Sleeping Merlin - Merlin/Arthur - PG
Title: Sleeping Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Author: screaminglungs
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to myth and legend and most importantly the good old beeb!
Warnings/Spoilers: AU - Arthur knows about Merlin's magic, no huge spoilers.
Word Count: 2300ish
Summary: Merlin has been hexed and seems to be sleeping - flangsty goodness.
Author's Notes: Beta-read by the lovely kcstories
The elderly physician was startled by the sound of the door to his study crashing against the wall, and looked down from the small balcony where he kept his books in time to watch the Prince stagger through the doors, burdened with the weight of his apprentice. He felt himself go cold at the sight of Merlin looking so pale and lifeless.
“Gaius! Gaius!” Arthur’s voice held a hint of panic Gaius had never heard before and it quickened his steps down towards the Prince who struggled under Merlin’s weight and whose eyes were wide with fright.
“What happened?” Gaius signalled for Arthur to place Merlin on his own small bed in the corner of the large work room.
“There was a woman in the forest on our way back from the hunt. She hexed him, Gaius! There was nothing I could do!” Arthur dropped to his knees on one side of the small cot while Gaius knelt on the other side and looked Merlin over as best he could to determine what had happened.
“I must know more, Sire. What did she say? Who was she?”
Arthur ran his hands through his sweaty blonde hair and sighed heavily. “It was mere gibberish! I can’t be expected to remember, Gaius!” Arthur growled in frustration.
“You must try; his very life may depend on it!” Gaius stared down at Merlin’s prone form. He didn’t appear to be in any pain; he had no fever; for all intents and purposes, to any outsider who had just walked into the room, it would appear he was merely sleeping.
“Well, at first she was using words I had never heard before, but then she began whispering the names of flowers that I remembered from my lessons as a boy; poppy, acacia, arbutus, crimson roses… What does it mean, Gaius?!”
“Eternal sleep, concealed true love and mourning, she can’t have!” Gaius mumbled to himself and sprang away from Merlin far more sprightly than a man of his age should have been able to.
“Gaius, would you please tell me what’s happened?”
Gaius stopped in his tracks and turned to face the young Prince, who looked more terrified than he had ever seen him.
“I believe she has put a spell on Merlin so that he will remain asleep forever,” Gaius said softly as he turned once again and made his way up the stairs to his small library. He couldn’t bear to look at the Prince’s stricken face a moment longer.
“What can be done, Gaius? Surely there’s a cure!” Arthur practically shouted.
“I don’t know, Sire. Let me consult my books!” Gaius said impatiently as he began examining the spines of the books he had collected through his life, books he would pass on to Merlin when he passed on. He ignored the way his fingers shook as he pulled a large tomb from a shelf and carried it down the stairs and set it on his worktable.
Arthur practically hummed with impatience as he paced across the length of Gaius’ study. The silence in the room was oppressive, to put it mildly, and it felt as if it had been stretching on for hours.
He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid as to let that woman dine with them the night before, so stupid as to trust someone they’d stumbled upon in the woods to get that close. Close enough to hurt Merlin.
Arthur was an easy target for a damsel in distress. After his own mother’s death, he had built up a low resistance to women in trouble, even if he didn’t want to bed them.
Regardless, he couldn’t believe he had let her blindside him. Merlin had tried to tell him with glares and pointed gestures what he thought of her and Arthur had ignored him. He should have listened; Merlin was always telling him that he didn’t listen enough.
He had left them alone for a few moments to look for some wood-Merlin had seemed more disobedient than usual and had refused to leave Arthur alone with her-when he had felt a crackle of static around him, something he had come to associate with magic. He had immediately turned back, fearing that Merlin had lost his temper and attacked the poor girl, only to stumble upon her hexing his manservant. She had heard him emerging into the clearing once more but held him back with an invisible force as she finished her curse, smiling cruelly as she did so. She had disappeared before Arthur could move again, leaving the terrified Prince to wonder why she hadn’t just finished him off.
