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"Right that's it, if you're going to act like an insufferable prat all day then I'm leaving!"
Merlin threw down the bundle of clothing he was holding onto the floor. Crossing his arms over his chest.
"You're my servant you can't leave me, now pick that up!" Arthur snaps. He's been in a foul mood all day and decided Merlin was going to be on the receiving end. Currently Arthur was throwing a tantrum because his shirts were creased and Smelt vaguely of lavender. To be fair Merlin had been very busy last night and his magic was missing his mother and the soap she used to use, not to mention the fact that the royal prat kept throwing his clothes on the floor when he was done
with them, rather than hanging it up. Regardless, Merlin was left dealing with a very , very difficult prince. "God you're so useless you can't even wash a shirt correctly". How dare he?
"NOPE, nope nope nope I'm out, I'm done, you can deal with all of this yourself I'm going. Farewell Arthur, I hope I was an acceptable servant." And with that he was gone. Out the door never once looking back, Arthur faintly heard the palace doors slam close. Merlin felt his blood boiling and his teeth grinding as he stomped away.
What is a beach without water? a sky without clouds? A prince without his servant?
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Percival felt the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smile as he bent down to pluck a flower from the ground. Lance had gathered a few of the knights to accompany him to the woods to gather flowers for Gwen, he was planning on taking her for a picnic this afternoon and wanted to surprise her with a hand picked bouquet of her favorite flowers. Further down the path he could hear Elyan giving Gwain a serve over picking the wrong flowers.
"Purple? Gwain he specially told us she doesn't like purple-"
Poor Gwain he was trying, the knights had started to suspect that he may be a little colour blind, or possibly just stupid. Percival looked down to the basket he was holding, inside was an array of yellow, pink, blue and white flowers all the colors Lance had said she liked. He was quite proud of himself. Leon had been happily collecting wood forget-me-nots, the prettiest and most romantic flowers in his opinion, when he had been rudely kicked in the back of the head by a very familiar boot.
"Merlin? What in the world are you doing?" Merlin, who had been flailing around like a flag in the wind, stopped, casting his gaze down to where Leon was standing.
"Uh, hello there, don't mind me. Just….passing by?" He was out of breath, almost as if he had just been in a shouting match then stormed out of the palace slamming all the doors in the process. He heard the sound before he felt the branch he was hanging off of snap and fall to the ground, taking Merlin with it. He sighed, closing his eyes letting his head fall back onto the grass beneath him. By this stage the other knights had heard the commotion and had come over to Investigate.
"D'ya need a hand merls?" Gwain asked, looking down at the poor boy pinned to the floor by the tree branch. A fond smile spreading across his face.
"No! I'm fine, I can arghh" Merlin twisted underneath the branch quickly realizing it was too heavy to move normally. "dod oddi arnaf" he muttered, his eyes flashing gold before the branch went flying across the clearing they were standing in, only stopping once it hit another tree. The knights all knew about Merlin's little secret, Arthur being the only exception. They had known for a while now and occasionally caught Merlin slacking off his chores instead using his magic to complete them.
"We should have you hung for that" Gwain said while offering out a hand to Merlin, "why are you out here anyways?" Gwain asked, pulling him to his feet.
"I could ask you lot the same thing " Merlin mumbled surveying the free for the next best way up.
"If you must know i'm making a bouquet of gwen, there helping me gather the flowers" Lance proclaimed a loving look passing over his face at the mention of her name
"Oh, I see. Get her Alstroemeria and orchids there very meaningfull she'll appreciate them." Merlin was happy for Gwen and Lance, they were so in love it was impossible to not be. However there was a very small part of him that was jealous of his best friend, at one point he thought it was because he was in love with Lance. This theory had been disproved during a very rowdy ale fueled trip to the tavern where Merlin and Lance had somehow ended up impersonating Gwain and his latest fling. They had all come to a mutual agreement that what happened in the tavern stayed in the tavern, no exceptions. "Perci, give me your height"
After a few minutes Merlin was safely up the tree and the knights had all had the thrilling experience of getting well acquainted with Merlin's boots and backside.
"Ah chuck me my satchel please" Merlin asked, smiling sweetly down at the men standing below.
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A very disgruntled Prince sat in the amoury staring at his breastplate. So far today he had yelled at 5 servants, spent over an hour getting ready and denied a meeting with his father, and it was only 1pm. The knights who were all milling about getting ready for training had noticed Arthurs odd behavior. He was normally only like this after a bad hunting trip or meeting with other kingdoms.
