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barnesafterglow · 2 years

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only the two of us

summary: stuck together, you and bucky find yourselves in an unfortunate position (or maybe not)

pairing: tfatws!bucky x fem!reader

word count: 2.5k

warnings: dubcon (very much consensual but it's sex pollen so yk just being safe), unprotected sex, oral (f receiving), fingering, pining bucky (just a little), one computer was harmed in the writing of this fic

a/n: here is my next prompt: sex pollen with tfatws!bucky. i really liked writing this one! i'm sorry i haven't posted hardly any prompts but i'm trying not to pressure myself. please reblog and comment so i know you liked it!

you can join my kinktober taglist or follow @theafterglowlibrary to get updated when i post 🤍

kinktober masterlist ─ main masterlist

The sound of your fist hitting against metal echoed through the empty room. It would be your luck that you’d get stuck in a metal bunker the same night you had your first date in months.

“I know you’re feisty, but I don’t think even you could break down that door.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Barnes.” You spun to face him, your back pressed against the cool door. “We wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for you.”

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, casually leaning against the metal shelf on the other side of the room. You looked away from his stare - god that man could stare - and took in your surroundings.

It was a fairly small room, two shelves lined without unlabeled chemicals across from the door, a desk with a computer older than you and then some, and what looked like a lab table - cool black countertop littered with beakers and metal instruments.

“If saving your ass counts as my fault then sure, I’ll take the blame.” You could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice, which only irritated your situation.

“I didn’t need help,” you said, voice raising a few octaves, as you threw your hands in the air in frustration. “I was totally fine.”

“Maybe you didn’t need help, but it wouldn’t kill you to take it every once in a while.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes. He was in the same position as he was before, looking entirely unbothered despite his tone matching your own annoyance. You knew he was right, not that you would ever tell him.

Two enemy agents had you backed towards the room you were currently in, though you could tell they were not in fighting shape. You had one down when Bucky rounded the corner, taking your attention away just enough for the agent to swing his knife at you, slicing through the thick material of your Kevlar suit. He went in again, this time aiming for your jugular, and Bucky pushed you out of the way, getting off a shot as the two of you careened into the room, the metal door closing shut.

The same door you now pushed off of, pacing back and forth in front of the door, trying to strategize your next move. The comms were out, so you had to hope that Sam would notice when the two of you missed your checkpoint. But your checkpoint wasn’t for another hour, and then he would have to send a team, and then they would have to figure out where you were and how to get you out. You guessed it would be at least three or four hours before you were free from this tiny box.

“I want to get out too, but you don’t have to pace like that. We’ll just wait for Sam. It’s not like we have anywhere else to be.”

“I do,” you replied. “I was going to- I had plans tonight.”

“Plans?”

“Plans.”

“What kind of plans?” You threw your hands up in the air at his question.

“Plans that are none of your goddamn business, Barnes!” He blinked, not fazed but shocked nonetheless. He held his hands up in surrender.

Of course he would be able to make you feel bad for snapping him without saying a single word. The effect he had on you was not one you had ever examined closely, nor would you want to.

“I just,” you took a deep breath, deciding if you really wanted to share something so personal with him, of all people. “I was supposed to have a date tonight and… it’s been a while.”

You wrung your hands together, waiting for the pieces to click into place for him. It only took a moment - damn him and his incredible brain - before he nodded knowingly. Then a lazy grin spread across his face and you immediately regretted ever opening your mouth.

“I’m sorry you’re gonna miss your date. Try Tinder when we get back, I’ve heard it’s great for fulfilling your needs.”

It took all your willpower not to throw your boot at him, but you managed to keep from doing any bodily harm - for now. Instead, you turned away from his amused stare and began making a slow circle around the room, you trailed your fingers along the way, searching for any kind of groove or crevice that could be hiding your escape. When you reached the shelves - where Bucky still stood - you avoided eye contact, instead examining the shelf for anything out of place. If you were being honest, everything was out of place, but for the sake of being optimistic, you carefully examined the glass vials and beakers.

Bucky, who had been following your movements, zeroed in on the gash on your arm. It wasn’t deep, and the blood had dried, so you weren’t concerned. But apparently had turned into a field medic or a mother hen, and gripped your arm to look at it.

“Just let me -” “Quit that -” The two of you spoke at the same time, and you pulled your arm away from him.

Not realizing just how close you were to the shelf, your elbow knocked against it, shaking the rack just enough for a vial that was too close to the edge to fall towards you. Even with his supersoldier instincts, Bucky couldn’t stop it.

You tried to grab it, and the thin glass shattered in your hand. Tiny cuts bloomed across your palm, and whatever the hell liquid was inside seeped into your wounds. You tried in vain to wipe the liquid off on your pants, but you knew it was useless. The mystery chemical took effect almost immediately, heat spreading through your chest and face.

White hot pain flashed through your entire body, bringing you to your knees. Bucky shouted your name, picking you up and setting you in the old desk chair. He had to keep his hands on your shoulders to keep you upright, the pain still coming in harsh waves.

“What was that?” Each word was broken by a heave; even talking was a painful task. You looked at Bucky and for the first time, you let yourself truly take in just how beautiful he was. You had always known - anyone with eyes knew that - but the thought of even acknowledging the feelings that bloomed in your stomach every time he looked at you was terrifying.

Your relationship with Bucky was tumultuous - sometimes coexisting in sync, as if you had been friends for years. Other times, you got under each others’ skin so bad that Sam would have to scold you like children. It was an odd dynamic, and you could never decipher his feelings towards you.

Now, though, none of that anxiety stirred within you. Instead, you could feel the imprint of pure fire where he touched you, and he was closer than he had ever been before.

You took in the small details of his face, the ones you would never see unless you were so intimately close like you were now. The dip in his chin, the small scatter of freckles across his nose, the flecks of darker blue in his icy eyes. The heat in you increased tenfold, this time spreading through your core, and when Bucky moved one to lift your chin towards him, a small whimper left your lips.

His brow furrowed, then he frowned - his thoughts obviously circling rapidly - before his eyes finally widened in understanding.

“Buck, do you know what it is?” Your voice came out small, trying to dampen down the arousal that pressed between your thighs.

“Yeah it’s -” He looked down, biting his lower lip. Whatever it was, it was clearly hard for him to explain it. “I’ve only ever seen it once, with HYDRA. I don’t even remember what they called it, but basically it creates an intense sexual desire. They used it to torture traitors of the institute. The gist is, you have to have intercourse or it will burn you from the inside out. Fry your brain.”

“Oh.” It made sense now, why your body felt like it was on fire, why Bucky’s touch unleashed rampant feelings.

His eyes fell to your thighs, where they were squeezed together, trying to stamp down the waves of arousal. You knew he had hypersensitive senses, but you prayed to the gods that he couldn’t smell how wet you already were from his slight touch. You knew your hopes were in vain when he met your eyes again, his own so dark and intense that you had to look away before you did something stupid.

Then another spike of pain struck your abdomen and you doubled over in pain, burying your face in Bucky’s neck as he steadied you.

“Please.” Your voice was a whisper, a whimper, a plea. “Help me.”

“I can’t -”

“You can. You always lecture me about how I never ask for help. Well I’m asking for it now.”

More pain rolled through you, and you pushed closer to him.

“I didn’t want it to be like this.”

You didn’t have time to question his words before he was cradling the sides of your face and drawing you to him for a kiss. You could tell he was trying to keep it chaste, free of passion, but that wasn’t what you wanted. Needed.

You grabbed his hands, moving them down your body until they rested on your chest. He pulled away, looking into your eyes, and your small nod of consent snapped something within him.

He pulled you up from the chair, lips finding yours again, and pushed you onto the desk. Except there was something blocking his movements - the old computer - and he gave no thought as he pushed it out of the way. As it crashed to the floor, he settled you farther back on the desk, stepping between your legs.

Your moans echoes through the small room as he undid the buckles and zips of your tact suit. When he finally managed to slip the top from your body, his mouth immediately trailed downwards, nipping at your jaw, snapping open your bra as if it were second nature. Once you were bare to him, he took one of your nipples in his mouth, his left hand circling your other, and the cool sensation of the metal nearly took your breath away.

He looked up at the sound of your gasp, a look of concern that melted away as he took in your debauched state. You gripped the short strands of his hair, pulling his mouth back to yours. As you worked off his own tact suit, he pulled back for only a moment to slip off your boots and his own, then easily slipped your pants from your body as his mouth attacked yours again.

In a matter of minutes, you were both bare to each other and you had never wanted anyone more than you did him in that moment. Maybe it was the drugs coursing through your veins, maybe it was the feelings that had been hidden and buried since the moment you met him. All you knew was that you were going to die if you didn’t have his body pressed to yours.

“Buck,” you said, reaching your hand out for him. “C’mere”

He was more than happy to oblige you, gripping your hand and marrying his lips to yours again. The kiss was short, too short, and you whined as he pulled away until his knees hit the concrete floor, spreading your legs even wider.

You gasped when his tongue circled your clit, and you clenched around nothing when he groaned at the taste of you. Feeling your distress, his eyes bore into yours as he easily slid two fingers into you.

“Bucky please.”

“Gotta make you feel good, baby.” You could swear your intermingled moans rattle the metal surrounding you as he buried his face between your legs.

Your body still felt as if you were burning alive, even as you came around his fingers, drenching his face. It wasn’t enough. Nothing would be enough until he was buried deep inside you.

And he knew that, because he stood - grabbing your hair and tilting your head back so he could kiss you again. You pulled away just enough to speak, opening your mouth to beg again - you would get on your knees and beg if you had to - but he bit your lip, effectively shutting you up.

“I know,” he soothed. “I know what you need, honey.”

You cried out as he slid into you, the stretch present even with his preparation - even though your body was more than ready to take him in. He pushed and pushed, and you thought he may never bottom out, but then his pelvis was pressed against yours and you threw your head back in pleasure.

“Look at me,” he whispered, gripping your hair again and pressing your foreheads together. The look in his eyes only heightened your pleasure. “Wanted this for so long.”

You were hearing things. This drug was making you crazy. Even though you could feel the heat dissipating with every thrust, you were sure your brain was already fried, because you could never have imagined hearing those words from Bucky.

But even as your mind cycled through surprise and denial and confusion, you knew that you felt exactly the same, even if you had never let yourself admit it.

Your foreheads were still pressed together, breaths heavy against the other’s mouth, when he finally spilled inside you, and the feel of that alone pushed you over your own edge.

He fell forward, still inside you, and began scattering small kisses along your shoulder. You shivered at the gentle touch juxtaposed with the arousal still lingering, and you felt everything crash around you.

“Bucky, I’m so sorry.” The panic was evident in your voice now that the drug had fully left your system. And even though your revelation still rang true, you felt a pit in your stomach at the thought of you forcing yourself on him. It was like he could see the thoughts racing through your head, because he gently pressed the pad of his thumb against your lips.

“Don’t apologize. You’re okay. I’m okay.” From the pile of clothes on the floor, there was a crackle of static before Sam’s voice rang through.

“Guys? I got Parker to fuck around with your comms when I saw you went offline. Are you okay?”

“We’ll talk about this later,” he said before pressing a gentle kiss to your lips.

He searched through his suit until he found the small device, and described your location to Sam as best he could.

As he talked, his eyes found yours, and a small smile tugged at his lips. You could feel a blush creeping across your face, but you still smiled back at him anyways.

kinktober taglist *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

@treatbuckywkisses @sgt-barnesveins @bucky-barmes @opheliastark @sweetascanbee @writing-for-marvel @sophiejay @christywantspizza @hi-sarahh @highlyintelligentblonde

#kinktober 22 #tiff's kinktober #tiff writes #only the two of us #bucky barnes #bucky fic #bucky smut #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes smut #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes x y/n #marvel #mcu #sebastian stan

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sphireath-wisp · 1 year

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#just for me.

Sypnosis: Things that remind them of you that they keep for themselves (Blue lock version)

Warnings: Messy interchanging tenses, not proofread

Featuring: Nagi Seishiro, Meguru Bachira, Yoichi Isagi, Itoshi Rin x GN! reader

Nagi Seishiro

He had this picture of you in his wallet wearing a matching onesie with him. The both of you were wearing stitch onesies and Reo had just happened to come by. Taking hold of this opportunity, Reo snapped a picture of the both of you asleep on the couch - popcorn and snacks next to the both of you as the TV was still playing the movie you both were watching. Once Nagi sees the picture, he'll snatch it away from Reo and keep in it his phone case. His phone is always with him, so it's convenient to just take it out and get his daily reminder of who's been supporting him in his career for so long.

The matching necklaces you got for his birthday. He always keeps it on him and does not care if he's breaking any rules wearing it (he'll just hide it under his shirt, what's the big deal?) Nagi likes it because it's convenient to wear when playing football. It doesn't disturb him much like rings do when he eats or earrings when he jumps around during practice. Plus, he'll unconsciously fidget with it. The cold sensation it has whenever he touches it is weirdly comforting.

Meguru Bachira

He has a picture of you and him in an art class the both of you signed up for. Honestly, he wasn't focusing and neither were you - there were doodles everywhere on his canvas and you couldn't focus with him around. You remember him doodling you kissing him on the cheek, a cat, your initials in a heart, etc. In the picture, he was cupping your cheek and painting small hearts all over your face. Every time he stares at the photo, he can recall the sound of your uncontrollable laughter, how one of the hearts smudged on his cheeks when you kissed him, and the trouble you went through wiping off the red stains on your face and clothes.

His grades... aren't the best. Thus, being the dedicated and loving significant other you are, you copied your personal super helpful notes for him to refer though. However, you had encountered an obstacle - he could not focus. Complaints and whines would be the only thing rolling off of his tongue instead of anything intellectual. Thus, you've come up with a solution! Doodles and affirmations in the notebook keep him around long enough. Occasionally, you'll doodle a smaller version of you saying "good job!", hugging him, kissing him, etc. Similar to checkpoints, you'll remind him of how great he's doing or how he's going to ace his exams like this! Once he returns the notebook, you'll notice new doodles, and a thank you message on a card hidden between the pages.

Yoichi Isagi

The scarf you gave him during autumn. It still has that lingering smell of your perfume/cologne, and he just likes having it on during his walks. It calms him down to just having it around his neck. I just have this hunch that he feels so guilty the moment there's a hole or any sort of stain. (Don't worry, he's careful with such a precious item)

I just know you and Isagi would share a Spotify playlist! I JUST KNOW IT. You have this playlist with him with a mix of your taste in music and his (he requested you to add in calmer pieces specifically). Whenever he's listening to music on the bus or train and hears a song he doesn't recognize, he'll smile unconsciously because he just feels like this is the type of song you would like. Seriously, those cheesy, calming love songs always remind him of you. It makes him really appreciate being yours, being able to hold your hand, hug you, treat you to things, etc.

Itoshi Rin

The good luck notes you leave in his bag. Of course, you respect his privacy and won't unnecessarily rummage through his things. Though, that doesn't mean you can't just slide your little token of encouragement right into his bag! Technically, you aren't looking! At first, when he felt the touch of paper against his palm, he assumed it was trash. When he was able to fish it out and inspect it, he realized the heartfelt contents of the "trash" in his hands. You don't know this, but he actually collects your messages. It's no good to waste such endearment! In a small corner of his bag, he neatly tucks them in and keeps them for whenever he feels like he misses you has nothing to do.

Knowing Rin, he's in no way a romantic. I mean, this is Itoshi Rin, we're talking about here. Thus, you decided to be bold and be the first person to make a move! You gave him a bouquet of white jasmine to bring home and to be honest, he seemed uninterested... Keyword: seemed. This guy brought home the flowers and literally researched how to take care of them to ensure that they never wither. During that, he found out the symbolic meaning of white jasmine - love, beauty, and sensuality. (He'll make sure to bring a bouquet for you in the future)

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dreamlandiasims · 1 month

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previous | next

Frankie: Jill, I’m here.

Jill??

[four days earlier]

Cahill: Alright, here we go. Back when this unit was built, it was part of a bigger system of bunkers and tunnels that led straight to the lab. I opted to keep it that way. Assuming they haven’t boarded it up since, it’s a straight shot to the lower floor of the lab.