“Sire?” Gaius’ uncertain voice broke him from his thoughts and he spun around to face the elderly physician.
“I think I have found a cure.” Gaius’ voice still belied his positive words.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, man! Tell me!” Arthur growled impatiently.
“Well, Sire, I believe that Merlin can be awakened by just one thing.” Gaius flicked his eyes to the page he had been examining one last time to confirm his suspicions.
“And what might that be?” Arthur snapped, his hands perched impatiently on his hips.
“True love’s kiss,” Gaius said as seriously as he could and stared up at the young Prince, daring him to challenge his years of experience and knowledge as a Court Physician. What he wasn’t expecting was for the Prince to laugh at him, to bend at the waist, clutch at his stomach and laugh until he was crying.
“Surely you’re kidding?” Arthur wheezed between bouts of laughter.
“One thing I can assure you with the utmost seriousness, Sire, is that I would not kid about Merlin’s life.” Gaius stared at the young man resolutely and waited for his face to sober. It went from flushed with laughter to positively green within moments. Gaius watched as the information sunk in and Arthur stepped back and ran his fingers through his already incredibly dishevelled hair.
“Right. Well, let’s get her in here, then!” Arthur’s voice was choked; he was obviously uncomfortable.
“Pardon my asking, Sire, but whom exactly are we to get?” Gaius raised an imperious eyebrow at Arthur.
“Guinevere, of course! Those two are always making moon eyes at one another; she must be able to break the spell!” Arthur snapped before storming from the room without giving Gaius time to respond.
As the door to his study slammed shut, Gaius sighed sadly and turned to look at the prone form of Merlin as he lay sleeping soundly on the small cot.
Boys could be so stubbornly oblivious to their own feelings at times. He just hoped the Prince wouldn’t take too long coming to the same realisation Gaius had months earlier.
*
“Merlin!” Gwen shrieked as Arthur led her into the room. She ran to Merlin’s side and stared at him intently, looking for any obvious injuries and frowning when she found none. “Gaius, what’s happened?”
“He has been hexed, my dear, and I’m afraid he may only be awoken with true love’s kiss,” Gaius said gravely, ignoring the quirk of her lips as he said so. “I’m guessing that’s why the Prince has brought you here.” Gaius gestured to Arthur, who stood across the room, staring out of a window over the fields surrounding the back of the castle, an intense frown and troubled expression marring his handsome face.
“That’s ridiculous! Merlin and I are nothing more than friends!” Gwen blushed furiously as she stared at Gaius and Arthur’s sturdy back.
“Guinevere, just do it, then we’ll know,” Arthur growled without turning to face the three other people in the room.
“I think it’s a laughable notion, but I’ll do it if you insist, Sire.” Gwen frowned at Arthur for speaking to her so harshly.
“I insist,” Arthur said through obviously gritted teeth.
Gwen looked over at Gaius, shrugged her shoulders and leaned in closely to Merlin and pressed her lips to his. She pulled back a moment later and was unsurprised to see Merlin lying exactly as he had been.
“Told you,” Gwen said softly. “I am sorry I couldn’t help.” She smiled sadly and left Arthur and Gaius alone with Merlin.
“Sire, I really must insist that we try other means of waking Merlin. I believe…”
“You’re absolutely right, Gaius. I will be back with Morgana shortly.” Arthur rushed from the room, leaving an incredibly frustrated Gaius to stare helplessly at Merlin, who slept on. He couldn’t help wondering how many of Camelot’s maids they would get through before Arthur gave in to his own buried feelings.
*
Several hours later, after Morgana had point blank refused to kiss Merlin let alone entertain the idea that they had feelings for each other, Arthur and Gaius were no closer to waking up the young Warlock than they had been that morning. After Morgana’s dramatic departure Emily, the cook’s assistant and Mildred, Arthur’s seamstress had both been subjected to kissing Merlin in the hope of waking him, but still the boy slept.
