"What sort of trouble are we in now, exactly?" Arthur's voice bounced around inside the warlock's head like a dream.
Merlin still wasn't entirely sure if he was really there. It felt unreal. Like it was nothing more than an illusion. It wouldn't be the first time, though Merlin wasn't sure he could bounce back again if it proved to be just that. A dream.
"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, reminding himself that illusion or not he couldn't just drop off into his thoughts at any moment like he was used to. Real or not, Arthur was in front of him, and he wanted to take advantage of that for as long as he could.
"I mean what kind of trouble should I be expecting when we walk back out that door?"
"Why would there be trouble? The city isn't that big, and.." Trailing off, Merlin's brows drew together in confusion as Arthur sighed long and loud, setting his mug on the table beside the warlock's leg, the tea in it untouched.
"Merlin, why else would I be here, why else would I be back, if there wasn't some sort of trouble waiting for us?"
Blinking a couple of times, Merlin looked down at his own mug, inhaling a breath of the herbal tea, before turning old eyes to look back at his friend. "What do you remember?"
"Everything." Arthur answered immediately before his brows pulled together and he frowned, a lost expression rising as he shook his head once. "Nothing. I don't know, everything is a jumble."
"A jumble?" Merlin repeated, and Arthur drug his fingers through his hair.
"It's like.. It's like I remember everything until I try. If I just let it happen, I can tell it's there, right on the peripheral. But the second I try to pick out a specific thing, or a time, or a memory, everything hurts. My head hurts." The last bit was uttered with a groan, his hands flattening against his forehead as he sucked in a sharp breath.
Concern flooded through Merlin, and as he opened his mouth to speak, Arthur continued. "I used to have these dreams. My whole life. I thought.. but none of it was real. Not until the water. The fountain. Then it was all I could see."
Stunned, Merlin thought back to when he thought Arthur was just some mindless student wandering around. Drunk. Stumbling about. But no, it was more than that, wasn't it? Magic had drawn him there. It was one of those rare little bubbles that still existed in small, untouched areas. Just like the fountain in the park.
Merlin himself had always been drawn there, but he thought that was because of the story. A simple tale. A myth as much as he was. But now he had to wonder just how much of it was actually real.
Arthur sucked in another breath and let it out in a hiss, and the warlock quickly stood. "I have something that can help with the pain if you want it." Merlin offered, and Arthur's head slowly lifted, wary eyes studying him.
The man looked suspicious. Untrusting. Merlin wasn't used to seeing that look on his face. At least, not at any time that he cared to remember.
"How?"
"With magic." The warlock responded, his tone indicating it should have been obvious. To him it was, but he supposed that even back in Camelot Arthur hadn't had time to grow used to the idea of his servant possessing magic.
"You still have it then." Arthur said, the words coming out almost accusatory, though Merlin suspected that wasn't how he'd meant it.
"I've been alive for centuries," The warlock scoffed instead. "Of course I still have it." Turning around and walking into his kitchen, he opened one of his cabinets and began to remove a few cans stacked inside.
"Wait," Arthur spoke from the couch, his voice sounding strangled. "You've been alive all this time?"
Reaching his fingers into a small hole on the bottom right side of the cabinet he was in, Merlin pried open one piece of the paneling. "Of course I have. What did you think happened?"
Sliding his hand through the opening and behind the cabinet, Merlin frowned in concentration until his fingers found a small leather satchel. Pulling it out and setting it on his counter, the warlock rifled through a few different colored vials before selecting one that smelled faintly of lavender. Carrying it back to his sitting room, Merlin stopped in his tracks at the sight of Arthur staring in frozen horror at the table in front of him.
"Are you alright?" The warlock asked quickly, striding forward and dropping to his knees on the floor in front of his friend. Grasping Arthur's arms, Merlin ducked his head down until he could meet panicked blue eyes.
"Alive."
"What?" Merlin asked as Arthur began to shake his head, his gaze focusing on the dark haired man.
"You've been alive."
"Yes?" Confusion surged through the warlock at the fresh expression of horror the blond displayed. What was so wrong with his being alive? Shouldn't Arthur be glad that he was alive?
"This whole time you've been alive."
