Fic: Is This Seat Taken?
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 9086
Warnings: none
Summary: Merlin and Arthur meet over coffee, and then again at a wedding.
Read on AO3
There wasn’t a single coffee shop within a thirty-mile radius of this flat that Merlin hadn’t visited at least once. He knew this was a fact, because he and Gwen had Google mapped it once, and Merlin was obsessively thorough about his coffee. Every morning, he rolled out of bed and immediately puttered into his kitchen for the first cup of the day. If he had a shoot, he usually grabbed the second at the café two streets away, or at the train station if he had a bit to travel. If he didn’t, cup number two usually came from the place across his uncle’s shop, where he sometimes volunteered his help. There was usually a third somewhere after that; Gwen often informed him that he was an addict, and Merlin thought she was probably right (she also accused him of being a bit of a hipster, and was probably right about that, too).
That didn’t stop him, though, which was why now he found himself sitting in a corner booth of his favourite café on one of his free days. He was staring absently through the window when someone approached his table, clearing their throat politely.
“Sorry to bother you, but are these seats occupied? The other tables are full.”
“Oh, no, go ahead,” Merlin said, blinking at the blonde, posh-sounding man. He was gorgeous, with a strong jaw and blue eyes, obviously having just escaped the office, if his button-down shirt and loosened tie were any indication. He gave Merlin a polite smile as he sat down, and Merlin caught a peek of slightly wonky teeth that somehow just made it all come together. Merlin hid his appreciative gaze behind the rim of his cup.
“So, rough day at work?” he ventured, after a few moments of not-quite-awkward silence. The blonde frowned.
“What makes you think that?”
“Oh, you know,” Merlin began, waving in the man’s general direction, “business clothes. And you’re inhaling your coffee like you think someone’s going to steal it from you.”
“Oh,” Blondie said, with a little laugh, and yeah, Merlin definitely didn’t mind those teeth. “No, not really. Just another day at the office.” He raised his drink and grinned. “I just have a rather unfortunate coffee addiction.”
Now it was Merlin’s turn to laugh. “I know how that goes, believe me. I’m Merlin, by the way.”
“Arthur,” the blonde supplied, and they shook hands. Merlin bit his cheek to hide his grin at the formality of it.
“So what do you do, Arthur?” he asked.
“I have an office at Pendragon, Ltd.”
Merlin whistled lowly. “Impressive.” Arthur smiled at him.
“And you?”
“I’m a photographer.” He didn’t miss the way the corner of Arthur’s mouth flicked upward, and he raised his eyebrows. “Something wrong with that?”
“No, no,” Arthur hurried to assure him, “I just…I should have known.”
Merlin’s eyebrows rose even higher. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing! It just…” He paused, and Merlin grinned at the serious businessman floundering for words. “It suits you. You look…you know.”
“Like a hipster?”
Arthur cringed, and Merlin laughed. “I’m sorry,” the blonde sighed. “I’m being terribly rude.”
“It’s fine. You’re cute when you’re flustered.” Merlin replied and was rewarded with a light blush.
“What kind of photography do you do?” Arthur asked in response. Merlin smirked, but allowed the subject change.
“Mostly weddings. Sometimes special events, charities, that sort of thing.” He took a sip of his drink, just to see if Arthur would look at him (he did). “I do a bit of freelancing on the side, too, mostly for fun. I had a gallery exhibit a few weeks ago, and I’m trying to organize another one now.”
Arthur nodded. They sat there and chatted easily for the better part of an hour. The surrounding tables had since cleared, but they didn’t bother to separate. Merlin hadn’t wanted to leave, but he was already late for dinner with Gwen, and the barista had long since taken to wandering around their table with pointed glances. Arthur seemed equally reluctant as they dithered on the sidewalk outside of the café. Eventually, it couldn’t be put off any longer.
“I really should go,” Merlin sighed regretfully. Arthur nodded. They stood there for another moment, and then Arthur extended his hand for a shake.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Merlin.”
“Yeah. You, too,” Merlin replied. He took a step back, then another one. “I’ll see you around, Arthur.”
Arthur smirked at him. “See that you do.”
It wasn’t until later, when he was kicking off his trainers in Gwen and Lance’s flat, that Merlin realized he hadn’t thought to ask Arthur for his phone number. He groaned.
“Idiot!”
---
Merlin couldn’t help feeling a little bit foolish as he ducked into the coffee shop the next day. It was far from a rare occurrence for him to be there, but he usually didn’t return two afternoons in a row, and he definitely didn’t glance around at the other patrons for a familiar face. There were a few others already there, but definitely no sight of Arthur. Merlin stifled his disappointment and moved to join the queue.
He’d had no real reason to think Arthur would even be there, so he really didn’t have anything to be disappointed over. Arthur had admitted to being a coffee addict, but that didn’t mean he always came to this café. Or maybe an afternoon coffee was a special treat, or a weekly tradition rather than a daily one. Or maybe he simply had other plans, with people who weren’t just the bloke he’d shared a table with at a café. And even if he did come, there were plenty of free seats today. There was no guarantee Arthur would even sit with him. It was all Gwen’s fault he was even here, Merlin thought sourly. She’d walked in on him face-palming himself for his forgetfulness and spent the majority of their dinner berating him until he’d agreed to come back.
He was so caught up in his negative thoughts that he didn’t notice the door opening behind him. He jumped about a foot in the air when someone tapped him on the shoulder, looking back just as a blessedly familiar, posh voice said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Arthur!” Merlin couldn’t hold back his smile when he saw the other man, who was grinning right back. “No, it’s fine, I wasn’t paying attention. How are you?”
“Fine,” Arthur answered, and Merlin was 99% certain he wasn’t imagining the way Arthur’s eyes darted down to his neck, “and yourself?”
“Great, actually.” Merlin’s smile widened. “I got a spot in an exhibition at a gallery downtown.”
“Congratulations,” Arthur said sincerely. Then added, “I’ll have to drop by.”
Merlin smiled.
“I’d like that.”
The customer in front of him shifted, but before Merlin could even turn around, Arthur smoothly stepped around Merlin to stand in front of the register.
“One medium coffee, two sugars, please. And whatever he’s having.”
“What? Arthur, no, you don’t-“ Merlin began, but Arthur waved him off.
“Shut up and order, Merlin. Call it a celebration.”
Merlin huffed, but placed his order, anyway, ignoring Arthur’s pleased smirk as he did so.
“You’re very pushy, you know,” Merlin remarked as the barista made their drinks. Arthur snorted.
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Mmm, I can imagine,” Merlin replied cheekily. He got a mock-glare in return, which only made him laugh and duck when Arthur made to ruffle his hair. The barista reappeared; they both collected their coffees and moved off to the side.
“So, er…shall we sit?” Merlin asked. Arthur hesitated, looking reluctant. Merlin had already opened his mouth to apologize, or take it back, or something equally stupid, when Arthur said,
“Actually, I can’t.” Merlin’s heart sank. “I have a dinner party for work tonight, and I’ll never hear the end of it if I’m late.” He paused before adding, “To be honest, I wasn’t even supposed to come here today, but I couldn’t resist. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I understand.” Merlin smiled and hoped his disappointment wasn’t as obvious as he thought it probably was. He should have known better than to get his hopes up, really. Arthur was still looking at him, and Merlin waited for him to make his excuses and leave. Instead, the blonde reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, which he handed to Merlin.
“Forgive me if this is too forward, but I’d like to call you sometime, when I don’t have to rush off to a dinner.”
Hope fluttered in Merlin’s chest again. “Yeah. Yeah, alright,” he said. He took Arthur’s phone and quickly typed his name and number into it before handing it back. Arthur promptly punched a few more buttons, and Merlin felt his own mobile vibrate in his pocket before it cut off abruptly.
“There, now you have mine, too,” Arthur said, pocketing his phone again. Merlin smiled.
“Guess I’ll be talking to you soon, then.”
“I suppose you will,” Arthur agreed. And then, with one last smile, he left.
Merlin wandered over to an empty seat without bothering to hide his grin. He pulled out his own phone and dialed, sipping absently from his coffee until he heard a familiar, “Hello?”
“Gwen,” he said, smile widening, “have I ever told you how much I love you?”
---
Merlin readjusted the bag on his shoulder as he walked up the drive to his latest appointment’s home. The directions he’d been given here were vague, at best, and he was just barely on time, even though he’d left his flat with plenty of time to spare. He knocked on the door, hoping that he’d found the right building.
A moment later, it flew open, and he barely h ad time to register a flurry of blonde hair before he was being yanked inside with an enthusiastic, “Oh good, Merlin, you’re here, hello! Thank you so much for meeting us at home, it’s been absolutely bollicking mad these past few days.”
“It’s no problem,” Merlin said warmly. Elena Godwyn was definitely not his typical bride. She was blonde and muscled from years of riding horses, with an excitable personality that was matched only by her hopeless clumsiness. Merlin had liked her immediately, and was very much looking forward to photographing her wedding. “How’s everything coming along?”
“To be honest, I haven’t any idea. It’s just all so much, you know? One second I think it’s all sorted, and then there’s fifty other things I haven’t even thought about to worry over.” Elena gave Merlin a slightly wilted smile. “Thank god for wedding planners, or we’d have just eloped ages ago.”
“I’ve been saying we should do that for weeks, but she wouldn’t listen to me.” Elena’s fiancée, Gwaine, said as he stepped into the hall. “Alright, Merlin?”
“Fine, thanks. You?”
“I’m holding up. Looking forward to all of this being done with. Just a few more days and it’ll be just me and this one here,” Gwaine replied, tugging on Elena’s wrist until she was snug against his side and giggling. They were a very striking pair, if different; Gwaine was all dark and suave where Elena was light and enthusiastic, but Merlin knew even from the few times he’d actually met them that they were perfect for each other.
Merlin was led into the sitting room, where Grunhilde, the rather alarming wedding planner, was already waiting. The meeting was fairly brief, mostly just a review of what they’d already discussed in previous ones, and Merlin showed them his portfolio again. He blushed appreciatively when Elena complimented the shot of Gwen being led to the alter by her brother Elyan, and the follow-up shot of Lance’s beaming, teary-eyed expression. Gwaine had turned gleeful eyes on Elena at the picture of a groom sliding his bride’s garter off Merlin had snapped at a wedding two months ago. Both of them loved the photo of Merlin’s childhood friend Will twirling his laughing new bride around in a fireman’s carry in front of the church. By the time they’d gone through all of the photos, Merlin was fairly certain he knew what Elena and Gwaine wanted out of him.
Merlin had to admit that he was impressed with the couple. They were remarkably relaxed, considering their wedding day was imminent, and Merlin knew from past meetings that they had their hands full with overly involved relatives (mostly on Elena’s part). They were incredibly friendly people, and they made Merlin feel completely at home with them.
When he left less than an hour later, his phone informed him that he had two messages waiting. One was from Lance. The other was from Arthur.
Coffee Friday?
Merlin smiled as he began the walk to the train station.
you know, people usually at least say hello before asking someone out.
He hardly had to wait a full minute before Arthur’s reply lit up his screen. I’ve always been an impatient man.
Then, a second one, You didn’t answer my question.
i’m free on friday.
Brilliant. Round Table Café, 6?
sounds great. see you then. x
---
“Gwen, I’m serious, I have nothing to wear.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. What about that blue jumper I got you for Christmas?”
Merlin glanced at the mound of clothes on his bed. “You don’t think that’s too formal?” Gwen laughed over the phone.
“It’s a jumper, Merlin, not a three-piece suit. Wear a scarf and those trainers you love so much if you’re worried.”
