The Church of Hot Addiction (1/?)
Apr. 23rd, 2010 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
van_x_tangoTitle: The Church of Hot Addiction (title token from the title of a song by the band Cobra Starship)
Fandom: Merlin BBC
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Ratings: PG for now
Words: 1517
Summary: Inspired by the prompt 'Arthur/Merlin AU, with reluctant priest!Merlin and bad Catholic!Arthurseducinghiminaconfessional'
Notes: okay, this hasn't actually been beta'd, so if there are any mistake or if theres anything about this that’s just nagging you in general then please, please tell me. I know not everyone on here is catholic so I didn’t go into too much detail so that its easier to understand and if any one on here is very, very, very, hardcore catholic and does not like the concept then I can’t guarantee you’d want to read this.
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He had been travelling for days and finally, Merlin was there. Camelot Cathedral: the most notorious cathedral throughout the land.
He had spotted the very head of its highest tower about a day and a half ago, just from afar a while after he’d left Ealdor. But he'd still had miles to go then, left to wonder how big it must have been exactly, if he could already see it from where he was. Now that he had made it though, and could see it for what it really was, he wasn’t surprised at all that he had been able to see it from such a far distance.
He was amazed at the grand building before him, which was a cathedral situated at the heart of town with the most beautifully striking Early English Gothic architecture, along with lancet windows stained in intriguing designs. They told stories from the bible; history and literature, including carvings of gargoyles in the figure of fantastic beasts projecting out from the walls, the most outstanding one being a dragon perched high above the oak door entrance with a cross bared on its chest.
The building must have been about 530 feet high, covering an area of about 100,000 square feet, Merlin estimated rather spontaneously, and that was including the equally stunning convent attached to the side - with multiple arches sequenced along in rows and many crockets complementing the exterior.
Merlin was late in his travels and was actually meant to have arrived earlier that morning, but now it was evening, and he was standing around in the dark gawking at the most astounding cathedral he’d ever seen.
"Excuse me, can I help you?"
Jerking out of his daze, he swivelled around to find a nun dressed in her full black and white habit. Dark, curled hair peeped out from the sides of her head veil, falling across her dusky toned skin.
"Um, yeah actually. Could you please point me in the direction of Friar Gaius, sister..?"
"Guinevere, although most people call me Gwen," she smiled, offering a hand for him to accept.
"So, you must be the new priest then... Father Emrys, is it? How do you do?"
"I’m doing great, nice to meet you Gwen. Say... how did you know I was coming?"
He didn’t know much about Camelot, but if everyone in Camelot already knew him then that was quite daunting.
"Oh, everyone does."
Great.
Sister Guinevere continued, "Since Father Valiant was fired, there’s been no one at all to give a proper ceremony for ages, so once Friar announced he’d found someone that’d be perfect for the job, well, the whole town’s been waiting to find out who."
Slight tinges of nervousness added to Merlin’s already big bouts of anxiousness at hearing everyone was waiting for him, no doubt wanting to find out how well he performs as a priest.
Seeing his face, Gwen pressed on, urgently saying, "Oh, that isn’t meant as in people are waiting to see if you're any good before they tear you apart! Not that they would, Camelot’s not barbaric or anything, they're just waiting to see a fresh new face here. You do seem quite young for a priest so it’s definitely a fresh face, not that you need to be. I - I should just stop talking now."
Merlin wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he just thought back to Valiant.
"Why was Father Valiant fired?"
A look of unease passed over Gwen’s face before she attempted to answer.
"He sort of… strayed away from his duties into more… sinful deeds," she mumbled.
"Sinful deeds?"
"He… often lay with harlots, gambled, drank, fought. I’m surprised he even lasted working here for five years. ...And he seemed to have an unnatural obsession for poisonous snakes," she added with a highly confused expression, similar to his own.
Then she leaned in a bit closer to his ear and whispered, "There are even rumours that he treated choir boys in improper ways, such a-"
"That’s quite enough now, Sister Guinevere. I think you ought to be off to bed now, don’t you think?" Came a third voice off from the side.