It didn't help Arthur's mood when the servant sent down to help him put on his armor was almost as useless as Merlin, he barked orders at the scared looking boy, Telling him to hurry up and tighten the straps and not drop his armor.
"You buffoon you're going to dent it! How stupid are you, you can't even put on a simple suit of armour. GET OUT I'LL DO IT MYSELF." Arthur snatched the rest of his armor out of the boy's hands and shooed him away with his hand cursing under his breath. Gwen who had been quietly watching from the door slowly took the items from Arthurs hands quickly slipping them on and strapping them up, the quicker he got out to training the better.
Training went as well as expected. By the end Gwain was contemplating how far he could run before they found Arthur's body. And Percival was using all his remaining strength to remind himself of why he was a knight and why he loved Camelot.
How dare that selfish idiot just up and leave him, he was the crown prince of Camelot the finest kingdom in all the lands, and that arse had the nerve to quit when he didn't do his job correctly. Arthur should have him thrown in the dungeons for that, he thought. That stupid boy had ruined his day and his shirts still smelt like lavender. He wasn't entirely sure why it bugged him so much, like yes lavender was a fairly feminine scent, but he could just claim he had a female companion over last night and nobody would blink an eye. But he would have much preferred that Merlin washed his shirts with the lemongrass soap he usually used, it smelt nice… it smelt like Merlin. Arthur knew Merlin was right, he was being an insufferable prat, he didn't even know why, it was soap, no big deal. Arthur decided he would check Gaius' chambers to see if Merlin was sulking in there, Afterall Merlin was his servant and he didn't have the day off.
Arthur popped his head around the open door to look into the physician's chambers but didn't spot the familiar black hair or piercing eyes. He let out a defeated sign.
"My lord, may I help you" Gaius asked from the other end of his chambers looking at the prince with a quizzical expression.
"No, I was just looking for my no good servant" Authur said in a defeated voice.
"Merlin? I haven't seen him since this morning."
"Nor have I"
Arthur wandered off, not particularly keen on going anywhere with lots of people.
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Merlin was having the time of his life. He had found a nice tree just outside of the palace gates to lounge in, the soft spring sunshine danced across his face. He had brought a spy glass and a spell book he'd been meaning to read. Perched among the leaves and out of sight he could sit back and read and check in on Arthur when needed, because let's face it , Arthur couldn't go less than 12 hours without pissing off everyone in the castle.
Around midday Leon wandered down to Merlin to bring him some lunch.
"Heya merls, I got you a sandwich and an apple." He handed them up to Merlin wo gladly accepted, in his haste to get out he forgot to bring any food with him. "Arthurs in a right mood today, tried to chop Lance's head off in training when he blew a kiss to Gwen and he's had a go at half the servants in the castle." Leon chuckled slightly while saying this, which inturn made Merlin smile.
"He's pretty fussy isn't he"
"Yeah he is, I better be off then. Enjoy" and with that he was waltzing off waving farewell to Merlin.
It brought Merlin some pride to know he had this effect on Arthur, it also made him smile knowing he was one of the few people Arthur actually tolerated. He whipped out his spyglass and looked through it just in time to see a servant flipping the prince off behind his back. What an odd kingdom Camelot was, he stretched out and took a bite of his sandwich. Whether it was the contents of the sandwich or the fact that Merlin didn't have to make it himself, this was the best sandwich he had ever tasted. He hummed happily to himself while eating it.
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By the time Arthur made it to the banquet hall for lunch he felt terrible. Everything was wrong today and none of the servants did stuff the way Merlin did, everyone was too quiet or too obedient and they weren't as quick as him. He had snapped at Gwen earlier when she offered to rewash his shirts for him, he knew she was only trying to brighten his mood but that's not what he wanted, he wanted Merlin. But Merlin wasn't coming back… Merlin didn't want him.
The knights had all picked up on Arthurs mood, but they had also noticed him wiping his eyes quickly when he thought nobody was looking. They all shared a collective glance as he sat down for lunch, having the prince join them for lunch was odd enough on its own having him do so without Merlin forcing him to was even odder. Just then Leon came skipping in looking rather amused.
"A spyglass, that's what was in his satchel" he chuckled. Catching himself after seeing Arthur death staring him. "Afternoon sire".
Lunch was a miserable affair, nobody wanted to talk, fearful of having Arthur stab them in the same manner he was stabbing his lunch.
"Okay big boy, what's the matter?" Gwain asked, breaking the silence.
