While your first suggestion sounds tempting, it might send the wrong message to the recruits.
[But still. So tempting.]
That might be best.
[He sends her his address; she's figured out where he lives and she doesn't need it or she hasn't, but either way, now she doesn't have to ask him for it.]
( because she's already awake and showered, breakfasted, and lady needs a walk but that's what her dogsitter is really for. so roxy lets her out into the tiny fenced in yard behind her rather modern, modest flat, and leaves a note for clarice before going for her car.
it's a quick drive, as it turns out. she's working on a theory that they're all pretty centrally located to the shop in their kingsman issue houses, for quick reconvening and in the event of emergency council meetings or mission recruitment. it also makes it really convenient to hit up eggsy for a pint whenever they're both in town,and now to pull up alongside two other kingsman issue vehicles and knock — politely, she's not intent on taking over his dog bed or anything — on merlin's front door. )
[Roxanne Morton is a clever girl. If she told him her theory about the location of their houses, he would have to congratulate her on cracking the code, as it were, because they absolutely are all dotted around the central location of the tailor's shop. Some people's houses are more ostentatious than others, of course, but the point is they're nearby in case of emergencies.
Merlin's house is a small, unassuming row house, clearly built immediately post-war as the entire block had been bombed. There are lavender bushes down by the sidewalk, and the brass knocker needs a good polish, but otherwise it's a rather unremarkable house.
The frenzy of barking that starts up when she knocks, however, is not unremarkable.]
Tiberius! [Merlin's voice is muffled by the door but still clearly audible, and he knows it. Stupid dog.] For fuck's sake, shut up. [His face appears in the crack of the opened door, a much more canine face trying to push its way out the gap down around his knees.] Sorry, Rox, hold on. [His face disappears and a piercing whistle sounds, and like flipping a switch, the barking stops. He's then able to open the door properly, and step back to let Roxy come inside, his troublesome dog lying perfectly still and well-behaved on the carpet.]
( well that's significantly more of her handler than she's used to seeing, or had expected to see here today. part of her had been expecting merlin to answer the door with the same self composure and respectability that he greeted them with in the office — all military sweaters and neatly pressed khakis, accented with the downturn of his mouth. but instead she gets dog whistles, a wife beater, sweat pants covered in collie fur, and some vague semblance of a five o' clock shadow. and it's...
really good she finds this more shocking than it is, otherwise the initial smirk from witnessing tiberius' excitable antics might not have slipped from her features, face schooled into a mask of near professional composure save for the slight color in her cheeks. but it's london and the wind had been particularly brisk this morning; everyone's face was a little ruddy. )
Good morning, sir.
( did he just call her rox? never mind.
she leans forward a little on the balls of her feet and tries to peer behind him — and not get distracted by the adorable dog panting on the carpet. )
[He did just call her Rox, and he didn't realize he'd done it until it was too late and he couldn't take it back.
So he just lifts a hand to swipe it over his face, the tattoo on his shoulder shifting smoothly, and takes a step back to let her in, edging the dog out of the way with the side of his foot.]
He's upstairs, first door on the left.
[Tiberius has abandoned lying obediently on the floor and is trying to get closer to Roxy to smell how interesting she smells, so Merlin winds up bending over to hook his fingers in the back of his dog's collar, keeping him still as he kicks the door shut behind her when Roxy comes in.]
You would not believe how much that kid snores. [As if Roxy and Eggsy aren't the same age and didn't share a dormitory together during training.] I've just put the coffee on, if you need incentive to get him out of bed. Or if you'd like any yourself.
Thank you sir — hello, handsome. ( that latter part is directed at the dog straining at his collar to lick her fingers. and yes, she stops and spoils him with indulgence, then a scratch behind the ears. he's such a happy thing; almost seems too happy to be used to wrangle recruits, they'd figure out that tiberius just wanted to play instantly if they were worth any intellectual salt.
but after a little head patting, roxy tears herself away and traipses upstairs. she's trying very hard not to think about the fact she's in merlin's bedroom when she pushes open the door, and it's pretty easy because eggsy is on the floor — or rather, overflowing from the dogbed — and his clothes are half off. they hadn't spent a year in the dorms together, in beds side by side and not learn intimate details about each other's sleeping habits. the nocturnal gas wasn't all that surprising, but she also knows that if he's sleeping particularly hard after a rigorous set of night sprints, she can wake him up by massaging the stiff muscles in his neck.
hey.
