Fic: I'll Be Home (For Christmas)
Word Count: 3,815
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: none; established relationship
Summary: Merlin and Arthur decorate their new home for Christmas, and Arthur gets his present early.
Read on AO3.
Bonus update for my pole dancing AU. [part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | all]
A/N: Surprise update for Christmas! No promises for more, but I had some free time and the idea was too fun to ignore. Happy holidays, lovelies. xxx
It was a sad, sad sign that he’d been hanging around the studio for too long when Arthur was faced with an aggressively festive flyer with the words “SANTA’S BABES!” printed across it in revolting be-snowflaked font and he didn’t even flinch. He’d seen far worse products come out of Helen’s office and really, who was he to judge when it was all for charity?
(Not that that stopped him from pocketing one to show to Elyan, his company’s head graphic designer, for a good laugh later.)
“You’ll be there won’t you, Arthur?” Helen asked, fluttering her eyelashes and pressing her breasts out not so subtly. “It’s for such a good cause. And of course, Merlin will be there.”
Arthur gave her his most winsome smile and tried very, very hard not to think of Merlin’s insistence that Helen was sniffing them out for a threesome (“I swear, she even asked Freya if we’d ever thought about it!”) as he assured her, “Of course I will,” before fleeing into Merlin’s usual studio.
It was probably because of the threesome thoughts (that he was definitely not thinking about) that caused him to stop dead and blink several times when he walked into the studio, convinced he was imaging things. Why else would he be seeing his boyfriend and Freya spinning gently together, both hanging by their knees and Merlin’s back pressed ever-so-slightly against the soft skin of Freya’s belly?
Before he could quite decide how he felt about this hallucination, however, Merlin and Freya moved as one, both bending forward to take the pole in hand and shift into a new position. The music, which Arthur had completely missed upon his entrance, sped up, and Merlin and Freya shimmied further upwards with it.
Arthur was riveted. Since meeting Merlin, he’d learned than he’d ever dreamed of learning about pole dancing, but he’d never seen anything like this. Merlin and Freya were pressed so tightly together that some part of Arthur couldn’t help but be jealous, but most of him was just amazed by the way their bodies worked together. They were very clearly comfortable with each other, wrapped tightly around the pole and each other, the arms that weren’t gripping the pole wrapped firmly around each other’s hips as they spun. And they were smiling, giggling whenever their momentum brought them face-to-face and when Merlin started singing along to the carol playing. By the time they leapt off towards their own poles, their giggles had turned into full-blown laughter, which Arthur thought should probably have made them clumsier but only seemed to make them lighter, and faster, their playfulness becoming grace as they moved. It was, in a word, beautiful.
They finished ungracefully, sliding to their knees in a fairly traditional move before collapsing into giggles, and the spell was broken.
“Oh God, my partner work’s rusty,” Freya complained, rolling onto her stomach and pushing her hair out of her face. Merlin laughed.
“It was fun, though, wasn’t it?” he teased, poking Freya with his foot until she snorted and batted him away. “One more go?”
“Not tonight, I think. I promised Helen I’d help with her intermediate class,” Freya said apologetically, and the dancers got to their feet. Arthur took the opportunity to clear his throat, announcing his presence before stepping fully into the room.
“Oh, hi, Arthur,” Freya said, giving him a quick smile as she and Merlin got their feet. Merlin looked over in surprise.
“You’re here early.”
“I am. Thought you might want to get a head start on decorating,” Arthur shrugged, completely unsurprised when a huge, beaming grin immediately stretched across Merlin’s face. He’d been like this for weeks, trumped up on Christmas cheer and babbling to anyone who would listen about the best way to decorate their new home for the holidays. Usually Arthur just rolled his eyes and mumbled about overgrown children, but he couldn’t help but smile (at least internally) at Merlin’s obvious excitement.
“Give me a minute, I just need to grab my things,” Merlin said, and immediately scurried off to do just that. Arthur heaved a put upon sigh, making Freya giggle as she made her way past him.
“Have fun,” she said quietly, tipping her head in Merlin’s direction.
