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[ she starts poking at her earring as they walk. she supposes it makes some sense to have a horse with him. he's a servant to the prince, after all... but-- ]

Is the horse also in your apartment? What's its name?

Do you really think I have room for a horse in there? [ Athena?????? ] Though I actually haven't named him yet.

If your apartment is really big... I mean, I've never been there, so I wouldn't know.

[ she shrugs her shoulders. ]

Name him Arthur.

Would you want to? [ He doesn't look at her as he asks that, looking ahead instead, though he does laugh a little at that. ] And risk him coming here to find I named a horse after him? Not likely.

I could visit Shigeru and get to know him! I mean, you know Ai and all...

And, ah. . . maybe that is a bad idea.

He might have asked if I wanted you to come by one day. For dinner. I didn't exactly say who... though. [ This may be a hint that he hasn't told Shigeru yet....... ]

And that's definitely a bad idea, I'll think of one eventually.

Wow! I already have an invitation! [ athena, that's not what he meant. ]

Can I name the horse?

[ Baby Jesus please save Shigeru... ] He's... different though. [ He chews his lip, not entirely sure if he should say the rest but-- ] He can't speak, so you have to be patient with him while he types things to you. I can just... [ He taps his head ] but with you it'd be different.

And he, uh, really is finicky about personal space.

[ What kind of picture is he painting here ]

...Though I think that depends on what you'll call it, doesn't it?

[ smh... the image she's thinking of shigeru isn't that bad, don't worry, merlin. . . ]

I'm very patient! [ no you're not, athena, just shut up. ] And I can just stay a few feet away from him. That's fine, right?

[ anyway... ]

As for the horse, how about Cheval?

[ Good........ he's just an utterly pure cinnamon roll. ]

Well if you're a few feet away you can't read his CereVice. Just enough that it isn't uncomfortable. [ Says the one who tries to give him half hugs at times... but it's different when you're living with someone. ] He's also very particular about being clean? I had to research it but ... it's a phobia or something? I haven't really spoken to him in detail yet, but don't bring up how clean everything is.

[ ... How is Merlin the one living with him tbh ]

And shouldn't you meet him before randomly saying names? He can wait until then. [ Get a connection with him first, Athena... let the horse tell you his name etc etc ]

Oh! [ duh, that's a good point... ] Then I'll just be close enough. Does he know that he can type things and the CereVice will recite the words he's typed? It's one of the features of the device.

[ she gets the clean thing, though. she's studied phobias before! ] And at least it's better than being afraid of water. Do you know what it would be like if you're afraid of water? You can't take baths, Merlin.

[ and that's grim as fuck. ]

I don't need to! Cheval means Horse in French. So it's a very, very good name.

I don't know actually, he hasn't had to use it with me for weeks now. We just ... talk in our heads. [ She'd be better off asking him that, actually. ]

People are afraid of water though? In fact, nevermind... I'll take your word for it. [ How traumatic... what would you even drink?! ]

I don't even know what French is. [ That's a no, Athena. ]

Then you can tell him. [ ... not that merlin would probably know how to use it... ah. . . ] Nevermind. If I visit, then I'll teach him.

[ and she just nods at that. people fear so many questionable things, and their reactions to it are crazy. it's insane, merlin. you don't want to know. ]

French is the language in France. It's a country in Europe. I've been there before to study.

...If he doesn't know already, he'll probably be grateful for that. [ He gives her a smile, before giving her arm a nudge. ]

That doesn't really help me that much, but I'll look it up later. [ England doesn't even exist in his time, Athena... and the boundaries were a lot more complicated. ]

Hey, over there!

[ she points to a dome-shaped building just a few feet away. they're almost at the planetarium already!

sorry, merlin. were you saying something? because her attention has totally gone to outer space. she pulls him to the entrance where the doors are locked, and then looks at him expectantly. :) :) :) ]

[ He's relieved when they're finally there, though sneaking in undetected might be a problem. Breaking the lock (or at least just jarring it open) is easy. A glance, a flash of gold, and it's clicking open as if he used a key. He pushes it open after, pulling her inside with him, and closes the door right after. ]

Which way now?

[ she looks up and around for any cameras, and while there are some installed up there, she decides that they should be as sneaky as possible.

she remains close to the walls, whispering a "come on" as she tugs on his hand. there aren't any cameras by the stairs where the main entrance to the actual main attraction is (whatever it's called), so they enter it without any problems.

everything is dark at first, but athena approaches some kind of machine until the dome above them lights up... and shows them the galaxy.

this is definitely better than stargazing. ]

[ It's thrilling to actually be doing this without a mission to save someone or to stop something terrible from happening. To just spend time with someone he's grown attached to, grown to care for. Her hand is comfy in his and he has no qualms with her leading them along like this.

When she leaves him in the dark to start up the machine though it means he doesn't have anything distracting him from looking up and just taking in the mix of lights. Camelot's boundaries don't get views of the sky like this, and for a moment he just stands there stunned with his lips parted, forgetting how to breathe.

It's like the world is spinning all around him, and while he shouldn't understand what this is, he somehow gets it, feels it. It's enough to send him floating and ground him at the same time, an odd sensation, that is honestly so hard to describe.

He makes a soft noise, a rush of a laugh that's tinged with tears because the view is actually stunning. His hand smacks against his mouth to try and contain it, then both hands are pressing over his face, too.

She broke him gomen ]

[ it really is a beautiful thing to see - something out of this world literally. and anybody who's seen it for the first time would likely react the same way. so athena can't blame merlin for how he's reacting right now.

all she can do is join him where he's standing and pull him towards the center of the room, where there aren't any seats. they can sit on the floor and just enjoy the view. ]

I told you, it's better.

[ His hands do at least slide back down, both pressing against his mouth as he looks back up. It's with his eyes still looking up that he trusts her to guide him where ever she wants to right now. There's a weird ache in his chest, still hardly able to catch his breath. ]

But how? What? [ God he can't even make a full sentence right now, he just laughs instead, finally letting one hand drop to reach for hers, the other cupping his mouth as he shakes his head to say he can't say anything else. ]

[ she definitely didn't expect him to be speechless, but it's kind of cute in a way. she folds her knees and pulls them towards her as she looks up at the fake galaxy. though for merlin, it's probably very real. ]

When I was younger, I used to play with these things all the time. I can even show you what the planets look like.

[ but she's rambling now. ]

Are you okay?

Am I supposed to be okay? [ He's still looking up though, focused on the sky above and what is completely new to him. Of course he has a sky at home, but nothing as vibrant as this. ] Does it normally look like this?

[ she rests her head on her knees and just looks at him. it's amazing and fulfilling how his reaction is like. breaking and entering seems like the best idea she's ever come up with now. ]

The galaxies look like that, yes. Breathtaking.

[ He can't even work out where to look next, considering is spans the entire ceiling. It's why after a moment he gives up and flops back onto the floor next to her to stare up at it. ]

It really is. [ He breathes out, bites his lip as his eyes flicker up and he tilts his head. He can't honestly say she was wrong earlier now, maybe she is going to make this night better than the stargazing. ]

[ she wants to ask if he wants to see the planets too, but he seems so enamoured. she won't disturb him...

instead, he looks at him and smiles. ]

How do you feel?

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