Bits of a puzzle, fitting each other: Part one
“Arthur, Merlin, come in.” Leon steps aside to let them into the house, “alright?”
“Good, thanks. Starving though,” Merlin says, hanging up his coat.
“Food will be done soon. Do you not feed him, Arthur?”
“He doesn’t, I’m wasting away, look.” Merlin holds his hands out from his sides. Arthur cuffs him on the shoulder.
“Ignore him, he’s delusional.”
“Are you actually coming to socialise with the rest of us or what?” Morgana’s voice comes from the direction of the living room.
“Coming, dear,” Leon answers dutifully, leading the way. It’s their monthly dinner, and this time it is Leon and Morgana’s turn to host. After leaving uni, the group of them had made a pact to have dinner together once a month, taking turns to host it. There were a few hiccups but they’d mostly worked it all out, and it was a success.
The others are already there - Gwen and Lance, Percy, Elena, and Elyan - and someone new.
“This is Gwaine,” Leon introduces the stranger. Gwaine offers a hand and grins widely. “He’s just reappeared after cruelly abandoning me for almost a decade.”
“I got a job!”
“In Australia,” Leon retorts, shaking his head. “Then, what? New Zealand?”
Gwaine nods and takes a deep breath. “Then, in no real order: Fiji, Indonesia, New Delhi, Florida, Cali, Amsterdam, Moscow, Edinburgh, and now finally, back in England.”
“What were you doing?” Merlin asks.
“Mainly farting about, doing whatever job I could get with some photography on the side.”
Arthur watches Merlin’s eyes light up as he asks, “Really? What photography do you do?”
“We’ve lost them,” Arthur says as he gives his sister a peck on the cheek. “Won’t get a non-photography word out of him all night.”
“I did think this,” Morgana says. “How are you, Arthur?”
“Fine, thank you. You?”
“Wonderful. You know where the drinks cabinet is, help yourselves.”
Arthur pours some wine (small for him, as he’s driving) and goes to sit next to Lance and Gwen.
“Hello,” Gwen greets him, smiling broadly.
“Hello.” He gives them both a hug and makes small talk. It’s been hard, keeping in contact with all his friends since leaving uni, getting a job and generally being an adult, but they’d managed pretty well.
The conversation is broken up by Morgana and Leon announcing that food was ready. Arthur catches up with Merlin discussing Gwaine’s lens choices for panoramic mountain views.
“I’d love to see your stuff sometime.”
“I’m living out of boxes at the moment, maybe after I’ve unpacked.”
“So never then,” Leon interrupts. “Gwaine is the worst procrastinator.”
“I just have different priorities.”
Leon just snorts and shakes his head.
Over dinner Arthur discovers that Gwaine also enjoys football - something which the other lads and Elena also jump on and quickly arrange a kick about, whilst everyone else groans and reaches for their drink. He even magnanimously forgives Gwaine for supporting QPR of all teams, instead of the obviously superior Arsenal. At least it isn’t as bad as Percy, who supports Norwich.
At the end of the evening, Merlin is sleepy-drunk, head lolling on Arthur’s shoulder.
“Come on, home time.” He stands up, and pulls Merlin with him. Merlin wakes up a bit, grumbling under his breath. They say their goodbyes, exchanging hugs and kisses. Gwaine claps them both on the shoulder.
“Good to meet you, see you around, yeah?”
“Yeah, next weekend, definitely.”
They pull on their coats and walk to Arthur’s car, shivering in the cold.
“Gwaine’s nice,” Merlin says around a yawn. Arthur smiles in response; Merlin loves meeting new people - he’s the sort to talk to people in lifts, queues, bus stops, literally anywhere.
“Seems a good bloke, yeah.”
~~~
The next Sunday dawns sunny, but with a crisp coolness to it. Arthur digs out his kit and starts texting the lads, ignoring Merlin’s pointed sleeping. He gets messages back off most of them, a combination of cursing him for being awake so early and agreeing to meet, only later, man, a lot later.
Arthur huffs and takes a shower, then makes his way to the corner shop to grab a paper. When he gets back Merlin has finally dragged himself out of bed, still sleep-addled and blinking owlishly against the brightness of the day.
“Morning,” he mumbles, leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting for the kettle to boil.
“Morning. You joining us today?”
“Yeah, can’t miss the opportunity to see you in tiny shorts, getting all hot and sweaty,” Merlin says, eyes comically wide and dreamy. Arthur spanks him with the newspaper, tutting, as he walks into the living room.
“Oo, kinky,” Merlin calls after him. “What time are we meeting them?” Merlin asks as he sits down on the sofa next to Arthur, handing over a mug of tea.
“About two, then we’ll come back to grab a shower and head to the pub for tea.”
“Sounds good.”
~~~
A couple of hours later, Arthur is jogging on the spot, trying to get his recalcitrant muscles warm up. Leon and Lance are doing stretches together and Gwaine is pulling off his jogging bottoms. Arthur can’t help but notice how firm Gwaine’s thighs look. Muscular, but not too much, like Percy’s are. Gwaine pulls his hair back into a ponytail and then sets off for a slow jog. They were all warmed up and impatient by the time Elyan and Elena arrived.
“Sorry, sorry,” Elyan pants. “Ellie’s car wouldn’t start.”
“Ridiculous thing,” Elena says, shaking her head. “At least we got a decent warm up getting here.”
Soon they had sorted out the ‘teams’ and were scuffling together on the makeshift pitch. Gwaine has his first run in with Elena, who, despite being a little flaily, manages to win the tackle, leaving Gwaine blinking in surprise on the floor. The game pauses for a minute as everyone is too busy laughing to be of any use.
“What just happened?” Gwaine asks, accepting Arthur’s hand up.
“Ellie. She’s deceptive.”
“She’s something,” Gwaine says, breaking out into a broad smile. “I can see why you
were so happy she was on your side.”
“I was hoping it’d be a while before you ran into her - our secret weapon is no longer a secret,” Arthur says before jogging back to the centre to restart.
Arthur makes the first break, slotting the ball past Lance who had ran ahead to be a makeshift goalie. He almost gets flattened by a celebratory hug from Leon.
They call time after almost an hour. Arthur is exhilarated, adrenaline and endorphins flooding his body.
“Nice playing,” Gwaine says.
“Thanks.” Arthur claps him on the shoulder. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”
“Thanks, I try,” Gwaine replies, with a wink.
Arthur snorts in response, which makes Gwaine chuckle. Arthur turns and jogs over to Merlin, who is watching from the sidelines with Gwen and Morgana. He pulls Merlin into a kiss, laughing delightedly.
“Well done,” Merlin says, smiling broadly. Arthur knows he probably has no idea of the score but would’ve been watching anyway.
The other join them by the sidelines and agree on a time and a pub to meet at.
An hour later, they met at a local gastro-pub that offers a decent Sunday roast. Arthur’s hair is still wet, and he can feel it drip cold against the back of his neck, making him shudder.
Merlin looks at him, raising an eyebrow. Arthur just shakes his head, and Merlin turns back to the conversation. Merlin is pressed against him, arm warm against his. Despite his aching muscles - or maybe because his body is currently achy and feeling well used - there’s a warm feeling in his stomach, a tight not-quite-anticipation which will burn into arousal later. Given the small smile on Merlin’s face, Arthur can guess they’re on the same page.
