Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it
Title: Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~5,900
Spoilers/Warnings: No obvious spoilers but it does take place beyond season 1.
Authors notes: This is my entry for reel-merlin. Its based off of Alice in Wonderland but is actually not AU. I have no clue how that happened. Lots of thanks to krazykipper for the first beta where she put everything into the same tense for me. I then rewrote large chunks of it and probably undid a lot of her edits but merelyn then beta'd it for me and also put it in 99% of the commas. Thanks to both of you :). The ditty Gaius sings was found here. The title is a quote from Alice in Wonderland and has nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Summary: "Of course I do, Merlin. I would recognise you in any universe and in any time. The fact that this is not your Albion should be quite obvious even to you."
Merlin ran, twisting and turning in an attempt to evade his pursuers. He sought shelter behind an ancient oak tree and gulped a few deep breaths. It felt like he’d been trying to escape the horde of monsters chasing him for hours at this point. He knew that his hiding place would not be safe for much longer. Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind he heard a twig break. Time to get going.
Merlin peeked furtively around the tree and groaned in despair. He was sure there hadn’t been that many behind him before. He set off as fast as his tired legs would go, scanning the surrounding area for a new place to hide. A yell from somewhere to his right drew his attention. This was a fatal mistake; he was attacked and brought down by a surprise tackle that came from the other direction.
He was overrun. More and more of the monsters piled onto his prone body. Merlin closed his eyes, took as a deep a breath as he was able, and prayed that his death would be quick.
High, bright laughter around him forced his eyes open. The monsters (or children as they were more commonly called) slowly started getting up. Suddenly he could breathe freely again.
“Get up, Merlin. We’ll give you 30 seconds before we start chasing you again.”
“I’m going to have to sit this round out, Bree,” Merlin panted. “Why don’t you chase Arthur instead?”
Bree pouted. “But it’s more fun to chase you. You look funny when you run.” Bree demonstrated by flapping her arms and bobbing her head while running on the spot.
“As much as I’d like to amuse you further I simply can’t at this point. I need some time to recover.”
Bree crossed her arms and looked at him, assessing whether he was telling the truth. She must have been satisfied as she turned to the rest of the children. “Maybe Arthur has some more of those oranges we had last night,” she said and started walking over to Arthur. A babbled chorus of agreement followed her.
Merlin slowly got to his feet and staggered over to a nice shady spot along the river. He sprawled out, face down, enjoying the feel of the cool grass. He heard laughter directed his way. If he had the energy to look up and find the source he would have.
"Merlin, they’re only kids. They can’t have tired you out this much in so short a time. Look: Arthur is still playing with them while you’re lying here moaning."
With his forehead still firmly implanted on the soft grass Merlin gave a somewhat muffled reply. "Mother, those are not kids they are little hell spawn who are clearly here to make my life a misery. And Arthur is just egging them on. I am almost certain that he is making up the rules as he goes along." With that he looked up and attempted to glare at her but was thwarted by the strong sunlight that had filtered through the leaves.
Hunith laughed some more and Merlin felt slightly offended that he was receiving no sympathy for his plight but that was tempered by the happiness radiating from her face. He hoped that now that he was out of the game the kids would gang up on Arthur. Except the kids seemed to like Arthur.
Merlin rolled over, groaning at the effort it took. Hunith was glancing down at him rather fondly. He watched her walk over to a group of women joining in on their conversation. Merlin then turned his attention towards the new round of tag that had sprung up in the village centre. Arthur was running away from one of the children but not very fast and in quite a comical manner as well. Merlin’s eyes narrowed; he hoped Arthur wasn’t imitating him.
Arthur did look as if he was enjoying himself. Merlin was quietly grateful for that as there hadn’t been many smiles on Arthur's face in the last few months, not that he would ever admit that to Arthur. That would ensure unceasing mocking on Arthur’s part about Merlin being a girl and Merlin would rather unfortunately be forced to retaliate with something uncomplimentary that would lead to him being placed in the stocks once again. And that had happened far too many times in the three years that he had been in Arthur’s service.
Merlin would admit that Arthur still surprised him occasionally. Arthur joining him on this trip to Ealdor was still a little surprising even now that they had been here for a week Still the kids liked Arthur and Arthur appeared to like the kids plus it was a nice respite from all his chores. And the shadows under Arthur’s eyes had gradually faded the longer they were away from Camelot. Arthur would be a fantastic king one day and Uther seemed to realise that too if the way he was pushing Arthur was any indication. Yes, Merlin decided, this time away was good for both of them.
Merlin felt quite content. And rather sleepy as well if the way his eyes kept closing of their own volition was any indication. Arthur wandered over and looked down at Merlin with a rather bemused look on his face. He didn’t say anything but merely grinned at Merlin and then promptly rejoined the game.
Eventually Merlin gave up the battle; in short order quiet snuffling snores could be heard if one were close enough.
*~*
Merlin seemed to be tumbling in a dark void and he wasn't quite sure which way was up. He tumbled and twisted, not even sure if he was really moving. No matter how he stretched his arms or kicked out his legs he couldn’t find anything else around him. All he saw was darkness.
Eventually he hit the ground with a great thud.
"Ow!” Merlin exclaimed. He slowly got off the ground, testing that all his limbs were in working order.
Once he was sure that he wasn’t going to fall over again anytime soon Merlin looked around. He appeared to be in the forest near Camelot but he couldn't be quite sure as all forests looked rather alike to him. Arthur probably would have been able to figure out where they were but Arthur wasn’t -
His chain of thoughts was halted abruptly when he caught a glimpse of Gwen running frantically past.
“Gwen. Stop!” he called.
She didn’t seem to hear him. Merlin set off after her, slightly panicked now. After a minute or so he caught up with Gwen and managed to get enough air to shout her name once more.
"Gwen! Gwen, would you stop please."
Gwen stopped suddenly and Merlin almost ran into her. Gwen turned around slowly and looked at Merlin with a look of utmost confusion on her face.
"My name is Gwen but how could you know that? You haven’t been following me, have you? Not that I’m implying that you look like the sort of person who would do that…but.” It all came out in one breath and Merlin wondered once again how Gwen managed that. Before he could ask her anything she started talking again:
“Actually never mind that. I really can't stop even though I'd like to. I would like to but I can't. It’s not because I think you're dangerous or anything. You could be dangerous I suppose- not that you really look it.” She looked to the sky and gave a small yelp before attempting to set off again. Merlin grabbed her arms gently to prevent her from running off.
"Gwen it’s me, Merlin. You know, your best friend. Arthur’s manservant. You know me.”
Gwen continued to look confused but answered him rather politely despite this. "I really don't know you. I am sorry though, as you look very nice and I'm sure you are very nice.” All this was said with a rather earnest expression on her face. Merlin looked into her eyes searching for any form of recognition or maybe some sort of spell that was affecting her memory but he found none.
