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About to watch the last two episodes of Merlin tonight. In no way emotionally prepared for what I know is about to go down.
If anyone needs me, I'll be curled up in the fetal position tomorrow wishing I was talented enough to write a fix-it.
Arthur lifting Mordred up in his arms like a proud father isn't talked about enough
Have a late summary of chapter 343
Ever since I watched Merlin for the first time I tried to not make Arthur and Merlin that gay couple that aparently exists in every fucken show there is, but watching episode 10 season 1, I just can’t ignore it. It’s so freaking obvious.
It’s adorable even. I’ve watched Shadowhunters’ Malec and the parallels are clear to a certain extent. I just love them so freaking much.
No wonder why Merthur is a thing.
Happy Birthday Maja
Hope you have a wonderful day @emo-hedgehog-zeldris! Have some of your OTP, some snow, some angst and hopefully a bit of a happy ending.
Snow, pure and sparkling in the pale winter sunlight, crunched under his boots as he paced into the forest. Apart from his footsteps there was not a sound to be heard, the white powder swallowing up all noise to leave a silence ringing on the air. There were signs of life though. The ground showed tracks of a cloven hooved animal, presumably an elk, which appeared to have meandered through the trees at random, and the odd three-toed footprint of some sort of bird that had no doubt attempted to forage for sustenance. But nothing was moving now, no matter how hard he strained his ears. It was quiet and cold and very, very still.
“Arthur,” he called loudly, his voice booming and he winced at the noise. “This is a really, really bad idea.”
A slight echo was the only response. “Come on,” he snapped impatiently, gloved hands clenching into fists at his sides. “This is utterly stupid. Can’t we just go home?”
Still no reply. Zeldris sighed and strode forward, batting stray branches out of his way. The forest was full of pine, the aroma of resin floating over the frost and the green fronds of the trees bending with little piles of snow. His eyes darted from left to right, noting trunk after trunk and nothing but snow on the ground. There were no landmarks to speak of, just an endless stretch of woodland. Narnia must be like this, he thought to himself as he went further in, watching closely for any sign of anything that might give away Arthur’s location. Perhaps if he looked hard enough he would find a wardrobe full of coats.
“This isn’t funny!” he complained. The wet was beginning to seep through the wool of his gloves to freeze his fingers and his toes were also starting to ache. “I hate the outdoors,” he muttered to himself, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. “It’s too… unpredictable.”
He should just concede, tell Arthur he was, in fact, the best of the two of them at surviving in the wild - which he was, Zeldris had to acknowledge - and then they could leave and salvage what was left of the weekend. They had not been going out long and every moment was precious. It was his own boasting that had got him into this mess. Why on earth had he said there was nothing Arthur could do that he could not do better? Zeldris opened his mouth, but no sound would come out. Clearly Arthur was better at hiding in the woods than he was and yet still he could not admit defeat. He would just have to find him so this game could end.
More stealthily now, Zeldris crept behind a tree, casting a glance back along the way he had come. There were his tracks plain to see, and a few broken branches along with a marked absence of snow on the spiky leaves. Arthur must have left some sort of trace, he just had to find it. He looked around carefully, scanning the scene for anything that looked out of place, holding his breath as he saw it: a string of red wool caught on a branch some twenty feet or so off, the vibrant crimson standing out against the snow. It had to have come from Arthur’s red scarf. Smiling to himself, Zeldris began to move, stepping on the roots of the trees near the base of the trunks in an attempt to conceal his movements.
Carefully, he drew closer to the red that dangled down, lifeless in the absence of breeze, focusing on his destination and the placement of his feet. It was slow progress but he gradually made his way close to the strand of wool, and began to look around for other signs of the man he was hunting. He had almost reached the spot when he felt it, a sudden shift in the air, a tension and a buzz of excitement. He stiffened, determining to turn to face the threat when a faint whistle called and then, not even a second later, something very wet and horribly cold smacked him hard in the neck, the crack resounding through the woods. He yelled as whatever it was started to drip down inside his shirt, crawling like ice along his spine.
The laughter that followed made his teeth ache. “That. Was. Amazing!” Arthur exclaimed as he trotted up towards him. Zeldris did not turn round as his boyfriend approached, doing his best to control his rising temper. “You are so bad at this,” Arthur added with a chuckle. “I’ve been following you for ages. I could have got you with a snowball so many times it’s not even funny, but I wanted to see what you’d do and it was hilarious.”
