is winning. Gwaine is in debt. Percival wants to rip his hair out, Lancelot and Eylan are secretly betting on Gwaine going bankrupt before Merlin and Arthur even admit their feelings out loud.

After a particularly close encounter with his servant, soon to be court sorcerer, Arthur finally works up the courage to ask Merlin if he feels the same as he does, to tell Merlin that marrying for an heir is what the court want, he wants to marry for love, and he loves Merlin.

He asks Merlin, by a letter that he thinks gives a clear light to his intentions, to meet him outside the castle, in a spot they sometimes sit at together when the days have been long and stressful. The spot where the moonlight shines brightly over the flowers and the grass is somehow soft year round and in the summer a small refreshing cross breeze is created by the way the trees are sprayed out scarcely before them.

But Merlin never shows and Arthur feels embarrassed, hurt, somehow more betrayed than when Merlin revealed the gold dragon within the flames of the fire but he understands that Merlin must’ve read Arthur’s intentions loud and clear and saved him the mortifying rejection of his manservant. So instead he turns to avoiding Merlin, that seeing him after the clear rejection would only send him into a spiral so he tries his best to stay away.

However he notices that, despite his effort to avoid him, he hasn’t seen the sorcerer anywhere at all, his chores untouched, a dreadful feeling that hasn’t been there until that morning fills the air. It’s obvious the others within the castle feel it too.

Arthur turns to the knights, questioning if they have seen Merlin, if he is okay and well, but they have not seen him and that only causes Arthur to panic more.

He sends the guards to search the castle, the stables, Gwens house, even the small opening by the lake where Merlin traipses off to when he’s feeling rough, when he’s hiding. But he’s never gone this long.

He orders them to tear Camelot apart if they have too.

But he’s found in none of those places.

Instead Merlin and Gwaine find him, bloody, broken and shivering beneath the castle where he hasn’t been able to move himself for the past two days even calling for help had been pointless so far below the occupied layers of the castle.

Merlin is rushed to Gauis as he his eyes flutter and Arthur can do nothing but sit and panic as Merlin’s wounds are tended too.

Once he is awake and competent Arthur sits beside his cot and, though it feels wrong too, he questions him deeply, his voice tremors and his fingers shake but he does it anyway.

And Merlin tells him everything, how he received the letter and his heart almost gave up on itself at the thought of alone time with the King, how he’d been sneaking around near the stores, trying to find a bottle of wine or two just before their meeting so they could truly relax after a stressful council meeting and had caught the assassin that had been snooping low in the castle. A poisoned dagger strapped to his belt.

He had been strong and relentless and had nearly left Merlin with less than his life but Merlin had fought for Arthur and he had won, even if he ended the scrap with blood coating his body and an ache in his ribs that made him hiss and cough with each movement.

That even before Arthur knew about his magic this had been a large part of his daily life, to keep Arthur safe and to never let him know just how much it hurt him, how much it broke him. He jokes that he doesn’t even know where the tavern is.

But Arthur echos that now he doesn’t need to hide, he can ask for help, and he will receive it.

Then Arthur realises that Merlin truly had no idea what he was going to ask him and he knows that if he doesn’t do it now he won’t ever be able too again.

So he asks.

And Merlin replies.

[morri-draws]

Gwaine x Reader - 'The Threads That Bind Us' - Chapter 11

Story Summary:

You, a humble dressmaker from Camelot’s lower town, are commissioned to make a new gown for Queen Guinevere. Impressed by your skills, she offers you the position of Royal Clothier. During your time in the castle, you catch the eye of one of the knights of King Arthur’s inner circle, Sir Gwaine. What starts as a sweet courtship is turned upside down when misfortune strikes and you must deal with the aftermath, as well as an unwelcome visit from Gwaine’s unpleasant sister.

Rating: Mature

Tags: Female Reader/Gwaine, set between seasons 4 and 5, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort

Words: 2,963

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Read on Ao3

You’ve done as Gaius instructed, and returned to your regular duties, sewing the harvest outfits for the king and queen. You spent the remainder of yesterday working once you got back from your visit to Gwaine’s bedside. Now you’ve spent the entire day doing so, sighing and rubbing your strained eyes when you put your needle down at last.

You prepare a simple dinner and begin to eat at the table, your now otherwise unoccupied thoughts wholly on Sir Gwaine. You shove another spoonful into your mouth, almost choking when there’s a rapid knock at your door. You quickly swallow your food as you rush to the door and open it.

“He’s awake!” Merlin beams.

You gasp and, wasting no time, leave your chambers, your remaining dinner abandoned.

Merlin opens the door when you arrive at your destination, allowing you to enter first. You look to the bed, spotting Gwaine’s face gazing back at you from his reclined position. You make your way over to him, anxiety flaring as you realise that, as excited as you have been for Gwaine to recover, you are nervous to see him now, since the last time you spoke, it was not on pleasant terms.

You pull up a chair at his bedside and sit down.

“It’s good to see you awake at last,” You say, finding it difficult to hold his gaze for long.

“I needed my beauty sleep,” Gwaine smirks.

You smile, relieved that he is feeling well enough to jest.

“I was just telling Gwaine, before I fetched you, how you visited him while he was unconscious,” Merlin says from across the room with a mischievous smile.

Your cheeks warm. “Yes, well… I wanted to make sure you were getting better,”

“I’m feeling much better, now that you’re here,” Gwaine says softly.

You look away from his tender gaze. “Where’s Gaius?”

“He’s gone to inform Arthur,”

“I was informed before the king?” You ask in disbelief.

“Well, your chambers are closer, and besides,” Merlin says. “Arthur could stand to learn a little patience,”

The three of you chuckle, but Gwaine’s laugh turns into a groan as he clutches his side. Your hand automatically moves to touch Gwaine’s arm in concern. His eyes dart from your hand to your face and you blush, pulling the hand away. Gwaine opens his mouth to speak when the door suddenly swings open and the king enters, followed by Gaius.

“Gwaine,” He grins, crossing the room and extending a hand. Gwaine extends his own and they grasp arms as male friends often do. “I knew you were too tough to be bested by mere raiders,”

“We all know I’m the strongest knight, despite what Percival might think,” Gwaine grins.

The king laughs and claps his hands together. “Well, I just wanted to see for myself that you’re on the mend. I expect to see you back at training very soon,”

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that, sire,” Gaius interjects. “Sir Gwaine will need time to recover from his wound. Vigorous exercise is sure to reverse any healing that has occurred,”

“Very well,” The king starts for the door, but turns to point a finger at Gwaine. “But don’t even think about laying it on thick to avoid coming back training. I know what you’re like,”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Gwaine replies playfully.

Arthur smirks, before leaving, the door snapping shut behind him.

“That man has an unnatural obsession with physical punishment,” Gwaine says as soon as the king is out of sight.

You look to Merlin and you both grin, relieved and glad to have the jesting knight back with you.

“Can I return to my own chambers, Gaius?” Gwaine asks.

The physician looks up from his workbench where he’s tidying up. “I would prefer if you were to stay here a bit longer, Gwaine. You have only just become conscious again,”

Gwaine groans. “I long for the comfort of my own bed. Don’t you, Gaius?” He looks down meaningfully at the bed he’s lying in.

“My patients’ well-being comes first,” Gaius replies. “Besides, how do you suppose you will get from here to your chambers? You haven’t even managed to sit up yet,”

“These two will help me,” Gwaine gestures to you and Merlin.

Gaius sighs. “Very well. But,” His expression becomes stern. “Be very careful not to reopen your wound,”

“I will, Gaius,” Gwaine carefully props himself up, then looks between you and Merlin. “Let’s go,”

“Wait a moment,” Gaius retrieves a bundle of fabric from nearby and tosses it to Gwaine, who holds it up, revealing a shirt. “We can’t have you walking about the castle half-naked,”

Gwaine carefully slips the shirt over his head and eases his arms into the sleeves. “There we are,”

Merlin approaches the bed, putting an arm around Gwaine’s back and helping him to stand. You get up from your chair and put an arm around Gwaine from the other side, you and Merlin both taking some of the knight’s weight as he rests an arm on each of your shoulders.

“Take it slow,” Gaius instructs as the three of you head out the door.

You and Merlin guide Gwaine through the corridors of the castle, taking the stairs extra carefully. You try not to focus on the fact that this is the closest you’ve ever been to Gwaine, and the most physical contact you’ve ever had with each other. You notice out of the corner of your eye that the knight gives an occasional glance your way, but you stay focused on the path ahead to avoid the possibility of turning beet red from gazing at him from such a close proximity.

In over double the amount of time it would usually take to make the distance to Gwaine’s chambers, you finally arrive. Merlin opens the door and you both lead Gwaine to his bed and assist him to sit on the edge.

He sighs. “Much obliged to you both. Now, Merlin,” He gives his friend a meaningful look.

Merlin smiles and heads back to the door, gently closing it behind him as he leaves the room without a word. You’re struck with mild alarm from being thrust into this situation, just you and Gwaine alone.

Gwaine clears his throat. “So…”

Seeing no chair nearby, you take a deep breath and perch on the edge of the bed too, about three feet between you.

“I want to start by saying how sorry I am,” You begin. “My behaviour toward you was unforgivable. The thought that I hurt you makes my stomach turn,” You look down in shame.

“(Y/N), please don’t be so hard on yourself,” He replies. “I forgive you,”

You meet his gaze, which is absolutely sincere.

