Crossfire

"You're Required In The King's Presence, Sire"

Merlin

Finishing Arthur's sword, my hand traveled up to wipe the beads of sweat from my face. They then lethargically moved to rub my eyes, as a soft yawn escaped from my lips. Soon standing up with satisfaction, I heaved a tired sigh. "I'm finally done," I breathed. Humming a little tune, happiness began to seep through my veins. I could possibly get a couple hours of sleep before I have to wake up Arthur.
"Merlin!" a voice suddenly echoed outside of my room. I froze, watching with uncertainty as Gaius strode through the door, giving me a look.
"Hello, Gaius."
"You're going to be late to wake the Prince!" he spoke, exasperated on how many times he had yelled the sentence.
"Is it that time already?" My eyes traveled to my window. The sun was rising, casting beams of multiple hues across the sky. I internally groaned from the day already starting so soon.
"Have you slept, Merlin?" Gaius asked, raising his other eyebrow. To say the least it was an interesting sight.
Giving the sunrise one more glance, I turned back to him, playing off my drained expression with a forced grin. "Ofcourse," I quickly lied, moving over to pick up the newly polished armor and sword equipped for the one and only.
"A wink! Merlin, Arthur's straining you!"
I gave my mentor a strained, short smile. "I'm fine, Gaius." I assured him with another tired grin. My attempt was backfired when he scolded my messy room. With silent eyes, I watched as he trudged about my bedroom, gesturing to the several welters with his hands.
"There's clutter everywhere!"
My eyes followed his, scanning over the many objects in the room. A sigh of relief exited me as I knew my spell book wasn't in sight. I then looked back up to Gaius, who was about to say a few words—something I didn't want to take part in.
Before another retort followed Gaius's last one, I was already bolting out the door and to Arthur's chambers.
"Merlin!" his voice echoed from a distance.

Arthur

"Rise and shine!"
I grumbled about wanting more sleep, groggily opening my eyes to see the silhouette of Merlin opening the curtains. Waiting a couple moments, I admired the silence for once.
"Get up, you prat!"
Well what was silence.
"Just another minute," I tiredly pleaded in reply. Letting my eyes shut once again, my mind drifted, letting the encased warmth soothe me. Not a second later, the covers were ripped from me, as a small shiver escaped my body.
"You have several council meetings to attend to, training with the knights, and several documents to sign," Merlin listed off from temporary memory, walking over to my dresser, picking out an outfit suitable for today. I saw his slightly slumped figure—most likely from exhaustion.
"Good," I replied cheekily. "Enough time for you to muck out the stables."
A struggled sigh fell from my friend's lips. I gave a triumphant smile, getting out of my bed. I couldn't stop the small twinge of guilt, though. The feeling seeping through me—the thought of Merlin not wanting to do something I forced him to do.
I stretched, sneaking a look at the man. His eyes had bags under them, his posture rough, unlike his usual self. I wondered what kept him up all night.
I let Merlin dress me, as I stared to the table, awaiting to be served breakfast. "Merlin."
"Yes, sire?" he replied, slipping a red shirt over my head and onto my torso, which he then patted to remove of any blemishes.
"Where's my sausage?"
"Sausage?"
"Yes, Merlin. There were three of them!"
A short silence occurred—Merlin formulating a plan; my reaction waiting to blow out of me.
"Well, about that..." he trailed off.
"What, Merlin? What could be so possibly important that could make me get only a portion of what my entire meal would be?"
He made a face, itching the back of his neck. "Well, sire. Your belt was beginning to become a problem."
I gave a glare to the man behind of me. "Excuse me?" I then took notice to the belt in Merlin's hands. "You made another hole?" I claimed, anger seeping through my tone of frustration.
"Well," he started casually. "It was one hole shy of perfection."
"Give me that!" I shrieked, enraged, taking ahold of the belt to put it around my waist. "See, Merlin? I don't need... another hole..." I huffed, managing with great difficulty to fasten the belt onto my waist. "Added to my belt," I then finished.
A small giggle gurgled from Merlin's mouth, as I couldn't help but smile; but I then remembered I was in character—I had to act mad, so I pushed down the optimism from the sound of my friend's laugh, then giving a loud grumble of words, promptly walking to the table to eat.

