The 5 times nicknames weren't ok and the 1 time when they were necassary- a Merthur fanfic.
1.
Merlin stumbled into Arthurs chambers after hurtling out of his bedroom just 5 minutes before, already 20 minutes late for waking Arthur up. Merlin pulled his neckerchief round his neck and approached Arthur's bed cautiously, not wanting to be yelled at for being so late, he peered under the covers, relieved to see Arthur still fast asleep, mouth slightly open with a moronic expression which made Merlin smirk. He tip-toed round the large four poster bed and made his way towards the curtains, still being as quiet as he could before breaking into a grin and ungraciously ripping the curtains open, yelling,
"Good morning Lazy Daisy!"
Arthur toppled over the edge of where he was sleeping with a strangled yelp, his blankets wrapping themselves around his legs and tangling him in an uncomfortable grip,
"MERLIN!" Arthur roared frustratedly, attempting to clamber back onto his bed in what he hoped was a dignified fashion, "How many times do I have to tell you that name is not going to catch on? Stop belitting me!" Merlin turned his back to find Arthurs clothes for the day, rolling his eyes at the irony. Arthur was sat up in his bed, quiet and frowning for a moment before he tossed a pillow in Merlins direction and said, "And for another thing, from what I can hear outside, I'm not the one who's been lazy this morning, you were late weren't you?"
The manservant was irritated this unexpected rant but could tell by Arthur's tone that he wasn't genuinely angry. Merlin spun back to face Arthur and nodded sardonically, catching his master's eye for a minute.
Arthur sighed, swinging his legs over the other side of the bed and stretching, "Don't look at me like that Merlin, you know if you didn't call me that stupid name I probably wouldn't be this annoyed," he looked back at Merlin who was handing him his clothes, still scowling slightly, "You always bring this upon yourself, don't you?" Arthur mumbled.
2.
The atmosphere round the table was warm and happy, the knights clinking goblets and laughing as each told stories of their foolish youth, leaning back in their chairs as the large feast they had just consumed settled in their stomachs and made them sleepy and friendly. Arthur wiped his eyes after cracking up at Leon's particularly hilarious story concerning the local barmaid, three large sticks, a chicken and a lock of Leon's hair, then glanced over to his manservant with a beckoning gesture.
Merlin hurried over quickly, proffering a jug of wine and smiling round the table. He was enjoying this evening, Percival was obscenely drunk, his large arms currently around Gwaine's neck as he told him how 'unbelievably soft his hair is' which caused endless amusement, Elyan was collapsing in a heap of giggles at Leon's chicken story and the knights were generally comfortable with releasing their masculinity, even if it would be short-lived. Merlin leaned close into the still grinning Arthur, who had taken the jug of wine eagerly and was sloshing it into his and Lancelot's goblets, and announced innocently,
"Anything else Arth?"
Arthur's composure instantly stiffened and the atmosphere stilled somewhat as Leon whipped his head to stare at Merlin with confusion and surprise,
"ARTH?" he questioned, now looking at Arthur, his eyes crinkling with laughter. "You let him call you Arth? Ohmygod can I please call you that? This is brilliant, DID YOU HEAR THAT BOYS?" Leon shouted excitedly, throwing his arms into the air as the other bursts into yet more peels of laughter, Elyan and Percival both falling off their chairs.
Arthur said nothing at first but pulled Merlin down aggressively and then murmured furiously into his ear,
"Now you've done it you absolute prat, never call me that or speak of this again, got it?" he pushed Merlin back quickly and tried to join in with the laughter, swiftly moving the conversation along and hoping they'd all forgot about Merlin's little slip up by the sobered morning.
Bollocks, Merlin thought, returning to his spot behind Arthur's chair, note to self: don't try and be casual.
3.
Sometimes Arthur was noble, kind and good to all people; sometimes Arthur made Merlin long for the day when they would rule Albion together… today was not one of those days.
"Hurry up you pillock!" Arthur laughed as he galloped past Merlin on his (literally) high horse. The Annual Court Hunt was supposedly going perfectly, with King Uther riding ahead, leading his hundred strong group of enthusiasts through the forest, obviously with this amount of people it would be unlikely the would catch anything but it was the tradition that was important. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, it had been left with Merlin to have the responsibility of carrying the extra weapons (which would of course not be needed) on the small, old pony that had been left behind after the knights had taken their pick. "Jeez Merlin, brining up the rear much? We do actually want to do some hunting today if you hadn't noticed!" Arthur jeered.
