DISCLAIMER: Would I be posting my stories here if I owned Arthur and Merlin? No. I'm just borrowing them from BBC to play with for a little while.
J: This is one of two drabbles that I wrote over at LJ. Enjoy and review because reviews are lovely chocolate chipped cookies for the hyperactive plot bunnies.
First, it was that weird witch who kind of froze time and tried to kill him. Then there was that griffin thing. That scared him alright. Imagine trying to take a stab at an animal the size of a horse, with wings, talons and a tail. Not to mention a beak. Yeah, the beak was pretty daunting.
After that, there were those beetles that could crawl into people's head and eat their brains. That was pretty gruesome. After that incident, Arthur found himself walking out of a room when he saw a beetle in there and won't come in till someone was in there with him. Oh! Not to forget those snakes that became animated from Valiant's shield. It was pretty cool, though.
Above all the things he had to face, the one that he will never ever mess with again would be the unicorn. Sure, they were beautiful horse-yet-not-horse things, and they shoot rainbow beams out of their arses, but to be cursed once because he was ignorant of the legends meant that he would never be so foolhardy about those things again. There was also that thing about the Questing Beast. That thingcreaturebeast had darn well almost killed him. Well, almost Arthur Pendragon was not going to be taken down that easily.
But the most enigmatic of all the creatures that he'd ever met was a boy from Ealdor called Merlin. He never stops smiling, spaces out almost constantly, calls him by his name as though he had the right to, wears a neckerchief around his neck that did nothing more than to accentuate his blue, blue eyes. This Merlin never did any of the chores that were given to him properly, never did as he was told, and always, always got himself into the stocks.
However, if he was an idiot, then Merlin was the most loyal idiot Arthur had ever come to meet. He'd proven that more than once by drinking obvious poison in his place, risking death because of his mistake, risked death for his friends and anyone and everything he held dear. And Arthur found that trait extremely endearing.
Another thing was that some days, Merlin would look at him. Really, really look at him, like he could see something he couldn't in himself. Like there was some sort of beauty that he saw in Arthur. All the feelings were evident in blue orbs. Sometimes if he squinted, he could actually see them dance. And sometimes, the prince feels he is undeserving of all that emotion.
Sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, he could almost swear he saw a flash of gold in the blue eyes. And this usually happens when dangers were imminent and by some sudden miracle, whatever foes that they might be up against, seem to fail against them. Merlin often seems tired, jittery and a little more respectful after those little incidences. Arthur often wonders why.
So, it is needless to say that Merlin is the most mysterious creature he knows of. And Arthur vows to uncover the secret behind the smile.