So we meet again... (a merthur au)

Fantasy Movie Night

Arthur promised he would set everything up if Emrys would go in the kitchen and microwave some bags of popcorn. Emrys watched with interest as the popcorn was going as Arthur stood pointedly in front of the TV, successfully blocking his view and retaining the surprise of whatever movie he decided to turn on. He even muted it, in case the dated previews dared to give it away.

Emrys looked, then, out the window and saw a bird perched on the fence, turning its head as it watched him, skittering around some before flying away. Emrys liked birds, he had a pet blue macaw named Archimedes (Archie for short) for a short while before it died and had marveled at how intelligent it was.

He still vividly remembered how the bird would miss him and when Archie heard a door open he would always call, "Where are you? Hello?" followed by a whistle or two.

"I'm here, Archie." Emrys would always reply, coming into the room to pet the bird's head. "Hello."

"Miss you." Archie would reply, making kissing noises.

"Emrys!" Arthur yelled, snapping him out of his memories. "The popcorn is done, movie is ready, come on!"

"Right, coming!" Emrys exhaled, lately it felt like he was trapped in his head, only living in the past. Arthur and the overwhelming feeling of familiarity wasn't helping.

He walked in to see the screen black, paused right before the beginning of the movie he figured, and Arthur looking like a grade schooler trying to hide his excitement. The sight sent warmth blooming in his chest. He plopped beside Arthur, handing him a bag of popcorn.

Arthur began the movie with no preface except, "It's better if I don't explain anything. It's better if you have no idea."

"Will you at least tell me what it's called, how do you know I haven't seen it?" Emrys smiled, knowing that it was very unlikely he'd seen it. He always preferred reading over movies, and on top of that he only ever read non-fiction.

Arthur shushed him, "Even if you have, you've never seen it with me. I'm a joy to watch movies with."

After a fairly interesting voice over in the opening sequence, Emrys grinned and popped a few pieces of popcorn in his mouth, "Never pegged you as a high-fantasy nerd."

"Shhhhhh!" Arthur shushed him, smacking his arm. "This is the best part!" Arthur took on a rigid posture as he mimicked the voice of the narrator from the movie, " 'Sauron, the enemy of the free peoples of Middle Earth was defeated.' I love this movie."

Emrys smiled, "I can tell."

They proceeded to watch the rest of the movie with relative silence save for occasional trivia facts from Arthur and commentary from Emrys. The atmosphere was comfortable, he hadn't felt so relaxed for a while. He had even let Wade fall asleep across his and Arthur's laps, the dog too needy for affection to bother picking one of the two boys. After roughly three hours of uninterrupted movie-watching, the credits rolled and Arthur was glowing with a smug grin.

"So, what did you think?" He asked, waiting to be regaled with praise for the film.

After a moment of thinking, Emrys responded, "The world-building was good, and although the dialogue was heavy-handed at times it did have good characterization and non-verbal expression. I quite liked the dwarf."

"Yes... But did you like it?" Arthur asked, smugness turning into something similar to insecurity. Did he not like it? he thought. Have I bared my nerd soul too early? He thought or, well, something kind of like that.

"Yeah, Arthur. I really enjoyed it." Emrys smiled, "glad we got to see it together."

"Wanna watch another one?" Arthur asked, glancing at his phone. "It's only about 3:30, if you want to watch them all I can have you out of here before 10."

Emrys looked at his watch, "Sure, that's fine. I don't like being out too late walking home."

"What about a cab? Or I could drive you home?" Arthur asked, getting up to go to the kitchen, careful with moving his dog's head off his lap.

"I like walking, it's the only exercise I get." he joked, "Besides, I'm gonna grab some street food on the way home."

"If you're hungry, I can cook something," Arthur offered, "frankly I should've asked earlier. I'm making myself out to be a bad host."

"I could cook," Emrys offered, "I'm pretty good at it."

"Are you now?" Arthur laughed, "Then why not cook for yourself at home?"

"I get tired of my own cooking." Emrys shrugged, "want me to put the next one on?"

"Yeah, just make sure you don't watch the previews, they're stacked in order, it's the second one down." Arthur pointed in the vague direction of the TV stand, getting out the ingredients to make spaghetti. "Do you like your spaghetti with or without meat in it?"

"I prefer it with meat, but in small chunks, not meatballs. Most people just unfreeze those when they add them in, I like homemade where I can get it." He added, petting the dog. He didn't have the heart to move the tired pup just yet.

"Makes sense. Wanna help with the cooking? If you're a good cook, you may improve my sad excuse for Italian cuisine." Arthur joked.

Emrys had a flash of confusion, something like deja-vu. He shook it off, moving the dog and getting up to help, "Not sure how much good I can do, but I'll try."

After a few minutes of preparation, they waited for the water to boil with an uncomfortable silence.

"Am I pushing you too much?" Arthur asked candidly, "I pounced you with the whole 'I-know-your-face-but-not-your-name' thing, then I invited you over out of the blue, and now I'm holding you hostage with epic tales of yon. I realize now that I have no idea why you're still here, after all this weird stuff."

Emrys shrugged, "I have no friends, plus, like you said before. I'm comfortable with you, like I know you somehow. It's nice, spending time with you."

He cleared his throat, opening the box of spaghetti, "Water's boiling."