ifeelbetter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ifeelbetter) wrote2010-04-07 03:14 am
ifeelbetter) wrote2010-04-07 03:14 am
Entry tags:
Only Two Tragedies (Epilogue)
Title: The Only Two Tragedies (Epilogue)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ifeelbetter
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot
Word Count: 1,541
Disclaimer: Don’t own, won’t ever. It’s all a lie.
Summary: Merlin is a British artist working at a coffee shop and Arthur is a high-and mighty PR mogul's son. After the former won the latter's modeling services in a drinking contest, Merlin and Arthur awkwardly and tentatively edged towards love.
Notes: Because the not-quite-an-ending was not the popular choice, I have returned with paintings, cheese, and Sophia. I don't do perfect happiness well (or at all) so this is the closest I could get.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and the Epilogue
"I think it's an apple," Morganna volunteered.
"Like, a symbolic Adam's apple? Like 'The Man' who keeps down the proletariat? Adam oppressing Eve sort of thing?" Gwen asked. She cocked her head to one side. "I could see that."
"No, like an actual apple."
"Why would there be an apple?"
"I'm not the artiste," Morganna said, sipping at a coffee.
Lancelot joined them in front of the giant painting.
"Apple or symbol of oppression?" Gwen asked him, after giving him the obligatory greeting-kiss.
"Do I have to choose?" he asked laughingly.
They were helping Merlin set up before his very first (and very obscure, under-funded, and under-advertised) gallery opening. It was a loft--some friend of Arthur's had offered to lend it to Merlin for two months while he was on a business trip in Tokyo--and, of course, Merlin had refused to do anything so practical as advertise. He had contented himself with handing out fliers (printed at Staples) on a street corner. No one was going to come, they were all sure.
Merlin appeared in the door way with another box of drawings, ends of pages sticking out of every crack in the packing tape.
"Mer, is this an apple or a symbol of oppression? Inquiring minds want to know," Morganna called.
"It is a painting that was already hung unlike all of these which need to be unpacked even," he grumbled and then looked at the painting they were standing in front of. He blushed.
"It's Arthur! I knew it!" Morganna said victoriously.
"You thought it was an apple," Gwen complained.
"I was leading you into a cunning conversational trap."
"Dude, how is this Arthur? I don't even see a head," Lancelot said, twisting his head nearly upside down in search of a new angle.
"I never said it was Arthur," Merlin grumbled.
"Aha! But you didn't say you didn't say it was Arthur!" Morganna said. Gwen's lips moved silently as she tried to parse the sentence.
"Yes, he did. That's exactly what he did say," she said, after a moment's pause. Morganna dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
"You know what I mean. He didn't really deny it."
"I definitely denied it," Merlin said.
"You actually didn't deny-deny it," Lancelot said, "you denied saying it. Which isn't the same." Gwen beamed at him.
"Look at you, making grammatical points," she said, leaning in for another kiss.
"I'm dating this girl who's getting a PhD in English," Lancelot said, "Very brainy."
"I bet."
Merlin and Morganna rolled their eyes at each other but only halfheartedly. Disgustingly cute as they were, Gwen and Lancelot were still pretty undeniably gosh-darned cute.
There was a quiet knock on the door. Merlin couldn't really hide the way he was drawn magnetically--hopefully--towards it. He caught himself but Morganna met his eye with affectionate disgust.
Arthur awkwardly closed the door behind him and stood stiffly just outside the group.
Merlin grinned at him and dumped the box in his hands.
"Help me unpack?" he said and Arthur grinned sheepishly. The thing with him and Merlin was still very new--very hush-hush in the manliest way possible. They didn't talk about it much, to each other or anyone else. Arthur privately believed that it would break if even breathed on. It was unlikely to begin with, improbable at the best of times.
"Yeah," he said simply. Merlin seemed to like that as a response.
"Boys!" Morganna opined, "You never say anything. As a gender, I worry for you."
Gwen laughed and responded with something very witty, the three chatting easily. Merlin took advantage of their distraction to pull Arthur towards him.
"Hi," he said. Arthur's breath was warm on his cheek.
"Hi," Arthur said and kissed him slowly.
There was a polite cough behind them. Sophia tipped her enormous sunglasses further down her nose.
"God, it's not like I would want to be the reason for breaking up something as hot as that," Sophia said, waving a hand vaguely in their direction, "By all means, I can wait."
"I brought Sophia," Arthur explained, more than half apology.
