#they tried with percy and elyan just not very hard

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

Have we talked about how like. the Knights of the Round Table aren’t married?

 It seems obvious, but like-

There’s no way the Queen’s incredibly handsome, multi talented, knight brother wasn’t the hottest property in Camelot with every noble trying to betroth their daughter to him

You’re telling me that the First Knight of Camelot who’s in his mid thirties by the end of the show isn’t married out of something other than his own choice?

The writers actually wanted us to believe that this group of extremely eligible bachelors were still single after five years because of... what? 

It is, of course, because they don’t give a shit about the knights or anything making sense, and they hate women so much that they couldn’t STAND to have more of them in Camelot, but it does have some excellent side effects. 

Because really, the only way none of them have wives by now is because they’re either not interested in that sort of thing, or because they’re already in love with people each other

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Suppose the Gang™️ live together. Who does which chore? Who makes messes and who nags? & ukw you can add characters like Will, Mithian, Daegal, Kara, Morgause too!! (If you don't want to that's fine :)

(Headcanon Masterlist) (Full Masterlist)

OHOHOHOHOHO I like this anon, lots of crack potential, thank you :D

Ok so. Lets say they all live in the same apartment complex, and become buddies through that (because upwards of 15 people living together is... too many lol). Arthur lives in the nicest, biggest apartment, the penthouse, which is where they all hang out (much to his annoyance) most of the time. Eventually they all get keys to each others' places which is a huge annoyance because like... that's a LOT of keys they all have to carry around.

Anyway. 

Merlin and Will are roommates, shortly joined by Gwen, and then Elyan a little while later, after he returns from travelling. Mordred and Daegal live with their uncle, Iseldir, who is the only sane one and tends to stay out of everyone else's way. Percival, Gwaine, and Lancelot share, and are across the hall from M+W+G+E. Leon lives on his own because he has his life together, and prefers having his own space to living with friends, but has also lived in the building the longest. Gaius also lives alone, but he's Merlin's uncle, and is a retired doctor or nurse or something, so he's always being woken up at God knows in the morning to treat various injuries and illnesses. It can literally be needing to tell them anything from "Take a paracetamol and fuck off" to "Jesus Fucking Christ what do you mean he accidentally ate half a kilo of rat poison call a fucking ambulance??". Mithian lives in the building next door, in her own penthouse, and Kara and Morgause live in their own apartments downstairs. Morgana used to share with Arthur, but as much as they're still on good terms, they argued all the time and it was annoying, so she eventually moved in with Morgause.

Gaius tries so hard to stay away from all the weird ass youngers that congregated in his apartment building, but they're all so stupid, and he finds himself looking after them more often than he'd care to admit. He doesn't like... make them meals or anything, but he gives them all mini medkits and looks after them when they're sick. Though with lots of sarcasm and general attitude. Iseldir is the same, but he's a little more removed. He'll occasionally show up to offer sage advice or a helping hand if Mordred/Daegal ask for it specifically. People sort of forget he's there most of the time, but he did save Leon's life once when he was a victim of a hit and run right outside the building.

Merlin, Will, Gwen, and Elyan’s place is like... halfway between messy and tidy. It never gets ridiculous, because Will+Gwen won’t let it, but Elyan and Merlin are fairly messy. You’d think that Lancelot, Percival, and Gwaine’s place would be messiest, purely because of Gwaine, but he’s actually the neatest of them all. Though that isn’t because Gwaine is a neat person, like Lance and Percy are, it’s because he has barely any belongings, and all his shit basically never gets taken out of his suitcases and moving boxes. The others reckon it’s something to do with him hiding from his family maybe? Or an ex? Always being ready to run? But they don’t pry, they just hope he sticks around. Arthur’s place is a MESS and he refuses to tidy, despite it making his life so much harder because he never knows where anything is. Leon’s place is always tidy of course, as is Mordred, Daegal, and Iseldir’s place, and Gaius’ place. They’ve no clue how the girls in the building next door live (very cleanly, or very messily, depending on the mood they’re in), because other than Gwen and Mordred, no one else is allowed access.

The best food is always found in Merlin, Will, Gwen, and Elyan’s place. All of them, bar Will, can cook: Merlin because his mum taught him, and he’s always been pretty self sufficient, Gwen because she was the cook in her house growing up, and Elyan, because both Gwen taught him, and he learnt how to cook all sorts of interesting foreign food when he was travelling. Leon cooks well, but boring-ly, as does Gaius and Iseldir. Arthur can’t cook at all, and actually ends up going to M+W+G+E’s place pretty much every night, to the point where they set a place at the table for him automatically, and if he doesn’t show up without a warning, someone will go check on him.