Arthur bustled into the room once more. Gaius had begun lighting candles and he watched as the Prince stood over Merlin, his eyes fiercely intent on him before turning away and facing Gaius; he had obviously not noticed him as he had barged into the room and his eyes were wide with shock.
“You need not look so alarmed, Sire. I have known about both your feelings for Merlin and his own that are most definitely reciprocated, for quite some time now,” Gaius said carefully.
“I don’t know what you mean, Gaius.” Arthur chuckled nervously and refused to look him in the eye.
“I mean that you could end all this right now if you weren’t so stubborn!”
“You are out of line, old man!”
“No, Sire, what is out of line is you possibly endangering the person you love because you’re too scared to admit to your own feelings!”
“What do you know of my feelings? Do not pretend as if you know me, Gaius!”
“I’ve known you since you were born, Arthur. Do not insult my intelligence! Do not belittle my care for you!” Gaius said sternly, more sternly than Arthur could remember him ever speaking to him. He blanched and stumbled backwards, staring wildly between the older man and Merlin.
“I don’t know what I feel for him!” Arthur said softly as he stared at Merlin with terrified eyes. “All I know is I cannot bear to be away from him, see him hurt or…” Arthur closed his eyes and sunk to the floor.
“Sounds as much like love as I have ever witnessed,” Gaius said kindly.
“What am I supposed to do? The entire court will know, I will be ridiculed and Merlin will be exiled!”
“Then tell no one. You have already kept the secret of Merlin’s magic. What is one more? When you are King…”
“I will be expected to marry! To provide an heir!”
“And you will do those things, but Merlin will never leave your side. I know him as well as if I were his father. He cares deeply for you, Sire,” Gaius said sincerely, hoping to finally convince Arthur to do the right thing.
Arthur swallowed hard and scrambled up from the floor. He was at Merlin’s side in an instant and examining his face intently.
Gaius watched from the other side of the room. He would leave once he was sure Merlin was awake; they deserved their privacy.
Arthur leant over Merlin, sliding both hands under his head and cradling it gently in one while the other reached up to push away hair from Merlin’s forehead. With a determined sigh, Arthur pressed his mouth against Merlin’s, his plump lips working softly over Merlin’s own slack pair.
Arthur pulled away and stared down hopefully at Merlin. When the moments ticked away, his face became more and more distressed and as it slipped into that of a distraught frown, Merlin gasped.
Gaius smiled softly and silently left the room.
“Arthur?” Merlin mumbled and stared up confusedly at the Prince.
“Good god, Merlin, I thought you were dead.” Arthur sighed and pressed his lips to Merlin’s once more without even thinking about it. Merlin lay still at first, frozen with shock and disbelief before his brain caught up with his body and he wound his arms around Arthur and pulled him closer. He willingly submitted to the kiss, opening his mouth under Arthur’s lips, moaning as the Prince pressed his tongue to his own and the kiss became more demanding. Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin’s back and pulled him into a sitting position on the small bed while Merlin busied himself with burying his hands in Arthur’s hair. They kissed passionately for several minutes before Arthur pulled back and stared into Merlin’s dilated eyes.
“What happened to me in the forest? Why are we back here and why are you kissing me?” Merlin grinned to reassure Arthur he had no problem with how the situation had turned out, just that he was confused as to how they had gotten there.
“The woman in the forest, she hexed you and Gaius discovered you could only be woken in a particular way…” Arthur coughed uncomfortably and looked away.
Merlin tugged on his hair, forcing him to meet his eye. “How?”
“With true love’s kiss.” Arthur grinned sheepishly and Merlin raised his eyes in disbelief.
“So you?” Merlin grinned.
“Yes…”
“And me?” Merlin’s grin grew impossibly wider.
“Yes, you idiot. I kissed you and apparently you’ve been hiding a hideously girly infatuation for me!” Arthur grinned as Merlin blushed.
“It seems our feelings are mutual, Sire!” Merlin sighed and pressed their lips together.
Things would not be easy for them, this went without saying, but they would deal with what the change in their relationship meant later, when Merlin wasn’t feeling quite so tired and Arthur didn’t feel the need to continue to kiss him awake.