Merlin hummed thoughtfully. He was due to meet Arthur at the café in twenty minutes, and had spent the last hour wandering around his bedroom, shirtless, trying to find something to wear that wasn’t dirty or meant for a wedding. He’d already called Will in a panic, which had really been stupid. His friend had only listened in bemused silence for approximately two minutes before threatening to call Arthur himself and telling him about the time Merlin cried over his Harry Potter DVD breaking if he didn’t call “someone else who actually gives two shits about clothes, Merlin, just wear a t-shirt.”
He was pretty sure he would do it, too.
“Yeah, alright, I can do that. You’re a life-saver, Gwen.”
“Of course I am, darling. Have fun on your date!”
They hung up, and Merlin hurriedly dressed, just barely remembering to grab his keys before he left the flat. The night was cool, but not unpleasant as he walked the two streets to the café. Arthur was already there when he arrived, sitting at a table near the window at the back of the shop. He waved when he noticed Merlin.
“Hi. You look great,” he said, getting to his feet as Merlin approached. For a half-second, Merlin wondered if Arthur was going to pull out his chair for him, but then the blonde just smiled, and handed him a cup.
“Thanks, you, too.”
Which, he really did. While Arthur in a suit had been nice, he looked downright delicious in jeans and a light jacket, with his hair (probably very carefully) tousled. Merlin eyed him appreciatively as they sat down, and noticed that Arthur seemed to be favoring his leg.
“Are you alright?” he asked, gesturing down at the offending limb. “You look like you’ve hurt yourself.”
“What? Oh, my leg.” Arthur’s cheeks reddened, but he laughed sheepishly. “It’s nothing. I took a good kick to the thigh playing footie with mates yesterday.”
“You play football?” Merlin blurted, picturing a sweaty Arthur running around, wearing those flimsy shorts and possibly even shirtless, and had to snap his mouth shut before he started drooling.
Thankfully, Arthur didn’t seem to have noticed. “Sometimes. Usually on the weekends, just for fun.” He gave Merlin a knowing smirk, and asked, “Do you play?”
Merlin snorted. “Definitely not. I’d wind up in the hospital with more than a kicked thigh if I tried.”
“You can’t be that bad,” Arthur protested, grinning.
“Believe me, it’s best I stay on the sidelines,” Merlin assured him.
“Well, maybe you could come to one of my games sometime,” Arthur suggested idly, taking a carefully nonchalant sip of his drink. “You could be my cheerleader.”
Merlin smiled. “Maybe I could. I’ve been told I’ve got the legs for a skirt.”
The rest of the evening passed in the same way, with conversation that was half-banter, half-flirting. Merlin learned that Arthur had a half-sister, and that he worked for his father, who he obviously admired. He also learned that the blonde was a bit of a prat, but secretly kind, and had a weakness for biscuits that his half-sister ruthlessly mocked. In turn, Merlin talked about his mother, the photography business he and Will had built, and the time Gwen had tried to teach him how to cook and he’d wound up setting the garlic bread on fire. Arthur was an exceptionally good listener, with a gorgeous, full-bodied laugh that gave Merlin the urge to kiss him then and there. He restrained himself, but only barely, even though he was fairly certain Arthur wouldn’t mind if he didn’t.
They left the coffee shop after a gaggle of schoolchildren had swooped in, and wandered in the direction of the tube station. Merlin was glad to notice Arthur’s steps were as slow as his own as they walked closer to each other than the mostly-empty street required, arms brushing.
“So, tell me about the worst client you’ve ever had,” Arthur suggested after a while, when they had fallen into a short, comfortable silence. Merlin groaned.
“That was definitely Sophia. She was awful. Absolutely everything had to be perfect, or she’d stomp around and make a scene until someone fixed it. She tried to order me to get her a drink because she thought I was her personal servant for the day.”
Arthur laughed. “Did she have one?”
“Of course, courtesy of her father. She made him follow her around all morning and call her ‘Madame Sofia’.”
“Good lord, really? Her poor husband.”
“You have no idea. Although, from what I heard, he’s rich enough to keep her happy, for a while, at least.” Merlin shook his head. “And as if the bride wasn’t unpleasant enough, she had thirteen bridesmaids. Trying to get them all to sit for photos was a nightmare.” Arthur looked vaguely horrified.
“Why on earth would someone need that many bridesmaids?”
“No idea. Probably just to have that many people under her control. You know she made them all stand at least a foot behind her in every picture? And they all had to wear these awful pink dresses that probably cost a fortune,” Merlin said. “And then, after all of that, she tried to get me to give her a refund on her photographs, because she said she looked fat.”
Arthur shook his head. “How do you deal with that?” Merlin smirked.
“Caffeine, and lots of it.”
They laughed as they approached the station. Merlin had a sense of déjà vu when they both turned to face each other, as reluctant to part now as they had been the first time they met.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” he said finally. Arthur smiled.
“I’m glad. I did, too.” He leaned in, looking at Merlin and grinning in a way that Merlin was fighting not to call sexy. “I have a feeling our second date will be better.”
A shiver that had nothing to do with the evening chill went down Merlin’s spine at the promise in Arthur’s voice. “And who says there’s going to be a second date?”
Arthur’s grin widened. “Call it instinct,” he said, and Merlin kissed him, partly to shut him up, and partly because he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. It wasn’t particularly long or heated, just enough to catch a hint of coffee on Arthur’s soft, slightly chapped lips, and then he pulled back. He had about two seconds to catch his breath before Arthur had pressed their lips together again.
“I have to go,” Arthur mumbled, but he didn’t even try to back away. Merlin hummed, the tip of his nose brushing against Arthur’s. Another brief kiss later, and he stepped back.
“Call me?” he asked, squashing the ridiculous desire to pull Arthur back to him and explore his mouth again-it was only their first date, he shouldn’t be feeling so bereft-and Arthur nodded, only turning into the station once Merlin had gone around the corner.
---
Two weeks later, Merlin sat in his spare room-turned-office, squinting at his computer.
“What about this one?” he asked, gesturing at the picture of a bride and her bridesmaids. Will leaned forward.
“’s alright. The lighting’s a bit off, but you could easily fix it before you send it off.”
“Hm. And this one?”
“Better, a-oh hang on, maid number three’s making a face, look.”
Merlin hummed again as he scrolled to the next photograph, when his phone went off.
1 New Message: Arthur Pendragon
“It’s the bloke from the café again, isn’t it?” Will sighed. “You’ve gone all moony-eyed.”
“His name is Arthur,” Merlin protested, fighting a blush. “We’ve been seeing each other for two weeks, don’t pretend not to know his name.”
“How could I not know his name? You’ve not stopped going on about him since you met him.” Will adopted a sing-song voice. “Oh, Arthur said the funniest thing…you’ll never believe what Arthur did-“
“Shut up, Will,” Merlin cut him off, now distinctly red-cheeked. “I really like him.”
“Clearly,” Will snorted. He settled back in his seat and fixed Merlin with a serious look. “When do we get to meet him?”
“Never. You’ll just scare him off like you did Val.”
“Val was a twat. Come on, Merlin, you can’t hide him forever if you’ve serious about him. You’ve met his friends, haven’t you?”
Merlin had, or at least most of them, last weekend when he’d gone to see Arthur play football. He’d had a great time cheering them on, and an even better time afterward having celebratory sex with Arthur (but Will didn’t need to know about that).
“Alright, fine, I’ll ask him,” Merlin relented. “But please don’t be an arse to him, Will. I’m serious when I say I really like him.”
“I promise, alright? I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Merlin doubted it, but contented himself with only a snort before he changed the subject. “Have you got everything set for your event tomorrow? Freya’s working it with you, right?” Will nodded.
“Yeah, everything’s ready. We had a meeting with the event coordinator this morning, sounds like it’s going to be an easy job. What about you-it’s the Godwyn wedding this weekend, yeah?”
“Yes, Saturday, if they don’t elope first,” Merlin answered. “Elena’s emails have gotten more and more frantic since our meeting. I think she’s having trouble with her wedding planner…”
---
On Friday morning, Merlin woke up to an unfamiliar alarm beeping at him. Behind him, Arthur groaned and rolled over to shut it off, not even bothering to retaliate when Merlin stole his blankets. He just wrapped his arms around the thinner man’s waist, pressing fleeting kisses to his shoulder.
“Good morning,” he breathed, giving Merlin’s ear a quick nip. Merlin grumbled, which made Arthur laugh. “Come on, lazy. I’ll make you coffee.”
“’d rather just go back to sleep,” Merlin mumbled. He turned around, careful not to dislodge his blankets, and tugged at Arthur’s arm until they were snuggled together again.
“Some of us aren’t lucky enough to have evening hours at work,” Arthur pointed out.
“So skip.”
“Can’t. Have an important dinner tonight, I need to get work done before I can leave.” Arthur leaned forward to suck a gentle kiss against Merlin’s throat. Merlin made a happy sound, allowing his blanket cocoon to be tugged away so Arthur could trail his lips down further. He let his fingers knot in Arthur’s hair as the blonde paused to explore the creases of his hip bone, and then gasped when he changed direction suddenly to nuzzle at the base of Merlin’s cock.
“I thought you had work,” he gasped, hoping against hope that Arthur wouldn’t stop. The blonde grinned up at him.
“Why do you think I set an early alarm?” he retorted, and Merlin hauled him up for a kiss.
He made soft encouraging noises when Arthur slid a condom over his morning erection, murmuring sleepy nonsense into the skin beneath his bellybutton before bending to slip the head of Merlin’s cock between his lips. Merlin watched him swallow, drowsy arousal already burning in his stomach as Arthur worked his cock. He threaded his fingers through Arthur’s hair again, mostly just to have something to hold on to, and closed his eyes. Arthur’s fingers kept a steady grip on his hips, keeping him from thrusting, but Merlin was perfectly content to let Arthur coax his orgasm out of him, working him from sleepiness to arousal with his tongue.
He felt Arthur shift and moan, and opened his eyes to see Arthur reaching down to stroke himself, precome beading at the tip of his cock.
“Fuck,” Merlin swore. Arthur looked up at him from beneath his lashes, and Merlin had to swallow at the wave of lust. “Arthur, I’m gonna come-“
Arthur gave him a purposeful suck in response, and Merlin closed his eyes as his orgasm hit him. He’d barely caught his breath before Arthur was kissing him, stroking himself in earnest now. Merlin helped as best he could, giving Arthur’s cock a few tugs before he spilled over their fists. He came with a quiet gasp, barely pulling away to breathe before licking his way back into Merlin’s mouth, his lips languid and explorative again now that desire had been sated.
“You taste like latex,” Merlin mumbled, making a face. Arthur nipped his jaw in response.
“And you have morning breath,” he muttered. Merlin squawked indignantly, but Arthur just grinned.
“You’re a prat.”
“So you tell me.” Arthur kissed him again, blatantly ignoring Merlin’s pout. “Come on, you can wash up while I make coffee.”
Arthur was as good as his word, and by the time Merlin stumbled into the kitchen-barefoot and shirtless, but at least wearing boxers-there was a steaming cup of coffee waiting for him.
“I knew there was a reason I was dating you,” he groaned appreciatively after he’d taken the first sip, sliding into a seat at the table. Arthur snorted.
“Toast’ll be done in a few minutes. Try not to set anything on fire while I get dressed?”
Merlin considered protesting, but he’d already confessed his disturbing lack of culinary skills, so he just ignored Arthur instead and concentrated on inhaling his coffee. By the time the blonde reappeared, Merlin had downed two cups, and was halfway through his second piece of toast, feeling much more human because of it.
“You look nice,” he said when he caught sight of Arthur’s work clothes-the usual button-down and slacks, but with an added suit jacket and tie that made him look older.
“We’re wrapping up a deal today, I expect a few visitors will be dropping by. It’s about time, if I had to read one more sentence about this deal, I was going to go mad,” Arthur sighed, flopping down into the seat next to Merlin. “Did you save me any toast?”
