Chapter Text
"Look, I've told you you're an ass, I just didn't realize you were a royal one," Merlin said as he turned to look at Arthur.
As if in disbelief, Arthur turned to look at his men, a grin on his face as he couldn't believe someone would address him like that.
"Oh, what are you going to do? You got yours daddy's men to protect you?" Merlin then said as he saw Arthur turn back to look at him. This comment making Arthur chuckle now.
"I could take you apart with one blow."
"I could take you apart with less than that," Merlin said, his head shaking a bit as he was grinning.
"You sure?" At this comment, Merlin removed his jacket, definitely ready to fight him which only made Arthur laugh. Taking a weapon from one of the guards, he tossed it to Merlin. "Here you go big man," he said, watching as the boy failed to catch it before picking it up.
"C'mon then," Arthur then said as he began swinging the weapon above his head. "I warn you, I've been training to kill since birth." He said as he lowered the weapon, stepping towards the raven-haired boy.
"Wow," Merlin said, sounding unimpressed. "And how long have you been training to be a prat?" He then asked, clearly not caring that Arthur was a royal. This was definitely a new experience for Arthur as nobody had ever treated him that way, or even talked to him like that.
"You can't address me like that." He said, a grin on his face again as he shook his head, mostly in disbelief that someone had the balls to talk to him like that. Especially when that someone was already put into the stocks the previous day by him.
"Sorry," Merlin let out a small huff, smiling still as he looked to the ground. "How long have you been training to be a prat, My Lord?" He then asked, looking up at him as he did so, seeming to bow ever so slightly. A smile was still on his face.
At this, Arthur looked to the side a moment, grinning still before he looked back at Merlin and took a swing, causing the boy to duck.
"Rise and shine then, got a big day ahead of us." Merlin's face was rather close to Arthur's as he had his big goofy grin on. The grin that always made Arthur's heart skip a beat. So early in the morning, really?
"Do you have to be so close? I can smell your breath." Arthur said as he turned his head away, faking a grimace as he pulled the blanket off him, sitting up. His legs moved over the side of the bed.
"At least I don't have morning breath, I brushed my teeth already, something you should do," Merlin said, raising his brows as him, still having a slight grin as he then left the room.
It was the morning routine for them. Merlin wakes him up, Arthur pretends to complain about something, and then Merlin retorts and leaves. It was a routine the other 2 had developed and gotten used to. Shaking his head, Arthur got up, stretching out his arms as he went to the bathroom. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but think back to the dream he had. Why had he dreamt of Merlin? The dream felt like Deja Vu, like he experienced it himself. Maybe he had dreamt it before? He wasn't sure and didn't feel like thinking about it anymore. It was just a dream, that's all.
Merlin, on the other hand, was constantly plagued with dreams of the past, how he failed to save Arthur, how he watched him choose Gwen, how he watched every time Arthur was hurt. Like his mind was refusing to let him have the good memories, only the bad. Survivor's guilt. Today was one of his bad days, but he didn't want Arthur to know he wasn't having a good day. It's not like he was able to tell him what was wrong anyways. He would sound crazy if he went and told Arthur that he was over a thousand years old and he's been waiting all this time for the love of his life to come back to him, and now he is back and doesn't even remember him. He wasn't feeling very hungry, so he only made Arthur breakfast, hoping he wouldn't say anything about it.
Arthur came out of the bathroom and went to the dining room area, pulling out a chair as he took a seat. Some tea was already on the table for him. He took a sip before looking over to Merlin as he watched him cook. His eyes looking him up and down as he could only think back to his dream. Merlin looked thinner than in his dream, but perhaps he was just imagining it. It was just a dream after all.
Merlin paused a moment, lifting his head as he was standing at the stove finishing up the eggs. "Is there a reason you're staring?"
"You look tired," Arthur then said, setting down his cup as he watched Merlin cook. Feeling a bit embarrassed he had been caught staring, but tried to play it off as concern.
"Well, I have to be up every morning to wake you up and make breakfast, of course I would be tired." Merlin said, dumping the eggs on to a plate before setting it in front of Arthur with a fork. He was wearing a pink apron that said "Eat Up Bitches" and Arthur found it a bit humorous and definitely like Merlin to have it. He was getting used to his sassy remarks and comments, but something just felt a little off today.
"Not eating?" Arthur asked, his brow raising as he picked up his own fork, looking at Merlin as he mindlessly poked at his eggs with the fork. "It's not poisoned, is it?" He questioned jokingly.
"Oh please, if I wanted to poison you, it wouldn't be with eggs." Merlin said as he placed the pan in to the sink. Turning to look at Arthur, they made eye contact for a few seconds before Arthur looked to his eggs. He was a bit flustered after making that eye contact for more than 3 seconds, however, Merlin thought he was staring at his eggs for a different reason. Walking over, he took the fork from Arthur.
"Oi, I.." Arthur's sentence trailed off as he watched Merlin use his fork and take a bite of the eggs.
"See, not poisoned." Merlin said after he swallowed, putting the fork back in to Arthur's hand and walking away. This left Arthur dumbfounded as he stared at the fork a moment. He then began to eat, deciding not to think too much about it. Merlin must have done it to mess with Arthur, guess he was okay after all. When he was done eating, he went to the couch and sat back, deciding to watch some TV for a bit before he would be walking Merlin to work. Since they ate together the previous week, Arthur began walking Merlin to work. Mostly just to converse with him, but also to get out of the apartment more often as he was still job searching. After about an hour, he found it strange that Merlin had not come out of his room yet. Didn't he work today? it was Friday after all.
