I'm new to this, so please be kind! Xox
This is basically because I wanted to write something.
Frostbite
Merlin was headed towards the large oak door, his head turned down against the cold and his mouth clamped tightly shut. Someone watched from a second-storey window, eyeing the crouching man with nothing more than suspicion, and something he couldn't name.
Arthur took a deep breath and returned to his seat by the table, now watching the breakfast he had been brought as if he thought it was plotting against him. He hated Sundays. They always meant that Monday was next, and that meant he was expected by his father to be in the council chambers at seven o'clock. That meant awkward conversations about taxes. And that meant both he and his father were bound to get exceedingly angry after a mere three minutes.
He looked up when he heard the door open, and suddenly it seemed as though all of his dread for the next day had vanished as he saw Merlin enter, clutching a bundle of bed-linen to his chest. 'Merlin!' he exclaimed, standing up and walking over to him, 'your lips are blue!'
'It's very cold out, sire. You're lucky I didn't abandon you!' Merlin tried to laugh but it got stuck in his throat. This was either due to the fact that his mouth was dry from the gaping into the cold, or because he saw genuine concern in Arthur's eyes. He hoped his still expression wouldn't give away those feelings he'd been keeping hidden for so long.
Arthur froze when he touched Merlin's hands, prizing the cloth from him one finger at a time. His mind was recoiling from the idea that Merlin would ever consider abandoning him, but that seemed of a lesser importance than getting the young boy warm. 'Leave those,' he said, 'I lit the fire because you weren't here, so you can sit in front of that for a while.' Sure enough, converse to what Arthur had expected, Merlin did so without complaint or submission of his current coldness. Arthur pulled up his own armchair for him to sit in and fetched the blanket off his bed, spreading it over the dark-haired boy's knees. It was immediately tugged up to his shoulders though. Arthur thought he looked like a little old woman, curled up in a comfy chair by the fire, teeth without the strength to resist chattering.
'Thank you,' Merlin breathed, smiling nervously up at his master and wondering if he was just going to stand there watching him forever. Unbeknownst to him, Arthur could quite comfortably see himself doing that. 'You don't have to wait for me to warm up, I'm sure you're very busy,'
Arthur hesitated. Then pulled up a chair for himself, pushing it right up next to Merlins almost as if he thought it benefitted the safe side. 'No. I'm not busy. I'd rather make sure you were okay,'
'It's just cold, Arthur, it's nothing serious,'
Arthur intensified his gaze, hoping that Merlin saw more in it than he was letting on, 'It's serious to me,'
Merlin's breath hitched in his throat, watching Arthur with avid curiosity and fear; maybe he should just pretend he's all warm now. He noticed as Arthur's eyes got warmer, harder, and more determined, and he couldn't help but keep looking.
Arthur leaned forwards from his wooden dining-chair and put his hand over Merlins, acting purely on instinct.
Merlin couldn't have pin-pointed the exact second when Arthur's lips finally met his, only that it was a few years later than he'd wanted. A tongue traced a line over his lower lip and he willingly granted it entrance to his mouth, feeling a hand stroke through his hair, he remained motionless. His only movement was his eyelids fluttering. Then he began to respond properly, relishing the feel of Arthur so close to him, but still, he thought, he was too far.
It may have been minutes, or hours, or mere seconds that passed like this, each tempting the other to explore a little further, until finally Merlin couldn't even remember what cold felt like. 'Arthur,' he murmured when they broke apart, as if just the mention of that name held some deep meaning inside him, which it did. Arthur was smiling. Smiling as if he'd just won an arm-wrestle with Morgana. A sort of 'aren't I brilliant/told you so' smirk that made Merlin grin back too.
They sat beside each other by the fire for the rest of the evening, warming themselves even though they were already warm, and talking about nothing in particular, because, on the scale of things, nothing in particular mattered.
The next morning, Arthur was happy to meet his father in the council chambers, because he felt like his strength had been renewed. And as his father began to raise the topic of taxes, he couldn't help but smile as Merlin, leaning against one of the great pillars, gave him a thumbs-up of encouragement.
Please review, if you do, I'll love you forever! And tell me if there's any potential! Thanks!