Frankie: This has been here the whole time, and you’re only just telling us now?

Cahill: Yeah, well, getting into the lab is only the first hurdle. Once you’re inside, you’ll have to contend with their security system. Armed guards… cameras… and biometric checkpoints. Now, luckily, I can help with some of that. Years ago, when I still worked for the military, I installed a back door in the lab’s security system, allowing me to see and hear what they see and hear. But if you can get me access to their main computer system, I can do a lot more—unlock doors, disable scanners, you name it. As for avoiding the guards, though, we might be out of luck.

Frankie: What if we had a distraction?

[three days earlier]

Blair: So let me get this straight… you want me to derail the entire show to sic hundreds of party-goers on BioSim Tech? Where they might be shot at, arrested, or who knows what else?

Frankie: If enough people join in, we could overwhelm them. Plus, I was thinking more along the lines of “things got out of control and we had no power to stop it”, you know? Plausible deniability.

Blair: I see… And what’s in it for us?

Frankie: Chaos? Anarchy? A chance to stick it to the man?

Blair: Uh huh…

Frankie: … I’ll give you 100 bucks?

Blair: Hmph. I’ll think about it.

[two days earlier]

Frankie: So Erwin, you and Jill will go in through the tunnel system, get Cahill computer access, and then unlock a door on the outside. I’ll go to this party to signal Blair, and then come meet you.

Jill: And I can use my powers to help too!

Cahill: Absolutely not.

Jill: What? Come on…

Cahill: Your powers were out of control enough to rip open a portal. Who knows what else you might do by mistake. We can’t risk it.

Jill: It’s not fair! I never get to use them…

Erwin: Hey, we’ll get you home soon. Then you can use them all you like!

Jill: Yeah… sure.

#lots going on in this one!#i was really torn between keeping it all in one post or doing a couple shorter ones #but i decided i like the montage/time lapse vibe of having it all together #also in case it isn't clear the “three days earlier” etc is still referring back to the beginning of the post #sims 4 #sims 4 story #ts4 #ts4 story #pla #frankie mitchell #erwin pries #george cahill #jill smith #blair donovan

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bumblepony · 5 months

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sick fic with ellie falling asleep on joels chest? 🥺 👉🏻👈🏻

Ok, this one totally got away from me! So thanks, Anon, I blame you. But I also hope you really like it. Story below the cut and cross-posted to AO3. Shout out to @freetobeyouandmichi-me for helping me with the title.

Cold Compresses and Shaky Hands

Joel heaves Ellie back up into his arms, knees creaking, back aching, and tries not to think about the heat coming off her. Her skin, where it’s exposed, is covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and her breathing is thin and labored.

Ellie's gonna be ok. She's gonna be ok. She's gonna be ok. Joel keeps repeating to himself as he moves, he clings to the words like a lifeline thrown out in the trashing waters of the ocean to a drowning man. Because he is drowning, if he can’t save her, there's nothing in the world that would save him. She's gonna be ok. She's gonna be ok. She's gonna be ok.

The gates of Jackson rise up in front of him, and he nearly collapses with relief, but he knows he has to keep going for her. His feet stumble on a root, and he falls to his knees. He has to throw a hand out to catch himself, his other arm clutching desperately to Ellie. He is just barely able to keep her against his chest, but the jolt of their landing causes a pained moan to escape Ellie's throat. He soothes her as best he can with mumbled words while trying to gain back his feet.

"It's gonna be okay, baby girl, we're almost home." His voice is rough and broken, and his eyes are barely able to keep open. They had been walking for two days now.

They had been out on day two of their four-day patrol when Ellie started showing signs of sickness. Ellie had tried arguing that they should continue on, but Joel put his foot down, sighting the patrol rules stating if a patrolman was sick or injured, they must return to town immediately. It had just been sheer bad luck that when they had made to turn back to town, a group of infected happened upon them, spooking the horses and leaving them to track back on foot once they’d dispatched the small group. Joel knew the horses would make their way back to Jackson, but it left him and Ellie at an impasse.

Should they stay at the nearest lookout until someone finds the horses and comes out to find them, or should they just head back on foot? They had camping gear they could safely stay out a few nights, Ellie finally made the choice against Joel’s better judgment to push on.

By nightfall, Joel was kicking himself for letting her talk him into it. Her fever was high enough that she was shivering uncontrollably under all her layers, and her eyes were dull with the heartache she complained of. They set up camp and slept for a few fitful hours before Ellie could sleep no more. They cleaned up and started moving again, Ellie’s grip tight on her riffle head tucked down inside the coat of her jacket. The late falls in Wyoming got cold fast, and Joel could already feel the first nibblings of winter in the morning air. By midday, Joel knew they should have stayed at the checkpoint, but it was too late now, they had to keep pushing. By evening, Ellie was barely coherent, she spoke to herself and jumped at every shadow. They sat down for an hour to get some water in her, and Joel tried to encourage her to eat, but she just threw up everything he gave her. He pressed a cold compress to her neck with shaky hands and prayed to a god he no longer believed in that she would be ok.

When they started moving again, Ellie could barely walk. Joel finally convinced her to ride on his back, and they trekked closer to Jackson at a much-delayed pace. They stopped once more when Joel could feel Ellie trembling so hard on his back he thought she might break apart. He swore when he pulled her down and could see that her skin was pale and clammy. “Shit, Ellie baby, ya can’t do this to me. We are gonna get you back.” He had hefted her into his arms, leaving his and her packs buried under a pile of leaves. All he carried was his rifle on his back, a canteen in a sling to try and keep her hydrated, and his baby girl in his arms.

He was not gonna lose her.

On his knees in the dirt, Jackson’s wall looming in the distance, Ellie’s still, small body against his chest, Joel pushes himself up, desperation so old it went back twenty-some-odd years the only thing keeping him moving, he is not going to lose another daughter.

When he hears the hoofbeats and sees the face of his brother, he weeps, babbling to him, holding Ellie out in supplication. Tommy comes forward, taking Ellie into his arms and leaving Joel to the other two patrol men to wrangle on a horse. Tommy is already away, Ellie held tight to his chest as he gallops towards the gate.

Joel comes after as fast as his exhausted body can move. By the time he is finally inside the gates and at the clinic, Ellie is already inside, doctors hovering around her, outer clothing pulled away as they gently submerge her in a cooling bath. Joel stumbles to her side, reaching for her limp hand in the water.

“Joel, brother, c’mon. She’s gonna be ok, we gotta let the doctors work,” Tommy's hands are warm and steading on Joel's shoulder, and he lets his brother pull him away but only far enough so as not to get in the way.

—

Tommy brings him clean clothing and a thermos of hickory root coffee, knowing that Joel will not be sleeping until Ellie is safely in the clear. Hours pass, and Joel helps the doctors get Ellie out of the bath once her temperature has come down enough to have her out of danger. He gently comforts her when she awakens, confused and frightened, in wet clothing, memories of a winter four years past still plaguing her nightmares. He shoos the doctors away, and he and Tommy help dry her and clothe her in comfortable, warm sweats, so big on her petite frame she swims in them.

Tommy calls the doctors back, and they get her hooked up to an IV of fluids. A nurse hands him a cup and two small pills to help with her pain and the fever, and he helps her hold the cup to her lips so she can swallow them. Once that’s done, Tommy and the doctors leave, and Ellie makes grabby motions for him. He happily climbs into the bed with her, and she presses herself against his side and over his chest, her ear to his heart.

“What happened, Joel?” She asks, her voice weak.

“You got sick, kiddo.” His hand rubs up and down her spine, the bones still far too prominent for his comfort.

“I know that, but how did we get back?” Her hands clutch to his chest, and her face presses against the soft flannel of his shirt.

“We walked, and then I carried you.” He says, placing a soft kiss on her head as his other hand cards carefully through her knotted hair.

“That had to have been miles, Joel, how could you have managed that?” Her body loosens by his side, and he knows that she won’t be able to stay awake much longer.

“Doesn’t matter how far I have to go, baby girl, I’m always gonna be able to carry ya. Nothing on this earth could stop me from gettin' ya home safe and sound.” He has to cough to clear the tightness in his throat, and then he lays his cheek against the top of her head, and he rumbles. “I got you, baby. Go to sleep, I got you.”

Ellie sighs, and they drift off together, warm and safe in each other's embrace, father and daughter.

#tlou #tlou fanfiction #joel miller #ellie williams #tommy miller #sickfic #family fluff #ao3 #asks #ficlets

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bytes-and-blessings · 6 months

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Smuggling Hope - Inklings Challenge 2023

So I signed up to do a little writing challenge this year called the @inklings-challenge! Which you can read more about here: https://inklings-challenge.tumblr.com/about Basically, I've had story ideas in my head for as long as I can remember. Now I finally found something to give me a kick in the pants to write. Maybe this is the first draft to the first chapter of my first novel ever. Maybe I never touch this story again. Who knows? not me.... But without further ado, welcome to the first installment of what I currently call "The Beacon Universe" (Actual name TBD) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Captain Nia Twig woke up at the wheel her ship to the sound of a proximity alarm.

BEEP EEP EEP!

There was message from an incoming ship.

“This is gate border checkpoint Theta-Sigma-Alpha-5, please prepare for boarding with your itinerary, ship registration, and passenger manifest. Failure to cooperate with border patrol will be reported to Zytharian authorities and may result in fines or arrest. Thank you, and Glory to the Emperor.”

Nia groaned and scrambled out of her pilots chair to prepare for the inspection. As she walked through the ship she stashed away a box of stuff from back home and placed it under her bed, with a menstrual garment and some pain pills on top to keep any searchers from touching it. Looking around the area, there was a torn piece of paper that she though she had drunkenly thrown in the incinerator months ago:

The oath and way of the Beacons are as THE LORD once declared: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shin-”

