Merlin as Arthur's familiar/Arthur's shapeshifter falcon AU
@dsabian , @theplatanitosqueal , @stressed-but-chill , @gregre369 , @chaosofbelievers , @thelordofabsolutelynothing , @another-tblr-fangirl , @aceauthorcatqueen , tagging you since you liked the other parts ^^
LINK TO THE OTHER PARTS: PART 1 , PART 2 , PART 3 , PART 4 , PART 5
In Arthur's chambers.
Arthur: (sleeping peacefully)😴
Merlin: (flies above him, chirping and picking at him)
Arthur: (still half-asleep) Hmmm... Merlin, not now (covers himself with the blanket to go back to sleep)
Merlin: (changes to human form and falls on Arthur)
Arthur: (out of breath for a moment and shouts) What the-Merlin! 😠
Merlin: (very excited, jumping in Arthur's lap) It's happening! It's finally hapenning! 😄
Arthur: What is happening? (looks the sun isn't even up through the window) And so early? (rubs his eyes)
Merlin: The eggs! They're hatching! (gets off Arthur and runs to the window where the nest is)
Arthur: (getp up, drowsiness finally gone) What? Really? (runs to the nest too)
Merlin: (points at one egg) Look!
Chick 1: (gets out of his shell all damp with lots of bare, pink skin exposed)
Merlin: ...
Arthur: ...
Merlin: He... he is...
Arthur: Ugly?
Merlin: Was I like this when I was a chick?
Arthur: You are a magical entity, Merlin, you were never a chick.
Merlin: Oh, thank the gods!
Chick 2: (gets out of her shell)
Merlin: (smiles) Oh, this one is a female!😊
Arthur: How can you know so soon?
Merlin: Magical entity.
Arthur: Right. (waits a moment, but nothing happens) How long until the others hatch?
Merlin: It could take the entire day. (holds the eggs and the chicks carefully and puts them in Arthur's hands)
Arthur: (scared as fuck as he holds them) WOW! Wait! What are you doing?! 😨😱
Merlin: You have to keep them warm.
Arthur: (whisper yelling) I can't incubate them! I'm gonna crush them!
Merlin: You don't have to sit on them just hold them close to your body to keep them warm. Meanwhile (stretches his limbs and cracks his knuckles and neck) I'll stretch my wings for a bit. 😊
Arthur: You're leaving me with these little merlins just so you can take a fly?! 😠
Merlin: (suddenly serious) Yes, Arthur, I've been incubating them for a whole month without a single break and now I want to fly for a couple of hours. Is that too much to ask?
Arthur: ...
Merlin: (raises his voice) I said is that too much to ask?
Arthur: No, no, no, not at all. Go ahead.
Merlin: Awww, thank you 😄. I'll be back soon. (changes to bird form and flies away)
Arthur: ...
Arthur: (to the two chicks and the 3 eggs, holding them closely) Your mom is very scary, boys.
Chick 2: (chirps a little)
Arthur: And girl. Right, you're a girl. (walks to the bed very slowly, sits and yawns) There you go. Now I have to stay awake (yawns) until Merlin comes back.
3 hours later. Arthur is asleep again, the chicks and the eggs close to his bare chest.
Chick 1 and 2: (chirp loudly)
Arthur: (half asleep) Shut up, Merlin (about to move, but suddenly remembers) The chicks! (completely awake now, but doesn't dare to move and looks down fearfully, thinking) Please be alive, please be alive.
Chick 3: (comes out of his shell)
Arthur: (sighs in relief and smiles) Only two more left. (holds carefully the chicks and the eggs with his hands and sits slowly) Oh, you're fluffy now. (taps chick 1 and 2 on the head whose plumage now is white and downy) You're still ugly though. (Looks at the eggs closely, worried) Please tell me you made those cracks.
Merlin: (appears and lands on the nest holding a death bird with his beak)
Arthur: Oh, thank the gods you're back! (walks to him and puts the eggs and chicks back to the nest carefully) And you brought food.
Merlin: (sits on the eggs to keep incubating them and starts feeding the chicks)
Arthur: If you needed food you could've just told me. I would've sent my hunters for food.
Merlin: (chirps)
Arthur: But then I wouldn't let you take a fly. Very smart. (Yawns and looks through the window) Servants are going to bring my breakfast soon. You better use that invisible spell of yours before they do (yawns and goes back to bed)
3 days later, all five chicks are now out of their shell and are bigger. To Arthur, they look like fluffy little white balls with very angry faces. He takes turns with Merlin to keep them warm and to hunt for food. Today it was Arthur's turn to feed them while Merlin stretched his wings a bit.
Arthur: (scolds while he feeds the chicks raw meat using a tweezer) No! Don't steal your brother's food! Bad, bad! 😠 (someone knocks his chambers' doors and he hides the nest behind him quickly and demands) Who is it?
