corilannam | FIC: All He Wants Is (Merlin, 1/1)

Title: All He Wants Is
Author: Cori Lannam (

corilannam)
Rating: G
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Wordcount: 800

Summary: Modern AU. Getting his assistant a Christmas present should have been a lot easier than this, Arthur thought.

Notes: I wrote this tiny bit of holiday fluff for the

summerpornathon Christmas in July bonus challenge. Now seemed like a good time to finally repost it. Dedicated to anyone who, like me, is still struggling to find a few last-minute gifts (good luck!)

Merlin was sulking. Again.

Oh, he pretended to be full of holiday cheer to everyone else in the office, but Arthur knew better. It was all there in the way Merlin aggressively moved Arthur's stapler to the wrong side of the desk while Arthur was sitting right there.

Finally, Arthur slapped the proposal he'd been reading down with a sigh of frustration. "All right, this obviously has something to do with your Christmas bonus."

"No, it's fine," Merlin responded immediately, setting down Arthur's fresh cup of tea with a great delicacy meant to show that nothing, nothing whatsoever could possibly be wrong.

Arthur winced as the tea sloshed over the rim and splashed onto his leg, burning as it soaked through (and probably stained) his trousers. "It was a very generous cheque."

"It was a cheque." Merlin gave up the pretense, folding his arms and looking at Arthur with disbelief. "The fact that you call it a 'Christmas bonus' should probably have been your first clue that something was going wrong?"

Arthur stared at him for nearly a full minute. Why did Merlin always have to be so damn difficult when Arthur was just trying to be professional? "What was I supposed to call it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a present? A gift? I'd settle for personal token of your ongoing affection and appreciation for the fact that you couldn't do without me in your life?"

"Fine," Arthur said to cut Merlin off before he could spout any more uncomfortable truths. "I will get you a present."

"No, really, I'm fine."

"Merlin!"

Merlin looked at him in a display of big shiny eyes and teeth. "Well, all right. If you really want to."

"Of course I do," Arthur muttered as Merlin relocated his stapler to the proper place and then left, humming what he supposed was a Christmas song in some former life.

***

He rang Gwaine first. "You spend a lot of time with Merlin," he said without preamble. "What are you getting him for Christmas?"

"A blowjob," Gwaine said, then laughed like a drain as Arthur choked on his own breath. "Kidding, I'm kidding, no need to fire me. He didn't want anything much, so we're going out for a night of merriment at a restaurant of his choice."

"You do that all the time."

"Well, I'm paying my share of the bill this time. Say, thanks for that Christmas bonus, by the way."

Arthur hung up on him.

***

He called Morgana. "What are you getting for Merlin?"

"A nice cheque."

"Aha! That's what I got him, too, but now he's unhappy with me."

Morgana made a derisive sound that, over the phone, made her sound more like a smug cow than usual. "Well, he's not my personal assistant that I've been in love with since university."

Arthur's face burned. "All right, witch, what are you getting for Gwen?"

When Morgana launched into a list of very girly sounding brand names that Arthur had never heard of, he hung up on her, too.

***

"You should have just called me to begin with, you know," Gwen said as soon as she picked up the phone.

"I should have known better than to think I'd get any sense from any of these other lunatics, yes. Now, what are you getting for Merlin?"

"He said he didn't want anything material this year, so I sent his mum a gift card to her favorite shop. He was thrilled."

Arthur hit his forehead with his palm. "That's perfect! Why didn't I think of that? But I can't do that now, obviously."

He could hear Gwen's exasperated smile from down the phone line. "That's not what he wants from you. Just listen to him."

"Just listen to him," Arthur mimicked as he hung up the phone. "Like I do anything else with my day other than listen to him."

He leaned back in his chair and listened for the familiar and comforting sounds of Merlin's presence. Music drifted in from Merlin's tiny office next door. Over the last month, Arthur had gotten used to the Christmas music being blasted all day, every day.

But today, he slowly realized, it had been the same song all day. Another way Merlin had found to punish him, he might have thought.

Just listen to him, Gwen had said.

Arthur listened. As he mouthed along with the words, he suddenly felt lightheaded, giddy with a rush of understanding and exasperation and pure joy.

"All I want for Christmas is you," he repeated as he slowly pushed his chair back and stood.

"Yes," he said, tugging his jacket and failing to compose himself.

"Yes, I can do that," he said again and headed out the door.

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From:

slightlytookish

Oh, this is so adorable! ♥

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FIC: All He Wants Is (Merlin, 1/1)

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