"Boys' Night Out" (Merlin/Arthur flashfic, PG-13)
May. 13th, 2009 | 05:28 pm
From:: lilian_cho
In which Arthur stole Merlin's food, watched his DVD, took him out to a boring party and manoeuvred him to bed (to sleep).
★ All-in-one beta & Britpicker:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lilithilien ♥
☆ The first version won third place at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
armer_gayms' Bro Code challenge.
☆ 555 words. Or 731. It's all relative.
★ Borrowed the varying flashfic length from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
b_hallward's Increments (Merlin/Arthur)--am not the genius that came up with it. The 5, 10, 20, ..., 100 words structure fits what I have in mind, didn't mean to steal ^^;;
[1. A Bro should never eat out of another Bro's hands.]
"Merlin, I'm starving. Gimme that."
[2. A Bro should never cry during a movie. In the event that he does, he must under no circumstance admit it to anyone other than a girl he is trying to score with.]
"It's spring allergy!"
"Yes, Arthur, you don't find Titanic sad."
[3. The word "cute" should not be used other than describing a chick they want to bone.]
"Pouting won't make me change my mind."
"Aww, you think I'm cute!"
"No, Arthur. I'm not going to your party."
[4. A Bro should not wear a scarf without a jacket or coat.]
"Do you have to wear your blue scarf? It's old and faded."
Merlin's voice, when he answered, was muffled. "It's comfortable."
"It's ugly."
"It's really soft. Feel it."
"..."
"See?"
[5. No Bro should make a kissing face in a photo.]
"Merlin! What a pleasant surprise!"
"Your brother's a slave driver."
"And yet you put up with him." Morgana's smile was red and knowing. "Here, give us a kiss."
Flash.
"Should I be worried?" Merlin joked.
Morgana grinned. "Here comes Arthur."
[6. You shall honor your father and mother and your Bro's father and mother.]
"Father, you remember Merlin."
"Mr Pendragon." Merlin hoped his smile didn't come across as too deranged.
"Charmed, I'm sure." Uther’s lifted eyebrow belied the statement.
"Merlin's studying medicine in Edinburgh," Arthur's bright tone filled the awkward silence.
Uther's gaze held a spark of genuine interest. "You must be quite dedicated."
[7. At a party you must not go around telling everyone that your Bro is gay and looking for male company tonight.]
"Oh, Arthur? He picked me up in this gay bar. It's tragic, really, he has such a healthy sexual appetite but I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to keep up with him. Speaking of which, we're looking into the possibility of polyamoury. You wouldn't know anyone who'd be interested–"
"Merlin. May I talk to you for a second?"
[8. Never share a bed with a Bro.]
"If I'd known you like to spout outlandish lies when you're pissed, I would have plied you with alcohol a long time ago." Arthur couldn't help but be amused. "Lightweight."
He helped Merlin manoeuvre his way more or less into the bedroom.
"Lies."
Arthur snorted. "You only had a few glasses of champagne. That constitutes a lightweight in my book."
Merlin frowned. "Not lies. I was bored. Started fantash– fantasising."
[9. A Bro should never wiggle out of a pair of pants.]
"Really, Merlin. After informing my father's shareholder that we're interested in a permanent threesome, it's no longer the time to play coy, is it?"
"You try wriggling out of your clothes when you're half-drunk." Merlin sulked.
"Oh, don't be like that," Arthur cajoled, hooking his thumbs at Merlin's belt loops. "If you had dressed in the suit I bought instead of stupid jeans, you wouldn't have this problem."
"Am not your kept boy, no matter what Will said," Merlin slurred.
[10. A Bro should never ever see another Bro naked.]
"Where do you keep your pyjamas?"
"Don't sleep in p'jamas."
"What, don't tell me you usually sleep starkers." Arthur's voice cracked by the end of the sentence, but thankfully Merlin was too drunk to notice.
"I like T-shirts." Merlin's arm was flung over his eyes. "They're comf'table."
A shirt lay crumpled on the bedroom’s sole chair. That shade of bright yellow looked familiar...
"Merlin! This is my 1971 Cup Final shirt!"
A groan answered him.
"You're lucky it's not the signed one. Or I'd be honour-bound to beat you up."
[A true Bro shall follow the Bro Code at all times and never under any circumstances break the rules set by the Bro Code.]
"Arthur? Why are you in my bed?" Merlin wasn't hyperventilating.
"Gnh?" Arthur made a protesting noise that Merlin didn't find cute.
"Are you naked?"
Arthur blearily turned on his side to face Merlin. As the sheets slid down, Merlin noted that he was not, in fact, naked.
Come to think of it, Merlin's wearing his footie shirt. So unless Arthur had some footie-related kink, they probably didn’t have sex last night and defile the Arsenal shirt.
Merlin's wistful thought was cut off when Arthur grabbed his waist and cuddled him.
"Sleep now. Sex later."
Right. He can live with that.
<-- Merlin's pyjamas Arthur's Arsenal shirt. Please credit if taking, etc.
Rambling A/N of sorts:
There's a funny story about this fic. Being obsessed with fic finder communities, I saw a fic search that eeriely sounded like this fic.
