Extra chapter
He found him in the armory, head buried in his hands, taking deep breaths. Arthur's armor piled around him. Sparkling clean.
"Merlin..." Arthur slipped onto the bench next to him. His manservant flinched at the sound of his name and clutched the rag he'd used to polish the armor so tightly his knuckles white. His back was hunched, his head bowed, his hair hanging low over his eyes. Arthur hoped he wasn't crying.
"Aren't you going to execute me?"
"No." Arthur vaguely considered slinging a friendly arm around his shoulders. He's my friend. A small smile found its way onto his face. Friend.
"Wha?" Merlin looked up, blue meeting shocked blue. His eyes were tired, red-rimmed and there were dark rings under them; he'd evidently been losing sleep over this. Arthur felt a sudden rush of horrible guilt. He should have set his mind at ease earlier. But this was the first time he'd got to see him. Maybe Merlin had been avoiding him? The guilty feeling intensified.
"I'm not going to execute you." He clarified
"Why?" His voice was so soft; barely more than a whisper. A breath. A sigh.
"Who else would polish my armour, idiot." He gave him a friendly, manly punch on the arm, and found he was annoyed when Merlin flinched again. He rolled his eyes. Maybe the arm around his shoulders wasn't such a bad idea. "I don't think I could stand anyone who did as they were told acting as my manservant." And it was annoyingly true. Arthur had become so used to Merlin's scatter-brained manner that he'd actually miss it if it was gone. Miss his banter. Miss him...
"You really don't mind? About the... you know?" Merlin gestured wildly into thin air and Arthur let out an exasperated sigh.
"Magic."
"Yeah, the magic..."
"Of course not." And the arm was around his shoulders. "Idiot."
"Thanks..." Merlin wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. He looked up. Big blue eyes met his. Arthur became suddenly aware of their proximity. His arm had never moved away so fast.
And Merlin laughed.
Probably at his face lighting up and glowing red like a candle.
But, Arthur decided, that smile was worth any amount of embarrassment.
A moment later the arm was back around his shoulders. Some might have called it a hug. But no. Arthur wouldn't do anything so... unmanly... it was just a... manly... gesture?
Merlin laughs again.
And Arthur's world feels complete.
././././././././.
A/N: literally just realized I hadn't uploaded this extra chapter to stick on the end. Oopsies
Well, it's now as done as it's gonna be,
hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
Drop me a review if you enjoyed it.
Lenle G.