Beating Swords into Plowshares - Epilogue
Jan. 29th, 2014 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwyllionTitle: Beating Swords into Plowshares
Author: gwylliondream
Genre: Modern au
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: R
Warnings: Brief mention of blood from a minor character’s past injury. Implied homophobia. Underaged drinking.
A/N: Beating Swords into Plowshares was written as a pinch-hit for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
glomp_fest 2013.
Disclaimer: I did not create these characters. No disrespect intended. No profit desired, only muses. Visit Quinnipiac University’s Facebook album Quinnipiac finds Nemo here.
Comments: Comments are welcome anytime, thanks so much for reading!
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Arthur whispered.
Merlin yawned adorably and stretched his arms out to the sides, quivering as his muscles awakened.
Arthur reached for him and pressed his fingertips to Merlin’ cheek. He detected a soft blush creeping across Merlin’s pale skin and he hoped he wasn’t embarrassed for everything they had done when they made love the night before.
Merlin took Arthur’s hand and kissed his fingers. “Merry Christmas,” Merlin said.
“And a merry Christmas to you too,” Arthur said.
Merlin smiled back at him and Arthur knew that all was right in his world. He slid closer to Merlin and laid a trail of kisses along Merlin’s neck. Merlin hummed happily and rolled onto his side while Arthur stroked his flank, his palm stopping at the dip of his waist. Burying the fingers of one hand in Merlin’s hair, Arthur pulled Merlin in for a proper kiss. Their lips met softly as the morning light streamed through the window, no storm’s fury to block the sun. Merlin purred as Arthur’s fingers brushed over the soft hair of his belly and lower to where his cock rose from a riot of black curls.
Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, there were footsteps in the hall. “Come on you guys!” Morgana shouted as she rapped her knuckles on the door. “It’s time to open presents.”
Arthur flopped onto his back, letting go of Merlin.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Merlin said.
“I promise you, next semester, I’m going to rent an apartment off-campus,” Arthur said. “I’m going to start looking for one today.”
They quickly dressed and ran down the stairs, rather than face Morgana’s all-knowing smirk.
In the common room, the excitement of Christmas morning filled the air, along with the scent of fresh cinnamon rolls that Lance had whipped up from scratch when he raided the kitchen’s stores again. An urn of fresh coffee ensured that everyone would be awake when they were rescued by their family members who would whisk them home.
Arthur joined the others on the sofas that surrounded the fireplace, their home away from home for the past three days. The news from the television held the students’ interest even less than it had during the storm. Instead, they chattered about the journeys they each would make as soon as the snowplows reached the campus.
Vivian looked up from her cellphone and announced that her father had left home and was halfway to the university already. Elena’s arms tightened around Gwaine as he played with her hair.
“That’s wonderful news, Vivian,” Morgana said, passing her a package wrapped with a pretty bow.
“Elyan’s finally gotten off shift,” Gwen said, sipping her coffee. “He’ll be here soon.”
“That’s great,” Lance said, dropping another tray of iced cinnamon buns onto the low table in front of the crackling fireplace.
Switching the walkie-talkie off, Merlin joined Arthur on the sofa, after Morgana handed him a gift bag, its contents obscured by crinkled tissue paper of every color.
“Will says that even when it finally stopped snowing last night, there was still blowing snow that covered the roads, making many of the local ones impassible,” Merlin said.
“The highway’s open though?” Arthur asked.
“Yeah,” Merlin said. “They got the highway opened last night, but they had to close it down again when people wouldn’t obey the speed limit. Black ice formed as the temperatures dropped.”
“There were more accidents?” Arthur asked.
“A few, but things got cleared up enough this morning,” Merlin said. “Will ought to be here soon.”
Arthur took his cellphone from his pocket and reluctantly checked the train schedule. There were many delays, but it appeared that the trains were running to Camelot again. He sighed and tucked his phone away.
“Okay everyone should have their gift now. Give a yell if you don’t have one – except for Arthur who got his last night,” Morgana shouted, winking in Arthur’s direction. She had taken a spot on the sofa nearest the fireplace. “Thanks for the cinnamon rolls, Lance. They smell great.”
Merlin leaned over to the table and plopped a gooey roll onto a plate. Arthur watched him lick the icing from his fingers. As he watched Merlin’s pink tongue slipping outside his mouth, he was reminded of Merlin’s many talents that he displayed the night before.
