Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Under the weather

When the seasonal weather and his own sense of loyalty (and occasionally Merlin's clumsiness) makes Leon feel under the weather, Arthur takes care of him. Basically TLC fluff. Modern AU, Arthur/Leon.

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Winter

"You idiot, what were you thinking?" Arthur barked out, noticing in the corner of his eye that the nurse regarded him with a look of utter disapproval. Clearly, as it was generally considered bad bedside manners to yell at a patient at a hospital but Arthur was too worried to be able to stop himself and reacted the same way he always did, with anger. That's what his father had done when he grew up and that's what he did now, yelled at someone instead of telling them how worried he'd been.

"You shouldn't have been out driving, it's a bloody snow storm going on!"
"I'd promised" Leon protested. "I'd promised to come by and help you to pack." So he had, and he was apparently too loyal and too kind to back out that promise, never mind that there was a blizzard outside. Arthur didn't know whether to applaud or scold him for it.

"Screw the packing, you… you could've died!" Arthur was shaking as he sank down to sit in the chair beside the hospital bed and he put his head in his hands. He still remembered how it felt when the call came through, a police officer telling him that his boyfriend had been involved in a car accident and was currently on his way to the hospital. He'd frozen for many long seconds before leaping into action and barking out orders for meetings to be rescheduled, work to be distributed and a taxi to be ordered. Then he'd spent the entire way to the hospital yelling at the driver to go faster before yelling at the receptionist to type quicker and tell him what room Leon was in and it was only now that he saw his boyfriend, tired, pale and with bruises on his face that he felt the adrenaline leaving him. A hand touched his knee lightly and Arthur jerked upright, his eyes finding the tired one's of Leon.

"Arthur, I'm all right" he said and Arthur half-laughed, half-sobbed.

"No, you're not" he answered, taking Leon's hand between his own two and feeling relived when he felt the familiar warmth. "You have a broken leg and a concussion and god knows what else." Arthur hadn't really listened beyond the words 'full recovery' after he'd stormed into the room but he knew that it was a small miracle that the man wasn't more injured than he was. "But you will be. You will be all right." He placed a light kiss on Leon's knuckles. "I'll make sure of it."

Spring

"I thought it'd be a warm day" Leon said between clattering teeth and Arthur all but dragged him in the direction of the bathroom, leaving small puddles of water in their wake. "It looked nice this morning."

"It's bloody April and the weather's completely unstable. Why didn't you bring an umbrella, or at least a jacket?" Arthur grumbled as he helped undress his shivering boyfriend whose fingers didn't seem to be working well enough at the moment to undo the button of his jeans. "Or why didn't you tell me to come bring you something?"

"You were working" Leon answered, leaning heavily against Arthur as he lifted one leg after the other to step out of his trousers. His shirt was completely soaked through and his blonde hair was plastered against his head and Arthur bundled him into the shower as quickly as he could, turning the temperature up as much as he dared without burning his boyfriend.

"Get in, you idiot" he said, but he did it with affection. What else could he do with a man who'd just spent the better part of the day outside, raising money to the local animal shelter before walking home in a torrential downpour, not calling anyone to pick him up because he didn't want anyone to drive in that weather?

As Leon got warmed up in the shower Arthur threw the clothes in the washing machine, made some tea and scrounged up all the blankets that he could find. Then he turned the TV on, settling for a re-run of a show that they'd already seen years ago and wouldn't require a lot of attention from them, and waited for his boyfriend to join him on the sofa. Later, when Leon dozed on his shoulder, Arthur snuggled deeper down beneath the blankets, wondering how someone who was as good at caring for others could be so completely unable to take care of himself.

Summer

"You're not feeling too well, are you?" Arthur sighed and Leon shook his head weakly. "Why didn't you tell me you started feeling ill?" Leon looked away, mumbling something, and Arthur fought the urge to hit him over the head. He knew that Leon was sensitive about the fact that he didn't do too well when it was hot outside, that he didn't want to come across as an old man that needed to get out of the sun and lie down in the shade, but the result in front of him wasn't all that good either. No sooner had they gotten back from their beach picnic and volley ball game before Leon all but ran to the bathroom and threw up. Now he was curled up on the tiled floor looking worse for wear, all clammy and pale despite the sun, and Arthur couldn't bear to see him like that.

"Let's get you cooled off, shall we?" he suggested and more or less hauled his boyfriend to his feet. He poured Leon a glass of water to rinse his mouth and turned the shower on as chilly as he dared.

"I'm sorry" Leon offered, looking rather pitiful when his hands were so unsteady that he almost dropped the glass and forced Arthur to catch it quickly before it fell. Arthur sighed and presses a quick kiss to his temple.

"Don't be. But tell me next time, instead of getting a heatstroke. Do you still feel sick?"
"A little. Mostly tired. And I have a headache." Arthur checked the temperature of the shower, undressed and manoeuvred the two of them inside.

When they'd towelled off and rested on the bed, the AC keeping the room nice and cool, Arthur ran his fingers through Leon's still damp curls as the other man slowly fell asleep. When his breathing was deep and even Arthur carefully wriggled out of his boyfriend's arms and snuck out of the room. He got some fruit, a bottle of water and a couple of painkillers that he placed on the nightstand. Leon wouldn't have to get up and search for anything when he woke up needing it.

Autumn

"How exactly did this happen?" Arthur asked, genuinely confused.

"I, uh, fell" Leon admitted sheepishly. "Slipped on the ice."

"That much I gathered." Arthur deadpanned and let his gaze linger on Leon's heavily wrapped ankle. "But what I don't get is how you could've slipped and fallen on ice when there's no ice outside. It's barely October yet." Arthur suddenly realized something. "Oh no, don't tell me that you…"

"I did" Leon admitted wryly.

"And why on god's green earth would you ever agree to that?" Arthur groaned exasperated. Merlin had been pestering Arthur for months to come with him to the ice rink and practice skating before winter came, because he'd somehow gotten stuck on the idea of taking Gwaine on a romantic date. Apparently that was something that called for ice skating on a lake close o Ealdor, just the two of them, on a moonlit night under the stars with hot chocolate and marshmallows and all the rest. He'd described it often enough and in such vivid detail that Arthur felt like he'd already been there. The problem with such a fine idea was that Merlin couldn't skate to save his own life, let alone avoid injuring anyone who was unfortunate enough to be around him when he tried. When Arthur categorically had refused he'd focused his efforts on Leon instead, who lacked both the ability to say no to Merlin and a sense of self-preservation. And somehow, while trying to teach Merlin how to skate the bumbling idiot had managed to overturn them both and when they had untangled all limbs it was clear that Leon wouldn't do any more teaching that day. Or any other day soon. Or walking at all for that matter.

"I'm going to kill him" Arthur growled and whipped out his phone. It didn't really matter how sorry Merlin might be, Leon's ankle was still badly sprained and their weekend plans were ruined.

"He's already apologized about a million times" Leon said, wrestling the phone away from Arthur who huffed but complied. He'd yell at Merlin at work instead, when Leon couldn't stop him.

They went ahead with their weekend plans and drove to the cottage anyway but the weather ended up being autumn's worst nightmare the whole time and they couldn't have spent much time outside even if Leon hadn't been injured. The rain poured down, making the ground a sea of mud and too slippery for walks. Instead they stayed inside, talked and just enjoyed each other's company. Arthur cooked nice meals and forbade Leon to help with the dishes. And when they cuddled in front of a roaring fire, the flames creating a shadowy dance on the walls of the living room, Arthur realized that he didn't mind all that much that Leon was temporarily unable to walk. It made it easier to take care of him.