~~~
They barely make it into the living room before Arthur pulls Merlin into his arms and kisses him. Merlin opens up, deepening the kiss, hands sliding down Arthur’s arms. They stand in the living room, just kissing. Arthur loves the muffled sounds Merlin makes as he slips his hands under Merlin’s t-shirt, stroking the warm skin there. Eventually Merlin pulls away and lifts his shirt off, dropping it onto the sofa.
“Come on, then. Take me to bed,” Merlin says, holding out his hand. Arthur takes it and leads him into their bedroom. The room is cold, and gooseflesh rises on Merlin’s arms.
Arthur kisses him again, hands stroking up and down his arms to bring some warmth back into the limbs. Merlin hums into Arthur’s mouth and starts unbuttoning Arthur’s shirt.
Clothes off, they rush under the bedsheets. Merlin clings to Arthur, putting his freezing limbs everywhere. Arthur shivers and rolls them over so Merlin is on top of him. Merlin squirms delightfully and Arthur spreads his legs to make room for Merlin to slot between them. Merlin thrusts against him, Arthur hums and flushes with arousal.
Merlin places kisses down Arthur’s throat, scraping his teeth along the stubble there. Arthur sighs and tilts his head back into the pillow, giving Merlin more access to his neck. He grunts as Merlin’s teeth dig into his collar bone, raising a bruise there. Merlin just smiles innocently up at him, before kissing and biting a trail down Arthur’s stomach.
Arthur watches as Merlin presses kisses into the base of Arthur’s cock. Arthur bites his lip as Merlin swallows Arthur down, eyes closing against the feeling of Merlin’s tongue caressing the length of his cock.
“Fuck,” Arthur says, opening his eyes and looking down his body to Merlin’s head. “You look so good, Merlin.” He runs a hand through Merlin’s messy hair, tugging it slightly. Merlin makes a noise in the back of his throat and looks up at Arthur, looking far too innocent considering he had Arthur’s cock down his throat.
Arthur wishes he could see Merlin properly, see his cheeks hollow as he sucks, see how his throat works. Instead, Arthur can barely keep his thoughts straight under Merlin’s tongue, the way his fingers curl around Arthur’s balls.
“I’d watch you do this all day, if I could.”
Merlin pulls off with a filthy slurp. “Could be arranged.”
Arthur chokes a moan.. “God, no, you’re too good. I’d never last,” Arthur sits up a bit and Merlin meets him halfway for a kiss. Arthur closes his eyes, picturing Merlin’s lips wrapped around someone else’s cock, someone else's hands fisting in his hair, all laid out for Arthur to see.
Arthur’s always been a bit of a voyeur, always loved watching Merlin’s reactions to whatever they do in bed. He’s thought about it before, having someone else in bed with them. His fantasies tend to alternate between wanting to watch Merlin with someone else - watching his long fingers curl around someone else’s cock - and watching Merlin fall apart under both Arthur and some other person’s hands and mouths.
“Someone else.” Arthur murmurs quietly, so quietly he’s not sure Merlin would hear. Then he feels Merlin stop, and Arthur wants to take them back, snatch the words out of the air.
“Someone else. You want - to what-”
“To watch, to watch you with someone else,” Arthur forces the words out, resisting the urge to put some physical distance between him and Merlin. He wishes he wasn’t naked.
“Why?”
“Because it would be - incredible. Seeing you do that, seeing you come apart - being able to watch you properly.”
“Oh,” Merlin says quietly.
“Listen, it’s not - it’s just a fantasy, yeah? Just some dirty talk, it’s not. I don’t need it, Merlin.”
“This is enough?” Merlin asks, gesturing between them. Arthur’s heart clenches.
“Yes, Merlin. This is more than enough.” Arthur leans forward and pulls Merlin up the bed, into a hug. Merlin moves but is stiff and doesn’t return the embrace. “I’m sorry. I love you.”
“I’m just surprised by it. I never expected you to want something like that . You’ve never mentioned...” he say quietly, trailing off.
“It’s just a fantasy, Merlin,” Arthur says, kissing his forehead.
“Still your fantasy,” Merlin points out. He’s not looking sad, just…shocked.
“It’s nothing. I love you, and I’m -” not going to mention it again, Arthur thinks, “I’m happy - ecstatic - with what we have.”
“I love you,” Merlin eventually replies, relaxing and lying down next to Arthur. They curl up in bed together, eventually falling asleep.
~~~
Arthur buries the fantasy deeper this time. He wasn’t lying when he said it wasn’t something he needed.
He notices Merlin looking at him sometimes, clearly thinking. He’d asked about it once, and Merlin had just shrugged, saying he was wool-gathering.
Arthur makes sure to be affectionate, trying to reassure Merlin that he loves him. Merlin smiles softly at him after every act, and Arthur starts to relax, starts to go back to normal.
~~~
“You really want that,” Merlin says lightly, as they undress for bed. He’s been thinking about threesomes, sort of. Since the last time Arthur mentioned it, anyway.
Now that he’s had the space away from the vulnerability and immediacy of being naked and aroused to think about it - he’s not opposed to the idea. Merlin wants to know what it would be like. He’s thought about it, Arthur watching, hand around his cock as Merlin and some faceless person perform for him, and Merlin is definitely starting to like the idea.
He wants to talk to Arthur about it, now. He knows he didn’t react amazingly to Arthur opening up. He was surprised, Arthur had never mentioned wanting a threesome before. Merlin knows he’ll never get more details out of Arthur if he just waits for him to bring it up, so he’s got a plan to find out exactly what Arthur is thinking, and maybe throw some ideas of his own into the ring. He’d been unprepared last time, but now he’s ready.
“Hmm?” Arthur replies, pulling off his t shirt.
“A threesome,” Merlin says as he pulls off his socks, and balls them up.
“What? Merlin-” Arthur turns and looks at him.
“I mean, if we could, would you?”
“I said it wasn’t necessary, Merlin,” Arthur snaps.
“But I want to know,” Merlin says, standing up.
“Not if it’s going to ruin this.”
“I’m not going to leave you, or anything. I was shocked at first, yeah. But that was because I hadn’t had a chance to think about it.”
“And - now you have?”
“I’d like to hear more.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me,” Merlin says, lowering his voice. He realises this probably is the worst way to discuss any relationship issue, ever, but this is the only way he can see to get Arthur to open up without weeks of trying. This just seems easier, the most natural way to get Arthur to really talk about how much this turns him on.
Merlin approaches Arthur, who watches him warily. Merlin cups Arthur faces and tilts it up, slowly kissing him. Arthur responds, hands coming up to catch at Merlin’s hips. Arthur sits on the bed, and Merlin follows him eagerly.
Merlin grinds his hips down, feeling himself get hard at the friction. Arthur gasps and rolls his hips, and Merlin can feel him starting to relax into it.
“Tell me,” he breathes, wrapping his hand around both their erections. “Tell me what you want to see me do with this other person.”
“I want to see you fucked open, want -” Arthur chokes a groan. “Want to see you wrecked by them.”
