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Prompt: Person A has always lived in big cities so they haven’t been able to see the stars well so Person B drives them out, far away from the city, to show them what the stars really look like.
There were many things in modern-day England that were vastly different from Camelot times, which Arthur had trouble getting used to after his return.
One major point was the clothes, fitted better and yet surprisingly even more modest than Arthur remembered, except for the trousers for women; there was also the smell in the air, which was probably pollution, or otherwise, those big flying things leaving their tracks in the sky; and everything was done on tiny machines nowadays, which everybody carried around with them all the time and allowed anyone, anytime, to contact any random person on the planet without the use of pigeons or couriers, the idea of which had probably melted Arthur’s brain at one point.
One thing that had stayed the same, however, was the constant presence by his side, telling him wonderful words in support and encouragement, holding his hand when necessary, and protecting him against all evils this modern world could present. Which, in Arthur’s mind, were quite a lot. But Arthur’s fear and uncertainty always disappeared whenever he felt Merlin’s gentle hand on his arm, grounding him, and assuring him that even if Arthur was overwhelmed, Merlin would always be there for him to support him.
Arthur truly didn’t deserve Merlin. He hadn’t deserved him back in Camelot when he had been his closest friend and the one person he could depend on despite anything going on, and he certainly didn’t deserve him now, after leaving him alone for close to fifteen hundred years, even if that wasn’t necessarily something that Arthur could be blamed for.
He blamed himself. He was working on that.
Another thing that Arthur couldn’t get used to was cars. Arthur had generally traveled everywhere on horseback, and when he had been younger, there had been a carriage used because it wasn’t safe enough for him to be riding a horse - the carriage had been retired as soon as Arthur had joined the Knights and had started his training with them, and had insisted on going everywhere on his favorite horse. The idea that horses were no longer used for transportation, and instead were used merely as pets, as friends almost, was another thing he couldn’t wrap his head around. Not only that, cars went significantly faster than horses, and there were a lot more of them on these ‘highways’, and they apparently caused way more accidents than horses did.
Cars were more comfortable, however. You stayed dry when it rained, for one.
Arthur couldn’t help himself from clutching the seat beneath him anytime he ended up in this blasted car, even if he had been Merlin’s passenger for a few weeks now, and he knew Merlin was a good driver. (Merlin had been alive when the car had been invented, after all, so he had many years of experience.) Merlin also understood Arthur’s fear of them, and how fast they could go, so he didn’t go as fast as he was allowed to go, agitating many other drivers who ended up honking at him and startling Arthur every single time.
“Where are you taking me?” Arthur asked him, his knuckles white and his jaw aching from fear. Would he ever stop being afraid of these contraptions? He hoped so.
Merlin smiled but didn’t take his eyes off the road. Arthur was certain that he was capable of doing so, he was a skilled driver, but again, he knew how to support Arthur.
“You’re really set on the idea that I’m kidnapping you, huh?”
“Well, you haven’t told me where we’re going, so I have no reason to believe otherwise.”
Arthur saw Merlin roll his eyes, but he didn’t respond to Arthur’s inquiry. Arthur focused on the road and tried to get his heart beating as it should, trying to keep his breathing under control the way Merlin had taught him. Arthur had what Merlin described as ‘anxiety’, and the concept was not uncommon to Arthur, but back in the Camelot days, there hadn’t been a big focus on mental health issues. Even if one suffered from a mental illness, it was often left untreated because there was no understanding of what caused it, and there was even a general consensus that anybody who was mentally ill was probably possessed or a witch.
In that regard, modern times were better. Arthur realized that life would have been easier for many people he had known back in the day if there had been a better understanding of mental health issues.
Merlin had gotten him a prescription of medication to help him with his anxiety, and usually, it helped a lot - but not when he was in a car. And certainly not when it seemed like they were going away from civilization, a concept that Arthur had gotten pretty used to over the weeks past. He had reunited with Merlin in Birmingham, where he had a relatively spacious apartment on the outskirts of the city, away from the bustling city center and yet close enough to civilization to remind them of where, and more importantly, when , they were.
It had taken Arthur three whole days to walk from what was once known as Lake Avalon, blindly following this feeling in his chest of something familiar, of a purpose, and had sat in front of an apartment building for an entire night when he had reached his destination but was uncertain of where the feeling had come from, and where its source currently had been located. Merlin had found him on a park bench, feeling the same kind of pull but numbed somewhat because of the many years of loneliness and pain, and had nursed him back to health and had restored Arthur’s heart fully.
Arthur had always been grateful for Merlin, but now especially, that feeling was increased tenfold. He wouldn’t be anywhere without his best friend and the love of his life - this life, and the old one, too.
The scenery around them changed, both because of the gradual onset of dusk, as well as their departure from the city Arthur was growing increasingly familiar with. He wouldn’t go out on a limb and say that he recognized the scenery, but aside from the concrete road they were on and the occasional streetlight, it almost felt… familiar. Arthur remembered the trips he had taken, on horseback, with his Knights, his friends, with Merlin. They had boasted of past adventures, of impressing fair ladies and the occasional fair lord. Arthur had never felt like he had belonged anywhere, but when he had been traveling through the Welsh and English countryside with his friends, he had felt like he was at the right place, like he truly belonged somewhere.
In his old life, he had never been happier than when he could escape the stifling castle and be out in the beautiful nature they came across.
Merlin exited the highway, and the busy road was replaced with a quiet provincial road, and then with a dark, utterly quiet and unpaved road leading into some type of forest.
“You’re definitely kidnapping me now.”
Merlin laughed and nodded. “You got me. I have gone to all this trouble, driving for close to two hours, to kidnap you. Like I couldn’t have done that just outside of Birmingham.”
