#stilted

Imagine au where after merlin confesses to his magic, at the end he was somehow able to save Arthur. They make it back to Camelot but there is some awkwardness between the two, like they've forgotten how to act around eo.

After years of hiding, Merlin is hesitant to show Arthur his magic, to make himself vulnerable to his King in that way. And Arthur takes longer to believe merlin's stories, there are more questions and double takes than there used to be.

Merlin tries to return the sigil one day, thinking that he doesn't deserve to have it since he doesn't have Arthur's full and unwavering trust any more (his words not the king's).

Arthur presses it back into his palms, "It's a gift, Merlin. You keep those."

obviously inspired by:

Because I don't have enough WIPs apparently...

Meet Stilted, the maybe Kagome is a researcher, maybe she's an archeologist, AU where she encounters spear fisherman Inuyasha in the course of hunting... Whatever it is that I haven't decided on yet. 😂 Thanks to the Twitter Word Of The Day for the inspiration and members of @inu-mothership for enabling encouraging my harebrained idea.

Eyes wide, Kagome fought to close her mouth so she didn't get caught completely slack jawed. She almost ran her little kayak aground on a sandbar in her distracted state. As it was, she nearly dropped her paddle into the water. Swearing under her breath, she struggled to keep it in her hands while not creating an obnoxious amount of noise.

When they told her that the silver-haired hermit living outside the fishing village was the man to see about indigenous flora and fauna, she had expected a stooped old man. She had not expected a shining river god - highlighted by the rising sun - with muscles taut in preparation to throw his spear. His hair was pulled up into a high tail, the sun making it look like it was flashing as the water rippled around his boat. He wore nothing but a pair of red breeches, loose but for the sash at his hips.

She also hadn't anticipated how the river tended to eddy and swirl nearer the banks as it looked so calm otherwise. Which was yet another mistake in a long ongoing list…

you really never realized how far you ran from it since that day.

so the first kiss is something for her, really, not for clark. you kiss her cheek first and says good night, sweet dreams, and then you do it to clark too, with her watching. laughter bubbles out of her mouth sweetly like a creek. she says your name with an exasperated sigh and you know that clark is rolling his eyes.

it’s nice having a gift that allows you to slip out of the room faster than they both blink. that way neither can see your cheek burning poppy red. 

the second kiss is a sleepy habit. it’s been four weekends worth of staying over on kent farm to help with the crop haul and by the fifth saturday you know momma kent is more than used to you giving her cheek a sweet smooch in the mornings. she even lifts her chin a little when she sees you stumble into the kitchen at the break of dawn and there is always a little smile you two share before she sends you off to work.

so when clark is there one morning too, not already up and going at his other chores,  he gets one just the same and it’s not until you’re both walking across the yard toward the tractor that either one of you says something about it.

“you know, i could get used to this,” he says.

and you, with your mind running a million miles a minute, can’t help but stupidly ask what. you know what he means and he knows you know what he means but when you turn to look at him and see the halo of the rising sun behind his head and he smiles you think he must really be a saint because he doesn’t actually SAY it.

instead he shrugs, says, “you helping out on the weekends.”

the third kiss is not a joke and it’s not an accident. it’s not even something that’s happened yet, really, but it’s going to because you’re an idiot who has been calculating the risk for several weeks now. you’re instantly reminded of the meme with the bird and the whole, being bad at math thing, and maybe your math will be off.

maybe he won’t smile the way he does when you do it in the morning on his cheek, when you do it in the evenings to make momma kent chuckle.

maybe he won’t ask you for help next weekend.

but maybe he will and you know what they say:

third time is the charm.

Keep reading for more info, pictures and the video!

Example of a mid-sized beach style ceramic tile and multicolored floor sunroom design with a wood stove and a glass ceiling