An Infallible Reason 0.5
0.5: the image won't focus (a blur is all that's seen)
His watch says that it's fuck o'clock at night and that normal people are either at home or partying their Friday night away, but he can't leave yet, because these documents are needed for tomorrow and there's no one else to fill them out.
“Hey, need anything else?” Merlin asks as he puts the water bottle on the table in front of him.
“No, that's fine, thank you,” Arthur replies, rubbing his temples. He's only halfway done, and truth be told, he could use another set of hands on this right now, but it's not fair to ask Merlin to stay even longer, so he doesn't. Just because he has a sadistic boss doesn't mean he should be one as well.
“Okay, well, if you're sure then... I'll just go?” Merlin suggests awkwardly. Arthur is too tired to tell if Merlin feels bad for leaving him there alone or just wants to get away as soon as possible. He just waves in Merlin's general direction as he tries to focus on the paper in his hand and make the letters and numbers stop dancing. “See you tomorrow!” Merlin says from the door.
“Hey, Merlin,” Arthur calls, feeling like he needs to point out that, “you know you don't have to come tomorrow? I can handle a meeting on my own for once,” but praying that Merlin won't take him up on being a good boss just this one more time (well, and the next, and possibly a few more; but Arthur tells himself it's just this time because it makes him feel better).
“Sure you can. But I'll be there anyway so I can tell everyone what a slave driver you are, making me work on a Saturday,” Merlin replies with a wink before he closes the door. Arthur smiles at his papers. Yeah, Merlin will be there. Merlin is always there.
Two years ago, when his father made him hire an assistant, Arthur picked a random CV from the pile that littered his desk and accidentally hired a tall, gangly boy with giant ears and a grand total of three hours of work experience. Merlin was incompetent, irritating, obnoxious, loud, perpetually late and just a general pain in the ass; yet, he always got the job done somehow and Arthur could appreciate that.
Then one night, Merlin forgot something in the office and had to come back; he caught Arthur still working on some contracts. Arthur is not sure why, but something changed after that - Merlin started showing up on time (mainly, at least), toned down the attitude and the bitching (although he still likes to point out that Arthur is a spoilt prat every once in a while, now he does it as a joke) and began coming to Arthur's weekend meetings even after Arthur had expressly told him that it wasn't part of his job.
At some point between then and now, Arthur (although no one will ever hear him say that) started to think of Merlin more as a friend than as an employee and, loath though he is to admit it, he can see how Merlin's insubordination has brought him down to earth a little.
The thing is, if he's being honest (he's usually not), Arthur's social life is somewhere between non-existent and pathetic. With the amount of work he does and how tired it makes him, he doesn't have much time left for socializing or going out; thus, most of his interactions are with his business associates and employees, and since he pretty much hates most of the people he deals with, his only friendly relations are with the people working for him. Which, really, says something about his people skills.
It's not that he has any problems whatsoever with anyone in the company, in fact, from what he's overheard, most people think he's a pretty good boss; but it's kinda messed up that all the people he spends his time with are paid to be there and it sure as hell isn't a good premise to build a friendship on.
Still, there's something about Merlin that sets him apart. Perhaps it's the fact that Merlin is the one he most often shares his time with, maybe it's the way Merlin doesn't just nod his head and obey but vocally disagrees when he thinks Arthur is wrong, maybe it's the constant friendly bickering or the fact that despite all his complaints Merlin still comes to work every morning and diligently works on making Arthur's life easier; whatever it is, Arthur knows he can count on Merlin, even when they don't see eye to eye, and for that he is grateful.
He doesn't really know what Merlin thinks of him or their sort-of-friendship, but Arthur has to acquiesce to the fact that Merlin is probably one of his closest (and only) friends, as sad as that is. They don't spend much time together outside of work, and they don't really share the most intimate parts of their lives with each other, but Arthur knows he can count on Merlin for pretty much anything and that's what's important to him.
He hopes Merlin knows it goes both ways, but somehow he's not quite sure. He wants to give Merlin that kind of security of knowing that someone will be there for you no matter what, even if they're not on your speed dial (which, embarrassingly enough, Merlin is on his phone), but he knows no one really expects him to do that for a mere assistant, and since he's never been very good at expressing himself verbally and has avoided it at all costs since just about forever, he doesn't think he's really shown Merlin how much more than just an employer-employee their relationship is to him.
The beauty of it (and the reason why Arthur likes having Merlin around so much) is that even not knowing all this, Merlin will still show up at the meeting tomorrow, on a Saturday, when he doesn't have to, and just be there for support and (unwanted) advice and relaxing and back up. And Arthur appreciates that more than he can explain.
It's kind of pitiable how his whole life revolves around his work, he eventually decides, closing the folder with some statistics about home invasions. It's Friday night and he's been working hard all week - he's earned a break. It'll be fine tomorrow; even if he can't remember something, Merlin will. That's the best part of having friends - knowing that someone has your back.
He turns off the lamp and locks the door of his office as he leaves. Tomorrow, he vows (not for the first time), he'll start working on his social life and maybe even go out for drinks with Merlin. They've got to start somewhere after all. But that can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, he's going home for some well-deserved rest.
1: just go on to what you pretend is your life
(but please don't die on me)