Merlin composed himself and let go of Gwen’s arms before asking, “Perhaps you could tell me where you are going in such a hurry?"
“The King has called for everyone to meet in Camelot. Apparently a griffin snatched Prince Arthur and there is a great reward for whoever rescues him."
The low level of alarm that had been present since he had appeared in this strange facsimile of Camelot blared much more insistently now.
Gwen didn't know who he was and Arthur had been kidnapped.
Merlin would have suspected sorcery but he could sense no trace of any magic in Gwen no matter how deeply he looked. Perhaps he was dreaming. Merlin pinched himself; the sharp twinge of pain he felt seemed to say that this was no dream. Merlin steeled himself and started planning a course of action. Obviously, he would have to find Arthur and then figure out how to get back to Ealdor, but first he would have to find out where this Griffin had taken Arthur.
Merlin turned to Gwen, “Can you take me with you to Camelot? I have to find Arthur. I should have been with him in the first place. The prat probably ran off on a stupid hunting trip and didn’t bother to tell anyone where he - "
Merlin’s rambling was cut off by the sound of Gwen laughing. He looked at her with concern and waited for her to catch her breath.
“I'm not laughing at you- well I am sort of but not in a mean way really. It’s just I don't know why anybody would want to rescue Arthur. He's mean and rude to the servants, he sleeps with all the serving girls, and he doesn’t care about anybody but himself. My father says that he would be an awful king." Gwen looked somewhat horrified at what she has said and then proceeded to look around cautiously as though somebody could be listening behind one of the many trees in the area.
Merlin was horrified as well but for completely different reasons. The person that Gwen just described didn’t sound like the Arthur he knew. This sounded like Arthur as he might have been when Merlin first met him. Perhaps he had gone back in time and this was something that had happened before Merlin had arrived in Camelot. Merlin discounted that idea almost immediately. If Arthur really had been kidnapped Merlin would have heard something about it from one of the kitchen staff. They knew everything that went on in the castle and a story like this would never have been buried.
Gwen looked to the sky, yelped again and set off in a seemingly random direction at a rather fast pace. Merlin followed her, assuming that she knew where she was going. He stopped for merely a second to take deep lungful of air. When he looked up Gwen had vanished.
*~*
Merlin ran looking frantically for Gwen but everywhere he turned all he could see were trees. No flash of yellow anywhere, only the unrelenting green of the surrounding forest. Then something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he almost ran into a tree. Befuddled, he shook his head and closed his eyes before quickly opening them again in the hope that what he had seen would not be there anymore. But it didn’t work.
“An odd little thing is a flea, you can't tell a he from a she,” Gaius belted out, prancing around the grove as he sang his little tune.
Merlin stared.
“But he can and she can. Whoopee!” This was accompanied with a little twirl.
"Gaius, there is something seriously wrong here,” Merlin interrupted. “Gwen doesn't know me and -"
Gaius cut Merlin off by turning to him and saying quite politely, "Yes, my name is Gaius but I'm afraid that I don't know you."
Merlin’s eyes were like saucers now. This was almost a replay of his conversation with Gwen. Something was definitely wrong here. He racked his mind trying to think of anything that he could have done to cause this but nothing came to mind. Well apart from wishing that Arthur would trip over one of the children in Merlin's village. Because then Merlin would have had something to laugh at Arthur about, not that he really needed a reason. Merlin’s wandering thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when Gaius started chewing some of the berries that were scattered around in the grove.
"Gaius, aren't those the berries that you said I should never eat as they'd addle my brain?"
Gaius gave him a rather strange look and then raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Now why would I say that? These berries make the mind sharp. Sharp like a hammer and bright as a goldfish. Hmm." As he was saying this Gaius' head had started to loll and he looked on the verge of sleep. Merlin was about to say something when Gaius snorted and rolled off the trunk he had been sitting on. He looked up at Merlin before smiling quite dopily and wiggling his arms about. “I’m making snow angels Marlon. Wipe that hang-dog look off your face and come join me.”
Merlin left him splayed on the ground there, quite disgusted.
*-*
Once Merlin had put some distance between himself and Gaius and his disgust had faded, he assessed the situation. Gwen was behaving oddly. Gaius was behaving even more oddly. This had to be magic. Merlin closed his eyes and let his magic flow out of him, wishing with all his might for everything to be back the way it should be. He opened his eyes and nothing had changed. He sighed before setting his shoulders and starting to walk through the woods once more. This might not be his Camelot but Arthur was in danger and Merlin had to do something.
The trees still looked the same. All green and leafy almost like something out of the old fairytale book that Arthur refused to admit that he still had.
The sound of laughter brought him out of his musings. Merlin looked in the direction of where he thought the laughter had come from and saw nothing. He shook his head and kept on walking, mentally rifling through the pages of the spell book and still hoping to find some way to get out of there and back to Ealdor and Arthur. Laughter disrupted his thought processes once more. But again he could not find the source of the laughter. He twisted and turned, looking in every direction trying to find where the laughter was coming from. He turned around ready to continue on his way. Merlin yelped and jumped slightly. A familiar dragon was sitting on the path in front of him.
Merlin tried to get his breath back so that he could berate the dragon, but before he could do so the dragon spoke.
"You're rather lost aren't you, Merlin?"
All thoughts of berating the dragon flew from Merlin's mind. The simple fact that the dragon recognised him made him feel rather generous towards the beast.
"You know who I am," he squeaked.
"Of course I do, Merlin. I would recognise you in any universe and in any time. The fact that this is not your Albion should be quite obvious even to you."
Merlin let the slight insult slide as this was not the time to be picky and possibly the dragon was the only one who could help him now. He chose his next words very carefully.
"Can you please tell me how to get home? You're right, I do know that this isn’t my Albion. Gwen and Gaius don't recognise me and the Gaius I know would never behave like that."
The dragon threw back his head and laughed; a few small puffs of smoke escaping from the corner of his mouth "Merlin, the only way for you to get back home is to discover where home is."
Any goodwill towards the dragon flew out the window with that remark. "Honestly, can you ever not be cryptic? I know where home is."
"Warlock. If you knew where home was you wouldn't be here. But I can say that what you discover on this journey will aid you in discovering where home is."
"Again, that is of no use."
"Home is never a place."
Merlin could feel his temper rising and although all he wanted to do at this moment was throttle the dragon and force it to tell him exactly what he had to do he tried one last stab at politeness.
"You're not making sense. Home is where I live. Ealdor and Camelot are both home. And if all I have to do is figure out where home is to go there- I've done that, so why haven’t I been taken back yet?"
"But Merlin, you haven't." And with that the dragon started vanishing until all that was left was a giant toothy grin. Which then slowly disappeared as well.
