Arthur's POV
Add nice
I have to be nice to him. Merlin's been seething a bit from the knowledge that we have to go on a journey that I can't even tell him where we are going. I feel a bit bad, but at the same time it's just duty. I can't do anything about it. So I give him a day off beforehand, telling him to be packed and ready to go in the morning.
Sugar and spice
It doesn't help that I keep bumping into the idiot on every turn today. I try not to mention that he should be getting ready for the journey, but by the tenth time I've seen him empty-handed I get a bit too frustrated. "Merlin, I did say there was a condition to having the day off. You do realize we have to leave in early morning, or are you too stupid to remember?"
Merlin just rolls his eyes at me. "Arthur, you prat, how could I forget the trip to…oh, where is it we're going again? I DON'T EVEN KNOW!"
With that, Merlin stormed off, mumbling about how he did eventually have to get the chores done. I smiled to myself, and went off to play my own part in getting ready for the morning.
I'll take you on a cruise to somewhere nice
I should possibly mention at this point that Merlin isn't my nemesis. He is a bit of an idiot, but not as much of one as I treat him as. And, to top it off, I know he's a sorcerer.
He hasn't told me yet, and I don't want to force him to trust me with his secret. It hurts a bit, sometimes, that he doesn't trust me enough now that I'm king and it'd be my jurisdiction of what to do with him. I would never kill Merlin. He's the reason I discovered magic wasn't all bad. He's saved more people than I have with his magic, and I can't be anything but grateful. And a grateful person, to my experience, should be rewarding the savior and not trying to chop their head off.
I think Merlin might have to use his magic on this mission. We're going to hunt down some kind of dark magic practitioner, and I truly do not know whether or not I can defeat her alone. Let alone any of my knights. It might take magic, and with the close quarters of just him and I being sent away on mission, he wouldn't have the chance to hide his magic.
It may not be the most honest way to get a confession out of him, but it could work. Plus, the place we were going, I didn't think Merlin would mind.
We went out to this river, quite nice other than Merlin's constant bickering on about why he can't know where we are off to, and we just were about to eat lunch when it happened.
You haven't been before
"Trying to drag me out here for a date?" Merlin asked coyly, chuckling a bit. "The castle might've been a better idea."
Merlin might have been referring to the picnic basket. I just smiled graciously at him. "If I was to ask you on a date, I wouldn't lie to you about it, idiot. That'd just be creepy."
Merlin smiled up at me as he realized I had packed enough for both of us to have a good-sized meal. "Thank you, anyhow. Even though I'm stuck in the middle of the lake with a prat and an unknown destination ahead of me, this is nice."
I chuckled. "It could be worse."
"It's been too long since we've been on mission, just us," Merlin said before he took his first bite of his food. Once he swallowed the first bite, he deliberated for a moment before continuing. "Arthur, I don't think I've ever had the actual 'honor' of dining with you before, other than the rat stew, which was uncalled for."
Love was meant for more
"May I remind you that you made that for me?" I said defensively. "I was only giving fair revenge. And, you're welcome! I made this myself."
Merlin's eyes widened, and then his expression softened. "You must really love me or something, to have to actually cook it yourself."
I shrugged. "Maybe I just figured it would get you to stop whining about the secrecy of the mission."
You moved up close, I could feel your sweat
"Well," Merlin said, scooting closer to me on the boat. "I'm going to go with the former, because I like the idea that you cared enough to make me food. Not that you were planning to be so annoyed with me that you wanted to gag my ability to talk with food." Merlin took another bite.
I kissed you on the neck and you got wet
"Oh, yes, Merlin," I said jokingly, moving also closer and practically breathing over his neck before leaning in and leaving a small kiss there. "It's because I simply cannot fathom the idea of not having you."
Merlin frowned. "You don't have to be rude, prat."
I smiled deviously, and started wrestling around a bit with Merlin on the boat, both of us chuckling from the exertion. I laughed just a bit more, momentarily, when it led to Merlin falling into the water.
It's a shallow treat for a guy like me
Then I started to see that Merlin isn't immediately swimming back to the top completely, and I hear what I could swear was a devilish cackle from the woods. I look up, and low-and-behold the sorceress is right there. She whispers something that sounds a lot like gibberish to me, and then she winks before completely disappearing.
As soon as she has disappeared, I reach back down into the water and grab Merlin's hands…which oddly feel a little more slim than usual. Maybe the water's made his hands clammy and small. That was my first assumption.
