O Christmas Tree
Title: O Christmas Tree
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Word Count:1,200
Summary: The boys go shopping for a Christmas tree, misunderstandings ensue
Notes: This another stocking swap fic (hence the cheesy Christmas carol title), this one for the lovely jazzy_peaches! I hope you like it, happy holidays! ♥
“Merlin we’ve been here for 2 hours! Just pick a tree already!”
Merlin appeared not to have heard Arthur and just continued circling around the tree he was currently considering, inspecting it from all angles, standing back and squinting, leaning in and examining the needles and actually stroking his chin as though he were twirling a beard. If Arthur hadn’t lost all feeling in his fingers and toes by this point he would have found it endearing.
“Merlinnnn.”
Arthur was award that he was whining but he was beyond caring at this point. Merlin had promised this wouldn’t take long, and obviously he and Arthur had very different ideas of what “very long” meant.
“Sorry Arthur,” Merlin said absently, having now moved on to another tree after finding the first one unsatisfactory. “That one was too tall.”
“Well what about the two hundred other trees you’ve looked at?”
“They just haven’t been right. I know what I’m looking for and -and I haven’t found it yet.”
“Well is there anything I can do to speed the process up a bit?” Arthur decided maybe it was time to try a new tactic, obviously grumbling and complaining wasn’t doing anything to get them out of the cold.
It was a second before Merlin answered, he was actually smelling the tree now, and when he pulled away he had flakes of snow stuck to the tip of his nose. Arthur smiled despite himself.
“Um…not really. It’s just kind of a feeling you get, you know? I don’t know how to describe to you what to look for, its well, its….” Merlin trailed off as he stood in front of the next tree in the row, before immediately dismissing it and moving onto the next.
Arthur sighed dramatically and trailed after him. This was their first Christmas together and Arthur had been prepared to put up the fake tree that he used every year but Merlin had been absolutely horrified at the idea and insisted that they get a real tree. Arthur didn’t really care one way or the other, Christmas had never been big in the Pendragon household and since it obviously meant so much to Merlin, Arthur went along with it. There was very little Arthur wouldn’t do to make Merlin happy, but as a rule he tried to avoid losing body parts as a result of frostbite.
Arthur had come straight from work and met Merlin at the tree farm, so he was just wearing his black wool coat and black dress shoes, neither meant for extended time spent in subzero temperatures. Merlin, on the other hand, looked like he was about to go skiing or build a snowman. He was covered head to toe, including snow pants and a knit hat with ear flaps. Arthur would’ve laughed but the look on Merlin’s face stopped him short. Merlin just looked so happy and Arthur didn’t want to say anything that might wipe that smile off his face.
After Merlin had rejected another ten or so trees Arthur spoke up again.
“Merlin…I don’t mean to rush you, but if we don’t finish this soon I might lose a couple toes. I obviously don’t know how to dress for Christmas tree shopping.”
Merlin turned, concern plain on his face.
“Shit Arthur, I’m sorry. I’ll try to hurry it up. Five more minutes?”
“Alright, sure.”
Merlin smiled apologetically before turning and hurrying down the path to inspect more trees.
Twenty minutes went by and Merlin still hadn’t decided on a tree. Arthur was pretty sure they had looked at almost every tree on the lot at this point, but Merlin was not satisfied with anything they’d seen.
“Merlin,” Arthur started gently, ”Maybe we should try another place some other time?”
“No, no,” Merlin muttered, “just a few more minutes.”
“Merlin!” Arthur almost shouted, exasperated and past pretending to be enjoying this. “We’ve been here all afternoon, I’m freezing, I had a long morning at work and I just want to go home and relax. Please just pick a tree and let’s go!”
Merlin flinched as if Arthur had slapped him, the smile slid off his face and his hands dropped to his sides. Arthur felt a pang of guilt, but honestly, Merlin was being ridiculous.
“Sure, yeah, let’s just go. I’ll come back another time. Sorry.” Merlin’s shoulders slumped and he turned to walk back towards the parking lot where their cars were waiting.
“Merlin, wait -” Arthur hurried after him, but Merlin made no move to slow down and let Arthur catch up.
