Set just after the events of The Darkest Hour Pt1+2
Morgana was evil, Uther was a shadow yet still breathed, Lancelot dead and Arthur… Agravaine was getting to him.
Merlin sighed as he cleaned Arthur's room again. Usually Lancelot would've dropped in and alleviated the stress. He might've done magic if Lancelot had checked that Arthur wouldn't return for a while.
Now he couldn't.
Gaius preferred if Merlin didn't use his gifts, especially after Aredian even if it was years ago. And no one else knew. Except his mother but destiny wouldn't allow him to run back home. Not that his mother would allow him to just start doing tricks for no other reason than that he wanted too.
Arthur watched Merlin from the doorway, saddened by what he was seeing. The young man was obviously affected deeply by Lancelot's death. They had been as close as twins even after years apart.
Gwaine had been practically green with jealously at first, literally picking up the servant and running away with him. He got over it and grew to like the noble commoner. Everyone did.
Especially when Merlin started spending more time with Gwaine. Arthur was a little worried about Merlin's drinking habits, which were already bad as it was.
Merlin did the things he always did, made the same sarcastic comments and if you didn't know him there'd be no way of telling anything was wrong. Except Arthur did know him.
You don't spend the majority of every single day with someone and not notice the small things.
Merlin had a spark in his eyes. Always had. Since that first day Arthur had seen it, something in Merlin that gave a skinny farming boy confidence to insult a knight, and then knowingly insults a prince.
And it's faded.
The comments lacked the usual bite, his movements the usual laziness that Merlin would amplify just to annoy Arthur.
And Arthur had no idea what to do.
I wrote this off the top of my head in about 20 minutes, so I hope it was good and not just a bunch of rubbish. I just feel that Merlin losing his one outlet should've been showed more. Thanks for reading :3