“I’ll try,” Arthur replied dryly.
Freya smiled again, and then left just as Merlin rematerialized at Arthur’s side.
“Ready?” he asked, practically bouncing on his toes. Arthur let a tiny smile turn his mouth up as he reached out to pull Merlin closer, giving him a quick, chaste kiss.
“As I’ll ever be.”
A few minutes later, they were out in the street, huddled against the chilly wind as they rushed to Arthur’s car. It had snowed earlier in the day, so Arthur kept a careful hand on Merlin’s arm under the guise of teasing him for today’s Hideously Festive Jumper. Judging by Merlin’s grin, he knew exactly what Arthur was doing, but he didn’t call him out on it.
Once they’d made it to the car, the conversation turned to more casual things, and the closer they got to the house, the more excitable Merlin became, until he was practically wiggling in his seat. He was out of the car nearly the instant Arthur parked, forgetting his bag in his rush to get inside. Arthur shook his head, fished the bag out from the backseat, and followed at a more sedate pace. By the time he made it into the house, Merlin had already managed to put on one of his numerous Christmas CDs and was shoulders-deep in one of the boxes stacked in the sitting room, humming along.
“The decorations aren’t going anywhere, you know,” Arthur remarked dryly, dropping the bag and kicking off his shoes. From somewhere in the sea of boxes, Aithusa meowed as if in agreement.
“The faster they go up, the longer we get to look at them,” Merlin pointed out cheerfully as he got to his feet, something long and red dangling from his fingers. It wasn’t until he saw the fluffy white hem that Arthur recognized what it was, and by then Merlin had already materialized at his side and was giving Arthur one of his huge smiles.
“What are you-no, absolutely not,” Arthur said, ducking as Merlin tried to stick the Santa hat onto his head. Merlin pouted.
“Come on, it’s just a hat!”
“It’s a ridiculous hat.”
“Don’t be a Scrooge, Arthur,” Merlin said sternly, trying and failing to give him the hat again. Arthur stubbornly stepped back, but Merlin just as stubbornly followed him, until he had Arthur backed against the wall.
“Merlin,” Arthur began, but was thoroughly taken by surprise when Merlin kissed him. Arthur automatically kissed him back, but a split second later he groaned as Merlin used his distraction to jam the hat on his head, pulling back with a victorious grin.
“There, now you’re all set for decorating,” he said cheerfully. “Now shut up and grab that garland.”
“You can’t talk to me like that,” Arthur grumbled even as he moved over to the indicated box, Santa hat still perched on his head. Merlin just laughed.
“Shut up and grab that garland, my lord.”
They fell into affectionate bickering as they worked, tackling the sitting room first. Arthur nearly cried from laughter when Merlin got tangled in the fairy lights, but then got his comeuppance when the box of baubles he’s picked up tipped over and he had to chase them around the sitting room before Aithusa got them. For the most part, though, it went smoothly, and, Arthur was surprised to notice, didn’t actually look too bad. His antique nutcrackers, courtesy of his father, stood guard from the mantelpiece and were accompanied by the hand-carved snowmen from Merlin’s father. Garlands and fairy lights stretched over the doorways and windows, which Llamrei stared at from the safety of his tank. Aithusa, meanwhile, had been chased out of her seat by a red-cheeked miniature Father Christmas waving in the window beneath a collage of snowflakes, and was sulking on the sofa.
“What about this?” Merlin asked, wrinkling his nose as he held up the elaborately decorated wreath, practically full to bursting with hideous adornments made of chunky gold and glittery mistletoe, and topped with possibly the ugliest angel Arthur had ever seen.
“Eugh, no, throw that away. I’ll just tell Father it was lost in the move.”
“Your father gave this to you?” Merlin asked, aghast.
“No, a daughter of one of his associates he was hoping I would woo did. Needless to say, we were horribly matched.”
Merlin burst into laughter, staring between the wreath and Arthur and then laughing again. “Your father has terrible taste in women.”
