Sick Day
Summary: Anyone can fall victim to a cold, even Emrys. Featuring sick!Merlin and caring!Arthur. Not slash.
A/N: I had a cold and absolutely no voice whatsoever when I started writing this, so that was probably my main inspiration for this fic. I was considering breaking it up into two chapters, but I just decided to be nice and give it to you all at once since it's almost Christmas time. ;)
Spoiler note: The idea for the beginning of this came from a scene in 4x06, but there are no spoilers whatsoever… just some bromance for everyone. ;) If you want to put this into a timeline, though, you can say it takes place between seasons 3 and 4.
Enjoy!
"Merlin..." Arthur groaned, putting a pillow over his face to block the light as his manservant pulled back the curtains. It was a cold winter morning, and the light reflecting off of the snow-covered ground into the prince's chambers was even brighter than the morning sun on a summer day.
Arthur groaned again as Merlin dropped the prince's breakfast tray onto the table with a loud clatter.
"Sorry sire! I'm terribly sorry to awaken you in such a manner. The tray slipped from my hands and…"
Arthur uncovered his head to look at his servant. A servant, who was most certainly not Merlin, he realized, was standing next to the table stuttering out a string of apologies. Arthur interrupted him before the poor man could begin apologizing for things he hadn't even done.
"Hang on, who are you? ...and where's Merlin?" Here he paused, glancing around the room as if expecting his manservant to appear out of the shadows with a ridiculous smile plastered on his face, as if the situation were a mere joke.
But nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the servant before him replied, "My name is Henry, your majesty. Your manservant is ill today, sire, and I was sent as a replacement until he is well again."
A quiet, "Oh," was all the prince could reply with. He unintentionally let his eyes sweep across the room one more time in hopes of spotting Merlin. As annoying as Merlin could be at times, the prince preferred his manservant's ramblings and insults to a bootlicker's politeness any day.
"Shall I serve you breakfast, sire? Or would you like for me to help you to dress first?" Henry asked, unsure of the daily routine of his temporary master.
"That won't be necessary. Just prepare my clothes and come back later with lunch." As Arthur emerged from his bed, Henry gave a quick bow.
"As you wish, sire."
Soon enough, Arthur found himself alone in his chambers trying to dress himself. Needless to say, he wished he had not dismissed Henry so soon. The prince eventually deemed himself appropriately dressed and, after eating a quick breakfast, decided to check on his "ill" manservant before attending a council meeting.
If Merlin's faking it like he was last time, I swear I will put him in the stocks for the entire afternoon... Arthur thought as he walked towards the physician's quarters. He continued to come up with other possible punishments for said servant until he reached Gaius' chambers. As he entered into the room, though, one look at Gaius' face told him that his servant was not faking anything.
"Gaius?"
"Ah, good morning, sire," Gaius answered, meeting his prince with a weary gaze. "Can I help you with anything?"
Arthur looked to Merlin's closed bedroom door before lifting his shoulders a bit and clearing his throat. Even though Arthur had become more open over the past few months about his friendship with Merlin, it still wasn't entirely natural for the prince to show concern for his servant. So he chose his next words carefully.
"I came to see why Merlin didn't show up for work today. Honestly, Gaius, he's been even more incompetent than usual as of late."
"Well making anyone muck out the stables in such cold weather by themselves for an entire day is enough to make anyone's body susceptible to illness," Gaius reprimanded. Taken aback by Gaius' sudden outburst, Arthur was left speechless.
The old physician sighed and set down some herbs he had been mashing up for a remedy. He slowly made his way over to where Arthur was still standing at the entrance. "Forgive me, sire. It's just that several people in the lower town have come down with some sort of illness, and I have not had time to go and see them because I have been tending to Merlin since last night." Gaius paused, looking back over his shoulder towards the young man's room. "He began showing symptoms of a cold the night before, and I fear being exposed to the elements yesterday didn't do him much good."
The entire time Gaius had been talking, a sense of guilt had begun to develop in Arthur's mind. Although Gaius had not directly said Merlin's sickness was Arthur's fault, he was certainly implying that it was. So Arthur did the only thing he could think of that might possibly help redeem himself.
"Well, I am free for a little while before the council meeting. Is there anything I can do to help Merlin?" Knowing this sounded too much like concern, Arthur added, "Unless of course you think it's contagious."
Gaius smiled. "I highly doubt Merlin's illness is contagious, sire. He does have a fever, though. If it's not too much trouble, could you possibly sit with him for a while? I should return before the council meeting begins."
Arthur nodded. "Of course, Gaius." He gave a nervous glance towards Merlin's room, but quickly covered it up with what he thought was a confident smile at Gaius. As the physician began to gather medical supplies needed for his visit to the lower town, Arthur made his way to Merlin's room.
Walking up the steps, Arthur opened the creaky wooden door to reveal a pitiful sight.