Merlin starts pumping them steadily, shuddering.
“Would you just watch?”
“Don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from joining in.” Merlin closes his eyes and imagines being in bed with Arthur and someone else, another set of hands, another cock to fuck him. His hands get faster, more erratic. Pre-come eases the way. Arthur’s panting now, eyes squeezed shut as he starts to curl upwards. Merlin knows he’s close to coming.
“Would you - do stuff - to the other person?”
“Fuck, yeah, maybe, I-” Arthur thrusts upwards, coming all over Merlin’s hand. “Merlin, Merlin.”
Merlin strips his cock, using Arthur’s come to ease the way. He cries out as his orgasm hits, surprised by its strength. He leans down, burying his face in Arthur’s shoulder. They lie together, catching their breath.
“Merlin, what was that? I thought-” Arthur pulls Merlin’s head up, looking at him, shocked. “I thought you didn’t like the idea.”
“I - I had to see what you wanted - how much it turned you on,” Merlin says, biting his lip. “It was hot, watching you get turned on by it. You’re amazing, that was incredible,” Merlin says, voice low and soft.
“We can just do this,” Arthur says. “It can stay just as dirty talk. I don’t want you to pressure yourself.”
Merlin makes a noncommittal noise and shifts to lie next to Arthur. Arthur wraps an arm around him and pulls him close. Merlin smiles against his chest, happy with how his plan worked out.
~~~
Merlin can’t get it out of his head, now. Arthur was so turned on by it, it had been amazing - Merlin’s arousal had been heightened by Arthur’s, and the result had been incredible. It had definitely put any doubts Merlin had about whether he really wanted to do this to rest. Merlin wanted this, and now all he had to do was convince Arthur of that.
Merlin waits until they’re in bed again - it’s always easier for Arthur in the dark. Merlin knows he needs to broach the subject, that even though Merlin has already brought the subject up once before, Arthur won’t bring it up again for fear of pressuring or hurting him.
“If you wanted, we could start looking.”
“Looking for the first half of that statement? Might be useful,” Arthur replies, rolling over to face Merlin.
Merlin rolls his eyes.
“Someone to have a threesome with. A third?” Arthur blinks at him, apparently shocked that Merlin wants this.
“I didn’t know if that was just - heat of the moment,” Arthur says warily.
“It wasn’t just that. I want it as well. God, it’d be so hot, Arthur, ” Merlin says fervently.
“I - I have no idea what to say. Are you sure, Merlin?”
“Yes,” Merlin says, moving to kiss Arthur. The kiss deepens into something slow and
sloppy. Arthur hums into Merlin’s mouth, pulling him closer.
“You’re incredible, you know that?” he murmurs when they part for breath. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Merlin replies.
“You sure you want to do this?”
“If you are,” Merlin replies, smiling. “Assuming we can find someone we both like.”
“I’ve never actually got that far, to be honest,” Arthur admitted. “We’ll have to make a list of things to look for, I suppose.”
“I suppose,” Merlin echoes quietly. “And how do we even start looking? At a club? Or pub or something?”
Merlin can see Arthur recoil at the idea, face scrunched up. Merlin is pleased; he’s never been fond of hooking up with people at clubs, never mind any good at it. Arthur leans over and kisses him on the nose, and his face relaxes into a smile.
“Maybe not, then.”
“That leaves someone we know,” Arthur says.
“Yeah,” Merlin replies.
“Could be awkward,” Arthur says. “Who would we pick? I mean, everyone’s taken or straight. And generally not attracted to us. And we’re not attracted to them.”
“Yeah. I mean, Leon, for example, is great, but-” Merlin says, trying to picture anyone they know in their bed.
“Do not finish that sentence,” Arthur says, frowning as Merlin starts laughing.
~~~
“I assume it will be a man?” Merlin asks, during a break in an episode of Scrapheap Challenge.
Arthur blinks at Merlin.
“The person we have a threesome with,” Merlin explains.
“Oh. Yes. I have no real desire to sleep with a woman.”
Merlin nods.
“Are you thinking about it more?” Arthur asks, looking surprised.
“Just idly. In case someone pops up, randomly. You never know.” Merlin shrugs. Now he’s got the idea in his head he wants to keep an eye out.
“When someone suitable for a threesome will walk into the shop?” Arthur asks, wondering if he needs to give Merlin a lesson in not talking to strangers.
“Exactly.”
~~~
Merlin yawns as he leans against the counter. The clock hanging above the door stubbornly refuses to jump to one-thirty, lunch time. The morning has been dreadfully slow, without even someone dropping in for passport photos.
Merlin works in a photography shop that’s owned by Gaius, but he’s past retirement age and has mostly handed over the day to day running to Merlin and the other assistants. The shop handles a variety of business - selling high-ish end photography equipment, items for the more amateur photographer, frames, printing services, and taking photographs for passports and other ID cards - validity guaranteed or your money back!.
It’s an hour to lunch and Merlin can see other workers starting to pass with coffees and sandwiches. Merlin picks up his scanner (affectionately called Fred), and starts taking stock. The door clicks open, and Merlin sighs, putting Fred down and turning back to the door, smile fixed on his face. He blinks in shock when he sees Gwaine walking towards the counter.
“Hi.”
“Hi. What are you doing here?” Merlin asks.
“I passed on my way from getting supplies and wanted to see if you were in.”
“Here I am,” Merlin says, knowing it’s cheesy.
“Here you are. Have you had lunch yet?”
“Nope. My lunch doesn’t start til half one.”
Gwaine looks at his watch and frowns thoughtfully. “How would you like some company?”
“Sure. Was just planning to go to a cafe around the corner.”
“That’s fine. How about I go and grab some of the photos you wanted to see?”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
“Brilliant,” Gwaine says. “I’ll be back in a bit.” He leaves the shop with a wave, and Merlin is looking forward to lunch even more.
Gwaine returns not far off an hour later with a laptop bag. “Haven’t had chance to print them off, thought this would be easier.”
Merlin nods and leads the way to the cafe. It’s more of a sandwich shop with a carvery section for hot sandwiches and a soup bar. Merlin picks up a hummus and roasted veg ciabatta. Gwaine goes for a more traditional cheese and pickle. They grab cokes and crisps and find a small rickety looking table.
Gwaine wakes the laptop up and opens the relevant program. Merlin scoots closer to get a better look. The scenery is breathtaking. Gwaine has taken photos of every kind of landscape from the Australian Outback (Ayers rock, bright orange against a pale, flawless blue sky) to the forests of Indonesia (painfully vivid greens and browns).
There are candids, too. Laughing women and curious children. Men working on a beat up old motorbike.
“That was mine,” Gwaine says with faint pride. “I found it abandoned, took it back to the village and fixed it up with the help of the locals. Never worked for longer than a few weeks at a time, but I adored it.”
“What happened to it?”
“I left it to Olivia - that’s her there -” Gwaine points to a woman in the background, squinting at Gwaine. “She was travelling like me, we lived together for a while - she had it when I moved on.” There’s a hint of something, not regret, but nostalgia in Gwaine’s voice as he looks at the photo, clearly remembering. He skips to the next one.