“That we can definitely agree on,” Arthur snorted. He turned back to the box in front of him and grabbed the first thing his hand found, which turned out to be the stocking Hunith had gifted him last Christmas. He ignored Merlin’s continued feeble giggling in the background in favor of tracing his own name lovingly stitched across the hem, following the curve of the ‘r’ and the slightly wonky cross of the ‘t’ with a small, happy smile. It matched the one she’d made for Merlin years ago, though it was obviously newer, the fabric less faded. Still smiling, Arthur grabbed the other stocking and tossed it at Merlin.
“Come on, let’s hang these, then we can start on the tree,” he said, getting to his feet. Merlin followed, and together they made their way to the mantle, sliding their respective stocking on the hooks that Arthur had placed there earlier.
The tree had already been installed the weekend before, a great towering thing that Merlin had instantly fallen in love with and admittedly looked great in their spacious sitting room. Arthur stood back to admire it while Merlin rummaged in more boxes behind him before stepping up to join him. He slipped a hand around Arthur’s waist and lifted his free hand, offering the bauble dangling from his fingers, a red and gold thing with a dragon emblazoned across it. Arthur wasn’t quite sure what dragons had to do with Christmas, but he loved it anyway, and had since their first Christmas together, when Merlin had given it to him.
Arthur smiled at him, and on a whim leaned over to brush a kiss against Merlin’s cheek as he accepted the ornament.
“Come on, you idiot,” Arthur murmured when Merlin just beamed at him, and stepped towards the tree.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” the stereo crooned as they worked, and in what seemed like no time, the tree was sighing under the weight of their ornaments, a mismatched explosion of old-fashioned baubles and crumbling paper creations from Merlin’s schooldays.
“It looks like Christmas threw up in our sitting room,” Arthur said, not even bothering to hide the smile on his face when he said it. Merlin just laughed and shoved his shoulder.
“It looks great, you clotpole,” he said, beaming around at the room.
“It does,” Arthur agreed.
His smile widened when Merlin leaned against him in response, letting out a happy sigh when Arthur’s arms snaked around his waist. It was almost too cheesy, standing there in their sitting room, surrounded by Christmas decorations, but Arthur let himself enjoy it anyway, burying his face in Merlin’s neck and nipping the sensitive skin when things started to feel too domestic.
“Arthur,” Merlin complained, but when Arthur tugged on his waist he turned easily enough, wrapping his own arms around Arthur’s waist as he was drawn into a kiss, and then a second, longer one, until the sudden blare of trumpets from the stereo startled them apart, and they laughed.
“Where are you going? I’m not done with you yet,” Arthur protested when Merlin took a step back, evading Arthur’s attempt to draw him in again.
“I want to put up some more fairy lights in the studio before I forget,” Merlin said as he gathered some of the spare lights. He laughed at Arthur’s scowl, taking pity on him with one more quick kiss. “Go put on some tea, I’ll only be a second.”
Arthur huffed, but before he could say anything Merlin had fled, so he settled for rolling his eyes and trudging into the kitchen for the kettle.
The CD they’d been listening to ended just as Arthur was putting the finishing touches to their tea. There were a few moments of silence, and then it started again, from the beginning. Arthur frowned, wondering why Merlin hadn’t put on a new one, and then the answer came in a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his waist, and a warm body pressing against his back.
“I thought you wanted tea,” Arthur said when he felt Merlin’s lips against his neck, tilted up in a smile.
“I want to show you something first,” Merlin replied, reaching around to take Arthur’s hands in his. “Come on.”
He led Arthur down the hall, and Arthur noticed that he had shed his trousers and jumper and was now wearing only the red shorts he’d had on earlier. Merlin shot him a cheeky over-the-shoulder grin, as if he knew that Arthur was ogling his arse (which he probably did), and pushed Arthur into the armchair he usually sat in when he watched Merlin practice. The studio was lit only by the fairy lights along the wall and the small tree in the corner, bright enough to see but softer than the overhead light, more romantic. Arthur raised his eyebrow, but Merlin just turned to the stereo, and pressed a button.
On the first beat of the piano, Merlin turned back to smile at him.
