excuse me? i was dying

Heard You Talking Shit About My Boyfriend

"Arthur's not himself when he's hungry." Merlin stood with his back to the servants' entrance to the prince's chambers.

"I may have also been galivanting on a dragon, completing a dangerous quest to aid Camelot, so he's pissy because I've been gone without my lord's permission." He articulated his words as if he had something stuck in his teeth. Gideon sensed sarcasm.

"So, I am not terribly excited to greet him this morning."

Gideon was, excited that is, considering anytime Merlin and Arthur were in the same room (which was most of the time, lest the two get cranky) amusing things happened.

Merlin opened the door and walked towards the curtains to pull them open. He looked around the room; the place was a jumbled mess. Gideon noted that Prince Arthur slept shirtless.

Prince Arthur glared at Merlin, who stared back at him, unafraid.

"What happened?!" Despite Merlin's position as a subordinate, he never let Arthur get away without imposing some responsibility. Surely a prince could keep his own chambers tidy. But Merlin did not have the insight to gander that Arthur threw a fit because his favorite person was gone and he had no one to throw objects at.

"What happened? I've had to make do without a servant, that's what happened!" Arthur's hair was not yet arranged, and was noticeably mused from a night of sleep. Merlin thought that this was his favorite look, angry in bed. No further questions, please.

Gideon tried to pressure Merlin into admitting just how gay that comment was, but Merlin stood up, realizing he had a super urgent task to do that he forgot about and only remembered just that moment, that could not wait for a second more. Gideon thoughtfully considered what injuries could arise from rolling one's eyes too much.

"I wasn't gone for that long." It went over Merlin's head entirely that Arthur hated every moment without him, for Merlin was under the impression Arthur also hated every moment with him.

"Without my permission!" Gideon snickered at the foreshadowing; Merlin knew exactly how the prince thought. Well, when it came to banter and noble matters at least. Arthur and Merlin both shared a single brain cell when it came to matters of the heart, and it seemed they had let Morgana borrow it for the time being.

"What if I was dying?" Merlin had in fact almost died. Arthur did not know this, but his chest seized, which he had to hide under superficial anger, lest he admit that he missed and worried about the skinny prick.

"I wouldn't be complaining! But you're not. So, where have you been?" Merlin looked to Gideon, staring lamely as if to communicate do you see this. Later on, Merlin would confirm that he desperately wanted to call bullshit on that one, but doing so would overstep into unknown territory, where this mixed language of fighting and flirting would simply become flirting- and that wasn't appropriate.

Gideon nodded along to Merlin's squabbles, glancing at the paper that held the bets for when Merlin and Arthur would first publicly court. God forbid the flirting became real flirting- Gideon didn't know how it could be worse.

Um, excuse me? "I was dying." Arthur seemed unbothered to be so naked in front of his manservant. Yes, it was expected to be unclothed at times, but no one made any move to clothe him.

"I don't have time for this. The future of the kingdom rests on my shoulders. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"Well...", Merlin and Gideon shared a look. Merlin would later complain about Arthur's ignorance, and Gideon would point out that he could tell Arthur, and then Merlin would scowl and suggest that such matters could not be comprehended by a boy of his age.