Title: Kittens.
Rating: K
Couples: Merlin/Arthur
Description: To be honest, he should have expected this, it was becoming a habit of Merlin's to rescue small animals and bring them home.
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, Arthur, Morgana, Torchwood, Doctor Who or Jacoby Shaddix/Papa Roach, if I did... Well, I'd have a lot of fun. The people and characters belong to rightful owners, blah blah blah! Now for fluff!
Authors Note: This is just something to ease me back into writing. It's silly. It's slapdash. And it's messy, but cute. So just focus on the image of Colin Morgan and Bradley James playing with a kitten and enjoy :)
Arthur was exhausted. In truth, he usually was after working too hard for his father, trying to prove... Something. Merlin always said that he should quit, that he would be more appreciated elsewhere in his line of work, but the young Pendragon always said no; his an unwavering loyalty to his father makes him not want to break away, and anyway, when Uther retires, Arthur knows he will have the whole company. The ties he's made, and the promotions he's gained, not been given have assured him of this, so he toils and knows that one day it will all be his. But still, there were days when he just wanted to give up and get an easy job somewhere, someplace where his father won't breathe over his shoulder like the overbearing parent he is. The blonde was broken out of his reverie by a high pitched squeal of delight from his pseudo sister Morgana, and answering laughter from his long term partner.
"Merlin?" He called with a certain amount of trepidation, "Something that makes you two laugh like hyena's in heat is usually caused by something perverted," and more often then not ends with me being chained to something, he added mentally, "Should I be worried?" He called again, making his way down the hallway to his living room.
To be honest, he should have expected this, it was becoming a habit of Merlin's to rescue small animals and bring them home, but still... The situation was made worse by Morgana, who was beaming up at him from the slouching black leather armchair that she favoured when she was around at her almost brothers apartment, her face split almost in half by her smile, looking like a seven year old with a sugar addiction and his boyfriend, his Merlin, looking fine as ever, head to toe in black, was stretched across the floor, with a look of undisguised glee, trailing his old broken headphones in front of him while what looked like a ball of fluff followed them, tripping up over its own feet.
"Merlin?" He asked, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yes, Arthur?" Innocence and complete un-repentance laced every word from the dark haired mans mouth.
"You bought a cat?"
"A kitten actually, and technically I found her. She's-"
"Merlin..."
"-Called Jacoby."
"You already name it... What kind of name is Jacoby?"
"it's the name of the singer from Papa Roach!"
"Jacoby? Alright... So it's a boy?"
"No..."
"Merlin..."
"Don't be so gender biased Arthur," Morgana cut in, not even bothering to hide her delight at the domestic spat she was witnessing. Arthur glared at her before looking down to see the kitten break away from headphone and run at his feet to chew on his laces. There was a beat of silence then an explosion of laughter from the two darker haired people in the room, as Arthur simply raised an eyebrow and lifted his foot, a soft expression gracing his features as the kitten held on and tried to pull his foot back down to the floor, which he did carefully. Merlin got to his feet and picked up "Jacoby," Putting her in one arm and wrapping the other around his lover's neck.
"Can we keep her please?" He begged, widening his blue eyes. Arthur sighed and took in the sight of Merlin in his tight shirt, ripped jeans and chains, looking all the part the hardcore boy he had fallen in love with at University, even clutching a fluffy kitten, and sighed in a put upon way before rolling his eyes.
"I guess so," Merlin squealed and kissed Arthur sweetly and repeatedly on the lips, cheeks, chin and neck, making the older man laugh and wrap his arms around Merlin's waist. Morgana watched with a fond look on her face before getting up with difficulty cradling her enlarged stomach and kissing them both on the cheek.
"I best be getting off, the babysitter will be home at any time!" She tickled Jacoby's chin, who purred and rubbed her head against her hand, "See you boys later!" They bid the pregnant woman farewll eventually, even as Arthur fussed over her, making sure she was ok to drive, that she'd eaten and wasn't dizzy etc...
"You really don't mind?" Merlin asked two hours later as the two curled up on the couch with Jacoby who was resting against Merlin's stomach while he lay on top of Arthur, the three of them watching some Doctor Who spin off that Arthur loved and Merlin honestly only watched for the hot Welsh guy in a suit. Arthur chuckled, not looking away from the screen as he pressed a kiss to the back of his lovers head and smiled into his hair.
"I really don't mind... She's not the worst of the pets you've rescued after all..." Merlin bit his lip to stifle his laughter as he recalled the screeches when Arthur had seen his last pet. It had nearly ended their blossoming relationship in their second year of University, though to this day Merlin defended himself for forgetting he had let the mouse he had found roam around in it's little plastic ball while he had gone on his date with the blonde because he hadn't even meant to bring Arthur back to his room that night, and it was all the Pendragon's fault for doing "that thing with his tongue!"
"Yeah... Cept she might bring mice home... I mean they'll be dead but..."
"Merlin, if you want to keep the cat, i think it best you shut up now."
"Shutting up," Merlin said contentedly, playing with Jacoby's little paw, "And she's-"
"Mroowww," Jacoby responded, effectively shutting up both men, before batting Merlin's hand one more time and curling up to sleep.