Deafening Silence

Defining Kindness

Unfortunately, it would take all three of the possible days that Gaius had predicted for Merlin's hearing to fully return.

Fortunately, he was surrounded by caring friends, who had no intentions of letting Merlin suffer alone.

After getting him to his chambers, Arthur allowed Merlin to perform his usual jobs under his watch like he had told him in the armoury. Arthur's mindset was to let Merlin carry on as normal if that was what the idiot wanted despite his generous offer of time off. He sat at his desk and found himself looking up at Merlin more times than he realised as his manservant tidied his chambers. He was just checking to make sure he was okay, the last thing Arthur wanted was to see Merlin break down again as he had seen in the armoury. Adding to the images that he was trying to get out of his head.

Arthur had promised himself not to let Merlin out of his sight until he was better, but that had proven to be harder to keep than he initially realised. In hindsight, it was impossible to constantly keep an eye on Merlin. The man was always floating around, either not doing his jobs properly, drinking mead at the tavern or doing chores for Gaius. Arthur carefully considered this once Merlin had left him that evening after tending to his duties.

Still blinded by the image of Merlin's breakdown, which he intended to never see again, Arthur was hesitant to see Merlin dismissed for the night. But he knew that Gaius would look after him, he always did. The pair were like father and son. After making it clear to Merlin that he wanted him to get some decent rest, Arthur let Merlin go. He knew that it was not just he and Gaius that cared for Merlin, even though he would never admit it out loud. There was Guinevere for one, Gwaine, and all the knights come to think of it. He made a list in his head.

With that in mind, Arthur set his plan into motion.

When Guinevere came to his chambers later that evening, Arthur told her about Merlin's deafness. She was horrified but then thought back to her encounter with him the previous night. Despite what Gaius had told her, the back of Gwen's mind shouted that something was wrong with Merlin. But she didn't want to pursue it in case it did more harm than good. In turn, she told Arthur about this encounter, with Arthur listening intensely. He realised that Merlin had tried to cover it up even to Guinevere, someone who Arthur knew he was close with. It seemed that Merlin really didn't want anyone to find out.

Arthur did not tell Gwen with the intention of hurting Merlin. He only told her so she could help keep an eye on him for the next few days, for the times when Merlin wasn't by his side. He knew Guinevere's kindness would shine through and that Merlin would certainly have an eye kept on him if he told her.

The next morning, Merlin woke up feeling odd about the day before. One thing that he couldn't get out of his head was the fact that Arthur, the very same clotpole he had known for years, had hugged him. He had actually hugged him. Not that he was complaining, he secretly loved it. He didn't know he needed one from Arthur until he got one. It certainly made up for the 'almost-hug' that had happened ages ago when Uther married a troll. It didn't change the fact that Merlin still couldn't hear the birds outside his chambers or the people in the citadel. The young warlock sighed; he was still deaf. Merlin put it together himself that it would take those three days after all for his hearing to make an appearance.

Accepting this, he hauled himself out of bed and got ready for the day. Gaius had come in to see if Merlin was awake and was surprised to see his ward's head buried in a book. Merlin noticed him come in with his peripheral vision and spoke before Gaius got the chance.

"Before you ask, no, I can't find a spell that can return my hearing." Merlin told him bluntly as if he was annoyed.

"I'm not sure that would be a wise decision anyway, Merlin." Replied Gaius, looking sadly at his ward.