`-I don't own Merlin-
[Author's Note: I don't know where this idea came from. Either way, I hope you like the story]
Lancelot
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Lancelot always saves Merlin's life. And makes everyone who meets him fall in love with him.
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The first time Lancelot saved Merlin's life was at a swimming pool when Merlin was thirteen. Merlin had hit his head against a wall while he was swimming to fast, and Lancelot had dove in, fished him out, and gave him mouth to mouth. The next time was when he got sick at fifteen, and Gwen was still forcing him to go to a school dance with her. Lancelot had offered to go with instead, so Merlin got to stay home. Merlin's fever had gone up that night, and he had to go to the hospital. If he hadn't been at home, he didn't know how he would have gotten to the hospital. There were a few times where Lancelot would help him study, or fix his car, or save him from getting beaten up by people who didn't really like skinny smart guys. Merlin would still call him a lifesaver, because to Merlin he was. Lancelot was only two years older than Merlin, but he was still one of Merlin's biggest heroes.
Gwen and Lancelot were an on and off couple. Because Gwen was two years younger than him, Lancelot never wanted to rush things. They would usually last for two to three month intervals before Gwen would get fed up and break up with him. Lancelot was very cute, but in Gwen's opinion very prudish. Merlin disagreed with her opinion, but would never tell her why.
Lancelot had graduated high school at 17, and went to college to be a physical trainer. Merlin and Gwen kept in touch with him for a few months, but they eventually lost his number, and Lancelot never answered the e-mails they would send.
He nudged the girl by him, "If you had to choose between Lancelot or Arthur who would you choose?"
The girl laughed. "I'll never have to make that decision."
"You'll need this." the old man in robes said.
"Thanks." he and the more muscular man by him drank the vile tasting liquid.
He muttered some unknown words and the spear the knight was holding began to glow. The eagle-lion charged towards the knight at the same time the knight charged towards it.
The knight knew his secret, but he wouldn't tell and he was leaving. Why was he leaving? He was watching from a high part of the castle as the man rode off on a horse.
Merlin woke up from the dream shaking. He reached for his sketchbook and began sketching the eagle-lion and the knight charging toward each other in the forest. When he was finished his alarm clock read 3:54AM. He didn't know if Darci would be awake or not, but he still felt himself lazily walking to her room.
She was awake, and she was finishing a painting of two men sitting atop a table at some sort of gathering. They were in armor, and one had his arm around the other. They looked cheerful, and the colors in the back ground succeeded in making the painting look happy. But that wasn't what made Merlin interested in the painting. In his dream when he had been talking to the girl, those were the two men they were looking at.
"That's Arthur and Lancelot." Merlin said in a hushed tone.
Darci looked surprised. "Yeah... How did you know?"
"That was in my dream. Exactly that. The poses, the smiles, the clothes, the background, the mood, the colors, it was all there."
The two just stared at each other when finally Darci said quietly, "They were in mine too. "
So both went through the dreams they had, and a lot of Darci's more recent dreams matched Merlin's. Some of her older ones, about a sorceress, a maidservant, a queen that couldn't have children, a jilted manservant, and a demented but loving king did not match Merlin's dreams. But then she brought out the pictures, and the maidservant looked like a younger version of the woman Merlin had drawn with the young boy. The manservant looked like the physician that was in Merlin's dream, who had given him the nasty tasting liquid to drink. The king looked like a younger version of the overlord Darci had given to Arthur to sell. And even the sorceress seemed a little familiar to Merlin, like the servant who had been in Merlin's dreams when he was unconscious. But the queen was unfamiliar. He had never seen anyone like her in any of his dreams, and he didn't have a creepy feeling about her.
The two talked for awhile, but Darci went back to finishing her painting, and Merlin fell asleep on the couch.
He was woken up by his cell phone ringing, which was weird because he didn't remember bringing it with. "Where are you?" came Gwen's frightened voice.
"Why?" Merlin says groggily.
"Because Arthur is about 5 minutes away from organizing a search party, and if you're gone just because you fell asleep some where, he will probably fire you, or humiliate you in some sort of horrible way."
"I fell asleep in Darci's apartment." he said rubbing his eyes.