“And why are you so good at it exactly?” Zeldris snapped as he finally whipped round, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking to displace some of the now-liquid snow. “You’ve left no tracks at all! What are you, some sort of ghost?”
Arthur snickered. “Oh, no I just know my way around. I spent a lot of time in these woods. Once I lived out here for nearly a month, or maybe it was a bit more,” said Arthur thoughtfully, his brows furrowing together. “Something like that anyway. It was a long time ago. I was only a kid at the time.”
“Why were you living out here?” Zeldris asked, curious in spite of his irritation. “Don’t tell me, it was some sort of environmental protest or to raise money for something worthy. You’re too bloody noble for your own good sometimes.”
Arthur shrugged. “Guilty,” he said with a grin. “I do like to help out where I can and the planet is important, whatever you say. But no, I lived out here for a spell because I ran away from home and I didn’t have much choice.”
“You ran away from home?” Zeldris looked at him closely, examining Arthur carefully. “What happened?” he asked more softly.
Arthur pursed his lips, then shook his head. “Aww, it was no big deal,” he replied. “Just… you know, one of those things. My family don’t like me very much and I thought, well, I thought they’d be better off without me. They certainly said so quite a few times. I stayed out here for as long as I could, then school noticed my clothes were… pretty gross, I guess. They made me go back. Well, I say back. I went into a children’s home, which is an experience I would not recommend. But this is all gloomy,” Arthur said with another chuckle, “and all in the past. No harm done. Let’s talk about something else.”
“I ran away too,” Zeldris whispered, swallowing hard as Arthur’s eyes snapped to his. “But I didn’t live in the woods,” he added acerbically.
“What happened?” Arthur asked, mirroring his own words.
Zeldris bit his lip. “My father is… he was fine when I was young, nice even. We used to get on really well. Then… something happened. His personality changed, and I don’t really know why. He started drinking. A lot. And he started to hate me. Really, really hate me. I remember one day, I was thirteen, I was heading out of the house to see a friend and he stopped me, lent down right into my face and squeezed my shoulder hard, really hard, and said, ‘Get out of my sight you pathetic shit’. I hadn’t done anything.”
Zeldris paused, forcing himself to suck in a deep breath. “Anyway, I decided not to go back home that night. When I left my friend’s house I just walked around, just walking the streets. It wasn’t really running away as such, I just didn’t want to go home. That was when Mel found me. My eldest brother, Meliodas,” he explained as Arthur cocked his head to one side. “He drove around the city looking for me. My other brother, Estarossa, must have called him to say I hadn’t got home and he came to find me. Mel brought me up after that. Got me through college. I haven’t seen my father since.”
Arthur’s arms were around him, tight and comforting, before he had even finished his sentence. He hugged Arthur back, the two pressing their cheeks together. Zeldris closed his eyes, throat stinging hard, unable to hold back the tears that leaked under his lashes. “I’m sorry,” he murmured into Arthur’s ear. “Your family don’t know what they’re missing.”
“We’re family now,” Arthur replied, his voice muffled and choked. Zeldris felt Arthur’s heart beat against his own as they clung together, an anchor amidst a furious storm. He was right, Zeldris thought as the warmth of their embrace banished the chill. Whatever else happened, whatever life held, they had each other and that is what mattered.
Here, let me play with your collar and blatantly stare at your chest while you act like this is nothing out of the ordinary, because that’s just how we roll.
Merlin: “You aren’t nervous, are you?” Arthur: “Do I look nervous?” Merlin: “Yes.” Arthur: “I’m definitely not.”
Inquiring minds want to know (me...I'm the inquiring mind)...
Does Merthur have any of those Soulmate Goose of Destiny stories? Because that seems like a necessity for those two and if they don't, I may have to break down and try to write one.
Very appreciative if anyone knows of any because I'm not sure how to search that. I tried 'goose' in the tag search, but none of them matched what I was thinking. I'm a little intimidated by the ship tag for them because I'm coming in so late on this fandom. The two ship tags I read and write for regularly on AO3 both have multiple stories where there is a goose that shows up and annoys the piss out of a character until they find their soulmate. It is cracky and ridiculous and hilarious and I'm hoping Merthur has some. Thanks in advance if anyone knows of any!
