Lights flared erratically and the song's baseline pumped aggressively through the speakers, giving Merlin a terrible headache. Sat at the bar, he nursed his rum and coke quietly as he tried to avoid any unwanted attention. By keeping his head down he could at least pretend that the other patrons in the club weren't lustfully undressing him with their eyes. He had no idea where Will had gone off to and, quite frankly, he was done with horny, sweaty men grinding up against him as he attempted to walk.
The place was called Shimmer and was one of the most popular gay clubs in lower London. While he had no qualms about his sexual orientation, being in a place where men were literally throwing themselves at each other in the middle of a dance floor reeking of alcohol, sweat, and numerous bodily fluids wasn't exactly his idea of a good time. Will had assured him that it would be good for him to get out and meet some people. "You might even meet the one," he had breathed out overdramatically. Merlin had rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, knowing that possibility was highly unlikely. However, he had been living in his own little bubble for quite a while and at the time getting out did seem like a good idea.
"Hey gorgeous," a balding man in a suit slurred as he slipped unceremoniously onto the barstool beside Merlin's. Not such a good idea anymore, he thought to himself as the middle-aged man leaned closer into his personal bubble. "Whaddaya say me and you get out of this stinkhole and go do something fun?" Merlin flinched back as a large amount of the drunk man's saliva landed on his face.
"No, thank you," he replied, dropping his gaze to the dark liquid in his cup and hoping the man would decide to leave him alone and go bother someone else. Unfortunately, it seemed that he wasn't going to be so lucky as the man closed his chubby fist around Merlin's small bicep and pulled him closer.
"I'm not the kind of man that you want to be sayin' no to," he hissed, his already red face deepening in colour. "So I suggest you get your pretty little arse up off that stool and come with me." A surge of panic flew through Merlin's entire being as he tried desperately to pull his arm out of the man's tight grip. When that wasn't working and the man was able to yank him up off his stool, Merlin started to frantically look around for Will.
"Let me go!" He demanded weakly as he was pulled closer and closer to the back door. His pleas fell on deaf ears as the man ignored him and the other patrons of the bar couldn't hear him over the loud music. As they neared the dingy exit, Merlin's fear intensified and he struggled against the man with all of his might. With all his wriggling, Merlin got lucky and landed a blow to the man's head causing him to release his vice-like grip on the young man's arm.
"Fuckin' hell! Now you listen 'ere you son of a bitch!" He shouted in a blind rage as he swung a fat fist at Merlin's face. Merlin dodged the drunken swing and turned to flee, eyes immediately scanning the club for somewhere to hide. As he heard the man yelling from behind him, he scampered off in the direction of the dance floor. His hope was that he could disappear from the man's view and then maybe find Will and convince him it was time to go.
Suddenly he heard a yelp and a thump behind him, though it was still mostly drowned out by the noise of the club. Whipping around, Merlin saw the creep he had just escaped from on the ground clutching a bottle of rum with a muscular blond man standing over him with a raised fist. The creep attempted to get up but the blond stopped him with a kick to the stomach. Letting out a retching noise, the man toppled over and passed out, overwhelmed from intoxication and exertion.
The blond looked up from where the middle aged man was now unconscious and met Merlin's eyes.
"Are you alright, mate?" he asked, stepping over the man and reaching an arm out towards Merlin.
"What..?" Merlin started, looking between the blond man and the man on the floor multiple times. The blond lifted his arms in a surrendering motion and stopped at a reasonable distance away from Merlin. Looking at him like he was a startled rabbit, the blond opened his mouth to speak.
"I saw this guy pulling you towards the exit and I saw you trying to get away. You looked really panicked, mate. I tried to get over there to help you out, but then you managed to get free. I thought you'd be okay, but then he grabbed that bottle off of some table and was chasing after you with it raised above his head like a cricket bat. He was going to attack you."
"I... He... I'm sorry, what?" Merlin stuttered in response. His mind was unable to catch up with everything that had happened in such a short amount of time and, seeing that, the blond man spoke again.
"Why don't we get you outside into the fresh air? You look like you need to sit down," he offered, holding out his arm again for support. Merlin blinked and nodded weakly, taking the man's arm without really knowing what was happening. It wasn't until the two of them were outside, the bass from the club thumping mutedly through the closed doors, that Merlin came to his senses.
"Wait a minute!" He shouted, jumping away from the newer stranger. The other man staggered a little at Merlin's sudden force and watched him carefully.
