Fic: It's Cold Outside
Title: It’s Cold Outside
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur. Pre-slash
Rating: PG
Spoilers: I couldn't see any
Beta: Thank you so very much to thisissirius. Her praise makes me happy.
Summary: Merlin and Arthur get trapped in a cave on a freezing cold night. How do they stay warm?
Note: This is the first of many cuddling fics I’m going to write (what can I say? I’m a fan of cuddling)
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Arthur shifted slightly closer to the fire, trying to get warmer, even though it was becoming increasingly cold, bordering on freezing. ‘Well, this is just perfect,’ he muttered.
‘W...what is?’ asked Merlin, from where he was sitting next to Arthur, also trying to warm up. Less successfully, if the shivering was anything to go by.
‘Did you really have to get us so hopelessly lost on what is turning into the coldest night of the year?’
Merlin and Arthur had been out hunting with Arthur’s knights. Somehow they had become separated. Merlin had been positive that he knew the way back so Arthur had let him lead until he had noticed they were travelling in the opposite direction to Camelot. But then, that was the penalty for paying more attention to Merlin than where they were going.
It had been too late to start back so Arthur had found them shelter. Then night had fallen and it had started getting cold.
The knights would probably be back at Camelot already. He had told them that he would ride back at a slower pace - he had wanted some time to himself - so it was unlikely that he and Merlin would be missed until tomorrow evening at the earliest.
‘I’m s...s...sorry. I d...didn’t mean t...too.’
Arthur turned to look sharply at Merlin and felt his stomach clench as he took in how pale his friend was. ‘God, Merlin, you’re freezing.’
‘Thanks for t...telling me,’ said Merlin, ‘I wwwouldn’t have n...noticed otherwiiise.’ The stuttering kind of killed off any sarcasm Merlin might have been going for.
‘Merlin, get over here.’ He gestured for Merlin to move closer.
Merlin frowned at Arthur. ‘What?’
Arthur rolled his eyes. ‘Obviously the cold has already affected your brain, although it’s shocking that I can even tell the difference.’
‘Arthur, what are y...you talking about?’
Arthur shrugged off his fur and stood up. He stepped over to pick up his saddlebag and returned to Merlin.
‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Merlin. ‘Y...you’ll freeze.’
‘I’m getting us warm,’ he muttered, as he pulled more furs out from the bag.
Merlin studied him, a slightly bemused look on his face, as Arthur started to work.
He pulled Merlin to his feet, setting him against the wall, with his fur still wrapped securely around him. It was only then that he realised Merlin had been sitting on the cold ground of the cave.
‘Merlin, why aren’t you sitting on a fur?’
‘T...there weren’t enough f...f...for me as well as you.’
‘Merlin,’ he sighed, as he lay down three furs for them to sit on, ‘how often do we have to have this talk? You can’t keep putting yourself in danger to save me.’ It put a sour taste in the back of his throat every time it happened. ‘Particularly when it isn’t necessary.’
Putting a fur against the wall, he motioned for Merlin to sit down and lean against it.
‘You’re the P...prince. I thought I was supposed to put your needs b...before mine.’ He sat down without arguing.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Merlin.’ He unwrapped Merlin enough to add another blanket across Merlin’s lap and tucked it securely around him. ‘You know I don’t think that.’
‘Y...y...you may not, but...’
‘No. No, buts, Merlin. This stops.’ He sat down next to Merlin. He pulled another fur around his shoulders and one across his lap.
‘Saving you is always necessary, Arthur,’ said Merlin softly. ‘It doesn’t s...stop.’
That stilled Arthur for a moment. There was something about the way Merlin had spoken that made his chest go tight. For a moment he was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t breathe. ‘Merlin, you’re freezing to death for no other reason than pigheadedness,’ he finally choked out.
‘There were no more furs.’
Arthur looked around pointedly. ‘It looks to me like there were a few more furs.’
Merlin frowned. ‘Yeah. About that; I never packed them.’
