Me again! Back for another story with our fav duo! As usual, i still haven't gained ownership of our lovely boys by some magical miracle, or who knows what would end up happening. The BBC still owns everything :(
Thanks once again to MagicbyMerlin for their amazing beta-ing!! Couldn't have done it without you!
Merlin felt a smile slide onto his face the minute he opened his eyes. A fresh beam of sunlight slipped through his window, bathing the bed in a soft golden light. It seemed winter had finally gone, the weak sunshine marking the beginning of spring. The young warlock had always liked the spring; everything was so fresh that it made him feel happy and alive.
Humming to himself as he dressed, Merlin greeted Gaius happily before heading out the door to work, then turned around and walked straight back in again, still happily humming away. Without saying a word, he picked up his breakfast, turned on his heel and almost skipped back out again, knowing that Gaius was watching him with a look of bemusement. Making his way down the familiar corridors, Merlin munched away on his breakfast, not being able to resist stealing a look out of the window every time he passed one, just to make sure that the sun was still shining and it hadn't all been a dream. Every time he passed someone that he knew, he couldn't resist giving him or her a cheerful 'good morning', his happiness seemingly affecting everyone. He even started doing it to people that he didn't know – that was how relieved he was that the weather had finally turned.
It wasn't that Merlin disliked the winter, far from it. But the bad weather meant that Arthur had been restricted in what he was allowed to do. No hunts in the forest for fear of pneumonia, no sword training for fear of slipping on the icy ground. The normally free prince had been wrapped up by his over protective father, and so had found his annoyance levels rising. Being with the prince almost constantly, it didn't take a genius to work out who had been on the receiving end of these bad moods. It didn't help that there hadn't even been any snow either, meaning that there was literally nothing to do.
Merlin burst through the doors to Arthur's chambers, sending them crashing into the wall behind, before he carefully shut them again. He wouldn't have knocked even if he had remembered too, knowing full well that the prince was still going to be in the land of dreams. He was. Spread across his bed, Arthur was somehow managing to take up every inch of space there was, despite his bed being huge. Smiling softly at the sight of his friend fast asleep, Merlin crossed the room to the window. Arthur looked so much younger when he was asleep, any act that he put on when he was awake gone. When he was sleeping, Arthur wasn't the crowned prince of Camelot with huge responsibilities, he was plain old Arthur.
Merlin stood watching the prince until Arthur shifted in his sleep, turning more to the window. Grinning, Merlin ripped the curtains back with a flourish, allowing the weak sunlight to fall straight onto Arthur's face.
"Good morning, sire," Merlin called cheerfully, starting to tidy up the clothes that had been dumped on the floor the night before.
"Says who?" Arthur growled back and proceeded to stick his head under the pillow.
The prince was not a morning person, that much was sure. His reaction seemed to be an automatic one, for he had not noticed the light that was dancing across the bed, indicating that his temporary imprisonment within his own castle had come to an end.
Merlin sighed when he saw what the prince had done. They had been through this battle every morning for the last few weeks. Not having anything interesting to do, Arthur had decided that there was absolutely no reason for him to get up, meaning that his poor manservant had to almost tip him out of bed each day…not an easy task.
"Arthur," Merlin said softly as he made his way over to the bed. Putting his head close to the pillow, he tensed himself, ready to move quickly.
"IT'S SUNNY!"
Yelling the last part as loud as he could, Merlin sprang back from the bed, just in time. The fist that Arthur had sent shooting out closed only on thin air, missing the warlock by inches. A sleepy head emerged from under the pillow in order to glare at his servant, followed by extremely tussled hair. Merlin had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling; it was such a sweet sight.
As Arthur glared at Merlin, his sleepy brain seemed to have finally registered what the warlock had just told him. Sitting bolt upright so sharply that Merlin, taken by surprise, stumbled back a few steps and fell over the pile of laundry that he had been just trying to tidy up. Ignoring the servant sitting in the middle of his floor, Arthur sprung out of bed and raced to the window. He stared out with an expression of longing in his face. The forest could just be seen from his window and the sun was glittering prettily in the tops of the trees, looking extremely inviting.
"We're going hunting," Arthur declared jubilantly.
Merlin stifled a groan as he climbed to his feet. He should have known that that was coming. Even if the sun had decided to grace them with its presence and make Merlin's spirits soar, having to trek silently through a forest and be snapped at every time he made the smallest noise wasn't exactly the way that he wanted to celebrate the sunshine. He had been thinking more on the lines of a picnic with Gwen and Morgana, under a nice green tree, but Arthur was not to know that.
In fact, the prince was so happy about the fact that there would no longer be a good enough reason for his father to keep him inside, that he made to stride out of his room right that instance. It would have been very impressive and regal if not for one small fact. He had only just got out of bed.
"Arthur?" Merlin started tentatively.
When the prince was in one of these moods, nothing and nobody was able to tell him what to do. Normally, that sort of authority impressed the warlock about the prince, especially as it normally involved defending someone. However, when it was he on the receiving end of them, it was not so good.