Will and Arthur have never got along, but like... they keep it on the down low because neither of them are prepared to give up on the rest of the friend group just to avoid the other. But also... once Arthur sees how fiercely protective Will is of his friends, especially Merlin, and once Will sees Arthur punch someone for groping Morgause and Morgana at a bar, they both lay off. They’re secretly rather fond of each other actually, not that either of them would admit it.

Daegal and Mordred kind of idolise Merlin a bit, which everyone thinks is super weird because other than his ability to cook, the man is a bit of a disaster. He’s mid way through medical school and is a mess for it. But you know, he tries to look after them, tells Mordred to shoot his shot with Kara (who he’s been communicating with posters stuck on the inside of his window, because their rooms are across from each other), and teaches Daegal bits and pieces of first aid.

Morgana, whenever she comes over, Gwen, and Merlin are naggers when it comes to Arthur’s untidiness, but no one else really cares, and Morgause just rolls her eyes at it all. Merlin and Gwen meet up maybe once a month to sneak into his apartment and tidy everything up, and he simultaneously hates and loves it. Lancelot nags Merlin into looking after himself, especially when Merlin is in turn nagging everyone else to look after themselves. Lance will pop over when he knows that Merlin has been studying six hours straight without a break, or has spent a whole afternoon helping Arthur out with paperwork (Arthur has him paid as a part time personal assistant or something, so it’s not like he’s working for free), to make him stop and nap and rehydrate. He and Gwen tag team “looking after Merlin”.

Everyone’s like... least favourite thing, is when Arthur and Morgana’s father comes to visit. He’s always an arse, and though the others don’t really see him, except maybe Merlin if he happens to be working at Arthur’s when Uther visits, Arthur and Morgana are always in foul moods for days after he leaves. He always manages to spark arguments between the two of them, which Morgause somehow ends up involving herself in. He’s a bit of a xenophobic twat as well; he’s been pretty cruel to Daegal, Mordred, and Iseldir in the corridor, and the only reason he’s not cruel to Merlin is because he hides his accent/takes care to never speak his native tongue around the man. Everyone always bands together to fix everything when he goes though. Merlin, Gwen, and Elyan will take over Arthur’s massive kitchen and cook a feast and everyone will come and they’ll eat and drink and have Mario Kart tournaments on his huge TV.

There’s also kind of a running joke about Arthur almost or actually dating almost everyone in the group. He and Leon had known each other for years before they knew anyone else, and won’t expand on the friendship they had previous to everyone else showing up. There was a weird tension between Arthur and Lance for like... the first week after he moved in, then it happened again with Gwaine. He and Gwen had a relationship for maybe a year before they realised they were besties and it was weird. He and Mithian had a short lived romance where they both went “meh, no thanks” after maybe a week. He checked Elyan out a handful of times in full view of everyone when they first met, but nothing ever came of it. The only thing that’s lasted more than that year with Gwen, is the obvious thing he has for Merlin. That Merlin also has for him. That both of them are entirely unaware of. Pretty much everyone in the building has money on it now, even people in other apartments who aren’t part of the group. Gwen, Will, and Elyan both really want it to happen, because they won’t have to witness Merlin mope every time Arthur brings a date home anymore, and really don’t want it to happen, because Merlin will move upstairs and they’ll have to start paying more rent.

ANYWAY!!! The whole apartment complex is a MESS but... none of them ever consider leaving because they kind of love it. Half of them are on the same casual football/rugby/pub quiz team. Arthur gave a few of them/would give any of them jobs at his company. They don’t want to leave behind Elyan’s cooking, or Gaius’ odd brand of caring, or Iseldir’s fortune cookie advice, or Morgana and Morgause’s judging, or Gwaine’s ADHD induced bouts of learning to play the drums at three in the morning. It’s just all very special, and homely, and lovely.

~

Whew, that’s a lot!

I know that’s not exactly what you meant anon, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!! :D

[clotpole-art]

Retrospective: Illustrated Merlin Alphabet Challenge

Finally finished the Merlin Alphabet Challenge, so here's the artist notes no one asked for! See below the cut for comments on each piece by order of creation. Be warned folks, it's a long post.

Before we begin: credit to @merlin-gifs for the challenge, which can be found here. It's awesome, go do it.

