Chapter Text
The medical conference hosted in Reykjavik was going on the list of Merlin's favorite business trips.
A two-week long summit hosted between Reykjavik, Kópavogur and a brief two-day stint at Heimaey, the event was a thrilling one, with some of the most prominent and brilliant minds in the world of medical research and development coming together. Merlin was especially proud that he had been asked by the Epione Organization, which hosted the biennial summit, to please serve as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony.
He had excitedly relayed the information to Arthur when he'd gotten the call and had accepted, and his blond-haired fiancé was really supportive. With his tie loose and smelling of his signature woodsy aftershave, Arthur had smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around Merlin's lithe figure, congratulating him. Though come to Merlin packing his clothes into the Burberry suitcases (a gift from Morgana for his most recent birthday), he could see that the Pendragon man was honest to God, moping.
With pouty lips and being extra touchy, hands squeezing Merlin's shoulders, fingers softly drawing shapes on his hipbone and swirling the pads of his fingers along his spine. "You don't have to mope, you prat, there's no need to miss me", he teases, turning around to look at the blond man seated on a nearby chaise.
"I'm not going to miss you", Arthur had scoffed, looking slightly indignant at the accusation.
Chuckling, the dark-haired man walked over to the chaise, welcoming Arthur when he leans forward and wraps his arms around his slender waist. Slowly running his long fingers through his beloved's hair, even though sure, he might mess Arthur's "pristine" head of golden hair that brought out the vanity he claimed he didn't have. He felt Arthur's breath at his flat stomach and he softly chuckled, murmuring confirmations to Arthur that he was going to come quick, that the two weeks would fly by fast, that he'd be sure to get on the first flight from Keflavík to Heathrow.
He had made sure that Gwen, Morgana, Will and the rest of their friends would make sure to keep Arthur company and prevent him from moping around and wallowing. Merlin was always grateful that when Arthur went on business trips to Singapore or Chicago or wherever Uther decided to send him, that their friends would make sure that he wasn't just sad at their Chelsea home and watching a BBC documentary on Marc Bolan or any one of the many Maggie Smith films he had, while eating potato chips on the couch. He hoped that they would go out for dinner or drinks with Arthur, distract from being a couch potato in sadness.
The medical conference was amazing. Merlin had attended multiple times, every single time that the event had been held the last decade, going with Gaius to whatever the event was hosted that year. It was always such a marvelous experience, surrounded by people with such knowledge and desire to learn and discover and use that knowledge for the betterment of human health, it had always left him starry-eyed. But things were different this time around. While he had attended previously as a plus one for Gaius, and then for being his research assistant, this time he felt that he was attending much more on his own merit as a researcher.
Merlin came from a humble home, with his mum Hunith being a single working mother, juggling all sorts of jobs to keep them afloat. His father, named Balinor, had been a soldier and died in combat, and the family of two was maintained afloat also with much help from his mother's elder brother, his Uncle Gaius. A graduate in genetics and microbiology from Queen Mary University of London, going on to earn a Ph.D. in cell biology from Oxford and becoming one of Great Britain's, and honestly, the world's, most prominent oncology researchers, Gaius always made time for his sister and his nephew, being by their side, watching out for them and helping in everything that he could with the two.
When Hunith fell ill and was diagnosed with breast cancer, Gaius had used every single connection that he had made across his professional career in trying to bring his sister back to health. Merlin remembered seeing his mother slowly wither, her dark and luscious hair that she always had tumbling down her shoulders was lost due to radiation therapy, he remembered her bright eyes losing their mirthful shine, and he remembered when her grip on his hand had lessened, and she had passed away one early December morning.
From then on Gaius had been Merlin's guardian, and he'd taken in his dark-haired nephew in with joy, being intent on giving Merlin the best life he could. Through his youth and until now, Gaius had always been Merlin's hero, his Uncle being a lead researcher and scientist at places like Cancer Research UK, the former London Research Institute, the Wellcome Trust, the LMB in Cambridge and on the board of the Crick, all of that was just a wonder in Merlin's eyes, so much that it had led him to want to follow in his uncle's footsteps.
He'd studied at Queen Mary University, just like his uncle, earning a Bachelor's in microbiology, and had gone on to study an MPhil in Medical Science-Oncology from the Department of Oncology at Cambridge. Many things had propelled him to strive for a career in medicine, and while Gaius was one of the largest factors that contributed, another was his mother. The sight of her lying in a hospital bed, her eyes looking lovingly at her hand joined with his child one years and years back was still ingrained in his brain. He thought about her a lot, about his mother, and he had always thought that him working and studying and researching to help another mother be able to heal and be better and return to a normal life with her children, with her loved ones, that it would make his mum proud of him, wherever she was.
