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1.
The first time Arthur saw his new next-door neighbour, the guy had already been living there for at least three weeks.Arthur knew there was someone living there because sometimes his own apartment smelled of nice cooking, he could hear the door opening and closing with the loud bang all the doors in the building made, and he also heard the shower right up against his bedroom wall at odd hours. Oh, and the paper-thin walls allowed sounds to carry through. Sometimes it was music or laughter, and there was a soft, contagious one that repeated which Arthur thought probably belonged to his new neighbour.The day they met, it was late in the evening, and Arthur had endured a terrible argument with his father over the best way to make new investments to allow their company to grow, now that the market had established. The pandemic had been devastating in all areas, but Arthur had managed to regroup, reorganise and save the jobs of most of their staff. And despite all the inconveniences, the lockdown opened up possibilities for the new technologies’ market, for those who knew how and when to invest.Arthur had an eye for those investments, but his father didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to move forward. Evolving wasn’t in his dictionary. Arguing with him was useless and extremely frustrating.Arthur had left his office so tired, so angry and so late that he had bought his favourite curry on his way home, and his only plan was to crash on his couch, watch TV and drink until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.At the building’s main hall he could see someone just entering the elevator.“Hey!” he shouted, and started running to catch up, minding the curry and his briefcase. “Wait!”But the man —tall, thin, with brown, unruly, longish hair, someone Arthur had never seen before— ignored him and got into the elevator without ever looking back.Arthur managed to get to the elevator right before the doors closed. He jammed his leg in-between the doors and the sensors reacted, opening with a ding. He threw daggers at the man inside the cabin, but the guy was resting his whole frame against one of the corners with his eyes closed.“Thank you for nothing,” Arthur was murmuring angrily, turning to click on his floor number, realising that it was already illuminated.Whether it was the elevator not moving that alerted him or Arthur’s angry comment, the guy opened his eyes while the doors closed again. Arthur looked directly at them, and they were bright blue despite how bloodshot they currently were. “Oh, sorry,” the man slurred, taking out Bluetooth earbuds from surprisingly large ears. “I didn’t hear you coming.”“Yeah, well.” Arthur said, darkly. He would be damned if he had understood half of the words the guy had said. But the man didn’t seem to mind. He had closed his eyes again, and was leaning his head back onto the cabin’s walls.Arthur looked at the stranger, uncomfortable.He looked incredibly suspicious to Arthur, who until that moment had only seen elderly people and your casual business types in the building. In addition to the bloodshot eyes and his careless attitude, the man was wearing an orange plumb vest that showed a simple tracksuit with a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath. From below the sleeves and up the neck, Arthur could see the ends of tattoos.“Smells nice.” The man cracked his eyes open and smiled. His bow upper lip thinned slightly when he smiled.“What?” Arthur asked, confused. He had to swallow to stop the turmoil in his mind.The guy pointed with his chin to the bag in Arthur’s hand, by his briefcase’s side. “Curry?”“Yes. From the restaurant at the end of the street.”“Mhm,” the man nodded and closed his eyes again.Arthur checked the level they were on. Getting to the 11th floor had never taken so long nor Arthur had ever felt so uncomfortable with someone else in the cabin.“Excuse me. Are you drunk?” Arthur finally asked, unable to hide his disgust.The man snorted, not moving at all. “Of course. That’s the conclusion a prat like you would come up with.”“I beg your pardon?” Arthur couldn’t believe the cheek this man had, to talk to him like that.“And posh, too.” He smiled, his mouth curving to one side, right as the elevator stopped with a loud ding.The guy opened his eyes and laughed at Arthur’s astonished, gaping mouth. He passed by Arthur’s side, leaving the elevator, taking the time to give him a disdainful look from head to toes.“You can’t talk to me like that!” Arthur squealed. “You don’t even know who I am.”“The prince of England, perhaps?” The man teased, walking through the corridor, a few steps in front of Arthur.“At least I live here,” Arthur replied, outraged.“I do, too.” The man looked hard at him, stopping at the flat’s door right at Arthur’s side. “And just for your information, this is the look of someone who’s worked a twenty-four hour shift.”Arthur opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. In the time his brain processed whether an excuse was in order, the man took out his keys from his vest.“But I guess someone like you wouldn’t know a hard worker from a drunk.” The man’s bright eyes hardened as he opened his door. Again, he looked at Arthur in a way he wasn’t used to being looked at.Arthur was a handsome man in his prime, fit from kickboxing at the gym, and right now he was dressed in one of his finest suits. People looked at Arthur with admiration. With desire and even lust. But this man, with his stunning blue eyes and his perfect mouth, who had lifted the sleeves of his t-shirt in his anger and was showing more of the intricate Celtic tattoos on his arms, was sizing Arthur up, and he wasn’t getting any good points.“You’re judging me from my appearance,” Arthur said, annoyed before the guy could enter his flat.“Wasn’t that exactly what you did to me?”The man entered his flat, but before Arthur had time to close his gaping mouth, he stepped back into the corridor with a shit-eating grin.“Oh, by the way. Not that it’s any of my business, but the walls are paper thin. Each morning that I’m lucky enough to sleep in I hear you wanking, and I’ve never heard you with someone else. I hate to break this to you, but a good lay would remove the stick up your arse.”The man closed the door with a loud bang. Arthur was left in the corridor with his cooling curry thinking what the hell had just happened, and if it was possible to hate someone so much at first glance.
