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Everyone in Camelot knew who King Arthur's favourite was, hell they'd known since the man was still a prince! No one else could talk to Arthur the way Merlin did, no one dared to. Though they watched on in shocked fondness any time the pair came into view, banter in full swing as they ignored everyone around them.
The castle servants watch the two dance around each other for years, the Knights see them training and rough housing with each other and the citizens whisper about how close the two had become, sharing knowing looks when the two act like a married couple.
It isn't until Arthur has been king for over 2 years that anything changes. He gifts Merlin a purple tunic for his birthday, hoping that the idiot would catch on to the meaning when he opened the package, yet Merlin simply thanked him still wearing the red tunic that he was slowly growing out of as he gained more muscles and weight due to eating his meals with Arthur now.
The tunic doesn't make an appearance for another few days, but as soon as he steps out of his chambers, Gaius does a double take and drops a vial "where did you get that, my boy?" He asks after a few seconds of shocked silence, causing Merlin to raise an eyebrow at his strange behaviour "Arthur gave me it as a present" he says, a grin growing on his face even as Gaius' eyes widen. He doesn't stay around long enough to hear the older man's quiet chuckle and whispered "took them long enough" as he shakes his head in amusement.
The servants around the castle react the same way to Gaius, doing double even triple takes when Merlin comes past them, before looking to their fellow colleagues to check that they'd seen the same thing and sharing excited looks. Gwen is quick to go back to Morgana's chambers after talking to her friend, Morgana is quick to pick up on her growing excitement "what is it?" She asks with a small smile, always happy to see her closest friend like this "purple tunic, it's official!" Gwen squeaks out, bouncing on the spot much to Morgana's growing confusion.
Upon seeing her furrowed brow, Gwen takes a deep breath "Arthur gifted Merlin a purple tunic, he started wearing it today" she says, watching as her lady's eyes light up in recognition and she too begins bouncing in excitement. Once they've calmed again Gwen tells her everything she knows, which ends up with Morgana all but throwing herself into a chair "it's about damn time" she says, the excitement still clear to hear in her tone.
The more people see Merlin around the castle, the more he notices the glances he's getting. The way maidservants giggle when he's passing and eventually finds his way to the only person who knows about giggling maids "Gwaine! Does this tunic make me look weird?" He asks, not stopping to greet the man who's currently sharpening his sword. The few knights that are in the armoury take one look at him, whistle lowly and quickly leave to find their brothers in arms and share the news that something's happening between the king and Merlin.
Merlin raises an arm as if to prove his point, watching as Gwaine's amusement grows "why would you think that?" He asks, not entirely sure where Merlin's coming from or if anyone has said something to make him feel that way, but he's getting to the bottom of it as soon as he can "the maids are giggling at me, Gwaine. Giggling!" He says, making sure the man knows the problem he's having "all the servants are looking at me strangely and the Knights just whistled and left!" He finishes, gesturing wildly the longer he talks, causing Gwaine to chuckle quietly, what a plight he's in.
When Merlin doesn't say anything further, instead just stares at him for an answer, Gwaine realises he's serious "purple is an important colour for royalty and nobles" he begins explaining, knowing this off by heart due to his father being a knight "if gifted it, it signifies that the receiver is the King's or Queen's favourite" he continues, watching as Merlin's eyes begin to grow impossibly wide "being the favourite of a king means no one can mess with you, may even mean he's in love with the receiver" he finishes with a smirk, it was obvious to everyone but Merlin that the princess was in love with him.
Merlin continues to stare at him in complete silence, before turning on his heel and running out of the room leaving a chuckling Gwaine behind. He makes is back to Arthur's chambers faster than he ever had in 8 and a half years of being the man's servant and slams the door open "Arthur Pendragon! You are the biggest fucking dollophead I've ever met!" He all but screams, making the king and the two guards outside jump in alarm. The king's expression quickly changed from alarm, to confusion and then settled on awe as he took in Merlin's appearance even as he began to rant at him.
It took a few seconds for it to register what Merlin had come in yelling, but he quickly goes back to being confused "what the hell did I do?" He asks, cutting Merlin off mid rant. Arthur had never seen Merlin look so murderous before, so slowly stood up and made his way to him "this!" Merlin shouts, pointing at the tunic he had on "why didn't you tell me I was your favourite or that you are in love with me or whatever the fuck this represents?!" He asks, storming up to Arthur in a way the man had never seen before so puts a placating hand out to slow him down.
So someone had told Merlin what his gift meant, that was great! Merlin continued moving until Arthur's hand was pressed against his chest "I thought you knew what purple meant! I thought you felt the same" Arthur says, his voice getting quieter towards the end as he thinks over every interaction between them since they first met, had he overstepped? He watches as Merlin rolls his eyes muttering something about "pompous dollophead's and their pompous ideas" before grabbing the hand currently resting on his chest and pulling him closer.
Now they were nose to nose and Arthur was suddenly nervous, as he took in the smirk Merlin was giving him "will this answer your questions?" He asks, not giving his king a chance to answer before he surges forwards and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. Arthur melts into it, wrapping his arms around Merlin to bring him even closer causing the man to lean fully against him, even as they pulled away and smiled at each other "that cleared a few things up" Arthur whispers, making Merlin chuckle quietly before he's pulled back into another kiss, which is much slower this time around.
They end up curled around each other on Arthur's bed, exploring each others bodies. Or Arthur exploring Merlin's as he discovered he's far more muscular than he originally thought, "you look amazing in purple" he whispers after awhile, causing Merlin to snort in amusement. When Arthur raises his head from where it was resting on Merlin's chest and raises an eyebrow at him, he explains "most of the castle agrees, though everyone was shocked to see it" Arthur bursts into laughter, causing Merlin to join in until the two of them are holding onto each other for support, their sides and cheeks hurting from laughing so hard.
Merlin wakes up the following morning to Arthur's sleeping face, and can't help but stare at him. He's so much calmer and relaxed like this, it makes him smile "I feel you watching me" Arthur murmers into his shoulder, making him smile wider when his blue eyes open just enough to look at him "I like watching you sleep, you're adorable" Merlin teases, which wakes the man up instantly as he growls and tackles his lover "I'm not adorable, I'm a warrior" he says, pouting slightly and making Merlin giggle quietly as he boops Arthur's nose "my adorable warrior" he says, rolling out from under him before he has the chance to pin him to the mattress and kiss him senseless
Merlin is just about to leave the room, before he starts smirking and grabs one of Arthur tunics "wanna mess with everyone?" He asks, watching as Arthur's eyes sparkle with mischief. Instead of just Merlin going down to the kitchens to collect breakfast, the two of them go smirking as they hear the rumour mill start going crazy, the maids that were giggling yesterday were full on squealing when they thought Merlin and Arthur were far enough out of ear shot, causing the two of them to burst out laughing in the middle of the hallway.
The Knights caught sight of them later in the day, Gwaine sending him suggestive looks and smirking when Arthur wasn't looking, at least half the Knights were once again whispering to each other and handing over bags of coin. Of course they were betting on them, neither Merlin not Arthur were surprised that Gwaine was getting the most, Leon getting a smaller amount and the rest earning bragging rights as they had been close. There was an uproar when Arthur kissed Merlin before joining in on training, Merlin quickly heading back into the castle and changing into a new Pendragon red tunic that Arthur must have gotten tailored at some point.
No one was suprised when they announced that they were courting a few days later. Even less suprised when they saw Arthur ride out towards Ealdor almost 2 years later, only to come back and announce that they were getting married and Merlin would be king consort the following evening.