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An Early Start to The Day
Not surprisingly Daisy was not the first child to show up at Mrs. Markle's door without a great deal more hair then they'd had the last time she'd seen them. The woman just smiled, complimented Daisy on her new look, and then reassured Harry that she and her assistants would all be diligent about making sure that Daisy wore a hat outside until her hair had grown out more. Thanking her for that-while also mentally thanking her for not making him feel like a bad parent for allow his child to half scalp herself-Harry then said goodbye to Daisy, who was too eager to show off her head to the other children to even care he was going.
Oh well, at least there weren't any tears. Though a hug goodbye would have still been appreciated.
But Daisy had already disappeared from view, and so leaving Daisy to her playmates Harry headed out again, appreciative of the large number of parents, nannies, and children coming in that meant he only had to wave goodbye to Carrie rather than stop and chat for a few with the woman who was still making her eligibility quite clear. The looks she gave him...it would probably be best if he made out with Eggsy in her vicinity at some point in the near future. All his polite attempts to make his disinterest clear thus far had failed to register with her. Or she was just that determined or desperate.
But this time at least Harry was able to seamlessly make his getaway without incident and was soon on his way to the shop, pleased not to have to rush since he had plenty of time to spare. Harry was also, of course, contemplating the odds of being able to have a nap later on in the day without interruption. Probably not. Sigh.
Still, early to work would ideally make it possible for him to return home early as well. That was something to look forward to. He'd just up his caffeine intake for the day to compensate. It was important to be awake and aware tonight as he'd rather like a more pleasant evening with Eggsy than the one before. Nodding off on the poor man during dessert would not a happy household make.
Though dessert might be off the table as Daisy punishment for cutting her hair, Harry remembered with a pang. He'd heard Eggsy muttering various punishment possibilities before they'd left the house. But there was still the ice cream at least. The strawberries had proved to be the perfect topping.
Musing over that it suddenly occurred to Harry, as it had upon many occasions since he'd welcomed Daisy and Eggsy into his home, how much his life had changed because of them. Really, it was still startling every time his mind paused to consider it.
He had a HOME to go home to. He had FAMILY waiting there for him. Family that would miss him when he was gone and be happy to see him when he came back. Home was a place he wanted to be more than work. Even if he were still an active agent instead of stuck behind a desk...he'd miss the home the three of them had made together.
God. What a sentimental old man he was becoming.
Harry shook his head at himself. And probably smiled like the sentimental fool he was.
The smile was likely still in place by the time he arrived at the tailor shop, Harry parking his car in its usual place and then walking around the building to come in from the front. He wanted to thank Thomas for the help he'd provided yesterday, giving Eggsy a second pair of hands while dealing with Daisy. Really Thomas never got enough credit for all the work he did, and Harry made a mental note to see about arranging that the older man got a raise in the near future. He certainly earned it.
Nodding to himself in satisfaction of that idea, Harry stopped for a couple minutes to look over the shop's window display as he evaluated and approved it. The colors might not be to his taste, particularly that orange number, but still...one must keep up with the times, as it were.
Eggsy would probably love the idea of an orange tuxedo jacket. Hopefully the item of clothing sold before there was any chance of him seeing it.
Amused with himself Harry took one last look and then headed inside through the front door, not taking any offense when Thomas did a double take at the sight of him, the other man immediately looking towards the nearby clock on the wall to confirm the fact that yes, Harry was quite early for work.
"Daisy got us up early this morning."
"I see. I hope she didn't make herself sick." Thomas's brows knitted with concern.
"No. She simply decided to deal with her hair problems by loping the majority of it off. With manicure scissors."
A long, slow blink as Thomas processed this, no doubt imagining what Daisy had looked like afterwards. "Ah. That is...unfortunate." Thomas did his best not to wince too visibly. "I hope the end results weren't too...misshapen?"
Setting down his bags-Eggsy had insisted on making his and Merlin's lunches as per usual before he had left the house with Daisy-Harry pulled his phone out of his trouser pocket and relatively quickly brought up one of the 'Before' pictures Eggsy had sent to him early. That done Harry then held it out to Thomas for him to see.
Moving in closer Thomas leaned in, not even trying to hide his wince now. "Oh Dear. She rather looks like one of my sister's dolls after I decided to give them haircuts when I was seven."
"To annoy her-your sister- or were you interested in becoming a hairstylist?" Harry asked, genuinely curious. Thomas was a very sweet man, after all, and he'd always assumed that Thomas had been equally sweet and well-mannered as a child.
His question earned him a knowing look from Thomas, followed by the slightest of shrugs. "She'd broken a lamp you see, and blamed it on me. Mummy always did believe her over me, and I thought the haircutting to be perfect revenge."