Merlin felt like stamping his foot or throwing something but he manfully restrained himself. Clearly the dragon was annoying wherever he popped up. Merlin still didn’t trust the dragon as much as he once had. The dragon would say whatever it had to so that Merlin would help it. All this nonsense about destiny and homes that weren’t places wouldn’t fool him this time. But the dragon was free here- Merlin ruthlessly quashed that thought, gritted his teeth and started walking along the path that had magically appeared.
*~*
Merlin had been walking for almost twenty minutes now. He wished that he had paid more attention when Gaius had spoken to him about magic or even if he had just read the books a little more closely. There had to be a spell that could help in a situation like this, there just had to be. He couldn't be stuck here for the rest of his life. He would never see his mother again nor Gwen or Morgana. And Arthur - the pang of sorrow that struck him at that thought honestly surprised him. He certainly wasn't that fond of the blond prat, was he now? Maybe he was, but he didn’t admit it to Arthur all that often as Arthur had a big enough ego already.
Merlin still called Arthur a prat sometimes but that was mostly to hear Arthur’s now usual response that Merlin couldn't talk to him that way in faintly scandalised tones. But the grin on Arthur's face always made Merlin laugh. It was their little joke and now Merlin might never hear it again.
Laughter drew his attention once more. For a second he thought the dragon had returned but the pitch of the laughter indicated that this was somebody else.
Merlin went off the path and quietly went towards the source of the disturbance. He kept his footsteps light and was careful about where he placed his feet. Arthur would be very proud if he could see Merlin now.
Merlin saw a clearing and in it a few of Arthur’s knights. And though Merlin knew that this was not his Albion he was still shocked at the way the knights were acting. Owain and Pellinor were hanging off each other and singing dirty limericks. Galahad was sitting on a tree stump swaying along and occasionally making up a limerick of his own all the while drinking from a large glass of mead.
Merlin burst into the clearing, "How can you be behaving like this on patrol? If Arthur could see how you were acting you would all be removed from your positions and sent away from Camelot."
The knights who had at first looked rather alarmed when Merlin had begun speaking burst into laughter at the end of his mini rant. Pellinor and Owain were trying rather futilely to stay standing and eventually just slumped to the ground and giggled some more. Merlin turned to Galahad.
"Could you please explain what’s so funny about that?"
Galahad laughed some more, took a swig of mead and then eventually answered, "Well to be honest I don't think you're talking about Prince Arthur here. You must have some other Arthur in mind."
"I am talking about the Prince here. He would be so ashamed to see knights of the realm behaving like sailors”
Galahad snorted. "It must be another Prince Arthur as all our Prince cares about is bedding any willing lady- and not much else if truth be told. He's not useless with the sword but he is in no way competent. Also he has been kidnapped by some griffin and taken to its lair beyond the western mountains so it’s not like he would be able to see us. The griffin can have him if he wants; Camelot doesn't have much use for him really."
Merlin reeled back in shock. Everything in this place seemed off and he realised that this Arthur was most likely different from the one he knew. In a daze he wandered back to the path and just walked. One foot in front of another and hopefully he would find home, wherever that was, and then he could go back to Camelot and pretend that this was all some horrible dream and never think of it again. And at exactly that moment he walked into the signpost. He fell backwards and lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at what he had walked into.
"Huh. Camelot that way. Finally something that tells me where I'm going."
Merlin picked himself up and walked in the direction of Camelot with renewed hope.
*~*
“The person who manages to save Arthur may have his hand in marriage," proclaimed Uther to the gathered populace.
Merlin heard a loud snort and turns his head to find the culprit. A rather dirty looking peasant had an amused look on his face. The peasant turned towards the people and shouted loudly enough for everyone gathered to hear, "Arthur is a royal prat who cares nothing for his people. Who would want to marry him?"
Despite the fact that Merlin often called Arthur a prat there was no longer any malice behind his jibes. This man clearly believed what he was saying to be truth. And what was even more startling was that when he looked around he saw some of the crowd nodding their heads in acknowledgement.
Then his eye was caught by a rather alarming spectacle. Uther turning a rather horrid shade of puce and Merlin could literally see the anger bubbling through his veins.
"GUARDS! OFF WITH THAT MANS HEAD," he bellowed. The guards snapped to attention and converged on the man. They had the man on the chopping block in seconds. Merlin was rather astonished at the ease and familiarity of their movements - clearly this was something that happened quite often.
The executioner looked to Uther who nodded his head slightly. The blade fell and the protester's head rolled to the ground. The crowd was quite uninterested in this spectacle; their attention was still focussed on the balcony where Uther was standing.
Merlin turned to see what had captured the crowd’s attention and saw Morgana resplendent in red and gold.
“Uther, if you keep this up there won't be many people left in Camelot at this rate," she chided. She then turned towards the gathered crowd and pitched her voice so that everybody could hear her.
"People of Camelot: I come before you to ask that you please return Arthur to us. Though he might occasionally behave in a manner unfitting of a prince he is still a prince. Our Prince. On top of the privilege of marrying Arthur, the person who returns my brother to me will be greatly rewarded." Morgana's eyes were sad and beseeching. The crowd that had before been so unfeeling were now utterly bewitched.
"To that end I have heard rumours that Arthur is being kept by the griffin in a cave set deep in the Eastern Forests.”
Morgana smiled and the populace seem to melt. Merlin meanwhile shook his head. To the east? He was sure the knights had said the griffin had gone towards the west. His head felt foggy, almost as if he had been bewitched. He saw the crowd set off eastwards. Merlin tore his eyes from Morgana’s form and shook his head again to clear the cobwebs. He looked back at Morgana. The smile that had once been benevolent was now anything but.
Merlin saw her eyes narrow and in a flash she was standing before him with an inquiring expression on her face. "Why haven't you gone off to save Arthur?"
"Arthur is not being held to the east. Why would you have people going off in the wrong direction?"
Morgana laughed. "Why would I want Arthur saved? He is a foolish boy who is only interested in playing with his swords. I would rather my son Mordred be king. He has the interests of the land at heart and does not get distracted by every pretty serving girl."
Merlin felt the horror slowly building up in him again. This was completely wrong. Nothing in this place was right and he needed to get out of here now. Some of his horror must have shown on his face as the next thing he knew Morgana was shouting for the guards to chop off his head.
He ran.
*~*
Merlin attempted to sneak up to the griffin's lair but after two steps he accidentally stepped on a twig which broke with unusual loudness. Five steps later he stepped on a particularly sharp thorn that pierced his soft leather boots. He didn't manage to completely stifle a very high pitched shriek of pain. Merlin jumped three feet in the air when he heard the griffin clearing its throat.
"Oh for heavens sake, Warlock. Would you please stop with this sneaking business and just come and talk to me so that I can get this horrible prince off my hands?" bellowed the griffin from the entrance of the cave.
Merlin’s heart raced, but he did heed the griffin’s advice and walked very noisily up into the cave.