First thing you should know is I did probably 80-90% of these while on phone calls or in Zoom meetings and that's reflected in the simplicity of most pieces -- the compositions aren't complicated, the lines aren't refined, the coloring is slapdash. If you noticed variation in quality of the pieces, that's why!

Second: I tried to focus on trying something new for each drawing. Didn't always happen, but this challenge did succeed in helping me push me out of my own comfort zone.

Without further ado...

A is for Arthur Pendragon

Textures, baby! Brushed metal of his armor, scratchy linen texture of his shirt, wispy softness of hair and skin. I'd recently gotten my tablet out of storage after a year of figuring out where the hell I was going to live and this was one of the first pieces of digital art I spent time on. Glad it was Arthur kicking us off!

B is for the Beginning of the End (1x08)

Fun fact, I did not draw this with my tablet. I drew it with my work computer's touchscreen. It was awful, would not recommend.

C is for Camelot

I wanted to get used to different brushes, so landscape of the castle it was! There are brushes that help with drawing grass; I did not use said brushes and my wrist hurt afterward. That being said, I really enjoyed working on this and it was one of the few pieces I didn't do while multitasking.

D is for Daegal

Also drawn on my work computer's touchscreen, not my tablet. I didn't learn my lesson from B and the experience was even worse. This is my least favorite piece which sucks because it's Daegal so I'm slated to redo this sometime in the near future. Gotta do our boy justice.

E is for Elyan

Oh, I adored drawing this. Elyan often gets shafted in terms of fandom appreciation so I made sure to choose Elyan for this prompt and to participate in the Elyan fest. Plus, I love a good ghost story and figuring out a way to include the druid spectre was fun. Didn't multitask on this piece because Elyan deserved my full attention.

F is for Freya

Ho boy. This piece. I have such mixed feelings on this drawing. Really really didn't like it after I'd decided it was done and very nearly scrapped the whole thing. I had a vision in my head that I just couldn't render into reality and it frustrated me SO MUCH. Looking back, I like it much better than I did when I first created it.

G is for Gwaine

What can I say, he's pretty when he's cold. I didn't stretch too much with this one -- it's my normal drawing style, I was just trying to find a brush that mimicked the softness of pencil.

H is for Hunith

Another one that didn't stray too far from my comfort zone. I was stupid sick and slammed at work, so a motherly Hunith manifested herself. I blame the bad brush choice on the cold medicine.

I is for Isolde

I woke up and chose violence! Tried to vary my figure drawing style a little in this piece but my brain resisted, resulting in... this. Not mad at it, but not happy with it either. Poor Isolde.

J is for Juggling

Ah, this lovely piece was drawn during a particularly vexing meeting at work. Fun fact, there's another version of this line art that's less about Merlin's stress and more about mine.

K is for Knights of Camelot

Continuing the theme of doodling through bad news and shit meetings. Like I said above, normally meeting doodles aren't complex because I'm concentrating on something else. This one was more involved because I didn't want to concentrate on the meeting. I have a few issues with this from a technical standpoint (perspective, my nemesis) but it's still one of my favorites. Tried some funky coloring technique, didn't hate it.

V is for Vibrant Colors

And here is where we said fuck the rules and started going out of alphabetical order! This one was really fun to do and I loved kicking off Albion Party with this as my first submission. The colors were a challenge (as I hoped they would be) and this is the first time I had to do some color tweaking midway though and after finishing the coloring process. Vibrant Arthur, my beloved. This started as a multitask doodle but took dedicated time to finish.

O is for Old Religion

The concept for this one was buzzing in my head for a bit before a quote-prompt solidified it. I adore the thought of more visible, tangible representations of Merlin as the son of the elements, of "magic itself" -- not just sun-gold eyes, but sea-water hair and sandstone-skin. A complement to the vibrant Arthur portrait.

S is for Sorcerers

When I said I wanted to challenge myself, I wasn't kidding. Ho boy, this was fun but frustrating. I wanted to completely illustrate a gif. So I did. Will I do something like this again? Maybe. A while from now.

M is for Morgause

See above -- same illustrated gif style so at least I was able to reuse some drawings. Poor Morgause ended up looking a little wretched here because I was mentally done with this when I was drawing her. Love the concept of tarot cards + Merlin but others are doing it so I won't continue this series.

Z is for Zzzz

This one was specifically done to test out some custom brushes I made in Krita to make abstract background drawing easier for me. I think they turned out well! Plus who doesn't love bb iridescent Aithusa.