Merlin was lying flat on his back, but it was obvious by his twisted sheets and disheveled nightclothes that he was in a fitful sleep. Even though he was asleep, his face was slightly scrunched up as if he were in pain. And yet despite the chill in the room, the young man was drenched in sweat. His raven hair stuck to his flushed face almost as if Arthur had just dumped a bucket of water over his head. His breathing was somewhat labored, and Arthur could have sworn he heard a rattling sound coming from deep within Merlin's chest.
Arthur looked around the room for a chair, and he quickly spotted the one against the wall that Gaius must have been using earlier. After moving the chair closer to Merlin's bed and sitting down, Arthur was surprised to see fever-lit eyes staring back at his in confusion.
"A'thur?" Merlin's voice was much deeper than it normally sounded, as was expected from endless hours of coughing.
Before his manservant had the chance to ask the obvious question, Arthur spoke up. "So, Merlin, having a lie-in today, are we? I would too, though, if I looked like that." Here Arthur motioned to all of Merlin, resulting in Merlin giving the prince a look of incredulity.
"If you weren't such a p-" Merlin's retort was cut short as he suddenly began to cough violently, rolling over onto his stomach in an attempt to force whatever was keeping him from breathing properly out of his lungs.
Although he would never admit it to anyone, Arthur grew slightly worried. Such a harsh, racking cough should not have been coming from his already frail manservant. Has he been like this all night, or is he getting worse? Arthur quickly scanned the room and spotted a bucket of cool water and a metal cup in the floor next to the night table. He quickly filled the cup and handed it to Merlin, who took it with a shaking hand and carefully downed the water.
Arthur filled the cup again and handed it back to his servant, putting a hand to Merlin's forehead after doing so. The faint blush of embarrassment on Merlin's already flushed face as a result of the situation went unnoticed by the prince, who proceeded to take the rag hanging over the side of the bucket and dip it into the water. He folded the wet cloth and placed it on the side of Merlin's face since the warlock had simply remained lying on his stomach, exhausted after his last coughing fit.
"You were saying?"
Merlin smiled but kept himself from chuckling for fear of coughing again. "I was about to say," he continued in a deep, raspy voice, "that if you weren't such a pompous prat you wouldn't have been commenting on my looks. Have you looked in a mirror at all this morning?"
Arthur frowned. If this is about my clothes…
"…It looks as though you were dressed by a child," Merlin croaked as his strained voice grew louder. "Don't tell me you tried to dress yourself?"
Despite his frown, Merlin could see a twinkle of mirth in his master's eye. "You have a fever, Merlin, you're obviously delusional." Arthur glanced down at his clothes, noticing for the first time that he was indeed wearing his loose-fitting red shirt inside out. "If there were anything wrong with my clothes, however, it would be entirely your fault, seeing as how you decided to sleep in today."
"Right…" Merlin drawled, smiling even as his eyelids grew heavy. "'cause without me, you're a hopeless cabbage head."
"A what?"
"You heard me," Merlin muttered, quickly succumbing to a more peaceful sleep.
A quiet but affectionate, "You idiot," was murmured by the prince, but it fell on deaf ears. "Now look at you. Here I am, the Crown Prince of Camelot, taking the time to come visit my incompetent, lazy, and foolish but ridiculously loyal manservant at his sickbed, and yet you decide to fall asleep on me. I must say, Merlin, that's rather rude. Am I truly that boring to listen to?"
The young warlock twitched in his light sleep, but otherwise did not indicate that he had heard his master. Arthur reached over and removed the no longer cool cloth from Merlin's face and soaked it in the water again. He squeezed out the excess water and placed the rag back on the servant's forehead.
"I hope you realize that you are going to have a very long list of chores when you get better, Merlin. You owe me for this. Although I suppose it's fair to say that your illness is partly my fault. So I guess that makes us even."
Every once in a while, Arthur would reapply the damp cloth to Merlin's forehead as he continued to talk to his sleeping friend about anything that came to mind. The process was still ongoing when Gaius returned from his trip to the lower town.
Upon entering his ward's room, Gaius could not help but smile. Although Arthur would never admit it, Merlin was the prince's closest friend, despite the difference in social status. Simply seeing the prince sitting with the sick young man brought warmth to Gaius' heart. He thanked Arthur for staying with and tending to Merlin, informing the prince that "a visit from a good friend was just what Merlin needed". Arthur gave a small smile and dipped his head in agreement before dismissing himself, giving his sick friend one last glance before heading off to the council meeting.
Gaius sat down and resumed tending to the young man. Merlin stirred slightly, his subconscious noticing a different presence. The old man ran his aged fingers through his ward's hair in a fatherly manner in order to lull Merlin back to sleep. He smiled suddenly, knowing that if Arthur's actions were anything to go by, he would make a great king someday… with Merlin beside him every step of the way.
Yay! Not sure about the ending, but I think as a whole this fic turned out okay. ;) Hope you've enjoyed reading. Please review if you have time! I'd love to know what you thought of this!
A quick shout out to OCDdegrassi, because she was my 200th reviewer for "You Know You're Obsessed With Merlin When". If you want a laugh, go check out that other Merlin fic of mine. ;) Have a nice day!