Whistling while walking into the flat Arthur lightly kicked off his shoes and flopped on to the sofa.
To Arthur today had been a great success, he was up to date on paperwork and everything had gone according to plan.
However Arthur noticed that something was different about the flat. There were stacks of papers everywhere which would have usually been placed neatly on the living room table, ready to be sorted. In general the house looked messier, too messy for Merlin's liking at least.
It had suddenly occurred to Arthur of where Merlin actually was and what he was doing for that matter.
Arthur calmly went up the stairs, almost instantly picturing Merlin tidying up a room or emptying the bins. Once Arthur realised that Merlin's bedroom door was open a tiny fraction, he knocked on the door before entering.
"Merlin" he said quietly as he noticed that his room was dimly lit.
"Ar-Arthur" Merlin stammered, startled at his unexpected appearance.
"What's going on"? Arthur questioned as if something suspicious had happened while he was away.
"Nothing" Merlin replied to quickly which he knew that Arthur would pick up on it.
"Why are you in bed this early, it's so unlike you and it's barely seven o clock" Arthur pointed out.
"I was tired" Merlin mumbled along with letting out a wide yawn.
Arthur gave Merlin a disapproving look; he knew full well that Merlin would either be busy with work or tidying up the house until he passed out as sleep was barely considered an option for him.
Arthur tilted his head at an angle before asking, "Are you ill"?
Merlin shot up to a straight position and blurted out, "no what makes you think that".
Arthur sighed. He then walked over to Merlin's bed to find a bucket stood on the left side of his bed on the floor. All Arthur did was give Merlin a stare which he knew would get Merlin to confess.
"Okay I threw up" Merlin admitted softly before suddenly turning around and clutching his stomach.
"What and does Gaius know about this"? Arthur questioned with more force than he intended to use.
"...No" Merlin mumbled as if he was an ashamed five year old.
"Merlin" Arthur began in a slightly irritated tone before adding, "You need to tell someone when something like that happens".
Arthur knew that he shouldn't have said his latest sentence in such a frustrated tone as he saw the look of pure regret in Merlin's eyes before he turned back round to his left side and closed his eyes.
"I couldn't interrupt Gaius, he will be busy sorting out his shop", was Merlin's response after two minutes of silence.
Merlin then went to stand up; he began to wobble dangerously before Arthur caught him just in time as Merlin would have collapsed.
"If you can't stand then you shouldn't stand" Arthur pointed out before gently helping Merlin back onto his bed.
"Arthur please don't" Merlin protested as he tried to get back up from Arthurs firm hold.
Before Arthur could respond Merlin's bedroom door opened to reveal Gaius standing just a centimetre away from the door handle with his arms folded.
"What on earth is going on in here"? Gaius questioned in a more firm tone than Arthur had used earlier.
"Oh erm Merlin isn't feeling well so I was just helping him get back into bed" Arthur said straight after Gaius had finished his question.
"Merlin"? Gaius asked but in a calmer tone.
Merlin face then went pale and before he could get a word out, he covered his mouth and ran to the toilet which filled the house with vomiting noises.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair then onto his face.
"Well why I wasn't told about this" Gaius then turned on Arthur.
"I just wanted to get Merlin settled first", along with almost making him vomit on his own bed, way to go Arthur.
Arthur and Gaius exchanged looks as the noises from the toilet got louder.
"Aren't you going to check on him" Gaius questioned suddenly which made Arthur jump.
"Er I thought you would" Arthur replied still unsure of why Gaius asked him.
Gaius sighed before saying, "You know sickness is man kind's greatest defect". Arthur looked at him, clueless of what the meaning of it was.
Gaius then leant into Arthur's ear before whispering "Until a friend steps in".
Once he had finished his sentence Gaius walked off and Arthur then knew what he had to do.
The noise of Merlin's vomit hitting the toilet water with a vile splash had stopped Arthur on his track before he took a deep breath and bravely walked in to find Merlin hunched over the toilet and out of breath from all the release of his stomach contents.
"Hey Merlin" Arthur said gently as he eased himself to kneeling down beside Merlin, Arthur could then see how ill Merlin was. His face was nearly as white as a ghost; he could feel Merlin's muscles tense and loosen up with every harsh heave.
When Merlin's stomach had decided to calm down for a minute the first thing he said was, "help" which made Arthur's heart melt before Merlin started throwing up again.
Arthur rubbed his back as Merlin threw up, he could tell that his little gesture was relaxing Merlin even if it was only working a tiny bit.
After spending another hour throwing up, Merlin's stomach had seemed to have stopped torturing him. Just by looking at Merlin's posture Arthur could tell that Merlin was extremely exhausted.
"Let's get you to bed" Arthur said before carefully helping Merlin to stand up.
Once Arthur had gently placed Merlin into bed he was about to leave him to get some rest until Merlin grabbed his hand.
"Don't go, feel sick" Merlin mumbled which almost made Arthur tear up. Arthur sighed then sat down on the edge of Merlin's bed, wondering why he wanted him to stay.
"Stomach hurts" Merlin moaned before whimpering.
Suddenly Arthur wordlessly took off the duvet cover from Merlin along with placing his hand onto Merlin's stomach and softly rubbing it. At first Merlin was unsure of what Arthur was doing but he soon relaxed into the touch as although the nausea he had felt all day stayed with him, his stomach ache had eased which meant that Merlin could get to sleep.
Throughout the following couple of days Arthur had spent many hours with Merlin, desperately wanting him to feel a hundred percent even if it meant that Arthur himself was weak and tired.
However the very next day Arthur woke up with the same stomach bug.
Arthur could feel his stomach get progressively upset along with the not wanting to get out of bed. Having to stay up for two nights in a row was very time consuming.
Eventually Arthur had to force himself out of bed before his stomach contents made an unwanted appearance. He felt as miserable and fed up as Merlin had felt a couple days ago.
After throwing up for ten minutes without rest Arthur heard quiet footsteps that made their way into the bath room. Arthur was surprised to see Merlin poking his head through the door.
"Oh..." Merlin began before Arthur felt the urge to puke again.
Once his stomach calmed down Arthur wiped his mouth with his pyjama top sleeve as well as cough. "Hello Merlin, as you can see I'm having a lovely morning" Arthur said in the best calm voice that he could manage.
"Sorry" Merlin said softly.
"It's not your fault; we will just have to have a sick day together" Arthur replied.
"Yeah "Merlin agreed before helping Arthur up and to his bed.
Once Merlin had placed Arthur into his own bed, Merlin himself then got into the bed and curled up around Arthur as if to keep him warm.
After half an hour went by the two men were both fast asleep, wrapped in Arthur's duvet with the light on.
Gaius quietly crept into the room to turn off the light, but before he left he whispered.
"Sickness is man kind's greatest defect, until a friend steps in".