A/N: Written from my little knowledge of the few episodes in series 5 that I have watched, please forgive any mistakes concerning characterization and incorrect plot lines! Thank you for giving it a chance!
Merlin fastened the last buckle on Arthur's armour with regret. He took a breath and walked around to Arthur's front, returning the king's smile weakly. "Are you alright Merlin?" Arthur asked, resting a heavy hand on Merlin's shoulder. Merlin looked up at him reproachfully through dark lashes and Arthur squeezed his shoulder. Merlin grinned falsely.
"It's funny; I never used to care this much about you before." He lied smoothly, attempting a light-hearted tone. Arthur frowned and Merlin blushed despite his best efforts.
"Merlin-"
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Merlin cut in, feigning the action of plucking some dust from Arthur's breastplate in order to touch him. He inched his fingers slyly between the plates of cold metal and pressed his fingertips against the warmth of Arthur's flesh beneath.
Arthur smiled fondly down at him, his hand slipping easily around to cup the back of Merlin's head, his fingers buried in Merlin's soft dark hair. Arthur raised his head, scanning the armoury for strangers or worse, friends, before dipping down and kissing his manservant deeply. Merlin gave a small hiccup of surprise before stretching forwards to push further into the kiss. Arthur smiled against Merlin's lips and pulled him closer, his other arm wrapping tightly around the other man's waist and tugging his body flat against his own.
When they pulled apart Merlin was grinning. Arthur smiled and touched their foreheads together. "You worry too much." He murmured gruffly. Merlin rolled his eyes and placed a gentle kiss on Arthur's lips.
"Be safe. Try not to die." He instructed.
Arthur grinned, "Yes sir."
"Arthur?" The pair looked up, startled by the voice calling out from the hall. Merlin jumped away from Arthur quickly and busied himself with polishing some irrelevant piece of metalwork as Gwaine strode into the armory. Arthur gave him a curt nod, licking his lips self-consciously and clapping a hand painfully on Merlin's shoulder in a manly gesture. Merlin grimaced and shot him a frown, although he was used to Arthur physically asserting his masculinity in the company of others. In a bout of uncharacteristic bravery he had even told him off for it once. The only result gleaned from his outburst turned out to be that Arthur pinned him against the wall as soon as they were alone, and proceeded to show him just how dominant he really was.
If he was being honest, Merlin couldn't really complain about that turnout too much.
He watched Arthur ride off with his knights proudly trotting behind. He wondered if he would get Arthur back in once piece, or if, like so many times before, he would be delivered back to his arms bruised and bloody. Merlin would patch him up and put the missing pieces back together, and they would carry on, because that was just what they did. For once, Merlin could accept this fact for what it was, and in the end they would always end up thrown together again, probably in a graceless merry mess, and that was alright.
Thank you for reading! The next little chapter will be up shortly, please review if you have the time, I'd love to hear some feedback! xx