Since the fic was still anon at the time, and the comm. doesn't allow anon commenting, a friend answered the post for me. And balance is once again restored to the fandom world =D
(I'm so used to HP fandom where no matter how seemingly unique an idea is, you can bet at least two other people have come up with the same idea =P)
[ LJ | AO3 | DW ]
★ All-in-one beta & Britpicker:
lilithilien ♥☆ The first version won third place at
armer_gayms' Bro Code challenge.☆ 555 words. Or 731. It's all relative.
★ Borrowed the varying flashfic length from
b_hallward's Increments (Merlin/Arthur)--am not the genius that came up with it. The 5, 10, 20, ..., 100 words structure fits what I have in mind, didn't mean to steal ^^;;[1. A Bro should never eat out of another Bro's hands.]
"Merlin, I'm starving. Gimme that."
[2. A Bro should never cry during a movie. In the event that he does, he must under no circumstance admit it to anyone other than a girl he is trying to score with.]
"It's spring allergy!"
"Yes, Arthur, you don't find Titanic sad."
[3. The word "cute" should not be used other than describing a chick they want to bone.]
"Pouting won't make me change my mind."
"Aww, you think I'm cute!"
"No, Arthur. I'm not going to your party."
[4. A Bro should not wear a scarf without a jacket or coat.]
"Do you have to wear your blue scarf? It's old and faded."
Merlin's voice, when he answered, was muffled. "It's comfortable."
"It's ugly."
"It's really soft. Feel it."
"..."
"See?"
[5. No Bro should make a kissing face in a photo.]
"Merlin! What a pleasant surprise!"
"Your brother's a slave driver."
"And yet you put up with him." Morgana's smile was red and knowing. "Here, give us a kiss."
Flash.
"Should I be worried?" Merlin joked.
Morgana grinned. "Here comes Arthur."
[6. You shall honor your father and mother and your Bro's father and mother.]
"Father, you remember Merlin."
"Mr Pendragon." Merlin hoped his smile didn't come across as too deranged.
"Charmed, I'm sure." Uther’s lifted eyebrow belied the statement.
"Merlin's studying medicine in Edinburgh," Arthur's bright tone filled the awkward silence.
Uther's gaze held a spark of genuine interest. "You must be quite dedicated."
[7. At a party you must not go around telling everyone that your Bro is gay and looking for male company tonight.]
"Oh, Arthur? He picked me up in this gay bar. It's tragic, really, he has such a healthy sexual appetite but I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to keep up with him. Speaking of which, we're looking into the possibility of polyamoury. You wouldn't know anyone who'd be interested–"
"Merlin. May I talk to you for a second?"
[8. Never share a bed with a Bro.]
"If I'd known you like to spout outlandish lies when you're pissed, I would have plied you with alcohol a long time ago." Arthur couldn't help but be amused. "Lightweight."
He helped Merlin manoeuvre his way more or less into the bedroom.
"Lies."
Arthur snorted. "You only had a few glasses of champagne. That constitutes a lightweight in my book."
Merlin frowned. "Not lies. I was bored. Started fantash– fantasising."
[9. A Bro should never wiggle out of a pair of pants.]
"Really, Merlin. After informing my father's shareholder that we're interested in a permanent threesome, it's no longer the time to play coy, is it?"
"You try wriggling out of your clothes when you're half-drunk." Merlin sulked.
"Oh, don't be like that," Arthur cajoled, hooking his thumbs at Merlin's belt loops. "If you had dressed in the suit I bought instead of stupid jeans, you wouldn't have this problem."
"Am not your kept boy, no matter what Will said," Merlin slurred.
[10. A Bro should never ever see another Bro naked.]
"Where do you keep your pyjamas?"
"Don't sleep in p'jamas."
"What, don't tell me you usually sleep starkers." Arthur's voice cracked by the end of the sentence, but thankfully Merlin was too drunk to notice.
"I like T-shirts." Merlin's arm was flung over his eyes. "They're comf'table."
A shirt lay crumpled on the bedroom’s sole chair. That shade of bright yellow looked familiar...
"Merlin! This is my 1971 Cup Final shirt!"
A groan answered him.
"You're lucky it's not the signed one. Or I'd be honour-bound to beat you up."
[A true Bro shall follow the Bro Code at all times and never under any circumstances break the rules set by the Bro Code.]
"Arthur? Why are you in my bed?" Merlin wasn't hyperventilating.
"Gnh?" Arthur made a protesting noise that Merlin didn't find cute.
"Are you naked?"
Arthur blearily turned on his side to face Merlin. As the sheets slid down, Merlin noted that he was not, in fact, naked.
Come to think of it, Merlin's wearing his footie shirt. So unless Arthur had some footie-related kink, they probably didn’t have sex last night and defile the Arsenal shirt.
Merlin's wistful thought was cut off when Arthur grabbed his waist and cuddled him.
"Sleep now. Sex later."
Right. He can live with that.
<-- Rambling A/N of sorts:
There's a funny story about this fic. Being obsessed with fic finder communities, I saw a fic search that eeriely sounded like this fic.
"I thought I was the first one who includes this detail, darnit!"
*ponders about collective fandom consciousness*
Three minutes later...
Since the fic was still anon at the time, and the comm. doesn't allow anon commenting, a friend answered the post for me. And balance is once again restored to the fandom world =D
(I'm so used to HP fandom where no matter how seemingly unique an idea is, you can bet at least two other people have come up with the same idea =P)
[ LJ | AO3 | DW ]