2.
The first time Arthur heard his new —or not so new— neighbour’s name, was a couple of weeks after that absolutely disastrous first encounter.They hadn’t seen each other very often. It wasn’t surprising. Arthur kept late office hours because his meetings with his father always ran long —unless the arguments devolved into yelling— and although his neighbour clearly lived in his flat, they hadn’t crossed paths with each other again. Arthur didn’t know what the man worked in, but his schedule was absolutely unpredictable.For a while, after meeting the mysterious guy, Arthur discovered he couldn’t enjoy his morning wanks at all, which caused him to get more nervous and snappy at work. But he couldn’t get the man’s words out of his head. Was his rude neighbour sleeping in today? Was he listening? And then, the image of the man lying on a bed, listening intently and waiting for Arthur to start touching himself, got stuck in his head.Arthur didn’t know how far the tattoos went nor how intricate they could be. He had seen a glimpse of the end of one on the man’s neck and they seemed to go as far as the man’s wrists and all over his arms. What little Arthur had seen seemed to be Celtic lines, thin but intricate, so maybe they were joined? Maybe the whole man's body was covered in ink?It was the first time in his life Arthur felt attraction of some sort for someone with tattoos, but the idea of his enigmatic neighbour touching his own body in his bed at the same time Arthur did excited him. He tried to be quiet, but he couldn’t help that some grunts escaped when he fisted himself and looked at the bedroom wall they shared.When he and his hot neighbour came at the same time in his imagination, Arthur needed to bite down on his fist so that his moans wouldn’t be heard in the other flat. The pain in his hand and him thinking about the other bloke coming all over his inked body while trying to be quiet too, would only enlarge the aftershocks.That day, Arthur had arrived at his flat earlier than planned. He had gone out for lunch with his personal accountant, fed up with Uther’s stubbornness about the company’s future. He had decided to invest part of his mother’s funds into creating his own delegation. He felt ecstatic about his decision and he didn’t want anyone to break his mood, so he had decided to go home and celebrate. He might even call Leon, Elyan and Lancelot, and go out partying tonight. It had been too long.His new neighbour came into the building’s hall while Arthur was waiting for the elevator. Arthur wouldn’t have prevented himself from gaping if he had tried.Underneath the same orange vest he’d worn when Arthur met him, the guy was wearing short sleeve blue scrubs that showed all the tattoos of his arms. The vest was open, and the top of the scrub had a V-neck cut that showed that, indeed, the tattoos on his arms went all the way to his neck. There might be tattoos on his chest, too, or at least some showed through the neck of his shirt.The clothes themselves did little to hide that the man wasn’t thin at all. He had muscle that rippled in his arms, and now that he wasn’t slumped in an elevator, he was even taller than Arthur.They entered the elevator at the same time, and the guy crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture. He leaned against the wall on the back of the cabin, crossing his foot in front of him as well. He was wearing hard worker boots.Arthur put himself on the other side of the cabin, trying his best to look at the floor and appear nonchalant, failing miserably. In his mind, Arthur recurrently imagined the man telling him he could still hear him wanking every morning and that maybe he could help him take ‘the stick out of his arse’. Controlling the blush that thought provoked was almost impossible.What did this man have that aroused Arthur like this? He had never been one to like men younger than him, even less those that looked like they were taken out of an R-rated video game, for fuck’s sake.Once more the ride up to the 11th floor seemed endless. Arthur almost sighed with relief when it stopped on the 5th floor and Alice, the old lady that lived right in front of Arthur’s flat, entered holding her white cat between her arms.“Good afternoon, Alice,” Arthur smiled at her.“Oh, good afternoon, Arthur, dearest,” the woman smiled at him. The cat meowed, seeming outraged at being ignored.“Yeah, you too, Aithusa,” Arthur petted the cat. “What were you doing on the fifth floor?”“This rebel escaped,” Alice tutted at the cat, who seemed absolutely unrepentant.Arthur laughed. From the corner of his eye, Arthur looked at the other occupant of the elevator. He was carefully watching their little exchange, and seemed to have relaxed a little.“And she made it to the fifth floor?” Arthur questioned, playing with Aithusa’s paws.“I don’t know how she does it,” Alice shrugged.“Magic,” his neighbour said with a small smile.“Oh, Merlin, I didn’t recognise you in there,” Alice said with her best grandmother’s tone. “I thought you had to work today?”“I forgot my ID.” Merlin’s smile, when sincere like right now, was the most amazing thing Arthur had seen in a really long time. “Can’t work without it.”The elevator stopped on their floor. They separated to their respective flats, saying goodbye to Alice and her cat, while the elderly woman invited them to lasagne whenever they could spare some time.