"Finally. Look, you can just take Arthur off my hands and go back to Camelot. In all honesty he is a terrible hostage and will not stop talking for a second. And he is never satisfied with the food or the bedding or even the very air he breathes, as if I can do anything about that. So you will take him back to Camelot and tell the King that you have killed me and I will find another cave in a Kingdom which isn't as crazy as this one and will then proceed to live off a few sheep and possibly some of those mountain goats. Oh, it will be wonderful. No more of these pesky humans and their petty little problems. My mother and grandmother and heavens even my dear old great-grandmother, who is going a bit senile, warned me that going too close to humans would not end well for me. And they were right. You really are a bothersome species and I will be glad to be rid of you."
Merlin did not know how to respond.
"You don't look very bright. Your face will stick like that if you aren't careful. Now Arthur is all yours. He's in the back of the cave sleeping. He apparently doesn't get up before 11. I'll be off now." And with that the Griffin spread its wings and took off.
Merlin watched him fly off and tried to organise his mind but it was quite a few minutes before his thoughts were anywhere near coherent. Eventually he shook his head to clear all the confusion and went into the cave. Arthur was indeed sleeping there. Merlin had to shake him quite hard to wake him up.
"Honestly, Griffin, we've been over this before. I don't get up before 11 and I can tell that it is most certainly not 11 yet. I doubt that it’s even 7," Arthur said without even opening his eyes.
Merlin very patiently replied, "Arthur. I'm here to rescue you so would you please get up so that we can return to Camelot?"
*~*
For some reason returning to Camelot seemed a much longer journey than the one from it. Merlin wasn’t certain if this was because of how annoying Arthur was being or if it was just another quirk of this strange land.
He had nothing in common with this Arthur. Not that he’d really had that much in common with his Arthur but they had somehow managed to make a friendship work.
So Merlin kept looking for hidden depths. Sometimes he caught glimpses and he held onto them because otherwise he would lose his sanity.
*~*
“I hope you’re not expecting me to actually marry you?”
Merlin sighed and refrained from rolling his eyes, “No, Arthur. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on this earth.”
Merlin didn’t have to see Arthur’s face to recognise the indignation that appeared on it at this statement. “Yes, Arthur I know that there are many people who would give anything to marry you but I'm not one of them. You are honestly one of the most horrible people that I know and from what I’ve seen you have no redeeming features whatsoever.”
Arthur remained quiet for a long time.
Merlin felt guilty even though nothing he said had been a lie.
*~*
“One of the serving maids threw herself at me a few weeks ago. She practically mauled me in her attempts to get my clothes off. She -“
“Enough, Arthur. I’m not interested in hearing about your conquests. Real or imagined.”
Arthur’s spluttering soothed Merlin’s irritation slightly.
*~*
“I’m the prince. I shouldn’t have to help you set up camp.”
Merlin clenched his fists and took a deep breath to prevent himself from saying or doing something rash. He’d forgotten how much of a prat his Arthur had been when they first met. This Arthur was a stranger, similar in name only.
“Arthur, all I want to do at this point is get you back to Camelot so that I don’t have to deal with you anymore. Being prince does not entitle you to special treatment. My Arthur was respected by all his men because he had earned it. When we set up camp he worked alongside the knights and squires. He was a prince but he was also a man.” He closed his eyes because suddenly he missed Arthur more than ever.
He heard Arthur clearing his throat tentatively and when he looked up Arthur was clumsily attempting to start a fire. “Tell me more about your Arthur. Please.”
Merlin did.
*~*
“No”
“Why not?”
“Arthur, I know why you want to stop there and its not happening. Do you understand.”
“I hope you know that you’re no fun.”
*~*
They were sitting around a campfire on the fifth night of their journey; Merlin was entertaining Arthur by making various fantastical shapes in the air with embers from the fire. Arthur was smiling and was not acting at all a prat. And suddenly Merlin could see his Arthur in this man laughing before him. His Arthur had reacted in exactly the same way when he had first found out about Merlin’s magic.
Merlin’s eyes flashed gold and the embers reshaped into an epic battle between Arthur and a griffin. Arthur stared in amazement and the innocence and wonder in his eyes stole Merlin’s breath.
Arthur, both this Arthur and his Arthur back wherever home was, were beautiful. In the most masculine way. Merlin suddenly wanted to kiss him. Or not suddenly. It seemed that he had wanted to kiss Arthur for a long time now and he was only now realising this.
“Make me fight a dragon next,” Arthur commanded imperiously.
And didn’t that just drive the point home? As much as he wanted it to be, this wasn’t his Arthur. He sighed. “Arthur, were you never taught manners?”
Arthur snorted. “Why would I need manners? People have to do what I say.”
Merlin rested his head on his knees. He’d give anything to be with his own Arthur right now. It didn’t matter where they were but just that they were together somewhere.
A flash in his peripheral vision drew his attention to a door that simply said ‘HOME’.
Merlin ran to it, wrenched it open and threw himself through it.
As he left he heard Arthur scream "I will have my father hunt you down
and have your head removed for leaving me like this!" Merlin just laughed.
*~*
Merlin stepped through the door and into the cave beneath the castle. The dragon flew up and perched on the rock in front of him.
“Well done, young warlock. You have found your home now.”
Merlin gaped at the dragon angrily. “You put me through this whole ordeal just so that I’d realise I loved Arthur? You could have just told me.”
The dragon laughed. “Realising you love Arthur was never my purpose. You needed to realise that being by Arthur’s side was the only place that would ever be home again. I never lied to you about your destiny, despite what you may have thought.”
*~*
Merlin was brought out of sleep by a foot nudging his side gently. He didn't open his eyes but he knew that it was Arthur doing the nudging in the way that he always seemed to know when Arthur was around him.
Quick as a whip Merlin managed to get a hand wrapped around Arthur's ankle. He yanked and suddenly Arthur was sprawled on his back on the ground. Merlin laughed delightedly. Utilising a roll that Arthur had taught him, Merlin found himself straddling Arthur.
He stopped laughing and looked down very seriously at Arthur. There was a crinkle in Arthur’s forehead and a smudge of grass on his cheek. Merlin swept both of those away with gentle hands. He reverently placed his hands on Arthur’s cheeks and kissed him. Merlin's eyes slid closed and he had to work hard to keep his magic from lifting the skirts of all the women in the square or unlacing all the men’s trousers.
He pulled away from Arthur and gently rested his forehead against Arthur's. A smile was spreading slow and joyful across Arthur's face. Then Arthur shook his head and looked at Merlin rather fondly. “Merlin, you really have to try and keep your magic a secret. Also you’re one of the most oblivious people that I have ever known. I've been waiting two years for you to realise. You’ll have to tell me later what brought this on."
Merlin felt something in him settle. He looked at Arthur's bemused face staring up at him and felt the stares of everybody around him. He blushed but managed to pinch Arthur in retaliation and took great satisfaction in the soft squeal Arthur gave.
In that moment Merlin was happy; for just a few moments more the outside world could wait.
