Merlin one shots

when transporting goods

The men were running after the wagon as if their lives depended on it, Arthur had lost his shirt, and Leon was sleeping inside of the runaway wagon.

Lets rewind to how this came about.

°°°

On their way to a small town near Camelot's borders, they had stopped for the night. Arthur valued his sleep rather highly. So they had dropped everything for the night. All around tents were going up, the wood was being brought in for the fire, and the cargo was being stabilized.

"See Merlin, this is what a group of hard workers can accomplish. Now if only you could learn how to work hard," Arthur exclaimed cockily.

Snorting softly before he calmly replied, "Maybe if I wasn't saving you all the time, then I would work harder than the majority of your servants."

This in turn made Arthur snort.

Nearby a man was telling another to park the wagon further forward. After the man left, the other softly mocked him and moved to the next one. Redoing everything was much to hard. Merlin had observed this, but made no comment. He would have told Arthur, but Arthur was already mad at him for not having the horses ready in time for the group this morning.

Moving to the fire that was finally built, Merlin began to make soup. Everyone loved Merlin's cooking so he was usually in charge if that.

The ingredients had already been brought out. Many of the people here had been helped by Merlin before, or noticed Merlin saving the king when the prat himself wasn't looking. They all showed their appreciation in their own ways. Greatful to them, Merlin would give back, and the cycle was made.

With the sound of footsteps Merlin looked up. He found Leon there with an attempt at a smile, and shadows under his eyes.

"Soup?" Merlin asked Leon.

After a quick nod, Leon took the soup Merlin offered with a yawn.

"You were on duty last night weren't you?"

"For Gwaine. He had gone out to the tavern again," Leon responded.

Merlin sighed. "We've talked about this Leon. You can't keep helping him if he does nothing in return."

"I know but I can't help giving into that cursed puppy dog look he gives," he explained.

Merlin continued to stir the soup. "I understand. Just get some sleep. No one near the Wagons would get mad at you for sleeping on one for a bit."

Leon nodded. They sat silently until Leon had finished. Then others began to come for Merlin's cooking. With a quick goodbye, Leon found a wagon near the back that people were unlikely to find him on.

The trip itself was aimed to bring food to the small village that had a horrid drought and knew they wouldn't survive the winter. They had always been a good source of grain, and would make up for the costs in a couple years time. So here they were. Staying the night.

Soon the knights had their fill. Speaking with the knights was always a pleasure. They were always so polite, well except for Gwaine. He had the social skills of a troll.

Arthur swiftly ordered Merlin back to their tent. As it turned out, it was to help him with his shirt. Why he couldn't learn to at least change his shirt, he didn't know.

There was a shout outside for Arthur, and another screech of horror. Merlin bolted the second he heard someone calling his name.

Racing to where the scream came from, a large group of knights were also appearing to follow the noise. It was from near the Wagons.

When Merlin got there, he nearly watched the scene in slow motion. The wagon had lost it's grip on the ground and had started to tip. Only one person was holding on. They were not strong enough. There was also too many people around to use magic. All Merlin could do was keep running and try to catch that wagon. Then the wagon fully tipped. A flap flew back from the force, and revealed a sleeping Leon inside before closing again.

With a shout he launched himself and grabbed the rim. He wasn't strong enough, nor did he have enough time to mutter a spell to stop it.

Quickly Merlin found a good footing and jumped onto the wagon as well as he could before it took off.

Merlin was half on the wagon, the men were running after the wagon as if their lives depended on it, Arthur had lost his shirt, and Leon was sleeping inside of the runaway wagon.

Unable to see where they were going to, Merlin held on and tried to get a leg on.

A sudden bump flew him onto the top, which was apparently strong enough to hold Merlin. Holding on for dear life, he had to find his balance before climbing to the front. In front of him he could see themselves heading for a large rock. A quick mutter and they flew the other way, and he nearly fell off. With another mutter, he felt his arms stick to the cloth that was under them. Pulling one off and putting it forward, he slowly climbed to the side where Leon was at.

"Leon!" Merlin shouted. There was no response.  So he continued climbing closer. This time he screamed louder, "Leon!" Still no response. Finally beside him, he noticed another obstacle. A tree. This time he held on as the wagon was flung to the left.

"Leon!"

Finally he reached in and slapped him. Leon was up, and his eyes went wide at seeing the flaps flying, and the land speeding away from behind him.

"We need to jump! We're heading toward a rock wall! Ready?" Leon nodded in response to Merlin's question. "Three," land sped by swiftly. "Two." Merlin's eyes shone with fear while looking towards the sunset. "One."

They jumped.

To Leon's surprise, they landed in a small stream. Merlin had timed it perfectly.

There was a loud crash, and then a splash.

Looking around, Leon realized what had all happened. It was rather hectic. As was everything that involved Merlin, Arthur, or Camelot. Nothing new, he realized. From that thought he snorted. Then Merlin started to laugh.

By the time the group of men got there, the two were full out laughing. The two seemed rather insane with a smashed wagon behind them, and soaked in water. Despite this, they laughed.