L is for Leon, P is for Percival

Quick, minimal doodles of the boys! Mentally, I was going for a Brady's-style retro ensemble cast TV show credits feel. Not mad at it! Some boys look closer to their actors than others (I think my brain broke drawing Percy, my apologies to Tom Hopper).

T is for Tristan

It wasn't until after I posted this that I realized there was more than one Tristan in Merlin. Could have drawn Isolde's bf but I drew Ygraine's dumb jock undead brother instead. Had some fun with dark greys and blacks here regardless.

Q is for Queen Annis

Best royal in Albion, bar none. I tried a different coloring technique here and I kinda like it! may make it my go-to but we'll see. Old habits are hard to break. Also: our queen deserved more badass clothes.

X is for Arthur X Merlin

Oh, be still my shipper heart. Doodled and colored during a meeting. I had hoped to spend more time on it outside of multitasking but alas, work is a bitch. This one is slated for a rework sometime in the future; I adore the concept too much to let it go without creating another version of this that isn't an utter mess.

U is for Uther's Ward

And here's my attempt at forgoing line art. Not fun, do not like.

Y is for Young Warlock

Channeled some pain into this one. Those are the dead eyes of someone who had been told that he'd succeeded when his friend died. That the destiny he'd been expecting to carry on his shoulders into old age was done and dusted before he turned 30. Grief plus the existential dread of the aimless immortal. Oof. One of my favs.

N is for Nimueh, R is for Rising Sun, W is for Will

And we end on this sorry offering. I was away from home for a while without my tablet and I just got tired of waiting. So, pen doodles at the airport. This was a challenge in its own right because 1. pen only and 2. I wasn't able to pull Netflix up for a reference on the fly. Which is why Will's face is obscured and Nimueh looks.... not like Nimueh lol.

In summary: this was a goddamn joy to do. I finished 26 letter prompts in approximately 21 weeks, which exceeded my own unspoken goal of filling one letter per week. I found a good, happy corner of the Merlin fandom after a years-long hiatus away from being a fandom creator. If you did make it this far with me, thanks for reading my inane comments and giving this little project even a moment of your time -- I'm so grateful.

[x-lilacgalacticfox-x]

‘Who Does Merlin Like’ Guessing Game

Elyan was walking through the halls of the castle, trying to find his sister, as he had to inform her about a mission he was going. As he didn't know where she was, he was looking around to see if any of her other servant friends were nearby and if they knew where she was.

The dark skinned knight then spots Merlin down the hall with a pile of- presumably- Arthur's clothes to clean. He smiles and speeds up slightly to catch up with the Prince's manservant.

Before he could get very close, Arthur had approached the brunet. He quickly asks, "Jennifer?"

Merlin sighs and quickly replies with a 'no' to his master, before continuing to walk, leaving a slightly annoyed prince behind.

As Arthur walks past Elyan, he smiles at him, switching from annoyed to glad. Arthur pats him on the shoulder as he walked past, saying a quick, "Good luck on the quest. Gwen's in the dining room, by the way."

Elyan blinks a few times, watching Merlin walk off, into the kitchens, then turns to watch Arthur walk away. Although he was rather confused, he walks towards where his sister was.

~~~~

Percival was in the armoury taking off his armour, as he had just finished training with the other knights, and it took him longer to take it all off, as he was larger than the others.

As he was about to get up, he heard the door open and someone sit on the bench in the middle of the room. He then hears a clanging of metal on stone, and the distinctive voice of merlin muttering to himself.

Before Percival had time to go say hello to his friend, the door opens the door, and the Prince's voice calls inside, "Anna?"

"No," Merlin replies in a monotone voice, as if he was busy doing something else- which Percival guessed he was, as the poor boy was always busy.

Arthur huffs and then leaves, the door closing behind him. Percival was left standing, confused, before he walked out, replying to Merlin's cheerful 'bye, Percy' with a 'bye'. He walks away, his mind racing from the interaction he had heard.

~~~~

Leon was sat at the Prince's side, drinking the ale out of his goblet. He was attending the feast which was held in honour of a neighbouring royal family's visit to Camelot. He didn't much like these feasts, but as they had happened so many times, he was used to it by now and knew how to hide his boredom.

Leon's eyes were searching the room when they spotted the familiar blue neckerchief of a certain manservant. Either side stood two female servants who were both pointing people out to a steadily flushing warlock.

Due to Leon being so far away, he was unable to see who they were pointing at. Even as they pointed to someone next to him- which he presumed was the Lady Morgana- he still couldn't quite tell who exactly it was.