"Big boy?" Arthur growled, "I am your prince you will refer to me by my proper title".
"I'll speak to you like a prince when you start acting like one"
"How dare you-" Arthur started, but he stopped as tears pricked his eyes. This is all Merlin's fault he though.
"Hey Arty it's alright , what's the matter? "Lance said in a soft voice, putting his arm reassuringly around Arthur's shoulders.
"It's Merlin, we got in a fight this morning then he left, and, and I don't think he's ever coming back." Arthur let the tears spill freely down his cheek not caring who saw him in this state. His shoulder shook as he leaned into Lance's hold.
"Merlin? He's not gone, what are you talking about? He's sitting in a tree near the front gates with a spyglass. He's been there all day, I just took him a sandwich." Leon said, holding back a giggle. "We thought you gave him the day off"
Relief and anger flooded over Arthur. Merlin hadn't left him, Merlin was still in Camelot. But Merlin had been slacking off all day and had made Arthur have one of the worst days of his life.
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Merlin heard them before he saw them, a royally pissed prince and his gaggle of giggling knights. He had fun while it lasted, reading his spell book and occasionally checking in to see how Arthur was going, he could have left, been halfway to Elador by now but he chose to stay and serve his prince. Merlin was sure he would regret this decision later, once he was in the dungeons.
"Ah my lord how lovely to see you" Arthur was not having it, as soon as he was close enough he grabbed Merlin's leg and wrenched him from the tree. Merlin landed less than gracefully sprawled on the floor Infront of Arthur. He grinned hoping to defuse some of the tension building between them. It didn't go to plan however, and Arthur took the chance to give Merlin a sharp kick in the ribs.
"You're terrible, and I should have you thrown in the dungeons for a month for this. But I won't." Merlin was confused, then terror set in what could be worse than the dungeons for a month, Merlin noticed how Arthurs eyes were red and puffy and the almost invisible streaks down his cheek. Had he been crying?
"Uhh Arthur… have you been crying?" Dread settled over Merlin, he had never meant to make him cry, he just wanted him to appreciate all his hard work a bit more. Something inside Merlin broke and he had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around the prince and never let him go.
"That's none of your business Merlin"
"Well it is my business if you've been snotting all over your pillow"
"I'll wash them myself if you use that stupid soap again you bumpkin"
"First of all that soap is nice, secondly I'll be using the normal soap" a small smile played at the edges of the prince's mouth. Merlin picked himself up off the floor and brushed the dirt from his back.
"Who snitched?" Merlin asked, eyeing the knights, Leon had a guilty written all over his face. His betrayal earned him a kick to the shins.
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"You know I kept an eye on you all day sire, I was planning on coming back for dinner regardless." Merlin chatted away at Arthur while tidying his chambers, for one man he made an awful lot of mess. Arthur had been quiet all evening, Merlin figured he was still in a mood and wanted to make sure that Merlin knew. That was until he spoke.
"Merlin come here" Arthur said, patting the bed next to him. Merlin obliged and sat down carefully next to Arthur. "Do you know how bad my day was?" Arthur asked, eyeing him.
"Well the knights said it was pretty bad, so did Gwen when I ran into her, you should really learn to control your temper if you wish to be king someday"
"Do you know why my day was bad?" Arthur turned to face Merlin, a blank expression on his face.
"Because you had to do something for yourself?"
"No Merlin. My day was bad because you weren't here"
"Same difference" Merlin said, keeping his eyes on Authur. He was acting off and Merlin's heart was racing, was he about to be executed.
"I don't think you understand, my day wasn't bad because I didn't have a servant, my day was bad because I didn't have Merlin" He locked eyes with the other. "I don't want you to leave me again"
Merlin's heart fluttered. "Well I don't think I'll be leaving soon unless you get another servant"
"No Merlin, ever I don't want you to leave me ever, I could get a million new servants and I'd still want you."
"You… want me?" Merlin stopped in his tracks, he wasn't what he was expecting.
"I- well no that, that came out wrong, I want you here, by my side, I want it to be Merlin and Arthur not just Arthur, even if you weren't my servant I'd still want you here."
Merlin frowned "so you don't want me" although he was shocked to hear it he wasn't against it.
Arthur blushed and looked down at his lap. "Well I'm not going to say I don't" their eyes met and Merlin smiled.
"Neither will I then"
Suddenly their lips met and it was more perfect than the morning sun. Merlin could taste the salt from Arthurs tears but he didn't even mind, maybe now Arthur would appreciate all his hard work.