Chapter Text
"Arthur, hey, it's Merlin… Emrys, from the Astronomy department?" Merlin was so nervous that he barely got the words out. There was a long silence, and Merlin could hear the click of a door closing before Arthur finally spoke.
"Merlin, yes. What can I do for you?" Arthur's voice was just as lovely over the telephone as it was in person, which didn't make Merlin any less nervous.
"I was just… Well, at the faculty Christmas party I mentioned the fact that viewing conditions would be perfect the days before the new year, and how rubbish it was that none of the students would be on campus to see it," Merlin hoped Arthur at least remembered the conversation. He didn't imagine it had been the highlight of Arthur's night, as it had been for Merlin, but recollection was a good place to start.
"Yeah, yeah. There's some sort of alignment thing. I remember."
Merlin breathed a swift sigh of relief. Arthur had at least remembered the alignment.
"Yeah, so tonight's viewing conditions are going to be perfect. I know it's a busy time of year and probably the last thing you want to do is spend an evening on campus, but-"
"No, not at all. The observatory, yeah? What time?"
"Uh, just before sunset, if that's OK? That will give me time to do a quick introduction for you before the skies are really ready for us."
"So, what, about 4 o'clock?"
"That works."
"See you later, then."
Merlin hung up the phone, his heart racing. He could feel the ridiculous smile that plastered his face, and tried to talk himself down. The guy only wanted a peek at Merlin’s telescope, this wasn't a date. Merlin had definitely made that mistake before. Still, a peek at Merlin’s telescope had also previously proven to be the first step towards a relationship, so there was no harm in being optimistic, was there?
Still grinning like a fool, Merlin began to get ready for the evening, even though it most certainly wasn't a date.
****
Merlin stood outside the observatory, blowing into his cupped hands. It was bitterly cold, and there wasn't a single cloud in the entire sky. The viewing conditions were going to be absolutely perfect, as forecasted. Merlin was looking forward to getting some work done, but he had to survive his evening with Arthur first. The planetary alignment, which Merlin had used as an excuse to invite Arthur over, was only going to be visible up to an hour after sunset, and then Arthur would, presumably, depart, leaving Merlin alone with his telescope.
“It’s bloody freezing out here!” Arthur said, appearing suddenly at Merlin’s side. He was just as attractive as he always was, the golden light of the setting sun transforming his blond hair into a sort of corona that was entirely mesmerising.
“Let’s get inside, then, shall we?” Merlin said, unsurprised that his voice cracked slightly. Arthur, smiling broadly, followed Merlin into the observatory building. Merlin quickly pointed out the features of the small building, which was really almost all the telescope room with a few small rooms tacked on as an afterthought.
“This is where you do all your teaching?” Arthur asked, sounding shocked. Merlin looked around the small room and sighed.
“The class sizes are dictated by the telescope, in any case, but, yes. I know it’s rather small,” Merlin felt suddenly defensive. Arthur, the University’s new football coach, had much larger quarters. Much larger.
“It’s a crying shame, is what it is,” Arthur said, surprising Merlin, “What are they spending their money on if not the enrichment of the students’ educations?”
Merlin wanted to say that it was the sports departments, but he held his tongue. Tonight was not the time for that rather polarising discussion.
“If you come this way,” Merlin said, leading, “I'll show you where we do spend all of the astronomy department’s money.”
Arthur was, it had to be said, suitably impressed at the size of the telescope. Merlin guessed that he’d only ever seen the portable ones parents often bought their children for Christmas. Merlin’s was certainly nothing like that.
“It’s amazing,” Arthur breathed, hovering his hand over the telescope casing reverentially. Merlin thought, perhaps, he’d found something of a kindred soul in Arthur, which made him very hopeful.
“Wait until you see what she can do,” Merlin smiled, gesturing at the small bank of computers that helped Merlin to guide the telescope.
After Merlin had given Arthur the whole tour, they went back outside to catch the last rays of the sun as it disappeared over the horizon. It was even colder than it had been before, now that the sun had set, and both of them were flushed from the bite of the wind, their breath clouding before them.
Merlin led Arthur to a spot on the grassy area before the observatory where, turning to their right, they could see nearly to the horizon between two residential buildings. In the sky, barely above the visible line of trees, three bright dots of light aligned diagonally.
Merlin, knowing full well that physical contact at this point was not in any way necessary, stood himself on tiptoe and leaned gently on one of Arthur’s shoulders, dipping his head down to match Arthur’s line of sight, and pointed so that Arthur could look down Merlin’s extended arm to see what he was indicating.
“Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter,” Merlin breathed, aware that he was practically whispering in Arthur’s ear. Arthur, smiling, turned his head slightly to look at Merlin, who backed away,
“They’re all in a row!” Arthur said, obviously pleased.
“It isn’t a particularly rare sight, but still special,” Merlin said, stepping back to give Arthur more space. Arthur, still smiling, gazed at the horizon like he thought it was something pretty special, actually.
“It may not be rare,” Arthur said, following Merlin back inside, “but I’ve never seen it before.”
Once they were back in the telescope room, Merlin and Arthur fell into strangely relaxed conversation over a cup of tea as they waited for the sun to set fully and for the skies to get dark. There was the barest sliver of a moon that night, so the viewing would be the best it ever was in England, and Merlin had a few things he wanted to show Arthur.
“The first thing I do with every class,” Merlin said, offering Arthur another biscuit, “is get the sexual inuendos out of the way. I don’t want them to be giggling away for an entire term about the fact that, with telescopes, size does matter.”
Arthur laughed, dunking his biscuit into his tea. Merlin, who was also a biscuit dunker, quietly observed, smiling.
“To be fair, I think I’d prefer well-endowed telescope puns to the annual plethora of poorly-conceived stick and ball antics I’m forced to witness,” Arthur said, staring wistfully off into the distance as though he was considering swapping for Merlin’s job.
Merlin, who didn’t think his endocrine system could handle any more talk of innuendos, decided it was time to start observing the sky. He finished his tea and turned towards the computers, Arthur following him a moment later.
“If you want to use the eyepiece, like I showed you,” Merlin said, gesturing, “I’ll direct the telescope towards different objects.”
“Won’t that screen show us what the telescope is seeing?”
“It will,” Merlin said, deliberately not looking at Arthur, “but you’ll want to watch through the telescope, trust me.”
It’s so much more romantic , Merlin thought, but didn’t say.
He had an entire itinerary planned out, and he quickly brought them through a view of a distant nebula and the brightest star in the night sky. Then, showing off a little, he pointed the telescope towards a binary star system he had helped discover, though with the limited magnification of the university’s telescope, the two stars were barely visible.
They spent another quarter of an hour scanning the sky, with Arthur giving appreciative hums and the occasional “wow”. Finally, because the sight of it never failed to take someone’s breath away, Merlin pointed his telescope towards Saturn, without explanation.
“What’s next?” Arthur asked, sitting back as the telescope moved automatically. Merlin grinned as he scooted his chair back so that he would have an uninterrupted view of Arthur’s face. When the telescope stopped, Merlin simply gestured.
Arthur, intrigued, leaned forward and put his eye to the eyepiece. Then, an instant later, he pulled back, wide eyes turned on Merlin.
“Saturn!”
Arthur returned to the eyepiece and then pulled back again a moment later.
“I can see the RINGS!”
Merlin laughed, feeling frighteningly fond, as Arthur continued to look at Saturn and then look at Merlin two or three more times before affixing himself to the eyepiece and staying there. Merlin, who had had a similar reaction the first time he’d seen Satrun’s rings clearly, knew exactly how he felt. There was something magical about it. Being able to see so clearly with your own eyes something that you’d only ever seen before in pictures.
They were silent for a few minutes as Arthur stared through the telescope. Then, finally, he pulled away. There were red marks around his eyes where the eyepiece of the telescope had pressed, but he still looked incredible. His features were angular, and very handsome. His lips were a lush red. Arthur’s eyes were startlingly blue, and Merlin felt a familiar tugging sensation - a longing - as though the blue of Arthur’s eyes was a cloud of dust around a nebula and Merlin wanted nothing more than to study it in great detail.
They were quiet as Merlin escorted Arthur back outside, Merlin letting Arthur absorb the events of the evening. He remembered how he'd felt the first time he'd looked through a proper telescope. In awe, of course, and a little bit in love. It had taken him a while to come down from that, and he didn't want to interrupt Arthur’s process.
They stood together in the cold night, Arthur’s eyes trained on the sky. Merlin followed his eyes and smiled. The sky was still amazingly clear, and he knew he'd be spending the rest of the night with the telescope, but no matter what he saw, it wouldn't compete with the part of his evening he'd spent with Arthur.
"Look," Merlin pointed to the cluster of stars sometimes known as the Seven Sisters, "That star cluster is called The Pleiades, in the constellation Taurus. In late August or early September there's a meteor shower that originates in that part of the sky."
"Meteor shower?" Arthur asked, his voice still filled with wonder.
