Fic: An Inconvenient Time of Day
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 4,450
Warnings: none
Summary: Merlin and Arthur become roommates after Gwen and Lance move in together. The only problem is, Merlin is a Morning Person, and Arthur...really, really isn't.
Read on AO3.
A/N: Super fast and pointless fluff/smut written in between bouts of my Pole Dancing AU, unbeta-ed. Title is taken from a quote by Glen Cook: “Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.”
“Thank you everyone for helping. There’s no way we could’ve finished all of this today without you,” Gwen said to the room at large, smoothing her hair out of her face with a slightly harried smile.
“It was a pleasure,” Arthur assured Gwen, smiling across the box-filled room at her. Their friends rumbled agreement, then laughed when Gwaine said, “Is someone gonna toast or do I have to start drinking alone?”
“Alright, alright,” Leon said, raising the mug that was posing as his wine class. “To Lance and Gwen. May you live as happily in official cohabitation as you did in unofficial.” Everyone laughed. “Here’s to a happy and long life to the both of you.”
“And to Merlin and Arthur,” Gwen insisted before anyone could drink from whatever container they were using as makeshift glasses. Arthur’s gaze flicked over to the other side of the room where Merlin was standing, wearing a monstrosity of a feathered hat unearthed from one of Gwen’s boxes from her drama days and a cheeky grin, and he grinned back as Leon nodded gamely.
“And to Merlin and Arthur,” he continued. “May they kill each other in three weeks or less for me to win the bet.”
Everyone laughed, Arthur included, and Merlin’s eyes crinkled when he smiled and shouted “Hear, hear!” and drained his mason jar in one go.
---
Three weeks and two days later, Arthur stood at his bedroom door. He was still in just his boxers, hair messed, like he always was in the mornings. His phone had chirped him awake at half-past six, like it did every week day. Even the smell of coffee permeating the flat was a normal, beloved part of his morning routine. The feeling of dread as he worked up the energy to just open his bloody door, however, was new, from about the time Gwen ditched him for her knight-in-shining-armor fiancé and convinced him to live with Lance’s lunatic best friend, whose cheerful smiles and good-natured teasing from the few times Arthur’d met him had clearly all been a lie.
“Oh, good morning, Arthur,” Merlin chirped once the smell of coffee had grown too tempting for Arthur to keep ignoring. Arthur stared at him. “I thought I heard your alarm going off. Sleep well?”
Arthur nodded dumbly. Merlin beamed at him.
“Good. Thank God it’s Friday, right? Gaius has had me doing inventory all week so we can shift to a computer-based system, and I swear the last time he even went near the back room was probably the bloody Dark Ages…”
Arthur just stared while Merlin prattled on. Merlin worked at his uncle’s shop, selling books or tea or bloody magic potions, Arthur didn’t know, because it’d been morning every time Merlin had told him, and like any normal person Arthur had been half-asleep and quiet. Like always though, Merlin just chattered away while Arthur sat there.
“-new girl, but she was hopeless, so I’ve been picking up the slack,” Merlin was saying now, fiddling around the kitchen. “Which means I have to pop in early, so I’ll have the shower first, if you don’t mind.”
As a matter of fact Arthur did mind, but not enough to protest when Merlin placed a steaming mug in front of him and slipped out of the kitchen with a chirpy “Cheers!” thrown over his shoulder, leaving Arthur finally, blissfully along.
In the quiet.
Which only lasted a moment before the shower rattled into life accompanied by Merlin’s off-key rendition of ‘Little Things’.
Arthur sighed into his coffee.
---
On the whole, Merlin was a pretty decent flatmate. He kept his mess mostly confined to his room, got along with Arthur’s friends, and even cooked for the two of them at least once a week. The problem, aside from his unfortunate fixation with One Direction, was that he was unintentionally the loudest person Arthur had ever met. He whistled and sang and laughed and talked constantly, even when Arthur didn’t talk back. Gwen had understood that nothing short of a miracle would get him to speak in the mornings, and had simply left him alone with his coffee until he’d warmed up. Merlin had so far only mastered the coffee part, which was probably the only reason Arthur hadn’t killed him yet.
(Besides, Gwaine had put money on the second month mark, and Arthur at least wanted to wait for someone worthy to win the bet.)
---
“Three letters…nervous twitch…”
Merlin tapped the cap of his pen against the table for a second before scribbling something into his crossword. This was his new habit. Every Sunday morning, Merlin did the crossword, and Arthur was allowed to drink his coffee in peace, aside from the occasional muttering or pen-tapping. He could have taken his coffee into the sitting room, but it was habit by now to just sit and watch Merlin’s fingers around the pen, or occasionally his lips as he chewed the cap in thought.
“Ten letters,” Merlin said, brow furrowed. “Dismal, exaggerated gloom. Second letter ‘u’. Exaggerated gloom…”
He tapped his pen again, this time punctuated by thoughtful noises. He made several aborted movements to write, but pulled back each time, muttering, “No, no…exaggerated gloom…”
“Lugubrious,” Arthur finally said, breaking his morning silence for the first time since…well, ever, really. Merlin’s head jerked up in surprise, which was quickly replaced by confusion.
“Er, bless you?”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “No, you idiot, It’s your answer. Lugubrious.”
Merlin blinked at him for a moment more before looking down at his puzzle. Arthur saw him quickly map out the answer before writing it in, and hid his smirk behind his coffee cup. Merlin saw it anyway, and rolled his eyes.
“Clotpole.”
“That one of your puzzle words?” Arthur snorted.
“Yep. Right here, number sixteen across. Eight words, definition: ‘Arthur Pendragon’.”
“Idiot,” Arthur replied, and went back to his silence with a pointed slurp of his coffee.
---
“How’s it going with Merlin?” Gwen asked one day when she and Arthur met up for lunch. “Lance says he sounds happy, but Merlin’s always happy.”
Arthur shrugged and chewed on a chip. “He’s fine.” Gwen’s eyebrows rose.
