Sunday Morning (is made for you)
It really shouldn't surprise Arthur, not after all this time, that Merlin would be unwilling to simply cooperate when he was trying to clean their backyard. The wind had swept all the trees hard during the evening, making Merlin curl closer to him during his sleep and elbow him continuously while he tried to sleep. The result, obviously had been that the whole yard was covered in leaves, and Arthur wanted nothing but to rake them and throw them all in a bag. Sounded pretty reasonable, right?
Merlin, on the other hand, didn't seem to approve of the idea, it was clear on the way he hopped from leave to leave with the glee of a five year old at sound of them crunching against his feet.
It wasn't adorable. Not at all. It was exasperating.
Arthur had managed to cover about half of the yard before his husband came out to start his little ritual.
"Autumn arrived!" he announced upon getting to Arthur's side, a maniac grin in his face.
"It is known to happen at this time of the year, for the last — oh, I don't know, thousands of years, as you've surely noticed."
Merlin frowned at his mood, seeming at loss.
"What is up with you?"
"I don't know if you noticed, Merlin, but I was trying to rake those leaves."
"Let them around — it's like a blanket, Arthur! A natural blanket of brown and Orange — it's beautiful."
Arthur merely raised his eyebrow at this.
"It's trash — and a dangerous. I know that right now you're happily jumping around them, but how long until one makes you slip and you splash yourself against the ground and sprain something? And then? Who will have to take care of you?" he asked, leaning against the rake.
Merlin merely pouted.
"But — but. It's beeeeautiful" he repeated, giving his best puppy eyes.
"It's dangerous" corrected Arthur, before smirking. "Not to mention, there is already enough beauty in this house" he gestured down his own body, and Merlin giggled.
"Are you jealous of the leaves?"
"I'm not jealous!" protested Arthur, annoyed. "I'm merely pointing out…"
"That you are already all the beauty this house can hold?" Merlin was grinning, and Arthur couldn't help but smile at him.
"Well — you're not too bad yourself."
"Not to bad!" Merlin complained, pouting again, and Arthur leaned to kiss his pout away.
"You're all the beautiful I need around" he said, softly, because it was the sort of thing Merlin liked to hear and Arthur made the effort to try and use his words now that they had finally gotten themselves together. Well, now for the last five years, but still. It was a daily effort.
"Ooh, you love me" Merlin said, giggling. "You think I'm beautiful."
"I do" he agreed, and gave him a soft peck on the lips. "Now, will you let me finish this?"
"Sure" Merlin said, stepping backwards and allowing Arthur to pull in the leaves that had been left scattered by Merlin's jumping.
He barely noticed that his husband was still standing there as he finished the pile, so high that almost reached his waist. The downside of having a small groove at the house, but Merlin — and Arthur — wouldn't have it any other way.
"Are you done?" Merlin asked, his eyes shining with mirth.
"I think so" Arthur said, using the back of his hand to dry his forehead. "Now I just need to —"
The following words were lost as Merlin pushed him into the pile. Arthur grabbed his waist instinctively, and both of them were on the ground, or would be, hadn't the leaves cushioned their fall. Merlin didn't give him time to complain, though, kissing him deeply and fifthly, his tongue delving deep into Arthur's open mouth. He pulled back for a second, taking in the scene that was bound to be ridiculous, Arthur sprawled against dead plants that tickled and broke under his weight.
"Beautiful. No — perfect" Merlin whispered, kissing him again, shreds in his hair, and Arthur couldn't resist, couldn't contradict, couldn't care because it was beautiful and it was perfect, it was all that he had ever wanted, and there was nothing to be done but to kiss him back, hold him close, align their bodies against the ruined pile, enjoying every second they had together.
There would be time for raking later.
(Much, much, much later).