A/N: I'm going to Maine for a week and I have no idea if there's internet and I had an "OhSHITIhaven'tpostedanything" moment. So Sofiajedi, who is helping me with an extremely twisted fic now, is busy and I'm tired and yeah. Unproofread, read with caution.
Thanks to reviewers, as always.
And Camelot gets massive amounts of snow. Why? Because it's more fun. Nobody wants to read about a measly two inches. It also just occurred to me that it's August and for some reason I'm writing a story that takes place in winter. Whatever.
"Rise and shine, it's a beautiful morning!" Arthur moaned.
"What's so beautiful about it anyway?" He could hear the chipperness leaking from Merlin's voice. He probably had a stupid grin on his face too. And stupidly bright eyes. Arthur hated morning people.
"It snowed! Nearly two feet." Arthur growled into the pillow.
"How do you know how deep it is?"
"I went outside! Come on, not even you can be a grumpykins when there's fresh snow on the ground!" That got Arthur out of bed. He scrambled up and reached for something to throw. Nothing presented itself. So Arthur turned to glare at Merlin.
"I am not a grumpykins." It appeared that the all intimidating royalty glare of doom didn't work on Merlin. The idiot just grinned and didn't look at all remorseful.
"Be happy! You've got a hot breakfast and a whole new vat of snow related things to worry about!" Arthur snarled something inarticulate at Merlin and stomped to his table. He did have new snow related problems. The paths and roads had to be cleared, the pipes probably had to be unfrozen, the windows all had to be closed, and he had to deal with an incessantly cheerful Merlin.
Bloody wonderful.
"You still aren't happy." Merlin finished stoking up the fire. "There's snow!"
"Snow means problems." Merlin rolled his eyes. Arthur scowled.
"It's pretty though. And it's fun!" Merlin ignored Arthur's glare. "I can hear the children laughing from here."
"Are they laughing because I'm going to throw you out the window out the window and they enjoy the sight of broken bleeding bodies?" If Merlin's grin slipped just a little at that, it wasn't noticeable.
"Snow is just fun Arthur." Merlin finished stoking the fire and got to his feet. Arthur blinked and sat up straighter as Merlin opened the door.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"To make sure Uther's fireplace is lit up. Can't have the King freezing to death." Arthur hmpfed and watched Merlin leave. If his gaze lingered a little longer than protocol allowed, no one was around to notice.
Arthur trotted down the steps to check on the men clearing snow. Merlin was sort of right. The snow was pretty, the men clearing it looked cheerful, and he spotted several children playing in the massive drifts. He had his thickest clothes on, which happened to be a dashing scarlet cloak he was rather fond of, and there was the sound of laughter in the air.
Vaguely familiar laughter. Arthur turned and squinted over the glare from the snow.
His heart suddenly felt heavier. There was another man wearing a scarlet cloak on the other side of the courtyard. He recognized Lancelot. The man was blushing like a young girl, and ducking his head bashfully.
It was easy to see that the girl next to him was Gwen. She was brushing the snow off his cloak, smiling and giggling. Arthur stared as Lancelot said something that made Gwen laugh louder.
That was fine. Nothing suggested that it was anything more than platonic. In fact, this was a good thing. It made sense for one of his finest knights to care so for his possible future queen. It would no doubt help relations for Gwen to be able to depend so completely on a knight. It would give her protection when he wasn't around.
It would give her someone to wiggle her fingers at in a flirtatious way when he was away as well. Apparently.
"What's gotten you all frowny?" Merlin asked as he hopped down the steps. Merlin was in a woolen version of his usual clothing, with a bright red scarf.
"Well, there's the fact that these men aren't working nearly fast enough, and it's cold enough for me to feel it through my cloak, and this 'pretty snow' is bloody blinding me." Arthur snarled. "Oh, and so is that scarf." Merlin blinked and looked down at his scarf.
"What?"
"It's an eyesore. Come on." Merlin pattered along behind him in confusion as Arthur stalked around Camelot, glaring workers into quicker movement and routinely hurling abuse over his shoulder at Merlin.