Morgana: (from outside) Morgana.
Arthur: (sighs relieved and relaxes) Come in.
Morgana: (enters, singing happily) Where are my favourite nephews! 🤗
Arthur: (blushes) They are not your...! or mine... I'm just helping Merlin look after them.
Morgana: (Looks at the tweezer in Arthur's hand) Is that Gaius' medical tweezer?
Arthur: They wouldn't stop pecking my fingers. Like this they won't take my fingers off when I feed them.
Morgana: (takes the tweezer) Let me help. (Starts feeding the chicks)
Arthur: Oh, not to 1. He already ate a lot.
Morgana: (confused) 1?
Arthur: Yeah, the one with a number 1 in his head.
Morgana: ...
Arthur: You know, because he came out of his shell first. And this one is 2 because she came out se-
Morgana: You named your children after numbers and put numbers on their heads with ink?! 😡
Arthur: They are not my children! 😠. They are not even 'children'! And how else was I supposed to identify them?!
Chicks: (chirp louder)
Morgana: Now you made them cry.
Arthur: They are crying because you are not feeding them. (Takes the tweezer and continues feeding them)
Morgana: I can't believe Merlin let you name them like that.
Arthur: He didn't want to name them at all.
Morgana: (Confused) What?
Arthur: He doesn't want to get too attached to them since they're gonna leave as soon as they learn how to fly. (Sighs, feeling guilty) And I guess he's afraid of getting attached again to any merlin since...
Morgana: Since you killed Claws?
Arthur: (looks at the window, frantic, and then back to Morgana) Shut up! Merlin could be back at any moment!
Morgana: Didn't it occurred to you that maybe Merlin doesn't want to get attached to them because he knows you don't want to get attached to them?
Arthur: What?
Morgana: He adopted those chicks, Arthur. For you they may be just birds but for Merlin they are more than that. How do you think a single parent feels when their current partner doesn't accept their children?
Arthur: I... didn't think of it that way.
Morgana: So you realize that if you want to be with Merlin you'll have to be their parent too, right?
Arthur: I guess... (looks at the chicks) Fuck.
Morgana: You despise the idea that much?
Arthur: Is not that. It's just... I'm barely 18! I didn't expect to be a father so soon. And I expected my children to be, you know, human.
Morgana: You also expected your one true love to be a beautiful princess and here we are. (sighs) So? Do you still want to be with Merlin?
Arthur: ...
Time skip. Merlin with Arthur in his chamabers.
Merlin: (in his human form, after trying a spell on the nest) I did it! (jumps happily)
Arthur: (gets closer, curious) What did you do?
Merlin: Oh, I improved the invisible spell on the nest, now no one who isn't us or Morgana can see the chicks while they are there.
Arthur: That's great!
Merlin: Yeah, I don't have to make the spell constantly anymore and you won't get caught by your father. They are even save from other raptors now. It took me a while to get it right. (his smile gets sad)
Arthur: (concerned) What is it?
Merlin: Nothing, it's just... They... they don't need incubation anymore, but I... I still want to embrace them. But I can't, there's no need anymore.
Arthur: Merlin-
Merlin: (his eyes tearing) I know I'm not supposed to love them, I'm not really his dad or anything. I'm not even a real falcon.
Arthur: Merlin-
Merlin: And I know you didn't want them here in the first place, but-
Arthur: (shouts) Merlin!
Merlin: (startles)
Arthur: (extends his hand to Merlin and says softly, smiling) Would you dance with me?
Merlin: (blushes, confused) Wha... what? 😳
Arthur: Would you give me the honor to share a flying dance with me?
Merlin: I... (still very red and confused) but you... you don't have-
Arthur: Humans can also dance, you know? It's true I have no wings, but I can make you fly if you let me.
Merlin: (smiles widely, eyes watering) I'd love to.
And they dance. Arthur discovers that, while Merlin is very agil with his bird wings, he's very clumsy with his human legs, but he lets himself be guided by Arthur all the time. There are stomps, there are laughs, but they soon find a comfortable pace and Merlin ends up with his arms around Arthur's neck, and Arthur with his hands on Merlin's hips, dancing slowly at the rhythm of the music of their hearts.
Merlin: (still dancing with Arthur, confused) Are we supposed to mate now?
Arthur: (laughs softly) There's no rush for that. But I want you to be my partner. My mate if you want to call it that way. I love you, Merlin, and I want to be with you and have a family with you.
Merlin: Oh... (gets a little sad) But we're both male, we can't... (opens his eyes wide) Or can we? 😲
Arthur: No, two males can't.. procreate, but we don't need to worry about that. (Points at the nest with his head) We already have a family together.
