Hellos to the Merlin fandom! First off, if you haven't already, go read my story 'Bad Day' before you read this. This is the SEQUEL to that story, so it won't really make sense unless you read Bad Day first. Just click my name (whatswiththemustache) which will take you to my profile and scroll down till you see the tab saying 'My Stories' – there you shall find Bad Day. If you have, in fact, already read that story – great! You may continue.
So…I was planning on posting this story AGES ago…but throughout the school year, I actually logged into my FanFiction account a grand total of about 3 times. What can I say? Life is difficult and time consuming, especially when the only internet you have access to is CENSORED. I mean, come on! Who blocks a website that promotes writing (which, I believe, is technically educational) and doesn't block Facebook (which is, all in all, a waste of time?)? (Not that I've got anything against Facebook. I'd just rather talk to my friends in person than through a chat page.)
But anyway…this definitely took longer than I thought. And I've only written this and the beginnings of Chapter 2…so, I'm sad to say, I probably won't be updating very reliably. But, I should update at least once a week. So no worries.
This takes place about a week after the last scene in Bad Day, and is still in the S3E13-S4E1 timeframe. As usual, there will be no slash – just friendship and light hints at canon relationships (Arthur/Gwen). To disclaim: I don't own Merlin. Promise. Honestly, why would you even think that? ;)
Merlin sometimes regretted how good he was at playing dice.
It did seem like an odd thing to regret, as usually people wanted to be good at things…like playing dice. I mean, why not? If you're good, you win a lot, and if you win a lot, you can also win bets and things and get money in return. And it's also useful for showing off to certain people who like to think of themselves as the best at everything under the sun… like a certain prince Merlin knew. And when you had magic, like Merlin did, to help himself stay on the winning streak – though Merlin rarely needed this anyway, as he was quite good naturally – well, being good at dice would seem like a great thing to be.
Almost always. Because, of course, another thing Merlin also had was a friend named Gwaine. Who tended to have crazy urges to do crazy things, such as insist on playing dice with Merlin all afternoon long. This long, long session of playing dice led to Gwaine's realization that Merlin was really good, as well as his quite explosive realization that Merlin, having magic as he did, could 'cheat' at dice with the greatest of ease…the problem was, it was pretty difficult for Gwaine to tell when Merlin was cheating (which was almost never) and when he was not.
The end product was a very annoyed Merlin who was beginning to wish that the bloody game had never been invented, because whoever had come up with it surely never would have done so if they'd realized just how much of Merlin's sanity it would cost him to play it. And because he couldn't really change the fact that it had been invented, he was really fervently wishing that he wasn't so extremely good at it.
"Okay, that time you definitely cheated. Seriously, there's no way you couldn't rolled a twelve, again." Gwaine glared at Merlin, eyebrows raised. Merlin, who was slumped heroically in his seat with his head jammed between his palms, groaned loudly.
"That's what I keep telling myself…" Merlin grumbled, staring accusingly at his dice. They looked like perfectly ordinary dice, yet they seemed to never fail rolling him the exact number he needed to win the round, despite however desperately Merlin wished for them to roll the opposite.
"Honestly, mate, if I'd known how often you used your gifts to cheat at dice, I'd have turned you in ages ago," Gwaine joked, his voice light, but Merlin could hear the pout in it. Up until the first time Gwaine had played dice with Merlin, he'd considered himself the luckiest dice player in the kingdom. Finding out that Merlin's impossible talent at the game exceeded his own improbable one had put a bit of a damper on his mood.
"Let's play another round."
Once the clattering of the dice had subsided, and it had become apparent that Merlin was yet again the lucky winner, Gwaine leaned back heavily in his chair with a loud exclamation. "There's no way you could've gotten that without using – "
Merlin cut him off his a loud shush before Gwaine could yell out the dreaded m word. "I swear, if you get me arrested over a game of dice, I will not be responsible for my actions." Merlin growled at Gwaine while maintaining his glare at the dice. Although they were seated in Gaius's workroom, where it was unlikely for anyone to be near enough to hear anything Gwaine said, if was much better to be safe than sorry, especially in Camelot.
"You're cheating!"
"I promise you, Gwaine, cheating at dice is the last thing I would do right now."
"Says the person who has won every single round for the past hour."
"…unfortunately."
Gwaine glared at Merlin for a few seconds before reaching for the dice again. Although he could be a sore loser at times – which Merlin really couldn't blame him for, under the circumstances – Gwaine had to be credited for his determination.
Merlin eyed his dice with suspicion before copying Gwaine. He contemplated them thoughtfully as he held them loosely in his palm. Hmmm…
As they tossed the dice onto the table, Merlin closed his eyes for a millisecond as they turned momentarily gold. He watched with satisfaction as this dice came to a rest, displaying a grand total of 2.
