[Fic] The Pentagram Sacrifices [Part 6]
| Masterpost | Part Five | Part Seven |
:::::
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur for Merlin. Helping the Metropolitan Police with this case was taking up all his free time. Between coming to realize that there was magic involved and his hopeless crush on Arthur, which he was willing to admit it was one, he somehow managed to find a flat of his own.
Though between his classes at City University and the case, he hadn't a chance to quite settle into his new flat. It was a small, one bedroom flat but the kitchen was spacious. And he had been lucky that the landlady, Alice, a friend of both his mum and Uncle Gaius had given him a generous discount. He wouldn't have been able to have afforded it without a flatmate otherwise. It wasn't until when one of his closest friends from back in uni called him and harassed him into buying furniture he sorely needed and finally finish unpacking that he thought he had a chance to catch up with things outside of work. But that didn't exactly go to plan.
Gwen DuLac, was one of his closest friends from his days back at Oxford and she could read him better than most people. It also didn't help that her husband, another good friend of Merlin’s worked as a forensic pathologist for Scotland Yard and most likely knew that Merlin was working as a consultant.
It was late Sunday afternoon, after they had finally crammed the table into the tiny alcove next to his kitchen when she started on him. He was busy messing with the kettle that he missed the thoughtful look she gave him as she grabbed the mugs to set on the table.
"So I've heard you're working with Arthur Pendragon," Gwen said as Merlin poured them tea.
"Yeah," Merlin replied, his eyes narrowing at her as he took a sit across from her.
"How did you-" he starts to ask, but then sighed, "Lance told you didn't he? News travels fast. I haven't even seen Lance there yet.”
“He had been at a conference up in Edinburgh. And there had been some stabbings near Hackney that has him working overtime. But he heard that you’ve been accepted into the fold. And something about Gwaine wanting to get into your trousers.”
Merlin rolled his eyes, “This proves my point. You would think constables didn't gossip. And besides Gwaine hits on anything that moves."
Gwen grinned at him as she sipped her tea, "According to Lance constables are the worse sort when it comes to gossip."
"Apparently," Merlin murmured disgruntled.
"So how are you liking it?"
"It's fine. The murders are pretty bad and it's hard to imagine anyone could do that to another person. But the constables I'm working with are decent. They do good work."
"And Arthur?" Gwen asked and Merlin could swear there was more to that question that she wasn't asking out loud.
"He's not too bad, when he isn't being a prat."
"Hmm, I've heard he's taken a liking to you."
"What," Merlin asked flushing, embarrassed, "What do you mean?"
"It's just Arthur can be difficult to work with sometimes. You know there's a reason why he hasn’t been able to keep a bag-man." Merlin had wondered about that. It had seemed strange that Arthur hadn't been assigned a sergeant. Leon had mentioned in passing that Arthur had already gone through eight different sergeants in the past two years . Gwaine had muttered something about the Princess wasn’t easy to please before adding a bunch of innuendos that had made Merlin both blush and laugh. Leon, who was apparently used to Gwaine had looked amused and Leon’s sergeant Owain, who had been listening in on the conversation while drinking tea had choked on his drink spilling it all over them.
"So he doesn't have a bag-man. It's not a big deal," Merlin said waving her comment away.
"You say that, but I think you'd be surprised," Gwen insisted, her scrutiny making Merlin uncomfortable. If he were honest with himself, he would admit that it had been surprising despite their arguments and wildly different backgrounds how well they got along. In any other case, it would've unsettled him but there was something solid about Arthur that made Merlin instinctively trust him. It also helped that his magic jumped around in joy whenever he was around Arthur.
"You're attracted to him, aren't you?" Gwen asked suddenly, eyes widening as if something she had been thinking about clicked in place.
Merlin flushed a bright red, "No, I mean--he's attractive, but I told you he's a posh git half the time. And--" but he stopped when he realized that Gwen was laughing at him.
"You have a crush on him," she said amused.
"Gwen--" Merlin said trying not to choke on his tea, embarrassed at how obvious he was.
