Title: Kissing skills
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur, mentioning of Merlin/others
Summary: Arthur heard bad things
Warnings: none, I think
Word Count: 917
Prompt: Kissing
Arthur approached his knights. They were out for a night of fun at the tavern and even though his face was known to everyone in the city of Camelot, he’d decided that drinking alone in his chambers wasn’t as much fun.
“…he’s the worst kisser in the land!” Gwaine exclaimed, shuddered and took a large gulp of mead as if to wash down a yucky taste.
“Oh, I can second that. It’s like…I don’t know…too much teeth and too much spit and…too much ears!” Leon sighed heavily.
Ears? What did ears have to do with kissing?...Oh…OH! They were talking about Merlin, weren’t they?
“So true. He’s just the right size to hold and cuddle,” Percival blushed when the other knights laughed and teased him, “but his kissing? I mean…I don’t have much experience, but this is one I don’t ever want to make again!”
Elyan nodded. “It’s a bit like when a puppy licks your face, wagging its tail all over you.”
The others laughed and Arthur withdrew into the shadows. They hadn’t noticed him coming in and now he didn’t want to be part of this anymore. They were talking about Merlin. His Merlin! That he was…a bad kisser! And how did they all know? It must mean that…that all of them had kissed his manservant!
Quickly, Arthur made his way back to the castle, not caring that the hood of his cloak slipped off his head.
“Merlin!” he yelled before he ever reached his chambers.
“In here!”
Arthur tossed his cloak across the bed and turned to face Merlin, who stood by the desk, arranging some papers and scrolls. As soon as he saw him, he didn’t know what to say.
“Sire?”
“Err…I’ve been to the tavern.”
Merlin’s eyebrow shot up in a perfect imitation of Gaius. “But why?”
“That doesn’t matter. But I couldn’t help but overhear a few things that the knights talked about.”
Merlin’s face stayed blank, he didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. “What were they saying, Sire?”
“They said they found another thing you are horrible at.” Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“A thing?”
“Kissing. They talked about what a bad kisser you are!”
“Oh.”
“Oh? That’s all you have to say? You run about kissing all the knights and then you’re even bad at it? How on earth can someone who seems to lip-lock with everything on two legs be bad at it?”
Merlin’s posture stiffened. “I don’t think that I have to discuss my private life with you.” A frown showed on his face. “Sire,” he added hastily.
“What you do reflects on me. You are my manservant. You have to set an example. You can’t go around kissing everyone and then have them complain about the quality of your kisses!”
“Oh, so I could go around kissing everyone as long as I were good at it?”
“Yes! No! No, that’s not what I meant! You should find someone to kiss and stick with them.”
“And that would make me a good kisser?”
Arthur let out a frustrated sigh. How Merlin managed to take everything he said and turn it against him, deliberately misunderstanding him each and every time they had an argument, was beyond him.
“No, but if you found the right person, nobody would complain about your kissing skills.”
“And you just believe what they say. You have no proof other than what your drunken knights said. You didn’t even ask me if it was true that I made out with all of them. You just assume that I did and that my ‘kissing skills’ are lacking.” Merlin threw him a look that was half-insulted and half-challenging and stepped close.
Arthur stared into those blue eyes and couldn’t tell Merlin that he was wrong. He just assumed all this. And what prince would he be for the kingdom if he just judged on things he happened to overhear? So he leaned in and brushed his lips against Merlin’s.
Hmm…not so bad. He slowly used a bit more pressure and then licked at Merlin’s upper lip. Merlin’s lips parted and Arthur tilted his head a bit more to press them together, gently stroking his tongue against Merlin’s. He didn’t even notice that his eyes fell shut and his hands came up to cup Merlin’s face. And there weren’t any of the things the knights had mentioned. There weren’t too many teeth or too much saliva, there was no puppy-licking and the ears were just right! They fit perfectly together and Arthur only pulled back when he needed to breathe.
Merlin was breathing just as labored as he was as he was looking at him as if he awaited a verdict.
Arthur cleared his throat. “Well…not as bad as I’d feared from what I’d heard. But I think you need a bit more practice. And…we don’t want more blokes talking about your skills in the tavern.” He tried to keep a straight face as he said “I order you to practice with nobody else but me!”
The blinding smile on Merlin’s face told him that this was probably the first order his servant would follow willingly. “Let me close the window before we go back to…practicing.”
Arthur sat down to pull off his boots and never noticed the note that Merlin tossed out the window into the courtyard before he closed it.
§§§
Gwaine unfolded the note and grinned as he turned to the others. “Missions accomplished.”