Nia was interrupted in her distracted readings by the ship’s alarm system again:

~~~~~WARNING ~~~~ AIRLOCK ENGAGED ~~~~ INTRUDER ALERT~~~~~

“Computer! Stall’em!” She yelled out. The ship’s AI wasn’t anything fancy, but it could pretend to have just enough dysfunction to slow down anyone trying to board. (Or with any luck, kill anyone in a rush via asphyxiation so she could claim it was an accident. Technology sucks, right?)

She stuffed the paper in her pocked and climbed down to the hold. At the bottom, she reached behind the ladder and flipped a leaver.

A few of the crates started to lower into a hidden compartment beneath.

“Come on, come on, move you stupid thing” Nia slammed her foot against the floor.

Suddenly the mechanism squeaked to a halt.

She could hear the boarder ship’s airlock finish connecting to The Night’s Reverie. She’d have to greet the Inspector at any minute, or else the rest of his people’s fleet would show up and blow them both out of the sky.

She dove below the boxes, and started to hunt around. In the tangled mess of wires, there was a stray piece of jerky stuck between the gears. Nia couldn’t quite reach through the gap to catch it.

BANG BANG BANG

Someone was knocking on the other end of the airlock doors, trying to gain entry. If she didn’t let them it, it was going to be a firefight, but if the fuzz caught sight was what was in these crates, well, she’d have bigger problems.

The Captain pulled out a lighter with the symbol of a white bird in flight carved into it.

A small flame springs out with a flick of the flint, she barely has a moment to enjoy the feeling of the flames dancing in her control before she shoots it to knock the jerky out of place. She immediately threw the lighter up onto the main deck, then turned herself into a small flame and landed on the deck as the boxes almost crash into their compartment, crushing the area where she had just been an instant ago. The false floor slid over the contraband as the captain punched in the code to open the airlock for her unwanted guests.

“Still not going to be a Beacon, but Uncle’s old lighter trick is handy in a pinch.” She thought to herself as she punched the intercom button to speak to the visitor waiting in the airlock. “This is the Captain of the ship speaking, who is there?”

A posh voice responded, “Captain Glory Ashwell, are you in there? This is Inspector Zimri Klerk, of the His Greatness’s Most Noble and Important Hyperlane Border Inspections Agency. I am here to proceed with a random inspection of your ship. I assume you have your paperwork in order and are ready for inspection, Captain?” a

From the voice, Nia expected someone much taller on the other side of the airlock. Instead standing there was an short and fat man in a faded but finely pressed dress uniform. He stood proud before her not a piece of his balding silver hair was out of place. His mustache was curled perfectly at the ends, looking at it was almost like looking at a second pair of eyes. At his left side he held a bright red cane with the Empire dragon snarling at it’s head, like forgotten Celtic letterhead come to life. In his right hand he somehow managed to hold both a clipboard and a lit cigar.

Nia cleared her throat, and then addressed the man. “Ah yes Sir, as you can see here on my manifest, my ship, The Kobold is just on a routine courier run to the middle systems of the Empire. If we could make this quick, my clients are very important people with urgent business, Captain. They’ve waited long enough for these goods.”

“Very well Captain. Let’s keep this quick shall we.” He took a puff of the cigar and stormed past her onto the ship.

It may have been the longest inspection she had lived through in her entire life.

He poked in the flight room.

He tapped his cane all around her living quarters.

He crawled under the sink.

He licked the dust between the crates.

He even accidentally knocked out a fake wall Nia didn’t know the ship had.

By the end of it, he looked less like a man to her, and more like some cross between a relentless hound dog, and a relentless hound dog breathing tobacco smoke from his lungs. An evil, fire-breathing dog of war armed with a clipboard of wrath and health code violations.

Finally, it was almost over. Inspector Zimiri stood right next to the holds ladder and put away his pen.

“Well, everything looks fine here, as long as you don’t have any rebel contraband under here then I’ll be on my way.”

With a single motion, he flipped the hidden switch with his cane and stepped aside to reveal the contraband crates.

A moment pasted, then a second as the crates were slowly lifted by the traitorous mechanism. Neither person seamed to move or breath for a second. Finally Nia let out a long sigh, and pulled out a wad of bills from her inner coat pocket.

She faked a smile, and tried to approach the Inspector congenially,“Look here friend, there’s nothing harmful here. It’s just some luxury goods I need to keep extra protected for a client in Casino Monte. Some rich dude wants camping supplies to reenact some ancient survivalist U-tuber. Bear Gorillas or something? I don’t know man, can’t we just figure this out? It’s not like it’s weapons or anything, you know, right?” She said, holding out the bribe money.

The Inspector let out a deep sigh. He leaned his cane against the wall. Then he removed his glasses and began to methodically clean them. For a moment Nia could swear he tapped a button on his jacket. The little man straighten up to glare at her. The cigar smoke began to fog up his glasses once more and reflect the dim light of the ship. The Captain began to back away from the twin burning suns staring at her from his glasses.

“Do you take me for a fool?”

He walked over and opened the first crate to find a stack of water bottles, blankets, and food with single stuffed goose sat on top of the pile of goods.

“We both know that there’s no way a ship of this size has the fuel to get to the destination on your manifest.” He waved the faked papers in the air, “You’re more likely to drop out of the hyperlane somewhere above the Miser-Cordia system. Right where his Greatness’s Military has currently blockaded a group of those traitorous followers of the Beacon’s Path and the foolish civilians roped up in their little games. Do you think I didn’t realize from the moment your little star skipper left the hyperbridge that figured out that you were carrying the most dangerous weapon known to man inside?”

He dropped the cigar and waved the stuffed goose in the air, as if demonstrating his point.

“My good captain, it appears to me that you are smuggling hope.”

Nia whipped out her pistol and pointed it at him. “Listen, buddy, I don’t know who you are. And I don’t care. As I was saying, I’m not smuggling weapons, or drugs, or slaves, or any of the other fucked up shit that all of your friends turn a blind eye to every day for a couple of creds. So unless your sanctimonious pride and your thin wallet is more important than your life, maybe grow some brains out of that mustache. I’m not a Rebel. I just see a demand and I fill it. I don’t care about your stupid wars, buddy. This is just business. Just take your cut of creds like every other self serving sleaze bag in the galaxy, and let me go.” She insisted, probably too firmly. But Nia didn’t care, her pulse was in her throat and she could feel fire aching at her fingertips for the first time in years. This was about to go south, fast.

Still brandishing her pistol, Nia took in the sight of the little inspector. She had to keep her gun arm pointed down at an awkward angle to place the muzzle beneath his nose. When he wasn’t running around her ship, it was easier to see that this man only reached her shoulder. His mustache barely twitched at the sensation of cold metal. He dropped the goose back into it’s box. With it fell the clipboard. His fingers twitched for the cigar that had once been in his hand. Suddenly, the man before her wasn’t a robotic inspector of a dictator anymore. The cold glare in his eyes had softened into something still determined, but also seemingly defeated. Like the last blue flame of a dying fire. He reached down to pick up the cigar again.

“I have to say, I am quite disappointed in you, Miss Philomena Bryne.” He said, letting the smoke blow into Nia’s face. He grabbed onto a pin on his lapel, and broke it. Nia could see a few ripped wires leaving what she could now see had been a wiretap. “We both know you don’t need that toy to turn me to ash, so let’s drop the pretense, hm?”

“That’s not my name, that girl is dead. Who are you, and how do you know her?” She backed off, but kept the pistol high.

“Ah my mistake Captain,” He said, reaching up to scratch his lip. “Here I was, under the impression that I had caught up with a great Beacon of Old: A mythical group of people who could take flight in the stars without a ship, a Peace Keeper, a great Defender of the innocent, a living flame in the galaxy’s eternal night. I thought I was tracking a relic of a forgotten era of Crusades and Caped Heroes; one who was stuck in a universe that has progressed beyond, or perhaps, sunken below religion. And now l see that I have found a jaded business woman looking to profit off another’s misfortune, no? I had hoped that anyone with your flame, who could incurs such wrath of my employees and countrymen, could be nothing less than a saint. But if it’s business you want, then it’s business you’ll get I suppose. You can come out now, my dear.”

Zimiri Klerk tapped his cigar against the wall of the ship, and out of the embers emerged a young girl who could almost have been Philomena's cousin. But her hair soon changed from fire red to pale blonde. She was even shorter and thinner than the man next to her. Nia quickly realized that this was most likely the Inspector’s daughter. Her eyes were the same jet engine blue as his, and just as sharp.

“I will make a deal with you Captain. Get my daughter out of reach of the Empire's ashy dogs, and anyone else who would make her a living weapon. Then consider your bribe to be paid. Now I must go, my colleges will be looking for me. I’ll buy you what time I can. Good luck, my dear.” Then Zimiri Klerk walked to door of the Night’s Reverie.

“And remember Captain, even if you do not think of yourself a hero, to my daughter, and all of those people trapped on Miser-Cordia, you are the last light of hope.”

#inklings challenge #team lewis #genre: space travel #theme: food #theme: drink #theme: shelter #Bytes Writes

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veebs-hates-video-games · 7 months

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Ok I should probably do the Harvestella thing before I get too far distant from it and forget everything. 13 Sentinels has consumed my brain over the past week, so let's do this before I lose what's left of Harvestella.

I know it got kind of mediocre reviews and a bunch of people were underwhelmed by it, but I actually thought it was pretty great. From what I've seen it failed to find the right audience, probably because the very little promotion it got made it look like a farming sim with kind of a Final Fantasy-style story tacked on, and people who expected that from it were disappointed. When it did manage to find the people who were into what it actually is (85% JRPG with like 15% farming sim layered on top) a lot of them loved it though.

It's kind of a weird game, because the farming stuff is simplified somewhat from games where that's the primary focus, and some of the RPG stuff is also not done quite as well or as in depth as in a pure RPG (mainly the combat), but if the combination works for you like it does for me it really does have a lot going for it.

I'm someone who loves the idea of farming games but can never really get into them and stick with them long term, whether it's Harvest Moon or Rune Factory or Stardew Valley or whatever else. I had the best luck with SDV, but after about 10 hours I just couldn't get myself to keep going, and most other stuff in the genre I don't even last that long. It's streamlined enough in this and has enough other stuff to balance it out that I actually enjoyed that part of the game this time though, so that was nice for a change.

The big surprise was the story and characters and world though. I played the demo almost a year ago and could tell that it was going to have Typical Final Fantasy-style Nonsense (affectionate) (not to be confused with most recent actual mainline Final Fantasy games, which for me keep turning out to be Typical Final Fantasy-style Nonsense (derogatory)), but I didn't expect it would do that stuff as well as it ultimately did.

The initial premise of the game is pretty straightforward, but the world turns out to be a lot more interesting than it seems at first as more gets revealed about it throughout the game, and there are a bunch of interesting characters who get their own storylines and develop pretty well through them too. It gets increasingly serious sci-fi story in the latter half of the game, but earlier on there are lots of fun and simple bits that establish various characters and the world and why you should care about it in the first place.

Interestingly in those earlier parts, and kind of in side quests in general, there's a lot more focus on the kinds of stuff you'd expect to see in Games for Girls™ that you don't usually see quite as much of in big RPGs. There are a whole bunch of side quests and storylines focusing on people's interpersonal relationships and families, and multiple things get resolved through getting people to actually communicate or listening to children and taking them seriously as people. I think that's kinda great and that more games should include stuff like that more.

Exploring for more materials and ingredients or to do story or side quest missions is fun and satisfying enough. I normally hate stamina systems and being time limited, but if you eat literally any food at all you get free stamina regen for a while so that's not a problem, and there are like eight billion fast travel checkpoints and various shortcuts that you can unlock all over the world, so it doesn't feel like you have to constantly redo stuff after running out of time. You just go home at the end of the day and can pick up right where you left off usually (after tending to your farm stuff in the morning, of course).

The weakest part of the game is probably the combat though. It's...fine? I guess? It's both too simple and too complex at the same time. Like there's not a lot of incentive to do anything but spam basic attacks against trash mobs, and in boss fights there's not much reason to do any more than that other than use your skills when they're off cooldown. But there are like 37 different damage types that your different attacks can deal, and different enemies are weak against different flavors, and against bosses you can get a "break" that causes them to take more damage if you use the right kind(s) against them enough.

There's potential there for something interesting, but it's terrible at telling you what type of damage you're doing or what kind you should be doing, there are way too many different kinds with no meaningful difference between them other than visual effects, and I'm not going to memorize what every stupid attack in the game does when I can't even see the little symbols on the break gauge that represent different types or remember what each one means anyway.

Also you don't get a block or a dodge (certain jobs do sort of get a dash ability, but it's not great), so a lot of the time against a lot of kinds of enemies your options are basically limited to just take damage and deal with it, which I'm gonna be honest is stupid and not fun. Yes it does incentivize you to cook food/throw stuff in the juicer and use those things to heal yourself, but it's just annoying going into the menu to use them, and it's not particularly satisfying cheesing boss fights by drinking 14 glasses of juice instead of like...actually using the combat mechanics the game provides you?

If you can get past that most other stuff is pretty enjoyable though. I liked the art style more than most of Squenix's big main games these days like what I've seen of FF16, and there's some unreasonably great music in it. Like they did not have to go this hard in 5/8 or whatever in the farming game about farming, but I'm glad they did because it's kind of amazing. Thank you Go Shiina for your excellent work.

So yeah, definitely not a game for everyone if you're not into the kinda weird combination of things it tries to do and (mostly) succeeds at, but if it is your kind of thing it's a surprisingly fun world and collection of characters and unexpectedly well done story. Like I liked the storytelling more than in probably 90% of Final Fantasy games I've played (which I know isn't saying that much because I perpetually complain about them, but still).

It's a game about running your own farm but also hope and the absence of it and what it means to be human, and I thought that was pretty neat.

#harvestella

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grizzlyofthesea · 9 months

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My Ruin Experience

I just finished my first playthrough of FNAF Security Breach: Ruin a few hours ago, and I'd like to reflect on my experience. I still have a ton that I need to go back and do, but I think I still got enough out of it to comment.

Needless to say, spoilers ahead. Continue at your own risk.

What I Liked:

The mechanics. Though short and simple, the Faz-wrench and Security Node puzzles are fun. The AR mask is also a really cool concept, and it opened the door for some unique gameplay and exploration.

The autosave between key checkpoints. Hallelujah.

The AR aesthetic. Holy crap, I love it. It's so trippy and dreamlike, and NEON. Totally '80s retro-futuristic, totally radical.

The character designs. My favorites are Ruined Freddy, the little Music Men with the rabbit ears, and MXES. Ruined Freddy is both horrific and strangely adorable despite having no head. I like how he chomps with his stomach like it's a mouth; it's a fun call-back to Nightmare Fredbear. And he has a gift box in his stomach. The implications of that give me the creeps. The rabbit Music Men are just cute. I hate them, but they're cute. And MXES? That's just an awesome design. Way more imposing than Glitchtrap (though Glitchtrap did work, just more as a psychological/lore thing than an outright threatening design).

All the crazy visual details and Easter eggs they put into AR mode. My favorites are the giant endoskeleton in the daycare theater and the huge bowling balls in Bonnie Bowl.

Roxy's dynamic with Cassie. I hope we get to see more of it in the future. It's just too precious.

Monty's backstory as told through the cardboard cutouts on the gondolas in Gator Golf. Just...adorable.

The part where Monty's swimming around in water and you need to hop on crates to dodge him. That was just cute. He was like a real gator. I have no idea how he didn't immediately short out, but still. Cute.

The horror of Cassie being confronted by the Mimic, not Gregory. I totally saw it coming, but it's still terrifying from a psychological standpoint.

What I Disliked:

The loading time. I think it was just because I have the PS4 version, but it took FOREVER to load the game both on startup and every time I died and wanted to retry. I hope the load times are optimized in the future.

The linearity. Once you leave one section, there's no going back; there isn't even a post-game where you can go back and do stuff. You're especially out of luck if you're on an all-collectibles run.

The lack of direction in some parts. I got stuck in so many places for such a long time because it was unclear where I was supposed to go/what I was supposed to do. Looking at you, catwalks and beauty salon.

MXES showing up at the absolute worst times and leading you to your death not out of personal failure, but out of misfortune. It got annoying after my 10th death in the Monty Golf catwalks.

