Holla! Well, I am unsure whether to feel bad or not because, in England (where I happen to be) it has been Thursday for (according to my computer) 38 minutes, which means I'm 38 minutes late. WELL, I'm just hoping that it's still Wednesday for most of you guys :D
Oh, and I'm very much glad none of you seemed to find my love of sleeping!merlin weird :D There's some more of that in this chappie... and sleep Arthur too, which is nice :)
And CeeRat: I'm glad you have faith in my abilities. Thou shalt not be disappointed.
(when happy... and a bit tired... spout old English)
Please let me know if you spot any glaring mistakes- it is late and I didn't do a very thorough read through :s sorry! please review!
Chapter 9
Gwaine gently prodded Merlin awake.
"Come on, mate, get up," he murmured, and Merlin yawned, sleepily, pressing his fists into his eyes.
"What?" the younger boy mumbled.
"I guess we've got about fifteen minutes before the maids come to prepare the hall for breakfast," Gwaine said, thoughtfully, "and then the teachers'll arrive... it's Sunday, so breakfast isn't till nine thirty. It's quarter to now... yeah. About fifteen minutes, I'd say." At last, Gwaine's words seemed to hit home, and Merlin scrambled to his feet, in a flurry of flying limbs.
"Oh God," he gasped, "you have to go, quick! Before they get here. I'm so sorry, you couldn't sleep all night, I-"
"Calm down," Gwaine chuckled, "I'm fine!" Merlin frowned and looked closely at his friend: he looked exhausted, but that was to be expected, "listen Merlin, get up on the stool. Look tired. Actually, no, look more than tired. Look dead on your feet, Merlin, do you understand?" Merlin nodded, a little blearily, and then climbed onto the stool: in truth, it wasn't at all hard to look tired. He could barely keep his eyes open, even if he had got more sleep than Gwaine.
Gwaine nodded his approval at Merlin's slightly swaying form, but Merlin didn't see it.
"Good," Gwaine said, "anyway, I need to go now. I guess it's a little hypocritical for me to say it but... try to keep out of trouble, will you?" Merlin smiled, his eyes drooping slightly, and Gwaine had to hold back his laughter, as he ran from the hall.
Merlin hardly registered the maids bustling about, laying the tables and pulling open the shutters, till he felt a hand brush gently against his arm. Merlin's eyes flew open and he almost toppled from the stool.
"Sorry," the serving girl gasped, "I just... you looked like you might fall." Merlin offered her a reassuring smile, although he feared it was a little shaky. The girl giggled.
"I'm Merlin," Merlin said, proud when he didn't slur. He held out his hand, and the maid reached up to shake it,
"Guinevere," she said, "but my friends call me Gwen."
"Oh," Merlin said, uncertainly, "my friends call me... Merlin." Gwen frowned, but laughter danced behind her brown eyes. She was very pretty, Merlin thought. It was a comfortable thought, just because it was true: she had caramel skin and thick, curly black hair which could hardly be contained, and which escaped her bun, tumbling around her shoulders. Her dress was lavender, he noticed, while the other maids wore white.
"You're dressed different." Merlin informed her. Gwen looked down at her own dress,
"Observant," Gwen said, and Merlin grinned. She smiled as she continued, "It's because I don't just work here. I'm Morgana's maid."
"Morgana? Arthur's sister?"
"Yes. But she doesn't really need me during term times, so sometimes I come and work here, and go back to her during the holidays. I miss her quite a lot though..."
"I don't think I'd miss Arthur... much." Merlin said, and Gwen gave him a sympathetic look,
"Oh," she exclaimed, "he's your mentor, isn't he? I heard about that."
"Yes, he is." Merlin sighed although, truthfully, he didn't think it was so bad. He liked Arthur. Sort of.
"I suppose it's his fault you're up there?" Gwen said, looking at the stool. Merlin opened his mouth to reply, when the doors to the hall opened, and the teachers began to enter. Gwen's eyes widened, and she whispered, "I better go, all the other maids have gone!" Merlin glanced around and saw she was right.
"Goodbye, Gwen," Merlin called after her, quietly. She smiled at him, all dimples, and then hurried away.
Merlin felt as though he had a happy glow inside him: sure, it hadn't been pleasant, what with Uther humiliating him in front of the whole school, but the headmaster had unintentionally done him a favour, and given him two new friends, literally over night.