“You are not at fault here,” He continues “It was a misunderstanding, and you were led astray, which is why I want to talk things through now. I would like you to tell me what happened between when we spoke in your chambers about Sir Leon, and when we last spoke, at your chamber door,”

You wince at the memory of the terrible exchange of the latter.

“Are you sure we should do this now?” You ask. “It’s getting late, and surely you need rest,”

“I can rest later, once I’ve heard your account. Please…”

You sigh deeply, clasping your hands in your lap. “Alright, where to start? I suppose I should begin with when I returned to Camelot after my rescue from those bandits. I admit I… was afraid to see you. I felt so wretched and I was worried I would be terrible company. I thought I wouldn’t be able to laugh with you anymore and… that I was spoiled,”

You touch the side of your head where your hacked hair is hidden underneath the fabric cap. You glance up at Gwaine, sorrow and anger in his eyes.

“But you came by my chambers,” You continue. “And we had our talk about Sir Leon. I didn’t see you for three days after that, but I thought perhaps you were busy. On the fourth day, I went out to fetch some water, and I saw you walking with a woman, who was very elegant and pretty. I didn’t think much of it until later. On the way back to my chambers, I overheard your sister speaking to someone in the courtiers’ wing. They were gossiping about what happened to me. Erika said that you’d gone off me. She knew what had happened to my hair and said I was too ugly now for any man to want me. I rushed back to my chambers, upset, and thought of what she said, and how I hadn’t seen you in three days, but saw you with that woman, and I imagined that your sister was right. I couldn’t face seeing anyone, so I didn’t answer my door to any who came by. I only left my chambers to conduct fittings or go to the market, which is where I saw Erika again, I believe with the same friend as last time. She said that she’d seen you head to my chambers a few times, and she assumed that you… that you and I…”

“You don’t have to say it,” Gwaine says, clearly livid, but attempting to keep his voice steady.

You nod in thanks, before continuing. “She also said that back home, the townspeople hid their daughters from you. I ran into you in the courtyard, just after I’d heard all that, and I was so cold toward you, thinking of those terrible things Erika had said. I returned to my chambers and thought over everything, questioned everything. I thought of those bandits and the things they said, how they made me feel like I wasn’t a person, but just something to be used, and with all those things your sister said… I thought that you’d just wanted to use me too,”

Your voice wavers and tears well up in your eyes. Before you can say any more, Gwaine’s arms are around you and your face is buried in the crook of his neck. You stay like that for a few moments, taking comfort in his warm embrace as your tears soak through his shirt, before pulling away and wiping your eyes on the back of your hand.

“The next day we spoke at my chamber door,” You continue. “I need not repeat what was said, for I’m sure we both remember. I spent much time reflecting after you left, realising how foolish and cruel I had been. I was afraid you would never want to speak to me again. But Merlin visited me the next day, and with his encouragement, I planned to seek you out after your evening training. So, when the time came, I went to the knights’ quarters and no one was there, then I found out you’d all left on an urgent mission. Now… here we are,”

“Here we are,” Gwaine repeats with a sigh.

“Do you see how foolish I’ve been?”

“No,” Gwaine protests. “What I see, is that you’ve been in a delicate state since those terrible events with the bandits. I see that during your time of distress, my sister made things worse. You needed to be treated with gentleness, but she inflicted her venomous words upon you,”

“But she never spoke directly to me,” You interject. “I only ever overheard her talking to someone else,”

“Knowing Erika, I’d say she knew you were able to hear. At least in the second instance,” Gwaine shakes his head. “And with you already feeling low, you believed the things she said,”

“I should have known better,” You hang your head.

“You are not to blame,” Gwaine puts a hand on your shoulder, his gaze intense. “Not one bit, you hear?”

You hold his gaze, seeing nothing but earnestness, and you nod. Gwaine removes his hand and rests his elbows on his knees, fingers threaded together.

“I would like to tell my side of the story now,” He says. “Hopefully it’ll clear some things up,”

You shift your position on the bed, moving so your body is fully facing Gwaine.

“Those three days where I didn’t see you,” He begins. “The first, Arthur had us go on another patrol to check for bandits. He didn’t want to chance it that any more people would be taken and sold to slavers. By the time we returned we were all exhausted, so I didn’t come by to see you. The second day, since I had made up with Leon that night after we spoke, all us knights went to the tavern, glad the tension was behind us. We stayed there late, so by the time I got back to the castle, it was past any reasonable hour for a visit. The third day is where I made a mistake. I was planning to see you, and told the other knights such, but they wanted to go back to the tavern to try to make back the money they’d lost gambling the night before. I let them persuade me to go with them instead of seeing you. With things freshly mended between me and Leon, I didn’t want to chance causing any more friction, so I did as they wanted. I came by your chambers the next day, but received no answer. By the sounds of it, you’d already heard some of Erika’s foul words by then. I had supposed at the time that you must have been out, but perhaps not?”

You shake your head. “I heard the knock, but I didn’t want to see anyone,”

Gwaine nods in understanding. “In regards to that woman you saw me with. I’d hazard a guess and say she was a friend of Erika’s. I’d never met her before that day, and she was asking me odd questions, some about you. I only gave vague answers since the whole thing seemed suspicious,” He frowns. “Now, about the things my sister had to say about me: she has taken the smallest grain of truth and warped it into a terrible lie,” He sighs. “Remember when I told you how things changed after my father died?”

You nod.

“I didn’t go into everything,” He continues. “It was an unhappy time. My mother’s greatest wish was for me and Erika to marry well. Our reduced position upset my mother greatly, so she would constantly push us onto wealthy, unmarried sons and daughters of nobles, hoping a good match would come of it. I couldn’t stand it, to be permanently tied to someone just for the money… so I rebelled. I purposely botched any courtships my mother forced me into, and instead sought the company of the innkeep’s daughter,”

“Did you love her?” You ask.

“I thought I did at the time,” Gwaine grimaces. “But I think I realise now that what I actually loved was the sense of freedom I had when I was with her. Time with her was time away from nobles and my mother’s schemes. Anyway, Erika found out and told the innkeep, who was furious. He forbade me from so much as looking in his daughter’s direction. It was shortly after that I left town. I admit I was a terrible flirt during my time wandering, but… I was lonely. I was travelling alone, never staying in one place too long since I usually got into trouble wherever I went. I just wanted to feel some kind of connection… but it was only ever just dalliances or words thrown back and forth, with no sincerity or meaning behind them,”

Feeling reluctant to ask the question, you push yourself to do so anyway.

“Were you feeling lonely when you first spoke to me?”

Gwaine looks into your eyes. “No. Since being here, becoming a knight… I’m in a very different place now. I have a home, friends, duty. But that day we first spoke, I saw a damsel looking very lost, and felt it was my knightly duty to assist,” He grins.

You smile. “And taking me to the baker’s for fruit and custard buns – was that a knightly duty?”

Gwaine chuckles, wincing slightly and clutching his side. “No, that was me wanting to get to know you better. Just from speaking to you a little, I got some sort of sense about you,”

“Sense? Like a psychic sense?” You tease.

“No, nothing like that,” He scoffs. “I got a sense that you were very genuine… true to yourself. And you liked to jest and to laugh. What was it you said on our picnic?”

You shake your head, unsure as to what he is referring.

“That was it,” He smiles. “‘One should never underestimate laughter, and cherish those who make them smile,’”

A blush blooms in your cheeks as he gazes at you, his eyes brimming with warmth, and a sensation washes over you, of a massive weight being lifted from within.

“I’m so glad we’ve been able to talk things over at last,” You say.

Gwaine reaches out, taking your hand in his. “Me too,”

You look down at his hand enveloping yours, and stroke along his knuckles with your thumb.

“The hour is late,” You gently remove your hand from his and stand up.

“Don’t go yet,”

“Gaius will have my hide if he finds out I kept you from resting,”

Gwaine groans. “Will you visit again tomorrow?”

“I will,” You smile. “But I won’t come until around midday, so make sure you have a nice, long beauty sleep,”

“Why around midday?”

“I do have a job, you know,” You smirk.

“Of course. Well, I will be counting down to the hour,”

“The only thing you need to worry about counting is sheep,”

Gwaine chuckles. “Goodnight, (Y/N),”

“Goodnight, Gwaine,”

[lightfin]

Ok,ok, soooo, just a little thought hear but, my mind was racing around intreaging AU senators to TOA and one piped up in my head.

What if, when Steve, Claire,Douxie,Jim and Toby ( I’m adding Toby because we need a best friends reunion and we were robbed of it. Anyways, whe they fall in the rift what is they got separated, for example Claire and Douxie end up being in the same place with the nights, Toby and Steve are rescued by Claire’s shadow portals in her panic but they end up being flung into a different part of the Forrest perhaps closer to a town or village outside Camelot’s walls but still in its borders, and Jim ends up somewhere entirely different, and wakes up both confused and alone.

I don’t know why, but I thought this was an interesting concept to think about, in a searies point of view rather then just ten eps. For example Claire and Douxie end up descovering the flaws in camalot, the truth behind morgana and just how hatted magic is among Camelot’s people, whilst also finding a way to exit camalot without screwing up the time line and find there friends. Toby and Steve team up and problem solve ways in which they can find the others, learning more about the past, and the perspective outside just camalot, on trolls, and humans alike, the good the bad, and ugly, it even could be that those two run into blinky this time.

