Work Text:
Merlin walked through the door of his and Arthur's flat and frowned when he didn't see a blonde mop peeking above the couch cushions.
He set his keys down and toed his shoes off, walking through the flat and down the hall to their bedroom.
Arthur was sitting up, the comforter pooled around his hips with his laptop on his lap.
"Hey," Arthur greeted, a small smile on his lips as he looked to Merlin.
Merlin let out a very overdramatic and exasperated groan as he took his belt off, dropping it on the floor, and flopped face first on the bed.
Arthur chuckled, closing his laptop and setting it on the bedside table. "Oh come on, quit being a drama queen."
Merlin groaned (more like whined) again as he turned on his side and nuzzled his nose into Arthur's waist. Almost immediately, Arthur's fingers were scratching at his scalp, Merlin relaxing into the touch.
"You're going to wrinkle your dress clothes," Arthur said, and he smiled when Merlin groaned again. Well, that and the fact that he was wearing the long-sleeve maroon button down that Arthur got him for Christmas. He loved when Merlin wore it.
Merlin slipped his hand under Arthur's shirt, pressing his palm flat against his side. Arthur hissed. "Bloody hell, Merls, your hands are freezing!"
"Need warm them up," he mumbled. Then Arthur's hand returned to scratching his scalp and he very nearly purred.
"What happened at work? You're never this clingy until you've got at least two glasses of wine in you."
Merlin whined at that. "Tired of people. And explaining myself."
"Oh, I see...So it's nothing like what happened last week?"
"Dear god, no," Merlin said, and Arthur could feel him smiling into his shirt. "That was awful."
A moment passed. "Everything's fine," Merlin continued, "it's all better now. Just tired. I wish people could know what I was thinking so I didn't have to explain myself."
"I don't think you do, but alright," Arthur said.
Merlin switched hands inside Arthur's shirt and Arthur flinched at a new cold hand on his skin. Merlin patted his side, though, like a silent apology.
"And there's still so many things to do, even just at home," he whined, "shopping, cleaning, cooking, paying bills..."
"All that nonsense adult stuff," Arthur finished, silently giddy about how silly and cute Merlin was when he's like this.
"Yeah," Merlin sighed.
"Well," Arthur shifted lower down and wrapped an arm around Merlin, "I paid all the bills today, the shopping is done for the next week, and our flat isn't that big of a mess."
"We still have to cook dinner," he mumbled.
Arthur leaned down further until his mouth was at the top of Merlin's head. "I got takeout coupons in the mail," he whispered, pulling back after planting a kiss in Merlin's hair.
Merlin looked up at him, a dopey smile on his face. "I love you," he murmured, scooting up to place a big kiss on the corner of Arthur's mouth.