Title: Finding Out
Summary: Merlin keeps falling asleep. Arthur tries to find out why the idiot isn't sleeping at night. He ends up with the surprise of his life, much to Gwaine's amusement. MERGANA.
A/N: Here's another plotless one! A little bit of romance, some lack of sleep, a bit of friendship, a bit of surprise, a bit of vulgarity, and a pinch of humor. It's also a bit unrealistic and rushed. But let me know what you think!
-McDiggin'It
...
Arthur rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time at Merlin, for the manservant has fallen asleep yet again. He was in the middle of sword training with the knights when his practice sword broke, but when he called for a replacement sword, Merlin is slumped against a wall, snoring lightly without a care in the world.
Walking over to his manservant, Arthur kicks him in the leg. Merlin jumps to his feet, poised in a fighting stance, raising his fists and staring widely at him.
"What the..." Arthur stares at him, utterly bewildered. "Merlin, what on earth were you doing last night?"
Merlin's eyes widen even more as he drops his hands to his side and straightens back up. "What was I doing last night?" He asks, laughing a little, although there was nothing funny about the question. "I wasn't doing anything!" He says a little too loudly. "Err, why do you ask?"
Arthur blinks suspiciously at his manservant. Clearly, he's hiding something. "Well for starters, you've been falling asleep every time I turn my back. Also, you didn't do any of the list of chores I gave you to do, and when I asked you about it, you fell asleep ag..." Arthur trails off, for Merlin has just fallen asleep again, this time, whilst standing up. The Prince's jaw clenches in anger as he raises his palm and slaps the manservant across the face.
Merlin goes sprawling on the ground and quickly hops back to his feet and blinking his eyes widely. "What happened?" He asks loudly.
Arthur makes a face as he stares at the manservant. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
Merlin shakes his head, trying to stay awake. "Yes." He blinks, then says, "No." another blink, and, "I haven't slept a wink in nearly 4 days, sire." He gasps, then slaps a hand over his mouth as if he hadn't meant to say as much. Removing his hand slowly, he smiles sheepishly at the Prince. "Errr, did you want your sword polished again?" Without waiting for an answer, Merlin takes Arthur's broken practice sword, turns, and marches off towards the castle.
Arthur stares, baffled, "Where the hell are you going?"
"To get your dinner, Sire!" Merlin calls over his shoulder without looking.
Gwaine sidles up next to the Prince, chuckling, "I knew you were a Princess, but isn't it a bit early to be eating dinner right after you've just had your breakfast?" The man teases then ducks down quickly to avoid getting hit with Arthur's arm.
"There's something wrong with Merlin." Arthur says absently as he turns to look at his knights, still training hard.
Gwaine chuckles, "I noticed. He fell asleep leaning against a horse earlier, and then face planted a pile of dung when the horse trotted away after doing its business."
Arthur strokes his chin as he thinks. "There has to be a reason why he hasn't slept in 4 days straight."
"Four days?" Gwaine asks incredulously. "That's serious... whatever's keeping him up all night must be extremely important. I know I wouldn't lose sleep over anything but a glass of ale."
Arthur rolls his eyes at the knight. "Of course you wouldn't... but we're talking about Merlin. What's so important to him that he's giving up sleep to do?"
Gwaine shrugs and folds his arms against his chest. "Why don't we find out?"
Arthur nods slowly as he looks up at the sky. "We will. Meet me on the staircase at the bottom of the castle after dinner."
The knight nods in agreement. If his friend is losing sleep, he wants to know why, and how to fix it.
...
Arthur and Gwaine sneak stealthily down the corridor that connects to the staircase which would take them straight to Gaius' chambers.
"Remember," Arthur says to the Knight. "We stay hidden until we're sure of what's been keeping him up."
Gwaine rolls his eyes at the Prince. "We've already established that literally 2 minutes ago, Princess."
"Stop calling me Princess!" Arthur hisses.
Gwaine snickers softly as they come to a stop. And so they wait. Ten minutes later, the door opens and Gaius' emerges, holding his potions chest, probably on his way to do his rounds. Arthur and Gwaine turns, about to bolt, but they're too late. Gaius has already spotted them.
"Good evening, Sire." Gaius greets, then looks at the Knight and smiles, "Gwaine." He nods in acknowledgement.
"Gaius." Arthur says awkwardly. "Errr, is Merlin here?"
