Alternate Plans [Gwaine/Merlin - R - 727]

[winter-mod.livejournal.com]

Title: Alternate Plans
Author/Artist: alafaye
Pairing(s): Gwaine/Merlin
Prompt: my own
Word Count/Art Medium: 727
Rating: R
Contains (Highlight to view): None
Disclaimer: Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Thanks to my beta, mahmfic. All remaining mistakes are my own.
Summary A winter storm forces them to change plans -- not that they mind too much.


"No," Merlin said. "Mum... mum... no. I can't. We are snowed in! ... yeah, the roads have been closed. I don't know -- until it stops snowing and they can finally clear it out... do you really think I'd deliberately make it snow so bad that I can't come home?"

Gwaine smirked, watching Merlin out of the corner of his eye. Gwaine would, if he could, have made it snow so he couldn't go home. It was a brilliant idea. Merlin, on the other hand, had been looking forward to going home; to homemade mince pies and an actual ham (not what the cafeteria thought was ham), to pancakes in the morning and hot chocolate at the end of the day.

Gwaine had been looking forward to it, too, ever since he got an invite. He finished decorating the last cupcake (because in Gwaine's opinion, if it snowed, one needed plenty of food and you could make a lot of cupcakes if you made them from scratch) and took the phone from Merlin as he paced by. He ignored Merlin's 'hey' and instead said hello to Hunith.

"Gwaine," Hunith said warmly. They'd never spoken face to face -- they were supposed to meet this week, but then the storm had blown in and all their plans out -- but they did know each other very well. Gwaine had answered the phone one day months ago, thinking it would be one of Merlin's friends. She hadn't been very understanding, but Gwaine had won her over not with his usual charm but his honesty and openness for his love of Merlin. Then, later, over their shared understanding of what it was like to live with Merlin. (Not that he was terrible to live with, but he was absentminded and was always trying out new spells that he never got right on the first try.)

"He's been studying for his finals," Gwaine explained. "He wouldn't have had the energy to make a storm this bad."

Merlin glowered. Gwaine winked. Hunith sighed. "I suppose that is true. And it isn't as though you and I are strangers."

"That is very true, Ms. Emrys," Gwaine agreed. "We are out of class until after New Year's. I'm sure the snow will be cleared by then. How about we visit then?"

He could hear her smile over the phone. "That would do. I'll just make up the ham now and we can have sandwiches instead. Yes, that will work wonderfully. Thank you, Gwaine. Now, put my other boy back on the phone, could you?"

Warm inside from Hunith implying that he was her's, he handed the phone to Merlin and kissed his forehead. Merlin finished his conversation while watching Gwaine and Gwaine put his hands on Merlin's hips.

"She likes you more than she does me," Merlin groused as he put his phone down. "How, how do you do that?"

Gwaine grinned. "I'm just very likable. Now, we have over two dozen cupcakes here and a few days to eat them. Plus, extra frosting."

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "We should decorate! I can make something here into a tree and we can make popcorn to put on a string."

Gwaine considered his choices. Frosting and Merlin and their bed. Watching Merlin work his magic and decorate the apartment. No choice. He grabbed the bowl of frosting. "Just think. We were planning on visiting your mum for the entire holiday. Now, though, we have a few days to ourselves. No school work, no interruptions, no plans."

Merlin caught on quick. Gwaine liked that about him. But even better was that Merlin, once he was caught up, usually had even better ideas. Or made plans for later. Gwaine was really looking forward to later. Merlin made the best plans.

"Lucky for you, I haven't changed the sheets yet," Merlin said. "Come on. I want to see how sensitive your nipples are when I lick chocolate frosting off of them."

There you have it. Gwaine eagerly followed Merlin to their bedroom. He sent a prayer up to whoever watched over them, thankful for sudden snow storms. After all, they both had been working hard. They deserved a little reward.