How Merlin Should Have Ended

The Restless

So far Merlin had cleaned his room, helped Gaius make the prescriptions for the day, and read his magic books. Despite all this, there were still many hours left in the day, and Merlin hadn't the first clue what to do with them.

"Okay, I'm off to make the morning rounds," Gaius told him as he gathered up his tiny bottles full of various potions. "Don't die of boredom before I get back."

"Ha ha," Merlin replied sarcastically.

Merlin did not want to admit to himself that he didn't know what to do with time off. Even if working on his day off was rather an admission of this fact on its own, Merlin decided not to think about it as he opened the first magic book. Nothing he looked up was helping very much. Maybe it was less about healing and more about undoing whatever adverse effects had been done.

Merlin's attention was pulled from the pages to the door as he heard it open. Gaius walked in with his empty prescription bag.

"Still alive I see," Gaius said. "Though with the number of books on that table, am I right in thinking you didn't manage to relax?"

"I'm doing research for the king," Merlin said defensively.

"The very same king that gave you forced time off?" Gaius said with a raised eyebrow.

"Gaius, what is the cause of hangovers?" Merlin asked, ignoring Gaius's question.

"Dehydration," Gaius replied.

"Ah so what I need is a rehydration spell then," Merlin concluded, speaking more to himself than to his mentor.

"What are you trying to do now?" Gaius sighed, moving forward into the room and putting his things down on the table.

"Cure a hangover," Merlin admitted.

"Surely someone as important as you can find better uses for their time," Gaius pointed out.

"Hey, it's my day off," Merlin argued.

"To relax," Gaius reminded him. "Not work more."

"This is relaxing," Merlin argued. Though he wasn't really sure if that was true. It had been so long since he'd had time for himself, Merlin wasn't quite sure what relaxing meant anymore.

"Your magic's meant to shape great kingdoms, build a brighter future," Gaius told him. "Not mend headaches."

"Why can't it do both?" Merlin asked.

"If you refuse to relax, then I'm going to put you to work. You can help me tend to a leg injury," Gaius continued.

"Fine by me," Merlin replied, getting up from the table covered in magic spell books and moving over to Gaius.

"And what do you think you are doing?" Gaius said sternly.

"Helping you?" Merlin replied cautiously. The older man turned and pointedly looked at the mess Merlin had left on his table.

"Oh right," Merlin said. With a few words and a small gesture of his hand, Merlin had all the books magically put away.

"You better hope they are all back in their proper place," Gaius continued. "I just finished reorganizing them from the last time you magicked them onto the shelves in the wrong order." He paused for just a second before adding, "If you really want something to do on your day off, try memorizing my sorting system."

"How is that any more important than curing hangovers?" Merlin asked.

"It's more important to me," Gaius replied. "Now come here and watch as I make the medicine."