Recipient of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, he earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology, and his postgraduate research was done mainly with Gaius. At the Crick, a medical research team led by Gaius and himself had been conducting research on cell signaling and signaling pathways since 2015, important research, and just last year they had a breakthrough regarding T cells and immune responses, and it spawned a mass surge in activity and research regarding T cells. The BMJ proclaimed their work "revolutionary for the application in cancer immunotherapy and cell-based deficiencies for autoimmune diseases". Their research was ongoing and the team had most recently partnered with UCLA to conduct further investigations.
This news and his work was the reason behind the Epione Organization asking him to be their keynote speaker. His uncle had that position two times, back in 2014 and in 2010, and when Merlin had taken to the stage, dressed primly in that tailored blue suit that Arthur had him fitted for when they had gone to Uther's 60th birthday dinner, the one he said brought out his eyes and made him look "dashing", he could see the pride radiating from Gaius, seated in the first row.
The event was a flurry of activities, ranging from conferences to panels, expositions to interactive question and answer sessions with audience members, and Merlin was right in the middle of it. He was asked to head the panel on Youth and Medicine and led the conversation on the necessity of youth involving themselves in medicine and developing fields, as well as sitting down for an interview with a journalist from the Times in New York. Another interview was with Forbes, who had already done a profile of him last year and included him twice in their 30 Under 30. A moment he wouldn't likely forget soon was when someone asked him during one of the interactive sessions about what had led him to enter into medicine, where his passion for it had its origins, and he had smiled softly and relayed the story of his mother and how that made him strive to enter the medical field and work hard. He had gotten a bit emotional, laughed it off in the end but had been emotional to share that story for the first time.
All in all, the experience was a fantastic one, and he got to meet many people that he admired. He'd found it hard to contain his desire to start squealing and fangirling when he met Karen Vousden (a close friend of Gaius), and he spent grand part of the two weeks being starstruck and still finding it strange that people were interested in him and what he had to say. It was a new, and welcome, thing, having people ask questions or refer to him, to want to hear what he thought or what he knew.
......
"BAW805", Merlin yawned into the phone. He was talking with Arthur, his favorite blond in the world jotting down his flight number.
"Alright babe, got it", replied Arthur, and Merlin could note some traces of relief in his fiance's voice. They had been talking nearly every day since Merlin had been on Iceland, missing only two days when Arthur's day had been jammed with back to back meetings courtesy of Uther deciding to jet randomly to St. Andrews to play golf, and due to the time difference Merlin had gone to bed by the time Arthur that been free to phone him.
Merlin's blue eyes looking out at the beautiful landscape, a beautiful mountainous jagged expanse that he could gaze out from the floor to ceiling, wall to wall window of the bedroom he was in. The Eliope Organisation had rented out a lovely modern-looking home, slanted and with diagonal lines composing its exterior architecture looking reminiscent of the jagged rock formations in the horizon, a glass, steel, concrete structure He felt that it was too big for him but could admire the "Mies Van der Rohe look" of the house (words sent to him by Morgana after he'd sent her pics of the place) and the "Japanese shou sugi ban burning of the wood used for the hardwood floors in the west wing of the home" (words from the Eliope representative that had brought him to the home).
While throughout his stay at the home the view had struck him as beautiful and immense and stunning, now it made him feel empty when he looked out at the stars and indigo sky and knew that in some hours he'd finally be with his Arthur.
"I'm departing at around 12, and I'll be arriving at Heathrow at around 4 p.m., give or take", informed Merlin as he snuggled into the plush bed. There was some music drifting from the speakers, Merlin was playing Elliot Carter, one of Arthur's favorite composers, through his phone on them.
They talked some more, just idle chatter. Merlin mentioned that TheAtlantic.com wanted to do an interview with him when he arrived back in London, and Arthur mentioned that Freya had indeed been cast as Nikiya in the Royal Ballet's La Bayadère, that Morgana and Leon were going on track and well on the planning of their upcoming wedding, and that he'd cooked baked ziti (which he knew was Merlin's favorite meal that he made!), and after teasing that he'd eaten it all, assured the dark haired one of the two that there was still plenty left in the fridge.
"Are you willing to admit now that you did indeed miss me, my one true love?", Merlin asked, turning the lamp that sat on the bedside table off, having already shut down the Elliot Carter music.
He heard Arthur scoff, "Dream all you want, big ears. I didn't even miss you, I'm actually quite fine with you staying in Iceland for another week if you want to".
Stubborn Arthur, thought Merlin, letting out a light laugh at hearing his fiancé.
He paints a smirk on his pink lips even though his beloved can't see, "Well you know, the guy that delivers my groceries is actually quite handsome indeed", and he can already hear a grunt from Arthur, so he continues, "He had great biceps, I don't think I'd mind a week with him".
"Merlin", Arthur gruffed out in a warning tone.
The dark-haired man just laughs softly, "As if I have eyes for anyone but you, idiot", and after letting out a small yawn and feeling the heaviness of his eyelids he said his goodbyes, ended the call and turned off the cylindrical white glass lamp.
