Fic: Harmonia Mundi (Merlin/Arthur, R): Epilogue
Epilogue
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Returning to Camelot was like putting on an old, familiar piece of clothing to find that it had shrunk in the wash, and now chafed in unexpected places, pinching when he turned around too fast. Merlin kept expecting to wake up in his own small bed and find it had all been some terrible dream, instead of waking in Arthur’s rooms with the curtains drawn and music enveloping him until all he could hear was Arthur, bright and shining and there, soft and sweet and grumpy in the early morning.
Arthur, for his part, seemed torn between making Merlin show him the music for everything he could possibly think of; and pushing Merlin onto his bed and finding as many different ways as possible to make Merlin groan and whimper and beg, leaving both of them an exhausted, sweaty mess. Usually, Arthur did both.
Merlin was curled sleepily around Arthur, fingers of one hand tangled with Arthur’s, letting the song for strawberries play gently through them both when Arthur first brought it up. “What do you sound like?”
“What? What do you mean, me?”
“You, Merlin,” Arthur rolled over to look at him. “Your music, what does it sound like?”
“Um,” Merlin blinked. “I… I don’t know.”
Arthur stared at him, incredulous. “How can you not know?”
“I don’t hear myself,” Merlin shrugged. “I have no idea why.”
“So there’s no way to hear your song,” Arthur sounded so disappointed Merlin couldn’t help the soppy smile that spread over his face.
“I don’t think so. I don’t know how I’d go about trying to hear it myself. I don’t know if I could. I mean, I suppose I could make you hear it, properly, and then pull it back to me so I heard it as well,” Merlin paused, swallowed, and then continued. “But it’d be like for Morgana and the others - it would mean changing your mind, except just on a much smaller scale. I don’t know if I could change it back, after.”
“Oh.” There was a pause.
“I won’t do it. Stop thinking about it,” Merlin ordered. “It drove them both mad! I could never risk doing that to you!”
Arthur grinned. “You drive me mad every day already.”
Merlin just glared, and Arthur sighed. “I just - I want to know what we sounded like, together. Two notes of the same melody, you said the dragon told you. I want to hear it.”
“I don’t care how badly you want to hear it! There is no way I am going to risk you.”
“Fine,” Arthur huffed, and leaned in to kiss Merlin instead.
So the subject was forgotten, or at least Merlin thought it was. But every so often, he would catch Arthur staring at him with a strange, wondering look in his eyes, and he would remember.
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Several months later
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Arthur groaned and stretched when Merlin opened the door, before rolling over to burrow deeper into the blankets. “Merlin, come to bed. Why are you still up, anyway? It’s late.”
Merlin closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “It’s not that late,” he retorted. “You’re just exhausted because you’re too busy. If you would just delegate some of your ridiculous amount of responsibilities, you wouldn’t collapse from exhaustion every night. Give the knights’ training to Leon, or something - you know he’d do it well.”
“Can we have this argument again when I’m actually awake?” Arthur asked, somewhat plaintively, and Merlin smiled.
“I suppose so,” he agreed, toeing off his boots and crawling up to sit next to the lump in the blankets that was Arthur. He poked it, and Arthur squirmed and shoved at him.
“More respect for your betters, or I’ll have you in the stocks again,” he threatened.
Merlin laughed. “You just like seeing me bent over like that,” he accused, and Arthur grinned. He was about to reply when Merlin interrupted him. “I have something for you.”
“What?” Arthur sat up, looking curious. “Why? I mean - today isn’t particularly special, is it?”
“No, I just finished it today. I’ve been working on it for a while, and now it’s finally done.”
“What is it?” Arthur asked, leaning forward and Merlin was temporarily distracted by the fact he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“Umm, it’s - um,” Merlin stuttered. “Here.” He handed Arthur a small pouch. Arthur tugged it open and tipped a silver ring into his palm, then held in up to examine more closely
“I thought you were supposed to be the girl in this relationship. Why are you giving me a ring?”
Merlin rolled his eyes and smacked him. “It’s magic, you prat. I attached the spell to it, so you can put it on or take it off whenever you like.”
“What does the spell do, then? I can’t feel anything.”
“Of course you don’t feel anything, you haven’t put it on yet. The spell is a modified version of the magic-shackles, you remember?
Arthur jerked his hand away, dropping the ring onto the bed. “I don’t need anything like that from you!”
