#idk why ao3 says it's 101 words!! I counted myself to be sure lmao

[enchanted-blade]

Ensnared

Fill for @merlinmicrofic March prompt: 'vulnerable/vulnerability' Merlin/Arthur, cw: butchery/hunting, 100 words. ao3

Arthur’s knife glints, and Merlin watches as he cuts open the splayed rabbit’s belly, revealing innards, dark flesh. It is deftly done.

Merlin doesn’t regret his earlier clumsiness. He has been both rabbit and deer, and he sympathises with their plight. Arthur calls him sentimental, a helpless bleeding heart, but Merlin has been predator too, has relished hot blood on his beak, and the falcon in him – that hypocrite – secretly savours Arthur’s skill. What can’t the hunter catch?

On darkest nights, Merlin imagines these limbs snared tight. He bares his throat: Arthur’s blade is cold where it kisses his pulse.

#idk why ao3 says it's 101 words!! I counted myself to be sure lmao #merlin #arthur pendragon #shapeshifter!merlin haunts my dreams