It was winter in Camelot.
The king's chambers were quiet, only the sounds of the fire crackling gently in the fireplace complimented the peace of an early dawn. Sadly, even the warmth from the flames could not completely abate the winter chill in the air, no matter the amount of logs that had been deposited into the hearth.
The cold in the air was enough to wake the king, an infamously heavy sleeper, with half of his body shivering and the other half supporting a warm bundled-up weight.
Arthur yawned and, after blinking a couple of times to chase away the sleep from his eyes, his gaze flickered down to the bundle currently resting on his chest, whose soft raven hair was the only thing visible about him as the rest of his body was hidden by a thick blanket. Their supposedly shared blanket.
The blanket was large enough to envelop both of them, made with wonderful embroideries - their wedding gift from Queen Annis who had commissioned the finest seamstress from her realm - and yet, it somehow ended up wrapping around Merlin completely like a snug glove while the remainder was spread behind the sleeping warlock, leaving Arthur with nothing at all.
He could've sworn they went to sleep with an equal share of the blanket.
.
Sadly for Arthur, this was a regular occurance.
As much as the king loved his warlock, Merlin was a total blanket hogger when he was sleeping.
It was a habit he'd soon found out when he first invited - or more like, ordered - the younger man, who was then still his manservant, to lay on the king's bed after a particularly gruelling and exhausting night. That was only a couple of weeks after Arthur found out about Merlin's magic, and the manservant looked almost dead on his feet, visibly tired and spent due to causes beyond his usual manservant duties - and after the revelation Arthur finally knew why.
Their relationship had been on the fritz since Merlin's secret was revealed, but at that night, the young king put his foot down and ordered the tired and exasperatingly-stubborn warlock to rest or else.
And that was how they ended up sleeping on the same bed for the first time, then Arthur woke up the next morning to find all of his covers hogged by the young man sleeping very peacefully next to him.
..
Groaning, the king slowly pulled down the heavy bundle to reveal his beloved's peaceful sleeping face. His resolve to retrieve the blanket almost broke right then.
Nevertheless, Arthur was a knight, and he soldiered on, trying on a more discreet tactic. Unable to stop himself from looking down at Merlin with fondness, Arthur tried to wiggle out his portion of the blanket under Merlin's body. Very gently, of course.
Then Merlin frowned in his sleep and Arthur froze.
"...mmmh, 'thur?"
However, Merlin's face then went lax with sleep again and that little fucker rolled away from Arthur's chest and turned his whole body away to the other side, leaving Arthur to gape at the warlock's very snuggly and blanket-covered backside.
The room immediately became infinitely colder without Merlin's body pressing on him.
.
Epic fail.
The King of Camelot : 0
Blanket-Hogging Sleeping Little Warlock : 1
.
Arthur was, at his core, very competitive. He was not going to lose a blanket battle with his sleeping lover, goddammit. It did not matter how adorable said sleeping lover looked when asleep.
Round two: the king would try a more direct measure.
He shifted his body closer to the sleeping form of his warlock, effectively spooning the smaller man and trying to peel away the blanket that had somehow become tightly woven to Merlin's body; trying to put himself inside that cocoon of blanket as well.
It was proving to be more difficult than he originally thought, and inexplicably he soon found himself in a blanket tug war with the sleeping warlock. How in the seven hells could someone be that strong when he was asleep? He was pretty sure he had more muscles than Merlin.
Miraculously, Merlin did not wake, but instead the young court sorcerer's breath hitched, before rolling again but closer to Arthur this time, his eyes still closed in sleep. The warlock's face then nuzzled Arthur's neck and his warm breath drifted over the king's skin.
Arthur stared at him wide-eyed, a smile unbiddenly formed on his face.
.
Alright, his heart was turning into a mush of softness for his warlock and King Arthur Pendragon was not soft. He was a tough macho man, the best warrior in all of five kingdoms, the strongest sword in the-
Merlin let out a contented sigh.
.