And then there’s Jim, ok so I may have made this one a little more dark then it should but bare with me. Jim at first wakes up in the woods, alone, I wanted to explore this because of his time in the dark lands and how he would cope alone again. I changed the shard aspect, rather then it in his amulet, it’s in his shoulder, which is worse because in this AU, the orders shard acts like a poison, slowly working its way to his soal befor corrupting it, but rather then just under Arthur’s control, it slowly takes away his sentience,and with his conection to the amulet, the corruption shows as his armor and body starting to form into one large beast.(I’m sorry, I would never want this for Jim) it would be interesting how he would cope, battling his wild and human instincts, blacking out, and learning things about the gum gums this time, that he had never realised befor. Perhaps leaning more about hedge wizards, trollhunters lor, because I also when’re with in this time daya is not the first trollhunter, only because it makes more scence in construct of time. I am still keeping big distance Cal with Jim , because that’s gold, but this time she through Jim’s predicament builds her strength in helping the future trollhunter in reuniting with the others, both coming to terms with how they are perceived by others as ‘ calamity’ and ‘beast’ on the way. This would explore a versify of different sides of the past, even encountering creatures that are mother troll or human, or anything we’ve scene in cannon, the un scrntiamt creatures.

Also yes they will all end up convening together and having one big happy reunion befor the storm, learning the information about the order they needed,and returning home, but with both good and bad news.

Plus’s this whole past adventure, would take place over the horse of several months, lots more time to uncover the caos and find out how to get home.

Anyways I may wright this but before I do, would anyone be interested in reading something like this that dives more into the past of camalot in and around the castle, some canon elements still standing, I’d appreciate some thoughts, and suggestions to things that may make it more interesting.

[the-pen-pot]

Sweltering

'You look like you're going to faint.'

Merlin squinted at where Prince Arthur, heir to the throne of Camelot and absolute prat, was basking in the long grass by the duelling ground. He was wearing nothing but his trousers. His bare chest – sculpted by years of training with every possible weapon Camelot's armoury had to offer – carried a soft golden tan. His boots, socks and tunic had been abandoned, along with his armour, in a great shiny, stinking heap.

Not that he was the only one. The knights were all arrayed around in a similar state of undress. The hot spell had been going on for weeks, gradually baking the land until the castle lost the mausoleum chill of winter and became an oven instead. They'd started training at first light, just to escape the worst heat of the day, which of course meant that Merlin was out here at day break, too, fetching and carrying and doing the gods knew what else. Then, while they lay around like landed fish, he had to tidy up.

'Of course, I can understand why you wouldn't want to take your tunic off and inflict your weedy physique on Camelot as a whole.'

Briefly, but with murderous intent, Merlin contemplated dropping a mace on Arthur's head. He might have come to Camelot skinny, but after a couple of years of hauling Arthur's armour around, he'd built up a bit of of muscle. Nothing like the knights, maybe, but a respectable amount, if some of the looks he got in the kitchens were anything to go by.

'I think the population's already scared enough, looking at you ugly lot lying around half-naked.'

This was met with laughter and jeers from the knights, who were far too comfortable in their own skin.

'I know jealousy when I hear it!' Elyan crowed, his skin a rich, dark mahogany in the sunlight. They were all varying shades of brown. Even Sir Leon had developed a golden glow and then a smothering of ginger freckles to go on top of it.

'Merlin, mate? Arthur's right, you look a bit peaky. Have some water at least?' Gwaine begged, waving a skin at him, his smile blossoming into a shit-eating grin when Merlin grabbed it and realised it was empty. 'You'll just need to fill it up, first.'

'Yes, come on, Merlin. I want water,' Arthur added, all smug arrogance.

The other knights lifted their empty water-skins in a clamour, and Merlin groaned. The last thing he felt like doing was standing in a line at the well. He was already sweltering, dripping sweat from every pore. It wasn't like filling up the skins with magic was a possibility, either, not unless he wanted to inform five knights of the realm that he was a sorcerer. Lancelot, of course, already knew, and he was giving him a meaningful look.

It was a fair warning. After all, Merlin was already hot enough without being cooked on a pyre.

'You're all arseholes,' he muttered, snatching the water-skins from various sweaty hands and making his way towards the closest well. It was too hot to stamp across the scorched grass, and he settled from grumbling under his breath as he flitted from one feeble patch of shade to the next, trying to find respite in even the faintest breeze.

He headed to the market-square, where the awnings hung limp in the breathless air and the well was a pockmark in the middle of a sun-beaten cobbles. At least there was a fraction of fair-fortune on his side. Most people had the good sense to get their water before the day reached its zenith. Now, there was no crowd, and he set down the various waterskins before hauling up the rope, grunting and sweating from the exertion.

It was too fucking hot for this.

He finally got the bucket onto the rim of the well, noticing how quickly the drips had vanished in the merciless heat. At least the water was cold, sheltered as it was deep in the aquifers below Camelot. He could practically feel the chill radiating off of it, and he pursed his lips as a spark of mischief ignited in his brain. The knights had already been basking for more than a candle-mark while he'd been sorting out their armour and putting weapons away, and frankly, Arthur's ego was once again in danger of making his head too big to fit through doorways.

Besides, they had, technically, asked him to get water...

'I know that look.'

He glanced up at Gwen, who stood on the opposite side of the well, the sleeves of her dress rolled up and a pretty scarf tying her hair back off her face. A gleam of sweat glossed her forehead, but she looked to be in a better state than him.

'What look?' he asked innocently. 'There's no look.'

'You're plotting something.' Her cheeks swelled as she tried to smother a smile, raising one eyebrow at him. Gwen had been one of his first friends in Camelot. She knew him too well to believe his protests.

'No, I'm not. I'm getting the knights water. Like they asked. Mostly.' He grinned, picking up the water-skins and putting them into the empty basket she carried. 'Can you get those to the armoury? And pass me those buckets?'

Gwen looked as if she thought she should probably do something to save him from himself if nothing else. He watched the brief flicker of conflict over her face before she set her basket aside and did as she was bid. 'He'll put you in the stocks,' she warned.

'He'll have to catch me, first,' Merlin promised, steadily filling both buckets from the well before picking them up. 'Thanks, Gwen!'

He waited until he was away from the marketplace before letting loose the leash on his magic, just enough to make the buckets lighter and silence his footsteps, to stop the precious water sloshing and warm it, just a touch. After all, he wanted to make Arthur squeal like a girl, not give him a heart-attack. With that little bit of sorcerous assistance, the rest was child's play.

The basking knights never knew what hit them.

The first bucket of water made them jerk and holler as the cold water smacked over bare, sun-warmed flesh. There was a general spluttering as if they couldn't quite comprehend what had happened. Of course, Arthur was a bit quicker off the mark than the rest, leaping to his feet as his cry ricocheted across the field.

'MERLIN!'

Later, Merlin would point out it was a mercy that he at least made sure Arthur had shut his mouth before hitting him, full in the face, with the second pail of chilly well-water. It slicked that blond hair to that big head of his and ran in rivulets across his bare chest, soaking his breeches and leaving him drenched and gasping.

'You said you wanted water,' Merlin pointed out, not even trying to hide the breadth of his grin. 'I was just following your orders, Sire.'

He watched the spark flare in Arthur's eyes, the way a glimmer of amusement warred with outright disbelief. Even after all this time, he still liked nothing better to poke at Arthur, to tread that fine line that pushed right up to the edge of Arthur losing his temper.

Arthur took a step forward, his hands clenching into quick fists. 'I'm going to make you regret that,' he promised.

Merlin spread his hands, taking a step back. 'You're welcome to try.'

There was one, split second of motionless where he watched the balance teeter between Arthur's desire for dignity and his thirst for revenge before it fell firmly on the latter.

With a bright laugh, Merlin took off. Arthur and the knights may be strong, but they weren't the lightest on their feet. He was faster and had the advantage of longer legs. The heat was forgot as he darted away, delighting in the way Arthur cursed as he followed him. He hared across the training ground with the prince in hot pursuit, half-naked and dripping. He'd let Arthur catch him eventually; he'd have to, but for now Merlin was going to make him work for it.

******

A shadow fell over him, and Merlin looked up as far as he could from where he was bent over in the stocks, offering Gwen a cheeky grin. Truthfully, it was only the official part of his punishment. He'd been mercilessly dunked in the stable trough when Arthur finally caught up to him, which had been both disgusting and hilarious, because he'd managed to grab Arthur at the last minute and drag him in as well. The prince had retired inside to recover the tattered remnants of his dignity, shouting orders in his wake that, once the sun had gone down, Merlin was to spend three candle-marks in the stocks for his crimes.

'Oh, Merlin,' Gwen said, weary and fond.

'It could be worse. At least the sun's gone, and everyone's too hot to bother throwing vegetables.'

Gwen sighed, sitting down at his side so that he didn't have to look up at her and thoughtfully offering him a quick drink. 'Was it worth it?' she asked. 'Really?'

And Merlin thought of Arthur's face, beautiful, amused and outraged all at once. He thought of the satisfaction of revenge and, reluctantly, he allowed his mind to linger on how good Arthur had looked with the water slicking his breeches to his strong thighs and resting like a mantle of diamonds across his skin.

'Yeah,' he acknowledged at last, running his tongue over his bottom lip before catching it in his teeth. 'It really was.'

[badsalmonella]

HEY HEY HEY *SLAPS YOUR FACE* WAKE UP!!! I JUST MADE THE MOST INSANE STRING OF DISCOVERIES

-Setting the scene: I can't sleep. I'm rolling around in bed. I'm thinking about Camelot. The musical. As one does. Guys we ALL do this c'mon.

