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magog_83I have had a really crappy afternoon so I have written myself Fix It Fic – which is probably a strange reaction, but it was either this or drink a whole bottle of wine by myself alone in my flat, and unfortunately I have to drive early tomorrow morning so that solution is out. This is not the thing that happened to me, but it was still crappy and uni-related so I used some artistic licence.
If Ven sees this – yes this is the Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Morgana karaoke gang AU verse :D Just a little offshoot of it because I really needed some sweet, kind Gwen and protective Arthur tonight.
For anyone else, the reference to Merlin and Arthur breaking up all the time is light-hearted - it never lasts for long and then they sing soppy karaoke duets at each other :)
Lastly... Kinder Eggs are little hollow chocolate eggs with toys in, usually that you have to put together yourself.
Title: The Cure All
Wordcount: 1,800
Spoilers: No spoilers – just sad Merlin and Gwen and Arthur cheering him up.
A/N: Third in a small series. The previous parts are Clouds In My Coffee. and Perfect Fit both of which are Gwen/Morgana with background Arthur/Merlin.
Extreme Fluff Alert. Just warning you.
........
Gwen is just on her way back from a lecture and feeling rather happy with her world when she spies Merlin, sitting alone on one of the sofas in the corner of the student lounge, shoulders slumped and resolutely ignoring the phone that was threatening to vibrate right off the low table. Forgetting all about notes and research and emails she needs to send, she crosses the room, already frowning in concern because this is Merlin, and the last time she saw him (or rather heard him) he was whistling the hits of Tom Jones from the end shower cubicle at eight o’clock that very morning.
“Merlin?” She lets her bag fall to the floor and drops down in the seat adjacent to his. “What’s wrong?”
He looks up at her, manages a weak smile that looks nothing like his usual one and says “Nothing,” in what has to be the least convincing tone Gwen has ever heard. On the table his phone finally stops buzzing and falls still.
“Come on, it clearly isn’t nothing,” she says, gentle but determined, “Has something happened? Are you ok?” She has a sudden, horrible, thought. “Is Arthur ok?”
At that Merlin finally looks up properly, taking a deep breath and obviously making an effort to pull himself together. “God, no, it’s nothing like that.” Gwen breathes a sigh of relief, then waits as Merlin fiddles with a loose thread on his t-shirt. “It’s nothing, really, just ignore me.” He goes back to staring dejectedly at the table, where his phone is buzzing again. Gwen tilts her head until she can read the flashing ‘Arthur’ on the screen.
“Have you two had a fight?” Gwen asks uncertainly. Uncertain because their arguments and break ups are legendary, but Merlin looking this miserable is not. She sometimes thinks they do it to a schedule, to clear the air, and she has never for a moment taken it seriously.
But Merlin just shakes his head. “No, I just don’t want to talk to him right now.”
“Ok,” Gwen says, somewhat at a loss. “Was it something in class then? Something that—”
She doesn’t get any further as Merlin makes a miserable noise and grabs one of the sofa cushions, pulling it in front of his face like he hopes to smother himself. Gwen yanks it back. “Alright, tell me what happened.”
Merlin throws her a baleful look and tries to tug the cushion back, but Gwen holds on, equally determined. “Merlin, if you don’t tell me, I will phone Morgana and she will make you.” Then, in a softer tone, “I can’t make it better if you don’t tell me what it is.”
“Fine,” says Merlin in an unhappy tone. “I made a complete arse of myself in my new class today. The tutor tore me to shreds in front of everyone, the other students think I’m a weirdo and Owain thinks I’m mentally deficient.”
Gwen blinks at this flood of information, and then settles for, “Who’s Owain?”
“Owain, Gwen!” Merlin stares at her like he’s expecting her to have an epiphany any moment. Gwen stares helplessly back. “That rugby player, the stupid looking one.”
“Oh,” says Gwen, realising, “the one who fancies Ar—”
Merlin finds another pillow to smother himself with. Gwen pulls it off him and sits on it before he can get any more ideas. Merlin’s phone starts buzzing again.
“Right,” she says, “first things first,” and before Merlin can react she grabs his phone and presses the answer key. “Arthur?... Yeah, it’s Gwen. I’m with him now…. We’re in the lounge…. What?.... No, he’s just had a crappy day…. Yeah, crisps will probably help.…. Yeah, see you soon then, bye.” She hangs up.
