Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Merlin
"If Merlin needs something no questions asked, he knows he can come to me." Gwaine claimed.
"Gwaine you can't be trusted with anything not involving a tavern, he'd certainly go to Lancelot first." Elyan argued.
Lancelot smiled knowingly and just a bit smugly.
"That's absolutely ridiculous. Lancelot is too noble to be involved in anything even remotely suspicious or illegal." Gwaine retaliated.
Leon snorted, Gwaine wasn't there the first time Lancelot was knighted.
Lancelot shared a look with Leon before turning to Gwaine. "Are you saying you'd willingly partake in something illegal, Sir Gwaine?" His tone full of false innocence.
"If Merlin was the one doing it, then it'd be for the benefit of Arthur, and that trumps any legality issues." Gwaine snarked back.
The man in question himself walked into the armory, carrying Arthur's armor.
"Ah, the man himself!"
"Just ignore Gwaine, Merlin." Percival suggested.
Merlin grinned, "I do try to usually, but what's the reason today?"
Leon answered, rolling his eyes, "They're arguing over whether you'd go to Gwaine or Lancelot first if you wanted to do something of questionable legality, Gwaine's words."
"Oh, neither." Merlin answered just a little too quickly but continued on with his chore, not seeing the shocked looks from the knights at his immediate answer.
Gwaine was the first to speak up. "Are you saying you've done things of questionable legality and not involved us?"
Merlin turned, snorting in laughter. "I wouldn't say questionable legality," technically everything I do is illegal, he thought, there's nothing questionable about it. "but if I needed to do something weird or seemingly suspicious with no questions asked, I wouldn't come to any of you first. You're all knights, you are honor bound to ask questions and uphold the law and such." This prompted some understanding nods from the group.
"Well then, if you don't mind us asking, who would you turn to for help?" Percival asked.
He didn't hesitate in his answer this time either. "Gwen."
"My sister?! Why?" Elyan asked.
Merlin raised his eyebrows at their collective confusion, but elaborated, "She was the first friend I ever made in Camelot, I'd trust her with anything and she's always willing to help if I need it, no questions asked. And of course, it goes both ways, I'd help her with anything."
Merlin set down the last of the armor, now fully polished and stood up. "Well, I'd better go, best not to be late with lunch or Arthur will be moody." He flashed a grin and left the room.
The knights all looked at each other, contemplating what illegal things the two servants had previously been involved in.
"Gwen?"
"Yes, Elyan? What is it?" Gwen turned and saw the group of knights along with her brother. "Oh? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, we're just curious about something is all." Leon reassured her.
"Alright then, what is it you wanted to know?"
Elyan explained what they all had learned in the armory. "And I wanted to make sure he's not dragging you into anything illegal, but the rest of these degenerates just want gossip as to what mischief he's been up to behind their backs."
The other knights scoffed at Elyan's claim as Gwen smiled with amusement.
"I can assure you that Merlin isn't getting me involved in anything illegal, despite the trouble that he and Arthur seem to attract. In fact he has gotten me out of trouble on multiple occasions, even so far as to admit to sorcery to King Uther for me, or so I heard afterwards." Five pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Leon don't look so shocked, you remember. It was when that magical plague came to Camelot and I was arrested for sorcery."
Leon winced and the other knights looked back and forth between the two. She continued on without further explanation. "Now that I think about it, just after we met he did ask me for a wheelbarrow and proceeded to steal a dog statue from the courtyard, which I guess could have been questionably legal as you put it, but he did say it was for Arthur."
"A dog statue?!" Gwaine snorted.
Gwen shrugged. "He said it was for Arthur and back then, as a prince, Arthur used to have Merlin do all sorts of weird things; who was I to question it?"
"What else has he done?" Percival asked.
Gwen smiled, thinking back to the early days when Merlin was new to Camelot. After a brief moment, she smirked. "Well let me see. Right around that same time he brought back a stray knight from the woods." Gwen covered her mouth, snickering slightly. "I am of course referring to Lancelot."
All the knights burst into laughter at this, Lancelot gave a good natured scowl.
"But he asked me to help outfit Lancelot for armor to become a knight. And you all know that Lancelot became a knight using a forged family crest, which I'm sure Merlin had something to do with."
Gwaine looked at Lancelot with absolute shock. "You? Forged documents?" The other knights smiled, having already heard the story.
"Merlin can certainly talk anyone into doing anything." Lancelot commented without giving Gwaine any further details.
Gwaine laughed again. "That he can. Getting Lancelot to forge documents to become a knight."
"I wouldn't laugh too hard there, Gwaine, he later brought home a stray knight from the tavern." Gwen said. Gwaine promptly stopped laughing to drop his jaw in shock and scoff, sending the knights into another round of laughter.
Gwen put her hand to her chin, rubbing it in contemplation. "Then there was that time he had a crush on the servant that turned out to be a sorceress."
"What?" Elyan asked the quickest, as the others mirrored his shock.
"A few years ago, soon after he came to Camelot, Merlin drank poison during King Bayard's visit; to save Arthur, of course. Anyways, there was this visiting serving girl that he was sweet on, and she had pulled him into the hall during the banquet and was the one to tell him about the poison. She disappeared afterwards and Gaius said she was a sorceress and that she had been the one to poison the chalice."
"Merlin drank poison?! How did I not know this story?" Elyan asked.
"There's plenty of stories of Merlin being self-sacrificial for Arthur." Leon commented. "Remind me later and I'll try to tell you all the ones I remember."
"So what other weird things has he done?" Percival asked, focusing back on the topic at hand.
Gwen smiled and contemplated for another moment. "Let's see, he did once try to convince me he was psychic." She laughed lightly at the memory. "Told me I was thinking he wasn't a psychic as proof that he was." She tapped her chin, remembering even more stories about her friend. "Oh I know a good one! One time I caught him stealing one of Morgana's dresses. Said he had to burn them because they were infested with moths." She rolled her eyes with fond exasperation. "He was convinced we'd all end up naked because the moths would eat everyone's clothes."
The men all snickered at that story.
She turned to Elyan. "Oh yes, back to what we were saying about weird requests. He asked me once for our father's best made sword."
"You gave him the sword?" Elyan was a little shocked, and also a little miffed that he never realized it was gone.
Gwen shrugged, "He needed it and I trusted him enough to believe it was for something important. I don't know exactly what happened to it, but I think Uther ended up using it to kill the black knight. I'm not entirely sure."
"Wow. He's done so many weird things I can make fun of him for." Gwaine commented.
"And those are just the ones that aren't directly illegal." Gwen winked and left the knights to stare after her, shocked at all the mischief Merlin had gotten himself into unbeknownst to them.