When the headmaster entered, he didn't so much as glance at Merlin, merely strode straight past, and placed himself at the centre of the teacher's table, not yet sitting down. Merlin sighed, and waited. After a few minutes, he heard the distant rumble of a thousand students, coming downstairs for breakfast.
They all came pouring in, and Merlin could feel their eyes on him, drinking in his no doubt pathetic form. He caught Gwaine's eye, and they shared a fleeting grin. When he spotted Arthur, his mentor gave him nothing but a hard stare, and then stood behind a space at a bench, just like everyone else. Then they all waited, their eyes on the headmaster. He glared at them all, for a moment, and then finally lowered himself into his chair. The moment he was seated, the students clambered onto the benches and noise broke out.
Arthur did not sit, and walked past Merlin, ignoring him as his father had, storming up to the teacher's table. Merlin watched as he exchanged a few words with his father. Watched as Uther lowered his head, in a curt nod. Then Arthur turned on his heels, this time marching towards Merlin, his eyes blazing with something that looked like triumph.
"You can get down," he said, gruffly. Merlin beamed,
"Thank you," he said, clambering to the floor. He wobbled slightly, and Arthur took a firm hold of his arm.
"Come on," he said, sounding exasperated, "you need to eat something. And then you need to go to bed. After that I'll lecture you about how to behave before my father."
"Ok," Merlin said, cheerfully. Arthur smacked him lightly round the head,
"Stop sounding so happy," he instructed. Merlin grumbled as he sat down at a table, and Arthur slid beside him.
"But I am happy," he said, reaching forwards and beginning to pile his plate with eggs, bacon and toast. For once, Arthur did not ask Merlin to fetch his breakfast for him, and did it himself.
"How can you be happy?" Arthur was genuinely confused, "you have been standing, one legged, on a stool the entire night!" Merlin shrugged.
"I'm off now, aren't I?" I said, digging in to his breakfast with vigour.
"I'm not tired," Merlin complained, trying to drag his arm from Arthur's grip, but Arthur wouldn't let go.
"Don't. Lie." He said, forcefully, and through gritted teeth: Merlin was a lot harder to pull along than he looked.
"I'm not," Merlin tried not to whine, but he was afraid that's how it came out. Fortunately, Arthur was too preoccupied to smirk.
Merlin was, in fact, extremely tired, but he resented being manhandled. Or he thought he did... no, he thought he ought to resent it, and so his overworked body went to the extreme, thinking that this was what he wanted, trying to wrench itself from Arthur's hold.
It was a bit ridiculous, Merlin finally concluded.
Arthur thought so too.
"For God's sake!" he roared, finally giving up and letting go. Merlin toppled backwards onto the floor.
"Ow," he said, as he got back to his feet: he had grazed his hands when he fell. Arthur rolled his eyes,
"Don't be such a girl, and go to bed." He ordered. Merlin sighed.
"Fine." He said, and then stalked past his mentor. Arthur let him get to the end of the end of the corridor, before calling out in amusement,
"Wrong way, Merlin." We watched, his lips twitching, as Merlin halted, turned and then came back the other way, refusing to look at Arthur, "you really are useless, aren't you Merlin," Arthur commented.
"Go away." Merlin said, when Arthur began following.
"No." Arthur said, and his tone was so unexpectedly stern and resolute, that Merlin couldn't find the heart to argue.
Arthur kept close to Merlin till he saw the boy safely tucked up in bed. He told himself that he only cared for Merlin's health because he needed someone to polish his boots and clean his dorm, not because he was worried sick by Merlin's gaunt expression, the black bags beneath his eyes...
"You are to stay here and sleep all day," he told Merlin, "if I see you wandering about the school, or I hear from anyone that you have left this room, I will drag you back, lock you in and stand guard outside the door." Merlin smiled sweetly up at him,
"It's so nice that you'd go to all that trouble, Arthur. You're so kind." Merlin found that his tone was not quite as mocking as he would have liked, but Arthur seemed to get the picture because, when Merlin propped himself up on his elbows to say something else, Arthur put his hand over his face and pushed him roughly back down. Merlin 'hurrumphed', as he fell against his pillows.
"Tell me that you'll stay here till I come and get you for dinner." Arthur said.
"What about lunch?"
"I'll bring you lunch," Arthur promised, unable to stop the fleeting, affectionate smile flashing across his face.
