Arthur loved Merlin, he really did, but the idiot needed to stop trying to have serious conversations right after sex. Like right now, in front of the fire, sated and warm while rain pounded on the windows, a pleasant ache in his limbs.
"We have to tell them," Merlin decided.
"Hmm? What?" Arthur had just been dozing off, his chin hooked over Merlin's shoulder and his arm slung over him. "Tell who?"
"The knights. Sir Leon and the others. They deserve to know."
"Know what?"
Merlin turned around so that they were face to face. "About us."
"Lancelot knows," Arthur pointed out.
"Lancelot doesn't count."
"How does—you know what, never mind." Arthur sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Why do we have to tell them? It's not any of their business."
"They're your knights."
"They're the knights of Camelot."
"No." Merlin shook his head. "Maybe the others, yes, but not Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival. They're your knights, Arthur. They pledged allegiance to you, and only you. The love Camelot but it's you they serve and you they follow. They obey your father's orders out of duty, but they obey you out of love. They'd go to Hell for you. Not to mention they're our friends. I think they deserve to know."
And that was how Arthur ended up standing in front of Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival the next day, shifting his weight and trying to figure out what to say. Merlin, the traitor, had decided now was a perfectly good time to polish up Arthur's armor. Which was normally quite endearing, actually. Arthur's boots might have missed a polish now and then and maybe the floor needed sweeping, but Arthur's sword was always sharp enough to cut with a touch, and his armor never had a speck of rust. It was Merlin's way of helping to protect him, he knew, and it made tiny flutters of warmth come to life in his stomach.
Right. Now he just had to explain those warm flutters to his knights.
Arthur cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention—" He stopped. That wasn't right. "After much deliberation—" No, not that either. "I just wanted you all to know—" Oh, for fuck's sake. "Merlin and I are—"
"Married," All five knights chorused.
Arthur stared. "What?"
"You're married," Percival stated.
"Yes, but—but how did you…?"
"How did we know that you're going at it like rabbits?" Gwaine asked, waggling his eyebrows and smirking. "Oh, maybe because you're going at it like rabbits."
"We've known for ages," Leon said in the tone of someone who has witnessed horror and learned to live with it.
"Gwen's my sister, I think I'd have known if she was really in a relationship with you," Elyan said.
"You don't do a very good job of hiding it," Percival stated.
"I was at your wedding," Lancelot reminded him.
Arthur glared at all of them. "You mean to say we've been trying to keep this under wraps and you've known the entire time?"
All five knights nodded.
Arthur threw his hands up. "I give up."
As he stalked away, Gwaine called after him, "If you ever need bedroom tips—"
"Gwaine, I will make you run laps in full armor!"