Olivia is in the photo, standing in a kitchen, laughing, one hand reaching out to Gwaine. There’s clearly affection there and Merlin almost feels uncomfortable looking at such a private moment.
“Were you and Olivia - together?” Merlin asks delicately.
“Yeah, after a fashion. Having a deadline for the end of the relationship made things…interesting. We tried not to get too attached, but it also meant we could be more reckless - we could suggest and try things out without fear of rejection or the end of the relationship as the end was coming anyway.” Gwaine’s smile takes on a filthy edge. “And we certainly tried some things. There was a lad - about twenty - and clearly curious about sex with men, but it was hard in that culture. It was all so small and contained, and the locals weren’t exactly accepting of that kind of thing. As long as you weren’t open you were fine. Anyway, the lad was interested in me, I was interested in him, and Olivia was definitely interested in a threesome.”
Merlin inhales a mouthful of sandwich and started choking. He manages to get his breathing back to normal after a gulp of coke and a couple of thumps on the back.
“So you seduced the poor young thing,” Merlin says in a strangled voice, trying to keep the conversation moving. He’s mortified he’s had such an obvious response to Gwaine’s story, and he’s desperately hoping his flush will be attributed to his choking fit. Merlin starts mentally cursing Arthur for mentioning the idea in a serious context.
“Poor! I’ll have you know he was the luckiest man in the village,” Gwaine says, nudging Merlin’s shoulder.
“Well, she is quite pretty.” Merlin smirks as he stands and deposits his rubbish into the bin. He returns to the table, feeling a lot more composed. Gwaine is packing his laptop away. Merlin gathers his coat and half empty coke bottle, and he can feel Gwaine watching him.
They walk back to the shop in relative silence, and Gwaine comes to a stop outside the door.
“This is me, then.”
“Yeah. Listen - did I make you uncomfortable earlier? Sometimes I run my mouth and I don’t know when to stop-”
“No, no. Honestly, it was fine. Just a little surprising, that’s all.” And distracting, Merlin thinks, bloody Arthur.
“So we’re good?”
“We’re good.”
Gwaine relaxes and smiles. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”
“Yeah. See you,” Merlin says and watches Gwaine walk away. Merlin shakes his head and walks back into the shop to finish his day.
The rest of the afternoon is quiet. Merlin’s not sure if it’s a good thing or not. Now that his mind has made that connection he can’t unmake it. Gwaine and threesomes. Threesomes and Gwaine. And Gwaine is attractive and funny and Merlin wouldn’t turn Gwaine down if he was single.
He almost wishes for a customer - maybe a real beginner who knows nothing about cameras other than point and click. Something for a proper distraction.
~~~
Merlin’s distraction lasted the rest of the day, even at the dinner table. He faffed with his potatoes, half-images and snippets of conversation running through his head. He shifts in his seat.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hmm?” Merlin looks up at Arthur.
“I know for a fact your mother taught you not to play with your food. Something on your mind?”
“Sorry,” Merlin says.
“Are you going to elaborate?” Arthur asks.
Merlin puts down his fork and picks up his glass, taking a sip. “I had lunch with Gwaine today.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he came by the shop and showed me some of his photography. It’s really good, he should have no problem selling his work.”
“What sort of stuff does he do?”
Merlin shrugs. “Everything, really. Mostly landscapes and candids, but I’m willing to bet he could do formal stuff too.” Merlin takes another sip of his drink. “He’s also bisexual.”
Arthur blinks. “Those two pieces of information are related?”
“He’s also had a threesome before,” Merlin continues, needing to blurt it all out now he’s started.
Arthur puts his cutlery down and sits back. “Right. Start at the beginning.”
Merlin launches into the tale of his lunch with Gwaine and Gwaine’s threesome during his travels. “And, so yeah. Gwaine,” Merlin finishes.
“Right. So. You’re thinking Gwaine might be a good candidate for our threesome?”
“It’s not a job vacancy,” Merlin says, rolling his eyes, “but maybe?”
“He is attractive,” Arthur admits.
“Knew it,” Merlin says, grinning.
Arthur is still frowning, though, probably overthinking things as normal. Merlin finishes his drink and picked up his fork, playing with the cold food.
~~~
“You like the idea of having a threesome with Gwaine?” Arthur asks later when they are sitting on the sofa.
“Well, yeah. That was what I was getting at,” Merlin points out, sitting forward, turning back to look at Arthur. “What about you?”
“I’m not opposed to the idea.”
“But do you like it? I’d like us to aim for someone better than ‘not terrible’.”
“Yes, yes, ok. I like the idea of having Gwaine in our bed,” Arthur finally admits.
“Tell me,” Merlin breaths, sitting back, pressing against Arthur.
“I want - want Gwaine, want to see him in bed with us.” He breaks off to kiss Merlin, who responds instantly, mouth opening under Arthur’s tongue. The kiss is wet and fast, Merlin fumbles with Arthur’s tie. He tugs at it until the knot gives way and he flings it onto the coffee table. Arthur breaks off the kiss and stands up, pulling Merlin up with him.
“Bedroom.”
“Yes.” Merlin stumbles backward, Arthur guiding him into the direction of the bedroom. Merlin is buzzing, he knows the conversation isn’t over - they still not even considered Gwaine really - but right now he’s so turned on he doesn’t want to think about stopping, and Arthur seems just as enthusiastic.
They unbutton and unzip each other’s clothing, fumbling over familiar openings, lust making them clumsy. If nothing else this fantasy has given them a renewed need for sex, an urgent rush that had faded slightly over the years of their relationship.
Merlin bites kisses into Arthur’s shoulders, crouching down as he moves over nipples, abdomen, and hipbones. Arthur curls his hand around Merlin’s neck as Merlin sucks Arthur into his mouth briefly. He stands up straight, clambering onto the bed, grinning as Arthur curses him.
“Tease,” Arthur says, getting onto the bed and crawling up Merlin’s body.
“Tell me more,” Merlin asks.
“I want to see him stretched out here.” Arthur runs a hand down the bed. “I want him
naked and hard. I want to see you suck his cock.” Merlin whines, arching up against
Arthur. “Would you do that?”
“Yes,” Merlin hisses, grinding his cock against Arthur’s stomach.
“Would you let him fuck you?”
“I’d ride him, fuck, I’d ride him until I came on his dick.” Merlin’s voice quavers and Arthur squeezes his eyes shut. “Would you just watch?”
“I don’t think I’d be able to keep my hands off either of you. You look incredible when you’re being fucked. I’d have to suck you or something.” He wraps a hand around Merlin’s leaking cock, swirling his thumb around the head and spreading the wetness there. Merlin thrusts upwards, clinging to Arthur. His mouth opens on a gasp.
“Either of us?”
“Can you imagine Gwaine naked on our bed? Do you think I’d be able to let you have him all to yourself?” Arthur says. “Do you want to see that, Merlin? Would you want to see me kiss him, touch him.”
“Fuck, yes,” Merlin moans out, jerking his hips upwards.
Arthur moves to straddle him properly, lining up their dicks and stroking them together. Arthur grunts and lets his head fall forward, watching his fist slide down their erections.
“Ar - Arthur,” Merlin pants, hands clenching at Arthur’s forearms. Arthur can feel Merlin tense up underneath him, can see Merlin’s flush spread to his chest. He knows Merlin’s close.
