Chapter Text
As yellow sunlight seeps in through the crack in the curtains on his face (it seems that he hadn't closed them properly due to being sore all over due to heavy lifting from last night before), Merlin groaned and pulled the thin blanket over his head. The quietness of the still morning made all animalistic sounds even more emphasized than before, and he could hear Gaius pottering about outside - probably making breakfast - and that god-awful chatter of birds on the citadel’s rooftops.
It was just another day for him at Camelot, another day for him to serve the biggest prat all Five Kingdoms had seen. He didn't want to wake up but someone has to earn their own wages right? He stood up and started to dress in his trademark clothes.
As he was tying his neckerchief, he heard Gaius hollering, “Come on, Merlin! You’re late again !”
He sighed. Yup, just another day.
“Coming, Gaius!” he called back, checking his shoelaces and taking one last glance at the mirror (mental note: it was a good idea to brush thick curls out the night before, a pat on his back), before walking out of his makeshift bedroom. “Morning,” Merlin murmured, taking a seat on his end of the tiny table where they ate.
“Merlin, I swear if you’re late one more day, you will be left jobless!” Gaius says, half-scoldingly as he put down two pieces of bread and a piece of chicken on the table and sat down with his own.
“Yes, but I still have you,” Merlin reasons, smirking into his plate.
Gaius exasperatedly, raising the Eyebrow of Doom. “I cannot support both of us, Merlin. Your mother sent you to Camelot to be a proper man, not to have you fired from a royal job and then executed.” Bit overboard. “Now go; you are very, very late, Arthur will definitely fire you this time,” Gaius stated.
“Okay, okay!” Merlin grumbled, standing up, and stuffing the bread in his mouth.
Gaius was right, Arthur might fire him this time or worse, find the excuse to ‘train’ him. Hah! More like beat him up! Waving goodbye, he hurried his steps, looking (not so) forward to a day of clotpoles and washing buckets.
It was evening, all of Camelot was retreating to their homes. Gaius’ work was done for today and was resupplying his potions. His work table was cluttered with bottles and herbs and a cauldron was lit. He was making a potion for the common cold as winter was approaching. As Gaius chopped the yarrow roughly, he heard frantic steps towards the room and the door slammed open violently with Merlin as the culprit.
“Merlin! What on earth are you doing, boy! You want to break the door?”
“You gotta help me, Gaius, Arthur and the knights are cursed!”
Gaius blinked once and sighed “Now what happened?”
Merlin quickly sat down on the bench and explained “They’re cursed, Gaius! I just know it! They weren’t behaving like themselves today, and I-I think-” Merlin swallowed, looking nervous all of a sudden “I think it’s a love spell, Gaius.”
“Are you sure, Merlin? Oh, I do hope you are wrong. Love spells are painstakingly hard to master and need a lot of power, to cast it on even on one person. If someone has deliberately cast a love spell on so many people, they must be powerful,” Gaius mused.
“Like Nimueh-powerful? Do you think Nimueh did this?” Merlin asked, almost a whisper to himself as he calculated the possibilities that it was true. Nimueh is dead, he had killed and made sure of it himself, but as she was a High Priestess of the Old Religion, she could have survived. Not quite impossible.
“Possibly, but we can’t close the doors on the others and most importantly,” he looks straight into Merlin’s eyes, trying to drill this into his thick skull, “be careful.” Gaius stared at his ward for a few moments, his old, brilliant brain thinking. Merlin stared back, a flush of delicate pink slowly rising on his cheeks. “Why don’t you tell me everything that happened?”
“But why? Isn’t my word enough?” Merlin mumbled.
He narrowed his gaze on the young man who was definitely blushing. “You are hiding something from me, Merlin… Something that happened to you.” Gaius softened his gaze, worried. “Did something bad happen?”
Merlin hesitated before replying “Not necessarily, it’s just… Iwastheonlyonetheyallflirtedwith.” Merlin had said it so incoherently fast, that Gaius didn’t register it at first.
“What?” Gaius exclaimed, astonishment on his face as clear as day.
“The whole day the knights were behaving weird... affectionate with me. They gave me gifts and flowers. They even hugged and patted me! Even Arthur! He didn't yell when I came late, he didn’t call me ‘idiot’ the whole day! He kept on smiling at me and let me off my chores without cutting my wages!” Merlin rambled, eyes wide and hands flying about, showing their owner’s turbulent emotions.
