While spending some time with his daugher Chloe (short for Charlotte) on their favorite playground Arthur runs into an old friend from his childhood Merlin.
Yes, there will be mistakes, grammar or others, Sorry for that :)
Also I do not own Merlin or any of the characters there, this amazing piece of art belongs to BBC ;)
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"Oh... and we had a new boy in the kindergarten today" Chloe was describing her day in the kindergarten while holding her dad's hand and walking towards their favorite playground
"Really? So did you make another friend then?" Arthur asked
"I think so. He just moved in this city so that's why he was new in our kindergarten" Chloe explained how come they have a new kid there.
"He moved in here? All alone? How did he manage to pay for the kindergarten then?" Arthur asked surprised, obviously joking and Chloe laughed
"No daddy... his parents went with him of course" Chloe said still amused
"Ahh... Get it" Arthur nodded
"And does this new kid have a name?"
"Yes, Mordred"
"Mordred? That's... unusual" Arthur commented.
"I think it's a cool name" Chloe said immediately
"I didn't say it's not, I just said that it's unusual... I mean... do you have any other Mordred in your kindergarten?"
"Nope"
"There you go" Arthur finished proving his point
While talking, they arrived at the playground where were a few kids with their parents running around, laughing, shouting and in general having a good time
"Alright Chloe we managed to survive the dangerous journey to this secret place... do you know what you wanna do here first?" Arthur said dramatically as if they just went miles and miles through deserts, forests and jungles to get here. He already knew what Chloe will got for first.
"Swing!" Chloe shouted excited about her favorite thing on the playground.
"Alright honey, have fun. I'll right here alright?" Arthur pointed at the bench under the tree in the shadow.
"Sure thing" Chloe already ran towards the swing
Few minutes of swinging in the begging is a rule with Chloe
Arthur smiled while looking at how happy such a simple thing as a swing can his daughter make. He went and sat down on the bench. Two mothers with their kids that were sitting on the bench next to Arthur's immediately noticed him and began to adjust their hair and clothes. Arthur was used to this of course. He is usually one of the few fathers on the playground surrounded by the mothers, single or not, and they usually notice that Arthur doesn't look bad, so they try to get his attention, but Arthur more or less ignores all of that. He and Gwen recently divorced, so he is not looking for someone else right now. Luckily Gwen doesn't try to ban Arthur from spending time with their daughter, and they both agreed on shared custody. Still, Arthur tries to spend as little time around his ex-wife as possible, because he still feels betrayed by her after he discovered that she was cheating on him. For the sake of Chloe he is being polite towards Gwen of course, because Chloe doesn't deserve to be dragged into some "parent war". One thing he and Gwen agree on is Chloe's well being comes always first before their disagreements.
Arthur was watching his daughter on the swing, as usually it looked like she is swinging higher than the other kids, because she just has more fun this way. Arthur is equally impressed and worried while watching it.
After like ten minutes Chloe hopped down from the swing and ran towards her dad. Arthur already took out a bottle from his backpack and opened it, knowing Chloe would want something to drink.
"Honey you gonna give me a heart attack, swinging that high" Arthur said almost seriously.
"But it's fun daddy" Chloe explained and drank from a bottle little bit
"I bet it is" Arthur can't argue with that logic
"And uncle Gwaine said he's going to teach me how to jump from it while I swing" Chloe told him excitedly
"Did he?" Arthur raised an eyebrow
"Of course he did" he mumbled already knowing that this is totally an "uncle Gwaine" activity
"Just promise me that you'll be careful ok?" Arthur asked his daughter
"Sure thing daddy" Chloe nodded and handed Arthur the bottle, he put it back in the backpack
"Promise high-five?" Arthur said and offered his hand and Chloe immediately high fived her dad, sealing the deal about her safety
"Daddy did you take the frisbee?" Chloe asked and looked at the backpack
"You told me to, so of course I did" Arthur said and took the red frisbee from the backpack
"I wasn't sure if you didn't forget you know" Chloe explained
"I beg you pardon?" Arthur asked insulted that his daughter is doubting his excellent memory, but the smile was ruining his seriousness and Chloe giggled
"You wanna go throw the frisbee for a bit then?" Arthur asked with a smile and Chloe nodded
"Ok, let's go over there ok? So we don't hurt anybody by accident" Arthur said, and they both moved little bit further from the playground.
They started to throw the frisbee
"Move your wrist like that honey, it's gonna go way better you'll see" Arthur was showing her the best way how to throw the frisbee and Chloe was trying to follow the instructions
"Not bad Chloe" Arthur smiled at her
"I bet I could throw it further than you now daddy" Chloe said confidently about her newly achieved skills
"Oh really?" Arthur asked and laughed little bit
"Yeah, wanna try it?" Chloe challenged him
"Of course" Arthur nodded and looked around to find the safest direction for their little competition
"This way ok?" He pointed at the direction where was nothing but some trees and bushes so there should be no one that might get hurt
"Ok, you first" Chloe said and handed him the frisbee
Arthur took the frisbee and threw it, he wasn't useing all of his power, but it still flew far enough to impress Chloe
"Wow... that's far" she admitted and Arthur smiled and waited for Chloe who already ran to get the frisbee, so she can have her turn
"Ok daddy, get ready to lose" Chloe said confidently when she got ready to throw the frisbee. Arthur smiled at his daughter's confidence.
"Ok... three... two... one!" Chloe was counting down her throw and with "one" she let go of the frisbee... unfortunately she let go too late and instead of the frisbee aiming in front of them it went more or less behind them.
Arthur almost laughed, but loud "Ouch what the...?" Interrupted his attempt for laughter. He looked behind and saw a tall, skinny man with black hair looking around himself while picking up the frisbee from the ground, so it was obvious what had happened
"Oh no" Arthur mumbled
"I didn't mean to" Chloe said quietly
"We better apologize" Arthur said and with Chloe quickly went towards the man who was still with the frisbee in his hand looking around searching for the source of that attack. He noticed Arthur and Chloe, looked at the frisbee and obviously put two and two together.