“Sounds awful,” Merlin replied with a smile, sliding the last pieces towards him. “Would I understand you if I asked what you were working on?” Arthur laughed.
“No, probably not. What about you, doing anything exciting?”
“Just going through some pictures to send off for bridal approval,” Merlin replied. Arthur made a vague humming noise, thumb rubbing absently against Merlin’s ankle which was draped across his leg. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”
Arthur shot him a look. “You sound nervous.”
“I might be. My friends want to meet you.”
There was a slight pause, long enough for Merlin to start worrying, before Arthur said, “Are you nervous because you think I’ll say no, or because you think they’ll scare me off?”
“Both?” Merlin tried, which made Arthur laugh.
“Well, I’m definitely not going to say no, if it makes you feel any better. And it’s very unlikely they’ll scare me away.”
Merlin exhaled, relieved. “Oh, I dunno. They’re a very determined group.”
“And I’m a very determined man,” Arthur responded smugly. “I’m not likely to let go of something I want.” Merlin couldn’t quite contain his giggle as he leaned forward for a kiss.
“Figures, you’ve even a prat when you’re being sweet. Why don’t we meet next Friday, at the Rising Sun?”
“Sounds good. Will I see you before then?”
Merlin smiled. “Oh, I expect so,” he said, pressing a kiss to the corner of Arthur’s mouth. He smirked at Arthur’s noise of approval, trailing kisses up along the strong line of Arthur’s jaw until he found his ear, but Arthur stopped him before he could get any farther.
“Don’t be greedy, Merlin. I’ll be late for work,” he warned, but he allowed Merlin one more kiss, anyway. “Come on, if we leave now we can stop for more coffee on the way to the station.”
---
Merlin tried not to stare as he walked up the drive to Elena’s family home. The couple had elected to have their ceremony here, rather than at a church, probably because it was as close to a backyard wedding as they could get away with. It was massive, with even bigger grounds for the horses the Godwyn family raised, and Merlin felt very shabby as he rang the bell. A butler opened the door almost immediately to admit Will and Merlin into the spotless foyer.
“The other half don’t want for anything, do they?” Will hissed. Merlin shot him a warning look before they were whisked away, Will to deal with the groom and Merlin the bride.
Elena and her posse had taken refuge in a bedroom on the second floor. He could hear excited chatting and laughter as he approached, which ceased the second he knocked.
“For the last time, Gwaine, you’re not allowed in, no matter how impressive your arse looks in your trousers,” an unfamiliar female voice called. Merlin stifled his laugh.
“It’s Merlin. The photographer.”
There was a pause before the door was thrown open to reveal a beautiful, pale-skinned woman, with inky hair that was currently pinned into rollers on top of her head.
“Sorry, Gwaine’s been by three times already, I just figured you were him again. Please, come in. I’m Morgana, the maid of honor.”
Merlin stepped into the room, which had clearly been Elena’s at one point. There were ribbons and trophies from various equestrian events everywhere, and an entire wall of photographs of her posing with horses. Elena herself was sitting on the bed, wearing a fluffy bathrobe and having her hair pinned.
“Merlin! Hi, welcome!” She waved, nearly dislodging the hairdresser who just rolled her eyes. Merlin smiled back at her.
“Hello, Elena. You look beautiful.”
“Doesn’t she?” Morgana agreed, sweeping across the room like it was a runway. “I keep telling her that. She’d have been going down the aisle in her riding clothes if she’d had her way.”
Elena made a face that made Merlin think she wasn’t entirely convinced it was a bad idea. Morgana ignored her.
“Mithian,” she called, waving over another of the bridesmaids, “this is Merlin, the photographer. Merlin, Mithian. The darling flower girl over there-“ she waved at the little girl, who was pouting as the final bridesmaid tucked her into her stockings, “is Anna. The poor woman dressing her is Elena’s cousin.”
Merlin smiled his greetings as he got his camera ready, taking a few test shots while the women went back to their stations. Elena watched him, jiggling her foot twisting her fingers in her lap nervously.
“Do you need anything from me?” she asked after a while, biting her lip. “I know you said you didn’t before, but with Grunhilda missing I thought I’d make sure-“
“I’m fine,” he interrupted her gently. He gave her a reassuring smile. “All you need to worry about now is getting dressed and marrying Gwaine.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Oh, is that all?” she tried to joke, sounding a bit strained. “Here I thought today was important.”
“Elena, darling, don’t stress yourself,” Morgana called from near the window, where she was slipping into her dark brown dress. “Everything is under control. Just let Merlin do his job.”
“Right,” Elena said, “right, of course, sorry.”
Taking pity on her, Merlin quickly changed the subject by raising his camera. After that, it was a bit of a blur, with Elena tripping over her heels and the bridesmaids getting dressed and Merlin trying to get the flower girl to sit still long enough for a picture. But eventually, it was time for the actual ceremony.
Elena made a beautiful bride, blushing and giggling when she nearly dropped her bouquet waving at Merlin. Some of the nerves from the dressing room had apparently settled, and she managed a beaming smile as the doors opened in front of her. She somehow managed the walk down the makeshift aisle, where Gwaine was waiting to take her hand, radiating a fierce fondness.
Merlin settled in against the wall as the ceremony began. From here, he could just see Gwaine’s expression, and he raised his camera. One of the groomsmen shifted, and Merlin glanced over at him, nearly dropping his camera when he recognized Arthur, who looked just as shocked to see him.
For a moment, they just stared at each other, and then Arthur blinked.
What are you doing here? he mouthed as the priest droned on, looking somewhere between confused and pleased. Merlin lifted his camera in answer, and then waved in dismissal, mouthing back, Talk later, pay attention!
Arthur hesitated, but gave a brief nod before turning back to the proceedings, doing a valiant job of pretending not to sneak Merlin glances every few seconds. For his part, Merlin had never been so grateful for a short ceremony. He did his job as best he could with one eye on Arthur (mostly on his arse, which he couldn’t resist taking a few sneaky shots of), but he was undeniably relieved when Gwaine gave his new wife a hearty snog and led the bridal party back up the aisle.
He spotted Arthur loitering in a corner of the foyer and made a beeline for him. Arthur seized him as soon as he was within grabbing distance, hauling him in for a brief kiss.
“What are you doing here? I didn’t even know you had a job today, let alone…why didn’t you say anything?” Arthur asked with a laugh. Merlin raised an eyebrow at him.
“I could ask you the same thing. You didn’t mention you had a wedding today.”
At that, Arthur looked a little sheepish.
“I know, I’m sorry. It was stupid. I was just…I was worried that it was too early to start bringing you to weddings, and you’d be all uncomfortable if I said something, like you were obligated to go just because we’re dating. By the time I got over it it was too late and I just…never mentioned it.”
Merlin stared at him before he burst into laughter. “God, you clotpole. Come here.”
Arthur went, but he hesitated before their lips touched, glancing over his shoulder at the milling wedding guests. “You don’t get in trouble for this, will you?” Merlin grinned.
“For dating a groomsman? No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just tell them you seduced me, anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Arthur smirked, cutting off Merlin’s reply with his lips. Merlin wanted to protest, but Arthur’s lips were soft and his hand was cradling Merlin’s jaw, and when they parted, his smile was so pleased and private that Merlin couldn’t resist returning it.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Arthur laughed, with a little shake of his head.
“Me, neither,” Merlin replied. “How do you know Gwaine and Elena, anyway?”
“Elena’s some sort of distant cousin. We practically grew up together, our fathers were friends. Gwaine went to uni with us and hasn’t left us alone since,” Arthur replied. Merlin snorted at him before something Arthur had said registered.
“Your father is friends with the Godwyns? He’s not-he’s not here, is he?”
Merlin had no objections to meeting the family, per se, but from what Arthur had told him, Uther Pendragon was a fairly formidable man. He wasn’t sure he was entirely prepared for that first meeting quite yet.
Arthur shook his head.
“He’s travelling for business this week. He sent Gwaine and Elena a very expensive, very useless vase in apology. Gwaine was thrilled,” he said dryly, and Merlin snorted. Behind Arthur, the crowd was starting to shuffle forward into the cocktail hour area; they only had a few more minutes of relative privacy before their absences would be noticed. Arthur didn’t seem to care. He leaned in for another quick kiss, letting his hands wander briefly before pulling back.
“How soon before we can get out of here?” Arthur asked, watching his fingers smooth down the collar of Merlin’s dress shirt.
“At least until the bouquet toss,” Merlin replied wistfully. Arthur groaned. “Think you can wait that long?”
“With you looking like this? Not a chance,” Arthur murmured. Merlin yelped when he felt Arthur give his arse a firm squeeze through his suit trousers. He aimed a smack at Arthur’s shoulder, which was neatly dodged.
“Stop it, prat, or I will get in trouble.”
Arthur smirked as he stepped away, which was when Merlin noticed Will over his shoulder, staring at them, open-mouthed.
“Oh, shit,” Merlin sighed.
---
It took about ten minutes of their joint glares for Merlin to decide that Will and Morgana should never meet again, if only for the sake of his sanity. He was pretty sure Arthur agreed with him, if the half-irritated, half-terrified looks he was giving his sister were anything to go by. Percy and Leon, the other groomsmen, seemed amused by the whole situation. They kept nudging Arthur and giving him pointed winks whenever Merlin offered an instruction, which seemed to infuriate Morgana further. Will said nothing, although he had his hands full taking pictures of the young flower girl and ring bearer.
Thankfully, neither Gwaine nor Elena noticed the odd tension.
“Alright, guys, looks great,” Merlin announced, after the group and family photos had been taken. “Now just the bride and groom.”
He didn’t miss Will’s look as he shepherded the wedding party inside, nor Arthur’s, but he ignored them both as the couple approached. He spared a moment to pity Arthur for being left alone against the combined forces of Will and Morgana before he shifted back into work mode. They took a few generic photographs, for Elena’s parents, and then some more that involved a frantically giggling Elena being hoisted around by Gwaine, and several with the two of them just messing around.
“Alright,” Merlin said eventually, when they’d done the normal routine, “anything else you guys wanted?”
“Sid!” Elena blurted. “We need a picture with Sid.”
“With…who, sorry?”
“Her horse,” Gwaine clarified. “The Sidhe Changeling, if you’re familiar with the competitive ring. Go and fetch him, El, we’ll wait here.”
Elena beamed and jogged towards the fence. Or at least, she tried to. She made it three steps before her skirt tangled around her legs, and the points of her heels dug into the ground.
“Oh, for the love of-“ she grumbled, and promptly kicked off her shoes. Merlin watched as she scooped them up and tossed them in Gwaine’s direction-or near enough, winding up several feet to Gwaine’s left. Gwaine caught them, anyway, looking thoroughly unconcerned as his wife hoisted her skirt to her knees and began to climb over the fence.
“Should she…should she be doing that in that dress?” Merlin asked. Elena laughed.
“Oh, Merlin, trust me, I’ve been sneaking out of boring old parties in awful dresses for years. This is nothing.”
“Alright then,” Merlin said weakly, as Elena proceeded to run, barefoot, across the field, and raised his camera for a picture.
“That’s my girl,” Gwaine said fondly as his wife disappeared into a stable. Merlin smiled.
“She’s quite a catch.”
“That she is,” Gwaine agreed, before turning his gaze on Merlin. “Speaking of catches, I saw you and Arthur earlier. Arthur’s not the type to snog someone he’s just met, at least not when he’s sober. How long’s this been going on, then?”
Merlin winced. “About a month.” Gwaine looked surprised.
“Well done, princess,” he muttered, then, louder, “I have to say, of all the things I expected to see on my wedding day, my best man snogging my photographer wasn’t one of them.”
“Er-sorry,” Merlin said awkwardly. To his surprise, Gwaine laughed.
“Oh God, don’t apologize. You’ve already got him snogging at parties and making dirty comments without blushing. Mate, you’re good for him.”
