My new merthur fic just dropped! This one has been on my drafts for a LONG time, but I think I like how it turned out. Hope you enjoy! <3
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Morgana & Arthur Pendragon Aditional tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Court Sorcerer Merlin, Arthur Pendragon Knows About Merlin's Magic, Merlin's Magic Loves Arthur Pendragon, Domestic Fluff, Sharing a Bed, Sharing Clothes, Age Regression/De-Aging, Teen Angst, Sassy Merlin, Insecure Arthur Pendragon, Pining Arthur Pendragon, Idiots in Love, First Kiss, Getting Together, but not really cause they already are they're just realising it now
Summary:
When Arthur said he wished to feel like a young prince again this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, but alas Merlin’s magic seemed to have a mind of its own.
Or: Merlin's magic accidentally turns them both into helpless pining teenagers with a lot of childhood trauma and unresolved tension. Featuring: mutual pining, pendragon family trauma and heavy amounts of teenage angst on Arthur's part.
1. Good Fortune by platonic_boner (@vegan-hermione)
Arthur makes Merlin a lord, and Merlin does an astonishingly good job of running a village.
~~~
i love this fic. it is literally the reason why this post is being made. it is so good and i loved the dramatic irony in the ball scene. it is so funny watching arthur pout about not being able to marry merlin when we all know that’s the rich lord the council really wants him to marry.
2. It Feels Like It Was Just Yesterday We Were In Love, Why Is It Falling Apart? by Dark_Angel23
Five years had passed since Arthur had become King, and three since the magic ban had been repealed.
Merlin had left Camelot soon after, convinced that his work here was done and he wasn't needed anymore, to live a life of solitude and mystery as Emrys.
But when a ball is held at Camelot to celebrate the first steps to the forming of Albion, an invitation finds its way to Emrys, and with it, a way for Merlin to find closure. Would he leave everything be as he left it three years ago, or would he take the chance to move on with his life?
~~~
listen when arthur said “What made you think I wouldn’t jump on the pyre with you?” i was like this close to crying. this fic basically just tells canon to piss off and does it better.
3. I Can See The Way You Look At Me, Don't You See The Way I Look At You? by Dark_Angel23
The magic ban has been lifted a year ago, but Arthur still doesn't know about Merlin's magic.
Or at least, that's what Merlin thinks.
When a Ball is held at Camelot, a series of events make Merlin think that Arthur wants to marry Gwen, and in order to stop the pain, makes the decision to disguise himself as Emrys and attend it.
But does Arthur really want to marry her?
~~~
in this fic arthur gets the braincell. we get perceptive!arthur and oblivious!merlin and a couple of cinderella elements thrown into this fic. it’s cute.
ALSO 4 with merthur (I can't remember if it was a group hug one or not so if it's a group hug let's have just everyone hugging one another. That hug game is strongggg with them)
Hihi ok here we go finally did it
I ignored my science quiz for this 💕💕💕
Fic under cut [Also posted on my Ao3]
Arthur took a deep breath as he sunk onto the couch, exhaustion settling from the long day. Merlin had been at work all day, and Arthur had been left for the first time on his own at the house since rising from the lake.
He never wanted to do it again.
It was awful.
Arthur didn’t want to admit it, still hanging onto his pride, but he needed Merlin. Gods, he needed him, so much.
The King—who was still unused to the fact he was no longer that—looked around the main living room with a grimace. It was a mess… How had he managed to fuck it up so bad?
Merlin was going to send him back to Avalon.
Maybe he should.
He didn’t belong here… In this world, this time…
Arthur’s shoulders jumped when the handle rattled as the front door was open, then, he froze.
Merlin was home.
His eyes darted around the room again, in horror, taking in the extent of the mess. That box—the television, Merlin called it—was broke, it was making a weird scratching sound and the screen was all fuzzy. Merlin’s favourite vase was shattered, and the…the phone, he thought it was called, was in the fish tank [Arthur still didn’t understand that]. It had made a loud noise while he was trying to examine it and he stumbled back, knocking over the vase, and launched the phone across the room on startled instinct.
That wasn’t even broaching the topic of the kitchen…
He felt his heart rate pick up pace, as Merlin’s footsteps grew louder as he walked from the entry hall to the main living room. He was going to be so furious. Arthur didn’t know if he could handle it.
He just came back…
He didn’t need the only person he had left angry with him.
He didn’t mean to destroy the house; he’d never been alone here before!
Maybe he should have never been alone in the first place.
He didn’t belong here.
“Arthur!” Merlin gasped as he finally entered the room, his voice displaying his shock just fine without Arthur having to look at him. “Arthur, what on earth—"
“Don’t ask…” Arthur cut him off with a mutter, dropping his head into his hands, from where he still on the couch. His shoulders drooped in disappointment, knowing Merlin would surely tear into him for destroying the house. Like Arthur once had in Camelot when Merlin destroyed his room.
He should never have done that.
This felt awful.
He didn’t belong here.