“Traitor,” Merlin mutters.
Gwen puts the phone back down and reaches out to brush the hair back off his forehead. “Come on, Merlin, this isn’t like you. What happened in class?”
Merlin fidgets and then, finally, answers. “I was late, and then I brought the wrong notes – even though I knew which topic it was. I can’t believe I picked up the wrong—”
“Well never mind that now, it was an honest mistake,” Gwen says hastily before Merlin can start berating himself again. “What did the tutor say?”
“He didn’t believe me,” Merlin says miserably, “Said if he had a pound for every time a student used that excuse, he’d be rich enough to retire and stop teaching teenagers who think the whole point of university is drinking and wasting their time. And if I couldn’t be bothered to prepare, he couldn’t be bothered to teach me, and that I was welcome to leave.”
Gwen thinks of a number of things she would quite like to say to said lecturer. “So you left?”
Merlin shakes his head. “No, I said I wanted to stay anyway and he stuck me in a group with Owain and I couldn’t find my pen and he spent the whole time making snotty comments about being prepared and that if a geek can’t even do well in class, what are they for?”
Gwen mentally adds Owain to her list, right after Unknown Lecturer.
“And then at the end, Dr Roberts told us all what to prepare for next time and looked right at me and said ‘and that means everyone – hangover or no.' And Owain sniggered.” Merlin slumps lower in his seat, “I'm going to move to Belgium and change my name," he finishes, dolefully.
But before Gwen can even begin to formulate a response to that startling news, the door to the lounge opens in a flurry of wind and rain and Arthur bursts in, clutching a multipack of Walker’s crisps and a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg. He spies them almost instantly and strides over. “What’s happened?”
Merlin lets his head drop onto the table top with a heavy thud as he announces, “I’m moving to Belgium and changing my name.”
“What?” says Arthur, dropping the crisps onto the sofa, “ But we’re going camping in June!”
Merlin lifts his head slightly and then lets it thump down again.
“Hey!” says Arthur immediately, dropping down next to him and pulling him back, “Stop that! I have plans for that head.”
Merlin glares at him. “Not like that,” Arthur protests, indignant. Gwen raises an eyebrow. “I mean, like to talk to it and stuff.”
“You want to talk to my head,” says Merlin.
Arthur scowls at him, “Now you’re just making it sound weird.”
Gwen decides it’s time to step in. “Why don’t you talk to Arthur, Merlin,” she gives him a meaningful look, “and I’ll get you a hot chocolate. How does that sound?”
Merlin flops over against the arm of the sofa. “There’s not enough chocolate in the world, Gwen.”
“With whipped cream and a flake…” Gwen says, tempting.
Merlin sniffs. “Well…” he props his chin on the arm rest, “maybe.”
Gwen smiles and gets up, making her way around the table and towards the café as she hears Arthur say, still half-sulking, “I brought you a Kinder Egg.”
She returns only a few minutes later with a tea for herself, one for Arthur and an enormous cup brimming with hot chocolate, squirty cream, chocolate sprinkles and a flake which she places carefully on the table in front of Merlin – who is now slumped the other way, against Arthur’s shoulder, Kinder Egg half eaten and a packet of cheese and onion crisps open as he lines up the small parts for his Festive Smurf along the top of Arthur’s thigh.
“There,” she says as she puts it down, “although how you can drink all that I’ll never know. Where do you put it?”
Merlin eats another crisp and twists his head up to look at Arthur. “Will you still love me if I’m fat?”
Arthur shrugs, taking the conversation change in his stride. “I suppose - as long as you don’t steal my pop tarts.”
Merlin pulls a face which leads Gwen to suspect Arthur’s pop tarts are safe for now, then adds, eyes down again. “What about if I’m bad at rugby?”
“You are bad at rugby,” Arthur points out, frowning slightly. Gwen shakes her head, warning, and Arthur quickly backtracks, “But then, there’s only room for one strapping rugby man in any relationship.”
“Owain doesn’t think so,” Merlin mutters.
Arthur shifts sideways a little so he can see Merlin properly, “Is that what this is about?” he asks, disbelieving.