"What?" Arthur turned back to face his servant, a frown crossing his face. He wanted to be out and about now, not listening to Merlin going on about how slippery and dangerous it could still be outside.
Rather than responding, Merlin simply stood there and looked at Arthur rather pointedly. For a few seconds, the prince was flummoxed. Merlin could almost see his brain struggling to wake up enough to realise what was wrong. You could tell the exact second that the still sleepy prince twigged what his servant was getting at: his whole demeanour changed.
It always amazed Merlin how long it took Arthur to dress. For him, he simply rolled out of bed, grabbed the nearest clean shirt, threw the clothes on, fastened his neckerchief and that was that. Yet, for the prince, there was always the matter of deciding what to wear, then the task of getting into it. Buckles needed to be fastened in certain ways, the clothes themselves had to be put on in a certain order. It was no surprise that Arthur couldn't manage it by himself; it took ages even with two of them. But then again, Merlin often found his frustration levels rising with the prince. When Arthur wanted to go and do something, the time it took to dress was simply a nuisance and so resulting in fidgeting. Today was no different.
"If you would just stand still, Arthur, I'll be able to get this fastened a lot quicker, and then you can go out."
"But you're taking so long!" Arthur whined, once again shifting from foot to foot and running a hand through his golden hair, proceeding to ruffle it up even more.
Merlin sighed; he knew that he wasn't going to win when Arthur was in this mood. Abandoning the cloak that he had been attempting to fasten, he pulled it away and decided that Arthur could just go without it for today. If he managed to survive each day without one, then so could the prince for once. It might just be the saviour of Merlin's sanity.
The second that Merlin had moved the cloak, Arthur strode out of the room, calling back instructions for their day out. Although the sun made a clear indication that spring had arrived, he knew that he would still have to ask his father's permission before heading out for the day.
It took Merlin quite a while to retrieve the hunting gear from around the room. Not having been used for the last few months, each piece of equipment had found itself a new home in a random spot around the prince's large room. It was at times like this that Merlin realised just how big Arthur's room was and how many small and awkward hiding places that had been revealed. On more than one occasion, he had to resort to using magic when the arrows were just out of his reach, or the crossbow was lodged in so firmly that he couldn't shift it by hand alone.
Thinking that Arthur would be mad with him for taking so long, the warlock hurried out of the room, muttering a quick apology to Gwen when he nearly ran into her, and made his way to the stables as quickly as possible.
Merlin expected Arthur to already be there, having bribed some poor stable boy to saddle the horses in Merlin's absence, so it came as a surprise when there was no prince in sight. Dumping the hunting gear in a pile on the ground, Merlin set about tacking up Arthur's magnificent horse, Thunder, before turning to his own. Technically, she wasn't his, but Drift was always the horse that he used whenever Arthur's hunting habits had them travelling some distances. She was a good-natured thing, probably just as well considering the warlock's inability to stay in the saddle…
Arthur had found it hilarious the first time his servant had been dragged away hunting to discover that he couldn't ride a horse. And so the prince had taken it upon himself to teach Merlin how. It was a good thing that Drift had been patient, for Arthur certainly had not been. Teaching was definitely not one of his finer qualities, that much was for certain.
In fact, it took so long for Arthur to turn up that Merlin had both horses ready to go. He tied the end of Thunder's reigns to the edge of the stable door, but stood with Drift's loosely in his hand, softly stroking her velvety nose. Whether it was because of his magic, or just a special bond between them, Merlin knew that she wouldn't try and bolt. Thunder, on the other hand, was as impatient as his master. Murmuring softly to Drift, Merlin glanced up just in time to see the prince come running towards him, looking flushed and out of breath.
"Come on," he implored breathlessly, swinging himself gracefully up onto his mount's back and untying the reigns from the other, all in one movement. "You're going to have to thank Gaius for me later, but now, we need to move, before my father changes his mind again."
Unfortunately, Merlin was not as capable at getting into the saddle so gracefully, so it was only after a few minutes of spinning with one foot in the stirrup that he finally managed to pull himself up onto Drift's back. The horse, bless her, barely moved, but the prince accompanied his attempts with a mixture of amusement and impatience.
Finally, both prince and warlock were mounted, the hunting gear divided equally among them – for the horse's sake, as Arthur put it – and were trotting joyfully out of the gates.
It was a perfect spring morning, the sky was blue and the sun was shining down on the pair as they urged the horses into a gallop, leaving the confinements of the city. Arthur especially was relishing the cool breeze that was dancing through his hair and stood in his stirrups, his own excitement causing Thunder to double the pace.
Merlin gave up trying to keep up with the rushing prince and instead let Drift carry on at a pace that they were both more comfortable with. Although Arthur mocked that she was slow and couldn't keep up with any of the knights' mounts, Merlin didn't care. He felt safe on Drift's back, more than could be said for any other horse that he had the experience of riding. Not that he would mention this to Arthur, but he also felt an awful lot safer travelling at Drift's speed than the competitive nature of Thunder. In Merlin's opinion, both riders were perfectly matched with their steeds.
