araneieiselTitle: Calling The Doctor...
Rating: G
Pairing/s:
Character/s: Merlin, Morgana
Summary: Friday night and wine
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1051
Prompt: Stranded
Author's Notes: Continuation of my Choices series http://archiveofourown.org/series/310104
Morgana poured two glasses of wine and then set the bottle on the table. She looked across the living room at the children. She smiled at the little boy that was doing his best to get to his feet and follow her girls.
Merlin walked into the room and flopped on the couch. He picked up one of the glasses of wine and took a big swallow. “This is good.”
“Long week?” Morgana asked as she picked up her glass.
Merlin nodded. “Very but it could work out for me. One of the collections assistant positions for the Medieval, Middle Ages and Renaissance collections will be opening next week. My direct supervisor is encouraging me to apply.”
Morgana looked at him curiously, “I thought you were looking to be one of the buyers?”
“I was and will be if I don’t get this position.” Merlin nodded as he spoke, “The downside of being a buyer is that I would have to travel, a lot.” He looked over at Tyr for a moment. “The beauty about the collections assistant is that I would still get to do buying but it would be limited solely to the Medieval, Middle Ages and Renaissance.”
“I thought your goal was to be head curator? Don’t you need that experience?” Morgana inquired.
Merlin smiled, “Yes, but I can always go back and do a stint as a buyer. But enough about me. How was your week? Sell any mansions?”
Morgana slumped back against the couch. “No, I spent most of my week showing Barbie Bigboobs and her boob of a husband houses they can’t afford but insist on seeing. They want to buy a mansion with trailer park money.”
“Morgana!” Merlin exclaimed before he started laughing.
“Yeah I know, I’m bad,” She smirked. “At least it wasn’t a complete waste of time. I’ve got to visit a few really nice properties that I might be able to show.”
“Ok, enough about work.” Merlin shook his head. “So where did Leon scoot off to?”
“Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Percy and Ar uh others went to some footie game match thingy.”
Merlin didn’t gasp or give even a slightly offended look. He mostly sounded tired. “You can say his name Morgana. I’m not going to yell at you or storm out of here or be offended. He is your brother after all.”
“I know it’s just…”
“Please don’t. I knew that moving back here could mean running into Arthur. We share many of the same friends and though I know what you all are doing, we’re still bound to run into each other.” Merlin scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Lance has already told me he wanted to see me.”
“Are you going to do it?” Morgana suddenly felt on alert.
“I don’t know.” Merlin hesitated over his wine. “It feels like inviting trouble. I more think we should just accidentally run into each other, on the street or at a party and see how things go.”
Morgana polished off her glass of wine and went to pour herself another. “Well that could happen. Arthur has moved in Morgause’s old apartment.” Merlin didn’t respond so Morgana looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you still have feelings for Arthur?”
Merlin sighed and closed his eyes for a moment to think. He felt uncertain and perhaps a little afraid. When he opened his eyes again he could see Morgana waiting patiently for him to figure out the answer. “I wouldn’t know if I did. So much has happened.”
Morgana reached out and put a hand on his arm. “You never talk about her. Maybe you should.”
Merlin stared at her for a moment. He trusted Morgana. Sure, he could have talked to Lance but he could be so wishy washy where Morgana was cut and dry, straight to the point. He took a large sip of wine to boost his courage. “I didn’t love her. I know that now.” He took a deep breath before continuing, a small, wistful smile on his face. “I was infatuated and fascinated. She was clever, fierce and strange and I was really drawn to her. I liked her right off.” He looked up at Morgana almost defiantly. “We moved too fast. You lot would have warned me off but what’s done is done. I cared about her though, really deep down cared about her, but I didn’t love her. I was with her, married her because I thought it was the right thing to do. And I don’t regret that.”
Morgana wasn’t shocked by his admission. She had suspected at least part of it. “What happened?”
Merlin blinked back the tears. “I thought it was just being pregnant like those stories you always hear about women getting hormonal. I hadn’t known her long enough to know it was more than that. And then when Tyr was born she seemed so happy. She was so calm and quiet. I thought she was just tired and needed to rest.” Morgana grabbed his hand and held it, tightly, but didn’t say anything.
Tears slipped down his face as he continued. “She asked me to get her some ginger ale. I was only gone ten minutes. She was in the bathtub..” He gasped, barely able to say, “the note said you saved me.” Morgana pulled him into her arms.
After a few moments he pulled back but he didn’t look at her as he spoke, “She said I saved her but I feel like she stranded me.”
Morgana and looked at him intensely, worried by that statement. “What do you mean?”
“Since ..well.” Merlin slumped down and stared at his hands for a moment. “The moment …I felt like I stepped into an alternate universe where everything looked the same, felt the same, smelled the same, it’s all the same, but it isn’t the same and I can’t figure out how to get back.” He rolled his eyes and looked over at her. “God that makes me sound crazy.”
Morgana grabbed a tissue from the table behind the couch. She dried the tears on his face and smiled at him. “It doesn’t sound crazy at all. We just need an interdimensional super hero to save you. The Doctor’s rather cute.”
Merlin laughed lightly. “I’ll be sure to give him a call.”