“I thought you’d like to see my new routine, for the benefit,” he said simply, moving into position, and it wasn’t until now that Arthur realized that he hadn’t seen this routine at all, didn’t even know what song it was to, which was unusual.
“I’'ll be home...for Christmas…”
Merlin smiled again, and then swung gently into his first move. For the second time that day, Arthur was entranced. This routine was so different from the one with Freya, but there was still that undertone of playfulness in his light steps and spins. The gentle glow from the fairy lights cast his body in soft shadows, making him look almost vulnerable. He wasn’t doing anything particularly challenging, but Arthur couldn’t take his eyes away from the way Merlin’s body moved smoothly from move to move, somehow managing to be both innocent and sexy at the same time.
It wasn’t until Merlin flashed him a coy smile that Arthur realized he was growing hard in his trousers. His cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassed shame before he realized that Merlin had already noticed, and he liked it, judging by the slight tent in his shorts hindering some of his movements. A shiver ran through Arthur’s body, and he couldn’t resist reaching a hand down to run over his cock, eyes still tracking Merlin’s movements. Merlin didn’t falter, didn’t even pause, but Arthur saw the way he bit his lip as he spun, and that was enough of an invitation for him.
The music was still playing, but Arthur didn’t hear a word of it as he stood and moved towards Merlin, who stopped mid-twirl to face him. Merlin’s breathing was heavy and warm against Arthur’s mouth but he kissed him anyway, groaning when Merlin’s hands left the pole and came up to tangle in Arthur’s hair, dislodging the Santa hat.
“You seduced me with a Christmas carol,” Arthur felt obligated to point out petulantly, even as his hands wandered over the miles of bare skin Merlin presented. Merlin laughed and kissed him again.
“At least it wasn’t ‘Santa Baby’,” he replied.
“Small miracles.”
They stayed there for a few moments more, kissing and grinding slowly against each other. Arthur’s fingers snaked under the waistband of Merlin’s pants, and Merlin’s breath stuttered against his lips. It was quick work then to ease them over the swell of Merlin’s arse, dropping to his knees as Merlin’s half-hard cock sprang forth. He closed his fingers around it, coaxing him into full arousal with slow pulls of his fist and teasing kisses against the head, licking up the beads of precome when Merlin’s cock had fully hardened.
Merlin curled his fingers in Arthur hair, pushing back his fringe so he could see when Arthur took him into his mouth. He didn’t try to guide Arthur at all, content to watch as Arthur sucked him aimlessly, occasionally letting out tiny gasps of encouragement. Arthur could feel his gaze burning into him, and it sent a thrill down his spine, knowing that Merlin was watching and getting off on it, on the sensation and sight of Arthur sucking his cock. He redoubled his efforts, drawing back to play his tongue along the head, teasing Merlin almost past the point of pleasure as his fist worked the rest of Merlin’s cock.
“Arthur,” Merlin gasped in surprise, hands falling to his shoulders. Arthur smirked and sucked him down again, but Merlin’s grip tightened on him, keeping him back. “Wait, no-“
He tugged until Arthur gave in and rose to meet him, steadying Merlin with his hands on his hips.
“I was enjoying that,” Arthur murmured as Merlin pressed his lips to Arthur’s jaw, but he went along with it when Merlin tugged at his clothes until they were both naked, and Merlin’s long fingers had closed around both of their erections, teasing them mercilessly with too-light pressure until Arthur growled, and crowded him against the pole. He smirked at Merlin’s shiver when his skin touched the cold metal, kissing away the shocked gasp hungrily.
“Shift to the bedroom?” Arthur suggested when Merlin started grinding against his thigh, but to his surprise Merlin shook his head.
“No, here,” he said, pulling Arthur into another filthy kiss.
Arthur went along with it for a moment, before breaking apart to point out, “Need lube to fuck you.”
Merlin smirked and allowed Arthur to step back. Rather than follow him out of the room, however, Merlin stepped over to the stereo, and Arthur blinked in surprise when he unearthed a bottle of lube with a mischievous grin, tossing the bottle at Arthur.
