If anything seems unlikely to you, please ignore and go with it.
Gwaine had convinced a few of the knights to help him towards his goal. They'd all been at it for about a month.
As a start, he quit drinking to make sure he wouldn't miss any chances. So far, this had given him two.
Yesterday was the seventh meeting Operation Cobra had. That was the nickname. Oporation Cobra had a total of five people: Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Gwen. It had originally been four, but Gwen had walked in on one of their meetings and demanded a part.
Planning was not Gwaine's forte. Leon on the other hand was fairly good at it. He'd arranged six of their missions so far. Unfortunately none of them had worked.
From tripping Merlin so Arthur could catch him, to forcing them to go on a picnic together.
Gwaine's latest plan was much more ambitious, and Gwaine was sure it would work. Although the other four in the group had voted against it, but Gwaine knew it would work.
By now Gwaine had memorized the things that didn't change in Arthur's schedule. One of them was his bathing time. Assistance from Merlin was always needed, so he would definitely be there. Another thing Gwaine had memorized was how many buckets of water Merlin had to bring for Arthur's bath to be full. Normally it was twenty-one. Although it could go up or down by two.
Now Merlin was on the twentieth bucket, and scurrying up the stairs. Gwaine decided to start his plan. He had a pitcher of wine in his left hand, and a closed empty bag in his right. He'd already finished the small bit of preparing for the plan to really work.
Merlin was getting closer. With every step Merlin took, Gwaine's heartbeat quickened. Finally Arthur and Merlin would be together!
"Splash!" Gwaine had walked into Merlin causing him to spill his water, and Gwaine's pitcher of wine had spilled all over Merlin.
"I'm so sorry Merlin!" Gwaine acted both surprised and sorry. "I wasn't looking where I was going." Even though he really was.
"Oh, it's all right, but you owe me new clothing after this." Merlin looked down at his ruined blue tunic.
"You're in luck! I was getting rid of some clothing, might be a little big, but it'll do for the day. I'll come with you and explain what happened to Arthur." If Merlin was suspicious, he didn't show it.
When they got to Arthur's room, he was already in the tub.
"Sire, sorry for intruding, but I spilled wine on Merlin's clothes, and i had some extra clothes with me. If you don't mind, could he quickly get changed in here?"
"Sure," Arthur replied rather absent mindedly.
Merlin walked behind Arthur's screen, and removed his clothes. He put them on the top of the screen as Arthur always did. Merlin saw a hand grab them, and then a bag flew over and hit him in the face. When he opened it, he found nothing. Well except in the corner where there was some underwear.
"Gwaine, there must be mistake, there's no clothing in here." Merlin waited around twenty seconds for a reply. "Gwaine?" He shouted.
"He left," Arthur told. "You can use some of mine if you wish."
Awkwardly, Merlin shuffled to Arthur's closet. As he opened it, he realized that it was empty.
"Arthur?"
"Yes?" Arthur urged him to continue by nodding.
"Its empty."
At this Arthur turned towards Merlin and saw his small frame with only a tight pair of grey underwear. "What?"
"Your closet is empty. There's only a pair of your underwear left." Merlin mumbled.
"Come over here Merlin," Arthur commanded.
Merlin was shaking but complied. "Can I close your window? It's really cold." He attempted to cover his shaking with a solid reason. Arthur saw right through it.
"Give me my towel, Merlin." His words causing Merlin to trekk towards Arthur's towel, and slowly head back.
Arthur stood, and wrapped the towel around his waist. Then he grabbed Merlin and pulled him to his chest. Holding a shivering Merlin, he started rubbing small circles into his back with his fingers.
"Should we tell him?" Arthur whispered.
Merlin giggled, "What would we tell him? That we've already been together for a year, and all his plans were useless?" He paused as he reached for Arthur's hair. "Besides, I like it when Gwaine's sober."
.