"Sorry, our bad" Arthur started to apologizing
"No, it's mine, I was throwing it" Chloe corrected her dad
"Sorry, sir" she added looking guilty
The man smiled at her
"No harm done" he said and when they got to him he handed the frisbee to Chloe
"You sure you're ok?" Arthur wanted to make sure
"Yeah... I could have kill you with it" Chloe said seriously and the man and Arthur had to chuckle
"I am alright really, trust me." He assured her
"It's no different from my school years to be honest, I wasn't good with sports, so I got hit with the ball during the sports games more than I was catching it" the man added and Arthur laughed little bit, relieved that this man takes the attack in a good mood.
The man looked at Arthur and tilted his head to the side, clearly thinking about something
"Is he ok? I think I broke him" Chloe said quietly to Arthur... well quietly in her opinion, so both Arthur and the man heard her.
"Arthur?" The man asked
"Ehm... do I... know you?" Arthur asked
"I am Merlin... Merlin Emrys" the man said with a smile
"Merlin?" Arthur remembered. Merlin was his friend until 5th grade in the elementary school, but then something went wrong in Merlin's family, so he and his mom moved out of the town and with that Merlin stopped being Arthur's friend. Arthur was sad and angry and didn't understand why people do move or why Arthur's family can't move as well, so he could still hang out with Merlin.
Merlin was always shorter than Arthur when they were kids, but now Merlin appeared to be the same height as Arthur. Also, when they were kids Merlin didn't have glasses yet, now he did.
"Daddy?" Chloe asked, wanting to know what's going on
"It an old friend of mine honey" Arthur said
"He doesn't look that old" Chloe disagreed and made Merlin and Arthur laugh a bit
"It's just an expression, it means that we were friends long time ago" Arthur explained
"Why you stopped being friends?"
"We had to move when I was a child, so we were not in touch with your dad anymore" Merlin told her
"Ah..." Chloe nodded
"Why did you move?" she asked after few seconds
"Chloe... no more questions alright?" Arthur tried to stop his daughter from this interrogation.
"It's ok" Merlin smiled
"My parents... decided not to live together anymore and my mom wanted to move from the town and I went with her" he shared with Chloe
"My parents did that too, but we didn't have to move anywhere" Chloe shared immediately
"Really? Sorry to hear that" Merlin said and looked at Arthur who unhappily smiled a bit and nodded.
"Daddy can I go on the playground again?" Chloe asked for now satisfied with the informations she got from Merlin
"Sure" Arthur nodded and Chloe ran away towards the jungle gym on the playground
"Ehm... wanna sit down for a bit?" Arthur asked and pointed at empty bench, he was clearly still little bit shocked about meeting his childhood friend
"Yeah" Merlin nodded and they went to sit down
"Sorry about the... divorce" Merlin said obviously not sure if he is in the position to talk about it
"Yeah... thanks" Arthur nodded and smiled a bit
"I hope Chloe is alright" Merlin said knowing what can a bad divorce be for a child
"Yeah she is... or at least I hope so. We're trying to bring her into that as little as possible" Arthur said and looked at his daughter who was hanging up side down on the jungle gym talking to some other kid
"That's good, great actually" Merlin nodded
"So was it... was it like mutual agreement or... oh sorry, it's totally none of my business of course" Merlin started but then stopped himself
"It's alright Merls" Arthur said without realizing the use of the old childhood nickname. Even after all those years without seeing each other, he felt that Merlin and him can talk about anything.
"And nope, it was not mutual... unless you counting me walking on her and some pretty boy from her work as mutual" Arthur shared with Merlin
"Oh shit" Merlin said
"Funny... that was exactly my first thought" Arthur said and Merlin chuckled
"My parents were fighting all the time before they finally split up... well they were fighting even after but whatever, so it's really a good thing that you and ehm..."
"Gwen"
"You and Gwen don't drag Chloe into it" Merlin shared with Arthur who smiled and nodded
"I may try to be around my ex as little as possible, but that doesn't mean I am gonna be a dick to her and in the end just ending up hurting Chloe" Arthur said and smiled at Chloe who jump down from the jungle gym and ran towards their bench.
"Good" Merlin nodded
Chloe was few meters from the bench, but tripped over something on the ground and fell down
Arthur was immediately beside her, Merlin got up and went to them as well
"Chloe, are you alright?" Arthur asked with worries
"My knee" Chloe said quietly and sniveled little bit, she wasn't crying, but there were some tears already forming in her eyes.
Arthur saw that she scratched her knee on a rock she unfortunately hit during her fall.
"May I take a look?" Merlin who squatted next to her asked
"I am a pediatrician" he quickly explained to Arthur
Chloe made uncertain noise
"How good friend was he?" she asked Arthur whether she should show her injury to Merlin or not
"The best friend" Arthur said immediately, and he was not lying.
Merlin smiled little bit at Arthur's words, but was more focused on the injured child
"Ok..." Chloe mumbled and let Merlin see her injured knee
"Thanks" Merlin smiled at her and started doing his job
"So?" Chloe asked quietly
"We should clean it up, but otherwise you'll be just fine Chloe" Merlin informed her
"Good" Arthur nodded with a relief and caressed Chloe's cheek and wiped off a tear that was there
"We could go my place and I could take care of that there, I live... literally over there" Merlin offered them and pointed at apartment complex that was on the corner of the street
"Really? We probably should not bother you like that... my place is not that far from here so..." Arthur began
"Arthur, please. If I didn't want it I would not be offering it" Merlin stopped him
"What do you think Chloe?" Arthur asked
"That I don't want to have it clean up... it's gonna hurt" she mumbled
Merlin knowing this very well smiled
"It will not, promise, you will not even notice it" he said
"Promise?" Chloe asked and Merlin nodded
"Promise high-five?" she said and offered her small hand
Merlin looked over at Arthur who quickly motioned that Merlin has to seal the promise with high five
"Promise high-five" Merlin smiled and high fived Chloe
"Ok" Chloe mumbled and wanted to stand up, but the knee still hurt so Arthur picked her up and carried her. Merlin offered to take Arthur's backpack, and they all went to Merlin's place.
