Mistletoe Kisses - Merlin fanfic
So, that was the famous Arthur Pendragon.
Gwaine tipped back as far as he could in his chair, balancing it on the back two legs just far enough that he wouldn’t topple over, contemplating the man who had just left the shop. It was a very slow afternoon and the shop was empty. He had quite a long time to sit there and think about it.
To hear Merlin talk about him, Gwaine could be forgiven for thinking the sun rose and set with the man. Honestly, it was pathetic. Merlin was a good-looking lad and didn’t need to be hankering after his mother’s boss’s son. Arthur didn’t seem so very special to Gwaine. Very posh, but Gwaine had been expecting that. A bit of a twat… but again, he wasn’t really surprised. Arthur was rich, after all. No matter how supportive he’d been to Merlin recently, he was still born to privilege and entitlement. Gwaine wasn’t impressed.
Merlin was besotted with him, that much was clear. Gwaine had tried, because he tried with everyone, but he didn’t think Merlin had even noticed his interest. He’d wondered if the devotion was mutual, as Arthur did seem to lavish a lot of his spare time on Merlin. And now, having met the man, he still wondered. He thought he might now make it his own personal challenge to find out. After all, it was a quiet afternoon at the Christmas tree farm.
The bell rang on the shop door to alert him that there was finally another potential customer. Gwaine looked… and looked again.
Speaking of personal challenges…
“Hello...”
Tall, well-built, bearded and handsome had just walked in. Posh, too, but as he was ticking every other box on Gwaine’s ‘yes please’ list Gwaine wasn’t going to make a fuss. Gwaine lounged back further in his chair to get a better view… yeah, nice firm arse. The man worked out.
“Could you help me please?”
Gwaine definitely could. He put on his best smile.
“Well, that depends…”
“I’m looking for a Christmas tree.”
Ah. Add not very bright. But that could work too. “Um… this is a Christmas tree farm. You’re definitely in the right place.”
“Funny.”
“Well, you said…”
The man put his hand up to stop him. It was a very nice hand, large and strong. Gwaine imagined what it would feel like wrapped round his cock.
“A tree has been put aside for Hunith Emrys? Or it might be in the name of Pendragon. I’m not sure. Perhaps you know her son, Merlin? He works here.”
Gwaine smiled. Merlin was very popular with the posh totty today. Well, he couldn’t have both of them, and Gwaine was definitely interested in this one. But before he could say anything, the man looked at him curiously.
“You’re not Merlin by any chance?”
Gwaine’s smile widened. “I might be. Who’s asking?”
“Ah, I’m Leon. Arthur’s friend.” That big strong hand was held out towards him. Gwaine wondered what Leon would do if he kissed it.
“Good to meet you, Leon. So, are you here with Arthur or… with Arthur?”
“Oh no,” Leon was quick to correct him. “We’re best friends. Always have been. But you know Arthur…”
Gwaine didn’t, not really, but he wasn’t going to let that hold him back. “I do indeed. Arthur was in here earlier. Great guy.”
“I know you two are close. He talks about you all the time.”
“Really?” Well that was good to know. Gwaine liked Merlin and the last thing he wanted was to see him hurt by that entitled posh twit.
“Like brothers.”
“Brothers. Ah.” Gwaine was pretty sure Merlin did not think of Arthur as a brother. “That’s nice.”
Leon was leaning on the counter. Gwaine was fairly sure he wasn’t mistaking the interest. He’d need to admit the truth fairly quickly as he wasn’t screwing this one up. He was trying to think of the right words, when Leon leaned right into his personal space.
“You know, Arthur’s been worried about you. I don’t know why, you seem pretty chilled out to me. Recently he’s been saying that he thinks you need a boyfriend.”
“Arthur’s a wise man,” Gwaine nodded. “Are you offering?”
Leon raised an eyebrow. “Forward!”
Gwaine just sat there looking pleased with himself. He wondered if he’d get fired if he shut the shop early and offered to shag Leon in the storeroom. There were only a few days to go before the place closed till next year anyway.
“So, you think Arthur was hinting to you?” Gwaine asked. He tried to get that guileless look Merlin was so good at, but it wasn’t happening for him.
“I think so.”
Leon probably wasn’t going to like it when he found out the truth. Perhaps Gwaine could get him the tree and get out of there before the real Merlin turned up. Merlin only wanted Arthur anyway, it wasn’t as if he was stopping any budding romance.
“He’s a great pretend brother,” Gwaine grinned. He got up. “I’ll go and get you that tree. Wait here while I get the keys to the store. Mer… Uh, the tree is in there, ready.”
He was gone a little longer than he expected. Someone had put the keys on the wrong hook (probably himself, but he wasn’t going to admit that) and it took a while to find them. When he returned, Leon was coming back in.
“Sorry, just saw Arthur by the car. I wanted to check with him that he didn’t mind.”
Gwaine raised an eyebrow. “Asking permission? Are you going to ask him for my hand too?”
Leon had a wonderful warm smile. Gwaine could feel himself melt a little at the sight of it. “Not yet.”
“So, what did he say? Was he pleased?”
Leon frowned. “Well… yes, I think so. He didn’t say much. He was a bit grumpy… I think he’d slipped in some mud or something.”
That was the confirmation Gwaine was looking for. Merlin was going to be just fine.
“Sounds a bit jealous to me.”
“No, he said it was fine.” Leon frowned. “Oh. Do you think?”
“I do.”
“Perhaps this is a bad idea?”
Gwaine shook his head. There was a large bunch of mistletoe sprigs for sale right next to Leon, he noticed. “It’s a great idea.”
“Well no. Merlin, we can’t do that to him.”
Gwaine beamed. “I never actually said I was Merlin, now did I?” He held out his hand. “I’m Gwaine. I’ve had to listen to him droning on about Arthur for months. Trust me, you’d have been wasting your time.”
Leon paused, looking down at the hand dubiously. “Are you playing games?”
“You’d love my games,” Gwaine assured him. He nodded towards the mistletoe. “Want to try some?”
Leon narrowed his eyes. “I think Arthur’s mentioned you.”
“Bad influence on his precious Merlin? Sounds dangerous and improper? Not posh enough? All of the above?”
“Something like that. He didn’t mention sneaky liar.” But Leon was grinning, and had picked up one of the sprigs of mistletoe. “I think I’ll have one of these. See what other uses you can put that sneaky tongue to.”
“I didn’t actually lie,” Gwaine pointed out. “You assumed. Trust me, Merlin’s cute but he’s got nothing on me!”
“And big-headed too!”
Gwaine held up the mistletoe. “Oh, that’s not the biggest thing about me, Leon,” he murmured, just before Leon leaned in for a deep, tongue-duelling kiss. He didn’t seem too bothered by the deceit. “Not by a long way…”