...hey.
you need to get up.
i don't want to.
you need to go home.
and then he groans and rolls over, collecting a dislodged jb and muttering excuses that she knows to really be rooted in the sore reminder of harry harts death (it's a year two weeks from now). she's a terrible friend, they'll need to hang out and talk, but not in merlin's bedroom and not when he smells like sour alcohol. extremely hungover, eggsy totters downstairs and apologizes to their superior when prompted, then offers some halfassed excuse for leaving without coffee or without looking the other man in the face. sorry, merlin, i've gotta... my mum needs — 'n my sister...
and while she's very worried about him, he seems safe enough to drive, and roxy'd like to give him a little time to sober more completely before demanding be explain his feelings to her. so she doesn't follow. )
I would enjoy coffee if the offer still stands, sir. ( she tells him softly from the base of the stairs, watching eggsy reverse and back out of his parking spot. )
[There's a painfully fond smile curling his lips as he watches Roxy spoil his dog, Merlin knows it's there, and he also knows there's nothing he can do about it. He likes to present a cool and collected front as often as possible, but he has a very secret soft spot for his dogs, and he loves this stupid animal far more than he'd ever admit. Watching how excitedly Tiberius wiggles when Roxy bends to ruffle his ears is pushing all the right buttons to turn him soft and indulgent.
Luckily, she turns on her heel and marches up the rickety stairs quickly enough, and Merlin is left alone in the kitchen. Tiberius has already been walked and fed, and he knows better than to beg while Merlin is cooking, so he plops himself down near the foot of the stairs to lie in wait in case that pretty girl comes back to pet him, and Merlin is allowed to get started on breakfast.
By the time he hears footsteps thundering down the stairs, he's got his own coffee poured, cereal prepped as well, and two spare mugs sitting patiently on the counter just in case his wayward agents might like some as well.
He waves off Eggsy's apologies — it's fine, don't worry about it, give them my regards, — despite the grumbling he'd indulged in before, and frowns at his back as he watches him stumble out the door and into his car.
Thankfully, Roxy distracts him.] Hm? Oh, yes. Of course. [He motions for her to follow him, stepping over the dog cavorting excitedly around his feet, and heads back into the kitchen.] Cream and sugar?
( she's yet to perfect the art of drinking just straight coffee, black with no additives. or rather, she can drink it, and has while in the company of foreign diplomats that preferred nothing else. but this was her own time, and with all the undercover ops they'd been pulling recently, she'd learned to pointedly stick to her own preferred tastes in their off time.
one of which was coffee that was more milk than actual coffee, it would seem. though she'd drink just about anything right about now, scrubbing a hand over her face and following merlin back into the kitchen. )
[It would be far easier to let her pour her own coffee, but it seems that idea never occurs to Merlin, because he pours it for her and then starts to add the cream she asked for, stopping when prompted and handing her the mug as he goes to put the cream back in the fridge.]
Have you eaten? [Because while she looks neat and tidy like she's been up for a while, there's something about her that screams "just woken up" and if she's anything like him, the last thing she wants to do immediately after rolling out of bed is eat. It always takes him at least an hour after waking up before food appears even remotely tempting, which has made life difficult in the past.]
Little before midnight. [He shrugs like it was no big deal, even though opening his door to find Eggsy, practically picked in alcohol with a dog under his arm, was more than a little alarming.] He fell asleep pretty quickly though, so I suppose it could have been worse.
( she only says when when the coffee is roughly the color of light sand, and that mug is possibly the nicest thing he's handed her — between mission briefs and guns that weren't her trusted .09 mil — in a good long while. roxy accepts it with a nod of her head and a soft thank you directed at his retreating shoulders while he sticks the milk back in the ice box.
but to food, she just shakes her head; not hungry, unwilling to impose and take advantage of his generosity more than she already has, and more than a little concerned about her best friend. )
Did he say much to you? Before making himself comfortable in your dogs bed?
( speaking of dog, tiberius is taking liberties again; leaning against her knees to be petted, which roxy of course indulges him in, though is scratching behind the ears a bit absently and watching merlin for some sort of affirmation for her concerns. )
[By the time Merlin turns back from the fridge, his pleasantly mild expression has shifted into something much closer to a grave sort of sympathy; he looks at Roxy through his Kingsman glasses and doesn't say anything as he moves back to the little kitchen table he'd been sitting at before they came downstairs. It's only when he's settled and takes a bracing sip of his coffee that he opens his mouth.]
He asked me if I thought Harry'd made a mistake, picking him.
[He suddenly sounds so tired, weary in a way that he hasn't outwardly seemed since that night back at HQ when she set the kitchen on fire. He's been making more of an effort to look after himself since then, but with the impending anniversary of his friend's death and his boss' betrayal, well, things are hitting close to home.