Feedback and concrit would be awesome :)
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~5,900
Spoilers/Warnings: No obvious spoilers but it does take place beyond season 1.
Authors notes: This is my entry for reel-merlin. Its based off of Alice in Wonderland but is actually not AU. I have no clue how that happened. Lots of thanks to krazykipper for the first beta where she put everything into the same tense for me. I then rewrote large chunks of it and probably undid a lot of her edits but merelyn then beta'd it for me and also put it in 99% of the commas. Thanks to both of you :). The ditty Gaius sings was found here. The title is a quote from Alice in Wonderland and has nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Summary: "Of course I do, Merlin. I would recognise you in any universe and in any time. The fact that this is not your Albion should be quite obvious even to you."
Merlin ran, twisting and turning in an attempt to evade his pursuers. He sought shelter behind an ancient oak tree and gulped a few deep breaths. It felt like he’d been trying to escape the horde of monsters chasing him for hours at this point. He knew that his hiding place would not be safe for much longer. Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind he heard a twig break. Time to get going.
Merlin peeked furtively around the tree and groaned in despair. He was sure there hadn’t been that many behind him before. He set off as fast as his tired legs would go, scanning the surrounding area for a new place to hide. A yell from somewhere to his right drew his attention. This was a fatal mistake; he was attacked and brought down by a surprise tackle that came from the other direction.
He was overrun. More and more of the monsters piled onto his prone body. Merlin closed his eyes, took as a deep a breath as he was able, and prayed that his death would be quick.
High, bright laughter around him forced his eyes open. The monsters (or children as they were more commonly called) slowly started getting up. Suddenly he could breathe freely again.
“Get up, Merlin. We’ll give you 30 seconds before we start chasing you again.”
“I’m going to have to sit this round out, Bree,” Merlin panted. “Why don’t you chase Arthur instead?”
Bree pouted. “But it’s more fun to chase you. You look funny when you run.” Bree demonstrated by flapping her arms and bobbing her head while running on the spot.
“As much as I’d like to amuse you further I simply can’t at this point. I need some time to recover.”
Bree crossed her arms and looked at him, assessing whether he was telling the truth. She must have been satisfied as she turned to the rest of the children. “Maybe Arthur has some more of those oranges we had last night,” she said and started walking over to Arthur. A babbled chorus of agreement followed her.
Merlin slowly got to his feet and staggered over to a nice shady spot along the river. He sprawled out, face down, enjoying the feel of the cool grass. He heard laughter directed his way. If he had the energy to look up and find the source he would have.
"Merlin, they’re only kids. They can’t have tired you out this much in so short a time. Look: Arthur is still playing with them while you’re lying here moaning."
With his forehead still firmly implanted on the soft grass Merlin gave a somewhat muffled reply. "Mother, those are not kids they are little hell spawn who are clearly here to make my life a misery. And Arthur is just egging them on. I am almost certain that he is making up the rules as he goes along." With that he looked up and attempted to glare at her but was thwarted by the strong sunlight that had filtered through the leaves.
Hunith laughed some more and Merlin felt slightly offended that he was receiving no sympathy for his plight but that was tempered by the happiness radiating from her face. He hoped that now that he was out of the game the kids would gang up on Arthur. Except the kids seemed to like Arthur.
Merlin rolled over, groaning at the effort it took. Hunith was glancing down at him rather fondly. He watched her walk over to a group of women joining in on their conversation. Merlin then turned his attention towards the new round of tag that had sprung up in the village centre. Arthur was running away from one of the children but not very fast and in quite a comical manner as well. Merlin’s eyes narrowed; he hoped Arthur wasn’t imitating him.
Arthur did look as if he was enjoying himself. Merlin was quietly grateful for that as there hadn’t been many smiles on Arthur's face in the last few months, not that he would ever admit that to Arthur. That would ensure unceasing mocking on Arthur’s part about Merlin being a girl and Merlin would rather unfortunately be forced to retaliate with something uncomplimentary that would lead to him being placed in the stocks once again. And that had happened far too many times in the three years that he had been in Arthur’s service.
Merlin would admit that Arthur still surprised him occasionally. Arthur joining him on this trip to Ealdor was still a little surprising even now that they had been here for a week Still the kids liked Arthur and Arthur appeared to like the kids plus it was a nice respite from all his chores. And the shadows under Arthur’s eyes had gradually faded the longer they were away from Camelot. Arthur would be a fantastic king one day and Uther seemed to realise that too if the way he was pushing Arthur was any indication. Yes, Merlin decided, this time away was good for both of them.
Merlin felt quite content. And rather sleepy as well if the way his eyes kept closing of their own volition was any indication. Arthur wandered over and looked down at Merlin with a rather bemused look on his face. He didn’t say anything but merely grinned at Merlin and then promptly rejoined the game.
Eventually Merlin gave up the battle; in short order quiet snuffling snores could be heard if one were close enough.
*~*
Merlin seemed to be tumbling in a dark void and he wasn't quite sure which way was up. He tumbled and twisted, not even sure if he was really moving. No matter how he stretched his arms or kicked out his legs he couldn’t find anything else around him. All he saw was darkness.
Eventually he hit the ground with a great thud.
"Ow!” Merlin exclaimed. He slowly got off the ground, testing that all his limbs were in working order.
Once he was sure that he wasn’t going to fall over again anytime soon Merlin looked around. He appeared to be in the forest near Camelot but he couldn't be quite sure as all forests looked rather alike to him. Arthur probably would have been able to figure out where they were but Arthur wasn’t -
His chain of thoughts was halted abruptly when he caught a glimpse of Gwen running frantically past.
“Gwen. Stop!” he called.
She didn’t seem to hear him. Merlin set off after her, slightly panicked now. After a minute or so he caught up with Gwen and managed to get enough air to shout her name once more.
"Gwen! Gwen, would you stop please."
Gwen stopped suddenly and Merlin almost ran into her. Gwen turned around slowly and looked at Merlin with a look of utmost confusion on her face.
"My name is Gwen but how could you know that? You haven’t been following me, have you? Not that I’m implying that you look like the sort of person who would do that…but.” It all came out in one breath and Merlin wondered once again how Gwen managed that. Before he could ask her anything she started talking again:
“Actually never mind that. I really can't stop even though I'd like to. I would like to but I can't. It’s not because I think you're dangerous or anything. You could be dangerous I suppose- not that you really look it.” She looked to the sky and gave a small yelp before attempting to set off again. Merlin grabbed her arms gently to prevent her from running off.
"Gwen it’s me, Merlin. You know, your best friend. Arthur’s manservant. You know me.”
Gwen continued to look confused but answered him rather politely despite this. "I really don't know you. I am sorry though, as you look very nice and I'm sure you are very nice.” All this was said with a rather earnest expression on her face. Merlin looked into her eyes searching for any form of recognition or maybe some sort of spell that was affecting her memory but he found none.
