AN: I don't know what happened. I posted this and the linked worked and some people read it and life was pretty, then the chapter was deleted?! I don't know. So I deleted the story and re-did it because...stupid. Whatever. I hope it works now.

Merlin was an idiot.

Why? Oh, there were so many reasons. Today's flavor of stupid came from Merlin's lack of preparedness.

"It was either the food or the extra blanket," Merlin defended. "I didn't have room for both. Which would you rather be, hungry or a bit chilly? I know you, Arthur. While I don't think it'd be such a bad idea to skip a meal, you'd be complaining non-stop. Besides, how was I to know you'd actually catch something?"

Merlin earned himself the responsibility of cooking their catch of boar and cleaning up afterwards. Not that he wouldn't have done it anyway, but now he did it with Arthur glaring at him and trying to trip him every few minutes. Merlin, in turn, bumped into him a few times more than necessary causing a portion of his dinner to splash against his tunic.

"Merlin."

"Sorry, Sire!"

He would be. Arthur walked with him to the nearest creek so he could personally oversee the washing of his clothes.

"And I'll be having your shirt," Arthur held out his hand after Merlin finished.

"My shirt?"

"Well I'm not going to catch sickness just because you're a moron."

Arthur could already feel the cold in the air biting at his exposed torso as he waited for Merlin to hand him the shirt off his back.

"So I'm supposed to? No way." Merlin shuffled back, almost slipping on a few of the stones littering the ground. What a klutz.

"What did you just say to me?"

"You have more. You can wait until we return."

"I gave you an order, Merlin."

"And I explained why that order was stupid."

"What did you just call me?"

"Nothing! Out loud," Merlin mumbled as he backed away and slipped over a few more stones.

Arthur continued to glare with his most menacing scowl and it only took one more step before Merlin cracked. "Fine." He slipped off his tunic and exposed his own chest to the freezing air. "But if I get sick, it'll be your fault and you'll be the one taking care of me."

Arthur rolled his eyes and held out his hand. Merlin took that single step forward and did it again. He really fell this time and the shirt went with him, right into the water where the fabric was instantly soaked.

"Merlin! You idiot!"

"It's not my fault the rocks are slippery!"

"Now what am I supposed to do?"

"You? I'm shirtless and wet."

"It's not that cold." Arthur scoffed as he crossed his arms and hugged his body a little tighter.

"Oh really?" Merlin growled and stomped over the stones, only slipping a tiny bit before reaching Arthur and slapping his freezing hands over the prince's biceps.

Arthur pulled back with a shudder. "What was that for?"

"For being an arse!"

"You can't talk to me that way!"

"I can-" Merlin tried to take another step and really, really fell that time -all the way into Arthur's chest, pushing him enough to where he felt the ground slipping beneath him too.

Lucky for both of them, Arthur was trained to regain balance. He managed to unfold his arms, catch the moron, and regain his footing -all before they could end up in the icy water.

"Would you stop falling?"

"Would you stop-" Merlin couldn't finish the sentence his teeth were clattering together so loudly.

"Come on," Arthur sighed and lifted his servant up. Merlin refused to let go of him, his fingers curled into his shoulders –frozen in their position. "You're freezing. Let's get you back to the fire."

"You might have to carry me."

"Carry you? What-" Arthur looked down and saw Merlin's boots soaked to the ankle.

"I can't feel my toes."

"Gods, Merlin. Take those off." Arthur sighed and led them to a small hill by the bank where he set Merlin down and watched as he struggled to make his fingers work in unlacing his boots. "Here-" Arthur just ended up doing it for him.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Really, don't. If my men knew I was removing my servants shoes then-"

"They'd think you a good person. And we couldn't have that." Merlin smug smile was infuriating, to say the least.

"You really have a mouth on you."

Merlin shrugged through his shakes, "Someone needs to put you in your place."

"And someone needs to put you in yours," Arthur challenged and leaned in with a follow up scowl. As if on cue, there was that gleam, that challenge –the little twinkle in Merlin's eyes.

The threat lost its original meaning and Arthur had trouble finding it again. His stomach was distracting him, flipping and floating at the same time. Maybe Merlin cooked the meat wrong? Great. Now he would definitely be sick.

Merlin smirked, "Is that going to be you?"

The twinkle bloomed and Arthur lost himself to that sparkle, until he saw the shiver running down Merlin's spine. "You look absolutely pathetic."

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

"You are going to catch a cold. If you weren't such a klutz, I wouldn't be out a manservant."

"And if you weren't such an arse, I wouldn't have fallen." Arthur rolled his eyes to that. "So you are to take care of me now, right? Is that not the deal?"

