Hey ya'll! Happy New Year!
What would you like to see in this fic? Give me ideas! I want to hear from you! Are there any silly tropes you'd like to see? Any cute romantic-y bits? No romance at all? Any intense drama you'd like, or heartbreaking moments? Strange settings or situations or characters? I'm going to be posting the next few chapters in short installments, so I can incorporate whatever you (and I) like!
Enjoy, and please prompt me!
~Rain
Previously...
"Merrlnn," he said, his voice muffled, and Arthur stared at him.
"What?" Arthur was trying to figure out where the character change had come from. The man rolled his eyes and pulled his scarf down again.
"Merlin," he repeated. He stuck his hand out. Arthur hesitantly stood to shake it.
"Uh, Arthur."
The man shoved his hands back into his pockets. He was wearing a pair of fingerless gloves, and his fingertips were an icy pink-blue. Jesus, this man was really not equipped to handle the weather. Arthur looked back at the tracks again, hoping perhaps the train would magically appear anyway. When he looked back, the man -Merlin- was already halfway down the platform.
"Well? You coming?" He called over his shoulder, and Arthur, bewildered, grabbed his own bag and rushed to follow.
December 23rd, 2014. 6:55pm.
"I'm serious, I've never once gotten a caffeine headache!"
"But you're a uni student, Merlin! That's absolutely impossible. How do you get to your 8am's?"
"Don't have any."
"You're kidding. How'd you swing that?"
Merlin shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess," he said, before a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Or, you know, I might've called in a couple of favors from the techies."
Arthur leaned back. "Oh, I see. So you're a cheater."
Merlin took a big gulp from his mug. "I'd never! They owed me."
Arthur crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm sure."
The coffeeshop was empty. A barista was wiping down the spotless counter at the front, staring into space. Merlin's bangs were dripping melted snow onto the booth table and into his steaming mug of espresso. (He'd gotten three shots of it. Arthur was waiting for him to have a heart attack.)
Merlin shrugged. "Some of us don't need to cheat to get what we want," his eyes rested on Arthur. "Some of us are pleasant people who get favors in return for our good humor."
Arthur bit his cheek. "Yes, well. Some of us have enough common sense to not sneeze on people."
"I never sneezed on you."
"You came close enough."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "I could have left you on that platform, you know."
Arthur swirled the contents of his own mug before taking a sip. He watched through his lashes as Merlin pulled his beanie off and shook his hair like a dog, flinging water in every direction. He ran his long fingers through the messy black strands that fell over his eyes, apparently trying to tame it. It didn't work. Arthur snorted into his cup. Merlin glared at him.
"What?" He lowered his hand, mussing his hair further. He looked a bit less like a sick homeless man now, and definitely more like a twenty-something student who probably studied studio art or poetry or something of the like. He'd told Arthur he was studying English and computer science, but the scruffy clothes and fingerless gloves were so drama-and-arts student. Plus, who studied English and computer science together?
"You're staring," Merlin pointed out, taking a tiny sip of his espresso. "Rude git."
Arthur felt his face turn red, then immediately wondered why. They'd only been talking for a matter of minutes, but Merlin had made it clear that he had no patience for social faux-pas back on the platform; Arthur should have been prepared for the call-out. Instead of regaining his composure, however, Arthur heard himself reply:
"I was not."
Merlin rolled his eyes and set is cup down. "You were," he shifted a little in his seat, trying to untangle himself from his hoodie. His pathetic brown jacket had been discarded on the bench beside him; Arthur had done the same with his coat.
"How many layers are you wearing, exactly?" Arthur asked, changing the subject.
"Just three," Merlin grunted, tugging the blue garment over his head and depositing it next to him. "We can't all have big, warm coats."
But boy, do I wish I did. Merlin eyed Arthur's coat enviously. It looked to be made of some kind of felted wool, thick and warm. Merlin'd had a coat like that once, in his first year of university, but it had gotten stolen in the first month and he'd never gotten around to buying a new one. He suspected his greasy roommate, Cedric, had taken it, but he didn't have any evidence other than his wildly accurate hunches. Perhaps if the university accepted one of his sleeve-tricks, like magic glowing balls, as recording devices, he'd have gotten it back. But no, they didn't believe in such things, and Merlin was not one to shatter their fragile grip on what existed and what didn't. He had nightmares of being locked away in a lab somewhere, surrounded by confused scientists who'd never heard of anybody doing what Merlin could do. Not that Merlin had ever heard of anybody, either. But that was all besides the point-
"Merlin?" Arthur sounded more than a little concerned, and Merlin blinked, realizing his name had probably been called more than once at this point.
"Yes?"
"Are you alright? You were just…" Arthur waved his hand in front of both of them, "...zoning."
Merlin smiled, maybe a bit too widely. "I'm fine. Just thought of something."
A snort. "Maybe the espresso's going to your head."
Merlin shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe you're just a boring coffee partner."
"You invited me, remember? I didn't ask."
"Well I wasn't going to just…" Merlin gestured vaguely out the window, "leave you on a bench in a snowstorm. If you died I'd be the one under investigation."
"Right." Arthur was smirking now.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. It means you're right."
Merlin bit the inside of his cheek. He had to admit that this wasn't the worst winter break situation he'd ever had, but it was definitely the strangest.
