Seducing a Supposedly Straight Magician Is Easier Than You Think

"We just need to call Tobias and tell him to send us money so we can get back," he said, and then sighed because he knew it was a shitty plan but it was the only one he had. "Let's find a payphone."

Merlin gave him a judging glance, gritted his teeth. "If you think that'll work," he said unhelpfully, crossing his arms.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hesekiel asked as they walked through town in search of a payphone. He spotted one not too far away. "'Cause I'm all ears if you do."

Merlin shrugged. "You always seem satisfied with the outcome of your ideas." There was a biting undercurrent to his tone, but he didn't so much as make eye contact with Hesekiel.

Hesekiel clicked his tongue but said nothing as he entered into the tiny phone booth. He turned the dial to the number he knew as Tobias's, though not because he wanted to have it memorized, but because this wasn't the first time he had needed to call him and tell him he'd be late. But with Merlin, and with the fact that they had already left, it was a bit different.

He waited impatiently as the phone rang, tapping his fingers against the glass as he looked at Merlin just outside the booth.

Merlin avoided his eyes, waiting and tapping his foot as the phone rang, and rang, and rang, and eventually went to voicemail.

Great. He hung up the phone, stepped out of the booth, took a deep breath and then kicked the glass side of the booth with far too much force. It would have hurt if he could feel anything. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the ground.

He didn't have a plan B. He supposed he could call Tobias again later but until then they were stuck in the city, ragged and without accommodations.

"See?" he said, shrugging. "You and your great ideas. You gonna pay me back for that phone call, or what?"

Hesekiel pushed Merlin's wallet back into his chest, looking very displeased at that moment.

"If you aren't going to help me figure out a way to get back, then I don't want to see you open your mouth," Hesekiel snapped.

"Really? I think a few months ago you would've paid to see my open mouth," he snapped, snatching his wallet back. "Do you really think I want to spend any amount of time alone with you?"

"Then find your own way back," Hesekiel said coldly and before he could let himself change his mind, he turned and began to walk in whatever direction would get him farthest away from Merlin.

Merlin followed, grabbing Hesekiel by the shoulder.

"I've had enough. Are you really going to pretend you...don't remember?" He scowled at the ground, digging his fingers into Hesekiel's back.

"You're the one who keeps pretending it didn't happen, except when it's convenient for you, but that's how it always is with you, isn't it?" Hesekiel told himself to stop but the words kept coming out anyway, "I don't want to play your stupid games right now, so if you don't mind not talking about your repressed fucking sexuality right now and instead focusing on the actual problem we have, that'd be ideal."

Merlin opened his mouth and let it hang that way for a minute, speechless for once in his life. He pointed an accusing finger at Hesekiel.

"I--I was drunk!" he whispered, not sounding entirely convinced himself. "And where I'm from, when you like someone you don't take advantage of them when they're at their worst. So, so--why did you do it?!"

"I don't know!" Hesekiel hissed, frustrated and at the end of his wits with both Merlin's insistence about discussing this as well as their current situation. "Maybe because you're always looking at me like there's something there but when I get close you act like I'm some sort of monster, and I couldn't take being around you all the time and not being able to do anything about the fact that I'm attracted to you because you won't let me!"

He was decidedly not being quiet anymore and he could feel the stares of more than a few people on the street.

His pale face reddened, and he fell silent. He thought of voicing a half-hearted objection, but what would be the point?

He crossed his arms, still staring holes into the ground.

"I don't know what to do," he said finally. He didn't need to specify; it went for both situations. "Is that what you wanted to hear? It's true, and it feels awful. I'm sorry your boss isn't smarter."

Hesekiel opened his mouth to say something and then sighed instead, covering his face with one of his large hands. Merlin was pathetic like this and it was difficult to look at him right now, for a multitude of reasons but guilt was starting to settle as the main one at the moment. He was such a dick. Not that Merlin didn't deserve to be yelled at, but perhaps not in the middle of the street with both of them in desperate need of a shower.

"...look," he said, softer this time. "Let's see if we can't find a cheap enough hotel where we can at least shower."

He just followed Hesekiel wordlessly, his hands in his pockets. He looked worse than tired; there was no fight left in his eyes. He just wanted this wretched day--no, this wretched year--to be over with.

He had really done it this time, hadn't he? A speechless Merlin twice in one day was a record, and one he had once thought would be a triumph seemed very much like a loss at this moment. Hesekiel asked a few people for the cheapest hotel in town and got pointed, wordlessly, in the correct direction until they were standing outside of a seedy, neon-lit hotel when no sign aside from the one noting it's "XXX" nature above the door. It wasn't as if Hesekiel had never been in a seedy sex hotel before, but this time seemed significantly more depressed than any other, even the one time he had been blue balled by a gorgeous man who decided halfway through that gay sex wasn't really his thing.

Hesekiel stepped inside and began his negotiation with the lady at the counter, and after some over flirtation and promises he didn't intend to keep, she handed him a room key in exchange for the little bit of money Merlin had left in his wallet.

The room was tiny but the bed was large and the bathroom was a barely acceptable level of clean. But it was good enough for now.

"Go shower," he instructed.

"What, are you my keeper now?" he said quietly, already slipping his jacket off of his slender shoulders.  "You, uh...certainly picked a conspicuous place, huh?"

He stripped himself in his usual careful manner, until he stood in silk boxers and nothing else.  He took the opportunity to fold his clothing and place it on the bedside table, glancing at Hesekiel every few seconds.

"Cheapest place in town," he said with a shrug and then a sigh. He sat down on the one bed they had been given and pulled the tattered remains of his shirt from his body. He would have to find a new one somehow, because he wasn't sure he could find his way back into this one. Regardless, it would be nice to shower once Merlin was done. He wanted to say something, because it was awkward as hell, but there wasn't anything left to say at the moment, so he stayed quiet. He averted his eyes as Merlin undressed, busying himself with glancing through the drawers for anything of use. There was nothing but lube, condoms and a few porn magazines which looked entirely uninteresting. In other words, nothing of use.

"Being modest now?" he jabbed, unable to resist the urge. "The last time I was in a less compromising position with you, I didn't leave...unscathed." He reached for his neck, touching the spot right by his jaw where the hickey had been all those months ago.

Hesekiel looked at Merlin now, though he was careful to look at his face.

"Is right now when you want to talk about this? Fine," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry I made a stupid decision and that I...hurt you. Is that what you want to hear? Because that's the truth. I'm not sure what else you want from me."

"How long have you been...thinking about doing something like that?" he pressed, covering his exposed chest with his arms. "I have a right to hear that at least, don't I?"

Hesekiel opened his mouth to reply, realized how bad it sounded, and then shut it again and looked away. He didn't need to be able to feel it to know that his cheeks were burning red.

He cleared his throat.

"From...the beginning," he admitted, quieter than normal. "...more or less, anyway."