Merlin: (Gets so happy he might cry and kisses Arthur on the lips in a fit of joy)
Arthur: (In shock for a moment, but soon kisses back and they kiss for a long time)
Merlin: (separates the kiss, but keeps their faces close, catching his breath) Did I... Did I do it correctly? I saw some humans do that with their mates.
Arthur: (smiles wide) You did it wonderfully.
Merlin: Arthur?
Arthur: Yeah?
Merlin: I think I love you romantically.
...
Just so you know, this is how the chicks look:
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"You have Arthur's complete trust" Merlin laughs when Gwen tells him this and asks her what she is talking about.
Gwen looks at him strangely, as if she thinks Merlin is joking but then she sees Merlin's expression and can't hide her surprise.
"Merlin, you do realise that you're the person Arthur trusts most in the world, right?"
Merlin chuckles again but this time it is with a sense of guilt and annoyance that won't let him alone.
"I don't think so."
Gwen, who until then had been mending one of Morgana's dresses, puts down her needle and thread and looks at him seriously, Merlin doesn't think he has ever seen her like that.
"You two fooling around and teasing each other is fine, Merlin, but you can't really think Arthur doesn't trust you. You can come and go from his rooms as you please, whether he's there or not, you have the keys to his room, and you're the only person who has them, and the whole castle knows perfectly well that Arthur has priceless things in there. I know you shave him every morning and believe me, that is not the job of a manservant,"
"But he is the one who-"
"That's right, Merlin. He's the one who."
Gwen seems genuinely annoyed that Merlin doesn't grasp how much Arthur trusts him, and Merlin finds himself having a chasm in his chest because he doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to think about Arthur's trust in him, he doesn't want to think that Arthur thinks Merlin is a person worthy of his trust, because Arthur is the most noble and sincere person in the world and Merlin is hiding most of his life from him.
"I have to go, Gwen."
Merlin leaves everything where he is and does not even turn around when Gwen (probably guilt-ridden from that lecture) calls him back.
Merlin hides in the first crevice he finds and struggles to breathe.
He struggles to breathe because Arthur trusts him and he knows it, but he tries to think about it as little as possible. He tries to live life day by day and not think about tomorrow and how long it is that he is lying to him. He tries not to have a heart attack every time Arthur looks at him and smiles or pats him on the back saying "good job!" or when Arthur is the first to worry about him when they are attacked by bandits.
Merlin tries not to think about Arthur's scream when they were separated on a mission and Merlin had to drop rocks to protect him.
He tries not to think about the time he had to steal the keys from Arthur's room and Arthur, finding him in the room early in the morning, didn't bat an eyelid at the excuse of the woodworms because Arthur trusts him and simply told him to leave.
Merlin is a horrible person who does not deserve this kind of trust, not when he is lying to the most important person in his life.
"Breathe."
Merlin, caught in the middle of a panic attack he didn't even realise was happening, jerks at the voice and Arthur's hand resting on his shoulder.
"Breathe, Merlin, come on, in and out, calmly, follow me" Arthur takes deep breaths and Merlin tries to keep up with him but Arthur's mere presence makes the situation worse and Merlin finds himself with tears in his eyes as Arthur looks at him more and more worried.
"Gwen!" shouts Arthur then and Gwen is at his side within moments "Go get Gaius, I can't move Merlin from here in this condition."
Gwen looks at Merlin and she's so worried and feeling so guilty that Merlin wants to say something to her but is already so much if he can breathe.
Gwen leaves and Arthur and Merlin are alone and Arthur strokes his back trying to calm him down and Merlin bursts into tears.
Arthur lays a hand on his shoulder and settles him on top of him, not holding him too tightly for fear of Merlin's breathing getting worse.
"I was looking all over for you, you know? I thought you'd be at the tavern or having fun somewhere and instead, I find you here doing the doppol-head."
Merlin laughs between sighs and sobs and Arthur continues.
"You have a myriad of tasks to do. My armour is completely ruined, I have no idea where my sword is and you were supposed to revise my speech for this afternoon but apparently, you had better things to do."
Merlin's breathing calmed and he was finally able to concentrate better, noticing that the king was sitting on the dirt floor next to him and practically rocking him.
"Arthur…"
Arthur turns his head slightly but they still can't make eye contact.
"I have magic."
Arthur stiffens and Merlin already feels lost without his king by his side even though he is still physically there.
"Alright," Arthur murmurs and Merlin gets up to look at him because there is no way he is hearing correctly. Arthur turns to look at him and his expression isn't the happiest but Merlin can't blame him "we've been through a lot worse, haven't we?"
And etiquette be damned, what is right or not right to do at court, Merlin throws himself onto his king and holds him as if he never wants to let him go again, holds him trying to tell him everything he is unable to say right now in words.