"What was gotten into you?" snapped Merlin, after the fifth insult to his intelligence. Arthur scowled.
"None of your concern!"
"If it's going to make you this unbearable, it is my concern!" Arthur tried to burn a hole in Merlin's forehead with his eyes. He failed. "What's wrong?"
For a second, Arthur was swayed by Merlin's concerned tone. Then he remembered that this was Gwen and he cared for her deeply and Merlin should butt out of his romance.
"Go find something to do Merlin, and quit bothering me! If I choose to speak with you about something, I'll broach the subject myself!" Arthur stormed off. Merlin stomped into the palace, fuming.
In the far corners of Camelot, dark storms boiled in the sky.
Does Arthur just think I have nothing to do? Merlin fumed to himself. He was on his knees cleaning out the King's fireplace. It was difficult, and dirty, and he would much rather have been outside having fun. Freezing, yes, but having fun. Or with Arthur serving him in the council meeting.
Well, he'd want to be with Arthur if Arthur wasn't deciding to act like a royal ass! Merlin gritted his teeth and shuffled farther into the fireplace. Normally, he would have snapped his fingers and been done with it, but this was Uther's fireplace.
Using magic in front of Uther, however demented Uther might have become after Morgana, wasn't an option. Merlin wasn't that stupid, no matter what Arthur thought.
There was a whimper behind him. Merlin sighed.
"Morgana? Morgana dear, come sit next to me. I've got a present for you."
Merlin had given up talking back to Uther. He wasn't entirely sure what delusions held the King, but he had retreated to some other time. The blankets rustled as Uther moved. All the King was strong enough to do was shift his bulk around the bed.
Merlin ignored the ramblings behind him and finished cleaning the fireplace. He straightened, wiping his fingers on his pants.
Uther moaned. He managed to turn his head toward Merlin, staring at him. Uther's once blue eyes were a milky blue-grey now, and his face was saggy and more old than it ever had seemed in the past.
Merlin shivered. Uther was a very sick man.
"Murderer!" Merlin almost dropped his pail of ashes. "Murderer! Murderers all of you, you sorcerers and you witches, evil treacherous abominations!"
Merlin fled from Uther's chambers, shoulders shaking.
Abomination. That was a new one.
"Merlin, what happened to you?" Arthur had been angry a few moments ago. But the sight of his grey manservant was simply too much.
"Cleaning your father's fireplace." Arthur fought down a giggle at Merlin's hapless look. "I thought that as long as I was filthy already, I'd get your filthier clothing to the laundry."
Arthur stifled his amusement.
"Go use my bath basin." Merlin blushed. "Er, it's already dirty and because you were missing I had a maid fill it. You're hardly likely to get a hot bath anywhere else."
"Um, thank you." Arthur really had no idea how Merlin managed in winter. Melting snow for a bath sounded more the precursor to a trip to Gaius, and took ages anyway. No way was Merlin being allowed to walk around blackened for that length of time.
He was Arthur's manservant after all. He had to be presentable, it would reflect poorly on Arthur if he didn't.
"Go on." Arthur gestured to the antechamber where his basin sat. "It'll get cold."
"Fine." Merlin's tone surely wasn't daring? Merlin shucked his jacket and began pulling off his boots. Arthur swallowed.
"I'll just go find something else to do. You can take some of my old clothing, I'll have those cleaned." Arthur whirled around before Merlin could bare any more skin than his feet.
Merlin watched him go, disappointment settling in his stomach. Surely it wasn't normal for men to just let others use their baths?
But this was Arthur, and Arthur was odd, and having moodswings due to the stress he was under, and so maybe this was the new normal. Merlin crooked a grin.
It was a bit funny when he thought about it. Merlin was never without hot bath water, on the rare occasion he found time to bathe. He spot cleaned himself with magic more often than he got to actually wash.
But heating water was really the only form of magic Gaius found acceptable, and so Merlin took every opportunity. He shrugged mentally, and decided that the universe was odd.
A/N: This is ridiculously short. The main point was: It snowed. Uther's a nutter. I'll update on the 4th or 5th of September, and the chapter is long, I swear.