Merlin didn’t know what to say. He settled for an awkward, “Um, thanks?”, and was spared having to do more by Elena’s return, sitting easily on Sid’s back, despite the gown. He took a deep breath.
“Alright, then. Let’s get these pictures done.”
---
The wedding reception was held in a beautifully decorated ballroom in the house. Elena’s family had insisted on a traditional ceremony, but the reception had been up to the couple. As a result, there was a D.J. squashed between the candelabras, and a bar set up beneath what looked like a very old, very expensive painting at the far end of the room. Merlin was skulking around the edge of the dance floor taking pictures (and avoiding Will) when someone pressed up against his side.
“Nice party, isn’t it?” Arthur murmured, eyes fixed on the dance floor even as his lips ghosted against Merlin’s ear. Merlin shivered.
“Gwaine says he already caught one of his cousins sneaking off with a waiter. He sounded jealous.”
Merlin laughed despite himself, looking out at the dance floor where Gwaine had his arms firmly wrapped around Elena’s waist, possibly just to keep her from falling.
“He doesn’t look like he wants to escape now,” he observed, lifting his camera to snap a few shots. Behind him, Arthur snorted.
“You should have seen him last night. We had to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning the night before his wedding. Leon was convinced he was going to run out of the pub and never be heard from again,” he informed Merlin seriously, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Merlin grinned up at him and leaned against his chest.
“Aren’t you a knight in shining armor.”
Arthur chuckled in agreement. “He’s lucky I was there.”
Merlin opened his mouth for a clever reply, but Arthur kissed him before he had the chance to say it. Caught off-guard, Merlin let himself sink into it, until a sudden swell of music erupted from the D.J. and he remembered where he was.
“Arthur,” he murmured, pulling away just enough to speak, “I’m working, they’ve not even done the bouquet toss yet-“
“Will can handle it,” Arthur cut him off, and kissed him again. Merlin was very tempted to let it continue, but he pulled back again, resolute.
“Morgana will kill you.” To his surprise, Arthur just smirked.
“Don’t worry about Morgana. Mithian’s distracting her. And Will agreed to cover for you.”
“You planned this,” Merlin accused without any heat, his fingers already sliding along the line of buttons on Arthur’s shirt. Arthur smiled.
“Possibly.”
“You’re going to get me fired,” Merlin sighed when Arthur’s only response was to curl his fingers into Merlin’s hair.
“Unlikely. I know the groom, remember?” Arthur purred. Merlin shivered as Arthur leaned closer to whisper in his ear, “Godwyn gave me a room upstairs. Join me?”
“You’re not even going to ask me to dance first?” Merlin teased, feigning a disappointed look which was met with a snort.
“I’d rather not have my feet trampled before I’ve had a chance to ravish you,” Arthur replied. He ignored Merlin’s glare in favor of tugging him in the direction of the door. Merlin allowed himself to be led for several steps until he suddenly remembered.
“Wait, shit, we don’t…have anything.”
He knew Arthur knew he meant condoms, and preferably lube-he hadn’t exactly been expecting his boyfriend to show up tonight. Arthur, however, simply kissed him and drew Merlin’s hand towards his pocket, where Merlin felt the crinkle of a condom packet. He blinked.
“Where’d you get that from? Please don’t say Morgana.”
Arthur smiled. “Mithian’s always been a helpful person,” he said against the shell of Merlin’s ear, and really there wasn’t anything Merlin could say to that except to allow himself to be towed out of the reception.
The room Arthur had been given was two floors above and three hallways away from the ballroom. Merlin thought they had probably taken longer to get there than they should have, with Arthur pushing Merlin against the wall every few minutes and shoving his tongue down his throat. Merlin wasn’t exactly innocent, either, unashamedly groping Arthur’s ass through his trousers whenever this happened. When they finally made it to the bedroom, Arthur wasted no time in dragging Merlin onto the bed, dislodging a cascade of decorative pillows in the process.
“You have no idea,” Arthur breathed against Merlin’s cheek, “how sexy you look like this, all dressed up. I almost don’t want to get you naked.”
“That…sounds a little counter-productive,” Merlin managed absently, preoccupied by the feeling of Arthur’s hips thrusting lazily against his. Arthur nipped his ear.
“I said almost,” he replied, and suddenly Merlin found himself flat on his back with Arthur nosing at his neck, giving him a kiss for each button he opened. His shirt was being wrestled off of him in record time, and Arthur latched onto his chest happily, nipping and sucking while Merlin writhed squirmed beneath him. In the back of his mind, he thought he should probably do something about getting Arthur naked, but Arthur’s mouth felt so good, he settled for sliding his hands over Arthur’s back, gripping his shoulders with every hard press of Arthur’s mouth.
“You know,” Arthur remarked, lips trailing down to follow Merlin’s happy trail, “this would go a lot faster if you weren’t sitting there like an idiot, Merlin.”
“That’s what you get for seducing me on the job, prat,” Merlin retorted, but he tugged Arthur back up for a kiss as he worked on removing Arthur’s jacket, shirt, and tie.
When all of their clothes had been peeled off and shoved into piles on the floor, Merlin set about mapping Arthur’s body with his mouth. Arthur made deliciously breathy noises whenever he found a sensitive spot, moaning outright when Merlin blew a teasing breath across the head of his cock. Arthur’s fingers curled encouragingly around his neck, but Merlin continued to tease with quick kisses against everything but the erection bobbing against Arthur’s belly. Arthur groaned.
“Merlin, I swear, if you don’t stop teasing and bloody do something, I will make you sorry.”
Merlin made a vague, thoughtful sound against the underside of Arthur’s cock. He smirked at Arthur’s frustrated growl, but then suddenly he was flipped onto his back, with Arthur pressed all along his front, biting bruising kisses as he rolled their hips together.
“That’s cheating,” Merlin objected, but he didn’t even bother pulling away from Arthur’s lips to say it.
“Shut up,” Arthur replied, shoving his tongue down Merlin’s throat to make sure he was obeyed. Merlin, however, was more than happy to do as he was told and said nothing as he groped blindly for the lube and condom they’d fished out earlier. He pressed the packets into Arthur’s hand and spread his legs.
Arthur, for all his bravado, had proven to be a careful lover in the past weeks. He took unnecessary care in preparing Merlin, distracting him with kisses and nips and hands teasing his nipples as his lubed fingers slid inside. When finally he deemed Merlin prepared enough, he pushed inside just as carefully, waiting until Merlin had begun flexing around his erection before he started thrusting. Merlin wrapped his fingers around Arthur’s shoulders and let his head fall against the pillows while Arthur fucked him, soft grunts falling from his lips. Arthur was mouthing at his shoulder, bracing himself with an arm on either side of Merlin. He looked up when Merlin gasped at a particularly sharp thrust, and Merlin promptly dragged him into a filthy kiss.
“Merlin,” Arthur growled, “fuck, I’ve wanted to do this since the fucking ceremony. Was thinking about it while I was on the bloody altar.” Merlin whimpered when he pulled back, just the head of his cock still inside, before he slammed back in. “My best friends were getting married, but all I could think about was fucking you against a wall.”
Merlin had nothing to say to that, so he kissed him instead. He misjudged the angle, his lips winding up closer to Arthur’s chin than his mouth, but he groaned anyway and shifted to kiss back. Hooking his ankles around Arthur’s middle, Merlin tugged him even closer, forcing Arthur’s cock deeper, and moaned.
“Fuck,” he gasped. He dropped a hand from Arthur’s shoulder to tug at his own erection. “Arthur, come on.”
He received a kiss for his troubles, his gasps choked off by Arthur’s tongue thrusting into his mouth. For a while the only sounds in the room were their breathing and the slick sound of skin-on-skin from Arthur’s deep, steady thrusts and Merlin’s hand pumping his cock. He could feel his orgasm building, wriggling his hips to get Arthur impossibly deeper.
“Shit, Merlin, I’m too close,” Arthur breathed shakily. “I’m gonna come if you do that.”
“Do it,” Merlin replied, pressing back even harder.
He brought his free hand down to Arthur’s chest, stroking and caressing his flank as Arthur’s rhythm sped up, became more selfish. His head dropped to Merlin’s shoulder. With a muffled groan, Merlin felt Arthur still against him, his hips fucking inside slower now as he came. Merlin whimpered and sped up his hand, toes curling against the small of Arthur’s back, almost dizzy with the need to come. Arthur pressed a kiss against the curve of his shoulder, thrusting his still-hard cock almost lazily inside Merlin and murmuring his name with each drag of his cock. Merlin cried out when he climaxed, his come painting Arthur’s belly as the blonde swept him into a kiss with both of them too blissed out to care about finesse.
Merlin let himself sink further into the bed while Arthur discarded the condom and fetched tissues to clean them with. He made a protesting noise when Arthur tried to get him to shift.
“Useless,” Arthur tutted before giving up and settling beside him. “Absolutely useless.” He let Merlin snuggle up against his side, both of them too warm for the covers just yet.
“Clotpole,” Merlin retorted sleepily.
“First you seduce me at my best friend’s wedding ,then you insult me.” Arthur pulled a wounded face. “You are shameless, Merlin Emrys.”
“Right, because I’m the one who dragged you away in the middle of the reception.” Merlin rolled his eyes, but kissed Arthur to show he wasn’t really mad. Arthur cradled his cheek against his palm when they pulled apart.
“Alright, maybe we’re both equally guilty,” he said softly, and Merlin smiled, drifting off to sleep with his head on Arthur’s chest.
---
In the morning, they crept out of the room before the others woke. They drove to Arthur’s flat, where Arthur made coffee and Merlin curled up against him, and they spent the day passing kisses over takeaway and fighting over the remote. By the time night came around, with Merlin sprawled across the mattress beside Arthur, Merlin was pretty sure he’d never been so comfortable.
---
Epilogue
Three weddings, a baby, a proposal, and many, many coffee dates later, Merlin sat in his new kitchen, coffee in hand as he rearranged his portfolio. The pictures of Lance and Gwen, and Will and Freya had been joined by new ones over the years: Elena sitting sidesaddle on her horse with Gwaine at her side, both laughing; Morgana leaning against Leon’s chest, the mansion’s chandelier lighting making them glow; Mithian performing a waltz with her new husband; and, more recently, Percy and Elyan holding hands at their backyard ceremony. There were group photos, as well, including one of Morgana’s wedding party which featured a five-month pregnant Gwen.
There was even one of Arthur, bent down on one knee and offering a simple silver band to the camera.
Merlin was fingering that same ring while he poured over his newer photographs when he heard the door to the flat open, followed by Arthur’s voice calling his name.
“In the kitchen,” he called back, and then Arthur appeared, smiling when he saw Merlin.
“Hey,” he greeted him, swooping down for a kiss hello. “This seat taken?”
“Hey yourself. No, it’s fine, just move whatever,” Merlin replied, shifting the pile of papers from the seat to the table. Arthur flopped down into the vacant spot, promptly reaching out to steal Merlin’s coffee (Merlin didn’t even bat an eyelid).
“What is all this?” Arthur asked, leaning in to see what Merlin was looking at.
“Portfolio. Will wants to update the website and I was hoping for some ideas.”
Arthur made a thoughtful noise, thumbing through the pictures until he came to the one of Elena and Gwaine, and he laughed. “Elena and her horses. I can’t believe this was three years ago already.”
“Time flies,” Merlin agreed. Arthur nudged him.
“All of these are fantastic,” he said, indicating the spread of photographs. “Whatever you choose will work for the site. It’s too bad you can’t photograph your own wedding.”
“Will will do a fine job,” Merlin said, warmth settling in his belly like it always did when Arthur talked about their wedding. Arthur smirked and kissed him.
“Maybe. But there’s no one finer than you,” he teased., and Merlin rolled his eyes as he kissed back, chasing the taste of coffee from his lips.