“That’s why you’re not interested in Gwaine. The only way you wouldn’t have fallen for his charms was if your interest laid elsewhere.” And that was probably true. Once upon a time before Inspector Prats existed, he might’ve fallen for flirty inspector. But then again, he had gotten to know Gwaine really well and valued the friendship he had gain.
“Gwen, seriously--”
"Okay, fine I'll stop. But the look on your face Merlin!"
"It doesn't even matter, I get the feeling that he’s not even interested."
Gwen starts to reply, “Well.”
Merlin waited for her to continue but she looked guilty and tried blatantly to change subject.
“So any cute grad students this semester?”
He narrows his eyes at her, “You’re changing the subject.”
“No I’m not.”
“I already know he favors blokes over birds.”
“How did you--wait don’t tell me, it was Gwaine wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, the very first time I met them actually.”
“Yeah, he does that,” Gwen said with a grin before becoming serious, “Look it’s just Arthur hasn’t had the best experience when it comes to relationships. And trust isn’t something he doesn’t give easily. I can’t tell you more than that.”
But Merlin had already known that, because made the moments when Arthur did tell him something personal even the more important.
“I knew that,” Merlin said, his finger tracing the edge of his teacup.
“Give it time,” Gwen said patting his arm, but that’s what Merlin was worried about. If he ever gained Arthur’s trust, he would only break it.
“Come on,” Gwen said after a while, “there’s this lovely bakery not far from here. And you know what they about chocolate making everything better?”
Merlin gave her half-smile and allowed himself to tugged up, “So that was really the reason why you were excited that I was moving here.”
“Maybe,” she replied cheekily as pulled him out the door.
:::::.
It has been over a month and a half since the last murder and they were still going in circles. While media focus had died out somewhat, Commissioner Kilgharrah had said, “Keep me update weekly.”
Merlin was more often than not always in the office in the evenings lately, poring over large books with spidery handwriting that seemed they would fall apart if you dropped them. He was intensely focused, jotting down notes, chewing on the end of pen, something that drove Arthur constantly crazy.
And sometimes there were days when Arthur would catch Merlin looking at him and Arthur could see that something was on his mind, but Merlin never told him
Leon stopped by one night before leaving to give the usual pub invite and Arthur had started saying, “No, I can-” before his eyes landed on Merlin packing his things.
“You know, I think I might,” Arthur slowly amended and ignored Leon’s amused smile.
“Good man, we’ll see you there then?”
“Yeah.”
Arthur turned to watch Merlin, who had obviously heard the conversation, as he slowly finished stacking the files he had been reading.
“You could come too you know. The rest of the team likes you.”
Merlin glanced uncertainly at the doorway before looking back at Arthur, “Um, I'm behind on grading this week's papers and then there's this language practicum that I need to-”
“You know," Arthur said offhandedly, "you don't have to come up with an excuse, if you didn't want to hang out with me. A simple no can work too.”
“What? No.” Merlin said quickly flustered, “That's not what I meant. I thought you were asking because you had to.”
“I never ask for things I don't want Merlin. You should know that by now.” Arthur felt a sharp twist of desire at the heat he saw in Merlin’s gaze before he looked back down at his bag.
“Well, I haven't gone out in a while and a pint sounds good,” Merlin said conceding, as he flipped shut the last book on his desk.
“Good, if you're ready, we can head out. It's not far by foot.”
The evening was cool but Arthur felt warm as he walked down the street, Merlin by his side. It was a companionable silence, one that neither one seemed to want to clutter with words.
“You should take care of yourself better,” Arthur said as they came up to the pub, walking inside
“What?” Merlin asked, surprised, cheeks red from the wind.
“You’ve been working harder than me. It kind of makes me look bad,” Arthur said softly wanting to reach out and ease the shadows under Merlin’s eyes.
Merlin grinned at him, “You starting to sound like you care.”
“And if I was,” Arthur asked, not completely surprised by the honesty.
“Oh.” Merlin looked loss for words. But Gwaine had seen seen them, “We’re over here.”
Merlin grinned at him, his eyes bright, “I’m coming to think that the whole prattish behavior is just a coverup.”
“Coverup? What do you mean coverup? And who are you calling a prat.”
Merlin just shook his head, laughing as he walked towards their friends.
He was most definitely fucked.