‘No, I did.’ To cover his unease of admitting such a thing, he slipped his arm around Merlin’s waist and pulled him flush to Arthur’s side, which, he remembered belatedly, just changed his reason for feeling uncomfortable.
‘Arthur, what are you doing now?’ exclaimed Merlin, pushing uselessly against Arthur’ chest and trying to move away. Arthur suspected it was a rather half-hearted attempt, seeing as Merlin wasn’t even moving his legs.
‘Sharing body warmth, so stop wiggling.’ He tightened his hold on Merlin. ‘You’re letting the cold air in,’ he complained.
Merlin immediately stopped moving but he remained tense. ‘Umm.’
Arthur tugged at him gently, trying to ignore the flare of pain that shot through his chest at the thought that Merlin didn’t want to be near him. ‘Merlin, relax. You’re not going anywhere.’
And if Arthur had any say over it, Merlin would never leave his side, ever. But he knew it wasn’t his decision. He knew that Merlin would die for him; would do anything to help him or save his life, the same as Arthur would do for Merlin. He knew that what he and Merlin had was the deepest and most meaningful friendship either of them had ever had. What he didn’t know was how deep it ran for Merlin, because - and, god, he never thought he’d be saying these words - he had no idea what was going through Merlin’s mind. The one time he would like Merlin to be the open book he usually was, was naturally the one time he learnt how to hide what he was thinking.
There were times when Arthur was convinced that Merlin was as taken with him as he was with Merlin - the unnecessary touches meant to calm and reassure him, the concerned glances when he thought Arthur wasn’t watching him, the looks of shared amusement when something inappropriate amused them, the whole thing with saving his life using magic whilst Uther was still King. But then there were moments when Merlin seemed so innocent and naive that Arthur couldn’t believe that he had any feelings for Arthur beyond friendship.
Merlin snorted, but he did relax slightly and hesitantly rested his head on Arthur’s shoulder.
Pulling a final fur tightly around them, Arthur curled into Merlin. Giving in to temptation, Arthur rested his cheek against Merlin’s hair. He could feel faint tremors travelling through Merlin’s body.
‘I’m c...cold,’ he mumbled.
‘Give it a moment. You’ll warm up,’ Arthur promised. With his spare hand he rubbed gently up and down Merlin’s arm.
‘Why am I so cold and yet you seem fine?’
‘Evidently I’m made of sterner stuff,’ he murmured.
‘Prat.’
‘I’m serious. You’re all skin and bones. No wonder you can’t retain any body heat. Also sitting on the freezing ground is the very height of stupidity if you want to remain warm.’
‘Point taken,’ grumbled Merlin. ‘And hey, why did you pack those furs? Not that I’m complaining, you understand.’
‘Merlin, you complain about everything. Why would now be any different?’
‘I don’t...’ He shifted his head so he could see Arthur’s face and narrowed his eyes. ‘...hey! Don’t try and change the subject. I’m freezing, not stupid.’
‘Well, that’s a matter of opin-’
‘Arthur,’ interrupted Merlin.
Arthur sighed and settled in against the wall, relaxing slightly and pressing his hand against Merlin’s side. He knew he was going to have to say something. Merlin was relentless once he got something on his mind and it wasn’t like Arthur could go anywhere. Not if he wanted to remain warm himself and keep an eye on Merlin.
‘I was just being prepared for any eventuality,’ he finally settled on.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Arthur opened his mouth to reply but his brain went momentarily offline when Merlin slipped his arm across Arthur’s stomach. His hand settled on a small patch of skin where Arthur’s shirt had ridden up. Arthur dragged a deep breath far into his lungs, trying to remain steady. It was getting increasingly difficult for Arthur to ignore how Merlin affected him.
Merlin nudged his leg with a knee. ‘Arthur, what did you mean?’
Arthur slouched a little bit further down the wall, and Merlin’s hand slipped a little bit further under his shirt. Merlin didn’t seem to notice and Arthur suppressed a small smile. It was a dangerous game he was playing, but he deserved something to keep him distracted while nearly freezing in a dank cave miles away from home.