Word Count: 9086
Warnings: none
Summary: Merlin and Arthur meet over coffee, and then again at a wedding.
Read on AO3
There wasn’t a single coffee shop within a thirty-mile radius of this flat that Merlin hadn’t visited at least once. He knew this was a fact, because he and Gwen had Google mapped it once, and Merlin was obsessively thorough about his coffee. Every morning, he rolled out of bed and immediately puttered into his kitchen for the first cup of the day. If he had a shoot, he usually grabbed the second at the café two streets away, or at the train station if he had a bit to travel. If he didn’t, cup number two usually came from the place across his uncle’s shop, where he sometimes volunteered his help. There was usually a third somewhere after that; Gwen often informed him that he was an addict, and Merlin thought she was probably right (she also accused him of being a bit of a hipster, and was probably right about that, too).
That didn’t stop him, though, which was why now he found himself sitting in a corner booth of his favourite café on one of his free days. He was staring absently through the window when someone approached his table, clearing their throat politely.
“Sorry to bother you, but are these seats occupied? The other tables are full.”
“Oh, no, go ahead,” Merlin said, blinking at the blonde, posh-sounding man. He was gorgeous, with a strong jaw and blue eyes, obviously having just escaped the office, if his button-down shirt and loosened tie were any indication. He gave Merlin a polite smile as he sat down, and Merlin caught a peek of slightly wonky teeth that somehow just made it all come together. Merlin hid his appreciative gaze behind the rim of his cup.
“So, rough day at work?” he ventured, after a few moments of not-quite-awkward silence. The blonde frowned.
“What makes you think that?”
“Oh, you know,” Merlin began, waving in the man’s general direction, “business clothes. And you’re inhaling your coffee like you think someone’s going to steal it from you.”
“Oh,” Blondie said, with a little laugh, and yeah, Merlin definitely didn’t mind those teeth. “No, not really. Just another day at the office.” He raised his drink and grinned. “I just have a rather unfortunate coffee addiction.”
Now it was Merlin’s turn to laugh. “I know how that goes, believe me. I’m Merlin, by the way.”
“Arthur,” the blonde supplied, and they shook hands. Merlin bit his cheek to hide his grin at the formality of it.
“So what do you do, Arthur?” he asked.
“I have an office at Pendragon, Ltd.”
Merlin whistled lowly. “Impressive.” Arthur smiled at him.
“And you?”
“I’m a photographer.” He didn’t miss the way the corner of Arthur’s mouth flicked upward, and he raised his eyebrows. “Something wrong with that?”
“No, no,” Arthur hurried to assure him, “I just…I should have known.”
Merlin’s eyebrows rose even higher. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing! It just…” He paused, and Merlin grinned at the serious businessman floundering for words. “It suits you. You look…you know.”
“Like a hipster?”
Arthur cringed, and Merlin laughed. “I’m sorry,” the blonde sighed. “I’m being terribly rude.”
“It’s fine. You’re cute when you’re flustered.” Merlin replied and was rewarded with a light blush.
“What kind of photography do you do?” Arthur asked in response. Merlin smirked, but allowed the subject change.
“Mostly weddings. Sometimes special events, charities, that sort of thing.” He took a sip of his drink, just to see if Arthur would look at him (he did). “I do a bit of freelancing on the side, too, mostly for fun. I had a gallery exhibit a few weeks ago, and I’m trying to organize another one now.”
Arthur nodded. They sat there and chatted easily for the better part of an hour. The surrounding tables had since cleared, but they didn’t bother to separate. Merlin hadn’t wanted to leave, but he was already late for dinner with Gwen, and the barista had long since taken to wandering around their table with pointed glances. Arthur seemed equally reluctant as they dithered on the sidewalk outside of the café. Eventually, it couldn’t be put off any longer.
“I really should go,” Merlin sighed regretfully. Arthur nodded. They stood there for another moment, and then Arthur extended his hand for a shake.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Merlin.”
“Yeah. You, too,” Merlin replied. He took a step back, then another one. “I’ll see you around, Arthur.”
Arthur smirked at him. “See that you do.”
It wasn’t until later, when he was kicking off his trainers in Gwen and Lance’s flat, that Merlin realized he hadn’t thought to ask Arthur for his phone number. He groaned.
“Idiot!”
---
Merlin couldn’t help feeling a little bit foolish as he ducked into the coffee shop the next day. It was far from a rare occurrence for him to be there, but he usually didn’t return two afternoons in a row, and he definitely didn’t glance around at the other patrons for a familiar face. There were a few others already there, but definitely no sight of Arthur. Merlin stifled his disappointment and moved to join the queue.
He’d had no real reason to think Arthur would even be there, so he really didn’t have anything to be disappointed over. Arthur had admitted to being a coffee addict, but that didn’t mean he always came to this café. Or maybe an afternoon coffee was a special treat, or a weekly tradition rather than a daily one. Or maybe he simply had other plans, with people who weren’t just the bloke he’d shared a table with at a café. And even if he did come, there were plenty of free seats today. There was no guarantee Arthur would even sit with him. It was all Gwen’s fault he was even here, Merlin thought sourly. She’d walked in on him face-palming himself for his forgetfulness and spent the majority of their dinner berating him until he’d agreed to come back.
He was so caught up in his negative thoughts that he didn’t notice the door opening behind him. He jumped about a foot in the air when someone tapped him on the shoulder, looking back just as a blessedly familiar, posh voice said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Arthur!” Merlin couldn’t hold back his smile when he saw the other man, who was grinning right back. “No, it’s fine, I wasn’t paying attention. How are you?”
“Fine,” Arthur answered, and Merlin was 99% certain he wasn’t imagining the way Arthur’s eyes darted down to his neck, “and yourself?”
“Great, actually.” Merlin’s smile widened. “I got a spot in an exhibition at a gallery downtown.”
“Congratulations,” Arthur said sincerely. Then added, “I’ll have to drop by.”
Merlin smiled.
“I’d like that.”
The customer in front of him shifted, but before Merlin could even turn around, Arthur smoothly stepped around Merlin to stand in front of the register.
“One medium coffee, two sugars, please. And whatever he’s having.”
“What? Arthur, no, you don’t-“ Merlin began, but Arthur waved him off.
“Shut up and order, Merlin. Call it a celebration.”
Merlin huffed, but placed his order, anyway, ignoring Arthur’s pleased smirk as he did so.
“You’re very pushy, you know,” Merlin remarked as the barista made their drinks. Arthur snorted.
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Mmm, I can imagine,” Merlin replied cheekily. He got a mock-glare in return, which only made him laugh and duck when Arthur made to ruffle his hair. The barista reappeared; they both collected their coffees and moved off to the side.
“So, er…shall we sit?” Merlin asked. Arthur hesitated, looking reluctant. Merlin had already opened his mouth to apologize, or take it back, or something equally stupid, when Arthur said,
“Actually, I can’t.” Merlin’s heart sank. “I have a dinner party for work tonight, and I’ll never hear the end of it if I’m late.” He paused before adding, “To be honest, I wasn’t even supposed to come here today, but I couldn’t resist. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I understand.” Merlin smiled and hoped his disappointment wasn’t as obvious as he thought it probably was. He should have known better than to get his hopes up, really. Arthur was still looking at him, and Merlin waited for him to make his excuses and leave. Instead, the blonde reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, which he handed to Merlin.
“Forgive me if this is too forward, but I’d like to call you sometime, when I don’t have to rush off to a dinner.”
Hope fluttered in Merlin’s chest again. “Yeah. Yeah, alright,” he said. He took Arthur’s phone and quickly typed his name and number into it before handing it back. Arthur promptly punched a few more buttons, and Merlin felt his own mobile vibrate in his pocket before it cut off abruptly.
“There, now you have mine, too,” Arthur said, pocketing his phone again. Merlin smiled.
“Guess I’ll be talking to you soon, then.”
“I suppose you will,” Arthur agreed. And then, with one last smile, he left.
Merlin wandered over to an empty seat without bothering to hide his grin. He pulled out his own phone and dialed, sipping absently from his coffee until he heard a familiar, “Hello?”
“Gwen,” he said, smile widening, “have I ever told you how much I love you?”
---
Merlin readjusted the bag on his shoulder as he walked up the drive to his latest appointment’s home. The directions he’d been given here were vague, at best, and he was just barely on time, even though he’d left his flat with plenty of time to spare. He knocked on the door, hoping that he’d found the right building.
A moment later, it flew open, and he barely h ad time to register a flurry of blonde hair before he was being yanked inside with an enthusiastic, “Oh good, Merlin, you’re here, hello! Thank you so much for meeting us at home, it’s been absolutely bollicking mad these past few days.”
“It’s no problem,” Merlin said warmly. Elena Godwyn was definitely not his typical bride. She was blonde and muscled from years of riding horses, with an excitable personality that was matched only by her hopeless clumsiness. Merlin had liked her immediately, and was very much looking forward to photographing her wedding. “How’s everything coming along?”
“To be honest, I haven’t any idea. It’s just all so much, you know? One second I think it’s all sorted, and then there’s fifty other things I haven’t even thought about to worry over.” Elena gave Merlin a slightly wilted smile. “Thank god for wedding planners, or we’d have just eloped ages ago.”
“I’ve been saying we should do that for weeks, but she wouldn’t listen to me.” Elena’s fiancée, Gwaine, said as he stepped into the hall. “Alright, Merlin?”
“Fine, thanks. You?”
“I’m holding up. Looking forward to all of this being done with. Just a few more days and it’ll be just me and this one here,” Gwaine replied, tugging on Elena’s wrist until she was snug against his side and giggling. They were a very striking pair, if different; Gwaine was all dark and suave where Elena was light and enthusiastic, but Merlin knew even from the few times he’d actually met them that they were perfect for each other.
Merlin was led into the sitting room, where Grunhilde, the rather alarming wedding planner, was already waiting. The meeting was fairly brief, mostly just a review of what they’d already discussed in previous ones, and Merlin showed them his portfolio again. He blushed appreciatively when Elena complimented the shot of Gwen being led to the alter by her brother Elyan, and the follow-up shot of Lance’s beaming, teary-eyed expression. Gwaine had turned gleeful eyes on Elena at the picture of a groom sliding his bride’s garter off Merlin had snapped at a wedding two months ago. Both of them loved the photo of Merlin’s childhood friend Will twirling his laughing new bride around in a fireman’s carry in front of the church. By the time they’d gone through all of the photos, Merlin was fairly certain he knew what Elena and Gwaine wanted out of him.
Merlin had to admit that he was impressed with the couple. They were remarkably relaxed, considering their wedding day was imminent, and Merlin knew from past meetings that they had their hands full with overly involved relatives (mostly on Elena’s part). They were incredibly friendly people, and they made Merlin feel completely at home with them.
When he left less than an hour later, his phone informed him that he had two messages waiting. One was from Lance. The other was from Arthur.
Coffee Friday?
Merlin smiled as he began the walk to the train station.
you know, people usually at least say hello before asking someone out.
He hardly had to wait a full minute before Arthur’s reply lit up his screen. I’ve always been an impatient man.
Then, a second one, You didn’t answer my question.
i’m free on friday.
Brilliant. Round Table Café, 6?
sounds great. see you then. x
---
“Gwen, I’m serious, I have nothing to wear.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. What about that blue jumper I got you for Christmas?”
Merlin glanced at the mound of clothes on his bed. “You don’t think that’s too formal?” Gwen laughed over the phone.
“It’s a jumper, Merlin, not a three-piece suit. Wear a scarf and those trainers you love so much if you’re worried.”