"It better doesn't hurt for real, cos otherwise you're screwed Merlin, you high fived so..." Arthur said quietly to Merlin
"Relax, I am the doctor here" Merlin chuckled
They entered the building and got in the elevator
"Oh... I have to warn you, we just moved in so there are boxes everywhere, and I am sure that Killy managed to destroy something while no one was there"
"Who's Killi?"
"We?"
Chloe and Arthur asked at the same time
"Killi is our cat, short for kilgharrah my son came up with that name, don't ask me how" Merlin answered Chloe's first
"Yeah, yes we, my wife and son" he went to answering to Arthur who nodded
"You have a cat?" Chloe asked excitedly and Merlin nodded
"That's cool, I would want a cat, but daddy doesn't want to" Chloe complained
"Mommy doesn't eider?" Merlin asked
"She is allergic to cats" Chloe said
"Lucky her" Arthur mumbled quietly, but Merlin heard it and laughed
"Why don't you want a cat Arthur?" Merlin asked and the elevator stopped on Merlin's floor
"Because... just... they... you know" Arthur (not)answered while stepping out of the elevator and following Merlin to the right door
"Maybe Killi will change your mind" Merlin chuckled while unlocking the door
"Please come in" he smiled and gestured them to go inside
"You... were not kidding, you really just moved in" Arthur said when he saw all the boxes all over the place, some half unpack, some still duck taped, some already empty
"It looks awesome, like some maze" Chloe said
"You should keep it this way" she advised him
"Yeah? I am sure my son would love it, he already stole one big box and made a castle out of it for him. But not so sure about my wife, she would probably prefer for us to actually be able to move in here" Merlin smiled.
"Where is your cat?" Chloe asked and while looking around
"Good question..." Merlin mumbled and tried to see some movement
"He will show up soon, don't worry" he assured her
"Go and sit down, please. I will be right back" he pointed at the sofa with some boxes on it, but there was still a room for one or two people to sit on and then disappeared in other room.
Arthur carefully moved between the boxes not wanting to knock something over. Without any accident he made it to the sofa and sat Chloe on it
Arthur was curiously looking around the apartment when suddenly he felt something at his foot. He looked down and saw long haired tabby cat
"Oh... hey you" he said, before Chloe could ask who is her dad talking to Killi jump up on the sofa
"Hey Killi" she said with a happy smile and petted the cat
Merlin was coming back with a first aid box in his hand
"See, I knew he will show up" Merlin smiled, moved one box from a coffee table that was in front of the sofa and sat down on it.
"You gonna stand there the whole time Arthur?" Merlin asked amused while opening the first aid box
Arthur sat down next to Chloe and Killi immediately end up on his lap, Merlin chuckled at that
"You have to pet him now" Merlin informed him
"Yeah daddy, his fur is so soft you wouldn't believe it" Chloe nodded
"Alright" Arthur rolled his eyes in defeat and run his hand thought Killi's fur
Killi started to purr happily and made himself more comfortable on Arthur's lap.
"See? You're natural cat person, you'll probably gonna end up with like ten cats after this" Merlin said with a cheeky grin.
"I am sure that funny was never your specially Merls, so better don't try it" Arthur mumbled with a little smile on his face.
"Alright, anyway. We should take a look at that knee of yours Chloe, right?" Merlin
"I mean... you don't have to" Chloe tried to reason with the doctor
"I promised it will not hurt didn't I?" Merlin reminded her
"You did" she nodded
"And I wasn't lying" Merlin said seriously
"Alright" Chloe mumbled, obviously not thrilled about the treatment that will came
Merlin was used to that when was in the "Doctor mode" kids were not really happy about him, so he just smiled at her a began to look for the things he needs in the first aid box.
Arthur was watching Merlin while was he working, and he could tell that he is probably an excellent Doctor, if Merlin's sure movements and the fact that Chloe seemed to be calm were something to judge by.
"So... does it hurt honey?" Arthur asked her while Merlin continued his work. Chloe shook her head
"So Merlin probably wasn't lying about being doctor just to impress us then" Arthur joked and Chloe laughed
"Like I would want to impress you Art" Merlin mumbled amused, but still was more focusing on what he was doing
"Is your wife a doctor too?" Chloe asked
"No, she is a nurse" Merlin told her
"Is she yours nurse?"
"Yes, yes she is" Merlin nodded and smiled
"So you two work together?" Arthur decided to join Chloe's interrogation.
"That's right" Merlin nodded again
"Isn't it a bit problematic? I mean to manage a child and genereally things at home when you both are working in the healthcare?" Arthur asked curiously
"No, not really. We dont work at the hospital anymore, but on the clinic so there are no night shifts or things like that" Merlin explained
"Right" Arthur nodded
"Did you two meet in a hospital?" he asked, not realizing that he's probably being worst then his daughter right now
"At the University" Merlin smiled
"Wow and stayed together since then? That's... impressive" Arthur admitted and Merlin laughed a bit
"Alright Chloe... now the most important thing. We have to put a plaster on it so it stays clean for now" Merlin said
"Which one would you like?" He asked her and showed her bunch of plasters with different pictures on them
"Ehm..." Chloe clearly didn't know which one to pick and Arthur knew that pointing out that the plaster will probably not stay on her knee for a long time was useless.
"Take your time" Merlin said seriously, obviously going through this on a daily basis, so he knew how important choice this is for a child.
"This one" Chloe picked the one with little pictures of penguins and pandas. Arthur had no idea what had panda and penguin in common, but they were cute looking pictures he had to admit that.
"Good choice" Merlin approved and finished up Chloe's treating by putting the plaster on her knee
"All done little lady"
"Thanks doctor Merlin" Chloe smiled and looked if the panda-penguin plaster was truly the right choice. It was she decided.
"Thank you, Merlin" Arthur said
"It was nothing" Merlin assured him
"We should probably go, I think that we hold you up enough already" Arthur started and wanted to pick up the cat that was still on his lap
"Don't be stupid Arthur, no one is telling you to go" Merlin rolled his eyes
"I know but..." Arthur wanted to make another argument, but the door to the flat opened and a little boy ran in the room
"Dad, we're back, and we saw a lizard" the boy immediately started to describing his and his mom's journey while going through his path in the box-maze to get to his dad.