Arthur twists his hands, feeling Merlin leak steadily over the back of his hand. Merlin screws his eyes shut and lets out a stuttering cry and Arthur watches as he comes, hot liquid splashing over his fingers. The sight spurs his own orgasm on, tingling down his spine. He lets go of Merlin and strips his own erection, letting out a moan as he comes.
~~~
“How do you go about asking someone if they want a threesome?” Arthur muses as he stares at the ceiling.
“Google it?” Merlin asks.
“I am not Googling that.”
“Fuck, I don’t know. We need to get him alone without…kidnapping him. Or obviously being odd.”
“Well that’s not going to happen with you, is it?” Arthur says, huffing as Merlin elbows him.
“You know what I mean. We need to be not obviously after him for sex.”
“Until we ask him if he wants to fuck the pair of us,” Arthur says, deadpan.
“Yes. Exactly,” Merlin says, pausing to swallow. “Piece of cake.”
~~~
Arthur spends a ridiculous amount of time coming up with different scenarios in which he and Merlin approach Gwaine. None of those scenarios actually come to fruition, frustratingly.
It wasn’t that they weren’t seeing Gwaine, they were. He had merged into their friendship group almost seamlessly. It was just. How did you ask someone to be a third in bed?
“We don’t even know if he likes us in that way,” Arthur says.
“No. I mean, he sort of flirts with us?”
“But not moreso than he does with anyone else,” Arthur points out.
“Hmm, maybe,” Merlin replies.
~~~
It is their turn to host a dinner, which means take out around a film. Merlin is useless at cooking and quite happily accepts this, the others tease him mercilessly, but knows its probably for the best that he doesn’t even attempt to cook. Arthur is slightly better, his curry is pretty good, but free passes on cooking are allowed every now and then, and they decided sod it, they can do with a break from cooking.
A mixture of chippy and Chinese wins and soon Arthur is unloading carrier bags, getting out foil carton after foil carton noodles, rice, and prawn toast, as well as chips, battered sausage, and curry sauce. The coffee table is covered. Everyone helps themselves, piling plates high with anything they could get a hold of.
The film is mainly for background noise (and because Arthur and Morgana grew up eating at a table and Merlin still finds it funny to see them eating with plates on their lap). Merlin manages to snag a seat on the sofa, squeezed in between the arm and Gwaine. Leon is on Gwaine’s other side, and poor Gwaine is having to be very careful with his elbows. Arthur snorts at them and just goes straight to the floor by Merlin’s legs.
Glasses of wine are poured and consumed, and soon the film had not only been ignored but actually finished, the menu screen frozen on the tv screen unnoticed.
“Oh god, I’m having a food baby.” Merlin moans, curling up slightly. A mixture of agreement and laughter met his pronouncement. Arthur chuckles and rubs a hand over Merlin’s shin. Leon leans forward to talk past Gwaine.
“Can I have your leftovers then?”
“Oh god, you fat bastard, go on then,” Merlin says, waving towards his half full plate. Arthur picks the plate up from the floor and hands it to Leon, rolling his eyes.
“Nice to know some things never change,” Gwaine remarks, watching Leon with a mixture of disgust and awe. Leon just grins.
“Not my fault the Chinese is amazing.”
“It is the best one,” Gwen says, looking longingly at the sweet and sour chicken balls (her not so secret ultimate weakness food). “I wish the one by us was half as good.”
“No you don’t, because you’d live off it then you’d have a heart attack and I’d find you dead, face down in a puddle of sweet and sour sauce,” Lance remarks, earning a thump.
“It would be a good death,” Arthur says. He’s almost as fond of the dish as Gwen.
“See, Arthur understands.”
Lance takes on a heartbroken expression. “Gwen, will our love survive this?”
“I don’t know, it’s a bit of a deal breaker, if I’m honest.”
“It’s a good job Arthur’s taken, isn’t it?” Merlin says and threads his fingers into the hair at the nape of Arthur’s neck.
“It really is,” Gwen says. Lance laughs up at her and kisses her. Her returning grin is blinding. Percy and Morgana make gagging noises. Arthur joins in the laughter and Merlin squeezes gently before moving his hand away.
“Ugh, I have a ton of marking due Monday, I should probably head off,” Leon says, pushing himself up to a standing position. He holds out a hand and pulls Morgana up.
“Fine, I’ll drive you home,” Morgana says. Leon bends and whispers something in her ear which makes her smack his arm, but there’s a smirk on her face nevertheless. They pull on coats and distribute hugs to everyone, then leave. That seems to be the cue for everyone else to leave, slowly trickling out.
“Gwaine, you coming to watch the match Sunday?”
“Yeah, can’t wait to see the look on your face when you lose.” Gwaine smirks.
“You’re full of it!”
“We’ll see. Never underestimate the underdogs.”
Arthur splutters at him before launching into a detailed explanation of why, exactly, QPR were doomed to lose.
“Have fun, Merlin,” Elyan says, forcibly dragging Elena away from the debate.
“Thanks. No really, you’re a wonderful friend,” Merlin says, deadpans, as he walks them to the door.
“They’ll be at it for hours.”
“I’ll leave them to it, see what the morning brings,” Merlin says, hugging Elena. “See you later, yeah?”
“Bye!”
Merlin shuts the door and heads back into the living room, and decides to start to clear up around the men. He watches them surreptitiously, enjoying Arthur’s slightly flushed, passionate face. Gwaine is more relaxed, sprawled out on the sofa.
Merlin’s scraping leftovers into Tupperware boxes when he realises the voices have stopped. He puts the last box into the fridge and heads into the living room.
“You two about finished?”
“Something like that. You should have left some of the clearing up for me,” Arthur says, picking up the lid to the box and sealing the box.
“You can make it up to me later,” Merlin says. Arthur’s eyes widen just a little before he catches on to Merlin’s plan.
“I’m sure I can,” Arthur says, smirking. Gwaine coughs and starts to stand up.
“I should probably be heading off, too.”
“Ah, sorry. We didn’t-” Arthur starts.
“Actually, we wanted-” Merlin talks over him. They both stop and look at each other. Gwaine raises his eyebrows.
“Somebody want to let me know what’s going on here?”
“You flirt with us.” Merlin can feel himself blush horribly.
“Oh, hey, now-” Gwaine starts, holding his hands up.
“You do,” Merlin says over Gwaine, “and we were wondering…why? Is it because you’re a flirt or are you-”
“Interested?” Arthur asks.
“Interested,” Gwaine says slowly, looking from one to the other.
“Yeah. Like - a threesome?” Merlin says, guessing he can’t feel more mortified even if Gwaine says no at this point. No points to us for being smooth.
“This is the worst pick-up ever,” Gwaine points out, and Merlin realises he’s not looking as confused as he was previously. He also isn’t looking like someone who’s about to run away.
“Shut up and answer the question,” Arthur says, folding his arms.
“Depends on what you’re offering.” And Merlin realises Gwaine is teasing them, and the hot tension in his stomach eases a bit.
“A threesome, with us.”
“You mean, a one-off?” Gwaine asks.