“Giving you any ideas?” Merlin whispered.
“What?” Arthur asked, blushing as he quickly met Merlin’s eyes.
“You were staring,” Merlin said.
“Well, then… when you… with your…” Arthur stammered.
“My work here is done, I see,” Merlin said with a laugh.
Arthur nudged him playfully with his knee.
“Merlin?” Morgana asked from across the way, “Do you think the other snowplow will get here soon?”
Merlin nodded to her. “He’s on his way. It won’t be long now,” Merlin said.
Arthur thought Morgana looked sad for a moment. He supposed she’d be sorry to see her time in the spotlight come to an end.
Morgana put her coffee aside and got to her feet.
“Okay, people!” she shouted. “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for!”
“I think it’s the moment she’s been waiting for,” Percy whispered to Freya, who giggled at his silliness.
“I know you’re all dying to find out what you got,” Morgana continued. “So, without further delay, let’s open our gifts. Ready? Set? Go!”
A wild frenzy of gift-opening ensued, with wrapping paper shredded and tossed aside. The students emitted both cheers and sighs as the gifts were revealed.
Freya had given Mithian an Albion University scarf because she had noticed she didn’t have one to cover her neck on the night the freshman girls were rescued with Christmas carols. Morgana gave Elena boxes of assorted condoms, laughing that if she got any closer to Gwaine, she’d have to drop out in her sophomore year to give birth.
Gwaine gave Vivian a box of truffles because Elena had divulged that her friend had a sweet tooth. Elena gave Sophia a beautiful journal in which to write her memories, good and bad, but probably none with so much drama as she experienced in these past few days with Cenred dumping her and the students being stranded at Albion U. Gwen squealed with delight when she got the earrings she wanted from Lance.
Everyone laughed when Gwaine opened his gift from Leon – an assortment of hair care products. Like a true entrepreneur, Gwen had given Freya an I <3 Avalon hoodie, emblazoned with the Isle of Avalon signature phrase.
Leon received an iTunes gift card from Vivian, who had discovered early on how much he liked music. Lance received a portable spice kit from Mithian, so he’d never be far from his kitchen. Percy gave Morgana an Albion U hockey shirt, but he promised he’d replace it with one from the Raptors when he arrived back in Albion for their next scrimmage. Sophia gave Percy the largest Albion University T-shirt she could find in the school store, joking that he’d have to cut the arms off, for it to fit properly.
“Where did you even find this plain thing?” Merlin asked, as he revealed his gift from Arthur.
“Is that any way to show your gratitude?” Arthur asked, pulling Merlin in for a hug.
“I suppose not,” Merlin said, dragging the simple red fleece hat from his gift bag. “But look at it! Where are the tassels? The pompom? The pigtails?”
“I’ll make up for it later,” Arthur said, as Merlin kissed him on the cheek.
“That’s getting to be a common theme with you, Pendragon,” Merlin said with a laugh. “Just remember that with ears like these, I need a hat with enough bling to divert attention from them.”
“Your ears are adorable,” Arthur said. He dipped his head to catch one of Merlin’s earlobes between his teeth, feeling Merlin flush with heat when he gently sucked.
Just then, the door to the common room burst open and two men entered, bringing with them a gust of cold air. Arthur recognized Mordred, but he had no idea who the other guy was. The two men stamped the snow from their feet into the entryway.
“Will!” Merlin shouted, leaping from the sofa to greet his friend.
The noise and bustle of the common room exploded a hundred-fold with the arrival of Will. Surely his snowplow now sat at the shuttle stop bridge just outside Lancaster Commons. Arthur rose from the sofa and went to Merlin, slinging an arm around his shoulders possessively.
Merlin didn’t hesitate. “Will, this is my boyfriend, Arthur,” Merlin said with a smile.
“Well, you certainly didn’t waste any time,” Mordred said. He shivered, even in the warmth of the common room, his clothes soaked with melting snow.
Arthur glared at Mordred. “And where have you been?” he asked. “We thought you had left the campus before the weather got bad.”
“This is the guy we were looking for?” Merlin asked, his arm slipping around Arthur’s waist.
“I found him nosing around my plow when I stopped down at the access road onto campus,” Will said. “He looked like he was about to die of hypothermia, so I shoved him into the cab so he could warm up.”
“What was he doing with the snowplow?” Merlin asked.
“Mordred,” Arthur said. “I know you’re up to no good. Where have you been these past days? What’s going on?”
