Work Text:
“There’s a newcomer!”
Arthur looked up from the cloud he was sitting on to see another angel peeking around a golden pillar. “Yeah, what else is new? People are dying all the time and coming up to heaven.”
The other angel – who Arthur had known for hundreds of years, yet couldn’t remember his name for the afterlife of him – frowned at him. Heaven was meant to be a place where sadness and anger and tears were nonexistent, but so far that was all that Arthur had experienced up in the sky. He had only truly, genuinely been happy twice in his thousands of years up in the clouds: once when he had gotten to actually meet his mother, Ygraine, and embrace her, and once when Morgana had greeted him at heaven’s gates. He had been shocked to see his heinous half-sister in the better afterlife, but apparently God had deemed her more good than evil, since she had only been trying to save herself and her magical kin, even if her methods were not the purest.
But Arthur could never truly be happy, because Merlin – the man he hadn’t realized he loved until it was too late – could never join him up in the sky. Not because his servant wasn’t worthy of entering heaven – he was the most qualified human of becoming an angel that Arthur had ever known – but because he was destined to walk the earth forevermore. He was unable to die; immortal. Arthur had tried to convince someone – anyone – to let him go down and see Merlin for even just a minute, but no one would allow it. He and Morgana had tried once, but they had only gotten as far as seeing an elderly Merlin with a long, white beard walking past Avalon before they were caught. The image had broken Arthur’s heart. They weren’t punished because, well, it’s heaven, just strongly advised not to attempt to contact earth ever again.
The former king of Camelot had been surprised and despaired when he was greeted by Gwaine in the clouds, shortly after he had been greeted by Morgana. But he was glad when quite a few years later, Gwaine was reunited with Percival, although it saddened Arthur’s heart that yet another of his friends had perished.
When Gwen arrived in heaven after a long and prosperous rule, she had soon realized that even though Arthur did love her, he loved Merlin tenfold. She had been very understanding, for she, too, loved another more: Lancelot. The two of them were happy together, and Arthur for them. Yet, he wished he could have that kind of relationship with the one who he loved.
“I hear this one is different.” The other angel‘s voice snapped Arthur out of his reminiscing. “He was supposed to be immortal or something.”
Arthur’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting the other’s with an intensity like that of lightning. “Say that again.”
Before the other angel had repeated his prior sentences, Arthur’s wings were carrying him as fast as possible to the gates.
Don’t get your hopes up. It could be a different immortal.
Or it could be him.
His wings couldn’t flap fast enough; when he at last reached the entrance, he could barely see through the crowd of white, feathered wings and angelic bodies. “Excuse me! Sorry!” he mumbled as he pushed through the mass. His eyes searched high and low, left and right; he was beginning to lose hope when-
“Arthur!”
The blond stopped dead in his tracks, hovering in midair.
“Arthur Pendragon! Where is he?!”
Arthur didn’t want to look in the direction of the voice in case it wasn’t the serving boy, even though the voice calling his name at that moment was more real than any of the false whispers that had tortured him for the past thousands of years.
“Arthur!”
The past king of Camelot took a deep breath and turned to see the top of a dark-haired head a few yards away. Arthur didn’t think; he just flew. He was flying at such a high speed that he barely had time to stop before he would crash into his old friend.
“Dollophead!” Merlin crushed into him with a hug, completely defeating the purpose of Arthur cautiously slowing down. “It is so good to see your idiot face again!”
Arthur breathed in Merlin’s scent, a scent that he hadn’t smelled for literal ages. “I missed you too, you toad.”
Once they pulled away, he tried to say something, but he was much too choked up, so he simply looked Merlin up and down; the prior serving boy looked exactly as he had when Arthur had taken his final breath in the other’s arms, right down to the red neckerchief around his neck. Except for the feathery, white wings adorning his back and causing him to be able to float in midair. Those were new.
“You’re wondering why I’m not still alive, aren’t you?”
“Um, yeah, I guess I am,” Arthur attempted at speaking, even though tears were threatening to spill down his face.
“Well,” Merlin replied, letting out a breath, “apparently, Avalon’s need is greatest right now. She’s in need of her once and future king, and, as it would seem, the greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth as well.”
“Don’t go getting full of yourself now,” Arthur chuckled, realizing that he was still holding onto Merlin’s arms, but he didn’t feel like letting go just yet.
“Oh, I would never take your job away from you, you do it so well.”
Arthur’s mouth gaped open in mild shock, but he couldn’t hide his smile. Oh, how he had missed Merlin’s stupid, yet witty banter. He was about to make a comeback of some sort when he saw a tear roll down the other man’s cheek. Without much thought, he moved his hand from it’s place on Merlin’s arm to his cheek to wipe the tear away – which was rapidly turning into multiple tears. After he had wiped the current tears away, he was left in a bit of a dilemma, for now his hand was cupping Merlin’s cheek, whilst his other hand was still on one of Merlin’s arms, and he wasn’t sure what to do at this point. He was strongly considering awkwardly pulling his hand away and maybe flying back a bit to put some space between them, but he never did. Somehow, instead of moving away from Merlin, he had moved closer to him. Much closer. So close that their lips were touching. He was kissing Merlin. Why was he kissing Merlin?!
He hurriedly pulled away, mentally slapping himself. Just what the bloody hell had he been thinking?!
“I’m so sorry I- I didn’t mean to-“
The sound of Merlin’s soft chuckling interrupted him.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“Nothing… and everything.”
Arthur frowned, his brows scrunching together. “Even after thousands of years, still nothing you say makes any sense.”
Merlin chuckled again and cupped Arthur’s cheek – which was now wet with tears, much like his own (when had that happened?) – with his hand. Then he kissed him.
Their kiss was filled with tears contributed by both of them, but neither could have asked for a better first kiss. They kissed for what felt like hours, but also less than a second. In actuality, it was one minute and fourteen seconds. But who’s counting? They pulled apart, but kept their faces close together.
Arthur couldn’t believe it. He had kissed Merlin. And Merlin had kissed him. They had kissed each other. And it wasn’t a dream or a result of wishful thinking. It was real.
The sound of someone clearing her throat caused them to jump a bit a ways from each other. They turned to see an angel with long brown hair and tan skin hovering a few feet away. “Sorry to interrupt,” she began, “but time is of the essence. Avalon is in great need of her once and future king and the greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth. You are to depart from heaven and travel down to earth immediately.”
Arthur and Merlin glanced at each other, then back at the higher-ranking angel, both silent. She rolled her eyes, although a smile played on her lips. “What part of the word ‘immediately’ do you two not understand?”
“Sorry, yes,” Merlin apologized. “Let’s go, Arthur.”
And so, the two angels flew down to earth, hand and hand, grinning at each other with long-overdue love in their eyes, off to save their kingdom. Together.