Merlin composed himself and let go of Gwen’s arms before asking, “Perhaps you could tell me where you are going in such a hurry?"
“The King has called for everyone to meet in Camelot. Apparently a griffin snatched Prince Arthur and there is a great reward for whoever rescues him."
The low level of alarm that had been present since he had appeared in this strange facsimile of Camelot blared much more insistently now.
Gwen didn't know who he was and Arthur had been kidnapped.
Merlin would have suspected sorcery but he could sense no trace of any magic in Gwen no matter how deeply he looked. Perhaps he was dreaming. Merlin pinched himself; the sharp twinge of pain he felt seemed to say that this was no dream. Merlin steeled himself and started planning a course of action. Obviously, he would have to find Arthur and then figure out how to get back to Ealdor, but first he would have to find out where this Griffin had taken Arthur.
Merlin turned to Gwen, “Can you take me with you to Camelot? I have to find Arthur. I should have been with him in the first place. The prat probably ran off on a stupid hunting trip and didn’t bother to tell anyone where he - "
Merlin’s rambling was cut off by the sound of Gwen laughing. He looked at her with concern and waited for her to catch her breath.
“I'm not laughing at you- well I am sort of but not in a mean way really. It’s just I don't know why anybody would want to rescue Arthur. He's mean and rude to the servants, he sleeps with all the serving girls, and he doesn’t care about anybody but himself. My father says that he would be an awful king." Gwen looked somewhat horrified at what she has said and then proceeded to look around cautiously as though somebody could be listening behind one of the many trees in the area.
Merlin was horrified as well but for completely different reasons. The person that Gwen just described didn’t sound like the Arthur he knew. This sounded like Arthur as he might have been when Merlin first met him. Perhaps he had gone back in time and this was something that had happened before Merlin had arrived in Camelot. Merlin discounted that idea almost immediately. If Arthur really had been kidnapped Merlin would have heard something about it from one of the kitchen staff. They knew everything that went on in the castle and a story like this would never have been buried.
Gwen looked to the sky, yelped again and set off in a seemingly random direction at a rather fast pace. Merlin followed her, assuming that she knew where she was going. He stopped for merely a second to take deep lungful of air. When he looked up Gwen had vanished.
*~*
Merlin ran looking frantically for Gwen but everywhere he turned all he could see were trees. No flash of yellow anywhere, only the unrelenting green of the surrounding forest. Then something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he almost ran into a tree. Befuddled, he shook his head and closed his eyes before quickly opening them again in the hope that what he had seen would not be there anymore. But it didn’t work.
“An odd little thing is a flea, you can't tell a he from a she,” Gaius belted out, prancing around the grove as he sang his little tune.
Merlin stared.
“But he can and she can. Whoopee!” This was accompanied with a little twirl.
"Gaius, there is something seriously wrong here,” Merlin interrupted. “Gwen doesn't know me and -"
Gaius cut Merlin off by turning to him and saying quite politely, "Yes, my name is Gaius but I'm afraid that I don't know you."
Merlin’s eyes were like saucers now. This was almost a replay of his conversation with Gwen. Something was definitely wrong here. He racked his mind trying to think of anything that he could have done to cause this but nothing came to mind. Well apart from wishing that Arthur would trip over one of the children in Merlin's village. Because then Merlin would have had something to laugh at Arthur about, not that he really needed a reason. Merlin’s wandering thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when Gaius started chewing some of the berries that were scattered around in the grove.
"Gaius, aren't those the berries that you said I should never eat as they'd addle my brain?"
Gaius gave him a rather strange look and then raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Now why would I say that? These berries make the mind sharp. Sharp like a hammer and bright as a goldfish. Hmm." As he was saying this Gaius' head had started to loll and he looked on the verge of sleep. Merlin was about to say something when Gaius snorted and rolled off the trunk he had been sitting on. He looked up at Merlin before smiling quite dopily and wiggling his arms about. “I’m making snow angels Marlon. Wipe that hang-dog look off your face and come join me.”
Merlin left him splayed on the ground there, quite disgusted.
*-*
Once Merlin had put some distance between himself and Gaius and his disgust had faded, he assessed the situation. Gwen was behaving oddly. Gaius was behaving even more oddly. This had to be magic. Merlin closed his eyes and let his magic flow out of him, wishing with all his might for everything to be back the way it should be. He opened his eyes and nothing had changed. He sighed before setting his shoulders and starting to walk through the woods once more. This might not be his Camelot but Arthur was in danger and Merlin had to do something.
The trees still looked the same. All green and leafy almost like something out of the old fairytale book that Arthur refused to admit that he still had.
The sound of laughter brought him out of his musings. Merlin looked in the direction of where he thought the laughter had come from and saw nothing. He shook his head and kept on walking, mentally rifling through the pages of the spell book and still hoping to find some way to get out of there and back to Ealdor and Arthur. Laughter disrupted his thought processes once more. But again he could not find the source of the laughter. He twisted and turned, looking in every direction trying to find where the laughter was coming from. He turned around ready to continue on his way. Merlin yelped and jumped slightly. A familiar dragon was sitting on the path in front of him.
Merlin tried to get his breath back so that he could berate the dragon, but before he could do so the dragon spoke.
"You're rather lost aren't you, Merlin?"
All thoughts of berating the dragon flew from Merlin's mind. The simple fact that the dragon recognised him made him feel rather generous towards the beast.
"You know who I am," he squeaked.
"Of course I do, Merlin. I would recognise you in any universe and in any time. The fact that this is not your Albion should be quite obvious even to you."
Merlin let the slight insult slide as this was not the time to be picky and possibly the dragon was the only one who could help him now. He chose his next words very carefully.
"Can you please tell me how to get home? You're right, I do know that this isn’t my Albion. Gwen and Gaius don't recognise me and the Gaius I know would never behave like that."
The dragon threw back his head and laughed; a few small puffs of smoke escaping from the corner of his mouth "Merlin, the only way for you to get back home is to discover where home is."
Any goodwill towards the dragon flew out the window with that remark. "Honestly, can you ever not be cryptic? I know where home is."
"Warlock. If you knew where home was you wouldn't be here. But I can say that what you discover on this journey will aid you in discovering where home is."
"Again, that is of no use."
"Home is never a place."
Merlin could feel his temper rising and although all he wanted to do at this moment was throttle the dragon and force it to tell him exactly what he had to do he tried one last stab at politeness.
"You're not making sense. Home is where I live. Ealdor and Camelot are both home. And if all I have to do is figure out where home is to go there- I've done that, so why haven’t I been taken back yet?"
"But Merlin, you haven't." And with that the dragon started vanishing until all that was left was a giant toothy grin. Which then slowly disappeared as well.
