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Arthur sits slumped behind his desk, practically buried under paperwork and fiddles aimlessly with the invitation card for his father's party. A valentine's party, organized by his father's new girlfriend Catrina. Arthur wants to gag. What is he to do? He hasn’t set foot into Pendragon Manor for nearly ten years, hasn’t properly talked to his father for at least five. Should he take this olive branch even if the idea is surely born in the mind of his father's new girlfriend? Or should he reject the invitation and burn all bridges to his father and his childhood?
There's a sharp knock and the door bursts open. Detective Inspector Merlin Emrys storms into his office in a swirl of black coat and equally black curls.
"Are you trying to make a living as a Sherlock double, Emrys?" Arthur drawls. "Doesn’t the Yard pay you properly?"
Merlin steps to his desk, unbothered as always by Arthur's bluntness.
"Are you my Watson then?"
I wouldn’t mind that, comments his treacherous brain.
"Unfortunately, you may have the tall, dark and handsome looks but between the two of us, I'm clearly the genius. So, you’re my Lestrade at best."
"Tall, dark and handsome?" Merlin's eyes crinkle with mischief.
Oh fuck. He hadn’t planned to sound like a pining fool. He’s pretty sure they're kind of flirting ever since Merlin was transferred to the Yard from Northern Ireland three months ago. But he can’t be sure, and he doesn’t want to fuck this up.
"That’s what you got out of this?" He deflects before Merlin can examine his words too closely. "As I said, not very bright for a wannabe consulting detective."
"Uhum, sure," Merlin says, smiling at him in this fond way that makes Arthur's knees go weak.
Arthur clears his throat. "What can I do for you then?"
"Can’t a Detective have a look, if his favourite pathologist is all right?" Merlin teases. "And I need the report on the Sigan case."
"Isn't Kilgharrah working on that one?" Arthur raises an eyebrow. It’s a rhetorical question. He knows that Sigan isn't Merlin’s case, and he also knows that he'll give in eventually. He’s weak like that.
"Well, technically yes. But I need to check on some irregularities. I won't get you into trouble, Doctor, I promise."
"Fine," Arthur grouses and prints out the report for Merlin. The bastard always takes advantage of the fact that Arthur can’t deny him anything, and even less so if Merlin calls him 'Doctor' in this fond tone.
Merlin takes his report smiling. Arthur likes this carefree, slightly reckless expression on him.
"Okay, I don’t want to keep you. Would you like to get some drinks at the Rising Sun on Saturday? The guys from the fire brigade are there, too. Gwaine insists on going. He fancies their new Captain."
Arthur feels himself panic. Is this a date? Or just a casual meeting with colleagues? He needs to play this cool…
"Sorry, I'm supposed to go to my family's valentine's dinner," he flounders. "But you could accompany me there instead. My father would be livid if I brought a guy. We could do a fake date," he adds only half-jokingly. The funny approach is a good exit strategy in case Merlin's not interested after all.
For half a second Arthur thinks that it was a clever move to play this funny, just until Merlin’s expression turns thunderous.
"I'm asking you out and you’re reciprocating with an invitation to play your boyfriend to scandalize your posh, homophobic family?" Merlin's looking offended and maybe a bit sad. "Really classy Pendragon," he scoffs. "I think I finally begin to understand why half the Yard calls you a clotpole."
Arthur feels like a bucket of ice water is drained over his head. Shit, he didn’t mean it like that!
"You certainly didn't understand properly what I asked you, you idiot! Why are you insulting me and my family?"
And here goes any chance of setting this right. Why does he have to rise to any bait?
"Consider your invitation declined," Merlin says coldly. "I have no desire to meet your family."
Arthur's still scrambling for a reply, to argue further or to apologize he doesn’t know, but Merlin's already gone, closing the door with more force than necessary.
***
Morgana hurries into the small flower shop, the tingling of little bells heralding her entrance. She’s running late and it’s pouring outside. To add to her annoyance Arthur hasn’t answered his phone the whole afternoon. She wanted to be nice and ask if she should buy flowers in both their names, but her bratty little brother didn't deem it necessary to call her back or even just text. She shakes droplets of rain from her hair and dress as she walks further into the shop. The sweet smell and the loving decor calming her as always.
