Merlin Oneshots!

Grandma

The hollow ombre haze hung low in the sky, bound to the sinking sun. Streams of light lay shallow, shrinking away from the chasm of shadows that were cast across every corner of the city. Two silhouettes sat together. Bottles of beer lay empty behind them. One of the shadows laughed, unconscious of the fact that they leaned into the other's shoulder. Both of them bathed in the close proximity.

The sky darkened.

Their eyes locked together. They lost themselves in the colours of the other; images of blues and greens and reds danced in unison, enticing them to come closer. The silhouettes' foreheads touched and their breaths, tinted with alcohol, mingled in the gap between them. A ghost of a kiss wavered as the shadows moved closer, until the ghost became alive. The taste of peppermint and strawberries fused together.

One of the silhouettes abrubtly pulled away. Before the other could speak, they were gone. The silhouette stayed, sitting alone, wallowing until he was carried away by the darkness in a drunken stupor.

***

Merlin really shouldn't have gotten drunk last night. If only he knew that his Grandma was going to shout at him.

"You idiot! You absolute idiot!" she shouted deliriously at him.

"I only meant to have one bottle." Merlin tried to reason with her. He knew would get nowhere however, because this was Grandma.

"That's not what I'm talking about, you baffon!"

Wait, what? Then what had they been talking about, if it wasn't about how much alcohol he had consumed last night?

"What?" his hangover really wasn't helping. He barely even remembered what had happened last night, only that Alex - oh, she was talking about that.

"Your boyfriend! You two really need to learn how to communicate. He's a keeper, so you-"

"Ma, he's not my boyfriend, I've told you this." she was not the first to think that. When they went to cafes or to parties, people would always end up thinking that they were together. Merlin could understand though, apparently they acted like an old married couple, whatever that meant.

"But you kissed! Are you stupid or something boy?"

"No! I... I don't know. I suppose I'm just scared to ruin things." Merlin couldn't bear to lose Arthur. Their friendship was what made him feel whole. Even if it meant only ever being friends with the only person he could care to love.

"Ruin things? Merlin dear, he wants the same." said Grandma. Sometimes she said some intelligent things, and Merlin was grateful that today was the day that the clogs decided to work in her brain.

"Oh."

Grandma rolled her eyes. "Yes 'oh'. Now go and tell him."

***

After typing and deleting and retyping on his phone, Merlin finally managed to send a text to Arthur. He looked at his phone for the time; Arthur would be here any minute.

"Hi."

Merlin jumped out of his skin. It was Arthur.

"Uh, hello." Merlin said awkwardly. He was nervous. He was very nervous. Thankfully Arthur jumped straight to the point.

"Sorry about last night." Arthur blushed.

"It's fine. Um... It was nice." Merlin blushed.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

It went silent. Cursing to the Gods, Merlin leaned in towards Arthur, who made no means to move. The rising sun cast light onto them, and the chasm of darkness seemed to cower at the potency of the bright haze. The fusion of peppermint and strawberries danced around them.

Smiling, Merlin deepened this kiss, and the feeling of joy and contentment burst like a flying firework within his heart.