Merlin felt like stamping his foot or throwing something but he manfully restrained himself. Clearly the dragon was annoying wherever he popped up. Merlin still didn’t trust the dragon as much as he once had. The dragon would say whatever it had to so that Merlin would help it. All this nonsense about destiny and homes that weren’t places wouldn’t fool him this time. But the dragon was free here- Merlin ruthlessly quashed that thought, gritted his teeth and started walking along the path that had magically appeared.
*~*
Merlin had been walking for almost twenty minutes now. He wished that he had paid more attention when Gaius had spoken to him about magic or even if he had just read the books a little more closely. There had to be a spell that could help in a situation like this, there just had to be. He couldn't be stuck here for the rest of his life. He would never see his mother again nor Gwen or Morgana. And Arthur - the pang of sorrow that struck him at that thought honestly surprised him. He certainly wasn't that fond of the blond prat, was he now? Maybe he was, but he didn’t admit it to Arthur all that often as Arthur had a big enough ego already.
Merlin still called Arthur a prat sometimes but that was mostly to hear Arthur’s now usual response that Merlin couldn't talk to him that way in faintly scandalised tones. But the grin on Arthur's face always made Merlin laugh. It was their little joke and now Merlin might never hear it again.
Laughter drew his attention once more. For a second he thought the dragon had returned but the pitch of the laughter indicated that this was somebody else.
Merlin went off the path and quietly went towards the source of the disturbance. He kept his footsteps light and was careful about where he placed his feet. Arthur would be very proud if he could see Merlin now.
Merlin saw a clearing and in it a few of Arthur’s knights. And though Merlin knew that this was not his Albion he was still shocked at the way the knights were acting. Owain and Pellinor were hanging off each other and singing dirty limericks. Galahad was sitting on a tree stump swaying along and occasionally making up a limerick of his own all the while drinking from a large glass of mead.
Merlin burst into the clearing, "How can you be behaving like this on patrol? If Arthur could see how you were acting you would all be removed from your positions and sent away from Camelot."
The knights who had at first looked rather alarmed when Merlin had begun speaking burst into laughter at the end of his mini rant. Pellinor and Owain were trying rather futilely to stay standing and eventually just slumped to the ground and giggled some more. Merlin turned to Galahad.
"Could you please explain what’s so funny about that?"
Galahad laughed some more, took a swig of mead and then eventually answered, "Well to be honest I don't think you're talking about Prince Arthur here. You must have some other Arthur in mind."
"I am talking about the Prince here. He would be so ashamed to see knights of the realm behaving like sailors”
Galahad snorted. "It must be another Prince Arthur as all our Prince cares about is bedding any willing lady- and not much else if truth be told. He's not useless with the sword but he is in no way competent. Also he has been kidnapped by some griffin and taken to its lair beyond the western mountains so it’s not like he would be able to see us. The griffin can have him if he wants; Camelot doesn't have much use for him really."
Merlin reeled back in shock. Everything in this place seemed off and he realised that this Arthur was most likely different from the one he knew. In a daze he wandered back to the path and just walked. One foot in front of another and hopefully he would find home, wherever that was, and then he could go back to Camelot and pretend that this was all some horrible dream and never think of it again. And at exactly that moment he walked into the signpost. He fell backwards and lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at what he had walked into.
"Huh. Camelot that way. Finally something that tells me where I'm going."
Merlin picked himself up and walked in the direction of Camelot with renewed hope.
*~*
“The person who manages to save Arthur may have his hand in marriage," proclaimed Uther to the gathered populace.
Merlin heard a loud snort and turns his head to find the culprit. A rather dirty looking peasant had an amused look on his face. The peasant turned towards the people and shouted loudly enough for everyone gathered to hear, "Arthur is a royal prat who cares nothing for his people. Who would want to marry him?"
Despite the fact that Merlin often called Arthur a prat there was no longer any malice behind his jibes. This man clearly believed what he was saying to be truth. And what was even more startling was that when he looked around he saw some of the crowd nodding their heads in acknowledgement.
Then his eye was caught by a rather alarming spectacle. Uther turning a rather horrid shade of puce and Merlin could literally see the anger bubbling through his veins.
"GUARDS! OFF WITH THAT MANS HEAD," he bellowed. The guards snapped to attention and converged on the man. They had the man on the chopping block in seconds. Merlin was rather astonished at the ease and familiarity of their movements - clearly this was something that happened quite often.
The executioner looked to Uther who nodded his head slightly. The blade fell and the protester's head rolled to the ground. The crowd was quite uninterested in this spectacle; their attention was still focussed on the balcony where Uther was standing.
Merlin turned to see what had captured the crowd’s attention and saw Morgana resplendent in red and gold.
“Uther, if you keep this up there won't be many people left in Camelot at this rate," she chided. She then turned towards the gathered crowd and pitched her voice so that everybody could hear her.
"People of Camelot: I come before you to ask that you please return Arthur to us. Though he might occasionally behave in a manner unfitting of a prince he is still a prince. Our Prince. On top of the privilege of marrying Arthur, the person who returns my brother to me will be greatly rewarded." Morgana's eyes were sad and beseeching. The crowd that had before been so unfeeling were now utterly bewitched.
"To that end I have heard rumours that Arthur is being kept by the griffin in a cave set deep in the Eastern Forests.”
Morgana smiled and the populace seem to melt. Merlin meanwhile shook his head. To the east? He was sure the knights had said the griffin had gone towards the west. His head felt foggy, almost as if he had been bewitched. He saw the crowd set off eastwards. Merlin tore his eyes from Morgana’s form and shook his head again to clear the cobwebs. He looked back at Morgana. The smile that had once been benevolent was now anything but.
Merlin saw her eyes narrow and in a flash she was standing before him with an inquiring expression on her face. "Why haven't you gone off to save Arthur?"
"Arthur is not being held to the east. Why would you have people going off in the wrong direction?"
Morgana laughed. "Why would I want Arthur saved? He is a foolish boy who is only interested in playing with his swords. I would rather my son Mordred be king. He has the interests of the land at heart and does not get distracted by every pretty serving girl."
Merlin felt the horror slowly building up in him again. This was completely wrong. Nothing in this place was right and he needed to get out of here now. Some of his horror must have shown on his face as the next thing he knew Morgana was shouting for the guards to chop off his head.
He ran.
*~*
Merlin attempted to sneak up to the griffin's lair but after two steps he accidentally stepped on a twig which broke with unusual loudness. Five steps later he stepped on a particularly sharp thorn that pierced his soft leather boots. He didn't manage to completely stifle a very high pitched shriek of pain. Merlin jumped three feet in the air when he heard the griffin clearing its throat.
"Oh for heavens sake, Warlock. Would you please stop with this sneaking business and just come and talk to me so that I can get this horrible prince off my hands?" bellowed the griffin from the entrance of the cave.
Merlin’s heart raced, but he did heed the griffin’s advice and walked very noisily up into the cave.