"Shooting stars," Merlin clarified, and Arthur's face softened into a beautiful smile as he looked back up into the night sky.
"This might be the best thing I've ever done," Arthur whispered, chuckling. Merlin laughed.
"A man after my own heart," Merlin said. Arthur smiled at him.
"Thank you," Arthur said, "I honestly have had the best night."
"Well, you know where I'm at, if you ever want to do this again," Merlin said, hoping against hope that Arthur would someday take him up on the offer.
"I can't exactly miss you," Arthur chuckled, walking away and looking over his shoulder, "with that absolutely massive telescope."
Merlin, laughing, went back to work.
About an hour later his phone rang and, absorbed in his work, Merlin answered it without checking the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Merlin? It's Arthur. What you said, right at the end... I think I might be."
Merlin’s brain stuttered with excitement at Arthur’s calling him so soon after their evening. Maybe the peek at Merlin’s telescope really had been a precursor to a relationship.
"Might be what?" Merlin managed, his heart racing.
"A man after your heart," Arthur said, laughing softly, "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"
"On a date?" Merlin asked, so excited he was having trouble breathing, and thinking straight.
"Yes, on a date," Arthur clarified.
"Yes, I'd love to, yeah. Actually, I mean, if it's not too soon, there's something I could show you tomorrow night, if you like?"
"Are you going to show me your telescope?" Arthur laughed.
"Oh, ha ha," Merlin laughed, rolling his eyes, "I'm serious, Arthur. If you're free tomorrow night. It'll have to be late, though. Closer to midnight."
"Tomorrow's New Year's Eve," Arthur mentioned, sounding tentative. Merlin, of course, knew that, but didn't want to spoil the surprise.
"Is it? I didn't even think, you're probably busy, we can-"
"No, I'm free. The observatory?"
Merlin felt like his heart was in his throat, and he couldn't stop smiling.
"No, uh, do you know where Cooper's Hill is? East of town?"
"Yeah."
"There's a car park off the B-road. Could you meet me there at, say, ten past eleven?"
"Not at the top?"
"No, I need your help hauling my massive telescope up the hill."
****
It was freezing at the top of the hill, but both Arthur and Merlin had dressed for the weather, so apart from some rosy cheeks, they were fine. The night sky was devoid of clouds, and all around them the stars shone like diamonds. Arthur had brought a flask of strong tea, and Merlin had supplied the biscuits. They had talked and laughed and teased each other and gazed at the stars. It was, without a doubt, the best first date that Merlin had ever had.
Arthur seemed genuinely interested in the Astronomy, which had Merlin utterly entranced, especially given that Arthur was the most attractive man Merlin had ever spent any real time with. Arthur asked clever, pointed questions, and seemed interested rather than annoyed when Merlin’s answers went on longer than expected. He even asked Merlin about his research, which any academic knew was a second-date question.
An alarm beeped quietly on Merlin’s watch, and he glanced at the sky, Arthur’s gaze following his out of habit. Above the eastern horizon, barely visible, a small, bright white light appeared and began to fly across the sky. Merlin pointed and Arthur leaned in to follow his direction.
“Do you see that light?” Merlin asked, and Arthur nodded, “that’s the International Space Station.”
They watched in silence as the small dot traversed the sky, their bodies close, their breath mingling in the cold air. When the ISS had vanished again, Merlin checked his watch.
“It’s almost time,” Merlin said, unable to conceal his excitement, leading Arthur back to the meticulously arranged telescope. He had aligned his mobile phone with the viewfinder so they could both see what was happening without having to take turns.
“OK, so we spent twenty minutes setting this thing up and you haven’t let me so much as glance at it ever since. What is it that we are here to see that is so important?”
“Arthur?” Merlin asked, watching the seconds tick past on his watch.
“Yes?”
Merlin looked up just in time to catch Arthur’s curious smile as the first of London’s New Year’s fireworks exploded in the sky on the very distant horizon.
“Happy New Year,” Merlin said, nodding over Arthur’s shoulder. He turned and Merlin could tell the exact moment that he saw the tiny flashes of light, because he dove for the telescope/phone setup, his entire face alight with joy.
Merlin joined him, tentatively and nervously reaching out to take Arthur’s hand. After they had watched the distant fireworks display, the sky was dark and the hill upon which they stood was utterly silent.
“Merlin,” Arthur said, still looking out towards the cloud of light that was London, many miles away.
“Yes?” Merlin said, turning towards Arthur, whose lips were curved into a half smile.
“Would it be alright if I kissed you now?”
Merlin nodded, and Arthur’s eyes were as bright as stars as their lips met.