"Really? That's amazing" Merlin smiled when his son got to him
"Chloe... what happened to you?" Merlin's son asked when he noticed her, because she and Arthur were not really being seen behind the boxes until now.
"I tripped in the park" Chloe said
"But your dad was there Mordred, so he helped me" she added
"You two know each other?" Merlin and Arthur asked
"I told you that we had a new boy in the kindergarten daddy" Chloe reminded him
"Yeah, Chloe borrowed me her toy while we were playing" Mordred nodded and ran off towards their kitchen
Arthur and Merlin looked at each other and just had to laugh
"I guess that we would meet eventually even if Chloe didn't hit you with the frisbee" Arthur said
"Like father like daughter" Merlin mumbled
"You were very good at throwing things at me too Arthur, just don't pretend you don't remember" he added
"No Merlin, you were just really useless at catching those things" Arthur corrected him
Mordred got back with two popsicles he ran to get from the freezer
"When I got hurt this helps" he told and gave one to Chloe
"Thanks Mordred" Chloe said thrilled. Merlin smiled at his son and ruffled his hair
Arthur noticed that Mordred looks very similar to his father
"Mordred this is Arthur, a friend of mine"
"Hi I am Mordred" Mordred waved at Arthur who waved back at him
"Daddy can I show Chloe my castle?" Mordred asked
"Sure, if Arthur still doesn't think that they should go now" Merlin nodded and looked at Arthur
"Daddy... can we please stay for a bit longer?" Chloe used her best puppy look to convince her dad, who didn't really need that much of a convincing to be honest.
"Of course" Arthur nodded and Chloe hopped down from the sofa and followed Mordred to his room
The door to the flat opened again, and a woman walked in, she was going through some letters, which was the reason why she was behind her son
Arthur gently took Killi from his lap and stood up. Merlin of course stood up too
"Oh... hello" Merlin's wife smiled at Arthur when she noticed him
"Freya this is Arthur a friend of mine, and Arthur this is Freya" Merlin introduced them, and they went to shake their hands
"Nice to meet you" Arthur smiled at her
"Nice to meet you too" Freya replied
"What brings you to this carton mess Arthur?" Freya asked friendly and pointed at the many boxes around.
"I was in the park with my daughter, she tripped and hurt her knee little bit so Merlin offered that he could treat it" Arthur explained.
"I hope it's nothing serious" Freya looked at Merlin
"No, just a scratch, nothing more. She is playing with Mordred now, apparently they knew each others from the kindergarten already" Merlin told her wife
"Really? Mordred was telling me about some little girl that was sharing her toys with him, it must have been her then" Freya nodded
"Yeah, it probably was Chloe" Arthur nodded
"Chloe, it's a nice name" Freya smiled
"Thanks, I like Mordred as well, but I will say that it's usual, how did you came up with that?" Arthur asked
"We... I think we just saw it somewhere, and we both liked it, right honey?" Freya looked at her husband who nodded
"I would like to talk with you Arthur, but I am afraid that I should start unpacking because otherwise we will actually end up living surrounded by boxes" Freya excused herself
"No problem" Arthur smiled and Freya took a box with a label "kitchen" on it "kitchen"
"Don't you want to help with that?" Arthur offered immediately.
"Arthur you're a guest here" Freya laughed
"Yeah... but I will not get Chloe from here for at least an hour and I don't want just sit here and more likely to get in the way" Arthur said
"Well... we could actually use some help, we just moved here and don't know anyone in this town we could ask to help us out with it" Freya admitted
"Well, now you do" Arthur smiled
"But only if it's really not a problem for you" Freya wanted to make sure
"Don't worry, after the divorce I had to pack and unpack a few boxes too, but I had some friends to help with it" Arthur assured her that he really wants to help them
"Oh... alright then" Freya said surprised by that new information about Arthur's personal life, but didn't want to poke into it since they met few minutes ago
"Very well then, but you will stay with Chloe for a dinner. It's going to be a delivery I am afraid, the kitchen is still all over the boxes" Freya insisted
"Alright then" Arthur accepted Freya's conditions.
"Thank you, Arthur, I'll go unpack the kitchen alright?" Freya smiled and after Merlin and Arthur nodded she went make their kitchen little bit more function.
"Thanks Arthur, really" Merlin said gratefully.
"Take it as a payment for you helping out Chloe" Arthur smiled
"It was nothing, but ok" Merlin said and looked around to see where they should began
"I thing that we could start with the study?" Merlin suggested
"Sure, just tell me what goes where I guess" Arthur nodded
"Well... these boxes should all be the books, so we can just take them there and put them by the wall or something, I would put them in the bookshelf later that could wait, but now it would be good if we just make some space in here" Merlin pointed at group of boxes
"Alright" Arthur nodded and picked up one of the boxes Merlin was talking about. Merlin grabbed another and showed Arthur where the study is. They put the boxes down and Arthur looked around the room. At one of the walls was a big, for now empty, book shelf. A desk with laptop was by the window with a family picture in the frame on it already, but other than that the room was pretty much empty for now.
"I don't suppose that these two boxes were the only ones with the books" Arthur said while looking at the big book shelf.
"Sorry but no" Merlin apologized
"Yeah... typical nerd" Arthur mumbled, and he and Merlin laughed
"Let's go get the rest and then tell me what next ok?" Arthur said and walked out of the room
"I remember you being more bossy than this, it's a nice change" Merlin noted while following Arthur back to the living/storage room
"What? I think that you confuse me with someone else Merls" Arthur disagreed almost seriously.
"I wound't say so" Merlin shook his head and grinned
"Sure, over there is just fine thank you, Chloe. Isn't it too heavy for you honey?" Freya said with a smile
Arthur noticed that now are in the kitchen with Freya Mordred and Chloe as well. It looked like they joined in helping with the unpacking too. Arthur smiled when he saw Chloe helping their new friends.
