AN.: Hope you'll like the next chapter.
Special thanks to phantomgirl21 for all the love I got for the first chapter. You made my day ;w;
"You did what?" Gaius was fuming. "Merlin, I told you that it could be dangerous to use your magic in your current condition. There are so many things which we still have to learn about your true nature… And that your magic was influenced by your illness is certainly something we shouldn't ignore. Illness always requires time for recovery and a proper rest and by using your magic you denied it its time to recover! Who knows what might happen!" Gaius was shouting by now, having worked himself up during his tirade. Merlin had guiltily shrunken away from him. After he had used the healing spell, he had clothed himself and was about to bounce down the stairs leading from his room into Gaius quarters when he had almost run the physician over. Gaius was about to protest and send him back to bed when it took him another glance to realize that Merlin was not in the same condition he had left him in earlier. Gaius was quick to imagine what had happened.
Merlin waited for Gaius to stop to take a few breaths until he dared to defend himself.
"I know, I know. I-" He said in a small voice.
"Apparently, you don't!" Gaius interrupted him and looked sharply at Merlin. Merlin flinched slightly, putting on an innocent look. Gaius deflated as he saw the look on his ward's face.
"Listen Merlin… It's not just that you used your magic when I advised you not to do it. I have to admit that I almost expected you to do it. I mean, you are you." Merlin allowed himself an impish smile to spread over his face. "How are you going to explain your miraculous recovery? Arthur saw how sick you were and he surely has informed at least a few men of your absence by now. You can't suddenly recover out of the blue from a sickness that usually takes around two weeks!" Gaius was looking at Merlin accusingly. Merlin was about to respond when a sneeze cut him off. He wrinkled his nose and a slight shiver run down his back. That had silenced Gaius, who was staring at Merlin in surprise.
"You don't need to worry about that. Arthur is not a physician. He'll believe your word when you tell him that you treated me good enough for me to be able to return to work. I'm still sick… I didn't heal myself completely. He won't suspect a thing."
"Merlin… How did you manage that? As far as I can remember, there is no spell to cure someone only partially." Gaius asked, suspicion plastered on his face.
Merlin turned away from Gaius, pretending to look for something to eat, to prevent Gaius from noticing the tiny spark of worry that rushed over his features for a second. "I just did. I'm the most powerful sorcerer who has ever walked this earth, remember?" Merlin answered, trying to distract Gaius instead. To his satisfaction, it worked. Gaius simply sighed dramatically, while shaking his head. He went over to a tiny bundle of cloth which was placed on the table and put it in a cup.
"Since you still are fairly sick, I will at least make you another herbal tea. You can report back to work after that." Merlin's face split into a warm toothy grin as he bounced over to Gaius to sit down at the table. "Your wish is my command!"
…
Arthur was in a bad mood. He always had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities as king of Camelot, but festivities like the ones they were awaiting this evening always managed to increase the pressure. He was responsible for the guests, for their well-being and for their pleasure; In order to keep his ties to other kingdoms intact, Arthur had to make sure that their guests got the best impression.
Arthur had always hated feasts like these. Since he was a young boy, his father had made him attend them, showing him off in the process. Arthur had to keep a straight face as several court ladies from different kingdoms had pinched his red cheeks and told him what a handsome young man he was going to be. I know! He had thought, grinning at them awkwardly. Well, at least he knew how to act in order to keep the peace… And he doubted that a court lady would dare to come up to him and pinch his cheek considering he was king now.
A sigh escaped him as he watched George cleaning his room. He had arrived on schedule to wake him up, had served him the perfect breakfast, had all other tasks finished before Arthur could even ask him to do them and he was currently getting extra work done. Arthur hated it. Another sigh escaped him as he got lost in thought, thinking about a special manservant. I should visit him today. Check on how he feels. He stood up from the spot on the table he had been occupying and was just about to leave the room when the door was flung open and a very loud and clumsy Merlin stumbled into the room.
"Merlin!" Arthur greeted him, a wide smile on his face and forgetting himself for a second as he reached out and squeezed Merlin's shoulder affectionately.
"Arthur!" Merlin greeted him in return, an evenly wide grin on his face, his eyes jumping to the hand still resting on his shoulder. His smile widened. Arthur, remembering that he had reputation to keep, retracted his hand promptly, leaving the ghost of a warm, tingling touch on Merlin's shoulder behind.
"What are you doing here?" Arthur asked, a frown appearing on his face. "Aren't you supposed to rest?" He looked Merlin up and down, noticing that his pallor wasn't as deadly as it had been yesterday, his back was straightened and his eyes had the usual gleam back. "Are you feeling better already?" Arthur asked suspiciously.
"As you can see, yes. Gaius took good care of me and declared me fit for work today. It seems like it was just a little cold. A good night's sleep and I feel as good as new." Merlin beamed. Arthur was really glad to hear that.
"Well, then you can help by mucking out the stables, can't you?" The corners of Merlin's mouth turned down immediately.
"But Arthur! I'm still a little sick and I'm not supposed to do hard work." Merlin pleaded.
