For week 1 of the 2014 Merlin Arts Fest. For the image prompt: roses.
Oh, also, this is a modern day AU. So.
Disclaimer: You know the drill, dudes: I don't own anything.
You Bought Roses
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Merlin had never bought roses before. He was no stranger to buying a bouquet of flowers every now and then for special occasions and maybe sometimes 'just because' but…
He'd never bought roses before. They were so… cliché. And expensive enough that he was simply of the opinion that they should never be bought unless an occasion was so grand, and so important that it warranted such a thing—because they were cliché, yes, but also romantic, so Merlin was willing to forgive the cliché if the situation ever called for it.
And it just so happened that this was definitely the sort of occasion that called for the purchase of such a bouquet of flowers.
More than called for it, actually.
*.*.*.*.*
Merlin knew, as he left the flower shop with the bouquet of roses in hand, that Arthur would know there was something up when he saw the flowers—in fact, he was counting on it; he hoped that Arthur having an inkling or some sort of suspicion might take away some of his nerves, might stop his hands from shaking, his heart from thudding in his chest the way it was.
And yet, even several hours after buying the roses, after taking them home and finding a vase for them, leaving them on the end table that Arthur would see the minute he walked in the door…
Merlin still found his hands to be shaking, blood thin in his veins, as he sat in the bedroom, the kitchen, the office, the living room, trying to decide where the best place to do this would be. Maybe he shouldn't even do it at home, he found himself thinking, maybe they should go out to a nice restaurant where he could have the waiter slip the ring, that was currently resting inside a box in his pocket, into a glass of champagne—as long as Merlin was being cliché about things, might as well go all out…
But, before he could truly decide on anything, he heard the door click open from where he was in the kitchen, still debating between a restaurant or a home-cooked meal. Ah, too late, then, he realized when he heard Arthur's voice, pleasantly surprised when he seemed to spot the roses and called out to Merlin, inquiring about them—as Merlin would have done himself, in Arthur's position.
"Merlin? Where are you?" Arthur called out, when Merlin didn't answer him about the roses.
"In the kitchen." Merlin croaked out, heart in his throat as he turned to face the doorway Arthur would be standing in in, oh, say thirty seconds, give or take.
Right, well, they'd be staying in, then, he supposed, because really it was much too late to get a reservation or into a decent restaurant now, and anyway, Arthur would probably want to change out of his work suit, not change into another one, so, it was for the best, really, that they stay in for the night. And if he wanted to say no, when Merlin asked the question... well, there wouldn't be any pressure from nosy on-lookers or curious waiters...
"Merlin, love?" Arthur began, materializing in the doorway with the vase of roses in his hands, looking between them and Merlin with a pleasantly surprised smile on his face. "Are these for me?" He asked, almost teasing as he walked towards Merlin, around the table separating them, leaving the vase in the center of it as he did so.
"No," Merlin snorted as Arthur came up to him, wrapped his arms around him and tugged him close, lips hovering just near Merlin's in the most agonizing sort of way. "They're for me, from Gwaine; I've taken him as a lover and he does like to woo a man. You just so happened to come home early today and I didn't have time to get rid of them." He rolled his eyes before locking his arms around Arthur's neck, the words rolling off his tongue quite easily, despite the way his nerves were rounding on him, his stomach in knots.
"Mmm, no, I don't believe that," Arthur clucked his tongue. "You could do much better than Gwaine. I'd say Lance, then, but he seems pretty smitten with Gwen. Percy, maybe? No, I don't think he would bring flowers over just to give you a good shag. And of course Gwen would kill Elyan, and Morgana would have Leon's head, and she herself doesn't even like to receive roses, let alone give them... Will, maybe? No, I don't think he even knows where to buy roses, and Freya isn't in town anymore..." Arthur trailed off, a mockingly thoughtful sort of look on his face as he did so.
"Fine, they're for you, you prat." Merlin conceded, smiling despite the look of triumph and knowing on Arthur's face as his eyes flitted back over to Merlin's. "Now shut up and kiss me." He said—well, demanded—fingers tangling themselves in Arthur's hair as he rolled his own eyes but closed the distance nonetheless, the kiss fluttering and light as the butterflies in Merlin's stomach the second before Merlin deepened it, pressing himself against Arthur as fully as he could, moaning softly against Arthur's mouth as he willed some of his nerves to melt away with the kiss.
He still didn't know how or when he would do this—he might have put a bit more thought into such a thing, actually—but, he only had for the rest of this kiss to decide or work up some sort of nerve, he knew, so he made it last for the longest moment that he could until Arthur pulled back, grinning slightly as he let his forehead come to press itself against Merlin's.
"Now what's gotten into you?" He breathed, one of his hands running up Merlin's back to hold him by the back of his neck.
"What d'you mean?" Merlin asked softly, tugging gently at Arthur's hair as he resisted the urge to chew on his bottom lip, thinking about the weight of the ring, about how much it meant, and how much more it would come to mean whenever he finally worked up the nerve—
"First the roses—which you swear are too cliché to have a place in any relationship unless the circumstances are dire—now dry-humping in the kitchen—and on a weeknight, too. Have you actually taken Gwaine as a lover and this is your way of breaking it to me gently?" He asked, eyebrow raised with the jest that was only thinly veiling the actual question.