Arthur holds him just as tightly and Merlin finally knows that everything will be all right.
And that is how Gwen and Gaius find them, embraced tightly in the middle of a corridor in Camelot.
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I want to express my frustration because... im trying to write some time travel Merthur fanfic as one does...
and I keep hitting my head against the same wall. Because just in case you didn't know England SUCKED before imperialism and colonialism.
Not that that made it better but, the English isles didn't have a variety of fruits or vegetables, the did have meat and fish and salt I think, but no sugar or way of producing it but honey if I remember correctly.
And admittedly climate change is a pain in the ass, but in medieval times the winters probably consisted in huge blizzards and freezing for 4 months.
They didn't even had tea!!!
All the good stuff its because of colonialism which is horrible for the world but whatever.
Im trying so hard to ignore this facts... to be free and write about silly angsty boys but I needed someone to know how difficult it is.
Because Merlin having lived in a 21 century would have spent since the 16th drinking bloody tea, and now he is back in time and doesn't have tea, doesn't even have sugar, it's a pain in the ass to get milk, and he can't even get his favorites foods because the fruits and vegetables aren't even evolved yet.
BECAUSE YES! All of the greens have suffered a tremendous amount of change because of selective farming!! so even if there were apples back there, they probably wasn't the same apple, probably weren't even half as sweet as they are now a days!
Same with animals, and plants. Many of the species have gone extinct but they existed back then. And im dying for a chance to bring this into the fic, to prove just how difficult the transition it's, but a the same time, it doesn't matter right? not really.
bUT I NEEDED TO VENT A LITTLE SO thank you for listening to my rant.
Also im not even a history girly, im an art babe, so all of this I know by logic and assumptions from my art history clases, and my hyper fixation, so obviously take everything with a grain of salt.
((It's just that I was cooking and I was trying to think which ingredients were available at that time to make the most simple dish but no, there was almost none, no spices, no tomato, I think the had cabbage, and like broccoli because its the same plant, but probably wasn't evolved into all of the different versions we know, they had beans, and lentils I think, the potatoes come from South America, so no potatoes, the had bread but what kind of bread??? sO YEAH, this is my head.. all the time))
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Merlin is so tired.
Physically and mentally tired.
Arthur, being in a bad mood, has been running him around more than usual, giving him tasks that generally wouldn't even be his. Gaius has requested herbs for a strange cold that keeps spreading through the citadel and leaving everyone tired and helpless for several days (and, in his defense, Gaius would have fetched them himself were it not for the fact that the herbs grow in a land with terrain too bumpy for Gaius' not-so-young legs) and he has stayed awake for more than forty-eight hours straight to eradicate a dark spirit roaming the castle.
All this is to say that Merlin is really tired.
But when has that ever stopped Arthur from demanding and demanding and demanding?
And so it is with trembling legs and eyes that want to close of their own accord that Merlin serves Arthur a drink while Arthur dines in his own room because he has better things to do than dine with his father and Morgana.
"You are unusually quiet this evening, Merlin."
Merlin nods because that's all he can do, even talking seems a gigantic effort.
Perhaps if he closes his eyes for a few moments he will be able to recover.
"Merlin, are you listening?"
Only for a few seconds, he is standing anyway, nothing can happen.
"Merlin!"
+++
Merlin has never felt so warm and so comfortable in all his life.
He does not know how he got into bed or how his bed is suddenly so comfortable (nor how it is so warm in his room as it is freezing on those winter days) but he is too comfortable to ask himself any more questions and feels so protected, so safe. Everything is fine.
"You are a bad bedfellow, Merlin, you really do get too worked up."
Merlin would like to say that the sound of Arthur's voice surprises him so much that it wakes him up, but the truth is that Arthur's voice only makes him feel safer, almost more protected, as if the fact that Arthur is there only makes things better.
Merlin sighs blissfully and mumbles an apology as he stretches out an arm and goes to get more comfortable with his head on Arthur's chest (because Arthur is letting him and Merlin is really too tired to think) and Arthur's arm around his waist.
"I don't know what the hell you've been up to lately but know that this is no way to reduce yourself. I will give you the morning off tomorrow but only because I am a magnanimous prince and you should be grateful to me for the rest of your life, do you understand me, Merlin?"
Merlin nods and his cheek rubs against Arthur's chest, his chest hair tickling.
Merlin lifts his face with closed eyes and snaps a kiss on Arthur's cheek (or whatever part of Arthur he can reach, he's not sure if he's got the cheek) and mumbles some kind of thanks.
And if Merlin were more awake he would realise what he has just done.
But Merlin is tired.
And Arthur is a benevolent prince.
Arthur kisses Merlin's forehead and bids him sleep.
Merlin doesn't let him say it twice.
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