"Well, you should've stayed in bed, then." Arthur retorted, a smug smile on his face as he turned and went back to the table, picking up a guest list. Arthur heard Merlin mutter under his breath und decided that he had enough fun.
"Merlin, I got something better in mind. Could you help me with arranging the seats for the guests? You always have a good intuition about whom should sit next to each other during the banquet to avoid fights between the guests." Arthur smiled at Merlin who had turned to him again.
"But Sire! The stables!" Merlin gasped dramatically, slowly taking a step towards the door. The part of Arthur, which actually believed for a second that Merlin would leave again, panicked slightly. So, Arthur hurriedly turned to George who was still in the room, watching the whole interaction disdainfully.
"George, could you be so kind to muck out the stables for me?" Arthur asked, his lips pressed into a tight line.
"Of course, Sire. As you wish." George went to leave and intentionally bumped into Merlin on his way out.
"Oh, and George?" Arthur spoke up again before the servant could leave. George froze on the spot, fearing that the king had seen him bumping into his puppy.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Merlin is back. You are dismissed." Arthur said nonchalantly. I saw that, George.
…
Merlin and Arthur had worked on the lists and some other arrangements for a few hours. Then the king had sent him to his chambers to wash up for the banquet.
"Do you still have the ceremonial servant robes? Haven't seen that hat in quite some time." Arthur had asked lightheartedly. Merlin had managed to bargain and was allowed to leave his hat in his quarters, shivering at the thought of that monstrosity alone. He was currently scurrying through the hallways, dodging several servants carrying serving trays, clothes, fruit baskets and baked goods. Even though it always meant hard work and a lot of stress, he was kind of anticipating the festivities. He might even be able to get his hands on some of these culinary delights.
He turned the corner, arriving at Gaius chambers and stretched his hand out to grab the doorknob, but the door suddenly slammed open without him even touching it in the least. Inside, Gaius dropped a glass containing some kind of greenish liquid to the floor, startled by the aggressive entering. He spun around to face the door, his expression changing from fear and worry to annoyance and irritation as soon as he saw Merlin standing there, dumbfounded, his hand still outstretched to grab the doorknob.
"Merlin! Is it too much to ask of you to enter my room as a normal human being?" Gaius grinded his teeth while looking at the mess on the floor.
He couldn't resist. "But I'm not a normal human being." Gaius looked at him in disbelief. Merlin merely shrugged his shoulders and entered the room completely, before closing the door behind him. He pressed his back against the wall to take a second and ponder about what just had happened. Was that the wind? No… No drought in this part of the castle. He scratched his head. Did I- Did I use magic to open the door? It had felt like a burst of energy emitting right from the palm of his hand. That had to be magic… But Merlin was pretty sure that he had neither reached for his magic nor had used it out of reflex, as a mere reaction. He simply wanted to enter the room, nothing special about it and definitely not in need of magical assistance.
"A little help here, Merlin?" Gaius asked impatiently, drawing Merlin back to reality. The warlock went over to Gaius, mindful to avoid the glass shards on the floor and willed the mess to magically clean up on its own.
Nothing happened. It was just like when he had first tried to heal himself. Is my magic still ill? Gaius was looking at him questioningly, waiting for his ward's help. Merlin's gaze nervously jumped between his mentor and the floor before putting all his focus into another try. Here we go!
What should've been the mess gathering up and returning to its original state, turned into a massive shockwave of pure magic rolling through the room, with Merlin in the center. Gaius fell to the floor, several glasses on the shelves fell down, books clattered to the ground and even the chairs moved across the wooden planks of the floor, making a high-pitched creaking sound as their legs vibrated. As soon as the burst of energy was gone, Merlin felt lightheaded. His vision blurred and his breathing increased as he tried to focus all his concentration on not passing out. A beeping in both his ears dampened all other sounds and built up pressure, which blocked his hearing and therefore him, out from the rest of the world. At some point he had sunken to his knees, desperately grabbing hold of the table, which was close by, to steady himself. Somewhere, he could make out his name being called; There were suddenly warm hands on his cold cheeks, lifting his head up. His unfocused eyes could see a familiar face of someone kneeling right in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. In and out. In- out.
The beeping in his ears died down slowly, inviting sounds which washed over him, grounding him.
"-hats right, Merlin. Breathe slowly." The hands on his face shifted slightly. "Can you hear me, Merlin?" Gaius' words dripped with worry. Merlin opened his eyes and looked directly in Gaius' face; He had a bleeding gash right above his eyebrow but didn't even seem to notice it. His eyes were searching Merlin's pale features.
"Merlin?"
"I'm fine." Merlin said, his voice shaking. With Gaius' help, he got up on wobbly legs and sat down on one of the chairs that he had moved across the floor. His throat was scratchy and his nose was stuffy again.
"Whatever was that just now?" Gaius askes, incredulously. He looked around at all the broken things.
"What was that?" He asked more vigorously after Merlin still didn't answer him.
"Gaius?" Merlin asked in a shaky voice. The physician looked at Merlin intently, almost holding his breath. "I think the flu is back."
AN.: Set up? Done. Chaos? Here we go.