‘Well, this was kind of inevitable, wasn’t it?’ he said before Merlin could prompt him again.
‘What was?’
‘This.’
‘What? Having to take shelter in a cave about a day’s ride from Camelot because it’s too late to ride back and a cold front was coming in fast?’
He nodded, despite Merlin not being able to see him. ‘Yes. That.’
‘You packed a saddlebag full of furs on the off chance that we might not get back to Camelot before it became dark?’
Arthur shrugged. ‘Kind of.’
Merlin fit himself closer to Arthur’s side and Arthur’s eyes fluttered shut involuntarily. ‘What does ‘kind of’ mean?’
‘It wasn’t like I expected it to happen today,’ he muttered. Because, really, with the amount of trouble that Merlin managed to attract, how had they managed to not get stranded before this night?
‘You had that saddlebag packed just in case,’ said Merlin slowly, as though he were trying to figure something out.
‘Yes.’ He refused to be embarrassed for his foresight and being prepared.
Merlin pulled back to look him in the face, a perplexed expression on his face. ‘Why?’
‘Because, Merlin, unexpected things happen when you’re around.’ He resisted the urge to trace his fingers down Merlin’s face, which was shockingly close to his. Merlin hadn’t really hadn’t pulled far enough away, just enough so he could see Arthur’s eyes.
‘So, surely you should never have expected this?’
‘Don’t be so damn contrary.’
‘You like me contrary,’ replied Merlin, a smile tugging at his lips. ‘You’d get bored if I stopped being contrary.’
Seeing as it was true, Arthur elected to say nothing at all. ‘Obviously you’ve stopped feeling cold if you have the energy to be so difficult.’
Merlin’s eyes widened comically in horror. He shook his head quite vigorously. ‘Nope, I’m still cold; freezing, if you must know.’ He dropped his head back onto Arthur’s shoulder and managed to wiggle closer still. They were such a tangle of limbs now that Arthur had little idea of where he ended and Merlin began.
‘You should get some sleep,’ he murmured into Merlin’s hair.
‘Only if you get some too,’ shot back Merlin.
‘Someone has to keep watch.’
‘Arthur, there is nothing moving out there. Anything not about to freeze to death from exposure is already squirreled away, out of the cold. Nothing is going to attack us.’
‘Fine. I’ll sleep. Happy now?’
‘Ecstatic,’ mumbled Merlin sarcastically.
They sat, cuddled together, in companionable silence. Merlin’s fingers traced patterns on Arthur’s hip until he fell asleep. Arthur, for his part, forced himself to stay awake for longer, wanting to savour every moment of Merlin sleeping, curled up in his arms. He had a sneaking suspicion that after tonight he was going to find it impossible to keep his hands off Merlin because now he knew what it felt like to have Merlin sleep next to him. He’d really quite like to have Merlin sleep next to him on a more than regular basis.
Eventually he must have dozed off, but he awoke, groggily, to a cold cave, with the dawn beginning to break outside. Merlin was still next to him, their bodies tangled together, but he was awake and tracing patterns on Arthur’s chest.
‘Morning.’
‘Oh, uh, you’re awake,’ Merlin stammered, snatching his hand back, but otherwise not moving, much to Arthur’s relief.
Arthur was obviously still not properly awake because he grabbed Merlin’s hand before it got very far and, lacing their fingers together, he brought it back to rest on his chest. He felt strangely content, and wished that they were in his bed and didn’t have to go anywhere. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. They had to get back to Camelot, and Arthur would really prefer to be back before they were missed.
‘If we leave within the hour, we should be back at Camelot just before dusk falls,’ he said. However, he made no effort to actually push Merlin away and stand up.
‘We might actually need to move for that to work,’ said Merlin. He still sounded rather sleepy and content with where he was.
‘I think I might rather like it here,’ said Arthur, rubbing his thumb over Merlin’s wrist.
Merlin pulled back from him, blinking. ‘Did you hit your head or something last night, and not tell me?’ He reached behind Arthur’s head and ran his fingers over the back of Arthur’s hair, evidently looking for a bump.