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Author: screaminglungs
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to myth and legend and most importantly the good old beeb!
Warnings/Spoilers: AU - Arthur knows about Merlin's magic, no huge spoilers.
Word Count: 2300ish
Summary: Merlin has been hexed and seems to be sleeping - flangsty goodness.
Author's Notes: Beta-read by the lovely kcstories
The elderly physician was startled by the sound of the door to his study crashing against the wall, and looked down from the small balcony where he kept his books in time to watch the Prince stagger through the doors, burdened with the weight of his apprentice. He felt himself go cold at the sight of Merlin looking so pale and lifeless.
“Gaius! Gaius!” Arthur’s voice held a hint of panic Gaius had never heard before and it quickened his steps down towards the Prince who struggled under Merlin’s weight and whose eyes were wide with fright.
“What happened?” Gaius signalled for Arthur to place Merlin on his own small bed in the corner of the large work room.
“There was a woman in the forest on our way back from the hunt. She hexed him, Gaius! There was nothing I could do!” Arthur dropped to his knees on one side of the small cot while Gaius knelt on the other side and looked Merlin over as best he could to determine what had happened.
“I must know more, Sire. What did she say? Who was she?”
Arthur ran his hands through his sweaty blonde hair and sighed heavily. “It was mere gibberish! I can’t be expected to remember, Gaius!” Arthur growled in frustration.
“You must try; his very life may depend on it!” Gaius stared down at Merlin’s prone form. He didn’t appear to be in any pain; he had no fever; for all intents and purposes, to any outsider who had just walked into the room, it would appear he was merely sleeping.
“Well, at first she was using words I had never heard before, but then she began whispering the names of flowers that I remembered from my lessons as a boy; poppy, acacia, arbutus, crimson roses… What does it mean, Gaius?!”
“Eternal sleep, concealed true love and mourning, she can’t have!” Gaius mumbled to himself and sprang away from Merlin far more sprightly than a man of his age should have been able to.
“Gaius, would you please tell me what’s happened?”
Gaius stopped in his tracks and turned to face the young Prince, who looked more terrified than he had ever seen him.
“I believe she has put a spell on Merlin so that he will remain asleep forever,” Gaius said softly as he turned once again and made his way up the stairs to his small library. He couldn’t bear to look at the Prince’s stricken face a moment longer.
“What can be done, Gaius? Surely there’s a cure!” Arthur practically shouted.
“I don’t know, Sire. Let me consult my books!” Gaius said impatiently as he began examining the spines of the books he had collected through his life, books he would pass on to Merlin when he passed on. He ignored the way his fingers shook as he pulled a large tomb from a shelf and carried it down the stairs and set it on his worktable.
Arthur practically hummed with impatience as he paced across the length of Gaius’ study. The silence in the room was oppressive, to put it mildly, and it felt as if it had been stretching on for hours.
He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid as to let that woman dine with them the night before, so stupid as to trust someone they’d stumbled upon in the woods to get that close. Close enough to hurt Merlin.
Arthur was an easy target for a damsel in distress. After his own mother’s death, he had built up a low resistance to women in trouble, even if he didn’t want to bed them.
Regardless, he couldn’t believe he had let her blindside him. Merlin had tried to tell him with glares and pointed gestures what he thought of her and Arthur had ignored him. He should have listened; Merlin was always telling him that he didn’t listen enough.
He had left them alone for a few moments to look for some wood-Merlin had seemed more disobedient than usual and had refused to leave Arthur alone with her-when he had felt a crackle of static around him, something he had come to associate with magic. He had immediately turned back, fearing that Merlin had lost his temper and attacked the poor girl, only to stumble upon her hexing his manservant. She had heard him emerging into the clearing once more but held him back with an invisible force as she finished her curse, smiling cruelly as she did so. She had disappeared before Arthur could move again, leaving the terrified Prince to wonder why she hadn’t just finished him off.
“Sire?” Gaius’ uncertain voice broke him from his thoughts and he spun around to face the elderly physician.
