Merlin's magic (Oneshots)

The last Dragonlord 4

"How long was I out? I feel like I've slept for ages!" Merlin yawned as he suddenly got up, hand in front of his mouth, then stretching to shake off sleep.

Arthur calmly glanced his way. "Couldn't have been more than four hours or so."

"Four hours? Really?" Merlin thoughtfully turned to him, eyes blinking dazedly. "And nothing happened?"

Arthur blinked, half amused. "What could have been happening in four hours?"

Merlin turned to him, the blanket shifted around him. Merlin's eyes snapped to it, surprise evident. "Uh-" A red tint made it to his ears as he sat up, fully facing Arthur. "Did you give me your blanket?"

"Answer the question, Merlin."

Merlin looked up again to meet Arthur's eyes. The fire was dancing in the blue of his irises, reflected on his cheekbones and in his hair. "You're calling me Merlin again."

Arthur clenched his teeth. "Do you get disrupted in your sleep often?," he urged him on by kicking against Merlin's arm.

Merlin twitched slightly and rubbed the spot. "Yes." He didn't elaborate immediately, his eyes caught thoughtfully on the fire. "Something is always going on. And I don't really get many breaks between serving you, helping Gaius and finding some clues about an assassin." He turned to a conflicted Arthur. "My magic helps me through it but yeah. Four hours is plenty. I thought we would have been attacked by now."

Arthur gaped slightly. "We don't get attacked THAT often!"

Merlin shrugged. "No. But I usually stay up the longest to clean your dirty plates, get up the earliest to wake you, and in the middle of the night druids and prophets get the weird idea to annoy me." Merlin grinned like it was funny. "When it's NOT bandits attacking."

Arthur buried his face in his hands. "Why are you like this?!" Adorable, protective, charming, devoted, forgiving.

Merlin averted his gaze, clearly to give Arthur room to breathe. "I try to do the right thing. Just like you." His smile was a bit dopey, a bit childish and it had a naivety to it that Arthur hadn't seen on Merlin in years. He hadn't even noticed it had been gone until Merlin shoved it right in his face.

"Then you're an idiot," Arthur said quite carelessly. Merlin's expression fell and he shuffled closer to the fire, hugging himself closely. "But a good man," Arthur added quietly. Merlin looked up, and Arthur made a decision. "I've thought about it for a while - and I think I want to trust you."

Merlin's eyes widened. "Wait, really? Me?" Like he couldn't believe it, couldn't fathom that anyone would ever wish to trust him. At least not after - it.

Arthur watched the expression unfold with a heavy heart. "I've trusted you before and never regretted it. I never asked about your secret, so I can't really accuse you of lying. I haven't even asked you for the whole story, so I don't know really if you truly betrayed me. But-" Arthur paused, his heart soring. "If I can't even trust my best friend, then what am I worth as King?"

Merlin's eyes widened very slowly. "I'm your best friend?"

Arthur full on snapped towards him. "Of course you are, who did you think it was?!"

"How would I know? Sir Leon?!?!"

He was speechless for just a second, the idiocy of it... Seriously? Arthur punched him in the arm, making Merlin sway to counter the weight of it. "You ARE an idiot! You're stubborn and oblivious and a full on - pumpous-" Arthur sputtered, fishing for insults, "turnip head."
Merlin laughed. Really laughed, in a way he hadn't in years. His eyes twinkled with humor.
Arthur's heart melted. "I'm serious. How could you not know that?"