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Merlin huffed out quick breaths that fogged around him as he hurried through the throng of people on the sidewalk.
And why exactly does every single person in the city have to be in my fucking way when I’m late?
He checked his watch. Three minutes late already and he had yet to get there. Gwen was going to have his ass. Or a heart attack.He bumped into someone who seemed to be in a hurry as well and muttered a quick apology.“Watch where you’re going, you idiot!“ the guy called after him.
In a spark of irritation, Merlin turned his head and caught a glimpse of blond hair and -startlingly handsome- angry blue eyes.“Oh I’m so sorry Your Majesty!” he retorted before grumbling some more and turning back to see where he was going.
He wouldn’t want to run into another asshole.~He spotted Gwen looking tense in front of the round building that they often met up at, switching between checking her phone and searching the crowd. Her face flooded with relief when she spotted him.
“Thank god you’re here Merlin!”Sadly, her relief was short-lived and worry made its way back onto her features. “We have to hurry, Morgana doesn’t care much if we’re late but if she’s right about her brother, he’s almost as nasty as their father when it comes to strictness.”Gwen grabbed his hand to tug him in the direction of the destined café. Merlin could already see the grey print she left on his skin peeking from under her hand.He’d seen her real color on Lance’s arm, a beautiful, warm purple. Lance had left his deep brown mark on the side of her head, around her ear. At first sight, it looked like a big birthmark.
Gwen had told Merlin that they’d liked each other for a long time already when she touched his arm, surprising them both with her signature colour. Neither of them said anything, they just smiled at each other while Lance thoughtlessly brushed her hair behind her ear.Merlin hoped he and his soulmate would have an equally romantic revelation, all smiles and light touches and dreaminess.
He just hoped it wasn’t a girl. He was pretty sure he was as gay as they came, and he didn’t want to have an extremely awkward so-how-does-a-woman-work-conversation with someone of said gender.Merlin was pulled out of his thoughts by Gwen’s “We’re almost there, it’s around the corner and then a bit farther down the road.”“Well, let’s hope that this Arthur hasn’t got his panties in too much of a twist yet,” he mindlessly inquired.The idea of meeting up had been a result of Morgana and Gwen, who had known each other since secondary school, recounting stories about ‘their boys’ (“Merlin’s really sweet and a bit silly sometimes, but he can be strong when he has to be.” “Well, Arthur is possibly the complete opposite. He’s fierce and impatient but underneath that mask he’s actually soft and caring. I wonder what those two would be like around each other!”).
They’d decided it would be a great idea to introduce the two, and the two men agreed with varying levels of enthusiasm (“Sounds fun, I’d love to!” From Merlin and a grunt from Arthur, which caused Morgana to do an inner victory dance since it wasn’t a blunt rejection).So that’s how Merlin ended up entering the café after Gwen pushed the door open. She scanned the people that were already there and frowned.“They’re not here?” she wondered out loud. “I was sure that this is the right place,” she muttered, growing more anxious with every second.“Hey, don’t worry. Why are you assuming we’re at fault? They might just be late, right?” Merlin tried to reassure her.
Gwen shook her head.
“The Pendragons don’t do late,” she replied before checking her phone. Her worried expression then turned incredulous as she stared at the screen.
She looked at Merlin.“They are late.”Before either of them could say anything else, the doors behind them opened.“—we have to meet up at the florist? We could’ve been earlier if we hadn’t wasted all th—“The blond man couldn’t finish his sentence as the beautiful brunette -Morgana- jumped forward and hugged Gwen with a high-pitched heyyy.“Sorry we’re late! It’s so lovely to see you again! How’ve you been?”Merlin barely registered Gwen’s answer because Arthur turned out to be the Royal Prat he’d bumped into earlier, and said Royal Prat was glaring at him.Merlin forced his irritation away and took a deep breath, ready to offer an apology.
The words never left his mouth though, because Arthur interrupted the girls’ small talk.
“Can we go home now?” he sighed, still glaring at Merlin like he was some old chewing gum stuck under his shoe.Merlin felt his irritation coming back tenfold and glared back at him.
“Oh, grow up you prat!”Gwen was eying them suspiciously.
“What happened?” she asked.Arthur opened his mouth to say something probably childish but Merlin was faster.“I bumped into him on my way here, and apparently he can’t let that go.”“You didn’t even apologize, except for your ‘I’m sorry your majesty’,” Arthur retorted, doing a silly voice to impersonate Merlin.“Yes I did, you just didn’t hear because you were too busy barreling on like a big buffoon!” Merlin seethed.Thankfully, Morgana quickly intervened.