“That was unconvincing. What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing’s…wrong with him, per se. He just-“ Arthur waved a hand, all of his pent up irritation bubbling up. “He just never shuts up. I haven’t had a quiet moment in weeks. It’s maddening.”
“He likes you,” Gwen said, clearly trying to hide a smile at Arthur’s exasperated tone. “He only chats off the ears of people he likes. Remember Val? Merlin hardly ever said two words whenever he was around. As soon as he left you couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”
“Lucky me,” Arthur groused. His stomach did a funny sort of wiggle at the thought of Merlin liking him, which only made him scowl harder. “I can’t even drink my coffee without him nattering at me. And he sings in the shower.”
“He talks to you in the morning?” Gwen said, surprised.
“Yes,” Arthur groaned emphatically, glad to finally have her understand the severity of the situation. To his chagrin, however, Gwen’s expression was less one of horrified commiseration and more…impressed.
“And he’s still alive?”
“I didn’t want Gwaine to win the bet,” Arthur explained automatically. And then, “And his coffee is even better than Elyan’s.”
Gwen blinked. And then, inexplicably, she laughed. Arthur bristled, because these were his mornings at stake, and here Gwen was laughing.
“Oh, Arthur,” she said with a fond expression, and reached out to pat his arm. “Looks to me like you might actually like Merlin, as well.”
“What?” Arthur sputtered. “Gwen, no.”
“I think so,” Gwen insisted. “You would’ve kicked him out weeks ago if you didn’t.”
Arthur scoffed, because Gwen was clearly crazy. “Yeah, well. I wouldn’t buy the monogrammed tea towels just yet.”
The rest of lunch passed normally, without a single mention of Merlin. Arthur had almost forgotten about that conversation by the time he let himself into his flat, kicking off his shoes and making his way into the sitting room. Merlin was curled up on the sofa with a book, but he looked up and smiled when Arthur entered.
“Oh hey, Arthur. How was lunch?”
“Good, yeah. Gwen says hello.”
Merlin smiled, eyes crinkling at the corner. “I’m making dinner tonight. Gaius got a whole shipment of cookbooks in and I really want to try a few of them out.”
“Sounds good. As long as I don’t wind up eating rat, or something.”
“You had no complaints about it last week,” Merlin said idly, turning a page of his book primly. Arthur stared at him. Merlin kept his eyes on his book. After a moment, Arthur saw the corner of Merlin’s mouth quiver slightly, and he realized that Merlin was biting back his grin.
“Tosser,” he said, and Merlin laughed at him. Arthur retaliated by shoving Merlin off of the sofa so he went tumbling to the floor, landing with a loud “Oof!”
“Now who’s the tosser?” he moaned from the floor, glaring. Arthur grinned back.
“Still you.”
Merlin grumbled as he clambered back into his spot. They retreated into their normal spots, Merlin cuddled into his corner of the sofa with his long legs sprawled across the middle. Arthur sat perfectly straight while he flicked through the channels until he found a movie that would please both of them, and settled in for a lazy afternoon, stubbornly not thinking of Gwen and her insane theories.
---
One Tuesday, Arthur woke up and was thoroughly unsurprised to hear Merlin already chatting away. It had only been a matter of time before he moved on to talking to inanimate objects, Arthur reasoned, and rolled out of bed. When he opened his door, however, he found Merlin with a phone tucked against his shoulder as he bustled around the kitchen.
“-promise I’ll tell him,” Merlin was saying, waving at Arthur as he plunked down into his usual seat. “Yes, mum, I’m supposed to see Uncle Gaius this afternoon.”
Arthur yawned while Merlin wrapped up his call. He was about two seconds away from just giving up and going back to sleep on the table when Merlin slid his coffee in front of him and he set about devouring that instead. This, he could deal with. Merlin was still talking, but it wasn’t to Arthur, and Arthur had coffee and didn’t have to think.
Which was of course when Merlin hung up the phone.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t wake you up, did I? Sometimes I think mum forgets that not everyone wakes up before dawn,” Merlin said cheerfully. Arthur sighed. “She’s lived on a farm her whole life so it’s just normal for her, you know? It was normal for me, too, honestly. It’s still weird not to wake up and have the goat there to talk to, and I’ve lived in London for years now. But I guess you’ll do.”
Arthur couldn’t even muster the energy to be peeved at being compared to a goat. Merlin kept talking, and Arthur did a quick mental tally to see who would win the bet if he killed Merlin now. He was pretty sure it was Elyan. Or maybe Lance.
He finished his coffee while Merlin was nattering about the time their goat had chased a door-to-door salesman down the road, and got to his feet. Merlin blinked, and looked at the clock.
“Shit, I’m going to be late,” he said, jumping up and following Arthur into the hall. “We’re still shorthanded at the shop with Nimueh gone and I promised Uncle Gaius I’d open again. Although, honestly, no one ever comes in this early so I don’t even see the point, and we’re still doing bloody inventory so-“
Arthur was desperate. He was exhausted and Merlin was still talking with no signs of stopping. It seemed logical at the time for Arthur to lean forward and fit his mouth over Merlin’s, cutting off whatever else he wanted to say. And it worked, too, because when Arthur pulled away Merlin just stared at him, mouth open in shock but blissfully silent. A blush stained his cheeks, and something coiled in Arthur’s belly.
He wanted to do it again, he realized, with a surge of want. Preferably more than once.
“You’re going to be late,” he grunted instead, and promptly shut the door.
---
Arthur had never had a more unproductive workday. He spent most of it forcing himself to look at his computer screen and to stop thinking about Merlin’s lips under his, or the way he’d looked at Arthur like he wasn’t quite sure what to do when he’d kissed him. He was mostly unsuccessful, and gave up entirely after he made hit halfway through an email and realized he hadn’t taken in a word of it.
Sometime around lunch his mobile lit up, and Gwen’s name flashed across the screen. He contemplated letting it go to voicemail, but in the end picked it up just in time.
“Hello?”
