Notes: Holy Crap!! 18 Reviews? Seriously? You guys are the best and I love you all. I hope you guys have as much reading as I did writing. This was fun...although it does border on fluffy crack...
Miscommunication
Arthur/Merlin:: Everyone is horribly misguided and thinks that Arthur and Merlin are a couple. Arthur and Merlin, armed with nothing but fierce denial, set out to prove everyone wrong..or die trying.
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Chapter II: A Misinterpretation
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It grew dark. Arthur was not against riding back to Camelot in the dead of the night, in fact, he preferred it but everyone was tired. He couldn't blame them, and rather lead a ragged band asleep on their horses back to the capital, it would be a lot wiser to sneak back at the crack dawn.
So they settled down to camp. Merlin went to fetch the firewood without being told and Gwen went to look for water. Which left Arthur with Morgana, which usually wouldn't have been a problem except--
"Arthur, if you're really determined to lead Merlin on, you should try not to be a prat. That's your undoing, you know." Morgana sat with her shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders. "If you try to be a gentleman, I'm sure he'll respond."
Arthur gave his father's ward a long look, "Excuse me?" Since when had sensible Morgana have her head turned? He was almost convinced that the world was plotting his undoing and he was powerless to stop it, "Seriously, you too? I'd thought you'd have more sense not to listen to the villagers."
"I didn't." She shrugged elegantly, "I'm simply observant." Morgana raised a slender finger and pointed, her expression gleeful, "You like Merlin."
"I certainly do not." Arthur retorted, "Good servants are hard to come by."
"And so you're good to him." She pressed.
"Yes, for that reason alone." He glared at her.
Morgana laughed, "Oh, Arthur, you fool no one."
"There's nothing to fool anyone about." He bit his lip, but she just ignored him and kept laughing. Arthur was so going to make her pay for that when they got back to Camelot.
Merlin and Gwen returned, he with an arm load of wood, she, with a bucket of water. They drew water from the bucket with their respective cups and downed it in silence. The rest of the water was saved for the horses, and when that ran dry, Gwen went to fetch more.
Which left Arthur with Morgana, again. Wearing that stupidly misguided grin on her face. He would have counted Merlin, except his servant was currently making himself useful in starting a fire. It would not be wise to speak to him, to tell him the deadly misguidance had even affected Morgana.
"I wish there was wine." Arthur mused aloud, for the sake of musing.
"There'll be wine soon, sire." Merlin looked up from his handiwork, a small bright flame nestled in the pile of wood, "I"ll steal some for you from the cellars when we get back to Camelot." Merlin didn't use to have to steal wine from the cellar, but the Prince was becoming a little too fond of liquor as of late.
"Merlin, you shouldn't encourage him." Morgana admonished him. "You're not his slave, you know."
Merlin shrugged.
Arthur wanted to slap him and tell him that the shrug was exactly the type of sign that Morgana was so adept at misinterpreting. But he only shot her another look, "Merlin's a good manservant."
"Right."
Arthur shut up. Wisely so.
--
Gwen returned with more water, the horses drank their fill, and Arthur refrained from speaking, until Gwen asked him how long it would take for them to ride back to Camelot. When Arthur was absolutely sure that this question couldn't be misinterpreted in any way, he grudgingly replied, "Only a little while."
"What's wrong with you?"
Arthur was silent again. He was sure Morgana was laughing again, her eyes were, at the very least, even if her lips were trained not to.
"He's suffering from the lack of good wine in his system." Merlin said, and Arthur restrained the urge to slap him again.
--
Now, there was a dilemma. The first night Arthur had joined them on their journey, it hadn't been obvious to Merlin because the girls had been asleep. It hadn't been so strange to share a single blanket with Arthur. It was a big blanket, and Merlin hadn't thought anything of it then.
Now, though, was an entirely different story. Gwen and Morgana were getting ready to sleep (with their own separate blankets, it might be worthy to note) but they weren't asleep yet, and they were paying careful attention to the one blanket that Merlin held in his hand.
"Of course you're going to take it." Arthur said, certainly not inspired by Morgana's earlier words, something along the lines of being a gentleman. "I'm used to this, I do this with my army all the time."
"Wait, you're the Crown Prince of Camelot." Said Merlin, holding out the blanket, "I can't take the blanket with a clear conscience, it's not right."
"Just take it, Merlin. It's just a blanket." Arthur said, "Don't be an idiot."
Merlin crossed his arms, "Do you honestly think I'd take the blanket when the possibility of Uther beheading me because I let you sleep on the ground exists? Look, you should just take it, I'll be fine. I'll probably have to stay up all night for guard duty anyway, we don't want our horses stolen."
It was at times like these when Arthur absolutely despised his manservant. He had no right to be so foolishly noble. Especially when the girls were giggling again.
"Merlin, don't be ridiculous, you look like you're about to drop off on your feet. I'll take the first watch, and when I see fit, I'll wake you. Now, stop being difficult and take the blanket."
At not keeping watch, Merlin didn't argue, he was tired, after all. But the fact that he was hogging the one blanket while Arthur had nothing to keep him warm didn't sit too well with him. "There's no reason why you shouldn't keep warm while keeping watch." He pointed out, "My mother told me it's going to be a chilly night, she can feel it in her bones."