It seemed that Merlin had had enough of the two and started to walk away, causing the girls to giggle.

Merlin walked up to Arthur- who was sat next to the Knight- and started pouring him some wine. Arthur then turned to look at his servant and asked, "Either Branwyn or Cotovatre."

"No sire," Merlin sighs, moving back towards the wall, as he had finished pouring the prince his wine.

Even more confused, Leon stared ahead of him, trying to figure out what had just happened.

~~~~

Gwaine was at the tavern (surprise, surprise) again, regaling some of his stories in his drunken state to the group that had gathered around him- much like usual. And like usual, Merlin walked into the tavern, walking straight up to the drunkard, to pick him up.

Merlin sighs and shakes his head, when he realises the man was halfway through a story, and therefore would not stop until he had finished- he had found this out previously, the hard way.

Although the drunkard was telling the tale, he was keeping an eye on his serving friend, as he seemed to attract trouble wherever he went.

As he was watching the ravenet, he saw the prince walk up to him. Due to many hungover mornings, the knight had picked up on lipreading, so he was able to decipher Arthur asking Merlin what seemed to be a name, beginning to with 'L'.

Merlin then responded with the shake of the head, which made Arthur huff and walk away, causing Merlin to roll his eyes as his master- once again.

Confused on what he had just watched, the drunkard hadn't even realised he had stopped talking, until Merlin grabbed his arm and said something about taking him back home.

~~~~

Lancelot was almost always seen around Merlin, so it wasn't a surprise to the Kitchen staff when they saw the two men walk in, side by side, talking to each other in whispers. the two always seemed to be talking about something serious if they were talking quietly, so those were the times when the staff left them be.

Although, most of them were unable to not look at the pair as they walked through, due to the older man's arm around the younger's waist. It wasn't that it happened before, it was that it was rather rare, and when this happened, it usually meant something bad was about to happen.

The two were just about to leave the kitchens- after picking up a pie, much to the cook's distaste- the door they had entered through opens. The Prince's head pops around the side of it, looking around the now quiet room.

As soon as he spots his manservant, he asks, "Acheflow?" [A/N: Yes, that's a real Arthurian feminine name]

The brunet sighs and shakes his head, saying, "No, you prat." Arthur shrugs before disappearing and closing the door.

Everyone looks at the two, but they simply left the room as if nothing had happened, even if Lancelot was as confused as the staff- but he was used to this sort of stuff due to being friends with Merlin.

~~~~

Mordred and Merlin hadn't gotten on well when the druid had first become a knight- due to the prophesy.  But, gradually, the warlock looked past it, and saw the good in the young sorcerer.

The older had started to secretly teach him how to do certain spells he wouldn't have learnt in druid camps, and Mordred even started to teach Merlin some fighting tricks.

The druid was currently on his break, sat on the training field, reading one of the (non-magical) books he had brought from his camp. He was around halfway through when he spotted someone quickly walking towards the forest in the corner of his eye. He was going to ignore it, but then he saw what looked like someone chasing them.

Looking up from his book, he realised who the two were, and let his guard down. Although, he was still rather curious, so he strained to be able to listen to the Prince and his manservant.

The Prince goes to say something but the younger cuts him off saying, "Shut up."

"C'mon Merlin," the blonde whines. "I didn't even say anything. And where are you even rushing off to?"

"Trying to get away from a prat," Merlin grumbles, causing the royal to scoff.

"Margret?"

"Seriously?"

"What! She's alright."

"I mean, seriously, you're still asking me?"

"Just answer, Merlin!"

"No, not Margret! Now leave me alone."

The blonde rolls his eyes, but walks back towards the castle. Confused, Mordred watches his friend walk into the forest, quietly grumbling to himself.

~~~~

The Knights were all on a hunting trip, it seemed like they always were now. Well, that's what Merlin thought as he was sulking at the back of the group, on his annoyingly slow horse.

The men were all laughing together, causing Merlin to sigh and try and get his horse to speed up to catch up. He gives a small chuckle when the creature does as the warlock was telling him to do.

As soon as he had caught up to them, he had to abruptly stop, as to not crash into them. Arthur was jumping off his horse, while saying, "Alright, we'll set up camp here for tonight. We'll start the hunt tomorrow."

The knights make noises of approval and all start to climb off. Merlin groans and starts to complain under his breath, before getting off and grabbing all of the equipment off the horses and starting to set up camp.