-Man the love triangle dynamics changing from version to version is interestinggg.

-Man the way the show sometimes has some interesting things to say about sexuality but also sometimes wants Nothing to do with sexuality while also having it written in the text is interestinggggg.... I wonder if anyone way smarter than me has ever written a deep dive essay about THAT.

-I'M NOT GETTING ANY SLEEP TONIGHT! TO GOOGLE!

-there actually is something written up about the movie but I think the full thing is behind a paywall siiiigh

-Oh what's this? A very interestingly titled BroadwayWorld forum title about scandalous nudity??? In Camelot????

- Strap in. Go pee before I start the car. This is INSANE.

-So what I stumble upon is a theater company in Massachusetts DEEPLY embroiled in the drama of advising people that their Camelot is GONNA HAVE NUDITY. Drama from 2005 (?) trapped in the amber that is the wonderful world of the internet

- The theater goers of Massachusetts are GOOPED.

- Some of them are also stupid lots of "well if you're adding nudity maybe I'LL ACTUALLY STAY AWAKE TO WATCH CAMELOT😂😂😂😂"

-also "Listen. There has never been sex EVER in Camelot" which ????????

- Like everyone is going in like "WHERE COULD YOU POSSSSSIBLIY PUT NUDITY???" bestie...you can't come up with one educated guess where they might slide that in? "NIMUE??? WILL NIMUE BE TITS OUT?????" "Will Morgan Le Fay be NAKED??? because she lives alONE IN THE FOREST???" y'all.

- Like so so sooo many entries in before someone eNTERTAINS the thought that it could be for a Lance Genny hook up.

-I don't know if this person was referencing another production or THIS MASSACHUSETTS PRODUCTION? They made it unclear. But they mention a staging of Fie on Goodness....where Mordred riles up the knights so much....they take off their shirts????? H eLLO????? ❓❓❓

-A NEW THREAD IS ADDED TO BROADWAYWORLD FORUMS

- A NEW CHALLENGER ENTERS THE RING

-Bro. A full blown RANT from the THEATER COMPANY THEMSELVES

-SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE.

-What is Talking Broadway and why are you BANNED bestie??? WHAT IS THE TEA WITH THE ADMIN???

- ALSO AND THIS IS THE BIG ONE WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE NUDITY IS IMPLEMENTED VIA A TOPLESS BALLET DANCING UNICORN?????

-WHERE??? WHEN??? HELLO????

-CAMELOT YOU ARE ALREADY AT 3 HOURS NOW WHEN DO YOU HAVE TIME FOR A TITS OUT BALLET????

- it's 4 am. I flex my googling fingers. I'm getting to the bottom of this. I am NOTHING if not MENTALLY ILL ABOUT CAMELOT THE BROADWAY MUSICAL BY LERNER AND LOWE. And by GOD I will document it with GREAT DETAIL for you ALL!

- First of all no I did not find any evidence of what THIS SPECIFIC 2005 BALLET LOOKED LIKE

- But I did figure out where there was a ballet!

- Listen so there are two old men in the forums arguing about how on the OG OG OLD OLD OLD SCHOOL RECORDS FOR CAMELOT??? I guess you can catch some of the cut songs/versions of songs?

-One man insists a number known as "The Persuasion" or "Enchanted Forest Ballet" is on this record

-Other man flexes that he just got OUT his old album and it is not there.

-but either way I have my lead.

-So for those of you not SO DEEP IN THE CAMELOT SAUCE YOU CAN NO LONGER SEE THE SUN This is referring to an OLLDDDD version of the show where Mordred wants to fuck with King Arthur and keep him out of the castle so Lancelot and Genny can get caught treason hugging so what he does is he goes to the forest, finds Morgan Le Fay, convinces her to create a magic forcefield around Arthur while he's out and about so he can't move and he DOES THIS by bribing her with chocolate which works because you see Morgan Le Fay in this version lives in a home made of food BUT NO SWEETS so she can be bribed with chocol----

-yEah so that got written out of the show fast. And for good reason. But here it is if you are curious. I think this is where the unicorn boobies would be featured (yes. Remember this is about nude Camelot in Massachusetts DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE PLOT HERE PEOPLE) also detail for those of you who have seen the bootleg too many times the revival repurposes this tune in the score for Morgan's entrance. NEAT!

-Okay also??? Random detail? Merlin was played by a child because Merlin ages backwards and at the end of the show that child plays Tom of Warwick. Neat

-Have you made it this far??? Are you still here???? I GOT ONE MORE THRILLING TURN FOR YOU ALL GUESS WHO WAS IN THE ENSEMBLE FOR THIS PRODUCTION OF GRITTY NUDITY CAMELOT IN MASSACHUSETTS

-JOSH CHAN!!! FROM CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND!!!!

-Okay now you have made it to the end. I'm gonna need S O much coffee for work today.

🧍🏻‍♀️

[jessisnotnormalq]

Chapter 6: Gone

Masterlist

<- Chapter 5

The Great Dragon was going to have a fit when he found out. The one thing he’d told Merlin, the one thing he’d specifically commanded him to avoid, was allowing Jada to figure out how the veils between the worlds worked. And yet, here Merlin was, not even a day later. He wasn’t just allowing Jada to figure them out, he was helping her.

            But who was to say the dragon was right? After all, he never gave any indication as to how he knew the things he claimed to, and just because he'd been aware of who Merlin was when he'd first arrived in Camelot didn't mean he necessarily knew everything, right? After all, Jada wasn’t allied with Nimueh, and though she’d never stated it outright, Merlin had noticed that she didn’t seem to be Uther’s biggest supporter, either. So what danger could she possibly pose?

            He hugged his jacket tighter to him as he crossed the courtyard, the first hints of an autumn chill beginning to cling to the air. The particular path he walked now had become familiar, and the groan of the iron door welcomed him back to the dark tunnels beneath the castle that he trod so regularly after nightfall.

            Torch in hand, Merlin made his way through the darkness, careful to navigate his way around the heaps of rubble and slippery, moss-covered steps, until the narrow passageway opened up into a vast cavern that stretched farther than his eyes could see.

            “Ah, young warlock.” The Great Dragon was seated on his usual rocky vantage point, his golden eyes regarding Merlin without sympathy or sentiment.

            “I need your help,” Merlin stated simply.

            The dragon sighed, his tone flattening to one of boredom. “I’m sure you do. What is it that troubles you this time?”

            Merlin chewed his lip, unsure how exactly he should proceed. “There’s a girl.” Gods, where to start?

            “I may not have been outside of this prison for more than twenty years, but the last time I saw, there were many,” the dragon remarked drily.

            “She’s, uh, different.” Merlin paused, scratching the back of his neck. “She thinks she’s travelled through time; a man named Morgo tricked her and she ended up here. She knows about my magic. I need to know how to get her back home, to her time.”

            The dragon’s eyes grew darker, his face moving closer to the ledge on which Merlin stood. “Merlin, heed my words, and heed them well. This woman is as dangerous as she is deceitful. You must not allow her to gain the knowledge that would enable her to open the veils between the worlds at will.”

            Merlin was taken aback. “What? Why? What’s she going to do?”

            “Such powerful magic has not been practised since the time of the Old Religion. If you allow her to gain such abilities, the entire kingdom will stand in peril.”

            “So what am I supposed to do?” The warlock frowned. “Just go back and tell her that she’ll never see her home again? That she’s stuck here for the rest of her life?”

            “You must find a way to stop her. No matter what it takes.” The dragon looked gravely at the boy before him, but Merlin’s jaw had already set itself against such a suggestion.

            “I will not hurt her.” In a flare of anger, he spun on his heel, the torch blazing in a semicircle around him. As he ducked back into the narrow passageway, he heard the dragon’s final warning following him into the darkness.

            “Then she will enchant you, and you will lose everything.”

            The dragon’s warning still rang in his ears, but even that made no sense to Merlin. Jada didn’t have magic. If the dragon wanted him to start listening, he was going to have to be a lot more specific, Merlin decided.

            They’d walked for quite a while, Merlin leading the way at first back to where he and Arthur had found Jada. Then she took over, trying her best to remember from which direction she had wandered. Eventually, she brought them to a halt.

            “I think…” she said, her voice quiet. “I think it was here. But it doesn’t look any different…”

            Merlin had to agree; the particular clearing she’d stopped in seemed to him to be no different from any other they’d passed on their way. “Are you sure?” Surely he’d be able to sense something as powerful as a portal to another dimension?

            “I… I don’t know…” She took a few steps forward, looking around. “I’m not even sure what it is I’m looking for.”

            “Well, what did you see when you first woke up? Is there anything different?”

            She turned to face him now, frowning. “No. When I woke up, it just looked like any ordinary clearing then, too. Maybe they brought me through somewhere else, and just dragged me here?”

            “We can look around, if you want to.” Arthur was already going to be mad at him for disappearing without notice, what difference would another half an hour make?

            “Yes please,” Jada nodded, already setting off into the trees again. Merlin followed, casting one final glance back at the clearing before they left. He hoped they’d find some answers soon.

            It must have been closer to an hour later that they finally stopped again, having walked until Jada’s feet were sore and Merlin’s ideas were exhausted.

            “It’s gone, isn’t it?” she said sadly, her shoulders visibly slumping.

            Merlin moved closer to her, unsure of what he could possibly say to make this better for her. “Are you sure it was around here?”

            If possible, she looked even more defeated. “No. I don’t have a clue anymore. Every idea I’ve had so far has been wrong.”

