Disclaimer: I own Merlin... oh wait no I don't, otherwise they'd have kissed ages ago :P
A/N: as usual this goes to LadyFromPoland and Allthingsmagical for their wonderful reviews.. leave a review get a mention *hint hint*
~the spell of revelation~
Something had been bugging Arthur since yesterday... How the hell did Gwaine of all people figure him out? Had he been that obvious? No, no he'd looked at Merlin the same amount he always did. Well, maybe a bit more but still! And if Gwaine noticed how many of the others knew something was up? It's one thing for people to comment that he had an unusual relationship with his manservant, it's a whole different story if they have proof.
The prince was sitting in bed awake, unusually early even for him, pondering different things. What he thought was minutes was hours and he heard fumbling outside his door. 'Hmm maybe I should...nah, well. Here goes.' The prince laid back down in his bed and threw the covers back over him haphazardly, attempting to steady his breathing to have the appearance of sleep.
Merlin walked in slowly but surely, attempting to not drop something again as he fumbled around. He glanced over at the prince's sleeping form and smiled "Good he's still asleep." He laid the tray and pitcher down lightly on the table.
As the prince listened and waited his heart was beating so loudly, he was amazed the whole castle couldn't hear it.
Merlin walked over to Arthur his heart was beating fast again... why? The prince had been acting strange lately, not that he didn't like it, it's just, well, it makes him think of the prat more and more. Even now with his heart pounding he was nervous! Nervous doing something he'd done millions of times before!
With a shaky breath he moved the cover down a little, so he could shake him awake, but gasped when he saw the prince without his shirt. Why should that bother him you ask? It shouldn't. Arthur usually sleeps that way. Merlin just never bothered to actually look. The prince was well defined, his torso was all muscle, which made Merlin chuckle at how irritated the prince had been when he'd called him fat one day, just as a jest mind you. There's only so many times you could be called a girl before you have to get even. The prince's dirty blonde hair had fallen into his eyes... Merlin just couldn't resist.
Before he even knew what he was doing Merlin bent down and gently brushed the hair out of Arthur's eyes, then down his face,jaw,abs, until he found his hand which he gently squeezed. "It-it's time to wake up Arthur. Come on." a vague grunt came from the prince and Merlin snorted, then something dawned on him, with an evil smirk Merlin said Arthur's least favorite words. "Rise and shine!"
Arthur blinked once, twice... looked at Merlin, then blankly down to there still joined hands. Merlin realizing he was still holding his hand jumped back like he'd been burned and had a blush from his ears down to his neck. "Arthur! Umm sorry haha."
"Merlin were you just holding my hand?"
"N-no I was..." Merlin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot thinking of an excuse, "You told me how you hate my normal wake up calls so I decided to try something different! That's all!"
"Sooooooo holding my hand accomplished?"
"Well, your up aren't you? I was going to shake your arm if you didn't get up but it seems all I have to do is say 'rise and shine' "
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly and said "Riiiiiggghhht, are you forgetting something?"
"Like what?"
"Ohh I don't know, my CLOTHES!"
Merlin gaped "Oh, right! Sorry!" The young warlock went and grabbed the Arthur's favorite outfit, A red tunic with his brown jacket and a pair of brown trousers.
When the prince noticed that Merlin was pulling out his favorite outfit he couldn't help but be happy. Merlin, his sweet innocent caring Merlin, was falling for him! Or at least he hoped he was. After all he'd never did something as pointless as brushing the hair out of his eyes, or there was the fact that he was trailing his hand down his body.
"What's made you so happy? Last I checked you hate mornings."
The prince stared at Merlin looking at his hair, which was slightly in his eyes, the way it framed his adorable ears... His eyes a startling blue that screamed innocence but hid knowledge underneath them. Then there was his cheekbones which many a woman would die for, and gods those lips looked like they were meant for kissing.
"Arthur!" Merlin's voice was squeaky in pitch." W-what're you doing?" No response. "Arrrrrtthhhhhhhuuurrr." Nothing. Merlin huffed and licked his lips subconsciously noticing that Arthur's eyes seemed to follow. 'O.k that's new... Why the hell is he staring? It's making me self-conscious!' In his aggravation Merlin waved his hand in front of Arthur's face. "Helloooo? Is anybody home?"
"What?"
"Just wondering why you were staring?"
"What are talking about? I wasn't staring." a light flush tinted Arthur's cheeks at the lie.
"Right. I'm going to be helping out Gaius today. Something about needing more honey and chamomile?"
"Fine. Report back to me once your home again though."
Merlin's day went as expected he collected the herbs he had to get and even helped an elderly man from underneath a fallen tree branch. The guy was so thankful! Turned out he was heading for Ealdor of all places. When the man asked what he could do in return Merlin simply told him that when he made it to Ealdor to let his mother, Hunith, know that he was doing fine, slightly confused but fine. The man, Zebb was his name smiled and headed off on his journey.
'Well time to get back to Gaius.'
Arthur's day however wasn't as pleasant.
"Gwaine!" Arthur hollered.
"Ah! Princess! Came for a tankard of mead?" The man said almost tripping as he stood up.
"No, I'd like a word."
Everyone seemed to go quiet with curiosity at that moment.
Arthur glared around and sighed "Somewhere private?"
"Sure thing. But your buying my next pint." And Gwaine led Arthur up the stairs into one of the rooms that the knight frequented when he was to drunk to walk home.
"How did you figure out?"
"What? Merlin? Ah, that was easy. You can practically cut the tension in the air with a knife with you two. And in my travels I've found that usually means someone likes someone. And since as far as I know Merlin is straight, well that left you Princess."
"So that's all that you based your theory off of?" Arthur was visibly happier.
"Well, no."
"What else?"
"You stare. Alot. And then there's the fact that you bought Merlin that necklace. And I was there when you ruined his neckerchief. You spilled that dye on it on purpose! Don't deny it. Then you started staring at his neck. Your obvious, but only if people bother to notice."
Arthur's face drained of color leaving him as pale as Morgana. "I'm obvious? THAT bloody obvious?"
Gwaine seemed to sense where the prince's train of thought was going. "Don't worry, the king won't notice. Neither will the knights. Well Percival, Leon, Lancelot, and myself will know. The other three will probably piece it together soon enough. But no one except your friends will notice." Gwaine laid his hand comfortingly on Arthur's shoulders.
The prince relaxed slightly. "So those three will figure it out. Will Gwen and Morgana?"
The knight laughed. "They've known you liked Merlin since you went to Ealdor for them."
" Oh...Damn. That explains why Morgana always gets really moody when it comes to me and Merlin then. This is too much to process, I think, No I'm going to my chambers."
Gwaine watched as Arthur left the room when he remembered. "But what about my drink?"
The knight pouted as he headed down the stairs, returning to the table with his half empty tankard.
"Why so sad?"
"Someone went back on a promise."
"Like?"
"Paying for my next tankard."
The girl looked at him funny. "Well, if it makes it up to you the prince left his crest saying he'd pay for all of your expenses for today."
Gwaine's face lite up and he downed the rest of his tankard. "NEXT ROUND IS ON PRINCE ARTHUR!" He shouted joyously. The rest of the bar cheering at the rambuncious regular.
Boy is Arthur going to regret that tomorrow.
A/N : O.k so I realized that I made a goof. I added Gwaine to the story when he doesn't come in until the third year.. oops. Haha oh well too late now. 'sides Gwaine's my favorite character anyway. :P
I think the shortness of my stories is countered by the awe factor lol but I swear one of these days I'll get around to writing a long chapter! It's a new personal goal! Also I'd like to thank my friend Toni for agreeing to Beta this.