However, like usual, the knights aided him in his work. they didn't feel it was right for Merlin- or any servant- to do all the work, especially for them. Merlin always tried to insist he was fine, but would eventually give in from Gwaine's constant badgering and purposefully making it harder for the boy to work.

After the beds were rolled out and the fire was alight, the knights and Merlin were all sat on logs around the fire. Merlin was sat between Leon and Lancelot, his head on the confidant's shoulder with said man's arm around his waist, rubbing circles on his side.

The atmosphere was calming, no talking, just everyone basking in the presence of the others. Until it was broken, and surprisingly, it wasn't Gwaine.

"Janise?" Arthur quietly asks.

"Seriously?" Merlin deadpans, sending a glare to the prince.

"Yes, seriously."

"No, not Janise. You know nothing of your staff do you?"

"What's that supposed to-?" Arthur starts, getting irritated, before he gets cut off by Gwaine.

"Alright you two, out with it. What's all this nonsense?"

Merlin tenses and curls in on himself more, avoiding eye contact with anyone, making Leon especially cautious, as he had never seen his friend act like this before. He always walked into situations with his head held high, seemingly without any fear or worry.

Leon places a gentle hand on the boy's thigh, trying to calm him, but instead makes him jump slightly, before relaxing.

"Are you going to explain then, Princess?" Gwaine questions, becoming impatient.

The prince rolls his eyes at the nickname, before answering, "Merlin here has been acting all lovey-dovey recently. So, I've been asking him all of the castle staff lady's names, to see who it was."

All the men look to Merlin, the drunkard with a smirk on his face. Merlin did not like that look, not for this situation. He really didn't want them to know. He just wanted to be left alone for once, to have some privacy for once. To have one secret that nobody knew, apart from him.

"So~" Gwaine starts, his smirk looking devil-like in the eyes of Merlin, the shadows from the fire not helping the image.

Merlin untangles himself from the knights either side of him as he stands up, trying to ignore the other's protests.

"Come on Merlin," Mordred says, trying to convince his friend it was okay. "I'm sure she's a lovely girl."

"Stop it," Merlin replies, getting slightly angry now, as he grabs some equipment from one of the bags he hadn't emptied yet- for himself.

"Merls, we won't judge," Lancelot adds, trying to calm down the boy he had known for so many years.

"Please, just stop," the sorcerer states, starting to shake as he was finally stood up.

Arthur then teases, "When do we get to meet the lucky lady?"

"Just shut up!" Merlin explodes, the bedding he had bundled in his arms falling to the floor as he grips his hair. He shakes as tears start to form in his eyes as he continues, "I don't have a lady!"

Percival stands, and slowly walks towards his younger friend, before gently asking, "What do you mean?"

"Don't you get it?" Merlin sobs, pulling at his short hair. "I don't like girls! I-I never have!"

The statement had caused the whole group to go into shock. The friendly giant had stopped midway into going to pull Merlin into his embrace, Lancelot and Mordred were in the middle of standing up when they stopped. Arthur and Gwaine's breath caught in their throats, while Leon just looked at Merlin in pity.

If he was honest, Leon had always suspected it of the boy. His only friends seemed to be the female staff in the castle, and all of the men seemed to hate him for seemingly 'steeling all the girls', yet, he had never made a move on a single one of them.

"A-and it's not like I like j-just one!" Merlin continues, too caught up in crying that he hadn't noticed everyone's reactions. "N-no, it had to be a g-group! S-stupid luck, St-stupid destiny!"

By the time Merlin had finished, Leon had the boy in his arms, smoothing his hair and whispering calm words to him. He let the warlock cry into his chainmail, not caring that the boy's grip on him would bruise in the morning.

Once the boy had calmed down, he quickly fell asleep, making the knight have to tuck him in the bed. Leon then sat down with the rest of his friends, all eyes on him.

"You knew?" Gwaine asked, his voice strained.

"I had a hunch, and now I know I was right."