Merlin hummed thoughtfully. He was due to meet Arthur at the café in twenty minutes, and had spent the last hour wandering around his bedroom, shirtless, trying to find something to wear that wasn’t dirty or meant for a wedding. He’d already called Will in a panic, which had really been stupid. His friend had only listened in bemused silence for approximately two minutes before threatening to call Arthur himself and telling him about the time Merlin cried over his Harry Potter DVD breaking if he didn’t call “someone else who actually gives two shits about clothes, Merlin, just wear a t-shirt.”
He was pretty sure he would do it, too.
“Yeah, alright, I can do that. You’re a life-saver, Gwen.”
“Of course I am, darling. Have fun on your date!”
They hung up, and Merlin hurriedly dressed, just barely remembering to grab his keys before he left the flat. The night was cool, but not unpleasant as he walked the two streets to the café. Arthur was already there when he arrived, sitting at a table near the window at the back of the shop. He waved when he noticed Merlin.
“Hi. You look great,” he said, getting to his feet as Merlin approached. For a half-second, Merlin wondered if Arthur was going to pull out his chair for him, but then the blonde just smiled, and handed him a cup.
“Thanks, you, too.”
Which, he really did. While Arthur in a suit had been nice, he looked downright delicious in jeans and a light jacket, with his hair (probably very carefully) tousled. Merlin eyed him appreciatively as they sat down, and noticed that Arthur seemed to be favoring his leg.
“Are you alright?” he asked, gesturing down at the offending limb. “You look like you’ve hurt yourself.”
“What? Oh, my leg.” Arthur’s cheeks reddened, but he laughed sheepishly. “It’s nothing. I took a good kick to the thigh playing footie with mates yesterday.”
“You play football?” Merlin blurted, picturing a sweaty Arthur running around, wearing those flimsy shorts and possibly even shirtless, and had to snap his mouth shut before he started drooling.
Thankfully, Arthur didn’t seem to have noticed. “Sometimes. Usually on the weekends, just for fun.” He gave Merlin a knowing smirk, and asked, “Do you play?”
Merlin snorted. “Definitely not. I’d wind up in the hospital with more than a kicked thigh if I tried.”
“You can’t be that bad,” Arthur protested, grinning.
“Believe me, it’s best I stay on the sidelines,” Merlin assured him.
“Well, maybe you could come to one of my games sometime,” Arthur suggested idly, taking a carefully nonchalant sip of his drink. “You could be my cheerleader.”
Merlin smiled. “Maybe I could. I’ve been told I’ve got the legs for a skirt.”
The rest of the evening passed in the same way, with conversation that was half-banter, half-flirting. Merlin learned that Arthur had a half-sister, and that he worked for his father, who he obviously admired. He also learned that the blonde was a bit of a prat, but secretly kind, and had a weakness for biscuits that his half-sister ruthlessly mocked. In turn, Merlin talked about his mother, the photography business he and Will had built, and the time Gwen had tried to teach him how to cook and he’d wound up setting the garlic bread on fire. Arthur was an exceptionally good listener, with a gorgeous, full-bodied laugh that gave Merlin the urge to kiss him then and there. He restrained himself, but only barely, even though he was fairly certain Arthur wouldn’t mind if he didn’t.
They left the coffee shop after a gaggle of schoolchildren had swooped in, and wandered in the direction of the tube station. Merlin was glad to notice Arthur’s steps were as slow as his own as they walked closer to each other than the mostly-empty street required, arms brushing.
“So, tell me about the worst client you’ve ever had,” Arthur suggested after a while, when they had fallen into a short, comfortable silence. Merlin groaned.
“That was definitely Sophia. She was awful. Absolutely everything had to be perfect, or she’d stomp around and make a scene until someone fixed it. She tried to order me to get her a drink because she thought I was her personal servant for the day.”
Arthur laughed. “Did she have one?”
“Of course, courtesy of her father. She made him follow her around all morning and call her ‘Madame Sofia’.”
“Good lord, really? Her poor husband.”
“You have no idea. Although, from what I heard, he’s rich enough to keep her happy, for a while, at least.” Merlin shook his head. “And as if the bride wasn’t unpleasant enough, she had thirteen bridesmaids. Trying to get them all to sit for photos was a nightmare.” Arthur looked vaguely horrified.
“Why on earth would someone need that many bridesmaids?”
“No idea. Probably just to have that many people under her control. You know she made them all stand at least a foot behind her in every picture? And they all had to wear these awful pink dresses that probably cost a fortune,” Merlin said. “And then, after all of that, she tried to get me to give her a refund on her photographs, because she said she looked fat.”
Arthur shook his head. “How do you deal with that?” Merlin smirked.
“Caffeine, and lots of it.”
They laughed as they approached the station. Merlin had a sense of déjà vu when they both turned to face each other, as reluctant to part now as they had been the first time they met.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” he said finally. Arthur smiled.
“I’m glad. I did, too.” He leaned in, looking at Merlin and grinning in a way that Merlin was fighting not to call sexy. “I have a feeling our second date will be better.”
A shiver that had nothing to do with the evening chill went down Merlin’s spine at the promise in Arthur’s voice. “And who says there’s going to be a second date?”
Arthur’s grin widened. “Call it instinct,” he said, and Merlin kissed him, partly to shut him up, and partly because he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. It wasn’t particularly long or heated, just enough to catch a hint of coffee on Arthur’s soft, slightly chapped lips, and then he pulled back. He had about two seconds to catch his breath before Arthur had pressed their lips together again.
“I have to go,” Arthur mumbled, but he didn’t even try to back away. Merlin hummed, the tip of his nose brushing against Arthur’s. Another brief kiss later, and he stepped back.
“Call me?” he asked, squashing the ridiculous desire to pull Arthur back to him and explore his mouth again-it was only their first date, he shouldn’t be feeling so bereft-and Arthur nodded, only turning into the station once Merlin had gone around the corner.
---
Two weeks later, Merlin sat in his spare room-turned-office, squinting at his computer.
“What about this one?” he asked, gesturing at the picture of a bride and her bridesmaids. Will leaned forward.
“’s alright. The lighting’s a bit off, but you could easily fix it before you send it off.”
“Hm. And this one?”
“Better, a-oh hang on, maid number three’s making a face, look.”
Merlin hummed again as he scrolled to the next photograph, when his phone went off.
1 New Message: Arthur Pendragon
“It’s the bloke from the café again, isn’t it?” Will sighed. “You’ve gone all moony-eyed.”
“His name is Arthur,” Merlin protested, fighting a blush. “We’ve been seeing each other for two weeks, don’t pretend not to know his name.”
“How could I not know his name? You’ve not stopped going on about him since you met him.” Will adopted a sing-song voice. “Oh, Arthur said the funniest thing…you’ll never believe what Arthur did-“
“Shut up, Will,” Merlin cut him off, now distinctly red-cheeked. “I really like him.”
“Clearly,” Will snorted. He settled back in his seat and fixed Merlin with a serious look. “When do we get to meet him?”
“Never. You’ll just scare him off like you did Val.”
“Val was a twat. Come on, Merlin, you can’t hide him forever if you’ve serious about him. You’ve met his friends, haven’t you?”
Merlin had, or at least most of them, last weekend when he’d gone to see Arthur play football. He’d had a great time cheering them on, and an even better time afterward having celebratory sex with Arthur (but Will didn’t need to know about that).
“Alright, fine, I’ll ask him,” Merlin relented. “But please don’t be an arse to him, Will. I’m serious when I say I really like him.”
“I promise, alright? I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Merlin doubted it, but contented himself with only a snort before he changed the subject. “Have you got everything set for your event tomorrow? Freya’s working it with you, right?” Will nodded.
“Yeah, everything’s ready. We had a meeting with the event coordinator this morning, sounds like it’s going to be an easy job. What about you-it’s the Godwyn wedding this weekend, yeah?”
“Yes, Saturday, if they don’t elope first,” Merlin answered. “Elena’s emails have gotten more and more frantic since our meeting. I think she’s having trouble with her wedding planner…”
---
On Friday morning, Merlin woke up to an unfamiliar alarm beeping at him. Behind him, Arthur groaned and rolled over to shut it off, not even bothering to retaliate when Merlin stole his blankets. He just wrapped his arms around the thinner man’s waist, pressing fleeting kisses to his shoulder.
“Good morning,” he breathed, giving Merlin’s ear a quick nip. Merlin grumbled, which made Arthur laugh. “Come on, lazy. I’ll make you coffee.”
“’d rather just go back to sleep,” Merlin mumbled. He turned around, careful not to dislodge his blankets, and tugged at Arthur’s arm until they were snuggled together again.
“Some of us aren’t lucky enough to have evening hours at work,” Arthur pointed out.
“So skip.”
“Can’t. Have an important dinner tonight, I need to get work done before I can leave.” Arthur leaned forward to suck a gentle kiss against Merlin’s throat. Merlin made a happy sound, allowing his blanket cocoon to be tugged away so Arthur could trail his lips down further. He let his fingers knot in Arthur’s hair as the blonde paused to explore the creases of his hip bone, and then gasped when he changed direction suddenly to nuzzle at the base of Merlin’s cock.
“I thought you had work,” he gasped, hoping against hope that Arthur wouldn’t stop. The blonde grinned up at him.
“Why do you think I set an early alarm?” he retorted, and Merlin hauled him up for a kiss.
He made soft encouraging noises when Arthur slid a condom over his morning erection, murmuring sleepy nonsense into the skin beneath his bellybutton before bending to slip the head of Merlin’s cock between his lips. Merlin watched him swallow, drowsy arousal already burning in his stomach as Arthur worked his cock. He threaded his fingers through Arthur’s hair again, mostly just to have something to hold on to, and closed his eyes. Arthur’s fingers kept a steady grip on his hips, keeping him from thrusting, but Merlin was perfectly content to let Arthur coax his orgasm out of him, working him from sleepiness to arousal with his tongue.
He felt Arthur shift and moan, and opened his eyes to see Arthur reaching down to stroke himself, precome beading at the tip of his cock.
“Fuck,” Merlin swore. Arthur looked up at him from beneath his lashes, and Merlin had to swallow at the wave of lust. “Arthur, I’m gonna come-“
Arthur gave him a purposeful suck in response, and Merlin closed his eyes as his orgasm hit him. He’d barely caught his breath before Arthur was kissing him, stroking himself in earnest now. Merlin helped as best he could, giving Arthur’s cock a few tugs before he spilled over their fists. He came with a quiet gasp, barely pulling away to breathe before licking his way back into Merlin’s mouth, his lips languid and explorative again now that desire had been sated.
“You taste like latex,” Merlin mumbled, making a face. Arthur nipped his jaw in response.
“And you have morning breath,” he muttered. Merlin squawked indignantly, but Arthur just grinned.
“You’re a prat.”
“So you tell me.” Arthur kissed him again, blatantly ignoring Merlin’s pout. “Come on, you can wash up while I make coffee.”
Arthur was as good as his word, and by the time Merlin stumbled into the kitchen-barefoot and shirtless, but at least wearing boxers-there was a steaming cup of coffee waiting for him.
“I knew there was a reason I was dating you,” he groaned appreciatively after he’d taken the first sip, sliding into a seat at the table. Arthur snorted.
“Toast’ll be done in a few minutes. Try not to set anything on fire while I get dressed?”
Merlin considered protesting, but he’d already confessed his disturbing lack of culinary skills, so he just ignored Arthur instead and concentrated on inhaling his coffee. By the time the blonde reappeared, Merlin had downed two cups, and was halfway through his second piece of toast, feeling much more human because of it.
“You look nice,” he said when he caught sight of Arthur’s work clothes-the usual button-down and slacks, but with an added suit jacket and tie that made him look older.
“We’re wrapping up a deal today, I expect a few visitors will be dropping by. It’s about time, if I had to read one more sentence about this deal, I was going to go mad,” Arthur sighed, flopping down into the seat next to Merlin. “Did you save me any toast?”
“Sounds awful,” Merlin replied with a smile, sliding the last pieces towards him. “Would I understand you if I asked what you were working on?” Arthur laughed.