Those dang Music Men, especially the ones in the bowling lanes. They were annoying to deal with. Doable, but annoying.

The stupid endoskeletons. I didn't like them in the base game, and I don't like them now. They really get to me. (I know. I'm a huge coward.)

All in all, I got about as much as I hoped for. I still have to get the rest of the endings, but this was some great DLC. It cements Security Breach as one of my favorite games in the series, and it gives me hope for whatever else Steel Wool has to offer.

#fnaf #fnaf ruin spoilers #five nights at freddy's #five nights at freddy's security breach #fnaf sb #fnaf security breach #fnaf ruin #fnaf sb ruin #fnaf security breach ruin #steel wool studios

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siren-nate · 1 year

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Every Metroid Prime boss ranked from worst to best

Ground rules: No repeating fights. That means no bosses that you fight multiple instances of with nothing changing, and no bosses that just become regular enemies later on. If a boss has multiple phases that have to be fought in order, all of those phases will be considered together, not separately. Lastly, I won't be counting Hunters bosses because I just haven't played the game and it's more of a spinoff than anything else. Also, only the top thirty entries get images, because that's Tumblr's limit, apparently.

Putting this under a readmore because, obviously, it's goddamned huge.

36) Alpha Blogg

FUCK THIS THING.

I hate, hate, hate, HATE, HATE, HATE THE ALPHA BLOGG. How are you supposed to fight it? No, legitimately, somebody explain to me what the intended way to fight this fucking thing is. It only shows its weak spot for a fraction of a second right before it attacks you, sometimes it doesn't show that weak spot and has absolutely no tell for when it is or isn't going to, and sometimes it just randomly combos into you three or four times before finally letting you get away from it. The only weapons that do significant damage to it (super missile and darkburst) take a second to fire off after you hit the missile button, making it even more stupidly difficult to get the timing perfect and actually damage the Alpha Blogg.

I'm not joking when I say that as far as I can tell, the only way to fight this stupid fucking fish is to continuously suicide-attack it and hope that you get enough blind luck attacks in that it dies before you do. I'm not even mentioning that every time you die to it, you have to replay a huge chunk of its area again due to poor checkpoint implementation. Fuck. This. Boss.

35) Power Bomb Guardian

Here's a boss fight that I'm honestly shocked doesn't get more hate. The Power Bomb Guardian is annoying. Yes, there's a certain art to baiting it into shooting power bombs in a direction you're not actually going due to how strongly it leads its shots and re-aims on a dime, but no matter how good you get at it, there's always going to be several times where getting knocked off the wall and forced to start the climb all over again is just unavoidable. God, I hate this stupid thing.

34) Cloaked Drone

This one's just lame. I hate boss fights where either you don't know the trick and it's a nightmare, or you do know the trick and it's trivial, and that's exactly what this is. Either you don't use the Wavebuster and it's a nightmare because it's an extremely agile invisible enemy, or you do and it's not even a fight anymore.

33) Pirate Commander

The perfect microcosm of why Prime 3's combat sucks. All he does is teleport around, summon commandos for you to insta-kill with the nova beam after struggling to land that perfect hit on them, and use the same attacks as a commando. Despite this, he has what feels like ten times the health of one, and all his teleporting means it's near-impossible to lay down serious damage against him. It's just an unfun slog of chewing through a very irritating damage sponge with the same, single attack over and over until it finally dies. Again, Prime 3's combat in a nutshell.

32) Jump Guardian

Possibly the most forgettable boss fight in the whole series. It really is just a Warrior Ing with a bigger health bar and a slam-the-ground-make-a-shockwave-attack, also known as the attack that every boss in this whole series has. Honestly a shocking lack of fanfare for an enemy that has a power-up as integral as the double jump.

31) Parasite Queen

This one's a really good introductory boss fight and a great climax to the first area of the entire series, but sadly, that means it's kind of a nothing fight on replays. She really just doesn't do much, but I guess having to sidestep constantly to aim between her shields at least keeps you on the move and engaged. There's a surprising amount of skill involved in dodging her mouth lasers, but I swear sometimes they just hit you no matter what you do. She gets bonus points for the mechanic where you can scan her to adjust the auto-targeting to do more damage... and then gets those bonus points immediately taken away because she's the only boss fight in the entire series that works like that, so it's kind of a pointless thing to teach the player.

30) Hive Mecha

This is a really good example of how to make a tutorial boss fight that doesn't grate on experienced players! Unfortunately, it's also a really bad example of a tutorial boss fight that actually teaches the player the thing it's trying to teach them. Hive Mecha is a manageable, enjoyable challenge if you figure out how the radar works before or during the fight with it, and a chaotic nightmare mess if you don't. I think the idea is that all of the enemies swarming in a circle on the radar gets the player's attention, and they think "Oh, hey, I can use this to see when the wasps keep still so I can shoot them!". The problem is that they're distracted by, y'know, all of the enemies swarming around them nonstop. Just a single text pop-up telling you to use the radar would help this fight a lot - hell, they could have buried it in the Ram War Wasp scan if they wanted it to not be obvious.

29) (Dark) Alpha Splinter

What a strange creature; it gets weaker when it's possessed by an Ing. Seriously, trading in that insanely well-tracked pounce-and-return for a way more avoidable version makes the second half of this fight bafflingly easier than the first, even with the addition of projectiles. A good first boss fight, but kind of emblematic of how wonky Prime 2's difficulty is at times.

28) Grapple Guardian

This thing is so obtuse and confusing that Metroid Fusion's puzzles give it a nod of respect. Okay, so you have to get it to grapple onto the energy pillars to stun it. Except for the fact that if it's too close, that doesn't work, for literally no reason. Then you have to damage it in the back, but then when its tail falls off, suddenly you can damage it by shooting it in the eye after you've already shot that area enough to stun it and make its invulnerable shield dissipate. You go from shooting it in the eye so you can hit its back to... shooting it in the eye so you can shoot it in the eye some more. The icing on the cake is that you can't damage it at all until you scan it, for no goddamned reason.

It took me half a fucking hour to figure out how I was supposed to just kill this stupid thing. It's not that bad once you DO know all the mistakes to avoid, but that first playthrough and its bugginess with the grapple beam makes me hate it so much it's all the way down here.

27) Caretaker-Class Drone

Frantic is the word to describe this fight. You are constantly on the move, you have barely enough time to register the weak spot and line up a shot, let alone hit it, you always have to jump around like a hyperactive squirrel as the attacks get faster and take up more space... yeah, frantic as all hell. This boss does irritate me because of how unpredictable the direction of your boost-jumps are, though. Sometimes it screws me out of a hit because it randomly decides to not work the same way it has for the last three jumps, or the same kind of random chance throws me right into damage.

26) Dark Samus (Prime 2, Final)

Given she's practically the mascot of the series, it feels weird for Dark Samus's first appearance on this list to be her role as final boss of her debut game... and for it to be so low. Unfortunately, this fight is terrible compared to its contemporaries. It starts off fine, if a little lacking - no cover to duck in and out of, no new tricks from Dark Samus and significantly less agility from her. But that attack where she becomes invulnerable and you have to play phazon tennis with her is... shit. It's just shit. The hit detection on both of her attacks is unreliable as hell - I've had small bullets hit me right in the face while I was charging only to take damage and lose my shot, and the big bullet is just unavoidable whenever it feels like it.

Yes, by the way, I did say both attacks. As in, for the vast majority of her tenure as final boss of Prime 2, Dark Samus uses exactly two different attacks. Given what a highlight her other two fights are in that game, it's just... pathetic. The cherry on top is the fact that you have a time limit hanging over your head for a boss fight where the majority of the time, you cannot damage her with any speed.

25) Rundas

Oh, boy, this one's gonna get me a lot of hate...

Let me preface this by saying: I love Rundas. I love all three of the Prime 3 bounty hunters, to the point that one of my biggest criticisms of the game is that it kills them off rather than keep their potential around for Prime 4. Rundas as a character is great.

Runda as a boss fight is the single most pathetically easy fight in the entire trilogy, behind only the Cloaked Drone when you use the Wavebuster. One single charged beam hypermode shot, he's stunned. Rip his armor off. One single charged beam hypermode shot, he's dead. Rundas is a boss fight that - even on hard difficulty - I routinely kill in less than thirty seconds.

The tragedy of it is, if you don't use hypermode at all? Rundas's boss fight is awesome! He soars all over the arena, hopping from ice platform to ice platform while launching projectiles at you, and gains an entirely new, unique, extremely hard-to-dodge attack when he uses his own hypermode! It's a WAY more fitting send-off for such a capable character, and probably what the developers intended and expected given you only have a measly two or three energy tanks to power your hypermode by the time you fight him. But I can't only acknowledge the fight that I get when I do a self-imposed challenge, especially when I can only reasonably do that on easy difficulty due to how fucked Prime 3's gameplay balance is.

24) Gandrayda

Aaand we immediately go from one extreme to the other. Gandrayda is a fucking nightmare on hard difficulty. Her microscopic hitbox and constant jumping around mean that using hypermode at all is just a waste of valuable health, especially given there are no opportunities to heal for the last 75% or so of this fight. Even seeker missiles are borderline useless unless you time them perfectly so she's not just flipping right around them and making them miss, and at that point you may as well stick to the only tactic I've found that works: spamming the shit out of the basic uncharged plasma beam so hard that I worry my mouse is going to break. This wouldn't be so god-awful if it weren't for how impossibly tanky Gandrayda is, because Prime 3 doesn't know how to balance the health of its enemies.

While the idea of a shapeshifting boss fight constantly swapping between stronger versions of enemies you've fought before could be super interesting, Gandrayda basically stops changing form at all for the last third of the fight, meaning it's just you and an incredibly annoyingly hard to hit target with way too much goddamned health that does way too much goddamned damage. Just like Rundas, I love the character, but fuck this boss fight.

23) Mogenar

This thing is a roadblock on hard difficulty. Even with every energy tank I can possibly acquire before I fight it, I often just barely have enough hypermode usage to scrape through by the skin of my teeth, given that the charged rapid-fire shot is about the only way you can possibly damage it fast enough to make significant progress. If it only had some health pickups, like when it drops rocks from the ceiling or something like that, it'd be a lot less stressful, but as it stands I have very little actual fun fighting this thing.

22) Bomb Guardian

Honestly, this thing's kind of slept on. Trying to jump over it at just the right moment when it charges, so you can get closer to its weak spot and have a clearer shot - that's excellent. I also love its stupid charged up million-bombs attack. It's such a rude wake-up surprise the first time you fail to damage it enough to interrupt it, and so overkill it's downright hilarious.

21) Incinerator Drone

I don't have much to say about this one; it's just an enjoyable, if basic, fight. Circling around and either jumping over or morph balling under the flame streams, which gets trickier the more wasps it wakes up to distract you from shooting the weak spot when it opens - just good stuff.

20) Flaahgra

Ah, the first Real-Ass Boss Fight of Metroid Prime! I love Flaahgra's design and the way it serves as a red herring for a first-time player who really pays attention to the story. There's just one problem: it's piss-easy. Seriously, a few charge shots and it gets completely stunned for about three to five months, during which you have plenty of time to side-jump in circles around it and shoot the mirrors back up. The biggest obstacle it poses is when it makes those impassable barriers, requiring the legendary speedrunning technique known as... going the other way.

19) Amorbis

You know, I could kind of just copy+paste the description of Flaahgra here with some minor edits. First Real-Ass Boss Fight of its game, amazing presentation and spectacle and sheer scale, piss-easy fight. The light beam's charge shot just melts every single phase of this boss, even on hard difficulty. Still, at least you have to do a hell of a lot more than stun Amorbis to fight it (them?).

18) Defense Drone

I kind of struggle to come up with things to say about this one. You'd think the three simultaneous targets on its back would make it the perfect time to use the seeker missile, but you don't have it by the time you fight it, so yet more charged hypermode shots it is. I will say that the hit detection to actually damage it is really annoying - half my shots seem to bounce off even when I'm literally locked on and it's standing relatively still. Also, those chasing exploding poison ball things are annoying as fuck - I never want to waste time shooting them because I want this fight to be over as quick as possible.

17) Korakk Beast

This one's fun - pulling it apart to finally get it vulnerable is like a puzzle in and of itself. Hit its exposed mouth to stun it, get underneath and lay a bunch of bombs, get behind it and yank its tail, then finally unload on its chest - preferably in hypermode. One thing that disappoints me, though, is that the rider isn't particularly difficult to kill, and once he's gone, it neuters a lot of the Korakk's best attacking options. The fight would be better if another rider leapt in to take command of it after each cycle, or something like that.

16) Boost Guardian

Today's word of the day is "overhyped"! Seriously, Boost Guardian is just not as hard as everyone says it is. Apparently it was much harder in the original release of Prime 2, but not that much according to the wiki - apparently it did 60 damage instead of 40, which... doesn't strike me as a massive, earth-shattering change. How does anyone have difficulty avoiding its boost attack? You literally just... jump. You have the double jump by the time you fight it, so you have pretty good hang time. Yeah, the lack of safe zones is tricky, but honestly, safe zones in other boss fights turn them into a joke, so part of me is glad that at least a few don't have any. And even if health runs low... Inglets die in a single uncharged light beam shot.

And just to put the final nail in that particular coffin: Mike Wikan said he was completely exaggerating when he said he couldn't beat Boost Guardian without debug mood. So, I don't get it. Boost Guardian is only a little harder than you would expect given its placement in the game.

15) Ghor

One of the only examples of Prime 3's difficulty feeling slightly balanced leads to this being one of my favorite Prime 3 boss fights. Ghor is a target that takes a ton of punishment, with multiple phases and several layers of defense making him immune until you destroy them by using the environment and the morph ball to your advantage. Even then, he throws out so many wide-ranged attacks nonstop that it can feel like you're two entire armies condensed into one person, throwing out as much damage as possible until one of you buckles.

14) Omega Ridley

Gahhh. I'm so torn on this one. I think the easiest way to sum it up is: I love this boss fight just as much as I hate it. I love how Ridley's new powers from massive corruption mirror Samus's new abilities from her PED, keeping them roughly even just like all their other fights. I love how his only sometimes-there weak spot in his open mouth means that charged hyperbeam shots aren't the ubiquitous solution to everything that they are in nearly every other boss fight. I love how he has "health" that can't be depleted with hypermode, in the form of his phazite armor that you need to destroy with the Nova Beam. But I hate how he wastes my fucking time by flying in and out of the arena dropping unfairly difficult attacks, I hate how there are absolutely no opportunities to heal, I hate how there's no good way to run away and damage him with hypermode when he's on his last legs and his weak spot's finally exposed while he's still attacking- like I said, I love this fight pretty much exactly as much as I hate it.

13) Helios

This thing is honestly just such a cool, creative idea. It's essentially the Scornet Maestro from Pikmin 3, six years before that game came out. It commands swarms of shriekbats into all kinds of bizarre shapes, like an orb that rolls around and crushes you, an array of charging projectiles, a swirling tornado that you have to attack in the morph ball, and even a giant bipedal figure with Helios making up the tiny torso. The problem is the constant onslaught of mook enemies means constant pickups for you, so there's really no reason not to go nuts with hypermode usage and make mincemeat out of this thing before it has much time to shine.

12) Omega Pirate

Bit of a controversial placement, but I just don't especially like the Omega Pirate. Fighting him head-on is a slog - the constant absorption of all my attacks is irritating, the hit detection on his armor plates is extremely buggy, and his thrown explosives just feel completely unavoidable at times. However, using power bombs makes him a joke, especially if you have spring ball or time it so you set one off after he launches you up into the air. They're also the only way to deal with all his summoned beam troopers without going insane, so on Hard difficulty, I honestly find that my attempts at this boss fight live or die based entirely on whether his minions drop enough power bombs. Still a fun fight, but kind of a luck-based pushover once you know the tricks.

11) Thardus

You fight Thardus about halfway through the first game, which is the perfect spot for a real die-or-fly test to make sure the player is either well prepared and learning, or hitting an impassable wall until they are. To that end, just about every single ability you've acquired up to this point is integral to fighting Thardus; you need to be good with aiming and timing your shots to hit each exposed weak point, you need the thermal visor to expose them in the first place, you need to be good with the double jump to avoid getting frozen when it shoots those icy streams along the ground, and you need the morph ball and good boost timing with it to avoid its boulder-rolling attack. The way its model literally gets parts of its body deleted as you blow them up until the whole thing collapses into normal rock is just so viscerally satisfying.

