Chancing It (Merlin/Arthur)
Title: Chancing It
Author: digthewriter
Rating: ~R
Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, Will, OMC
Summary: Arthur wakes up in bed alone. Also: Sneaky Arthur is sneaky.
Warnings: Modern AU. Mention of sexual activity.
Word Count: 1375
Prompt: "Stranded" for camelot_drabble
Author's Notes: Chapter 13 of " A Last Chance" Series. Best to catch up on AO3. Or you can read from part one on LIVEJOURNAL (next chapter is linked at the end of each chapter)
Continuation of last part: Early Morning Reminders
Arthur woke up in bed alone. He turned to his side to look at the hotel clock and found the small jar of lube, and the unopened condoms. They hadn't ended up using them after all.
It felt good to be with Merlin the night before. They'd not done more than kissing for the first half hour, and then Arthur made Merlin come with his hands. Merlin's arched up so beautifully and he'd gasped Arthur's name as he spilled himself all over Arthur's hand before they'd fallen asleep again.
Arthur was still hard from his encounter with Merlin a few hours ago, and the memory of what'd happened.
Now, at nine o'clock, his heart sank just a bit. He felt stranded. Why didn't Merlin wake him before leaving the room? Surely, he went to see Will, but he could have told--he probably didn't want to wake Arthur. Probably wanted to have breakfast alone with his friend.
Arthur needed to get his head out of his arse. He was here for Merlin and was so very very close to getting his man. Now, it was his job to finally try to be on Will's good side. Again.
It wasn't a competition, and he needed to make sure of that. He couldn't mope about, feel bad for himself, or let his vulnerabilities show. He needed to be strong for Merlin. Be Merlin's friend as Merlin was trying to console Will.
For some stupid reason, Arthur wasn't sure, he got an idea. He didn't know if this was a good idea at all - most likely it wasn't -- but Arthur had to do something.
He looked at his mobile and found Todd's number. He rang him up.
--
Arthur dressed quickly and went to the hotel's dining area. He didn't have to look too hard to find Merlin and Will sitting in a booth. Thankfully, it was big enough that Arthur could have easily slid down next to Merlin instead of making them change seats.
When he got there, he found Merlin holding Will's hands across the table. Will looked up at him uncomfortably, and Arthur gave him the warmest smile he could muster up.
"Sorry, am I disturbing? I just really wanted some coffee. I'll have it to go--"
"No, Arthur. It's fine," Merlin said looking up at Arthur, too, but he hadn't let go of Will's hands.
Thankfully, the waiter arrived right then and fumbled about confused, which caused Will and Merlin to finally let go of each other.
"Coffee and whatever the breakfast special is please," Arthur said, taking a seat next to Merlin who shifted a bit to make room for him. "Are you sure you really don't mind?" he asked Merlin next and then looked at Will.
"It's fine," Will said, sounding calm but looking annoyed.
"So I was thinking of taking a day off on Monday so I can show Will around Toronto," Merlin said. He looked slightly apologetic, and Arthur wondered if it was because he hadn't taken any time off for Arthur, but was willing to do so for his best friend.
"That's a brilliant idea," Arthur said. "I'll need to find a café with Wi-Fi connection so I can finally get some work done. I'm sure Morgana is going to kill me if I don't reply to some of her emails. There's a lot of new projects coming up for the next year and we still haven't found the Lead Designer.
"Morgana?" Will asked, interested.
Arthur sighed with relief at finally getting a look from Will that didn't mean he wanted to kill him.
"I thought you worked for your father?"
"No, I left his company a few years ago. Morgana and I have joined forces and opened up our own consulting firm. We're utilising my business background and her graphic design background to venture out to small businesses. Our prices are lower than others in the market and most of our team is made up of interns that we don't have to pay so it's working out well."
Will nodded and Arthur could see the wheels in motion. He was going to ask the same question everyone had asked him.
"Morgana and I had money saved up from when we were under our father. We'd made sure it wasn't anything he could touch, and we're using that to start the business. We're practically breaking even to how much we spend on our projects, but hopefully in a few years we'll be known enough to charge at market rate. Right now, experience is key."
"You're lucky," Will said.
"I know." Arthur smiled and turned to look at Merlin. "You have no idea how lucky."
The waiter arrived with Arthur's coffee and their breakfast. Apparently, Arthur and Will had ordered the same thing, the breakfast special consisting of bacon, sausage, pancakes, and scrambled eggs, as opposed to Merlin's who'd just stuck to a huevos rancheros burrito.
Arthur tried not to dwell on how similar he and Will, yet again, were.
Enough time had passed and Arthur wondered if Todd was going to do what he'd promised. He had half a mind to bring out his mobile and send a message to him when Merlin's mobile chimed.
