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It all started with an ambulance driving past. They were having one of their online meetings, on the computer this time, because Merlin was working on their glasses and had not handed them back yet. Due to the lock-down, Merlin had decided he would overhaul all of their essential equipment that was normally in constant use and therefore in dire need of an update. So now, there they all were in little squares on the computer screen and suddenly, there was the noise of an ambulance.
“Sorry”, Harry said and muted himself but the noise did not disappear. Instead, it continued in the background as Merlin was still speaking. Eggsy perked up in his chair. Without being too suspicious, he grabbed his phone and send Roxy a message:
Eggsy: Did you hear that?
Roxy: We're in the middle of a meeting!
Hear what?
Eggsy: The siren! Come on! Harry and Merlin must be in the same building!!!
Roxy: U serious? It was probably a coincidence...
Eggsy: I'm telling you they're in the same house!
Roxy: Merlin is looking funny. Stop texting
Eggsy smirked and put away his phone. But he could not help thinking about it. Were these two agents actually in lock-down together? And if so, why would they be? Just out of convenience? Or might there be more to their relationship than he knew?
It didn't take long for Eggsy to find more evidence. On their next video call, he texted Roxy again.
Eggsy: This time you can't deny it! See that mug? Last time we saw them, Merlin had that mug and now it's on Harry's desk!!! Come on!
Roxy: It's a green mug...
Eggsy: It's the same!!!
Roxy: …
You're getting crazy
Eggsy: I'm not! What if they are actually living together?
Roxy!
Answer! Come on! They are living together, I know it!
“Eggsy”, Merlin's voice brought his attention back to the screen: “Did ye have anything to add or any questions?”
“No, Sir”, he answered, giving his full attention back to the screen but he caught a bit of a smirk on Harry's face.
From that moment on, he started observing Harry more closely. He indeed seemed to listen very intently and while all the other participants were absent minded at some point or the other, Harry was always focused and attentive. Maybe this was due to his polished gentleman personality but Eggsy suspected more.
After the official chat was over, he called Roxy.
“Don't tell me, this is about your theory!”, she immediately said before he had the chance to even open his mouth.
Eggsy frowned. “It's not that crazy if you think about it! They've both been with Kingsman for a long time, they know each other very well...”
“Same could be said about the other agents”, Roxy cut in.
But Eggsy would not let that stand. “I've seen the way they talk to each other!”, he insisted: “And look at Harry in all these conversations! He looks at Merlin as if he is the most brilliant man in the world and he could hear him talk for hours!”
“He is a very brilliant man, to be fair.”
“Ugh! That's not the point!” Eggsy threw his hands up in frustration: “I'm not getting crazy here!”
“Maybe just a little bit.”
“I'm not! And I am going to prove it!”
“How?”
“I don't know but it's gonna be epic, okay! So many 'I told you so's ' waiting for you!”
Roxy laughed. “Honestly, I hope you're right! I would love to see them both in a happy relationship with each other!”
“Yeah, me too!” Eggsy agreed.
They talked about a couple of other things but once they had hung up, Eggsy tried to figure out a way to prove his theory. There were not many options. Of course, he could just drive to Harry's place and spy on him but that was a bit much, even for him.
Over the next few days, he tried to find more evidence, but failed miserably. The identical mug was nowhere to be seen and there were no more sirens to be heard. After a while, Eggsy came to the conclusion that, maybe he had been wrong? Maybe it was all nothing? Maybe it just had been a coincidence?
They had switched to a new program for their video conferences which allowed Merlin to show them a bit more of his technological simulations and in a very short time, the glasses would be back and they could resume their meetings in their normal fashion. Eggsy was very happy to hear this, since the meetings on his laptop made him inexplicably tired. Maybe this had been part of the reason he had tried to imagine a mystery: His brain was so bored from staring at a computer screen that he had tried to occupy his thoughts and created something, where there was really nothing.
Again, one of their meetings ended and Eggsy was leaning back in his chair.
“That's it for now”, Merlin said: “Until next time!”
They all said their good byes and left, their icons disappearing one after the other. He wanted to close the program as well, when he halted. “Roxy!”, he almost shouted: “Don't leave the chat!”
The other agent raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
They and Harry were the only tree remaining in the conference call. Although Harry's picture had disappeared as if he had put something in front of the camera, his microphone seemed to be working still.
Roxy and Eggsy stared at each other as they heard the older agent humming some sort of melody.
“Does he not know that he's still in the chat?”, Roxy whispered.
“I don't think so.”
There was a moment of silence and then a knock on the door.
“Come in!”, Harry said.
Eggsy held his breath.
“How did ye like my presentation today?”, a very familiar voice asked and Eggsy's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Roxy had a similar expression, staring at him in disbelieve.
“It was quite good but I always have a hard time concentrating with you looking as sexy as you do.”
Harry sounded flirtatious and there was a bit of a laugh from Merlin.
“Did ye notice that I wasn't wearing any pants?”
“No, but I'm noticing now.”
Eggsy and Roxy seemed to be both frozen. “Oh my God!”, Roxy mouthed without making a sound.
There was some rustling on the other end and then they heard Harry again: “Careful, this chair is not meant for two people!”
“Ye think I care?” Merlin's voice was very low.
“I think we should hang up now!”, Roxy whispered.