"I wouldn't buy roses to end a relationship, Arthur—d'you have any idea how expensive these were?" He asked, nodding to the table just behind Arthur.
"Mm, fair enough." Arthur nodded, leaning in to steal another quick kiss before untangling himself from Merlin and walking towards the refrigerator, leaving Merlin with a still pounding heart and racing thoughts. "So are you going to tell me what's going on, then? Did somebody die or steal something or break something expensive or get pregnant, or have you killed someone or crashed your car or... something?" He asked, pulling open the door to take out a bottle of water before turning back around to give Merlin a wide-eyed look as he tried to work it out, making Merlin chuckle as he shook his head.
"Nothing like that, you idiot."
"So what is it? Go on, out with it—you know you want to tell me." Arthur insisted, twisting the cap off his water and taking a long sip of it.
"You're impossible, you know that?" Merlin chuckled once again, though he was... grateful, he supposed, for the way Arthur was handling this, reacting to everything, as it was making things easier, lighter, easing him more into the thought of what he was about to do, chasing away his lingering doubts and all that.
He knew, in that moment, there was no better place to do this, no better way to go about doing it.
Butterflies or not, there was just... no better way, he thought to himself, as he swallowed and slowly lowered himself to one knee on their kitchen floor, fishing the black velvet box out of his pocket as he did so, a lump in his throat as he watched Arthur's eyes widened as he slowly lowered his water from his mouth, watching Merlin as he took a step towards him, his face the perfect picture of shock and surprise as the water bottle slipped from his hand, landed on the floor with a loud thud, the water beginning to spill everywhere, though neither of them took any sort of notice to it.
"What—"
"Arthur, if you don't let me just get this out, I'll start crying and then we'll never get anywhere—" Merlin shook his head, chuckling softly at himself as he popped the box open and felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes.
"—Merlin, ye—"
"I mean it, Arthur, I'll start crying and I won't get to say anything... profound or romantic."
"You bought roses for this," Arthur shook his head, swallowing as a smile crept its way across his face. "That's romantic enough."
"Arthur—"
"Merlin—"
"You won't even let me propose my way? Really?" Merlin interrupted, a few tears trailing their way down the side of his face as amusement played itself out in the affectionate way he gazed at Arthur, shaking his head the tiniest bit.
"No." Arthur said, stubborn and light-hearted at once.
"Oh just shut up and marry me, you prat." Merlin rolled his eyes.
He wanted to be... perhaps a touch upset with Arthur for ruining what was supposed to be a special moment, but... Merlin hadn't exactly put much thought into this whole moment, had he? All he had known was that... Arthur made him happy, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, that he wanted to promise his life to him in front of all their friends and family, and he wanted to do it with this god damn ring that had taken him almost a month to settle on and this bouquet of roses that were too cliché to have a place other than this moment of their relationship...
"That was neither profound nor romantic." Arthur said teasingly.
"I thought the roses were romantic enough." Merlin shot back, a tremor in his heart as doubt ran across his mind. Because... what if he said no?
"They are." Arthur conceded, nodding as he took the few steps necessary to stand just in front of Merlin, and then lower himself to kneel by him, take his face in his hands and kiss him gently, slowly, carefully, making Merlin's heart skip a beat with the gesture. That certainly didn't sound like a no...
"Is that a—" Merlin started once he pulled back, still holding the ring in the box in his hands.
"Mhm. Definitely. How can I say no, after all? I mean," Arthur shook his head, grinning as he nodded towards the table. "You bought roses. When Merlin Emrys buys you roses, you pretty much have to say yes to whatever he wants."
Merlin laughed in relief, one of his hands wiping his eyes clear a second before Arthur leaned forward to kiss him again, his worries gone, nerves placated. "I'll have to remember that, then." He mumbled, hands working themselves to slip the ring onto Arthur's finger, just to give himself something to do to settle his still fluttering hands. "In case you're ever being exceptionally difficult when I need you to say yes to something else."
"Don't abuse the knowledge, you idiot." Arthur chuckled, wiping at the corner of Merlin's eye with his thumb gingerly. "I do have one question, though." he said a moment later.
"And what's that?"
"Why is the floor wet?" He asked, looking around with a look of confusion.
Merlin laughed and shook his head, pulling himself to his feet, noticing for the first time that the knee he'd been kneeling on was damp. He pursed his lips and scanned the room as Arthur did the same, coming to stand next to Merlin just a second later as he spotted the forgotten water bottle on the floor.
"I think you might have dropped something." Merlin said then, a sly smile on his face as he directed Arthur's attention towards it.
"Oops." Arthur shrugged, his face betraying him as the face of a man who wasn't actually apologetic in the least, as he turned back to Merlin, eyes softening slightly.
Merlin shook his head and reached out for Arthur, tugging him close for yet another kiss. They could worry about all that later, he supposed—the water on the floor, the cliché sitting on their table—right now, all he wanted to worry about was Arthur's lips against his own and celebrating their engagement properly.
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