AN: I don't own Merlin, so if you could not sue me, that'd be greaaat.

This one's for .Wen who suggested this!

p.s. This chapter is totally unrelated to the last, even though they are from the same ep.

More suggested episodes to come: 4x06, 5x05, 2x09, and 2x13

Thanks if you reviewed!

Chapter 10: 4x04, Aithusa. Set when the gang is returning to Camelot.

"Merlin!"

Arthur's indignant voice sounded through the morning air. Merlin snapped out of his thoughts. The king was staring at him from his horse, as were the knights.

"Sorry, what?"

Arthur's eyebrows were raised. Gwaine evaluated.

"He just called you a dollophead and an idiot and you didn't say anything."

"Oh." Merlin cast around for something snarky or sarcastic to say. "Well, it takes one to know one."

The knights snickered, and Arthur just rolled his eyes. Merlin plastered on his usual smile. He was glad for their banter to distract him, both from the fact that he was concealing a dragon egg in his bag and from the tight hunger pains he felt in his belly.

He knew the knights were only playing a joke on him. It was a knight thing to prank each other, and Merlin supposed they wouldn't eat all the food if they didn't consider him a friend.

Still, he wasn't enjoying the sensation of a having stomach that hadn't seen food in a few days.

The knights continued to talk and joke, and soon Merlin found himself zoning out again. He began daydreaming about getting back to Camelot and having one of Gaius' prepared meals waiting for him.

"Shh! Everyone, quiet!"

Everyone got quiet, even Merlin paused to listen. At first, there was nothing. Then they heard it: a low rumbling noise coming from nearby.

The knights immediately looked around for a wild animal, hands on the hilts of their swords. But Merlin, blushing furiously, realized the sound was his empty stomach.

After a few moments, the knights looked around at Merlin, confused. The warlock's face reddened even more as everyone stared at him.

"Merlin?" Gwaine spoke first.

The servant shifted awkwardly. "Sorry," he muttered, even though none of his companions looked annoyed. On the contrary, they all had looks of dawning concern.

"Merlin...when did you last eat?" Leon asked hesitantly. Merlin stared at him. Seriously?

"I don't know..a few days, I guess," he replied slowly, and winced slightly as his stomach gave another, more insistent growl.

The knights looked staggered. They looked at each other, shock and guilt appearing on their faces.

"What?" Merlin said, annoyed. They purposely ate all the food, then were surprised when he didn't eat anything?

"You haven't eaten...anything?" Elyan asked.

Merlin shook his head. "No. A bunch of prattish knights ate all the food."

He meant it as a joke, but they all flinched. Merlin's eyebrows shot up.

"What? I was busy, alright?"

Gwaine shook his head slowly. "Merlin, why didn't you tell us?"

Merlin stared incredulously at the somber knights. "Tell you what? What was I supposed to do?"

"Eat," Gwaine said sharply.

Merlin threw his hands up in exasperation. "Eat what? What's the big deal?"

"Oh, I don't know, just the fact that you nearly starved yourself," Arthur snapped. Merlin stared at him. It was the first time he'd spoken up, he'd been frozen with shock, but Merlin's words had pushed him to speak.

"Sorry," he said, an edge to his voice.

"No, Merlin, we should be the ones who're sorry," Gwaine said. The other knights nodded and made sounds of agreement. "We shouldn't have kept the food from you. We didn't realize you really didn't have anything to eat."

Merlin looked around at the guilt-ridden faces. "Guys, its fine. I have to skip eating sometimes anyway, so I'm used to it."

He froze. "That sounded better in my head," he mumbled as the knights looked even more shocked and concerned.

"Why would that be?," Gwaine said, in a way that told Merlin he had a pretty good idea.

"I...er...just stuff," Merlin said evasively.

A few of the knights looked sideways at Arthur, trying to be discreet. The king simply looked dumbfounded, evidently concluding that by "stuff", Merlin meant all his chores(which was part of the reason). He quickly tried to cover it up with a blank expression.

"Well, that'll have to change, won't it? Can't have my servant not finishing his work because he collapsed from hunger." His tone was teasing, but there was an undercurrent of genuine worry. Merlin could tell he was remembering the few times he had passed out in Arthur's chambers due to a particularly exhausting excursion involving saving the dollophead's life mixed with limited time to eat - though the king now only knew half the reason for his "fainting like a lady," as he had put it.

"You heard him," Gwaine put in. "From now on, you eat. I don't care what he tells you to do. Got it?"

Merlin didn't dare protest to Gwaine's fierce, protective demeanor, which the other knights quickly adopted as well.

"All right," he said. "I'm fine, though, seriously."

His friends looked somewhat relieved, but the last traces of guilt had still not left most of them. Merlin sighed. He had a feeling he wasn't going to hear the end of this for a while.

But when they started moving again, his lips quirked upward in something of a smile.

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