“Depends on how good you are, doesn’t it?” Merlin replies, ready to flirt now.
“A challenge?”
Merlin shrugs. “If you like.”
“Arthur?”
“Sure, I’d like to see what you can do, exactly how full of it you really are,” Arthur smirks, stepping towards Gwaine, opening sizing him up.
“Never had any complaints.” Gwaine shrugs, leaning into Arthur’s space. Merlin can see the potential for rivalry between these two. He’s not sure if he’s going to enjoy it or not.
“So, is that decided?”
“I think so. When do we want to make a start?”
“Not tonight, I don’t think. Tomorrow?” Merlin says, needing to let it sink in, that they’ve actually pulled this off.
“Yeah, we can sleep on it, or whatever,” Gwaine says.
“Ok, so. Tomorrow.” Arthur nods, taking a step back from Gwaine.
They look at each other for a moment, tension thick in the air. Merlin is starting to regret suggesting tomorrow. He can hardly breathe through his anticipation.
“Right, so. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon?” Gwaine says, heading towards the door.
Arthur and Merlin follow him.
“Bye,” Merlin says, waving. Arthur shuts the door and lets out a breathy laugh.
“I can’t believe we managed that.”
“Me neither,” Arthur says, pulling Merlin into a hug.
~~~
Merlin opens the door to see Gwaine standing there, looking particularly rugged with windswept hair and worn jeans.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Merlin replies, standing back to let him in. Anticipation is curling low and tingly in Merlin’s stomach. Arthur stands up when Gwaine walks into the living room.
“Hello.”
“Hi,” Gwaine says, looking a bit amused now, but his shoulders are a little tense.
“Sit down, please.”
“Ok. I’ve never done this - planned before,” Gwaine says, shaking his head. He sits on the sofa, Arthur sits next to him, and Merlin sits in the armchair.
“The seduction of the village boy?” Merlin asks.
“Mostly her. I was a little surprised, but not unwilling.” Gwaine smiles and it’s filthy.
“But you said-” Arthur says, looking at Merlin.
Gwaine interrupts with a shrug. “I run my mouth. Doesn’t mean I’m not up for this.”
“Right, well. Probably a good job we’re doing this properly then - so we’re all clear on what’s acceptable,” Arthur says, all practicality under his blush.
“Acceptable?”
“Yes, like,” Arthur pauses, swallowing. “Boundaries, limits?”
“Ok, so, like whether we bottom or not?”
“Yeah,” Arthur says, fiddling with his ring.
“Well, not just that - there are other things we could do?” Merlin says.
“I think I’d rather just get on with it, to be honest. Seems a bit…sterilised this way. We’re all gonna wear condoms, yeah? And do either of you have any issues that might crop up? Things that will make you freak out? Any kinks I need to know about?”
Merlin shakes his head and sees Arthur do the same.
“Then good. Let’s go.” Gwaine stands up, holding a hand out to Arthur. Arthur snorts and takes it, allowing himself to be pulled up. “Just let me know if you’re gonna start pulling out canes and handcuffs, yeah?”
Merlin huffs a laugh, and the tension eases a little. There’s still an air of anticipation, and Merlin wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans.
Merlin had never really envisioned this part. In his head they seamlessly glided from suggestion to bed without any bother. He’d forgotten they needed to get to the bedroom, and get naked.
“Right, so. Bedroom?” Merlin says, inwardly cringing at how strained his voice sounds, but he had to say something, or they’d have just stayed there all day. Not looking at each other.
“That would help,” Gwaine replies, cracking a smile. Arthur just shakes his head, but there’s a smile there too, just at the corner of his lips. Merlin stands and leads the way, hoping things will get a lot less awkward when they’re in a more appropriate setting.
He stops by the bed and turns to face the others. Arthur gets his determined look on his face, and steps towards Gwaine. Merlin swallows and watches Arthur wrap a hand around the back of Gwaine’s neck and pull him into a kiss and shit yes, that works. Surprisingly well, Merlin realises as his cock starts to harden.
Arthur hums into Gwaine’s mouth and slides his hands under Gwaine’s shirt, revealing tanned skin. Merlin bites his lip and palms his burgeoning erection through his jeans.
Gwaine pulls back from the kiss and strips Arthur of his shirt, leaning down to bite at Arthur’s nipple. Arthur gasps and fists Gwaine’s hair, pulling him back up for a kiss.
Arthur murmurs something, and they both turn to look at Merlin. Merlin swallows as they walk toward him with looks that can only be described as predatory. Merlin reaches out to pull Gwaine into a kiss, gasping into it as he feels Arthur tug at his trousers.
Gwaine is stubbly and Merlin can feel it scrape along his skin, and his hair has fallen down to tickle Merlin’s cheek. It’s weird, but then Gwaine’s tongue curls along Merlin’s and Merlin can cope with weird.
Merlin’s trousers and boxers are down by his ankles and he breaks off the kiss to step out of them. He tugs at Gwaine’s shirt to pull it off and Gwaine then shoves his own jeans down, fumbling in his impatience.
Soon they’re all naked and clambering onto the bed. Arthur pushes Merlin into the pillows and kisses him. He hums into Arthur’s mouth, the familiarity reassuring. Merlin gasps as he feels Gwaine lick along his hip.
“Condom?” Gwaine says lowly, and Arthur sits up to pull supplies out of the drawer. A condom is slid down over Merlin’s erection followed swiftly by Gwaine’s mouth.
“Shit,” Merlin gasps, trying not to thrust up. Arthur puts a hand low on Merlin’s stomach, holding him down as he kisses Merlin. Merlin pulls away with a gasp, and Arthur looks down at Gwaine, running his fingers through Gwaine’s hair.
“Jesus,” Arthur murmurs as his eyes greedily watch Merlin gasp and arch. Merlin’s floating on sensation, hands reflexively clenching in the sheets.
Arthur tugs at Gwaine’s hair and Gwaine pulls off with a filthy slurp.
“You can’t have all the fun, Merlin,” Arthur murmurs in response to Merlin’s frustrated groan.
“One of you gonna let me fuck you, then?” Merlin pants.
Gwaine groans softly. Arthur smirks, “I think that’s a yes from Gwaine.” Arthur picks up the lube and gets off the bed. He pushes at Gwaine until he’s kneeling over Merlin. Merlin rests his hands on Gwaine’s hips, stroking the hollows there.
Gwaine gasps, head dropping forward. Merlin lifts his head and can just about see
Arthur’s finger pushing into Gwaine between his legs. The bed shifts under Merlin and Arthur’s head appears over Gwaine’s shoulder, biting the skin there.
Merlin’s stomach tightens as he watches Gwaine all but come apart on Arthur’s fingers. Arthur is kissing his shoulder and neck, murmuring nonsense into Gwaine’s ear. Merlin tightens his hands, trying not to give into the temptation to tug on his cock.
“Arthur, Arthur,” Gwaine pants, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m ready, yeah?”
Arthur nips Gwaine one last time and pulls away. Gwaine shuffles forward a bit, dropping forward onto his hands. Merlin gasps as he feels a slick hand on his cock, and then Gwaine’s sinking down onto him, achingly slowly.
