"I wouldn't have done it while we were busy disliking each other," Zacharias said agreeably. His fingers were curled over top of Merlin's, a pleasant warm presence, that he hardly realized he was still doing. Merlin hadn't tugged his hand away and so he had settled into it.
"But logically, it is possible that we could change our minds and decide to not dislike each other," he added, a blonde eyebrow lifting in a pointed sort of manner as he glanced over at Merlin.
He pressed his lips together and made a soft 'hmming' noise. "Everything doesn't have to hurt. Doesn't always have to end up that way."