InsaneJournal

At the change of watch
Title: At the change of watch
Rating: M
First posted at kinkme_merlin #3
Prompt summary: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Other. Paranoid!Arthur has a very secret but purely sexual relationship with one of his knights. After a while the knight wants to break it off. The knight is in touch with the 'gay underground' and tells Arthur he knows the perfect replacement lover for him. Arthur reluctantly agrees but under the condition that the person is blindfolded so that his secret is kept safe.






Arthur arrived first. They always meet in the same place, a linen storage room on the third floor half-way between the knights' quarters and Arthur's. It hasn't been used in decades, so when Arthur had a lock installed and moved some bedding in no-one noticed. He and Geraint have the only keys.

Geraint arrived quietly, slipped his key in the lock and was inside before Arthur even noticed really. As he pushed the door shut behind him he handed the key to Arthur. Arthur looked blankly at it, but put it with his own without comment.

They don't speak a lot at these rendezvous. They've never been friends, really - Geraint's nice enough and Arthur certainly trusts his discretion or he wouldn't be here, but he's such a baby. Geraint's mind is on pranking the other knights, dice and cards. He regularly stays out late drinking and rolls up half-cut to practice. He wouldn't even be on Arthur's list as a drinking buddy, but for one of the very few things they do have in common, which is a really deep and solid appreciation of Lancelot's arse.

It had begun with that. Lancelot had slipped on the field one muddy day, slipped and skidded and slipped again, and while three quarters of the knights laughed, a few of the nicer ones winced and Sir Edwin offered to help, Arthur caught Sir Geraint's eyes lingering on the same amazing arse that Arthur was checking out, and Geraint caught Arthur doing the same.

It had been such a relief to know that he wasn't the only one! A week later they'd found themselves drunk at a tavern and when Geraint looked sideways at Arthur and licked his lips, then left for the privies Arthur hadn't spent more than a few seconds on internal debate before following him.

One quick hand-job behind the stables later they'd reached an agreement. Arthur found the linen cupboard and they began regular trysts. Geraint knew what he was doing and Arthur learned fast.

But now Geraint had been recalled to his father's estate, so the linen cupboard would stand empty again. Arthur picked up the keys and tossed them jingling together.

"I'll miss this," he said slowly, as Geraint knelt before him for the last time.

Geraint rubbed his cheek sensually against Arthur's thigh. "You'll find someone else," he said, then turned to lick at the taut tendons so close by.

"Don't be ridiculous," Arthur gasped, sliding his hands into Geraint's dark hair. "You know the King's attitude. I can't take the risk again. What if I approached the wrong person?" Then he lost coherency for a while, for all the good reasons.

"Fuck me, Geraint?" he asked afterwards when he was boneless on the bedding. Usually he would have reciprocated blowjobs, but the knowledge of the long drought to come made the idea of being fucked one last time a necessity tonight. Geraint was under his command, and usually Arthur felt uneasy about letting him fuck him, about giving over control to an underling, but sometimes he couldn't resist.

Geraint grinned happily. "Now this is what I call an excellent farewell party," he commented, and set to it with all the skill at his command, and for once Arthur let himself let go. Tomorrow Geraint would be gone, so there was no reason to be restrained or dignified, no reason to hold back.

"God you really are going to miss me," Geraint said at the end, sprawling next to Arthur in the dark, his hair plastered damply to his forehead. "I didn't know..."

Arthur stared into the emptiness he saw before him. "Well if I'm never getting fucked again I suppose I should make the most of it," he said bleakly. "It's marriage and babies for me in a few years, and girls can suck cock and be fucked, but they can't do this."

Geraint pondered the situation for a while. "I do know one man," he offered tentatively.

Arthur turned quickly. They'd blown out the candle soon after Geraint arrived so he could only barely make out the outline of Geraint's profile. "I told you - I can't take the risk!"

"He's loyal to you," Geraint said. "Not a noble, but a nice lad all the same. I think he'd suit you in bed."

A servant! God - had Geraint no common sense at all!

"It's the perfect situation for blackmail, Geraint. You must see that! At least you and I both had far too much to lose to tell anyone... but a servant is simply impossible!"

Geraint sighed in the dark. "He really is incredibly loyal. Only, I don't know whether he'd let me reveal his name to you. He's as worried about other people finding out as you are. He may be a servant, but he has a good position and he's deathly afraid of anyone finding out. Oddly enough, we also met when drooling over Lancelot. That boy really is a menace. If he ever gives up swordwork I'm sure he could make his living by charming the ladies."