They were both startled suddenly from their conversation at the realisation that there was an elderly man shuffling towards them, who turned out to be the owner of the interjecting voice. He bore a long brown robe with a rope belt and had a gold cross dangling from his neck, with lanky, greasy white hair shagging down beside his face.
"Oh yes, Friar, of course I must. Goodbye, Father Emrys, I’ll see you for tomorrows service."
"Please, call me Merlin." She smiled one last time to them both, and then left.
At the mention of his name a grin broke upon the aged man’s face and he gently slapped his hand on Merlin’s back.
"Ah, Merlin, I see you’ve finally made it, although I was expecting you earlier."
Even though this was a bad thing the Friar still managed to voice it with content, hands clasped and waiting for an explanation with a scrutinizing look.
Merlin tittered before rubbing the back of his neck muttering, "Yeah, sorry about that, I must have just been moving slowly."
"Moving slowly? That’s the problem with you youngsters nowadays, think you have all the time in the world”, he said, rolling his eyes.
“Not to worry.” He nonchalantly appraised. “How’s has your mother been lately? I suspect she’s proud of you gaining a position here.”
“Oh she’s over the moon. Really, we can’t thank you enough for this Friar.” he said with such gratitude, joy forming in his features.
“Oh it was no trouble at all my boy. And please, call me Gaius. If you allow Guinevere to call you Merlin, I see no problem in you using first name terms either."
They made their way through the huge oak doors into the nave of the cathedral, and all throughout his time staring up at the building, talking to Gwen, and then finally moving along to the inside with Gaius - he had not once noticed the silhouetted figure of a young man positioned behind the window of the highest tower, watching him the entire time.
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"This is where your services will be held," Gaius announced, gesturing his hands out openly.
Merlin was knocked for six by the heaven he‘d been introduced to. He stood on marble floor above graves dating back centuries, taking his mind back to ancient times, fascinated by the history of the place.
The stone marble walls were decorated with red and gold banners, embedded with silken patterns; the interior was bounded by the brilliant light of the candles and colour from the stained windows; rich monuments were at every corner and elaborate carvings were engraved in close-grained oak stalls. The ceiling was of monumental height with painted gold patterns outlined in the graceful arches and vaults and beyond the lofty organ was a giant rose window.
He loved the harmony of detail in this exquisitely beautiful cathedral and was taken in by the heady scent of incense in the air that filled his nostrils.
"Holy moley." The place was so spacey his voice even echoed.
Gaius chuckled and patted him on the back, inputting, "Yes, Merlin, holy moley, although if I were you I‘d keep the blaspheming to a minimum. Now, that room over there is the rectory for when you're dealing with the administrative work; and please try not to lose any records Merlin, your mother told me quite a bit about your organisation skills. This corner over here holds the confessional," he pointed to the dark mahogany wooden booth hidden in the corner, before going off through a passageway at far side of the cathedral, "and you will be staying here in one of the quarters of the convent. Everything's been made up and ready for you, so you should be fine. Anything else?"
Reaching the small stone walled chamber, Merlin bustled in with his cases in hand, taking in the rather simple rooms. A very thin mattress on metal hinges stood at one side of the room, while the other side held only a cupboard and a table, but that’s what Merlin’s room back in Ealdor had looked like before - so there really was no change there.
"No, not that I can think of," he replied, still in awe that he somehow had become priest of this place.
"Well then, I’ll leave you to get settled."
Once the Friar was out the door, Merlin moved over to his bed to start unpacking, but only then does he remember his manners. He got up and ran back to the door, poking his head around the doorframe.
"Gaius!"
Turning at the end of the corridor, Gaius loomed back into view with a questionable eyebrow.
"Thank you. For everything." Gaius laughed lightly, shuffling back over.
"That’s very kind of you Merlin, now get some sleep. You don’t want to fall asleep at your very first service tomorrow, do you? And especially in front of Bishop Pendragon."
