"Okay. I understand that we're having a friendly match between Druids and Knights" the instructor chortled with glee, "Challengers, step up to your marks!"
Arthur strutted forward, hand raised to all the cheers, despite his horrible headache. Merlin rolled his eyes and remained silent on the sidelines. Arther looked around at the faces of all his cheering peers, not completely shocked that Merlin was not one of them. However. He felt a weird twinge deep inside, and, not recognising it, passed it off as part of his hangover. Morgans watched Arthur like a hawk, cataloguing each of his expressions and reactions, filing them away for later use. Contrary to popular belief, Morgans wasn't a 'witch' as Arthur had so often described her, she did genuinely care for her oblivious cousin, and wanted him to be truly happy for once. Sure, she was just like Arthur in the sense that she didn't show her emotions often, but she'd be damned if she couldn't help Arthur for once be himself.
"Ready cousin?" Arthur smirked.
"You haven't beaten me yet!" Morgans retorted eagerly.
"Enguarde!" They both cried, before leaping into an assortment of lunges, parties and swift cuts. Very soon all that could be heard was the clashing of rapiers and the laboured breathing of the participants. Morgana soon forced Arthur backwards towards the open grounds, startling the rest of the campers that were lazing around outside. The rest of the teams raced out, eager not to miss any of the gripping duel. The two continued to parry, clambering over low walls, jumping over logs, coming to the bank of the river, still oblivious to their surroundings.
Merlin followed at a slower pace, choosing not to be stuck in a crowd of mindless roots, cheering for their clotpole of a 'King'. He sidled over to a mostly empty part of the sidelines, and watched Morgana as she continued her agile footwork. He grinned as he heard her taunt Arthur - "Come on cousin! Surely you can beat a girl?" - and chuckled quietly at Arthur's reply "You're not a girl! You're the spawn of the devil!"
"She's very good isn't she?" A quiet voice said from beside his shoulder.
Merlin let out an unmanly yelp and jumped at the sight of a young girl standing next to him. "Where the hell did you come from?" He asked, steadying himself with the barrier he had previously leant on. He took a moment to study the girl, she was short (she only came up to his shoulder) had pale skin with rosy cheeks, brown eyes that sparkled with mischief and laughter, but there was a hint of someting else, something Merlin couldn't grasp, she also had wavy chestnut brown hair which was currently tied in a ponytail - only a few tendrils had escaped and framed her face like a portrait
"Yeah, she is." Merlin replied after a moment's silence.
The girl grinned "I'm Freya, you're Merlin right? 'Gana told me to look out for you."
Merlin frowned, "Why'd she tell you to do that?"
"Don't worry Merlin, she said you could use a friend, seeing as Arthur won't stop being a Class A git anytime soon."
Merlin shrugged and started up a conversation with her about anything, becoming oblivious to the match in front of him.
Xxx
Arthur growled as Merlin continued to talk to Freya, becoming more and more distracted from the match. Suddenly he found himself flat on his back, staring at the blue sky groaning in pain.
"How do you feel cousin?" Morgana's face loomed above his, blocking the sun, looking like all that Arthur dreaded. Hearing the laughter of the crowd, Arthur grimaced and grabbed Morgans's outstretched arm, pulling her down to the ground, but unfortunately for him he also managed to pull her into the lake which had gone previously unnoticed. As Morgans emerged from the lake spluttering, her hair bedraggled and plastered to her face.
"Oh god! Morgana I'm sorry! Please don't -" he trailed off as he saw Merlin walked off to the other end of the lake, holding hands with a ... girl. Arthur frowned, where had that thought even come from? He normally loved girls... Maybe it was his current aversion to Morgana, who was currently sneaking up behind him - wait what?
"Crap" he mumbled as she launched herself onto his back, propelling him to the ground.

Watching Arthur had begun to make Merlin feel a little bit discomfited. He tried to brush it off, tried to tell himself that Arthur and his prats of friends shouldn't get to him, tried to tell himself that it was impossible for Arthur to make him feel bad if he didn't care about the tosser. And he didn't. Couldn't. Wouldn't.

Still, just... the expressions Arthur sometimes wore, whenever he thought nobody was looking - they made him look so morose and alone and human, and it made Merlin want to do something about it. He wanted to punch the prat and tell him to get over himself, that he wasn't fooling everyone with his stupid shield of Prince of Prats. God, Merlin wanted to do that, but he - he couldn't let himself.

"Are you all right?"

Thoughts vanishing like a shipwreck under the sea, Merlin blinked owlishly before smiling shyly at Freya. "Oh - yeah. Sorry. I just, um..." He trailed off, glancing back at where Arthur and Morgana were driving each other back, and suddenly his thoughts became fragmented.

Patient as a saint, Freya smiled at him, gently threading her delicate fingers around his wrist. "Would you like to go for a walk?" she offered, sounding uncertain but hopeful.

