Jelly

Merlin dropped Arthur's empty dishes for about the twelfth time and cursed loudly. He had to stop himself from kicking the plate the rest of the way to the kitchens. After taking a few deep breaths, he picked up the dishes and finished what he was sure was the most difficult journey of his life.

When he reached Arthur's chambers again, he closed the door then tripped over literally nothing. Arthur looked up from the speech he was writing and frowned. Merlin was sitting on the cold stone floor with his hands over his eyes, shaking slightly. Placing his quill down carefully, Arthur stood up and went to sit beside Merlin, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him pretty much into his lap.

"What's going on?"

"Headache," Merlin whispered.

"Bad?"

Merlin nodded his head a little, "Really bad."

"Have you been to Gaius? Did he give you anything?"

"It didn't work."

Arthur raised his hand, gently pushed Merlin's head against his own chest, then moved his hand so it was tangled in Merlin's hair. He began running his fingers over Merlin's scalp, combing out any tangles and applying just enough pressure to make the experience feel amazing. The movement seemed to shut Merlin's brain down instantly. His hands dropped to reveal glazed eyes and every muscle in his body relaxed, leaving him limp in Arthur's arms. The king smiled widely at this newly found trick. Apparently simply playing with Merlin's hair pretty much hypnotised him.

Arthur continued for a few seconds then gathered Merlin's body up in his arms, ignoring the way his limbs flopped uselessly and swung from side to side. The second Arthur moved his hand away from Merlin's head, the servant blinked a few times and looked up at the king. The glazed, relaxed look was completely replaced once more with the look of pure agony as they struggled to focus through barriers of pain.

Arthur carried Merlin quickly over to the bed and placed him down on the mattress. Merlin's only response was to curl up into a ball and clutch at his temples desperately.

"Alright," Arthur soothed, sitting down beside him and restarting the motion of running his fingers through Merlin's hair and massaging his scalp. Merlin made a tiny, adorable sound in the back of his throat and once again became totally unresponsive. Arthur carefully manoeuvred him up so he was propped against Arthur's chest, forehead pressed against Arthur's cheek.

"You have a fever," Arthur noted quietly as he reached to the side and picked up a goblet of water, "Here, take a sip."

Merlin did as he was told but only once Arthur had actually pressed the side of the cup to his lips and tilted it a little. All the while, the king was continually twirling locks of hair around his fingers or simply scratching the top of his head.

Merlin's brain felt like hot jelly. He knew he was still suffering from what was definitely the worst recorded headache in history but he couldn't process the pain anymore. He had no control over any part of his body so could only hope that he was still breathing and his heart was still beating. He'd become completely oblivious to it all.

"Go to sleep, Merlin," Arthur whispered gently and Merlin's eyes closed automatically. Arthur laughed, "If I knew this was all I had to do to get you to do as you're told I'd have been doing it for years."

It was difficult to tell the exact point where Merlin fell asleep. His body was already limp and heavy, his breathing already steady and deep. But soon, Arthur was holding onto a very much deeply unconscious Merlin. His little breaths tickled Arthur's neck and he was slowly but surely sagging down in Arthur's grip. The king gently repositioned them both, planted a tiny kiss on Merlin's lips, and resigned himself to hours of waiting, never removing his hand from Merlin's hair.

Arthur hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he woke up when Merlin was starting to stir and clambered out of the bed after lying Merlin down comfortably. He poured out a fresh glass of water and sat down on the side of the bed until Merlin opened his eyes and looked around blearily. He was quite clearly dazed and confused but sat up, looking unfairly and almost painfully attractive. Arthur passed him the water and watched while he took a few sips.

"Better?"

Merlin nodded.

"I didn't know there was a way to make your brain stop working."

"Neither did I. You must have magic."

Arthur chuckled, "It's a useful thing to know, don't you think?"

"No. You're never doing that again."

"Why? It makes you so cute and pliable. Didn't it feel nice?"

"It felt amazing," Merlin admitted sheepishly, "But it's embarrassing."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Headache gone?"

"Pretty much."

"Excellent. So there's time for some evening training before dinner."

Merlin's face fell and he lied quickly, "Actually it's just come back, really bad. Do you think I could stay here?"