“Shameless,” Arthur muttered appreciatively, looking up with a grin when Merlin laughed. Whatever he was going to say next died in his throat at the sight of Merlin arranging himself against the wall-length mirror, hands braced and feet spread as he thrust his arse into the air, a wicked glint in his eyes as he smirked over his shoulder.
“Well?” he prompted when Arthur continued to just stare, and Arthur jerked into action, closing the distance between them in no time. He pressed himself along Merlin’s back for a messy, awkward kiss before hurrying to uncap the lube. He didn’t waste time, opening Merlin efficiently but quickly, idly fisting himself with a lube-slicked hand as he watched his fingers disappear into Merlin’s arse. Merlin’s breath was misting the mirror slightly by the time he pulled his fingers out and guided his erection to Merlin’s hole, eyes flicking between where Merlin’s arse was stretching around his cock and the way he was biting his lip, eyes fluttering closed as Arthur pushed in.
“You alright?” Arthur asked huskily when he was fully seated, waiting for Merlin’s jerky nod before pulling back and then thrusting in again, slowly. Merlin made a frustrated noise and blindly reached back until his hand found Arthur’s thigh, tugging until Arthur finally relented and fucked into him properly.
“Yeah,” Merlin sighed, wide eyes glued to their reflections. “Wanna watch you fuck me,” he added, and fuck if that wasn’t the hottest thing ever.
“Jesus,” Arthur muttered, slamming his hips hard against Merlin, accidentally pushing him harder into the mirror. Merlin didn’t seem to mind-in fact, he seemed to really fucking like it, judging by the way his entire face flushed and he pushed back into Arthur’s next thrust, biting down on his lip nearly hard enough to break the skin. He gasped when Arthur shifted, bracing one hand on the small of Merlin’s back and grabbing his hip with the other for a better angle, bringing Merlin’s hips back to meet him as he let go.
Merlin’s gaze didn’t stray from the mirror, watching with rapt attention as Arthur drilled into him, eyes following the movements of Arthur’s muscles just like Arthur’s did when Merlin danced. His long cock was hard and angry-red where it hung between his legs, and suddenly Arthur wanted nothing more than to watch Merlin take it in hand and jerk himself off to the image of them fucking.
As if he’d read his mind, Merlin did just that, keeping one hand on the mirror while the other reached for his erection and jerked himself in time with Arthur’s thrusts. Arthur groaned, and Merlin’s eyes met Arthur’s in the mirror, dark with arousal and positively wicked as he pushed back against Arthur, taking him even deeper with a drawn-out moan worthy of a porn star.
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur growled. He was completely unsurprised when Merlin simply laughed, but made a show of rolling his eyes anyway before leaning down to pull Merlin into a kiss.
He could feel his orgasm building up, warmth settling into the pit of his stomach and spreading outward, making his skin flush and his heart race. Breaking the kiss, he pushed down on Merlin’s back until he was bent forward again, pushing his cock in and in and in until he came, hips stuttering against Merlin’s arse. He was vaguely aware of Merlin gasping, and then of the sound of skin on skin speeding up before Merlin shuddered and spilled, too, come splattering across their reflections in the mirror.
Neither of them moved for a moment, Merlin staying braced against the mirror and Arthur slumped on top of him, catching their breaths. Arthur stuttered out a tired laugh when he realized that the Christmas carols were still playing.
“Silent night,” he sang softly against Merlin’s shoulder. Merlin snorted, wincing slightly as he straightened. Arthur ignored the slight discomfort as his cock slipped free, concentrating instead on massaging Merlin’s undoubtedly sore muscles.
Merlin smiled at him gratefully.
“Santa’d be horrified if he could see us now,” he said, leaning in for a kiss.
“I dunno, I always thought he had an exhibitionist streak,” Arthur said. “’He sees you when you’re sleeping’, and all.”
“Oh my god, shut up,” Merlin groaned.
“You’re the one who decided to put a Christmas song on before asking me to fuck you against a mirror.”
“And it was a brilliant idea,” Merlin nodded, and Arthur really didn’t have any response to that other than kissing him.