"No auntie Freya" Chloe replied immediately and continued in her task
Freya noticed Merlin and Arthur being back in the room
"I hope you don't mind that we brought Chloe into this as well" Freya wanted to make sure
"Not at all Freya, the more people will help out the sooner it will be done right?" Arthur assured her that everything is just fine and Freya smiled at him, but then got back to unpacking
"Mordred could you and Chloe unpack this box please, I am sure you two will be done with it in no time" Freya handed her son one of the boxes and said where the things will go
"Sure thing mommy" Mordred immediately nodded and along with Chloe began to unpack the box
Arthur picked up another box full of the books and carried it to the study where Merlin was already putting down his own box he carried here.
"Looks like we enslaved the whole Pendragon family now huh?" Merlin smiled at him.
"Looks like it" Arthur nodded with a smile as well and put down the box. Merlin was looking at the boxes
"There should be just two more boxes... with the books that goes in here I mean" Merlin noted while looking at the boxes
"Great" Arthur nodded and together with Merlin they brought the last two boxes in the study. After that Arthur followed Merlin back in the living room.
"Alright, what's next?" Arthur asked
"The closet that will be in our bedroom would be probably a good thing to put together, so we can stop looking for our clothes in the boxes" Merlin said and pointed at bigger cardboard boxes with the closet pieces waiting for being build up.
"Ok" Arthur nodded
"Auntie Freya said you two should drink something after all the caring of those boxes" Chloe walked over to them with one glass of water and Mordred followed her with another, the kids gave them the glasses and ran back to unpack other box
"Thanks Freya/ Thank you honey" the men appreciated it because they were really thirsty and drank the water.
"Let's get in the building shall we?" Arthur said and Merlin nodded. Together they moved the boxes with the parts that gonna hopefully make a closet in the bedroom.
"We gonna need a screwdriver" Arthur mumbled while looking in the instructions
"Yep, it should still be in here, because we were putting the bed together yesterday" Merlin mumbled and looked around until he did find what he needed
"When did you move in by the way" Arthur asked
"Three days ago, the moving company helped move in the furniture in the living room and in the study when they brought it...and yesterday we wanted to finish Mordred's room first so that was bigger part of that day's moving process, then we managed to put together the bed, and then we were just done with the unpacking for that day" Merlin told him and Arthur nodded
"Ok then, so step one..." Arthur started to read the manual and they began to build
"So is your ex-wife with that guy now or was it just one time deal?" Merlin asked while working
"They're together" Arthur said quietly while looking at the next step in the manual
"How is Chloe feeling about him?"
Arthur chuckled little bit, but it was not happy at all
"I think that most of our fights with Gwen now are about Chloe not being really excited about Lance, because she thinks that I talk bad about him and therefor influencing Chloe's opinion bout him" he explained
"And are you?" Merlin asked
"I couldn't care less about him, wouldn't waste my time with talking about him" Arthur mumbled
"I am not surprised that Chloe doesn't like him... I mean I never liked my father's new girlfriend, because in the end of his and mum's marriage that woman was the reason why dad left" Merlin said
"Yeah... you should try to talk to Gwen, because she thinks that Chloe is way too young to have opinions about people or deciding whether she likes someone or not yet" Arthur said
"Quite the opposite actually, kids have really no problem with that, and they will not pretend to like someone they don't. That's something adults do, but kids are really honest in this" Merlin told him
"I am sure about it" Arthur nodded
"I am sure that I don't have to say that, but if you or Chloe would ever need something then... all you have to do is ask" Merlin said and Arthur looked at him with a silent gratitude.
"So you not planning on moving away again?" Arthur asked with a little smile and Merlin laughed
"No way no... this carton hell was one time deal I am planning on unpack the last box and never do this again" Merlin assured him
"Good" Arthur smiled happily and Merlin returned the smile
"I didn't want to go by the way" Merlin said quietly
"But my mom didn't want to stay in the same town as my dad and his new girlfriend, so... she chose to leave that place" he added
"Merlin you don't have to explain anything, really" Arthur assured him
"And I actually get why your mom didn't want to stay there. I mean when I see Lance with Gwen... it doesn't feel nice. It's like I was not good enough... or that he gave her something I didn't and should have"
"Did Gwen told you what was it that made her... you know" Merlin asked carefully
"No, not really, which is probably even worst actually. When I asked her if there was any reason for that, she never could find any answer to give me" Arthur replied.
Merlin nodded, but didn't say anything else
Arthur was wondering why is it so easy to talk to Merlin who he hadn't seen for ages about this thing, because Arthur usually avoids this topic when his friends bring it up.
"Good job" Arthur nodded and high fived with Merlin when 30 minutes later the closet was standing against the wall
"I doubt I would be done with it that quickly if I would be doing it on my own" Merlin admitted
"I don't doubt that you would not Merlin, you would probably be still at the step one if it wasn't for me" Arthur said seriously, but they both ended up laughing.
When they got back in the living room the place looked way less "boxes everywhere!" than before
"It's finally starting to look like an apartment and not like a storage room" Freya said when she noticed them
"It really does" Merlin nodded
"Wait, are you done with the closet already?" she asked surprised
"Freya please... you're looking at two very handy... one very handy man here alright?" Arthur said almost insulted about her doubts of their building skills
"Hey... what are you trying to say by just one?" Merlin asked
"You would not be such a hero if you didn't had the instructions alright?" he added
"Whoever build it, with or without the manual thank you" Freya said to both of them
"You're welcome" the men said at the same time and Freya just laughed, took another box and went to put it in their bedroom
"Dad, the kitchen is all done!" Mordred informed him
"Really? That's amazing" Merlin smiled
"How about you take care of this box with your toys and find some proper places in your room then?" Merlin grabbed box labeled "toys"
"Ok, let's go Chloe" Mordred nodded and along with Chloe ran to his room. Merlin brought the box to them and put it on the floor. Mordred's room was practically done. All the furniture was on the right places and all, because Merlin and Freya wanted his room to be done as soon as possible, so their son might start to feel like home.