Arthur sighed. It was true. "I just... can't risk it, Geraint." He reached for the candle and flint, and when the flame flickered into life he began getting dressed.

"I'm going to miss you too, Arthur," Geraint said quietly. "I know we don't have a lot in common apart from this but you're a good man and I wish you'd let me help you." He started pulling his own breeches on.

"You know it's awfully dark in here," he added thoughtfully. "What if... I asked him to wear a blindfold and wait for you here in the dark? Then you could put out the candle before going in and he would never know it was you."

The idea was insane. Arthur shouldn't take the risk. It was incredibly idiotic...

Arthur handed the second key back to Geraint. "All right," he said.

In the morning Arthur found a note under his doorway.

'Change of watch tonight' it read. 'He'll be early, you be late.'

* * *

Arthur stood at the door of the linen cupboard. Was he really going through with this? Maybe this person wasn't even there. He could even be concealed nearby and watching to see who came to the cupboard.

Arthur drew his hand back at the thought, but just then he heard a clatter from behind the cupboard door. Whoever it was had found the bucket in the corner. Somehow that helped to unravel the knot in his chest and he found himself opening the door and slipping inside.

"Hello," he said quietly, and the figure on the other side of the room went rigid.

"Oh God," said the man and Arthur's jaw clenched. Geraint had to have known that this would happen. Dammit, there was no POSSIBILITY of anonymity between a man and his manservant!

"Merlin," he said, resigned, and Merlin pulled off his blindfold and slumped to the floor on the other side of the cupboard.

"Arthur," he replied just as quietly. "Geraint didn't tell me."

"He's lucky he's half-way to Mercia by now," Arthur muttered, and then suddenly his libido and his brain caught up with each other.

"You're... interested in men!" he blurted. No wonder Merlin had been terrified of anyone finding out. Merlin dressed him, undressed him, bathed him, tended his wounds. If Arthur had been your average, girl-obsessed nobleman he would have killed a man like Merlin just for that. As it was, Arthur felt a little ill.

"Oh god, have you... when you dress me..."

"I don't think about it," Merlin's voice said fiercely out of the darkness. "I am very damn careful never, ever to think about it."

Merlin wouldn't lie about that, and Arthur was surprised to feel a certain gratification at the note in Merlin's voice that said that it had not been an easy task.

"Oh. Good then," he said. The darkness flooded his vision and he thought about the possible ways this could go. Some of them were very good, and some of them were complete disasters.

"So, since we're here..." he found himself saying.

Merlin straightened against the back wall. "You mean... you're still willing?"

Arthur couldn't tell himself that on a certain, well-suppressed level he hadn't been aware of Merlin's mouth, or of the gangly appeal of his long limbs. "We can't really go back to not knowing," he admitted quietly. "So maybe we should see if it works?"

Merlin reached out to a shelf and pulled himself to his feet. Very slowly, as if giving Arthur the chance to change his mind, he picked his way across three feet of floor to stand in front of Arthur.

Arthur usually managed to forget that Merlin was taller than him, but from this distance he had to tilt his chin, just a little, to look at him. Merlin slid his warm hands from Arthur's elbows up his arms and held his shoulders firmly before leaning in for a kiss. In the dark it was difficult to judge, but if the kiss landed a little askew it was only a moment's work to adjust and then their lips were sliding together, seeking and Arthur knew that this was going to work.

He had rarely kissed Geraint. They sucked and panted and sweated together and a very good time was had by them both, but this...

Arthur knew Merlin. There wasn't a one of his knights that he would trust to be as loyal to him as Merlin was. Merlin was an awful servant and had the tact of a two-year-old but he would die for Arthur, and Arthur would - he'd been forced to admit it once - die for Merlin.

Now that they had kissed, Arthur knew that the matter was settled. He would live with Merlin and fuck with Merlin and love Merlin - despite the inevitable future Queen and babies - until the day they died. He tightened his grip on Merlin's waist, where his hands had somehow found themselves, and pulled their lips apart.

"You're mine," he said, panting into Merlin's open mouth.

Merlin blew out his breath on a low note. "Always, Arthur."

"Then let's get out of this cupboard and back to my room where I can see you before I fuck you for the first time," Arthur ordered.

And for once, Merlin scrambled to obey.