"I see," Merlin grinned.
"Oh, I've ruined the moment, haven't I? How stupid of me," Sophia said, pulling out her phone as it chirped tonelessly in her bag. She pressed it to her ear, holding up a finger in the universal just a moment gesture, "Yes, darling." Pause. "You're all turned around, I can tell. Let Mommy help." She turned her back on them and continued the phone conversation.
"'Mommy'?" Merlin asked. Arthur shrugged.
"Ours not to wonder why," he said, pulling Merlin back towards him, "And I am sorry I'm late."
"You ought to be sorry about all the packing and lugging heavy packages I had to do," Merlin said.
"They are your packages."
And that was magically not annoying, despite Arthur's unwilling and unbelievable apology. It didn't irk him in the slightest and he marveled at himself and kissed Arthur, feeling it was appropriate.
"But, Arthur, he's an effete artiste," Morganna interrupted gleefully, "Look at those spindly arms. I bet he'd snap in half in a strong wind."
"You do have a bit of a malnourished look going," Arthur said, pulling back to contemplate in full.
"It's the British diet. No vitamins," Morganna agreed.
Sophia pocketed her phone again and rejoined them.
"Morganna, darling! It's been eons!" she exclaimed, kissing the air next to each of Morganna's cheeks as Morganna glowered resentfully at her. "Michigan must agree with you."
"I don't live in Michigan."
"I do get so confused about those backwater towns. Where is it you're staying these days?" Sophia said, feigning interest badly.
"Boston. It's a city."
"I knew it was something or other!" Sophia said, already sailing past the point and blissfully unaware of the steaming hatred boiling under the Morganna-exterior, "Merlin, darling! Do you know, nobody can find this place. I said to myself, I said--" but Arthur cut in.
"Sophia, you haven't!" he said, being in the unfortunate position of being able to interpret Sophia better than the rest due to longer acquaintance.
"I don't know what you could mean. But I said to myself, 'Sophia, darling, what an absurd place to have a gallery opening!'" she said, her bag vibrating with another incoming call, "And how ever will they all be able to get there? I mean, Brooklyn, of all places." She answered the phone and walked away before she could be questioned further.
Arthur grimaced as the group turned to stare at him.
"I'm betting she's invited all of Manhattan," he said apologetically, "Honestly, it never occurred to me she might. And she's always pestering me about Merlin, I thought this would be a good neutral environment."
"All of Manhattan?" Merlin repeated, his mind still catching up, "Good lord, they won't all come, will they?" Gwen stifled a laugh.
"We really had better get these paintings on the walls at least," Morganna observed, "We've only really done that one." She gestured to the painting and, catching sight of it for the first time, Arthur blushed.
"I see that! You're totally blushing!" Morganna crowed, "It is of you!"
"It must be indecent somehow," Gwen said, "Stands to reason. Otherwise they wouldn't both be blushing."
"That's going to be in my head all night, thank you very much," Lancelot said.
"Stop embarrassing me and unpack boxes," Merlin said, still blushing himself, "We have to prepare for the onslaught."
"I still say it looks more like an apple than anything."
***
"Christ, all of Manhattan did come," Merlin said, surveying the packed room. He'd been propositioned three times, had his ass grabbed in mid-explanation ("No, that's not an appl--excuse me, madam!"), offered tons more money than anything warranted, and, most disconcertingly, had lost track of Arthur ages ago.
And no sooner had the thought crossed his mind but there was a tap at his elbow. Arthur offered him a beer.
"Cheers," he said. He desperately needed it.
"Bit overwhelming," Arthur observed. Merlin nodded. There was a silence like you only have in large crowds, like the one on the subway car, weeks ago. Someone needed to pass behind Merlin and he was suddenly pressed up against Arthur.
He didn't mind.
"So," Arthur said, without any real end for the sentence in mind when he started.
"Yeah," Merlin agreed, without really having anything specific to agree to.
So Arthur kissed him, for no real reason.
In five minutes, someone was going to drag Merlin off to explain what the significance of 'Person In The Park' ("It really is just some bloke in the Park. I'm totally serious.") to a remarkably tiny old man in tweed who would later turn out to be Sophia's father and Arthur would start a fight with Morganna in an hour that would be embarrassingly loud and end in a ridiculous cheese-eating contest (he would lose). And Gwen and Lancelot would slip out an hour after that and would take, miraculously, five hours to get back to her and Merlin's apartment but he wouldn't care because he wouldn't be there anyway, he'd still be cleaning melted cheese out of a door handle.