“Fair point.” Arthur quiet down for a few moments, looking at Merlin focusing on the road, sometimes increasing the intensity of his headlights to give himself a better view in the darkness. Arthur had no doubt that Merlin could see very well in these conditions, what with his magic, but he was probably doing it for Arthur’s state of mind. After a few silent minutes, Arthur asked, quietly, “where are we going, Merlin?”
“Do you trust me, Arthur?”
“Of course I do. You know I do.”
Merlin nodded, and when they stopped at a crossroads, he looked to his side and brushed Arthur’s clenched fist gently. “Last week, you told me how so many things are different now, and that you struggle to keep track. I thought… I might give you something familiar. The castle is no longer there, but… the stars are, and they shine so brightly outside of the city. I thought you might like it.”
Arthur spent the next few minutes trying to register what it was that Merlin was telling him, but he didn’t get there in time, because Merlin eventually stopped the car just in front of a lake, and turned off the engine. He watched as Merlin climbed out of the car, walked around the front, and then opened the passenger door, holding out his hand for Arthur.
Arthur trusted Merlin, with his life, with the lives of his friends, with Gwen’s life. They were long gone now, but the sentiment still stood - Merlin had never hurt him, and Arthur didn’t forget this. He allowed Merlin to pull him out of the car, and after Merlin had closed the door behind him, he went to the trunk and gathered some items, before joining Arthur again.
“Let’s go,” Merlin said softly with that pretty smile of his, and Arthur would do anything for that smile, he knew that. He followed Merlin until they reached the small beach by the lake, and Merlin put down the blanket he had brought with him and instructed Arthur to sit down. Eventually, they sat side by side, their hands brushing each other’s between them, and Arthur… was at peace. Utterly and completely in love, and at home, at peace, with Merlin by his side and in his life. He didn’t belong anywhere but here, with Merlin, always with Merlin.
As the darkness settled fully around them, slowly but surely, the stars appeared in the sky, and Arthur was transported back to his childhood, even his adolescence, when he had spent many sleepless nights looking at the stars above him, recognizing shapes and patterns and drawing comfort from the fact that they were always there, ever-present - even now, fifteen hundred years later, the stars were the same, comforting him like they had when he had been a child.
He scooted closer to Merlin and rested his head on his shoulder, and Merlin sighed, content, and wrapped his arms around Arthur, before leaning back and making both of them lie down. They stared up at the star-filled sky in silence, but Arthur couldn’t stop himself from sneaking a glance up at Merlin occasionally, feeling his heart flutter in his chest and his cheeks flush slightly, before putting his head back against Merlin’s upper arm and looking up at the sky.
Arthur remembered the first time he had realized that he was in love with Merlin, and how panicked he had felt, how frightened and ashamed and even disappointed, because it could never be, nothing could ever come of it, and it would always remain just a fantasy in the deepest recesses of his brain. He hadn't wanted to lose Merlin on top of everything else he had lost, wanted to be Merlin's friend in the same way Merlin was his friend. There had been many things working against even a friendship between them because of their different classes, let alone a possible romance. Yet he hadn't really stopped fantasizing about what it could be like to be properly in love with Merlin, to be able to kiss him and hug him and do all the things with him that a husband would with a wife.
He had even fantasized that he could marry Merlin. He had known, however, even as that pleasant dream showed up in his sleep, that it never could be. They could never be together like that, they could never get married.
Arthur also vividly remembered the first time he had told Merlin he loved him, about a week after his reunion with Merlin, and how determined he had felt then, how certain, how warm and loved and happy, with the realization that his feelings were still there, still very much real, and that he could openly tell Merlin about it - and that Merlin reciprocated his feelings, too, which had seemed impossible back in the day.
“Hey, Merlin?”
“Hmm?”
“Have I told you I love you recently?”
Merlin smiled and pulled Arthur closer. “Not since this morning.”
“Well, I do. I love you. More than these stars, in fact.”
“Wow, that’s a bold claim.”
Arthur chuckled and rolled his eyes, reaching for Merlin’s hand, putting it on Merlin’s chest, right above his heart and covered by his own hand.
“It’s true. Thank you, Merlin, for taking care of me. I would be nowhere without you.”
Merlin’s expression softened and he brushed the side of Arthur's head with his free hand.
“There’s nothing new there.”
Arthur smiled. Again, a fair point and they both knew it. He had been helpless without Merlin back in Camelot but had been too proud and stubborn to admit it. Nowadays, he wasn’t too proud to admit it. Just as he wasn’t too proud to admit that he was getting cold, but Merlin could tell.
When an extra blanket draped over the two of them, or their close proximity, was no longer enough to keep them warm, they retired to the car, lowering the backseats to create an impromptu bed, and considering they lived a calm, peaceful life, they didn’t need to return home tonight, could opt instead to just stay here, in their little bubble, for the rest of the night.
There were many things in this modern era that confused and even frightened Arthur, but he didn’t have to face it alone. He had his own personal guardian angel by his side. And just like the stars in the sky were always there, never changing, always present, so was Merlin, shining brighter than any of these stars he was so familiar with, serving as a beacon of light, of comfort, of guidance, when it was so direly needed.
Perhaps, after all, Arthur could get used to the contraptions called cars, the mobile phones, the airplanes, and even the clothes, because it was Merlin who was introducing him to those things, and even though the idea of Merlin holding Arthur’s heart in his dainty hands terrified him beyond belief - he wouldn’t really have it any other way. Because he trusted Merlin with everything he had, and everything he had ever had and ever would have. With Merlin, he was safe.