You and your friends have been laying the penis game in the library for the last five minutes and none of you have gotten above a quiet yell and I'm really just trying to study over here so I'm gonna put an end to this by winning the game. College au Merthur
"penis"
"Penis"
"Peenisss"
It had been going on like this for the last five minutes and Merlin's temper was wearing thin. They were playing that stupid penis game and none of them had gotten above a quiet whisper. Merlin glanced at the group in question. It was Gwaine, Leon, Arthur, Percival and Lance and they were all clumped together between the rows of books, trying to look inconspicuous- it wasn't working. Merlin had been friends with Lance for years now and he had been the one to convince him to ask Gwen out on a date- which he did.
Through Lance Merlin had met the others- Gwaine was the biggest flirt in school, he was a bisexual who had little preference- hell he'd even chatted up Merlin before- and then there was Leon, Arthur's best friend and was friendly to everyone, like Lance.
Then there was Arthur Pendragon. Merlin was not ashamed to say that he stared at Arthur a little too long when he was in the same room as Merlin. Arthur was a jerk- he was always teasing Merlin whenever they interacted and Merlin always had a snappy retort to give back. They bantered like that a lot and at first Merlin had hated Arthur. But that was before Arthur had stood up for Merlin's best friend Will when they were 15 and proved that while Arthur was the biggest prat Merlin had ever met- he had a heart of gold.
Merlin had had a huge crush on Arthur since. And five years later, in a cramped library at the university they now both attended, Arthur and his friends were playing the penis game when all Merlin wanted to do was study for his finals.
The penis whispers continued. Merlin held back a groan of frustration. When would it STOP.
"Penis" Merlin whispered at a volume louder than what had previously been used but still quite enough to not be noticeable by the librarian. The group looked over at Merlin with surprise.
Honestly, Merlin didn't know why he did it, but he knew the only way he was going to study was to win their game and shut them up.
Arthur broke first.
"Penis" he stated, slightly louder than Merlin, his eyebrow raised challengingly.
"Penis" Merlin retorted, louder still.
"Peenis" Gwaine said, trying not to laugh, making it slightly louder again.
"Peniss" Lance piped up, increasing the volume still.
It continued like this for the next 5 minutes, the volume slowly increasing.
"Penis!" Arthur said. The volume was now to the point where people were looking at them disapprovingly, but Merlin didn't care anymore. He stared at Arthur. In the last five minutes he had relocated somewhere where the librarian couldn't directly see him.
"Penis..!" Merlin was barely putting effort in.
"PEnis" Arthur grinned at Merlin. The rest of the group was quite, watching Arthur and Merlin like they were a tennis match, waiting to see the winner as Merlin and Arthur went back and forth.
"PENIS" Merlin shouted.
"PEENIS" Arthur retorted.
Merlin started to strain his voice, yelling loudly. He was now ducked behind a row of books, glaring at Arthur through the gaps.
"PEEENIS" Merlin yelled, his voice echoing. He saw Arthur double over in laughter when the librarian's voice yelled out
"YES, MEN HAVE PENIS' NOW BE QUITE THIS IS A LIBRARY".
Merlin chuckled, walking over to Arthur and the others.
"I believe you won Merlin" Arthur said, smirking.
"What's my prize?" Merlin asked before he could stop himself. He wanted to hit himself as soon as he said it- that was so suggestive what was wrong with him?
"I'll buy you dinner, how about that?" Arthur said, his smirk suddenly replaced by something more genuine.
Merlin felt his heart stop in his chest and he couldn't stop the small smile that took over his face. He glanced to the left of Arthur, where he could spy a clock on the back wall of the library and noted that it was already 4p.m. and Merlin knew he had no chance of getting any more studying done today at the rate his heart was beating.
"Pick me up at seven and you have a deal" Merlin said, smiling fondly at Arthur. Arthur's face broke out in a grin and Merlin's smile widened to match it. Gwaine made a whooping sound and Merlin felt his face warm, noticing Arthur's face had turned a shade of red too.
"See you then" Arthur said before he turned and whacked Gwaine across the head, exiting the library and throwing another grin over his shoulder at Merlin, who still hadn't moved. He ignored the congrats, finally and be safe from the other boys as Merlin left to grab his notes and go back home, his heart still hammering in his chest.
Merlin took his time walking back to his dorm (the one he shared with Lance and Will), trying to calm down as much as possible. After all, it was just Arthur. They had known each other for years, flirted with each other for years, a date wasn't that big of a deal.
