Merlin truly regretted introducing his friends to each other. They were all very different people with different backgrounds and personalities, but the one thing they all seemed to agree on was tormenting Merlin. And they tended to get creative with it.
It started with Merlin- naïve, foolish Merlin- dragging Gwaine over with him to Fawn's house to cheer Bradan up. Their lessons had been going well, really; Bradan progressed rapidly from learning how to access his power to mastering his control over flame with an ease that astonished all of the other sorcerers. Well, not Merlin, but that was only because he still had no idea what a normal person's progress looked like. Of course, he was soon made to regret saying that out loud when Gwaine, Fawn and Brienne took it upon themselves to mock him- oh, Bradan, you're just too slow for the great Emrys, they simpered, how he must suffer, putting up with us frail, pathetic mortals- while the rest of their friends snickered in the background. Nevertheless, Merlin fancied himself a kind, decent person, so he did not put an end to the lessons and abandon Bradan as payback, and the two of them continued to meet for five weeks, during which Bradan began to attempt moving objects with his mind.
Five weeks later, Bradan was still incapable of moving the smallest matchstick even one inch, although they'd briefly gotten their hopes up when Merlin had accidentally shifted it with his breath. Both of them had immediately- and loudly- begun to celebrate before they'd calmed down enough to hear Fawn informing them that she'd seen Merlin breathe on the stick. It was disappointing, Merlin thought privately, but he did not want Bradan to feel discouraged. He just waved the matter off airily and convinced Bradan to try something else.
Then followed several attempts at easier spells, with a lot of input from Gaius and the other magic users they knew. Gaius suggested locking or unlocking spells, as they required less power and concentration than moving objects did. Bradan did not manage to perform a single spell, even when Gwaine had locked him in an empty room for hours to properly motivate him. Heating and cooling spells, Brienne offered; she'd figured that Bradan's proficiency with fire might mean he had an affinity for temperature spells. She was mistaken, and Bradan was growing progressively more distressed with his lack of progress. Perhaps you could teach him to control the other elements, Aiden said, and Merlin dutifully obliged, although he doubted that he would succeed. Elemental spells were, after all, some of the most difficult, even for an experienced sorcerer. As expected, Bradan failed at all but the fire spells. It was Mavis who finally suggested that Merlin continue to teach the boy more complex fire spells, and that was that.
Needless to say, Bradan was desolate, and nothing Fawn or Merlin did seemed to cheer the boy up. Merlin felt a bit discouraged, himself; he knew that some sorcerers simply had a strong affinity for one school of magic, but surely they could at least perform basic spells? His other friends had found Bradan's situation equally puzzling, so he knew it was not just another one of those Emrys things, as Fawn liked to call them. Nevertheless, Merlin determinedly put the issue out of his mind and did not let his student see even a trace of doubt. Something had to be done, but that could wait; for now, consoling Bradan was the priority.
Which brought Merlin here, surrounded by his awful friends and regretting his kindness (that was a lie, but none of them needed to know that. He'd been soft enough with everyone recently). Gwaine lounged on the floor near his feet, with a bright-eyed Bradan nodding along adoringly to everything he said, and the knight was unashamedly soaking up the attention. Of course, Fawn, being an actual demon, did nothing to curb their behaviour and just sat there with serene smile on her face- that is, when she was not joining in to bully Merlin.
"But really, he's so powerful and, uh, Emrys-y," Gwaine was saying to his attentive audience of one, "except when he's just being plain embarrassing because he doesn't know how to deal with flirty nobles."
Emrys-y. Merlin's brow twitched. "Are you sure you shouldn't be getting back home now, Gwaine?" he said sweetly, gripping his friend's shoulder tight enough to make him wince, although that irritating grin did not leave his face. "I hear Arthur's going to have you up extra early for your new duties."
Gwaine groaned at the reminder. Reporting the two knights who'd abused Bevin had definitely been the right thing to do, but it did mean that Gwaine, along with the other knights Arthur trusted to respect the townsfolk, had suddenly found themselves burdened with a far heavier load of duties. They were expected to carry out all of the duties associated with Arthur's attempt to make amends, and the king had put Gwaine in charge of the operation, to everyone's surprise. It was a great honour to be given that responsibility, and Merlin was ecstatic for his friend. Gwaine was pleased too, he knew, for all that he whined and pretended that it was all a terrible imposition.
"Don't remind me," Gwaine said darkly as he finally managed to free his shoulder from Merlin's grasp. "Waking up at dawn- I can't believe he'd do that to me."
"Aw, is the poor, privileged knight complaining about waking up early and having to work all day?" Fawn said unsympathetically.
How the tables had turned. Merlin chimed in with relish, "How absolutely terrible. You knights must be the most hardworking folk in all of Camelot."
"I heard they only get one day off a week," Bradan added, albeit a bit shyer than his sister and Merlin. He wasn't quite used to their banter yet, especially with a knight.
"Just one day a week?" Merlin gasped. "That's way less than the zero days off that I get!"
"Alright, alright, stop bullying me," Gwaine finally said. "I'll stop complaining about my simple, luxurious job in front of you. Although, I think we should note that at least you don't have to worry about dying on the job."
They were all silent for a moment, registering what Gwaine had had the audacity to say, then- "Don't we?" Merlin asked with narrowed eyes. "Don't we, really?"
"Uh, never mind," Gwaine muttered quickly. "You're just changing the subject, anyway, so that I don't tell Bradan about the time you jumped down a flight of stairs and twisted your ankle just to get away from a particularly persistent noblewom-"
Merlin slapped a hand over Gwaine's mouth. "Gwaine. Do you really think I wouldn't curse you just because we're friends?" The knight made to protest. Merlin added, "Remember what happened to Elyan."
Gwaine paled dramatically and jumped to his feet with a shaky smile. "You're absolutely right, Merlin. I should go back to the castle and get some sleep. Goodnight, Fawn, Badan." And with that he shot out the door as Merlin snickered at his swift exit.
A moment later, Bradan asked brightly, "How did you explain why your ankle was twisted to Arthur, though?"
Fawn snorted as Merlin's head whipped around. "Shut up, Bradan."