Their hands were clasped together on the bed, fingers entwined, blue eyes stared into blue eyes, their mouths agape, as Arthur moved in Merlin, slowly making love.

Merlin panted, "Arthur …"

Arthur rolled his hips, "This is how we were meant to be. Two halves made whole. Made one."

He thrust and Merlin moaned, "Yes!"

Arthur spoke as he changed his rhythm. "You're mine. I'm yours. We were made to be together, not apart."

Merlin gasped at a particular thrust, "Yours! Always yours …"

Arthur leaned down for a languid kiss. He pulled away just enough to look Merlin in he eyes. "I am never leaving you." He picked up his rhythm, thrusting harder with purpose as he reached for Merlin's hardness between them. "Never. That's a promise."

Merlin cried out, "Yes! Oh gods! Arthur! Arthur! Arthur …."

The next morning, Arthur woke to Merlin's sleepy movements as the warlock slowly woke. He pulled the soft warm body in closer to his own and buried his face in raven hair. "G'morning."

Merlin nuzzled his head in the crook of Arthur's neck. "Good morning."

Arthur stroked the smooth skin of Merlin's back, "Did you sleep well?"

Merlin smiled, "Like a baby."

Arthur grinned. He lifted Merlin's face and began kissing down the side of it. "I guess we found you an insomnia cure then."

Merlin hummed, "Yes, all it took was a good fucking from your magic cock."

Arthur smirked and pressed closer, "Magic cock?"

Merlin pinched his arm lightly, "It was a compliment. Don't make me take it back, clotpole."

Arthur kissed Merlin's cheek, "Too late to take it back. The success of my magic cock is already evident."

Merlin snorted, "Yes, as you can see, your majesty, your cock put me right to sleep."

Arthur grinned, "Yes I …." His grin faltered, and he swatted Merlin's backside in mock admonishment, "Put you to sleep in a good way you mean. A very good way. Ungrateful fool."

"Prat."

"Dollophead."

"That's my word."

"Yes, and it suits you perfectly."

Merlin looked into Arthur's eyes and whatever comeback he had wanted to say left him. "I love you."

Arthur felt the sudden warmth and tingling sensation of intoxication, "I love you, too."

They kissed slowly and sensually, limbs tangling together, when the sound of Merlin's mobile phone startled Arthur into a jolt. He grimaced, "I hate telephones."

Merlin reached a long arm towards the bedside table and grabbed the phone. He continued snuggling close to Arthur as he brought it to his ear, "Hello?"

"It's a circle."

Merlin lifted an eyebrow, "What's a circle, Ismene?"

"It is beginning again in the place it began."

Merlin sat up wide eyed, "Is that from the scar?"

"Emerging from water and earth to rise to the sky."

Merlin scrambled out of the bed. Arthur looked after him, "What's going on?"

Merlin shushed him and frantically searched for a pen and notepad. "Start from the beginning, Ismene. What does it say?"

"It is beginning again in the place it began. Emerging from water and earth to rise to the sky."

Merlin wrote it down and read it out loud again to himself. He spoke into the phone, "What does that mean?"

"Bloody hell if I know. But that's what I've got so far. Apart from coins and red. Oh there's some unicorn symbolism here too, but it's very randomly incorporated. I think it's referring to virtue rather than an actual unicorn. Could be wrong though. I mean if dragons are a thing again, I guess unicorns could be too. I had a dream about a unicorn once. All the water became sand. It was very unpleasant."

Merlin spoke, "Yeah, unicorn curses are like that. You've done a wonderful job, Ismene, really, but I need you to keep looking for information. This is a huge leap, no doubt, but it's still not much for us to go on."

"I'll keep working on it. I gotta say though, looking at a picture isn't quite the same as interacting with the message directly. It'd be a great help if I could borrow Uncle Arthur."

Merlin's face flushed. He glanced over at Arthur who was sitting up in bed, listening to Merlin's side of the conversation. Merlin gave him a smile and left the room to talk in the living room quietly, "Ismene, we're not married, you don't have to call him uncle. Just call him Arthur."

Ismene sighed over the phone, "Okay, can I borrow Arthur then?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to him. You know, you need to work on your bedside manner. You made him very uncomfortable the other day."

Ismene spoke exasperated over the phone, "I'm a seer, not a doctor! But yeah okay, I'll try not to get too excited this time."

They ended the call and Merlin returned to the bedroom to find Arthur dressed, pulling on a pair of socks. Merlin recounted the lines of prophecy Ismene had deciphered, and Arthur was just as clueless as to what it meant.

"She wants to look at it again in person."

Arthur sighed, "I thought that's what the pictures were for, so that I didn't have to be constantly prodded in the side."

"Well, Ismene did get a lot of information from the pictures. But Seeing is more than a visual craft. You remember what happened when she touched it?"

Arthur pouted, "Yes, alright. If I really must."

Merlin smiled. He looked over at the clock and it was already 9:30 in the morning. "Where's Leon I wonder?"

Arthur looked away, "Oh, yes. Leon is not coming today. He's taking some time to reexamine his priorities."

Merlin blinked, "Okay …. What does that mean?"

"I've decided I won't tolerate his behavior towards you anymore. If he will not treat you as my equal, then I will not have him as a knight in my service. I've sent him away to let the message sink in."

Merlin gaped at Arthur, "You didn't have to do that. Leon and I …. We've been in each other's company for centuries. It's normal for us to not always get along."

Arthur fixed a look at Merlin, "Was he so dismissive of you before the war?"

Merlin sighed, "No, I suppose not. He was skeptical of my crazy ideas for a while before the war, but I've been wrong so many times about so many things. He did still tend to indulge me, though." Merlin shrugged, "Guess he's run out of patience for me."

Arthur spoke, "Well he's going to find some more patience or get himself a new hobby. Besides, he's been driving me mad with his godsdamn news articles."

Merlin chuckled, "Yes, he can get rather annoying."

Arthur threw a tshirt at Merlin, "Now go on and get dressed. We have an appointment to keep with your niece, after all."