‘Of course not.’ He wrapped his fingers around Merlin’s wrist and gently pulled his hand away, although it took a considerable amount of willpower to do so. ‘Why would you think that?’
‘You said you prefer this damp and unpleasant cave to your room with your unnecessarily huge bed. I think that counts as strange and unusual behaviour for you.’
‘Merlin, a bed can never be too big,’ Arthur told him seriously. ‘And I never said I preferred the cave, because clearly that would be idiotic, and that’s more your area of expertise.’
Merlin frowned. ‘But-’
‘Oh, shut up, Merlin,’ sighed Arthur. ‘I’m warm and surprisingly comfortable and I really don’t want to go back outside into the cold.’
‘Well, I suppose that compared to outside this could be considered comfortable,’ said Merlin, sounding dubious.
Arthur rolled his eyes. ‘Well, come on. You’ve spoilt the moment, so let’s get ready to leave.’ He kicked off his furs, shivering as the still cold air took their place.
‘I spoilt the moment?’ repeated Merlin. ‘What moment? There was a moment?’
‘Apparently not,’ Arthur muttered to himself. He was going to be old and grey before Merlin stopped being so damn oblivious all the time.
‘And what was this moment for?’ asked Merlin, standing up and following Arthur outside. Merlin really was the most clueless person Arthur had ever met.
‘Merlin, it’s not important. Now, pack all these furs away and get the horses ready. I’d quite like a hot meal tonight and that isn’t going to happen if we hang about here all day.’
‘You were the one who wanted to cuddle all day in bed,’ muttered Merlin as he walked back into the cave.
‘What did you say?’ asked Arthur, knowing that Merlin hadn’t meant for him to hear.
‘N...nothing, Arthur,’ stammered Merlin. Arthur could only imagine how red he was. ‘I’m just going to...uh - I’ll be in here. Packing.’
Arthur grinned to himself. ‘And put on another shirt before you come back out here. I don’t want you catching a cold and making me ill as well.’
Note: thisissirius would like me to do a companion piece from Merlin's POV. I'm guessing she's not the only one?
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur. Pre-slash
Rating: PG
Spoilers: I couldn't see any
Beta: Thank you so very much to thisissirius. Her praise makes me happy.
Summary: Merlin and Arthur get trapped in a cave on a freezing cold night. How do they stay warm?
Note: This is the first of many cuddling fics I’m going to write (what can I say? I’m a fan of cuddling)
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Arthur shifted slightly closer to the fire, trying to get warmer, even though it was becoming increasingly cold, bordering on freezing. ‘Well, this is just perfect,’ he muttered.
‘W...what is?’ asked Merlin, from where he was sitting next to Arthur, also trying to warm up. Less successfully, if the shivering was anything to go by.
‘Did you really have to get us so hopelessly lost on what is turning into the coldest night of the year?’
Merlin and Arthur had been out hunting with Arthur’s knights. Somehow they had become separated. Merlin had been positive that he knew the way back so Arthur had let him lead until he had noticed they were travelling in the opposite direction to Camelot. But then, that was the penalty for paying more attention to Merlin than where they were going.
It had been too late to start back so Arthur had found them shelter. Then night had fallen and it had started getting cold.
The knights would probably be back at Camelot already. He had told them that he would ride back at a slower pace - he had wanted some time to himself - so it was unlikely that he and Merlin would be missed until tomorrow evening at the earliest.
‘I’m s...s...sorry. I d...didn’t mean t...too.’
Arthur turned to look sharply at Merlin and felt his stomach clench as he took in how pale his friend was. ‘God, Merlin, you’re freezing.’
‘Thanks for t...telling me,’ said Merlin, ‘I wwwouldn’t have n...noticed otherwiiise.’ The stuttering kind of killed off any sarcasm Merlin might have been going for.
‘Merlin, get over here.’ He gestured for Merlin to move closer.
Merlin frowned at Arthur. ‘What?’
Arthur rolled his eyes. ‘Obviously the cold has already affected your brain, although it’s shocking that I can even tell the difference.’