"Yes, Arthur."
"But alive."
"I really don't see the problem here." Merlin frowned, pulling himself away and setting the vial down hard on the table in front of the blond.
When Arthur didn't respond or make a motion for the potion, Merlin grit his teeth and pried the cork off the vial before pouring it unceremoniously into the man's mug. He'd remembered how much he missed Arthur, but he'd forgotten how infuriating the man could be.
"What is this?" Arthur asked after Merlin shoved the mug into his hands.
"It's tea mixed with an old remedy for pain."
"What sort of remedy?"
"One that Gaius cultivated, and that I enhanced." Merlin explained, unable to hide the small smile that rose at talking about his old guardian. Arthur didn't smile back though, instead he sat holding the mug stiffly as the warlock's concern for him steadily rose. "What's wrong?"
"Why?" Arthur asked quietly, his fingers clenching tight around the mug.
"Why what?"
"Why did you wait around?"
Blinking in surprise, Merlin nearly laughed. Was that why he was acting strangely? How could he not know the answer? The question was so ridiculous, and the answer so obvious.
"For you, dollop head." Arthur's head jerked up at the old name, and his gaze was so intense that Merlin couldn't stop himself from shifting back a fraction. "It was prophesized that you would return." Merlin explained further, his voice slow and cautious, and fury filled his friend's eyes.
"So you just waited around, letting the years pass by?"
"Yes?" The mug in Arthur's hands clattered onto the table as he slammed it down, the man's breathing coming out ragged and hard. "Arthur?"
"You.. you.. idiot!"
Stunned by his outburst, Merlin's eyes narrowed as the blond continued to glare at him. "Excuse me?"
"How could you just wait?"
"Because it was my destiny. Because I chose to. Because I wanted to see you again after you died in my arms, you prat!" Merlin spat out in the same tone as Arthur, his fingers clenched into tight fists as the man sitting on his couch froze, his eyes locked onto the warlock's as silence descended.
"I'm sorry."
The words that left the blond's mouth shocked Merlin, his mouth hanging open without anything able to come out. He had to have heard him wrong. There was no way that Arthur Pendragon just apologized to him.
"I never thought.." Sucking in a deep breath, Arthur leaned forward until his elbows rested on his knees. "I mean I never considered that you.."
Merlin looked away, guilt seizing his chest as the weight of the vial in his pocket from earlier in the night seemed to triple in weight. He'd nearly taken his own life just hours ago, and here Arthur was, finally returned, feeling as if he had failed Merlin. When in reality it was the other way around. Merlin wasn't strong. He was weak. And he hated himself for that.
"It was hard." Merlin finally forced out, his voice strained and quiet as Arthur reached for his mug again, taking a few small sips. "But it was worth it."
"Was it?" Arthur asked softly, looking at the warlock from over the top of his mug, and Merlin smiled from where he still knelt on the carpet.
"For this moment right here, it was."
"Merlin, I treated you terribly." Arthur scoffed, waving a hand between the two of them. "I still do! How can you think I was worth it?"
"You were my best friend, Arthur." Merlin shrugged, his fingers tapping a couple of times on his table as he settled on the carpet and folded his legs beneath him. "You still are. You're also my king, and serving you was, and is, my job."
The blond grew quiet at that, taking another long drink from his mug, and Merlin watched while the man's shoulders visibly relaxed.
"I'm not a king anymore, Merlin." Arthur muttered into his mug. "I'm just a student now, barely passing my classes."
"Of course you are." Confusion flickered across the blond's face at the statement, and Merlin nudged his foot with the toe of his shoe. "Aren't you?"
"What are you talking about? I'm not still a king. I think I'd have known a lot sooner if I was. Not to mention that I think the Queen would have a word or two to say about it as well."
"Arthur, why do you think you've returned?" Merlin arched a brow as his friend stifled a yawn.
"I don't know, to pass my exams?"
Rolling his eyes, Merlin shook his head once. "You're here to reclaim Camelot, Arthur. To return it to its glory. To return magic to the land."
Blinking, Arthur just stared at him. Five seconds passed. Ten. By the time thirty seconds of complete silence rolled around, Merlin reached forward and shook the other man's leg.
