Fic-type thing: 5 incidents...Arthur's laundry (Merlin, Arthur/Merlin)
A bit of fluff inspired by a prompt from kageygirl. Arthur/Merlin, 700 words.
5 incidents involving Arthur's laundry that were somehow worthy of note:
1) That time Merlin was experimenting with the laundry spells, and got the water near boiling before he noticed.
When all was said and done, he didn't really think there was all that much difference. The colour seemed a bit duller than usual, but who could really tell when it came to brown? Merlin didn't think Arthur would notice.
He didn't. He didn't seem to notice that the fit was slightly more...snug, either. Merlin, however, couldn't help but be aware of the effect of his magic. It was obvious every time Arthur turned his back. Or propped his foot on the window ledge or the rung of a chair, as he was wont to do when he was in a pondering mood. Or bent over to retrieve his boots or something else on the floor.
Arthur was quite vocal in his disapproval of Merlin's apparent laziness from that point forward, but Merlin just couldn't quite bring himself to pick up everything.
2) That time with the lice.
Which really didn't bear recalling. After all, it wasn't just Arthur's laundry, and the problem was in no way, shape, or form Merlin's fault. Though he was quite helpful in aiding Gaius's efforts to solve the problem. Gaius even said so himself, many times.
And no, Merlin didn't enjoy helping Arthur apply the salve. He wasn't cruel, after all, and Arthur was truly miserable.
Well, that first time, anyway. After that, it was just a matter of being thorough.
3) That time Arthur's sheets came back purple.
See, it was like this. He'd thought Arthur wanted his entire bedding to match the royal colours. Which was such a ridiculously spoilt and completely unnecessary request that of course it made sense coming from his royal pratness. Then there was this whole mix-up with one of Gaius's potions and a slightly mispronounced spell... Really, purple wasn't that bad. It kind of toned down the whole bloody warmonger theme the Pendragons had going on.
And yes, he did understand that the Pendragons were warriors, thank you very much. It wasn't like he could miss it, what with strapping Arthur into his armour all the time. And then helping him out of it later on...
Right. So it did seem that purple was rather atrocious when it came to hiding certain stains. Ones that the washerwomen probably already were aware of, but Merlin wasn't enthused about waving that particular flag in their faces. Some things were better left with a veil of privacy, after all.
Luckily, the bleaching spell was a lot easier to master.
4) That time Merlin wound up wearing Arthur's tunic half the day before either of them noticed.
That probably wasn't so much a laundry incident as it was...a lack of laundry incident. He'd thought it was his tunic when he scooped it up off the floor, really he had. And between Arthur's never-ending task list and Gaius's sudden need for every single flower perking its head up from the forest floor, he hadn't had time to return to his room to change properly.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been. At least Uther hadn't noticed.
Even if Morgana had.
5) That time with Arthur's socks.
He knew he shouldn't use magic in Arthur's quarters. He wasn't an idiot, no matter what everyone said. But, ah, he had this little trick with Arthur's socks. One word, a crook of his finger, and they leapt up and turned themselves into little balls.
It was fun.
So when Arthur burst into his rooms, long coat still flapping from the speed of his stride, and caught Merlin with his hand out and a little sock ball hovering in front of him, he couldn't completely regret the mistake. Or he didn't, until the moment Arthur's eyes went wide and he spun around to slam the doors shut. In that moment, he realised he might have cost himself what he valued most, just for a bit of fun.
Arthur finally turned, finger pressed to the tiny wrinkle between his eyes that Merlin couldn't see, but knew was there. Then he sighed, dropped his hand, and shook his head.
"Honestly, Merlin," he said, and then launched into a speech peppered with words like 'idiot' and 'fool' and 'my father' and 'ever again'. And one very heartfelt 'please'. Then he took Merlin to bed and repeated the same speech, using his body instead of words.
Afterward, in the deep darkness of the night, as hidden and safe as they could be, Merlin showed Arthur his magic. Little tricks and silly things, spells that would have made Gaius frown with their frivolousness, but between them, they were so much more.