"I am not carrying you back."

"Then I'll be dead on a riverbank and it'll be all your fault."

Why did Merlin always insist on being so dramatic? "Fine with me."

"You say that now but you'll feel guilty. The moment you realize you have to carry your own bag, you'll miss me."

"You big baby." Arthur growled, sighed, and picked up his excuse for a 'man'servant bridal style. Merlin gasped at the sudden movement and huddled into him, trying to steal what little heat he could from Arthur's shoulder. His cold, clammy hands wrapped around the back of his neck and Arthur's stomach flipped again. Strange it kept doing that.

He would yell at Merlin for under-cooking their boar but he really was a pitiful sight. Pale skin glowing in the moonlight. Blue lips quivering. Water droplets sliding down his arms. Body shaking and slipping as it tried to move closer.

Arthur silently helped by curling him a little tighter and tried not to recoil at the chill it sent down his spine. Then he took a step towards camp and in a superb karma moment he slipped and fell directly onto the ground.

Merlin couldn't hold back an annoying, triumphant chuckle, a sound that resonated directly in his ear. "What were you saying about me being a klutz?"

Being splayed over Merlin's body, Arthur didn't have to move far to glare at him. "Shut up."

"No," Merlin tilted his head to the side as he drew out the word and pouted his lips in mock concentration. "I don't think I will."

"Then I'll make you."

"I'm sorry Arthur, but this is just too good. I wonder what the knights will say when I tell them you-" Merlin's incessant chatter was cut short by Arthur scooping his arms out from between their bodies and pinning Merlin's above his head by the wrists –an intended warning that was yet again lost to the glimmer in Merlin's eyes, a golden gleam that didn't belong and stole all of his attention.

The frigid air seemed to disappear as he leaned over to get a better look. Merlin's wrists were so small, easy to keep to the ground –especially since he wasn't even trying to get himself free. He was just staring. Tracing patterns on Arthur's face that he couldn't follow. Looking at something.

Did he have something on his face? How much food did Merlin spill on him?

Apparently there was something about his mouth because the moment he licked his lips, Merlin's lips fell apart.

"Go on," Arthur challenged, adding a bit of weight to the hold. "What will you tell them?"

The roaring of the current behind couldn't drown out the pounding of Arthur's heart. Something about the way Merlin's lips quirked up, his arms stretching out his lean torso, his body arching just the slightest bit to adjust to the curve of the ground, the way his legs brushed Arthur's when he did so –it was all very…overwhelming. And when faced with an overwhelming situation Arthur knew he was supposed to strategize first. Strategize and then attack.

If only his attention was not stolen so completely by sharp, rebellious eyes.

Those quirked lips were suddenly under his mouth and for as cold as Merlin appeared to be, his mouth was warm as he pushed down on him, sending the beating of his heart into overdrive –so loud that it woke him out of his stupor and he lurched back with a gasp.

He stared at Merlin's open mouth and refused to catch his eyes. He stayed stock still, afraid to move at all. His body was the one shaking now, only it wasn't the cold. It was the heat of this fear clouding him, locking his joints in place and making time slow as he watched Merlin lazily roll his lips together.

"I'll tell them-" Merlin breathed and bumped Arthur's nose with his own, "-that you're so clumsy, you can't even kiss right. And I am much more skilled than you."

"Is that right?"

"Let me show you."

Merlin's wrists jiggled in Arthur's grip as he leaned his body up to reach the mouth struck dumb by the words that hung in the air. He caught him, wrapped him in his lips, and sucked his frozen body down by the face.

Teeth and tongue clawed Arthur's locked jaw open until Merlin could lick into him and bat his tongue into action. It was all very sudden, how every flick would accompany the slide of his body –every inch of him curving away from the earth to rub against Arthur's skin.

The warrior reacted without thought of strategy again and slid into the friction, forcing the boy beneath him back to the mud as he pressed his weight into the grind. His tongue finally came to life and pushed out against Merlin's, only to be forced back in as Merlin curved back –sliding the rough of his tongue over lips and teeth alike.

Then Merlin's mouth disappeared. It reappeared under his jaw as Merlin took one large, greedy bite and scraped his teeth over the flesh he sucked into his mouth. Arthur hissed and found himself bending towards him, shoving his neck out so Merlin could lap up more than just the one taste -so he could feel the hot energy crackling with every chomp.

Merlin pinched the skin under his ear and Arthur whined. Out loud.

