After nearly drowning in the aftermath of a dam breaking, Lancelot struggles with being in any kind of water, even a bath. Thankfully, Merlin is there to help him
Lancelot paced back and forth across the room, hands clenching in his hair. In the corner sat a steaming bath, slowly growing cold. Every time he glanced over at it his heart started pounding. He almost called for the servant to come take the tub away again, except for the fact that he’d already done that the past three nights, and he stank. The knights had all had training today, and he’d attended it for the first time since the dam had burst and he’d almost drowned and then died of hypothermia, and he was sweaty all over from the exertion. Wiping himself down with a wet rag wasn’t going to cut it today.
Lancelot had strands of hair wrapped around his fingers from where he’d pulled so hard he’d yanked them out, which he brushed off onto the ground before burying his face in his hands and screaming into his palms. Gods above, why was this so hard? He’d fought monsters before, and now he couldn’t even take a bath. The mere thought of getting in the water made him feel sick.
Chapter Two! Also written for mini @mercelotweek! This time for day 7: fluff! Features hair washing. You’re welcome Ligi
Merlin sloshed another bucket of hot water into the bathtub, and looked to Lancelot for confirmation of whether that was enough or if he wanted more. The knight nodded hesitantly. He had stripped down to just his braes for the occasion, and his bare torso showed off too many scars. Merlin had been present for the injuries that led to many of them, but he didn’t think he had ever seen Lancelot as vulnerable as he was right now, even when he had been too weak to move. He had his arms wrapped around himself, rubbing his shoulders nervously.
Lancelot was riding alone today, since half the Camelot Police Department was out sick with some kind of magical illness, and he’d been called over investigate reports of a creature wandering through one of the more densely populated neighborhoods of Camelot. No one would tell him exactly what it looked like, which made him suspect that it may be magical in nature. Many citizens of the kingdom were very superstitious when it came to magic since the Purge, and would only speak of it in veiled references such as the Fair Folk, which could include any sorcerer or warlock as well as proper fairies, and ‘those things of the night.’
That second euphemism was the one that bothered Lancelot now as he pulled his squad car over to the side of the street in the area where the sightings had been reported. He made sure to radio in that he was exiting his vehicle, as was procedure for any officer working alone because of the recent retaliations by magic users against police, and began to search the area. Beginning with the street he’d parked on and then heading down the alleyways, he investigated the areas behind dumpsters and down dead-end lanes looking for evidence of any sort of strange creature. He held his gun in one hand and his flashlight in the other, crossed at the wrists to steady his shaking hands. He had a bad feeling about this creature, even though he had yet to encounter anything but rats, alley cats, and a stray dog. But the fact that he’d largely run into them in that order made it feel like the world was working up towards something big.
“Oh,” Lancelot exclaimed quietly. He stepped around Gwaine and reached for a small cherry wood sculpture of a griffin. He turned it over in his hands, a chuckle rumbling in the back of his throat.
“I have to buy this for Merlin,” he said, lifting the tiny wooden creature up to his face.
“He likes griffins, does he?” Gwaine asked, confused. He’d never heard Merlin express any kind of fondness about them.
“Not particularly, no.” Lancelot chuckled again and moved over to the stallholder, holding the griffin statuette up and pulling out his moneybag.
Lancelot is a sweetheart and likes buying Merlin gifts.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Lancelot/Merlin (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Lancelot & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Characters: Lancelot (Merlin), Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwaine (Merlin), Elyan (Merlin), Percival (Merlin), Leon (Merlin)
Additional Tags: Canon Era, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Merlin’s Magic Revealed (Merlin), Light Angst, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Magic Tricks, Friendship, this holiday season give your loved ones the gift of solidarity, POV Lancelot (Merlin)
Summary:
“If you’re going to kill Merlin, you’ll have to kill me, too.“
“And me, sire,” Lancelot said, stepping forward.
“You have magic, too?”
Lancelot blinked. And, well…that wasn’t exactly where he thought they were going with this. But he had decided long ago that he would tell any lie necessary to protect Merlin–and if there was ever a time to lie, this was it.
Written for Mini Mercelot Week Day 5: “Gifts” @mercelotweek
Hello all and welcome to day 6 of Mini Mercelot Week! Thank you so much to everyone who’s participated so far! It’s been such a successful fest and the AO3 tag for Lancelot/Merlin is booming! It’s so lovely to see.
Today’s prompt is: Work/Jobs
Our boys have things to do. Tell us about them. Show them to us.