“No, probably not. What about you, doing anything exciting?”
“Just going through some pictures to send off for bridal approval,” Merlin replied. Arthur made a vague humming noise, thumb rubbing absently against Merlin’s ankle which was draped across his leg. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”
Arthur shot him a look. “You sound nervous.”
“I might be. My friends want to meet you.”
There was a slight pause, long enough for Merlin to start worrying, before Arthur said, “Are you nervous because you think I’ll say no, or because you think they’ll scare me off?”
“Both?” Merlin tried, which made Arthur laugh.
“Well, I’m definitely not going to say no, if it makes you feel any better. And it’s very unlikely they’ll scare me away.”
Merlin exhaled, relieved. “Oh, I dunno. They’re a very determined group.”
“And I’m a very determined man,” Arthur responded smugly. “I’m not likely to let go of something I want.” Merlin couldn’t quite contain his giggle as he leaned forward for a kiss.
“Figures, you’ve even a prat when you’re being sweet. Why don’t we meet next Friday, at the Rising Sun?”
“Sounds good. Will I see you before then?”
Merlin smiled. “Oh, I expect so,” he said, pressing a kiss to the corner of Arthur’s mouth. He smirked at Arthur’s noise of approval, trailing kisses up along the strong line of Arthur’s jaw until he found his ear, but Arthur stopped him before he could get any farther.
“Don’t be greedy, Merlin. I’ll be late for work,” he warned, but he allowed Merlin one more kiss, anyway. “Come on, if we leave now we can stop for more coffee on the way to the station.”
---
Merlin tried not to stare as he walked up the drive to Elena’s family home. The couple had elected to have their ceremony here, rather than at a church, probably because it was as close to a backyard wedding as they could get away with. It was massive, with even bigger grounds for the horses the Godwyn family raised, and Merlin felt very shabby as he rang the bell. A butler opened the door almost immediately to admit Will and Merlin into the spotless foyer.
“The other half don’t want for anything, do they?” Will hissed. Merlin shot him a warning look before they were whisked away, Will to deal with the groom and Merlin the bride.
Elena and her posse had taken refuge in a bedroom on the second floor. He could hear excited chatting and laughter as he approached, which ceased the second he knocked.
“For the last time, Gwaine, you’re not allowed in, no matter how impressive your arse looks in your trousers,” an unfamiliar female voice called. Merlin stifled his laugh.
“It’s Merlin. The photographer.”
There was a pause before the door was thrown open to reveal a beautiful, pale-skinned woman, with inky hair that was currently pinned into rollers on top of her head.
“Sorry, Gwaine’s been by three times already, I just figured you were him again. Please, come in. I’m Morgana, the maid of honor.”
Merlin stepped into the room, which had clearly been Elena’s at one point. There were ribbons and trophies from various equestrian events everywhere, and an entire wall of photographs of her posing with horses. Elena herself was sitting on the bed, wearing a fluffy bathrobe and having her hair pinned.
“Merlin! Hi, welcome!” She waved, nearly dislodging the hairdresser who just rolled her eyes. Merlin smiled back at her.
“Hello, Elena. You look beautiful.”
“Doesn’t she?” Morgana agreed, sweeping across the room like it was a runway. “I keep telling her that. She’d have been going down the aisle in her riding clothes if she’d had her way.”
Elena made a face that made Merlin think she wasn’t entirely convinced it was a bad idea. Morgana ignored her.
“Mithian,” she called, waving over another of the bridesmaids, “this is Merlin, the photographer. Merlin, Mithian. The darling flower girl over there-“ she waved at the little girl, who was pouting as the final bridesmaid tucked her into her stockings, “is Anna. The poor woman dressing her is Elena’s cousin.”
Merlin smiled his greetings as he got his camera ready, taking a few test shots while the women went back to their stations. Elena watched him, jiggling her foot twisting her fingers in her lap nervously.
“Do you need anything from me?” she asked after a while, biting her lip. “I know you said you didn’t before, but with Grunhilda missing I thought I’d make sure-“
“I’m fine,” he interrupted her gently. He gave her a reassuring smile. “All you need to worry about now is getting dressed and marrying Gwaine.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Oh, is that all?” she tried to joke, sounding a bit strained. “Here I thought today was important.”
“Elena, darling, don’t stress yourself,” Morgana called from near the window, where she was slipping into her dark brown dress. “Everything is under control. Just let Merlin do his job.”
“Right,” Elena said, “right, of course, sorry.”
Taking pity on her, Merlin quickly changed the subject by raising his camera. After that, it was a bit of a blur, with Elena tripping over her heels and the bridesmaids getting dressed and Merlin trying to get the flower girl to sit still long enough for a picture. But eventually, it was time for the actual ceremony.
Elena made a beautiful bride, blushing and giggling when she nearly dropped her bouquet waving at Merlin. Some of the nerves from the dressing room had apparently settled, and she managed a beaming smile as the doors opened in front of her. She somehow managed the walk down the makeshift aisle, where Gwaine was waiting to take her hand, radiating a fierce fondness.
Merlin settled in against the wall as the ceremony began. From here, he could just see Gwaine’s expression, and he raised his camera. One of the groomsmen shifted, and Merlin glanced over at him, nearly dropping his camera when he recognized Arthur, who looked just as shocked to see him.
For a moment, they just stared at each other, and then Arthur blinked.
What are you doing here? he mouthed as the priest droned on, looking somewhere between confused and pleased. Merlin lifted his camera in answer, and then waved in dismissal, mouthing back, Talk later, pay attention!
Arthur hesitated, but gave a brief nod before turning back to the proceedings, doing a valiant job of pretending not to sneak Merlin glances every few seconds. For his part, Merlin had never been so grateful for a short ceremony. He did his job as best he could with one eye on Arthur (mostly on his arse, which he couldn’t resist taking a few sneaky shots of), but he was undeniably relieved when Gwaine gave his new wife a hearty snog and led the bridal party back up the aisle.
He spotted Arthur loitering in a corner of the foyer and made a beeline for him. Arthur seized him as soon as he was within grabbing distance, hauling him in for a brief kiss.
“What are you doing here? I didn’t even know you had a job today, let alone…why didn’t you say anything?” Arthur asked with a laugh. Merlin raised an eyebrow at him.
“I could ask you the same thing. You didn’t mention you had a wedding today.”
At that, Arthur looked a little sheepish.
“I know, I’m sorry. It was stupid. I was just…I was worried that it was too early to start bringing you to weddings, and you’d be all uncomfortable if I said something, like you were obligated to go just because we’re dating. By the time I got over it it was too late and I just…never mentioned it.”
Merlin stared at him before he burst into laughter. “God, you clotpole. Come here.”
Arthur went, but he hesitated before their lips touched, glancing over his shoulder at the milling wedding guests. “You don’t get in trouble for this, will you?” Merlin grinned.
“For dating a groomsman? No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just tell them you seduced me, anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Arthur smirked, cutting off Merlin’s reply with his lips. Merlin wanted to protest, but Arthur’s lips were soft and his hand was cradling Merlin’s jaw, and when they parted, his smile was so pleased and private that Merlin couldn’t resist returning it.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Arthur laughed, with a little shake of his head.
“Me, neither,” Merlin replied. “How do you know Gwaine and Elena, anyway?”
“Elena’s some sort of distant cousin. We practically grew up together, our fathers were friends. Gwaine went to uni with us and hasn’t left us alone since,” Arthur replied. Merlin snorted at him before something Arthur had said registered.
“Your father is friends with the Godwyns? He’s not-he’s not here, is he?”
Merlin had no objections to meeting the family, per se, but from what Arthur had told him, Uther Pendragon was a fairly formidable man. He wasn’t sure he was entirely prepared for that first meeting quite yet.
Arthur shook his head.
“He’s travelling for business this week. He sent Gwaine and Elena a very expensive, very useless vase in apology. Gwaine was thrilled,” he said dryly, and Merlin snorted. Behind Arthur, the crowd was starting to shuffle forward into the cocktail hour area; they only had a few more minutes of relative privacy before their absences would be noticed. Arthur didn’t seem to care. He leaned in for another quick kiss, letting his hands wander briefly before pulling back.
“How soon before we can get out of here?” Arthur asked, watching his fingers smooth down the collar of Merlin’s dress shirt.
“At least until the bouquet toss,” Merlin replied wistfully. Arthur groaned. “Think you can wait that long?”
“With you looking like this? Not a chance,” Arthur murmured. Merlin yelped when he felt Arthur give his arse a firm squeeze through his suit trousers. He aimed a smack at Arthur’s shoulder, which was neatly dodged.
“Stop it, prat, or I will get in trouble.”
Arthur smirked as he stepped away, which was when Merlin noticed Will over his shoulder, staring at them, open-mouthed.
“Oh, shit,” Merlin sighed.
---
It took about ten minutes of their joint glares for Merlin to decide that Will and Morgana should never meet again, if only for the sake of his sanity. He was pretty sure Arthur agreed with him, if the half-irritated, half-terrified looks he was giving his sister were anything to go by. Percy and Leon, the other groomsmen, seemed amused by the whole situation. They kept nudging Arthur and giving him pointed winks whenever Merlin offered an instruction, which seemed to infuriate Morgana further. Will said nothing, although he had his hands full taking pictures of the young flower girl and ring bearer.
Thankfully, neither Gwaine nor Elena noticed the odd tension.
“Alright, guys, looks great,” Merlin announced, after the group and family photos had been taken. “Now just the bride and groom.”
He didn’t miss Will’s look as he shepherded the wedding party inside, nor Arthur’s, but he ignored them both as the couple approached. He spared a moment to pity Arthur for being left alone against the combined forces of Will and Morgana before he shifted back into work mode. They took a few generic photographs, for Elena’s parents, and then some more that involved a frantically giggling Elena being hoisted around by Gwaine, and several with the two of them just messing around.
“Alright,” Merlin said eventually, when they’d done the normal routine, “anything else you guys wanted?”
“Sid!” Elena blurted. “We need a picture with Sid.”
“With…who, sorry?”
“Her horse,” Gwaine clarified. “The Sidhe Changeling, if you’re familiar with the competitive ring. Go and fetch him, El, we’ll wait here.”
Elena beamed and jogged towards the fence. Or at least, she tried to. She made it three steps before her skirt tangled around her legs, and the points of her heels dug into the ground.
“Oh, for the love of-“ she grumbled, and promptly kicked off her shoes. Merlin watched as she scooped them up and tossed them in Gwaine’s direction-or near enough, winding up several feet to Gwaine’s left. Gwaine caught them, anyway, looking thoroughly unconcerned as his wife hoisted her skirt to her knees and began to climb over the fence.
“Should she…should she be doing that in that dress?” Merlin asked. Elena laughed.
“Oh, Merlin, trust me, I’ve been sneaking out of boring old parties in awful dresses for years. This is nothing.”
“Alright then,” Merlin said weakly, as Elena proceeded to run, barefoot, across the field, and raised his camera for a picture.
“That’s my girl,” Gwaine said fondly as his wife disappeared into a stable. Merlin smiled.
“She’s quite a catch.”
“That she is,” Gwaine agreed, before turning his gaze on Merlin. “Speaking of catches, I saw you and Arthur earlier. Arthur’s not the type to snog someone he’s just met, at least not when he’s sober. How long’s this been going on, then?”
Merlin winced. “About a month.” Gwaine looked surprised.
“Well done, princess,” he muttered, then, louder, “I have to say, of all the things I expected to see on my wedding day, my best man snogging my photographer wasn’t one of them.”
“Er-sorry,” Merlin said awkwardly. To his surprise, Gwaine laughed.
“Oh God, don’t apologize. You’ve already got him snogging at parties and making dirty comments without blushing. Mate, you’re good for him.”