By the time Merlin got back to his dorm he had calmed down and was ready to get dressed when he was ambushed by Will, Freya and Gwen. Merlin stood in the doorway, feeling uncomfortable under the scrutinizing stars of his friends.
"CONGRATULATIONS" Freya suddenly yelled. That seemed to be a queue for the others for they all crowded around Merlin asking him about what he was going to wear and what he was going to do. He retorted with a "my birthday suit" and "Arthur of course" before he busied himself finding clothes, pointedly ignoring his friends increasingly sexual questions.
Merlin- contrary to the nicknames he had often been called- was not a girl and it took him only 10 minutes to decide on what to wear (and okay maybe it had something to do with not owning that many nice pairs of clothing) before he got up and went to the bathroom to have a shower and get ready.
When Merlin finally exited the bathroom in clean clothes, his hair dry (but stubbornly not sitting neatly on his head) and feeling fresh, Merlin noticed that Arthur was already at his dorm, being given the talk by Will, with Freya inserting comments and that Gwen had disappeared from the dorm- probably to find Gwen or go back to the dorm she shared with Morganna. Merlin took a moment to take in Arthur. He was wearing casual jeans and a red shirt that sat so god-damn perfectly on Arthur. His hair was ruffled to perfection and though he seemed to be taking Will and Freya seriously enough, there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Arthur glanced up then, and spotted Merlin. His eyes roamed over Merlin and a look of fondness took over Arthur's features. Merlin smiled, looking down self-consciously.
"Hey Merlin, ready to go?" Arthur asked, cutting Will off. Merlin laughed at the outraged-yet-amused look on Will's face and nodded.
"Yeah- I'm good" Merlin grabbed his wallet and phone, waved goodbye to Will and Freya and exited his dorm with Arthur.
They didn't go too far from campus, but far enough away that they could ignore the fact that they both had finals in a week. Conversation was easy and Merlin felt like he had never laughed so much in his life. They stole food off of each others plate, and when Arthur reached across the table and took Merlin's hand after the empty plates had been taken away, Merlin didn't pull away.
As Arthur and Merlin were walking home in a comfortable silence, Merlin intertwined his hand with Arthur's and couldn't help but smile when Arthur squeezed Merlin's hand.
"You know Merlin, you completely ruined it" Arthur said suddenly, his tone light.
"What exactly did I ruin Arthur?" Merlin asked raising an eyebrow- he had been trying to perfect Gaius' eyebrow but he hadn't quite mastered it because all he received for it was a small laugh from Arthur.
"I had this amazing plan to woo you before I asked you out but no- you had to ruin it with that stupid big mouth of yours" Arthur stated. Merlin's mind whirled.
"Did you just say woo?" Merlin asked, incredulously. Arthur just laughed, looking bashful and Merlin continued, teasing him "besides, I doubt you would have had the balls to ask me anyway, if it wasn't for my big mouth we wouldn't be here".
Arthur stopped walking then- pulling Merlin next to him.
"I most definitely would have, like I would miss taking you on a date" Arthur said calmly and Merlin's heart fluttered at the sound of that, "but I guess we will never know now, all because of that big mouth of yours".
"Well, what can you do, me and my big mouth" Merlin laughed, but as Arthur's eyes flickered down to Merlin's mouth it got caught in his throat. Merlin found himself looking at Arthur's lips, contemplating kissing Arthur, when he noticed Arthur had let go of Merlin's hand and had moved his hand to the back of Merlin's neck, guiding Merlin's mouth to Arthur's and pulling Merlin closer to Arthur.
The kiss was uncertain, but was a promise for more. When Arthur pulled away, he was smiling.
"Okay?" Arthur asked, his hand still at the base of Merlin's neck.
"More than" Merlin grinned back. Arthur smiled, took a step back and re-joined their hands. They continued their walk back to Merlin's dorm, the conversation light and comfortable, like nothing had happened, but they both knew that something had and they were both more than okay with it.
Arthur kissed Merlin again, a chaste kiss, outside of Merlin's dorm.
"See you tomorrow Merlin" Arthur said when he pulled away, his breath a ghost on Merlin's lips. Merlin reconnected their lips again, a slightly deeper kiss.
"Yes you will" Merlin whispered back, grinning as he pulled away. Arthur grinned back at Merlin before he turned around and walked towards his own dorm room.
Merlin was still stupidly smiling when he opened his door and the smile didn't fade when Will and Lance started asking questions and practically interviewing him about his date- he briefly caught the words did you kiss because if you did Gwaine owes me 10 pounds from Leon but Merlin didn't care, because this was a new chapter with Arthur, exciting and full of promises, and Merlin was more than excited to start.