Zacharias cursed. For some reason, he didn't want to frighten Merlin. He didn't know why. Normally he didn't mind upsetting people, or confusing people, but with Merlin, everything seemed different. He wanted to... protect him from that, almost.
It was weird.
He stepped back then, still frowning, and raked his fingers through his hair. "You don't have to stay," he said as he went to lean against the other counter. "You can go."