InsaneJournal

Tweak says, ""Manos" The Hands of Fate"

Arthur Pendragon (a_royal_prat) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2010-09-10 20:58:00

Entry tags:

arthur pendragon, merlin

Who: Girl!Arthur and Girl!Merlin
What: Merlin knows things relevant to Arthur's current interests.
When: Now
Where: A Random Bar
Rating: No One Knows

Arthur had to physically resist flinging open the door and barging into Morgana's rooms once Merlin had started talking to him. It wasn't enough that Arthur was nearly strangling the damn PDA in his insistence to will people into doing what he wanted them to and if Gwen wasn't sleeping quietly in the room over he would have been shouting the rooftop down to get someone to please explain to him why everyone continued to keep things from him.

Instead he paced, his footsteps were light on the carpet and the circles he made were dizzying to the point he had to stop and grip his head to reign in his own panic. Why was it just when he began to believe Merlin wasn't hiding a dozen carefully guarded secrets, he discovered his trust was being misplaced.

Morgana's arrival was heralded by rushed thank yous and an impromptu strip down before her as he tugged on the garments she handed him. The fabric bunched and clung to places he wasn't accustomed to having it cling and the pants were tight and bracing around his legs. His own shoes were miles to big for his feet, but he'd already stolen a pair of Guinevere's and found they fit well enough to get by until morning.

He hastily promised Morgana she could do with him as she pleased the next day as he edged them both out the door. He needed to know what Merlin had to say and staying inside wasn't a possibility any longer.

At the very least, no one but Merlin would recognize him and he could handle that.

The night air was nothing like the day and every bit as crisp as the incoming season ought to be, but he paid it little notice until he realized he'd been rubbing his bare arms to keep warm.

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	a_royal_prat 2010-09-12 12:27 am UTC (link)
	Rolling his eyes at Merlin's back, he stepped off after him, nudging Merlin's shoulder when he caught up alongside him. It wasn't anger that motivated him. He was too tired and confused to be angry, unless Merlin gave him an actual reason to be and lately those reasons hadn't been coming. "Don't you own a jacket?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

magicalsecrets
2010-09-12 12:39 am UTC (link)

A nudge that might have knocked him a little off balance when they were their normal selves didn't have much affect this time. He nodded absently and kept going. "It'll be warm inside, and a drink will help."

Merlin was more concerned with how far the discussion would go. If he would have to explain everything, or if he could get away with just saying it was the trick of a sorceress then just go on to tell him a little about what they'd seen.

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	a_royal_prat 2010-09-12 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Arthur followed the thoughts flickering across Merlin's familiar face and he supposed if he got up close enough he wouldn't be able to tell the gender difference at all. It was just Merlin. And it was Merlin's expressions and clipped responses that drove Arthur just a little mental. "You're doing it again." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

magicalsecrets
2010-09-12 12:57 am UTC (link)

"Sorry." He mumbled before realizing that's what it was. The short answers. "Sorry. I just -" These 'honest' chats weren't something he looked forward to. "It's kind of cold. Let's get inside."

Merlin grabbed Arthur's wrist, hurrying him forward into the nearest bar, and getting them a booth. It was warmer, and Merlin rubbed at his chilled, goosebumped arms for a minute when they sat down. He couldn't be coaxed to talk again until he had a pint held in both hands. "You do look like her."

There was no reason to run around the topic. That's why they were here, right? "You got to talk to her. Not for long, but you did - You get to see and hug her, she was proud of you."

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a_royal_prat
2010-09-12 01:11 am UTC (link)

The bar wasn't crowded but it was considerably warmer. Arthur tucked his hair behind his ear and gazed over Merlin's shoulder, eyes settling on the far side of the room as he listened. There wasn't much he could say when Merlin started talking. He would either talk himself out or shut up too early to learn anything significant. It was easier to listen to Merlin and not interrupt.

"How?" Arthur came back into the conversation, shaken. "How is that even possible?"

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magicalsecrets
2010-09-12 01:35 am UTC (link)

"A sorceress. I don't know how. I couldn't -" He didn't want Arthur to think that he could do the same. Merlin wouldn't know where to even begin to bring the ghost of a person back like that, and wouldn't want to even if he could. It was too close to the kind of magic he had used with Nimueh, and he didn't feel comfortable attempting it no matter how much he would've liked to talk to his father again for even a few more minutes.

"She said she could only do it that once. That's how I knew what she looked like."

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	a_royal_prat 2010-09-12 01:39 am UTC (link)
	"Why would I--" Arthur clamped down on the desperate question, catching the look in Merlin's eyes. He gritted his teeth and bowed his head. "She must have had a reason to. Why would anyone give me that?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

magicalsecrets
2010-09-12 01:44 am UTC (link)

"She wanted to -" He faltered again. Now was the usual dilemma. The truth he'd promised, ruining this relationship Arthur had managed to get with Uther - or lies, and risk Arthur finding out and ruining their own friendship.

"She wanted to turn you against your father." Merlin answered. "It didn't work in the end..." Thanks to his lies, but it had been for the best. Maybe one day it would be right to tell Arthur, but he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he had killed his father.

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a_royal_prat
2010-09-13 04:10 pm UTC (link)

Arthur scrubbed his face and stared down into the glass in front of him. He wanted it. He wanted it to numb out the parts of his mind that wanted to push Merlin out of his reluctance into anger so he would know everything Merlin kept hiding from him. The amount left unsaid was enough to make even the calmest, rational person mad and Arthur had never been calm or rational to begin with.

He took a swig of liquor to hide it.

"Then it wasn't my mother," he finally said. The way his father talked of Ygraine, when he talked of her, left no doubt in Arthur's mind that she had been very loved. "Was it?"

It shouldn't have been asked.

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magicalsecrets
2010-09-14 01:36 am UTC (link)

"It might have been. I just don't know for sure. I can't do that kind of magic." Merlin bit his lip, honestly not sure if it had actually been just a trick of Morgause to make Arthur believe what she wanted him to hear.

"What she said was real, or at least most of it. I believe she really would have been proud of you, and even if it wasn't - You still got the chance to see and hold your mother which has to worth it, even if it was a trick." He was trying to talk a little more because he could tell his hesitation was irritating Arthur already, as it usually did.

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