He'd only had 'siblings' for short periods of time during his childhood, but Harry didn't have fond memories of those times or the temporary siblings. Ergo he wasn't going to hold the haircutting against Thomas. Especially since he'd been seven at the time.
"How did she take it?"
The look on Thomas's face said it all. "Not well. I've often thanked God that even at seven, I knew if I cut her hair while she slept they'd never find my body."
Oh. "Do I want to know what she did in retaliation?"
"No, Sir. You don't. But it would be wise in the future to remember...never mess with a young girl's clothes, hair, or dolls. It never ends well."
"Fair enough. And thank you for the advice. I'll keep it in mind."
He would take all the help he could get, Harry thought ruefully, when it came to understanding the workings of the female mind. He'd been stuck with his mother for nearly half a century and she still boggled his mind on a semi regular basis.
And damn, now he was going to spend a great deal of time in the future speculating as to just what Thomas's sister had done to her brother in revenge for the dolls. As he recalled, the woman was only two or three years older than Thomas. He'd even met her once or twice, and his well-honed 'possibly a psychopath' alarm hadn't gone off in his head. What could she have-
"Best not to speculate, Sir. You'll give yourself nightmares."
"Excellent point." And recalling that he hadn't shown Thomas the 'After' picture, Harry brought that up and showed it to Thomas, reassuring them both in the process that however bad Daisy's haircut might look to the rest of them, she loved it. Daisy was all but radiating happiness as she beamed at the camera, delighted to have her picture taken.
"Ah. Well she certainly looks happy."
"She was rubbing her head like she thought a genie would pop out."
Thomas laughed. "Well I hope she continues to enjoy it. Though you might want to look into getting a potion that will increase her hair growth. Once the novelty wears off and she can't style it..."
"I'll contact Chloe as soon as I get to my desk."
"That would be wise, yes." An impish grin. "And not to chase you off, Sir...but if you head to work now you'll give Mr. Merlin the shock of his life, arriving so early. It would do him good."
"It would, wouldn't it."
And liking that idea quite a lot Harry bid Thomas goodbye and headed off to take the tube to Kingsman Headquarters.
He couldn't wait to see the look on Merlin's face.
)
Of course Merlin had to go and ruin all his fun. Dammit. Though upon further inflection Harry supposed that he should have expected it since it wasn't like he could reach the underground tube without passing through security that would, in turn, alert Merlin to the fact that Harry was on the premises. Still...Merlin could have just been waiting for him at the final stop, thus allowing him to at least enjoy the man's slightly delayed reaction to his early arrival. But no, Harry had barely sat down on his seat before his glasses signaled an incoming call.
"Good morning, Merlin."
"What the bloody hell are you doing here already? What's wrong?"
Realizing that he could at least be there to see Merlin's reaction to the pictures of Daisy Harry smiled as he stated that nothing was wrong. He'd just gotten an early start to the day.
"Bollocks."
"Then why do you think I'm here early?"
Silence.
Point, Me, Harry thought smugly.
"You're never early." Merlin finally stated, suspicion dripping on every syllable. "Not unless you're tricked into it or there's an emergency and you've been called in."
"And has either of those things occurred today?"
"Not that I'm aware-wait, did you get into a fight with Eggsy? Harry." Merlin's tone as he said Harry's name said it all. He was already on Eggsy's side and gearing up mentally to give Harry what's for if necessary.
"I did not have a fight with Eggsy." And dammit, there wasn't any wood in his vicinity to knock on.
"There better not have been. If the two of you break up I'm moving in with him."
"What?!"
"Well someone has to help him look after Daisy and recover from the heartbreak." Merlin pointed out, amusement plain. "And as old as I am, surely the judge would allow me to pick which parent I got to live with."
"Despite your childishness you are not a child, Merlin. For that matter neither Eggsy NOR I are old enough to have a child your age." Harry shuddered at the very idea.
He was also, Harry silently acknowledged, a touch hurt that Merlin's affections could be bought so easily. They'd been friends, practically family, for decades. Now he was being tossed aside for an endless supply of biscuits and homecooked meals. Where was Merlin's loyalty? Affection?
"Don't worry, Harry. I was just joking with you. I'd insist you two share equal custody of me."
So Merlin thought this was funny, did he?
"He can have you."
Harry's glasses practically vibrated off his head with the power of Merlin's laughter.
Bastard.
"If all you wanted was to assure yourself that your biscuit supply is safe, I'm ending this call."
Laughter still rang in Merlin's voice as he reminded Harry that he still hadn't explained why he was so early.
"And last time I checked I was your boss, and therefore don't owe you an explanation."
"Ah, Harry. Don't be like that."