But, just this moment, Arthur kissed him and he kissed Arthur.
Author:
ifeelbetterRating: PG-13
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot
Word Count: 1,541
Disclaimer: Don’t own, won’t ever. It’s all a lie.
Summary: Merlin is a British artist working at a coffee shop and Arthur is a high-and mighty PR mogul's son. After the former won the latter's modeling services in a drinking contest, Merlin and Arthur awkwardly and tentatively edged towards love.
Notes: Because the not-quite-an-ending was not the popular choice, I have returned with paintings, cheese, and Sophia. I don't do perfect happiness well (or at all) so this is the closest I could get.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and the Epilogue
"I think it's an apple," Morganna volunteered.
"Like, a symbolic Adam's apple? Like 'The Man' who keeps down the proletariat? Adam oppressing Eve sort of thing?" Gwen asked. She cocked her head to one side. "I could see that."
"No, like an actual apple."
"Why would there be an apple?"
"I'm not the artiste," Morganna said, sipping at a coffee.
Lancelot joined them in front of the giant painting.
"Apple or symbol of oppression?" Gwen asked him, after giving him the obligatory greeting-kiss.
"Do I have to choose?" he asked laughingly.
They were helping Merlin set up before his very first (and very obscure, under-funded, and under-advertised) gallery opening. It was a loft--some friend of Arthur's had offered to lend it to Merlin for two months while he was on a business trip in Tokyo--and, of course, Merlin had refused to do anything so practical as advertise. He had contented himself with handing out fliers (printed at Staples) on a street corner. No one was going to come, they were all sure.
Merlin appeared in the door way with another box of drawings, ends of pages sticking out of every crack in the packing tape.
"Mer, is this an apple or a symbol of oppression? Inquiring minds want to know," Morganna called.
"It is a painting that was already hung unlike all of these which need to be unpacked even," he grumbled and then looked at the painting they were standing in front of. He blushed.
"It's Arthur! I knew it!" Morganna said victoriously.
"You thought it was an apple," Gwen complained.
"I was leading you into a cunning conversational trap."
"Dude, how is this Arthur? I don't even see a head," Lancelot said, twisting his head nearly upside down in search of a new angle.
"I never said it was Arthur," Merlin grumbled.
"Aha! But you didn't say you didn't say it was Arthur!" Morganna said. Gwen's lips moved silently as she tried to parse the sentence.
"Yes, he did. That's exactly what he did say," she said, after a moment's pause. Morganna dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
"You know what I mean. He didn't really deny it."
"I definitely denied it," Merlin said.
"You actually didn't deny-deny it," Lancelot said, "you denied saying it. Which isn't the same." Gwen beamed at him.
"Look at you, making grammatical points," she said, leaning in for another kiss.
"I'm dating this girl who's getting a PhD in English," Lancelot said, "Very brainy."
"I bet."
Merlin and Morganna rolled their eyes at each other but only halfheartedly. Disgustingly cute as they were, Gwen and Lancelot were still pretty undeniably gosh-darned cute.
There was a quiet knock on the door. Merlin couldn't really hide the way he was drawn magnetically--hopefully--towards it. He caught himself but Morganna met his eye with affectionate disgust.
Arthur awkwardly closed the door behind him and stood stiffly just outside the group.
Merlin grinned at him and dumped the box in his hands.
"Help me unpack?" he said and Arthur grinned sheepishly. The thing with him and Merlin was still very new--very hush-hush in the manliest way possible. They didn't talk about it much, to each other or anyone else. Arthur privately believed that it would break if even breathed on. It was unlikely to begin with, improbable at the best of times.
"Yeah," he said simply. Merlin seemed to like that as a response.
"Boys!" Morganna opined, "You never say anything. As a gender, I worry for you."
Gwen laughed and responded with something very witty, the three chatting easily. Merlin took advantage of their distraction to pull Arthur towards him.
"Hi," he said. Arthur's breath was warm on his cheek.
"Hi," Arthur said and kissed him slowly.
There was a polite cough behind them. Sophia tipped her enormous sunglasses further down her nose.
"God, it's not like I would want to be the reason for breaking up something as hot as that," Sophia said, waving a hand vaguely in their direction, "By all means, I can wait."
"I brought Sophia," Arthur explained, more than half apology.
"I see," Merlin grinned.
