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Merlin enters the library before walking over to Arthur, hugging him from behind when Arthur wasn't paying attention. Merlin has a smile on his face as he looks over at Arthur. Even though Merlin couldn't see Arthur's expression, Merlin could tell that Arthur was keeping a straight face.
“You know,” Merlin started speaking before pressing the side of his face against Arthur’s face, squishing their cheeks together. “When I asked you to play this game with me, I didn’t mean you should keep a straight face all day,” Merlin finishes speaking and places a gentle kiss on Arthur’s cheek, making Arthur smile slightly.
“I totally knew that,” Arthur chuckles softly before moving his hands to Merlin’s arms. “Now let go of me and give me a proper hug!” Arthur jokingly demanded. Arthur tried to say it in a serious tone, but he was smiling, so it sounded more playful than serious.
“Oh, but of course, your highness!” Merlin joked before rolling his eyes.
“Oh, gods,” Arthur says before lightly chuckling and letting go of Merlin’s arms. Merlin lets go of Arthur, slowly backing away from Arthur. As soon as Merlin was about an arm's length away from Arthur, he slowly turned Arthur’s body towards him.
“Anything for my King,” Merlin says with a flirty tone. He looks over to Arthur and smirks slightly before pulling Arthur in close, wrapping his arms around Arthur’s body loosely. Arthur clicked his tongue at Merlin before slowly shaking his head with a big smile on his face.
“You are lucky I love you. I wouldn’t be able to put up with this with anyone else,” Arthur says, wrapping his arms around Merlin. Arthur closes his eyes and loosens up into the hug. He never realized that he was tensing his body till he took a moment to relax into the hug.
“I would like to think that I have always been an exception to everything since the beginning,” Merlin points out. Merlin rests his chin on Arthur’s shoulder and begins to look off into the distance.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Arthur says, trying to hold in a laugh, but Merlin could tell by the way Arthur spoke; that he was about to laugh.
“Whatever!” Merlin jokingly yells out. “You loved me so much when we first met,” Merlin says, thinking back to when they first met. He was only joking, of course. He and Arthur didn’t have the best start to their friendship when they first met. It was only after being forced to be around each other a bunch that they started to trust and eventually learned they liked one another.
“I think we both remember our first encounter very differently, my love,” Arthur pulls away from the hug slightly, leaving a few inches of space between them. Merlin stares deeply into Arthur's eyes for a few moments in silence before tilting his head slightly and furrowing his brows. “Oh Merlin, don’t give me that look—I have to go to a meeting. A King’s duty is never over,” Arthur could tell what Merlin was thinking and exactly what Merlin was about to do next. Merlin would get quiet and stare before giving his sad puppy dog eyes. Almost like it was on cue, Merlin starts to pout his lower lip and give Arthur sad puppy dog eyes.
“Right now? But I just got here! I don’t want to leave your side right now. Can I go with you at least?” Merlin asks, lowering her head slightly with his eyes looking up at Arthur. With them being the same height, this was the only way Merlin could make himself seem small. After all, Merlin does have his tricks to help get what he wants from Arthur. “Wait, how long is this meeting going to take? The moon is already starting to rise! Can’t you move this meeting to be in the morning instead?” Merlin looks out a nearby window and sees how late it is getting. It is almost time for Merlin to lose this game of his.
“I suppose you are right. With how late it is already, I am sure they will understand,” Arthur says, moving his hand to his chin as he thinks for a moment. He was planning out what he was going to say in his head.
“Perfect! You go tell them the change in plans. When you're done with that, then come meet me in your chambers,” Merlin says with a bright smile on his face. An idea popped in his head, so he needed to get away from Arthur for a bit to get some things ready. Arthur agrees, letting his arms drop down to his sides before heading out to the throne room.
Merlin wastes no time and quickly heads to his room. Merlin wants to make sure he looks good for what happens when he loses this game. He is hoping; that him dressing up in nice clothing won’t surprise Arthur. If Arthur were to be surprised, then Merlin would win the game which would ruin his plan. Merlin is in and out of his room as quickly as possible. Merlin puts on the new suit that he got made for him the week prior. He looks like he's going to a ball with him dressed up in this dark blue suit. Merlin felt rather silly wearing such nice clothes, but this was part of his plan. Merlin grabs two boxes that are on his bedside table. One small square box and the other a thin rectangle box. To not have Arthur question the square box, Merlin opens the box and takes out the silver ring that was inside it. Merlin puts the ring into one of his pockets before placing the square box down on his dresser.