............
Part 2
Fandom: Merlin BBC
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Ratings: PG for now
Words: 1517
Summary: Inspired by the prompt 'Arthur/Merlin AU, with reluctant priest!Merlin and bad Catholic!Arthur
Notes: okay, this hasn't actually been beta'd, so if there are any mistake or if theres anything about this that’s just nagging you in general then please, please tell me. I know not everyone on here is catholic so I didn’t go into too much detail so that its easier to understand and if any one on here is very, very, very, hardcore catholic and does not like the concept then I can’t guarantee you’d want to read this.
------------------------------------------------------
He had been travelling for days and finally, Merlin was there. Camelot Cathedral: the most notorious cathedral throughout the land.
He had spotted the very head of its highest tower about a day and a half ago, just from afar a while after he’d left Ealdor. But he'd still had miles to go then, left to wonder how big it must have been exactly, if he could already see it from where he was. Now that he had made it though, and could see it for what it really was, he wasn’t surprised at all that he had been able to see it from such a far distance.
He was amazed at the grand building before him, which was a cathedral situated at the heart of town with the most beautifully striking Early English Gothic architecture, along with lancet windows stained in intriguing designs. They told stories from the bible; history and literature, including carvings of gargoyles in the figure of fantastic beasts projecting out from the walls, the most outstanding one being a dragon perched high above the oak door entrance with a cross bared on its chest.
The building must have been about 530 feet high, covering an area of about 100,000 square feet, Merlin estimated rather spontaneously, and that was including the equally stunning convent attached to the side - with multiple arches sequenced along in rows and many crockets complementing the exterior.
Merlin was late in his travels and was actually meant to have arrived earlier that morning, but now it was evening, and he was standing around in the dark gawking at the most astounding cathedral he’d ever seen.
"Excuse me, can I help you?"
Jerking out of his daze, he swivelled around to find a nun dressed in her full black and white habit. Dark, curled hair peeped out from the sides of her head veil, falling across her dusky toned skin.
"Um, yeah actually. Could you please point me in the direction of Friar Gaius, sister..?"
"Guinevere, although most people call me Gwen," she smiled, offering a hand for him to accept.
"So, you must be the new priest then... Father Emrys, is it? How do you do?"
"I’m doing great, nice to meet you Gwen. Say... how did you know I was coming?"
He didn’t know much about Camelot, but if everyone in Camelot already knew him then that was quite daunting.
"Oh, everyone does."
Great.
Sister Guinevere continued, "Since Father Valiant was fired, there’s been no one at all to give a proper ceremony for ages, so once Friar announced he’d found someone that’d be perfect for the job, well, the whole town’s been waiting to find out who."
Slight tinges of nervousness added to Merlin’s already big bouts of anxiousness at hearing everyone was waiting for him, no doubt wanting to find out how well he performs as a priest.
Seeing his face, Gwen pressed on, urgently saying, "Oh, that isn’t meant as in people are waiting to see if you're any good before they tear you apart! Not that they would, Camelot’s not barbaric or anything, they're just waiting to see a fresh new face here. You do seem quite young for a priest so it’s definitely a fresh face, not that you need to be. I - I should just stop talking now."
Merlin wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he just thought back to Valiant.
"Why was Father Valiant fired?"
A look of unease passed over Gwen’s face before she attempted to answer.
"He sort of… strayed away from his duties into more… sinful deeds," she mumbled.
"Sinful deeds?"
"He… often lay with harlots, gambled, drank, fought. I’m surprised he even lasted working here for five years. ...And he seemed to have an unnatural obsession for poisonous snakes," she added with a highly confused expression, similar to his own.
Then she leaned in a bit closer to his ear and whispered, "There are even rumours that he treated choir boys in improper ways, such a-"
"That’s quite enough now, Sister Guinevere. I think you ought to be off to bed now, don’t you think?" Came a third voice off from the side.