Merlin gasps, arching his head back. He bites his lip with the effort of not thrusting up. Gwaine’s breathing harshly as he slowly adapts to Merlin filling him.
“Ok,” Gwaine says, lifting himself slightly, and easing back down. He starts moving quicker, and Merlin rocks his hips upward shallowly. “Ah. That’s it.”
Arthur moves back to kneel next to Merlin. Merlin watches as Arthur’s eyes flick over where Gwaine’s hands are resting on Merlin’s chest, up to Merlin’s face. Arthur licks his lips, mouth opening on a breath. Merlin grins and wonders vaguely about how much of a voyeur Arthur is. Arthur smiles at him, runs a hand along Merlin’s stomach, moving to wrap his hand around Gwaine’s dick.
“Oh fuck.” Gwaine shudders and Merlin thrusts up, digging his fingers into Gwaine’s hips. Merlin can feel his stomach tensing, and he makes a desperate noise in the back of his throat - he really doesn’t want to come yet.
Gwaine put his hands over Arthur’s, directing the movements, grunting as he comes over Merlin’s stomach. Gwaine’s muscles clench and Merlin groans as he comes.
Merlin reaches out a hand and wraps it around Arthur’s cock, stroking it firmly, rubbing his thumb over the head. Arthur grunts and his head drops forward.
“Fuck, fuck,” Arthur mutters, hips jerking forward into Merlin’s fist. Merlin tries to concentrate on flexing his hand, making it good for Arthur, but he’s pretty distracted by the afterglow, by Gwaine slowly lifting himself off his cock and all but collapsing the other side of him.
Arthur growls and wanks himself, coming all over Merlin, mixing with the drying mess already there. Merlin feels dirty in a way he never even thought he’d enjoy. Arthur stretches out next to him and Merlin is sandwiched between Arthur and Gwaine, sticky and hot but unwilling to move.
Merlin lets himself drift for a while, lulled by the sounds of the other two breathing next to him. The come is drying on him, making his skin itch. He knows there are wet wipes in the drawer, but Arthur’s in the way. He decides that he can cope until he can be arsed to go and get a shower. He briefly tries to figure out if three people can share the shower before dismissing the idea. Which is a shame, Merlin thinks vaguely as he falls back to sleep.
~~~
It’s dark when they all wake up. Merlin groans as he realises that his sleep schedule is going to be so fucked up for the next few days. He gets up and makes his way to the toilet. When he gets back the other two are awake, sitting on the bed.
“What time is it?” Merlin asks, stretching. Arthur leans over to look at the clock on the bedside table.
“Six.”
“Hmm…explains why I’m hungry. Chinese?”
“Sounds good,” Arthur nods, then turns to look at Gwaine. “Want to join us?”
“Yeah, alright.” Gwaine says, pulling on his boxers.
“I’ll go find the menu,” Merlin says, pulling on his boxers and jeans. He’s happy Gwaine is going to stay - it would feel weird and wrong just for him to leave after incredible sex.
Gwaine and Arthur collapse on the sofa and Merlin leans over the back, holding the menu down so everyone can see. Merlin can feel the heat rolling off them, more intense where his arms brush their shoulders.
Arthur rings to order, and Merlin curls up in the armchair, mindlessly flicking through the channels of the tv. He decides on Top Gear, as most people can tolerate it and it’ll do as background noise until they can be arsed to decide on a film or something.
The delivery arrives before the episode finishes and Merlin manages to sneak in to pay the bill while Gwaine and Arthur are fighting over paying for it.
“Sorry about them. They turn everything into a competition,” Merlin says conspiratorially to the delivery man as he takes the bags off him. He gives a generous tip, and shuts the door. “You both can pay me later. Whether in money or sexual favours, I’ll happily accept either,” he says, feeling smug as he starts unpacking the food on the kitchen table.
There’s a tense moment of silence when Merlin realises what he’s said. He stops and stands up, turning to look at the two men. They both look shocked and glance at each other, not sure what to say.
“Um, I mean. If we want? I-” Merlin swallows, feeling himself blush horribly. “We did say.”
“That’s true,” Arthur starts, then stops, clearing his throat. “If Gwaine wants.”
“Yeah, I mean, yeah. I would want to,” Gwaine says.
“So, that’s settled? This isn’t a one time thing?”
“No, I mean. I assume not all the time, but if we want?”
“Ok,” Merlin says, “ok.”
“We’ll have to stay safe,” Arthur says. “Always use condoms, things like that.”
“Obviously.”
“And if we want to stop at any time - any of us - then we just stop,” Arthur adds.
“No jealousy, no fuckery,” Gwaine points out. Merlin nods along, happy to see everyone’s on the same page.
There’s another moment of silence. Merlin takes a while to let the conversation settle in the back of his mind, getting used to the knowledge that he - they’ve got someone to have regular threesomes with. Sort of like a friend with benefits thing.
Merlin smiles hesitantly.
“Food?”
“Food,” Arthur agrees, heading towards the sofa. This time Merlin snags the seat next to him, and bumps his shoulder. Arthur smiles at him, and nabs some of Merlin’s noodles.
“Oi,” Merlin protests, spiking a piece of Arthur’s duck.
“Silverware, Merlin, really?” Gwaine says as he expertly handles chopsticks.
“Yes, hello, have you met me? Can you imagine what I’d be like with chopsticks,” Merlin says, waving his fork around.
“I’ve seen it,” Arthur is quick to point out, “it wasn’t pretty.” Merlin gapes and jolts Arthur again, while Gwaine just laughs.
“You said it!” Arthur replies, laughing.
“You’re not supposed to agree with me!” Merlin points out. Gwaine just shakes his head at them both, still laughing.
“As entertaining as you two are, maybe a film?”
“I suppose we could take a break from being hilarious,” Merlin says.
“Gracious of you,” Gwaine replies.
“So, ideas?” Arthur asks, eyes flicking over their DVD collection.
“Are they in alphabetical order?” Gwaine asks, looking along the shelves.
“Yes,” Arthur says, “because how else would we sort the DVDs?”
“I would’ve thought you’d have it organised by genre then cross-referenced by director or something.”
“We did have an argument over what to do with sequels - does The Dark Knight go after Batman Begins, or under ‘D’?”
“Question for the ages,” Gwaine says, shaking his head.
They eventually decide to watch Wanted, much to Arthur’s delight.
“He has deep and meaningful feelings for James McAvoy’s face,” Merlin says, passing the remote to Arthur.
Gwaine just shrugs. “I’d go for Angelina, personally.”
After the film finishes Gwaine stands up and stretches. “I should head off.”
“Right,” Arthur says, standing up.
“I’ll be seeing you,” Gwaine says, pulling Arthur in for a quick kiss. Merlin gets one as well, and then Arthur is seeing Gwaine out. Merlin and Arthur look at each other and shrug. Merlin’s glad it wasn’t awkward, another nice reminder that they can have this and it not be weird.
When Arthur comes back to the sofa, Merlin turns to him.
“So, that went well?” Merlin asks. “Fulfil a fantasy or two?”
“Yes,” Arthur says. “Thank you.”
“I’m hardly complaining. I’d like you to be more involved, next time, though.”
“I can do that,” Arthur replies. “You’re ok with a next time?”