“So, Merlin,” Arthur said, opening his door and biting down on his lower lip. “I believe we started out on the wrong foot.”Merlin had opened his own mouth, but was now looking back at him, silent and expectant. Now that it was daylight and Merlin wasn’t so obviously sleep deprived, Arthur could see just how handsome he was. His bright blue eyes were captivating.“The fact that you earned a few points of not being a rude prat because you’re nice to Alice, doesn’t mean I’m going to change my opinion that easily, Arthur,” Merlin said, looking down at him.However, the small smile remained in place, somehow taking a little of the sting out of his words.Still, Arthur narrowed his eyes, challenged.“Well, the fact that Alice thinks that you’re nice enough to invite you to lasagne, doesn’t mean that I’m going to open up that easily either,” Arthur answered, smiling to himself.“You’ll need to open up a lot, mate,” Merlin snickered.“Ha, ha. Weren’t you in a hurry to go back to drug dealing or something, Merlin?” Arthur deadpanned, hoping that his neighbour would catch the tease.“Really? That’s all you can come up with?” Merlin looked down at himself and at his working clothes.Arthur laughed.“Listen. I know you’re in a hurry, but next time you’re free…” Arthur tried to control his blush and his stuttering. He had never been very good at flirting and Merlin didn’t look very gay, nor like the kind of guy who one could take a second chance on if mistaken. “I’d like to apologise for my awful behaviour. I promise I have a really plausible excuse for the day we met.”“Pity the curry surely had meat on it,” Merlin said, pulling a face.“Excuse me?” Arthur said, surprised.“I’m vegan. But if the restaurant you bought the curry in has a vegan version, I’m all up for it.”“That’s—” Arthur grinned, and he saw Merlin taking something —surely his ID— from the table he had by the hall of his flat and closing the door again. “I’ll make sure to investigate.”“Great, I have to go now. And it’s doctor Emrys, by the way. I work at an ER. That’s why I keep a crazy drug dealer schedule.” Merlin smiled and his eyes brightened with mirth at seeing Arthur blushing even redder. “But now that you mention it, I kind of give drugs to my patients, sometimes.”They laughed.“It’s great to know we have a doctor in the building,” Arthur said to an already leaving Merlin. “Just, you know. In case of emergencies.”
3.
The first time Arthur realised he felt something deeper for Merlin than curiosity was sudden and heart stopping.For a couple of months they met each other in the building without time for anything other than quick looks and rushed grunts or words of recognition. However, they started smiling at each other more and more, and looked to be lingering longer every time, and Arthur realised that he lived for those encounters.As the spring weather changed to a nicer, early, humid London summer, the ugly orange vest Merlin wore disappeared and he wore short sleeve t-shirts that revealed more of his muscled body and the enigmatic tattoos on his arms.Arthur’s eyes were drawn to them, following the Celtic designs that disappeared into the t-shirts’ sleeves only to reappear and finish at the back of Merlin’s neck. When the doctor wore V-neck shirts, or his scrubs with nothing underneath, he showed that his chest had tattoos too, and Arthur needed to breathe deeply in order to conceal his sudden need to touch.This was around the same time Arthur started to take off his jacket as soon as he left the office and roll up the sleeves of his shirts, partially from sweating while commuting on the Tube, partially from wishing of meeting Merlin later in the elevator and having the doctor checking him out, discovering Arthur wasn’t a simple businessman, but had a well-trained body himself.“Don’t think I’ve forgotten you still owe me an apology,” Merlin said one evening as they crossed paths in the building’s hall.Arthur had just come in and was checking his mailbox, when he felt Merlin’s breath caressing his ear. Merlin had leaned intimately close to him, the heat from his body transferring into Arthur’s tailored shirt. Arthur turned around quickly, and still had time to see Merlin’s eyes very close, mischief making them spark. He was grinning, his plump lips wet and tempting.“I know,” was all Arthur could say, thankful that his voice hadn’t betrayed him completely. “But with your drug dealer schedule I can’t find the time to do it properly.”“Properly,” Merlin imitated his accent. “Posh.”“Clotpole.” Arthur shook his head and laughed.Merlin chuckled and started to move in the direction of the door.“Prat,” he said, good-natured. He turned and left.The t-shirt he was wearing that day seemed to be older, too big for him, and it let Arthur see a little of the tattoos on Merlin’s neck. As he thought, they seemed to come from his shoulders and the Celitc lines joined in an elegant knot at the centre. From there, they branched down his back. Would they go all the way down to his arse?Arthur had never wanted to run his fingers down someone’s back so much before. He wanted to see Merlin naked, touch him, kiss him, lick him everywhere and take him. Take him inside. His world stopped when he realised just how badly he wanted Merlin to fuck him.He had had his share of lovers but he had always taken an active role in his relationships. He liked to top, and he had never even tried to be a bottom. This was the first time he desired someone to show him how it was so badly.
4.