"You better make up a better excuse than that." Gwen sighed. "I mean really Merlin, you've actually been doing pretty good at this job. And I know you got poisoned and everything, but-"
"I know Gwen. I'll be there in a sec." He looked down and realized he was still in sweat pants and a ratty t-shirt.
Darci, who had heard half of the conversation was holding out a turtle neck and a pair of loose grey slacks. Merlin went to her bathroom and quickly changed into them. "Are these your clothes?" he said because the pants were a little tight, and the shirt was a little loose in the chest area.
"Yeah, but I'm sure they'll work. You can change out of them after you get your chores."
"Right." then he raced out of her apartment and down the stairs. He had five stairs left before he'd be to the elevators when he tripped and flew into the wall.
He woke up in Guy's room, on a couch with an ice pack on. Arthur, Morgana, Gwen, Guy, and a man with dark brown hair and a chiseled body were there. Arthur and Morgana were on their computers, Guy and Gwen were organizing something, and the man was helping him. Then Merlin recognized him. It had been four years, but he wouldn't forget someone who had saved his life so many times. "Lancelot?" he said quietly.
All five of the people heard him and looked up from what they were doing. Lancelot was by Merlin first. "Are you okay?"
Merlin nodded. "My head kind of hurts, but I'm fine. What happened?"
"You fell down the stairs." Arthur said sounding annoyed. "Because you were running down them because you were late. I'm mean, am I really asking for to much to have a responsible employee? Or are you just accident prone?"
"Accident prone." Lancelot said.
Gwen laughed. "I have to agree with Lancelot."
Arthur did not look amused. "Well, if you're fine you can do your normal chores, and in addition to that you can wipe the base boards, dust the fans, wipe the window tracts, and water the plants. " then he stormed out.
"I have some business to attend to." Morgana said. "When you finished with your work you go on early break. There's a small party here tonight, so I won't need your help." Morgana looked over at Lancelot. "So you could go out to dinner or something." She winked at Gwen and walked out.
"What are you doing here?" Merlin asked looking up at Lancelot.
"Oh, I was the one who found you in a crumbled pile at the bottom of the stairs." Lancelot said with a laugh.
"No, I mean what are you doing here in the building?"
Gwen blinked. "Did I forget to tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Merlin said as he sat up and rubbed his head.
"I work here. As a personal trainer. So if people want a work out while they're not working they can come and get one, or for the people living in the building like Arthur and Morgana."
"You're Ar-"
"Yes, he's Arthur's personal trainer." Gwen interrupted him. "And no he can't get a picture of Arthur shirtless for you."
Merlin blushed. "I wasn't going to ask for that. Why would I ask for that? What makes you thing I'd ask for something like that? I mean really, do you think I'm like that? Why would you think that?" A habit that Merlin had from his childhood was asking lots of questions when he got nervous or embarrassed.
"I was joking." Gwen said laughing.
"Well, I have a few businessmen coming in soon for a scheduled work out, so I have to be going." Lancelot waved. "I'll see you later."
As soon as he was gone Gwen became serious. "I know you like Arthur. You don't have to be all secretive about it. I mean, I was the first person you told when you learned that you were bi. It's not like I was going to be surprised. I mean the chemistry between the two of-"
"I don't like him Gwen. And even if I did, I'd be telling myself I didn't so I didn't do something unprofessional."
"Oh." Gwen got the hint.
"So what's going on with you and Lancelot?" Merlin asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Don't you have chores to do for Arthur? Cause I know I have stuff I need to do for Morgana, so..."
Merlin laughed.
"I'm serious. He did seem really annoyed, and I bet if-"
"No, that's not what it's about. I just realized..." Merlin was having a hard time speaking because he was laughing. "All of our names... and... but, you're not a queen, but what if you cheated on Arthur with...."
"What? Arthur and I aren't together, so there wouldn't be a way for me to cheat on him. Are you okay?"
Merlin finally stopped laughing. "You're Gwen."
"Yes Merlin, that is my name."
"No I mean, you're Gwen, and there's a Lancelot, and an Arthur, and even a Morgana which is pretty close to Morgan le Fay. And I mean, I doubt Morgana is an enchantress, and she's not Arthur's sister, and you're not a queen, but Lancelot is brave and kind of noble, and Arthur's certainly got the 'I own everything and am the boss' like a king would."
