Nightmares [COMPLETED]

Part Two: Armour, Naps and Scars

Merlin had calmed down, managing a reasonably peaceful hour of sleep. Gwaine was still holding on to him, rightfully paranoid he'd start scratching again. When the servant had begun to stir (you know, in the non violent way), Gwaine released his wrists, but didn't leave. Like he was going to abandon his friend, who was clearly unwell.

"Hey," He nudged his friend and, when he got no response, poked him in the side "Merlin, wake up."

He began to open his eyes and slowly sat up "Huh? How long was I asleep?"

"I dunno, an hour an a half, I think." Gwaine shrugged. He took advantage of the fact Merlin still wasn't fully awake, lifted his sleeves up. There were an alarming amount of scratch marks, a few looking so fresh they surely had to be from that morning. Gwaine gently pulled them back down.

A few seconds passed, the gears in Merlins head began to turn, and he jolted up in realisation "Shit!" Merlin leaped onto his feet, scrambling to pick up Arthur's armour off of the floor "Fuck, fuck, I am so screwed!"

"Whoa, Merlin, calm down," Gwaine took the armour out of the servants hands, cautiously placing them back on the floor. He guided Merlin to sit back on the bed, threw a blanket at him, and gave him a look "You are staying right here."

"Gwaine, I can't-"

"Tough shit. You look exhausted."

"I slept fine last night!" Merlin protested, attempting to toss away the blanket, but failed when Gwaine caught it and threw it back to him.

"What about the night before?"

Merlin hesitated "The same." It was a lie. He'd go a few days without sleep, avoiding the nightmares. Before then, he'd beat his personal record by staying awake for five days straight.

"Merlin. You're a terrible liar." Gwaine rolled his eyes and began to pick up the armour himself.

"You'd be surprised." He mumbled, reluctantly lying back down and pulling the blanket over him.

"Now, I'll make Arthur give you the day off. You're going to get some rest, I'll return this to the Princess, and come back to make sure you don't try to sneak off." Gwaine pulled the door open with his foot awkwardly, kicking it further open.

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Gwaine barged into Arthurs room, dumping the armour onto the rug, and stretched his arms above his head (good lord that had been heavy to carry all at once). Arthur, who had been sitting at his desk revising a trading agreement, looked up at him with a glare.

"Gwaine," His tone was sarcastic and extremely annoyed "Care to explain?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Gwaine approached the desk "You need to give Merlin the day off."

"We've discussed this, Gwaine, I can't give him the day off everytime you want to go drinking with him. He does actually have a job to do, even if he rarely does." Arthur rolled his eyes and continued to write, dipping his quill in the pot of ink.

"It's not that." When he turned serious, Arthur looked back at Gwaine. It was rare he took anything seriously, so it was more than a surprise.

"Is he hurt? He seemed fine this morning."

"He's having nightmares."

"Geeze," Arthur sighed in relief "You had me scared for a minute. I thought he'd gotten poisened again of something."

"Arthur, you haven't seen them. He looks sick, starts begging for someone to stop, then scratched his wrists until they bleed."

He lowered his quill onto the table top "What?"

Gwaine continued "I had to pin him down when he passed out, sire. I lifted up his sleeves, aswell. He has so many scars. I dread to think how bad they are when there's no one there to stop him."

"Is Gaius aware?"

"I doubt it, but he's far too busy with the wounded hunters to help." A few days ago, a group of hunters had been attacked and robbed by a group of bandits. Three had died already, and two would go the same way if Gaius were to turn his attention elsewhere.

"Where is Merlin now?"

"In his room, probably trying to sleep again."

Arthur rose from his seat "I was meaning to ask you to go with Leon and Eylan to escort the next team of hunters today."

"But what about-"

"I will look after him. When you return, ask for Gaius's advice on the situation. We'll figure this out." Arthur walked around the desk and towards the door.

"Thank you, sire. And good luck, Merlin's stronger than he looks."

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Curled up and fast asleep in the middle of the bed, Merlin looked oddly peaceful. Arthur almost began to think Gwaine was mistaken, but then he noticed the colour flooding from his servants face. 

He sat down next to him, gingerly taking Merlin's hands out from under the blanket. He pulled up his sleeves and, sure enough, saw they were littered with faded and new worryingly deep scratches. Merlins nails weren't even that long.

Without really thinking about it, he let his hand rest on Merlins head, tangling his fingers in his hair. He brushed his thumb back and forth, not realising that he was comforting his friend.

"Christ, Merlin." Arthur whispered "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Merlins body, which had began to seize up, relaxed and his face returned to normal. His head leaned into Arthur's hand.