Sadly, there are a few annoyances I have with it. Not being able to see anything for most of the second half of the fight is a pretty big one, since the only way to really get around that is getting close, which is a death sentence. I've also never figured out what's even the point of its big lightning-bolt-summoning attack, given it only seems to use it twice and only extremely nearby to itself.

10) Meta Ridley (Prime 3)

This is a fight that rides purely on style points, I will freely admit it- but god DAMN if it doesn't ride pretty high. Samus and Ridley are both actively falling to a gruesome death at the bottom of a power generator shaft. Despite this, they are both far more concerned with murdering each other than they are with saving themselves, as not a single second is wasted wondering how either of them are going to survive this situation after they kill the other.

Despite being an amazing premise, this fight's pretty... simple. Enough to almost get boring, but not quite. All you really to do is aim straight down or straight up and spam uncharged shots, then charge and time your shots well whenever Ridley gets close and grabs you. It's a little short, but it should be - it's a premise that shows off the depths of Samus and Ridley's unbridled hatred for each other, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

9) Spider Guardian

Boy, this one's gonna rustle some jimmies... yeah, I really like the Spider Guardian fight. But unlike the Boost Guardian fight, I can totally see why people don't like it - it's barely a boss fight in the traditional sense, more of just an extended series of puzzles that you can die to. The fact that you fight it entirely in the morph ball in a 2D space gives it a feeling unlike any other boss fight in the Prime series, and I'm kind of a sucker for "small adventure, big impact"-type stuff. Fun fact: when I first fought this thing, my emulator crashed and I had to replay it again. I fought the Spider Guardian twice in a row... without figuring out how to turn on spring ball. And you know what? I still like it. I'm the weirdo on this one, I guess.

8) Quadraxis

Some would call it sacrilege not to put Quadraxis even higher than it is, but hear me out. This is a really excellent fight, one that I look forward to for obvious reasons every time I play Prime 2. It's huge, possibly the biggest enemy you fight in the entire Prime series, and it's such a determined, persistent foe that the lack of safe zones will start to make you sweat even given how many energy tanks you're likely to have by the time you fight it.

But for all of that, Quadraxis just... doesn't do much. It mostly just stands there, circling its legs around to hide the knee joints it still has, firing projectiles that are Samus-sized - which makes them kind of pathetically small compared to the gargantuan robot that's launching them. Sure, it can do that tornado attack that draws you in, and that's a good time to lay a power bomb and destroy all four of its feet at once - but that attack is honestly more annoying than anything, because I've never figured out how to avoid getting sucked in.

The first phase is easily the best, but when it comes down to it, losing its entire body really does weaken Quadraxis just as much as you'd logically expect. It spends most of the second and third phases completely stunned by super missiles, either fired into the body's antenna or just directly into the head, respectively. The Quadraxis boss fight feels less like fighting a sci-fi war machine, and more just like fighting a real-life war machine. It's insanely durable, but also insanely non-agile.

7) Dark Samus (Prime 3)

Dark Samus's final tenure as boss fight is a pretty damned memorable one. I love how the attacks she uses mirrors those of the three bounty hunters she corrupted and killed over the course of the game - she summons giant destructible pillars like Rundas, fires huge sweeping lasers like Ghor, and splits into multiple entities like Gandrayda. This is by far the best boss fight in Prime 3, and it's absolutely because it's actually balanced for hypermode - after all, you'll be using it nonstop throughout the entire fight. Mix that with the fantastic mirror-boss feel of the first two Dark Samus fights in Prime 2, and you have something truly special.

There's an interesting element of choice whenever she uses her echoes, and then starts healing - the obvious pick is to use the x-ray visor to spot the real one, and cut her healing short as fast as possible. But on the other hand, those annoying duplicates that she loves to fuse with and become invincible are sitting ducks, and destroying them doesn't take that much time. You might find that it's better to let her heal a little if it means getting rid of her echoes and getting some precious anti-phazon in the process.

Sadly, this isn't made to last. Yeah, yeah, we all know where this is going - like I said, all phases of a boss fight are counted together, no matter how drastically different they are. And AU 313... just isn't that fun. For starters, any time it's actually attacking you rather than just sitting there using its most basic moves, you can't do anything to damage it, which is annoying at best and infuriating at worst, given that - just like the last fight with her in Prime 2 - you're on the clock to kill her before you get an instant game over from terminal corruption.

But on top of how annoying the second phase is, the third phase is just... boring. All I ever seem to do is stay right underneath it as best I can, shooting up into its weak spot or that one charged attack that sticks out from the bottom and can stun it if overloaded. Overall, it's just disappointing that the final boss of the entire trilogy starts so strong, only to go out not with a bang, but a whimper.

6) Dark Samus (Prime 2, Second)

Okay, now we're getting to the ones where I struggle to come up with negative things to say. The second Dark Samus fight is fantastic. The way it begins as a steel cage match on the ascending elevator, then she unveils new tricks when you reach the Aerie, including more moves stolen from Samus like the boost ball and fucking shinespark - an attack Samus doesn't even GET in the Prime series - is just incredible. I do find that this fight lacks a bit of the punchiness of the very first one, though - nailing that final shot to end it can take a long time, especially with Dark Samus abusing that aforementioned boost ball. Unlike the Boos Guardian, you can't even bomb her while she's zooming around to get her out of it early (or at least, I've never been able to).

5) Chykka

God, what a good boss fight. The first phase is a little slow paced and annoying, but the second phase is fantastic. Chykka's full-grown design is gorgeous, and its fight is a frantic affair where you're swinging all over the place with the grapple beam, trying to find the best ways to land hits on that twiggy body and then get behind it ASAP once it's stunned. Damaging all four wings at once is also one of the best times to use the severely under-utilized seeker missile. Honestly, Chykka feels really slept on in terms of what an excellent boss it is.

4) Metroid Prime

When I first heard there were people who didn't love Metroid Prime as a final boss, I was honestly baffled. That's how much I fucking love this thing. Its absolutely freakish design, the way you have to switch beam weapons more and more frantically as you fight it deeper and deeper into the Impact Crater, and then you have to pace your missile consumption and decide when is best to use your beam combos - I love it. I love it I love it I love it I love it. It's such a good final exam boss; if it only required bombs or power bombs at any point, it'd be perfect.

Perfect if not for the second phase, anyway. Yeah, I don't need to go into too much detail, because there's nothing new to say. It's the most boring part of the first Prime game, and it's literally the last part of the first Prime game. Nuclear jump rope over and over until it shits out a pool of phazon for you to use, and even then, the overwhelming power of the Phazon Beam as the game's final weapon is undercut by how STUPIDLY tanky this thing is on anything short of easy difficulty. The difference between the two halves of this boss fight are like night and day. If I could only count them separately, the first half would not only stand head-and-shoulders as the best boss in the first game, it would be way higher on the list.

3) Meta Ridley (Prime 1)

Okay, full disclosure, this is a very begrudging placement. The me of a couple playthroughs ago would put Meta Ridley near the beginning of this list out of spite. See, I've only ever played the Trilogy/re-release version of Prime 1, and that version of this boss fight added a new attack where he jumps in the air and then stomps, making a big flaming shockwave. He then does this literally about four or five times in a row, every single time he uses the fucking attack. It was grating, it took forever, it practically guaranteed I'd eventually take serious damage - it single-handedly made me hate this boss fight SO much.

So what happened? Well, I still have only played the Trilogy version - but I figured out that you can just about shoot him in the mouth with a charged plasma beam shot every time he jumps up. I thought this was impossible for the longest time, and so every time he used the stomp attack, I just resigned myself to making absolutely no progress for about thirty solid seconds. Now that I do know this, I've figured out that that's actually the part of the fight where you can do damage to him the fastest - and at the least risk to yourself, unlike his charging-forward attack that will turn you into mincemeat if you don't interrupt it.

So, I owe you an apology, Meta Ridley. Now that I know all the ins-and-outs of your fight, you are the best boss fight in the first game. I understand the hype now, and it's deserved.

2) Emperor Ing

I don't think I've ever understood those people that are really, really into Dark Souls as much as I do while fighting Emperor Ing. The REAL final boss of Prime 2 (no, that last Dark Samus fight does not count) is an absolutely brutally difficult battle on hard difficulty, even if you've gotten 100% item collection before you face him. And... that's kind of what I love about it.

This is a foe that is UTTERLY uncompromising. Either you dominate and destroy it, or you're dead. No in-between. Maybe not in the first phase (if you're like me and just wait until he does that swing-the-tentacles-around-on-the-floor attack and then drop a power bomb), and the second phase is more just for you to recover back to top form than anything else, but the third and final phase? My god. This is the kind of fight I wanted from Quadraxis. I wanted an enemy as brutally lightning-fast and overwhelmingly dangerous as Emperor Ing. Despite his massive size, he's just as, if not MORE agile than the Hunter Ing he resembles. With attacks that change depending on what he's vulnerable to, forcing you to either use the less effective light or dark beam despite the difficulty or unleash the annihilator beam at the risk of running out of ammo, Emperor Ing demands nothing less than mastery - as any ruler should, when you waltz up to take their throne.

1) Dark Samus (Prime 2 First)

God, this fight kicks so much ass. There's no other way to describe the first Dark Samus fight than a knock-down drag-out. She doesn't have that much health, which is reasonable given how early in the game you fight her, but she does FAR more damage than anything else you've faced before her. That combination turns this into a fight that will be over fast no matter how it goes - the only deciding factor is whether you kill her quicker than she kills you.

I think when it comes down to it, this is my favorite Dark Samus fight because it's the one that most perfectly feels like fighting another Samus. The way she leaps around, ducking in and out of cover until that becomes irrelevant as more and more of it gets destroyed, firing shots whenever she sees an opportunity and only being vulnerable as long as she deigns to stay still - that's you. That's how you play Metroid Prime. And you will never realize just how powerful this series makes you until it forces you to fight someone who knows all of the same tricks.

#Metroid Prime #Samus Aran #Metroid Prime 2 #Metroid Prime 3 #Metroid Prime Corruption #Dark Samus #Ridley #Retro Studios

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undermycoat · 1 year

Text

Bird on the Wire

Merlin Wyllt and Arthur Pendragon are office enemies, with Arthur being Merlin's boss from hell, always sending his work back to him with disapproval and disappointment. Merlin wishes for nothing more than to see Arthur keel over, and he tells OnceAndFutureKing – his best friend in the popular mobile game Excalibur Online – as much. Of course, he gets the shock of his life when he and OnceAndFutureKing finally meet, only for Merlin to discover... his online best friend is the same awful boss he's been complaining about? Merlin has managed to avoid getting fired from his job at Avalon Inc so far, but it seems his luck has finally run out.

Rating: T

Word Count: 11.6k

Full text and author's notes under the cut.

Or, read on AO3.

A/N: My gaming experience consists of otomes, osu, Minecraft, and Genshin Impact. I have no clue what I'm talking about when I write about their quests and whatnot. This fic is actually inspired by a manga, but hopefully this is different enough that it's not an exact copy...? I don't know. I just wanted to get out another fic. I feel like I've been in a rut when it comes to fic writing, so I'm just getting out what I can, LOL.

...

“I should just quit. My boss is seriously from hell.” Merlin hit send without a second thought, before a slime hopped across his path, and he raised his staff to strike it with magic.

His companion, OnceAndFutureKing, laughed, or at least typed LOLOLOL. “That bad?” He swung his sword, the weapon making a swooshing noise as he did so. “You should quit.”

“He’s really the worst,” Merlin agreed. They stopped, and Merlin turned to King. “He makes me redo everything I submit! I can’t actually be that bad.”

“Too strict.” King swung his sword. “I say quit.”

Aloud, Merlin sighed, rolling over in bed, while his avatar stood idle. “Can’t,” he finally typed. “The pay is too good. But I still hope my boss dies, LOL.”

King LOLed again too. They continued on with their quest, reaching the next checkpoint. From the corner of his eye, Merlin watched the world chat, but it was mostly the same old same old. He looked at his HP before turning to King. “I think we can finish another lvl.”

“Yusss.” King’s avatar, a (rather cute, in Merlin’s opinion) brown bear in shining silver armour, donning a red cape, swung his sword, and Merlin bit back a smile at the habit. They’d had a lull in their questing, the levels getting suddenly harder once more, so they instead spent time doing 1v1 and completing side quests and events, but they finally racked up enough points and upgraded weapons to take out the equally upgraded monsters. Now, they ran headfirst into the abandoned castle that lay before them, ready to continue their journey.

Merlin tossed his phone onto the bed beside him, burying his face in his pillow and sighing. Some time spent playing Excalibur Online after the worst experience of his life – work – was exactly what he needed. King was a great partner also, good at the game and fun to talk to. They’d been playing together for about seven months and while King had originally been a complete noob, his in-game skills now threatened Merlin’s, OnceAndFutureKing always appearing next to CourtSorcererEmrys – Merlin’s username – on leaderboards. A smile took over his face as he thought about their first meeting. The little bear had been running into the next fight, sword glinting in the bright sunlight, but he would only last a couple seconds before his avatar would disappear and pop up once again at the last checkpoint. After the third try, Merlin stepped in, blocking the monster’s next hit.

“New?” he asked.

OnceAndFutureKing remained silent.

Merlin raised his staff and a bolt of lightning struck the monster dead on, a critical hit, and soon, the path opened up to them once more. “The levels get really hard, right?” He started down the path, OnceAndFutureKing still silent but following behind him. “You need to stay behind your max lvl. Fight smaller enemies or do 1v1.” Behind his screen, he smiled and added, “Noob.”

“WTF is a noob?” OnceAndFutureKing finally spoke. “Also I’m deleting this soon.”

“You’re a noob,” Merlin replied, “and doooon’t. The quest gets more fun from here.”

“Hm,” OnceAndFutureKing said. Then, “Not a noob BTW.”

“Did you google it?”

OnceAndFutureKing didn’t reply. Merlin bit back a laugh, then suggested they continue on questing together now. “I’ll 1v1 you if you need more pts,” he added.

“Ok.”

And so they went, and Merlin found himself grinning the longer they played. OnceAndFutureKing didn’t say much, but that was alright because Merlin had enough to say for both of them, like how rude the customer on the phone was or how, at lunch, the newbie spilled an entire bowl of soup down Merlin’s front, or how when Merlin went to make dinner, he was all out of the main ingredient. Finally, his eyelids were growing heavy, and he slipped up more often than not.

“It’s late,” King said.

“Yeah,” Merlin replied.

“Thx for your help.” King swung his sword, and his red cape fluttered in the breeze. “Can I add you?” Merlin agreed and added him back, and they’d been questing partners ever since.

“Do this again.” Arthur Pendragon dropped the print-outs Merlin made on his desk, nearly knocking over Merlin’s tea and sending his pens rolling off his desk. “The colours don’t fit the theme and the target audience is unclear. Clean it up and try again.”

Merlin met his supervisor’s sharp eyes with a glare of his own. “Geoffrey said it was alright.”

“Mr Monmouth can barely see a millimeter from his face,” Arthur replied. “Besides, he’s not the one in charge of you and this project.” He leant in closer, so Merlin could see the varying shades of blue in his eyes. “I am.”

Merlin grumbled but acquiesced, turning away from Arthur to pull up the file once more. He heard Arthur shift behind him and then the sound of his shoes that probably cost three times Merlin’s pay on the wood floor. Merlin squinted at his computer screen before Arthur said, “And I know you enjoy doing things at your own pace, but for Christ’s sake, Merlin, remember this is a job. Send me the new design by midnight please.”

The “please” was more spat out than said, and Merlin made a face at his screen. “Yessir,” he replied, not turning around. Arthur didn’t reply, and Merlin wondered if he finally pushed the great, prattish Arthur Pendragon to the edge, but after another couple of seconds, the clicking of his shoes rang throughout the room once more. Merlin sighed, shoulders dropping, only for them to go right back to his ears when he checked the time and saw it was already six. Merlin had planned to work overtime, but not past seven, and he knew he’d be working up until the last minute on this stupid flyer. Once again, he sighed and just barely stopped himself from slamming his head into his desk.

At eleven, all the lights had been shut off, and Merlin had even turned off the lamp at his desk, finding the colours more accurate when it was just the glow of his computer screen. He leant back in his chair, legs stretching out under his desk and arms reaching above his head. When he tilted his head back, he saw another light on – Arthur’s office. The prat had his head low, curved over documents scattered across his desk, and he had a pen trapped between his teeth.