"Who are they?" Lancelot asks nervously, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Isn't it obvious?" the long haired knight asked the group. He looked Arthur in the eyes as he said, "It's all of us."

~~~~

A/N: Holy macaroni, that took forever to write.

I've wanted to write this for so long, it's honestly ridiculous.

[Oh, and Elyan wasn't in the final scene as he was still on the quest. However, Merlin does like him too]

[carry-on-my-wayward-shadowhunter]

Faith

Thank you again to the lovely @sqrzos for the prompt: 

“I worry when you say ‘altercation’ because I know that could be anything from someone yelling ‘shut up!’ to a gruesome murder.”

Merlin/Arthur

“What is going on? Where have you been?” Arthur was angry. Merlin knew that because he got this wrinkle in the middle of his forehead, and his nostrils flared. Although he looked like an angry puppy, Merlin would never point that out. Arthur stood there with a hand on his hip and a glare.

“I know we had a date, but you see, about that…” Merlin began with a slight wince.

“What?” Arthur tried to coax out of him.

“There might have been…an altercation,”

“You worry me when you say that. I worry when you say ‘altercation’, because I know that could be anything from someone yelling, to a gruesome murder in the town. You need to be more specific. What happened?” Merlin was his best friend, lover and the greatest sorcerer that the world had ever known, and yet he still didn’t know how to just get to the point. He knew it drove Arthur up a wall, and yet—

“With the knights. You know the girl that Elyan was seeing? The baker’s daughter?” Merlin asked.

“Yes?”

“Well, turns out that Gwaine slept with her,” Merlin said this very fast, and Arthur sighed in frustration.

“Does that man sleep with anything that has a pulse? Bridgette is lovely, don’t get me wrong, but he knew that Elyan was seeing her. Wait a minute; isn’t Gwaine with Percy now? Or did I miss something?” Arthur felt like he was dealing with a bunch of children at times, and began putting his boots on.

“No, he slept with her before she and Elyan got together. Gwaine just…might have mentioned that she was great for a roll in the hay and Elyan…well…,” Merlin explained, with a wince.

“For God’s sake…I swear I deal with children, not the best knights in the five kingdoms,” Arthur sighed in annoyance. “Come on,” He stood up and took Merlin by the arm.

“Why do I have to come?”

“In case I can’t get them to stop, I will need you. Ever since the Battle, no one ever quite tells you no, haven’t you noticed?”

“Well, you do,” Merlin quipped as they made their way down to the courtyard.

“I am the King, Merlin,”

“Yes…and?” Merlin joked.

“Just help me, Merlin,” Arthur huffed, making Merlin smirk in response.

They reached the point of no return when they reached the courtyard and saw the scuffle. “Oy! What is going on here? Are you Knights of Camelot, or children? Sir Leon! What is going on?”

“Sire, I—“Leon began, but was cut off by Gwaine.

“Elyan here can’t take a bloody joke!”

“You don’t make jokes about a lady like that!” Elyan yelled in return.

“I don’t see a lady, mate. Only a woman who breaks hearts,” Gwaine said, with a shrug. Merlin gasped, Arthur widening his eyes in shock.

“Like I said…altercation, sire,” Merlin explained, waving an arm in front of him between the two men. Elyan, who looked murderous before, now only looked confused and hurt. Gwaine’s expression was hard to read, but it almost looked like pity.

“What are you talking about, Gwaine?” Elyan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t exactly beat around the bush. I didn’t get to finish, earlier. She’s great for a roll in the hay, but if you expect that girl to be faithful…let me just say don’t get your hopes up,” Gwaine explained, with a grimace. Percival went to lay a hand on Gwaine’s shoulder, making the former slightly smile in thanks.

“She…she…she wouldn’t do that!” Elyan proclaimed.

“She would, mate. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You’re my friend and you have always had my back; I just want to return the favor,” Gwaine insisted.

“I need solid proof,”

“I can help with that,” Merlin chimed in. Arthur looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I remember when she stepped out on Gwaine, she used to go in the barns. There is kind of a makeshift bed that…well, can be used to—“

“Alright, I get it,” Elyan interjected. “If I don’t find any proof, any at all,” he turned to Gwaine now, “Then, I expect a full apology.”

“I will apologize and polish your sword and armor for a month,” Gwaine swore. All of the knights, including Arthur, gasped out at that.

“That’s putting all of your eggs in one basket, I’d say,” Leon spoke up.

“I know I’m not wrong. When you’ve been a victim of infidelity, it kind of sticks with you. Once a tart, always a tart,” Gwaine picked up his armor and sword off the ground where he had dropped it and took off toward the benches, Percival not far behind.

The knights went their separate ways after that; Elyan going to investigate, and Sir Leon attending to some of the council members requesting more reports on the grain counts. Arthur made his way back up to his chambers with Merlin in tow, both silent on the way.