This unnecessary yet relentless torment Merlin had suffered for the past hour was finally taking its toll and charging forward as fast as possible on his stupid slow mule, Merlin reached the front of the pack and called across to Arthur,
"Not with the noise you're making, you clotpole!"
Merlin had of course thought nothing of this comment; it was part of the banter he and Arthur shared every day and Arthur naturally sneered back playfully and they glanced a look at each other which exclusively to them meant 'I'll get you back for that' and 'you know I'm right' however to everyone else there was no significance and what the two unlikely companions had forgotten was that they were in fact in the presence of the King of Camelot who had unwittingly just heard what he assumed to be flat out insult to his only son.
The entire brigade of men and horses halted as Uther wheeled his horse around, giving Merlin a look which he was surprised didn't kill him on the spot,
"WHAT did you just call your PRINCE?" he barked loudly, "How DARE you address my son in that manner, I could have your head for that!"
"NO Father you don't understand!" Arthur yelled, placing himself between Merlin and Uther, "You complete idiot" he hissed at Merlin before turning to his father again, "My manservant was merely…umm… using a, err, code we devised! Yes! He has excellent hearing you see, look how big his ears are! And err 'clotpole' is what he says to tell me there is, umm, life, nearby and we need to be quieter, yes…" Arthur shifted his gaze quickly to Merlin, giving him a smug look for being such a genius, which Merlin returned mockingly and then said in a convincing hushed tone to the king,
"I apologised if my intent was misunderstood sire, but I think I'm right in saying there's a deer somewhere towards the south of us so we should keep our sound to a minimum" Uther wanted to confirm with Arthur once again but he already was frowning sternly towards the south, bow raised. Convinced, Uther nodded apologetically to Merlin and then headed off stealthily in the direction Merlin had gestured at. Merlin slouched forward with a sigh of relief and continued forward with the king and the quietly chuckling prince, though he of course knew there was nothing ahead.
4.
"Merlin if you do not shut up and get your foot out of my face this instant, I WILL execute you," Arthur suddenly said in a flat tone, his voice ringing out in the once darkness. Merlin flipped himself over once again in the bed they were sharing so his knees were now pressed into Arthur's back and muttered,
"I'm just trying to get comfortable" he pushed his pillow up slightly and sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing but as he did so Arthur let out another yelp, slapped Merlin's legs out of where they were finally warm and comfy and said,
"Honestly you clot, if I didn't know any better, and I hope I do, I would say that you were bloody enjoying this!" Arthur was incredibly irked by the day in general and now being forced to share a bed with the ever-shuffling Merlin did nothing to improve his mood.
They had rode all day in attempts to reach the place where Morgana was rumoured to be hiding yet still had to stop at an inn for the night and to top off Arthurs annoyance there had of course only been one spare bed.
It wasn't the first time they had been made to share but this grotty little bed wasn't at all up to Arthur's standards and Merlin's constant renditions of his childhood songs was not helping,
"Oh I'm sorry Arthur, has my umpteenth chorus of 'Sausages of the Royals' not soothed you to sleep yet?" Merlin sneered sarcastically into the blackness above him, humming the idiotic repetitive tune once again, and then Arthur finally cracked,
"Leave me alone! We've got a long day ahead of us and- OW" Merlin had poked his elbow into Arthur's hip once again, "and for goodness sake, we are not some old married couple, I'm not going to accommodate to your stupid pointy body so stop nudging me!" There silence for a while after Arthur's outburst, until Merlin grinned wickedly and said,
"Oh are we not? Sorry then darling-AGHH" Merlin was unfortunately unable to complete his wonderfully witty comment because Arthur had, with his irritatingly strong arms, pushed Merlin entirely off the rickety bed onto the floor with a loud bang. Arthur leaned over to where his manservant was sprawled and murmured forcefully,
"That is where you will sleep tonight; do not even think about climbing back."
Merlin opened his mouth and made a slight noise of protest before he was greeted with one loud 'SHHH' and Arthur rolled back into the blankets (ALL the blankets, Merlin wanted to point out) and the matter seemed closed.
5.