"You can pick up your lunch from my assistant." And with that Harry cut the transmission, set his glasses on top of his head, and then crossed his arms afterwards in a 'so there' fashion that was perhaps childish-but made him feel better.
He did not do mornings well. Merlin should have known better.
Pulling out his cellphone after a couple minutes of sulking that wasn't sulking-because he was far too old for that-Harry decided to pass the time texting Eggsy.
'Remember to take it easy the rest of the day. Daisy got to daycare just fine and remains thrilled with her new look.'
Eggsy's response came quickly. 'Yes, Harry. Got the hair all cleaned up and just finishing breakfast now.'
Good. 'And go out for lunch. Enjoy yourself.'
'LOL. That means 'Laugh Out Loud' btw.'
'I know what it means.'
'Sure ya did.'
Actually he had...but only because of a case he'd been assigned a few years back before becoming head of Kingsman. The assignment had involved a hacker who'd sent messages full of the slang and tech short forms young people loved to use so much. Reading those messages had given him bigger migraines than being blasted in the head with magic.
Thinking to change the subject Harry sent a text stating that Merlin had been rather a git to him and therefore should not be given any biscuits for a week.
'Ya know he'd just come round the house, making puppy eyes at me till I caved.'
A horrible thought occurred to Harry. 'He doesn't do that now, does he?'
The return message featured both the word 'No' and a face where the character's eyes looked around shiftily.
'Do I need to have words with him?'
'Nah. It's okay. Hate ta put a downer on your bromance with him.'
'We do not have a bromance'. He was probably irrationally proud that he actually knew what a bromance was, Hary silently admitted to himself as he slid further into his seat, relaxing the earlier tension in his body. He really shouldn't have let Merlin's joke annoy him so. Also he and Merlin most definitely did not have a bromance even when they were on good terms. He found the phrase itself ridiculous and was prepared to say so in his next message.
'Sure ya don't.'
'We don't. The term bromance is misleading on a number of levels, which I'm too tired to list here.' And he didn't want to have to text that much info either, Harry silently acknowledged. 'I intend to reserve all romance for you.'
Had he just typed and sent that? Bloody Hell. This was why he slept in whenever possible. One's brain turned to mush without adequate sleep. There were plenty of studies to back him up. Really, no one should be allowed to wake him before he was good and ready and-
'I'll save all my romance for you, too.' Followed by a winky face.
Followed by a second message. 'Wish you were here'.
Going all soft over that Harry was lost in thought about how he wished he was there too when his phone signaled another message.
This time it was a photo of a shirtless Eggsy on his bed, his grin pure sex.
"Oh that's not fair." Harry stated into the silent tube as he stared at that picture.
He wanted to be in his bed with Eggsy too.
Sighing-and making a mental note to save that picture to his phone-Harry typed out a return text saying that he looked forward to sharing the bed with Eggsy later. And that Eggsy should take a nap in his place since he wasn't likely to get one. He would enjoy that mental image too
'Promise ta dream of you.' Was the return message, followed closely by, 'and if I make a mess I promise ta change the sheets.'
Wasn't one of the pros of being the boss was that you could call in sick and there was no one higher up the food chain to complain or insist that he had to come in?
Dammit. 'You aren't playing fair.'
'Would ya rather I sent ya another photo?'
'I'm liable to turn around and come home if you do.' Was Harry's truthful response to that.
'Now who's tempting who?'
Harry smiled. 'Well between him irking me and loving your biscuits, perhaps we can convince Merlin to allow me to come in to work AFTER lunch on Thursday.'
When Daisy would be in daycare.
'Could bribe him with Gran Gran's chips.'
'That should do it.'
'Deal. So what did ya two fight about, anyway? I'd think he'd be chuffed, ya comin in early for work.'
Not wanting to talk about even the possibility of he and Eggsy fighting, much less breaking up, Harry opted to be vague and stated that Merlin had insinuated that his stomach was more important than their friendship.
'Ah. Gotcha.'
Harry took that to mean that this morning was not the first time Merlin had insinuated that should Harry and Eggsy part ways Merlin had every intention of latching onto Eggsy like the two were anglerfish. Which was not a pleasant image to have in his mind seeing as that implied a romantic or at least procreating type relationship between the two since male anglers bit the larger females, their mouths fusing to the female's body to the point where their circulatory systems meshed up and the male basically took all its nutrients and such from the female's body. For the rest of their lives. The male's only contribution was sperm when reproduction was called for.
Plus anglerfish were just unattractive fish to imagine.
'Well tell Merlin that if I have ta pick between the two of you, you win, Harry.' Followed by a character blowing kisses.
Which made Harry stupidly happy again as he wrote back 'I should hope so.' And he added some xs and os because he was old school, and found scrolling through his phone's faces annoying.
Traditional was best, anyway.
