Whoo! First Merlin story, be warned. NO SLASH
Disclaimer : As much as it pains me, Merlin and all its characters, as well as the actors and their lovely accents, do not belong to me. Well, such a fact should be blatantly obvious, I mean, this is fanfiction.
Warning : Set after season four, Reveal fic, Catboy!Merlin, King Arthur Pratdragon, the Knights of Camelot, and a whole lot of MAGIC~
Probably a bit OOC and I'm sorry for that!
Well! Here is the commencement of a plotbunny, from the dark turmoil of my mind to your screen, I hope. Please review!
"Come on Merlin," said Arthur, patting his manservant none too gently on the back, "we're going hunting! It'll be fun! Now stop your moping and please go do something useful."
Merlin sighed, scrubbing the floor of Arthur's chambers. He had spent the better part of his day dreading the hunt. He didn't particularly like hunting; the prospect of slaughtering an innocent animal, be it for food or simply the thrill of killing things, didn't really appeal to him.
The result of his dread was that he was doing all his work absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere. He often polished the same boot for ten minutes before coming to his senses. Merlin was actually trying to figure out a way to warn as many animals as he could of the attack they would be about to suffer. He could trip over himself and make a lot of noise, but Arthur would probably reward him with twice the amount of work he had. Could he use magic...? No, best not to risk it. But as much as he didn't want to go with them, he knew he had to go to protect his King. Threats could come out of anywhere, magical or not.
"Are you even listening?" Merlin snapped to attention. Thankfully, his master merely sounded a little amused, not really angry.
"Yes, Sire," he replied. Merlin had a way of making even the most respectable title sound like a mockery. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"What's gotten you so upset, Merlin? You usually give me an idiotic response that gives me a chance to banter!"
"Prat."
"There we are. But really," he said, his tone changing from that of the prat to that of the friend, "what's wrong?"
Merlin glanced sideways at him, trying to decide whether he was sincere.
"I don't particularly like to watch you and your big, burly knights murder defenseless animals," he muttered. The king scoffed.
"'Big, burly knights?'" he mimicked, "What, you mean like Percival? We all know he's just a giant softie on the inside." The dark-haired young man sighed at his master.
"You still kill innocent creatures for no good reason," he mumbled dejectedly. Arthur let out a laugh.
"Don't be such a girl, Merlin. They're for food." His manservant glanced up from where he had been scrubbing the floor with his sleeves rolled up.
"Sire, you don't need that much food."
The king huffed. "Are you calling me fat? Again? I'll have you know, firstly, that I am not fat, and that the 'innocent creatures' we hunt help feed you, too, Merlin." He stepped forwards and gripped his manservant's arm, jostling him from where he was vehemently trying to get rid of a wine stain. "And you could do with some meat on your bones. We should hunt more, just for you."
Merlin tugged his arm away. "They're not always for food," he stated quietly. He went back to scrubbing. The King sighed and brushed a hand through his golden locks.
"Are you still upset over that unicorn? Don't be such a girl, Merlin. I brought it back, didn't I?" Merlin grinned, recalling.
"And you nearly destroyed Camelot in the process. By the way, thank you for drinking that poison to save me! It's really touching to know that you care."
"It wasn't poison, it was a sleeping draught. I was trying to save myself the trouble of having to lug you back to Camelot."
Merlin beamed all the more widely. "But you didn't know it was a sleeping draught."
Arthur stepped forwards and patted Merlin on the head a little harder than was necessary. "Shut up Merlin." Merlin obliged, a little happier than he had been a few minutes ago. They always had the nonsensical banter, if nothing else.
"So, Merlin," Gwaine proclaimed, clapping his friend on the back, "you ready for a good hunt?"
"I don't like hunting," Merlin sighed. Gwaine grinned, ever his carefree self.
"It's alright mate, if we catch something good, we can celebrate in the tavern. That ought to cheer you up!"
Merlin chucked. "That's alright, Gwaine."
Gwaine shrugged, his flowing red cape barely leaving the ground. "Suit yourself." He then mounted his light brown steed, trotting towards the other knights. Merlin watched him go.
"Get on your horse, Merlin, we haven't got all day!" called the King, ever his pratful self. Merlin sighed yet again.
"Yes, Sire," he called behind him to the man already on his horse, anxious to leave. Merlin finished preparing his own horse and hastily, albeit reluctantly, hauled himself onto the saddle, checking the reins a few more times before trotting over to the Knights of the Round Table and the King of Camelot.
"Could you be any slower?" Arthur asked incredulously as his manservant came forwards. Merlin shrugged.
"I can try, Sire." Gwaine and Elyan let out a few silent chuckles. Leon simply smiled lightly, controlled as always. Percival smiled a bit more openly. They all loved to watch Merlin and Arthur's pointless bickering.
Arthur, on the other hand, was not amused. But he said nothing, simply spurred his horse towards the gate, not waiting for his men to follow. They were all loyal to a fault, and followed their King. Merlin took a moment to get his horse into action, but followed all the same.
And no one bothered to stare as the King, his manservant, and four knights sped away on horseback; the sight was rather common.
Well, that was just the introduction, so.
You should expect Catboy!Merlin to make an appearance by the end of chapter three.
Well! I hope you liked it! Please review!