"Wow... your toys are cool!" Chloe said when they opened the box
"Thanks" Mordred smiled and decided that the quickest way of doing this will be to turn the box up side down and spill them all on the floor
Merlin watched it with a smile knowing that he would do the same thing if he was at Mordred's age
"Alright guys, get into it ok?" he said and left the room, hoping that they will actually clean up the toys and put them on the shelves or in the toy box and not end up playing with them.
When he got back in the living room Arthur was opening one of the boxes
"Freya said that we should build the shelf that will be in here" he told Merlin his wife's instructions she gave him while passing by before disappearing with some box when he noticed him
"Yeah... that might be actually last bigger piece of furniture, so we could get over with it" Merlin nodded and went to help Arthur with it.
"You know... I am really fricking happy that you and Chloe almost killed me with the deadly frisbee" Merlin mumbled focused on putting the shelf together, Arthur snorted in amusement
"Obviously beside running into you again, you helping us settle down is a huge help, cos it might take way longer with just me and Freya here" Merlin added
"It's not a problem at all. Like I said when I was moving out my pals were helping me with it... I kinda don't want to imagine doing all of it by my self" Arthur said
"You probably did let them do all the work didn't ya?" Merlin smirked and Arthur laughed and then made "oh no, I just realized something" face
"Arthur?" Merlin asked little bit concern
"You... can not meet up with Gwaine... if you two would be in the same room there is no way you would not team up against me" Arthur said almost seriously
"Oh... well now I need to meet him, he sounds like a fine guy" Merlin shook his head in disagreement
"Oh... you'll take your words back trust me" Arthur mumbled
"But I guess that you'll meet him sooner or later anyway... or at least hear a story or two about uncle Gwaine from Chloe" he added and Merlin smiled
"I really wish Leon or Percival were the favorite uncles because they don't have such idiotic ideas like Gwaine does" Arthur complained and Merlin laughed
"He can't be that bad"
"That can only say someone who never met him" Arthur chuckled
"But he is great with Chloe, I will not deny that" he added
"See? at least something right?" Merlin pointed out and Arthur nodded. After another 15 minutes later the shelf was proudly standing by the wall.
"Well done gentlemen" Freya complimented them when she walked in the room
"How is Mordred and Chloe doing?" Merlin asked
"They are done" Freya told him
"Really?" Merlin asked
"Yes, I let them play for now, so they started to make a castle from the box for Killi now" Freya told them and Merlin and Arthur laughed a bit.
"You know... cats are really great aren't they?" Merlin asked his wife, who looked confused about that question. Arthur didn't.
"Merlin..." he warned him
"What's going on?" Freya asked
"Nothing" Arthur said quickly
"Yeah... just Arthur for some reason doesn't want a cat" Merlin explained
"Well, you were not so sure about having a cat eider honey" Freya reminded him
"But then I changed my mind when we brought Killi at home didn't I?"
"Leave it on Arthur Merlin" Freya said to her husband.
"Thank you" Arthur nodded
"Fine... but they are really cool animals..."
"Darling..."
"Sorry Freya"
"Where are the boxes with the things that goes to the living room?" Freya asked and looked around.
"They.... are... here" Merlin looked around and pointed at the boxes
"Great, I'll get into it" Freya nodded
"I might deal with the boxes with the books in the study then" Merlin nodded realizing that there is not much else to do now
"Arthur? Wanna come with me and actually help with something?" Merlin asked with a cheeky grin
"Yeah I should, shouldn't I?" Arthur said and followed him.
On their way to the study they were passing Mordred's room and saw the kids on the floor in the middle of the castle building
"We could use a duck tape so it will stay together" Chloe was saying
"Good idea I'll get some" Mordred agreed and jump on his feet and ran to get it. While running out of his room he could not stop in time before bumping into Arthur who caught him so the little boy didn't end up on the floor
"Sorry uncle Arthur" Mordred quickly apologized
"It's ok" Arthur smiled
"Haven't you and daddy use the duck tape?" Mordred asked
"I... no, sorry" Arthur replied
"In the kitchen... somewhere, ask mommy where is it ok?" Merlin shouted from the end of the hall. Mordred didn't waste anymore time and ran to get the duck tape.
Arthur just chuckled and followed Merlin in the study.
"I guess that we both are proud parents of super active children huh?" Arthur pointed out because Chloe rarely stays on one spot for a longer time.
"Absolutely" Merlin nodded while taking the books from the box and putting them in the bookshelf.
"Do you have any order in it or..." Arthur asked while he was opening another box full of books
"No, not really" Merlin shook his head
"Alright... do you want me to take care of the top shelves?" Arthur asked and Merlin looked at him
"Unless... your fear of hights is... not a problem anymore" Arthur added uncertainly
"How can you remember it?" Merlin didn't understand
"Well hard to forget you refusing to climb down from the tree because it was too high for you" Arthur smiled and Merlin laughed
"Yeah... I guess... I never actually realized how much I hate hights until I was up there" Merlin nodded
"It got better now, I mean I don't have problem with the top shelves here, but I wouldn't probably climb any tree if it wasn't absolutely necessary" he added
"Nothing wrong with that Merls" Arthur assured him and began to putting the books on the shelves
"Have you actually read all of these by the way?" Arthur asked during their work
"You think that I am the type of guy that just buys books to impress people?" Merlin chuckled
"I mean... you can tell me if you are" Arthur said, and they both laughed
"No Arthur, I actually read these, believe it or not" Merlin assured him
Arthur continued at his work, but stopped when he saw a familiar looking book at the bottom on the box. He picked it up to take a closer look at it. It was the hound of the Baskerviles, a book Arthur borrowed Merlin and Merlin never manged to return. Arthur was sure that it's the same book.
"Look what I've found Merlin" Arthur said and showed the book to Merlin who looked at it and smiled little bit.
"I was hoping I would be able to return it one day" Merlin said
"Took you long enough" Arthur complained and rolled his eyes, but they both laughed
Arthur put the book on the shelf
"It's yours Arthur" Merlin reminded him
"Consider that you had it over a decade I think that it belongs to you now" Arthur disagreed and Merlin smiled at him.