"Oh, this is weird," Merlin said, looking at his phone. "I just got a message from Todd. He's having a party tonight and invited me."
"Really?" Arthur said, hiding his face behind his coffee cup.
After he'd decided to get his act together in the morning, Arthur rang Todd up to ask him a huge favour. He made some story about Merlin's friend just showing up to surprise him when Todd guessed that Arthur wanted said friend out of the way. Arthur had chuckled nervously and managed to say that Will was not only gay, but very good looking. Apparently, that was all Todd had needed to decide to help Arthur. Evidently, he was a sucker for the British accent.
They'd made the plan that Todd would, out of the blue, invite Merlin, and Merlin would have no option but to bring Will to the party. After that, who knew where things would go, but at least, Merlin and Will wouldn't be entirely alone together, leaving Arthur behind.
Sure, it was a terrible plan, and Arthur felt like he was being a terrible person, but the idea of losing Merlin to Will was too much to bear What if Will broke down and begged Merlin to not be with Arthur? Merlin was the stupid sod to do whatever he could for his friends, and he would have left Arthur behind. Especially since Arthur deserved that
Arthur had to wonder if hours before, Merlin wanted to have sex with Arthur was also about that. What if Merlin wanted to have sex for the last time before letting him go? Even if Merlin said he wouldn't do something like that to Arthur, things could always change.
"What are you going to say?" Arthur asked.
"He didn't message you?" Merlin asked, sounding suspicious.
"He's your co-worker. Maybe it's a small shindig for co-workers only. You should ask him that. If you have to go, I mean, are you going to leave Will behind?"
"What about you?"
Arthur shrugged. "I can manage on my own, I've been here long enough to get around the city--"
"I'm not an invalid," Will said, sounding aggravated. "If you have to go--"
"No," Merlin said. "If I'm going, then we're all going." He picked up his mobile and typed up a message to Will. "There," he said a moment later. "Todd said it's not a work thing and that I can bring friends."
"Brilliant. You two will have fun," Arthur said.
"Arthur, don't be daft," Merlin said, and ended the conversation right then and there.
They ate in silence after that, and when Arthur went up to the till to pay for their breakfast, Will joined him a moment later.
"Why do I get this feeling that you're the cause of this?"
Arthur looked at him point blank. "I have no idea why you'd think that. I don't know this Todd fellow, how and why would I have caused anything?"
Will shook his head. "You're still an arse, Pendragon."
Arthur smiled. "My best feature." Next Chapter: In The Shadows
Author: digthewriter
Rating: ~R
Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, Will, OMC
Summary: Arthur wakes up in bed alone. Also: Sneaky Arthur is sneaky.
Warnings: Modern AU. Mention of sexual activity.
Word Count: 1375
Prompt: "Stranded" for camelot_drabble
Author's Notes: Chapter 13 of " A Last Chance" Series. Best to catch up on AO3. Or you can read from part one on LIVEJOURNAL (next chapter is linked at the end of each chapter)
Continuation of last part: Early Morning Reminders
Arthur woke up in bed alone. He turned to his side to look at the hotel clock and found the small jar of lube, and the unopened condoms. They hadn't ended up using them after all.
It felt good to be with Merlin the night before. They'd not done more than kissing for the first half hour, and then Arthur made Merlin come with his hands. Merlin's arched up so beautifully and he'd gasped Arthur's name as he spilled himself all over Arthur's hand before they'd fallen asleep again.
Arthur was still hard from his encounter with Merlin a few hours ago, and the memory of what'd happened.
Now, at nine o'clock, his heart sank just a bit. He felt stranded. Why didn't Merlin wake him before leaving the room? Surely, he went to see Will, but he could have told--he probably didn't want to wake Arthur. Probably wanted to have breakfast alone with his friend.
Arthur needed to get his head out of his arse. He was here for Merlin and was so very very close to getting his man. Now, it was his job to finally try to be on Will's good side. Again.
It wasn't a competition, and he needed to make sure of that. He couldn't mope about, feel bad for himself, or let his vulnerabilities show. He needed to be strong for Merlin. Be Merlin's friend as Merlin was trying to console Will.
For some stupid reason, Arthur wasn't sure, he got an idea. He didn't know if this was a good idea at all - most likely it wasn't -- but Arthur had to do something.
He looked at his mobile and found Todd's number. He rang him up.
--
Arthur dressed quickly and went to the hotel's dining area. He didn't have to look too hard to find Merlin and Will sitting in a booth. Thankfully, it was big enough that Arthur could have easily slid down next to Merlin instead of making them change seats.
When he got there, he found Merlin holding Will's hands across the table. Will looked up at him uncomfortably, and Arthur gave him the warmest smile he could muster up.
"Sorry, am I disturbing? I just really wanted some coffee. I'll have it to go--"
"No, Arthur. It's fine," Merlin said looking up at Arthur, too, but he hadn't let go of Will's hands.
