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The rough wood left splinters sometimes. Rotten fruit and vegetables made him gag. His feet, his back, and his legs burned by the end of it. It wasn't that the stocks were pleasant, but somehow Merlin didn't mind them. Sometimes when he lay in bed waiting for sleep, he wondered why. Mostly he thought about Arthur.
Arthur was what he thought about while he was locked up in the stocks, too. He thought about Arthur when he woke up, wondering what they would do that day, if Arthur had any surprises for him. Arthur never disappointed. Everyone else got boring after a bit, but Arthur never failed to fascinate. Merlin's general enthusiasm surged at the outset of any friendship, but before long, he'd grow comfortable with people and they'd lose their ability to excite him. Arthur still made him giddy.
Other things crossed his mind as he stood there at all hours, bent over and vulnerable. People stared and he stared back and wondered about their lives. Sometimes, if no one was around to notice, he caused the rotted food to explode in their hands and splatter all over their skin and clothes. He practiced his magic and how to do it secretly. It was, he thought, time well spent, the only time he had that he didn't have to do anything but let his mind wander.
"Still out here, are you? My bed isn't going to make itself and I can't go to sleep in an unmade bed."
"I'm working on my tan."
In the dim moonlight, Merlin could just make out Arthur's tall shape and broad shoulders silhouetted black on gray.
"Did you come out here to torment me?"
"I thought it might be fun. You're not good for much else."
That stung. Merlin frowned for a moment, then reminded himself that it was just Arthur's way. His smile came back, along with curiosity about what Arthur was doing out here alone. When Arthur neither said or did anything else, the curiosity became too much.
"Are you going to keep me company?"
Arthur laughed softly, the sound coming from behind Merlin. "Would you like that?"
"I always like your company," Merlin blurted. He turned pink and added, "Not that I wasn't doing fine without you."
Merlin's face was still turned in his futile attempt to look behind him when the first handful of raspberries hit him in the face. Eyes wide, Merlin looked up to see Arthur standing a few feet away with a half-full sack under one arm and an enormous grin.
"Still fun?"
Before Merlin could answer, Arthur hurled another fistful of just-ripened raspberries at his face. Merlin opened his mouth and caught one, moaning at the fresh juice wetting his dry mouth. He closed his eyes to savor it, and when he opened them, Arthur was right in front of him, his fingers inches from his lips.
"Open," he ordered.
Merlin obeyed without thought. Arthur slipped a few berries onto his tongue and shifted his weight as he watched Merlin eat them.
"Again," he said.
Merlin parted his lips for Arthur's callused fingertips. They pushed more fruit inside his mouth, but he didn't withdraw them. Merlin's mouth worked around them, sucking and licking the juice from them. Instead of pulling his fingers away, Arthur lifted his other hand to push more raspberries in beside his fingers. Merlin moaned and stretched his neck and squirmed, trying to get more of the fruit or the taste or Arthur's skin.
"You do like my company, don't you?" Arthur rasped, his voice strangely thick.
"I already said that," Merlin mumbled around Arthur's fingers.
"Say it again."
"I like your company," Merlin repeated, his brow creased in confusion. Nothing made sense right now, and the blood pounded in his flushed cheeks and between his legs. Arthur had a way of doing that to him.
"And do you like being locked up like a common criminal?"
Merlin thought for a moment, then said, "It's not so bad. It's time to myself, sort of. Mostly."
"Your knack for humiliating yourself is masterful."
"I don't-" Merlin shut his mouth with a clack. The stickiness of the raspberries clung to his heated face. Watching Arthur, he couldn't resist the urge to lick his lips again.
"I tried not to do this, Merlin. You give me no choice."
"Do what?"
"Open your mouth."
"Why?"
Arthur gave him a look. Merlin opened his mouth. When Arthur shoved a little green apple into his mouth, he sank his teeth into it and suckled the flesh through the scores. His happy whimpers echoed in his head.
"Slut," Arthur laughed.
Arthur's eyes met Merlin's with genuine affection, his face alight. Merlin's stomach flipped over. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose and wriggled, uncertain whether he was supposed to be upset or angered by the insult but feeling nothing but a sneaking pleasure coursing through his tired body. He tried to retort but the apple thwarted him.
