Of Birthdays and Best Friends
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Note: So, this is my first Merlin fanfic! Believe it or not, Merlin was my first ever fandom, but I just haven't gotten around to writing anything for it yet. I started watching it not long after it came out, and I loved (and still do!) it. I really hope you like this, and if you do, please review and tell me what you think! Thank you! :D
Set in the middle of season 3 probably.
"Gaius! You let me lie in?"
The physician turned, taking in the sight of a very bedraggled-looking Merlin. His hair was messy, clothes crumpled, and his eyes were still half-closed.
Gaius smiled. "Good morning Merlin," he said, before going back to preparing his potion.
Merlin tilted his head in disbelief. "You know Arthur's going to kill me, right? I was meant to be up an hour ago!"
"He won't."
"What do you mean, 'he won't'? Of course he will – he's Arthur!"
Merlin sighed, rubbing his hands across his face before spinning around to walk back into his room, hoping against hope that the Prince hadn't woken yet and wouldn't know that he had been late… which was highly unlikely.
"Merlin."
The sorcerer turned at Gaius's voice, an irritated frown on his face which soon dissolved as he looked at the smiling face of his mentor.
Gaius walked towards the boy and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Happy birthday."
Merlin's eyes widened; he had completely forgotten that it was his birthday! Thinking about it, that was a little weird, considering he had been looking forward to this day for so long. He didn't know why; it wasn't like he'd be doing anything - he'd probably go out for a drink in the evening with Gaius and come back to a nice dinner – but he had always been like an excited child on his birthday for as long as he could remember. Suddenly, all thoughts of Arthur vanished, and he grinned, walking forward to hug Gaius, who happily returned it.
"That's why you let me lie in?" he asked.
The physician nodded. "You should get at least one day a year where you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get Arthur out of bed."
Merlin's smile faltered. "Speaking of that, I'd better get to him. He doesn't know it's my birthday," he said, before rushing inside his room to get changed.
Arthur looked up from the report he was reading as Merlin burst through the doors, looking slightly more dishevelled than he usually did.
He put the report down on his desk and leant back in his chair, crossing his legs and waiting for his servant to say something like 'you're up, Sire?'
"You're up, Sire?"
There it was.
Arthur stood up, and Merlin noticed he was still in his night clothes.
"No, Merlin, I'm still sleeping," the Prince said sarcastically, watching as the sorcerer smiled tightly and set to work making his bed and setting out his clothes for the day.
Arthur crossed his arms and watched him. "You were late this morning," he said.
Merlin bit his lip. He had hoped they'd stay off that subject, but obviously not. "Er, yes, sorry. I would have gotten up earlier but Gaius usually wakes me up and this morning he let me lie in so I wasn't here on time and I-"
"Merlin, shut up."
"Yes Sire."
Arthur watched his servant for a moment longer before walking back to his desk. He picked up the report, revealing a – not so neatly – wrapped parcel underneath. Hesitating, he picked it up, before walking back to the bed where Merlin was.
The sorcerer turned around, looking at the expression on his friend's face. The Prince was acting… different today. Usually, he'd be shouting at him for being late and calling him a 'useless toad of a servant', but today he seemed quieter and less… mean. Something was definitely wrong.
"Are you okay?" he asked, a concerned look appearing on his face as he looked at Arthur, who was standing in front of him with his hands behind his back.
The blond looked up and nodded once before walking forward and handing Merlin the parcel. "Here," he said.
The sorcerer took it. "What's this?" he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.
"I know it's your birthday Merlin."
Merlin looked up, eyes widened in surprise. "You actually remembered?"
The Prince opened his mouth to speak before thinking better of it. "No, Gaius told me," he admitted sheepishly. "But I remembered last year!"
Merlin laughed. "Well, I-"
"Just open it Merlin. Go on."
Merlin nodded before sitting on the edge of the bed, Arthur leaning against the post.
"You wrapped it yourself?" Merlin asked, looking at the brown paper.
Arthur grimaced. "I tried, " he said, "but I've never wrapped a gift before, so…"
The sorcerer laughed and began to remove the paper, revealing a small box underneath. He looked up at his friend, who nodded, and took the lid off.
Inside was a dagger. It was so beautiful, and Merlin remembered seeing it when he was at the market with Gwen only a few weeks back. He had looked at it for a moment, wishing he had the money to buy it, before moving on to get what he had been sent out by Gaius for.
He carefully reached into the box and picked it up, moving his fingers along the intricate and jewel-encrusted handle. It was so beautiful, and the sorcerer felt happiness overcome him, before suddenly frowning and looking up at Arthur.
"Arthur, this must have cost so much."
"You know I have the money," the blond said as he moved to sit next to his friend, taking the dagger from his hands and holding it up to the sunlight which was streaming into the room from the open window. "It is beautiful, isn't it? Guinevere saw you looking at it in the market and told me you might want it."
"I do. I have never had anything like it before."
"Well now you do," Arthur said with a smile, handing the dagger back to him. He looked up at his friend to see the unsure frown still on his face. "What is it?" he asked.
Merlin sighed. "I just don't think it would go down too well if someone found out their Prince was buying birthday presents for his servant."
"You should know by now that I don't care what people say. And besides, no one will find out, unless you tell people I bought you the dagger, which I'm not ashamed of," Arthur said as he stood up and moved over to his desk. "You can get me breakfast while I dress, and then we can go for a ride, if you like? We're going to the tavern later with Gaius, you have no choice in that, and I've told Sir Leon that he is to train the knights today so we can do what you want."
The sorcerer furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You- you want to…"
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, Merlin, I want to spend the day with you. Give yourself some credit - you're not that bad," he said with a smirk, before his face grew serious again. "Look, as much as it pains me to admit it, you are my best friend, and aren't best friends allowed to spend each other's birthdays together? You did with me."
"But you're a Prince."
"And you're a servant. What does it matter? We're both humans, and when I'm King, I'll make sure everyone knows that. We are all equals."
Merlin smiled. It was clear as day that Arthur was going to be an amazing King, no matter how many people disagreed. He could be a prat, and a clot pole, and a cabbage-head, but he was also kind, and just, and he cared about his people.
"Thank you Arthur," he said as he stood up, the box clutched in his hands.
Arthur nodded and walked towards his servant, one arm outstretched slightly to clasp his in a sign of friendship.
Thinking the man was going to hug him, Merlin moved forward, before Arthur quickly stepped back.
"What are you doing?" he asked, frowning
"I- I thought you were going to hug me," the sorcerer admitted, only just realizing how stupid it sounded when he said it. He hesitatingly looked up at the blond, to see a huge smile on his face.
"You can never take a joke, can you Merlin?" he said, before wrapping his arms around his best friend in a tight hug.
Merlin was quite taken aback. He'd always had friendly punches from Arthur and an arm around his shoulders, but never a hug. He hadn't really expected Arthur to be affectionate… except when he was with Gwen.
"Go and get me breakfast now," Arthur said as he drew back from the hug, turning to grab his clothes.
"Why can't you do it yourself? You did say we are all equal, after all," Merlin said with a smirk.
"Don't be an idiot Merlin."
The raven-haired man grinned before turning to walk out of the room and get the Prince's breakfast.
"Clot pole."
Yay, my first Merlin fanfic! This actually took me longer to write (it was meant to be posted this morning) because I wrote a good bit of it last night and it was almost finished, but of course I had to exit Word without saving the changes, didn't I? -.- XD Well, I managed to remember most of it and write it back in the best I could this morning, and here it is! Hope you like it! Please review to tell me what you think! ~ Gre3nleaf