#we are……………..trying to work through scruples brain tonight. even though it wants to kill me so so so much.

[asterdeer]

okay last attempt at a good url while i have a mini crisis. i will Never change my icon at this point though

[percyjacksonfan3]

Number 11 "How could you ask me that" for the fic prompts with merthur please

Thanks so much for the prompt! This was huge fun to write. I know you might have wanted some angst but I went with fluff instead so I could include one of my favourite cliche tropes.

Hope you like it!

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“Tell me the truth, Merlin. Right now.”

Arthur’s boyfriend looks back at him with wide eyes filled with nothing but hurt. “How could you ask me that?”

Merlin’s expression makes a pang of guilt go through Arthur before he forcefully shoves it away. This is serious.

“Arthur come on-” Morgana begins from beside them but he holds up a hand and she cuts herself off. Arthur sees the look she and Merlin exchange, one that clearly reads, ‘Sorry. I tried.’

“Let’s just forget it,” Gwen suggest valiantly from her place beside Morgana, always one to try and keep the peace between everybody. Her big brown eyes look worriedly from Arthur to Merlin and she bites her lower lip briefly. “I’m sure no one meant any harm.”

Arthur and Merlin both make indignant noises at that.

“No,” Leon leans forward to look more intensely at Merlin. “I’d like to know too.”

Merlin gasps, turning those innocent blue eyes to Leon for a moment. “Leon!”

“He didn’t do anything,” Gwaine cuts in, shifting where he sits beside Merlin. “Honest.”

“Like you would tell us the truth if he did,” Elyan rolls his eyes from where he and Percy are sitting together.

“Oi! If that’s an insult to my honour-”

“Come off it Gwaine,” Mordred interrupts him with a fond smile. Beside him, Lance carefully counts out their pile of money. “We all know you have no scruples when it comes to this.”

“Everyone that’s enough.” Arthur cuts back in calmly. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of Merlin this entire time, and for the most part Merlin hasn’t looked away from him either. “Merlin just answer the question. Did you cheat?”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Oh am I?” Arthur retorts. “Because last I counted, you and Gwaine only had 3 100 pound bills between you, and now I see 5.”

He points across the Monopoly board to where Merlin and Gwaine’s pile of money sits innocently beside their large sprawl of property deeds. While the rest of the teams are struggling to get more than three properties, Merlin and Gwaine have somehow managed to acquire all of the brown and yellow ones.

Arthur knows them too well to trust them for a second. “Someone’s cheating.”

“Or maybe you just suck at Monopoly,” Merlin bites back.

“Alright guys, let’s not get carried away.” Lance says carefully.

“I do not suck at Monopoly!”

“Could have fooled me,” Merlin sticks out his tongue. “Leon is the only reason you even have those 2 properties.”

“It’s not my fault I land on Chance or Community Chest every time!”

“Bad luck mate,” Percy says in sympathy.

“Uh, yes it is. If you were good at the game you wouldn’t have that problem.”

“I can’t control how the dice land, Merlin!”

His boyfriend just shrugs unconcerned. “The gods of Monopoly just don’t seem to like you.”

“Wha- the gods of Monopoly?” Arthur splutters, arms flailing as he throws them up into the air in exasperation and makes Leon have to quickly jerk out of his way.

“I told you we should have played Pictionary instead,” Gwen says mournfully, making Morgana snort beside her.

“That would be even worse. Have you forgotten the last time?”

Mordred touches his own temple in remembrance of when Arthur took off his shoe to throw at Merlin but ended up hitting Mordred in the head instead.

Merlin had killed himself laughing over it.

Right now though the two of them are too busy standing up to glare at one another across the table to notice the looks being exchanged by their friends.

“I love game nights,” Percy says mournfully. “Shame we can only have them once a year.”

“I thought this would end once they started shagging.” Elyan notes and Leon and Lance both shake their heads simultaneously.

“Not these two. The competitiveness isn’t sexual tension, it’s just...”

“Foreplay?” Gwaine suggests and the rest of the table groan. Lance looks like he regrets saying anything at all.

“We heard that,” Merlin says in an aside to the rest of them before looking back at Arthur. “Look, clotpole, if you had eyes and a working brain you’d be able to see why Gwaine and I have more money without us having to resort to cheating-”

“A working brain?” Arthur repeats, sounding strangled.

It’s then that Leon interjects. “Oh, he’s right Arthur.”

Arthur turns from where he’s been considering leaping across the table to wrestle Merlin to the floor and force the truth out of his boyfriend to look at his friend. “What?”

“They passed Go.” Leon points at where their dragon icon sits innocently. “Last turn I think. We forgot.”

Arthur stares at the board.

“Oh. Well that’s alright then.”

He sits down abruptly and nods at Mordred to roll for his and Lance’s turn, happy to continue on with the game now that it’s been clearly established everyone is playing by the rules.

“Clotpole,” Merlin repeats, but he sounds fond and there’s laughter clear to be heard in his tone so Arthur just rolls his eyes before looking back at him with affection.

Their gazes hold and Arthur feels warmth spread through him.

“Ugh,” Morgana interrupts, making them both look at her. “I vote that after tonight we retire Monopoly from Game Night.”

“Agreed,” the rest of them all say immediately, making both Merlin and Arthur roll their eyes. Honestly, the pair of them aren’t that bad.

Which is proven when Percy and Elyan surprise everybody and end up winning, which causes not only Arthur, not only Merlin, but Morgana, Leon, Gwaine and Mordred as well to all stand up and accuse them of cheating. The board is flipped. Money goes flying. A little green house is crushed under Percy’s foot.

The Monopoly board is packed up and shoved to the bottom of Merlin and Arthur’s closet.

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And there we go! I hope you enjoyed this, I know it ended up being less Merthur-centric but hopefully it was still entertaining. Thank you so much again for the prompt nonny, I really had a lot of fun writing this!

For anyone else who’d like to send me prompts you can find the list here!