‘Arthur, what are y...you talking about?’
Arthur shrugged off his fur and stood up. He stepped over to pick up his saddlebag and returned to Merlin.
‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Merlin. ‘Y...you’ll freeze.’
‘I’m getting us warm,’ he muttered, as he pulled more furs out from the bag.
Merlin studied him, a slightly bemused look on his face, as Arthur started to work.
He pulled Merlin to his feet, setting him against the wall, with his fur still wrapped securely around him. It was only then that he realised Merlin had been sitting on the cold ground of the cave.
‘Merlin, why aren’t you sitting on a fur?’
‘T...there weren’t enough f...f...for me as well as you.’
‘Merlin,’ he sighed, as he lay down three furs for them to sit on, ‘how often do we have to have this talk? You can’t keep putting yourself in danger to save me.’ It put a sour taste in the back of his throat every time it happened. ‘Particularly when it isn’t necessary.’
Putting a fur against the wall, he motioned for Merlin to sit down and lean against it.
‘You’re the P...prince. I thought I was supposed to put your needs b...before mine.’ He sat down without arguing.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Merlin.’ He unwrapped Merlin enough to add another blanket across Merlin’s lap and tucked it securely around him. ‘You know I don’t think that.’
‘Y...y...you may not, but...’
‘No. No, buts, Merlin. This stops.’ He sat down next to Merlin. He pulled another fur around his shoulders and one across his lap.
‘Saving you is always necessary, Arthur,’ said Merlin softly. ‘It doesn’t s...stop.’
That stilled Arthur for a moment. There was something about the way Merlin had spoken that made his chest go tight. For a moment he was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t breathe. ‘Merlin, you’re freezing to death for no other reason than pigheadedness,’ he finally choked out.
‘There were no more furs.’
Arthur looked around pointedly. ‘It looks to me like there were a few more furs.’
Merlin frowned. ‘Yeah. About that; I never packed them.’
‘No, I did.’ To cover his unease of admitting such a thing, he slipped his arm around Merlin’s waist and pulled him flush to Arthur’s side, which, he remembered belatedly, just changed his reason for feeling uncomfortable.
‘Arthur, what are you doing now?’ exclaimed Merlin, pushing uselessly against Arthur’ chest and trying to move away. Arthur suspected it was a rather half-hearted attempt, seeing as Merlin wasn’t even moving his legs.
‘Sharing body warmth, so stop wiggling.’ He tightened his hold on Merlin. ‘You’re letting the cold air in,’ he complained.
Merlin immediately stopped moving but he remained tense. ‘Umm.’
Arthur tugged at him gently, trying to ignore the flare of pain that shot through his chest at the thought that Merlin didn’t want to be near him. ‘Merlin, relax. You’re not going anywhere.’
And if Arthur had any say over it, Merlin would never leave his side, ever. But he knew it wasn’t his decision. He knew that Merlin would die for him; would do anything to help him or save his life, the same as Arthur would do for Merlin. He knew that what he and Merlin had was the deepest and most meaningful friendship either of them had ever had. What he didn’t know was how deep it ran for Merlin, because - and, god, he never thought he’d be saying these words - he had no idea what was going through Merlin’s mind. The one time he would like Merlin to be the open book he usually was, was naturally the one time he learnt how to hide what he was thinking.
There were times when Arthur was convinced that Merlin was as taken with him as he was with Merlin - the unnecessary touches meant to calm and reassure him, the concerned glances when he thought Arthur wasn’t watching him, the looks of shared amusement when something inappropriate amused them, the whole thing with saving his life using magic whilst Uther was still King. But then there were moments when Merlin seemed so innocent and naive that Arthur couldn’t believe that he had any feelings for Arthur beyond friendship.
Merlin snorted, but he did relax slightly and hesitantly rested his head on Arthur’s shoulder.
Pulling a final fur tightly around them, Arthur curled into Merlin. Giving in to temptation, Arthur rested his cheek against Merlin’s hair. He could feel faint tremors travelling through Merlin’s body.
‘I’m c...cold,’ he mumbled.