“Arthur, hi. I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Merlin today? He sounded all strange when I called him this morning, and he hasn’t rung me back.”
Arthur cleared his throat. “Ah. Well. That might be because I kissed him.”
“What?” He could practically hear Gwen’s jaw dropping before she stumbled to say, “You-did you just say you kissed him?”
“I did.”
“On the cheek, you mean?”
“Nope.”
“Arthur.”
“Guinevere.”
“Don’t call me Guinevere,” Gwen said automatically. “Christ, Arthur, what did he say?”
“Ah-nothing, as it happens. Mostly because I closed the door in his face right afterward.”
“What on earth made you do that?”
Arthur sighed and leaned forward to press his forehead against his desk. “I don’t know. Because I’m a twat?”
“Right now I can’t say I don’t agree with that,” Gwen replied, sounding more than a little scandalized.
“I know, I know…I just. It just happened.” He hesitated, biting his lip, before he added, “I think you may have been right when you said I liked him.”
“Oh, Arthur,” Gwen sighed, and Arthur knew that if she were here, she’d be petting his head. “What are you going to do?”
“I was hoping you might have a few ideas,” Arthur laughed humorlessly. “Right now I’m just hoping Merlin will talk to me at all.”
“Of course he will. He likes you, too, I told you that.”
“Didn’t look like it this morning.”
“You probably surprised him.”
Arthur didn’t say anything, mostly because it was probably true. Merlin hadn’t looked angry or even upset when he’d kissed him. Just shocked. And then Arthur had shut the door on him, because he was a twat.
“Honestly, Arthur, I think you might be overreacting. There’s nothing you can do about it until you get home, anyway. Just be an adult about it and talk to Merlin.”
“Right. Talk to him,” Arthur nodded, and then abruptly laughed. “Christ, this is all backwards. We’re already living together and I’m bricking it over whether or not he likes me.”
“Worry about all that later. Right now just try not to get your head all messed up, alright?”
“Yeah, alright. Thanks, Gwen.”
They hung up, and Arthur made himself focus on his work for the rest of the afternoon. At last, it was time to go home, and Arthur left the office feeling a mixture of apprehension and excitement. The ride home seemed to both drag by and speed past, until suddenly he was standing in front of his door. He paused to take a deep breath, and then squared his shoulders, put his hand on the knob, and pushed.
“Merlin?”
There was silence at first, long enough for Arthur to think he was alone in the flat, and then Merlin’s voice rang out.
“In the sitting room.”
Arthur followed the voice a little warily. Merlin didn’t sound angry, but it was better to be safe than sorry. When he finally made it to the sitting room, he found his flatmate sitting dead center on the sofa, hugging a pillow to his chest and looking as apprehensive as Arthur felt.
“Hi,” Arthur offered, bringing Merlin’s attention to him. Merlin smiled thinly.
“Hi. We need to talk.”
“Right. About what?”
Merlin looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “About the fact that you kissed me and then slammed a door in my face, for one thing.” Arthur winced.
“I know, and I’m…sorry. That was terribly rude of me.”
“What was? The kissing or the door?”
“Both, I suppose,” Arthur said slowly, a little thrown by Merlin’s expression. He looked torn between irritated and exasperated, not exactly a harbinger of good things to come. “But mostly the door.”
Merlin stared at him again. Arthur didn’t know what he was thinking, so he stayed silent, too. Finally, Merlin sighed. “Why did you do it?”
“I’m not really sure,” Arthur admitted. “At the time, I just wanted you to shut up long enough for me to escape for a shower.”
“So you kissed me.”
“So I kissed you,” Arthur agreed, and he didn’t miss the way Merlin’s face fell slightly before he caught himself.
“Right. Okay, that’s that then-“
“It turns out that’s not why I did it, though. At least not really,” Arthur interrupted, making Merlin pause. “Gwen thinks so, anyway.”
“And what does Gwen think is the reason for you kissing me?” Merlin asked, definitely irritated and a little tired now. Arthur shrugged.
“Because I like you.”
That really made Merlin pause. He gaped at Arthur not unlike the way he had that morning, mouth open slightly and eyes wide. Arthur took advantage of his silence to continue.
“I’m not going to make a speech of it, because that’s just…no. But I do like you, it’s not just because Gwen says so. I might have realized it earlier if I wasn’t pretending to hate how much of a morning person you are, but I’m there now.” Merlin didn’t say anything, but his shocked expression was slowly melting into something softer, more pleased. Arthur took a step closer. “If you don’t feel the same, just say so, and I won’t mention it ever again. But, Merlin. Would you like to have dinner with me?”
Merlin stared at him for a second longer, and then suddenly he beamed. “You’re an idiot,” he laughed, scrambling off of the sofa and onto his feet. Arthur laughed, too.
“Yes.”
“And we live together,” Merlin went on, stopping just short of throwing his arms around Arthur.
“Yes.”
“And you are really, really not a morning person,” Merlin grinned, and Arthur couldn’t do anything but smile back.
“Not at all,” he said.
“Sounds perfect,” Merlin decided, sliding his arms around Arthur’s waist and pressing their lips together.
- --- ----- --- -
It turned out being in a relationship with a disgustingly cheery morning person was much more easily dealt with than Arthur had expected. Mostly it was all about compromises.
Like how Merlin was a hopeless blanket hog, even on the warmest nights, and how Arthur starfished out to take up most of the bed, was easily remedied by tucking letting Arthur hug Merlin as tightly to his chest as possible and letting Merlin swath both of them in the covers. Or how Merlin was allowed to talk as much as he wanted in the mornings, so long as he didn’t expect Arthur to talk back until he’d downed at least a cup and a half of coffee.
Arthur’s favourite compromise came in use on the weekends, especially on the rare days where he was the first one up.
Usually he’d blink open his eyes and find Merlin’s face inches from his own, already alert and grinning, and Merlin would coax him further awake with something like, “Up and at ‘em,” or if Arthur was being particularly sluggish, “Let’s have you, lazy daisy.” Sometimes, though, like today, Arthur opened his eyes, and Merlin was still curled against his chest, sound asleep. And Arthur grinned, because these were his favourite mornings.