“What?” Merlin blinked. “Oh - no, not like that. I mean I based the magic on the notes Gaius had about how he made them - the basic foundations are the same, but the result is pretty much the complete opposite. But I tied it to the Pendragon line the same way, just to be safe.”
“You’re making even less sense than usual,” Arthur told him. “What exactly is it supposed to do?”
“It will let you hear my music,” said Merlin, and Arthur’s eyes went wide. “Just mine,” Merlin continued hurriedly. “I made the spell very specific. Only you can use it, and it’ll only let you hear me. But I can use another spell to hear it from you, and I can share your song with you the normal way, and then we can hear them together.”
Arthur blinked at him, still a bit stunned. “Merlin…”
“I just - I know you wanted to, and I was curious as well, so I thought it might be worth a try. Elyan made the ring for me, though he didn’t know why I wanted it. Do - do you want to …?”
“Yes!” Arthur picked the ring up again, turning it over between his fingers. “How does it work? I have to wear it?”
“Yes,” Merlin said, narrowing his eyes at the small circle of metal. “It should work as soon as you put it on.”
Arthur slid the ring slowly onto one finger, eyes going wide as it slid home. “Oh….”
“Does it work?” Merlin leaned forward. “It might need a little adjusting, if I -”
“It works,” Arthur interrupted. “Oh, yes, it works. You sound… I don’t know how to describe it. This is amazing, Merlin. Can you share it?”
Merlin's Song
“Yeah, if I just…” Merlin reached out and wrapped his hand around Arthur’s, calling the music into him and sending Arthur’s own music back so that they both heard the two songs play in harmony. The magic settled into place, surrounding them with sound, and Merlin gasped at the stunning beauty of it. The dragon hadn’t been wrong.
Merlin and Arthur: Duet
The two songs fit flawlessly together, blending into one seamless, perfect symphony. Not a single note was out of place, music entwining so effortlessly it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
Merlin could hear the dragon-fire of his own song mingling with the fire of Arthur’s, the lower, cooler harmonies of his song grounding the brightness of spring and lending it strength, gilding the edge high glittering edge with resounding harmony.
And then somehow Arthur’s mouth was on his and Merlin was moaning into the kiss, sound enveloping them, surrounding them, almost a physical presence shimmering over their skin as they moved together towards a glorious crescendo, and music sang around them like a promise.
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Returning to Camelot was like putting on an old, familiar piece of clothing to find that it had shrunk in the wash, and now chafed in unexpected places, pinching when he turned around too fast. Merlin kept expecting to wake up in his own small bed and find it had all been some terrible dream, instead of waking in Arthur’s rooms with the curtains drawn and music enveloping him until all he could hear was Arthur, bright and shining and there, soft and sweet and grumpy in the early morning.
Arthur, for his part, seemed torn between making Merlin show him the music for everything he could possibly think of; and pushing Merlin onto his bed and finding as many different ways as possible to make Merlin groan and whimper and beg, leaving both of them an exhausted, sweaty mess. Usually, Arthur did both.
Merlin was curled sleepily around Arthur, fingers of one hand tangled with Arthur’s, letting the song for strawberries play gently through them both when Arthur first brought it up. “What do you sound like?”
“What? What do you mean, me?”
“You, Merlin,” Arthur rolled over to look at him. “Your music, what does it sound like?”
“Um,” Merlin blinked. “I… I don’t know.”
Arthur stared at him, incredulous. “How can you not know?”
“I don’t hear myself,” Merlin shrugged. “I have no idea why.”
“So there’s no way to hear your song,” Arthur sounded so disappointed Merlin couldn’t help the soppy smile that spread over his face.
“I don’t think so. I don’t know how I’d go about trying to hear it myself. I don’t know if I could. I mean, I suppose I could make you hear it, properly, and then pull it back to me so I heard it as well,” Merlin paused, swallowed, and then continued. “But it’d be like for Morgana and the others - it would mean changing your mind, except just on a much smaller scale. I don’t know if I could change it back, after.”
“Oh.” There was a pause.
“I won’t do it. Stop thinking about it,” Merlin ordered. “It drove them both mad! I could never risk doing that to you!”
Arthur grinned. “You drive me mad every day already.”
Merlin just glared, and Arthur sighed. “I just - I want to know what we sounded like, together. Two notes of the same melody, you said the dragon told you. I want to hear it.”
“I don’t care how badly you want to hear it! There is no way I am going to risk you.”
“Fine,” Arthur huffed, and leaned in to kiss Merlin instead.