The first time Arthur saw Merlin’s tattoos was, of course, due to an emergency.It was late summer, and they were having a rare heatwave. Merlin had been living in the building for around four months. Arthur had been including ‘Merlin’ as the last word to moan in his morning wanks for a while, trying to be as silent as possible, lest his hot neighbour hear him through their adjoining walls. He had even started fingering himself, his fantasies now including being fucked by the tattooed doctor.That day Arthur had come home with a mix of feelings that had started as sadness and moved to anger, that had then moved to fury and now felt more like devastation. Uther had discovered his plans of creating an IT independent division for the company using his mother’s funds and had gone half crazy.Arthur had expected Uther to fire him, even to disinherit him. It wouldn’t have been the first time Arthur heard how much of a disappointment he was —the first time being when Arthur told his father he was gay. Arthur had imagined that Uther would play dirty to keep Arthur under his thumb in the company, and not move an inch in the market. He even thought that Uther would mention Ygraine to shame Arthur’s decision. But hearing it aloud– his father’s tone when saying how much his mother would have cried… It hurt.It was late when Arthur entered the corridor to his flat, but despite being so concentrated on his pain and his dark thoughts, he was still very surprised to find Aithusa calmly walking towards the emergency stairs.“Hey, you, rascal,” Arthur called to her. “Where do you think you’re going?”Hearing his voice, the cat turned and mewed, padding quickly in his direction. However, instead of reaching him, Aithusa slipped through the half-opened door of Alice’s flat. That was very strange. Alice was an elderly woman, but she had never before left her door open.It wouldn't be the first time Arthur had entered the flat. It was exactly like his own: the door led directly to the living room and the kitchen, which was a unique space. From there, to the left was the single bedroom and the bathroom. Those were the rooms that, in Arthur’s flat, were adjoined to Merlin’s.“Aithusa?” Arthur came closer, and pushed the door completely open. “Alice?”The living room’s lights were on. Arthur got a bad feeling when he discovered shopping bags thrown on the floor.“Alice?” he raised his voice.Aithusa’s mew came from behind the well-placed couch that separated the living room and kitchen. Arthur moved there quickly to find the small white cat sitting in front of a woman who was laying on the floor facedown.“Alice!” Arthur turned her over, and checked her neck’s pulse. He found nothing. “Oh, god.”Feeling his heart in his throat, Arthur prayed that Merlin was home. He ran and pounded at his door.“Merlin!” He shouted the doctor’s name several times in time with his wild knocking.Not even a minute later, a sleepy-eyed, half-naked Merlin opened the door. “Arthur?”For a whole eternal second all Arthur saw was Merlin’s tattooed body. There was a triskelion in the middle of his chest from where runic lines and Celtic knots drew beautiful patterns all along his pecs up to his neck, and down his stomach to his narrow hips, disappearing into his short sleeping pants. The pants left his thighs showing more tattoos that went only to his knees.It should have felt like too much, but it made Merlin look dangerous, mysterious and gorgeous.“What’s wrong?” Merlin sounded sleepy, and he rubbed his eyes, which thankfully took Arthur out of his contemplation.“It’s Alice! Come quick!”Without bothering to close his door, Merlin followed him to Alice's flat. When he knelt by the woman’s side, he checked her pulse and then put his ear next to her mouth.“Damn it,” Merlin swore.He moved Alice’s head backwards, opening her mouth wide and confirming her lack of breathing. Then ripped her blouse open in one swift move. Merlin placed his fingers on her chest, directly above where her heart resided.“Arthur, listen to me,” he said, looking directly into his eyes. Merlin in a professional mode was even more handsome than casual Merlin. “Get into my flat. In the living room there’s a cabinet to the left. Second drawer from the top. I have a bag with my things. Bring it in. Did you get it?”“Living room, cabinet to the left, second drawer from the top,” Arthur repeated, and rushed to get it after Merlin smiled.Arthur would have loved to get a better look at Merlin's flat, but apart from a general sensation of homeliness and cleanness, the need to help Alice didn’t allow him to truly enjoy being there. He found Merlin’s bag where he said it would be, and ran back to Alice’s.When he dropped by their side, Merlin was already performing CPR on her, counting quietly.“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Call emergencies, put them on speaker,” he said, starting his count next on eighteen.Arthur did what he was ordered. While the line engaged, Merlin reached number thirty and breathed twice into Alice's mouth, checking that her chest raised when he pushed air into her.“Good girl, Alice,” he murmured. “Keep on breathing.”“Emergencies. What service do you need?” a nice woman’s voice asked in a calm tone.“This is doctor Merlin Emrys, from the University College Hospital,” Merlin said, while he started to compress Alice's chest again. “I have an unresponsive woman with what looks like a heart attack. I’m performing CPR and I’m going to inject her with nitro. Please send an ambulance to—”Aithusa came to lick Arthur’s hand, meowing in distress.“Everything’s going to be alright, little rascal,” he calmed the cat, petting her behind the ears. “Mummy will be alright. Merlin will put her back on her feet in a moment.”“Arthur,” Merlin called him. “In my bag there’s a syringe that reads nitro-glycerine. Pass it to me, please.”There were only two syringes, so it wasn’t that difficult for Arthur to give the correct one to Merlin. Alice was quickly injected.“These are the moments when I wish we had defibrillators everywhere,” Merlin said, his voice already suffering from the exertion of his CPR performance.“Can I help?” Arthur asked, feeling like he was doing nothing, and that sooner rather than later he would realise just how hot Merlin was like this, instead of worrying for Alice.“The ambulance will take fifteen minutes, give or take. I’ll tire soon enough. Save your energy, because you’ll have to take over in a moment.” Merlin winked at him and smiled.That wink made Arthur forget where he was for a second, and he couldn’t help checking out Merlin’s incredibly fit body and his tattoos; the way his muscles rippled when he pushed down and then moved up, so smoothly, so sexy; he wondered if the nice doctor would move like this when he was having sex. But it was only for a moment. Because he honestly liked Alice, and he truly cared for her.Still, the ambulance needed twenty agonising minutes to get to the building, and Arthur was already in his second round of CPR when the paramedics came rushing in, scaring the hell out of Aithusa.Arthur had unbuttoned his shirt almost completely and rolled up his sleeves. He was sweating and he felt his hair glued to his neck. Merlin had gone home to change into some sweatpants and had put on his runners, covering his chest with his hospital t-shirt.“I’m taking her to my hospital,” he informed Arthur, covering his face with a surgical facemask. “I’m not on duty, but I’m going with her in the ambulance to see her settled.”Arthur looked for a pen and quickly wrote his mobile number on a supermarket flyer he found on the kitchen counter.“Please text me?” he said, giving it to Merlin.“Sure,” Merlin smiled. “Don’t let Aithusa escape.”Arthur smiled at him and watched them all go from the corridor.