When I finally got Merlin back on the boat, I realized how wrong I was. Merlin, who was moments I go I swear a man, was now a girl in particularly loose-fitting clothes. Had they always been that loose-fitting? I should look into that when he turns back. If he does. Oh God.
"Merlin?" I ask jestingly, wondering if he even knows yet.
And by the sour expression she throws towards me, brushing her now long hair away from her face with a flick of her hand, I know he's figured it out by now. "You couldn't tell me we were dealing with magic? You stupid prat! Now look what you've done!"
I couldn't help it. With the combination of Merlin's new high-pitch voice and his utter clumsiness getting used to being in a female body, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Merlin whacked me several times. "It's…not…funny…you…PRAT!"
"It kind of is," I said, barely starting to calm down my fit of laughter. Then as I calm down, I take a look at Merlin. She doesn't just look awkward, in a weird way Merlin looks sort of…pretty as a girl. "If it's any consolation, you don't look awful this way."
"Thanks," Merlin mumbled angrily. "I'm going to kill you for this, you know. I know how this ends, and you owe me. Like, eternally."
"Why is that?" I ask smugly.
"Well," Merlin said seemingly nonchalantly. "I'm a girl. And, based on old magic traditions, unless you kill the sorceress there's only one way to turn me back. Since you are incompetent at killing her, and my powers are apparently diminished past the point of working in this body – I mean…"
"Shut up, Merlin," I said, laughing softly. "It's alright."
"For what I'm about to have to do, you better be alright with it I suppose," Merlin said slowly. "You see, the other cure is not something I'd…not something I'd like to first try in this body, if you catch what I mean."
I was pleased that Merlin didn't have questions yet about how I knew, or what I would do. This wasn't the time for that conversation. But, now he's started to make me a bit worried. "What don't you want to try for the first time in that body?"
Merlin scoffed. "Really, you can't guess?" I just shook my head. Merlin sighed. "In other kingdoms, in the past, this type of magic was used to inhibit sexual slavery. If someone needed relief, they could…well, turn their servant into one gender or the other based on what they'd like. Sick bitch of a sorceress she was. How she knew how awful this would be for me, I don't know."
I raised an eyebrow. "You've never had…you're still a virgin, Merlin?"
"Is it such a big surprise, really?" Merlin asked, clearly frustrated. I nodded, and he (she) smiled for the first time since she turned over. "I actually have values, unlike a certain prince I wanted to wait for that whole relationship thing to work its way up to that."
"Are you calling me a manwhore? I will have you know I just wondered why you wouldn't do so when you had the luxury to be allowed to," I said, clearing my throat. I was surprised Merlin hadn't noticed my lack of prowess. "I'm the same way, I'm just surprised you are…not to offend, of course. I've just never heard you talk about the idea before."
"How would that come up in conversation?" Merlin asked defiantly. "Like, would I say: 'Oh, Arthur, you're bath's been drawn. And here's the list of things I require in a relationship before having sex?' Really, clotpole, I wouldn't see the point."
"This is all beside the point," I said shakily, wondering what Merlin's answer could be. "I feel horrible asking, because it is your business, but what will you do about this? Have any particular person in mind? This might be difficult."
"Uh," Merlin said in a small voice. "The problem will be getting over my morality. No issue with thinking of guys like that, to be honest."
I laughed softly, leaning in closely and saying quietly to Merlin: "I don't either, don't be paranoid. I just have a larger range of preference. I'm not too particular on gender. It's more person by person to what attracts me, special qualities. That's part of the reason I think I haven't…you know, either."
I leaned back, and noted the comfortable smile on Merlin's face. "Thanks, for telling me, I guess."
"We're going back home now," I said softly. "And, Merlin, I'm not sure what you will choose. But I'm sure it might be a bit awkward, so take it easy on them."
"Take it easy on them?" Merlin said incredulously, followed by a long rant that lasted us the rest of the way home.
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
The second Merlin was introduced back to the court, everyone had questions. Some rather simple, being how it happened and how Merlin was feeling about it all. There were also many more raunchy questions, mostly courtesy of Gwaine, which I don't feel the need to repeat.
The strange thing is that he – she – she, but who I still can't help but refer to as he because, well, it's Merlin, adjusted really quickly. Everybody wanted his attention, everybody wanted to look at him, and everybody wanted to talk to him.
Like they want to go home with you
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Like they want to go home with you
It wasn't until a week or so in until I started noticing it. The way that the men looked at Merlin, it was different.
On occasion, rare occasion in the past, I'd see the occasional onlooker check out Merlin. Usually in a way that wasn't like this; sometimes like this, but not often was it like this.
