Unacknowledged Favors

Title: Unacknowledged Favors.

Rating: NC-17.

Word count: 2376

Pairing: Merlin/Arthur

Summary: Arthur and Merlin caught in a tiny hut, a blizzard outside. What more do you need?

Warnings: Poooooooorn. Just a tiny hint of dub-con.

Beta:

tli! Thank you, Darling!Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all and I certainly don't make any money from writing this.

Link to this fic on AO3.

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The ground was hard and rocky. Not that Merlin wasn't used to sleeping on the ground, but usually he had the luxury of picking a spot fairly free of rocks. No such chance here, days from Camelot and enclosed in the tiny, rickety hut he and Arthur had sought refuge in. If it hadn't been snowing like mad outside, Merlin would have spread his bedroll out on the soft forest floor ages ago.

As it was, he was trapped in the tiny hut with only just enough space for two men to lie down on the earthen floor. At least there was a tiny fireplace in the corner, but having it lit at night was a risk, since there was minimal space around it and bedrolls only inches away. Not to mention Merlin's hair.

Because Arthur had - as he always did - insisted that they lie head to toe. Merlin assumed it was out of some misunderstood sense of manliness. Probably the same one that kicked in every time Merlin thought they were having a moment and offered a hug or some other physical sign of friendship. Either way, this meant that Arthur was having his feet warmed by the fire and Merlin was at constant risk of having his hair singed. He jumped at every crackle of the fire and didn't sleep a wink.

Eventually, he decided that enough was enough and squirmed his way away from the fire. He found that if he twisted just right, his legs would fit into the crook under the tiny bench by the wall, which offered him another few feet to keep his hair safe. Except that when he finally got settled into a somewhat comfortable position, he realised that there was a major flaw with this plan.

He would only be able to stay on one side for the rest of the night and worst of all, that put his face right at the level of Arthur's crotch. Arthur was deeply asleep, so the chances of him turning over were slim. So now Merlin was forced to spend an entire night face to face with something he would very much like to be better acquainted with, but knew he had no chance of ever getting close to.

He sighed heavily. It wasn't fair. Just like the time Airys had waved that honey cake under his nose for an entire day. She didn't even eat it herself, just pranced around with it, enjoying the envy of her friends more than she ever would the cake itself. Merlin hated that. If it had been his honey cake, he would have taken it with him into the woods and eaten it slowly all by himself, enjoying every bite to the fullest, licking up every crumb from his sticky fingers and... oh, great.

Now he was getting excited just by thinking of bloody honey cakes. Granted, it had been a while since he'd had any. Cakes or otherwise. But still. This was so very much not the time or the place for that. In any form. Hell, he probably wouldn't even be able to toss off without whacking Arthur over the nose or something. And just like that, Merlin was doomed. The very notion of tossing off in any sort of proximity to Arthur's face had him hard and flustered in an instant. Damn.

So. Not. Fair.

He closed his eyes and tried to block out any thoughts of Arthur. But with his eyes closed, his nose took over and Arthur smelled great. He always did. Daily baths or not, Arthur had a distinct scent that Merlin had always secretly loved. He had a theory that royalty just smelled better. Not that Merlin could back up that theory in any way, since he did his very best not to get close enough to smell Uther. He couldn't quite suppress a shudder of horror at the possibility of Uther smelling anything like Arthur. That would be way beyond awkward and into the neighbourhood of insanity.

Just as Merlin's untimely arousal began to diminish at the thought of Uther, Arthur groaned and squirmed in his sleep. Which brought him just that little bit closer to Merlin. Who was now doomed all over again. So very doomed. Because now, he could smell Arthur's... Merlin tried to pull his blanket over his head, but that only made him bump Arthur's belly with his elbow. Merlin froze as Arthur grunted and squirmed again.

When Arthur's blanket slipped and revealed a leg, Merlin simultaneously cursed the universe for making this so difficult for him and blessing the stars that it was cold and Arthur was in his nightclothes. Bare skin would have been torture. Pure torture.

Hardly had Merlin completed that thought when he noticed something truly insane. The blanket folded and revealed just an occasional glimpse of Arthur's crotch when the fire flickered. And the way the shadows fell... Merlin could have sworn that there was a bulge there. But considering that he was clearly going insane, Merlin decided he was imagining things and resolutely squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of Gaius draining boils.

Draining boils, applying leeches and cleaning wounds. Like the one Arthur had had on his thigh a while back. Arthur's bare thigh. The one right by Merlin's head which now only had another white line to add to the collection of Arthur's battle scars. If Arthur would let him, Merlin would kiss every one of those scars and lick paths between them in a lecherous game of connecting the dots. Damn, damn, damn!

Merlin's face was barely half a foot away from the object of so many of his most steamy fantasies and honestly, it was too much for one poor bloke to bear. They were alone in the middle of nowhere, miles from Camelot. Arthur was asleep and Merlin was so very tempted to close the distance and touch, smell and taste. He would most likely never have an opportunity like this again. And should Arthur wake up, Merlin could always claim he was doing it in his sleep. Yeah.

In his lust addled mind, that sounded perfectly plausible and he was just about to lean in, when he realised that no matter how he would explain if he got caught, it wouldn't change the fact that he would be taking advantage of a friend. And he just couldn't do that. He was just too damned honorable.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!

For a long while, Merlin simply lay there in his misery and tried to convince his persistent erection to just go down already! It was getting a little painful so he had to squirm in order to reach down and adjust himself. But just as he unfolded his arm to reach down, Arthur groaned and moved his legs. As if being too hot, he wiggled his hips, sliding off the blanket and for one shocking second, Merlin's nose made contact with the warm cotton covering Arthur's cock. And this time there was no doubt. The pants tented substantially and the unmistakable scent of arousal filled Merlin's breath.