"Merlin," Arthur sighed an altogether exasperated sigh, "Exactly what part of 'take the blanket' don't you understand? Must you be inconveniently deaf every time I give an order? I can stand the cold better than you."
"Arthur--"
"Take the blanket." Arthur repeated slowly while his eyes gleamed with the promise of danger and much pain, "And go to sleep."
"How exactly do you expect me to sleep without a clear conscience?" Merlin demanded. "You're Prince of Camelot, I'm your manservant, this is ridiculous!"
Arthur cut eyes at him, "You want to know what's truly ridiculous? You, a mere servant boy, talking back to the Prince of Camelot. Haven't they taught you any manners?"
"Amusing as this may be." Morgana interrupted finally, "I'd rather get to sleep sometime before morning without all this squabbling. If I didn't know any better, the two of you sound blissfully married."
Gwen laughed, she probably couldn't help herself. Both prince and manservant cast at Morgana a horrified look. "Morgana!"
"What? Just telling it as I see it."
"You see too much." Arthur muttered darkly, and he jerked the blanket from Merlin's hands, "We'll compromise, I'll take the blanket, I'll still keep watch, you..." The glare at Merlin was just as dark as his tone, "Go to sleep. I don't want to hear anything more from you."
Merlin curled up, a safe distance from the fire, "...Yes, sire."
--
Merlin didn't speak for the rest of the night, but Arthur kept watch over the horses and was kept awake by the incessant rattling of Merlin's teeth. Whatever Merlin's mother felt in her bones had come to pass. He cursed silently to himself, like he'd tried to tell Merlin, he didn't need the bloody blanket.
Sighing, Arthur made sure the girls were in deep slumber before he walked over to where Merlin lay and dropped the blanket on top of Merlin's curled form in the most nonchalant way he could manage.
Merlin started and jerked upright, "What--"
"Shut up, Merlin, it's just me."
His manservant blinked sleepily, "Why do I have the blanket?"
"Because I got tired of hearing your teeth rattle. It's annoying." Arthur crossed his arms, "Go back to sleep. It's not morning yet."
"Isn't it my turn to keep watch then, for you to get some sleep." Despite himself, it was cold and Merlin cuddled the blanket around himself. "I mean, I got some sleep. So you should go to sleep. It's only fair and it will reflect badly upon me if you ride into Camelot dead tired."
Arthur dropped down next to where Merlin lay, "I"m not going to convince you to go back to sleep, am I?"
"No."
At this, Arthur fought the urge to roll his eyes, "Has anyone ever told you, Merlin, that you're incredibly stubborn and that you'll be the death of me?"
Merlin blinked at him nonchalantly, and in a casual motion, draped the blanket over Arthur's shoulders as well, they were still sitting far enough away, not touching. "No, sire, you haven't told me. But it wouldn't make any difference."
"For one who serves the prince, you really have a smart mouth." Arthur commented vaguely, deciding that it was of no use to lecture Merlin about the blanket again.
Merlin just grinned, "I hope so, I'm pretty clever."
Arthur just stared at him. "Merlin."
"Yes, sire?"
"No more puns, I can do very well without them."
--
In his sleep, Merlin heard voices, they sounded vaguely familiar, like shadows dappling in the distance far away.
"He looks so adorable curled up there. We should leave him be." That sounded like Morgana, "Besides, I don't see you complaining."
"Morgana--"
Ah, so it was.
"He looks so peaceful..." Gwen, he thought faintly, that sounded a lot like Gwen. "You must have a very comfortable lap, Arthur."
"Guinevere! Not you too." Arthur, definitely, "Morgana, must you make it a hobby to corrupt everyone in your social influence for the worse? Merlin's tired, all right? I was just trying to make him more comfortable. My intentions are pure and honorable."
"I really don't trust you when you're in such a compromising position. It looks suspicious." Morgana sounded pleased, "...and ripe for a misinterpretation, if you catch my drift."
Silence. The kinds of silence that stilled everything because Arthur was glaring deathly at something or someone, "Fine, I'll wake him up."
Shaking.
"Merlin, wake up. I can't feel my legs."
Sluggishly, Merlin blinked and opened his eyes. And then sat upright, bumping most ungraciously into—Arthur's chin?
...
And Arthur didn't look like the happiest person in the world this morning. Merlin looked back down to Arthur's trousers and found a series of wrinkles that suspiciously matched the mess that was his morning hair.
"Arthur--" He began, "Did I..."
The Prince held up a hand, looking most unamused. "Don't even start. I'll have your head." He grumbled as he got to his feet. "Thanks to you, I can't even walk properly. Get on your horse and stop dawdling. We're late setting out already."
"Oh."
Morgana was smiling kindly at him, and so was Gwen, who reached forward to touch Merlin's arm in a friendly fashion, "Don't worry, he'll come around, he looked like he was quite enjoying it when you were pretending to sleep."
And then it dawned on him, and a look of absolute horror crossed Merlin's sleep-written features, "What?"
Chapter II End:: (4/29/09)