Merlin didn’t speak to Arthur for the rest of the night. Arthur tip toed around the house, knowing he should apologize but not knowing quite what to say. Finally he decided he had to say something, he hated when they fought, and it was the holidays after all.
He knocked softly on their bedroom door, where Merlin had holed up soon after they’d gotten home.
“Come in.”
Arthur crossed the room and went to sit on the edge of the bed, then thought better of it and ended up standing awkwardly beside it.
“Um…Merlin, I’m really sorry about today. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I -I just didn’t realize picking out a tree was an all-day event, if I had I would have dressed for the occasion. I’m sorry. We can go back tomorrow if you want?”
Merlin sighed, then reached out and grabbed Arthur’s hand, tugging him towards the bed. Arthur sat perched on the edge next to where Merlin had his knees drawn up into his chest.
“I’m sorry too Arthur. I know I got a bit crazy with the tree today. It’s just..well, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the tree is a big part of it for me. When I was growing up, we didn’t have much money and so we couldn’t afford lots of presents or a huge dinner or anything like that. But my mom always made sure we had a big tree, a real one. Every year the two of us would go and pick it out, then come home and decorate it, and we’d play Christmas music and drink hot chocolate. I guess I was just trying to recreate that with you and I got a little out of control. I’m sorry.”
Merlin smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Arthur smiled back, swinging his legs around and sliding over so he was sitting next to Merlin on the bed. He raised his hand to thread his fingers through Merlin’s hair, pulling his head down onto Arthur’s shoulder.
“Alright, so let’s try this again tomorrow then? I’ll dress properly this time and I promise not to complain.”
“And I promise not to take four hours to pick a tree.”
“Deal,” said Arthur with a smile. “Hey do you have an extra one of those hats with the ear flaps I could borrow?”
Merlin giggled. “I think I have one somewhere, I’ll have to find it because it really would look fabulous on you.”
Arthur just grinned and leaned in to press a kiss to Merlin’s cheek.
“Happy first Christmas,” he whispered.
“I love you,” Merlin whispered back before snuggling into Arthur’s shoulder.
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Word Count:1,200
Summary: The boys go shopping for a Christmas tree, misunderstandings ensue
Notes: This another stocking swap fic (hence the cheesy Christmas carol title), this one for the lovely jazzy_peaches! I hope you like it, happy holidays! ♥
“Merlin we’ve been here for 2 hours! Just pick a tree already!”
Merlin appeared not to have heard Arthur and just continued circling around the tree he was currently considering, inspecting it from all angles, standing back and squinting, leaning in and examining the needles and actually stroking his chin as though he were twirling a beard. If Arthur hadn’t lost all feeling in his fingers and toes by this point he would have found it endearing.
“Merlinnnn.”
Arthur was award that he was whining but he was beyond caring at this point. Merlin had promised this wouldn’t take long, and obviously he and Arthur had very different ideas of what “very long” meant.
“Sorry Arthur,” Merlin said absently, having now moved on to another tree after finding the first one unsatisfactory. “That one was too tall.”
“Well what about the two hundred other trees you’ve looked at?”
“They just haven’t been right. I know what I’m looking for and -and I haven’t found it yet.”
“Well is there anything I can do to speed the process up a bit?” Arthur decided maybe it was time to try a new tactic, obviously grumbling and complaining wasn’t doing anything to get them out of the cold.
It was a second before Merlin answered, he was actually smelling the tree now, and when he pulled away he had flakes of snow stuck to the tip of his nose. Arthur smiled despite himself.
“Um…not really. It’s just kind of a feeling you get, you know? I don’t know how to describe to you what to look for, its well, its….” Merlin trailed off as he stood in front of the next tree in the row, before immediately dismissing it and moving onto the next.
Arthur sighed dramatically and trailed after him. This was their first Christmas together and Arthur had been prepared to put up the fake tree that he used every year but Merlin had been absolutely horrified at the idea and insisted that they get a real tree. Arthur didn’t really care one way or the other, Christmas had never been big in the Pendragon household and since it obviously meant so much to Merlin, Arthur went along with it. There was very little Arthur wouldn’t do to make Merlin happy, but as a rule he tried to avoid losing body parts as a result of frostbite.
