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The sun was high in the afternoon sky. The heat was muggy and sweat was in the air. All the adults were melting under the hot July sun, sitting on picnic blankets or under umbrellas in various poses of exhaustion. The kids however were a different story. Running here and there, or over and under the playground, pretty much everywhere you looked a child was there. Or rather was there. Running on some sort of exuberant energy that was ever present in young children.
Merlin and Arthur were currently sliding down the tunnel slide with Merlin hanging on to Arthur from behind. His laughter was loud and care-free, a little bit wild. The whoosh of the air sent a bit of wind to the pair on this hot day.
Arthur made sure to soften Merlin’s landing with his body on the descent. They made it to the bottom and then raced to the top of the slide to do it all over again.
It was a Saturday and nearly all the younger kids and some of the older children from Avalon Elementary school had come to the park. Gwaine, Percival, Lance, Gwen, Will, Freya and Elena were also there. Somehow or another the group had congregated and decided to play a game of hide and seek. Will would be the seeker and he had to count to twenty, slowly. He shut his eyes and put his forehead on the nearest tree counting.
“One, two, three,…” When he reached twenty he reeled around and started to scan the mass of kids looking for the familiar faces of his friends. This is a lot harder than I thought. Will quickly realized that his friends were a lot trickier than they seemed.
Will started walking towards the playground. He immediately spotted Gwaine, having been shoved out from a spot behind a wall. “Hey! What was that for?” Gwaine sputters as he picks himself up off the ground wiping off his pants of dirt. A female voice answers, “This was my spot first. I don’t share.” Will smirks and makes eye contact with Gwaine who sighs in defeat. Elena was behind the wall and pinches Gwaine in the side for making too much fuss and giving away her hiding spot. She glares at Gwaine who immediately runs behind Will and tries to use him as a shield. Will shoves him off.
“Get off! Get off! I found you both fair and square. Now help me find the others.” Elena gives Gwaine a final flick on the arm for good measure and runs ahead of them. Gwaine looks at her a bit dreamily, and says to Will, “Isn’t she the best?”
Will scrunches his brows at him and says, “I’m not so sure she feels the same way about you.”
Gwaine just smiles on and says, “Just you wait, she’ll like me back eventually.”
In your dreams. Will mutters under his breath.
They search under the playground and find Freya, by the swings they find Gwen, and behind the trash can they spot Lance. He’s holding his nose when they find him, and trying to wave off the odor with his other hand. He almost smiles with relief when they find him. “Finally!” He practically leaps up to join them.
Elena has an idea of where Percival may be hiding. She said she had seen a flash of an arm behind the biggest oak tree. They find him with his back pressed tight to the tree, and he is visibly disappointed when they spot him.
Only Arthur and Merlin left. The gang decides to split up. They search the playground far and wide, but behind every pillar, play ground obstacle, and boulder, they see empty air.
Clearly frustrated, the group sits on the picnic tables to brainstorm where they could be.
“Obviously they are hiding together.” Will supplies. He knows that every time they play hide and seek Merlin and Arthur are in the exact same spot. He honestly couldn’t think of a time when they were apart.
“Yeah, if we see one then the other will also be there.” Percival says. He recalls a time he found them sitting side by side under the dining room table cloth when they had played hide and seek at his house.
“But where? We’ve already checked the whole playground. And anywhere else is against the rules. They would never break the rules.” Elena adds.
“Well where do Arthur and Merlin always go when we come to the park?” Gwen asks.
“Tunnel Slide!” They all exclaim simultaneously.
As a group they race over to the tunnel slide and practically surround it. Will peers up through the bottom and sure enough there they are. Merlin and Arthur are pressed together trying to stay in the middle of the slide. Their legs are overlapping each other in an attempt to keep the other from slipping.
In an effort to dislodge the pair their friends start to drum all over the outside of the slide, the sound magnifies from the inside and the vibrations help send them tumbling out. They roll out and tumble off the edge of the slide. Arthur meets the ground first and Merlin comes tumbling out right after him, his fall softened by Arthur. They land on top of each other and Merlin tries to get up, but his laughing keeps him from making much progress. Arthur is also laughing in return as he unsuccessfully tries to get up too.
Their friends stand around them and help the pair to their feet. “What took you guys so long?” Merlin asks. Arthur has taken to putting a hand around Merlin’s shoulders. They are still slightly wobbly from staying in the slide for so long. They hold on to each other a bit tighter to keep from falling.
“Yeah, you guys. We were waiting for ages. Merlin and I were about to give ourselves up.” Arthur adds.
“You guys were so tricky to find.” Gwaine says. He starts to imitate what Arthur is doing with Merlin and puts an arm around Elena’s shoulders. Surprisingly Elena doesn’t shake it off, but she doesn’t change her stance either. Arthur raises his eyebrows at him, noticing what Gwaine was doing.
Arthur smiled at him. Let’s see how Elena reacts to this Arthur thinks, knowing Gwaine was going to copy him. He places a kiss on the top of Merlin’s head and as if by reflex Merlin lifts his head and kisses Arthur right back.
Gwaine, wanting to feel the same love that Merlin had given Arthur, kissed Elena’s head too. However, her reflex ended up being a slap across Gwaine’s face.
“OUCH!” Gwaine starts to rub at his cheek and Elena just looks at him in shock.
“Sorry, but you surprised me.” She says. Then as if in apology she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek , her face turning red in the process.
Gwaine smiled the greatest grin he could manage, making Elena smile right back. Merlin gave him a subtle thumbs up before he took Arthur’s hand and threaded it through his own.
Will rolled his eyes and thinks, Great all of my friends are falling in love except me.