What does like this mean? Oh, everybody wants to seem to want in Merlin's pants now. He still insists often on wearing pants and shirts like the men. And if it isn't bad enough to watch them at that when she's in normal clothes, when Gwen shoves Merlin into dresses on rare days and it's like the only thing in the room is Merlin. It was starting to make me angry. I've got nothin' keeping me here
I kept making excuses to get away from the castle, away from the gazes that the knights held for Merlin. I know she has to decide eventually who to proposition to help her lift the curse, and since she's been flirting enough with everyone, I never know. I just need to be away from that sometimes. I don't know why it bugs me so much, it just does.
I've wasted all the love that I hold dear
Merlin's started to notice. She's asked me on several occasions to come along, and it's very rare that I say yes now. When she does come along, it's same as always. Except that the knights eventually catch up to us with some lame excuse as to why they followed.
I get a little antsier now around Merlin. Baths are more awkward. I always feel the need to help her with the heavy chores. Merlin's noticed it, noticed it all. One day, she (he) got extremely fed up. "Is it just because I'm a girl right now, really? Why can't you be this kind when I'm myself? And, for the record, it's still me in here! Stop flinching when I bathe you and stop treating me like I'm not the same person. And, I don't know why, but you've just been the biggest prat! I need some space, alright? I'll do your outside chores if you just give me some damn breathing room!"
I nod. Merlin was already gone by the time I did respond though, and as I responded, I realized I might be losing Merlin altogether.
I'll throw a dart: L.A.
The first of the knights Merlin might trust with the task of taking away the spell is Lancelot. I wasn't sure, but when I saw Gwen smacking Merlin across the face in town square, I knew he'd asked her permission to borrow Lancelot for his issue at hand. Gwen apologized after, but she still extended that her boyfriend was not up for rental.
Merlin clearly understood, and he slumped away. Knowing he'd have more time with the curse.
The wolf has run away
Merlin ran out to the tavern that night, looking particularly upset about the turn of events with both Lancelot and I. So, after a few hours of deliberating the idea, I stormed off to the bar to make sure that Merlin was alright.
The guy you know thinks he's so slick
He'll kiss you on the lips but he'll get sick
Apparently the second person to be propositioned was Gwaine. Or maybe Gwaine propositioned Merlin. The first thing I walk into the bar to see is them snogging quite grossly in the corner. I feel anger rush through me, and just as I'm about to yank Gwaine off Merlin and beat him to the ground, Gwaine pulls away and moves down the hall and pukes.
I chuckle a bit, standing off to the side a bit so they won't see me as I observe. Gwaine comes back up, apologizing about the outburst and saying it was the ale. Then he changes streams, wrongly, and tells Merlin that he's not sure he can do this because it's too awkward and maybe that's what made him sick. Merlin shook his head and starts walking away, and he magically spotted me and walked over.
Merlin had tears running down her face. "Waiting to gloat?"
"No," I said firmly, wrapping an arm around her slowly. "Came to bring you home safe, I figured you might've come here. Will you let me carry you home?"
"I," Merlin looked a bit conflicted on that one, but then smirked as he decided. "Yes, I think I could allow that."
I smiled, and brought a crying Merlin home to her bed. She sat on the edge for a few moments. Then, she looked up at me with a weaker smile. "Thanks. You know, Gwaine's not so bad. He felt terrible about the situation, and he's a friend, but the alcohol brings out the truth…and the truth was that like this I'm just not myself and I'm a mess. No one wants me like this."
I walked over and sat on the bed beside Merlin, scoffing as I took her hands in mine. "There is not one person that hasn't been staring at you since the second you walked in like this. All of the knights have been practically drooling."
"What," Merlin sighed. "What about you?"
"Me?" I asked in a sincere voice. "I guess, I guess I have never not been paying attention to you. I just think it's not…right, not right for me to act upon it. You're my servant, and you even must admit you are not yourself right now. I'd feel guilty. I just thought maybe it wouldn't be so wrong if someone else helped you, but I can't really find myself able to watch."
"So is that why you've been travelling so much? You're jealous?" Merlin asked incredulously. "What would you have done if Gwaine hadn't run off? Yank him off me and beat him?" I nodded in a small gesture. Merlin chuckled. "Well, um, just so you know…you wouldn't be taking advantage. I'm going to go to sleep now, but just mull it over, alright?"
I smiled as I nodded. Maybe I could possibly be considering it.
