amarie_authielTitle: Bad dream (mpreg 10/?)
Rating: PG-17
Pairing/s:
Character/s:Arthur, Merlin
Summary: Arthur has bad dreams
Warnings: Illness, angst, not real character deaths, my own made up science of mpreg and... some fluff?
Word Count: ~850
Prompt:#130 Devilish
Author's Notes: You all know the Alien movie(s) right? Still no beta.
One:But I don't know any lullabies
Two:Moving on without you 1/2
Three:Moving on without you 2/2
Four:The Albion
Five:While you slept
Six:Priority one
Seven:Wish granted
Eight: Illusions
Nine: Restless sleeper
The metal corridors are cold and strangely moist. The cargo ship is far out into space. The engines’ hum can be heard but there is no-one at the helm. He has to hurry, he has to hide. The aliens are nearby, picking the crew one by one. The medic is dead. He was the only one who knew of Arthur's condition and the only one that could have helped. Arthur slows down because he is huge now. His pregnant belly is like beach ball and so very visible.
He rounds a corner and is faced with three armed men in black suits. The military men who brought the cargo that caused this. They take one look at him and instantly raise their oversized weapons at him.
-He’s infected!
-VAPOURIZE HIM!
Arthur stumbles backwards, he can't run, he is too big. He falls and can’t move.
They follow him, the leader first and the two others behind him like an arrow.
-NO! PLEASE! I'm not infected! It's a baby, it's my baby! Human baby! I swear!
-Bullshit, thunders the leader.
-What kind of fool would get pregnant before a space journey? No-one could be so irresponsible and so… selfish! It's the devil you've got there, ready to burst out and kill us all.
The two others whisper to the other, sweat pearls on his lips. They are so nervous, so scared.
-Mind control? Is it... Can... can they do that?
-I'm not infected! I'm not...
The baby move and the man shouts.
-It's moving!
-NO! STOP!
His stomach bulges out. The skin starts to tear open. The birth! No, no, no, not now!
Their eyes go wide.
-KILL IT!!! KILL IT NOW!!!
They advance. Arthur screams and wakes up with a wild gasp and pounding heart. He scans the room to confirm where he really is and he feels really embarrassed that Merlin is there right by the side of the bed, watching him. At least he is not puking. Yet. So it might be considered progress.
-Just a nightmare. 's nothing.
Merlin is not looking impressed. Arthur realizes that he has been asleep for three hours after whimpingly admitting that Merlin was the father. The dream seemed far less scary than diving into that.
-I was on a spaceship like in the alien movies.
Merlin fails miserably at muffling a laugh. The amused snort is quite audible actually!
-Shut up, Merlin.
Arthur was not obsessed with the Alien movies, or Sci-Fi, no matter what Merlin seems to think. He looks at him sternly. Or maybe he doesn’t, because Merlin looks at him like Arthur’s a puppy who has fallen and can’t get up.
-Sorry, go on.
-There were aliens of course.
He scowls suspiciously over at Merlin, but he is being quiet this time.
-I was trying to escape and my stomach just kept growing and growing, like boooof! Huge!
He shows with his hands an absurdly large belly and Merlin watches with concern.
-Then some army guys caught me and wouldn’t listen when I said it was a baby and not… devilish murdering space spawn... And my stomach started to crack open like an egg.
He drew a crooked line across his imaginary belly. Looking up at Merlin to see if he was following he instead found Merlin looking very guilty, which in turn made Arthur feel guilty – well, more guilty- and he found it best to cut the story there before he started bawling.
-And then I woke up. Heh! Weird dream. All’s well now. I will never, ever watch ‘Alien’ again. Ever. Or 'Junior' with Schwarzenegger.
Merlin's silent contemplation is making Arthur nervous.
-It’s not an explosion and you would not crack like an egg. It’s a magically induced rupture which allows the baby and placenta to be taken out of the womb. This is why a male pregnancy is so rare. A woman can give birth alone, a man needs his magical partner to be there. The man then needs a long time to heal while his body heals and absorbs the additional parts that was made to make this pregnancy happen.
-This is not helping!
-You want the PowerPoint presentation?
Merlin’s eyes glitters with mirth and Arthur had to catch his breath and only barely managed to huff indignated and glare at him.
Merlin took Arthur's hand in his. He knew he was only repeating what Arthur already knew. But there was something else on Arthur's mind, maybe they would get to that if they just... talked.
-You will not explode or rupture. You will have a planned cesarean and hysterectomy a week or so before your due date, in a hospital overseen by skilled medical and magical staff. Your due date will be determined after the ultrasound. The operation date will be set long in advance so you will have time to prepare. You will be fine.
-Will you be there?
Yup, Arthur is a puppy.
Merlin hesitates, trying to find the right words.
-If you don’t mind.
Arthur smiles and gives Merlin's hand a squeeze. No, he wouldn’t mind.
Shoulders drops and it is a bit easier to breathe.
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