Deafening Silence

Instinct

Merlin observed how lovely a day it truly was once he and Arthur stepped out of the castle en route to the training grounds. He had to briefly give shade to his eyes because of how bright the sun was, making him temporarily deaf and blind. Arthur noticed this and silently made sure that Merlin didn't lose his footing on the steps.

He had helped Arthur into his chainmail despite the pratty King's insistence that he didn't have to. But Merlin had given him a retaliation of "If I don't, no one else will do it correctly. Then you'll look like a bigger prat than you already are."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh at Merlin's reasoning, he was secretly thrilled that Merlin was still...well...Merlin. He tried to put himself in his friend's shoes and knew he wouldn't be taking it nearly as good as he was. Arthur wouldn't have known which way was up but somehow Merlin was able to bear it.

"Still got your sense of humour I see?" Retorted the King. Merlin gave an agreeing "Mm." whilst nodding his head in return. Once the chainmail was fitted, Merlin made to grab the weapons needed for training, noticeably pausing once he laid eyes on the sword rack. Arthur was slipping on his gloves when he caught on what Merlin was doing. His face dropped to worry when he remembered that the last time Merlin was in the armoury, he was alone and had a breakdown. So, Arthur decided to let his friend know that this time, he wasn't alone, and he certainly wasn't going to let him have another breakdown.

The pair had lost count of how many times Arthur had rested his hand on his manservant's shoulder. It didn't matter to Merlin how many times he did it, because it helped him every time. Not that he would ever admit that.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Arthur asked after he turned Merlin around to look him in the eye and give him a chance to read his lips. It took him a second before he picked up on 'sure' and 'alright' and noticed that Arthur sounded like a certain old physician he knew.

"You sound like Gaius." Pointed out Merlin, who then realised his bad choice of words. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Or rather, you are saying the same things as him...I think."

"With good reason." Arthur responded.

"I'm only going to be standing there. Even I am capable of that."

"Oh, I know you are, only things are a bit different this time." Arthur was having second thoughts on the idea. His newest main concern was that Merlin may become overwhelmed by the noises he should have been hearing and whilst he was battling a knight, he may slip away without him noticing. It would be so much harder than it already was to find Merlin around the castle in his new state.

Merlin was able to see the words 'things' and 'different' fall from Arthur's lips and made a guess as to what he said, deciding it was best to reassure him. "I'll be okay, Arthur." Once he replied, he moved to grab a mace and sword, leaving Arthur's hand lingering in the air where his shoulder once was. He handed the prat the mace since he couldn't carry it along with all the other things. Merlin looked at Arthur with smiling eyes. "You know, we really shouldn't keep the knights waiting."

The debate in Arthur's mind settled at his friend's response. After all, it was Merlin who was mostly able to change Arthur's mind on anything. Even if he didn't realise it, Arthur valued his opinion above all others. That wasn't going to stop now. "Alright, so long as you don't trip over your own feet on the way there." He joked.

Sirs Leon, Percival and Elyan were waiting on the training grounds as they were told to by Arthur upon returning from patrol. They didn't mind, they wanted the extra training in after the bandit attack.

Arthur, with Merlin next to him instead of behind him like he usually was, stepped onto the training grounds and was greeted by the knights. Each of them also gave a smile to Merlin, who they hadn't seen since the attack and therefore his injury which they all had the displeasure of witnessing. The knights couldn't lie to themselves; they were worried for Merlin too. All of them felt a tad guilty for not keeping an eye on him, they were just thankful that Gwaine was there when he was or else the outcome could have been devastating.