“I did it to help you, Morgana,” Mordred said.
“Me?” Morgana gasped, clutching her throat. “What did you do?”
“You always said you wanted to fix your brother up with Merlin,” Mordred said, his lips blue and chin trembling from the cold.
“Morgana?” Arthur asked cautiously. His fingers dug into Merlin’s shoulder. “What is he talking about?”
“I may have said that… once or twice,” Morgana said, nervously. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
By now, everyone had gathered around Will and Mordred. They undoubtedly hoped to find out when they were going to get off campus so they could make their way home.
“You’re a senior, Morgana,” Mordred said. “Kara respects you. She listens to you and values your opinion. I think she’ll listen to you when she finds out that I helped you with your plan to fix up your brother. You can tell her how awesome I am, and encourage her to go out with me.”
“Mordred?” Morgana asked, her nostrils flaring. “What have you done?”
“Why should it matter, when it worked?” Mordred asked. He nodded at Arthur whose arm pulled Merlin closer.
Merlin patted Arthur’s hand with his own. “Don’t worry,” Merlin said. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I don’t like what you’re getting at, kid,” Will said.
“Maybe this will answer your question,” Mordred said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of spark plugs.
“What are you doing with spark plugs in your pocket?” Will asked.
“He took them out of my truck,” Merlin said.
“He must have done it when we were at York Hill,” Arthur said. “That’s when your truck decided to quit on us.”
“Morgana?” Arthur turned on his sister. “Did you ask Mordred to make sure we got stranded here?”
“I… not really…” Morgana stumbled over her words. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”
“Let me guess,” Arthur said. “You thought up the plan to get me and Merlin stranded together, but you didn’t know how it could go so horribly wrong?”
“You’re responsible for this?” Merlin asked. “For us all being stranded here?”
“It wasn’t entirely my fault,” Morgana said. “I didn’t force him to tamper with the truck.”
“It’s just like when we were kids,” Arthur said, turning to Merlin. “She was always pulling pranks like this.”
“It it’s any consolation, all semester she’s been telling me how hot her brother is,” Merlin said.
“Do not cut her any slack, Merlin,” Arthur warned.
“I’m not,” Merlin said. “I’m just saying that she could have tried to set us up, using less nefarious tactics, yeah?”
Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hand. He supposed Morgana could have tried to get through to him, using kinder techniques. But he feared that they may not have worked as well. Despite her convoluted plan to get him and Merlin together by insinuating that she’d pave Mordred’s way to Kara’s heart, it worked.
A horn sounded from outside and everyone’s heads turned toward the door. Gwaine ran over door and peered out beyond the bridge. “There’s a few cars down at the shuttle stop,” he announced.
“That’s my dad!” Vivian shouted. “Thanks so much for plowing the road open, Will.”
“No problem,” Will said, as Vivian, Mithian, and Elena scurried around the common room, grabbing their belongings. “And if any of you have cars here that need to be plowed out, we’ll take care of those next, just as soon as we get these installed in Merlin’s truck.”
Everyone cheered and began to collect the belongings they had strewn around the room over the past few days.
“I wouldn’t have thought to look for missing spark plugs,” Merlin said, taking them from Will.
“Elyan’s here!” Gwen shouted. Arthur turned to watch Gwen and Lance share a kiss.
“Thanks for everything,” Lance said to Arthur.
“You’re going with her?” Arthur asked.
“We’re giving Lance a ride home,” Gwen said. “I never even knew he lived so close to me.” Arthur waved as Gwen ran out the door with Lance. He watched them scamper down the icy bridge to the shuttle stop.
“We’ll give you a hand getting to our car,” Percy told Will. “And we’ll give Leon a ride to the train station.”
“That’s great,” Will said. “Hey, Merlin, looks like we’ll be back to Ealdor right on time for your mom’s Christmas dinner.”
Merlin sadly squeezed Arthur’s hand. “I wish you could come with me,” Merlin said.
“I do, too,” Arthur said, he took both Merlin’s hands in his and kissed him softly on the lips.
Of course, you’re invited,” Merlin said. “There’s always plenty of food, but I’ll understand if you need to go home to your own family.”
Arthur looked away from Merlin’s face and found Morgana grinning at him.
“Family,” Arthur said with a huff.
“There’s my dad’s car!” Freya squealed from the doorway.