Pulling off his glasses, he rubs at his eyes for a moment before sliding them back on and turning back to his breakfast as if everything was totally normal.]
I told him of course he hadn't, and not to ask me stupid questions. I don't think he remembers that part, though.
( she sighs, no where near as tired or emotionally fraught as either of the two of them, but feeling the strain as any close working collegue would. roxy takes a rather dainty sip of her severely watered down coffee and blanches as it burns her tongue.
oh, she whimpers briefly, and snuffs a little,going back to using her mug as a handwarmer until it cooled down further. )
I'm not worried about him, sir, ( roxy feels the need to clarify first and foremost — before trying to be casual about undermining her supposed lack of worry. ) But I don't think it would hurt to have that reiterated to him sometime. When he would remember it. It might save us all impromptu breakfasts like this in the future...
[Merlin is still eating his breakfast, and takes advantage of that fact to keep from having to actually talk about his feelings. It's so convenient, breakfast. Allows him to focus on his cereal and not the girl sitting across from him, burning her tongue on her coffee and making quiet, wounded noises under her breath.
Merlin has developed something of a callus in his throat over the past year from drinking far too much coffee, far too hot, and so it doesn't seem to bother him at all.]
Not that I don't appreciate your company, [he says when she finishes, giving her a look that makes it quite clear he doesn't believe her at all when she protests that she's not worried about her friend.] But I think it would be easier for all of us if it didn't come with...everything else.
I'll talk to him. [The prospect doesn't seem to thrill him, but then again, she should know by now that Merlin is not so great with talking about his feelings, and the idea of sitting a clearly distraught Eggsy down and trying to tell him how proud Harry would be of him in a sincere and believable way is daunting, to say the least.]
( and that promise doesn't do much to make her feel better about all of this, but it's as good a start as any. there's no use fretting over eggsy's mental state any further now that they've got something of a plan of attack. and roxy finds a little bit of comfort in the thought that maybe eggsy would open up to a superior, if not to her. he obviously respected merlin and had sought some sort of friendly reaffirmation from him, even while sloshed.
things would be alright, she tells herself. and casts around for her pleasantries and manners again. )
[Merlin just hums at her, focusing on eating because her thanks doesn't actually require a response from him. She doesn't need to thank him at all, but she certainly doesn't have to do it before he's even managed to speak to Eggsy about his issues.
Her small-talk gets him to look back at her, a slow smile curling his lips as his eyebrows crawl up his forehead. He's clearly fighting back something that could be close to a laugh.]
Thank you.
[He's quiet again for a moment before he inclines his head a little towards her and continues in a much gentler tone,] You don't have to stay, Roxy. I appreciate whatever magic you used to get Eggsy up and out the door, but I'm not going to force you to watch me eat breakfast.
( she opens her mouth, takes a quick breath, the sort that's supposed to be followed up with something fairly quickly and yet, hesitates. as much as she may feel like she's intruding, the second he offers her guilt free access to the door, roxy doesn't want to go at all.
there's a quick recovery from that awkward silence. )
He likes it when people touch his neck. ( and, alright, she might be divulging a bit too much about eggsy. but he was a safe topic — what'd brought them here in the first place — and merlin was their handler. throughout their careers, he'd probably be present for everything from nervous breakdowns to orgasms. there was no reason for him to not know everything about (eggsy) them when he would find out eventually. ) I think he carries a lot of tension there, and if you just pinch his spine he'll, ah, he's like a puppy, I guess. It's a good way to make him go to sleep or wake up.
( stalling? dawdling? who's stalling or dawdling??? )
...Now you know. In case anything like this happens again.
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( but oh that almost feels too mean... )
I could also still come get him.
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[But still. So tempting.]
That might be best.
[He sends her his address; she's figured out where he lives and she doesn't need it or she hasn't, but either way, now she doesn't have to ask him for it.]
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I'll be there shortly.
( because she's already awake and showered, breakfasted, and lady needs a walk but that's what her dogsitter is really for. so roxy lets her out into the tiny fenced in yard behind her rather modern, modest flat, and leaves a note for clarice before going for her car.
it's a quick drive, as it turns out. she's working on a theory that they're all pretty centrally located to the shop in their kingsman issue houses, for quick reconvening and in the event of emergency council meetings or mission recruitment. it also makes it really convenient to hit up eggsy for a pint whenever they're both in town,and now to pull up alongside two other kingsman issue vehicles and knock — politely, she's not intent on taking over his dog bed or anything — on merlin's front door. )
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Merlin's house is a small, unassuming row house, clearly built immediately post-war as the entire block had been bombed. There are lavender bushes down by the sidewalk, and the brass knocker needs a good polish, but otherwise it's a rather unremarkable house.