“Well, that is quite unusual… why don’t we start by telling me how exactly they behaved with you?”
Merlin nodded, anxious and a bit hesitant to tell his story.
“Well, it all started when I ran out of our room this morning…”
Merlin raced down the corridors and past the guards like his life depended on it as quickly as he could. He was just about to turn left and burst into Arthur’s room without, once again, any good explanation as to why he was late, when he bumped into Gwaine, nearly knocking over a basket of buns, fresh cheese, cured meats, and whatnot.
“Hey, watch it, th- Oh, hey, Merlin, it’s just you,” Gwaine quickly softens, seeing who it is. Unusually soft, Merlin notices.
“Uh, yes. I’m going to be la- DID YOU STEAL THOSE FROM THE KITCHEN AGAIN?!” Merlin hisses, not wanting anyone else to hear, of course.
“Shh, we don’t talk about it. It’s for all of us; Percy-boy helped,” Gwaine says innocently.
“Yes, but do you know who’s going to get in trouble again? Me!” Merlin asks, pissed off.
“So you want me to keep it back in the kitchen?” Gwaine asks, shrugging his shoulders. That was new, Gwaine had never offered to do so before.
Merlin was tempted to say yes, but if Gwaine returned now, this time he would surely get caught. And he didn’t want to be responsible for that. Plus Arthur was waiting for him….
“No…..Go enjoy them today, and for god’s sake don’t do it again!” he waves his hand to his back.
Gwaine catches his forearm “Hey Merls….want to go out today?” he asks softly. Merlin freezes after hearing it. Did he just ask-?
“We could have a picnic together…. Just the two of us…?” Gwaine continues, his hands were twitchy.
“Wha- Gwaine-” he starts before he’s interrupted by a loud clang! from Arthur’s room. It sounded heavy, “Sorry not today, got to run, or he’ll have me back in the stocks,” Merlin says quickly, about to leg it again.
“Oh, I understand,” Gwaine replies, smiling sweetly, as he pecks his cheek just in time before they go their opposite ways.
Merlin was in a daze for several moments, processing the unusual and tender moment. ‘What just happened?’ he thought to himself.
He shook it off and went on his way. He had one angry dollophead waiting for him.
"What happened then?” Gaius asked urgently. The way Gwaine acted with Merlin, more affectionately than usual, and then asking him on a date… He was convinced it was truly a powerful love spell.
Merlin looked reluctant but continued “Then…”
Panicking that the prat may have strangled himself in his own chainmail by now, Merlin swung open the large oak door to the prince’s room. But what he saw stopped him dead. It was Arthur, properly dressed on his own.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. He actually woke up and had tried on his own. He had put on his chainmail properly, strapped his belt on, and put on his helmet (although the helmet was too down, his golden hair wasn’t visible ). But he did it. He actually did.
“Merlin, is that you?” Arthur called, his voice muffled through the helmet.
“Yes. Would you like some assistance?” Merlin asked, trying not to laugh at the sight before him.
“Absolutely not. I look fine, don’t I? I managed to dress myself today,” Arthur said proudly. Then he did a twirl like a fucking princess, before crashing into the four-poster bed. Merlin giggled “Oi! Stop laughing at me!” Arthur said grumpily, getting up and setting his helmet aside. He walked to the table which had his breakfast ready and sat down. “Well now you are here we can have food. How did you sleep anyway?’ Arthur asked an astonished Merlin.
“I slept well, sire” Merlin stuttered. He was a bit concerned. Arthur wasn’t scolding him for coming late, he dressed by himself, and now was asking him how he slept? Not to mention he was offering his breakfast to him. Not Arthur-like at all.
“Very good. Come here and eat, Merlin, I swear you’re thin as a stick!” Arthur fondly rolled his eyes at him and started eating like the donkey he was. He quietly sat down and ate a grape. Everything is too weird to him right now. They ate in very comfortable silence.
“We will start by training the knights, I want to try a new move with them.” Arthur completed his plate and immediately stood up, grinning like a maniac.
“As you wish sire” Merlin murmurs more to himself.
To be continued…...