Gaius shakes his head. "I sent him to deliver Morgana's sleeping draught about 15 minutes ago."
Arthur's eyebrows furrow. "Oh. Well, I guess I'll just find him in the morning then." He bids the old physician a good night before leading the way up the staircase.
Once out of earshot, Gwaine nudges the prince with his elbow, "Where are we going?"
"To the Lady Morgana's chambers."
Gwaine nods silently as they continue up the stairs. When they reach the door of Morgana's chambers, Arthur looks around for a moment before raising his fist to knock. However, he stops at the sound of a thud followed by a giggle. Lowering his fist, the Prince presses his ear against the door and listens carefully. Gwaine gives him an odd look.
"What is it?"
"I heard something." Arthur whispers.
It takes a moment, but they both hear it again. The same feminine giggle, and this time followed by a groan that definitely wasn't feminine. Arthur looks confusedly at Gwaine. The knight merely looks amused. "What's going on in there?" Arthur whispers.
Gwaine shrugs, "I don't know, but by the sound of it, the Lady Morgana is not alone."
Arthur rolls his eyes, "I figured that part out already."
"Well what the hell do you want me to say? We're both on the same side of the door, Princess." Gwaine teases, earning him a glare.
There's another louder groan, and then they hear it. Merlin's voice, "God, Morgana. You're going to be the death of me."
Arthur's eyes widen in alarm. Merlin sounds like he's in pain. Not knowing what to expect, and definitely not thinking, the young Prince pulls back and looks at Gwaine. "We have to get in there."
Gwaine nods, "Should we knock?"
"No." Arthur shakes his head. "We have to barge inside." Giving his knight a stern look, he nods towards the door. "On three."
Gwaine gets the meaning and gets ready to slam his shoulder against the door on the Prince's count.
"One... Two... Three!" Both men ram their shoulders as hard as they can against the door, and find themselves being catapulted right past it as it slams open.
Arthur and Gwaine both turn, eyes searching for the occupants of the chambers.
And then Arthur's eyes widen into saucers as Gwaine snorts.
Merlin stands by a wall, pants around his ankles, and hands protectively covering his crotch. Kneeling in front of him, hands over her mouth, and eyes wide, is the Lady Morgana.
"What. The hell, is going on?" Arthur asks slowly.
"Arthur," Merlin tries to move away from the Lady Morgana, but he's stuck between her and the wall. "It's not what it looks like..." he pauses and looks at himself then at the woman still kneeling in front of him. "Errr," he glances sheepishly at Arthur and Gwaine, "Well I'm not sure what it looks like to you, but if it's bad, then it's not what it looks like."
"Seriously?" Arthur snaps at his manservant then narrows his eyes at his father's ward. She's practically a sister to him. "Morgana?"
Morgana swallows and wipes her mouth as a blush crawls up her neck. "I was looking for... my gloves?"
Arthur quirks an eyebrow at her while Gwaine turns his head and tries to stifle a laugh. "And is that before or after Merlin dropped his trousers?"
Morgana resists the urge to groan. It just had to be Arthur who finds her. Granted, she'd much rather him than Uther finding out, but still. She's never going to live this down. And Merlin will more than likely get the full brunt of the consequences. She should've listened to him and been more careful. But it's so hard to resist him and the emotions he emits!
"If I may, Sire," Merlin pipes up as he tries to subtly stoop down to grab his trousers. "Errr, I was just dropping off Morgana's sleeping draught when she tripped in front of me and my trousers were the only thing within her reach, so-"
Morgana nudges Merlin's bare leg with her hand. "Merlin, stop talking." She looks at Arthur who looks absolutely baffled.
Arthur couldn't process what's going on. He looks at Morgana, and asks bewilderingly, "Morgana, what were you doing kneeling in front of Merlin?"
Morgana gives him an incredulous look. "What does it look like I was doing, Arthur?" She asks snappishly as she finally gets up and glares at the two intruders.
"I'm not entirely sure to be honest." Arthur replies.
Gwaine groans loudly and steps up in front of the Prince. He glances at Morgana and says softly, "Forgive my intrusion, but if I may?"
Morgana nods to him and he smiles before looking at Arthur.
"If you may what?" Arthur asks confusedly.