The need to prove Merlin wrong about being the better kisser suddenly hit him with full force. He gripped Merlin's wrists tighter and pulled him taught as he yanked at the boy's lips with his teeth and ground their bodies together. Merlin groaned and tilted his head up and sideways to push into Arthur's mouth again but Arthur bit down on his lip and knocked his head back into the grass below.

Merlin panted into him. Every time he opened his mouth he stole all of Arthur's air until he was panting too and it was all they had -their lungs filling up with the sounds of the other.

Merlin's wrists started to squirm as his fingers flailed, looking for something to grip as his body slipped up and down the mud of the hill. He nearly brushed Arthur's knuckles and Arthur stretched him out again before pouncing back on top.

Merlin whined. So desperate. So needy. So shameless.

A victorious thrill sparked through Arthur and he growled as he pushed his body faster, really slamming their bare chests together. The mix of the chill in the air and the excitement rippling through them had both their nipples standing erect. As the hard buds brushed together, Arthur's grunts turned to groans. His body jerked with every pleasurable shock. He pulled his teeth from Merlin's lips, licked his way down his jaw, and bit down hard. Harder than Merlin had.

Merlin hissed and his body curved just right so that his hips were angled to just the position where his firm, hard need jutted right into Arthur's hips and pushed directly against the side of Arthur's own want.

Arthur's hips jolted back. Heat flooded out from his center and sucked him in further as he sucked on Merlin's neck.

His nails scraped down Merlin's forearms until he hooked his digits into the crook of his elbow. He pulled the boy's arms down and simultaneously pulled his body up so he could mouth over Merlin's shoulder and adjust his legs –swinging one over and the other between- so he could ride across Merlin's firm erection and send the flames burning within into a full grown fire.

Nails scraped across his shoulders as Merlin's hands finally had some room to grab. The sting made him arch his back and Merlin stole the small space that allowed him and really bucked up. His heels dug into the ground so he wouldn't slide and he snapped his hips again and again until Arthur couldn't focus on anything but the overwhelming pleasure pulsing to every part of him. Every impact rubbed their covered cocks together. He could practically feel the distinctive contours of Merlin's firm member sliding along his own.

Just a bit harder. A bit more. To the left and- Gods. It was everything.

He lost the will to chew a bruise and huffed across Merlin's ear instead. His fingers were now the one bruising as they gripped into Merlin's arms in some attempt to pull him closer than what could possibly be.

"Arthur-" Merlin breathed.

"Merlin-"

"Arthur-" Merlin's moan started to crack as his body jumped and a laugh escaped his lips.

Arthur pulled back, confused and affronted by the noise. Mostly, he wasn't sure why the grinding stopped. "Merlin?"

Merlin tried to catch his breath so he could gasp, "I don't feel cold anymore."

Arthur glared at him as he developed a goofy grin to accompany his giggle. Of course, that glare couldn't last long with the buzz bubbling just below his skin. Instead he nodded sympathetically, crawled off of him, and slipped onto the grass by his side –fully intending to make Merlin pay for his error. "Well I suppose you can walk on your own then, can't you?"

It then became obvious this giggle fit was just a ploy to get Arthur off him, because the moment all the weight was gone Merlin rolled right over and sloppily pinned Arthur by his shoulders with muddy hands that slid across his chest.

The glimmer was there, hiding behind the dark aura lust had transformed his eyes. "You're not done taking care of me."

Arthur's head slammed into the wet ground behind him as Merlin tackled their mouths together, returning them to their earlier fight of pride –pulling and popping their lips until the raw ache forced them to take a break.

"That was the deal," Arthur agreed as Merlin climbed atop him better and really ground their hips together.

He tried to grab at Merlin's back but the mud covered all of his smooth skin and his grip kept slipping down until he just decided to grab him by the trousers and take a bit more control by leading Merlin this way and that –trying to make up for the few moments of contact they missed. The harder Merlin pushed and the tighter he pulled that arse to him, the more his body shook and the higher his consciousness climbed.

He was wound tight and his gritty fingers were wrapped so completely in those trousers that every time Merlin pushed against him they fell another inch. Soon he could feel more of Merlin's flesh teasing him as it brushed his skin and it made him hungry for more.

He had just about relinquished to the frustration and allowed the euphoria to swallow him up when he roughly pushed Merlin to the ground and yanked those already half fallen trousers the rest of the way down.

Without boots, it was quick work to get them entirely off and throw them to the side –he only hoped for a moment it wasn't back into the creek with their shirts.

Blood pounded in his ears as Merlin pushed him back and slipped his trousers down. As his boots came undone and the fabric was lost, he worried about the knights wondering where they had gone. If they would come looking. If they would catch them both naked and tangled together in the mud.

