Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12736278.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Merlin_(TV)
  Relationship:
      Merlin/Arthur_Pendragon_(Merlin)
  Character:
      Merlin_(Merlin), Arthur_Pendragon_(Merlin), Elyan_(Merlin), Percival_
      (Merlin), Gwaine_(Merlin), Hunith_(Merlin), Gaius_(Merlin), Kilgharrah_
      (Merlin)
  Additional Tags:
      Marriage_Equality, Alternate_Universe_-_Australia, Alternate_Universe_-
      Modern_Setting, Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, Fluff, Plot_What_Plot/
      Porn_Without_Plot, Rainbows_and_Happiness, Socks, Bottom_Arthur, Queer
      Themes
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-11-15 Words: 3300
****** Yes ******
by tibeyg
Summary
     When Australia votes Yes for marriage equality, Arthur celebrates
     gayness with his boyfriend.
Notes
     On November 15, 2017, Australia voted YES for same-sex marriage in a
     non-binding, non-compulsory survey with an overwhelming majority.
     This fic is a celebration of that.
     It's also the Bottom Arthur fest this week, a concept of which I am
     an ideological proponent. Exciting!
     Both Arthur and Merlin are seventeen, which is over the age of
     consent in Australia.
See the end of the work for more notes
Arthur finds out at the beginning of second period Modern History, because Mr
Monmouth is playing a livestream of ABC News on the SmartBoard.
‘This is going to be a modern, historic event,’ he tells them as a sort of
justification. And as much as Arthur wants to keep on learning about Communist
China, he’s glad Monmouth is on board with letting him get married legally in
this country, and that he going to get the news firsthand, and he’s even
gladder when the results confirm everything he’s been anticipating.
Everyone in class lets out a huge cheer when the majority Yes is announced.
Arthur’s grinning so hard the corners of his mouth hurt, and he can hear
similar whoops of delight down the hallway of B-Block. Elyan pulls him into a
manly, one-armed hug and ruffles his hair. ‘When’re you gonna get hitched,
then?’ he asks jokingly as Arthur laughs. A couple of the other lads who know
about him and Merlin thump him on the back in solidarity.
Everyone’s in a great mood afterwards. When Monmouth returns to Mao Zedong,
there’s a little smile lurking in his flossy beard. Arthur prods out a text to
Merlin as surreptitiously as he can.
it’s a yes!
Merlin’s probably slaving away at 3D Trig or something in Extension Maths right
now, but he replies pretty promptly.
only heard about half the school scream abt it lol
Then he adds, pretty fckn great tho rite??? and a ton of heart and rainbow flag
emojis. Arthur’s smile stretches wider, and when the lesson ends, he really
can’t remember anything about the Long March.
The atmosphere in the corridors is jubilant. Someone’s draped a pride flag down
a bannister. He and Elyan burst out into the brisk sunshine, squinting. The
Safe Schools Club has set up a little stall in the quad, with ribbons of
rainbow crepe paper curling out into the breeze. A few of the members are
handing out little rainbow stickers. They collect a couple as they traipse past
on their way down to their patch on the Senior Lawn.
All the lads are there already. Merlin’s there too. Arthur’s heart sighs. He’s
reapplying his sunscreen, and hasn’t noticed them approach, but Lance nudges
his shoulder and he looks up and smiles and smiles and smiles, surging up off
the grass. He practically knocks Arthur over, then smacks a kiss on his mouth
right there, right in front of the whole school. It’s a surprise for Arthur –
they’re usually a lot more lowkey than this. They separate to the sound of the
rest of the lads wolf-whistling and telling them to get a room.
‘Today is a fantastic day to be gay,’ says Arthur. ‘I’ve got a ridiculous
boyfriend and sixty percent of the country thinks I can have equal rights too.’
‘Shut up, you weirdo,’ says Merlin. His eyes are crinkling with laughter. ‘I
bought some Coles cookies for us to celebrate.’
He unearths them from his bag, and they all tuck in. Arthur gets self-conscious
about eating fatty food – he gains weight easily, unlike noodly Merlin, and he
can’t be out of shape with footy to think about – but he snaffles them up
eagerly. They taste like victory.