"How do I know that you're not just some other creepy rapist trying to lure me out by myself so that you can have your way with me?!" The man blinked and gazed upon Merlin with a tilt of the head. Slowly, so as not to startle the frightened, lankier man, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black wallet. Flipping it open, he revealed an ER police badge.
"Arthur Pendragon of the London Police Force," he stated gently before tucking his badge back inside the inner pocket of his dark leather jacket.
"Oh," Merlin replied, letting himself relax. "So are you undercover or something then?" Arthur gestured to a small table with a pair of rickety looking chairs and implied for Merlin to sit down. Merlin sat as Arthur took the chair opposite him and replied.
"Nah, I'm just a regular chap trying to have a fun night out. I just happen to carry my badge with me in case of emergencies. I'm off the clock." He shrugged as he folded his hands on the blackened wooden table between them.
"Oh," Merlin said again, silently berating himself for being unable to say anything more intelligent. "Well, thank you for helping me out. I swear I never look for trouble, but it always seems to find me," he explained quietly, pulling his neckerchief tighter around his throat. Arthur watched the movement carefully before looking back up to meet Merlin's eyes. He gave him a long, calculating glance before speaking again.
"I saw you all alone over by the bar earlier, but you looked pretty uncomfortable. Did you come here on your own?" He asked.
"No, I came with my friend Will," Merlin explained, his mouth turning down into a frown. "He convinced me that it would be fun to get out for a bit, but then he disappeared almost as soon as we got here. What about you? Isn't there somebody inside that you should be hanging out with instead of sitting outside with me?" Arthur smiled fondly at Merlin, indicating that he was just fine being out there with Merlin instead of in the sultry club.
"I came with some of my best mates; Gwaine and Percy. Lance came too, but he's pretty uncomfortable considering he has a real nice lady at home." Arthur said with a laugh before continuing. "But if I know them, they're all doing just fine. They weren't just about knocked unconscious by some drunken middle-aged whack job. How are you feeling?" He asked cautiously, watching Merlin closely.
"I'm fine," Merlin replied immediately, without giving it a second thought. A leveling gaze from the man across from him indicated that Arthur wasn't buying Merlin's bullshit and so he took a moment to ponder his current state.
Here he was outside a crazy club that Will had dragged him to with some random cop- some random cute cop if he was being honest with himself- recovering from attempted sexual assault.
His mind drifted to the creep of a man now passed out on the floor where Arthur left him, assuming he wasn't already picked up and removed by one of the club's terrifying bouncers.
"Are you allowed to beat someone up like that?" Merlin asked distractedly, motioning towards Arthur's hidden badge with his hand whilst cocking his head towards the door to the bar. Arthur chuckled and shook his head.
"What's your name? I've only just got the opportunity to ask you," he replied, one side of his mouth pulled up in a playful smirk.
"Merlin."
"Well, Merlin," he scoffed noncommittally. "Nobody is technically allowed to beat anyone up, but in your case I felt as though I didn't have much of a choice. That bloke was gonna knock you one if I didn't knock him first. I was just a mate helping out another mate. Besides, I feel as though he probably deserved the blow to the head more than you did."
"Aren't you going to get in trouble with your supervisors or something?"
"Nah," Arthur replied as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I told you, I'm off duty. Besides, I doubt anyone in there aside from my friends even know that I'm on the force. And it's not like anyone ever pays too close attention to scenes like that in places like this." Merlin nodded in understanding as a grim expression settled on Arthur's face.
A cold breeze blew over the two men and Merlin shivered, trying again to tighten his neckerchief more closely around his throat. Faster than Merlin could notice, Arthur was up out of his chair and wrapping his leather jacket around Merlin's shoulders.
"Thanks," Merlin squeaked, taken off guard by the sudden appearance of heavy material around his body. "But it's yours, I can't just take it-"
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur said affectionately, cutting off the smaller man's protest. The weight of Arthur's badge rested reassuringly against Merlin's hip and he already felt much warmer. A blush rose to his cheeks as he watched Arthur go back and sit down on his side of the table, his muscular bare arms now on display for him. As subtly as he was able, Merlin gave his companion a once over, trying to take in every little detail that he could as they sat in comfortable silence. Arthur was tall and burly, though Merlin guessed that he was probably shorter than himself by about an inch. He had radiant blue eyes and a charming smile, his whole face giving off a vibe of "I'm a gorgeous model and should be posing for expensive fashion magazines instead of rescuing helpless idiots in clubs". But then, that was just Merlin's opinion.