“No need, to whisper, they can't hear us!”, Eggsy said and he was right. The two men did not seem to notice their voices.
“Careful! I don't want to fall down”, Harry said.
“Ye telling me, ye're handling explosives and knives and dangerous killers for work and now ye're scared of falling out of a chair?”
“I'm not 20 any more!”
There was more deep laughter from Merlin. “Wait till I tell the kids that ye're actually the cautious one of the both of us! Ye will loose all yer bad boy reputation.”
“Then I will tell them about Moscow and they will never heed any of your calls for caution ever again.”
Eggsy and Roxy exchanged a look.
“That”, Merlin said: “Was a calculated risk.”
“It was dumb luck! Okay, smart luck but luck nonetheless.”
“They were going to kill ye.”
“You don't know that!”
There was a silence. Or maybe there were some noises that Eggsy really did not want to think of.
“We should hang up”, Roxy whispered again and Eggsy rolled his eyes.
When Harry spoke, you could hear the smile on his face. “Now, get off of me, before the chair collapses and get into the kitchen. I'm starving!”
Merlin seemed to be amused as well. “Now is that a way to speak to yer dear husband?”, he asked and Eggsy almost combusted.
“I told you so!”, he shouted and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. Roxy's eyes widened, her mouth opened in shock. Still, the two other agents did not seem to notice anything.
“Cook or I'll cook and we both don't want that!”, Harry threatened
Suddenly there was a silence. When he spoke again, Merlin's voice sounded very business like. “Harry, why is the symbol for the video chat still active?”
“What?”
“When ye closed the chat, did ye close the program or the window?”
“The window. Why?”
Eggsy darted forward. “Oh shit!” Roxy was gone in a split second, then Merlin's face appeared. He looked very serious.
“Heyja, Merlin”, Eggsy tried with a smile. Merlin's face was a stone mask. Harry behind him looked completely shocked.
“Ye have to close the program, not only the window”, Merlin remarked: “Otherwise, ye stay in the chat. And then other people can still hear ye.”
“Aaah!”, Harry said, glancing at Merlin as if the man was a bomb that was going to explode every second now.
Suddenly, Roxy reappeared. “I'm so sorry!”, she said, looking positively miserable: “I was in the chat as well and panicked. But I will take full responsibility!” She sounded very serious and Eggsy was quite relieved at her reappearance.
Merlin still looked unreadable but Harry had relaxed a little. “This must be very awkward for you”, he remarked in Eggsy's and Roxy's direction.
“Not only for them...”, Merlin said through grit teeth.
“If this is any help, I think you're a cute couple”, Eggsy tried to defuse the situation and he actually got a bit of a smile from Harry and a mortified look from Roxy.
“A thought ye will not mention to anyone, ye hear?” Merlin was still serious.
“Course not!”
“Good!”
There was a bit of a pause as they were all looking at each other.
Harry's expression, though, gave Eggsy enough courage to continue talking. “By the way: 'the kids' is that me and Roxy or do you have actual kids?”
Now Harry could no longer conceal his smile as he looked at Merlin, obviously amused by the stone cold look his husband was still wearing.
“It's ye two, obviously!”, Merlin grumbled.
While this exchange was taking place, Harry had rolled towards the computer in his chair and now he stood up to put an arm around Merlin's shoulders which seemed to relax just a little.
“I hope we can count on your discretion on this matter?”, he asked.
“Oh, absolutely!”, Roxy said immediately and Eggsy agreed as well.
“Totally!”
Harry smiled. “Thank you.”
“By the way: What happened in Moscow?” Eggsy asked and immediately, Merlin's face turned grimmer again.
“Nothing ye need to know about!”, he made clear: “And in the future, I expect ye to hang up in situations like this, ye understand?”
Roxy and Eggsy nodded and mumbled their agreement.
“Spying on your friends is indeed not very noble” Harry remarked: “Even if, in this case, it was partly my fault.”
“I'm sorry”, Roxy repeated: “I'm just happy for you, honestly!”
“Me too!” Eggsy confirmed.
At that, the expressions of the older agents softened slightly. They exchanged a short look.
“Thank you”, Harry said and Merlin actually smiled a little.
“I'm gonna close the program now for good”, Merlin said: “Take care.”
“Good bye!”
“Bye buy!”
“See ya!”
Then, there were only Roxy and Eggsy left. Eggsy threw himself back in the chair, finally able to relax again. He saw Roxy shake her head.
“I told you so!”, he said as soon as he could speak again.
“I know...”
“I told you so! I told you so! I told you so!”
“Shut up!”
Eggsy smiled.
“Sorry!”, Harry said as soon as the tech guy had definitely closed the program and turned off the computer.
Merlin still looked a bit disgruntled. “Nothing to do about it now. Next time when we use a new piece of technology, I'll give ye a full briefing.”
Harry sighed. “Please don't...”
The sharp, teasing smile was back on Merlin's face. “I believe ye give me no choice.”
Harry grabbed him by his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “I hope we have not traumatised the kids”
“Nah, I mean, I had other things in mind when I came in here, but I don't want ye to be hungry, so I guess I'll rather cook something now.”
“They were really lucky I haven't had a big breakfast!”, Harry remarked with a short laugh: “You're the best!”
“I know.”