“Let’s just forget what happened and shake hands like the mature grownups we are, alright?” she told them with a pointed look. When both of them remained quiet she smiled and took Merlin’s hand, leaving grey smears on his palm. She chattered about how excited she was to meet him after all the stories she’d heard from Gwen.“Well, likewise, Morgana. You probably don’t want to know what I heard about you from Gwen,” he told her with a playful smirk, at which she laughed.
He turned to Arthur to greet him properly, but said man had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot, his posture radiating ‘I-could-be-spending-my-time-so-much-better-elsewhere’.
Merlin’s smile fell and he opted for ignoring Arthur.“Shall we pick a table then?”~They ended up at a table at one of the windows and studied the menu in silence. The two women had made their decision and waitress was quickly by their side to take orders. Gwen ordered a mint tea and Morgana went with a caffe latte macchiato, before the waitress turned to Merlin.“I think I’ll go with a caramel frappuccino…” he tapped his chin as he studied the menu, “with extra whipped cream and—“
At Arthur’s snort, Merlin turned to stare at him with raised eyebrows, daring him to continue. The waitress was looking between the two with uncertainty.
Arthur caught his look and huffed.
“You can just ask for a cup of sugar and leave the poor coffee alone.”Merlin then put his menu down and fully turned to him.
“Oh, and what do you drink then, Your Majesty? Do you have your own coffee bean plantation in Brazil? Do you have slaves to personally pluck and grind them and blow on your cup until you can drink it? Just let me get my sugar shot and fuck off!”
He turned back and flashed a smile at the waitress, who was looking a bit stunned.
“So, a caramel frappuccino with extra whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, mini marshmallows, caramel chunks and cookie crumbs, please,” he said, making the waitress scribble everything down so quickly he worried her wrist might snap.
She smiled back nervously and turned to Arthur, who ordered an espresso. This time Merlin snorted and Arthur stared at him.
“Concentrated bitterness. Suits you,” he said. He expected Arthur to sneer back, but he surprised all of them by huffing out a breath that turned into a smile.~After The Smile, the atmosphere had gotten a little bit less tense. The guys still sneered and sniped at each other a lot, but if they tried, they could hold a civil conversation for about a minute (if only for the sake of their girls).After all of them were finished with their drinks, they got up and made their way over to the counter. Merlin, with cookie crumbs in the corner of his mouth, got his wallet and started digging out the money, but Arthur decided to intervene.“I’ll pay,” he said, “I mean, judging by your appearance you don’t have much to spend,” he added quietly enough for Merlin to hear, and he reached past Merlin to give the cashier what looked like a lot of money.
“Keep the change.”Merlin angrily slapped his hand away and told Arthur to fuck off. He flashed an apologetic smile to the cashier, who now looked a little scared.
“I’m sorry about him,” a slightly embarrassed Merlin said, and he gave him the money, including a generous tip because Merlin wasn’t poor, thank you very much.He turned back to find all three of his companions looking stunned, staring at Arthur’s right hand.
Smudged on his thumb and index finger was a smear of a bright orangey yellow that looked almost gold. Merlin’s eyes snapped down to his own right hand, the inside of which was smudged with a royal, bloody red.Beautiful.
“Are you fucking serious..?!” was what came out of Merlin’s mouth instead. “Out of all seven fucking billion people on this stupid planet it just has to be you? The most insufferable, pratty, idiotic… dollophead?!”“Hey! I never asked for— is that even a word?” Arthur spluttered.“Well, whether or not the word dollophead is real, you’re going to have to sort yourselves out, because darlings, you’ve got to spend the rest of your lives together,” Morgana inquired, watching the two guys like a hawk while the most victorious of smiles was plastered on her face.When Merlin looked back at Arthur, he was looking anywhere but Merlin, his face getting redder by the second. A smile to match Morgana’s made its way onto Merlin’s face.“Aw look, your face is starting to match your mark!” he cooed.“Shut up, Merlin!” Arthur told him, still not looking at said man.Merlin felt a childish giddiness taking over his emotions.
I found my soulmate
He smacked Arthur’s hand, covering most of it in the golden colour that was apparently his.Arthur yanked his hand back with a startled “Hey! What’re you?—”
Merlin’s hand chased Arthur’s right and eventually his left hand, before the latter decided it was enough. His right hand gripped the side of Merlin’s neck, right under his jaw, and he pulled him into a fierce kiss. Merlin abruptly quit his chase and melted into the kiss, eyelashes fluttering closed. Arthur ended the kiss after a few seconds and basically shoved Merlin away again, leaving him breathless.“Fuck you and your pretty face,” he grumbled, still red and still not looking at Merlin.Gwen whistled and Morgana squealed.Merlin traced the red smudges now gracing his neck, a smile blossoming on his face.
“Thanks,” he answered. He tentatively touched Arthur’s cheek, tainting it gold and making him look at Merlin. He already knew he was never going to get enough of the marks they left on each other.