:::::
| Masterpost | Part Five | Part Seven |
:::::
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur for Merlin. Helping the Metropolitan Police with this case was taking up all his free time. Between coming to realize that there was magic involved and his hopeless crush on Arthur, which he was willing to admit it was one, he somehow managed to find a flat of his own.
Though between his classes at City University and the case, he hadn't a chance to quite settle into his new flat. It was a small, one bedroom flat but the kitchen was spacious. And he had been lucky that the landlady, Alice, a friend of both his mum and Uncle Gaius had given him a generous discount. He wouldn't have been able to have afforded it without a flatmate otherwise. It wasn't until when one of his closest friends from back in uni called him and harassed him into buying furniture he sorely needed and finally finish unpacking that he thought he had a chance to catch up with things outside of work. But that didn't exactly go to plan.
Gwen DuLac, was one of his closest friends from his days back at Oxford and she could read him better than most people. It also didn't help that her husband, another good friend of Merlin’s worked as a forensic pathologist for Scotland Yard and most likely knew that Merlin was working as a consultant.
It was late Sunday afternoon, after they had finally crammed the table into the tiny alcove next to his kitchen when she started on him. He was busy messing with the kettle that he missed the thoughtful look she gave him as she grabbed the mugs to set on the table.
"So I've heard you're working with Arthur Pendragon," Gwen said as Merlin poured them tea.
"Yeah," Merlin replied, his eyes narrowing at her as he took a sit across from her.
"How did you-" he starts to ask, but then sighed, "Lance told you didn't he? News travels fast. I haven't even seen Lance there yet.”
“He had been at a conference up in Edinburgh. And there had been some stabbings near Hackney that has him working overtime. But he heard that you’ve been accepted into the fold. And something about Gwaine wanting to get into your trousers.”
Merlin rolled his eyes, “This proves my point. You would think constables didn't gossip. And besides Gwaine hits on anything that moves."
Gwen grinned at him as she sipped her tea, "According to Lance constables are the worse sort when it comes to gossip."
"Apparently," Merlin murmured disgruntled.
"So how are you liking it?"
"It's fine. The murders are pretty bad and it's hard to imagine anyone could do that to another person. But the constables I'm working with are decent. They do good work."
"And Arthur?" Gwen asked and Merlin could swear there was more to that question that she wasn't asking out loud.
"He's not too bad, when he isn't being a prat."
"Hmm, I've heard he's taken a liking to you."
"What," Merlin asked flushing, embarrassed, "What do you mean?"
"It's just Arthur can be difficult to work with sometimes. You know there's a reason why he hasn’t been able to keep a bag-man." Merlin had wondered about that. It had seemed strange that Arthur hadn't been assigned a sergeant. Leon had mentioned in passing that Arthur had already gone through eight different sergeants in the past two years . Gwaine had muttered something about the Princess wasn’t easy to please before adding a bunch of innuendos that had made Merlin both blush and laugh. Leon, who was apparently used to Gwaine had looked amused and Leon’s sergeant Owain, who had been listening in on the conversation while drinking tea had choked on his drink spilling it all over them.
"So he doesn't have a bag-man. It's not a big deal," Merlin said waving her comment away.
"You say that, but I think you'd be surprised," Gwen insisted, her scrutiny making Merlin uncomfortable. If he were honest with himself, he would admit that it had been surprising despite their arguments and wildly different backgrounds how well they got along. In any other case, it would've unsettled him but there was something solid about Arthur that made Merlin instinctively trust him. It also helped that his magic jumped around in joy whenever he was around Arthur.
"You're attracted to him, aren't you?" Gwen asked suddenly, eyes widening as if something she had been thinking about clicked in place.
Merlin flushed a bright red, "No, I mean--he's attractive, but I told you he's a posh git half the time. And--" but he stopped when he realized that Gwen was laughing at him.
"You have a crush on him," she said amused.
"Gwen--" Merlin said trying not to choke on his tea, embarrassed at how obvious he was.
“That’s why you’re not interested in Gwaine. The only way you wouldn’t have fallen for his charms was if your interest laid elsewhere.” And that was probably true. Once upon a time before Inspector Prats existed, he might’ve fallen for flirty inspector. But then again, he had gotten to know Gwaine really well and valued the friendship he had gain.