5.
The first time Arthur called in sick for work, without it being true, was the morning after Alice’s heart attack. His father using his mother’s memory to try and make Arthur change his mind and then disinheriting him was another reason to not come in.This was also the first time Merlin texted him. It was a simple, professional text, of course, that informed him Alice was alright and would be kept in observation for a couple of days. It ended with one “x” at the end, that gave Arthur hope.He debated with himself for at least fifteen minutes until he closed his eyes and sent a “thank you” message with another “x” at the end, before saving Merlin’s contact in his mobile.Arthur didn’t call his father, didn’t answer any of his calls, and spent the rest of the day typing up a market plan for a new company. He hadn’t mastered Economics and been the first of his class for nothing. He was really intelligent and capable of success on his own, despite his father’s constant disregards about his work and person.It was nice to work from home and share his day with hyperactive, escapist-in-training Aithusa. It was the first time he sort of owned a pet —Uther hated animals— and he liked it.By midday he heard the shower in the apartment next door, but he imagined Merlin must be completely exhausted, so he kept on planning how to leave the Pendragon company and preparing all the documentation he was going to send his prosecutor and his accountant.It was already dinner time when he received the delivery from the curry restaurant.This was the first time he was going to take the first step in openly flirting with someone whose sexual orientation he wasn’t sure about. But Arthur guessed that after they both performed CPR on their elderly neighbour, this could also be seen as a friendly gesture. Besides, he still had to ask forgiveness for their awful start. Months later. But yeah.Arthur thought about the wink Merlin dedicated to him that time while collecting the mail, about how close they had been that other time in the building hall… He also had the little “x” at the end of their brief text exchange to go by, so maybe he wasn’t that mistaken?He knocked gently at Merlin’s door, hoping the doctor wasn’t still sleeping. In a moment the door opened. Merlin was dressed in a black tank-top and jeans short . His feet were bare and his brown, unruly hair was sticking in all directions, surely from sleeping with it wet.“Arthur,” he said, a little breathless, pushing his hair back. The gesture made him show the tattoos on his side, and Arthur felt his lungs constrict, and his gut come alive. “I was going to call you,” Merlin added with a smile.“Were you?”“Yes, come in.” Merlin moved aside to allow Arthur entrance. “Alice was worried for Aithusa. She gave me the keys to her flat, but—”“I have her with me,” Arthur interrupted him, delighted in the look of surprise in his neighbour’s oceanic blue eyes. “I thought it was better to keep her at home. I didn’t know when Alice or you would be back, and I was afraid she would try to escape again.”“That’s very nice of you.” Merlin’s smile was bright. “I’ll tell Alice. When we admitted her yesterday and she was finally stable enough, I just had to start my shift. When I came back home I was exhausted.”“I can imagine. That’s why I bought this.” Arthur lifted the bags he was carrying.“Curry?” Merlin asked, surprised.“You said it smelled good, and I’m fairly sure you haven’t tried it yet.” Arthur moved to the kitchen and left the delivery on the counter. Merlin followed him. “The cooks swore that everything in here is vegan.”“You remembered,” Merlin muttered, his smile glowing.“Of course I did,” Arthur said, acting as if he was offended. “I wasn’t sure, so I went for no meat, no milk and no eggs. Do you have something to put these in before it gets cold?”Merlin took out plates and cutlery. In a moment, they were sitting on the kitchen island, sharing beers, and Merlin moaned at how good it was. Arthur laughed.“Thank you,” Merlin said, sincerely. “Not just for the food, and making sure it’s vegan. For eating with me. Not everybody does it.”Arthur beamed at the compliment. “It’s nothing, really.”“Where’s your suit, by the way?” Merlin asked next. “I thought you slept in it.”“I swear I sleep in pyjamas, like a normal person, Merlin,” he snorted, taking a sip from his beer.“I sleep naked,” Merlin deadpanned.Arthur almost choked on his drink.“Remind me not to be drinking next time you speak, alright?” Arthur asked, laughing and cleaning the drops of beer that had slid out of his mouth.“Still. I know all your routines, and I thought you were working today. Not that I’m complaining, because jeans and t-shirts suit you, but I thought you didn’t own those kinds of clothes.”“Oh, you know all my routines?” Arthur felt butterflies in his stomach. Merlin was clearly flirting with him.“Paper-thin walls, prat. Don’t make your head any bigger than it is,” but Merlin smiled to take the sting out of his words.“I’m off work today.”“I thought you were one of those guys who was married to their job?”“Well. I just got a divorce.” Arthur shrugged.“Did they fire you?” Merlin’s face changed from teasing to worried in an instant. He moved his hand along the counter and touched Arthur's forearm.Merlin’s fingers were long and gentle along his skin, making his hairs raise. Arthur felt flattered to be on the receiving end of so much warmth.