"All right then," Merlin said, after a moment's deliberation, and then, before Arthur could say another word, Merlin was snoring.
During the next few days that followed this incident, Arthur wouldn't let Merlin out of his sight, determined to keep the idiot out of trouble, at least for the week. They annoyed each other constantly, and yet when they were parted, each would become subdued and bored. It became a common sight, therefore, to see them around the school together, bickering or laughing or just talking.
When it reached November, they had their first snow of the year. It coated the entire school, smothering the grounds in a soft white blanket. Merlin was hanging out of his window in the physician's chambers, his neck extended and his face lifted towards the sky, letting the snow fall onto his lips.
"Merlin, what are you doing?" Gaius had come into the room. Merlin quickly slid back inside, and grinned at the old man.
"Snow," was his happy explanation. He bounded across the room, past Gaius, and darted through the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to get Arthur!"
"Merlin!" Gaius yelled after him, "don't go outside; you'll catch your death!" but Merlin was too far away to hear.
Merlin swung into Arthur's dorm, and some of the other boys looked up and greeted him. After a few months in Merlin's company, most of them had gotten used to him. Even enjoyed him being around. There was something about Merlin that simply allowed him to make friends, even in an environment such as Camelot's. But, not everyone could forgive him for arriving out of nowhere and befriending Arthur, so Valiant, one of Arthur's former cronies, didn't even look up.
"Arthur, wake up, come on," Merlin dashed to where Arthur lay. He grunted, and twisted beneath his blankets to glare up at Merlin.
"What?" he asked, his voice scratchy.
"Snow, Arthur, come on, come on!"
"It's like you've never seen it before." Arthur grumbled, but Merlin's excitement was infective and he couldn't help giving a begrudging smile as he watched Merlin sprint about the dorm, rifling through Arthur's trunk to find his winter things: a dark red scarf, hat and gloves.
"Hey, that's mine!" Arthur complained, swinging out of bed, as Merlin pulled the hat over his ridiculously large ears. He didn't have the heart to take it back, however, when Merlin grinned up at him from underneath the soft cotton. But, he did snatch the gloves and scarf before Merlin could wear those too,
"You don't need a scarf, with that thing round your neck anyway," Arthur pointed out, wondering why he even felt the need to justify his decision.
There was an hour before school started, but Merlin didn't go straight outside. First he woke Gwaine, Gwen and, after a moment's thought, Lancelot. Gwen had actually already been awake, sleepy and cold, tottering around carrying laundry. Merlin had gently relieved her of the load, and ordered her to put something warm on, because they were about to have the most epic snowball fight Camelot's had ever seen.
Lancelot had taken some persuading, but he had finally allowed himself to be tugged along. Merlin had a few sharp words with Arthur beforehand, telling him not to be such a child: Lancelot was lovely. Arthur had scowled and hit Merlin round the head, telling him that he was not allowed to order his mentor around, but had agreed.
The events of a few months before had almost faded from their memories: no one had been delivered to Camelot's because they had magic, even though Uther had said the dungeons were going to be used. School had carried on as it always had.
Until today.
The snow flew into their faces, smacking their cheeks red, filling their mouths, and they laughed the whole time, trying to keep as quiet as possible, so no one would catch them: they were round the back of the school, near to where the lake was. It glistened, chunks of ice swimming on its surface.
Merlin had just received a handful of snow from Arthur, shoved down the back of his shirt. He gasped and squirmed, much to Arthur's amusement but then, just as Merlin reached down to grab some snow and retaliate, he spotted something, across the water. He froze, straightening up slowly and squinted. Arthur noticed how Merlin had stopped moving, and moved to stand beside him.
"What is it?" he asked. Merlin only pointed.
Even from such a distance, it was easy to recognise it as a cage. Inside, lay a limp figure. A large man had his hands on the bars. Arthur placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder,
"Bounty hunters," he said, softly, "it looks like it's started."
When I was writing that last bit, I didn't think I could really describe the snowball fight as 'epic' because there was like, what, 5 of them? But then I was like, those five consist of Lancelot, Gwen, Gwaine, Merlin and Arthur: of course it would be epic!
Anyway, I hope you didn't mind how it skipped to November like that but, if every chapter was just a day later or something, this fic would be neverending :s
I hope you liked it! Hopefully I should be seeing you Wednesday :D