Just as Merlin was settling into a comfortable rhythm, Arthur came charging back, obviously hoping to take Merlin by surprise by coming up from behind. It would have worked if Drift had not pricked up her ears, alerting the warlock astride her that something was wrong. There had been too many accidents in this forest of which had nearly cost Arthur his life that Merlin automatically used magic to enhance his hearing. He expecting to here the raging roar of some magical beast, not the sound of Thunder's flying hooves and Arthur's chuckle. Therefore it was a very a disappointed prince that finally reigned his horse into a trot next to Drift, not understanding how Merlin hadn't reacted in the slightest. He was normally so easy to surprise for the reason that it took all of his servant's concentration to just stay on his horse. Knowing what was going through Arthur's head, Merlin decided to get onto safe ground as quickly as possible.
"What did you mean that I needed to thank Gaius later? What did Gaius have to do with us being allowed out?"
"You know my father," Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes to express his annoyance at the protectiveness of the king. Their distant relationship meant that the prince simply did not see why Uther was being so protective. "He kept going on about 'just because this is the first sunny day in months, it doesn't mean that everything had automatically dried up and is safe again'. It was a lost cause until Gaius stepped in and said that the fresh air would do me – I mean, us, good. I think he just wanted to get rid off you for a while, if you ask me."
Merlin snorted with amusement, knowing that Arthur would have had to manage to bring an insult into it somewhere. In fact, considering the way that the warlock had awoken him that morning, Merlin was sure that he was going to need to be on edge today to make sure that he wasn't taken by surprise at any point; there was normally no end to the prince's 'pranks'. Hopefully Drift would be alert enough to stop him from going too far.
Before Merlin had a chance to respond with a witty comeback to Arthur (not that he had one at that precise moment), the prince froze in the saddle. It showed how used to Arthur that Thunder was, because as soon as he felt his rider tense, the horse also froze, only his ears flickering forward. Drift had no such inclinations and started to hoof the ground, anxious to get moving again. As Merlin frantically tried to hush her, Arthur shot him a look that normally spelt out murder. The warlock didn't need to ask; he knew by Arthur's position and the fact that his hand was smoothly sliding back to where the crossbow was situated that he had spotted some prey. Now the boring bit began…
With no warning at all, a small buck shot from the trees just in front of them, darting furiously around the bushes to get away from the threat. With a war cry, Arthur urged his mount on, and before long; Thunder had carried his rider far into the trees in pursuit. It had all happened so quickly that Merlin simply sat blinking at the space that used to be a horse and rider. Knowing that there was no way he could find them now, the young warlock slid from his saddle and took up a new position by Drift's head. Gently stroking her nose, Merlin began his weekly rant about the prince. It was amazing how well a horse could listen. They didn't answer back for one thing.
"…And then he goes to hit me, knowing that I was only doing my job, and that he would complain if I hadn't woken him up in time anyway. Where is the fairness in that?"
Drift nickered comfortingly, nuzzling his hand. Smiling at the gentle creature in front of him, Merlin decided to take a risk and let go of the reigns completely. For all of his complaining about how slow she was, Arthur would certainly kill him if Drift went running off. For one long second, Merlin held his breath, wondering how the mare would react, but she was more than content to lower her head and nibble the fresh grass that had begun to grow. Another glorious sign of the end of winter was that everything had a fresh greenness to it, giving the clearing a sort of energy that made the young warlock very content. Plonking himself down on the floor by Drift's head, Merlin sighed and reached for the bag that he had been trusted to carry. It came as no surprise that Arthur had all the actual hunting equipment and Merlin had the rest of the necessities such as food and water skins.
Merlin, however, wasn't complaining. He had the excuse of not being able to find Arthur in the vast forest, and – to be honest – he was hungry. Settling himself into a comfier position, Merlin knew that he wouldn't be able to stay sitting for too long; he could already begin to feel the dampness in the grass soaking through his trousers. It was going to be a very uncomfortable ride home if he stayed sitting for long.
Diving into the bag, Merlin thanked the cooks under his breath. It wasn't that Gaius was a bad cook, but compared to the kitchen staff of the castle, he was nothing. Technically, they had prepared the food for the prince, but the fact that they had put more than enough in for the two of them made Merlin smile. He seemed to have worked himself into a favourable spot with the staff, meaning that he was often on the receiving end of food that a mere servant shouldn't have otherwise even tasted.
After eating some of the food and taking a long draught from the water skin, Merlin began to get bored. Arthur would have to come back eventually – an empty stomach would have him crawling back at some point – but until then, Merlin simply had nothing to do. He knew that it was foolish to try and find the prince in the enormous forest and that if he went searching, Arthur would make his way back to the clearing – it was almost guaranteed.
Ignoring the dampness of the ground, the warlock stretched back on the grass, leaning his head in his hands. The sun was shining down softly, bathing the whole clearing in a golden light, giving it the ironic appearance of looking magical. A cool breeze was dancing through the treetops, causing them to rustle almost soothingly, and it only took a matter of moments before Merlin found himself dozing off.
Hmm, Merlin dozing off? Why do i get the feeling that this lovely piece of quiet won't last long. It never does with those two...
Please review!!! Pretty, pretty please?