multifandom drabble repost, part 3

[glass_icarus]

[Part 1]
[Part 2]

10. goofballs in love [BBC Merlin; vague Merlin/Arthur; G] for crooked

Merlin flings the door wide. "Arthur!" he exclaims.

Arthur most decidedly does not jump. "What?"

Merlin grins, wide and cheerful, and begins tugging at his sleeve. "Come on, come on, you have to go outside!"

As a matter of fact, Arthur has just been contemplating the extraordinarily sunny weather, but he can't resist sassing Merlin, just on principle. "Why?" he drawls, raising an eyebrow.

Merlin's smile turns into a pout (which Arthur does not find adorable) and he grabs Arthur's arm, hauling him bodily out of his chair. Arthur yelps in surprise, having been unprepared for this new effort. "Come outside, Sire," Merlin says through his teeth, using his momentum to haul Arthur headlong toward the door. Arthur sighs, resigned, and stops digging in his heels once Merlin's determination becomes clear.

"Where exactly are we going?" Arthur asks, reclaiming his arm once they've exited the castle.

"Outside," Merlin says, trotting off. Arthur curses and catches his wrist before he disappears into the marketplace, forgoing this line of questioning for the moment.

Thirty minutes later, watching Merlin flail happily through the underbrush at the edge of the woods, he decides to try again. "Merlin," he says calmly, "where exactly are we going?"

"Inside, of course," Merlin replies, which is not an answer.

"I'm beginning to think we should have taken horses," Arthur mutters.

"It's not that far," Merlin laughs. "We're almost there."

Arthur glances around, but the forest surrounding them is entirely unremarkable, as far as forests go. "You aren't following a hunting trail, are you?" he says doubtfully, just to be sure.

"What?" says Merlin, stopping in front of a gnarled tree. "No, of course not. This is it."

Arthur blinks at it. "This is... what?"

Merlin huffs, poking his long fingers beneath Arthur's chin to tilt his face up. "Look!"

The low-hanging branches are thick with leaves, with little clusters of-

"Oh," says Arthur, surprised. "Oh."

"Apples," says Merlin, smiling goofily. He reaches out to pluck one, the blushing red of the skin having overtaken all but the tiniest patch of pale green, and holds it out to Arthur. "The first apples of the season."


11. Miranda [Guy Gavriel Kay- The Lions of Al-Rassan; Miranda meets Rodrigo; G] for avendya

The first time Miranda meets Rodrigo Belmonte, she's practicing archery in her father's courtyard.

"Miranda," her father calls.

"Yes, Papa?"

"There's someone here to meet you."

"Just a minute, I'll be right in!" She sights on her target, bowstring tugged back to her ear.

"Not necessary," says a smooth, cultured voice, making her jump.

The arrow flies wide, and Miranda whirls, furious. "Curse you," she spits, tossing her disheveled braid over her shoulder, "can't you see I'm practicing over here?"

Rodrigo Belmonte smiles and bows politely, as if greeting windblown women wearing men's trousers were nothing out of the ordinary. "My apologies, milady." His eyes dance. "Though-"

Miranda's eyes narrow. She snatches another arrow from the ones standing at her feet, notches it, pulls her elbow back, and fires, all in one smooth motion. This one, she's absurdly pleased to see, hits the target dead center. "Pardon me," she says, voice honeyed-sweet, "you were saying?"

Rodrigo throws his head back and laughs. "Actually," he says, "I was wondering if you've ever tried shooting a longbow. The pull of it is quite different from a recurved one."

Miranda looks at him, astonished, for once entirely lost for words.


12. resistance is futile [Kyou Kara Maou; Conrad/Yuuri; G] for moshesque

Conrad watches Yuuri grow into himself, wiser and more confident with each passing year. He's still impulsive, but only about trivial matters: Gwendal and Gunter no longer spend their days chasing him down to do his paperwork or attend council meetings, and Yozak complains that it's less entertaining now that he doesn't have to go haring off to Francia after a Yuuri in disguise. Wolfram sits at Yuuri's side, beaming with approval; their friendship now is stronger and less fraught with tension despite the marriage proposal that still dangles between them.

"It doesn't matter now," Wolfram says when Gunter brings it up in council, Yuuri choosing as always to remain reticent on the matter. "We have good foreign relations all around, and there are plenty of years yet before Yuuri has to think about it. Besides, like Greta says, we're family, no matter what happens. There are better things to focus on."