Those thoughts flew away as Merlin nibbled through the grime and quickly chewed his way down Arthur's chest. The build hit him hard as he watched that black hair bob down his abdomen and he was a complete, sordid, shaking mess again.

Without propriety and yet entirely with grace, Merlin sucked his throbbing member into his mouth and instantly swallowed him to the back of his throat.

Arthur gasped and curled his fingers into the grass below, ripping the blades from the ground. As they snapped so did his dwindled control.

Merlin was all tongue, roughly gliding up and down his shaft at a devilishly quick pace. There wasn't moment for his cock to relax or feel the air brush past. The only thing he could feel was Merlin's mouth slipping up and down, closing around him and abusing the sensitive flesh.

When Merlin rolled his head and grazed Arthur's head against the back of his luscious throat, that was all he could take.

He nearly screamed before reminding himself that the knights were only a walk away. He had nothing to bite into but the muddy chunk of his arm so that's what he did as he continued to unravel. The salty taste of earth vaguely hit him and his body reeled as Merlin licked the slit dribbling precum while harshly sucking on his tip.

He reached down, grasped Merlin's hair in his trembling hand, and pulled him up before he could finish the job. Merlin didn't even look confused. He jumped from his crouched position and straddled Arthur's hips without a single word of guidance or warning.

"What are you-"

Arthur's jaw fell open and he silently screamed to the sky as Merlin swiftly sunk down and pierced his body with Arthur's ready cock. He would have come in that moment had he not had Merlin's hair to twist into. Merlin hissed as Arthur pulled him closer and ran his nails down his neck, furthering the mess over his body and dragging more lines through the dried streaks of dirt.

Merlin smirked. He actually smirked and then his body was rocking, his thighs quivering as he rode up and down Arthur's member.

Pulse after pulse of ecstasy hammered through him. Reality faded with every spasm. He did not feel the chill of the earth or the wind in the air. It was only Merlin. Merlin, Merlin, Merlin, "Merlin-"

Arthur dragged a hand down to Merlin's cock and pinned it against his stomach as he watched himself disappear into the boy. He was mesmerized as that body opened over him, taking all of him with every rock, hugging him so tight.

Merlin noticed his gaze and slowed pace for a moment. He positioned himself carefully, so Arthur's cock nearly fell out of him –just barely pressing inside. Then he slowly lowered himself and stretched his pucker over the thick, thumping erection –so cautiously, so precisely that Arthur could feel absolutely nothing but the heat overtaking him as he was slowly being swallowed.

When Merlin had sunk all the way and Arthur was practically sobbing for air he started to thrash again, a pace that shouldn't have been possible. Merlin elicited no pained gasps or hesitation. He just kept pounding his body again and again as Arthur rose to meet his downward thrusts. He wasn't even properly stretched but he was so full of want that he couldn't wait for Arthur to fill him up.

Arthur moaned, curled his body tighter, and inadvertently made Merlin cry out at the pressure he put on the cock he still had pinned to his stomach. Arthur did not let up. He slid his palm around and fisted him loosely –teasing for a moment- before he twisted his hand and used the other to push Merlin up and off his body, reveling in the whine of disappointment.

He turned Merlin to his side and flipped him around so his filthy back lay directly across his chest and his arse lined right above his cock. He didn't hesitate either. With one snap he impaled the boy and immediately started to pummel him with sharp thrusts that made Merlin cry with every slap.

Merlin was desperately loud and Arthur had to cover his mouth with one hand, relinquishing his bruising hold from the boy's hip. Merlin made up for the loss by reaching around and dragging his fingers into Arthur's hair, pulling himself into a better position where he could ride down on every roll up.

The sound of smacking skin filled the air as Arthur bit the back of Merlin's neck to keep his whimpers in. They moved faster and faster, their breathing sounding more and more labored as they pushed themselves to the limit in their task.

The slick of the earth beneath them quickened their pace as they slipped around each other, desperately trying to keep hold and stay connected.

Arthur moaned against Merlin's spine. The build progressed into an electrifying anticipation that spread throughout his core. He could feel his tendons tighten and his muscles tense as he rode right to the edge. He groaned against Merlin's back and tugged him along the wave as he pulled him closer.

Merlin cried out and just as he was about to move his hand down to Merlin's member to finish him off as he came, the pleasure blurred out the world and everything started to meld together until-

AN: See "Waking Up Merthur" for Part 2 *evil laughter that fades into the distance*

Warning for slight dub!con

(PS- sorry for this generic dribble. I needed to write something. And also sorry for apologizing.)