…Until his satisfaction melted away with the realization that Gwaine was glaring at him with a withering stare. "You're cheating!"
"This is the only time I cheated."
"To make yourself lose?"
Merlin threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "What will it take to satisfy your insane urge to play dice with me?"
"Not you cheating to make yourself lose!"
Merlin felt like banging his head on the table. Someone please save me from this.
It was at that moment that the door opened creakily to admit Gaius, burdened by his usual satchel. The physician immediately turned his gaze to the two of them where they sat at his worktable, his brow rising in apparent disapproval. Merlin leapt up from his seat, grateful to take any escape from this, even if it was a thoroughly grumpy mentor who granted him his wish. "Hi, Gaius! Need my help with anything?"
Gaius walked heavily over to the table, glaring at the dice and Gwaine, who mumbled a sheepish hello. "If you're not too busy leisurely whiling your time away, yes, that would be wonderful," Gaius said crossly. Merlin could practically feel the foul mood radiating from the old man.
"Erm…"Merlin blinked owlishly. "Yeah. Is everything…?"
Gwaine stood, hastily stuffing the dice in his pocket. "…all right?" He finished for Merlin, seeing that Gaius was not his usual supportive self.
Gaius sighed, setting his satchel down. "Well, while others could spend their day at rest, I have spent the majority of mine attempting to reason with a not entirely sane king," Gaius complained, grimacing. "It's not at all pleasant business." He moved wearily to the other side of the room, head bent, while Merlin and Gwaine stood frozen, unsure of what to do. Gaius eventually sighed heavily again, turning.
"I'm sorry to be so hard on you," Gaius apologized. "It's just not easy, seeing Uther reduced to this state…I'd have thought he'd be over Morgana's betrayal by now, or at least on the road to recovery…"
Relaxing, Merlin let out his breath in a concerned huff. "I know," he consoled. "Honestly, Uther's servant gets more threats of arrest than I do."
Gwaine laughed, as usual finding the humor in every bad situation. "You've got nothing to worry about, mate. You've got it easy, and that's really saying something…as you do serve the royal Princess herself."
Merlin nodded, eyebrows raised in bemusement. "It is pretty astonishing," Merlin admitted, smiling slightly. "The king certainly has a talent for going through manservants quite quickly."
"Most last about a month before resigning in an attempt to preserve their sanity…and head, sometimes," Gwaine mused. Gaius gave them both a stern look, communicating his desire for them to stop committing near-treason and start being helpful.
"Speaking of Arthur," Gaius said forcefully, clearing his throat slightly. "Uther was telling a guard to summon him just as I was leaving. I believe it was something about a patrol being sent out to hunt down a group of bandits…?"
Merlin groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Wonderful..." His feelings to the coming patrol, which he was sure he would be forced to join, were only increased as Gwaine clapped him cheerily on the back.
"Oh, brighten up, Merlin!" Gwaine exclaimed, a grin on his face. "Nothing like a good patrol to stretch your legs."
Merlin gave him a withering glance. "Our patrols always go wrong. Always."
"Stop being so pessimistic. It's not like we haven't got an all-powerful sorcerer to protect us…" Merlin winced, glaring at Gwaine in frustration as Gaius let loose similar feelings by coughing loudly and pointedly. Gwaine seemed to get the message, raising his hands in surrender as he backed out of the room. "Honestly, so paranoid…" he muttered on his way out.
Gaius turned to Merlin in exasperation. "Merlin, I know I've said it before, but – "
Merlin cut him off, rolling his eyes. "I know, I know. You've said it a hundred times, and I've said it a hundred times more. Why on earth did it have to be Gwaine who found out…" Merlin said, as if in rehearsal. Gaius shook his head slowly, turning away.
"Honestly, if he keeps this up for much longer he's going to get you arrested…"
"Our informant says that the bandits were moving east on horseback, my lord," Sir Leon announced into the throne room, which was populated lightly by a handful of knights, a few members of the council, the king himself, and Arthur. Leon, formal as ever, reported to the king in a loud and ringing voice, but it was obvious to Arthur that he was choosing his words carefully. Arthur's father could be so easily set off these days that every word had to be monitored with the greatest of caution...for if a mistake was made, there was no telling how Uther might react.
Arthur stood at his usual place to the king's side, hands clasped behind his back, rocking slightly on his heels. For a moment, silence fell over the room as Leon watched the king expectantly, waiting for a reply. When it became obvious that Uther wasn't going to oblige, Arthur interceded. "Did this informant say how many there were, and how fast they were riding?"