"But-" Gunter starts, beginning to tear at his hair.

Wolfram catches Gwendal's eye, hoping to avert the histrionics, and Gwendal diverts the conversation to Anissina's new contraption, which has exploded all the windows in the west wing of the castle.

Yuuri continues to join Conrad on his morning runs and takes Saturday afternoons off to play baseball with their team, and Conrad continues to join him on his (less-frequent) family visits, but Conrad still feels a little extraneous.

He brings it up obliquely with Murata during a visit to Shinou's temple, while Yuuri is occupied with the traditional greetings.

"Is it about time, do you think, for another foreign tour?" Conrad asks quietly.

Murata laughs. "There hasn't been trouble for years! If there were, Yozak and I would be the first to know. Besides, why would you go without Yuuri?"

"Ah, no reason," Conrad replies, his eyes fixed on his Maou. "He's just busier these days. I thought perhaps it would be easier on him if he didn't have to go."

Murata peers at him from behind his glasses, his eyes as smilingly opaque as always. "If it would make you feel better," he says at last. "You should talk to Yuuri."

But Conrad doesn't know how to ask, and so he never brings it up.

One day, while he's watching the sunset from the top of the tower, Yuuri joins him on the roof.

Conrad turns, smiling. "Heika," he says.

Yuuri laughs. "Some things really never change, do they, nazukeoya?"

"No, I suppose not." Conrad blinks as Yuuri leans against his side.

"I talked to Murata," he says. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Yuuri-"

"Of course you can go if you really want to; you never have to ask." Yuuri looks up at him with wide eyes, just a little bit lost. "Do you want to?"

"No," Conrad says, feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the sixteen-year-old boy he'd once met. "Not without you."

Yuuri burrows closer, seeking warmth. "Good," he says, fingers curled into the lapel of Conrad's jacket, and Conrad wraps an arm around his shoulders.

Perhaps it's weak of him, Conrad reflects, but resistance has always been futile when it comes to Yuuri.


13. wee!Devin [Guy Gavriel Kay- Tigana; G] for riverlight

The farmers in Asoli sing many songs- songs of the seasons, songs of the harvest, songs of the Triad. Devin learns all of them very young, first burbling along cheerfully in the cradle, and later singing them in a high, clear voice at his father's side.

He knows all the verses by heart, but his favorite song- his father's song- is wordless, a secret. Perhaps it's a family lullaby, Devin thinks, another mysterious custom like the way his father leaves a candle lit during the Ember Days each year, or the way he walks around the house checking the locks and closing the shutters each night.

His brothers don't recognize the tune, or perhaps it's habit for them to fall asleep as their father begins to hum, banking the fires before he goes to bed. Devin stays awake, listening and curious, fixing the melody in his mind.

On the day he first sings it back, casual and unconscious, his father smiles- a real smile, though not without the bitterness that lingers behind his eyes- and comes to sit beside him.

"Do you remember the words?" Devin asks, heavy-eyed and sleepy.

"No," his father replies gruffly, ruffling his hair in a rare sign of affection.

"Oh." Devin yawns. "I wonder..."

He falls asleep before he sees the expression on his father's face, and so it isn't until years later that Devin discovers the lie.


14. Morgana & Merlin [BBC Merlin; Merlin/Arthur implied; G] for sarashina

Morgana's walking back from dinner with Uther when she encounters Merlin on the stairs, his arms full of Arthur's bedsheets.

Merlin staggers a little and blinks at her, a pink flush creeping up towards his ears. "Er. Hello," he says.

Morgana smiles, ignoring his embarrassment. "Hello, Merlin. Laundry day today?"

Merlin's face turns even pinker, spots of bright color appearing on his cheekbones. "Yes?" he says, fingers twisting white-knuckled in the linens. "If- if you'll excuse me." He hurries on his way with a slight shuffle to his step.

Morgana cocks her head, looking after him. Uneven gait, dirty linens, on his way from Arthur's room, and blushing. A wicked grin spreads across her face. "Oh, this will be good," she murmurs. Whistling in an extremely unlady-like fashion, she strolls back to her room, anticipating Arthur's expression when she manages to corner him in the morning. Without Merlin, of course; if her suspicions are correct, he's had more than enough trauma for one day.