“I think I have found a cure.” Gaius’ voice still belied his positive words.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, man! Tell me!” Arthur growled impatiently.
“Well, Sire, I believe that Merlin can be awakened by just one thing.” Gaius flicked his eyes to the page he had been examining one last time to confirm his suspicions.
“And what might that be?” Arthur snapped, his hands perched impatiently on his hips.
“True love’s kiss,” Gaius said as seriously as he could and stared up at the young Prince, daring him to challenge his years of experience and knowledge as a Court Physician. What he wasn’t expecting was for the Prince to laugh at him, to bend at the waist, clutch at his stomach and laugh until he was crying.
“Surely you’re kidding?” Arthur wheezed between bouts of laughter.
“One thing I can assure you with the utmost seriousness, Sire, is that I would not kid about Merlin’s life.” Gaius stared at the young man resolutely and waited for his face to sober. It went from flushed with laughter to positively green within moments. Gaius watched as the information sunk in and Arthur stepped back and ran his fingers through his already incredibly dishevelled hair.
“Right. Well, let’s get her in here, then!” Arthur’s voice was choked; he was obviously uncomfortable.
“Pardon my asking, Sire, but whom exactly are we to get?” Gaius raised an imperious eyebrow at Arthur.
“Guinevere, of course! Those two are always making moon eyes at one another; she must be able to break the spell!” Arthur snapped before storming from the room without giving Gaius time to respond.
As the door to his study slammed shut, Gaius sighed sadly and turned to look at the prone form of Merlin as he lay sleeping soundly on the small cot.
Boys could be so stubbornly oblivious to their own feelings at times. He just hoped the Prince wouldn’t take too long coming to the same realisation Gaius had months earlier.
*
“Merlin!” Gwen shrieked as Arthur led her into the room. She ran to Merlin’s side and stared at him intently, looking for any obvious injuries and frowning when she found none. “Gaius, what’s happened?”
“He has been hexed, my dear, and I’m afraid he may only be awoken with true love’s kiss,” Gaius said gravely, ignoring the quirk of her lips as he said so. “I’m guessing that’s why the Prince has brought you here.” Gaius gestured to Arthur, who stood across the room, staring out of a window over the fields surrounding the back of the castle, an intense frown and troubled expression marring his handsome face.
“That’s ridiculous! Merlin and I are nothing more than friends!” Gwen blushed furiously as she stared at Gaius and Arthur’s sturdy back.
“Guinevere, just do it, then we’ll know,” Arthur growled without turning to face the three other people in the room.
“I think it’s a laughable notion, but I’ll do it if you insist, Sire.” Gwen frowned at Arthur for speaking to her so harshly.
“I insist,” Arthur said through obviously gritted teeth.
Gwen looked over at Gaius, shrugged her shoulders and leaned in closely to Merlin and pressed her lips to his. She pulled back a moment later and was unsurprised to see Merlin lying exactly as he had been.
“Told you,” Gwen said softly. “I am sorry I couldn’t help.” She smiled sadly and left Arthur and Gaius alone with Merlin.
“Sire, I really must insist that we try other means of waking Merlin. I believe…”
“You’re absolutely right, Gaius. I will be back with Morgana shortly.” Arthur rushed from the room, leaving an incredibly frustrated Gaius to stare helplessly at Merlin, who slept on. He couldn’t help wondering how many of Camelot’s maids they would get through before Arthur gave in to his own buried feelings.
*
Several hours later, after Morgana had point blank refused to kiss Merlin let alone entertain the idea that they had feelings for each other, Arthur and Gaius were no closer to waking up the young Warlock than they had been that morning. After Morgana’s dramatic departure Emily, the cook’s assistant and Mildred, Arthur’s seamstress had both been subjected to kissing Merlin in the hope of waking him, but still the boy slept.
Arthur bustled into the room once more. Gaius had begun lighting candles and he watched as the Prince stood over Merlin, his eyes fiercely intent on him before turning away and facing Gaius; he had obviously not noticed him as he had barged into the room and his eyes were wide with shock.