"I never asked what you do, did I?" Merlin realized
Arthur looked at Merlin with a serious expression
"If I tell you I'll have to kill you Merlin" he said, which made Merlin laugh and Arthur couldn't keep a straight face eider and had to laugh as well
"Alright, alright I am a fitness instructor in a gym I own in the town" Arthur gave up
"You own a gym? That's cool" Merlin smiled
"Yeah, Avalon. You and Freya should visit it someday" Arthur said immediately.
"We definitely will, we were going to the gym in our old town, and we are planning on continue with it in here as well" Merlin nodded
"Awesome" Arthur
"We also have some activities for the kids, so they don't have to just sit at home all day and all" Arthur told him
"Really? That's really great, Mordred is gonna love it, he has lots of energy" Merlin said immediately.
"Yeah, Chloe is going to some of them as well so at least he might know someone there already" Arthur nodded
"Wait... Avalon? I think we were passing by it when we were driving in here actually" Merlin realized
"If you were on the lakeland street then it truly was my gym" Arthur nodded and Merlin nodded
"It looked really pretty on the outside" he said
"Looks even better on the inside, trust me" Arthur assured him
"What does?" Freya who just walked in asked
"You remember the gym we were passing by?" Merlin asked and Freya nodded
"Guess who is the owner" Merlin said and looked at Arthur
"Really?" Freya asked and Arthur nodded
"I already told Merlin and you two are more than welcome there" he told her
"And apparently they have some activities for the kids as well" Merlin shared with her
"That's great" Freya smiled
"I am kinda starting to think that us moving here would be a big fail if you didn't show up Arthur" Freya joked and Arthur laughed
"Anyway, I unpacked the paintings and I wanted to know if you want any of them in here?" Freya asked and looked at her husband
"Yes, definitely. The one with the forest... unless you want it elsewhere?" Merlin nodded and asked
"Nope, it's all yours" Freya shook her head and Merlin nodded and walked out of the room probably to get the painting. Freya wanted to follow him, but then she stopped and turned to Arthur
"Chloe said that you would be ok with pizza and that you would want Hawaii, so I just want to make sure of" she told him
"Yeah, it's perfect thank you" Arthur nodded and Freya smiled and left the room. Merlin entered the room seconds later with a painting in his hands
"Do you wanna hang it now?" Arthur asked
"Yeah... I think above the desk might be good" Merlin nodded
"Will you? Or do you want me to do it?" Arthur asked
"This, is actually something I am capable of doing" Merlin boasted proudly
"Alright then" Arthur nodded and went back to emptying the boxes with the books
Merlin put the picture down and went to get the things he's gonna need, meanwhile Arthur successfully finished another box. 3 more left he noticed and opened another. Merlin got back and began to hanging the picture on the wall. He was done with it in no time and went back to unpacking the books.
Arthur's phone started to ring in pocket
"Yes? Gwaine hi what do you need? ... I don't know Gwaine ask Leon or Percy if they will switch their shifts with you... Ok Percy will, so why are you calling me then? ... Yeah I am sure you were trying to be a good employee... There we go... yeah I guess you can borrow my car, but don't you even think about... Gwaine? Gwaine?" Arthur just signed and put the phone back in his pocket. Merlin laughed little bit.
"Troubles?" he asked
"Oh... just Gwaine being Gwaine. Calling me pretending to discuss his shifts at the gym when in reality wanting to take my car to undoubtedly impress one of his love affairs" Arthur said with "that's normal" expression
"He works at the gym as well?" Merlin asked
"Yeah. But don't get me wrong, he is really great at what he is doing. He knows how to talk to people and all and actually cares about what we're doing there" Arthur didn't want to left Merlin with the wrong impression about Gwaine.
"That's great" Merlin nodded
"Great at work, but not really settling down yet then?" Merlin asked
"No. But he never lies to anyone about what he wants you know? Like... he likes to keep things casual, but he is being honest about it with his partners" Arthur told him
"He sounds really great actually" Merlin thought aloud
"Yeah... the thing about Gwaine is that even that you want to strangle him for the most of the time at the same time you just wanna hang out with him" Arthur nodded and Merlin laughed little bit
They managed to unpack all the books and put all the empty boxes in the corner of the room
When they got back to the living room Freya was finishing up the unpacking of the things that were suppose to be in the living room on the shelf.
"The food will arrive in about 20 minutes" She announced them when she noticed them, and they nodded
"Do you need help with anything else then?" Arthur asked
"I think that you and Chloe helped us with everything you could have" Freya smiled at him
"We were happy to help I assure you" Arthur said immediately
"We could clean up the empty boxes at least" Arthur looked at Merlin who nodded, and they began to gathering all the empty boxes and unfolding them, so they take less space.
Merlin said he is going to get the boxes from the study they left there, and while he was passing by Mordred's room he overheard what the kids are talking about
"And who's that Lance?" Mordred was asking. Merlin slowed down and waited for Chloe's reply
"He lives with mummy now, and daddy had to go away so Lance could be there" Chloe said while painting something on the carton castle
"Mummy says that I have to start like Lance..." she mumbled
"I wouldn't like someone who just moved in our house like that" Mordred said and Chloe nodded
"I don't think I will eider... if he wasn't there daddy could be with us all the time and didn't have to be alone" she said. Merlin was going through that when he was a child, just not as young as Chloe is now, but he could imagine how she might be feeling.
He decided to enter the room and the kids immediately noticed him
"You know I never liked my dad's new partner eider" he told Chloe and sat down on the floor in front of them
"But didn't your daddy want you to like her?" Chloe asked
"He did... but it's not easy to change how you feel about someone is it?" Merlin said and Chloe nodded in agreement. He wasn't in the touch with his dad and his girlfriend very much after they moved out, but that was not important at that moment
"Lance is not mean or anything, but..." Chloe started.
"But he is taking already taken spot in your house?" Merlin asked and Chloe nodded.
