Chapter Seventeen
Two months had passed since the night between Merlin and Gwaine. They still traveled together, never staying in any one place for long, and their relationship had awkwardly blossomed. At first, Merlin simply enjoyed the distraction from Arthur (and the attention wasn't so bad, either), but as time progressed, Merlin came to realize that he did truly care for Gwaine, although Arthur was never far from his mind.
Gwaine enjoyed spending the time with Merlin as well, but Gwaine's feelings were considerably deeper than Merlin's. For Gwaine, the shadow of Merlin's feelings for Arthur was constantly hanging over him, but he pretend he didn't notice the way Merlin would sometimes allow his face to darken as he remembered, thinking Gwaine couldn't see. Gwaine tried to distract Merlin every time he saw his depression creeping back in. Usually, he distracted him with a kiss, and when that didn't work, a little bit more.
They were unsaddling their horses in companionable silence when Gwaine rushed up behind Merlin, spun him around, and kissed him passionately. Kissing Gwaine was different from kissing Arthur, Merlin had realized. Gwaine was a lot harsher and a lot more demanding. He exuded a violent manhood that made Merlin shiver. Gwaine could also be a lot sweeter. Merlin could tell that Gwaine genuinely cared for him, and smiled when they pulled apart for breath.
"What was that for?" Merlin asked.
"It had been too long." Gwaine replied with a laugh, returning to his horse.
"It can't have been more than two hours since the last time we had a break." Merlin reasoned.
"Like I said, it had been too long." Gwaine flashed Merlin a winning smirk.
Together, they stabled their horses. They had reached a new inn, and Merlin was hoping to get at least three nights out of this one. As much as he hated to admit it, the constant traveling was tiring him. Despite the constant strain, however, Merlin had grown a lot in the past two months. Not just emotionally, but he was also taller, stronger, and his skin was darker. His eyes, however, showed how hard the time had been on him; they were older, duller, and sad.
Laughing at some stupid joke Gwaine had made involving a horse and a barman, they entered the inn. Looking around, it looked remarkably similar to all of the other places they had been. The air was smoky, and groups of men were huddled around tables and the fire while the innkeeper and his wife busily cleaned and served around the room.
Merlin was instantly on alert when he noticed the tall man with light curly hair talking to the innkeeper. This itself wasn't out of place, but the bright red cloak of a knight of Camelot was definitely cause for concern in Merlin's opinion. The knight turned to see who had entered, and spotting him exclaimed, "Merlin! Thank God! I've been searching all over for you!"