"Enlighten you, Princess." He grins then pats Arthur's shoulder and turns, gesturing to the still half-naked Merlin and the blushing Morgana. "I'm not sure you've ever heard of such a thing, but there's a... activity that men and women sometimes participate in, which requires the woman to be on her knees." He pauses briefly, as if giving Arthur time to catch up and then continuing. "It's called fellatio, and it's basically, the woman taking a man's most sensitive body part and sucking it-"
Arthur suddenly makes a loud gagging noise and slaps a hand over his mouth as he widens his eyes at the King's Ward and his manservant.
Merlin finally pulls his trousers up and hastily fastens them as Morgana just stares at Arthur.
Arthur removes his hand from his mouth and points at Morgana. "You were- and Merlin- his- in your mouth- and-"
"Yes I was sucking Merlin off!" Morgana shrieks. She frustratedly runs a hand through her hair. "Have you got a problem with that?"
"I- yes!" Arthur cries. "He's a servant! My servant! And you're a lady of the court and the King's Ward! There are dire consequences for such... actions."
Morgana rolls her eyes as she glances at her lover. Merlin smiles sheepishly at her before she looks back at the Prince again, "Only if you tell."
"Morgana, I'm the Prince of Camelot. I swore an oath to-"
"To protect the people. Yes, I know." Morgana cuts in. "And by telling Uther about this, you're not really protecting us, are you?"
"Well no, but you're the King's Ward."
"And you know the King better than anyone. He'll surely have Merlin executed and I will lose my mind if that happens."
"Why? Do you love him or something?"
Morgana glares at him, "Of course I do!" She snaps in annoyance. "I'm not some slut that would get on my knees for just any man."
Arthur gives her a bewildered look, "But Merlin?" He looks at his manservant apologetically, "No offense, Merlin."
Merlin shakes his head and grins, "None taken, sire."
"What's wrong with Merlin?" Gwaine asks curiously.
"Yes," Morgana says in agreement. "What's wrong with Merlin?"
Arthur shrugs, "Nothing. He's just... He's Merlin! And you've had about 8 different suitors who-"
"Who are annoying, conceited, selfish, and smell funny." Morgana cuts in. "None of them are even a quarter of the wonderful man Merlin is."
"Not to mention, those suitors of hers are the perfect example of the kind of nobles I told you I hated." Gwaine adds. Morgana smiles gratefully at the Knight.
"But they'll be financially able to take care of you. Plus, my father approves of them." Arthur argues, and Morgana rolls her eyes at him.
"Money doesn't equal happiness. I don't care if I end up living in poverty with just the clothes on my back..." she looks at Merlin again and smiles lovingly at him. God he's so handsome. She looks at Arthur again and says with great confidence, "if I get to have Merlin by my side, I'm perfectly happy and content with that."
Arthur stares at her for a long time, thinking hard about what to do. He's required to report these types of things. But Merlin has become his most trusted and best friend, and Morgana is like a sister to him. "Just one more question."
Morgana nods for him to continue, "What is it?"
"If I keep this a secret, can you promise me you'll let my manservant get enough sleep to at least muck out my stables?" He slowly smiles and glances at the man in question. "He's been completely useless these past few days."
Morgana laughs hysterically and launches herself against the Prince, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Arthur."
Merlin stands back and grins happily. He'd been worried about Arthur finding out about him and Morgana. But now he's on the safe side.
When Morgana pulls away, she turns and goes straight to Merlin, hugging him as well and adding in a peck to his lips.
"Oh gods," Arthur groans as Gwaine chuckles. "At least wait for us to leave before continuing." He grabs the Knights arm and practically hauls him out the door, hurriedly closing it behind them.
Gwaine looks at him and grins widely. "I think you've just earned the right to be called a Prince now, Sire."
Arthur laughs as he punches the man in the shoulder. "Lets just hope those two will learn to tone it down enough so Merlin's not falling asleep everywhere."
"Aww." Gwaine coos teasingly. "You care about him."
Arthur nudges him as they descend the staircase. "I just need him to do his bloody chores. I've been wearing the same socks for the past week."
"Urgh.." Gwaine laughs. "So that's what that smell was." He barely gets the words out before Arthur pushes him into a wall and takes off sprinting down the corridor. Gwaine laughs as he follows.
...
A/N: Fret not, fellow Mergana shippers, I'm still working on my other fics. Will try to update soon. This is actually a fic I wrote a while ago and just now completed because I felt like I needed an outlet from the other fics. Hope you liked it! Let me know!
-McDiggin'It