Whoops this too.

Prompt: A short little misadventure about merlin, Arthur and coffee?

Enjoy!

It was a cold Monday morning, which meant that the queue heading up to the ordering counter at the Camelot Café went nearly out the door. It was understandably crowded, as it was one of the few places to offer people their daily or bi-daily caffeine fixes at reasonable prices and with an adequate amount of caffeine, as well as a variety of choices. In short, it was a coffee-addict's dream come true.

Of course, none of these thoughts occurred to the businesspeople grumpily checking their watches, the students milling around either yawning widely or with their noses stuck in a textbook, or even the sweating baristas as they fretted over the many liquids they were handling.

Merlin had only been awake for about an hour, and already the day was dragging on at a near stagnant pace. The crowd around him paid him little mind, but their lack of concern for others caused them to be quite loud as they awaited their various frothy beverages. It was very, very early. Merlin felt a headache building.

He was nearly barreled over by the woman in front of him as she marched towards the waiting counter.

"Merlin!" the barista greeted cheerfully as he stepped up to order.

Merlin grinned. "Hello, Gwaine. Work been good?" Finally, something to brighten his day. Gwaine could always make him laugh.

"Hurry up," the man behind Merlin grumbled. He seemed to be one of the angry watch-checkers.

Gwaine raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Wait your turn, Princess."

Merlin struggle to hold in a snort. "Ah. I'll have the—"

"Your usual?"

"Yes, thank you." Merlin smiled, relieved, handing the barista his money without another word. Everything was always easier with Gwaine.

Gwaine nodded. "You can go on over and wait over there, mate. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thanks, Gwaine," Merlin said as he walked off, ignoring the muttered "Finally," from the 'Princess' behind him.

Merlin walked off to stand by the other people waiting for their orders, shooting a mild glare at the angry man who had been standing behind him. He was rather surprised to find him not an old crotchety bag of sour wrinkles, as he had been almost been hoping, but a young man in a suit, not much older than Merlin himself.

He looked oddly familiar, but Merlin could not be bothered to think any more on this rude new character, and he pulled out his phone to pass the time.

A few interminable minutes later, "Merlin" and "Arthur" were called up simultaneously by a grumpy looking barista. She wordlessly plunked the two drinks down on the counter and turned back to the horde of customers.

The 'Princess' from earlier must have been Arthur, because he barely spared a moment in grabbing one of the drinks and whipping past Merlin.

The latter, for his part, scoffed, picking up the other cup.

It must have been a coincidence that they both raised their cups to their lips at the same time, and both realized with a jolt that this was absolutely not what they had ordered.

"This is tea!" Arthur exclaimed in shock, looking quite dismayed. "I ordered an espresso!"

"I didn't order this," Merlin muttered to himself as the bitter taste of coffee bloomed on his tongue, turning back to the counter. He barely noticed Arthur doing the same beside him.

Gwaine blinked at them. "Back so soon?"

"I think I got the wrong drink," Merlin said, at the same time as Arthur's "This is not my espresso." They both look at each other in surprise.

Gwaine rubbed a hand over his face. "Oh, you're joking. Alright, alright, what did you order?"

"My regular, Earl Grey with milk," Merlin said.

"Oh, that must be the atrocity I have in my cup," Arthur grumbled.

Merlin ignored him. "And I seem to have coffee."

"It's a double espresso with cream, you ignorant—"

"Ah, you two know each other?" Gwaine intervened with a smirk.

"No," they replied in unison, looking rather appalled at the mere idea.

Gwaine flapped a hand nonchalantly. "Well, couldn't you simply switch drinks?"

Merlin and Arthur grimaced. "His mouth touched it," Arthur whined quietly, while Merlin said, "I would rather not, thanks."

Gwaine huffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, I know both of you, and so I implore that you just switch your drinks and be done with it, unless you want to wait another, oh, say, fifteen minutes," he suggested, looking pointedly at Arthur, who glanced at his watch and grimaced.

Merlin stared at Arthur, waiting for him to make the first move. He tried to convey that they were both equally unhappy about the arrangement and so the other man should stop pouting like a child, but time was pressing, and they both needed to leave, with or without their drinks.

"That's fine by me," Arthur eventually grumbled, sounding like it was absolutely not fine by him.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Is it, now?"

"Merlin," Gwaine warned, "play nice."

He raised his arms in a placating gesture. "Fine by me," he assured.

"Good." Gwaine turned away, disappearing into the sea of similarly-dressed baristas running around behind the counter.

Merlin let out a breath, holding out the espresso. "Here you are, Princess," he said with a grin.

Arthur glared at him, snatching his drink, nearly spilling it all over himself. "Idiot," he growled, thrusting his other arm out impatiently. He barely waited for Merlin to take hold of the cup before he dropped his hand and marched out the door.

Merlin watched him leave, warming his hands on his tea. He sighed.

"What a prat."

A strangely familiar prat, but a prat nonetheless.

Merlin sipped his tea and hurriedly escaped the morning coffee crowd, stepping onto the cold pavement outside the café, watching the steam curl off his drink like a tiny vaporous dragon.

Thanks for reading!