"Arthur?"
"Merlin, I know that I just technically 'woke up' and remembered who I used to be, but the part of me that was born in this century knows for a fact that Camelot isn't around anymore."
"Yes, but—"
"Not only that, but we are myths. Camelot never really existed for people now days, which means there isn't even a piece of it left, otherwise someone would have found it and proven that we aren't in fact just stories from childhood."
Frowning, Merlin stood up and stepped around his king, settling once again on the edge of his table and picking up his own mug of lukewarm tea. "There are still pieces here and there, if you know where to look. Camelot was important not just in our history, but in magic's history. It wouldn't just fade away to nothing."
"It just doesn't make sense why no one would have found it before now." Arthur said with another yawn as he set down his empty mug and blinked slowly.
The potion was finally taking effect, though the warlock was beginning to wish he hadn't given him anything now. He knew it was almost four in the morning, but Arthur was there, and Merlin hadn't realized just how much he missed it all. Talking about his past. Their past. Their history. But Arthur had also been through a lot in the last couple of hours, and he looked like he was barely hanging on.
"We should sleep." Merlin finally relented when Arthur's next blink lasted several seconds.
"I should get back to my dorm." The blond yawned again while he lifted his hand to rub at his eyes.
Panic that arose out of nowhere flared through Merlin, and he barely managed to tamp it down, instead swallowing thickly and gesturing vaguely to the couch. "You can stay here tonight if you want. It's late, and with everything that's happened, you know.." The warlock trailed off, but if Arthur found it strange he didn't say anything.
"The couch is comfortable." The man mumbled, leaning over until he was half laying on it, one arm stretched to the floor while his fingers brushed against the wood. "You know I'm not going anywhere, don't you Merlin?" The question caught the warlock off guard, and Merlin fidgeted where he was sitting.
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe it's been years, or centuries, or whatever, but I still know you." Opening his eyes to small slits, Arthur stared wearily at the man. "I'm here, really here."
Tears burned in the warlock's eyes that he hurried to blink away, turning his head to the side as he stood. "It wouldn't be the first time that I imagined your return." He murmured quietly, the lump in his throat making it difficult to breathe.
"Stop being so dramatic." Arthur mumbled, his eyes closed once again while Merlin lingered a moment more.
Finally turning and disappearing through the closed door on his right, Merlin returned a moment later with a pillow under one arm and a blanket under the other. He was gone less than two minutes, but Arthur was already out like a light.
Sighing softly, the warlock carefully lifted the blond's head and placed the pillow under it, pausing when the man turned and tucked his feet up on the couch. "You're still the same, even after all this time." Merlin spoke, reaching over and tugging off his king's boots before spreading the blanket out over him.
"Merlin.." Arthur mumbled, and the warlock hesitated as the man turned his back to him and tucked an arm beneath his head. "See you.. tomorrow.."
Pressing his lips together into a thin line, Merlin couldn't bring himself to respond. Instead, he turned the light on over his stove and flipped off all the others, submerging Arthur in darkness.
Stifling his own yawn, the warlock glanced briefly towards his bedroom, the door partially cracked now, and felt himself longing for his bed. He hadn't stayed awake this late or for this long in a while. But then his eyes were falling back to the couch and the man on it, and Merlin crept back inside the sitting room, moving towards a small window covered with a black curtain.
Pulling back the fabric and looking out on the sleeping city below, the warlock stifled another yawn. He couldn't sleep. Not with Arthur here. Not with the idea of him fading away like a dream left haunting him.
Merlin had spent so long waiting for his king and friend to return, and he'd suffered so much. He couldn't take losing him. Not again. Not after he'd received so much hope.
Slumping against the window and pressing the side of his head against the freezing windowpane, Merlin stared wearily across the room at his sleeping king. It was going to be a long night.
A/N
Alright so we've got a little backstory going, they're bonding again, and soon we're going to find out the reason why Arthur returned! Also, in answer to someone's question, the rest of the characters will be showing up within the next few chapters!
Thank you guys for reading and for your interest! Feel free to leave any comments, questions, or concerns for me, they always brighten my day SO much! See you guys next time!