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Merlin absolutely, positively, and without a single doubt, does not fancy Arthur. That would be ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. And yes, Merlin's sometimes prone to acting without thinking, or being a bit scatterbrained, but he's not stupid. And it would most definitely be stupid for Merlin to fancy Arthur.
Arthur's a complete prat, for a start.
It's just that—well. Merlin tries to be respectful toward the other servants. And Morgana is the king's ward, and Merlin quite likes his head attached to his neck. And Gwen is Gwen. She's his friend. And she's lovely, but it just seems rude to think about her while he's—
Anyway. Merlin isn't going to think about Gwen like that; he likes her too much. Which is why Arthur is perfect, because Merlin doesn't really like him at all.
That, and he's quite— Quite…
Merlin doesn't, in fact, need to think about anyone. He can just summon the pot of oil from the table in the corner and think about how good it feels when he does that slick twisty thing with his hand.
Except for how it reminds him of the thing Arthur does with his sword when he's showing off—he's so showing off, don't let him try to tell you it's necessary for him to flick his sword around like that—and that reminds Merlin of the time that Arthur did the sword thing and then used his sword to back Merlin up against the stable wall, and got right up in his face, mail catching on the torn hem of Merlin's shirt, and it had maybe been—
Good. Which is the trouble. It's all so very good when Merlin thinks about Arthur while he's touching himself like that. And good is good. Good leads to amazing orgasms and feeling all loose and relaxed. Merlin likes good.
But it doesn't mean he fancies Arthur.