There was orange as far as the eye could see, row upon row upon row, and it made Arthur nauseous as he trailed behind Merlin in his merciless quest for the perfect pumpkin. "Don't look to happy." Merlin commented as he looked behind him to check on his royal pain only to find him looking cold and miserable as he clutched his jacket tightly to his body when another gust of wind picked up and whipped around them.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know traipsing behind you was suppose to be such a joy." he said with such a bitter edge in his voice that it made the cold October breeze feel like summer. "Can you just pick a bloody pumpkin so we can leave?"
Merlin rolled his eyes and carried on, not about to allow the spoil sport to ruin his mood. Merlin loved Halloween, not only for the beauty that always arrived this time of year, but for the simple fact that it was the only time he felt normal, like he fit in. Arthur, on the other hand, could care less about any holiday other than Christmas and his birthday. As they moved along to the end of the row the corn maze came into view, the sound of laughter and good times seeming to emanate from between the stalks of corn and drawing Merlin in. But there was no chance he was going to get Arthur to go in there willingly.
"What do you think about this one?" Merlin asked as he picked up a pumpkin that was a reasonable size bigger than the rest when he heard a grumble and huff escape Arthur's lips. "I really don't care." he said and when Merlin turned to him with the pumpkin in his arms Arthur's eyes went wide at the size and the fact Merlin still had arms attached to his body. The thing had to weight at least 30 pounds if not more, and Arthur knew from experience Merlin had as much muscle mass as a stuffed toy. "See, I knew you'd like this baby." Merlin said with an ear to ear grin causing Arthur to roll his eyes.
"I already told you I don't care, and I'm only surprised because you're still standing." Arthur said and that only made Merlin's smile bigger which told Arthur he was going to say something completely stupid. "I know," Merlin started in a giddy tone. " it's big and fat, just like your head." he finished with a comical look on his face that Arthur usually found amusing but now wanted to rip off for the insult.
"What!?" Arthur shouted as he began to register what Merlin just said. "Are you implying my head looks like a pumpkin?" he said, his cheeks red with anger while the chest of his face was flushed from the cold.
"Well the only difference is that I can carve this and actually find something inside, whereas that head of yours is empty. Oh! and I can put a silly little face on it and light it up with a candle." he said dropping the massive pumpkin as Arthur lurched forward after him and narrowly missed grabbing him by his coat. Merlin jumped over pumpkin after pumpkin as he made full head for the corn maze, his adrenaline pumping from all the excitement. Arthur charged after him, only seeing red and then green with flecks of...yellow?
As he stopped to figure out where exactly he was he lost sight of Merlin and began to turn frantically in all directions as he tried to find some sort of path or exit out of the corn. "Merlin?" he called out as he tried to see over the large stalks but it was no use, he was too short. "Merlin!" he yelled at the top of his voice hoping to get a response. Suddenly panic set in when all noise of laughter died down and he felt the dreadful, cold feeling of loneliness wash over him in waves. He began to move faster between the stalks, feeling their sharp leaves scratch along his hands and face as he went.
"Merlin where are you?" His voice was desperate now, he wanted to find his mate and get the hell out before he got too lost and ended up god knows where. "Merlin!"
Stalks rustled beside him his hair began to raise, his nerves putting him on edge when out of nowhere Merlin jumped out, yelled Boo at him and watched Arthur scream before clocking him one in the chest out of pure instinct only to realize who it was. "You bloody dickhead!" Arthur yelled at him as he caught his breath, his body trembling in fear while Merlin's shook with laughter.
"You alright?" Merlin asked as he placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder to help calm him down. "I got you good on that one, you have to admit." he said and Arthur looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah you got me, now get me the hell out of here so we can get those damn pumpkins and go home." he said as he hooked his arm over Merlin's shoulder and noogied him before they began to walk/
"So, uhm, there's just one problem." Merlin said stopping suddenly and looking around. "What is it?" Arthur asked, his mood seeming to have lightened. "I don't actually know the way out." he said sheepishly.