"I'm with you in a second!" a melodic voice calls from the back. Morgana's heart does an excited little flutter. She hoped to meet Gwen, the shop's owner.
Her mobile rings and she scowls as she sees Arthur's number on the display.
"You must be fucking kidding me, brother dearest," she mutters under her breath as she takes the call. "You've got nerves calling me back this late! Where are you?"
"I got… work. I'm just… car." The connection is awful.
"You’re going to be late," she scolds, dreading to be alone with Uther and his saccharine-sweet girlfriend. "Shall I buy flowers for both of us?"
"Sorry, what...?"
"I said, shall I buy flowers for both of us," she yells into the speaker. She knows it’s no use but she can’t help herself in her frustration. "Arthur, can you hear me?"
"...a sec, I need to get out..."
There's more static and rustling in the background.
"Arthur…?" Morgana asks.
The connection is broken. Morgana growls. "Don’t you dare to set me up."
"He's probably not worth it if he's late to your valentine's date," a voice cuts through her thoughts.
"Gwen!" Morgana twirls around and faces the pretty florist she has had a crush on for months. "No date for me, it’s just my idiot brother probably leaving me to fend for my own at family dinner just because he failed to lure his crush into accompanying him."
Gwen laughs. "What did your poor brother do wrong?"
"Couldn’t gather up the courage to admit he has a crush on him and asked the guy to be his fake date instead," Morgana answers condescendingly, making Gwen laugh again.
Gwen plays with a curl of her dark hair as if considering something.
"Well, I don’t know," she says finally. "I wouldn’t mind being your fake date for valentine. It sounds like the start of a romance novel."
Morgana's eyes widen and she can feel herself blushing. "You don’t know my father," she stammers. "I probably couldn't make up for his bad company."
Gwen smiles mischievously. "Try me."
***
It’s already dark outside when Arthur's finally finishes for the day. He puts down his cup of coffee that has long since gone cold and takes a look at his mobile. Shit. He's already late for Uther's dinner and why are there three missed calls from Morgana? He presses callback while his gaze travels over the lab. It’s Friday night and he's the last one from his research team still working.
"You've got nerves calling me back this late!" Morgana suddenly snarls into his ear. "Where are you?"
Arthur feels immediately defensive.
"I got delayed at work. I'm just on my way to the car."
"You’re… late." The connection is bad, as always in the lab. "Shall I… of us?"
"Sorry, what was that?"
He can hear the frustration in Morgana’s voice over the static. "I said, shall I buy…? Arthur… hear me?"
Arthur sighs.
"Just a sec, I need to get out of the lab."
He steps into the hallway towards one of the windows. It’s the lab assistants' preferred place to call.
"Arthur…?" Morgana’s scandalized voice screeches.
"Yeah, I'm here. The connection is shitty down here. What did you…?"
Thud.
Arthur twirls around. The heavy lab door fell shut behind him. It normally doesn’t do that because they keep it open with a wedge. They locked themselves out too often and then stood in front of the lab without a key card until a merciful soul let them back inside. But it’s Friday night, there's nobody there to let Arthur back in.
"Fuck!" he shouts into the speaker as he gropes for his key card and comes up empty. "I swear I'll kill whoever took away this bloody wedge with my bare hands!"
There's an alarming silence at the other end of the line. "Gana?"
Arthur stares down at his mobile disbelievingly. The battery's dead. He blinks, trying to comprehend the utter mess he finds himself in. His coat and bag are inside the lab, he can’t get back in and he can’t open his car. He can’t even call or pay for a taxi.
Arthur kicks the wall with a frustrated yell, but all he achieves is to hurt himself. He stalks down the floor, checking the offices for any late colleagues, but he has no luck. Elena and Kara seem to be long gone as are Elyan and Finna. He could go over to the Yard and ask someone there to give him a lift. But he's still avoiding Merlin and he doesn't want to run into him by chance. He doesn’t want to add to his disdain with a silly story of how he locked himself out of his own fucking lab on a Friday night.
He usually doesn’t care about his social reputation but with Merlin it's different. He foolishly thought they had a connection. He doesn’t even understand why. Sure, Merlin’s handsome, incredibly so. But he knows lots of people who are considered pretty, and he despises half of them. Why he craves Merlin’s approval, why he wants to spend time with him, he isn’t even sure. It’s a huge fuck up.