Arthur watched as Freya and Sophia loaded their travel bags with their Secret Santa gifts.
“Thanks so much for everything,” Sophia said, kissing Arthur on the cheek. “This turned out so much better than it might have.”
“Good luck to you, Sophia,” Arthur said. “And thanks for helping her out, Freya.”
As the girls left, Arthur wondered which would be more troublesome – missing Christmas with Uther, or showing up in Camelot with a boyfriend. And then, he got a better idea. There was no reason why he couldn’t do both.
“Morgana,” Arthur said. “I’m going to Ealdor with Merlin. We’ll drop you off at the train station so you can catch a ride to Camelot.”
“What? But what will I tell father?” Morgana asked. “He’ll be furious if you miss Christmas.”
“Merlin and I will ride to Camelot sometime later in the week, when it’s convenient for Merlin, since you’ve inconvenienced him enough already,” Arthur said, grasping Merlin’s hand. “And, don’t worry, that will give you plenty of time to explain to our father why we’ve been stranded here for the past few days and why I’m bringing my boyfriend home to meet him.”
Morgana scowled. “This is all your fault,” she shouted at Mordred.
“I only did it for you,” Mordred said. “I’ve been freezing my ass off in my room for the past three days.”
“Hey, Mordred,” Gwaine said. “Since it’s your fault we’ve been stranded here at Christmas, we’ve got a few jobs for you to help us with. First, we need to get this fire put out, then we need our bags brought to Will’s truck.”
“When you’re done with that,” Percy said, “you can help shovel our car out.”
“There’s plenty for you to do,” Leon said. “I suggest you get started now.”
Arthur watched the guys drag Mordred away to perform the long list of chores they had for him.
“We’d best be heading over to Merlin’s truck,” Will said.
“Yes, let’s go,” Merlin said, tugging on Arthur’s hand.
“Wait,” Arthur said. “You’re forgetting something.”
Merlin looked on curiously while Arthur scrambled around the room tearing through wrapping paper until he found what he was looking for.
“Here we go,” Arthur said. He tugged the Albion University hat over Merlin’s unruly hair.
“Better?” Merlin asked.
“Perfect,” Arthur said. He took a step back to admire Merlin’s hat. Then he kissed him again, just because he could. Arthur knew this would be the best Christmas ever.
The End
Author: gwylliondream
Genre: Modern au
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: R
Warnings: Brief mention of blood from a minor character’s past injury. Implied homophobia. Underaged drinking.
A/N: Beating Swords into Plowshares was written as a pinch-hit for
glomp_fest 2013.Disclaimer: I did not create these characters. No disrespect intended. No profit desired, only muses. Visit Quinnipiac University’s Facebook album Quinnipiac finds Nemo here.
Comments: Comments are welcome anytime, thanks so much for reading!
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Arthur whispered.
Merlin yawned adorably and stretched his arms out to the sides, quivering as his muscles awakened.
Arthur reached for him and pressed his fingertips to Merlin’ cheek. He detected a soft blush creeping across Merlin’s pale skin and he hoped he wasn’t embarrassed for everything they had done when they made love the night before.
Merlin took Arthur’s hand and kissed his fingers. “Merry Christmas,” Merlin said.
“And a merry Christmas to you too,” Arthur said.
Merlin smiled back at him and Arthur knew that all was right in his world. He slid closer to Merlin and laid a trail of kisses along Merlin’s neck. Merlin hummed happily and rolled onto his side while Arthur stroked his flank, his palm stopping at the dip of his waist. Burying the fingers of one hand in Merlin’s hair, Arthur pulled Merlin in for a proper kiss. Their lips met softly as the morning light streamed through the window, no storm’s fury to block the sun. Merlin purred as Arthur’s fingers brushed over the soft hair of his belly and lower to where his cock rose from a riot of black curls.
Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, there were footsteps in the hall. “Come on you guys!” Morgana shouted as she rapped her knuckles on the door. “It’s time to open presents.”
Arthur flopped onto his back, letting go of Merlin.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Merlin said.
“I promise you, next semester, I’m going to rent an apartment off-campus,” Arthur said. “I’m going to start looking for one today.”
They quickly dressed and ran down the stairs, rather than face Morgana’s all-knowing smirk.
In the common room, the excitement of Christmas morning filled the air, along with the scent of fresh cinnamon rolls that Lance had whipped up from scratch when he raided the kitchen’s stores again. An urn of fresh coffee ensured that everyone would be awake when they were rescued by their family members who would whisk them home.