Merlin sent him a glare, though it went unnoticed, then, when an alert popped up on his monitor, he got back to work.

Five till midnight had Arthur at Merlin’s desk, now curved over him instead of documents. Merlin swallowed as his supervisor studied the design over his shoulder. His cologne was still a strong scent in Merlin’s nose, even after a full day at the office, and Merlin was itching with the need to get out and away. Finally, Arthur took a breath and stood up straight. “Well,” he said, “it’s not terrible.”

Merlin’s jaw dropped. “Not terrible?” he cried. “It’s ‘not terrible’?” He shoved his chair back, running over Arthur’s foot in the process, making the man shout, but Merlin didn’t care, rising from his seat. “You are evil, Arthur Pendragon! I should file a complaint – I should sue you! This isn’t work! This is torture!”

Arthur was still wincing, hands fists at his sides, but at Merlin’s words, he froze, studying Merlin with a curious expression. The sudden change had Merlin stuttering mid-rant. Oh. He’d really done it this time. Arthur was actually thinking through the logistics of firing him, who would take his place, when to give him his pay, if there were any other openings needing to be filled. Okay. Merlin was fucked.

He was bracing himself for his inevitable dismissal, but all Arthur said was, “Just send me the file, Merlin. And don’t talk to me like that again. Hear me?”

Swallowing his shock, Merlin nodded quickly. “Yes, Mr Pendragon, sir.”

Arthur scoffed. “We both know you don’t mean that, so don’t call me that again.”

Cautiously, Merlin let a smile appear on his lips. “Yeah.” He took a seat once more, avoiding Arthur’s foot when scooting his chair back in, and Arthur watched as he sent him the file. “Anything else?” he asked, heart still racing just a bit.

Arthur sighed. “No, Merlin.” He placed a hand on the back of Merlin’s chair, and Merlin swore his finger brushed against Merlin’s collar, but then he pulled away, and left with a quiet, “Goodnight, Merlin,” tossed over his shoulder.

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck. “Goodnight, Arthur,” he replied, but the man had already gone back into his office, the door shut and locked behind him.

Work went more smoothly the next day, though it still wasn’t great, and while Arthur not pestering him was a blessing, it was at the same time awful because it was clear Arthur was instead avoiding him. Very strange.

Merlin, of course, told OnceAndFutureKing all about it while they played Excalibur Online together. This time, another of Merlin’s online friends joined them, DruidKnight having met him a couple months after Merlin first started playing, then stumbling upon him and King while they were questing, only to make their duo a trio. DruidKnight hadn’t been online as much, busy with A levels, which both Merlin and King emphasised the importance of, though for different reasons.

“It’s just what’s best,” King had said, while Merlin put a lot of exclamation marks and said, “Succeed so you don’t have to work under a demon boss!”

DruidKnight agreed with his own round of exclamation marks.

Now, the three of them were completing a side quest. “Did u c abt the guilt meetup?” DruidKnight asked.

“?” King swung his sword.

“Are you meeting your guild?” Merlin asked. DruidKnight was their friend, but he was in a guild with a few other people. Merlin had thought about joining one himself, but he was content to play as he did now, by himself or with King and the occasional pop in from DruidKnight.

“I think so…,” DruidKnight said. “U n king should meet!”

“?” King swung his sword again.

“U guys r just rly close… and close in age…” DruidKnight waved his own sword. “U should!”

“Are you calling us old?” Merlin asked.

“Not u,” DruidKnight replied. “U r cool. But king…”

“HEY,” King said. “But I wouldn’t be against it. WBU, Emrys?”

Merlin hesitated, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“We don’t have to,” King quickly added. “Only if you want.”

“I do,” Merlin replied finally. “I just don’t want it to mess with our gaming.”

“It won’t,” King promised. “DM?”

DruidKnight waved his sword again. “Pls dont forget me emrys….”

Merlin laughed. “OK,” he replied to King. Then, to DruidKnight, he said, “Of course not. You are my first knight!”

DruidKnight’s cape fluttered, and he waved his sword. “Yayyyyy!”

But anxiety still weighed heavy in Merlin’s stomach, even as they cleared more levels and even managed to get some rare drops from the monsters. When DruidKnight finally said he had to get some studying done, Merlin was ready to use that as an excuse to leave, but King stopped him, picking up the meetup conversation Merlin had been ready to abandon.

It wasn’t that he thought King was catfishing him, and he certainly wasn’t catfishing King, but Merlin had the worst foot-in-mouth syndrome, and King was arguably the best friend he had at the moment ever since moving away from his small hometown of Ealdor and leaving behind Will, his first best friend, now most everyone else being work colleagues, and he heard horror stories of meetups gone awry, where the players lost the chemistry they had before and now their profiles read Last visited 4y ago. Merlin didn’t want that.

But at the same time, the idea of a meetup was exhilarating. For as many meetup horror stories he heard, he found just as—no, twice as many that went well. One even happened to Will, who had introduced him to Excalibur Online right before Merlin had moved away to Camelot, the other likely running high on endorphins still from his successful meetup. She’d been a girl named Freya, who apparently lived only in the next town over, which was still a good ways away, but shockingly close for someone online. That’d been a little over two years ago. Last Merlin heard, Will was thinking of proposing to her.

He didn’t want to marry King or anything like that, but such a successful meetup still had him forcing down his nerves. “When works for you?” he asked.

“I’ve got a big work thing coming up,” King admitted. “But maybe after that? A month and some from now?”

Merlin nodded, though King couldn’t see him. “Me too. How about a month and a half from now? We can talk about it more when the time is closer.”

Their avatars idled for a moment, and Merlin wondered if King was getting cold feet too. A breeze made King’s cape lift, the red splaying out behind him, and Merlin spun his staff. Finally, King said, “Sounds good,” and Merlin let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

They continued to play Excalibur Online like nothing had changed, though Merlin got sweaty palms every time he thought about the looming meetup. DruidKnight joined them sometimes, and they’d clear more levels before he’d disappear once again.

In real life, meanwhile, Merlin found himself hating Arthur Pendragon more and more, the man always having some complaint about Merlin’s work, always some new order more challenging than the last.

“I’m not the only person in the department!” Merlin complained to King after they completed a side quest. “And I know I’m not that bad at my job! I know it!”

King was quiet before he swung his sword and said, “Maybe it’s favouritism.”

“Favouritism? LOL,” Merlin actually laughed aloud, “maybe he’s a sadist.”

“Think about it,” King said. “He trusts you to get the work done, and maybe he sees your potential.”

Merlin worried his lower lip between his teeth. “Maybe,” he finally agreed. “But I still think he could give more to other people. I’m only one person.” King swung his sword, and that’s when Merlin remembered. “You’re a supervisor, right?”

“Yes…”

“I bet you aren’t half as bad as mine. In fact, working for you would probably be paradise in comparison to this.”

“Maybe LOL,” King said. “Not everyone is happy with me.”

“Really?” Merlin rolled over, holding his mobile over his face. “What happened?”

“Got scolded big time by my subordinate,” King answered. “It was really humiliating. But it was a nice wake up call IG.”

“You didn’t fire him, right?” Merlin asked, thinking of his own blunder in front of Arthur. “As a supervisor, you don’t know just how much stress we’re under. You only get our finished products.”

“I didn’t fire him,” King said. “I probably should’ve, but we’re all hauling right now trying to meet deadlines. I don’t think I blame him.”

“Good,” Merlin replied. “Always sucks when things get that bad, but it’s nice that you’re so forgiving.”

King swung his sword, and the conversation came to an end. Together, they went back to fulfilling the main quest.

Merlin watched with narrowed eyes as Arthur stopped at Gwen’s desk. Gwen had been the one to show him the ropes when he started working at Avalon Inc, and she was the one coworker of his he ever considered inviting over for a cuppa. Of course, he never actually did, but he thought about it sometimes, and he thought about it again watching Arthur say something to the woman, which had her glancing over at Merlin, only to see him already looking their way. Flustered, Merlin turned back to his computer. Maybe he could ask another day.

He was going over another’s presentation when he felt a present at his back. Merlin stopped typing and looked up, only to see Arthur standing over him. “Hi,” Arthur said.

“Hullo,” Merlin replied.

“What’s that?” Arthur asked, nodding at Merlin’s monitor.

“Um,” Merlin said, and then, “a presentation.”

“Yours?” Arthur leant forward, and Merlin felt heat along the back of his neck. “Doesn’t look like your work.”

“It’s not,” Merlin confirmed. “It’s Gilli’s.”

“The new intern’s?” Arthur asked, and Merlin nodded. Something like a ghost of a smile flickered across Arthur’s face before he straightened up and patted Merlin’s shoulder. “Kind of you, but I know you’ve got plenty of your own work to do. Best to be doing that instead, yeah?” He caught Merlin’s gaze, and Merlin took a short breath before nodding.

“Right,” he said, “yeah. Right. Yeah.” He nodded again. “I’ll just tell him it’s good, and—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Arthur cut him off. “Just tell him to send it to me as is. I can look it over.”

“I’m sure you’ve got your own work too,” Merlin replied, but Arthur just shook his head.

“Don’t get dedicated now, Merlin.” His hand slipped from Merlin’s shoulder, and Merlin found him oddly bereft without its warmth. “Tell him to send it to me as is, then send me your own work when you’re done with it too.”

Merlin nodded, ducking his head and licking his lips.

Arthur stood there for another second, and Merlin wondered what else he had to say. When he met Arthur’s eyes once more, he was surprised to see the slight flush in the other’s cheeks. Even the tips of his ears seemed to be turning red. “About your work, actually,” he began, and oh, so he was turning red from annoyance, great, “I just wanted to say you’ve improved a lot.”

Merlin blinked.

“So, uh,” Arthur cleared his throat, “keep up the good work.”

“Um,” Merlin said.

“That’s all.” Arthur nodded once to Merlin, then again to himself, before he pivoted and practically marched back to his office, leaving Merlin to stare after him, his own cheeks a bright red, matching those of Arthur’s. Merlin blinked again, rapidly, before looking toward Gwen’s desk. The woman sent him a smile and a thumbs up. Merlin tried to smile back, but he was sure it appeared more as a wince. Still, Gwen kept her thumb in the air until Merlin turned back around to get back to his work.

Since then, Arthur hadn’t done anything weird like he had that day, but he did give Merlin less work, and he also hadn’t sent many things back to Merlin to be redone. Then, the main stressor at the office, a project that would be seen by the CEO – though, Merlin rolled his eyes, that was only Arthur’s father, so maybe it didn’t matter that much – was completed, and when Arthur got back from the meeting, pink in the cheeks and with a forehead shiny from sweat, he stopped by Merlin’s desk and said, “Good job.” At least that’s all he said, and Merlin found himself breathing easy by the time he retreated into his office.

Merlin thought, then, that his life was looking up, but of course he had to be proven wrong when he stepped into a little cafe on his way to work. He thought he had a simple order, but the barista, a teenager in a black apron with curls Merlin wondered if he’d have should he ever let his hair grow out, glared at him the entire time with piercing grey-blue eyes, like storm clouds, and when Merlin stumbled on his way to grab his drink from the boy, the little prick clicked his tongue at him. Merlin refrained from doing something stupid and immature back.

He gave him a two-fingered salute on his way out the door.

Of course, as soon as the door swung shut behind him, a lorry thundered by and sprayed mud all over him, ruining his clothes and forcing him to be thirty minutes late to work. Merlin wiped the same fingers he used to flip off the kid across his eyes, clearing away the mud, and cursed karma. The kid had started it anyway.

By the time he was able to get a new lid on his tea, the drink had gone cold, and Merlin found himself making a new cup altogether at work, feeling his cheeks heat at his tardiness. Still, he liked having something to drink while he worked, and he wasn’t going to stop now.

He was more than ready to collapse into bed and play Excalibur Online when the day ended and he finally got to go back home. DruidKnight and King had already started playing, and Merlin rushed to catch up with them.

“DruidKnight,” he said, “you are so sweet… pls… never change. Don’t let the world harden you… pls…”

“Ofc not,” DruidKnight replied. “Did smthng happen?”

“What didn’t happen today?” Merlin answered. “First I got disrespected by a kid then I had to be late to work then—.” Merlin set his phone down. Well, work wasn’t that bad. He backspaced, the message ending at “work”.

“Sounds rough,” King said.

“I didn’t even get to enjoy my drink,” Merlin whinged.

DruidKnight killed a slime that crossed their path. “Need 2 raise my hp,” he said. “Hold on.”

They went over to a fire pit, and Merlin gave DruidKnight some of his raw ingredients so that the boy could make more food items with higher HP. DruidKnight waved his sword. “Yesssssss,” he said. “Thx ilu emrys.”

“YW,” Merlin replied, smiling at the boy’s warmth. He was surprised DruidKnight hadn’t wanted to join in on his and King’s meetup plans, but he did worry a bit about DruidKnight’s attachment to him. Merlin might only be twenty-three, but there was an ocean between that and DruidKnight’s teenagehood. Still, he figured this was an adolescent thing, and DruidKnight would grow out of it eventually.

When the food was done cooking, DruidKnight tossed Merlin two pieces, and Merlin quickly added them to his inventory. “Thanks,” he said.

“Np,” DruidKnight replied, before tossing one to King too. “Ok we can keep going now.” He added a little happy face at the end, and in real life, Merlin smiled. They beat some low-level enemies, DruidKnight challenged King to a one-on-one, and then they went on to the next level.

They were collecting the enemies’ drops when DruidKnight continued: “Oh when r u guys mtg? Thats gna happen soon right?”

“Yeah,” King replied, while Merlin spun his staff. “We don’t have a date yet, but we’ll figure it out soon.”

“Hav fun,” DruidKnight said. “Hav u guys met any1 from EO b4?”

“No,” they both answered.

DruidKnight hummed (Hmmmm) before he waved his sword. “GL then. Its rly fun.”

“Have you met your guild yet?” King asked.

DruidKnight waved his sword again. “Soon,” he said.

“GL to you too then,” King replied, then swung his sword.

“Thx,” DruidKnight said.

They continued with their quest.

Merlin started when he saw a DM from King. “How about this weekend? Saturday?” the message read. Merlin swallowed, fingers shaky when he replied in agreement. King sent a happy face, and Merlin watched his avatar block a blow from a goblin’s staff, while DruidKnight did a magical attack, getting a critical hit in, though the monster still lived. Merlin’s own avatar, human-like, though he had wings like a falcon and wore a witch’s hat, stood idle, and he rushed to join the fight, especially when some lower-class mobs spawned, nuisances to the main fight.

It was Tuesday night, meaning there were really only three days between now and when Merlin and King would meet. Sleep did not come easy when he finally put his phone down and went to bed.

Saturday came much too soon. They’d agreed to meet at a Starbucks a couple blocks away from Merlin’s flat, and he was surprised to find that King lived a similar distance from it. So, they were in the same area. Briefly, he wondered if perhaps they’d met before, but Camelot was such a huge city it was hard to believe. If they had, Merlin was certain it’d only have been in passing, getting on or off the tube, brushing by each other on the way home. Nothing remarkable.

He fiddled with his neckerchief, a bold fashion choice suggested by Gwaine, another one of his coworkers and one not meant to be trusted, but Merlin was in such a panic by the end of the day Friday he was willing to listen to anyone. Besides, Gwaine was the only one who seemed to have any luck on their floor in scoring dates. Even Arthur seemed to be perpetually single, though Merlin knew not a small amount of his female colleagues had their eye on him. Plus, Merlin would rather get struck by lightning then hit by a bus before he went to Arthur for advice.

Now, he was regretting the choice, as in his worry, he began to overheat, and he was sure his cheeks and ears were turning a furious red. At least his neck was spared, hidden as it was under the patterned fabric.

He continued to wait, drinkless and alone at a table, which earned him an annoyed look from one of the baristas, and he was considering giving up and going home, when the door jingled. Panic surging once more in his belly, Merlin kept his eyes on the floor, until a pair of sneakers entered his sight. He looked up.

It was that fucking kid from the cafe! He blanched, but the other didn’t seem to notice, as all he did was hold up his mobile and go, “Do you play Excalibur Online?”

“Um,” Merlin said, and then, “yes.”

“Oh,” the kid replied. “Cool.” He took the seat across from Merlin.

This kid was a supervisor…? A manager, for real? He couldn’t be older than sixteen, maybe seventeen. Merlin swallowed and drummed his fingers on his thighs.

“So,” he began, “did your project go well?”

The kid looked up, eyes still like the sky before it rained, and Merlin swallowed before sticking out a hand. “Um, the name is Merlin. Nice to meet you.”

“Mordred.” The kid took his hand, giving it a hesitant shake. “Pleasure.”

Another moment passed before Mordred leant back in his chair. “Project…?”

“You mentioned it before,” Merlin said.

Mordred appeared to think for a moment before his eyes widened and he nodded. “Yeah. It went well. The costume for one of them didn’t fit, so we had to start that one over, but otherwise, everything turned out okay.”

Costume…? Was this kid part of a theatre group? Merlin thought about all of the times King talked about work. It never sounded like he did theatre, and he never gave any indication he enjoyed the arts – at least, not enough to participate in them – but he supposed King might have assumed Merlin wouldn’t understand. Merlin nodded.

“Ah,” he said. “That’s good….” He glanced around, then pointed to the counter, where a queue had started to form. “Um, maybe we should get our drinks? Or we could go somewhere less crowded?” It felt weird to offer, but this entire meetup was turning out completely different from what he expected.

Mordred frowned, tilting his head. “Shouldn’t we wait for the other members first?”

“Huh?” Merlin stared blankly at Mordred. “I thought it was just the two of us….”

Mordred’s frown deepened. “But it was LastHighPriestess and WarlordSunGod who planned this?”

Merlin blinked before it clicked. “This isn’t—I think you have the wrong person. Are you here for a guild meetup?”