“Oh, no. I quit.”And he proceeded to summarise what happened to his amazing neighbour during dinner. Including what happened the day they met. Every time he rested his hand close enough, their fingers touched, and he initiated the contact as many times as Merlin did.When they were done with the food, Merlin was smiling goofily at him, looking down at the way their fingers rubbed together softly.“Listen,” Merlin said eventually, adding a cute, nervous laugh. “My gaydar is shit. You wouldn’t be the first guy I read wrong who punched me in the nose for trying to make a pass on him.”“Oh, no, no,” Arthur answered quickly. “You’re not reading anything wrong. It’s just… You’re not the kind of guy I usually go for.”“It’s the tattoos, right?” Merlin laughed.Arthur bit down on his lower lip and nodded. His fingers moved and traced the lines of the Celtic design on Merlin’s forearm upwards. The touch was light, almost like asking for Merlin’s permission to be there, and yet Arthur found the trace of a risen line hidden underneath the ink. Arthur followed it until it met with another, all of them hidden under Merlin’s tattoos. They were like scars that moved and twisted, that joined with each other. He felt Merlin shivering, but he didn’t shy away from Arthur’s touch.“It’s the first time in my life I find myself attracted to someone covered in tattoos,” Arthur confessed, his voice having dropped to a sensual murmur, his eyes still following the direction his fingers were taking.“Well, I usually don’t go for guys with sticks up their arses either,” Merlin joked, making Arthur bark a surprised laugh. “But I believe you are worth making an exception.”“Why is that?” Arthur looked into Merlin’s eyes.“I might be able to help you take it out,” Merlin suggested. “I’m a doctor.”Arthur snorted, and there was a moment of silence after that. They both watched Arthur’s hand travelling up the length of Merlin’s arm, following the inked pattern to his bicep.“I wonder…” Arthur started, then coughed to clear his voice. “I would like to know if your tattoos go only to your waist.”“Would you?” Merlin’s smile turned hot, provocative and dangerous.Merlin stood up and took Arthur’s hand, interlacing their fingers. Pulling resolutely, he walked them to his bedroom. Despite knowing that Merlin had probably just woken up, the queen-sized bed was made, and everything in the room looked as homey as the rest of the flat.They didn’t release their hold until they were at the foot of the bed, and only did so that Merlin could take off his tank top. The tattoos all over his arms and chest were as impressive as the first time Arthur had seen them.Arthur looked directly into Merlin’s eyes, and put one hand over the triskelion on his chest. He was only partially surprised to feel wrinkled skin underneath the ink. Still, Arthur didn’t stop touching Merlin’s skin, quickly going for Merlin’s pectorals and rubbing his nipples. He grinned when Merlin gasped, surprised.“Sensitive?” Arthur’s tone was teasing. “I like that.”“Come here.” Merlin grabbed his neck and pulled him in.Merlin’s lips welcomed him, warm and generous, his mouth parting hungrily, both eager to taste each other. Arthur groaned and closed his eyes, intensifying the sensations of having Merlin’s tongue inside his mouth, chasing it back into Merlin’s. The man knew how to kiss, with the right amount of pressure, suction and teeth, and it had Arthur groaning and moving his hips ardently, looking for friction.Merlin grabbed him by his waist and pressed them together, their groins coming into contact and hardening.“Tell me you’re a top, please,” Merlin murmured, sucking down on Arthur’s lower lip.“I am,” Arthur groaned. “Although I was very ready to let you fuck me, even if I have never done it before.”“I prefer to bottom, but I’m versatile.” Merlin kissed Arthur’s jaw with every word, and Arthur moved his head back to give Merlin’s talented mouth access to his throat. “Maybe next time?”“Fuck, yes. I’ll keep your word on that.” Arthur groaned, and pressed himself even closer.He moaned wantonly when he felt Merlin sucking harder on a visible part of his neck.“Yeah. Mark me, Merlin,” he begged, and Merlin obliged.Feeling Merlin’s mouth creating a bruise on his neck, and then on his shoulder, made Arthur moan. His fingers still traced the tattoos on Merlin’s back, marvelling at the patterns he could follow even with his eyes closed because they hid scars underneath them.He reached the edge of Merlin’s sport trunks and got his hands inside, his fingers moving to Merlin’s arse like they had magnets. Merlin’s skin was even hotter here when Arthur kneaded his prominent globes, and Merlin gasped, stopped kissing his chest.“Fuck, Arthur.”“That’s the idea, yes,” Arthur grinned.Merlin moved down, too low for Arthur to keep on playing with his gorgeous rear, but his amazing mouth sucked one of Arthur’s nipples until it was painfully erect. Arthur groaned when Merlin moved further down, biting down on his stomach while his long fingers played with the hairs on his chest. Arthur couldn’t help but move hips towards Merlin, looking for more friction.Merlin made quick work of Arthur’s trousers and underwear.“How have I been so lucky?” Merlin asked, as if to himself, before applying his tongue flat along Arthur’s hard cock from base to head. When he reached the gland, he closed his lips and sucked.