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Gwaine tended to the fire, watched as his boyfriend (he was still getting used to the term) went to collect firewood. His gaze must have been obvious to those in the group, because an arm nudged him.
‘Less of the eye-fucking.’ Elyan joked, Gwaine snorting and returning to looking into the flames. They were out on a Hunt, not just the Knights but Lady Morgana and Guinevere as well, which was nice. It mean Merlin was more worried than normal, determined to keep the group safe.
‘You can barely keep your eyes off of him.’ Lancelot added to the conversation. The Knights were constantly teasing him for his affections towards the manservant of the King, but Gwaine wasn’t too bothered. After all, it was true.
‘Wouldn’t you, if that was yours?’ He shot back, knowing Merlin was probably listening in. Later, when they had all fallen asleep and Merlin came to sit with him while he took watch, he’d be all pouty at being referred to as Gwaine’s. Merlin was his own person, that was true.
‘Stop teasing. It isn’t like you’ve never thought Merlin was pretty.’ Gwen smacked her boyfriend’s arm, right around the same time as Lancelot flushed the colour of the capes of Camelot. Gwaine’s head snapped to his friend, Lancelot’s guilty gaze being alleviated with a shrug.
‘He saved my life. And did it with nothing more than his mind.’ Gwaine wasn’t angry that Lancelot had a minor crush on Merlin, he could understand that.
‘Plus, you’re the one who kissed him.’ Lancelot retorted to his girlfriend, while the group looked to Guinevere.
‘He was dying! But I’m not ashamed to admit I loved Merlin. I still do, just as friends now.’ Oh yes, Gwaine knew that Merlin was listening. By this point, red would be dusting his cheeks, all the way to the tips of his ears. He’d be trying to avoid the compliments, dodging them just as he did when Gwaine tried.
‘I also used to think Merlin was attractive.’ Morgana remarked lazily, from where she was propped up against a tree with Leon by her side. The Knight peered across to her, and the Witch shrugged.
‘Actually, I still do. Merlin’s cute. All cheekbones and snarky remarks. But luckily for you, I prefer a little more muscle.’ She aimed the last bit to Leon, winked in his direction while the First Knight smiled softly at her. Gwaine wasn’t entirely sure when this became a “we all love Merlin” session, but he wasn’t annoyed. Merlin deserved a little love.
‘He is quite… pretty.’ Percival inputted, cocking his head in the direction of the manservant. Gwaine noted how Merlin was trying adamantly to pretend he couldn’t hear, almost stumbling over his own feet.
‘Is the point where we all admit we’ve been crushing on Merlin at some point?’ Elyan asked, and the group all chuckled lowly.
‘What about Arthur?’ That was the one that always made Gwaine weary, the jealousy that bubbled away in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about the King. To begin with, he had been avoiding Merlin, just based on the fact he thought he belonged to Arthur.
‘I don’t think Arthur’s got any clue that he thinks Merlin’s cute.’ It shouldn’t relax him, but it did, and Gwaine searched into the darkness for where Arthur had gone walking.
‘You should include him. It’s not like he can ever marry Merlin.’ Morgana’s remark earned her several shocked faces, the King’s sister shrugging like it didn’t bother her.
‘What? They’re literal soulmates, in case you’ve been skipping prophecy lessons.’ Gwaine grumbled in annoyance, didn’t need to think about the stupid Princess anymore and his connection to Merlin.
Arthur appeared at that point, wandering back in the direction of the Camp. His eyes flicked across to Merlin, who by this point had given up trying to collect more wood and had decided he probably had to come back to camp.
‘Does it really take you that long, Merlin?’ The King teased, while Gwaine watched the interaction carefully.
‘Better than you could do, you prat. Did you get lost hugging the trees?’ His snarky tone earned him a waterskin flying in his direction, the logs toppling to the floor and Merlin still being hit by the object. Arthur looked amused, moved to sit down when the log moved out from under him, resulting in the King landing in the mud.
Merlin’s golden eyes had always been one of the things that never failed to turn Gwaine on, if he was honest. Like now, Merlin moving the logs with his Magic before moving across the camp and ignoring the protests of the King. Gwaine let his legs fall apart, patted the space and watched as the Warlock settled down, resting back against him.
‘Did I ever tell you that your Magic is a major turn on?’ Several of the Knights rolled their eyes, Arthur looked horrified, and Gwen hid her laughter behind her hand. Merlin just looked up at him, eyes turning back to sunlight as the fire crackled loudly.
‘All the time.’
Gwaine wrapped his arms around his Warlock, not missing the look of confusion that passed across the King’s face.
Maybe he’d have to think about what Morgana had said.