“Merlin,” he called softly, too softly for Merlin to really hear him. Merlin sighed, but didn’t wake up. “Merlin.”
This time, Merlin’s brows puckered slightly, and he turned to squash his nose more firmly into Arthur’s chest. Arthur bit his lip to stifle his laughter and bent down to brush a kiss to the top of Merlin’s head.
“Time to get up, lazy.”
Merlin didn’t react, but Arthur hadn’t wanted him to. He let his lips trail downwards to trace the rim of Merlin’s exposed ear. Merlin grumbled when Arthur’s movement dislodged him from his chest and curled up even tighter to compensate, but Arthur just kept going, inching slowly downwards until his lips tracked the line of Merlin’s jaw down to the shadow of his neck, and he kissed there, too.
His hand moved down to chase the warmth of Merlin’s skin under the duvet. He let his fingers just slip beneath the waist of Merlin’s boxers, coaxing Merlin awake with gentle strokes in time with his kisses. Merlin’s breathing changed, and Arthur knew he was close to waking. He shifted his attention down a little to pepper kisses across Merlin’s chest, paying special attention to the hollow of his throat.
“Mmm,” Merlin mumbled, unconsciously stretching his neck to give Arthur more room even as he pushed into his touch, eyes still closed. Arthur grinned and obliged him with a series of kisses leading up to the corner of his mouth, letting his hands rub the muscles of his sleepy-pliant legs. He kept his lips hovering just off of Merlin’s in order to watch him slowly blink open his eyes and to watch the first smile spread lazily across his face. “G’morning.”
“Good morning,” Arthur replied before closing the distance between their lips in their first proper kiss of the morning. It was slow and unhurried, like their kisses always started out on mornings like this. Merlin snaked his arms around to hug Arthur even closer and he sighed contentedly. Their hips brushed together, and Arthur felt Merlin’s growing interest press against his thigh. He moved his own hand down to rub Merlin into further arousal, drinking in the drowsy-pleased noises Merlin made.
He went easily when Arthur pushed him onto his back, taking Arthur weight with no more than a happy sigh.
“Feels good,” he murmured, letting his eyes fall shut again. Arthur kissed him.
“Are you falling asleep on me?”
Merlin smiled, but didn’t open his eyes. “What if I am?”
In reply, Arthur lowered his head to lick teasingly at a nipple. He’d learned months ago that Merlin had very sensitive nipples, and he loved to exploit this knowledge whenever he could. He worked it with his tongue until Merlin’s sleep-heavy breathing quickened and he squirmed beneath Arthur. Arthur kept it up for a moment longer, just enough to make Merlin’s voice shaky when he laughed out his name and pulled him up for another kiss.
More awake now, Merlin hooked his legs around Arthur’s waist to hold him in place while his tongue explored his mouth. Arthur took advantage of the position to roll their erections together, the friction just enough to make Merlin sigh and push up for more. Sometimes on lazy mornings they would just keep doing this until they both came, and Arthur loved it, but today he wanted something else. He released Merlin’s mouth with one last kiss and shifted, moving down Merlin’s body to nuzzle the outline of Merlin’s erection through his boxers.
“Oh,” Merlin sighed, and when Arthur glanced up he had his eyes closed again. He lifted his hips obligingly, though, when Arthur hooked his fingers into the waistline of Merlin’s boxers and worked them off of his legs. His cock sprang free, and Arthur wasted no time in putting his hands on it, giving Merlin a few tugs just to see the colour rise to his cheeks. Merlin’s eyes were half-open, watching hazily as Arthur licked the head of his cock before taking it into his mouth.
He took his time working his way to the root, and by the time his nose brushed the skin of Merlin’s abdomen Merlin’s breathing had grown shaky. His hands were gripping the sheets, but his legs were clamped tightly around Arthur, brackets to hold him in place as he bobbed slowly up and down Merlin’s cock.
After all of their time together, Arthur knew exactly where to touch to make Merlin lose his mind, and he put most of them to use now, not interested in teasing this morning. One hand he brought up to work the base of Merlin’s cock as he suckled the head, while the other alternated between cupping his balls and massaging his hole. Merlin was making tiny, high-pitched noises, which turned into moans the longer Arthur sucked him.
“I’m gonna come,” he warned suddenly, but Arthur didn’t back away. He just dragged his tongue along the length of Merlin’s cock and back up to suck the head into his mouth, watching Merlin pant. “Shit, Arthur.”
Arthur just hummed in response, and Merlin arched his back at the sensation, one hand flying down to grip Arthur’s hair hard before he came down Arthur’s throat. Arthur swallowed it all before he released Merlin’s cock and moved to straddle Merlin’s waist. Merlin watched him take his own cock out of his boxers and fist himself steadily, putting his own hands on Arthur’s thighs and urging him on.
“Come on, Arthur, come on me. Fuck,” Merlin said hoarsely, watching hungrily as Arthur’s hand moved on his cock.
Arthur’s hips hitched, and his rhythm sped up until he felt his own orgasm building, and then he came, come spurting out onto Merlin’s chest. He fell forward to land beside Merlin, still panting, and Merlin immediately turned to wrap his arms around him. They kissed silently for a few minutes, lying close together, before Merlin placed a kiss on his shoulder.
“Everyone’s gonna start arriving soon. I’m gonna go get cleaned up. Start the coffee?”
“Mm. Sounds good,” Arthur agreed, and kissed Merlin one more time before releasing him. Merlin rolled out of bed, scooping up his pants as he went, and immediately tripped over one of the boxes lined up along the wall. He shot a mock-glare over his shoulder when Arthur laughed, but Arthur saw his smile before the door to their new ensuite bathroom closed on it.
“Idiot,” he said fondly, and got out of bed to dig out their mugs from whatever box they’d been shoved into and not yet unpacked from.
