Short stories

Merthur Oneshot

Arthur awoke to the feeling of a soft pillow smacking his face. Turning over and covering his head with his arm, he desperately attempted to ignore the persistent pillow and go back to sleep.

"Arthur, you have to wake up!" Said the familiar annoying voice that always interrupted his blissful sleep each morning.

"Ergggggh. Leave me alone, Merlin," Arthur groaned.

"No, sire, you can't sleep all day. You have a counsel with your father soon regarding the food and water stores."

Arthur was certain that he could sleep all day with no problem, but his father, King Uther, would definitely spoil his rest. With a sigh, Arthur slowly crept out from his inviting bedsheets and stood in front of his manservant, Merlin. His bright blue eyes shone as he flashed Arthur one of his goofy smiles. Something in Arthur melted a little when he saw the wide-toothed smile he had, in time, grown to enjoy.
Merlin broke the eye contact and turned to shuffle through Arthur's clothing. Settling with the usual casual attire, he set to work helping Arthur get dressed. His nimble fingers glided around him as he put on the trousers, and accidentally brushed his chest as he tightened the lacing on the front of his shirt. At the unexpected contact, Arthur stiffened his shoulders and felt his face heat up with emotion.

"Arthur? Are you okay? You seem tense," Merlin asked.

"I'm fine."

"I can ask Gaius for a tonic to help-"

"Honestly, Merlin, I'm perfectly fine," Arthur interrupted.

Merlin wasn't persuaded, but didn't argue further. With eyes slightly narrowed with disbelief, he continued his work.

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When Arthur was fully dressed, he turned and clapped Merlin on the back with a gloved hand.

"Merlin, I am soooo lucky to have a servant like you!" He exclaimed.

Seeing the confused look on Merlin's face, he continued.

"Look at you! You work so hard and quickly on all of this-" he gestured around the messy room- "you must be so bored with all the free time you have nothing to do with."

Merlin opened his mouth to object, but Arthur interrupted.

"Such a strong manservant like yourself should have no problem polishing my armor, cleaning my boots, and laundering my clothing. Oh! And don't forget to draw me a warm bath this evening when we return from riding."

Arthur turned to the door and left, leaving an unhappy Merlin behind chewing his bottom lip in annoyance.

What a royal prat.

Sighing, Merlin went to collect the stray pieces of armor off the table and the floor, heaved the heavy chainmail onto his arm, and stumbled his way down to the armory. Merlin laid the tainted armor onto the bench and started his strenuous chore. As he worked, he let his thoughts wander.

Perhaps I should go visit my mother. It has been awhile since I last saw her. I wonder how she is doing all on her own. She must be so lonely without someone to look after her. Maybe I should not have left her to go to Camelot. What is the real point in being here? Protecting Arthur may be my destiny, but all I end up doing is cleaning everything he sets eyes on and lying to him about my magic to save my head from being chopped off. I wonder how he would really feel about me if he found out. Would he still view me as his 'loyal servant'? Would we ever have a sliver of a chance to be.....

No! Merlin, why are you thinking of that?? You know you could never be anything more than friends. After all, he is the future king of camelot, and you are merely his manservant, and if you're lucky, his friend. Plus, you don't even know if he is gay at all. He seems to fancy Guenivere a lot.

Merlin was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps decending the stairs.

"Ah, Merlin. Have you finished polishing my armor? I need it for training the knights."

"Nearly, sire."

"Please. Call me Arthur," he said with a small, meaningful smile. Merlin felt himself heat up with emotion, and quickly hid his reddening face from Arthur.

Why do I always feel like this when I see him smile like that?!

"Merlin, are you alright?" Arthur asked, worried.

"Uh, fine- I'm f-fine," he stammered, silently cursing himself for being such an akward bean.

"Merlin?"

Arthur stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Merlin tensed at the sudden contact. Arthur's intoxicating scent drifted on the slight breeze from the small window in the room. Slowly and gently, Arthur turned Merlin around to face him and tilted his chin up to look into his sky-blue eyes. Each breath felt like a lifetime of akward bliss. Arthur's eyes absentmindedly wandered from Merlin's eyes, to his well-pronounced cheekbones, and finally down to his distractingly plump lips, and Merlin's eyes darted down to Arthur's. As if fate herself was egging them on, both sets of lips met and moved ceremoniously in sync with each other. Eyes fluttered shut. Heartbeats quickened. The only thing that ever mattered in the world was right in front of him. Kissing him.

Suddenly, loud footsteps sounded on the stairs, and then stopped abruptly.

"Arthur?! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Boomed the unwanted voice of Arthur's father, King Uther.

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>Hehehehe (evil laugh) cliffhanger<