Merlin adopts a look of extreme nonchalance. “No.” Arthur looks sceptical. “Well, not all.” Merlin mumbles, against Arthur’s shoulder, “I think my tutor hates me too.”
Arthur wrinkles his nose, “Why would he hate you?”
Merlin sighs, as though the weight of the world is upon him and Gwen pats his leg, sympathetic. “I was late to my class and he told me off in front of everyone. And then Owain called me a geek.”
“He called you what?” Arthur says, and Gwen takes a brief moment (all of a second and a half) to feel sorry for Owain in training that coming Saturday, before Arthur huffs, visibly annoyed and says firmly. “Obviously they are both idiots and you shouldn’t pay any attention to them whatsoever. Your tutor’s just on a power trip and I happen to know for a fact that Owain has all seven series of Buffy on video.”
“How do you know?” says Merlin, suspicious.
Arthur rolls his eyes. “Because he tried to lend them to me.” Merlin brows draw together in a frown but Arthur grabs him before he can move away. “I told him I had seen them all before thanks, since you have them all on DVD and can sing the entire soundtrack to the musical episode.”
Merlin settles back down, looking placated, but mutters, “You didn’t need to tell him about the singing.”
Arthur drops a kiss to the top of his head and Gwen smiles at them both. “I have a free morning next Wednesday, Merlin,” she says, “why don’t we meet in the library and go over your stuff for the next class? Make sure you know more than the rest of them put together?”
Merlin un-squishes his face from against Arthur’s shoulder and points out, “We'll probably need hot chocolate - for brain food.”
Gwen laughs, and shakes her head, fond. “Hot chocolate and crisps if you like.”
Merlin thinks about it for a whole second. “Ok then, it’s a deal.”
“Excellent,” says Gwen. She exchanges a glance with Arthur, who looks at her gratefully and then reminds Merlin that all his whipped cream will be melted soon. Merlin shuffles upright, already looking happier, and reaches for his mug as Gwen curls up in her chair and reflects that the mysterious Dr Roberts and the unfortunate Owain will never know how lucky they are that Morgana is currently eighty miles away on a week long field trip.
The End.
If you would like to see the infamous June camping trip - it's here! Summer Holiday
If Ven sees this – yes this is the Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Morgana karaoke gang AU verse :D Just a little offshoot of it because I really needed some sweet, kind Gwen and protective Arthur tonight.
For anyone else, the reference to Merlin and Arthur breaking up all the time is light-hearted - it never lasts for long and then they sing soppy karaoke duets at each other :)
Lastly... Kinder Eggs are little hollow chocolate eggs with toys in, usually that you have to put together yourself.
Title: The Cure All
Wordcount: 1,800
Spoilers: No spoilers – just sad Merlin and Gwen and Arthur cheering him up.
A/N: Third in a small series. The previous parts are Clouds In My Coffee. and Perfect Fit both of which are Gwen/Morgana with background Arthur/Merlin.
Extreme Fluff Alert. Just warning you.
Gwen is just on her way back from a lecture and feeling rather happy with her world when she spies Merlin, sitting alone on one of the sofas in the corner of the student lounge, shoulders slumped and resolutely ignoring the phone that was threatening to vibrate right off the low table. Forgetting all about notes and research and emails she needs to send, she crosses the room, already frowning in concern because this is Merlin, and the last time she saw him (or rather heard him) he was whistling the hits of Tom Jones from the end shower cubicle at eight o’clock that very morning.
“Merlin?” She lets her bag fall to the floor and drops down in the seat adjacent to his. “What’s wrong?”
He looks up at her, manages a weak smile that looks nothing like his usual one and says “Nothing,” in what has to be the least convincing tone Gwen has ever heard. On the table his phone finally stops buzzing and falls still.
“Come on, it clearly isn’t nothing,” she says, gentle but determined, “Has something happened? Are you ok?” She has a sudden, horrible, thought. “Is Arthur ok?”
At that Merlin finally looks up properly, taking a deep breath and obviously making an effort to pull himself together. “God, no, it’s nothing like that.” Gwen breathes a sigh of relief, then waits as Merlin fiddles with a loose thread on his t-shirt. “It’s nothing, really, just ignore me.” He goes back to staring dejectedly at the table, where his phone is buzzing again. Gwen tilts her head until she can read the flashing ‘Arthur’ on the screen.
