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All these years Arthur had assumed that foot thick stone castle walls were the reason he’d never heard so much as a peep from Morgana’s room. But it must have been that she was incredibly quiet. The past three days he’d been hearing awful awful sounds from her room late at night.
It all started when he’d woken up in the middle of the night and swore he heard Merlin saying, “No you want your hand more like this.” Why was Merlin is Morgana’s room so late at night? He wasn’t even with her during the day Merlin was his servant after all. But as snippets of their conversation make their way through the wall it became clear what was happening.
“Will this work better?”
“Yeah that should be fine, oh wow that’s working great!”
The knowledge of what those two were doing would be enough to devastate him but having to hear them night after night was worse than anything. He’d tried to fall asleep earlier so he might not have to hear what they were doing but he never managed to. No matter what he did he couldn’t stop thinking about them. Together. Like that. Disgusting.
He was certain they could tell something was off at this point. The mild sleep deprivation was getting to him. And he hadn’t been able to look either of them in the eyes for days. He couldn’t stop thinking, just how long had they been doing this sort of thing ? Why had they not at the very least told him? Did they not trust him? He certainly couldn’t trust them anymore doing something like this behind his back. And Morgana knew how he felt about Merlin. How could she do this to him?
He heard Morgana’s door creek open and he rolled over and pressed his pillow against his ear even though he knew he’d still be able to hear them.
“Do you think we should stop meeting so frequently?” Merlin asked.
“Why am I outgrowing your tutelage?” Arthur had never thought Merlin would be… experienced. He pressed his pillow against his ear harder. He didn’t need to be thinking about such things.
“Not quite I think there’s still quite a bit I could help you with. Though you are progressing much faster than I thought you would. I’m worried someone might start to suspect something.”
“Who? Do you think you’re being followed? And Gaius wouldn’t tell anyone right? He promised us.” They told Gaius but not him? Sure Gaius was Merlin’s uncle but Morgana was like a sister to him, he thought they were closer.
“No I just, I’m worried Arthur might suspect something. He hasn’t really spoken to me in days.”
“Arthur?” Morgana cackled. “He couldn’t tell what we were doing if we did it in the same room as him. Come on, if that’s all let’s get started.”
How dare they. If they were going to keep being this loud they would wake the whole bloody castle at this rate. How could they not suspect he knew something. He shared a dam wall with them.
“Yeah, just like that.” He heard Merlin say. That was it. He was done with this. Arthur threw the pillow off his head and marched out of his room. He barged into Morgana’s room in a rage.
“How could you not think I suspect something! I could hear you every night from my room!” Arthur shouted as he glanced around, luckily both of them were still fully clothed. “You could at least have told me when something started going on between you two! Or at least had the decency to keep it down!”
Arthur quieted waiting for one of them to respond. He glanced between Merlin, and Morgana, and the chair floating in the air, and back to Merlin. Wait. “Why is there a floating chair?”
Merlin looked like a deer in headlights. He’d been frozen in place from the second Arthur swung open the door. Morgana on the other hand had seemed to recover. “I thought you knew? Isn’t that what all your fuss was about?”
“Oh my god you’re doing magic. Thank god.” Arthur started pacing around the room as the truth hit him. “It’s just treason. You’re just sorcerers. You’re not… Thank god!”
“You’re not, what?” Morgana asked.
“You won’t tell anyone right?” Merlin asked panicked.
“Oh yeah. Don’t worry, secrets safe with me. I’m going back to bed.” In any other circumstance Arthur would have been far more panicked about the prospect of Merlin and Morgana being sorcerers, but in comparison to… it was much much better.
“Not so fast.” Morgana moved to stop him. “I’m curious if you hadn’t figured out we were practicing magic, what did you think we were doing?”
“Ah well, it really doesn’t matter now does it.”
“Well I want to know.” Morgana crossed her arms and looked at him in a way that let him know that she wasn’t letting this go. He wouldn’t get back to bed without telling her. He glanced over her shoulder to Merlin who’d seemed to have mostly recovered from the shock but was still on the other end of the room.
Arthur lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “I assumed you were. That you two had become a couple.”
“Excuse me?” Morgana said.
“I thought you two were fucking alright.” Arthur whispered back. Morgana started laughing.
“Me and Merlin? Even if I were into men Merlin wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“Hey Merlin’s-“ Arthur started ready to defend Merlin.
“Besides,” Morgana said. “Do you really think I’d stoop that low? Fuck your man-crush away from you.” Arthur blushed as he saw Merlin startle and start to stand up. He glared at Morgana as she smirked.
“I’m going to bed.” He shouted as he ran back to his room. Lying down in his bed he doubted he’d be able to fall asleep tonight either.
Once again he heard Merlin speak from the other side of the wall. “Does that mean he likes me back?”
“What else would man-crush mean? I’m so tired of you do dancing around your feelings for each other. If I didn’t need your help with the magic I think I’d rather never speak to you again with all the whining you do about Arthur.”
Like him back, and apparently Merlin had been talking about him to Morgana. Maybe he didn’t have to kill Morgana for letting his feelings slip in front of Merlin after all.