Outside it's raining heavily. He won’t make it to his father tonight and he can’t camp out in his office in the slim hope that someone will be desperate enough to come to work on a Saturday. He heaves a sigh. He'll have to walk home and he must stop by Leon's to fetch his spare key.
Without an umbrella or even a coat, he's soaked to the skin in seconds, his shirt sticking to his body. Great. His father will murder him for missing the dinner if he gets to Arthur before Morgana does. Why has he agreed to go to this blasted dinner in the first place? He curses under his breath and starts down the sidewalk. It’s at least a 45 minute walk to his flat and this doesn’t count the detour to Leon. He'd better get going.
Half an hour later Arthur finds himself standing in front of Leon's apartment building, just to realize he isn’t home. Well, this certainly means that he finally built up the courage to ask Morgause out, which Arthur has been trying to talk him into for almost three months now. He isn’t sure if he should laugh or cry, but he needs a new plan; he's colder than he can remember ever being in his life and he needs to get out of the rain.
The door to Leon's building opens and Arthur steps aside to let the man pass.
"Arthur? What are you doing here?"
He can only blink at Merlin in confusion. A still functioning part of his brain reminds him helpfully that Leon told him that Merlin lives nearby. Well, he certainly didn't think 'nearby' meant in the same building.
"I'm visiting Leon," he replies belatedly.
Merlin frowns at him.
"I thought Leon's out with Morgause."
Great, so obviously Merlin now knows more about his best friend's life than Arthur does, and Arthur's making a fool of himself. Again.
"Yeah, I thought so much," he grouses and turns to leave. To his surprise Merlin puts a warm hand on his arm, holding him back.
"Wait! Don’t you want to come in?"
"There's no need. And you’re surely on your way to the Rising Sun . I don’t want to keep you." Arthur really should ask him for help if he doesn’t want to end up with a horrible cold, but he can’t bring himself to do so. He’s just prideful like that.
"Come on." To his surprise, Merlin’s tone stays gentle. "You’re soaked. You’re shivering. If you don’t want to come inside, let me drive you home instead."
Arthur sighs in defeat. "Wouldn’t do driving me there. I locked myself out of the lab. My keys are still there."
Arthur assumed that Merlin would tease him relentlessly after his confession, but instead, he ushers him inside.
Merlin’s flat is an appealing mix of cosy and nerdy. Arthur finds himself smiling at the vintage film posters decorating the hallway while he drips rainwater on the hardwood floor.
"The bathroom's over there. You should take a shower and I'll make us something to eat."
"You don’t have to do this. Listen, I'm sorry for the whole invitation to my family's dinner. I haven't seen my father for years and I just thought it would be nice to not have to go there alone."
Merlin looks at him with a sad little smile. "It’s okay. I should apologize. I was just bummed you didn't want to go on a date. But I can do friends just fine."
Arthur can’t remember ever feeling this wrong-footed. "You were asking me out on a date?" he can’t help how hopeful he sounds.
It’s Merlin’s turn to frown in confusion. "Well, yes. The valentine's party at the Rising Sun. I thought you knew that. " Suddenly a huge grin splits Merlin’s face. "You didn't know, did you? You thought it was just a colleagues gathering?"
Arthur feels himself blush. But he wants to be honest with Merlin if there's any chance they can start this over. "I hoped it was a date. But I couldn’t be sure, so I just, umm… panicked a bit."
Merlin steps into his personal space. "You panicked? This is really adorable, Doctor." He rests his forehead against Arthur’s in a tender gesture, making Arthur melt into his warmth.
Later, curled on Merlin’s couch, Arthur thinks this could be the best valentine's date ever. He’s wrapped in Merlin’s slightly oversized hoodie and sweatpants and a cosy blanket. After finishing off the homemade vegan pizza, he tells Merlin he's still cold. Which is a blatant lie but gets him some cuddling. He breathes out contentedly while Sherlock is running on TV.
"If Leon stays at Morgause's overnight, you can stay here. I'll make you pancakes in the morning."
"Sounds agreeable," Arthur sighs.
Scratch that, the best date ever. Period.