Where Reason Fades

Epilogue

Gwaine sat on the sand banks of Tintagel, playing with Honeystring, a tortoise shell kitten who was rolling around in the dusty sand at his feet, he casually stroked her belly in the blistering sunglight as he looked out on the planent and sighed. Toby sat by his side, purring in gentle contentment. Gwaine smiled a sad smile, looking down at the cat, in the knowledge that he would be leaving soon, alone. Looking up as he heard someone approach, he saw Arthur's golden outline coming nearer across that sand.

"Evening Princess," he called to the prince. Athur looked disgruntled, and not just at the nickname. Since his re-arrival on Tintagel two months prior he had settled back into camp life, made slightly more luxurious than before by Merlin's magical tokens of affections, but Gwaine's demeanour around his boyfriend still mad him uncomfortable. Merlin has laughed off Arthur's objections to Gwaine's flirting with jokes about cats and how adorable that Arthur was when he was jealous. If anything, Arthur thought, his objections had made the flriting worse. Arthur had decided that it was time to have a Talk with Gwaine.

"Gwaine," the prince acknowledge the other man as he sat on his catless side. Gwaine's easy grin didn't falter even at Arthur's serious face.

"Watch out for Honeystring, she has a thing for pouncing on feet," he said as Arthur sat down and eyed the kitten and Gwaine continued to play with her.

"Gwaine, I have an important matter to discuss with you. About Merlin." Arthur strated. Gwaine immediately stopped playing with the mewing kitten.

"Sounds serious, princess. Is Merling okay?" He replied. Arthur cleared his throat in nerves.

"Merlin is fine." He started again, before being interrupted by Gwaine's salacious eyebrow raise. He huffed in frustration.

"But that's the problem. You have to stop hitting on my boyfriend!" he blurted out, sounding more like a petulant teenager than a regal prince laying down the law. Gwaine tried, valiantly, to keep a straight face, but it broke into a grin.

"I've not been hitting on your boyfriend" he replied.

"Yes you have. You're always... flirting with Merlin! I know that's why you keep coming back here!" Arthur replied, exasperated. Honeystring glared at the prince, startled by his tone.

"I come back to deliver medical supplies." Gwaine explained, looking at Arthru's unbelieving face he conceded a little:

"Okay... okay... I also come for the cats." He said, as if that explained everything. Arthur groaned in frustration, burying his head in his hands, Honeystring choosing this moment to pounce on Arthur's foot, as if to emphasis Gwaine's point. The pirate laughed gently at the kitten and scooped her into his hands.

"You hit on Merlin all the time. Am I suppsed to believe a man like you- with your reputation- is just here for.. for... kittens?" he asked, spitting the last word in disbelieve.

"You shouldn't listen to rumours. None of them are true, anyway" Gwaine replied, hugging the kitten in his arms.

"Really? None of them?" Arthur asked septically. Gwaine grinned more.

"A reputation can be a useful thing for a priate." He explained gently.

"So you can honestly say that you have no intentions towards Merlin?" Arthur asked. Gwaine laughed, before his face dropped back to serious at Arthur's sullen expression.

"You do know I'm asexual, right?" Gwaine responded.

"I...did not." Said Arthur, slightly embarrassed.

"Yup, just here for the cats. The flirting's just a joke." Gwaine reiterated. An awkward silence stretch on as Gwaine juggled fussing both Toby and Honeystring.

"Why don't you just take some of the cats with you, if you like them so much?" Asked Arthur eventually. Gwaine looked at him, scandalised, as if the prince were mad.

"Have you ever tried to take a cat on a spaceship? They get so sick." He explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The awkward silence dragged on until, across the dessert they heard a voice calling:

"Arthur? Gwaine?!" came Merlin's voice, appearing before the man himself. Arthur broke into a smitten smile, which mirrored the one on Merlin's face as he gave him a light peck on the mouth.

"Come back to the camp, you two. It's dinner time." He said, voice full of knowing at the conversation that had passed between the prince and the pirate. Arthur stood up and took his hand, Gwaine standing on Merllin's other side, kitten still ensconced safely in his arms and followed by Tony, the trio headed back into the camp in the Tintagellian sunset.