So the subject was forgotten, or at least Merlin thought it was. But every so often, he would catch Arthur staring at him with a strange, wondering look in his eyes, and he would remember.
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Several months later
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Arthur groaned and stretched when Merlin opened the door, before rolling over to burrow deeper into the blankets. “Merlin, come to bed. Why are you still up, anyway? It’s late.”
Merlin closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “It’s not that late,” he retorted. “You’re just exhausted because you’re too busy. If you would just delegate some of your ridiculous amount of responsibilities, you wouldn’t collapse from exhaustion every night. Give the knights’ training to Leon, or something - you know he’d do it well.”
“Can we have this argument again when I’m actually awake?” Arthur asked, somewhat plaintively, and Merlin smiled.
“I suppose so,” he agreed, toeing off his boots and crawling up to sit next to the lump in the blankets that was Arthur. He poked it, and Arthur squirmed and shoved at him.
“More respect for your betters, or I’ll have you in the stocks again,” he threatened.
Merlin laughed. “You just like seeing me bent over like that,” he accused, and Arthur grinned. He was about to reply when Merlin interrupted him. “I have something for you.”
“What?” Arthur sat up, looking curious. “Why? I mean - today isn’t particularly special, is it?”
“No, I just finished it today. I’ve been working on it for a while, and now it’s finally done.”
“What is it?” Arthur asked, leaning forward and Merlin was temporarily distracted by the fact he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“Umm, it’s - um,” Merlin stuttered. “Here.” He handed Arthur a small pouch. Arthur tugged it open and tipped a silver ring into his palm, then held in up to examine more closely
“I thought you were supposed to be the girl in this relationship. Why are you giving me a ring?”
Merlin rolled his eyes and smacked him. “It’s magic, you prat. I attached the spell to it, so you can put it on or take it off whenever you like.”
“What does the spell do, then? I can’t feel anything.”
“Of course you don’t feel anything, you haven’t put it on yet. The spell is a modified version of the magic-shackles, you remember?
Arthur jerked his hand away, dropping the ring onto the bed. “I don’t need anything like that from you!”
“What?” Merlin blinked. “Oh - no, not like that. I mean I based the magic on the notes Gaius had about how he made them - the basic foundations are the same, but the result is pretty much the complete opposite. But I tied it to the Pendragon line the same way, just to be safe.”
“You’re making even less sense than usual,” Arthur told him. “What exactly is it supposed to do?”
“It will let you hear my music,” said Merlin, and Arthur’s eyes went wide. “Just mine,” Merlin continued hurriedly. “I made the spell very specific. Only you can use it, and it’ll only let you hear me. But I can use another spell to hear it from you, and I can share your song with you the normal way, and then we can hear them together.”
Arthur blinked at him, still a bit stunned. “Merlin…”
“I just - I know you wanted to, and I was curious as well, so I thought it might be worth a try. Elyan made the ring for me, though he didn’t know why I wanted it. Do - do you want to …?”
“Yes!” Arthur picked the ring up again, turning it over between his fingers. “How does it work? I have to wear it?”
“Yes,” Merlin said, narrowing his eyes at the small circle of metal. “It should work as soon as you put it on.”
Arthur slid the ring slowly onto one finger, eyes going wide as it slid home. “Oh….”
“Does it work?” Merlin leaned forward. “It might need a little adjusting, if I -”
“It works,” Arthur interrupted. “Oh, yes, it works. You sound… I don’t know how to describe it. This is amazing, Merlin. Can you share it?”
Merlin's Song
“Yeah, if I just…” Merlin reached out and wrapped his hand around Arthur’s, calling the music into him and sending Arthur’s own music back so that they both heard the two songs play in harmony. The magic settled into place, surrounding them with sound, and Merlin gasped at the stunning beauty of it. The dragon hadn’t been wrong.
Merlin and Arthur: Duet
The two songs fit flawlessly together, blending into one seamless, perfect symphony. Not a single note was out of place, music entwining so effortlessly it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
Merlin could hear the dragon-fire of his own song mingling with the fire of Arthur’s, the lower, cooler harmonies of his song grounding the brightness of spring and lending it strength, gilding the edge high glittering edge with resounding harmony.
And then somehow Arthur’s mouth was on his and Merlin was moaning into the kiss, sound enveloping them, surrounding them, almost a physical presence shimmering over their skin as they moved together towards a glorious crescendo, and music sang around them like a promise.
~ ♪ ~ ♫ ~ ♪ ~ ♫ ~ ♪ ~ ♫ ~ ♪ ~