“Fuck.” Arthur put his hands on Merlin’s head and carded through the soft, dark locks.In a couple of thrusts Merlin was taking him to the root, forcing his gag-reflex. The warmth of his mouth was amazing, and Arthur felt his cock filling more at hitting the back of Merlin’s throat. He felt the doctor swallowing around him.Merlin looked up at him with lust-brightened blue eyes and his lips stretched around his cock, and Arthur thought that he could come like this, fill Merlin with his come and then kiss him filthily, feeding him whatever drops had escaped from his eager mouth.“Shit. Keep going like this and no fucking is going to take place,” Arthur warned, feeling his gut tighten with pleasure.Merlin let him go with a pornographic pop.“Bed?”While they moved onto the mattress, Merlin lost the rest of his clothes and took condoms and lube out of the bedside table drawer. Arthur took a moment to admire his tattoos. They moved along his sides to his legs, and the Celtic lines seemed to reduce until they vanished, never reaching Merlin’s ankles. They should have looked like too many tattoos for such a lithe body, but the design, the thin lines, the way the knots were placed and the contrast with his pale skin, only made Merlin look mysterious and gorgeous.“Put your hands on the wall,” Arthur instructed, getting as close as possible behind Merlin.Merlin complied, kneeling at the top of the bed. Like this, his back was on display, legs parted and allowing Arthur access to his perfect arse.“I want to touch you,” Arthur said into Merlin’s ear, his voice nothing but a whisper. Merlin sighed, and nodded.Arthur kissed his neck, his fingers moving from Merlin’s own against the wall, down his tattooed arms to his shoulders. He fought the urge to close his eyes as he licked the salty skin behind Merlin’s ear, because the contrast of the ink and the scarred skin that his fingertips touched marvelled him, the sight too enthralling to miss.Merlin inclined his head when Arthur moved his mouth, giving him access to his nape. Instead of moving to the other side, Arthur moved mouth and hands downwards. Merlin moaned and arched towards him. For some reason, when his tongue tasted the first tattoo on Merlin’s neck Arthur expected Merlin’s skin to taste different, but it didn’t.He licked the rough scars with the same dedication as he touched them, kissing them lovingly. There were some longer ones that he could follow until they stopped abruptly. Some that were deep, some that were very small. The bigger ones were hidden under knots. The smaller or longer, under the Celtic lines.Merlin’s initial moans turned into gasps and then little pitiful wines under his attention. His eyes closed tightly, and when Arthur’s hand wrapped around his cock it had flagged considerably.Arthur had tried to show him affection and acceptance, but it had backfired.He moved up and kissed Merlin’s cheek, calling him out of wherever his mind had taken him. The dark blue eyes blinked open, glazed and unfocused.“You are the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen,” Arthur said, seriously. He searched blindly for the lube. “I wish I didn’t have to use a condom. I want to feel you, hot and tight around me.”“It’s,” Merlin paused, and swallowed, “a little soon, yeah?” His voice sounded soft and distant, but coming back to Arthur.“Then I’ll save eating you out for next time.” Arthur grinned, and pressed cold, slippery fingers to Merlin’s opening without breaching him yet.Merlin’s shocked laugh sounded good.“Alright.” Merlin nodded, still smiling, and Arthur kissed him, open-mouthed.Arthur pressed his index finger into Merlin’s body while his thumb rubbed the puckered skin in circles.“Ah,” Merlin gasped into the kiss, but didn’t stop it. Arthur was amazed that he hadn’t moved from his position either, his hands still on the wall as if he had forgotten that they were there at all.Within Arthur's other hand, the thick cock was hard again. He inserted a second finger and moved them quicker. Arthur tightened his grip on Merlin, but didn’t provide any additional friction. He only added a third finger into his tight, velvety heat, noticing the stretch.“Fuck, Arthur,” Merlin groaned, breathing becoming more important than licking the inside of Arthur’s mouth.Merlin pushed alternatively back into Arthur’s fingers and forward into the hand around his cock, but Arthur’s grip only tightened, starving his pleasure there.“I want to fuck you like this,” Arthur said into Merlin’s ear, voice husky and sensual. “Wrap myself over your back and push my cock into you. Make you scream and come untouched.”“Shit!” In Arthur’s hand, Merlin’s cock twitched and leaked precome.“Not today, though. Lay down,” Arthur instructed, taking his fingers out of Merlin and ripping a condom open. “I want to see you.”While Merlin took to situated himself, Arthur sheathed his cock in latex and lubed himself up. Merlin’s eyes were looking at him glassily when Arthur got between his legs and bent them up and out of the way, kissing his knees.“Hi, handsome.” Arthur grinned, his cockhead pressing against Merlin’s hole.“Hi, yourself.” Merlin smiled back, moving his hips down and urging him on.Past the tight ring of muscles, Arthur was hugged by warmth and slick. Merlin gasped, but his hands moved to grab him by his neck and push him down into a smashing kiss. Arthur didn’t stop until he was completely sheathed in Merlin.