Arthur joined the others on the sofas that surrounded the fireplace, their home away from home for the past three days. The news from the television held the students’ interest even less than it had during the storm. Instead, they chattered about the journeys they each would make as soon as the snowplows reached the campus.
Vivian looked up from her cellphone and announced that her father had left home and was halfway to the university already. Elena’s arms tightened around Gwaine as he played with her hair.
“That’s wonderful news, Vivian,” Morgana said, passing her a package wrapped with a pretty bow.
“Elyan’s finally gotten off shift,” Gwen said, sipping her coffee. “He’ll be here soon.”
“That’s great,” Lance said, dropping another tray of iced cinnamon buns onto the low table in front of the crackling fireplace.
Switching the walkie-talkie off, Merlin joined Arthur on the sofa, after Morgana handed him a gift bag, its contents obscured by crinkled tissue paper of every color.
“Will says that even when it finally stopped snowing last night, there was still blowing snow that covered the roads, making many of the local ones impassible,” Merlin said.
“The highway’s open though?” Arthur asked.
“Yeah,” Merlin said. “They got the highway opened last night, but they had to close it down again when people wouldn’t obey the speed limit. Black ice formed as the temperatures dropped.”
“There were more accidents?” Arthur asked.
“A few, but things got cleared up enough this morning,” Merlin said. “Will ought to be here soon.”
Arthur took his cellphone from his pocket and reluctantly checked the train schedule. There were many delays, but it appeared that the trains were running to Camelot again. He sighed and tucked his phone away.
“Okay everyone should have their gift now. Give a yell if you don’t have one – except for Arthur who got his last night,” Morgana shouted, winking in Arthur’s direction. She had taken a spot on the sofa nearest the fireplace. “Thanks for the cinnamon rolls, Lance. They smell great.”
Merlin leaned over to the table and plopped a gooey roll onto a plate. Arthur watched him lick the icing from his fingers. As he watched Merlin’s pink tongue slipping outside his mouth, he was reminded of Merlin’s many talents that he displayed the night before.
“Giving you any ideas?” Merlin whispered.
“What?” Arthur asked, blushing as he quickly met Merlin’s eyes.
“You were staring,” Merlin said.
“Well, then… when you… with your…” Arthur stammered.
“My work here is done, I see,” Merlin said with a laugh.
Arthur nudged him playfully with his knee.
“Merlin?” Morgana asked from across the way, “Do you think the other snowplow will get here soon?”
Merlin nodded to her. “He’s on his way. It won’t be long now,” Merlin said.
Arthur thought Morgana looked sad for a moment. He supposed she’d be sorry to see her time in the spotlight come to an end.
Morgana put her coffee aside and got to her feet.
“Okay, people!” she shouted. “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for!”
“I think it’s the moment she’s been waiting for,” Percy whispered to Freya, who giggled at his silliness.
“I know you’re all dying to find out what you got,” Morgana continued. “So, without further delay, let’s open our gifts. Ready? Set? Go!”
A wild frenzy of gift-opening ensued, with wrapping paper shredded and tossed aside. The students emitted both cheers and sighs as the gifts were revealed.
Freya had given Mithian an Albion University scarf because she had noticed she didn’t have one to cover her neck on the night the freshman girls were rescued with Christmas carols. Morgana gave Elena boxes of assorted condoms, laughing that if she got any closer to Gwaine, she’d have to drop out in her sophomore year to give birth.
Gwaine gave Vivian a box of truffles because Elena had divulged that her friend had a sweet tooth. Elena gave Sophia a beautiful journal in which to write her memories, good and bad, but probably none with so much drama as she experienced in these past few days with Cenred dumping her and the students being stranded at Albion U. Gwen squealed with delight when she got the earrings she wanted from Lance.
Everyone laughed when Gwaine opened his gift from Leon – an assortment of hair care products. Like a true entrepreneur, Gwen had given Freya an I <3 Avalon hoodie, emblazoned with the Isle of Avalon signature phrase.
Leon received an iTunes gift card from Vivian, who had discovered early on how much he liked music. Lance received a portable spice kit from Mithian, so he’d never be far from his kitchen. Percy gave Morgana an Albion U hockey shirt, but he promised he’d replace it with one from the Raptors when he arrived back in Albion for their next scrimmage. Sophia gave Percy the largest Albion University T-shirt she could find in the school store, joking that he’d have to cut the arms off, for it to fit properly.