“Gwen, seriously--”
"Okay, fine I'll stop. But the look on your face Merlin!"
"It doesn't even matter, I get the feeling that he’s not even interested."
Gwen starts to reply, “Well.”
Merlin waited for her to continue but she looked guilty and tried blatantly to change subject.
“So any cute grad students this semester?”
He narrows his eyes at her, “You’re changing the subject.”
“No I’m not.”
“I already know he favors blokes over birds.”
“How did you--wait don’t tell me, it was Gwaine wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, the very first time I met them actually.”
“Yeah, he does that,” Gwen said with a grin before becoming serious, “Look it’s just Arthur hasn’t had the best experience when it comes to relationships. And trust isn’t something he doesn’t give easily. I can’t tell you more than that.”
But Merlin had already known that, because made the moments when Arthur did tell him something personal even the more important.
“I knew that,” Merlin said, his finger tracing the edge of his teacup.
“Give it time,” Gwen said patting his arm, but that’s what Merlin was worried about. If he ever gained Arthur’s trust, he would only break it.
“Come on,” Gwen said after a while, “there’s this lovely bakery not far from here. And you know what they about chocolate making everything better?”
Merlin gave her half-smile and allowed himself to tugged up, “So that was really the reason why you were excited that I was moving here.”
“Maybe,” she replied cheekily as pulled him out the door.
:::::.
It has been over a month and a half since the last murder and they were still going in circles. While media focus had died out somewhat, Commissioner Kilgharrah had said, “Keep me update weekly.”
Merlin was more often than not always in the office in the evenings lately, poring over large books with spidery handwriting that seemed they would fall apart if you dropped them. He was intensely focused, jotting down notes, chewing on the end of pen, something that drove Arthur constantly crazy.
And sometimes there were days when Arthur would catch Merlin looking at him and Arthur could see that something was on his mind, but Merlin never told him
Leon stopped by one night before leaving to give the usual pub invite and Arthur had started saying, “No, I can-” before his eyes landed on Merlin packing his things.
“You know, I think I might,” Arthur slowly amended and ignored Leon’s amused smile.
“Good man, we’ll see you there then?”
“Yeah.”
Arthur turned to watch Merlin, who had obviously heard the conversation, as he slowly finished stacking the files he had been reading.
“You could come too you know. The rest of the team likes you.”
Merlin glanced uncertainly at the doorway before looking back at Arthur, “Um, I'm behind on grading this week's papers and then there's this language practicum that I need to-”
“You know," Arthur said offhandedly, "you don't have to come up with an excuse, if you didn't want to hang out with me. A simple no can work too.”
“What? No.” Merlin said quickly flustered, “That's not what I meant. I thought you were asking because you had to.”
“I never ask for things I don't want Merlin. You should know that by now.” Arthur felt a sharp twist of desire at the heat he saw in Merlin’s gaze before he looked back down at his bag.
“Well, I haven't gone out in a while and a pint sounds good,” Merlin said conceding, as he flipped shut the last book on his desk.
“Good, if you're ready, we can head out. It's not far by foot.”
The evening was cool but Arthur felt warm as he walked down the street, Merlin by his side. It was a companionable silence, one that neither one seemed to want to clutter with words.
“You should take care of yourself better,” Arthur said as they came up to the pub, walking inside
“What?” Merlin asked, surprised, cheeks red from the wind.
“You’ve been working harder than me. It kind of makes me look bad,” Arthur said softly wanting to reach out and ease the shadows under Merlin’s eyes.
Merlin grinned at him, “You starting to sound like you care.”
“And if I was,” Arthur asked, not completely surprised by the honesty.
“Oh.” Merlin looked loss for words. But Gwaine had seen seen them, “We’re over here.”
Merlin grinned at him, his eyes bright, “I’m coming to think that the whole prattish behavior is just a coverup.”
“Coverup? What do you mean coverup? And who are you calling a prat.”
Merlin just shook his head, laughing as he walked towards their friends.
He was most definitely fucked.
:::::
| Masterpost | Part Five | Part Seven |