“Have you two had a fight?” Gwen asks uncertainly. Uncertain because their arguments and break ups are legendary, but Merlin looking this miserable is not. She sometimes thinks they do it to a schedule, to clear the air, and she has never for a moment taken it seriously.
But Merlin just shakes his head. “No, I just don’t want to talk to him right now.”
“Ok,” Gwen says, somewhat at a loss. “Was it something in class then? Something that—”
She doesn’t get any further as Merlin makes a miserable noise and grabs one of the sofa cushions, pulling it in front of his face like he hopes to smother himself. Gwen yanks it back. “Alright, tell me what happened.”
Merlin throws her a baleful look and tries to tug the cushion back, but Gwen holds on, equally determined. “Merlin, if you don’t tell me, I will phone Morgana and she will make you.” Then, in a softer tone, “I can’t make it better if you don’t tell me what it is.”
“Fine,” says Merlin in an unhappy tone. “I made a complete arse of myself in my new class today. The tutor tore me to shreds in front of everyone, the other students think I’m a weirdo and Owain thinks I’m mentally deficient.”
Gwen blinks at this flood of information, and then settles for, “Who’s Owain?”
“Owain, Gwen!” Merlin stares at her like he’s expecting her to have an epiphany any moment. Gwen stares helplessly back. “That rugby player, the stupid looking one.”
“Oh,” says Gwen, realising, “the one who fancies Ar—”
Merlin finds another pillow to smother himself with. Gwen pulls it off him and sits on it before he can get any more ideas. Merlin’s phone starts buzzing again.
“Right,” she says, “first things first,” and before Merlin can react she grabs his phone and presses the answer key. “Arthur?... Yeah, it’s Gwen. I’m with him now…. We’re in the lounge…. What?.... No, he’s just had a crappy day…. Yeah, crisps will probably help.…. Yeah, see you soon then, bye.” She hangs up.
“Traitor,” Merlin mutters.
Gwen puts the phone back down and reaches out to brush the hair back off his forehead. “Come on, Merlin, this isn’t like you. What happened in class?”
Merlin fidgets and then, finally, answers. “I was late, and then I brought the wrong notes – even though I knew which topic it was. I can’t believe I picked up the wrong—”
“Well never mind that now, it was an honest mistake,” Gwen says hastily before Merlin can start berating himself again. “What did the tutor say?”
“He didn’t believe me,” Merlin says miserably, “Said if he had a pound for every time a student used that excuse, he’d be rich enough to retire and stop teaching teenagers who think the whole point of university is drinking and wasting their time. And if I couldn’t be bothered to prepare, he couldn’t be bothered to teach me, and that I was welcome to leave.”
Gwen thinks of a number of things she would quite like to say to said lecturer. “So you left?”
Merlin shakes his head. “No, I said I wanted to stay anyway and he stuck me in a group with Owain and I couldn’t find my pen and he spent the whole time making snotty comments about being prepared and that if a geek can’t even do well in class, what are they for?”
Gwen mentally adds Owain to her list, right after Unknown Lecturer.
“And then at the end, Dr Roberts told us all what to prepare for next time and looked right at me and said ‘and that means everyone – hangover or no.' And Owain sniggered.” Merlin slumps lower in his seat, “I'm going to move to Belgium and change my name," he finishes, dolefully.
But before Gwen can even begin to formulate a response to that startling news, the door to the lounge opens in a flurry of wind and rain and Arthur bursts in, clutching a multipack of Walker’s crisps and a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg. He spies them almost instantly and strides over. “What’s happened?”
Merlin lets his head drop onto the table top with a heavy thud as he announces, “I’m moving to Belgium and changing my name.”
“What?” says Arthur, dropping the crisps onto the sofa, “ But we’re going camping in June!”
Merlin lifts his head slightly and then lets it thump down again.
“Hey!” says Arthur immediately, dropping down next to him and pulling him back, “Stop that! I have plans for that head.”
Merlin glares at him. “Not like that,” Arthur protests, indignant. Gwen raises an eyebrow. “I mean, like to talk to it and stuff.”
“You want to talk to my head,” says Merlin.
