Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Birthday begone

It's Merlin's birthday but everyone seems to have forgotten that and instead give him lots and lots of work to do. Merlin isn't happy about it…

"Worst birthday ever" Merlin said glumly to himself as he dragged himself back to Gaius' chambers. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about it, he hadn't gotten as much as a tiny little congratulation all day. As if this wasn't enough, everyone also seemed to participate in some sort of scheme with the sole purpose of giving him as much work as possible.

Gaius had started off the disastrous day with a serving of bland oatmeal and a stern lecture on how Merlin should take his practice of magic more seriously.

"You need more discipline" he'd nagged while Merlin did his best not to roll his eyes. "Your magic is powerful but you need to learn to control it, to perform spells. Now your magic is to instinctive, to untamed. Your ability to perform magic shouldn't depend on your feelings. What happens if you can't control your emotions?"

With this lecture in mind, and a bit of guilt as he knew that Gaius was right, he set out to bring Arthur his breakfast. Of course the royal prat wasn't happy with what Merlin had brought and sent him back to the kitchens to get something else to eat. When he came back Arthur had predictably enough fallen asleep and Merlin had to get him out of bed again. This time he was less delicate about it, not bothering with cheery greetings and a nudge on the shoulder, he simply dragged the king out of bed by the royal ankles, thus earning himself a solid smack over the back of his head once Arthur had detangled himself from the sheets.

After breakfast he cleared the table and started to tidy Arthur's chambers when he was told to accompany Arthur not only to the regular council meeting but also to the meeting that he had with Leon afterwards to schedule the knights for duty and evaluate the new recruits in training.

"You could make yourself useful" Arthur had said. "Take notes or something." Merlin ended up yawning for an hour and then Arthur reminded him that he still was supposed to take care of all his other duties and excused him from the meeting.

Merlin reluctantly started hauling Arthur's dirty clothes down to be washed and on his way back he ran into Gwen who needed help with carrying some heavy bundles of fabric. After that one of the kitchen maids needed a hand hauling a crate of apples into the storage room. No one was surprised that Gwaine was sniffing around the apples, or the girls, and Merlin had to save him from Cook and one of her wooden spoons. After that he sent the knight on his merry way to practice and attempted to start tidying the king's chambers, only to be called back to the practice field because apparently Gwaine had misplaced his sword somewhere, and one of Elyan's gloves had mysteriously disappeared. Then Percival claimed to have strained a muscle, although his shoulder seemed to be fine according to Merlin, and was in need of an immediate massage. When all belongings had been returned to their respective owners and all sore muscles had been duly taken care of one of the stable boys came running with a list from Gaius with all the herbs that he needed Merlin to pick for him.

Merlin huffed and set out, and since some of the herbs were rather rare, it was late in the afternoon when he returned to the city, tired, sweaty and very very hungry. All he wanted was to lie down for a couple of moments and get himself something to eat but luck was not on his side. No sooner had he entered the castle before one of the serving maids from the tavern came looking for him and asked him to help get sir Gwaine home, since the knight was too drunk to manage on his own. Abandoning all hope of a quick break Merlin followed her back out to drag a drunk and surprisingly very un-cooperative Gwaine through the streets back to the castle.

After dumping the knight none too gently in his bed he turned towards Arthur's chambers once more when he was interrupted, this time by Gwen who'd lost a hairpin and was in distress because it had been a gift from Arthur and she couldn't be seen without wearing it since she didn't want him to get the impression that she hadn't appreciated the gift. After a thorough search it was discovered that the pin had been in her room all along and Merlin was just in time to bring Arthur his evening meal. During the meal, of which Arthur couldn't have eaten more than a third, he spilled, dropped and knocked over anything that could be spilt, dropped or knocked over and Merlin had his work cut out for him in cleaning the complete mess that was the result. At last Arthur dismissed him for the evening and he dragged himself through the corridors, just wanting to get home. If he'd been in Ealdor then his mother would've baked that special bread that she only made for birthdays and fests and put lots of flowers on the table. She would've sung for him in her sweet voice and given him the day off from his chores. But instead he was stuck in Camelot and had the worst birthday ever.

