[ The water of the shower is still running by the time Merlin arrives, but Arthur hasn't washed just yet. He spent the majority of that time wrenching into the toilet as his head begged to split in two different directions ( into two different people ), but he eventually managed to shove himself under the spray of water if only to give himself white noise to focus on rather than the shouting in his head.
He's still sitting there, hugging his knees and forcing himself to breathe slowly, when he hears the door and Merlin's voice. Gods, but Arthur can't let Merlin see him like this. As if he hasn't worried his boyfriend enough.
He darts to his feet, only barely avoiding slipping back and cracking his skull open, and hurriedly rubs shampoo in and out of his hair. The rough motion jostles his head and Arthur swears under his breath, but he lets it rinse out unaided while he quickly scrubs down the sick feeling from his skin. In total, it takes about all of five minutes, and then Arthur's stepping into a pair of footie shorts with his hair still dripping and skin pink-red, but Merlin is here and that's all that matters. ]
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He's still sitting there, hugging his knees and forcing himself to breathe slowly, when he hears the door and Merlin's voice. Gods, but Arthur can't let Merlin see him like this. As if he hasn't worried his boyfriend enough.
He darts to his feet, only barely avoiding slipping back and cracking his skull open, and hurriedly rubs shampoo in and out of his hair. The rough motion jostles his head and Arthur swears under his breath, but he lets it rinse out unaided while he quickly scrubs down the sick feeling from his skin. In total, it takes about all of five minutes, and then Arthur's stepping into a pair of footie shorts with his hair still dripping and skin pink-red, but Merlin is here and that's all that matters. ]
Em?