Arthur scowls at him, “Now you’re just making it sound weird.”
Gwen decides it’s time to step in. “Why don’t you talk to Arthur, Merlin,” she gives him a meaningful look, “and I’ll get you a hot chocolate. How does that sound?”
Merlin flops over against the arm of the sofa. “There’s not enough chocolate in the world, Gwen.”
“With whipped cream and a flake…” Gwen says, tempting.
Merlin sniffs. “Well…” he props his chin on the arm rest, “maybe.”
Gwen smiles and gets up, making her way around the table and towards the café as she hears Arthur say, still half-sulking, “I brought you a Kinder Egg.”
She returns only a few minutes later with a tea for herself, one for Arthur and an enormous cup brimming with hot chocolate, squirty cream, chocolate sprinkles and a flake which she places carefully on the table in front of Merlin – who is now slumped the other way, against Arthur’s shoulder, Kinder Egg half eaten and a packet of cheese and onion crisps open as he lines up the small parts for his Festive Smurf along the top of Arthur’s thigh.
“There,” she says as she puts it down, “although how you can drink all that I’ll never know. Where do you put it?”
Merlin eats another crisp and twists his head up to look at Arthur. “Will you still love me if I’m fat?”
Arthur shrugs, taking the conversation change in his stride. “I suppose - as long as you don’t steal my pop tarts.”
Merlin pulls a face which leads Gwen to suspect Arthur’s pop tarts are safe for now, then adds, eyes down again. “What about if I’m bad at rugby?”
“You are bad at rugby,” Arthur points out, frowning slightly. Gwen shakes her head, warning, and Arthur quickly backtracks, “But then, there’s only room for one strapping rugby man in any relationship.”
“Owain doesn’t think so,” Merlin mutters.
Arthur shifts sideways a little so he can see Merlin properly, “Is that what this is about?” he asks, disbelieving.
Merlin adopts a look of extreme nonchalance. “No.” Arthur looks sceptical. “Well, not all.” Merlin mumbles, against Arthur’s shoulder, “I think my tutor hates me too.”
Arthur wrinkles his nose, “Why would he hate you?”
Merlin sighs, as though the weight of the world is upon him and Gwen pats his leg, sympathetic. “I was late to my class and he told me off in front of everyone. And then Owain called me a geek.”
“He called you what?” Arthur says, and Gwen takes a brief moment (all of a second and a half) to feel sorry for Owain in training that coming Saturday, before Arthur huffs, visibly annoyed and says firmly. “Obviously they are both idiots and you shouldn’t pay any attention to them whatsoever. Your tutor’s just on a power trip and I happen to know for a fact that Owain has all seven series of Buffy on video.”
“How do you know?” says Merlin, suspicious.
Arthur rolls his eyes. “Because he tried to lend them to me.” Merlin brows draw together in a frown but Arthur grabs him before he can move away. “I told him I had seen them all before thanks, since you have them all on DVD and can sing the entire soundtrack to the musical episode.”
Merlin settles back down, looking placated, but mutters, “You didn’t need to tell him about the singing.”
Arthur drops a kiss to the top of his head and Gwen smiles at them both. “I have a free morning next Wednesday, Merlin,” she says, “why don’t we meet in the library and go over your stuff for the next class? Make sure you know more than the rest of them put together?”
Merlin un-squishes his face from against Arthur’s shoulder and points out, “We'll probably need hot chocolate - for brain food.”
Gwen laughs, and shakes her head, fond. “Hot chocolate and crisps if you like.”
Merlin thinks about it for a whole second. “Ok then, it’s a deal.”
“Excellent,” says Gwen. She exchanges a glance with Arthur, who looks at her gratefully and then reminds Merlin that all his whipped cream will be melted soon. Merlin shuffles upright, already looking happier, and reaches for his mug as Gwen curls up in her chair and reflects that the mysterious Dr Roberts and the unfortunate Owain will never know how lucky they are that Morgana is currently eighty miles away on a week long field trip.
The End.
If you would like to see the infamous June camping trip - it's here! Summer Holiday
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-04 05:33 pm (UTC)And now I want a Kinder Egg... And maybe a hot chocolate with squirty cream...
I hope your day is improving!!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-04 06:37 pm (UTC)I want them too...Skittles will have to do!