Word Count: 4,450
Warnings: none
Summary: Merlin and Arthur become roommates after Gwen and Lance move in together. The only problem is, Merlin is a Morning Person, and Arthur...really, really isn't.
Read on AO3.
A/N: Super fast and pointless fluff/smut written in between bouts of my Pole Dancing AU, unbeta-ed. Title is taken from a quote by Glen Cook: “Morning is wonderful. Its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.”
“Thank you everyone for helping. There’s no way we could’ve finished all of this today without you,” Gwen said to the room at large, smoothing her hair out of her face with a slightly harried smile.
“It was a pleasure,” Arthur assured Gwen, smiling across the box-filled room at her. Their friends rumbled agreement, then laughed when Gwaine said, “Is someone gonna toast or do I have to start drinking alone?”
“Alright, alright,” Leon said, raising the mug that was posing as his wine class. “To Lance and Gwen. May you live as happily in official cohabitation as you did in unofficial.” Everyone laughed. “Here’s to a happy and long life to the both of you.”
“And to Merlin and Arthur,” Gwen insisted before anyone could drink from whatever container they were using as makeshift glasses. Arthur’s gaze flicked over to the other side of the room where Merlin was standing, wearing a monstrosity of a feathered hat unearthed from one of Gwen’s boxes from her drama days and a cheeky grin, and he grinned back as Leon nodded gamely.
“And to Merlin and Arthur,” he continued. “May they kill each other in three weeks or less for me to win the bet.”
Everyone laughed, Arthur included, and Merlin’s eyes crinkled when he smiled and shouted “Hear, hear!” and drained his mason jar in one go.
---
Three weeks and two days later, Arthur stood at his bedroom door. He was still in just his boxers, hair messed, like he always was in the mornings. His phone had chirped him awake at half-past six, like it did every week day. Even the smell of coffee permeating the flat was a normal, beloved part of his morning routine. The feeling of dread as he worked up the energy to just open his bloody door, however, was new, from about the time Gwen ditched him for her knight-in-shining-armor fiancé and convinced him to live with Lance’s lunatic best friend, whose cheerful smiles and good-natured teasing from the few times Arthur’d met him had clearly all been a lie.
“Oh, good morning, Arthur,” Merlin chirped once the smell of coffee had grown too tempting for Arthur to keep ignoring. Arthur stared at him. “I thought I heard your alarm going off. Sleep well?”
Arthur nodded dumbly. Merlin beamed at him.
“Good. Thank God it’s Friday, right? Gaius has had me doing inventory all week so we can shift to a computer-based system, and I swear the last time he even went near the back room was probably the bloody Dark Ages…”
Arthur just stared while Merlin prattled on. Merlin worked at his uncle’s shop, selling books or tea or bloody magic potions, Arthur didn’t know, because it’d been morning every time Merlin had told him, and like any normal person Arthur had been half-asleep and quiet. Like always though, Merlin just chattered away while Arthur sat there.
“-new girl, but she was hopeless, so I’ve been picking up the slack,” Merlin was saying now, fiddling around the kitchen. “Which means I have to pop in early, so I’ll have the shower first, if you don’t mind.”
As a matter of fact Arthur did mind, but not enough to protest when Merlin placed a steaming mug in front of him and slipped out of the kitchen with a chirpy “Cheers!” thrown over his shoulder, leaving Arthur finally, blissfully along.
In the quiet.
Which only lasted a moment before the shower rattled into life accompanied by Merlin’s off-key rendition of ‘Little Things’.
Arthur sighed into his coffee.
---
On the whole, Merlin was a pretty decent flatmate. He kept his mess mostly confined to his room, got along with Arthur’s friends, and even cooked for the two of them at least once a week. The problem, aside from his unfortunate fixation with One Direction, was that he was unintentionally the loudest person Arthur had ever met. He whistled and sang and laughed and talked constantly, even when Arthur didn’t talk back. Gwen had understood that nothing short of a miracle would get him to speak in the mornings, and had simply left him alone with his coffee until he’d warmed up. Merlin had so far only mastered the coffee part, which was probably the only reason Arthur hadn’t killed him yet.
(Besides, Gwaine had put money on the second month mark, and Arthur at least wanted to wait for someone worthy to win the bet.)
---
“Three letters…nervous twitch…”
Merlin tapped the cap of his pen against the table for a second before scribbling something into his crossword. This was his new habit. Every Sunday morning, Merlin did the crossword, and Arthur was allowed to drink his coffee in peace, aside from the occasional muttering or pen-tapping. He could have taken his coffee into the sitting room, but it was habit by now to just sit and watch Merlin’s fingers around the pen, or occasionally his lips as he chewed the cap in thought.
“Ten letters,” Merlin said, brow furrowed. “Dismal, exaggerated gloom. Second letter ‘u’. Exaggerated gloom…”
He tapped his pen again, this time punctuated by thoughtful noises. He made several aborted movements to write, but pulled back each time, muttering, “No, no…exaggerated gloom…”
“Lugubrious,” Arthur finally said, breaking his morning silence for the first time since…well, ever, really. Merlin’s head jerked up in surprise, which was quickly replaced by confusion.
“Er, bless you?”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “No, you idiot, It’s your answer. Lugubrious.”
Merlin blinked at him for a moment more before looking down at his puzzle. Arthur saw him quickly map out the answer before writing it in, and hid his smirk behind his coffee cup. Merlin saw it anyway, and rolled his eyes.
“Clotpole.”
“That one of your puzzle words?” Arthur snorted.
“Yep. Right here, number sixteen across. Eight words, definition: ‘Arthur Pendragon’.”
“Idiot,” Arthur replied, and went back to his silence with a pointed slurp of his coffee.
---
“How’s it going with Merlin?” Gwen asked one day when she and Arthur met up for lunch. “Lance says he sounds happy, but Merlin’s always happy.”
Arthur shrugged and chewed on a chip. “He’s fine.” Gwen’s eyebrows rose.
