When We Kiss

*.*.*.*.*

When Merlin brought in breakfast with him when he came to wake Arthur up, he would leave it at the table, and draw the curtains, chattering on about whatever it was that he chattered about this early in the day all the while, and it was fine, okay? Well, not fine, because Arthur would much rather a bit more sleep than the sun suddenly in his eyes and Merlin babbling on about things he needed to do and places he needed to be before he could even fully grasp that he was no longer asleep, but, it was just something he supposed he was used to by now.

Except one morning, on the day of a very important meeting with his council, as Arthur was still laying down in bed, Merlin turned around and caught sight of him, half-asleep and just lying there, inconvenienced and only sort of glad to see Merlin. And something about the way Arthur looked, there like that, made Merlin grin shyly, writing out something in his eyes that Arthur couldn't quite decipher until Merlin was crossing to Arthur's bed, leaning across the pillows to kiss him, soft and sweet and tinged with 'good morning, sunshine' before he pulled away like it was nothing, and resumed his chattering about the things that would need done that morning, that afternoon, that evening.

*.*.*.*.*

As soon as Arthur finished eating, sitting at the table now that Merlin's kiss had woken him up, Merlin looked down at him, hands on his hips, lips pursed, and then he pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, pulling away before Arthur could thoroughly enjoy himself.

"You had some crumbs," Merlin mumbled then, before turning around to get Arthur's clothes from his wardrobe as though he hadn't just left Arthur so unsatisfied so early in the day.

*.*.*.*.*

And then there was the important meeting that Arthur needed to be at—it was with his council concerning the laws on magic and repealing them—and he was… nervous, to say the least, fidgeting with the clasp of his cape as Merlin walked down with him, trying to assure himself that it would all be fine; the members of his council were reasonable men, after all, they would see his logic, would agree with him, after a bit of persuasion. It would all be okay, he told himself.

When they came to the door where they would part ways for the afternoon, Arthur opened his mouth to say something or another in farewell, but before the words could leave his mouth, Merlin was on him, pinning him to the wall next to the door and kissing away his senses.

"What—" Arthur tried mumbling against his lips, but Merlin silenced him with something deeper and harder, a whimper escaping his own lips as he pressed further into Arthur.

When Merlin finally pulled away, he was grinning and flushed, running his fingers through Arthur's hair to straighten it as he panted, "You looked nervous."

With a shy sort of shrug then, he pecked Arthur once more and around to walk away, leaving Arthur with something as far away from nervous as he could get at the moment, with Merlin's kiss still lingering on his lips and mind and holding him together through the meeting.

*.*.*.*.*

The meeting went... well, about as well as Arthur expected such a meeting to go, stubborn old men who were all quick to remind him all the grief that magic had caused the kingdom in Arthur's father's time, and even now, as Arthur ruled as king. And Arthur was quick to counter all such arguments, exhausting though it might have been. And perhaps he did not technically need their permission to lift the ban or pass certain laws, but life would prove to me so much simpler for him if at least the majority of them were behind him on his decision.

Naturally, it would not be the last meeting of its kind, but for today... today it felt like he'd done enough, said enough, argued enough.

*.*.*.*.*

He felt exhausted and drained and... something else that he couldn't quite seem to name as he went about the rest of his day with Merlin at his side, promising him he'd give him the run-down of how the meeting had gone when he was a bit less exhausted and not just floating about the rest of his duties with little thought to what was actually being said or done unless Merlin brought special attention to it.

And of course, the kisses Merlin took it upon himself to press to Arthur's lips whenever there was a lull or pause of any sort or a moment to spare...

Well they helped, of course.

For a while, anyway. Until they were back in Arthur's chambers and Merlin was setting his dinner before him, dropping down to kiss him for what felt like the thousandth or so time that day before he turned around and went about to do some chore or another and Arthur bit his lip, feeling a prickling of... of frustration, was it? Aggravation, at least. Which was, well, absurd, because Merlin's kisses were wonderful, why on earth was he feeling so...

Turning away from his food then—because he wasn't really hungry anyway—he stood up, crossed the room to where Merlin was, and spun him around, chewing on the inside of his cheek for a moment as he took in the quirked, curious eyebrow that Merlin offered him at his actions.

"Why do you," he started then, trying to keep his voice level, one hand on Merlin's shoulder, one on his arm. "Keep doing that?"

"Doing what? My... chores?" Merlin replied, cocking his head slightly.

"No. Kissing me—you've been doing it all day, and I want to know why." He corrected, the sentence feeling a bit, well, odd, actually, as it left his mouth, because what did it matter why Merlin was doing it so long as he was doing it period?

"Because I love you?"

"And you loved me yesterday, too, I'm led to believe." Arthur shot back, "And you didn't kiss me nearly as much as you have today, so why—"

"Because, you... dollophead," Merlin interrupted, affection in the very way that he shook his head, the grin he offered Arthur before continuing. "Today... you had that meeting with the council and... you've been stressed, haven't you? Even before the meeting you were worried over it, I could tell. And ever since it let out, you've been... Worn out, haven't you? I just thought if I could help with that in any small way, then I should, and you're usually so relaxed after we kiss, you know, just... just for a moment, when your eyes are closed and you're still lost in the moment—you look peaceful and... happy. I just thought you could use a bit more of that today." He finished, face soft with the sentiment.

Arthur nodded, feeling a twinge of regret and guilt for finding aggravation where Merlin only had good intentions, though he supposed that had been borne more of the stress of the day than anything Merlin had been doing, when he thought on it for a moment.

"I... thank you." He said, all that he could seem to manage in the moment, a small smile coming to stretch across his face.

"Mhm, yeah," Merlin nodded, grinning back. "I should say the same, actually, because getting to kiss you every five minutes actually made my day a hell of a lot better, too, you know."

"That so?" Arthur mumbled in response, moving his arms to wrap around Merlin, pull him close to rest his forehead against Merlin's. "Well how would you like to make both of our days a hundred times better than it's already been?"

"I think that could be arranged, actually." Merlin replied, leaning in to kiss Arthur, the blond instantly melting against the embrace, deciding that maybe Merlin had the right idea all along.

For a change.

*.*.*.*.*