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Merlin grins as he hears the front door click shut, signalling that his roommate Gwen is home from work. Merlin turns down the heat on the stove to let the soup simmer before heading into the hallway to greet her.Merlin and Gwen worked at the hospital together, Gwen as a surgeon and Merlin as a nurse. They generally have shifts together, but Gwen had picked up a shift and Merlin had the day off.Gwen is wearing maroon scrubs over a long sleeved stripe shirt. She’s toeing off her white shoes, but when she looks up the grin fades from Merlin’s face. Her eyes look dead, her face completely blank. It’s such an unusual expression for Gwen that Merlin is startled at first. Unfortunately, he knows exactly what that expression means. A surgery hadn’t gone well.“Oh, Gwen,” Merlin whispers, surging forward to scoop him into her arms. He squeezes her tightly, and she allows him to hold her, but doesn’t hug back. He eventually releases her and takes her purse off her shoulder, setting it on their side table. He then takes her hand and leads her down the hall.“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”Merlin turns on the faucet to begin filling the bath, then turns his attention back to his friend.Gwen stands there, eyes unfocused, as he begins to strip her.Her loose shirt comes off first, and then he pulls at the tighter fitting long sleeve shirt underneath. She raises her arms as he lifts the shirt up, and the fabric rolls, causing the shirt to end up inside out.Merlin tosses it aside and unclasps her white bra instead. He then kneels, helping her step out of her scrub pants and then her underwear.Now that she’s fully nude, he leads her over to the bathtub. He dips his hand in first, making sure it’s warm enough, before helping her step in. She settles back into the water, then looks over at Merlin and nods her head. He knows what she means.Merlin quickly strips off his own clothes before joining her in the water. He reaches over for the pink bath bomb he had bought earlier in the week. They watch as it dissolves, turning the water an opaque pink that hides their limbs. Merlin grabs a washcloth next, pouring some rose scented body wash onto it. He reaches for Gwen’s arm and begins to scrub. He works his way down her other arm, across her upper chest and breasts, then down to her stomach. He moves down to her legs beneath the water, washing them gently. When he finishes washing her feet, she automatically shifts forward.He settles in behind her, leaning against the tub. She’s bent forward, chin propped on her arms as he washes and massages her back. When she’s feeling loose and relaxed, she leans back and settles against Merlin’s chest.Her knees are bent and sticking out of the water on either side of her, and he wraps his arms around her chest. They rest with their eyes closed until the water grows cold, and then Merlin begins to stir. He hooks his chin over Gwen’s shoulder, then turns his head to press a soft kiss against her neck.“We should get out,” he says softly. They stand and step out of the tub, Merlin bending back over to drain it.Gwen has a towel draped over her shoulders, and when Merlin turns, she hands one over to him.Merlin towels himself off quickly, then wraps the cloth around his waist. He then takes the towel from where it hangs over Gwen and begins to dry her as well. When he finishes, he wraps it back around her body, placing his arm around her shoulders and guiding her into their room.They make decent money, but they’re both paying back student loans, so it made more sense to buy a one bedroom apartment. Gwen settles on their shared bed and Merlin takes the towel from her as she crawls in. He returns both their towels to hang in the bathroom then heads into the kitchen to take off the soup, figuring they won’t be eating for a while. He then joins Gwen in the bed.She immediately curls into him, shifting so that she lies between his legs, head resting on his chest.“Do you want to talk about it?” Merlin asks, running his fingers through her hair.She shakes her head no and wraps her arms around his body, snuggling deeper into his chest. After a few minutes of silence, she tilts her head up to look at him.Merlin think she looks absolutely beautiful like this. Despite the melancholy enveloping her, there’s still a soft quality in her eyes, a kindness that could never disappear. She gives him a small smile as she looks up at him.“Thank you.”She presses a soft kiss to his lips before laying back down on his chest.Merlin wraps his arms tight around her and they drift asleep, remaining tangled together as the last light of the day fades away.