Where Reason Fades

Chapter 6

"Are you coming?" Gwen appeared of of nowhere on the other side of Merlin's desk and startled him so much his face almost crashed into the desk top when the hand that was propping it up lurched out from beneath him.

"Gwen!!! Gods!!! What!!! What?"

"Are. You. Coming. Out?" Gwen repeated slowly with a grin, crawling her fingers towards him on the desk with each word.

"Where?" Merlin stared at her wide eyed and cluless trying to remember why they were supposed to be going out anywhere. Gwen stared back like she could force him to remembebr by force of Will alone.

"Drinks. Arthur's last night. Everyone is coming." Merlin scrunched up his face as a half remembered conversation to that affect came back to him suddenly.

"Right!!! Yes. I remember. Sure." He nodded at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? Because that's exactly what you said when we arranged it." Merlin scrunched up his nose.

"...I just need to finish this one-" He pointed nervously to the computer screen, but she cut him firmly off.

"Merlin!" Gwen scolded, hands on hips.

"I promise!!! I'll finish this and I'll be right there!" Gwen gave him a peircing look like she could see into his soul, and Merlin tried to think about something innocent just in case.

"Fine. I will come and find you if you take too long!" Merlin sighed in relif and grinned at her.

"Agreed." With that Gwen back out of the room - expertly, on account of the boxes and files stacked everywhere - pointing two fingers to her eyes then to him to show she would be watching him. The door shut behind her and Merlin turned back to his screen. He surveyed the 6 month forecast critically: the season would change soon, not that that meant different weather, but the algal swarm would be coming and they'd been more breathe masks just in case, he tapped the item to add to Gwaine's list and flicked back to the satellite schedule, they'd have signal again in 18 days, but he was expecting to hear from Camelot before then... the door open and shut again, but Merlin didn't look up.

"I told you Gwen, I'm coming" He mumbled, his voice muffled but the hand propping up his chin.

"Swing and a miss" Merlin glanced up at the reply from a decidedly male voice and saw Arthur drop onto his sofa. He sat in the middle with his arms stretched across the back, the longsleeved black top he'd taken to wearing pulled tight across his broad chest and riding up slightly to show a slither of skin which Merlin very pointedly did not look at.

"Oh. You're supposed to be at the social." Merlin accused, frowning and refusing to break eyecontact. Arthur was literally the guest of honour and he was hiding out in the office on a sofa covered in cat hair. He just shrugged though, and Merlin had to avert his eyes when his shirt rode up even further.

"I showed my face. I don't really want to...be a distraction" he waved his hand in the air in thought. Merlin frowned at him again.

"They are literally celebrating you. That is the entire point of them going out." He said. Arthur pressed his lips together in a thin line and gazed out the window to his left.

"I know. I appreciate it, but. These guys do this every day, for days, weeks, months, years. They should be celebrating themshelves, not me because I turned up here for a month and watched people work. You should be celebrating, not stuck in here still working" Arthur gestured towards Merlin, still behind his desk even though it was dark out by now. Merlin shrugged.

"It needs doing." He looked back at his screen, not really paying attention to the schedule in front of him, just wanting to avoid Arthur's gaze he could feel burning into the side of his head.

"Right." The prince said, stood from the sofa and left the room.

"Right." Merlin muttered to himself and tried to absorb himself back into his work. He was interrupted again by a loud thunk on his desk, and when he looked up he saw Arthur had returned and was standing over him, his hand still wrapped around the neck of the bottole of Rumbole rum he had put on Merlin's desk

"Whre did you even get that?" He asked increduouslusly and Arthur raiesd and eyebrow with a wry grin.

"Gwaine thinks I need to 'loosen up', apparently. Now seems like a good as time as any." He explained, pouring two large glasses of the strong alcohol out. Merlin took one of them, with an air of false reluctance.

"Cheers!!! To Prince Arthur- His Space Highness" he held the glass up to Arthur, teasing him.

"No. Cheers!!! To Merlin Emrys, the hardest working and most ridiculous kind hearted and dedicated charity worker I have met in all the glaxies." He said, raising his glass to Merlin's and gazing straight into his eyes as he spoke with utter sincerity. His heart ran rampant in his chest at the sight of Merlin's responding blush filled smile until Merlin could stand it no longer and pulled his eyes away.

"You should be careful with that silver tongue. A man could get used to praise like that," he said, standing up from his desk and moving to sit next to Arthur on the settee.

"Worried Gwaine'll get jealous?" Arthur asked, only half-joking. Merlin burst into laughing.

"You do know that there's nothing going on between us?" Merlin asked.

"Of course." Arthur answered quickly, aiming for an unconcerned tone but missing it by a long way.

"He just likes cats." Explained Merlin. Arthur scoffed.

"A man like him, with that swagger and fantastic hair, just comes here for the cats?" he said, incredulously.

"Well, we're some of his best customers too." Casually said Merlin. Arthur's unconvinced expression remained.

"I won't tell anyone, you know. About the piracy. I know my father would... he'd shut you down and you do so much to help so many people... I couldn't tell him." Arthur blurted out, desperate to move the subject away from Gwaine and to have Merlin understand.

"I know you won't tell him. I never thought you would." Merlin said back with confidence.

"You're a good man, Arthur. I trust you." Merlin was staring at Arthur with such openness that Arthur's head swam. The pair were sat just a hand's width apart of the ratty brown sofa, Arthur was sure a meteor could hit the camp at this moment and he wouldn't notice, so enchanted was he by Merlin's gaze. The pair moved closer to one another slowly, Arthur's eyes flicking down to Merlin's peachy lips as if requesting permission to continue. The pair were scant centimetres apart.

Suddenly, in the soft lit darkness, Arhtur's sat phone rang. The planetary anthem of Camelot coming from the small devisce broke the spell that contained the two. Arthur sighed deeply and cringed as he pulled back.

"That'll be my father." He said sheepishly.

"Nice ringtone," Merlin quipped to hide his disappointment as Arthur answered the phone. His heart was beating quickly in his cheast and his mind racing. What was he thinking, he thought to himself, Arthur was all but engaged to Sophia and he was leaving tomorrow. Merlin downed the remaineder of his rum in one swig, stood up to compose himself and headed back to his work. Arhtur through him an apologetic glance and headed into the small room he'd been leeping in for the last month.

When the door clicked shut, Merlin buried his head in his hands at his desk, emotions swirling and warring within him more furiously that any campaign Uther had ever led. He sighed deeply, knowing he'd get little work done tonguht.