Work Text:
This Is How We Started The Band...
by Moonbeam
Merlin fell in love with it.
/ / /
When Arthur was young he asked his father if he could please learn to play the guitar.
The next Tuesday an old woman arrived to teach him how to play the classical piano.
/ / /
When Merlin was in school and all he had was Will he would spend hours teaching himself to play the guitar, bass, keyboards and once, when he was stuck after breaking his leg, the banjo. Music was the safe place in which Merlin could do anything. With an instrument in his hands he was magic.
/ / /
When Arthur was in school he would lie to his father. He was late after school for soccer practice. He was taking an elective study period to get on top of his work. Her lied to his father about spending every spare moment learning to play the guitar, learning to read and write music. He had books full of lyrics and riffs but he knew he only had a little longer before he would have to stop the music and slowly transform into his father.
/ / /
After school was over Merlin moved. He threw his clothes into a bag and he forgot his toothbrush. He lifted and carried every single instrument he had saved for and purchased with more care than he ever treated himself.
/ / /
After school Arthur went to university, as expected, and was reading for a Business degree, as expected. On quiet Wednesday nights he would sit in the dark corner of the pub and play music.
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Merlin met Morgana by accident. She looked at him like she knew him, like she had been waiting for him as he tripped over his own shoelaces and landed on his knee.
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Arthur wished he could get Morgana to stop calling him and pestering him to pick up the guitar again. He had told her, he was working for their father now it was all different.
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Merlin almost killed Lance the first time they met. Lance shook it off and, strangely enough, accepted the invite to the pub Merlin extended. Merlin thought he was a bit of alright until Lance met Gwen and the birds sang, fireworks exploded and the hopeless romantics everywhere began to swoon.
/ / /
Later that night Arthur met Merlin. There were no birds but there were definitely fireworks – just not the lovely, sappy kind.
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Merlin couldn’t sing but he could play almost any instrument given to him after toying with it for a while. He would play when they all got together even though it made Arthur tense inside of his very expensive suits and shuffle away.
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Lance brought Percival around one night and the tall, built, blonde asked if he could play Merlin’s bass so they could jam. Their affair was brief…and more akin to two mates laughingly having a practice than a serious romance. That made Arthur’s face pinched and annoyed too but Merlin had long since forgiven Arthur for the unfortunate shape of his face so that they could be friends.
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Arthur thought he was alone. He pulled out his guitar and began to play. Merlin kissed him as soon as the song stopped.
/ / /
Uther was suitably angry when Arthur quit to join a band…with Merlin and Percival and…an as yet unidentified singer.
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Gwen was quiet and sweet until you placed her in front of a microphone with enough eyeliner to make her look a little sultry and a lot sexy. Then she sang like her heart was breaking or like she had just seen the Northern lights after being blind her whole life.
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Morgana was having sex with a guy named Gwaine. He was an unrepentant flirt who invited himself to practice with them one night after taking his shirt off. Morgana dumped Gwaine and decided that if their foolish band was going to make it she was just going to have to manage them.
Gwaine slept with Percival later that night.
/ / /
Merlin didn’t like Arthur. At least not most of the time but when they hid out in Merlin’s tiny apartment and wrote songs together Merlin found himself a little in love with Arthur.
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Six months later ‘The Dragons’ – that’s a stupid name, Merlin, had their first gig. Merlin wasn’t sure who the blonde sitting next to Morgana was but a week later they had a contract and we making an album.
/ / /
Merlin knew he was the token odd looking one in their band. Next to Gwaine, Percival, Gwen, and Arthur he only appealed to the fringe members of their crowd. And Morgana certainly took advantage of Gwaine’s willingness to be shirtless as much as humanly possible. But, Merlin didn’t mind not being the most attractive because they were an amazing unit; they worked as a band better than he had ever dreamed when he was a young boy in Ealdor playing his first drum set.
/ / /
Morgana was somewhat magical because, somehow, two years after she declared herself their manager they had two albums with a very respectable fan base. Then the unimaginable happened and one of their songs – a rather depressing one about unrequited love and loss which Gwen sung like Lance had just died, became the biggest fucking song in the world for over a month.
The night that marked their one month anniversary of being at number one Arthur arrived at Merlin’s little apartment. He didn’t bother saying hello just pressed Merlin into the doorframe and kissed him. Merlin didn’t even question it; he dragged Arthur further into his apartment and pulled at Arthur’s shirt. The clothes were a telling trail between Merlin’s front door – which he couldn’t remember locking, and his bedroom where Arthur pushed down his boxers and swallowed Merlin’s penis like it was the best fucking thing he’d ever tasted.
Arthur opened him fast, quick and dirty, and then slid up into him with his eyes glued to Merlin’s. It wasn’t the miraculous best fuck of either of their lives but it was a fucking awesome start.
/ / /
When Merlin and Arthur are neither old nor young they got interviewed by a boisterous Australian in a cowboy hat.
“There have been a number of rumours lately about relationships in the band. Are any of them true?”
Merlin laughed. “I am not dating our manager Morgana.”
The interviewer’s eyes narrowed and there was a long beat of silence. The producer called out his name in a hiss.
“And yet,” the interviewer said, his eyes back on Merlin. “You’re wearing a wedding ring.”
“Oh I am married,” Merlin said waving his hand. “But everyone keeps banging on about me and Morgana.”
“Who’s the lucky lady then?”
Merlin smirked at the presenter. “Arthur.”
“Hey!” Arthur said indignantly. “You are more of a girl than I am Merlin.”
The End