"So..." Merlin started, capturing Arthur's attention. The other man met his gaze and lifted an eyebrow in invitation. "Uh..." Merlin stuttered. "Do you come here often?" Arthur burst out laughing, a wide grin splitting across his face.
"Why Merlin, has anybody ever told you how incredibly suave you are?" He teased, leaning back in his chair with his eyes on Merlin. "I mean, you must have people just constantly swooning over you with lines like that."
"Prat." Merlin huffed, the leather of Arthur's jacket creaking as he crossed his arms defensively.
"Oi!" Arthur protested jokingly, laughing at Merlin's adorable pout. "I'm not a prat!"
"Fine," Merlin continued, taking a moment to stick out his tongue in a very childlike manner. "Clotpole." Arthur only continued to laugh harder, leaving Merlin at even more of a loss over what to say. Giving up on saying anything, Merlin pulled his knees up to his chest and maneuvered his wiry frame so he was completely curled up in his chair.
"Honestly Merlin, what the hell is a clotpole?" Arthur questioned with a snort.
"You, obviously." Arthur chuckled and shook his head in amusement.
"Mature, really," he stated. "You seem like a real sophisticated bloke."
"I'll have you know that I am very sophisticated!" Merlin rebutted, unconsciously pulling Arthur's jacket tighter around himself. At the other man's disbelieving gaze, Merlin sat up straighter and began to defend himself. "Really, I am. I'll have you know that I work as an antiquity supervisor at the British Museum! That is very posh if I do say so myself."
"Which you do," Arthur pointed out. Merlin huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I do." Arthur's face split into a wide grin and Merlin had to remind himself to breathe. "I mean, I guess some people would consider it pretty useless and boring, but I like it." He added in a rush.
"I think it sounds fascinating," Arthur stated with a shrug. Then, with a sheepish smile he added, "Maybe you could show me around some time."
"What?!" Merlin exclaimed abruptly. Arthur jumped slightly at the sudden reaction, but Merlin was quick to continue. "Sorry! Yes, yes that would be- well it would be something. I didn't mean, it's just that you're so, and then I'm so... But of course I could do that. Probably. If you wanted."
"Alright," Arthur said in amusement. The corner of his mouth was pulled up in a smirk due to Merlin's stammering. "Give me your cell phone."
"What?"
"So I can put my number in it, Merlin."
"Oh."
Merlin pulled his old Blackberry out of his jean pocket and slid it across the table towards Arthur. The blond raised an eyebrow at the outdated cell phone, but otherwise made no comment as he added himself as a contact.
"Merlin!"
Merlin and Arthur abruptly looked up towards the side door of the bar just as Merlin's friend Will stumbled out.
"There you are mate! I was wondering where you'd gotten off to! I said to those guys, I said 'I can't leave Merlin alone' but then you were gone and Jared bought me a beer! But now I've found you! And- oh, hello! Who's this?" He stammered drunkenly as he swayed over to Merlin and Arthur.
"Will, sit down you idiot. How much've you had?" Merlin replied exasperatedly as he ran a hand through his dark hair and stood up.
"Eight!" Will replied, plunking down in the chair Merlin had just cleared for him.
"Bloody hell," Merlin murmured before turning back to Arthur. "Sorry Arthur, this is Will. The bloke I was telling you about. I should probably get him home before he pukes everywhere." Arthur shrugged understandingly and stood as well.
"No worries, I understand. I should probably be getting back inside to make sure Gwaine hasn't gone and caused something terrible," he replied, moving around the table and towards the door. "Have a nice night, Merlin."
"Wait!" Merlin called as Arthur's hand reached the handle. The blond turned around and raised an eyebrow. "You forgot your jacket."
"Ah." He replied, making his way back towards Merlin. He reached out an arm which Merlin assumed was for his jacket, but when he went to shrug out of it, he was surprised to find Arthur's arm around his waist instead.
"Um-"
"Hold onto it for me, would you? Gives you the incentive to fire me a text," he murmured in Merlin's ear.
"Um-" Merlin squeaked before Arthur planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. With one final smirk thrown his way, Arthur retreated back into the club, police badge firmly in hand.
"What?!" Will exclaimed, having silently watched the interaction. Ignoring his drunk friend, Merlin quickly checked the pockets of Arthur's leather jacket and found the black badge wallet missing and, in its place, sat Merlin's Blackberry.