            “Maybe we should go back, get some rest, and then try again in the morning?”

            She shook her head. “Gaius said they’re only open for a limited amount of time before they disappear. If it’s not here now, it’s gone.” She covered her face with her hands, her breathing suddenly growing harsher. “It’s gone. I can’t believe I’m- God, what am I supposed to do?”

            “Hey,” Merlin cut in softly, bending down just a little to look into her face. “We’ll figure something out, okay? I promise.”

            She moved her hands just enough to look at him, smiling without joy. “You shouldn’t make promises you don’t know you can keep.”

            Merlin laughed quietly. “Yeah, well, I intend to keep it. We’re going to get you home, Jada.”

            “How?”

            “I…” He hesitated, then gave her a crooked smile. “I don’t know yet. But we’ll find a way. We’ll go back to Gaius and see if he can find anything else, maybe some way to open the veil again. There’s got to be something.”

            There must be a way, he thought, because the dragon had specifically told him not to find it. Or, more accurately, he’d told Merlin not to let Jada know it. But if he could learn it himself, then he could get Jada home without needing to tell her how, and everybody would be happy. Probably not, because there always seemed to be somebody complaining, but he could hope.

            She was looking up at him now with a strange expression on her face. There were tears on her lashes, though she was stubbornly clinging on to them, and when she spoke her voice was hoarse, but in her eyes there was almost a hint of… amazement? “Thank you, Merlin. I really, really mean it. Thank you.”

            “It’s no problem,” he said automatically, a little awkward at the intensity in her voice. He really didn’t deserve such gratitude; he was sure anyone else in Camelot would have done the same. “And you don’t have to worry about anything while you’re here. Just come to me or Gaius.”

            She started forwards, before jerking herself to a halt suddenly and holding up her hands. “Sorry,” she said, laughing a little. “I forgot you’re a bit… well, uncertain of me. I was going to hug you, but I thought I’d better ask if you were okay with that, first.”

            “Oh,” Merlin responded, before laughing a little too. “Um, sure, I guess.”

            He opened his arms slightly, and Jada moved forward again, though she was much more cautious this time. She watched his face, looking for some kind of signal that he’d changed his mind, Merlin presumed, and then her arms were around him. She hugged him tightly, but not uncomfortably, and Merlin swore could feel her heartbeat against his chest. She was very warm, he noticed, so much so that the air around him suddenly seemed to have a chill to it, making him shiver.

            That made her turn her face to look at him, her semi-tamed, curly hair brushing his cheek—no, wait, it was definitely in his mouth, somehow. He spat it out, and she burst into laughter, stepping back and covering her mouth to try and stop the mortified giggles.

            “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” she laughed, her face turning red.

            Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, more than a little embarrassed himself. “Uh, it’s all right. No, I mean, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…eat…”

            Gods, stop, he told himself, suddenly feeling even the tips of his ears burning.

            Jada was grinning at him, shaking her head. “Well that was embarrassing. I’m sorry my hair tried to attack you.”

            “It’s… it’s okay?” He bit his lip, face still burning.

            “Maybe this is one of those things we just agree to never speak of again?”

            “Um, I think I can do that. What thing?”

            Jada caught on immediately. “Right. I don’t even know what thing we were talking about. This trip has been entirely unevent…ful…” Before she’d even finished talking, her face had fallen again, her smile vanishing.

            “Hey, come on,” Merlin offered, placing a hand on her back to guide her to walk with him. “Let’s go back home, and we’ll figure out what to do tomorrow. All right?”

            “You know, I don’t even think I’d mind that much if I just had Emily with me,” she said, watching her feet as they walked. “Like, sure, I miss Izzy and Jim, but it’s not like we’ve never been apart before. Izzy goes back to Spain for weeks every so often to visit people, and Jim’s always off visiting his boyfriend for weekends.”

            Merlin found himself caught a little off-guard.

            “His boyfriend?” he repeated.

            “Yeah,” Jada said casually, before looking at Merlin’s face. Merlin thought he was doing a very good job of looking indifferent, but whatever she saw there made her add, just as casually, “He’s bi.”

            “Bi?” He didn’t know when his conversational skills had been reduced to repeating phrases dumbly, but his brain was following so many different thought patterns it didn’t know what else to do.

            “Yeah, so’s Izzy.” She looked at his face again, but this time her mouth made a little ‘O’ of understanding. “Bisexual. It means that they’re attracted to two or more genders. So, y’know, men… women… people who don’t identify as either of the binary genders…”

            “Oh,” was all Merlin could think to say. He wondered if she could hear his heart pounding. “Bi…sexual.” He tasted the word, examined it, turned it over. Then, he felt his face light up in a grin. “That’s me. Bisexual.”

            He gave a giddy laugh, and the hint of panic that had been on Jada’s face disappeared entirely. “We don’t have a word for that, here. It’s nice. Bisexual.”

            Jada had a grin now that almost matched his own. “Really? God, I thought you were gonna go all medieval on me for a second there.”

            “What do you mean?” Merlin asked, but she only shook her head and shrugged. “What about you, then? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

            Her grin was back. “Me? I’m demi. That one basically means that I’m not attracted to anyone sexually until I’ve formed a really close bond with them. And even then, sometimes it doesn’t show up. I still get romantic attraction, though.”

            “What’s the difference?”

            “Romantic attraction is when you want to take someone on cutesy dates and cuddle them and kiss them and stuff. Sexual is when you wanna take them to bed.”

            “Oh right,” Merlin nodded, laughing. “You have a lot of names for things.”

            “Oh, we love labels where I’m from,” Jada laughed. “Everything has a label of some kind. Sometimes it’s helpful, sometimes it’s just incredibly frustrating. For example, my full collection of labels is ‘heteroromantic demisexual’. Let me tell you; that’s fun to try and explain to your friend when drunk.”

            Merlin snorted. “I can imagine.”

            Far too soon, Merlin found that he’d walked Jada all the way back to her chambers, where she now leaned against the open doorway as they finished talking.

            “Thanks for keeping me company all this way,” she said at last, when their conversation died down.

            “No problem,” he grinned, before adding more seriously, “Do you think you’ll be okay by yourself tonight?”

            Jada sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

            “You can come and get me if you need anything, you know. I’m sure I can give up my bed for one more night,” he added with a smile.

            Jada smiled too. “You really are something special, aren’t you, Merlin?”

            He felt the blush creeping up his neck again. “I’m really not.”

            She laughed. “Whatever you say.”

            With a sigh, she stood upright again, taking hold of the door. “Well, I suppose I’d better let you go get some rest. I’m sure I’ve already put you in Arthur’s bad books enough already.”

            Merlin flashed her a crooked grin. “I’m always there, anyway. Goodnight, Jada.”

            “Night, Merlin.”

            He turned to leave, and she to step inside, but he only took a step before spinning back on his heel.

            “Actually, um…”

            She was just about to close the door, but looked up again at his voice.

            “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me tomorrow? I’ve got to gather supplies for Gaius, so you could come for a walk, if you wanted.” He’d gotten the feeling from her earlier response that she wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of being alone right now.

            Her face lit up again. “Sure. When do you want me?”

            Suddenly, he felt nervous. Perhaps she’d change her mind at the time? “Well, I’ll have to go before work, so I could meet you here around dawn? It’s all right if that’s too early. I understand.”

            She considered it for a moment, before nodding. “All right, I can do that. Just don’t mind the first few minutes of Zombie-Jada. I promise she doesn’t bite.”

            Merlin laughed. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Night, Jada.”

            “Good night, Merlin.”

            He waited for her door to close, before turning with a grin and heading for home.

Chapter 7 ->

[larluce]

Arthur confinment in his royal chambers! WHAT happened!

HA, HA! Well in my fic "From the Grave to the Cradle" Arthur grow up in Ealdor with Merlin and is raised by a farmer old couple. The confinment happens after Uther discovers Arthur is The Lost Prince, ergo his lost son. Arthur refuses to accept Uther is his father for all the horribles things Uther has done and wants to escape, so Uther locks him up in his chambers cause what a better way to reconect with your lost son? :D . Arthur is also freaking out cause they took Merlin for interrogation and hasn't been able to see him since he's been locked up, so, after his attempts to fight the guards and escape through the window didn't work out, he goes on a hunger strike and refuses to eat anything until they let him see Merlin.

Having that context. Here my little snippet of the fic:

Arthur's confinement in his Royal Chambers

Merlin: (enters Arthur's chambers with a tray of food)

Arthur: Merlin! (runs to him and starts checking him)

Merlin: Careful! Don't drop the food.

Arthur: (his hands end up in the curves between Merlin's neck and shoulders) Are you okay? They didn't do anything to you?

Merlin: (he shakes his head and smiles reassuringly) They just asked me a few questions. There were some threats, but they didn't touch me, I promise.

Arthur sighs in relief. Although they told him they would only interrogate his friend, he could not trust the word of a king who is known for torturing his prisoners until he gets the confession he wants.

Merlin brakes away from his friend's grasp to place the tray on the table... but he found it lying on the floor, as well as the chair and everything else. "They didn't exaggerate when they say he destroyed the entire room," he thinks. Everything breakable was broken. The wood of the furniture must be of very good quality if the chair and table were still intact. A flash of gold of his eyes and the table and the chair are upright again. Happy, he places the food on the table.

Arthur: (angry and scared) Merlin!

Merlin: What? There's nobody here. And I had my hands full, how was I going to move it?

