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

Moving Old Boxes

And so, Emrys and Arthur stood around the pot as the spaghetti boiled, both leaning against different portions of the counter. Wade padded in, whined to be let out, and then the two shared a pleasant silence.

...

They stayed in silence for the rest of the night, eating their portions of spaghetti and watching the next movies in the series. Once the last movie ended, Emrys took the time to help hand-wash the dishes and show Wade some affection before heading to the door.

Arthur walked him out to the front lawn, glancing around at the dark road, "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?"

"I'll be fine." He assured, smiling. "I only take lit streets, I walk around at night a lot to think. Nothing has happened to me yet. Nothing that I can't handle, anyway. Besides, it's not too cold."

"Right, well. Just in case, text me when you get back." Arthur asked, crossing his arms, his tone teetering between joking and sternness. "If you don't text or call in an hour, I will call 999 without hesitation."

"Sure, Arthur. I'll talk to you later." Emrys smiled tightly, waving before walking out to the street and slowly disappearing out of sight.

Arthur watched Emrys walk away and heard Wade whining from the other room and went inside, locking the door for the night. Once back inside, he tidied up the room, not completely satisfied with the boxes still remaining. All in all, though, he didn't mind getting sidetracked. The day spent with Emrys had been laid-back, calm even.

The mood was different with his friends he normally spent his time with. They constantly had to be entertained by something. Whether by drinking, by partying, by watching football on the telly, it was always something.

Although he knew much less about Emrys than his other friends, Arthur felt as though he knew everything he needed to know. Emrys didn't need entertaining, he just kind of existed as though completely at peace with the world. Some older folk Arthur had met in his youth called those types of people "old souls", perhaps that's what Emrys was.

Wandering around the inside of the house, he debated whether or not to give Wade a quick walk.

He decided maybe just a quick stroll around the block, something to calm his nerves while he waited for Emrys to let him know he had gotten home okay. Arthur mentally reminded himself he would definitely drive him home himself next time, even if the boy protested. He pulled out the dog's leash and harness from a hook in one of the closets, strapping the dog up and grabbing his keys and jacket on the way out the door.

He walked with a sense of purpose, trying to air out his nerves but eventually slowed down as his calves began to ache and his face got numb. He was out of shape, his day job at the office causing him to lose any motivation to exercise on his downtime. He had used to play football, tennis, even had fencing lessons when he was a boy. As he got older though, he lost the motivation.

He took the dog around the block for another lap before heading home to his flat. Upon walking in the door and unleashing the dog, he sighed. He really would have to finish putting the boxes away soon, he had the space to put away most of what he had from his parent's old house but going through it all was a daunting task.

Memories he didn't want to revisit were in some of those boxes, but with a little over 350 square feet and no attic to his flat, he was having trouble imagining living forever with those unopened boxes. He sat down on the floor in front of a box marked "old trophies", and heaved a sigh. He figured that was a good a place as any to start getting rid of useless things.

....

He'd been at it for nearly an hour, only deciding to keep one trophy after reaching the bottom of the box. He watched it intently, wondering if it would jump out of his hand the moment he blinked. It was the only trophy he was truly proud of after all those years in a box.

In school, he was in the model U.N. for several years and at his last conference before graduation he won the trophy for best delegate. It was one of the proudest moments of his life, and his parents were at work, too busy to be there. He never told them about the trophy, but one of their friends must have told them. Soon after, as he was readying himself to move out somewhere, they gave him the title deed to his very own flat as a gift. One he would've had to save up for years to afford.

Looking back, he realized it had to have been because they knew how strained their relationship was. That he was unlikely to visit or ever talk to them much outside of the occasional phone call. It was their last gesture of kindness, in a way. The thought dampened his mood.

Soon after, getting up to grab some crisps from the pantry, he got the text from Emrys assuring he was home safe. Arthur bid him goodnight over text, and proceeded back to his mountain of boxes. Just one more for the night, he dug through them in hopes of finding something as easy to sort through as his old trophies.

The box seemed to scream for his attention when he caught sight of it, "eve" was written small on the center of the box. He opened the box, only glancing for a moment at what was inside and whispered, "Rubbish."

He put the remainder of the trophies in the box, setting the U.N. one to keep on the couch, and immediately took the box outside and set it by the road. Going inside to grab a marker, he returned outside and marked the box "take what you want" before heading inside. Someone else would likely pawn the contents of the box, which was fine to him.

Out with the old.