"And where do you fit in Merlin? Are you a magician?"
"No, but don't you think it's kind of creepy how the names match up?"
"Mmm... not really. I mean, Arthur is a fairly common name. So is Gwen. Morgana's father was a very creative man, so it's no surprise that she has a fancy name. Lancelot's parents were actors on Broadway when he was born, so something dramatic like Lancelot isn't really that big of a shock. And your mom said she named you after a bird, not a wizard."
"Yeah I guess you're right." But for the rest of the day while Merlin did the chores he couldn't stop thinking about his namesake, and the namesakes of the people around him. Eventually he started to get a head ache, so he stopped. But the head ache wouldn't go away. By the time he finished Arthur's chores he was exhausted. It was only 6PM, so he decided to go get some coffee and his laptop and bring it to Darci's so he could work while she painted. He was hurrying up the stairs when he suddenly slipped on something and fell. He fell to the bottom of the stairs, felt the hot coffee in one hand spill on one side, and the iced coffee in his other hand spill on the other side. He hit his head on the ground pretty hard, but thankfully stayed conscious. Of course, when he tried to stand up, there was pain in his ankle. He didn't feel like yelling for help so he grabbed his cell phone and started making calls. Gwen didn't answer. Guy didn't answer. Darci didn't have a phone. Aside from his mother and Will, the only other number he had in his phone book was Arthur's. But he was at that party thing. He waited for awhile, but no one came down the stairs. It seemed like hours had passed, so he finally called Arthur. His leg hurt, and he could find another job if he needed to.
"What is it Merlin?" came the annoyed voice on the other line.
"I.. I fell down the stairs again, and my leg hurts if I move it. Gwen won't answer her phone, so could you please send someone to come get me?"
There was no answer on the other line for awhile. Finally there was a sigh. "Where are you?"
"Umm...second flight of stairs at the bottom." Arthur then hung up. So Merlin waited. Ten minutes later Arthur was there.
"I..." Merlin was surprised to see him. "I kind of spilled coffee on me."
"I can see this." Arthur helped lift Merlin up and helped support a lot of his weight. "Are you eating?" he suddenly asked.
Merlin sighed. He hated how people thought he was anorexic or bulimic, or had some sort of disease just because he was skinny. He usually wore baggy clothes to keep people from making these comments, but it was usually obvious if they had to support you. Like Arthur was now. "Yes."
Arthur seemed to hear the annoyance, so he changed the subject. "What did you trip on?"
"I couldn't tell. I was busy falling." Arthur just rolled his eyes at Merlin. He looked around.
"It's a toy." he said motioning towards a toy truck that was on one of the steps.
"Where did it come from?" Merlin said. He liked little kids, but if it was also what he slipped on this morning he was going to find the little kid and give him a wedgie.
"I think Geoffrey brought his son Griffin with him today. I believe it was bring your kid to work day, or something. But Griffin got bored and ran off for awhile. He came back, but some of his toys were gone." Arthur looked at Merlin. "So do you want me to bring you to Guy's?"
"Don't you have a party thing?" Merlin said as Arthur started walking toward the elevators. Of course, there was a flight of stairs, so it was a little hard.
"Yes, but you made a great excuse for me to leave." Merlin was about the say something, but their legs got tangled up with each others, and Arthur had to brace himself against a wall to keep from falling down the stairs. That left Merlin trapped between Arthur and a wall. Then there was awkward silence. The untangled themselves and refused to look each other in the eye even when they got to Guy's. Merlin ended up having a sprained ankle, but Guy assured that after a good night's rest, Merlin would most likely be operational the next morning. Arthur didn't look that happy to be going back to the party, but he did any way. Merlin spent the rest of the night working on class courses. Then he decided to find out what an eagle-lion was called. When the search told him it was a Griffin he nearly threw his computer against the wall.
{Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and please leave reviews. I think I will start explaining Merlin's dreams more if it doesn't bother you guys, please tell me what you think though. And unlike the series, Lancelot will be a re-occuring character.}