All sense flew out of Merlin's brain and without thinking he closed the distance again, letting the tip of his nose slide over the taut fabric, feeling the shape of the cock head underneath. Merlin let out a shuddering breath and felt the entire length twitch, making him snap his head back and mentally kick himself for his sorry lack of backbone. But he had hardly laid his head back down when Arthur squirmed his hips closer again and this close, even with the minimal light, Merlin could see how his thighs were trembling and how the hand resting on his hip almost desperately gripped the hem of the shirt.

Breathing heavily, Merlin decided that for once destiny was pushing him in a direction he really liked and with a heavy sigh he dove in to mouth along the head and shaft, still covered by the now slightly damn cotton. Whatever Merlin might suffer from this later on, at least now he could console himself with the knowledge that Arthur certainly needed it too. Which became more and more evident as Merlin got bolder. Licking Arthur's balls over the seam of the nightclothes was rewarded with a full body twitch and more squirming.

At this point, Merlin realised he was doomed either way, so he wriggled both his arms free of his blanket and with shaking hands he undid the drawstring, loosening Arthur's trousers enough to be able to lift out both cock and balls. Without further ado, he slid as much as he could of Arthur's cock into his mouth and sucked firmly. He was at a point where he couldn't care less if Arthur woke up, so he ignored his brief shudder of fear when Arthur started moaning and instead applied all of his meager experience to making this really good for his prince.

Judging from the sounds he was making, Arthur was certainly enjoying it, awake or not. For his part, Merlin was having the time of his life and went at it with fervor, completely ignoring his own squashed cock in favor of Arthur's. Knowing how much he enjoyed it himself, Merlin licked around the cock head, before sucking it in again and repeating the motion. Simultaneously, he let his nails scratch gently over the base of the cock and the balls beneath.

Arthur was making some truly amazing sounds, which made Merlin's blood pound harder with every groan and sigh. He boldly began experimenting, trying to coax even more sounds out. Raking his teeth over the head and dragging the foreskin a little before letting go produced a high pitched keen and an impatient jab of the cock against Merlin's lips. Curious about how Arthur's face might look during this, Merlin lifted his head and glanced toward the head of Arthur's bedroll. And then time seemed to stop. Because the firelight was clearly reflected back to him by the very open eyes of Arthur Pendragon.

Mortified, Merlin froze and simply stared back, completely blank of any sort of excuse and pretty sure that death was rapidly approaching. But then, as if it never happened, Arthur's eyes were suddenly closed again and the impatient jab was repeated, this time nudging Merlin's cheek.

Merlin was jerked out of his shock and went back to his task with renewed enthusiasm. Even half awake, Arthur could easily have killed him on the spot if he was really angry. So Merlin chose to interpret the fact that he was still alive as permission to continue. And continue he did.

Drawing Arthur close with both hands on his buttocks, he pulled the cock as far into his throat as he could, before coughing a little and pulling back. A second and third attempt went smoother and a little deeper and when he stopped coughing and managed to relax the back of his throat, giving that extra little bit that took the crown into his very throat, Arthur's hand shot to his head and pulled painfully on his hair.

Unable to breathe, Merlin held it for only a moment before pulling away, but he took a deep breath and tried again immediately. Slowly getting the hang of it, he set a steady pace, which was matched by Arthur's hand on his head. Back off, breathe in through his nose, relax and pull in deep again. Every time his lips reached the base, where soft, curly hair tickled his nose, Arthur would moan and his hand would pull Merlin's hair so hard he got tears in his eyes, but it also made his own cock throb violently against his bedroll, where it was still largely ignored.

Merlin never even knew he could do something like this, but he was willing to keep it up forever, just so he could listen to those sounds from Arthur's lips for the rest of his life. That, however, was rapidly becoming impossible. Arthur started losing his rhythm and the need for air made Merlin pull out enough to breathe, while still sucking hard, occasionally letting his teeth scrape and his tongue lick along as much of the length as he could reach.

He almost fainted from shock when he suddenly felt a hand squirm its way under his blanket, nimbly dive into his own trousers and take firm hold of his pained manhood. A rapid tugging and twisting made Merlin whine in his throat while still trying to keep up the pace of his sucking. He was losing the battle spectacularly and with a muffled cry, he spilled himself copiously in his pants, hardly half a minute before Arthur followed suit and shot a large amount of his salty seed onto the back of Merlin's tongue.

Without conscious thought, he swallowed and gently cleaned off Arthur's still twitching cock with his tongue, before tucking it all back in and even pulling the blanket back over Arthur's legs, before tending to himself.

He was a mess and he must have made a similar mess of Arthur's hand, but whatever evidence had been of it was now hidden under the blanket and Arthur's eyes were firmly shut. Wiping himself off as well as he could, Merlin wistfully thanked the higher powers for making this potentially awkward moment so easy, while also regretting a little that Arthur clearly wasn't acknowledging anything. But sated as he was he drifted off to sleep easily and didn't wake up until Arthur kicked him in the shin, already in his armor and impatient to be off while the weather was calm.

Downhearted by Arthur's steady refusal to even hint at the night before, Merlin got ready as fast as he could and trotted off after the prince, already moving towards Camelot as fast as possible.

They had hardly entered the courtyard however, when Arthur suddenly turned to Merlin and told him to make ready for another trip the very next day. Merlin's usual complaints died on his lips when Arthur threw his bedroll in his face and sent him a very heated look. Suddenly he could not get everything done fast enough.

End.