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The next morning, Merlin woke up to ignorant bliss. It was the best night's sleep he'd gotten in ages, and he wasn't sure if it was because last night's dinner had been good (despite what Arthur had to say about it) or the fact that the sun was shining warmly on his face when he awoke, or the fact that he'd just managed to sleep a full 8 hours…

About then, it hit him. He was late.

He leapt out of bed and scrambled into his clothes, threw his door open with a bang, and ignored Gaius' call from their breakfast table as he sprinted down the hall to get to the prince's chambers. Arthur was never appreciative of tardiness, maybe Merlin could blow it off by saying he'd gotten sick off of the stew like Arthur seemed to believe he would…

When he rushed into Arthur's room, he realized with a start that he was not just late, but super late. The prince was already out of bed and dressed, and looked to be finishing breakfast. He must have had one of the passing servants fetch it for him when Merlin never showed up.

"I'm sorry, sire," Merlin exhaled in a rush as he started to busy himself about the room. He waited for Arthur to start yelling as he quickly made the bed, but it seemed like Merlin's entrance had put Arthur into some sort of shock, for the prince didn't speak until Merlin had come over to the table to start clearing up the dirtied dishes from breakfast.

"Woah, Merlin, wait, stop," Arthur finally protested, grabbing ahold of Merlin's wrist on its way to picking up Arthur's cup. "What are you doing here?"

Merlin pulled his hand from Arthur's grip. "My job?" he offered in return. Arthur blinked at him for a moment, then shook his head a little.

"Didn't Gaius tell you? I've given you the day off."

"Wha-" Merlin stared at Arthur. "…why?"

'Does there have to be a reason?' Arthur wanted to say, but he didn't think voicing his worries about Merlin looking so tired all the time would be a good idea at all. So he shrugged. "You finished everything pressing yesterday, and I thought I'd just go riding today. No need for you to worry about saddling up my horse when there are stable boys paid to do that," he managed to lie smoothly. Merlin still didn't look entirely convinced, and so Arthur realized he'd have to chase him off. "Look, do you want your day off, or should I order you to go muck out the stables?"

Well, that certainly worked. Merlin just about fled the room, but not before offering Arthur one of his trademark lopsided grins that Arthur realized he'd been missing. He didn't know what it had been with the last week, but even Merlin had been less smiley…

…the day off would probably help, Arthur told himself.

Just because Merlin didn't understand Arthur's motives behind letting him laze off for a day, didn't mean he didn't like it. Last week had been a whirlwind, watching Gwen nearly get executed and trying to find a way to save her. And then, in trying to save her, Merlin had nearly been executed himself… but more worrying than that had been how close Arthur had been to recognizing him. When Gaius said that there was 'something of you in the eyes', Merlin hadn't realized that Arthur spent nearly enough time looking at Merlin to be able to almost recognize him as an eighty year old man! He tended to think of Arthur as rather unobservant and a touch on the thick side. He was well meaning, always, and good at heart, which is what kept Merlin at his side (aside from the whole destiny thing, which he'd honestly find a way to ignore if Arthur hadn't somehow made himself Merlin's friend). But Arthur had almost recognized him, almost found him out, he'd almost realized that Merlin had magic. Which would certainly ruin everything. Thinking about it, how close he'd been, left him sitting up some at night, which led to a lack of sleep, which in turn led to him really, really appreciating this day off. And just when he'd thought that Arthur had made up his mind to be a prat for the rest of his life…

He returned to the physician's chambers that he shared with Gaius, only to find that his guardian had already left to do his rounds. He must have known Merlin was coming back, though, for the boy's breakfast was still waiting for him on the table. Since Merlin had made sleeping in and skipping breakfast somewhat of a habit, he didn't really mind that the food was a touch on the cold side, because it was better than nothing. And a couple experimental spells when he was halfway done and had thought to try them made it warm again.

Then, he supposed, it was a day to himself. It had been so long since he'd had a lazy day that he didn't really know what to do with it, so he just headed back up to his room and, on some compulsion to be productive, he tidied it up. It was badly in need of it, anyways, and once the floor was clear of clothes and other miscellaneous items (honestly, how did it get this messy in here when Merlin was never in here to mess it up?) he was able to get to the trick floorboard just under his bed and pull out the spellbook he'd been meaning to read for ages now. He'd gotten the chance every once in a while, thumbing through late at night while his magic worked away on polishing the prince's armor, but he did need to sleep, too. But he'd already slept in today and was feeling better than he had for a week, for more than a week, and he had free time. Free time. What a luxury.

He read and practiced with his spellbook in secret for the better part of an hour, but then he heard Gaius coming back and so he stowed the tome away under the floor again. Despite being the person to give him this book, Gaius certainly didn't approve of the use of it, so Merlin worked in secret even from the one person in Camelot who knew about his magic. He came down the short stairway from his room to greet Gaius, but his small smile was wiped off when he saw what his guardian was holding.

"Is that a shopping list?" he asked. Gaius chuckled in a way that Merlin would be hard pressed to say was 'good natured'.

"Just because Arthur's given you the day off doesn't mean I have to," he said, and Merlin sighed. "You've already had all morning, certainly you're getting bored by now, aren't you?"

Merlin couldn't find it in him to argue with Gaius, so he simply nodded, took the list and the shopping money, and headed out to the square. He did his best to wipe the disgruntled look to a grateful one when he saw Arthur, though, apparently just coming in from his ride. He offered the prince a wave, and when Arthur returned it and seemed to want to talk, Merlin hovered at the foot of the stairs to wait. The prince dismounted his horse and went over to his servant, and the two started talking at the same time.

"Enjoy your ride?" and "Having a good day off?" were voiced at once, leaving both boys scrambling to answer the other. Merlin nodded to let Arthur go first.

"Yes, the weather was great," the prince replied, before nodding to Merlin and noting the scrap of paper in his hand. "What's that?"

"Shopping list for Gaius," Merlin answered. "Yeah, I had a great morning off, but I can't hide from chores with the both of you around, can I? Wouldn't be fair for both of you to give me a free day, I'm not that lucky." He laughed a little, and Arthur smiled.

"What's he sending you after?" he asked, holding out his hand silently for the list. Merlin handed it over, and Arthur read it quickly. "This is a lot."

"Yeah, well, we usually get our food from the palace kitchens, but since there was a feast just two days ago, it's a little short there, so we have to fill it out ourselves," Merlin explained. "And there was a bout of some cold going through the lower town last I heard, so Gaius is short on honey and mint for coughing remedies, so," he trailed off with a shrug, taking back the list.

"Mind if I come with you?" Arthur asked, and Merlin's eyebrows went up.

"Well, I certainly can't stop you," he said. "But it is my day off, so if you were planning on using me as your shopping basket…" Arthur stopped Merlin from finishing his sentence with a laugh.

"No, that wasn't it at all. I was just thinking about, with how clumsy you are, you're likely to drop those jars of honey if you're trying to juggle all of the things on that list."

Merlin offered Arthur that lopsided, disbelieving grin. "So… are you offering to be my shopping basket, then?" he questioned, and the prince shrugged.

"Sounds like it, doesn't it?"

The servant snorted a laugh. "I suppose it doesn't kill you to be nice every once in a while, I see," he said, watching curiously as Arthur lit up with that statement. He paused for a moment, studying that reaction, before shrugging it off and heading towards the gate. "Come on, then, Gaius is expecting me back."