It was well known to Arthur that Merlin hated tournaments, with a passion that surprised Arthur seeing as Merlin was such an undeniable dimwit the rest of the time. But this tournament was important, to Uther at least, it would compare Arthur to the princes of opposing kingdoms and Arthur had to do his father proud. And so because of this, he really did not appreciate Merlin being completely narrow-minded and judgemental about it all,
"Do I make myself clear Merlin? Do. Not. Whinge." Arthur snapped at his manservant, presenting himself to have his armour fitted,
"Yes, yes sire, quite clear…" Merlin sighed half heartedly, "…Although, I do stand by my reasoning that some sort of mental test would be more appropriate to see who will make the greatest heir, I mean, I would find it more interesting an-"
"Seriously! Shut up!" Merlin was taken aback my Arthurs outburst, he usually at least tolerated Merlin's ramblings, "Look, I know I usually sweep these things but believe it or not I am actually worried so could you, I don't know, show some respect and help me?" Arthur pulled his arm gruffly away from where Merlin was adjusting the armour and turned so Merlin could pull on the fastenings, clearly not wanting to endure Merlin's look of mild mocking pleasure,
"Err yes, ok… so you want encouragement? A little pep talk?" Merlin smirked in delight and wiggled the straps on Arthurs lower back with slightly more enthusiasm than necessary, "You can do it sire! I believe in you! Get out there and show them whose boss, Pendragon!" Arthur yanked himself out of Merlin's fumbling hands and stomped off towards the door,
"Oh for gods sake Merlin! I can never be in the same bloody room as you without you acting like a prat." Merlin merely chuckled at Arthur's rage, knowing that this would in fat, psych him up for the competition,
"I don't want to want to see your stupid face again until feast you hideously professional idiot of a manservant" Arthur roared as he left the room,
"Alright, no need to get touchy, Pendragon" Merlin bellowed after him,
"MEERRLIIN!" Is all he heard in response before Arthur was out of earshot.
+1.
Merlin faltered outside Arthurs door, worried about how the prince, well now king had reacted. Uther's death had been sudden and Merlin was sure that Arthur needed his support. But Merlin could imagine the unmovable rock that was Arthur, either pacing his floors, ranting about his new duties, refusing to face his grief or sitting silently at his desk, constantly questioning what he could have done to prevent it. But something Merlin did not expect to see when he entered the room was the young man curled up on his bed, soft sobbing noises coming from where his head was buried in his pillow.
"…My Lord?" Merlin ventured, not knowing how to react to this change of character in Arthur, he stepped carefully into the room and moved towards where Arthur lay. Arthur jumped slightly at the voice, his crying quietening to sniffles, "It's me, I wanted to know if you needed anything" Merlin said hesitantly. Arthur relaxed slightly at the conformation that it was Merlin and shuffled on the bed to look at where the younger man was now crouched beside him, Arthurs puffed red eyes blurred the vision of his manservant slightly but he then let out a breath he didn't quite know he was holding and said in a hysterical rush,
"My Lord? How the hell can you call me that when I'm such a mess right now? The king is dead, I am nothing! What am I going to do?" he twisted back into his pillow and let out more tears, the loss of his father overwhelming him once again.
"Sire please, we have... matters to attend to…." Merlin still felt incredibly awkward with the man he admired so much in such an unexpected state,
"Seriously Merlin?" Arthur suddenly burst out, pulling himself up into a sitting position, "REALLY? The one time you aren't calling me every stupid name under the sun and are actually acting like I'm the superior for once, is the one time I…" Arthur trailed off, tears bubbling up behind his big blue eyes again, anger and hurt so prominent in them that it pained Merlin, "Is the one time I really need a friend…" Arthur managed to choke out, and Merlin moved closer, to sit on the edge of the bed, no longer caring about being 'proper' and put his arms around Arthurs shoulders, "My Father is gone Merlin, I need you right now, please" Arthur whispered, his head resting on his chest in shame and sadness.
Merlin could no longer stand to see Arthur in this state and pulled the larger man closer into a hug, adjusting himself on the bed, Arthur's tears now absorbing into Merlin's shirt.
"Arth, I'm so sorry this has happened, I really am. This is going to be hard but I promise I'll help you as much I can, you're my dollop-head prince and I'll help you to be the dollop-head king I know you need to become, if that's what you want me to do… It just scared me, you being like this, you usually just act like a big, strong idiot… I'm glad you're letting yourself feel the hurt of losing Uther, I can't stand the thought of you keeping all these emotions inside, you're not invincible Arth, I need you to remember that…I'm sorry Old Friend, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you, like I always will be…"
Merlin ran out of words that could express how much hurt he felt for his master and simply let his hand rub slow circles on the Arthurs back, subduing his sobs. Arthur sat up once he had calmed himself enough and finally looked into Merlin's caring and now also red eyes, the emotion having become too much for him to,
"Thank you" Arthur breathed and smiled sadly at his friend.
No more was needed to be said between them, Arthur lay back down on his bed and closed his tired, damp eyes, whilst Merlin settled himself into the nearby armchair, both falling asleep in the knowledge that they had each other close, that they were safe.