Months went by, with both Arthur and Merlin having gone about their business as usual. Merlin, who owned a private clinic, spent much of his time there when he was not home. Since Arthur had been back, he had shirked off of much of his duties to his staff, only appearing should a dire emergency call for his attention, or when his signature was required on legal documents. Otherwise, he skived off from work as much as he could, without garnering legal ramifications, anyways. Arthur, on the other hand, spent much of his time wandering about London, when Merlin was not at home.
Unlike his significant other, he had yet to figure out his place in this new world. He knew that like Merlin, he desired to help people. With his limited knowledge of everything though, he also felt at odds with that wish. An idea had taken form one blustery May morning though, and he just could not shake it after.
Merlin spent a good deal more time at his clinic as of late, as it should be. Arthur knew that he could not begrudge the man his former routines simply because he had hurtled back to Earth after fifteen hundred or so odd years. On this particular day, the fifteenth of May, a seedling had been planted when the blond was at the gym, while his partner oversaw the activities happening at his private practice.
By the time Arthur had made the short jog home and cleaned up from his work out, he decided to run the idea by Merlin later that evening. It was true he had made great progress with his knowledge of all around him. So much so that he went alone to the gym, visited various buildings throughout the city, and even ventured to the store by himself on occasion, whilst spending time amongst others who could not possibly fathom that he might not have originally belonged in the current century. The exposure to those people, unknowingly to them, gave him information that he would not have otherwise had, such as the fact that he could take classes from home. How, he wasn't quite sure, but that is what he meant to discuss with Merlin.
The man in question, arrived home at 8:04 P.M. that evening. The minute he opened the front door, he noticed Arthur sitting at the table, with food placed in front of him and the chair opposite of his own. Amidst the things Arthur had learned, cooking was hardly one of them. However, one of the few meals he had been shown by Merlin, spaghetti, sat right there waiting to be eaten. Merlin grinned and then shrugged off his bag by the door, not even bothering to go any further than the meal that had been made.
"I wasn't sure what time you'd arrive, so the food will be cold."
An endearing smile made its way onto Merlin's face.
"Thank you, Arthur. I would have been home sooner, but there was a little boy who was rushed in at the last minute, pouring blood. It turns out he managed to trip and rip open his leg on a corner of a wall. Bad luck that, but luckily enough it wasn't as horrible as the blood let on, and I was able to clean it up fairly quick."
"Good thing. He must have been scared out of his wits," Arthur intoned, because he knew that he had little to add to the conversation in commentary otherwise.
"He was, at first. Once he saw the stitches though, he marveled at them, and said he couldn't wait to show his friends. A footie player in the making, I'm telling ya."
A brief confusion entered Arthur's gaze, before he remembered what "footie" meant. In that time, Merlin's eyes had lit up, undoubtedly warming the previously cold food in front of them.
"So, I went to the gym today-"
"No surprise there," Merlin commented, not realizing Arthur meant to go anywhere with it at first.
"Merlin, I wasn't finished," he pointed out in exasperation.
"Sorry, go on," the warlock encouraged.
"As I was saying, I went to the gym today and I overheard two young women discussing school. One of them made mention of the fact that she does classes from home. I wondered, is it possible for me to do that?"
Flabbergasted, Merlin looks over at Arthur, before he asked, "You're serious?"
"Of course I am. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't!" Arthur nearly shouted, raising his voice in frustration.
He had been more than excited about the prospect of furthering his knowledge, and the crinkles around Merlin's mouth and eyes only angered him, as they were a sure sign that he was about to be mocked.
"I'm sorry, Arthur. It's just to do that, it requires the use of a computer, and you haven't even bothered to learn about them. I have no problem teaching you-," Merlin started, before a frustrated Arthur threw his empty porcelain mug towards the back of the couch, where it bounced off and hit the carpet with a dull thud below.
"This is maddening! I'm so sick of relying on you for every little thing! I miss Camelot more and more desperately by the day. At least there I knew what was what. Now, I feel so suffocated, and lost," Arthur bit out in anguish, wherein he dropped his head into his hands.
Merlin regarded Arthur and made a decision right then and there.
"Do you remember when you talked about living on a farm?" Merlin asked into the silence.
Arthur's head slowly lifted up, to reveal a skeptical gaze.
"Yes," he replied shortly, the question clear in his reply and raised eyebrow.
"What would you say to doing so now? I could move my practice out to a small town, you could visit the local library there to begin furthering your education, and we could buy a house with multiple acres-," Merlin continued, until Arthur had jumped up and strode over to where he was in a single bound.
Fervently, he leaned down and enveloped the sorcerer in a steady snogging session, before he chose to break away. Arthur beamed down at Merlin breathlessly.
"That sounds wonderful," the blond declared, enamored more with the ebony haired man than he had ever been.
Later that evening, after the two had eaten and bathed together, both laid down in what had now been dubbed their quarters. For months, since the third night that they had shared a bed, neither felt the need to make use of the spare room. Rather than Arthur's room, it had been renamed the guest room. Merlin personally took no issue with that, as he preferred to remain skin to skin with the blond prat as much as he could. It reaffirmed him that perhaps this was not just a passing phase, but a forever thing. As he curled his body around Arthur, he hoped to himself that it would be.