“That was unconvincing. What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing’s…wrong with him, per se. He just-“ Arthur waved a hand, all of his pent up irritation bubbling up. “He just never shuts up. I haven’t had a quiet moment in weeks. It’s maddening.”
“He likes you,” Gwen said, clearly trying to hide a smile at Arthur’s exasperated tone. “He only chats off the ears of people he likes. Remember Val? Merlin hardly ever said two words whenever he was around. As soon as he left you couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”
“Lucky me,” Arthur groused. His stomach did a funny sort of wiggle at the thought of Merlin liking him, which only made him scowl harder. “I can’t even drink my coffee without him nattering at me. And he sings in the shower.”
“He talks to you in the morning?” Gwen said, surprised.
“Yes,” Arthur groaned emphatically, glad to finally have her understand the severity of the situation. To his chagrin, however, Gwen’s expression was less one of horrified commiseration and more…impressed.
“And he’s still alive?”
“I didn’t want Gwaine to win the bet,” Arthur explained automatically. And then, “And his coffee is even better than Elyan’s.”
Gwen blinked. And then, inexplicably, she laughed. Arthur bristled, because these were his mornings at stake, and here Gwen was laughing.
“Oh, Arthur,” she said with a fond expression, and reached out to pat his arm. “Looks to me like you might actually like Merlin, as well.”
“What?” Arthur sputtered. “Gwen, no.”
“I think so,” Gwen insisted. “You would’ve kicked him out weeks ago if you didn’t.”
Arthur scoffed, because Gwen was clearly crazy. “Yeah, well. I wouldn’t buy the monogrammed tea towels just yet.”
The rest of lunch passed normally, without a single mention of Merlin. Arthur had almost forgotten about that conversation by the time he let himself into his flat, kicking off his shoes and making his way into the sitting room. Merlin was curled up on the sofa with a book, but he looked up and smiled when Arthur entered.
“Oh hey, Arthur. How was lunch?”
“Good, yeah. Gwen says hello.”
Merlin smiled, eyes crinkling at the corner. “I’m making dinner tonight. Gaius got a whole shipment of cookbooks in and I really want to try a few of them out.”
“Sounds good. As long as I don’t wind up eating rat, or something.”
“You had no complaints about it last week,” Merlin said idly, turning a page of his book primly. Arthur stared at him. Merlin kept his eyes on his book. After a moment, Arthur saw the corner of Merlin’s mouth quiver slightly, and he realized that Merlin was biting back his grin.
“Tosser,” he said, and Merlin laughed at him. Arthur retaliated by shoving Merlin off of the sofa so he went tumbling to the floor, landing with a loud “Oof!”
“Now who’s the tosser?” he moaned from the floor, glaring. Arthur grinned back.
“Still you.”
Merlin grumbled as he clambered back into his spot. They retreated into their normal spots, Merlin cuddled into his corner of the sofa with his long legs sprawled across the middle. Arthur sat perfectly straight while he flicked through the channels until he found a movie that would please both of them, and settled in for a lazy afternoon, stubbornly not thinking of Gwen and her insane theories.
---
One Tuesday, Arthur woke up and was thoroughly unsurprised to hear Merlin already chatting away. It had only been a matter of time before he moved on to talking to inanimate objects, Arthur reasoned, and rolled out of bed. When he opened his door, however, he found Merlin with a phone tucked against his shoulder as he bustled around the kitchen.
“-promise I’ll tell him,” Merlin was saying, waving at Arthur as he plunked down into his usual seat. “Yes, mum, I’m supposed to see Uncle Gaius this afternoon.”
Arthur yawned while Merlin wrapped up his call. He was about two seconds away from just giving up and going back to sleep on the table when Merlin slid his coffee in front of him and he set about devouring that instead. This, he could deal with. Merlin was still talking, but it wasn’t to Arthur, and Arthur had coffee and didn’t have to think.
Which was of course when Merlin hung up the phone.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t wake you up, did I? Sometimes I think mum forgets that not everyone wakes up before dawn,” Merlin said cheerfully. Arthur sighed. “She’s lived on a farm her whole life so it’s just normal for her, you know? It was normal for me, too, honestly. It’s still weird not to wake up and have the goat there to talk to, and I’ve lived in London for years now. But I guess you’ll do.”
Arthur couldn’t even muster the energy to be peeved at being compared to a goat. Merlin kept talking, and Arthur did a quick mental tally to see who would win the bet if he killed Merlin now. He was pretty sure it was Elyan. Or maybe Lance.
He finished his coffee while Merlin was nattering about the time their goat had chased a door-to-door salesman down the road, and got to his feet. Merlin blinked, and looked at the clock.
“Shit, I’m going to be late,” he said, jumping up and following Arthur into the hall. “We’re still shorthanded at the shop with Nimueh gone and I promised Uncle Gaius I’d open again. Although, honestly, no one ever comes in this early so I don’t even see the point, and we’re still doing bloody inventory so-“
Arthur was desperate. He was exhausted and Merlin was still talking with no signs of stopping. It seemed logical at the time for Arthur to lean forward and fit his mouth over Merlin’s, cutting off whatever else he wanted to say. And it worked, too, because when Arthur pulled away Merlin just stared at him, mouth open in shock but blissfully silent. A blush stained his cheeks, and something coiled in Arthur’s belly.
He wanted to do it again, he realized, with a surge of want. Preferably more than once.
“You’re going to be late,” he grunted instead, and promptly shut the door.
---
Arthur had never had a more unproductive workday. He spent most of it forcing himself to look at his computer screen and to stop thinking about Merlin’s lips under his, or the way he’d looked at Arthur like he wasn’t quite sure what to do when he’d kissed him. He was mostly unsuccessful, and gave up entirely after he made hit halfway through an email and realized he hadn’t taken in a word of it.
Sometime around lunch his mobile lit up, and Gwen’s name flashed across the screen. He contemplated letting it go to voicemail, but in the end picked it up just in time.
“Hello?”