‘Give it a moment. You’ll warm up,’ Arthur promised. With his spare hand he rubbed gently up and down Merlin’s arm.
‘Why am I so cold and yet you seem fine?’
‘Evidently I’m made of sterner stuff,’ he murmured.
‘Prat.’
‘I’m serious. You’re all skin and bones. No wonder you can’t retain any body heat. Also sitting on the freezing ground is the very height of stupidity if you want to remain warm.’
‘Point taken,’ grumbled Merlin. ‘And hey, why did you pack those furs? Not that I’m complaining, you understand.’
‘Merlin, you complain about everything. Why would now be any different?’
‘I don’t...’ He shifted his head so he could see Arthur’s face and narrowed his eyes. ‘...hey! Don’t try and change the subject. I’m freezing, not stupid.’
‘Well, that’s a matter of opin-’
‘Arthur,’ interrupted Merlin.
Arthur sighed and settled in against the wall, relaxing slightly and pressing his hand against Merlin’s side. He knew he was going to have to say something. Merlin was relentless once he got something on his mind and it wasn’t like Arthur could go anywhere. Not if he wanted to remain warm himself and keep an eye on Merlin.
‘I was just being prepared for any eventuality,’ he finally settled on.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Arthur opened his mouth to reply but his brain went momentarily offline when Merlin slipped his arm across Arthur’s stomach. His hand settled on a small patch of skin where Arthur’s shirt had ridden up. Arthur dragged a deep breath far into his lungs, trying to remain steady. It was getting increasingly difficult for Arthur to ignore how Merlin affected him.
Merlin nudged his leg with a knee. ‘Arthur, what did you mean?’
Arthur slouched a little bit further down the wall, and Merlin’s hand slipped a little bit further under his shirt. Merlin didn’t seem to notice and Arthur suppressed a small smile. It was a dangerous game he was playing, but he deserved something to keep him distracted while nearly freezing in a dank cave miles away from home.
‘Well, this was kind of inevitable, wasn’t it?’ he said before Merlin could prompt him again.
‘What was?’
‘This.’
‘What? Having to take shelter in a cave about a day’s ride from Camelot because it’s too late to ride back and a cold front was coming in fast?’
He nodded, despite Merlin not being able to see him. ‘Yes. That.’
‘You packed a saddlebag full of furs on the off chance that we might not get back to Camelot before it became dark?’
Arthur shrugged. ‘Kind of.’
Merlin fit himself closer to Arthur’s side and Arthur’s eyes fluttered shut involuntarily. ‘What does ‘kind of’ mean?’
‘It wasn’t like I expected it to happen today,’ he muttered. Because, really, with the amount of trouble that Merlin managed to attract, how had they managed to not get stranded before this night?
‘You had that saddlebag packed just in case,’ said Merlin slowly, as though he were trying to figure something out.
‘Yes.’ He refused to be embarrassed for his foresight and being prepared.
Merlin pulled back to look him in the face, a perplexed expression on his face. ‘Why?’
‘Because, Merlin, unexpected things happen when you’re around.’ He resisted the urge to trace his fingers down Merlin’s face, which was shockingly close to his. Merlin hadn’t really hadn’t pulled far enough away, just enough so he could see Arthur’s eyes.
‘So, surely you should never have expected this?’
‘Don’t be so damn contrary.’
‘You like me contrary,’ replied Merlin, a smile tugging at his lips. ‘You’d get bored if I stopped being contrary.’
Seeing as it was true, Arthur elected to say nothing at all. ‘Obviously you’ve stopped feeling cold if you have the energy to be so difficult.’
Merlin’s eyes widened comically in horror. He shook his head quite vigorously. ‘Nope, I’m still cold; freezing, if you must know.’ He dropped his head back onto Arthur’s shoulder and managed to wiggle closer still. They were such a tangle of limbs now that Arthur had little idea of where he ended and Merlin began.
‘You should get some sleep,’ he murmured into Merlin’s hair.
‘Only if you get some too,’ shot back Merlin.
‘Someone has to keep watch.’