“You need not look so alarmed, Sire. I have known about both your feelings for Merlin and his own that are most definitely reciprocated, for quite some time now,” Gaius said carefully.
“I don’t know what you mean, Gaius.” Arthur chuckled nervously and refused to look him in the eye.
“I mean that you could end all this right now if you weren’t so stubborn!”
“You are out of line, old man!”
“No, Sire, what is out of line is you possibly endangering the person you love because you’re too scared to admit to your own feelings!”
“What do you know of my feelings? Do not pretend as if you know me, Gaius!”
“I’ve known you since you were born, Arthur. Do not insult my intelligence! Do not belittle my care for you!” Gaius said sternly, more sternly than Arthur could remember him ever speaking to him. He blanched and stumbled backwards, staring wildly between the older man and Merlin.
“I don’t know what I feel for him!” Arthur said softly as he stared at Merlin with terrified eyes. “All I know is I cannot bear to be away from him, see him hurt or…” Arthur closed his eyes and sunk to the floor.
“Sounds as much like love as I have ever witnessed,” Gaius said kindly.
“What am I supposed to do? The entire court will know, I will be ridiculed and Merlin will be exiled!”
“Then tell no one. You have already kept the secret of Merlin’s magic. What is one more? When you are King…”
“I will be expected to marry! To provide an heir!”
“And you will do those things, but Merlin will never leave your side. I know him as well as if I were his father. He cares deeply for you, Sire,” Gaius said sincerely, hoping to finally convince Arthur to do the right thing.
Arthur swallowed hard and scrambled up from the floor. He was at Merlin’s side in an instant and examining his face intently.
Gaius watched from the other side of the room. He would leave once he was sure Merlin was awake; they deserved their privacy.
Arthur leant over Merlin, sliding both hands under his head and cradling it gently in one while the other reached up to push away hair from Merlin’s forehead. With a determined sigh, Arthur pressed his mouth against Merlin’s, his plump lips working softly over Merlin’s own slack pair.
Arthur pulled away and stared down hopefully at Merlin. When the moments ticked away, his face became more and more distressed and as it slipped into that of a distraught frown, Merlin gasped.
Gaius smiled softly and silently left the room.
“Arthur?” Merlin mumbled and stared up confusedly at the Prince.
“Good god, Merlin, I thought you were dead.” Arthur sighed and pressed his lips to Merlin’s once more without even thinking about it. Merlin lay still at first, frozen with shock and disbelief before his brain caught up with his body and he wound his arms around Arthur and pulled him closer. He willingly submitted to the kiss, opening his mouth under Arthur’s lips, moaning as the Prince pressed his tongue to his own and the kiss became more demanding. Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin’s back and pulled him into a sitting position on the small bed while Merlin busied himself with burying his hands in Arthur’s hair. They kissed passionately for several minutes before Arthur pulled back and stared into Merlin’s dilated eyes.
“What happened to me in the forest? Why are we back here and why are you kissing me?” Merlin grinned to reassure Arthur he had no problem with how the situation had turned out, just that he was confused as to how they had gotten there.
“The woman in the forest, she hexed you and Gaius discovered you could only be woken in a particular way…” Arthur coughed uncomfortably and looked away.
Merlin tugged on his hair, forcing him to meet his eye. “How?”
“With true love’s kiss.” Arthur grinned sheepishly and Merlin raised his eyes in disbelief.
“So you?” Merlin grinned.
“Yes…”
“And me?” Merlin’s grin grew impossibly wider.
“Yes, you idiot. I kissed you and apparently you’ve been hiding a hideously girly infatuation for me!” Arthur grinned as Merlin blushed.
“It seems our feelings are mutual, Sire!” Merlin sighed and pressed their lips together.
Things would not be easy for them, this went without saying, but they would deal with what the change in their relationship meant later, when Merlin wasn’t feeling quite so tired and Arthur didn’t feel the need to continue to kiss him awake.