Mordred nodded, finally losing the frown. “Are you not part of the Old Religion guild?” Merlin shook his head, and Mordred ahhed before rising from his seat. “Sorry then. Um. Good luck with your meeting.” He nodded his head to Merlin one more time before the door jingled as another group of people walked in, and this time, Mordred aha’d in recognition. Merlin refrained from burying his head in his hands.

He heard Mordred say something to one of the people in the group, a woman with bleached blond hair and heavy eyeliner, looking much more like the kind of person Mordred would hang out with, and Merlin sighed before sinking deeper into his chair. He once again thought about going back home and tried his best not to feel like someone stood up on a blind date. Unsure of his next move, he pulled out his mobile once more, deciding to play some Excalibur Online, thinking it might soothe his nerves as it often did.

It did not.

Upon opening the app, the first thing he saw was a private message from King.

“Something came up at work,” it said. “Do you mind waiting ~45 minutes?”

Merlin did, but at least he understood sudden changes in work schedules. He shot back a reply, telling King that it was fine, and tried to ignore the eyes he sometimes felt on the back of his head. He knew if he turned around, he’d see Mordred looking over at him. Kids these days, Merlin thought, feeling not unlike an old man, so fucking weird.

After another handful of minutes passed, Merlin started up Excalibur Online again. Luckily, DruidKnight was online, and Merlin quickly went to join him. “Want to continue the quest?” he asked.

“Ah,” DruidKnight said, and he waved his sword, “i wld but im w my guild…”

“Really?” Merlin bit back a laugh. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone today too.”

“R U FINALLY MTG KING?!?!?” DruidKnight suddenly got frantic in his sword-waving, likely spamming the button. Merlin allowed himself a quiet laugh, still aware of his very public surroundings.

“Yeah,” he replied. “But King is late. Said work came up.”

“Oh…,” DruidKnight’s cape fluttered, “i can still talk to u tho!”

“Thanks, Druid,” Merlin said. “But you should really focus on your guild.”

“Its ok! I like talking to u!”

Merlin smiled. “I’ve got an hour before King comes so…”

“Owww,” DruidKnight said, “but dont u think he seems like a hard wrkr?”

Merlin LOLed, though he did agree. “A bit.”

“Hes quik on his ft n smart. A real match 4 u!”

“Aren’t you laying it on a bit thick?” Merlin asked. “Is he really that great?” He found himself nodding in agreement, but while DruidKnight was pretty earnest, it was usually directed toward praising Merlin.

“I still like u the most,” DruidKnight promised.

Merlin went to reply but paused when he saw a new message from King.

“Okay,” it said, “I’m ready.”

When Merlin focused on the game again, DruidKnight’s speech bubble just finished saying, “I hav 2 gt bck to my mtg now!”

Merlin spun his staff, while DruidKnight’s avatar ran up and down the path before it finally said: “Nxt time u meet! Pls invite me!” Merlin blinked, surprised at the sudden boldness, before he typed a cautious “sure” in reply.

Meanwhile, OnceAndFutureKing had sent another round of messages.

“Wait,” the first one read, “is it the Starbucks at Darkling Station?” The second one was him double-checking that’s where Merlin was, and the last one… Merlin’s grip around his mobile tightened.

“Is it ok if I call you?”

Merlin glanced at the door. Outside, strangers passed by in technicolour, and around him, he heard voices overlap in conversation. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, he supposed, and sent King his number.

He was teetering on the edge of a panic attack, full of regret and embarrassment at his complete breaking of the Internet 101 rules, when his screen darkened with an incoming call. Arthur Pendragon flashed at the top of his screen, and Merlin held back an annoyed groan. Arthur rarely called him when he was off work, but when he did, it was never anything good.

“Hello?” he asked. “Is something the matter?”

“Merlin?” Arthur sounded incredulous.

“What is it?” Merlin asked. Why’d he say Merlin’s name like a question? “Is something wrong?”

“Where are you right now?”

“At the Starbucks near Darkling Station,” Merlin answered, hesitant, while worry bubbled in his stomach. “What is it?”

“That’s the one south of Avalon, right?” Arthur asked.

“Yes,” Merlin stuttered. “Is this about work? I’m kind of busy. And I thought with the project being over—”

“Just stay there,” Arthur said, and Merlin heard the murmur of a crowd through his phone’s tinny speaker, and then there was the jingle of the door, except Merlin heard it through his phone and in real time, and when he looked up, Arthur was standing in the doorway, scanning the Starbucks until his eyes landed on Merlin. His face was flushed, and his knuckles were white from the grip he had on his phone.

Merlin rose from his chair, practically on instinct, his fight or flight kicking in. “Arthur?” he asked. “What are you doing here? I meant it when I said I’m busy. I—”

Arthur held up his phone, and a familiar avatar was idling in Excalibur Online. Merlin paled and sunk back into his seat.

“Oh,” he said, voice little more than a whisper. “You’re – haha – OnceAndFutureKing. Of course you are. And I complained about—you’re King. Right. Of course.”

“Emrys?” Arthur prompted.

“My middle name,” Merlin answered, trying to hide his face in the neckerchief he was now extremely grateful for. “It’s Ambrose. Emrys is the Welsh equivalent.”

“Merlin A Wyllt,” Arthur recited before nodding. “I see.”

Merlin wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him whole. He stayed silent while Arthur looked between him and the counter.

“Have you gotten a drink yet?” Arthur asked. “I’m going to go order one.”

Merlin shook his head.

“I can get you one,” Arthur said, but Merlin just shook his head once more and rose from his seat.

“I can get my own,” he said, and with this small defiance of Arthur, he felt a bit more like himself, tugging the neckerchief down to better expose his face, though he knew he was still red in the cheeks, and standing straighter. “Come on.”

When they got their drinks, Merlin thought they might sit down again, but someone had managed to snatch their table. Merlin stared morosely at his previous seat before Arthur nudged him and nodded to the door. “We can get a proper meal somewhere else,” he said.

They walked in silence for a bit, though Merlin ached with the need to say something, before Arthur cleared his throat.

“So,” he said, and Merlin glanced over at him from the corner of his eye, “I’m your demon boss from hell.”

“When you say it out loud it’s a bit….” Merlin coughed into his fist before rolling his shoulders back. “Yeah. You are.” He took a sip of his drink before narrowing his eyes. “I don’t get how you couldn’t put it together. Even if I weren’t talking about you, the habits were too similar.”

“You didn’t exactly tell me what I said – or, he said,” Arthur argued. “Just that you wished I’d die, and that I’m the devil, and that I should go to hell. Stellar reviews, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Merlin glared at the pavement in front of him. “You really are awful, though.”

Arthur gave a noncommittal shrug. “I wasn’t great for a long while, sure, but I think I’ve improved.” He lifted his cup to his lips. “I took your advice.”

“What?” Merlin lifted his gaze to look over at Arthur.

“I’ve brought you up before,” Arthur explained, “to yourself.” He thought for a second. “It was back when you ran over my foot. Or a bit after that. Sometime around then.”

Merlin cursed under his breath.

“You don’t forget your subordinate running over your foot, Merlin,” Arthur said. “But you brought up me being a manager, and you reminded me of all the work I don’t see. The work you do. I guess I started thinking about that more from that point on, and I tried to make the work a bit more even. And threw in some encouragement.”

“You always looked constipated,” Merlin told him. “I thought perhaps Uther threatened to take away your Rolls-Royce if you didn’t say something nice.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You can call me Arthur, but you should really make sure to call him Mr Pendragon when he’s around.”

“I do!” Merlin protested. “You just never listen to me.”

“Clearly I’ve just proven that I do listen to you,” Arthur said. “So. There.”

Merlin scoffed. “You’re such a kid.”

“Kids don’t drive Range Rovers,” Arthur replied.

“So Daddy did take away your Rolls-Royce.” Merlin raised his brows in mock surprise.

“No,” Arthur snapped, “that’s what I’m using my next paycheck on. Then he can threaten to take away my Royce.”

Merlin glanced over to see Arthur already looking at him. His lip quivered for a moment before he burst into a laugh. At his reaction, Arthur grinned. After he collected himself, Merlin stopped. “Did you know it was me?”

Arthur paused too. “In the game?”

Merlin nodded.

It was clear Arthur had an answer, but he hesitated, lips parting while he looked off to the side. Merlin stepped closer when people had to walk around him. Arthur took a step back, running into the display window of the bookstore they stopped in front of. “Not really,” he finally said, “but I considered the possibility. When you ran over my foot, when you got mad, it sounded similar to the way Emrys talked, so I thought maybe, but I didn’t know, not really.”

Merlin took a sip of his drink, so he didn’t have to reply right away. “I see.”

“And you had no idea I was…?” Arthur trailed off, but he needn’t finish the question.

Merlin shook his head. “Not a clue. I should’ve realised it, though.”

“Well,” Arthur lifted his drink in mock cheers before continuing on with their walk, “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Why not?”

Arthur took a sip. When he swallowed, he said, “You wouldn’t have kept playing EO with me otherwise.”

Merlin went to argue, but he knew it was true. He wasn’t even sure he could keep playing now. Arthur was a good companion in-game, but Merlin knew a lot of their conversation would be stilted, knowing he couldn’t complain to the extent he wanted with Arthur being the one he was complaining about. The conversation was prevented from continuing when he spotted a restaurant up ahead they could eat at. They finished their drinks before stepping inside. He’d been to it before, the place having good vegetarian options that weren’t just fancy salads.

When they found a seat, Arthur continued: “You haven’t talked about it as much, though.”

“What?”

“Work,” Arthur said. “You haven’t had as much to say about it. Or me, at least.”

Merlin fiddled with the curling edge of the paper menu. “Well,” he said, “you haven’t been as awful as you used to be.” They continued to talk even after they got their food, and while it wasn’t the easy conversation they had in-game, it also wasn’t the terse chats they had at work either.

Still, Merlin felt queasy with every lengthening pause between their words, until finally, he stood. “Loo,” he said quickly, before making a hasty retreat.

At the sink, he splashed water on his face, and in the mirror, he reminded himself that this was Arthur – bossy, rude, stupid idiot Arthur – and he knew how to talk to Arthur, and he knew Arthur wouldn’t fire him for something outside of work. If he didn’t fire him for calling him awful and evil to his face, nor for running over his foot, he for sure wouldn’t fire Merlin for playing a video game with him.

“Get it together, Merlin,” he said before pushing himself away from the counter and going to the door. He pushed it open, and he was ready to leave, only to run into someone. He stumbled back and held in a noise of surprise at the face.

“Merlin?” Mordred asked.

“What are you doing here?” Merlin took another step back.

“My guild decided to eat here,” Mordred replied. “One of the members’ brothers runs this place.”

Merlin stared. “Oh,” he said.

“Did you find who you were looking for?” Mordred asked.

Merlin nodded.

“Not going well?”

Merlin shook his head.

Mordred glanced around, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, before he suggested, “I could sit with you guys maybe? Just for a bit. To break the ice.”

Again, Merlin shook his head. “It’s really alright,” he said. “You should spend time with your guild.”

“No,” Mordred held up a hand, “they won’t mind.” He studied Merlin for a second before stepping back out the restroom, Merlin following. After Merlin pointed out their table, Mordred nodded and led the way back. When they reached the table, Mordred waved. “Hi.”

Arthur nodded. “Hello.”

“This is Mordred,” Merlin cut in. “He plays EO too.”

“Really?” Arthur leant back in his chair. “Going to play with us?”

Mordred dipped his head before taking a seat. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Arthur replied, as Merlin sat back in his chair.

When they logged on, Mordred made a small noise. At Merlin and Arthur’s twin inquisitive looks, he shook his head. “You guys have a lot more points than me. I’m a bit, ah, intimidated.”

At that, Merlin smiled. “No worries. I’ve been playing for a while, so.”

“My weapon is OP,” Arthur explained, and his avatar swung his sword.

Mordred nodded, while his own avatar spun its staff, much like Merlin’s did. He was also a bear, much like Arthur, but where Arthur wore armour, Mordred’s avatar wore deep green robes. KingSlayer was his username. Arthur gave a laugh.

“Unfortunate usernames,” he said, and Mordred gave a small smile.

“I had a bit of an emo phase,” he explained.

Merlin raised a brow. “Phase?” He looked over at Mordred’s clothes, all varying shades of black, complete with boots perfect for a mosh pit. Mordred held his phone in front of his face, preventing Merlin from seeing his expression, though he could still see the teenager’s cheeks darken.

“Whatever,” Mordred said. And then, he gasped, “Look!”

The three of them held their phones closer to see a rare, high-level beast – a gryphon with white wings and a sharp beak, tongue out and ugly as it hissed at them. Merlin glanced at Arthur to find him already looking back.

They nodded and got to work.

Mordred tried to help, but his low level and weak HP, along with an unfortunate critical hit from the gryphon, had him dying early. “Sorry,” he said aloud, but Merlin just waved the apology away with a distracted hand.

“No worries,” he said, before Arthur told him to move and use a stunning spell, so he could go in and get the gryphon in the stomach.

They continued on like that, the pair of them giving orders only halfway said, the other knowing what to do from memory. They were a seamless team, and it wasn’t long before the gryphon was dead, disappearing in a shimmering haze, and leaving behind coins, a sharp claw, and two shining feathers.

“Yes!” Merlin cheered, reaching across the table to take Arthur’s hand in a poorly thought-out high-five. Poorly thought-out, as his fingers had a different idea, and instead tried to lace with Arthur’s own. Merlin nearly dropped his phone, releasing Arthur’s hand and sitting back in his seat. “Sorry.”

Arthur coughed into his serviette. Mordred leant forward.

“That was so cool!” he said. “You guys are really good.”

“Thanks,” Merlin replied, finally looking over at him, and grateful for the distraction from his blunder. “Lots of practice. Too much, probably, for a working adult.” He nodded his head. “You should focus on school. You’re still a student, right?”

Mordred nodded.

“Make sure to go to a good university,” Arthur added. “It’s good to have a plan for the upcoming years, especially when you’re about to become an adult.”

“Get into a good university, so you don’t have to have a trash job,” Merlin said. “Make sure you have a good boss when you work too.”

“My shift manager is nice,” Mordred replied.

“That’s good,” Merlin said, and then Mordred rose from his seat.

“I’ve got to get back to my meeting,” he told them, “but it was nice meeting you.”

Merlin and Arthur gave similar sentiments, and it appeared that Mordred was going to leave, when he stopped and looked back at Merlin. “If you ever do an offline meeting again, invite me, okay?”

Bewildered, Merlin nodded, though he wasn’t sure he’d remember Mordred’s username. He supposed he knew where the kid worked, but he wasn’t keen on seeing him again, no matter their apparent shared passion for Excalibur Online. Seeing Merlin at his job might remind Mordred of their meeting, and he didn’t really want that.

Mordred gave them a wave before disappearing behind a room divider.

“Merlin,” Arthur said once he was gone, “I want to keep playing EO with you.”

Merlin blinked before his gaze dropped back to his phone. “Yeah,” he agreed, “me too.” He fiddled with the ringer button, flicking it on and off, before he left it on “off”, and he looked up at Arthur.

“Look,” he said, “I’m sorry.” He swallowed and was grateful Arthur didn’t immediately react to his words. “I know I’m not the best employee, but I do care. About my job, I mean. I mean, about the work I do. And – I’m sure you get told this, but – I admire you. Or, not you, but what you do. You’re capable.” He went back to messing with his phone. “You’re a good leader.”

Arthur remained silent.

Merlin cringed, regretting his honesty.

“Thank you,” Arthur finally said, and Merlin looked up from where his thumb pressed against his mobile’s power button. “I appreciate that a lot.” His cheeks were ruddy, the colour even going across his nose, but he met Merlin’s eyes, and he seemed sincere. “And I don’t think you’re a bad employee. Insolent, sure. Disrespectful? In a way I never even thought possible. But it’s clear that you try, and it’s clear that, for all your whinging, which is what you do, don’t even try to deny it, you enjoy what you do. At the end of the day, you care, and that’s what I consider most important at Avalon. People can suck up to me, or to my father, all they want, but if I had to choose between them or you…,” Arthur trailed off as what he was saying seemed to catch up with him. Merlin watched as his tongue darted out to swipe across his lower lip. Part of him wanted Arthur to finish that statement, but as Arthur only continued to stare, fingers twitching where they held his serviette, Merlin spared him.

“Thanks,” he said. “That’s nice to hear.”

“Well,” Arthur cleared his throat, shaking his head so his hair fell more across his eyes, “don’t expect anything like that again. I just figured, if we’re sharing how we feel.”

“Right,” Merlin said. “No. I agree.” And then, because he has chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, he added: “So you choose me, huh? Just this once? Or every time? Because it sounds like it’d be every time.”

“Merlin.” Arthur glared at him from across the table.

“It’s okay, Arthur. I know you can’t help me being your favourite. That’s just how it is.” Merlin grinned as he spooned up his curry. “I get it.”

“Um,” a voice said from behind him then, and Merlin turned around to see Mordred standing there, hands shoved in his pockets. He pulled one out to point at the mess of dishes on the table. “I forgot my phone.”

“And you didn’t notice till now?” Arthur asked.

Mordred nodded while Merlin handed him the device. “Thanks,” he told Merlin. He glanced at Arthur but said nothing, and with that, he left, shoving his phone into his pocket, hand following soon after.

“Wonder what his problem is,” Merlin said.

Arthur crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat. “Teenagers,” he replied.

Things continued to go well after that. At work, they weren’t exactly friends, but Merlin felt the pressure on him lessen. Still, he continued to do his best, and Arthur appeared pleased – Merlin rarely had to redo assignments now. Outside of work, they met up surprisingly often, though they mostly used the time to play Excalibur. Surprisingly, Arthur was good at keeping his work and personal life separate, and Merlin was grateful for the reprieve.

Despite the positives, Merlin found DruidKnight playing with them less and less.