Merlin didn’t know what to say. He settled for an awkward, “Um, thanks?”, and was spared having to do more by Elena’s return, sitting easily on Sid’s back, despite the gown. He took a deep breath.
“Alright, then. Let’s get these pictures done.”
---
The wedding reception was held in a beautifully decorated ballroom in the house. Elena’s family had insisted on a traditional ceremony, but the reception had been up to the couple. As a result, there was a D.J. squashed between the candelabras, and a bar set up beneath what looked like a very old, very expensive painting at the far end of the room. Merlin was skulking around the edge of the dance floor taking pictures (and avoiding Will) when someone pressed up against his side.
“Nice party, isn’t it?” Arthur murmured, eyes fixed on the dance floor even as his lips ghosted against Merlin’s ear. Merlin shivered.
“Gwaine says he already caught one of his cousins sneaking off with a waiter. He sounded jealous.”
Merlin laughed despite himself, looking out at the dance floor where Gwaine had his arms firmly wrapped around Elena’s waist, possibly just to keep her from falling.
“He doesn’t look like he wants to escape now,” he observed, lifting his camera to snap a few shots. Behind him, Arthur snorted.
“You should have seen him last night. We had to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning the night before his wedding. Leon was convinced he was going to run out of the pub and never be heard from again,” he informed Merlin seriously, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Merlin grinned up at him and leaned against his chest.
“Aren’t you a knight in shining armor.”
Arthur chuckled in agreement. “He’s lucky I was there.”
Merlin opened his mouth for a clever reply, but Arthur kissed him before he had the chance to say it. Caught off-guard, Merlin let himself sink into it, until a sudden swell of music erupted from the D.J. and he remembered where he was.
“Arthur,” he murmured, pulling away just enough to speak, “I’m working, they’ve not even done the bouquet toss yet-“
“Will can handle it,” Arthur cut him off, and kissed him again. Merlin was very tempted to let it continue, but he pulled back again, resolute.
“Morgana will kill you.” To his surprise, Arthur just smirked.
“Don’t worry about Morgana. Mithian’s distracting her. And Will agreed to cover for you.”
“You planned this,” Merlin accused without any heat, his fingers already sliding along the line of buttons on Arthur’s shirt. Arthur smiled.
“Possibly.”
“You’re going to get me fired,” Merlin sighed when Arthur’s only response was to curl his fingers into Merlin’s hair.
“Unlikely. I know the groom, remember?” Arthur purred. Merlin shivered as Arthur leaned closer to whisper in his ear, “Godwyn gave me a room upstairs. Join me?”
“You’re not even going to ask me to dance first?” Merlin teased, feigning a disappointed look which was met with a snort.
“I’d rather not have my feet trampled before I’ve had a chance to ravish you,” Arthur replied. He ignored Merlin’s glare in favor of tugging him in the direction of the door. Merlin allowed himself to be led for several steps until he suddenly remembered.
“Wait, shit, we don’t…have anything.”
He knew Arthur knew he meant condoms, and preferably lube-he hadn’t exactly been expecting his boyfriend to show up tonight. Arthur, however, simply kissed him and drew Merlin’s hand towards his pocket, where Merlin felt the crinkle of a condom packet. He blinked.
“Where’d you get that from? Please don’t say Morgana.”
Arthur smiled. “Mithian’s always been a helpful person,” he said against the shell of Merlin’s ear, and really there wasn’t anything Merlin could say to that except to allow himself to be towed out of the reception.
The room Arthur had been given was two floors above and three hallways away from the ballroom. Merlin thought they had probably taken longer to get there than they should have, with Arthur pushing Merlin against the wall every few minutes and shoving his tongue down his throat. Merlin wasn’t exactly innocent, either, unashamedly groping Arthur’s ass through his trousers whenever this happened. When they finally made it to the bedroom, Arthur wasted no time in dragging Merlin onto the bed, dislodging a cascade of decorative pillows in the process.
“You have no idea,” Arthur breathed against Merlin’s cheek, “how sexy you look like this, all dressed up. I almost don’t want to get you naked.”
“That…sounds a little counter-productive,” Merlin managed absently, preoccupied by the feeling of Arthur’s hips thrusting lazily against his. Arthur nipped his ear.
“I said almost,” he replied, and suddenly Merlin found himself flat on his back with Arthur nosing at his neck, giving him a kiss for each button he opened. His shirt was being wrestled off of him in record time, and Arthur latched onto his chest happily, nipping and sucking while Merlin writhed squirmed beneath him. In the back of his mind, he thought he should probably do something about getting Arthur naked, but Arthur’s mouth felt so good, he settled for sliding his hands over Arthur’s back, gripping his shoulders with every hard press of Arthur’s mouth.
“You know,” Arthur remarked, lips trailing down to follow Merlin’s happy trail, “this would go a lot faster if you weren’t sitting there like an idiot, Merlin.”
“That’s what you get for seducing me on the job, prat,” Merlin retorted, but he tugged Arthur back up for a kiss as he worked on removing Arthur’s jacket, shirt, and tie.
When all of their clothes had been peeled off and shoved into piles on the floor, Merlin set about mapping Arthur’s body with his mouth. Arthur made deliciously breathy noises whenever he found a sensitive spot, moaning outright when Merlin blew a teasing breath across the head of his cock. Arthur’s fingers curled encouragingly around his neck, but Merlin continued to tease with quick kisses against everything but the erection bobbing against Arthur’s belly. Arthur groaned.
“Merlin, I swear, if you don’t stop teasing and bloody do something, I will make you sorry.”
Merlin made a vague, thoughtful sound against the underside of Arthur’s cock. He smirked at Arthur’s frustrated growl, but then suddenly he was flipped onto his back, with Arthur pressed all along his front, biting bruising kisses as he rolled their hips together.
“That’s cheating,” Merlin objected, but he didn’t even bother pulling away from Arthur’s lips to say it.
“Shut up,” Arthur replied, shoving his tongue down Merlin’s throat to make sure he was obeyed. Merlin, however, was more than happy to do as he was told and said nothing as he groped blindly for the lube and condom they’d fished out earlier. He pressed the packets into Arthur’s hand and spread his legs.
Arthur, for all his bravado, had proven to be a careful lover in the past weeks. He took unnecessary care in preparing Merlin, distracting him with kisses and nips and hands teasing his nipples as his lubed fingers slid inside. When finally he deemed Merlin prepared enough, he pushed inside just as carefully, waiting until Merlin had begun flexing around his erection before he started thrusting. Merlin wrapped his fingers around Arthur’s shoulders and let his head fall against the pillows while Arthur fucked him, soft grunts falling from his lips. Arthur was mouthing at his shoulder, bracing himself with an arm on either side of Merlin. He looked up when Merlin gasped at a particularly sharp thrust, and Merlin promptly dragged him into a filthy kiss.
“Merlin,” Arthur growled, “fuck, I’ve wanted to do this since the fucking ceremony. Was thinking about it while I was on the bloody altar.” Merlin whimpered when he pulled back, just the head of his cock still inside, before he slammed back in. “My best friends were getting married, but all I could think about was fucking you against a wall.”
Merlin had nothing to say to that, so he kissed him instead. He misjudged the angle, his lips winding up closer to Arthur’s chin than his mouth, but he groaned anyway and shifted to kiss back. Hooking his ankles around Arthur’s middle, Merlin tugged him even closer, forcing Arthur’s cock deeper, and moaned.
“Fuck,” he gasped. He dropped a hand from Arthur’s shoulder to tug at his own erection. “Arthur, come on.”
He received a kiss for his troubles, his gasps choked off by Arthur’s tongue thrusting into his mouth. For a while the only sounds in the room were their breathing and the slick sound of skin-on-skin from Arthur’s deep, steady thrusts and Merlin’s hand pumping his cock. He could feel his orgasm building, wriggling his hips to get Arthur impossibly deeper.
“Shit, Merlin, I’m too close,” Arthur breathed shakily. “I’m gonna come if you do that.”
“Do it,” Merlin replied, pressing back even harder.
He brought his free hand down to Arthur’s chest, stroking and caressing his flank as Arthur’s rhythm sped up, became more selfish. His head dropped to Merlin’s shoulder. With a muffled groan, Merlin felt Arthur still against him, his hips fucking inside slower now as he came. Merlin whimpered and sped up his hand, toes curling against the small of Arthur’s back, almost dizzy with the need to come. Arthur pressed a kiss against the curve of his shoulder, thrusting his still-hard cock almost lazily inside Merlin and murmuring his name with each drag of his cock. Merlin cried out when he climaxed, his come painting Arthur’s belly as the blonde swept him into a kiss with both of them too blissed out to care about finesse.
Merlin let himself sink further into the bed while Arthur discarded the condom and fetched tissues to clean them with. He made a protesting noise when Arthur tried to get him to shift.
“Useless,” Arthur tutted before giving up and settling beside him. “Absolutely useless.” He let Merlin snuggle up against his side, both of them too warm for the covers just yet.
“Clotpole,” Merlin retorted sleepily.
“First you seduce me at my best friend’s wedding ,then you insult me.” Arthur pulled a wounded face. “You are shameless, Merlin Emrys.”
“Right, because I’m the one who dragged you away in the middle of the reception.” Merlin rolled his eyes, but kissed Arthur to show he wasn’t really mad. Arthur cradled his cheek against his palm when they pulled apart.
“Alright, maybe we’re both equally guilty,” he said softly, and Merlin smiled, drifting off to sleep with his head on Arthur’s chest.
---
In the morning, they crept out of the room before the others woke. They drove to Arthur’s flat, where Arthur made coffee and Merlin curled up against him, and they spent the day passing kisses over takeaway and fighting over the remote. By the time night came around, with Merlin sprawled across the mattress beside Arthur, Merlin was pretty sure he’d never been so comfortable.
---
Epilogue
Three weddings, a baby, a proposal, and many, many coffee dates later, Merlin sat in his new kitchen, coffee in hand as he rearranged his portfolio. The pictures of Lance and Gwen, and Will and Freya had been joined by new ones over the years: Elena sitting sidesaddle on her horse with Gwaine at her side, both laughing; Morgana leaning against Leon’s chest, the mansion’s chandelier lighting making them glow; Mithian performing a waltz with her new husband; and, more recently, Percy and Elyan holding hands at their backyard ceremony. There were group photos, as well, including one of Morgana’s wedding party which featured a five-month pregnant Gwen.
There was even one of Arthur, bent down on one knee and offering a simple silver band to the camera.
Merlin was fingering that same ring while he poured over his newer photographs when he heard the door to the flat open, followed by Arthur’s voice calling his name.
“In the kitchen,” he called back, and then Arthur appeared, smiling when he saw Merlin.
“Hey,” he greeted him, swooping down for a kiss hello. “This seat taken?”
“Hey yourself. No, it’s fine, just move whatever,” Merlin replied, shifting the pile of papers from the seat to the table. Arthur flopped down into the vacant spot, promptly reaching out to steal Merlin’s coffee (Merlin didn’t even bat an eyelid).
“What is all this?” Arthur asked, leaning in to see what Merlin was looking at.
“Portfolio. Will wants to update the website and I was hoping for some ideas.”
Arthur made a thoughtful noise, thumbing through the pictures until he came to the one of Elena and Gwaine, and he laughed. “Elena and her horses. I can’t believe this was three years ago already.”
“Time flies,” Merlin agreed. Arthur nudged him.
“All of these are fantastic,” he said, indicating the spread of photographs. “Whatever you choose will work for the site. It’s too bad you can’t photograph your own wedding.”
“Will will do a fine job,” Merlin said, warmth settling in his belly like it always did when Arthur talked about their wedding. Arthur smirked and kissed him.
“Maybe. But there’s no one finer than you,” he teased., and Merlin rolled his eyes as he kissed back, chasing the taste of coffee from his lips.