"Finally. Look, you can just take Arthur off my hands and go back to Camelot. In all honesty he is a terrible hostage and will not stop talking for a second. And he is never satisfied with the food or the bedding or even the very air he breathes, as if I can do anything about that. So you will take him back to Camelot and tell the King that you have killed me and I will find another cave in a Kingdom which isn't as crazy as this one and will then proceed to live off a few sheep and possibly some of those mountain goats. Oh, it will be wonderful. No more of these pesky humans and their petty little problems. My mother and grandmother and heavens even my dear old great-grandmother, who is going a bit senile, warned me that going too close to humans would not end well for me. And they were right. You really are a bothersome species and I will be glad to be rid of you."
Merlin did not know how to respond.
"You don't look very bright. Your face will stick like that if you aren't careful. Now Arthur is all yours. He's in the back of the cave sleeping. He apparently doesn't get up before 11. I'll be off now." And with that the Griffin spread its wings and took off.
Merlin watched him fly off and tried to organise his mind but it was quite a few minutes before his thoughts were anywhere near coherent. Eventually he shook his head to clear all the confusion and went into the cave. Arthur was indeed sleeping there. Merlin had to shake him quite hard to wake him up.
"Honestly, Griffin, we've been over this before. I don't get up before 11 and I can tell that it is most certainly not 11 yet. I doubt that it’s even 7," Arthur said without even opening his eyes.
Merlin very patiently replied, "Arthur. I'm here to rescue you so would you please get up so that we can return to Camelot?"
*~*
For some reason returning to Camelot seemed a much longer journey than the one from it. Merlin wasn’t certain if this was because of how annoying Arthur was being or if it was just another quirk of this strange land.
He had nothing in common with this Arthur. Not that he’d really had that much in common with his Arthur but they had somehow managed to make a friendship work.
So Merlin kept looking for hidden depths. Sometimes he caught glimpses and he held onto them because otherwise he would lose his sanity.
*~*
“I hope you’re not expecting me to actually marry you?”
Merlin sighed and refrained from rolling his eyes, “No, Arthur. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on this earth.”
Merlin didn’t have to see Arthur’s face to recognise the indignation that appeared on it at this statement. “Yes, Arthur I know that there are many people who would give anything to marry you but I'm not one of them. You are honestly one of the most horrible people that I know and from what I’ve seen you have no redeeming features whatsoever.”
Arthur remained quiet for a long time.
Merlin felt guilty even though nothing he said had been a lie.
*~*
“One of the serving maids threw herself at me a few weeks ago. She practically mauled me in her attempts to get my clothes off. She -“
“Enough, Arthur. I’m not interested in hearing about your conquests. Real or imagined.”
Arthur’s spluttering soothed Merlin’s irritation slightly.
*~*
“I’m the prince. I shouldn’t have to help you set up camp.”
Merlin clenched his fists and took a deep breath to prevent himself from saying or doing something rash. He’d forgotten how much of a prat his Arthur had been when they first met. This Arthur was a stranger, similar in name only.
“Arthur, all I want to do at this point is get you back to Camelot so that I don’t have to deal with you anymore. Being prince does not entitle you to special treatment. My Arthur was respected by all his men because he had earned it. When we set up camp he worked alongside the knights and squires. He was a prince but he was also a man.” He closed his eyes because suddenly he missed Arthur more than ever.
He heard Arthur clearing his throat tentatively and when he looked up Arthur was clumsily attempting to start a fire. “Tell me more about your Arthur. Please.”
Merlin did.
*~*
“No”
“Why not?”
“Arthur, I know why you want to stop there and its not happening. Do you understand.”
“I hope you know that you’re no fun.”
*~*
They were sitting around a campfire on the fifth night of their journey; Merlin was entertaining Arthur by making various fantastical shapes in the air with embers from the fire. Arthur was smiling and was not acting at all a prat. And suddenly Merlin could see his Arthur in this man laughing before him. His Arthur had reacted in exactly the same way when he had first found out about Merlin’s magic.
Merlin’s eyes flashed gold and the embers reshaped into an epic battle between Arthur and a griffin. Arthur stared in amazement and the innocence and wonder in his eyes stole Merlin’s breath.
Arthur, both this Arthur and his Arthur back wherever home was, were beautiful. In the most masculine way. Merlin suddenly wanted to kiss him. Or not suddenly. It seemed that he had wanted to kiss Arthur for a long time now and he was only now realising this.
“Make me fight a dragon next,” Arthur commanded imperiously.
And didn’t that just drive the point home? As much as he wanted it to be, this wasn’t his Arthur. He sighed. “Arthur, were you never taught manners?”
Arthur snorted. “Why would I need manners? People have to do what I say.”
Merlin rested his head on his knees. He’d give anything to be with his own Arthur right now. It didn’t matter where they were but just that they were together somewhere.
A flash in his peripheral vision drew his attention to a door that simply said ‘HOME’.
Merlin ran to it, wrenched it open and threw himself through it.
As he left he heard Arthur scream "I will have my father hunt you down
and have your head removed for leaving me like this!" Merlin just laughed.
*~*
Merlin stepped through the door and into the cave beneath the castle. The dragon flew up and perched on the rock in front of him.
“Well done, young warlock. You have found your home now.”
Merlin gaped at the dragon angrily. “You put me through this whole ordeal just so that I’d realise I loved Arthur? You could have just told me.”
The dragon laughed. “Realising you love Arthur was never my purpose. You needed to realise that being by Arthur’s side was the only place that would ever be home again. I never lied to you about your destiny, despite what you may have thought.”
*~*
Merlin was brought out of sleep by a foot nudging his side gently. He didn't open his eyes but he knew that it was Arthur doing the nudging in the way that he always seemed to know when Arthur was around him.
Quick as a whip Merlin managed to get a hand wrapped around Arthur's ankle. He yanked and suddenly Arthur was sprawled on his back on the ground. Merlin laughed delightedly. Utilising a roll that Arthur had taught him, Merlin found himself straddling Arthur.
He stopped laughing and looked down very seriously at Arthur. There was a crinkle in Arthur’s forehead and a smudge of grass on his cheek. Merlin swept both of those away with gentle hands. He reverently placed his hands on Arthur’s cheeks and kissed him. Merlin's eyes slid closed and he had to work hard to keep his magic from lifting the skirts of all the women in the square or unlacing all the men’s trousers.
He pulled away from Arthur and gently rested his forehead against Arthur's. A smile was spreading slow and joyful across Arthur's face. Then Arthur shook his head and looked at Merlin rather fondly. “Merlin, you really have to try and keep your magic a secret. Also you’re one of the most oblivious people that I have ever known. I've been waiting two years for you to realise. You’ll have to tell me later what brought this on."
Merlin felt something in him settle. He looked at Arthur's bemused face staring up at him and felt the stares of everybody around him. He blushed but managed to pinch Arthur in retaliation and took great satisfaction in the soft squeal Arthur gave.
In that moment Merlin was happy; for just a few moments more the outside world could wait.
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