“I hope you say yes,” Merlin mutters to himself. He nervously tightens his grip onto the rectangle box before taking a deep breath and quickly heading to Arthur’s chambers. Merlin was starting to get really nervous. Merlin was unsure if he should actually do this. He loves Arthur as they have been together for a few years now. He is ready and wants to get married to Arthur. It doesn’t matter about Arthur’s title. Merlin would love Arthur if he wasn’t royalty. This is real love, not fake for power. Merlin is a sorcerer, he has all the power he needs already, for crying out loud.
Merlin slowly walks into Arthur’s chamber and looks around the room before his eyes land on Arthur. Sitting on his bed: Arthur wasn’t paying attention before he looked over at his door. Merlin stood in front of the door, and Arthur’s jaw almost dropped. Arthur had to play it cool and act like he wasn’t surprised. Arthur got up from his bed and smiled brightly.
“You look so great in that, Merlin. What is the occasion? Are you taking me on a date?” Arthur asks as he makes his way over to Merlin, who is messing with one of the buttons on his blazer. “It is rather late for a surprise like that. I think you have lost this little game of yours,” Arthur says as he looks out his window. Looking out into the field just beyond the trees is the full moon shining brightly.
“Well… This is for something else, actually,” Merlin says, smiling happily. Arthur looks over at Merlin, furring his brows at him in confusion.
“What do you mean?” Arthur asked, squinting his eyes slightly at Merlin as he tried to read the other’s expression.
“You will know the reason soon enough, Arthur. For now, it is time that I give you your prize. This special pendant that I had made,” Merlin says, holding out the box to Arthur. After a moment of thinking, Arthur gently grabs the box and holds it close.
“Well, although this is odd. I’m happy to have played this game with you. I guess when I put my mind to it, you can’t surprise me,” Arthur says before opening up the box and pulling out this silver necklace with a green stone at the center. This stone has a silverback on the stone which is to attach the stone to its chain. Arthur wasn’t looking at the detail too much before looking back at Merlin.
“Arthur, if I was you, I would look closer at that necklace. Who knows, maybe there was something written on it,” Merlin says, biting his lower lip, trying to hold back from nervously laughing.
“What does it say?” Arthur says, surprised that Merlin added something like that to this prize. Arthur looks closely at the necklace. On the back of the stone, the silver backing had words engraved into it. These words were; will you marry me? Arthur gasped before looking over at Merlin. He was already down on one knee with the silver ring in his hands by the time Arthur looked over at him. Arthur dropped the empty box and covered his mouth.
“Surprise,” Merlin started, “Arthur Pendragon, my love, and my King. Will you marry me?” Merlin asked, looking up at Arthur. Merlin took a deep breath and held his breath, waiting for his answer.
“Are you serious right now?” Arthur was shocked and unsure if this was really happening or if this was some kind of joke. Merlin nodded quickly; while biting his lower lip again. “Yes! Yes, of course, I will marry you!” Arthur says happily. Merlin gets up, takes Arthur’s left hand, and places the ring on his ring finger. Arthur looks at the ring as he is overflowing with excitement and happiness. Arthur looks over at Merlin and pulls him into a tight embrace.
“I am so happy you said yes. I have been nervous about this all day,” Merlin chuckled before wrapping his arms around Arthur and hiding his face in the crook of Arthur’s neck.
“Of course I was going to say yes! I love you so much! Plus, we have been dating for so many years now. Why not make it official,” Arthur says rather loudly.
“What will the others think?” Merlin asks, his voice; being muffled slightly.
“Fuck what others think. If their King is happy about this arrangement, then so should my people. My romantic relationship will not affect what will happen to my people,” Arthur says before pulling away from the hug. Arthur was beaming with pride, and you could tell by his facial expression and the tone in his voice.
“I love you,” Was all Merlin said before pulling Arthur close and kissing him. When they move away from the kiss, Arthur holds up the necklace in front of their faces.
“Can you put this on me, my love?” Arthur asks, smiling softly at Merlin. Taking the necklace in hand, Merlin walks over to Arthur’s back and tries his best to get the necklace on Arthur.
“I can’t believe you beat me to the whole proposing thing!” Arthur says while Merlin is still fiddling with the necklace.
“Ha ha, I did it first,” Merlin says in a monotone voice, but it didn’t take long till he started laughing about the way he said that. “You can still propose to me if you want. I don’t have a ring on my finger yet,” Merlin suggests after he finally manages to get the necklace on Arthur. “That was hard. If you want the necklace off, then you are going to have to get it off yourself or have someone else do it,” Merlin says, placing his hands on Arthur’s shoulders. Merlin pulls Arthur close and rests his chin on Arthur’s shoulder.
“Who says I am going to take his necklace off? I will treasure it forever. There is no way this necklace or ring will leave my body,” Arthur leans his head onto Merlin’s head. Arthur closes his eyes and thinks, ‘if this is a dream, then please don’t ever wake me up. I'm happy with what has happened.’