The frenzy of barking that starts up when she knocks, however, is not unremarkable.]
Tiberius! [Merlin's voice is muffled by the door but still clearly audible, and he knows it. Stupid dog.] For fuck's sake, shut up. [His face appears in the crack of the opened door, a much more canine face trying to push its way out the gap down around his knees.] Sorry, Rox, hold on. [His face disappears and a piercing whistle sounds, and like flipping a switch, the barking stops. He's then able to open the door properly, and step back to let Roxy come inside, his troublesome dog lying perfectly still and well-behaved on the carpet.]
Right. Hello.
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really good she finds this more shocking than it is, otherwise the initial smirk from witnessing tiberius' excitable antics might not have slipped from her features, face schooled into a mask of near professional composure save for the slight color in her cheeks. but it's london and the wind had been particularly brisk this morning; everyone's face was a little ruddy. )
Good morning, sir.
( did he just call her rox? never mind.
she leans forward a little on the balls of her feet and tries to peer behind him — and not get distracted by the adorable dog panting on the carpet. )
Can Eggsy come out and play?
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So he just lifts a hand to swipe it over his face, the tattoo on his shoulder shifting smoothly, and takes a step back to let her in, edging the dog out of the way with the side of his foot.]
He's upstairs, first door on the left.
[Tiberius has abandoned lying obediently on the floor and is trying to get closer to Roxy to smell how interesting she smells, so Merlin winds up bending over to hook his fingers in the back of his dog's collar, keeping him still as he kicks the door shut behind her when Roxy comes in.]
You would not believe how much that kid snores. [As if Roxy and Eggsy aren't the same age and didn't share a dormitory together during training.] I've just put the coffee on, if you need incentive to get him out of bed. Or if you'd like any yourself.
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but after a little head patting, roxy tears herself away and traipses upstairs. she's trying very hard not to think about the fact she's in merlin's bedroom when she pushes open the door, and it's pretty easy because eggsy is on the floor — or rather, overflowing from the dogbed — and his clothes are half off. they hadn't spent a year in the dorms together, in beds side by side and not learn intimate details about each other's sleeping habits. the nocturnal gas wasn't all that surprising, but she also knows that if he's sleeping particularly hard after a rigorous set of night sprints, she can wake him up by massaging the stiff muscles in his neck.
hey.
...hey.
you need to get up.
i don't want to.
you need to go home.
and then he groans and rolls over, collecting a dislodged jb and muttering excuses that she knows to really be rooted in the sore reminder of harry harts death (it's a year two weeks from now). she's a terrible friend, they'll need to hang out and talk, but not in merlin's bedroom and not when he smells like sour alcohol. extremely hungover, eggsy totters downstairs and apologizes to their superior when prompted, then offers some halfassed excuse for leaving without coffee or without looking the other man in the face. sorry, merlin, i've gotta... my mum needs — 'n my sister...
and while she's very worried about him, he seems safe enough to drive, and roxy'd like to give him a little time to sober more completely before demanding be explain his feelings to her. so she doesn't follow. )
I would enjoy coffee if the offer still stands, sir. ( she tells him softly from the base of the stairs, watching eggsy reverse and back out of his parking spot. )
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Luckily, she turns on her heel and marches up the rickety stairs quickly enough, and Merlin is left alone in the kitchen. Tiberius has already been walked and fed, and he knows better than to beg while Merlin is cooking, so he plops himself down near the foot of the stairs to lie in wait in case that pretty girl comes back to pet him, and Merlin is allowed to get started on breakfast.
By the time he hears footsteps thundering down the stairs, he's got his own coffee poured, cereal prepped as well, and two spare mugs sitting patiently on the counter just in case his wayward agents might like some as well.
He waves off Eggsy's apologies — it's fine, don't worry about it, give them my regards, — despite the grumbling he'd indulged in before, and frowns at his back as he watches him stumble out the door and into his car.
Thankfully, Roxy distracts him.] Hm? Oh, yes. Of course. [He motions for her to follow him, stepping over the dog cavorting excitedly around his feet, and heads back into the kitchen.] Cream and sugar?