‘Say, Merlin,’ says Percy, spraying chocolate chip crumbs, ‘you couldn’t’ve
gotten more rainbow snacks?’
‘You could’ve made fairy bread,’ Gwaine says. He’s wearing a rainbow sticker in
the middle of his forehead, and a few strands of his fringe are trapped between
his skin and the adhesive. Then he snorts. ‘Haha, geddit? Like fairy –’
‘Shut up, you wanker,’ Merlin groans around a bite. ‘Eat your fucking cookie
and be grateful.’
The bell rings again, way too soon, and Arthur lingers behind to help Merlin
pack up the rubbish as the others muddle off to class. He won’t see Merlin at
lunch, because he has his nerdy Coding Club on, but they both have a free last
period.
‘You’re coming over to mine afterwards, right?’ says Merlin. There’s a cheeky
glint in his eye. ‘For a little…celebration, yeah?’
‘Wouldn’t miss it for anything.’ Arthur leans in to press a kiss to his cheek.
‘Meet you outside the front office, yeah?’
‘Yeah.’
And with a well-aimed pat to Arthur’s arse, his lanky form jaunts off towards
E-Block. Arthur rubs his tingling arse cheek, and his heart feels a little
warm.
                                       *
Arthur got his red Ps two months ago, so he and Merlin wend through the streets
to get to his dad’s old Holden after their final classes. The streets are empty
because school hasn’t ended yet for the other students, and the pavements are
patterned with the dappled shadows of the eucalypts above. They come across
four carpets of fallen jacaranda flowers, neon-bright against the asphalt,
before they get to the car. Merlin holds Arthur’s hand with one hand, and a
chunky Maths textbook with the other. Arthur swings their hands; he’s feeling a
bit giddy. Might be the pollen.
When they get in the car, a bit toasty from sitting in the sun all day, Merlin
practically climbs into Arthur’s lap to kiss him.
‘Merl– Merlin,’ Arthur moans into his mouth. ‘Can we get to your house first?’
Merlin eases off a bit and looks at him, really intense. It’s a bit hard to
concentrate when he’s like this, all handsome and earnest, with his mouth
slightly puffy with kisses. Then he clambers off Arthur and straps himself in.
‘Then you’d better hurry.’
Then he gives Arthur’s crotch a cheeky little squeeze just as he signals right
to turn out onto the street. Arthur swears. It’s going to be a long drive.
                                       *
It’s not that long. Thank God. Arthur parks messily beside the kerb and they
tumble out of the car, practically sprinting to get inside. Merlin lives in a
sweet little suburban house with his mum and uncle who, thank God, are at work
right now. Neither of them know that Arthur had levelled up from mate to
boyfriend approximately three months ago, but to be fair, neither does Arthur’s
dad. Neither of them had quite known how to broach the topic, so they’d just
left off doing it.
Arthur’s kinda glad for it as they skid through the kitchen, past the pet
lizard Kilgarrah’s tank, down the hallway into Merlin’s room. He’s not sure how
Merlin’s mum would feel about him being around so regularly if she knew they
were boning. It’d be a bit awkward.
Merlin dumps his bag beside the door and kicks his shoes off beside them.
Arthur closes the door and shrugs his bag off with a little less violence.
Merlin’s pushing over his covers and rooting around his sock drawer for their
stashed supply of condoms and lube (purchased furtively in bulk off the
Internet on Arthur’s debit card during the last term break, and delivered in an
unmarked box which he’d whisked up to his room the second it had arrived), his
butt waving in the air, when Arthur shuffles over to sit on the edge of the
mattress.
It’s not like they haven’t done this before, but they haven’t done it a lot,
either. But when Merlin resurfaces pink-cheeked, condom box in one hand and
half-empty bottle of lube in the other, it’s easy.
It’s easy to lean in and kiss him, to undo the buttons of his school shirt and
untuck it so he can feel the planes of Merlin’s pale torso. Merlin shucks off
the grey uniform slacks, and gets on top of Arthur so he can pull off his
clothes too.