Leon turned to Arthur, relief evident in his eyes. "Yes – according to him, there were less than half a dozen, riding at no more than a walk."
Before Arthur could speak, Uther stirred. "Then it will be simple for a patrol to catch up with them. Arthur, I want you to lead your knights after them as soon as possible."
Arthur glanced at his father in surprise before letting out a puff of breath. "Yes, sire. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Uther turned in his throne to give his son a disapproving, if slightly unfocused, look. "I believe I ordered you to leave as soon as possible."
Arthur stared at the king for a moment, his lips making an 'o' of surprise. "Yes, well, surely it would be wisest to leave in the morning? If we leave now we'll only have a few hours to ride before we'd have to stop and make camp…in the morning the knights and the horses will be freshest, and we'll still be able to catch up with the bandits quickly at the pace they're going." Arthur tried to make his speech as diplomatic as possible, hoping against hope that his father would concede and not start yelling for anyone's head.
It seemed like everyone in the room held their breath as Uther considered for a moment. Finally he nodded, decisively saying, "Very well." After dismissing the court, Uther rose and left the room.
Arthur let out a sigh of relief, meeting Sir Leon's eye. They both knew how difficult it could be to deal with King Uther. "Find Percival, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Elyan, and tell them to get ready for tomorrow."
Leon nodded respectfully. Arthur sometimes regretted that Leon was so painstakingly formal most of the time, but he had to be grateful for the respect that he held for everyone else – unlike a certain servant of his, who he was now going to have to hunt down and force him to get ready for tomorrow…
However, Arthur didn't need to go very far after all. As he marched down one of the stone corridors of the castle on his way to Gaius's chambers, Merlin rounded the corner before him. As soon as Arthur caught Merlin's eye, Merlin visibly balked and jerked back as if he were about to run in the other direction. Seeing Arthur's raised eyebrow, however, Merlin rocked back on his heels casually, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Going somewhere, Merlin?"
Merlin's face was the very picture of innocence. "Who, me? Well, yes, I was just headed down this corridor…"
"…where, I have no doubt, you will be busy preparing for the patrol we're going on tomorrow morning." A smile slowly lit on Arthur's face as Merlin let out a tortured sigh. Arthur disliked patrols, too, but he always concealed this fact for, if nothing else, the pleasure of teasing Merlin mercilessly about his moaning and groaning.
"I hate patrols."
"Uh-huh, I'm sure the entire world knows that by know," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "And doesn't care one bit."
"Something horrible is going to happen, as usual, one of us is going to be mortally wounded or maimed or catch the flu or something, as usual, and I'm going to get stuck picking up the pieces, as usual."
"When was the last time one of us was mortally wounded on a patrol? And the only pieces you ever pick up on a patrol are pieces of firewood."
"I see you aren't quibbling with the something horrible is going to happen bit."
"Out last patrol went perfectly fine," Arthur pointed out, as if this were the last word in an argument. "Not one horrible thing happened." He turned to look at Merlin as the silence stretched, to find his manservant giving him an incredulous look. "What?"
"Do you even remember what happened on our last patrol?"
Arthur turned away, rubbing his face uncomfortably. "It was just a minor setback."
"Minor setback!?" Merlin said with disbelief. "I fell down a cliff. You almost got every bone in your hand crushed. We all ended up walking back to Camelot on foot. You call this a minor setback?"
"Nobody was mortally wounded, maimed, or caught up with the flu…" Arthur said, shrugging. "…so yes."
"And the fact that none of those things happened last time practically ensures that they're going to happen tomorrow."
Arthur shook his head, turning and walking back down the corridor the way he had come. "Stop being so pessimistic." Hearing Merlin snort derisively behind him, he rolled his eyes again. "Nothing horrible is going to happen."
Famous last words, right? LOL So, stay tuned for Chapter 2, in which What Was Once a Perfectly Good Patrol Goes Horribly Wrong (big surprise). I might actually post this sometime today or tomorrow, but more likely it'll be sometime next week. Who knows?
Also, I have a question for my beloved readers. This story has a coming turning point (I believe in Chapter 3) in which it may become either a) a reveal fic, more than a little angsty and probably longish, or b) it does not become a reveal fic, but instead is just a humorous fic involving Gwaine, Merlin and possibly a few others dancing around the fact that Merlin IS Emrys while trying to convince certain others that he isn't, or at other times, is, without actually proving anything. I'm leaning towards scenario B but I'd like to know what YOU think. Please review! Honestly, one little review literally makes my day. I'm not kidding. I'd really appreciate it! Hope you liked this, and keep a lookout for more. Have a nice day! :)
~whatswiththemustache
