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A life-sized golden dragon that was eerily similar to Kilgarrah, which still sat on his bed in his room, was holding a bundle of heart-shaped balloons tied to its wrist standing on Merlin’s front porch.
This life-size dragon replica of Merlin's childhood plushie was admittedly the best present he'd ever gotten.
The mailman looks back at the dragon and gives it a faint chuckle, turning back to Merlin he says,. “Good morning sir.”
It takes Merlin a moment to collect himself.
“Good Morning.” he manages after realizing he'd been silent for too long.
Seeing that Merlin’s clearly lost for words, the man tries to bring him back into the conversation. “It’s not very often I deliver a six foot tall dragon, but that’s Valentine’s Day for you.” The man smiles and shakes his head. “I swear the presents get more outrageous every year. Sign here please.”
Merlin takes the clipboard. “Excuse me sir, but you must be mistaken, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.”
“No sir, I believe it’s today.”
Merlin goes pale. “No. It can’t be.” Shite.
The man bites his lip, and gives him a pitying look. “Did you not get anything for your--”
“No! I planned everything for tomorrow!”
“Sorry man. Maybe your girlfriend will understand?”
“Boyfriend.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Boy. I’m gay.”
“Oh. Cool. Maybe your boyfriend will understand?”
“He will and he’ll pretend that he doesn’t care, but he definitely will.” Arthur was right, he really was an idiot.
“Listen man, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got like a million other deliveries to make, so if you’d sign for the dragon, that would be wonderful.”
“Oh. sorry.” He signs his name and gives the clipboard back to him.
The man gives him one more sympathetic look before he takes off, leaving Merlin staring into the abnormally large eyes of an overly plump dragon.
…
Hunith helps Merlin bring the dragon into the house. It was surprisingly heavy. The large body made it hard to see in front of him so they walked slowly to avoid knocking anything over. The whole time he’s trying to avoid looking into the dragon’s eyes, ignoring the overwhelming feeling of his own guilt.
"It's Valentine's Day and I didn't even remember." Merlin confesses. Arthur always did the sweetest things for him. He didn’t think he deserved it.
She raises and eyebrow at him. “Oh sweetheart. Arthur won’t mind. I promise.”
…
He doesn’t. Which made Merlin feel a million times worse.
“You’re not sad at all?”
“Why would I be sad? I knew there was a possibility you’d forget. You still love me, don’t you?” They’re sitting close together on a bench in the front of the school. There are people everywhere carrying balloons, teddy bears, roses, and other things pink, adorable, or heart-shaped. Not to mention all the hand holding and PDA.
“If you have to ask, then I'm doing a horrible job at being your boyfriend." Merlin huffs and rests his head on Arthur's shoulder. “This isn't an excuse but I didn’t forget, I just thought it was tomorrow.”
Arthur chuckled. “Merlin, I know you wouldn't forget on purpose. That’s why I made sure it was a home delivery, so you wouldn’t have to carry the guilt around with you. You don’t give me enough credit, love.”
That makes Merlin feel even worse. “Great. So you expect me to be a terrible boyfriend, that makes me feel so much better.”
“Exactly.” Arthur chuckles, which earns him a glare. “I guess you’ll just have to make it up to me another way.” Arthur whispers into his ear. Merlin pinches his thigh.
Merlin snuggles in closer to Arthur's side. "You made me a giant Kilgarrah. I can tell his fabric has golden thread in it and his wings are made from some sort of silky cashmere fabric. You're absolutely ridiculous."
Arthur attempts to look wounded. "What can I say? I like to spoil my guy." Merlin laughs and laces his fingers through Arthur's. "He's perfect. Thank you."
"You're welcome. I know you wish you had an actual dragon so I did the next best thing."Arthur hugs him closer. “First period starts in five minutes. We should probably get going now. See you at lunch. Love you.” Arthur leans forward and presses his lips to Merlin's.
“Love you too.” He returns Arthur’s kiss and reluctantly walks in the opposite direction to his first class of the day, Calculus with Professor Nimueh.
Along the way, he gets hit in the face by several abnormally large and fluffy stuffed animals, but he doesn't bother getting angry; he feels like he deserves it.
…
Merlin sits down at his desk, and Mordred’s already there. He’s holding a bundle of roses, and some chocolate. When Merlin approaches the table, his face breaks into a wide grin. “I got these for you.”
Merlin’s shocked. He smiles back at him, but guilt pools at the bottom of his stomach. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“Don’t worry about it, you came to see Hamlet with me, this is a thank you present.” Merlin flashes him a wide smile. “And hey, you can share your chocolates with me.”
Merlin doesn’t know what to say, he just feels more guilt.
“So what did you get Arthur?”
“Oh. Well, I bought him a sword since he's been obsessed with all things medieval.” Merlin lets out a chuckle. “But it’s set to be delivered to his house tomorrow. I kind of forgot Valentine’s Day was today.”
“He’s not mad is he?” Mordred felt bad for Merlin. But maybe that was a sign of a failing relationship. For which Mordred would gladly take Arthur’s place.
“Actually, no. He didn’t mind at all. He’s too good to me.” Merlin pops a piece of chocolate in his mouth. It has fudge in the middle. He lets out a tiny moan. “Damn, Mordred. These are amazing.”
Mordred’s dazed a bit, but once he realizes Merlin’s staring at him, waiting for an answer, he snaps out of it, and puts a piece of chocolate into his mouth. “You're right. These are wonderful. I have marvelous taste.” Merlin gives him a small smile at that, and Mordred's face feels hot all of a sudden.
“Oi! Chocolates! Give one here.” Will arrives, seemingly out of thin air and sits next to Merlin, He steals two more chocolates before he can say anything.
Merlin quickly closes the box before he can take anymore.
“Pendragon sure knows where to buy the best chocolate.”
“Actually, these are from Mordred.” replies Merlin.
Will raises his eyebrow and looks over at Mordred. "You have a death wish I see."
Mordred just glares at him. "I don't see you've gotten Merlin anything."
"That's because I prefer my best mate with his pants on." Will responds and then laughs heartily, until Professor Gaius raises an eyebrow at him which immediately shuts him up.
Merlin gives him a two finger salute when the Professor looks away.
Ten minutes into lecture, Mordred throws a note onto Merlin's desk. Don't listen to Will. I like you more than that. Merlin swallows. Should he have not accepted the gift? It had seemed innocent enough. Merlin stares despairingly at the two remaining chocolates and feels like an even worse person for unknowingly playing Mordred's heart. He gives Will the rest of his chocolates, and Mordred pretends like he didn't notice.
…
A day later, on Merlin's "Valentine's Day", Arthur shows up at Merlin's front door carrying the sword. As soon as Merlin opens the door, Arthur grabs the back of his head and gives him a rather magnificent kiss. Pulling away he says, "This sword is beautiful."
Merlin had done extensive research on the magical sword Excalibur, based on the Arthurian legends. He had gotten Arthur a sword made to replicate it. It had a beautiful golden handle with runes running down the shaft and a number of jewels that decorated the handle. Gwen's dad had helped him create it. Down the middle of the sword were the words once and future and Merlin thought it suited Arthur perfectly.
"There are absolutely no words to describe how much I love this and you for gifting me this work of art." Arthur says into the crease of Merlin's neck.
Merlin holds him tight and says "Happy Valentine's Day, Dollophead."
He'd have to tell Mordred that he wasn't interested and never would be. Arthur was it for him.