Chapter Text
Gaius looked amazed. He exclaims “I have not seen Arthur like this...ever! This reminds me a lot of the time Arthur was cursed by those Sidhes, Sofia and Aulfric”
Merlin grimaced to himself, that day was not a good day….
Gaius prompted “I assume that you went down to the kitchen and Arthur went to the training grounds?”
He nodded “Yeah, I met Elyan on the way….”
Merlin walked down the long corridor to the grounds after returning the plates to one of the kitchen maids. As he took a turn, he saw Elyan approaching, whistling a soft tune with his hand on his sword. Merlin noticed he was wearing long, silver earrings, with a pink-tinged pearl at the end of each.
‘They look really pretty. It suits him' Merlin thought
“Morning, Merlin!” Elyan cried cheerily.
“Morning!” Merlin replied with the same enthusiasm.
“How are you? You’re looking beautiful as always!” Elyan grinned and clapped his shoulder. The hand remained at his shoulder.
“Oh, um, good, thanks. Well so far, aha,” he laughed nervously. The hand was still there, gently squeezing. Elyan’s eyes scan his face, the grin turning into a soft smile. It looked like….he was checking him out.
Merlin’s heart stuttered at that.
Gods, what's wrong with the knights?! First Arthur and Gwaine, now Elyan???
“That’s good. Well, I’ll see you in the courtyard then, hmm?”
“Oh, yeah. Arthur’s going to try a new move with you guys,” Merlin informed him.
“Oh, really?.... Well, I know for a fact that I’d much rather do a move with you,” Elyan whispered seductively, before bidding Merlin goodbye and leaving the poor man speechless.
Gaius got startled hearing that. Outright flirting with people was what Gwaine did. Not Elyan. His doubts were already confirmed but hearing more of this just strengthened them.
“And you say, they flirted only with you? Nobody else?”
Merlin replied “Yes. They were behaving normally with others. I asked Gwen….” he trailed away.
“Continue from there then,” Gaius said. Merlin starts to speak.
To shake off the weirdness of the intimate (?) moment (and to get control of his blush), Merlin instead walked into the room where servants wash the noble's clothes.
There were at least ten huge wash buckets, filled with soap water, and dirty clothes. He could see Gwen among a line of women, washing a purple dress, which no doubt belongs to Morgana.
“Hey Gwen,” he said, smiling. Hopefully, Gwen isn't affected by whatever has plagued the knights
“Hello Merlin, how are you?? Aren't you supposed to be on the training grounds right now?” Gwen smiled at him.
Merlin stammered “Uh yes I am…Gwen, can I ask you something?”
Gwen threw the wet dress into a basket and replied “Sure, what do you want to talk about?”
“Have you noticed something strange with the knights? With your brother maybe? Like, have you noticed him doing something he usually doesn’t do?” He asked. Has no one else noticed the weird behavior?
“No, Elyan has been perfectly normal. We talked at my house today morning and he looked perfectly fine. He looked happy. Why do you ask? Is something wrong Merlin?” Gwen dropped her work to turn around and look at him properly, her brows furrowed tightly.
“Nothing much” Merlin bites his lip “Gwen, the knights are behaving odd. And I guess it’s only with me. I have never seen them act like this”
“Really? Aside from Elyan smiling a lot…I haven’t seen anything…Maybe they are in a good mood?” She asks tentatively, processing the information.
“This doesn't seem like just a good mood Gwen. I think ma-” Merlin is rudely interrupted by someone shouting “Gwen!” at them. Merlin turns around to see a young maid at the door.
“Gwen, the Lady Morgana is asking for you. She says it's urgent.” Gwen nods and turns to Merlin
“I am sorry Merlin, I promise I will listen to you later. I need to go” Gwen apologizes. Merlin smiles tightly. Looks like he would not be able to avoid it anymore.
“It’s okay I need to go too, remember? See you later Gwen….” He watches Gwen leave.
“And then I rushed to the grounds” Merlin finished and laid back, catching his breath.
He folded his hands on his lap, wearing a weird look that was a mixture of confused, freaked, and tired.
Gaius feels a protective surge, seeing how uncomfortable his ward was feeling. Almost every day, he protects Camelot from magic. He can’t imagine the toll of the responsibility that has taken on Merlin. And this time, it’s personal. He thinks Merlin was still young to get such massive attention like this. He wants to soothe the boy by saying everything will be alright but he cannot give false promises.
He coughed “How about we eat our dinner first? I assume you are very hungry after all of this?” On cue, Merlin’s stomach growled. The boy’s face brightened.
“Yes yes, I am! Do we have chicken today??”
Gaius smiled and wobbled over to their food “You better come here and help me Merlin otherwise I am taking all the leg pieces”
After finishing a fulfilling dinner, Gaius prompted Merlin to start again. “I assume you went to the training grounds then???”
“Yeah” Merlin nodded. “And, on the way, I met Percival. I found him calling my name out, looking for me”
Gaius raised his eyebrow again “Oh, did he now?”
Most unusual. The knights just laugh and start their training when they see Merlin is late. Percival especially never seemed to care before.
“Well then, continue”
“Merlin?! Merlin?! Merlin! There you are!!” Percival’s voice boomed in the quiet corridor as he came striding towards Merlin.
“Hey...Sorry, I was talking to Gwen. I was going straight to the grounds, what are you doing here?” Merlin asked, confused and suspicious.
Percy smiles “You were taking too long so I volunteered to find you. Let's go now?”
Merlin nods at that.
‘Well that’s quite normal’ Merlin thought to himself. But his thoughts turned out to be a jinx when Percy wound a large and muscular arm around his bony shoulders. They start walking.
Merlin doesn't know what to do. Percy seemed so comfortable doing something he had never done before. He doesn't want to ask and make it awkward but his curiosity is too much.
He laughs nervously “Hey what’s this?”
Percival tilted his head to the side, his eyes questioning. It was adorable. No, not now. Merlin closes his eyes to get a grip.
“Why did you put your arm around me?”
Percy halts “I thought…you might like it. Am I making you uncomfortable? I am, aren’t I?” Percy lifts off his arm lightning quick, eyes apologetic and anxious.
For all his height and muscles, Percy right now looks like a puppy that has been scolded. Merlin's heart melts.
“Oh no, you didn’t make me uncomfortable...It’s just you…never did such a thing, you know. I was just shocked. It’s okay….” Merlin explains, he feels awkward now.
Percy nods “Yeah okay. Merlin, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, sure!” He nods, relieved at the conversation moving on.
Percy looks down and up and scratches his neck. “Can I hold your hand?”
Merlin looks at Percy for a moment. Percy blushes and goes on “You know what? Forget it, we're getting late-”
“Sure, why not?” Merlin feels bad now, for making Percy feel so awkward. What’s a little hand holding? Won’t harm anyone.
“Really?!”
“Really”
Percy holds his hand. It obviously dwarfs his own hand. Merlin can feel all the callouses and roughness but he also feels the encompassing warmth which is really amazing.
Percy looks happy, he squeezes his hand lightly. Merlin squeezes back, smiling up at him.
“Let’s go now. We wasted some time, didn’t we?” Merlin says. Percy nods and leads the way.
To be continued…