Written for Merthur Week 2020.
Day 6
"Can I uncover my eyes yet?" "No stop being impatient" + Humor
Merlin did suppose he should have seen this one coming.
After all, when he and Arthur had to keep their relationship secret while Uther was still alive, and small gifts of courtship were shared between them, Merlin had more than once caught his lover staring at him and the new gift with a look that he could only describe as frustrated longing.
He's aware of the strange combination of words, but he didn't know what else to call it.
Anyhow, back to the 'I should have seen this coming'- well, Merlin really should have seen it coming.
After all, once he and Arthur had made their relationship public, and he'd been officially declared the King's Consort, his lover had excitedly told him that he finally could give him all the things he'd wanted to give Merlin since the beginning of their affair-
And Merlin had thought he'd been jesting.
He was wrong.
Literally a day after, the warlock had woken up to two and ten parcels on the bed, a smug Arthur sitting on his desk watching him gape at the gifts.
"Well?" his lover had playfully asked, "Aren't you going to open them?"
Merlin reached for the closest parcel, giving the King a light glare-
Which quickly disappeared as he took in what was inside the unwrapped gift.
Neckerchiefs, tunics, breeches, capes, cloaks, coats, jerkins, doublets and overtunics, all of them made of the finest cotton, silk, brocade and linen the market of Camelot had to offer; some even possessing the finest embroidery Merlin had ever seen in his life- recognizing Gwen's hand in most of the clothes.
"Told you I was going to spoil you" Arthur singsonged.
"I- you-" Merlin could feel the King's smugness growing at his speechless state, running his fingers over a forest green silk neckerchief embroidered with forget-me-nots, "You prat- I thought-"
"That I was jesting, yes, I am aware, Merlin"
The raven looked up as he heard the chair scraping over the floor when Arthur got up, his lover smiling softly at him while approaching the bed and sitting next to him.
"Thank you" Merlin whispered, leaning in to kiss the blond, "I love them" he added as Arthur gently caressed his cheek.
"If this is going to be your reaction for my gifts" the King murmured with a glint in his eyes, "I wonder what you will do when I gift you a state"
Merlin felt his soul leave his body.
"Oh gods"
Thankfully, Arthur does not gift him a state.
He did, however, publicly gave a posthumous pardon to former Lord Balinor Ambrosius and the other deceased dragonlords and wrongly accused sorcerers, clearing Uther Pendragon's defamation of their names and identities.
Merlin cried in Arthur's arms that night, and showed him his appreciation the next morning.
If the King was walking with a limp later in the afternoon, no one mentioned it.
It doesn't stop at clothes and pardons though.
The finest books about magic are delivered to Merlin's hands a few days later while Arthur is training with the knights, all of them leather-bound and filled with former forbidden knowledge.
"Are you going to put down the book and sleep?" Arthur mumbled, eyes opening by a sliver under the faint candlelight.
"One more chapter" Merlin said, engrossed in the section for animal shape shifting, "How would you feel about becoming a fish for a day?"
"… You want to avoid the council meeting about grain storage, don't you"
"I know you want to skip it too"
"…What kind of fish?"
Then, it's armor.
And not the heavy chainmail and hauberks.
No.
Leather armor.
Although, perhaps Arthur regrets gifting Merlin that, if the punch he got to the face for not paying attention when the warlock came in to train with it was any indication.
"I didn't thought you were going to look that good" the King moans to his amused consort later that night, Merlin whispering spells under his breath to force the swelling down.
"That sounds like a 'you' problem, prat" the raven quipped, placing a kiss on his pouting lover's head, "Does that mean you'll stop spoiling me?"
"Never"
It wasn't until a fortnight later when Merlin decided that a line needed to be drawn somewhere.
"Arthur, I love you and I very much appreciate the gifts" Merlin had begun to say, voice coming out thin as he took in the sight in front of him, "But I think this is becoming a little too much"
Arthur, miraculously, seemed to agree, lips pursed as the newest gift tried to take a bite out of his hair.