"What was that, Merlin?" Arthur said amusedly behind him. "Worst birthday ever?" Merlin just barely resisted the attempt to scream. Of course Arthur had to hear that he said that.

"Oi, wait up!" Oh joy, not only Arthur to deal with but also a drunken Gwaine (but Merlin had to admit that the knight looked much more sober now than he'd have thought possible, given how sloshed the knight had been at the tavern). Gwaine grinned and didn't seem to notice Merlin's bad mood. He indicated the piece of clothing that he was holding.

"Could you maybe help me with…?" he started to ask but then Arthur interrupted.

"No! First I need help with…"

"But I need Merlin's help as well" came Leon's voice from the end of the corridor when he'd suddenly appeared, carrying some chairs, and that's when Merlin finally lost it.

"No! I've had it!" he yelled. The magic that had been prickling under his skin for the better part of the day burst to life. Annoyance over how he was treated mixed with disappointment because everyone had forgotten his birthday and he was tired and angry and hungry and why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?

"Begone with you all!" he exploded and then silence fell.

Surprised he looked around. He hadn't thought that they'd give up that easily and the fact that the hallway was deserted made him a little suspicious. Surely they couldn't have left that fast, maybe they were hiding somewhere? Cautiously he opened the room to Gaius' chambers and when he peered in his eyes widened in surprise.

The whole room had been decorated with bouquets and garlands of flowers and the table was laden with food. All of Merlin's favourite dishes were there and a non-negligible number of tasty desserts. There was also a small pile of gifts on one end, and a couple of pitchers of wine. Plates were set out, and cups for the wine, and the table cloth looked very similar to the fabric that he'd helped Gwen carry earlier that day with its rich, green colour. It was perfect, and it was almost completely ready for a large feast. The only thing that was missing was a couple of more chairs…

"Oh." That's when it hit Merlin. That's why they'd all kept him busy all day, to keep him away while they were preparing a feast for him. A birthday surprise. And that's why they'd tried to stop him from entering, because they weren't ready yet as Leon was getting the last of the chairs. And for that he'd yelled at them. Kind of awkward.

"I'm sorry" he said addressing the room in particular since he didn't know where they were hiding. Arthur and the knights might have snuck back to their rooms but the rest had to be in there, no one had exited Gaius' chambers since he got there. He didn't get any answers and tried again:

"Hey, I really am sorry, it was just that I thought that everyone had forgotten and I was in a bad mood and…" No one answered this time either and Merlin took a deep breath. All right, maybe it had been a bit unfair of him to yell like that but surely they could forgive him? It wasn't as if he'd killed anyone…

"Come on now, get back here, let's put the last chairs in and eat and have a good time, what do you say?"

Still no answer but Merlin slowly began to understand why. They weren't angry with him for yelling, they weren't hiding or on their way back to their chambers. They'd really disappeared. There was no other explanation. To confirm his theory he went back out and looked down the hallway. The chairs were still there but Leon was nowhere in sight. The tunic Gwaine had been carrying lay on the ground but the knight was gone. But what really confirmed Merlin's suspicion was that Arthur's ring lay on the floor. He'd been holding it just before Merlin yelled and even if the others could've left their stuff behind, Arthur would never leave the ring. He'd disappeared, along with all the others. Because Merlin had made them, with his magic.

"Oops."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Merlin couldn't help but giggle. He'd have to suck it up and ask Gaius for help to bring all of them back, the help, no doubt, accompanied with a lengthy lecture of the virtues of discipline. But maybe that could wait a little? That apple pie looked absolutely delicious and if he got a head start on Gwaine he actually get a slice of it. And maybe he could even have some of the pheasants if king Pratdragon wasn't around to gobble them down before he had the chance to take a bite. Just as this thought crossed his mind he heard the aforementioned king's voice ringing out loud and clear in his head.

"Merlin! Don't even think about it!" it shouted furiously and Merlin sighed, sat down at the table and opened one of his spell books. Better get to work then.