Arthur: You could have asked me to move it for you!

Merlin: Oh... I... I didn't think about it. Sorry.

"You're not supposed to do it, you're the prince" is what he really meant to say, but he kept it to himself. He has the impression his friend won't receive those words well. Furthermore, he has to learn to turn off his servant mode if even his magic was willing to serve Arthur without a question.

He looks at Arthur, he is still very shaken and Merlin knows it isn't just due to his ill-timed display of magic. He sighs, Arthur doesn't need a servant now, he needs his friend.

Merlin: Sit, you look like you're going to faint (guides him to the chair) How are you?

Arthur: How am I? I just discovered I'm the son of a genocidal tyrant! I'm supposed to be the prince, but no one listens to me in this castle and I'm locked in my own "chambers" which is bigger than my house in Ealdor! Ealdor who is still waiting for our food supplies! Ealdor that is where we should be!

Merlin: Arthur…

Arthur: (sad) I just want to go home.

Merlin: (sits on the table, infront of Arthur) I would give anything to get you out of here. It's not fair that they force you to have a life you don't want. But we have to be realistic, even if we managed to escape and return to Ealdor, that is where they would look for us first. It would be of no use. And if Camelot soldiers are seen in Essetir we could cause a war.

Arthur: We can run away somewhere else! To another kingdom, a forest, an island, anywhere! Anywhere but here.

Merlin: We could never settle down, we would always live on the run and in fear. And Uther will always look for someone to blame. We are talking about the same king who started a purge against all the sorcerers in the world because a sorceress killed his wife! What do you think he'll do if he thinks his son was kidnapped again?

Arthur: No one is kidnapping me!

Merlin: But he's not going to see it that way! Don't you get it? If he doesn't find villains he invents them! Just a moment ago... (stops himself)

Arthur: A moment ago, what?

Merlin: A moment ago I was almost accused of being an accomplice to the person who stole you as a baby.

More specifically by Gaius and he had to figure out how to pose as another victim of the "evil sorcerer", but Arthur didn't have to know all the details.

Arthur: (in full panic) WHAT?!

Merlin: I know, ridiculous right? Luckily I was able to make them understand that you are two years older than me and, as incredible as it may seem, one cannot collaborate in the kidnapping of a newborn baby if this person hasn't, you know, been born.

Arthur calms down and sighs, as defeat overcomes him. Merlin is right, they could never truly be free. They were screwed. He was starting to get depressed again, when he sees his friend picking at his food. That wasn't unusual, in Ealdor they shared food all the time. The strange thing was that Merlin is making a pause before moving on to the next meal. Like doing a countdown in his head.

Arthur:  What are you doing?

Merlin: Checking that the food is not poisoned, my lord. It would be a disgrace if you were killed in your first day as a Prince. (Does another mental countdown)... 3... 2...1... Yup, I'm still alive. You can eat.

Arthur: Merlin.

Merlin: Do you want me to cut your royal meat for your royal person? We don't want your delicate royal hands to make such mundane physical exertion only worthy of commoners.

Arthur: Merlin.

Merlin: Or would Your Royal Highness prefer that I also feed you in your mouth?

Arthur: I got it, I got it! (he tries to look annoyed, but despite himself he laughs) I'll eat.

They both eat in comfortable silence.

Merlin: I don't know what's going to happen from now on, but I promise I won't leave you alone. We will face whatever comes together. (he takes Arthur's hand comfortingly) So please don't get into fights with guards... or break things... or jump out of windows.

Arthur: I didn't jump out of any windows!

Merlin: (points at the blocked window in the room with his head)

Arthur: (blushes) I wasn't trying to jump. I was going to use a rope to climb down and escape.

Merlin: A rope?

Merlin looks around and sees the bed sheets lying on the floor tied together.

Merlin: That would have broken as soon as you used it.

Arthur: (offended) Are you calling me fat?

Merlin: No, but those sheets are silk. A very expensive, delicate and, therefore, breakable material. You were saved from a very certain and humiliating death.

Arthur: Oh... (blushes more)

Merlin laughs, which makes Arthur smile. At least he still has Merlin.

Arthur: I don't know who stole me, kidnapped me or whatever, but I'm glad they did it.

Merlin: (surprised) Really?

Arthur: Yes! Can you imagine me growning up with that man as a father? He would have turned me into a tyrant and a murderer like him, a heartless monster.

Merlin: (shouts) That's not true! (notices his outburst and composes himself) I mean... I'm sure you would have been a very noble and kind prince, and a great king eventually despite having such a horrible father.

Arthur: How are you so sure of that?

Merlin: (thinking) I know. I saw it.

Merlin: Because you have a big heart. (He puts a hand on his chest) Full of love and compassion for the people around you. That's something you're born with. (His hand moves to Arthur's shoulder) Not everything is determined by upbringing, nor is everything determined by blood. You and Uther share the same blood and look how different you are from him! If you had grown up here as a prince, you wouldn't be much different. Arrogant, perhaps, much more than you already are. Just as stupid, yes, definitely…

Arthur: Hey!

Merlin: But in essence you would still be the Arthur I know.

Merlin: (thinking) You're still my Arthur. The Arthur I fell in love with.

Arthur: Maybe… (caresses the hand Merlin put on his shoulder) but it would still be a very miserable life.

Merlin: Why?

Arthur: Because I would have never met you.

"No, in all lives we are destined to meet" Merlin thinks, but the words are said with so much feeling and Arthur looks at him with such intensity that he is left breathless, lost in his eyes. Merlin is more aware of the hand on his, giving light caresses with his thumb. Merlin doesn't know when he leaned so close to Arthur, or did Arthur get closer? But suddenly the distance between his faces is reduced considerably.

Merlin: Arthur…

Merlin has no idea what he was going to say, nor will he know. Suddenly, the doors to the chambers open wide again, causing both of them to immediately pull away, embarrassed. Merlin gets off the table and stands to the side in a servant's pose.

Guard: (bows to Arthur) Your highness. I hope you enjoyed your meal. (Looks meaningfully at Merlin)

"Did he eat everything?" the guard's eyes asks him. Merlin nods his head slightly in response, "Yes, he didn't leave a single bite." Well, he ate a little of that too, but details.

Arthur: It was... not so bad.

While Arthur is still embarrased about almost being found in a compromising situation, he notices the exchange between the guard and his friend, puzzled. Everyone already knows the farce, why does Merlin keep pretending to be a servant? Or were they forcing him to act like this now that he is the prince?

Guard: (to Merlin) You did a good job, boy, you can leave.

Merlin nods again and is about to leave when a hand grabs his arm tightly.

Arthur: (sharply) No.

Merlin: Arthur…

Arthur: He can sleep here. The room is big enough for both of us.

Merlin: Arthur, that's not right.

Arrhur: I don't give a damn what's right or wrong! I'm not going to let them take you away from me again!

Merlin would be very touched by his friend's concern, if it weren't for the fact that the guard seems to have every intention of pulling them apart by force if necessary and that would only make things worse, because then there would be another fight, they would bring in reinforcements and there will be chaos.

He turns to face Arthur and gives him a reassuring smile.

Merlin: They're not taking me away. I'll be back in the morning. Someone has to make you eat your breakfast (meaningful look at the guard) Isn't that right?

Guard: Of course, the boy will be here as soon as you get up, sire.

Arthur wants to retort, but Merlin begs him with his eyes not to. "Don't fight with guards," he remembers Merlin told him.

Arthur: (sighs resigned, but calmer) Alright. But it better be that way, I'm not going to receive food from anyone else, understand?

Guard: Yes, sire.

Arthur: And also give him food and a bed to sleep in. He is not a prisoner or a servant in this castle. He is a guest, treat him as such. If I discover you have done him any harm, I myself will harm you back a thousand times worse.

Guard: The boy will be treated with the respect he deserves, sire. No harm will befall him.

Merlin noted the trick by saying "he will be treated with the respect he deserves" to avoid the explanation of "We cannot treat a peasant as a guest, but we will give him the best treatment accordingly." Very clever, Merlin thought.

Arthur: And Frank?

Guard: Yes, sire?

Arthur: Please stop calling me "sire". You make me feel old.

Guard: Yes, sir-your highness.

Merlin and Arthur give each other a heartfelt hug as farewell. Then, Merlin picks up the tray and leaves the room. They stare at each other until the door is closed between them and the guards lock the doors again.

[ewritesfanfics]

A Visit from St. Hisirdoux

My Secret Santa gift for @whitecatindisguise! Merry Christmas!

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52473265

Things have gone awry on Christmas Eve, and so Douxie steps up to save the holiday for his adorable if too smart for their own good niblings. And it proceeds to go about as well as things usually do for him. Jim and Claire owe him so much for this.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, in the midst of a blizzard Not a creature was stirring, none but one weary wizard The Guardians all were tucked in with their dreams Unknowing that Douxie had cooked up a scheme See, the children both slept with worries abound That this year by Santa they wouldn’t be found So Douxie slipped out of his warm, cozy bed And snuck through the castle, dressed up all in red

Douxie moves as quickly and quietly as possible through the darkness of Camelot, even more oppressive than usual with the winter gale outside blocking any and all light they might have gotten from the stars or the moon.

Luckily, though, he can light the way with his flashlight – oh how he loves modern technology that can be powered by just a couple of dollar store batteries – and so the darkness of the long hallways does nothing to hinder him. He easily makes his way down through the massive castle, floor by floor.