“Move,” Merlin ordered, sucking kisses onto his lips. And Arthur’s body obeyed the command.Merlin’s legs wrapped around Arthur’s body, forcing Arthur’s rhythm to his liking. Arthur’s hands touched his face with reverence. Their foreheads touched and their lips rested over each other, sharing breath and tender licks.It was over too quickly. Merlin’s moans became cries. “Touch me, Arthur.”Arthur sat on his haunches so he could slam his cock harder into Merlin, and with the movement the angle became perfect.“God, yes! Right there!”A few strokes on his thick, hard dick was all it took for Merlin to come all over his stomach with a shout. His muscles cramped around Arthur, the friction so right, the heat that had been pooling in Arthur’s gut simply exploded.“Merlin,” he cried out.Shivering, still high from his orgasm, Arthur rested his head on Merlin’s chest, kissing the triskelion tattoo.“I hope your neighbour is not one of those cranky guys that pounds the walls for the noise,” Arthur teased.Merlin laughed, the movements of his chest making Arthur bounce. Eventually, his fingers entangled in Arthur’s hair, pulling a little, and Arthur lifted his head so that they could kiss. It was a gentle kiss that lacked the passion from before, but contained words that were too soon to form out loud. It tasted like a promise. Trying not to make Merlin too uncomfortable, Arthur disentangled from him, and made quick work of the condom.“There are Kleenex on the bedside table,” Merlin told him, looking at him with a soft smile on his face. “And a bin right by the side.”“Neat,” Arthur marvelled. His flat would have been more uncomfortable for this. He needed to improve it.After disposing of the waste, Merlin’s arms were waiting for him and they hugged. It was pleasantly warm in the room and there was no need for the sheets. Arthur rather liked it. He wanted to keep on looking at Merlin’s body.“I never thought I would honestly like someone covered in tattoos,” he said, his fingers tracing a line up Merlin’s chest until he reached the triskelion. He lifted himself up to meet Merlin’s blue eyes. “But I honestly like you.”“I had a car accident when I was a teenager,” Merlin said. It was obvious that he was trying very hard to keep emotion from his voice, but Arthur could hear pain and stress.“You don’t have to tell me,” Arthur’s hand touched Merlin’s face. “My opinion about you is not going to change, whatever happened.”“But I want you to know.” Merlin sighed. “My mum had taken us to a fair in another town. Me and my best friends Will and Freya. A lorry popped a tire and the driver lost control. It threw us off the road. I was in the middle seat, and because I was so thin the seat belt didn’t work and I was thrown out through the windshield. I had broken glass all over my body and so many broken bones it was a miracle that I survived. Yet I did. And I was the only one, because being thrown out of the car was what saved me from going down a ravine.”“Fuck, Merlin, I’m sorry.” Arthur frowned and remained unmoving. He wasn’t sure there was much more he could do, but he kept his hand on Merlin’s chest and his eyes on Merlin’s, providing comfort and understanding.“I had so many scars that reminded me of… everything, that looking at myself in the mirror was almost impossible. In therapy there was this guy who had tattooed the scars from his abuser, and I thought, well, it’s obviously not the same but… And I did it, too.”“Did it help you?” Arthur asked.“At first no,” Merlin confessed, touching Arthur’s hand over his chest. The contact was welcomed, and Arthur was glad to see Merlin moving. “But I decided on Celtic designs because my mum loved druids, and I thought that maybe Will and Freya would have put meanings to every knot, and you know? It started making sense. And then, when I started studying medicine to become a doctor, when I saved my first patient… Everything made more sense. Sometimes, looking at myself takes a while. But it’s not that hard anymore.”Arthur kissed him. Just a peck, really. It made Merlin blush and smile.“You are incredibly hot, Merlin,” Arthur said. “And the tattoos only make you more mysterious and devastatingly handsome.”“You only want another go at me,” Merlin laughed, although it was a little forced.“Ah, sir. Much as I find you sexy, I have to excuse myself.” Arthur made a face, and sat on the bed, making a show of looking for his clothes.“Are you going?” Merlin sat, too, and passed a hand along Arthur’s back, making him shiver. “You can stay. I have to go to work tomorrow, and my sleeping pattern is all over the place, but I promise to let you sleep.”Merlin kissed Arthur’s nape, and Arthur felt all the little hairs raising in pleasure.“Ah, Merlin,” he sighed. “I’m sorry but I have to tell you that there’s a girl waiting for me at home.”“What?” Merlin straightened abruptly.Arthur turned around, having a hard time not laughing. Merlin’s eyes were wide, annoyance and surprise brightening them. Arthur would have sworn he had paled.“Aithusa, Merlin.” Arthur bit down on his lower lip. “I have to check my flat is in one piece, and that the little escapist is still there.”“Clotpole!”In all honesty, Arthur deserved the punch he received. The raspberry on his belly after the breathless mock fight? What was Merlin, five?Now, the blowjob that they gave each other in a sixty-nine position, after putting a bowl of water and food out for Aithusa and going back to Merlin’s bed, was so good he blacked out to the world in another man’s bed for the first time in Arthur’s life.All Merlin’s and his tattoos’ fault.
THE END