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Arthur woke up to an empty bed. The pale ivory sheet was left mussed up, the pillow half falling off the bed. Sunlight slanted through the blind drowsily, as if it too didn't want to wake up that morning. Arthur watched as dust particles danced in the pale yellow light, sending tiny shadows to bask in the warm combination of yellows and oranges leaking onto the carpeting.
"Merlin?" He asked sluggishly, voice still rough from sleep and lack of use. The blonde rolled onto his opposite side so that he was facing their bedroom door, ear cocked for any sound of life in the flat. "MERLIN?"
"What, you great prat?" Merlin responded, sticking his head through the crack so that Arthur could only see his head and neck. The long expanse of alabastor skin, covered in love bites ranging from a deep purple to light pink, made a warm heat start to spread in Arthur's groin.
"Why are you up so early? I thought we were spending the weekend together." Arthur asked, eyes tracing up Merlin's neck to his jawline, settling on his lips.
"Arthur," Merlin said, capturing Arthur's attention, "we don't have to be in bed to spend time together. Now get up and take a shower, would you?"
Arthur pouted but Merlin just grinned and retracted his head from the doorway, leaving Arthur to the privacy of their room. Instead of taking his boyfriends advice, as per normal, Arthur flopped back onto his bed, boneless. Well, almost boneless.
"He would wake me up, give me a boner and then leave me alone." Arthur grumbled to himself after five minutes of staring at the ceiling, mentally willing Merlin to return to bed.
After another five, Arthur slid out of bed and made his way, slowly, into the bathroom, the whole time questioning how they managed to throw Merlin's shirt half into the basket the night before whereas the rest of their clothing had been strewn across the room in an absolute mess.
The water was warm and Arthur sighed into it, letting the droplets bounce off his skin and create tiny rivers streaming down his face. Until it ran straight into his eyes and he had to shake off the feeling of warmth surrounding his body and focussing on cleansing himself of the remnants from the night before. Arthur grabbed the soap and scrubbed it onto a facecloth with a little more force than neccesary and proceeded to lather himself in the suds. He moved onto his hair, scrubbing his scalp gently and rinsing, repeating the procedure once more because he was a man who always followed directions - even if they were being given to him by a bottle. Or so he'd say and Merlin would snort and then they'd get into an argument that was normally abated by a round of angry sex, followed by cuddling; which was purely for Merlin's comfort. Obviously.
Taking care of the slight problem the sight of Merlin caused, Arthur came into the stream of temperate water, head leaning against the shower wall and thoughts swirling around Merlin. He swiped himself off once more, just to make sure, then clambored out of the warm stream. The cool air sent a shiver down his back and advanced on the towel, hanging neatly on it's hook. Arthur grinned thinking about how bothered Merlin got if he left his towels just lying around and contemplated doing just that but thought better of it and wrapped it around his waist instead.
After brushing his teeth, Arthur retreated back into their bedroom and rifling through his drawers for something to wear, finally settling on grey sweatpants that hung loosely from his hips and disregarding the idea of a shirt. He slipped back into the bathroom, rehanging the towel from the hook gently and then padding out of his room in search of his boyfriend.
The millisecond Arthur flung open the door, a smell concocted of what could only contain bacon and pancakes wafted into his nose. Following his scent sense, Arthur found Merlin in the kitchen humming happily as he flipped two blueberry pancakes into a tinfoil plate and sliding it into the oven to keep warm. There were plates, cutlery and the bottle of syrup set up on the island, along side a bowl of freshly cut strawberries. Two mugs had been placed by the coffee machine, which was whirring to life as Arthur snuck around the island to get a better look at Merlin.
His boyfriend was wearing nothing but his pajama pants, and Arthur reveled in the sight of Merlin's long, lean back, full of whipcord muscle that moved underneath the pale expanse of skin each time Merlin changed his position. He could see the bruises powdering Merlin's neck and smiled to himself - normally Merlin hid the evidence of Arthur's possessiveness under scarves of high necked shirts.
Sidling up behind Merlin as quietly as he could, Arthur slid his hands around Merlin's hips to clasp loosely on his lower stomach and he rested his head on Merlin's shoulder.
"Hi." Arthur murmured into Merlin's ear, letting his nose brush softly in the lightly curling hair above his ear. He felt the shudder wrack through Merlin's body and smiled in triumph.
"Good morning." Merlin answered, switching his body weight onto the opposite foot as he reached out to ladle pancake mix into the frying pan. The sizzle was immediate and Arthur watched in fascination as Merlin flipped the bacon and then repeating the procedure with the pancakes. "Arthur, you're going to have to let go of me."
"No," Arthur responded simply, peppering Merlin's shoulder and neck in light, gentle kisses. Merlin squirmed against Arthur's arms but it was no use.
"Do you want these pancakes to burn, you clotpole?" Merlin exclaimed, once again trying to worm his way out of Arthur's hold which gained his a sharp nip at his neck in response. "Oi!"
Arthur kissed him once more, right behind his ear and pulled away to let Merlin finish his work. The last bit of batter was in the pan when Merlin turned around fully, finally facing Arthur, who was sipping at his coffee.
Merlin's eyes were a vibrant blue outlined in a forest of thick black lashes. Dust flour clung to Merlin's nose and lashes like snow and his lips held a cheeky grin.
"Spill some flour, Merlin?" Arthur asked, barely concealing his grin.
"What? No," Merlin shot a quick glance around the kitchen, "why?"
"You've got something," Arthur closed the space between them with two strides and came to a stop in front of Merlin, chests practically brushing together. "On your nose."
Merlin moved to wipe it off but Arthur caught his hand, lowering it back down to Merlin's side and when he shot Arthur a confused look, Arthur smiled, "Allow me."
Merlin nodded and Arthur reached up to cup Merlin's cheek, his thumb ghosting along Merlin's cheekbone before swiping at the flecks of flour on his nose. Merlin leaned into the touch and Arthur kept stroking, smoothing down the tiny hairs on Merlin's nose and then moving to brush his cheekbone again.
Merlin let his eyes slip closed at the feeling and Arthur took a mental picture, storing it for a day when he could no longer do this to Merlin; whether it be because of distance, an argument or the unbeatable consequences of time and destiny. This time, when Arthur's eyes wandered down Merlin's face, his lips followed. He kissed the tip of Merlin's nose sweetly, dappled kisses along Merlin's jawline and finally capturing Merlin's mouth in a honey-sweet kiss. Arthur flicked his tongue out to trace Merlin's bottom lip and when Merlin opened for him, he plunged inside, exploring the tastes of Merlin's mouth with his own.
His hands shot out to grip Merlin's hips and Merlin's hands tangled in his hair, food all but forgotten. Merlin broke apart first, gasping for air and Arthur leaned his forehead against Merlin's, grinning triumphantly.
"You know? I quite like this way of spending time together, Merlin." Arthur said, stealing another quick kiss before pulling away and palming at the erection in Merlin's pajamas.
"Arthur." Merlin half-grumbled, half-sighed, pushing back against Arthur's hand in a mad search for friction.
Abruptly Arthur pulled away, eyes a wicked blue as he took in Merlin's disheveled appearance and eyes so dark they almost seemed black, "After breakfast - I have a feeling we're going to be needing all the energy we can get."