..........
Merlin had taken a cab from his home in the outskirts of Reykjavik to the airport, had already checked his bags and was seated in the main waiting room, the ceiling above colored purple with lights.
There was still time left until his flight started boarding, but he already had his boarding pass and passport ready. He was seated on one of the ergonomic-looking lines of seats, sleek phone up to his ear and waiting for Arthur to pick up. It was 2 in Iceland, so it was 1 p.m. in London with his fiancé.
"Hey, I'm at the airport", he greeted instantly when his fair-haired lover picked up the call, his tone bright. "How are you?", he asks, the thought of being back in London and in Arthur's arms makes a bright smile come to his face.
From the start, he could hear Arthur wasn't in the best of moods. "I'm fine", he hears his fiancé reply gruffly.
Merlin pouts. "What's wrong, Artie?", using that silly pet name he had always used years back to aggravate his fiancé when they had been sworn enemies and couldn't even stand to talk to one another. Nowadays he used the term much more endearingly, specifically when he knew that Arthur had some feelings that he was actively trying not to talk about. His childhood-instilled tendency to ignore and bottle his emotions tended to flare up every once and while, and it seemed this was one of those moments.
"Ugh, don't call me that", scoffs Arthur, making Merlin let out a small sigh, not ecstatic that Arthur's moodiness was taking place now. "What the fuck are you sighing over? My god, Merlin", was his blond fiance's response to that breath he'd exhaled.
The slender Emrys man's eyes widen. He hadn't expected Arthur to just start swearing, and for a moment he stayed quiet. A woman to his left was speaking at a rapid-fire speed what was maybe Mandarin, a nearby man was laughing along with his toddler.
Raising a hand to his temples, Merlin decides to not make this anything more than it has to be. With a level tone, he decides to try and ease his fiance's mood, "Arthur, I didn't mean to interrupt you if you're at work, I'm sorry-"
Arthur's indignant scoff fills his left ear. "Well, of course, I'm at work, where in fucking hell am I supposed to be? What do you think I'm doing right now?".
After years of knowing Arthur, he had grown used to dealing with these mood swings and with the fairer haired man being testy and irritable, particularly when it came to Uther. He wondered what the elder Pendragon had done this time to anger his son.
"I didn't say, God, Arthur", he murmurs, letting out a small grunt, leaning back into the seat. His fingers are still moving slowly at his forehead, and he really doesn't want to be having this conversation anymore, "I don't know what's going on right now, but I think it's best that I end the call before you say something out of anger that you don't mean, or that I get too exasperated and decide to stay here in Iceland for another day, so I'm going to-".
Arthur's tone is bathed in indignation, "You're going to hang up? Really, Merlin?". There's a loud scoffing sound, and he can hear that Arthur is clearly roughly moving at things on his desk, a habit that manifests itself when he's angered, he starts moving things all over the place.
"And what did you even say? Stay in Iceland? Fine then, stay, stay in Iceland then, Merlin", he gruffly adds.
Merlin doesn't even know how to respond to that. It's obvious to him that Arthur is riled up from something that Uther must've done, and while he doesn't know what it is, he decides that it's best to end the call now.
"Okay Arthur, that's fine, I'm going to hang up now", he says, and before his fiancé can say anything else, he decides to flick his finger along the phone screen, ending their phone call.
Sliding the phone into the pocket of his jacket, he can feel it start vibrating. Retrieving it just moments after putting it in his pocket, he sees it's a call from Arthur, and then two text messages arrive as well.
It's him realizing the error in his ways, Merlin knows. It happens like this, he knows. Even if the anger and the emotions flaring up have become much, much more infrequent as the years have passed, he still knows the process of how they go down.
It starts with Uther doing something to upset Arthur. Be it belittling him or putting him down, or abandoning his responsibilities to go off and jet to Morocco or Indonesia, but that's how it would start. Then Arthur would shut himself down emotionally, be in some robotic state of just doing things, but not be paying much attention to anyone. From there Arthur would get increasingly irritable and frustrated and would start lashing out and any and everyone. It would end in him probably lashing out on someone like Merlin, or Morgana, someone from their friend group, and him realizing what he was doing and apologize extremely. Then some year and a half, two years would go on before the process would pop up again.
But Merlin is not in the mood to listen to Arthur apologize. Now now, not when he just got basically yelled at after calling him to inform he was at the airport, on his way back to him after two damned weeks apart.
He puts his phone back into his jacket pocket, but not before turning it off. He'd already called Will and Gaius, sent a text to Leon and Gwen, so everyone knew he was on track to getting home. Merlin would just look at his watch if he needed to check out the time, simple as that.
And so, he remains seated, waiting for when his flight, flight BAW805, will start to board, and he'll be back in London in no time.