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“Wow… You look—stunning.”
Arthur snorted softly as he let his tunic fall to the ground with the rest of his clothes, a light flush rising to his cheeks. “Shut up, Merlin.”
“No! Really, you do!” Merlin pressed, walking the few paces between them to wrap his arms around Arthur’s neck. “You do… Gods, you’re gorgeous. You know that? You are… Gods, I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Arthur murmured, knowing the red on his cheeks was deeper than the sky at sunset by now. “Can we get in now?”
Merlin hummed. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Arthur’s right cheek, then his left. Then, his nose. Then, finally, he placed a light, chaste kiss to his lips.
“Of course, come on,” he whispered when he pulled away.
Arthur watched as he slipped away, backing away towards the lake. Gods, he was ethereal… The moonlight shone on his pale, bare skin, and Arthur would swear he was glowing. Merlin slowly backed into the water, skin slowly disappearing beneath the surface. He proceeded to swim around a bit, before he lifted a hand and curled a finger towards himself enticingly, motioning for Arthur to come to the water.
The shiver that ran through Arthur had absolutely nothing to do with the chill in the air.
He walked to the lake and stepped in. This time the shiver that ran down his spine had everything to do with the icy water chilling his bones.
“God, Merlin, this is freezing!”
“Well, yes, it’s a lake, they’re not exactly known for their heat.”
“Merlin.”
“Yes, Arthur?”
“Shut up.” Arthur splashed up a wave of cold water at Merlin.
Merlin yelped before laughing, retaliating with his own, magic propelled wave. Arthur, too enchanted by the gorgeous golden glow of his lover’s eyes, didn’t duck in time. The water splashed into his face, and Arthur spluttered, spitting out lake water as he coughed.
“You little—”
“Shhhh! Do you hear that!?” Merlin gasped, cutting him off. Arthur tensed, his eyes going wide as he looked around.
It was silent.
“I don’t…hear anything.” He frowned.
“Exactly,” Merlin sighed, pulling Arthur deeper into the water and into his arms. “No knights, no servants, no…wicked witch sisters or teasing friends… No obnoxious council members…We are finally alone, Arthur.”
“We are not having sex in a lake,” Arthur declared before Merlin could even think about suggesting it, voice firm and authoritative.
They already tried that once and it did not end well.
Damn fish…
“What? No!” Merlin laughed loud and joyous, shaking his head. “No, I just…gods, Arthur, we’ve been so busy lately. It’s nice to have a moment to ourselves finally—even if we had to sneak out under the guise of some fake mission to get it.”
“Mm, yeah,” Arthur hummed, relaxing at the verification they would not be attempting lake sex again. “Yeah, you’re right. For once. This fake mission was perhaps one of my best ideas yet.”
Merlin rolled his eyes and pulled Arthur close. Gently he pressed their foreheads together. It was a small action, but somehow more intimate than countless other things they’d done together. Merlin’s mouth was centimetres away from his; Arthur could feel his breath coming out in small puffs of hot air against his lips. His eyes were shut, and Arthur could nearly count his lashes. Eyelashes that were dotted with tiny droplets of lake water.
He could even see the soft, pale freckles dusting Merlin’s cheeks. They were so light that they were practically invisible from further away, but here…so close, foreheads pressed so lightly together, Arthur could see each one. Spread across his face like the stars twinkling in the dark sky above them.
His cheekbones, accentuated and normally sharp, looked somehow softer in the moonlight up close. His lips were pulled in a smile, pink and wet, and his nose was a hairsbreadth from Arthur’s own.
In moments like these, Arthur truly wondered if he was human, and not some…otherworldly, magical being exploring the planes of this realm. He was ethereal, in every aspect of the word.
He was breathtaking.
He was…
“Beautiful.” Arthur’s voice was hardly even a whisper—breathless and near silent. Merlin’s eyes peeked open nonetheless, and Arthur’s lips quirked up in an amused smile. Those ears weren’t big as a bats for nothing. “You are…so beautiful.”
A flush rose quickly to Merlin’s face, red rising all the way to the tips of his ears, and Arthur only fell deeper in love.
“You told me to shut up for saying that stuff to you,” Merlin mumbled. He bit his bottom lip, and Arthur’s eyes latched onto the action.
Slowly, he raised a hand to Merlin’s face. He pressed his thumb to his lip and gently freed it from Merlin’s flustered worrying. “I know…”
“Arthur…?”
“I love you, Merlin,” Arthur murmured.
His heart skipped at the smile that lit Merlin’s face. Arthur would swear it was bright enough to light the entire forest. It was bright enough to light Arthur’s world.
“I love you too, Arthur.” The words were barely out of his mouth before Arthur ducked his head and closed the distance between them.
The kiss was soft and sweet and slow; Merlin’s arms wound tightly around Arthur’s neck, and Arthur’s tightly around Merlin’s waist. They held each other close, like lifelines, pressed their bodies together.
Their noses bumped, but they only smiled and laughed into the lazy kiss. When Arthur finally pulled back, it was only a second before he pressed their lips together again.
And again, and again.
Merlin’s laugh was gleeful by the time Arthur finally stopped the loving assault on his lips, and his legs were wrapped around Arthur’s waist.
Arthur pressed their foreheads together again and sighed. Across his mouth spread a real, content grin. And at the grin returned to him, Arthur ducked in one final time to kiss Merlin.
“I can’t wait to marry you when we get back,” Arthur said when they parted. Merlin kissed his nose. Then his right cheek, then his left, then again, his lips. Arthur relished in the way Merlin’s lips had taken a slightly deeper, reddish tint from their kissing.
“Two more sun-falls…” Merlin whispered, and Arthur grinned. “Then, I’m your husband.”
“Two more sun-falls.”