Arthur flips them back over once he pulls Merlin’s boxers over one foot. He has
to get his mouth on Merlin’s dick, leaking hard and flushed on his belly in the
way only a hale and healthy teenager’s can. He rolls a condom down it, tries
ineffectually to wipe the lubricant off, and sinks his mouth down on it.
Merlin’s breathless giggling turns more breathless than giggling.
It’s sloppy, as all inexperienced blowjobs are wont to be. Arthur still hasn’t
quite managed to get his gag reflex to obey him, and when he’s not choking on
his toothbrush in the morning, he’s choking on his boyfriend’s dick. Albeit a
very, very lovely dick, and Arthur’s quite fond of it. All skinny and long,
like Merlin’s limbs. He could sit on it all day. But now he’s sucking on it,
tasting the icky latex and feeling the warmth of erection blood on his tongue,
his teeth are getting in the way and Merlin’s got his hands on his face, making
these oh, oh! sounds, hips twitching upwards to make Arthur’s vision glitter
and spit seep out of the corners of his mouth, and then –
‘Hey, hey, turn around,’ says Merlin, pulling Arthur’s face off. ‘I want to
suck you off too. At the same time?’
Arthur folds his lips inwards and bites them to keep himself from moaning, and
hurries to comply. And then they’re 69ing on Merlin’s rickety little bed –
69ing! For the first time! Fuck, it’s so hot – and Merlin’s boxers are still
there, hanging off one stockinged foot because they’ve both forgotten to take
their socks off, and it’s all Arthur can do to not slam his hips down against
Merlin’s face and come and come and come, because the double sensation of
sucking a dick and getting his sucked at the same time is just too much, it’s
just too much for one horny seventeen-year-old to handle, and Merlin’s hands
are creeping up to knead his arse and pull the cheeks apart, and Arthur’s eyes
are rolling back into his head as he moans around the dick in his mouth…
Merlin spasms. Arthur splutters. There’s a lot of loud moaning and coughing as
Arthur jerks instinctively back from the twitching dick and watches through his
tears in fascination as the little pouch of latex at its tip fills with white.
‘Oh yeah,’ breathes Merlin, sounding cheesily fucked out. His hands flop
uselessly off Arthur’s butt to his sides as he languishes in his post-orgasmic
glow.
‘C’mon, you dickhead, I’ve still gotta come,’ Arthur whines, shuffling back
around to butt his face against Merlin’s. Merlin bats him away lazily.
Arthur ends up with his knees on either side of Merlin’s face, probably pinning
clumps of his hair to the mattress, but Merlin doesn’t complain as he sucks
lazily on Arthur and rubs his fingers over Arthur’s arsehole until he comes
too.
Merlin’s even more useless than usual after that. He smiles dopily against his
pillows, squinting through the sunlight from outside as Arthur shucks off their
condoms and buries them beneath the tissues, then tugs and tucks Arthur against
himself.
‘Happy marriage equality day,’ he says against Arthur’s temple.
‘It’s still not legalised yet,’ Arthur reminds him. The initial euphoria of the
announcement has worn a bit. ‘Fuck knows if Malcolm’s gonna finally grow a
spine and get it done.’
Merlin snorts. ‘You’re such a grumpypants.’
‘I’m being realistic –’
‘Yeah, but most people in our country think us gays have the right to get
married! That’s worth getting excited about.’
‘Yeah, you’re right.’
‘When am I ever not?’
‘Frequently.’ But Arthur’s grinning back at him. Fuck, he’s so pretty. Sprawled
like this in the sunlight, all nice and naked; he looks really suave and manly
with all that coarse black hair smattered across his chest and stomach and
crotch and legs and arms and…
‘Watcha looking at?’ Merlin hoists up an eyebrow, looking like he’s suppressing
a smile.
‘Nothing,’ says Arthur. He turns away to hide the flush rising up his face,
bending over Merlin’s legs to fumble for his trousers on the floor, then fumble
for his phone in the pocket, and hooking it up to Merlin’s speakers.