‘Arthur, there is nothing moving out there. Anything not about to freeze to death from exposure is already squirreled away, out of the cold. Nothing is going to attack us.’
‘Fine. I’ll sleep. Happy now?’
‘Ecstatic,’ mumbled Merlin sarcastically.
They sat, cuddled together, in companionable silence. Merlin’s fingers traced patterns on Arthur’s hip until he fell asleep. Arthur, for his part, forced himself to stay awake for longer, wanting to savour every moment of Merlin sleeping, curled up in his arms. He had a sneaking suspicion that after tonight he was going to find it impossible to keep his hands off Merlin because now he knew what it felt like to have Merlin sleep next to him. He’d really quite like to have Merlin sleep next to him on a more than regular basis.
Eventually he must have dozed off, but he awoke, groggily, to a cold cave, with the dawn beginning to break outside. Merlin was still next to him, their bodies tangled together, but he was awake and tracing patterns on Arthur’s chest.
‘Morning.’
‘Oh, uh, you’re awake,’ Merlin stammered, snatching his hand back, but otherwise not moving, much to Arthur’s relief.
Arthur was obviously still not properly awake because he grabbed Merlin’s hand before it got very far and, lacing their fingers together, he brought it back to rest on his chest. He felt strangely content, and wished that they were in his bed and didn’t have to go anywhere. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. They had to get back to Camelot, and Arthur would really prefer to be back before they were missed.
‘If we leave within the hour, we should be back at Camelot just before dusk falls,’ he said. However, he made no effort to actually push Merlin away and stand up.
‘We might actually need to move for that to work,’ said Merlin. He still sounded rather sleepy and content with where he was.
‘I think I might rather like it here,’ said Arthur, rubbing his thumb over Merlin’s wrist.
Merlin pulled back from him, blinking. ‘Did you hit your head or something last night, and not tell me?’ He reached behind Arthur’s head and ran his fingers over the back of Arthur’s hair, evidently looking for a bump.
‘Of course not.’ He wrapped his fingers around Merlin’s wrist and gently pulled his hand away, although it took a considerable amount of willpower to do so. ‘Why would you think that?’
‘You said you prefer this damp and unpleasant cave to your room with your unnecessarily huge bed. I think that counts as strange and unusual behaviour for you.’
‘Merlin, a bed can never be too big,’ Arthur told him seriously. ‘And I never said I preferred the cave, because clearly that would be idiotic, and that’s more your area of expertise.’
Merlin frowned. ‘But-’
‘Oh, shut up, Merlin,’ sighed Arthur. ‘I’m warm and surprisingly comfortable and I really don’t want to go back outside into the cold.’
‘Well, I suppose that compared to outside this could be considered comfortable,’ said Merlin, sounding dubious.
Arthur rolled his eyes. ‘Well, come on. You’ve spoilt the moment, so let’s get ready to leave.’ He kicked off his furs, shivering as the still cold air took their place.
‘I spoilt the moment?’ repeated Merlin. ‘What moment? There was a moment?’
‘Apparently not,’ Arthur muttered to himself. He was going to be old and grey before Merlin stopped being so damn oblivious all the time.
‘And what was this moment for?’ asked Merlin, standing up and following Arthur outside. Merlin really was the most clueless person Arthur had ever met.
‘Merlin, it’s not important. Now, pack all these furs away and get the horses ready. I’d quite like a hot meal tonight and that isn’t going to happen if we hang about here all day.’
‘You were the one who wanted to cuddle all day in bed,’ muttered Merlin as he walked back into the cave.
‘What did you say?’ asked Arthur, knowing that Merlin hadn’t meant for him to hear.
‘N...nothing, Arthur,’ stammered Merlin. Arthur could only imagine how red he was. ‘I’m just going to...uh - I’ll be in here. Packing.’
Arthur grinned to himself. ‘And put on another shirt before you come back out here. I don’t want you catching a cold and making me ill as well.’
Note: thisissirius would like me to do a companion piece from Merlin's POV. I'm guessing she's not the only one?