"It's the three horses, isn't it?"
"Yes" Merlin agreed, laughing a bit at his lover's pout, "You know it's bad when even you're agreeing, trysor"
"Fair enough" Arthur mumbled, letting go of the horses' reins and motioning to a bemused George to take them back to the stables before approaching his consort, "I may have let the pampering get to my head"
"I don't mind the pampering" Merlin said with a small grin as he let himself be held by the blond, bumping his nose lightly, "But I do think you should lay off for a bit"
"Weeeell" Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish, "I… may have one last gift"
The warlock gaped at him.
"You clotpole-"
"But I think you're really going to like this one" his lover hurriedly went to add.
Merlin gave him an exasperated stare.
Arthur, on the other hand smiled gently, holding out his hand.
"You trust me, right?"
"Gods be dammed" Merlin said an exaggerated sigh, lips quirking up anyway, "I do"
"Good" the King replied, reaching to unknot the raven's neckerchief, who frowned with curiosity as Arthur proceeded to cover Merlin's sight with the silky material, "Can you see anything?"
"Not much"
"Alright then, follow my beautiful voice"
The warlock snorted, but nonetheless let Arthur guide him by the hand through the steps of the courtyard before letting go in favor of gripping Merlin's shoulders.
"Are we there yet?"
"No"
They took a turn.
"Now?"
"Nuh uh"
Another turn, followed by a set of stairs.
"… If this is an elaborate plan to throw me out of a tower, I'll come back as a ghost to haunt you"
"If this were an elaborate plan to kill you, I would have done so a long time ago"
"Awww, you thought about murdering me?"
"Yes, Merlin, when I saw you for the first time I fantasied about killing you and not kissing you"
Merlin didn't even try to fight the grin forming in his face.
"Love you, prat"
"Love you too, clotpole"
"That's my word!"
"Yet it fits you perfectly"
"Can I uncover my eyes yet?" Merlin asked for the umpteenth time, biting his lip to avoid laughing when Arthur huffed behind him.
"No, stop being impatient" his lover chastised. The warlock could hear the mirth in his tone anyway.
"Now?"
They came to a stop, a door opening in front of him.
"Now" Arthur whispered softly on Merlin's ear.
The raven eagerly removed the makeshift blindfold-
And gasped.
They were inside a chamber that was nicely set up to be some sort of office, the walls filled to the brim with shelves with book titles that Merlin recognized to be filled with medical and magical knowledge, some even being the ones Arthur gifted him a while back; while other shelves were packed with big and little glass bottles, some containing herbs and others empty and ready to be filled.
There were also two desks, one smaller and with a stack of parchment, charcoal pens, ink and feather quills while the other one was bigger and containing cauldrons, glass tubes, mortars and pestiles.
There even was a loveseat in front of the fireplace!
Merlin turned to look at Arthur, unbelieving.
"You're gifting me my own study room?" he asked, feeling his throat close up and his eyes become slightly blurry.
"Or office or chamber" Arthur added, smiling, "I thought you might want your own workspace, since I know it frustrates you that Gaius doesn't like it when you begin to experiment with magic or normal physician things"
Merlin couldn't help but mouth 'Physician things' in a mocking manner, the blond rolling his eyes at him before biting his lip.
"Do… do you like it?" Arthur asked, eyes uncertain.
"Like it? I fucking love it!" Merlin exclaimed, throwing himself at his lover and hugging him tightly, placing kisses on his lips, brow, cheeks and eyelids, murmuring "Thank you" over and over again- until he stopped, getting hit by a realization.
"Wait" he said, frowning, "You blindfolded me to get here, I don't even know in which part of the castle we are right now!"
Arthur, however, smirked.
"Oh, didn't I tell you, fy warlock?" his lover leaned in, "These previously used to be my father's chambers"
Merlin felt himself returning the grin.
AN: Trysor = Welsh for 'Treasure'
Fy warlock = Welsh for 'My warlock'
Arthur said spoiling Merlin rights and this should have been canon platonically or romantically I said what I said