Flashfic: Lightness and Ardour and Heat (Merlin/Arthur, wing!verse AU)
Summary: In the words of the divine David, He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire: and He has described their lightness and the ardour, and heat, and keenness and sharpness with which they hunger for God and serve Him. -- John of Damascus (AN: Same universe as Sublimity and By Means of Fire. For mossylawn. And honestly? This is all
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But honestly when I first watched a couple of episodes it was all I could think about, even as early as in Valiant, when Merlin looks at him it's both sensual and so, so pious. Arthur is the person Merlin kills for without even batting an eye-lid. I remember watching Gates of Avalon with my mom and when Merlin didn't exactly mess around with Sophia and Aulfric and both of us being like 'whoa scary', because sometimes Merlin's devotion borders on religious fanatism.
You are so fucking brilliant. God.
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And I would love to see that moment when Arthur first gets a glimpse of this, the revelation it would be.
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That is exactly why I fell in love with this AU, it because when it comes to characters it still seems amazingly canon.
And I would love to see that moment when Arthur first gets a glimpse of this, the revelation it would be.
OH GOD YES. I really hope they will do it right in the Second Series (that I want right the fuck now!), I imagine him being practically struck down with it, because it is truly a scary thing to be loved this much. As for Arthur, I do think that he cares deeply for Merlin and even loves him (without truly realising it, because it's not like he knows much about affection), but it's still in a pretty oridinary way (compared to that world-burning love of Merlin's). I love how Arthur leaves little cracks in his facade for Merlin to promptly crawl into, but I imagine him being absolutely shocked once he comprehends the full expanse of Merlin's love.
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Yes! I keep on thinking back to his reaction to Merlin drinking poison for him, that big turning point in their early season 1 relationship; the way it calls something out of Arthur--duty and honor, yes, his sense of justice--but also this sort of humbled gratitude and a deeply personal attachment. After that, Merlin slots over into some entirely different category of people Arthur truly cares about even if it's on a fairly ordinary level. But to be the focus of this vast staggering passion, something that is freely given, not owed to him as service: what would that call out of him?
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I personally think that Arthur really needs that sort of love, love that is not out of duty or maybe even despite the duty. Arthur strikes me as a tragically lonely character, he's loved but unloved at the same time. Uther loves hims obviously, though he hardly ever shows it unless Arthur is in mortal peril and the whole business with Igraine and him being a 'magic baby'(I really ought to work on my terminology)taints it at every step, we know how the Gwen and Lance thing will go down, so that basically leaves Morgana who cares for him dearly but whom he will undoubtedly lose and well, Merlin.
I imagine Arthur being intimidated at first, by the fact that he's the sun of Merlin's world and then definitely frustrated by the fact that Merlin just won't stop trying to die for him, since even in the Poison Chalice we see that Arthur does not want or expect that sort of blind devotion, but once ( ... )
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I think he must already realize that Merlin cares for him largely as a person and not as a prince; it's rather hard to miss considering that Merlin barely treats him like a prince and was never impressed. Merlin must be this giant puzzle, since so little of what he does makes sense (unless you know about the magic, how he's accepted his destiny and that he loves Arthur like the other half of himself). And yet even this, just knowing that Merlin in some way cares for him as a person, is enough that by the end of series one he takes Merlin almost everywhere, whether or not Merlin has any reason to be there (councils, questing)--even when Merlin is actually an inconvenience (hunting). He lasted about three hours before he followed Merlin to Ealdor. Arthur strikes me as someone who is just sort of starving, who has become used to living almost entirely without affection or support but in the way of a person used to hunger. ( ... )
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Oh yes. I imagine him just diving into all that depth of emotion, absolutely starved for it, but at the same time he could brush it off as just sex, pretending that his princely facade hasn't cracked, despite knowing that it is far more than that.
Oh goodness I wish they would just abandon the children show label and made it pure naightiness XD
Or even the not-sex route: where he's become so used to Merlin always being there without having really realized it that if Merlin ever wasn't there (for some reason) I think it would feel like suddenly losing a limb.
Yeah, I think there already are signs of this route, which is possibly why he follows Merlin to Ealdor almost immediately.
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