Arthur had come straight from work and met Merlin at the tree farm, so he was just wearing his black wool coat and black dress shoes, neither meant for extended time spent in subzero temperatures. Merlin, on the other hand, looked like he was about to go skiing or build a snowman. He was covered head to toe, including snow pants and a knit hat with ear flaps. Arthur would’ve laughed but the look on Merlin’s face stopped him short. Merlin just looked so happy and Arthur didn’t want to say anything that might wipe that smile off his face.
After Merlin had rejected another ten or so trees Arthur spoke up again.
“Merlin…I don’t mean to rush you, but if we don’t finish this soon I might lose a couple toes. I obviously don’t know how to dress for Christmas tree shopping.”
Merlin turned, concern plain on his face.
“Shit Arthur, I’m sorry. I’ll try to hurry it up. Five more minutes?”
“Alright, sure.”
Merlin smiled apologetically before turning and hurrying down the path to inspect more trees.
Twenty minutes went by and Merlin still hadn’t decided on a tree. Arthur was pretty sure they had looked at almost every tree on the lot at this point, but Merlin was not satisfied with anything they’d seen.
“Merlin,” Arthur started gently, ”Maybe we should try another place some other time?”
“No, no,” Merlin muttered, “just a few more minutes.”
“Merlin!” Arthur almost shouted, exasperated and past pretending to be enjoying this. “We’ve been here all afternoon, I’m freezing, I had a long morning at work and I just want to go home and relax. Please just pick a tree and let’s go!”
Merlin flinched as if Arthur had slapped him, the smile slid off his face and his hands dropped to his sides. Arthur felt a pang of guilt, but honestly, Merlin was being ridiculous.
“Sure, yeah, let’s just go. I’ll come back another time. Sorry.” Merlin’s shoulders slumped and he turned to walk back towards the parking lot where their cars were waiting.
“Merlin, wait -” Arthur hurried after him, but Merlin made no move to slow down and let Arthur catch up.
Merlin didn’t speak to Arthur for the rest of the night. Arthur tip toed around the house, knowing he should apologize but not knowing quite what to say. Finally he decided he had to say something, he hated when they fought, and it was the holidays after all.
He knocked softly on their bedroom door, where Merlin had holed up soon after they’d gotten home.
“Come in.”
Arthur crossed the room and went to sit on the edge of the bed, then thought better of it and ended up standing awkwardly beside it.
“Um…Merlin, I’m really sorry about today. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I -I just didn’t realize picking out a tree was an all-day event, if I had I would have dressed for the occasion. I’m sorry. We can go back tomorrow if you want?”
Merlin sighed, then reached out and grabbed Arthur’s hand, tugging him towards the bed. Arthur sat perched on the edge next to where Merlin had his knees drawn up into his chest.
“I’m sorry too Arthur. I know I got a bit crazy with the tree today. It’s just..well, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the tree is a big part of it for me. When I was growing up, we didn’t have much money and so we couldn’t afford lots of presents or a huge dinner or anything like that. But my mom always made sure we had a big tree, a real one. Every year the two of us would go and pick it out, then come home and decorate it, and we’d play Christmas music and drink hot chocolate. I guess I was just trying to recreate that with you and I got a little out of control. I’m sorry.”
Merlin smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Arthur smiled back, swinging his legs around and sliding over so he was sitting next to Merlin on the bed. He raised his hand to thread his fingers through Merlin’s hair, pulling his head down onto Arthur’s shoulder.
“Alright, so let’s try this again tomorrow then? I’ll dress properly this time and I promise not to complain.”
“And I promise not to take four hours to pick a tree.”
“Deal,” said Arthur with a smile. “Hey do you have an extra one of those hats with the ear flaps I could borrow?”
Merlin giggled. “I think I have one somewhere, I’ll have to find it because it really would look fabulous on you.”
Arthur just grinned and leaned in to press a kiss to Merlin’s cheek.
“Happy first Christmas,” he whispered.
“I love you,” Merlin whispered back before snuggling into Arthur’s shoulder.