Getting up from the couch, Arthur went down the hall to Merlin's door and knocked. "Merlin?" He said, but didn't get a response. He knocked again before opening the door to see Merlin was laying in bed with his back to the door. He contemplated a moment before he went back to the living room, making sure to close Merlin's door behind him. Maybe he was mistaken and Merlin didn't have work, but in the month they've lived together, he hadn't seen Merlin go back to bed after making breakfast. Deciding not to think too far in to it, he went back to the couch and sat down. Getting back to watching TV, putting on "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves," finding it funny that the main character was also named Merlin, and there was an Arthur. A cute movie really, but it just made him think more about the dream.
When the movie was finished, Arthur noticed that Merlin still hadn't come out. Was he really that tired then? It was concerning to him, but Arthur tried not to think of it too much as he got up and went to his own room. After getting changed, he left the apartment to do some shopping. Maybe he could find something that would help Merlin feel better, if something was actually wrong. When his trip was done, he came home to find Merlin had left. Well there goes the whole reason he went out. Not thinking much of it, he put the food he had bought and put them up. He sat back down on the couch and went back to watching the telly, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. Another strange dream happening.
"Three!" Arthur exclaims as he lets the 2 die roll out of the cup and on to the table. He made the three and looked to Merlin as he began to collect his coins. "Feel free to retire at any time," he said with a cocky tone.
"Likewise." Merlin said in response, the tension growing between them.
"There's no, uh, disgrace for a servant to lose to his King."
"Or a King to his servant." Merlin said as he looked around the small crowd, a grin on his face as the crowd also laughed with him at that statement. This made Arthur feel a bit flushed, always feeling strange when Merlin had such sassy remarks. But this one was more of an embarrassed fluster with what he said in front of a lot of people. He watched as Merlin put some coins on the plate, his arms crossing as he scoffed lightly.
"Watch out, here we go." He said, watching Merlin. His eyes focused on how pretty his servant was. No, stop that. His eyes glanced down for just a second as Merlin blew on the cup, his eyes glowing gold, but Arthur hadn't seen it.
"Ten," he said and the dice landed on ten, causing him to cheer with the crowd as he then collected the money. Grinning to Arthur who had rolled his eyes, putting that win on just luck. He then leaned a bit close to Merlin, whispering to him. "Enjoy this moment, Merlin, while it lasts." He said, but it only made Merlin smirk at him.
The tension between them was undeniable, and Percival could definitely feel the tensions growing. If only they'd just kiss already. Arthur then began to shake his cup. "Twelve," he says, letting the dice out only to see it was a 4 he rolled, and right when Merlin had coughed. He looked to Merlin as he saw him rub his throat a little.
"You put me off."
"What are you talking about?" Merlin looked at him innocently.
"You just coughed," Arthur said in an accusing tone as Percival looked between the two of them, the tension growing even stronger. It was amusing to watch honestly.
"I was clearing my throat," Merlin said as he was pointing to his throat as the people watching them laughed a bit.
"You just coughed, deliberately."
This comment made Merlin shake his head, closing his eyes a second before he started looking to the people around them then back to Arthur as he spoke. "I knew you'd discover my secret in the end, there's just no fooling you, My Lord." The audience began to laugh at that, and Arthur crossed his arms as he sighed, looking at Merlin as he watched, his eyes never leaving Merlin. Merlin began placing his coins on the plate. Giving a look as he grabbed the last coin and tossed it to the plate.
"Oh, it's like that, is it?" Arthur asks as Merlin nods, causing Arthur to sweep all his coins in to his hand before tossing them on the plate. Merlin raising his brows a bit, knowing he was going to beat Arthur. They have a stare down, which does not go unnoticed by Percival, who was finding this whole interaction to be hilarious. But knew he couldn't laugh. They didn't even break eye contact as Merlin shook the cup, blowing on it before aiming the die down to the table as he said his number, "twelve." It was the correct number. Arthur was obviously defeated as he leaned back a bit, looking up as he tried not to show how disappointed he was at his loss while Merlin collected up his winnings. At least Merlin was happy.
His groaned, turning his head as he had woken up from a sound. Turning his head slightly, his eyes fell on to Merlin who had just gotten home it seemed. "Where have you been?" he asked as he sat up properly, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get himself to wake up properly. The dream lingering in the back of his mind.
"Just went out to get some things, but I see you already got some stuff when you were out," Merlin says as he was putting away some of the things he bought. Something just felt off, which concerned Arthur as he then stood up and went to the kitchen. He leaned back against the counter as he crossed his arms.
"You alright?" He asked, tilting his head a bit as he was watching him.
"I'm fine," Merlin answered back a little snappy. He was having a hard time sleeping due to the nightmares he kept having and seeing Arthur every day seemed to make his survivor's guilt worse knowing that the Arthur he knew and this one were different. He couldn't keep up the façade anymore, he was tired of the sleepless nights.
"Uh huh.." Arthur stared at him. "What's really going on? You didn't go to work today, and you've barely smiled. There's got to be a reason. You can talk to me, you know."
"Nothing is wrong, I'm just tired, so I'm going to bed. Just warm up one of the frozen meals if you get hungry," Merlin said and went back to his room. All Arthur could do really was watch him go. He couldn't force him to talk, but he was growing concerned. Maybe the dreams were making him feel that way. Twice now he's dreamt of Merlin. He had dreams of medieval times before, but this time, there was a face to it. Merlin's face. Why? He looked to the floor, arms still crossed as he tried to think of what he could do to help. He felt so stumped on what he could do for Merlin.