When they reached the room, Merlin shut the door with a wave of his hand. He looked to Arthur with a serious expression. “Arthur…”

“I would never be unfaithful to you, Merlin. I cannot believe you would even ask,” Arthur said, with a hurt look in his eyes.

“How do you do that?” Merlin asked, shaking his head.

“I know you, for a start. Second, I know how you think. Ever since you came out to me with your magic, you have been on the fence about us.”

“Well, you did keep me at a distance for weeks on end after the battle,”

“Do you really blame me for that?” Arthur asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Merlin sat beside him, and folded his hands together. “No, I don’t.

“I know why you didn’t tell me. I don’t like it, but I understand. I know you so I know you kept it hidden for a reason. But, none of that would ever make me be unfaithful to you.” Arthur cupped both of Merlin’s cheeks with his hands, and Merlin leaned into the touch. “I don’t think I say it enough, but I love you. I think I have loved you since the moment you said you could take me apart with less than one blow,” Arthur smiled warmly at him.

Merlin grinned. “And I could very well have,”

“Oh, I know you could have,” Arthur pressed a kiss to the end of Merlin’s nose. “You are so very special to me. I love you so much, it scares the hell out of me sometimes. I—I know we have our disagreements sometimes, but it makes me love you all the more. I don’t think I could ever find someone as infuriatingly wonderful as you are,”

Merlin felt tears sting his eyes, even as he smiled. “Arthur…”

“I mean every word. I love you, Merlin,” Arthur pressed a chaste kiss to Merlin’s lips, making Merlin’s tears fall down his face. He wrapped his hands around Arthur’s back and pressed as close as he could get to him.

“I love you too, just so we’re clear,” Merlin said, when they broke the kiss. Arthur laughed and rested his forehead on Merlin’s.

“I think I got the message,” Arthur kissed Merlin softly, pressing him back onto the bed. If they didn’t leave the privacy of the King’s chambers the rest of the afternoon, no one was hard pressed to say much about it.

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

@merlincreatorsappreciation day 1- favorite angst fics

Empty by greenhouse793

Elyan/Gwaine/Percival | Teen and up | | Major character death | 366 words

Fate has never been a gentle mistress.

The only actual perelyiane fic on ao3 when i got here and OOF what a fic. Beautiful and beyond heartrending, follows canon which would be why :'))

Forging Tears by DevonShea

Elyan & Gwen, Elyan & Tom | General Audiences | 1950 words

Elyan gets a letter he never expected.

Elyan finds out about Tom. Very sad, but also a nice insight into Elyan's life away from Camelot, and an explanation for how Morgana knew where he was but not Gwen.

Things Change by mollrach13

Gwaine/Merlin | General Audiences | 419 words

Missing Scene/Tag for 5x12, Gwaine and Merlin are traveling through the woods to the Valley of the Fallen Kings:

'Merlin looked straight into Gwaine eyes; sadness, in their depths, resignation in the small quirk to his lips and gave a small shrug. “Things change.” '

The description says it all really. The simple words, leaving so much unspoken... agony :')

don't stay in my sleep by @lit-beyond-measure

Elyan & Gwaine | Mature | 1227 words

Elyan tries to get Gwaine to eat something. Gwaine tries just as hard to get him to eat something as well.

Lil bit of comfort but not so much I didn't think it belonged to this day 🤣 beautiful and heartbreaking ecchange between Elyan and Gwaine in the cells in 4x13 <3

No Sword in Our Lake (just a funeral wake) by BardsBeBardin924

Gwen & Leon & Percival & Merlin | Teen and up | Major character death | 3926 words

A fragmented Camelot reels in the immediate aftermath of the battle at Camlann. Queens, Knights, and Sorcerers come together to fight through their grief to do the one thing they know: live, and live, and live some more, for those who are no longer able.

Set after 5x13, very sad but also very healing, the way the unlikely group of survivors support each other is so beautiful <3

Like Ghosts Among the Stars by @the-astro-ace

Merlin/Lancelot | Not rated | Major character death | 3211 words

“It’s been a long time, my love.”

Merlin smiled bleakly at the sudden voice. Perhaps the moment had arrived, and he was finally going mad.

But...even if he was...it’d be nice to see him again.

He turned to the voice.

“Hello, Lancelot.”

After thousands upon thousands of years of waiting, Lancelot takes Merlin home.

HEARTBREAKING but beautiful and a peaceful ending as the tags put it, Merlin's been waiting too long and he finally gets to stop

Some Small Happiness (Is Sometimes Hard to Find) by bevinkathryn

Elyan/Percival | General audiences | Major character death (referenced) | 1335 words

Percy is struggling with the loss of Elyan. Merlin goes to talk to him.

So very sad but also very healing, Percy is grieving but sharing happy memories of Elyan with Merlin helps a little <33