We are so excited to see what you come up with! Remember to fill out our fill form so you can get a badge and to help the mods keep track of all the excellent things that get created. We appreciate everyone who’s read/reblogged/created something this week.
“Hey, I saw this in the market and thought of you,” had become one of the most common phrases Lancelot’s vocabulary. He’d never had a steady stream of income before, so after a small adjustment period where he still hoarded food, money, and weapons to be prepared for a rainy day, he started spending almost all of his knightly paycheck on gifts. His first gift was for Merlin, a beautiful butterfly necklace inlaid with jewels that used up most of the money he’d saved. The next paycheck, though, was mostly spent on Gwaine, who had surprisingly been the one to teach him budgeting. The other traveler’s monetary style leaned more towards “spend everything you got the second you get it so you can’t get robbed,” but that turned out to be exactly the approach Lancelot needed. He bought the knight new boots, since his old ones were wearing out from being worn for so long, and paid for many rounds at the tavern. All of his friends received gifts as well, from a custom made gambeson for Percival to journals for Leon to carving knives for Elyan to a set of beautiful silverware for Gwen and a new herb drying rack and more glass bottles for Gaius.
“Merlin, wait up a minute, I have something for you,” he said the morning after one payday. Merlin was already out of bed, getting dressed to go wake up Arthur. His butterfly necklace was concealed beneath his neckerchief. Still in bed, Lancelot rolled over to grab the package he’d concealed beneath the bed. Normally he didn’t bother with wrapping them nicely, but today he’d wanted to see Merlin’s face as he realized what it was.
Modern Reincarnation AU. Merlin and Lancelot go through a photo album. ~1700 words. Lancelot/Merlin. No warnings apply. (Mention of car wreck that killed Lancelot in a past life.)
A late birthday gift for Mod @little-ligi, because I couldn’t have made this fest work without her. You’re the best Ligi
–
There’s no need to print photographs anymore. It’s easy enough to look at a screen and and flip through thousands, hundreds of thousands of images. But there has always been something special about choosing individual moments, perfect snapshots, and cataloging them into a book whose pages he can flip through. Merlin has been alive for over 1500 years. Books are one of the most familiar things he knows. One of the only things that hasn’t changed much in 1500 years.
People changed, clothes changed, transport changed, but not books. Those had remained nearly the same. You open the front cover and you look at what’s inside, just like always.
After 1500 years of adaptations, it was nice for this one thing to remain the same.
Hello everyone, hope you’re all enjoying Mercelot Week so far!
Today’s prompt is Gifts!
This whole week is a fabulous birthday gift for Mod Ligi, and now we’d love to see our boys giving gifts to each other as well. Whatever the occasion, whatever the gift, today is all about giving and receiving!
And remember to send in your fill form so that Mod RainbowVamp can gift you with a gorgeous badge!
Additional Tags: Canon Era, Canon Compliant, Aromantic Merlin, queer platonic relationship, Relationship Negotiation, Aromantic, mercelot qpr because we deserve it, but dear god how does one tag a qpr, bring back the hyphen to save an aro, Fluff, Magic, Late Night Conversations, Stargazing, Holding Hands
Summary:
Lancelot decides Merlin deserves a nice long break from all things Camelot. It’s just a bonus that their time on the road provides the perfect chance to sort out his complicated feelings toward the warlock.
Written for Mini Mercelot Week Day 4: “Travel” @mercelotweek
Merlin will do anything to free Shade Lancelot from Morgana’s evil magic and get his beloved knight back. Even if it means poisoning him, tying him to a horse and riding deep into the mountains to seek a higher power in a lake.
They were just crossing a wide field, sunlight filtering through the swirling clouds, when Lancelot shifted in Merlin’s grip. Merlin automatically pulled his arms tighter, dipping his head to rub his cheek against Lancelot’s hair, before he registered what Lancelot moving meant. His eyes flew up to the sun, squinting as he checked its position in the sky. He’d missed giving Lancelot the latest dose of belladonna to keep him unconscious and the Shade was waking.
Blanching, he pulled back from Lancelot, his hand flying to his pocket. But his hand got tangled in his jacket as he frantically tried to pull the bottle out and yank on the reins to stop the horse at the same time. He was still fighting to free the little bottle from the confines of his jacket when Lancelot groaned and tensed in front of him. He dropped the reins, his hand flying up to Lancelot’s chest to hold him steady.
Lancelot opened his eyes.
Written for @merlinbingo square - Back From The Dead