"I am sure that grow ups told you that before, but your mummy and daddy both love you whether they are together or not" Merlin told her and Chloe smiled at him little bit and nodded
"But if they ever stop you can always come here ok?" Mordred offered her seriously, and Merlin quietly chuckled
"Really?" Chloe looked at him and then at Merlin
"Absolutely, but I am more than sure that they will never stop" Merlin nodded and assured her
"Thanks" she smiled at them happily and Merlin shook his head with a smile
"But if you would want to talk about anything you can come to us too alright? Me... or auntie Freya or Mordred" Merlin offered more realistic situation than where Gwen and Arthur will stop loving their child.
"Thank you uncle Merlin" Chloe nodded and Merlin smiled at her and got up from the floor and left the kids to continue working on the castle.
On the hallway he almost walked into Arthur
"Sorry" he laughed
"S ok, where are you? You were just getting the boxes from the study... or did you managed to get lost in your own house?" Arthur asked and joked and Merlin laughed a bit
"No I was..." Merlin began but stopped not wanted Chloe to hear them and gestured Arthur to follow him in the study
"I was going in the study and I overheard Mordred and Chloe while she was talking about Lance" Merlin explained
"What was she saying?" Arthur asked immediately.
"That she doesn't like him because he is taking your place and if he wasn't there you would be with them all the time instead of being alone" Merlin summed it up, Arthur looked sad that his daughter is thinking about these things instead of regular child things. Of course in her point of view made sense that if Lance would not live with them Arthur would be there.
"I hate that she is thinking about these things and worrying herself about it" he admitted
"Arthur we may not really realize it, or don't want to admit it to our selves, but our kids are worried about us as much as we are about them" Merlin told him
"I know..." Arthur nodded
"Should I... talk to her about it or... explain or..." Arthur asked Merlin
"I am not even sure if I was allowed to tell you what we were talking about and..." Merlin began and Arthur nodded
"And if I just started about it she might not share anything with you again, right?" he finished and Merlin nodded
"Thank you for telling me about it and for talking to her" Arthur said gratefully
"I know how she might be felling now so..." Merlin said and Arthur nodded
"Oh and if you and Gwen will stop loving her she will be here" Merlin remembered
Arthur made confused face and Merlin told him about Mordred's offer to Chloe. Arthur laughed
"Great... at least we'll know where to find her if we decide to love her again then" Arthur said with a smile and Merlin chuckled as well.
They grabbed the boxes and went to put them to the rest unfolded boxes by the wall in the living room
The place looked way more like a cozy apartment with a family living there, than a storage room Arthur noticed when he was looking around. Obviously some final touches here and there were needed to be done yet, but the boxes disappeared.
"We took your whole afternoon with this action didn't we?" Freya realized when she looked at her watch.
"I had a good time, and I am sure that Chloe did too" Arthur assured her
"Plus we didn't had anything in plan anyway so..." he added
"Still... we own you alright?" Freya insisted.
"The only thing you could possibly own me would be the dinner we will get here" Arthur shook his head
Freya looked like she's about to disagree, but she probably realized that it would be pointless to argue about that with Arthur
"Alright, but you really helped us today" she said
"Totally" Merlin nodded
"The food should be here soon so just sit down and I'll get you something to drink ok?" Merlin pointed at the sofa and Arthur nodded and went to sit down
Freya went to sit down as well. Merlin came back with something to drink for both of them and went to get something for himself as well
"By the way I have to say that Chloe is really great. When she walked in the living room earlier with Mordred she immediately asked if she can help with anything" Freya told Arthur and Arthur proudly smiled at hearing that
"Well I think you're doing something right with Mordred too. When he saw Chloe's knee he immediately cheered her up with some popsicle" Arthur remembered
"Who would guessed then you and I will actually know how to parenting huh?" Merlin laughed and looked at Arthur when he was coming back
"Well... I do... obviously. In your case all the credits go to Freya" Arthur smirked and Merlin just rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement.
The doorbell announced the food delivery. Merlin went to take care of it and Freya said she's gonna tell the children and make sure they'll wash their hands
Arthur went to help Merlin because there were more things to carry
"You sure you don't want to split the bill?" Arthur asked after Merlin paid for the delivery.
"Don't be a dollophead" Merlin shook his head
"What the hell is a dollophead?" Arthur laughed
"Someone who is carrying boxes all day, building closets and then offers to pay for the food" Merlin replied with a grin
"Ok, ok" Arthur gave up.
They put the food on the coffee table, and the kids ran in the room. Freya ordered 3 pizzas, two for Merlin and Arthur and one for the kids and china for herself. The kids decided to sit on the floor while the parents chose the sofa. They began to eat
"Uncle Arthur what are you doing anyway?" Mordred asked while eating
"He tortures people" Chloe said and Arthur choked up little bit because of surprice and laughter at her daughter's definition of his job
"What? Really?" Mordred asked and looked at Arthur who still trying breath normal and coughing a bit shook his head
"No... nothing like that. I am a fitness instructor" Arthur said
"Oh..." Mordred nodded
"How did you came up with that I torture people honey?" Arthur asked
"One lady in the gym said that" Chloe answered
"Said what?" Arthur asked
"That she doesn't know why she is coming back when you only torture her there"
Arthur had to laugh and Merlin with Freya too.
After they finished up the dinner Arthur and Chloe were getting ready to leave
"Bye Mordred. Tomorrow in the park ok? Bye guys" Chloe waved at them
"Sure thing Chloe" Mordred confirmed the plan they (with their parents of course as well) made during the dinner and waved at her as well
"Bye Chloe" Merlin and Freya said too
"Bye Arthur, and really thank you for today" Freya said with a smile
"We really had fun, and thanks for the food" Arthur said honestly and with a last bye to Merlin they left the apartment
"How about an ice cream huh?" Arthur asked when they were in the elevator
"But isn't it too late for ice cream now?" Chloe asked surprised.
"Well... firstly I will not say anything if you will not, and secondly... let's consider it as a thank you for the frisbee attack on Merlin, because without that God knows when we would have met" Arthur said and picked up his daughter for a hug and his daughter happily laughed. She was glad that her daddy has another two friends that could keep him company while she is at mummy's house.
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