“Arthur, hi. I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Merlin today? He sounded all strange when I called him this morning, and he hasn’t rung me back.”
Arthur cleared his throat. “Ah. Well. That might be because I kissed him.”
“What?” He could practically hear Gwen’s jaw dropping before she stumbled to say, “You-did you just say you kissed him?”
“I did.”
“On the cheek, you mean?”
“Nope.”
“Arthur.”
“Guinevere.”
“Don’t call me Guinevere,” Gwen said automatically. “Christ, Arthur, what did he say?”
“Ah-nothing, as it happens. Mostly because I closed the door in his face right afterward.”
“What on earth made you do that?”
Arthur sighed and leaned forward to press his forehead against his desk. “I don’t know. Because I’m a twat?”
“Right now I can’t say I don’t agree with that,” Gwen replied, sounding more than a little scandalized.
“I know, I know…I just. It just happened.” He hesitated, biting his lip, before he added, “I think you may have been right when you said I liked him.”
“Oh, Arthur,” Gwen sighed, and Arthur knew that if she were here, she’d be petting his head. “What are you going to do?”
“I was hoping you might have a few ideas,” Arthur laughed humorlessly. “Right now I’m just hoping Merlin will talk to me at all.”
“Of course he will. He likes you, too, I told you that.”
“Didn’t look like it this morning.”
“You probably surprised him.”
Arthur didn’t say anything, mostly because it was probably true. Merlin hadn’t looked angry or even upset when he’d kissed him. Just shocked. And then Arthur had shut the door on him, because he was a twat.
“Honestly, Arthur, I think you might be overreacting. There’s nothing you can do about it until you get home, anyway. Just be an adult about it and talk to Merlin.”
“Right. Talk to him,” Arthur nodded, and then abruptly laughed. “Christ, this is all backwards. We’re already living together and I’m bricking it over whether or not he likes me.”
“Worry about all that later. Right now just try not to get your head all messed up, alright?”
“Yeah, alright. Thanks, Gwen.”
They hung up, and Arthur made himself focus on his work for the rest of the afternoon. At last, it was time to go home, and Arthur left the office feeling a mixture of apprehension and excitement. The ride home seemed to both drag by and speed past, until suddenly he was standing in front of his door. He paused to take a deep breath, and then squared his shoulders, put his hand on the knob, and pushed.
“Merlin?”
There was silence at first, long enough for Arthur to think he was alone in the flat, and then Merlin’s voice rang out.
“In the sitting room.”
Arthur followed the voice a little warily. Merlin didn’t sound angry, but it was better to be safe than sorry. When he finally made it to the sitting room, he found his flatmate sitting dead center on the sofa, hugging a pillow to his chest and looking as apprehensive as Arthur felt.
“Hi,” Arthur offered, bringing Merlin’s attention to him. Merlin smiled thinly.
“Hi. We need to talk.”
“Right. About what?”
Merlin looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “About the fact that you kissed me and then slammed a door in my face, for one thing.” Arthur winced.
“I know, and I’m…sorry. That was terribly rude of me.”
“What was? The kissing or the door?”
“Both, I suppose,” Arthur said slowly, a little thrown by Merlin’s expression. He looked torn between irritated and exasperated, not exactly a harbinger of good things to come. “But mostly the door.”
Merlin stared at him again. Arthur didn’t know what he was thinking, so he stayed silent, too. Finally, Merlin sighed. “Why did you do it?”
“I’m not really sure,” Arthur admitted. “At the time, I just wanted you to shut up long enough for me to escape for a shower.”
“So you kissed me.”
“So I kissed you,” Arthur agreed, and he didn’t miss the way Merlin’s face fell slightly before he caught himself.
“Right. Okay, that’s that then-“
“It turns out that’s not why I did it, though. At least not really,” Arthur interrupted, making Merlin pause. “Gwen thinks so, anyway.”
“And what does Gwen think is the reason for you kissing me?” Merlin asked, definitely irritated and a little tired now. Arthur shrugged.
“Because I like you.”
That really made Merlin pause. He gaped at Arthur not unlike the way he had that morning, mouth open slightly and eyes wide. Arthur took advantage of his silence to continue.
“I’m not going to make a speech of it, because that’s just…no. But I do like you, it’s not just because Gwen says so. I might have realized it earlier if I wasn’t pretending to hate how much of a morning person you are, but I’m there now.” Merlin didn’t say anything, but his shocked expression was slowly melting into something softer, more pleased. Arthur took a step closer. “If you don’t feel the same, just say so, and I won’t mention it ever again. But, Merlin. Would you like to have dinner with me?”
Merlin stared at him for a second longer, and then suddenly he beamed. “You’re an idiot,” he laughed, scrambling off of the sofa and onto his feet. Arthur laughed, too.
“Yes.”
“And we live together,” Merlin went on, stopping just short of throwing his arms around Arthur.
“Yes.”
“And you are really, really not a morning person,” Merlin grinned, and Arthur couldn’t do anything but smile back.
“Not at all,” he said.
“Sounds perfect,” Merlin decided, sliding his arms around Arthur’s waist and pressing their lips together.
- --- ----- --- -
It turned out being in a relationship with a disgustingly cheery morning person was much more easily dealt with than Arthur had expected. Mostly it was all about compromises.
Like how Merlin was a hopeless blanket hog, even on the warmest nights, and how Arthur starfished out to take up most of the bed, was easily remedied by tucking letting Arthur hug Merlin as tightly to his chest as possible and letting Merlin swath both of them in the covers. Or how Merlin was allowed to talk as much as he wanted in the mornings, so long as he didn’t expect Arthur to talk back until he’d downed at least a cup and a half of coffee.
Arthur’s favourite compromise came in use on the weekends, especially on the rare days where he was the first one up.
Usually he’d blink open his eyes and find Merlin’s face inches from his own, already alert and grinning, and Merlin would coax him further awake with something like, “Up and at ‘em,” or if Arthur was being particularly sluggish, “Let’s have you, lazy daisy.” Sometimes, though, like today, Arthur opened his eyes, and Merlin was still curled against his chest, sound asleep. And Arthur grinned, because these were his favourite mornings.
