There are those rare occasions in their time together when Arthur is the first one to wake after a night of pleasure. Merlin was an early riser, a morning person. Arthur, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. When Merlin awoke, he stretched like a cat, arching his back off the bed and curling his toes. He yawned once, maybe twice, and smiled before getting out of bed to get Arthur food. Meanwhile Arthur had to be—quite literally—dragged out of bed.
Either way, those rare occasions where Arthur was the first to wake were Arthur's favorite. When Arthur woke, he wasn't as graceful, not nearly has happy as Merlin seemed to be in the morning. The point remained though; Arthur was awake and Merlin was not.
Rubbing his eyes and yawning once, Arthur rolled over to come face to face with Merlin. Arthur smiled softly, noticing the lax and peaceful features on Merlin's sleeping face. When he was awake, Merlin always had this line of worry on his forehead (which was now completely smooth) and bags under his eyes. The sheets of Arthur's bed covered only the bottom half of his body, except for his left foot that hung off the side.
The sunlight streamed through the window, giving Merlin this angelic, golden glow around his body. His eyelashes were long and dark in contrast to his beautiful pale skin. Arthur laid his head back down on the pillow, simply studying Merlin's face; his closed eyes, his strong chin, his nose, his ridiculous ears, his eyebrows, his dark hair that fell over his face, and his cheekbones.
Arthur reached out a gentle hand, tracing Merlin's right eyebrow with his thumb and letting it trail down the side of his head to softly caress his cheekbone. Merlin's eyes fluttered momentarily, he made a small noise in his throat, but made no further movement. Arthur breathed through his nose making what could be considered a chuckle.
He moved his hand away from Merlin's cheekbone, moving it to the base of his neck, playing with the hair there with his fingertips. Merlin squirmed a little and sighed; Arthur could tell he was waking up. Moving his body up, he put his body weight on his elbow and leaned his head over to the base of Merlin's neck, replacing his hand with his lips. He peppered kisses down his back and back up and down again.
"G'morning."
Arthur looked up, his face bright and happy at Merlin's groggy and hoarse voice from sleep. Merlin turned his head to look at Arthur, a small, tired smile on his face.
"Good morning to you too," Arthur replied, laying back down against the pillows.
Merlin yawned once, then twice, before stretching across the bed like he always does. Arthur chuckled to himself, burying his nose into Merlin's neck.
"What're you laughing at?"
"You."
"Should I be offended?"
Arthur placed his head on Merlin's shoulder. "Definitely not."
Merlin smiled and tilted Arthur's chin up with two long fingers. They kissed, a lazy kiss that ended with them both smiling to themselves.
Yes, oh yes, Merlin and Arthur could both agree that those rare occasions where Arthur woke first were quite enjoyable.