Now, does he want to be maneuvering his way through a dark castle via flashlight in the dead of night during a storm? No. No, he does not. He would much rather be asleep right now, curled up under his blankets snug and toasty, enjoying the marvel that is Krel’s heating system. Truly it is a thing of wonder to keep the ancient Arthurian castle as warm as it is currently with the blizzard outside and with how far up in the sky they are, and thus it deserves such appreciation as his remaining in his bed which is gloriously situated directly above a heating vent. But he can’t in good conscience do that – Matty and Izzy were so heartbroken earlier when this blizzard started (one of the worst blizzards Douxie’s ever seen, and that’s saying something) and when Krel told them all it was too risky to fly through it. They were convinced Santa wouldn’t be able to find Castle Camelot in the storm and were not accepting of any of the adults’ placations.

So here Douxie is.

In the middle of the night.

In a red coat and a fake beard.

Now, one might wonder, why? They could just tell the kids in the morning that Santa came, and they would know none the wiser, right?

Except Matty and Izzy got both of their parents’ stubbornness and ingenuity, making them more formidable than your average 5-year-old. Add in the fact that they’ve lived in a castle with tech-genius Krel all their short lives, and you’ve got a recipe for two small children with advanced reasoning and the capability (and access to the necessary materials) to set up night-vision cameras so they may check in the morning if Santa truly came as a way to say ‘I told you so’ to all the adults. He can’t even lie about Santa using his magic to evade the cameras – those two know for a fact that he and Krel have ensured all the tech in this place is capable of seeing through concealment charms. He’s been thwarted by his own magitech and a pair of children too smart for their own good.

Not that their parents know anything about this plan of theirs. No, Jim and Claire had been off cleaning the dishes after dinner when Douxie overheard Matty and Izzy discussing this.

Should he have told them? Maybe. But he’s got this! How hard can it be to play Santa?

He makes a stop to poke his head into the main living room where the large 12-foot Christmas tree is set up. He can’t use his flashlight in here lest the cameras catch it, and the main lights are out, making it hard to see, but the twinkling Christmas lights strung around the tree and the bright star on top provide just enough light that he manages well enough. The bottom half of the tree is so full of ornaments, it’s difficult to see the actual needles, but no one had the heart to say no more when Matty and Izzy were decorating all that they could reach, their excitement boundless as they hung ornament after ornament after ornament, the lights becoming half obscured, the garland becoming more just cushioning between the ornaments than an actual decoration itself. So what if the tree looks a little lopsided – the kids had a great time decorating, and that’s the important part. There’s also garland strewn about the room, pinned up messily on the wall and draped over the backs of the couches and over the mantle above the fireplace, woven through the numerous wreaths hung up and at points decorated itself with the same velvet bows that are tied to the wreaths – also courtesy of Matty and Izzy. It’s like Christmas exploded in here (and not just in here – the kids wanted to deck the halls and by god, all the halls have been decked to the high heavens and back; he’s basically spent every day since Thanksgiving decorating with them). Around the bottom of the tree are piles of presents, so many that Douxie just knows cleaning up the wrapping paper in the morning is going to be a pain. Of course, these are the friend/family presents – the presents “from Santa Claus” are stashed elsewhere. He made sure to tell the others that he would bring them up so that he wouldn’t be interrupted.

Once he determines in the low light that the fireplace is indeed open (never hurts to double-check), he continues on his merry way.

Douxie Claus is coming to town!

Down to the storage to gather each present Douxie then braces for a chilly ascent Away to a window he runs like a flash He hypes himself up and throws open the glass The icy winds cut Douxie down to the bone It’s truly the coldest night he’s ever known He mutters a heating spell under his breath He hopes it will keep him from freezing to death

He better get the Uncle of the Year award after this, he swears.

He takes one last deep breath before stepping out into the falling snow and whipping wind. He can’t see two feet in front of him in this, but he grits his teeth and forges forward. He just has to keep reminding himself it’s for his adorable niblings who deserve the best Christmas he can give them. And since it’s within his power, dammit, he’s doing this!

Keeping a hand on the wall, he tucks his head down and marches into the gale. He can’t see shit, but as long as he knows where the wall is, he can find the stairs he’s looking for, the ones that wind all the way up around the tower to the belvedere, from which he can locate the chimney that leads to the living room.

His foot hits a patch of ice, and he nearly eats it, only his many years on this great green Earth saving him from needing his front teeth replaced and his nose reconstructed. His body reacts automatically, muscle memory kicking in, allowing him to twist at the last second to land on his side instead of his face. Not to say it doesn’t still hurt like a motherfucker. It very much does – he’s certain he’s going to have nasty bruising all along his shoulder and hip tomorrow.

He manages to pull himself back to his feet, grunting as hot pain flares through his shoulder – he thinks he might have dislocated it. Of all the crazy shit he’s done over the years, he dislocates his shoulder by slipping on a patch of fucking ice!

Deep breaths, Douxie, you’ve got a job to do.

It’s a problem for later.

He repositions the sack full of gifts over his non-injured shoulder, placing an impervious spell on it just in case he takes another spill like that in a more unfortunate area, and continues onward. After what feels like forever, fighting against the wind, blinded by the snow, deafened by the mournful, angry howling, he finally finds the first step.

He finds it by stubbing his toes against it, but that still counts as finding it.

And now he can say dressing as Santa has done something for him tonight – his heavy black boot took the brunt of the stub. While his foot may hurt, he did not break a toe (it’s surprising how easy it is to break your toe just by stubbing it).

He breathes a sigh of relief – the stairs wind around the tower, so there will at least be a few stretches where he’ll be shielded from the cutting wind. He might have the heating spell, but it doesn’t do anything for the wind, it just keeps him from getting frostbite, leaving him to deal with the horrific gusts of air that slice straight through him like a hot knife through butter.

As he starts his ascent, one boot after the other sinking into heavy snow nearly up to his knees – and the snow is so deep that he never actually sets foot on the stone beneath it, just on the bottom stuff packed tight enough to support his weight – and his unbruised shoulder pressed to frozen stone to help keep him upright, breath shoved back into his lungs by the wind along with flecks of snow and ice as quickly as he exhales, he’s sure he makes quite the sight – a man in a shitty DIY Santa costume trying to climb stairs outside in a blizzard, and just shy of failing, the force of him walking forward and the force of the wind blowing backward nearly equal.

He’s sure if you saw him, he’d look like a kook But goddammit tonight he’s good ol’ Saint Doux As rapid as a sloth, he trudges on up Cursing as the wind follows him, it won’t stop; "By Daya! And Kanjigar! By Merlin and Mordrax! And by Vendel as well, that grumpy, old yack! I hate this! Fuck this! A thousand fuzzbuckets! If I am to die, I’m haunting Jim, fuck it!"

No matter where he is around the tower, he cannot escape the elements; the storm is so frenzied that only complete enclosure could spare him. It seems like the wind comes from every angle, buffering and battering him without mercy, tearing at him with icy fingers in attempts to fling him from the staircase.

But he is Hisirdoux Casperan, and if he is anything, it is crazy and stubborn enough to do this! He’s faced worse odds than climbing a tower in a snowstorm! He’s climbed a titan for fuck’s sake! He’s fallen from a similar height before and lived!

He just has to keep reminding himself of that. It doesn’t help that he can’t even use the same trick here as he did for the titan – that spell sticks you directly to the surface of what you’re standing on, so he’d just have a layer of ice and snow stuck to each boot, which isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to grip. And as for the fall … well, he’s still not 100% sure as to how exactly he survived that, so he does not want to have to try and replicate that.

He also keeps telling himself that if his luck has indeed finally run out, he’ll at least have haunting Jim to look forward to. It’s his offspring who’ve driven Douxie to do this, it’s only fair he’s the one to get haunted!

Technically, he could haunt Claire too, but he wouldn’t put it past Claire to exorcise him. And he thinks haunting Jim would be more entertaining anyway.

He takes comfort in thinking of all the things he’ll do as a poltergeist. He can fuck with Jim’s cooking, not enough to ruin it but just enough that nothing ever tastes quite right again – things will always be just a touch too salty, or just a bit overdone. He can keep knocking his Vespa’s alignment out of whack and let the air out of the tires so that they’re never quite inflated enough. If his dying in a blizzard has any bearing on his ghostly abilities, he can make sure every room is just cold enough for Jim to be uncomfortable, no matter how bundled up he is. And he’ll do all of this when no one else is around, they’ll all think Jim’s gone crazy, and he’ll laugh and laugh and laugh from beyond the grave.

He almost cries in relief when he finally reaches the top – but he’s sure the tears would freeze instantly, and so refrains. He’s not too keen on getting ice burns from his own tears.

He scans the roof, doing his best to keep the floor plan in mind, but it’s quite difficult – he can’t see shit, and with what Krel’s changed, there’s just enough variation to be familiar but still confusing.

He can’t pinpoint it, the snow’s just too thick, and keeping his eyes open too wide for too long physically hurts in these conditions, so he decides to just start heading in the direction he knows it’s in.

Across the rooftop, Douxie practically flies So he can flee faster the ice of the skies He seeks out the chimney with the floor plan he knew To throw down the toys, and Saint Hisirdoux too He nearly misses it in the flurries thick But his memory saves him before the last tick He skids to a halt, not a meter to spare And he’s ready to climb out of the night air

Oh, he’s so happy he found it so quickly.

Finally, something’s gone right!

