ONLY FOR YOU // Merlin/Merthur Oneshots

Brothers at Heart

<< uhhh yeah this one has an oc-ish character yeah please don't kill me but here we go and yes some merthur ok and about the one above i stopped at 666 words on purpose yeha >>

Merlin sighed, leaning back in his chair, groaning. "He's insufferable! Hardly cares for himself, and I have to do all the work! He can hardly do anything for himself," he complained to his close friend, who was sitting across the table from him.

Lysander snorted, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, leaning forwards onto the table with an amused expression. "You're the one who chose to work for him."

"I am not! Uther practically forced me to. It was a supposed reward," Merlin explained, frowning at Lysander, "You're taking this much too lightly. I don't think you understand-- He's just like his father. He hates magic with a passion."

"Then why are we here? It's on pain of death, right?" Lysander tilted his head at his friend, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You've been here for a couple of months right? Why stay?"

Merlin sighed and rubbed the palms of his hands over his eyes. "It's... A long story. I may have... exaggerated a bit. Arthur's not like his father, not completely. I was just... ranting because of that incident with those druids. I'm glad you got out all right."

"Of course. It's hard to get caught when you can move faster than sound," Lysander chuckled dryly, waving a hand in dismissal. He and Merlin had met when the young warlock was travelling to Camelot, and bonded over their shared magic. Lysander himself wasn't a warlock, nor did he use the magic of the old religion, but it was still magic nonetheless. "And you've gotten much better at casting spells than the last time I saw you."

"Yeah. It makes it a lot easier, not having to say anything. Easier to keep hidden, I mean."

"I know."

Suddenly, the door burst open with a shout of "Merlin!"

He turned to stare at Arthur, who had just stormed into the room. "Hi."

The prince frowned as he looked at Lysander with a dark expression. "Who's this."

"Oh, well, Lysander, you get to meet the royal prat himself." Merlin shot a glance at Arthur to gauge his reaction, smirking slightly. "Arthur, meet Lysander. We're like brothers."

For some strange reason, Arthurs expression cleared, and he seemed to relax a bit, nodding briskly at Lysander. "It's nice to meet you, I suppose."

"As to you." Lysander rose to his feet for a moment, bowing at his shoulders, then sat back down, arching an eyebrow as he glanced at Merlin. He was beginning to think there was something more than this borderline friendship between the two, not just from Arthur's expression change. He was an empath, and one in the magical sense. He was able to pick up emotions from people and other animals, and the emotions coming from Arthur were not the emotions of a prince to his useless manservant.

Merlin noticed Lysander's small smirk, the corners of his mouth twitching to a frown, but he smiled as Arthur began to speak again.

"Well, I was planning to ask you to do something for me, but seeing as you have a friend, why don't you take the day off. Just know that you'll have extra chores tomorrow," he said, inclining his head to Merlin, but not wanting to seem too nice. He was a prince after all.

"Really? That's a surprise. Why are you being so nice, Arthur?"

The prince coughed. "Well-- You hardly have any free time. I keep you on your feet all the time, so I thought it best to give you some time to spend with your friend."