Arthur swallowed, heart in his eyes as he stared at the warlock draped over him. All thoughts of blanket forgotten because the warmth in his heart had flared so bright so that it manifested into heat all over his body.
Okay that was mushy as hell.
Dammit, Merlin.
The King of Camelot : 0
Blanket-Hogging Sleeping Little Warlock : 2
But he was decidedly feeling very warm now.
.
"Arthur?"
All of a sudden, there were blue eyes blinking sleepily up at him, an impish grin etched on that beloved's face. The early morning sun had not risen yet, but Arthur saw a glimpse of a warm golden glow fleetingly shone from Merlin's usual azure.
Wait a damn minute.
"Umm... sorry I took the blanket again?" whispered Merlin sheepishly, voice still rough from sleep.
Arthur raised his eyebrows a bit mockingly. "That's a handy warming charm you just did, Merlin. Now tell me why didn't you think of doing that right before we went to bed or," the king paused mock-thoughtfully, "before you graciously bundled yourself with our blanket?"
"I..uh..forgot?"
"You forgot, eh? I was cold all night. Again."
Merlin pouted sheepishly, still nuzzling Arthur's neck contentedly which made the king's heart leap with joy and warmth for the love of his life.
"I'm sorry, I'll do the warming charm first for you next time, dollophead."
The king snorted, then wrapped his arms around the slender figure of the warlock. "Fair enough, but you must still be punished for this impudence."
Merlin stopped his nuzzling and raised his head to stare at his king right in the eyes, blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Oh, you'd like to punish me, would you, my lord?"
"Yes, clotpole, your punishment," grinned Arthur.
Merlin rolled his eyes in his usual insolent way that Arthur secretly adored. "So how'd you want to punish me? Doubt you can come up with anything creative when you keep stealing my words."
"Merlin..."
"Shut up?"
"Yep, and keep me warm. That's your punishment. But without the spell."
There was a short silence as the warlock processed Arthur's words, and then he laughed.
"Really, Arthur? That is awfully soft and heartfelt of you."
"Merlin..."
"There are so many more straightforward ways to ask for a cuddle."
"I am not asking for-arrgh alright it's a.. cuddle," grumbled Arthur. "Just shut up and do it."
"Certainly, Sire," said Merlin, teasing grin still in place. Then, Merlin's smile turned so tender and Arthur once again felt as if he was the only one who mattered in Merlin's whole world. His warlock had a habit of doing so to him with just one soft glance or one tender smile - and in those moments, Arthur never felt like he was the king with the burden of the whole kingdom on his shoulders, but rather, someone undeserving of the pure and unconditional devotion Merlin had for him, even over the warlock's own life.
In the warm glow of the fireplace and the soft ambience of the room, Arthur thought he'd never seen a sight more beautiful in his life than Merlin, all sleep-mussed hair and with a beautifully goofy smile on his face, looking so young yet brimming with old wisdom of ages long past since magic was woven into the earth.
Their lips met in the middle, amidst the quiet and peacefulness of the chamber. At that moment, there were only Merlin and Arthur. Arthur and Merlin. Both interwoven by destiny and yet, their hearts intertwined by choice.
Arthur held his warlock close, breaking the kiss and pulling the warm body of the younger man into his embrace. He hummed contentedly as he ran his fingers repeatedly over the raven hair as he watched Merlin shifted his position. The warlock spread the blanket over both of them alongside with his body which was draped all over the king, sighing happily as he rested his head on Arthur's chest.
They were warm.
.
/end/
Ok, a quick drabble because I'm feeling very soft for them :D
I just finished my exams and a thesis defense this week, and fandom activities on Merlin twitter have also distracted me a lot from writing 😅😅😅
But the good news is I'm almost done with the ending for Acceptance, so please be patient 💖💖💖💖💖
Anyway, thank you for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedbacks! I hope you won't mind me replying to each one of you because I just love interacting with Merlin-loving people and discussing the Merlin universe hahaha.