Just a little ficlet that the lovely EachPeachPearPlum asked for, inadvertently. I thought it sounded fun, so I did it, but, unfortunately, I also was forced to shove in some fluff, because I couldn't help myself. Please enjoy- I had fun doing it.
I don't own Merlin.
/
Autumn was one of Merlin's favorite times of the year, starting with the leaves turning, and ending with the brisk, slightly cool air. Camelot looked built to live in the autumn, the red, gold, and orange leaves floating over her walls and decorating her rooftops. The mornings were chilly, the evenings as well, but the days were warm and occasionally hot, filled with walks in the woods, sleeping on the lawn when he had some time, and aimless wandering around the castle, always with Gwaine in tow these days.
Gwaine- ah, yes, Gwaine.
Merlin's eyes brightened every time someone so much as mentioned him, and the two had become practically inseparable after a set of stuttered, anxiety filled confessions had left them both frantically clinging to each other, radiating relief. Merlin had finally moved out of the small room in Gaius's suite, and into the much larger one provided for Gwaine as one of Camelot's knights. His great and adoring love of fall time had only increased with this, as the cool nights meant that he got to wake up with Gwaine doing a very reasonable impersonation of an octopus, or an exceptionally cuddly, rather less hairy bear. Their rooms were small, but roomy enough, and Merlin loved them and the fact that he was sharing them with the man he loved.
And now, he was being forced to leave his nice, comfortable rooms, and follow Arthur to a miniscule town in the middle of nowhere that supposedly had some artifact that Uther wanted. However, because autumn was a good time, and travel wouldn't be difficult, he didn't complain too loudly. The fact that Gwaine was coming along with (because, duh, quest = all three of them, only this time it was with everyone else as well) just made it better.
Which was why, as of this moment, Merlin was happily dancing through the leaves in the forest, looking for firewood. It was still a nice, relatively warm day, and the woods were alive with color and life. Birds still chirped and flittered through the trees, and the occasional butterfly passed through. It was all very idyllic, and the travel had gone well so far.
A soft crash broke him from his reverie and alerted him just in time to be swept up into a tackle-hug from behind by Gwaine. Shrieking, he let himself be silenced by a firm, but loving kiss. Melting against him, he lazily reached up to fist his hands in Gwaine's long hair- he loved the feel of it against his skin.
When they separated, Gwaine was grinning, arms still wrapped around Merlin's waist. Shaking his hair out of his face, he beamed at the younger man. "Surprise."
Merlin grinned at him, leaning in for another kiss. "I like surprises."
/
They ended up wandering aimlessly through the wood, Arthur probably having fallen asleep in the nice heat of the day, and if he hadn't, well, neither of them was very concerned. They wandered over streams, along paths, and around rocks, hands intertwined, simply enjoying each other's company and the time that they got to spend as Gwaine-and-Merlin, not Gwaine-the-knight-that-used-to-be-a-drunk and Merlin-who-is-the-Prince's-slightly-less-than-useful-servant-and-possibly-friend.
At least, up until a whistle caught their attention.
Merlin nearly groaned as Elyan, Lancelot, Leon, and a very amused Percival stepped out from a copse of trees. "Lovely," he muttered under his breath. Gwaine simply grinned, reaching up and gently ruffling his hair as the rest of the knights came forward to greet them.
"Out on a date, then?" Elyan teased gently, grinning broadly as they carefully picked their way over a series of boulders that lay along the path.
Gwaine smiled, lifting their linked hands. "Yes, as a matter of fact, and you're all interrupting."
Merlin, who was violently aware of the color flooding his cheeks, kicked him gently in the shins.
The group continued down the path, gently teasing the two with absent goodwill, Gwaine and Merlin still clinging to each other, hands swinging back and forth between them. They'd just rounded a corner when they saw it.
/
"Is that…a unicorn?"
"…Yes, it is."
"…It's staring at us."
The unicorn eyed them peacefully.
"Merlin…What do we do?"
"What? Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, you're the one who's seen one before!"
The unicorn began calmly chewing on some grass.
"…I want to ride it."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"What? Just because I want to ride it-"
"You have to be pure of heart, don't you?"
"Yes…."
"So? I'm pure of heart! Not necessarily body, but heart at least!"
The unicorn looked back up, and snorted lightly, then returned to the grass.
"…."
"So, Merlin… Can I try to ride it?"
"…. 10 gold says the thing gores him."
"Thank you, Elyan, for that rousing round of enthusiasm."
/
Alexandrian, the unicorn who generally took care of the state of the forest in the general area, was only too amused by the general interesting qualities of humans, not the least of which was the idea of riding him. He was a very laid back unicorn- it came from being young, or so the keepers said, and he thoroughly enjoyed the idea of being the object of their fascination. It had been a very long time since he'd actually been close to humans, and these young-old males were certainly entertaining. One of them, the one with very pretty hair, who had twined the several cloven segments on one of the hooves that the human's called "hands" with the one who reeked of magic. If Magic trusted Pretty-Hair that much, he supposed he would be able to stand it if he wanted to ride him. He wasn't especially keen on the idea, but it wouldn't be too difficult to tolerate. He seemed to radiate happiness, which helped increase Alexandrian's opinion of him.
He watched placidly as Pretty-Hair approached him, Magic behind him but their hands no longer intertwined.
Pretty-Hair stopped in front of him, and looked at him carefully. Alexandrian snorted softly, and looked into his eyes, and then straight into him, weighing him carefully. The keepers had been very insistent about having only a properly souled person near him, though he didn't yet know why.
Pretty-Hair looked startled at the intrusion, but then smiled, pleasant happiness shooting through the colors of his soul as he realized what the unicorn was doing.
"Hi there," he grinned, and Alexandrian whickered in amusement. His soul was colored with a multitude of experiences, not all of them good, and his mind was a whizzing mass of thoughts, ideas, and curiousity. It wasn't totally unblemished, but it was certainly clean enough. Snorting, he turned sideways to Pretty-Hair. Tossing his head, he sent him a, "Well? Do you want to or not?" look, and whinnied in satisfaction at the shock on the others faces.
Yes, human's were great, heaping loads of fun.
/
The unicorn let him ride around the clearing twice, once walking (or rather, prancing almost smugly), and once in a kind of loose gallop. All the while Gwaine was grinning ecstatically the entire time, and Merlin laughing. Afterward, the unicorn stopped, nuzzled Merlin's shoulder, and sauntered away.
The rest just sat in numb disbelief.
/
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