To this day, Merlin has an inordinate fondness for Arthur's socks.
5 incidents involving Arthur's laundry that were somehow worthy of note:
1) That time Merlin was experimenting with the laundry spells, and got the water near boiling before he noticed.
When all was said and done, he didn't really think there was all that much difference. The colour seemed a bit duller than usual, but who could really tell when it came to brown? Merlin didn't think Arthur would notice.
He didn't. He didn't seem to notice that the fit was slightly more...snug, either. Merlin, however, couldn't help but be aware of the effect of his magic. It was obvious every time Arthur turned his back. Or propped his foot on the window ledge or the rung of a chair, as he was wont to do when he was in a pondering mood. Or bent over to retrieve his boots or something else on the floor.
Arthur was quite vocal in his disapproval of Merlin's apparent laziness from that point forward, but Merlin just couldn't quite bring himself to pick up everything.
2) That time with the lice.
Which really didn't bear recalling. After all, it wasn't just Arthur's laundry, and the problem was in no way, shape, or form Merlin's fault. Though he was quite helpful in aiding Gaius's efforts to solve the problem. Gaius even said so himself, many times.
And no, Merlin didn't enjoy helping Arthur apply the salve. He wasn't cruel, after all, and Arthur was truly miserable.
Well, that first time, anyway. After that, it was just a matter of being thorough.
3) That time Arthur's sheets came back purple.
See, it was like this. He'd thought Arthur wanted his entire bedding to match the royal colours. Which was such a ridiculously spoilt and completely unnecessary request that of course it made sense coming from his royal pratness. Then there was this whole mix-up with one of Gaius's potions and a slightly mispronounced spell... Really, purple wasn't that bad. It kind of toned down the whole bloody warmonger theme the Pendragons had going on.
And yes, he did understand that the Pendragons were warriors, thank you very much. It wasn't like he could miss it, what with strapping Arthur into his armour all the time. And then helping him out of it later on...
Right. So it did seem that purple was rather atrocious when it came to hiding certain stains. Ones that the washerwomen probably already were aware of, but Merlin wasn't enthused about waving that particular flag in their faces. Some things were better left with a veil of privacy, after all.
Luckily, the bleaching spell was a lot easier to master.
4) That time Merlin wound up wearing Arthur's tunic half the day before either of them noticed.
That probably wasn't so much a laundry incident as it was...a lack of laundry incident. He'd thought it was his tunic when he scooped it up off the floor, really he had. And between Arthur's never-ending task list and Gaius's sudden need for every single flower perking its head up from the forest floor, he hadn't had time to return to his room to change properly.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been. At least Uther hadn't noticed.
Even if Morgana had.
5) That time with Arthur's socks.
He knew he shouldn't use magic in Arthur's quarters. He wasn't an idiot, no matter what everyone said. But, ah, he had this little trick with Arthur's socks. One word, a crook of his finger, and they leapt up and turned themselves into little balls.
It was fun.
So when Arthur burst into his rooms, long coat still flapping from the speed of his stride, and caught Merlin with his hand out and a little sock ball hovering in front of him, he couldn't completely regret the mistake. Or he didn't, until the moment Arthur's eyes went wide and he spun around to slam the doors shut. In that moment, he realised he might have cost himself what he valued most, just for a bit of fun.
Arthur finally turned, finger pressed to the tiny wrinkle between his eyes that Merlin couldn't see, but knew was there. Then he sighed, dropped his hand, and shook his head.
"Honestly, Merlin," he said, and then launched into a speech peppered with words like 'idiot' and 'fool' and 'my father' and 'ever again'. And one very heartfelt 'please'. Then he took Merlin to bed and repeated the same speech, using his body instead of words.
Afterward, in the deep darkness of the night, as hidden and safe as they could be, Merlin showed Arthur his magic. Little tricks and silly things, spells that would have made Gaius frown with their frivolousness, but between them, they were so much more.
To this day, Merlin has an inordinate fondness for Arthur's socks.