Summary: Merlin has one doozy of a dream. No one seems to wants to know.


Too Magical For Words by frostygossamer


Merlin woke up with a start. He had fallen asleep sitting at the workbench in Gaius' workroom, and his face was stuck to the wood.

He sat up straight feeling dopey, one cheek red and mottled with a wood-grain pattern. The inside of his mouth tasted like sand and his tongue was dry.

His head was still awhirl with images of the dream he had been snapped out of.

He had been dreaming of a far away place in a far away time full of far away notions. It was a fairytale world, of course, nothing like his real life here in Camelot.

At that moment Gaius came in. "Good Morning, Merlin", he sang. "It's a lovely day outside. You should go out and get some fresh air".

"Later", Merlin replied. "First I've got to go and see to Arthur. I'm late again. I fell asleep at the table and had a very weird dream".

Gaius smiled. Merlin was always such a dreamer. "Oh really?", he asked interestedly. "What was the dream about? Sometimes dreams can be prophetic, you know".

"Well, it was about a far away place in a far away time full of far away notions, but I'll describe it to you later, after I've been to see Arthur, or I'll be in trouble again".


Merlin rushed into Arthur's chamber to find him already half dressed and looking a mite annoyed.

"Where have you been all this time, Merlin?", he shouted. "Do I have to get dressed myself? I might as well do without a servant altogether".

"Oh yes? Well, I'm sure you'd love to do your own laundry, sweep your own floor and make up your own fire", Merlin retorted tetchily.

He started hurriedly picking up Arthur's discarded clothing and tidying up.

"Actually I was having a very interesting dream", he said conversationally, as he worked. "In the dream I was in a far away place in a far away time full of far away notions".

"Yeah, yeah", Arthur interrupted, cutting him off.

"No really, it was very interesting. And Gaius said it might be prophetic. You should let me tell you about it".

"Maybe later, Merlin", Arthur grumbled. "But right now I have to go and attend a breakfast meeting with my father. We have to sort out some taxation problems with the outer villages".

And with that he walked out.

Merlin was left alone with his dusting, musing about his exciting dream.


As he left Arthur's room with a bundle of dirty laundry half an hour later, he almost bumped into Guinevere in the corridor.

"Oops-a-daisy!", she said, quickly grabbing Merlin's pile of washing before it toppled over. "You should look where you're going, Merlin".

Guinevere looked at him and smiled sweetly. "You look a bit peaky this morning. Didn't you sleep well last night?", she asked kindly.

"I didn't actually", Merlin replied. "I had a pretty strange dream and it's been going around in my head ever since I woke up. It was a very interesting dream. Maybe you'd like to hear about it".

"Yes, that would be nice, Merlin", she said. "But right now I have an errand to run for Lady Morgana. Maybe I will see you later and you can tell me about it then".

And with that she skipped lightly down the corridor and disappeared around the corner.


Later that afternoon Merlin was mucking out Arthur's horses when King Uther rode up and dismounted. He had been for a ride. It was a beautiful day, as Gaius had pointed out earlier, and even the king himself needed a breather now and again.

"Wonderful day isn't it, err, Merlin", he said condescendingly. He was in a good mood.

For a moment Merlin didn't realise the king was addressing him.

"Y-yes, sire", he replied after a second. "It's been beautiful all day".

Uther handed the reins of his mount to a groom.

"You look a little... distracted, boy", he remarked quizzically. Had this dozy lad perhaps failed to notice the approach of his king? Surely not?

"Sorry, sire", Merlin replied. "I was a hundred miles away. I was thinking about a dream I had last night. It was fascinating. Perhaps you'd like to hear about it". But Uther had already gone.


Merlin climbed the castle stairs. It was time to get Arthur changed for dinner. As he walked along the corridor to Arthur's room, he spotted Lady Morgana scuttling towards him as if in a hurry. He opened his mouth to say something polite but Morgana held her hand in front of his face.

"No time, Merlin", she snapped. "Some of us have somewhere important to be. And I have no time to prattle with the servants". And with that she was gone in a swirl of silk and velvet.

Merlin walked into Arthur's bedchamber to find it empty. Apparently he had already gone to wherever Morgana was going.


As evening began to fall Merlin finished his daytime duties and decided to sneak off and call the Great Dragon.

The Great Dragon looked down on the puny boy and sighed.

"What did you want to see me about, young sorcerer?", he asked. "Is there some problem in Camelot?".

"Actually, no", Merlin replied. "Everything in Camelot seems A.O.K. I just wanted to have a chat".

"Oh really?", the dragon scowled. "And what did you want to chat about? Your dream perhaps?".

"How did you know about my dream?", Merlin exclaimed in surprise.

"I know everything, Merlin. Because I'm the Great Dragon", the dragon replied. "I can call to you in your dreams can I not? So obviously your dreams are an open book to me. This one was all about a far away place in a far away time full of far away notions, right?".

"Damn!", Merlin cursed, under his breath.

"I heard that!", laughed the dragon as he soared away.


At last it was bedtime. Merlin wandered along to Arthur's chamber feeling disappointed. No one, not one soul, had been remotely interested in hearing about his fascinating dream. What a bummer!

As he entered the room he was surprised to find it already cosy, the fire banked up and twinkly candles adorning the mantel.

Arthur lay on the bed, stark naked except for a cheeky smile.

Merlin considered making an quick excuse and running from the room.

"Merlin. Shut the door and come over here. You're letting in a draught", Arthur commanded brightly.

Merlin hesitated for a second, then closed the door and walked over to stand beside Arthur's bed.

Arthur reached out and grabbed his right hand. He squeezed it gently and rubbed the back tenderly with his thumb.

"I was thinking I've hardly seen you all day, and I've been a bit sharp with you lately", he explained. "So I decided I should be nicer to you tonight".

"Nicer?", Merlin asked innocently.

"Yes, I think I ought to listen to you more. Take off your things and jump up beside me. Then you can tell me all about that dream you mentioned", Arthur replied, kissing his hand fondly.

Now, Merlin is not usually a very obedient servant but this time he chose to comply.

As he lay on Arthur's bed describing in detail the many and varied aspects of his dream, all about a far away place in a far away time full of far away notions, Arthur covered his body with kisses. Arthur even Ooh'd and Ah'd in all the right places, even though his mouth was very, very busy sampling Merlin's milky-white skin.

When Merlin's lips had finished their telling, Arthur forced his own on them in a smouldering kiss. Merlin's heart melted.

"Now that you've shared your dream with me, I want to share mine with you", Arthur hissed fiercely as he pulled Merlin's slim body against his muscular frame.

"Every night I dream of making you mine", he whispered.

Who'd have thought Arthur was a dreamer too?

The End


A/N: The ending came to me in a dream :)