Merlin nods and leans in for a kiss.
“It’s not like we have to do it on a regular basis,” he points out.
“Exactly. Now come here.” Arthur pulls Merlin into a cuddle. Merlin sighs happily and rearranges so he’s comfortable, with his head on Arthur’s shoulder and his feet over the arm of the sofa. Arthur sticks the news on and watches the stock reports, thumb stroking gentle circles on Merlin’s stomach.
~~~
The next time Gwaine sees Arthur is odd, mainly because Merlin isn’t there, and seeing one without the other is a rarity. Nothing should change between them and Gwaine is keen to make that true. He likes the casualness of it all. But there’s a nice bit of tension there, just enough to be felt. Gwaine relishes the feeling; it’s been a while since he’s had it.
He’s genuinely surprised by how well it went. Arthur and Merlin are obviously in love, and serious about each other, that sort of relationship rarely lends itself to this sort of experimentation. He only hopes that it doesn’t fuck the relationship up. They go too well together for that.
The lads and Elena arrange to go to the pub to watch the England friendly and have a quiet drink. Gwaine’s got work in the morning so he swears to himself that it will be a quiet one. Even though he’s sure that his boss at bloody Tescos won’t notice if he’s hungover as long as he can stack a shelf. The thought of work dampens his mood. The sooner he can get his photography business off the ground the better. Working shifts in a uniform was not his idea of a good time and the conformity drags at his skin, stifling him.
He’s managed to sell some of his prints online and get a small stall at a monthly local craft fair, which has gone a fair way to boost business, and he’s got some decent contacts. Lance has been helping him with the legal side of things and he’s got a website courtesy of Elena, herself a freelance web designer. They had spent a good half day emailing back and forth about the trials and tribulations of being a freelancer, and it had been invaluable. His mind had been swimming with HTML, CSS, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter. After a few days he’s got it all sorted, he hopes. His twitter following is measly at the moment - his heart skips every time he gets a notification of a new follower, then again when it turns out not to be a spam account - but he’s putting himself out there. Just a case of waiting now.
“Gwaine?” Lance waves a hand in front of his face. Gwaine jumps. “You ok, mate?”
“Yeah, sorry, thinking.”
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Elyan says. Gwaine chucks a bar mat at him.
"Sorry I’m late.” A voice comes from behind Gwaine. He jumps and turns to see Arthur stripping off his coat. “Budge up, then.”
“Not like you to be late.”
“Yeah, work is being awkward,” Arthur says, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “Anyone need a drink?” Everyone shook their heads and Arthur heads off to the bar, returning shortly with a pint and a packet of crisps.
“Working on a Saturday? Thought you worked in an office?”
Arthur shrugs. “Sometimes stuff’s got to be done at home. You know, emails.” Arthur sighs. Gwaine watches his Adam’s apple bob as he takes a long gulp of his drink. “It’s not mentally taxing, just - a delicate situation.”
“You’re a lawyer, right?” Gwaine asks, mentally shrugging off the fact that he’s not entirely sure what one of his fuckbuddies does as an occupation.
“Yeah. The company offers its staff a couple of free consults with the company lawyers if needed. I’m not really an expert in other branches of law, but I can give people an idea of what the best course of action is, help them with legalese, things like that.” Arthur shrugs. “Sometimes it’s really tough, but I like the challenge.”
“That’s great,” Gwaine replies, shocked that a big company would do something like that for its staff. That Arthur throws himself into it - going so far as to give up some of his free time to help - isn’t a surprise at all.
The conversation lulls as the game kicks off. It’s a fairly dull game - low stakes and far too close to the start of the Euros to make anyone too reckless. It’s nice to just sit and relax with mates though, Gwaine decides. He’s slowly getting used to being back in Britain, the culture, and the weather, and being entirely fluent in the language spoken by basically everyone he comes across. He still occasionally has a moment when he realises that he’s not saving for a plane ticket, he’s just being and it’s odd. He’s sure he’ll travel some more, there are places he still wants to go, but he’s starting to lay some roots down. He’s happy to be here, though, surrounded by friends. Leon catches his eye, and Gwaine smiles, saluting him with his pint.
~~~
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
You and Arthur busy this weekend?
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
Not really, why?
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
Wondered if the pair of you wanted to come over
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
Subtle
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
I’m the picture of discretion. You interested?
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
Yeah. Saturday?
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
Come over in the afternoon, whenever.
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
See you then
Gwaine shoves his phone back into his pocket and grins. Mission accomplished, he thinks.
~~~
Arthur and Merlin show up Saturday evening. They soon discover that Gwaine’s bed isn’t quite big enough for three. It was fine during, pressed close and hot, grinding together, but after, once the afterglow had worn out and there was cramped muscles and the heat became oppressive, then it didn’t work.
Arthur and Merlin end up in Gwaine’s spare bed, finally dropping into a deep sleep. In the morning, after a whispered conversation, they decided to crawl back into Gwaine’s bed for another round. Gwaine had been grumpy at first, but soon warmed up to the idea (Arthur promised bacon rolls for breakfast afterwards).
~~~
Sometimes they went weeks only seeing each other in the context of friendship.
Gwaine and Merlin had lunch semi-regularly, if Gwaine didn’t have work. Sometimes he brought leftovers and Merlin took him into the staffroom, ignoring Gaius’ raised eyebrow.
“I have a proposition for you,” Merlin says, one lunchtime. Gwaine raises an eyebrow and Merlin tuts, and hits him. “Not like that, you perv. A business proposition.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Gaius wants us to try something to try and get more business. So, I was wondering how you feel about portraits? Max Speilmann does baby portraits all the time, but we were thinking of doing a one-off, babies, families, whoever wants one, maybe Saturday and Sunday. If it picks up, we’d make it permanent.”
“Right. What’s this got to do with me?”
“Well, we - I - was wondering if you’d want to do the trial weekend? You could hand out business cards while you’re doing it, and you don’t have a studio-”
“Yet.”
“-yet, so you wouldn’t be stealing any of our custom,” Merlin finishes.
Gwaine thinks about it. It would be a good opportunity - all publicity is good publicity, after all - and he’d be helping out Gaius and Merlin. He’s never really done studio work, he dabbled a bit at school, but nothing serious. He says as much to Merlin.
“Right, well you don’t have to decide right now, it’s just an idea I thought I’d suggest. I mean, I could always talk to Gaius about staying late one night so you can get some practise in? I’m sure he’d agree to it.”
“That’s a tempting offer.” Gwaine knows not having studio experience will be a flaw if he wants to make a proper living out of photography. As much as he prefers working in natural light and environments, portraits and studio sessions are a big share of the market. “Alright, you get me the time to practise, I’ll do the trial run - both days.”
Merlin grins widely.
“I’ll need some models, though.To practise on.”
“I can arrange that,” Merlin says, almost bouncing with happiness. Gwaine leaves the lunch happy, excited for the opportunity to push his business further. He ducks into a bookshop on the way home and buys a couple of books on photography, and starts reading up.
~~~
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
You free tomorrow night?
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
yeah, why?
From: Merlin
To: Gwaine
Meet me at the shop at 7. Got some models sorted too
From: Gwaine
To: Merlin
I’ll be there