‘What’s this?’ says Merlin as a rollicking drumbeat pounds out. ‘Suede? Is this
your gay playlist, you cheesy…’
Arthur allows himself to be tackled him back into bed, grinning. Merlin kisses
him, at first lasciviously with a lot of unnecessary tongue and smiling teeth,
then in earnest as he hardens up again, against Arthur’s thighs.
‘Oh, Arthur,’ he says. ‘Let me fuck you.’
‘Yeah, go on,’ says Arthur.
He makes Arthur lie on his stomach, because it’s still novel for him to see his
fingers disappear inside Arthur’s arse. Arthur complies willingly, mushing his
face into the Merlin-scented pillows and willing his body to relax, relax, as
Merlin squirts out the lube onto his arsehole – cold! cold! – and rubs his
fingers over it in circles.
‘I’m going in,’ says Merlin breathlessly, like he thinks he’s in a spy movie
and not just about to finger his boyfriend.
And then it’s the slippery, inexorable press inside, that still-novel sensation
of his hole being held apart and Arthur can’t help it, he calls out and feels
himself spasm around the finger as it pumps gently and Merlin rubs his back and
exhorts him to ‘relax, Arthur, relax,’ and then he feels it prod around, slide
in a centimetre deeper and touch that, there, and then he’s blissed out,
slumping mindlessly back into the pillows as Merlin feeds his obedient arsehole
fingers and lube until he’s sloppy and dripping with it, with each press of
Merlin’s fingers eking a slick little sound from his arse.
‘You good?’ asks Merlin. His voice sounds shaky.
‘Yeah,’ says Arthur through his daze. He feels like he’s come, like, fifty
times already. Fuck, he loves getting his arse pampered by Merlin. ‘Get on with
it, mate.’
‘You’re such a diva,’ Merlin harrumphs, but then he hears the crinkle of a
condom wrapper and Merlin’s rolling one down himself and Arthur (so Merlin’s
mum won’t see the stains), and Merlin’s kicking apart his knees and wedging a
thumb on either side of his arsehole to keep it open and then there’s a blunt
pressure against it and then – and then! – it’s just the glorious slide of
miles and miles and miles of dick.
Shit, it feels so good. Arthur squeezes experimentally, and Merlin gives an
answering moan.
‘I’ll never get tired of this,’ says Merlin. His voice is pitched deeper now,
breathier, and it’s really hot. ‘Seeing your arse eat up my cock like it was
born for…fucking sodomy or whatever. God. Fuck.’
‘Oh my God, Merlin. Fucking move.’
He goes slow at first, and Arthur knows he’s doing it to be a pest so he
squeezes his arse a bit until Merlin swears and speeds up, pumping his hips
hard against Arthur’s arse in time with the music. Then he stops completely on
an upstroke, leaving just the tip inside, and Arthur whines in frustration
until a sharp smack lands on his right arse cheek.
‘Fuck, look at you jiggle,’ says Merlin, in awe.
Arthur pulls himself off Merlin’s dick and flips over. ‘Fuck me like this,’ he
urges, drawing up his knees. ‘Come on, just fuck me.’
Merlin, for once in his life, does as he’s told. He knee-walks into position,
pushing up Arthur’s thighs until he’s in the perfect position for a dick to get
pushed inside. And shit, it feels amazing, that rub and slide inside and Merlin
gasping and panting above him, just really going to town on his arse. Arthur’s
bent up way too awkwardly for them to make out, so Arthur just lets his face
turn to the side and moans out his pleasure.
He comes first, after Merlin changes the angle and finds his prostate again.
His reaction – squeezing and gasping out and digging his fingernails into
Merlin’s bony arse – makes it embarrassingly obvious, and Merlin grinds
mercilessly into it whilst stroking Arthur off. It’s more than his teenage
stamina can handle as everything blacks out for a bit and shakes apart. Merlin
keeps fucking him through it, and it gets a bit ouchy as he comes down, but
then Merlin’s choking out his orgasm too, and then it’s all rainbows and
smooches as they tuck in and cuddle up.