They were both startled suddenly from their conversation at the realisation that there was an elderly man shuffling towards them, who turned out to be the owner of the interjecting voice. He bore a long brown robe with a rope belt and had a gold cross dangling from his neck, with lanky, greasy white hair shagging down beside his face.
"Oh yes, Friar, of course I must. Goodbye, Father Emrys, I’ll see you for tomorrows service."
"Please, call me Merlin." She smiled one last time to them both, and then left.
At the mention of his name a grin broke upon the aged man’s face and he gently slapped his hand on Merlin’s back.
"Ah, Merlin, I see you’ve finally made it, although I was expecting you earlier."
Even though this was a bad thing the Friar still managed to voice it with content, hands clasped and waiting for an explanation with a scrutinizing look.
Merlin tittered before rubbing the back of his neck muttering, "Yeah, sorry about that, I must have just been moving slowly."
"Moving slowly? That’s the problem with you youngsters nowadays, think you have all the time in the world”, he said, rolling his eyes.
“Not to worry.” He nonchalantly appraised. “How’s has your mother been lately? I suspect she’s proud of you gaining a position here.”
“Oh she’s over the moon. Really, we can’t thank you enough for this Friar.” he said with such gratitude, joy forming in his features.
“Oh it was no trouble at all my boy. And please, call me Gaius. If you allow Guinevere to call you Merlin, I see no problem in you using first name terms either."
They made their way through the huge oak doors into the nave of the cathedral, and all throughout his time staring up at the building, talking to Gwen, and then finally moving along to the inside with Gaius - he had not once noticed the silhouetted figure of a young man positioned behind the window of the highest tower, watching him the entire time.
-------------------------------------
"This is where your services will be held," Gaius announced, gesturing his hands out openly.
Merlin was knocked for six by the heaven he‘d been introduced to. He stood on marble floor above graves dating back centuries, taking his mind back to ancient times, fascinated by the history of the place.
The stone marble walls were decorated with red and gold banners, embedded with silken patterns; the interior was bounded by the brilliant light of the candles and colour from the stained windows; rich monuments were at every corner and elaborate carvings were engraved in close-grained oak stalls. The ceiling was of monumental height with painted gold patterns outlined in the graceful arches and vaults and beyond the lofty organ was a giant rose window.
He loved the harmony of detail in this exquisitely beautiful cathedral and was taken in by the heady scent of incense in the air that filled his nostrils.
"Holy moley." The place was so spacey his voice even echoed.
Gaius chuckled and patted him on the back, inputting, "Yes, Merlin, holy moley, although if I were you I‘d keep the blaspheming to a minimum. Now, that room over there is the rectory for when you're dealing with the administrative work; and please try not to lose any records Merlin, your mother told me quite a bit about your organisation skills. This corner over here holds the confessional," he pointed to the dark mahogany wooden booth hidden in the corner, before going off through a passageway at far side of the cathedral, "and you will be staying here in one of the quarters of the convent. Everything's been made up and ready for you, so you should be fine. Anything else?"
Reaching the small stone walled chamber, Merlin bustled in with his cases in hand, taking in the rather simple rooms. A very thin mattress on metal hinges stood at one side of the room, while the other side held only a cupboard and a table, but that’s what Merlin’s room back in Ealdor had looked like before - so there really was no change there.
"No, not that I can think of," he replied, still in awe that he somehow had become priest of this place.
"Well then, I’ll leave you to get settled."
Once the Friar was out the door, Merlin moved over to his bed to start unpacking, but only then does he remember his manners. He got up and ran back to the door, poking his head around the doorframe.
"Gaius!"
Turning at the end of the corridor, Gaius loomed back into view with a questionable eyebrow.
"Thank you. For everything." Gaius laughed lightly, shuffling back over.
"That’s very kind of you Merlin, now get some sleep. You don’t want to fall asleep at your very first service tomorrow, do you? And especially in front of Bishop Pendragon."
............
Part 2