Prompt: OT4: when they were younger: it's a dark, stormy night and afraid of dark, Gwen tries to cheer Morgana up. But she isn't the only one afraid. So is one certain Prince.
A/N: Written for ag_fics Team Fic Battle.

"Are you sure this is safe? Shouldn't we go into a room where there are no windows?" Merlin flinched as the loudest thunder he had ever heard rattled the glass panes and rumbled through the stones of the walls, ceiling, and floor. He had long overstayed his welcome in coming to Morgana's chambers to make sure she and Gwen were all right, but he could not quite bring himself to leave, and thus be all alone in some of the corridors on his way back to the physician's chambers.

Morgana did not seem any more comfortable than he was, wrapped tightly in a shawl and huddled at the head of her bed, but Gwen smiled reassuringly as she finished putting away some laundry. "It's fine. This is not the first big storm the citadel has survived, nor will it be the last."

"I do not recall any storms this big," Morgana muttered, nearly flying out of her skin as lightning flashed brightly again, followed by thunder almost louder than the last peal. From his spot near the door, Merlin's hand went to his chest at the sensation that his heart had almost leapt through it .

Closing the wardrobe, Gwen walked over toward the bed. "No? What about that one when we were all traveling to Pellinore's kingdom?"

Morgana frowned for a moment in concentration, but suddenly appeared to remember. "Oh! And we had to stay in that awful, rickety inn along the way, to get out of the weather. That was years ago; I'd completely forgotten."

Gwen sat on the edge of the bed, her smile deepening. "Well, it had its memorable moments." She and Morgana burst out laughing at the same time.

"I thought he was going to need a change of clothes!" The next thunderclap made Morgana jump (and Merlin edge closer to them), but she continued to laugh.

"It's fortunate that none of the knights saw him," Gwen giggled.

Merlin moved a bit closer when lightning flared again, but he only jumped a little at the resultant thunder because he was too curious about their story. "What's all that?"

The women exchanged an entertained look, and Gwen simply said, "Arthur."

"He tried to climb under his bed," Morgana chortled.

"But, a dog was already there!" both of them finished on fresh peals of laugher, with the air of a story that had been told many times before.

They were amusing Merlin more than the story itself- although, the story was pretty amusing, too. "Really?"

"Oh, yes," Morgana confirmed.

Gwen leaned in. "And we might never have known..."

"...if he had not tried to wrestle the dog out from under it." Tears were starting to roll down Morgana's cheeks.

"He tried to wrestle a dog," Merlin repeated.

They both nodded. "Which then bit him," Morgana continued.

"Nipped him," Gwen amended. "He was not even bleeding."

Morgana gave an nod of agreement. "The way he carried on, you would have thought he'd lost his arm."

"And, that's how the whole story came out," Gwen finished explaining. "He was fortunate in that our rooms were away from all the others in the inn, so only the two of us ever knew."

"Three, now," Morgana pointed out, giving Merlin a conspiratorial wink.

Just then, there was a knock at the open door, and Arthur stuck his head in. "Everyone all right in here?" Another flash and boom made Merlin realize that they had all but forgotten about the storm for the last couple of minutes. Arthur jumped at the sound.

"We're fine," Morgana told him. "You're welcome to join us- just watch out for the dog."

She, Gwen, and Merlin started laughing all over again.

Arthur looked around. "What dog?"