Merlin

As I left Arthur's chambers, I snuck out the three sausages, beginning to eat them. I greedily chomped them down, knowing I hadn't had breakfast this morning. I waved to a few servants who gave me weird stares as they passed by.
"Merlin!" I heard a voice suddenly scream out. Recognizing that tone from no other person, I turned, seeing Arthur's head pop out of his chambers.
"Don't forget to clean out the stables..." he trailed off, taking notice to the sausages in my hand. "Are those...?"
I didn't reply. I sped as fast as I could, taking several turns here and there; anything to put Arthur off his tracks. Heavy breaths escaped my mouth. I shouted a chain of apologies to servants passing by, as I heard Arthur's footsteps not too far behind. Sprinting down another corridor with a small slip of the feet, I swiftly picked myself back up to continue.
I soon reached fresh air. I was outside. Sprinting across the training field, I had no time to catch my breath, as my body then collapsed into Leon's.
"Merlin?" he questioned, his tone curious.
"Uh, Leon! Uh-" I began, searching for the words, my words trailing off into an anxious laugh.
Leon's puzzlement was soon answered when we both saw an angry Arthur charging full speed at the two of us. Leon suddenly pushed me away from him, quickly dodging the attack, leaving me as prey.
I turned back to see Arthur, a playful smirk dancing across his lips.
For once, I wish I wasn't getting onto him.

Arthur

I walked to the stables, taking notice of Merlin mucking it out, the sound of shovel against waste and hay.
"Having fun?" I called out, waiting for him to give a sarcastic reply. He just groaned as a retort. I frowned, moving closer to see what the fuss was about. The bags were now even more prominent under his eyes, the irises now a dull blue. And if there's one thing I learned about being accompanied to the boy, it was that dull did not equal Merlin.
"You look tired," I commented, taking a glance to the waste under me, careful to step over it as I made my way beside him.
"Well, no sleep can take a toll on you," he emotionlessly replied, his energy now replaced with exhaustion.
I leaned against one of the poles to the stable, staring at my friend, who just continued to rake out the excess materials, pretending to exclude my presence.
"Merlin," I sighed. He then looked back, his eyes meeting mine. Out of reason, I felt a blush crawl up my cheeks, as my posture tensed, my body shifting to avoid the sudden of wave emotion. Merlin just gave a tired smile in reply. That somehow seemed to make my flushed complexion deepen. I cleared my throat, quickly turning away, attempting to distract myself with something. I was soon looking at him again, watching as he leaned gently against the rake, wiping the glistening sweat from his forehead with his wrist.
"Will I need to polish your armor?" Merlin questioned, waving his freed hand in the air to gesture that he could honestly care less about the whole ordeal.
"No, all is fine. I'm sure it won't rust by the end of the day." I gave a soft chuckle to my joke, Merlin grinning along with me.
There was that smile.
"Milord!" a voice suddenly called out, the tone rushed and anxious. I turned, seeing a servant, panting and out of breath.
"Yes, what is it?" I snapped, seeing that the man had interrupted my conversation with Merlin.
"You're required in the King's presence, sire," he heaved.
"Alright; I'm going, I'm going. Take a breather," I calmed him, giving the foreigner a glance with rushed concern.
"Ofcourse, sire."
"Merlin." I turned to face the boy.
"Yes, milord?" He even manages to sound sarcastic when he's tired.
"Take the rest of the day off," I said, feeling my heart warm up when he smiled, his eyebrows raising in slight shock.
I began walking away, trying to see what my father had wanted of me, until another thought then crossed my mind. "And don't eat my sausages again! You hear me, Merlin?"

A/N: So, what'd y'all think? Please comment if I should continue! I'd really appreciate it! I don't want to realize this was a major oOF and a big cringe factor. I'm game, bois.
Anyway, tell me what y'all think! Bye!