Lothario
He's a creep you know
I caught some of the knights and workers trying to get a glimpse of Merlin changing, and I swear to every deity, it got to the point where I had to yank out my sword and threaten to slash them apart. Well, it might not have been completely necessary. I just couldn't stand watching the creeps by Merlin's door anymore. I hope he didn't see me threatening them like that. Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Like they want to go home with you
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Like they want to go home with you
Maybe I should say yes. I'm ready to kill my own knights for the purposes of getting them to stop looking at Merlin like that. He needs to turn back, soon. And that's when it happens. That's when the battle starts, and I can't focus on the small things anymore. I have to go find and save Merlin. I'm on your trail, I can smell your blood
Of course the witch has come back for Merlin, I should have seen as much coming. Her original plan must not have worked quickly enough, because now I've followed the trail and found a bloodied Merlin seated at the end of it. When she sees me, she looks up with a smile. "Arthur?"
I've had enough with unrequited love
"Merlin, is it ever good to see you," I said, taking her into my arms. "It's been days. What has happened?"
"Well, just a wee bit of torture. Turns out the spell only can be deactivated the second way, as I think the first witch is already dead. But I'd be careful," Merlin said, wincing in pain as she tried to move closer to me.
I sighed, holding her more carefully. "Take it easy, Merlin."
Merlin smiled weakly. "Thank you, Arthur. Maybe when this is all over..."
"I just wish you were you completely," I whispered, knowing the other knights were drawing near. "Then I would have to say yes. Because, Merlin, more than anything…"
I stopped. I didn't know I meant what I was about to say until the words had almost left my lips. Merlin smiled brightly. "I love you, Arthur Pendragon."
"Merlin," I said softly, practically a coo. "Merlin, I-"
It's the coast I crave
Leads me to my grave
From the coast comes the second witch I think Merlin must've been alluding to, and with more violent gibberish I was writhing on the ground in pain. Merlin automatically seemed to forget about his own pain, deeming it more minor, and hunched over to try and see if I was okay.
It didn't feel like I was okay. It felt bloody like I was dying.
Still in my head was the sick of my spine
My body feels paralyzed, at least partially, and I can't move right. My head is spinning. I don't know what she's done. It's like a poison that rapidly fills every crack in my system. Merlin is now screaming at the witch, begging her to take it back.
Give it up and I will make you mine
"Merlin," I said, straining. "In case I die-"
"Don't you dare say that, don't you dare think it," Merlin said, clearly crying now. "You're not leaving me now, prat."
"Merlin, just let me finish," I said stubbornly, ignoring the fact that my words sounded so weak. "I do love you too. With all my prattish heart, I need you to know that."
I will buy you things
Like diamond rings
"If I make it through this, the first thing I'm doing is getting you a ring," I said weakly.
Merlin smiled weakly again, and I felt her tears soak my shirt as they poured from her face and she hovered over me now. "I'd like that."
"Yeah?" I asked in a small voice, ecstatic as could be.
"Yeah," Merlin said. It was the last thing I heard before I blacked out, only distantly hearing Merlin's distant pained scream and the last thing I saw being Merlin's eyes glow gold. Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Like they want to go home with you
I woke up what felt like a lifetime later, and smiled brightly as I felt Merlin still coddled around my chest. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Luckily, when Merlin looked up, it was a he instead of a she for the first time in ages. I couldn't be more relieved to have the old Merlin back. But, then I frowned. Merlin noted it, and he sat up to answer questions. "I tortured the witch back a bit, and she agreed to change me back as long as I let her leave Camelot for good. I figured that would be amenable. What do you think?"
"I think," I said, grinning widely. "I think I've missed you."
"Not surprising," Merlin said clumsily. Then, he took a deep breath, and he asked the questions I could tell he was dying to ask. "Arthur, did you mean all those things you said? You know, about the feelings and the specified jewellery?"
I chuckled, nodding. "Of course I did, you idiot." I got to my feet and then pulled Merlin up with me, leaning in to kiss him. He kissed me back tenderly, as I did him. It was simply, what was the word…perfect? No, that's not it. Overdue. That's the word. God, I just couldn't stand it. Just pure want ran through me, and apparently Merlin by his attitude of the kissing and now groping grew fiercer and he was shoving me back against a tree and –
"Merlin," I moaned out, hating myself for suggesting to leave so soon. "We should get back to Camelot. Like, now. Let them know we're alive and well?"
"Promise we can pick this up later from where we left off then?" Merlin asked, waggling his eyebrows in a way that only succeeded in making me laugh a bit.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I said in a deep voice, laughing a bit still as I grasped Merlin from around the waist and we started helping walk each other home.
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Everybody's looking at you like they want to
Like they want to go home with you