Chapter Text
Merlin knew he was a walking cliché. He had to accept that a while ago. Now he totally owned it. Sitting in his favourite independent coffee shop, sipping a caramel latte. Okay, he would have to work a bit on being a total cliché but he simply didn't like black coffee. What was the point if you could have the coffee but with the rich sweetness of sugar and milk? Anyways, back to Merlin being a total cliché.
He pushed up his thick rimmed glasses with his index finger and pulled his artfully tousled hair in frustration. He was currently writing a novel (about a love triangle in a dystopian universe. Plot twist: All three participants of the love triangle are boys) and didn't know how to continue with the currently blooming romance. At least it was supposed to bloom. Merlin had no freaking clue how to write about that. After all, he didn't have any experience himself.
And I never will have, he thought sadly. He tapped his fingers against the keyboard of his laptop without really typing. Silently, he read the last paragraph that he had just written. His lips moved as if he would read the words out loud – a habit he picked up as a kid and he hadn't been able to shake it in the past... twenty-one years, give or take. His brow furrowed as he stared at his text.
“Bollocks, complete and utter shit,” he mumbled under his breath and started to delete character after character before sighing.
He was just about to start writing again, before the chair in front of him scraped on the floor and a guy sat down, grinning at him. Merlin was confused. Also mesmerised because Jesus Christ that guy was gorgeous. He actually knew how to artfully tousle hair. He had twinkling blue eyes and a blinding smile. Merlin wanted to snap at him, one could ask if a seat was taken after all, but he found his lips wouldn't move. Instead, the blonde in front of him grinned even wider.
“So look,” he started and the sound of his voice made Merlin feel things he didn't know he could feel.
“I have been watching you,” he stopped. Blushed, shook his head.
“Not watching, watching you but just... you know,” he gesticulated widely and all Merlin could manage was to arch one of his eyebrows in disbelief. He really did hope that it had the desired effect: irritated and totally above the conversation.
“Anyway,” he beautiful bloke continued, “you have been sitting here staring at your laptop not writing for a while now and you look positively helpless so I figured I'd just come over and offer my help.”
Merlin didn't know how long he just stared at him before he simply asked:
“Your... help?”
The blonde blushed again and suddenly all Merlin wanted to do was describe it in detail and include him in his story. Maybe he could completely change one of the protagonists?
The guy nodded.
“I mean I have no idea what you are writing but I was guessing Uni work, yeah? And I thought, Arthur I thought, you're decent with Uni work, go over and offer the cute guy some help.”
Merlin's ears were ringing. Cute. He had called him cute. Instead of answering, the only thing he said was:
“Novel, actually.”
Arthur's, the guy had said his name was, eyes widened.
“You're writing a novel? That is so cool!”
Merlin simply nodded, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed.
“What is it about?” Arthur took the chair and placed it directly next to Merlin's. Completely unabashedly, he stared at Merlin's screen which made Merlin itch to close his laptop immediately. The proximity to the bloke however, temporarily made Merlin lose all his senses and so he just let it be. If Merlin thought the guy looked good, it was nothing compared to how he smelled. Like a walking Abercrombie & Fitch advert. Just much, much better looking.
Quickly, Arthur scanned the text that was visible on the screen.
“Aw,” he finally breathed.
“This is so cute, those two are in love, yeah? Tom and Sebastian? Posh name, by the way... Sebastian.”
Merlin's jaw hardened. He was definitely not ready to show his work to... well, anyone really. Least of all this very random bloke he has never met before. And he definitely didn't need said bloke to mock him for his name selection.
“Well, yes,” he finally started before shutting his mouth. Arthur turned to looked at him curiously.
“Well, yes, what?”
Merlin shrugged.
“I don't know how to go from there,” he murmured, gesticulating at the screen.
Arthur knitted his brows together in concentration.
“Normally, I would suggest that Tom asks Sebastian out.”
Merlin closed his eyes for a second. Yes, that is probably what everyone would suggest. But how does one ask someone else out? What to say? What to do? Should they kiss first or after? Who should ask who out? So many questions and Merlin didn't know the answer to a single one.
“Well,” Arthur leaned back in his chair, stretching himself before continuing:
“Just write from personal experience? How do you ask people out? How have you been asked out?” he snorted. “Just think of the ones you said yes to, I don't think weird suggestive propositions would work on Sebastian to be honest.”
When Merlin didn't reply or say anything at all really, Arthur looked over to where Merlin's eyes were fixed on his screen, his breathing was erratic and his cheeks coloured.
“Hello?” Arthur asked, trying to shake Merlin out of it.
“I don't know,” he finally whispered to which Arthur's reply was a very manly “huh?”.
Merlin just indicated his screen.
“I don't know. I don't have...” he stopped. Embarrassed. He had never been this embarrassed in his life. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. When he opened them again, he expected Arthur to look at him like he was weird – which, granted, he was a little bit. Instead, he met genuinely confused blue eyes.
“How?” Arthur finally asked and cleared his throat.
“You are freaking adorable, how do you not have a ton of guys asking you out?”
“How do you know I want to be asked out by guys?” Merlin retorted. He didn't like this complete stranger making assumptions about him. Was it the way he dressed? He didn't even want to start to think about being called adorable, he could do that at home in the privacy of his bedroom where he could smile like a loon at the memory. Now was not the time to do that.
Arthur simply grinned.
“You are writing a love story between two guys, I made an educated guess.”
There it was again. The sinking feeling of complete embarrassment rushing through Merlin. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he just nodded. What was the guy even still doing here, he wondered. He must have had enough of him by now.
“I could help you,” was the next thing Merlin heard and made him look up so quickly his neck made an unhealthy noise.
“How,” he squinted his eyes.
Suddenly, Arthur was back on his feet.
“They've just met each other, right?”
Merlin nodded slowly.
“So I'm going outside and when I come back in I will woo your socks off.”
Merlin had to giggle at that.
“Will you now?” he smirked. He hadn't even known that he had it in him to smirk.
Arthur's grin simply widened and he nodded.
“Yessir,” he turned to go but stopped in his tracks before turning back around.
“What's your name by the way? So I know who I'm going to do the woo-ing to?”
Merlin arched his eyebrow.
“Aren't you supposed to find that out once you've decided to... woo me?”
Arthur snickered.
“Well played Mr. I-have-no-experience. You're already better than you think,” he winked.
When he was outside the cafe, Merlin granted himself a second to breathe. And a two-second meltdown inside of his head.
What was he doing?
No, the even better, universal question was:
What?