"Oh, I've ruined the moment, haven't I? How stupid of me," Sophia said, pulling out her phone as it chirped tonelessly in her bag. She pressed it to her ear, holding up a finger in the universal just a moment gesture, "Yes, darling." Pause. "You're all turned around, I can tell. Let Mommy help." She turned her back on them and continued the phone conversation.
"'Mommy'?" Merlin asked. Arthur shrugged.
"Ours not to wonder why," he said, pulling Merlin back towards him, "And I am sorry I'm late."
"You ought to be sorry about all the packing and lugging heavy packages I had to do," Merlin said.
"They are your packages."
And that was magically not annoying, despite Arthur's unwilling and unbelievable apology. It didn't irk him in the slightest and he marveled at himself and kissed Arthur, feeling it was appropriate.
"But, Arthur, he's an effete artiste," Morganna interrupted gleefully, "Look at those spindly arms. I bet he'd snap in half in a strong wind."
"You do have a bit of a malnourished look going," Arthur said, pulling back to contemplate in full.
"It's the British diet. No vitamins," Morganna agreed.
Sophia pocketed her phone again and rejoined them.
"Morganna, darling! It's been eons!" she exclaimed, kissing the air next to each of Morganna's cheeks as Morganna glowered resentfully at her. "Michigan must agree with you."
"I don't live in Michigan."
"I do get so confused about those backwater towns. Where is it you're staying these days?" Sophia said, feigning interest badly.
"Boston. It's a city."
"I knew it was something or other!" Sophia said, already sailing past the point and blissfully unaware of the steaming hatred boiling under the Morganna-exterior, "Merlin, darling! Do you know, nobody can find this place. I said to myself, I said--" but Arthur cut in.
"Sophia, you haven't!" he said, being in the unfortunate position of being able to interpret Sophia better than the rest due to longer acquaintance.
"I don't know what you could mean. But I said to myself, 'Sophia, darling, what an absurd place to have a gallery opening!'" she said, her bag vibrating with another incoming call, "And how ever will they all be able to get there? I mean, Brooklyn, of all places." She answered the phone and walked away before she could be questioned further.
Arthur grimaced as the group turned to stare at him.
"I'm betting she's invited all of Manhattan," he said apologetically, "Honestly, it never occurred to me she might. And she's always pestering me about Merlin, I thought this would be a good neutral environment."
"All of Manhattan?" Merlin repeated, his mind still catching up, "Good lord, they won't all come, will they?" Gwen stifled a laugh.
"We really had better get these paintings on the walls at least," Morganna observed, "We've only really done that one." She gestured to the painting and, catching sight of it for the first time, Arthur blushed.
"I see that! You're totally blushing!" Morganna crowed, "It is of you!"
"It must be indecent somehow," Gwen said, "Stands to reason. Otherwise they wouldn't both be blushing."
"That's going to be in my head all night, thank you very much," Lancelot said.
"Stop embarrassing me and unpack boxes," Merlin said, still blushing himself, "We have to prepare for the onslaught."
"I still say it looks more like an apple than anything."
***
"Christ, all of Manhattan did come," Merlin said, surveying the packed room. He'd been propositioned three times, had his ass grabbed in mid-explanation ("No, that's not an appl--excuse me, madam!"), offered tons more money than anything warranted, and, most disconcertingly, had lost track of Arthur ages ago.
And no sooner had the thought crossed his mind but there was a tap at his elbow. Arthur offered him a beer.
"Cheers," he said. He desperately needed it.
"Bit overwhelming," Arthur observed. Merlin nodded. There was a silence like you only have in large crowds, like the one on the subway car, weeks ago. Someone needed to pass behind Merlin and he was suddenly pressed up against Arthur.
He didn't mind.
"So," Arthur said, without any real end for the sentence in mind when he started.
"Yeah," Merlin agreed, without really having anything specific to agree to.
So Arthur kissed him, for no real reason.
In five minutes, someone was going to drag Merlin off to explain what the significance of 'Person In The Park' ("It really is just some bloke in the Park. I'm totally serious.") to a remarkably tiny old man in tweed who would later turn out to be Sophia's father and Arthur would start a fight with Morganna in an hour that would be embarrassingly loud and end in a ridiculous cheese-eating contest (he would lose). And Gwen and Lancelot would slip out an hour after that and would take, miraculously, five hours to get back to her and Merlin's apartment but he wouldn't care because he wouldn't be there anyway, he'd still be cleaning melted cheese out of a door handle.
But, just this moment, Arthur kissed him and he kissed Arthur.
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