Honestly, Merlin - he was surprised. Not many people were very willing to voluntarily spend much time with him, and nobody had ever been this /nice/ to him before. Not even his best friend, but Will had never really been one for feelings. He acted like a man's man, at least until he and Merlin were alone, and then he'd transform into an affectionate puppy.

Thinking about how differently Will acted depending on who was around him reminded Merlin strikingly of Arthur and his weird behaviour. Thankfully, before he could explore those thoughts, Freya asked, "Merlin?"

"Sorry," he said jerkily, flushing. "I get - I daydream quite a bit." He grinned apologetically, cheeks dimpling, and Freya laughed softly. "I'd be honoured to walk with you, Miss," he said, exaggerated but somehow earnest, and she beamed, smile bright and sweet, but somehow not quite happy. Not wanting to pry, Merlin just smiled back and offered her his arm, but she just intertwined their fingers.

"Let me show you a place. I've been here before now - before I was friends with Morgana, too - and I made a little fort near the lake. It's lovely," she promised, tugging Merlin along.

"I'd like to see it," he replied, honest. She seemed so oddly melancholic despite her frequent smiles; anything that made her seem a little bit more content was fine with him. Besides, she was at least better company than Arthur, with all his contradictions: he seemed so bloody egoistical, or at least he had done when he and Merlin first met when he was being a right twat; but now, here, all Merlin could see was a boy who was too uncomfortable to himself to do anything but lie and pretend.

"We're here," Freya said, a quiet declaration, almost dreamy, and Merlin spared a moment to drink in her content, nostalgic gaze before looking into the foliage that formed an arch, lined with brambles and roses and interlaced branches that sat before the lake.

"It's beautiful," he said, turning to look at her. She caught his gaze and flushed slightly, but smiled back at him, and gave an almost trembling squeeze to his hand.

"I'm surprise it lasted for so long." She tilted her head, exhaling a strange-sounding sigh. "I'm sure after a couple more rainstorms, it's going to collapse..."

"We could always rebuild it somehow," Merlin said, before that consuming poignancy in her eyes could grow, but his words didn't seem to do much. She gave a little non-committal sound. "Besides," he continued, voice quieting down as birds sung and the sound of cicadas invaded the overhanging trees, "a lot of seemingly weak things can last a lot longer than you'd think. And even when they do disappear, you can still remember them."

He smiled at her, hoping his words helped somewhat, because he truly couldn't stand to see much more unhappiness. Arthur's entire being seemed to be collapsing beneath the weight of feelings he probably didn't know he had, and Freya just seemed so defeated. Merlin - he could heal cuts and scrapes, but he couldn't really heal hearts.

"Thank you, Merlin," Freya said, her voice a whisper, and she clutched his hand even tighter, as if it were a lifeline.

Arthur lay on the couch. Unmoving. Just breathing silently. He had a multitude of thoughts running through his mind, none of them that he found remotely comforting - surprisingly they all seemed to revolve around Merlin and his stupid ears. Breaking out of his reverie, Arthur sat up, folded his arms and fixed a stony glare upon the door where he could hear footsteps reaching. Merlin strode in whistling, looking rather please with himself.
"Where HAVE you been?" Arthur growled, unaware of the jealousy he exuded.
Merlin looked at him and burst into raucous laughter. Arthur frowned, confused at Merlin's momentary dip into insanity. "I'm sorry, - you just sounded so much like Molly Weasley from Chamber of Secrets, y'know?" He faltered as he saw Arthur's stern expression.
"I am not a girl MERlin. Speaking of girls, why did you go off with that one, instead of staying and taking part? Scared to lose to a girl?" Arthur asked sullenly.
"I'm pretty sure you getting beat by Morgana was enjoyment enough for the team. I didn't need them laughing at me as well. Anyway. 'That girl' is called Freya, and I thought you of all people would understand the point of going off with a girl!"
Arthur gaped after Merlin's retreating back, rendered speechless. The pieces suddenly clicked in his kind, and he felt thay strange feeling in his gut again. Shrugging it off, he raced into Merpin's room, skidding to a halt as he saw Merlin wearing only a pair of tracksuit bottoms.
Merlin frowned as Arthur opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, no sound coming out. He moved closer and waved his hand in Arthur's face. He came out of his stupor, and continued to alk, avoiding the awkwardness that was sure to follow. "You kissed her didn't you!?"
Merlin grinned shyly, and nodded.
Arthur nodded to himself, formulating a plan to get close to Merlin, and a plan to get the Knights off his back for a while.
"Merlin, I am going to teach you to woo this...girl." he spat out the last word with great effort.
Merlin raised an eyebrow, "Why...why would you do that?"
"I have my reasons" Arthur replied mysteriously.