"Am I right?" Arthur asked, and suddenly his hand was on the small of Merlin's back, tracing circles just under the hem of his shirt.
"Mmmph," Merlin protested. "Mmm mmph!"
"You don't like this?"
Merlin struggled a moment, then relented. It felt too good to resist. Arthur's strong fingers were heaven to his stiff, aching muscles. After a few more seconds, he went up on tiptoe to be closer to Arthur's hand. The blush he'd worn since Arthur showed up deepened. Then Arthur's fingertips slid lower, under the waist of his trousers, and his face grew so hot it brought tears to his eyes. His fingers began hesitant and grew bold, kneading and scratching his skin until it tingled. Then he stopped and pulled the apple from Merlin's mouth.
"If you're going to tell me no, do it now."
Unable to process the situation, Merlin gave him a blank stare. Arthur's hand slid further down the back of his trousers. Merlin tensed, his eyes locked on Arthur's. Then he opened his mouth, sticking his chin out for Arthur to put the apple far into his mouth once more. As Merlin's teeth clamped down on it again, Arthur groaned. He was standing close enough for Merlin to make out the bulge of his erection. A shiver ran down his spine at what he knew happened next, mingled fear and excitement making his heart race. When nothing more happened for a few moments, Merlin grunted and twisted, worried he'd done something wrong and more ready for this that he could admit to Arthur.
"Merlin?" he said, his voice soft and somehow sweet.
"Mmhm?"
"You're not going to tell me no, are you?"
Merlin shook his head. With the stunning speed that had defeated so many opponents, Arthur was at Merlin's back, both hands pulling down his trousers and skating up over his lower back to pull his hips towards him. The fine fabric of his clothing brushed against Merlin's bare skin, replaced a moment later by the smooth skin of Arthur's cock. Merlin's fingers itched to touch it and his hands strove against the hard wood, scraped and bruised by his exertions. Arthur's hands ran down Merlin's thighs, then, more hesitantly reached for his length. As Arthur stroked him, he rutted against him, thick shaft gliding between his cheeks and at the crux of his legs. Merlin writhed back against him, his teeth biting through the apple. It shot away from him and he spat out the flesh with an impatient whine.
"Arthur?"
Arthur froze and said, "Merlin?"
Merlin's blush crept down from his face over his chest, the warm tendrils of sensation spreading down to his toes.
"Yes."
"Pardon?" Arthur asked, startled.
"I'm not saying no."
Without saying another word, Arthur lined up his tip with Merlin's opening and pushed inside. The stretch made Merlin gasp, but his muscles were too exhausted to fight it and let Arthur in. Arthur's soft grunts drove him to spread his legs further in the hobble of his pants. Arthur's hand moved over him until Merlin couldn't help but wail.
"Shh," Arthur hissed, driving into him faster until Merlin's knees buckled. Arthur wrapped a muscular arm under him to hold him up and kept going, slamming into Merlin until he sobbed. He shook with it, taking everything Arthur gave and struggling to meet his brutal thrusts. Then Arthur stiffened and jerked against him as he leaned low over Merlin's back and rested his face between his shoulderblades. Arthur clung to him with one arm and pulled at Merlin with his free hand until the feeling overwhelmed him and he came with his seed spurting over Arthur's fingers and dripping down his skin. They stood like that for a minute, with Arthur holding him and holding him up, and then he pulled away and righted their clothes without speaking. Finally, he unlocked the stocks and swung the arm up from where it pinned Merlin.
"It's late."
Merlin stood on trembling legs and stared at the ground, then risked a look up at Arthur from under his eyelashes. "All right. I still need to make your bed."
Arthur stepped in and enfolded him in his arms. Merlin hugged him and melted against him. Then Arthur licked the raspberry from Merlin's nose and opened his mouth over his and licked the inside of his mouth slowly and thoroughly, only his strength keeping Merlin on his feet. He stepped back then and grinned at him.
"My bed will be made when you're in it. C'mon."