“Where did you even find this plain thing?” Merlin asked, as he revealed his gift from Arthur.
“Is that any way to show your gratitude?” Arthur asked, pulling Merlin in for a hug.
“I suppose not,” Merlin said, dragging the simple red fleece hat from his gift bag. “But look at it! Where are the tassels? The pompom? The pigtails?”
“I’ll make up for it later,” Arthur said, as Merlin kissed him on the cheek.
“That’s getting to be a common theme with you, Pendragon,” Merlin said with a laugh. “Just remember that with ears like these, I need a hat with enough bling to divert attention from them.”
“Your ears are adorable,” Arthur said. He dipped his head to catch one of Merlin’s earlobes between his teeth, feeling Merlin flush with heat when he gently sucked.
Just then, the door to the common room burst open and two men entered, bringing with them a gust of cold air. Arthur recognized Mordred, but he had no idea who the other guy was. The two men stamped the snow from their feet into the entryway.
“Will!” Merlin shouted, leaping from the sofa to greet his friend.
The noise and bustle of the common room exploded a hundred-fold with the arrival of Will. Surely his snowplow now sat at the shuttle stop bridge just outside Lancaster Commons. Arthur rose from the sofa and went to Merlin, slinging an arm around his shoulders possessively.
Merlin didn’t hesitate. “Will, this is my boyfriend, Arthur,” Merlin said with a smile.
“Well, you certainly didn’t waste any time,” Mordred said. He shivered, even in the warmth of the common room, his clothes soaked with melting snow.
Arthur glared at Mordred. “And where have you been?” he asked. “We thought you had left the campus before the weather got bad.”
“This is the guy we were looking for?” Merlin asked, his arm slipping around Arthur’s waist.
“I found him nosing around my plow when I stopped down at the access road onto campus,” Will said. “He looked like he was about to die of hypothermia, so I shoved him into the cab so he could warm up.”
“What was he doing with the snowplow?” Merlin asked.
“Mordred,” Arthur said. “I know you’re up to no good. Where have you been these past days? What’s going on?”
“I did it to help you, Morgana,” Mordred said.
“Me?” Morgana gasped, clutching her throat. “What did you do?”
“You always said you wanted to fix your brother up with Merlin,” Mordred said, his lips blue and chin trembling from the cold.
“Morgana?” Arthur asked cautiously. His fingers dug into Merlin’s shoulder. “What is he talking about?”
“I may have said that… once or twice,” Morgana said, nervously. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
By now, everyone had gathered around Will and Mordred. They undoubtedly hoped to find out when they were going to get off campus so they could make their way home.
“You’re a senior, Morgana,” Mordred said. “Kara respects you. She listens to you and values your opinion. I think she’ll listen to you when she finds out that I helped you with your plan to fix up your brother. You can tell her how awesome I am, and encourage her to go out with me.”
“Mordred?” Morgana asked, her nostrils flaring. “What have you done?”
“Why should it matter, when it worked?” Mordred asked. He nodded at Arthur whose arm pulled Merlin closer.
Merlin patted Arthur’s hand with his own. “Don’t worry,” Merlin said. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I don’t like what you’re getting at, kid,” Will said.
“Maybe this will answer your question,” Mordred said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of spark plugs.
“What are you doing with spark plugs in your pocket?” Will asked.
“He took them out of my truck,” Merlin said.
“He must have done it when we were at York Hill,” Arthur said. “That’s when your truck decided to quit on us.”
“Morgana?” Arthur turned on his sister. “Did you ask Mordred to make sure we got stranded here?”
“I… not really…” Morgana stumbled over her words. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”
“Let me guess,” Arthur said. “You thought up the plan to get me and Merlin stranded together, but you didn’t know how it could go so horribly wrong?”
“You’re responsible for this?” Merlin asked. “For us all being stranded here?”
“It wasn’t entirely my fault,” Morgana said. “I didn’t force him to tamper with the truck.”
“It’s just like when we were kids,” Arthur said, turning to Merlin. “She was always pulling pranks like this.”
“It it’s any consolation, all semester she’s been telling me how hot her brother is,” Merlin said.
“Do not cut her any slack, Merlin,” Arthur warned.
“I’m not,” Merlin said. “I’m just saying that she could have tried to set us up, using less nefarious tactics, yeah?”
Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hand. He supposed Morgana could have tried to get through to him, using kinder techniques. But he feared that they may not have worked as well. Despite her convoluted plan to get him and Merlin together by insinuating that she’d pave Mordred’s way to Kara’s heart, it worked.
A horn sounded from outside and everyone’s heads turned toward the door. Gwaine ran over door and peered out beyond the bridge. “There’s a few cars down at the shuttle stop,” he announced.
“That’s my dad!” Vivian shouted. “Thanks so much for plowing the road open, Will.”
“No problem,” Will said, as Vivian, Mithian, and Elena scurried around the common room, grabbing their belongings. “And if any of you have cars here that need to be plowed out, we’ll take care of those next, just as soon as we get these installed in Merlin’s truck.”
Everyone cheered and began to collect the belongings they had strewn around the room over the past few days.
“I wouldn’t have thought to look for missing spark plugs,” Merlin said, taking them from Will.
“Elyan’s here!” Gwen shouted. Arthur turned to watch Gwen and Lance share a kiss.
“Thanks for everything,” Lance said to Arthur.
“You’re going with her?” Arthur asked.
“We’re giving Lance a ride home,” Gwen said. “I never even knew he lived so close to me.” Arthur waved as Gwen ran out the door with Lance. He watched them scamper down the icy bridge to the shuttle stop.
“We’ll give you a hand getting to our car,” Percy told Will. “And we’ll give Leon a ride to the train station.”
“That’s great,” Will said. “Hey, Merlin, looks like we’ll be back to Ealdor right on time for your mom’s Christmas dinner.”
Merlin sadly squeezed Arthur’s hand. “I wish you could come with me,” Merlin said.
“I do, too,” Arthur said, he took both Merlin’s hands in his and kissed him softly on the lips.
Of course, you’re invited,” Merlin said. “There’s always plenty of food, but I’ll understand if you need to go home to your own family.”
Arthur looked away from Merlin’s face and found Morgana grinning at him.
“Family,” Arthur said with a huff.
“There’s my dad’s car!” Freya squealed from the doorway.
Arthur watched as Freya and Sophia loaded their travel bags with their Secret Santa gifts.
“Thanks so much for everything,” Sophia said, kissing Arthur on the cheek. “This turned out so much better than it might have.”
“Good luck to you, Sophia,” Arthur said. “And thanks for helping her out, Freya.”
As the girls left, Arthur wondered which would be more troublesome – missing Christmas with Uther, or showing up in Camelot with a boyfriend. And then, he got a better idea. There was no reason why he couldn’t do both.
“Morgana,” Arthur said. “I’m going to Ealdor with Merlin. We’ll drop you off at the train station so you can catch a ride to Camelot.”
“What? But what will I tell father?” Morgana asked. “He’ll be furious if you miss Christmas.”
“Merlin and I will ride to Camelot sometime later in the week, when it’s convenient for Merlin, since you’ve inconvenienced him enough already,” Arthur said, grasping Merlin’s hand. “And, don’t worry, that will give you plenty of time to explain to our father why we’ve been stranded here for the past few days and why I’m bringing my boyfriend home to meet him.”
Morgana scowled. “This is all your fault,” she shouted at Mordred.
“I only did it for you,” Mordred said. “I’ve been freezing my ass off in my room for the past three days.”
“Hey, Mordred,” Gwaine said. “Since it’s your fault we’ve been stranded here at Christmas, we’ve got a few jobs for you to help us with. First, we need to get this fire put out, then we need our bags brought to Will’s truck.”
“When you’re done with that,” Percy said, “you can help shovel our car out.”
“There’s plenty for you to do,” Leon said. “I suggest you get started now.”
Arthur watched the guys drag Mordred away to perform the long list of chores they had for him.
“We’d best be heading over to Merlin’s truck,” Will said.
“Yes, let’s go,” Merlin said, tugging on Arthur’s hand.
“Wait,” Arthur said. “You’re forgetting something.”
Merlin looked on curiously while Arthur scrambled around the room tearing through wrapping paper until he found what he was looking for.
“Here we go,” Arthur said. He tugged the Albion University hat over Merlin’s unruly hair.
“Better?” Merlin asked.
“Perfect,” Arthur said. He took a step back to admire Merlin’s hat. Then he kissed him again, just because he could. Arthur knew this would be the best Christmas ever.
