Merlin heaved a sigh as he plumped himself down in a chair and reached out for his tools. Arthur had him polishing his armor and sharpening his sword and he needed it done by morning. The sun had already set and he was tired as death but he knew that if he went to sleep he would never get the work done in time. So, he reluctantly set to striking the stone against the king's blade, head nodding towards sleep every few strokes.

Not far into it, Gwaine wondered in to return a mace to its welling.

"Arthur's got you doing nightly chores again, has he?" he chuckled.

Merlin jumped slightly, having been too sleepy to realize the knight was even there at first. "Yeah," he sighed.

"God, Merlin," Gwaine mused as he sat next to the boy, "you look awful!"

"Thanks," Merlin huffed, a tired smile on his face.

"Have you really not gotten any sleep at all?" Gwaine asked, though he still spoke with a jesting tone.

"I haven't slept at all in three days," Merlin told him, somewhat oblivious to the knight's joking manner. "All this week I've been too caught up doing things for Arthur. Every time I think I'm finished, I look up to see the sun has risen and it's already time to start it all over again!" Merlin was striking the sword a bit harder now, obvious frustration strengthening his blow.

"Seriously?" Gwaine spat. "Hell, I don't know how you do it Merlin! I think I would have keeled over by now if he had me up all that time!"

Merlin scoffed.

"Say, what else has he got you doing?"

The boy groaned. "I have to polish all of his armor and mend his chain mail."

"Well," Gwaine replied, "I don't know much about mending but I think I could pull the polishing off quite nicely! After all, if I recall, he did have us polish the army's boots once!"

"What?" Merlin asked, surprised. "No, Gwaine you don't have to stay up with me. Besides, what's the use of us both being too tired to walk in the morning?"

"Merlin," Gwaine protested, picking the armor up off the ground, "in this state, you won't even be able to wake up in the morning. With my expert help, we'll finish in time for you to get an hour or two of, dare I say, much needed sleep." Gwaine jokingly bopped Merlin on the nose with the polishing rag and the boy reeled back with a smile.

Merlin laughed and thanked Gwaine before they both fixed up Arthur's armor to perfection.