Merlin's magic (Oneshots) 1

59 Minutes

A.N.://
You know, for me, this is a very short fic. But this scene has been haunting me, so I decided to make you suffer with me. I was afraid that if I wrote a complete fic with build up and everything, I would lose this scene in the plot. It would have had a happy ending though. This is technically open ended, so I didn't break my vow to never writing unhappy endings, this one ends with hope for Merthur. Is this a compromise you can live with? No? Then you're dead, I'm afraid. Sorry, lol.

Btw, did you know I have a KoFi now? (Shameless self promo, I know, but eventually, I want to open up commissions there. For art at least, not sure if I want to do the same for fics.

https://ko-fi.com/theroundbartable

For now, I just organized my art there per fandom and I intend to upload updates to my completed fanfics, so you'll get a notifications when a fanfic is done, rather than chapter by chapter (which most plattforms do anyway. I don't have memberships up or anything, so it's a no risk situation to take a look. :)) )

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The doorbell rang at precisely 11:12 am on a Saturday morning.
Merlin remembered because he'd been waiting for a package that had arrived less than ten minutes prior, so there had been no reason for the doorbell to ring.
Phil had been working in the office that he used for remote work. They weren't living together yet but when Merlin's boyfriend stayed the weekend, he sometimes packed his Laptop for the two to three hour meetings it was needed for. That's where Phil was right now, in the spareroom, with the package that was likely his new headset and keyboard.
Merlin remembered that it was 11:12 am because he'd have preferred it to be 11:11 am but it wasn't, though it said so on the oven in the kitchen because the oven clock was one minute off.

Merlin remembered all of those things in excruciating detail, because it was the day Arthur Pendragon had appeared there, eyes red and swollen, with an expression like he'd rather be dead than at his best friend's doorstep at 11:12 am on a Saturday morning.

"Arthur? What are you doing here? Didn't you say you had to go to the office today?" When Arthur Pendragon showed up unannounced on Merlin's doorstep, it was usually because his father had overworked him, been a toxic dad or a toxic boss, or completely absent altogether.
But Arthur was staring at Merlin for a moment too long, his expression growing more and more miserable. Somehow, Merlin got the feeling that Arthur was here for a completely different reason than usual.

"We need to talk."

That- Merlin thought, his heart sinking when Arthur averted his gaze- came out of nowhere. The blond didn't look angry, or furious, just- lonely. That might have been the best way to describe it, had Merlin not just hung out with him two days ago when everything had seemed completely fine. Merlin sensed that whatever this was, it was fundamental and might change their entire relationship, regardless of whether he let Arthur in or not. Merlin was not ready to doom them just like that. "Of course. Do you want to talk in my room?"

"Is Phillip here?"

It was the second time already that Arthur had avoided Merlin's question. It was only now, as Arthur awkwardly stepped into the little corridor, that Merlin noticed that his best friend of over six years was nervous. Arthur Pendragon was never nervous, least of all around Merlin. "He is, he's in the spare room. He's in a meeting, so we shouldn't bother him. But we can wait for him, he should be done by 12."

"No, no, that's good actually, I won't be long. Let's talk in the kitchen."

The kitchen, Merlin noticed suspiciously, was the room furthest from the spare room. "Okay."

It felt tense, the way the both sat down at the kitchen table, Arthur had carefully closed the door, despite them never doing THAT before (and Arthur was over at least as often as Phil was), and when he sat down, he somehow managed to look even less comfortable being here than he did when he showed up at the door.
For the record, Merlin had no idea what was going on. Perhaps, he thought, he was overthinking Arthur's expression. Blowing this all out of proportion and Arthur was simply here to apologize for how he'd reacted to Merlin having a boyfriend. That was a discussion they still hadn't had, after all, and which was long overdue. It didn't, however, warrant Arthur's corpse-like demeanor.
For context: Arthur had known Merlin was bi perhaps even before Merlin had and he'd never had a problem with it until Merlin brought around his first boyfriend. The same boyfriend who was now working in the spare room, and had done that very thing every weekend for the last eight months. Merlin's girlfriends had never seemed to be an issue, but as soon as Phil was in the picture, Arthur had suddenly become overprotective and snarly, to the point that Morgana had knocked him over the head and forced him into a timeout where he was supposed to think about his biphobic tendencies. The last two months everything had seemed to slowly be working itself out. Arthur and Phil had gone out alone to a football match and found out they had a lot in common. Two days ago, they'd gone to the zoo together and everything had been fine. He'd laughed and smiled with them and everything had been turning back to normal.
And now Arthur Pendragon sat at Merlin's kitchen table, looking worse for wear than if he'd been hit by a car.