“He’s got A levels, doesn’t he?” Arthur said when Merlin told him his worry. “Those are starting soon, right?”

“They’ve already started,” Merlin replied. “I just think it’s odd…,” he trailed off as a slime hopped across the screen. He killed it before continuing: “Do you think everything’s alright?”

Arthur shrugged, and Merlin delivered a kick to his shin that had him whining. “He’s fine,” Arthur finally said. “He’s a kid. He’s probably got mood swings. Or maybe a girlfriend.”

“Maybe,” Merlin agreed, but he didn’t think so.

He ended up going back to Mordred’s cafe.

“Morning,” he said, while Mordred glared at him. He made a face at the teenager’s expression. “Is there something wrong?”

“No,” Mordred replied. “I was running late this morning and didn’t have time to put in my contacts.”

Merlin blinked. “Do you not have glasses?”

“Broke them,” Mordred said. “Haven’t had time to order new ones.”

So Mordred hadn’t been glaring at him. Not today and not back then. Okay. “Isn’t that a problem?” he asked. “At school or anything?”

Mordred shrugged. “I usually wear my contacts.”

Merlin hummed then placed his order. As Mordred wrote it down, Merlin deliberated on whether or not he should ask his next question. He finally decided as Mordred went to print his receipt. “You’re a teenager,” he said, making Mordred give him a concerned look, “so you know what it means if a kid starts avoiding you, right?”

“Uh,” Mordred replied. “I mean, we aren’t that different, are we?”

Merlin narrowed his eyes, and Mordred backtracked.

“It’s just,” Merlin continued when Mordred stuttered to a stop, “we used to play EO together, not all the time, but often, and I know there’s A levels, but they’ve also already started, and it’s like he looks for reasons not to hang out. He’s a good kid, but I just get worried, you know?”

Mordred stared at him. “He’s probably fine,” he finally said. “You might just be imagining it. Besides, you said it yourself, A levels are here. Even if they’re already underway, they can be really draining. He’s probably passing out as soon as he gets home.”

Merlin messed with the frayed edge of his sleeve. Another stylistic choice he was starting to regret as it itched against his palm. “You think so?” he asked. “I just think it’d be fun to quest with him again.”

Mordred gave him something like a smile. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m sure it’s fine.” He waved a hand. “He might even invite you on a quest soon himself. So. Don’t give up. Or something.”

The words hung funnily in the air, until Merlin broke through them with a laugh. “You’re right,” he said. “You’re right.” He nodded and sent Mordred a relieved grin. “Thanks. I’ll try not to let it get me down anymore.”

Mordred nodded back, and Merlin stepped away, and soon he had his drink and was heading out the door. He thought Mordred might be looking at him as he left, but when he glanced back, Mordred was focussed on another customer’s order. Merlin shrugged and continued on his way to work.

The next day, DruidKnight was back, and this time, he offered to help Merlin in a special event that had been going on throughout the week. Merlin accepted. It seemed Arthur and Mordred had been right – he had been overthinking it.

Arthur was quiet at their next meeting.

“Is everything alright?” Merlin asked.

Arthur shrugged.

“Is it a work thing?” he prodded. “I won’t tell anyone, if it is.”

“Not a work thing,” Arthur replied. “I just got an odd message from DruidKnight.”

“Did you?” Merlin asked, to which Arthur nodded, and angled his phone so Merlin could see the DM.

“I know about you and Emrys,” he read, “but I won’t give up.”

He looked up at Arthur. “He knows we work together…?”

Again, Arthur shrugged. “Maybe he wants to work at Avalon when he finishes school?”

“Why anyone would want to do that,” Merlin began, making Arthur shove him. On screen, his avatar shuddered at a critical hit from the skeleton they were fighting. Merlin glared at Arthur. “Thanks.”

Arthur’s lips curled upwards at the corners. He remained silent as he typed a reply to DruidKnight, and Merlin let his game idle while he scooted closer to read over Arthur’s shoulder. Best of luck to you, he said. Merlin raised his brows.

“Could sound a bit less like an ass,” he said.

“I’ll fire you,” Arthur replied.

Merlin rolled his eyes.

Merlin hated to admit it, but he liked Arthur. And he wasn’t just talking as a supervisor or as someone to play games with.

He knew, objectively, the man was handsome. He was all muscle – practical strength – and golden hair and crystalline eyes, eyes like God took the sky and put them in his irises, and for all his teasing, he could be startlingly honest, and it was clear that, for all the potential nepotism, he wanted to do well at work and he cared about those under him, even if he had trouble expressing it. Very much an “I push you because I care” mentality. Merlin wasn’t much of a fan of it, but for Arthur, he supposed he could be.

He had already liked OnceAndFutureKing plenty, and maybe he had spent a night or two dreaming what the other player could look like, whether he had dark hair or light, eyes like the sea or eyes like the earth, whether he was tall or short, and maybe he did one time wish things could go for him like things went for Will and Freya, but he was never serious about it. And he never thought OnceAndFutureKing would turn out to be the same man he worked under.

But every piece of Arthur Pendragon coming together into a perfect puzzle had Merlin struggling to keep hold of his heart, and he found himself with a very annoying crush.

Gwen, having been through something similar – and by that he meant, everyone on his floor had had a crush on Arthur at one point or another – was very sympathetic. “He clearly likes you best,” she told him. “The only thing is – dating your boss?”

“He’s not technically,” Merlin said, but that was enough indication to both of them how far gone he was.

“Get well soon,” Gwaine told him, while Lancelot, who worked on the floor above them but also was in a relationship with Gwen and had come down to eat lunch with them, did his best to look like the reminder that Gwen once had a crush on Arthur didn’t send him into a spiral about her current affections for him. Merlin just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

Lancelot’s presence had Merlin turning on Gwen, though, saying, “Dating your coworker?” He tsked, shaking his head, while Gwaine cheered, seeing as he was rather experienced with dating coworkers.

“He does like you most,” Gwaine said after calming. “It’s a bit obvious. Absolutely killing George.” Another intern, George was, efficient and intelligent, and Merlin admired him to an extent. The only bad part about George was that when Uther had stopped on their floor to discuss something with Arthur, he made it clear Merlin’s job was the intern’s as soon as Merlin got fed up and quit or was fired. Unfortunately for Mr Pendragon, it appeared that wasn’t going to be anytime soon.

“Would you quit if it meant you could date Arthur?” Lancelot asked.

Merlin hesitated. Gwen began to grin. “No!” Merlin finally said. “No. I wouldn’t. I’m not that unprofessional.” But the damage had been done, and he left his lunch break with burning cheeks and ears that glowed red.

Before work, he stopped by Mordred’s cafe another couple of times, the teenager much less annoying now that Merlin understood he wasn’t glaring. Sometimes they talked, but for the most part he would just get his drink and go. Still, the drinks were better than Starbucks and cheaper, so he found himself returning more and more.

Meanwhile, Arthur got another slew of strange messages from Mordred, each one growing in vitriol, until Merlin read them through again and said, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Really?” Arthur asked, eyes locked on the final message from Mordred, one that read: U R DEAD KING. EMRYS WILL C. FR. “You think so?”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t think we’re coworkers.”

“So what does he think we are in—,” Arthur scrolled through the messages quickly, “oh. He thinks we’re—oh.” He swallowed. “So does that mean he…?”

“I thought he did,” Merlin replied, “but I don’t say anything because acknowledging it means to encourage it.”

“But you were rather concerned about him not being online,” Arthur said.

“He’s a sweet teenager trying to complete his A levels and get into a good school,” Merlin told him. “Tell me those weren’t the worst years of your life.”

Arthur thought it over before giving a weak shrug. “Childhood is rough.”

At that, Merlin leant away to give him a long look. “Not quite what I was going for, but. Sure.” He disliked Uther by virtue of the man being his boss, and a billionaire, and for slapping rainbows on things during Pride month all while giving disgusted looks at the gay flag Merlin kept in a mug on his desk, but now he found his opinion of him souring for Arthur too. Awful man, truly. Maybe he should quit. Any money from Uther felt increasingly like dirty money.

He blinked and shoved those thoughts away before he could study them further. “If he were backing off, I’d say to keep up the delusion. But maybe we should tell him the truth, if only so you don’t get more messages like that.” He nodded his head at the message proclaiming Arthur dead.

Arthur agreed.

Later that night, when he’d gone back to his flat, Merlin got a text from Arthur. It was a screenshot of his and DruidKnight’s DMs. Arthur’s explained that they were just coworkers and were not together in any romantic capacity, which stung Merlin more than he liked, and DruidKnight’s said, “Oh.”

Arthur had sent a shrugging emoji with the screenshot. Merlin wasn’t sure what to say to it either, but he supposed it was better than a death threat, albeit a weak one.

When Merlin saw Mordred a couple days later, the teenager seemed more cheerful than usual.

“Something good happen at school?” he asked as he took his drink.

Mordred shook his head. “Just got some good news.”

Merlin ahhed. “Well,” he smiled again, “have a good day then!”

Mordred actually gave him a proper grin. “You too!”

Again, Merlin felt eyes on him as he left, and this time, when he turned around, Mordred was looking at him still. He lifted a hand in a wave. Merlin hesitated, then waved back.

“Have you ever considered,” Arthur began when Merlin went into his office at lunch, “that Mordred is DruidKnight?”

Merlin blinked as he took a seat in front of Arthur’s desk. “No,” he said. “Why?”

“Maybe because he is,” Arthur replied. “And because he fits the bill?”

“Really?” Merlin tapped a finger to his chin. “But Mordred is so…,” he made a face, “you know. And DruidKnight really is sweet.”

“He sent me death threats,” Arthur said.

“You know he wouldn’t actually kill you,” Merlin argued.

“DruidKnight is Mordred.” Arthur pulled out his lunch. “That KingSlayer was an alternate account of his.”

“I just don’t know if—”

“Merlin,” Arthur said, “they’re the same person. At that first meetup, he was clearly hanging out for your sake. And when he left? He was probably trying to figure out if he wanted my head on a spike or a platter.”

“That’s because Mordred is a creepy emo teenager,” Merlin replied, accepting the bowl of pad thai Arthur passed him. “You probably intimidate him. You’re very…,” he studied Arthur with narrowed eyes, and found it a bit like looking into the sun, “intimidating.”

Arthur scoffed. “He likes you, Merlin.”

“What does it matter if he – if either of them – do?” Merlin speared a square of tofu with a bit more force than necessary. “It’s not like I like him back, and you’re not my keeper. You can supervise me at work, but not in my personal life.”

“God forbid I try to be your friend,” Arthur snapped.

“Micromanaging my life is not being my friend,” Merlin snapped back.

“I’m your supervisor!” Arthur argued. “That’s what I’m supposed to do!”

Merlin really regretted his thought about Arthur having a good work-life balance. “So pick one, Arthur. Supervisor or friend, because you sure as hell can’t be both.”

“And why not?” Arthur rose from his desk, hands slamming down on the wood. “You had no problem with me being both before!”

“And I didn’t want to kiss you silly before!” Merlin replied before he realised what he said, and his hands flew to his mouth. “Pretend I didn’t just say that,” he said from behind his fingers.

Arthur stared at him, eyes wide. “Merlin,” he said, but Merlin was already spinning on his heel and running out of his office. At his desk, he began gathering his pencils and pens, and in his head, he was writing his resignation letter, which looked a lot like a suicide note, and Arthur was shoving past George and Lancelot, who once again took his lunch with Gwen, and the closer he got to Merlin’s desk the quicker Merlin worked to shove his papers and the framed picture of himself and his mum into his satchel until the bag fell from his chair and Arthur reached his cubicle.

“Merlin,” he repeated, and Merlin swallowed, cheeks bright red in the bright office light. Arthur met his eyes, blue on vibrant blue. Arthur took another breath. “Merlin,” he said one last time, “you’re fired.”

Merlin exploded. Taking Arthur by the arm, he pulled him back to his office, apologising to Lancelot and George on their way back. When they entered the small room, he shoved Arthur back down into his chair. “I can run over your foot! Curse you to hell and back! Do a thousand little other things that would have anyone else out the door and jobless, but you fire me because I – like everyone else on this stupid fucking floor, might I add – think you’re not awful to look at?”

Arthur stared up at him with wide eyes, his own face flushing with every word. “The difference is that I don’t want to date anyone else on this stupid fucking floor,” he replied. “I want to date you.”

Merlin froze. “What?”

“I won’t fire you,” Arthur said, “though you threaten to quit every other week, but I don’t want you to feel… pressured. I know you’re incredibly headstrong, and I could never make you do something you truly don’t want to do, but—”

“Shut up,” Merlin said, and he glanced back to make sure the blinds covering the windows of Arthur’s office were closed. They were. He took a step closer to Arthur, who sunk further into his chair.

“What?” The word was little more than an exhale.

“I said,” Merlin moved even closer, and he was practically in Arthur’s lap now, “‘shut up’.” Arthur opened his mouth, but anything he had to say was stopped by Merlin’s lips on his. Arthur remained still underneath him, and then Merlin properly straddled Arthur’s thighs, and Arthur’s hands ran down from Merlin’s shoulders to rest at his waist.

“You’re ridiculous,” Merlin said when he pulled away. “You hear me? Absolutely ridiculous.”

“Right,” Arthur agreed, clearly uncaring of what Merlin said, more focussed on his lips rather than what came out of said lips. Arthur swayed forward, his hold on Merlin’s waist tightening. Merlin’s mouth curved into a smile, one that was hard to get rid of, even as Arthur’s lips and tongue worked at his.

It was a rather unprofessional display for Arthur, but unprofessional must be what he wanted, since he apparently wanted Merlin too.

Later, after too much time had gone by and Merlin still hadn’t emerged from Arthur’s office, he said, “We should probably talk about this.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t fire you?” Arthur asked.

“Absolutely,” Merlin replied. “If I’m leaving here, it’s on my own terms.”

Arthur hummed, and Merlin felt the rumble of it in his cheek, where he had it pressed into Arthur’s shoulder. The fingers of one of his hands trailed up Merlin’s back until they curved around the nape of his neck, then they tangled into his hair. “Gwen and Lancelot are doing fine.”

“Gwen and Lancelot are the kind of couple that will have a wedding in June and have two-point-five kids and live a wonderful life,” Merlin said.

“And I take it you wouldn’t want something so traditional?” Merlin could hear the smile in Arthur’s voice, even as his eyes slipped shut while Arthur’s fingers ran through his hair.

“I like the idea of a wonderful life,” Merlin murmured. “I don’t think I can give you kids, though. Sorry about that.”

“I think you could do anything you put your mind to, Merlin,” Arthur replied, voice equally low.

Merlin hid a smile in Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur sighed, relaxing further into his chair, Merlin following easily. “I take it you won’t go any easier on me if we’re together?”

“Of course not.”

Merlin nodded. “Right, right. Well, if you’re game….”

“Very.”

“Then I’m definitely willing to give us a go.”

He felt Arthur’s lips against his cheek and, at the same time, his heart leapt in his chest. He supposed he should get used to it.

“Me too,” Arthur agreed. “Most definitely.”

“I’m not sure why you think sending my boyfriend death threats is in any way a good tactic to get me to like you,” Merlin said as he walked into Mordred’s cafe. Mordred opened his mouth, cheeks flushing red as some of the other customers looked over at them, but Merlin continued: “Besides, you’re, like, twelve. I’m way too old for you, kid.”

“You’re only twenty-three,” Mordred finally replied. “I turned eighteen two weeks ago.”

“I knew you when you were in diapers,” Merlin said, flat.

Mordred blew a raspberry at him, proving his maturity. In response, Merlin flashed him a backwards V. Just like that, recognition flashed in Mordred’s eyes and Merlin knew he made a mistake. “I was still seventeen when you did that!” he said. “You harassed a minor!”

“No, I didn’t!” Merlin replied, snatching his two drinks and making a hasty escape. “Stop sending Arthur death threats!”

“I’ll just send them to you instead!” Mordred shouted, voice carrying even as the door swung shut behind Merlin.

Outside, Arthur stood, tapping away at his phone. Merlin held out a drink to him, and Arthur accepted it after putting the device into his pocket. “Seemed lively in there.”

Merlin hummed innocently, taking a sip from his drink, before glancing back into the cafe, where Mordred now stood getting lectured by an older woman with long blond hair tied into a braid. His head was bowed, but Merlin could see a smile still curling on his lips. He rolled his eyes. The kid was fine.

Arthur continued to study Merlin, and Merlin finally lowered his drink. “Remember the kid that clicked his tongue at me? Well, I might’ve done something not so polite in response.”

“How you aren’t banned from every establishment in Camelot is beyond me,” Arthur replied.

“You’ve never flipped off a kid?” Merlin asked in disbelief. “Wow, what a saint you are!” He took in a breath, ready to continue, but Arthur cut him off, wrapping an arm around his waist and drawing him into a chai-flavoured kiss. Merlin blinked rapidly when Arthur pulled away. When he focussed once more, Arthur had just licked across his lower lip. “Uh.”

“Don’t think saints kiss like that now, do they?” Arthur asked.

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Remind me to never defend you from Mordred again. In fact, every threat he sends you I want printed and framed. You can hang them in your office. Consider it motivation.”

“Motivation for what?” Arthur kept his arm around Merlin’s waist as they began the walk to Avalon. “I’ve already got everything I want right here.”

Again, Merlin rolled his eyes, but his heart jumped in his chest, and he hid in his smile in the next drink from his cup. Arthur noticed anyway, and the grin he wore in response made it all worth it.

...

A/N: Thank you for reading. :3 You can see where I lost some steam, LOL, but I wanted to push through and finish this anyway because I have, like, eleven other WIPs. I'll come back and edit this later, maybe. Probably.

If you enjoyed, please consider liking and especially reblogging this post, because that really makes my day, and maybe leave a kudos and comment on AO3. If you want to, of course. Thanks again for reading! <3

#bbc merlin #merlin #merthur #merlin fanfic #my writing #my fic

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