I don't own Merlin.
Merlin's POV
Arthur looked at me uncertainly. "Merlin?" He asked uncertainly.
I just looked at him, the only emotion I could feel was joy. He was alive and he was here. My friend was alive. "Arthur," I said, trying to hide my emotions.
"What happened?" He asked uncertainly.
"The usual. I saved your neck," I joked.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "As if someone that is such a complete idiot would be capable of saving the king of Camelot," Arthur teased.
"Well if you weren't such a dollop head, maybe I wouldn't have to keep saving you," I retorted. We fell into our old banter with comfortable ease.
Arthur shot me a smile, then his amused expression disappeared and was replaced by a serious one. "What I said before Merlin, about your abilities. I meant it. I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I want to understand it," he said to me.
"What do you want to know my lord?" I asked him.
"First, stop with the 'my lord'," Arthur ordered me. "I think you've saved me enough to be able to call me Arthur. Really Merlin, how dumb can you be?"
I had to conceal my laughter. "Yes si…" I started to say, but I was cut off by Arthur's glare. "Yes Arthur." It felt weird not addressing him respectfully. Call it a habit, but I rarely called him Arthur to his face. At least not when I was being respectful towards him. "So what do you want to know?"
Arthur looked at me with a look of concentration. "Did you use magic in my fight with Sir Valiant?" He asked me. "Was that the first time you saved me using magic?" I shook my head at him. I was about to speak when he interrupted. "So you didn't use magic? That really was just a coincidence?"
I shook my head once again. "No, I used magic to make his shield come alive before he could kill you, but that wasn't the first time I used magic for you," I told him.
"You already told me the first time. When you stopped me from killing you," he told me.
"No Arthur," I told him. "That was the first time I used magic around you, but the first time I used magic to save you was when the witch was pretending to be Lady Helen. I used my powers to save you. I made the chandelier fall on her head and then to get you out of the way of the knife."
He stared at me shocked. "Why would you save me?" He asked me curiously. "When we met, I was such a… a…"
"A prat? A dollop head?" I asked, providing him with insults.
He rolled his eyes at me. "I would remind you not to insult your king Merlin," he said, trying to sound authorative, but really he just sounded amused.
"Doesn't change the fact that you're a prat," I muttered under my breath.
"I heard that Merlin," Arthur said, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice. "So why did you do it?"
"You were my destiny," I told him simply. "You are the once and future king. It is my destiny to protect and to help you unite the lands of Albian."
He considered me carefully. "You know Merlin, I think I may have underestimated your courage and your loyalty," he told me sincerely.
"Does that mean I get a hug?" I asked jokingly.
Arthur punched my arm lightly. "Way to ruin the moment Merlin," Arthur joked.
I rolled my eyes at Arthur. "So Valiant was the second time?" Arthur asked curiously.
I nodded. "I'll have you know I stayed up all night to learn that spell to make his shield come alive," I told him.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "You needed something to do. You certainly weren't putting much time into being my manservant. You were quite possibly the worst manservant in the history of manservants," Arthur told him, unable to conceal the affection in his voice.
"And you were undoubtedly the most spoiled, pigheaded prat I ever served," I told him.
"I'm the only person you've ever served," Arthur pointed out.
I shook my head at him. "That's not true. I served half of the visitors to Camelot," I pointed out.
"Half of our visitors have tried to kill me. Are you saying I'm worse than them," he asked me incredulously.
I pretended to consider it. He wrapped his arm around my neck and started rubbing his fist through my hair. "Are you sure about that Merlin?" He asked me menacingly.
"You weren't the worst," I gasped out.
He released his grip on me and I stumbled back. I looked up at the sky. "We should start heading back to Camelot. It will be several days before we get back since we have to travel by foot," I told him.
He nodded. "And I would really like to hear about all those other times I nearly died," he told me.
I smiled at him. It may take a long time for me to explain to Arthur all the ways I've saved his life, but at least Arthur would realize just how much I have been there for him. And maybe, just maybe, Arthur will come to realize that magic can have a place in Camelot.