Thankfully, the waiter arrived right then and fumbled about confused, which caused Will and Merlin to finally let go of each other.
"Coffee and whatever the breakfast special is please," Arthur said, taking a seat next to Merlin who shifted a bit to make room for him. "Are you sure you really don't mind?" he asked Merlin next and then looked at Will.
"It's fine," Will said, sounding calm but looking annoyed.
"So I was thinking of taking a day off on Monday so I can show Will around Toronto," Merlin said. He looked slightly apologetic, and Arthur wondered if it was because he hadn't taken any time off for Arthur, but was willing to do so for his best friend.
"That's a brilliant idea," Arthur said. "I'll need to find a café with Wi-Fi connection so I can finally get some work done. I'm sure Morgana is going to kill me if I don't reply to some of her emails. There's a lot of new projects coming up for the next year and we still haven't found the Lead Designer.
"Morgana?" Will asked, interested.
Arthur sighed with relief at finally getting a look from Will that didn't mean he wanted to kill him.
"I thought you worked for your father?"
"No, I left his company a few years ago. Morgana and I have joined forces and opened up our own consulting firm. We're utilising my business background and her graphic design background to venture out to small businesses. Our prices are lower than others in the market and most of our team is made up of interns that we don't have to pay so it's working out well."
Will nodded and Arthur could see the wheels in motion. He was going to ask the same question everyone had asked him.
"Morgana and I had money saved up from when we were under our father. We'd made sure it wasn't anything he could touch, and we're using that to start the business. We're practically breaking even to how much we spend on our projects, but hopefully in a few years we'll be known enough to charge at market rate. Right now, experience is key."
"You're lucky," Will said.
"I know." Arthur smiled and turned to look at Merlin. "You have no idea how lucky."
The waiter arrived with Arthur's coffee and their breakfast. Apparently, Arthur and Will had ordered the same thing, the breakfast special consisting of bacon, sausage, pancakes, and scrambled eggs, as opposed to Merlin's who'd just stuck to a huevos rancheros burrito.
Arthur tried not to dwell on how similar he and Will, yet again, were.
Enough time had passed and Arthur wondered if Todd was going to do what he'd promised. He had half a mind to bring out his mobile and send a message to him when Merlin's mobile chimed.
"Oh, this is weird," Merlin said, looking at his phone. "I just got a message from Todd. He's having a party tonight and invited me."
"Really?" Arthur said, hiding his face behind his coffee cup.
After he'd decided to get his act together in the morning, Arthur rang Todd up to ask him a huge favour. He made some story about Merlin's friend just showing up to surprise him when Todd guessed that Arthur wanted said friend out of the way. Arthur had chuckled nervously and managed to say that Will was not only gay, but very good looking. Apparently, that was all Todd had needed to decide to help Arthur. Evidently, he was a sucker for the British accent.
They'd made the plan that Todd would, out of the blue, invite Merlin, and Merlin would have no option but to bring Will to the party. After that, who knew where things would go, but at least, Merlin and Will wouldn't be entirely alone together, leaving Arthur behind.
Sure, it was a terrible plan, and Arthur felt like he was being a terrible person, but the idea of losing Merlin to Will was too much to bear What if Will broke down and begged Merlin to not be with Arthur? Merlin was the stupid sod to do whatever he could for his friends, and he would have left Arthur behind. Especially since Arthur deserved that
Arthur had to wonder if hours before, Merlin wanted to have sex with Arthur was also about that. What if Merlin wanted to have sex for the last time before letting him go? Even if Merlin said he wouldn't do something like that to Arthur, things could always change.
"What are you going to say?" Arthur asked.
"He didn't message you?" Merlin asked, sounding suspicious.
"He's your co-worker. Maybe it's a small shindig for co-workers only. You should ask him that. If you have to go, I mean, are you going to leave Will behind?"
"What about you?"
Arthur shrugged. "I can manage on my own, I've been here long enough to get around the city--"
"I'm not an invalid," Will said, sounding aggravated. "If you have to go--"
"No," Merlin said. "If I'm going, then we're all going." He picked up his mobile and typed up a message to Will. "There," he said a moment later. "Todd said it's not a work thing and that I can bring friends."
"Brilliant. You two will have fun," Arthur said.
"Arthur, don't be daft," Merlin said, and ended the conversation right then and there.
They ate in silence after that, and when Arthur went up to the till to pay for their breakfast, Will joined him a moment later.
"Why do I get this feeling that you're the cause of this?"
Arthur looked at him point blank. "I have no idea why you'd think that. I don't know this Todd fellow, how and why would I have caused anything?"
Will shook his head. "You're still an arse, Pendragon."
Arthur smiled. "My best feature." Next Chapter: In The Shadows