A soft sigh broke the silence, followed by nearing footsteps. “Oh, love…” Merlin murmured, as he sat down next to Arthur on the couch.
Arthur dropped his hands to his knees and looked at Merlin, biting his lip. The tender look on his face made Arthur’s anxiety ease a touch, but not his insecurity, which still raged within him as the television continued to make that awful fuzzy, scratching sound.
“It’s okay to be mad at me,” Arthur finally told him, voice quiet, “I got mad at you for less in Camelot.”
Merlin shook his head, frowning deeply. “Arthur, that was centuries ago, and your anger at me had been you lashing out from the stress load you were under, I’m not mad at you,” he promised, “why would I be mad at you?”
“What you mean why?” Arthur asked incredulously, his eyes widening, “I—I wrecked the house, Merlin! I would be furious if I came home to this! It—your vase, your… phone, and the thing won’t stop screaming, and the food heater melted your bowl and—”
“And you know all of that is fixed with less than a snap,” Merlin reminded him softly, placing a hand over top the one on Arthur’s knee. “What’s really bothering you, Arthur?”
Arthur went silent, staring at their hands on his knee, hesitant. He didn’t like this. Being weak—vulnerable. Yet, Merlin always brought it out of him, somehow.
“I don’t belong here,” he told Merlin, finally speaking the words that had plagued his thoughts since the day after he got back those weeks ago the first time, and he saw how much things had changed. It was like the floodgates opened after that, and he couldn’t stop the words from flowing.
“I—this world, I don’t… I can’t navigate it. I’m no longer a king, and our friends are—and everything has changed so much and I can’t keep up. I feel… Lost, and overwhelmed, and I don’t know what I’m doing… I don’t know why I’m here.” He whispered the last line, dragging his eyes up to look at Merlin’s face. “I don’t belong here, Merlin. I’m the King of Camelot, and Camelot is no more. I’m a—a king without a kingdom. I can’t even leave the house to provide you food without growing overwhelmed. What good am I if I can’t do anything but sit at home, alone, and I can’t even do that without breaking everything.”
“Arthur…” Merlin sighed softly. He bit his lip, as if contemplating saying something, before shaking his head with another sigh. He removed his hand from Arthur’s knee and instead wrapped his arms around the resurrected king, pulling him into a close, comforting hug.
Arthur relaxed in his touch, and rested his head on Merlin’s shoulder before returning the embrace loosely.
“I don’t expect you to adapt to quickly,” Merlin finally murmured after a few moments of them just holding each other. “I have had fifteen thousand years to adapt, I was around as these new things were developing and history was making… You just came back, and you’re not… I shouldn’t expect you to be ready to stay on your own yet. Arthur, this is going to take so much time… You were gone for fifteen centuries, and that’s a lot to process…”
He pulled away from the hug to look at Arthur’s face. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed. It’s okay to not feel like you belong. It’s okay to miss Camelot. You don’t need to try so hard, Arthur, these things—shopping, using the television and phone, the internet, staying home alone, all of it—these things come with and take time. It’s okay to not be able to do these things yet. This world is so new to you, and you’re putting so much pressure on yourself to learn it all when it may take years for you to even start getting used to it.”
“I just…” Arthur faltered, averting his eyes as Merlin moved his hands up to cradle his face.
“You just what?” Merlin prompted.
Arthur sighed and leaned his face into Merlin’s right hand. “I want to be useful again.”
At least in Camelot he had a kingdom to run… Here—he was no one. He could do nothing.
“You are useful!” Merlin insisted, shutting down the voice in his head with the pure sincerity and passion in his eyes as he spoke, “you are useful. You are incredible, and you are alive, and you are useful.”
The sureness of his voice made Arthur want nothing more than to believe it. Merlin’s eyes scanned his face for a moment before he sighed and sat back, letting his face go as he dropped his hands to his lap.
“Would it help…” He began, “if I taught you how to use the kitchen? The stove, and everything, not just how to heat things up like I did before. If I taught you how to really cook.”
Arthur thought about it for a minute. He’d never really cooked before, not even in Camelot, except on rare occasions…
This wasn’t Camelot, though, and… He could provide for Merlin, he could feed him, and he could—he could be useful in a new way. Arthur stared at his husband, biting his lip as he contemplated the offer. Then, he nodded.
He needed this.
He needed to do something.
“It would,” he confirmed, “I think it would.”
Merlin smiled faintly and nodded back. He stood up and stretched a bit before taking a deep breath. Arthur watched as his eyes glowed golden and the room put itself right again, as if Arthur had never ruined it in the first place.
“There, all right again,” Merlin hummed, clapping his hands together before looking to Arthur, “I’ll call in and tell my supervisor my family emergency has yet to resolve, and tomorrow… I will have groceries delivered, and we can begin your cooking journey.”
He paused, and sat back down by Arthur again, leaning his head on his shoulder. “Does that sound good?”
Arthur took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as a faint smile tugged at his lips. He may not belong in his time, but he certainly belonged here, he decided as he leaned his head against Merlin’s gently.