Somehow, they must’ve fallen asleep, because Arthur jolts awake to the
universally unmistakable rattle of a garage door opening. The music’s not
playing any more, it’s still light outside, and a quick glance at his watch
tells him it’s nearly five. He bolts out of bed starkers, and begins pulling
his uniform back on.
‘Merlin!’ he hisses, shaking him on the shoulder. Merlin cracks open an eye,
registers the garage door sound, and scrambles from under the blanket.
They flurry around the room, straightening the covers, buttoning up, flinging
open the windows, spritzing the room with deo. By the time a shuffling step
taps into the kitchen, they’re innocently sprawled on the ground with notebooks
and pens scattered between them.
Then Merlin gives him a cheeky wink, and Arthur becomes hyperconscious of the
fact that his arsehole is still loose and wet with lube.
But then Merlin’s uncle is peering in around the doorframe good-naturedly, and
they have to say hi like they’re just a couple of mates who have definitely not
been having anal sex an hour ago.
‘Thought I saw your car outside, Arthur,’ says Merlin’s uncle. ‘Your parking
looks like it’s gotten worse!’ He chuckles.
Arthur laughs along. He has no idea how to respond to that.
‘Anyway, Merlin, I’m making some congee tonight. One of the new colleagues gave
me a recipe. I think it will be very tasty.’ He turns to Arthur. ‘Would you
like to stay for dinner?’
Arthur has no idea what the fuck congee is, but Merlin’s looking at him with
big, pleading eyes, and then he finds himself WhatsApping his dad to tell him
that he’ll be coming home late today.
So it happens when they’re sampling Merlin’s uncle’s congee, seated around the
kitchen table and trying hard not to let slip how watery and gross they think
it tastes. Just as Merlin’s mum sidles off to the pantry and returns bearing
soy sauce, the TV starts broadcasting the six o’clock news and fluttering
rainbows are plastered all over the screen.
‘Isn’t that so lovely to hear!’ says Merlin’s mum. ‘What a fantastic result!’
‘Yes, it is indeed,’ says Merlin’s uncle, slurping his congee with gusto.
‘Can’t wait to finally get this debacle over and done with.’
‘Mum, Uncle Gaius?’ says Merlin. ‘I’m gay.’
There’s a brief pause as they all turn to regard him in surprise. Even Arthur,
who is well acquainted with Merlin’s gayness, is a bit surprised.
‘Oh, well, dear!’ says his mum. ‘Thanks for telling us.’ She’s smiling, and she
looks really proud. She puts down the soy sauce to go over to hug him.
Merlin’s uncle is beaming too. ‘The future’s looking brighter for you already.’
‘Arthur’s my boyfriend,’ Merlin blurts. Two pairs of adult eyes swivel around
to survey Arthur just as he reaches for the soy sauce. He smiles awkwardly,
feeling put on the spot as embarrassment spots his cheeks.
‘Oh, come over here!’ says Merlin’s mum, and she enfolds Arthur in a hug as
well. It’s supremely nice of her, but a tad awkward too. But when she pulls
back, he’s grinning too. Merlin reaches across the table to hold his hand, and
he gives it a squeeze in return. The euphoria from earlier in the day is
seeping back into his veins.
‘I’m glad for you boys,’ says Merlin’s mum when she’s finally finished cooing
over them and plying them with questions. ‘You’ve always been there for each
other. Who else, honestly?’
Arthur looks into Merlin’s mirth-crinkled eyes, and in that brief moment, he
feels the future spasm. And even though he’s just seventeen, and they’ve only
been dating for three months, and same-sex marriage hasn’t even been legalised
yet in this country, he thinks yeah, I could marry this bloke one day. So he
echoes, ‘Who else?’
End Notes
     I discovered that I was queer while I was still in high school, and
     wanted to relive that young fresh gayness, unjaded by discrimination,
     in Arthur and Merlin to celebrate yesterday's result. My self-
     discovery was lonely and anguished, but today signals a better
     Australia to come for the next generation of queers. Here's to the
     future, where queer kids are assured of society's support for them
     and have no fear in coming out.
     Malcolm is Malcolm Turnbull, our prime minister. We tend to refer to
     politicians by first name.
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