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( she's yet to perfect the art of drinking just straight coffee, black with no additives. or rather, she can drink it, and has while in the company of foreign diplomats that preferred nothing else. but this was her own time, and with all the undercover ops they'd been pulling recently, she'd learned to pointedly stick to her own preferred tastes in their off time.
one of which was coffee that was more milk than actual coffee, it would seem. though she'd drink just about anything right about now, scrubbing a hand over her face and following merlin back into the kitchen. )
When did he show up last night?
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[It would be far easier to let her pour her own coffee, but it seems that idea never occurs to Merlin, because he pours it for her and then starts to add the cream she asked for, stopping when prompted and handing her the mug as he goes to put the cream back in the fridge.]
Have you eaten? [Because while she looks neat and tidy like she's been up for a while, there's something about her that screams "just woken up" and if she's anything like him, the last thing she wants to do immediately after rolling out of bed is eat. It always takes him at least an hour after waking up before food appears even remotely tempting, which has made life difficult in the past.]
Little before midnight. [He shrugs like it was no big deal, even though opening his door to find Eggsy, practically picked in alcohol with a dog under his arm, was more than a little alarming.] He fell asleep pretty quickly though, so I suppose it could have been worse.
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but to food, she just shakes her head; not hungry, unwilling to impose and take advantage of his generosity more than she already has, and more than a little concerned about her best friend. )
Did he say much to you? Before making himself comfortable in your dogs bed?
( speaking of dog, tiberius is taking liberties again; leaning against her knees to be petted, which roxy of course indulges him in, though is scratching behind the ears a bit absently and watching merlin for some sort of affirmation for her concerns. )
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He asked me if I thought Harry'd made a mistake, picking him.
[He suddenly sounds so tired, weary in a way that he hasn't outwardly seemed since that night back at HQ when she set the kitchen on fire. He's been making more of an effort to look after himself since then, but with the impending anniversary of his friend's death and his boss' betrayal, well, things are hitting close to home.
Pulling off his glasses, he rubs at his eyes for a moment before sliding them back on and turning back to his breakfast as if everything was totally normal.]
I told him of course he hadn't, and not to ask me stupid questions. I don't think he remembers that part, though.
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oh, she whimpers briefly, and snuffs a little,going back to using her mug as a handwarmer until it cooled down further. )
I'm not worried about him, sir, ( roxy feels the need to clarify first and foremost — before trying to be casual about undermining her supposed lack of worry. ) But I don't think it would hurt to have that reiterated to him sometime. When he would remember it. It might save us all impromptu breakfasts like this in the future...
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Merlin has developed something of a callus in his throat over the past year from drinking far too much coffee, far too hot, and so it doesn't seem to bother him at all.]
Not that I don't appreciate your company, [he says when she finishes, giving her a look that makes it quite clear he doesn't believe her at all when she protests that she's not worried about her friend.] But I think it would be easier for all of us if it didn't come with...everything else.
I'll talk to him. [The prospect doesn't seem to thrill him, but then again, she should know by now that Merlin is not so great with talking about his feelings, and the idea of sitting a clearly distraught Eggsy down and trying to tell him how proud Harry would be of him in a sincere and believable way is daunting, to say the least.]
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( and that promise doesn't do much to make her feel better about all of this, but it's as good a start as any. there's no use fretting over eggsy's mental state any further now that they've got something of a plan of attack. and roxy finds a little bit of comfort in the thought that maybe eggsy would open up to a superior, if not to her. he obviously respected merlin and had sought some sort of friendly reaffirmation from him, even while sloshed.
things would be alright, she tells herself. and casts around for her pleasantries and manners again. )
You have a lovely home.
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Her small-talk gets him to look back at her, a slow smile curling his lips as his eyebrows crawl up his forehead. He's clearly fighting back something that could be close to a laugh.]
Thank you.
[He's quiet again for a moment before he inclines his head a little towards her and continues in a much gentler tone,] You don't have to stay, Roxy. I appreciate whatever magic you used to get Eggsy up and out the door, but I'm not going to force you to watch me eat breakfast.
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there's a quick recovery from that awkward silence. )
He likes it when people touch his neck. ( and, alright, she might be divulging a bit too much about eggsy. but he was a safe topic — what'd brought them here in the first place — and merlin was their handler. throughout their careers, he'd probably be present for everything from nervous breakdowns to orgasms. there was no reason for him to not know everything about (eggsy) them when he would find out eventually. ) I think he carries a lot of tension there, and if you just pinch his spine he'll, ah, he's like a puppy, I guess. It's a good way to make him go to sleep or wake up.
( stalling? dawdling? who's stalling or dawdling??? )
...Now you know. In case anything like this happens again.