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“Hi, what can I get for you?”
Arthur smiled politely for the customer, noting down her order and laughing at something she said. Merlin watched as he turned to make her order, his back muscles clear as he stretched for something on a high shelf.
In the midst of Merlin giving himself yet another pat on the back for making Arthur become a barista (and for coming up with the tight uniform) Arthur finished up the drink and gave it to the customer, who thanked him and left, the little bell on the door ringing loudly in the quiet coffee shop.
There was no one else in at the moment, it was a quiet time and not a well-known shop, which was part of the reason Merlin had bought it. It was a good environment for Arthur to start learning about the modern world without getting too overwhelmed. And for Merlin to oogle him for hours without him noticing.
Arthur leapt over the counter easily, coming over to see Merlin in his little corner booth that he had claimed when they had started this endeavor last week. He sat next to him of course, cosying up despite the perfectly good bench at the other side. Merlin would know- he had magicked them both to be as comfortable as possible.
“Did you see, Merlin? I managed to steam the milk, and I didnt reuse the puck of coffee. This job thing is easy, I don't know what you were complaining about.” Arthur crowed, swinging his arm around Merlin's shoulders.
Merlin held back from outright laughing at him. “Okay, if you think you've got it down we can try going to a busier coffee shop tomorrow, see how you handle that.” He teased, leaning into Arthur's side slightly. He had given up on resisting temptation, accepting every bit of Arthur's affection despite the king being unaware of his feelings.
Arthur puffed up his chest, looking pleased. “Like one of those starbuck coffee shops? I will conquer every coffee shop in town.”
“I don't doubt it, but let's try something else after you've mastered coffee. Maybe I'll teach you how to drive.” Merlin pictured Arthur struggling to use the clutch in Merlin's old ford fiesta, and began to look forward to it.
“Drive? Like a car? We should get a fast one.” Arthur perked up, eyes shining, and Merlin hoped he wouldn't become a car geek.
“You can learn in my car first, then look at buying your own. And don't give me those eyes.”
Arthur gave up on his puppy dog look (he had discovered that Merlin let him get away with anything if he looked cute enough), and trudged his way back to the counter in time for the next customer to walk through the door.
“Hi, what can I get for you?” Arthur smiled, and Merlin recognised it as the one he used to give courtiers and visiting royalty, well-practised to look as natural as possible.
“Chai latte and a black coffee. Extra sugar in the chai.” The guy smiled blindingly back, and Merlin felt like he'd accidentally looked at the sun, taking a couple of moments to blink away the brightness.
Arthur took the brilliant smile in stride, quickly making up the order (with a little help from Merlin when Arthur accidentally dropped three cinnamon sticks into the wrong cup) and putting the takeaway cups on the counter for the customer to leave with.
The bell rang and just outside the window Merlin saw the man go to another person who was on the phone, they accepted their black coffee with a small nod, and the bright man kissed them. They wandered away hand in hand, and Merlin felt his heart ache a little for what he wanted but could never have.
“Are they courting? Or dates, whatever you call it? Or is kissing normal now?” Arthur asked as he sat down again, shamelessly stealing one of Merlin's jammy dodgers from the pack on the table as he slid closer.
“Erm, I don't know if they're dating, probably, but kissing is still only between people who are very close.” Merlin responded, unsure of how to explain the intricacies of romantic relationships to Arthur.
Arthur nodded, watching the couple as they disappeared. “And they were both men?”
“Maybe? Gender's kind of hard to assume at a glance.” Merlin himself has spent over a century as a woman for fun, and had been mistaken for the wrong gender many times.
“Hmm.” Was all Arthur responded with. Merlin hoped he hadn't gotten any strange ideas in his head. He could barely handle hugging, if Arthur decided to kiss him Merlin would profess his undying love in an instant.
“Have you cleaned the coffee machine yet?” Merlin gently reminded him, hoping to distract from Arthur's musings on kissing.
Arthur scowled at him, but went to clean up anyway. Merlin sighed quietly, watching Arthur work and wondering how an ancient king and his warlock were going to live in the modern world.
He didn't see Arthur, looking back at him through the reflection in the coffee machine, contemplating how Merlin might react to his advances.