Always Be With You - Merthur

Chapter 31

Merlin pov

The moment they arrived at the tavern, Merlin could hear everyone chatting and laughing on the inside. The light on the inside shone bright orange through the windows, casting a glow on the dirt. He smiled. This was the best response he could have hoped for from Gwaine. If he was really honest, it probably was the only logical one now that he thought about it.

When Merlin opened the door, he felt the warmth from the inside of the building flowing out, warming his skin. He sighed and stepped aside to let Arthur go inside, offering him a smirk that got returned instantly. Arthur held out his hand to him. Merlin took it and got pulled into the tavern, hand held high up by the new King. 

"You are so dramatic."

"Am I?"

"Yes, all the time."

"I could be more dramatic, if you let me." Arthur murmered, close to his face. Merlin felt a flush creep on his cheeks and couldn't fight the wide grin off his face, chuckling at Arthur. He seemed to take that as an invitation to kiss him. Merlin inhaled sharply at the contact before closing his eyes and reaching to the back of Arthur's neck to thread his fingers into the soft blond hair, leaning in.

Arthur pulled back, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. "Let's get something to drink." Merlin nodded, looking around for his friends. He was surprised to see Gaius sitting at a table near the window, apparentely in a deep conversation with three other people Merlin had never seen before. Two men and a woman. 

Lancelot swooped up out of nowhere, suddenly standing in front of them. "Hello, it's good to see you, don't worry, you're not late, everyone was early." "Sure, Lance." Merlin chuckled. "If you're quick, Gwaine might still pay for you." He said, glancing over his shoulder to Gwaine, who had three large cups of mead in front of him, of course, still functioning just fine, somehow. "I'll go do that, then." Arthur said, slipping through the crowd to get to him, Gwaine saw him coming and his signature grin appeared on his face. "Hey, princess! Nice seeing you here, you have five minutes to order."

Merlin and Lancelot both grinned at him before turning back. "Do you know who they are?" Merlin asked, gesturing towards the people at Gaius' table. Lancelot's face lit up. "Oh, yeah. The man with the beard is my uncle and the woman is his wife, my aunt and my father's sister. The other man isss... I don't know, a friend?" He shrugged and Merlin nodded. "I've never met them before." 

"Not many people did. Gwaine did, though. That was fun." 

"They don't live in Camelot, do they?"  

"No, but they like to visit sometimes at special occasions. They are old, so they don't travel too much."

Someone patted Merlin on his shoulder and he turned. Gwaine stood there and handed him a cup of mead. Merlin hesitantly took it, studying the liquid. "Yeah, I still don't drink much." Gwaine just winked at him and clapped him on his shoulder. "You'll do fine, mate, don't think too much about it. Just enjoy it." He added, giving him a look. "And Arthur." He said, when Arthur joined their circle, also holding mead. 

"I will." Arthur said, smirking. Merlin was a little busy trying to figure out if Gwaine meant Arthur should enjoy the mead, or he should enjoy Arthur, but smiled at him anyway. "Alright, here goes nothing." He took a swig and cringed at the taste, smacking his lips. "And?" Gwaine and Lancelot both said with shit eacting grins on their faces. I hate you both. "Delicious." 

"Thought so," Gwaine said, snickering and turning around to go back to Percival, seated at the bar. "Feel free to join me if you want to, we can talk about the many adventures that Lancelot doesn't know about, he can't know everything, but he told me about a few- about that, Lance, you still need to finish that, I'm sure Percival would find it interesting too."