Feeling differently   von Ta_Moe
                                   (or not?)
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                     Kapitel 3: Chapter 3 – Talk is cheap
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Chapter 3 – Talk is cheap

When he woke up in the morning, Merlin found himself lying on the floor. He must
have rolled out of his own bed at night, which had never happened before.
“What the”, the young boy rubbed his head and stood up slowly, reaching with
his right hand towards the blankets that were still on the bed.
Something was lying there, or better said someone was lying in his bed.
“Arthur!”, Merlin yelled and stepped back, as he realized who the other
person was.
“Shut up, Merlin. You're too loud”, with this the prince reached out for the
other boy and got hold of his wrist, pulled him onto the bed.
He then wrapped one arm around the shoulders of the black haired boy and made
himself comfortable.
Merlin's yell, as he had found out who it was lying in his bed, must have had
woken Gaius, who came now storming in and found the two boys cuddling in one
bed, or at least Arthur hugging Merlin's upper body, for the rest of him was
still more next to the bed than on top of it.
“What are you doing?”, the old man said loudly and pulled Merlin away from
the prince.
The blond boy finally came to his senses and realized where he was and with
whom.
“Good morning, Gaius”, Arthur looked around at Merlin who turned his face
away the moment their eyes met, “Well, I must have mistaken Merlin for my
cushion”
“You better do not do that again”, Gaius said warningly, “your are the
prince of Camelot, you better not forget about that”
Then he turned to face Merlin, “And you better watch it, too, Merlin. You two
don't want to be caught sleeping together, do you?” 
“We are not”, Merlin exclaimed quickly, “sleeping together”
“Unfortunately”, Arthur murmured.
Gaius gave him a suspicious look raising one eyebrow.
“As Gaius correctly said, I am the prince of Camelot. And therefore I will go
hunting, as princes do. Merlin!”
“Be careful”, Gaius told Merlin and whispered, “Who knows what kind of
spell he is under”
“Hopefully it will be gone soon”, Merlin said coldly.
“I did not mean this kind of spell, Merlin”, Gaius said smiling and patted
the boy on his shoulder, “therefore I told you to be careful”
Arthur had already left the room.
“I know exactly what you're talking about”, Merlin told his adviser.
“Don't do anything stupid, Merlin. He might be the prince, but he cannot do as
he pleases”
Merlin swallowed soundly. 
“And whatever you two are up to, don't get caught, I mean it. The outcome
would be the same as if your secret were to exposed”
“Don't worry, we are only going for a hunt”, Merlin said smiling and left
without washing or having eaten anything since the night before.

*

They were riding next to each other in complete silence. Only the two of them
had left the castle and Uther must have been quite displeased for Arthur's
absence, but the boy could not care less right now.
As they left the thicker part of the woods, Arthur led towards a small meadow
right in the middle of the forest, where he got off his horse and let himself
fell onto the soft ground. The grass was bright green and the horses started
eating the minute they were let go to do so. 
Merlin joined Arthur on the ground and sat about two meters away from him.
It was silent, only some bird's singing and the sound of fresh wind could be
heard. 
“Didn't we want to go hunting?”, Merlin asked suddenly and looked into the
sky.
“Well, we are. We are hunting the feelings that are given us from god's great
present nature”
Merlin turned his gaze to Arthur, who had his eyes closed and seemed to enjoy
the sunlight on his skin and a soft breeze playing with his blond bangs.
He felt the sun reflecting on his pale skin, too and the wind tickling under his
nose.
“Why did you cry last night?”
Merlin's eyes widened in terror and he found himself looking eye in eye with
Arthur, who had now sat up and was facing him with a serious look.
“I”, he stuttered and did not know what to say.
“You at a loss of words. I never believed that could ever happen”, Arthur
said laughing.
“Because of what happened before”, Merlin answered seriously.
Arthur stopped laughing abruptly and moved closer to Merlin, their hands almost
touching.
“What do you mean, exactly?”
“Oh, come on. You know what I mean, prat”, Merlin pouted and looked at him
from the corner of his eyes.
“Well, I won't until you tell me exactly what you mean, idiot”, Arthur came
even closer and Merlin could feel his warm breath only some inches away from his
ear.
As Merlin did not say anything else, Arthur's right hand brushed Merlin's left
and the black haired boy shivered because of the sudden touch.
Arthur took this as a yes and leaned in to kiss him on the lips, but Merlin
moved his head to the side and thus Arthur's lips only touched the other boy's
cheek. 
“Sire, I don't think that's such a good idea”, Merlin said nervously and did
not dare to look at him in the eye.
“Why not?”, Arthur whispered into Merlin's left ear and kissed it softly.
Merlin quivered and closed his eyes vehemently.
The blond prince caressed Merlin's chest and his hand stopped right on his
heart.
“I can feel your heartbeat fasten”
 “Of course”, Merlin yelled and pushed Arthur away.
Due to the force he had used and the fact, Arthur still had a hold on his left
wrist Merlin landed right on Arthur.
Both lying on top of each other on the ground of a meadow right in the middle of
a forest was tempting. They were alone and Arthur could not avoid a smirk on his
face.
Merlin blushed and tried to escape, but was pushed over by Arthur, so that he
was lying on top of Merlin now.
“Arthur”, Merlin said a bit anxious.
“I don't want to hurt you, Merlin”, Arthur said smiling and let go of his
hands, “I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do”
Merlin looked to the side.
Arthur sat on top of Merlin and watched the other boy, “Well, but you do know,
what I'm talking about, don't you, Merlin”
The boy nodded embarrassed.
“That's good then”, Arthur leaned in, used his left hand to force Merlin to
face him and kissed him softly on the lips.
Merlin closed his eyes and pulled Arthur closer, deepening the kiss. 
A sudden rustling sound made them look up and let go off each other.
“What was that?”, Merlin asked anxiously.
Arthur looked around and shook his head, “nothing”
“Well, there certainly was something”, the other boy exclaimed and pushed
the prince off him.
“Merlin, it was probably just some animal running about”, Arthur said.
“Probably, but what if not”, Merlin whispered, “What if someone saw us”
Arthur watched his servant irritated, “There was no one”
“How can you be sure of that?”, Merlin stood up and walked towards their
horses, “We better go back”
“Merlin!”, Arthur called, “Will you stop worrying”
“No”, the black haired boy sat on his horse, “at least one of us has to
worry, Sire”
He said the last word with great emphasis without looking at the prince, “We
better get going, I'm sure your fa... the king is probably full of rage because
of your absence”
“Merlin!”, Arthur yelled, but the young boy was already out of hearing.

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