Now all he’s got to do is shimmy down, place the presents, and be on his merry way back to bed. He’s taking a shower first though. Oh, how nice the hot water will feel … maybe even a nice, steamy bath, where he can just lounge in the heat as long as he wants, the water spelled to stay just the right temperature … and if he goes with the bath, he could also get himself some hot cocoa to drink at the same time …

Come on, man, get it together.

If he keeps fantasizing like this, he’s going to end up chickening out, he knows it. The temptation of warmth and being inside will simply be too great for his 4 AM resolve.

He’s almost done! He just has to focus!

Eyes on the prize, Casperan! You’ve got this!

He considers things for a second and decides that, if the space is the right length, he can brace his back against one side and his feet against the opposite and slowly wiggle down. It should only be about 50 feet down to the pit; he’s had to maneuver through worse and longer spaces than an old chimney.

Never in the midst of a blizzard that’s effectively blinded and deafened him and with a bum shoulder, but eh. He’s sure it’ll be fine. He just has to keep reminding himself that he’s done stupider shit before and came out on the other side just fine. Relatively.

And hey, inside the chimney, it might be cold, but he’ll be shielded from the elements, which will let the heating spell do its thing unimpeded. A win. And at some point on the way down, things will start warming up thanks to the insulation and the heating system, and then he’ll be doubly warm after the torture of walking through this hellish wind! Another win!

Truly, shelter is one of humanity’s greatest triumphs.

A cave is all well and good, but it doesn’t hold a candle to manmade walls and insulation, and he’ll die on that hill.

If he doesn’t die up here on the roof, that is.

But he won’t! He’s so close to being inside where it’s warm and dry that he can practically taste it!

Just a few more minutes, and he’s scot-free! Ne’er again must he set foot in the frigid winds of this winter tempest!

Hallelujah!

He carefully gauges the length and width of the chimney, taking slow, cautious steps to measure around all four sides to make sure he’s as accurate as possible. It turns out to be a little larger than he’d like, he thinks he’ll be okay, what with how tall he is. He’s got long legs and tenacity, and it’s truly amazing how much a person can do with just those two things. Long legs and tenacity have gotten him far before, and he trusts them to take care of him now.

He then leans over it to get a good look And sees he’ll be tarnished with ashes and soot The bundle of gifts he drops down the tall vent Knowing they’ll all land without damage or dent He sits on the edge, places one foot then two Douxie maneuvers himself over the flue He takes a deep breath, braces against the walls But the soot makes him sneeze and down, down he falls

Sometimes, he wonders if God just likes taking the piss out of him.

He doesn’t even believe God exists – it’s rather hard to when he’s had to fight and kill two epically pissed off ancient demigod wizards hellbent on ending the world and traveled the country with their sweet but also gremlin ancient demigod wizard sister, the three of whom were responsible for the creation of Earth as he knows it.

But he could believe a god exists solely to dunk on him. That’d line up with, well, his entire life.

And right now is a prime example.

The deep breath that was supposed to steady his nerves and brace him for the descent instead carries a whiff of soot right up his nose.

He doesn’t even get the chance to hold it in, everything happening too fast to register any of it before it’s far, far too late.

His sneeze is loud and violent, reverberating through his entire body, the kind of sneeze that makes your diaphragm ache with the force of it and throws out your back in a snap of white-hot pain, also causing his head to crack back painfully against the stone. It echoes down the chimney and is followed quickly by first his scream and second himself, all purchase on the sides lost, the sneeze having jerked him loose.

He tries to catch himself, scrabbling at the walls through the pain lancing up his back, but to no avail – he’s falling too fast, each attempt at bracing just taking skin from the palms of his hands and whatever other bare parts of him that touch the filthy walls.

His own sneeze and subsequent high-pitched scream echo back up at him, alerting him to the impending firepit below.

He can at least console himself that it’s not lit right now, and a glance down tells him the bag at least bounced out of the way.

It doesn’t even occur to his pained and frozen brain to use magic until it’s too late.

He hits the bottom with a CRASH, logs splintering beneath him, sending up a plume of ash in a mini mushroom cloud, leaving him in a bed of slag and splinters.

He knows not how long in the wood logs he lies He’s dazed and amazed that he’s even alive But a sigh finds him there, and what does he spot But Jim Lake Jr., by whom Douxie’s been caught He grins sheepishly but’s cut off by a groan Jim takes pity and helps him onto the stone Together they place presents ‘round the lit tree Then Jim helps him down to the infirmary

“You do know Krel can doctor the tapes, right?” Jim says as he helps Douxie lay down on one of the higher tables – the metal isn’t comfortable, but it’s near the entrance and high enough for Jim to work without squatting or needing a chair. “It would have been so easy to just fake the footage.”

“Well sor-ry if I wanted to do something nice for the kids,” Douxie says. His coat and pants are ripped in several places, more black than red right now, and through each hole are bloody, sooty scrapes and already blooming bruises. His beard and hat are utterly ruined – if he were a better textilomancer maybe he could save them, but he’s not, so they’re a lost cause. And he’s not about to go telling on himself to Zoe, no sir. He’s sure she’ll find out anyway, she always does, but he’s not going to aid the process. The hat and beard are wrecked, and that’s that.

But no bones are broken, and he’s taking that as a win.

The fall also relocated his shoulder, so double win!

Sure, he may not be able to move all that well since that sneeze threw out his back and then the subsequent back-first crash, but that’s what Jim’s for. Who needs a functioning body when you’ve got a pseudo-brother to ferry you around?

“I know, I know,” Jim says. “We’re still going to have to doctor them anyway – I don’t think we want to traumatize them with the image of Santa screaming and falling down the chimney. You’re just lucky none of the presents broke on top of that.”

“No, no, no, not just lucky, I actually thought about that one! There was a spell on the bag to ensure they wouldn’t break, I put it on the bag after I slipped outside before climbing up the tower to get to the roof,” Douxie says, indignant. He bites back a pained grunt as his back seizes slightly – too indignant, apparently.

“Slipped outside … why didn’t you use the stairs inside the tower?” Jim asks.

…

“I don’t see why you need the answer to that,” Douxie says, refusing to meet Jim’s gaze.

“You’re going to get yourself killed doing something stupid one of these days, I swear,” Jim says.

“Oh, fuck off,” Douxie says.

“Alright, alright,” Jim says. “Anyway, heavy editing will still have to be done.”

“Some of what I did better be usable,” Douxie grumbles. If he did that for nothing, he swears to every god that’s ever been worshipped …

“I’m sure some of it is, at least with some touch-up,” Jim says.

“I’ll talk to Krel before the kids wake up in the morning,” Douxie says.

With Jim’s help, he gets patched up, looking quite the sight by the time they’re done – his arms and legs are almost entirely covered in bandages, and there’s deep bruising along his torso, with some mottling on his left temple and the left side of his jaw. He at least doesn’t have a concussion though.

Jim then helps him roll onto his stomach and he starts cracking Douxie’s back, something Douxie actually taught him how to do. When Jim cracks his lower back, the sound that’s forced out of Douxie is inhuman, and then his entire body goes limp.

“Nice one,” he groans out, voice strained and wheezy.

“How’re we explaining all this tomorrow, then?” Jim asks.

“Uh … I fell down some stairs in the middle of the night?” Douxie says.

“Matty and Izzy will buy it, but no one else,” Jim says.

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there, I just want to go back to bed,” Douxie says. Bed sounds heavenly right now. He could sleep for 100 years after this adventure.

Bed will have to wait until after that bath though (he’s definitely not standing for a shower). He’s not getting all this soot and ash all over his nice bedspread, thank you very much. He doubts Archie would appreciate it either.

And he’s sure the water will feel heavenly on his back.

The next day, the children do cheer with glee Knowing Santa visited that Christmas Eve His friends grill him about the bruises and scrapes And Krel shows them all the original tapes They watch them with mirth and laughter much greater But Claire pulls him aside to thank him later And he says to the kids when they’re both tucked in tight “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

[building-camelot]

It's been a while, but I finished the next tower! Let me introduce Hector, one of Camelot's fine corner towers:

(She's quite magnificent, isn't she?)

This time around, I felt already a bit like a castle-building veteran (in the paper industry). Alas! My hubris was awarded with a sloppy mistake. Let me show you.

All the blue & yellow appendages of the paper parts need to be light scored before you start cutting it out of the mold and folding/glueing. That way, you're able to fold them precisely and you get those neat sharp edges. I was going along the tower, glueing everything together, when I stumbled upon the following sight:

See those blue triangles? See how they're perfectly straight? No folds? Yeah...

I felt really stupid for a few minutes, because how would I solve this? The circle was already glued together and for scoring you need to work on a solid surface (preferably the cutting mat). Luckily, every problem usually has it's solution (at least with such minor problems 🤡).

I gotta say, for how easy this was to fix, I did feel vindicated. Does that say something about me? Ah, who cares ✨

I'll finish this update with some nice tidbits I wanted to share. Exhibit #1: the little protruding windows.

The tower had 2 different types of windows. How detailed!! They did end up looking very similar, except that the right one is a bit longer. I don't know whether these windows also look just that little bit different from one another in Pierrefonds (forgot to check when I was there, damn...), but it might also have something to do with the slope of the roofs they're attached to.

Exhibit #2: a satisfying removal of excess paper.

Excuse the sound, I decided to leave it in. Always when cutting out the blue triangles, the parts remains fixed to a few parts of the mold and I have to pull it away. It's a fun finish after some repitive motion!

Here's to having the next update happen a bit sooner. 🥂 (I can't promise though, it'll either be next week or several weeks later.)