Magic Revealed

Merlin Himself

Merlin and Arthur both had trouble sleeping that night. When Merlin did wake up, several hours earlier than he intended, he had nothing to do and paced restlessly around his room before deciding to go into Arthur's and see if there was anything he could do to get his mind off of his journey.

He'd found Arthur awake and sitting on his bed, staring off into the distance. The king hadn't seemed to notice him at all until the warlock came to stand in front of him, "Everything alright?" He asked.

Arthur's head snapped up and he looked at Merlin in surprise before slowly nodding. Merlin looked towards the window, "You should go back to sleep." He said, "It's still a while till dawn."

Arthur swallowed, "Can't sleep." He said, his voice raspy. Merlin sighed and found the pitcher of water that they kept in the king's room and poured him a cup before handing it to him. "You should at least try." He told the blond.

Arthur looked tired and Merlin was sure he didn't look any better. Arthur looked up at him before finally saying, "Stay?"

Merlin nodded his agreement and Arthur got back under his covers and lay down. Merlin layed down next to him but stared at the ceiling instead of attempting to go back to sleep.

About half an hour later Arthur fell asleep and Merlin was left with nothing but his thoughts. He wasn't exactly sure when this had become a habit for the two of them. Neither seemed to mind though and, though neither would admit it, they both felt safer with the other close by.

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to sleep even if it was difficult.

He felt Arthur shift and looked over to find the king scooting closer to him and rolled his eyes. "You make things far too difficult, you know?" he whispered before rolling over so his back was to the blond and closing his eyes. Sleep was important and he needed to be ready for anything. 

∆∆∆

Merlin woke up later and for a moment couldn't remember where he was. He sat up and looked around, totally disoriented from the dream that had throw him into the mist of a day far in the future. 

He glanced down at Arthur who hadn't moved from where he'd been back to back with Merlin. He was now shifting uncomfortably, seemingly from the loss of warmth. Merlin sighed and looked to the window. The horizon was just starting to turn gray. He sighed and layed back down, lacing fingers behind his head as he did so. Arthur stopped moving when he did and turned in his sleep.

Merlin glanced down at the king, and sighed before removing a hand from behind his head to brush the blond hair out of his face and slap gently at his face, "Wake up."

Arthur groaned and rolled over into Merlin's side, "Stop it Merlin." He mumbled, clearly only half conscious, and buried face in Merlin's ribs. The warlock jumped slightly and scowled at the king. He was ticklish, which wasn't something he liked to admit, and the blond had managed to find the spot that made him want to roll away.

Merlin started pulling at the king's hair, "If I don't wake you now you'll be mad at me later. Just get up." He finally got Arthur to open his eyes and proceeded to flick the blond's forehead, "You're a pain." He told the king simply.

Arthur looked at him blearlily, "Merlin?"

Merlin smirked, "You will never be a morning person."

Arthur shook his head and then dropped it back down, "Why'd you want me up?"

"Because if I didn't wake you up before getting ready to leave you'd probably kill me." Merlin laughed. He sat up and combed his fingers through Arthur's bed head, straightening out the knots before moving to get out of bed.

A

rthur caught him by the elbow, "How long?"

Merlin looked towards the window, "I'm going to leave in about two hours." Arthur sighed and Merlin rolled his eyes at the king's still half asleep expression that was tinged with worry. He patted Arthur's shoulder, "I'm coming back. Promise."

Arthur scowled then shook his head as if trying to clear it, "uuh. Yeah, you better. I don't want to get stuck with George for the rest of my life thank you very much."

Merlin paused and then smiled wildly, "That idiot can't do anything right."

"Exactly!" Arthur said, sitting up the rest of the way.

"Come on. Let's get you dressed." Merlin said, "Then breakfast, round the others up and ready the horses." He said. "Two hours sounds about right."

Twenty minutes later they had gotten their breakfast and had sat down in Arthur's room to eat. Merlin sighed and yawned, "When this is all over I'll need a holiday." He mumbled.

"Hmmmm." Arthur said through some sausage, "That maybe in order."

"So you're giving me a day off?" Merlin asked in surprise.

"Two." Arthur joked.

Merlin laughed, "It's a miracle."

Arthur laughed along with him and then finished up his food. When Merlin finished he grabbed his bag and they headed down to the stables. Merlin saddled his horse with practiced fingers before waiting for the others to saddle thier's.

As they waited for the other two Arthur pulled Merlin to the side gently, "When you get back there is something I've wanted to talk to you about " he said slowly.

Merlin frowned, "Why not just tell me now?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Think of it as a way to make sure you come back alive."

Merlin scowled but nodded. He looked past Arthur to see Percival and Mordred. Merlin nodded to them both, "Ready?'

They both nodded and Merlin gave Arthur a hug before mounting his horses, the knights following suit. "We'll contact regularly to let you know what's happening." Percival said, "Keep an eye out while we're gone. Merlin won't be hear to stop any invasions this time.

Arthur nodded solemnly, "Right." He waved to them as they started off towards the gates.

Arthur sighed. He better come back. All of them. But especially Merlin. He wanted to tell him what he wanted, even if it was Merlin himself.