“Merlin,” he called softly, too softly for Merlin to really hear him. Merlin sighed, but didn’t wake up. “Merlin.”
This time, Merlin’s brows puckered slightly, and he turned to squash his nose more firmly into Arthur’s chest. Arthur bit his lip to stifle his laughter and bent down to brush a kiss to the top of Merlin’s head.
“Time to get up, lazy.”
Merlin didn’t react, but Arthur hadn’t wanted him to. He let his lips trail downwards to trace the rim of Merlin’s exposed ear. Merlin grumbled when Arthur’s movement dislodged him from his chest and curled up even tighter to compensate, but Arthur just kept going, inching slowly downwards until his lips tracked the line of Merlin’s jaw down to the shadow of his neck, and he kissed there, too.
His hand moved down to chase the warmth of Merlin’s skin under the duvet. He let his fingers just slip beneath the waist of Merlin’s boxers, coaxing Merlin awake with gentle strokes in time with his kisses. Merlin’s breathing changed, and Arthur knew he was close to waking. He shifted his attention down a little to pepper kisses across Merlin’s chest, paying special attention to the hollow of his throat.
“Mmm,” Merlin mumbled, unconsciously stretching his neck to give Arthur more room even as he pushed into his touch, eyes still closed. Arthur grinned and obliged him with a series of kisses leading up to the corner of his mouth, letting his hands rub the muscles of his sleepy-pliant legs. He kept his lips hovering just off of Merlin’s in order to watch him slowly blink open his eyes and to watch the first smile spread lazily across his face. “G’morning.”
“Good morning,” Arthur replied before closing the distance between their lips in their first proper kiss of the morning. It was slow and unhurried, like their kisses always started out on mornings like this. Merlin snaked his arms around to hug Arthur even closer and he sighed contentedly. Their hips brushed together, and Arthur felt Merlin’s growing interest press against his thigh. He moved his own hand down to rub Merlin into further arousal, drinking in the drowsy-pleased noises Merlin made.
He went easily when Arthur pushed him onto his back, taking Arthur weight with no more than a happy sigh.
“Feels good,” he murmured, letting his eyes fall shut again. Arthur kissed him.
“Are you falling asleep on me?”
Merlin smiled, but didn’t open his eyes. “What if I am?”
In reply, Arthur lowered his head to lick teasingly at a nipple. He’d learned months ago that Merlin had very sensitive nipples, and he loved to exploit this knowledge whenever he could. He worked it with his tongue until Merlin’s sleep-heavy breathing quickened and he squirmed beneath Arthur. Arthur kept it up for a moment longer, just enough to make Merlin’s voice shaky when he laughed out his name and pulled him up for another kiss.
More awake now, Merlin hooked his legs around Arthur’s waist to hold him in place while his tongue explored his mouth. Arthur took advantage of the position to roll their erections together, the friction just enough to make Merlin sigh and push up for more. Sometimes on lazy mornings they would just keep doing this until they both came, and Arthur loved it, but today he wanted something else. He released Merlin’s mouth with one last kiss and shifted, moving down Merlin’s body to nuzzle the outline of Merlin’s erection through his boxers.
“Oh,” Merlin sighed, and when Arthur glanced up he had his eyes closed again. He lifted his hips obligingly, though, when Arthur hooked his fingers into the waistline of Merlin’s boxers and worked them off of his legs. His cock sprang free, and Arthur wasted no time in putting his hands on it, giving Merlin a few tugs just to see the colour rise to his cheeks. Merlin’s eyes were half-open, watching hazily as Arthur licked the head of his cock before taking it into his mouth.
He took his time working his way to the root, and by the time his nose brushed the skin of Merlin’s abdomen Merlin’s breathing had grown shaky. His hands were gripping the sheets, but his legs were clamped tightly around Arthur, brackets to hold him in place as he bobbed slowly up and down Merlin’s cock.
After all of their time together, Arthur knew exactly where to touch to make Merlin lose his mind, and he put most of them to use now, not interested in teasing this morning. One hand he brought up to work the base of Merlin’s cock as he suckled the head, while the other alternated between cupping his balls and massaging his hole. Merlin was making tiny, high-pitched noises, which turned into moans the longer Arthur sucked him.
“I’m gonna come,” he warned suddenly, but Arthur didn’t back away. He just dragged his tongue along the length of Merlin’s cock and back up to suck the head into his mouth, watching Merlin pant. “Shit, Arthur.”
Arthur just hummed in response, and Merlin arched his back at the sensation, one hand flying down to grip Arthur’s hair hard before he came down Arthur’s throat. Arthur swallowed it all before he released Merlin’s cock and moved to straddle Merlin’s waist. Merlin watched him take his own cock out of his boxers and fist himself steadily, putting his own hands on Arthur’s thighs and urging him on.
“Come on, Arthur, come on me. Fuck,” Merlin said hoarsely, watching hungrily as Arthur’s hand moved on his cock.
Arthur’s hips hitched, and his rhythm sped up until he felt his own orgasm building, and then he came, come spurting out onto Merlin’s chest. He fell forward to land beside Merlin, still panting, and Merlin immediately turned to wrap his arms around him. They kissed silently for a few minutes, lying close together, before Merlin placed a kiss on his shoulder.
“Everyone’s gonna start arriving soon. I’m gonna go get cleaned up. Start the coffee?”
“Mm. Sounds good,” Arthur agreed, and kissed Merlin one more time before releasing him. Merlin rolled out of bed, scooping up his pants as he went, and immediately tripped over one of the boxes lined up along the wall. He shot a mock-glare over his shoulder when Arthur laughed, but Arthur saw his smile before the door to their new ensuite bathroom closed on it.
“Idiot,” he said fondly, and got out of bed to dig out their mugs from whatever box they’d been shoved into and not yet unpacked from.