Learning
Title: Learning
Rating: PG/PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for episodes 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Pre-Slash Arthur/Merlin, Hinted Merlin/Will
Summary:
Author's Note: This is the follow-up to Service. This is more Merlin's POV, while the next one will be more Arthur's POV. I hope you enjoy this portions of the story.
Disclaimer: BBC owns Merlin.
Merlin was good at stuff, but he was never great. He could get a job done, but he wouldn't get it done as quickly as the strong people, and he would never figure out some smart way of doing it faster.
For a good amount of the first few years of his life he was somewhat of a brat. He bruised quite easily so a lot of the boys of Ealdor would make fun of him, and call him a girl. Because of his small frame, the women would have Merlin help with a lot of the baking, sowing, and cleaning jobs, instead of having him work in the fields. After a particularly strenuous day of mending the young men of Ealdor's clothes, Hunith had grabbed Merlin's shoulder's to massage the kinks out. Merlin had protested, and when Hunith refused to stop, Merlin had turned the tables on his mother. He dug his fingers into her shoulder and furiously massaged. She loved it.
Then the other women loved it.
Then the hard worked men loved it.
Then the older people of the village loved it.
Then any one who was visiting or hurt loved it.
And finally, Will, after he fell of his roof while he was fixing it in the rain, loved the massage. And Merlin.
And of course, people had to word things strangely and call Merlin's fingers magic. It never bothered him until he lived in Camelot. Then it was strange. So many times he was compelled to massage some one there, but he held back. Which was strange. In Ealdor he would massage any one at any time when they needed it. Mostly because his mother told him to, but sometimes he massaged people to get away from doing other work. But in Camelot it was not required. Merlin may have been rumored to have a mental infliction, but he wasn't completely daft. You couldn't trade a foot massage for chores you didn't enjoy doing.
Unless the Prince allowed it.
He really didn't mind massaging Arthur's feet. It didn't have anything to do with the groans and almost moans Arthur made while Merlin massaged him. While he ignored them at the time of the massage, later when he was alone he remembered them much clearer. Merlin was quite uncomfortable with the fact that he kept remembering them. Especially because the play by play of the massage was quite unneeded while Merlin tried to fall asleep. So Merlin thought of anything else that would get his mind off of the massage he had just given.
Which ended up being all the massages Merlin had and hadn't given. All of the hadn'ts were from Camelot, and Merlin couldn't remember all of the hads from Ealdor.
The first of the hadn'ts was probably Gwen, after all that time she had spent in the dungeons just because of a foolish mistake made by Merlin. He had wanted to massage her ankles, feet, hands, back, and any where else she had been sore because he had felt really guilty. Much like when he had caused Emma to fall out of a tree when he was 11. She hadn't been paying attention, but Merlin shouldn't have snuck up on her. Emma didn't break anything, but she was bruised badly. So Merlin spent the next few weeks massaging her until the bruises finally faded.
The second was Lancelot after he had saved Merlin. And then put up with Arthur giving him the ridiculous amounts of chores to do. Then when he was thrown in the dungeons, much like what had happened with Gwen. Once again he wanted to massage Lancelot and help his muscles feel better. But Merlin had dealt with knots in knights shoulders before. Lancelot was no where near as bad as Woulf de Luc, but Merlin was still cautious. Woulf had been a mountain of a man, and even though he only stayed for two nights in Ealdor, his actions were spoken of ages after he had left. He had made a pass at nearly every thing that moved. Merlin had ended up giving him a massage because he had needed one, and none of the women would go any where near him. Despite the fact that Merlin wasn't female, Woulf still felt his butt more than twenty times that first night. Merlin refused to massage him the next night. Mostly because of the ass grabbing, but also because of the man's tight muscles.
After the whole Edwin incident, Merlin had thought about maybe massaging Gaius. But Gaius had been too busy righting every little thing that Edwin had wronged in the brief time he had been court physician. And Merlin knew better than to massage someone when they were busy with other things of greater importance. His mother had nearly stitched part of Merlin's fingers to a cloak when he had tried to massage her while she was mending clothes. It had taken two weeks of apologizing and sweet fruits(Merlin had been nine and was known to hold a grudge unless he was bribed) for Merlin to agree to massage her again. And Merlin didn't want that to happen with Gaius.
Mordred, even if he might end up killing Arthur, was just a sore little boy. And if he hadn't been bleeding through his bandages and looking so pale and sickly, Merlin probably would have caved in for those blue eyes and massaged the little one. But Merlin did not massage someone who was bleeding. He had been 11 the first and last time he made the mistake of doing so. Seeing his hands covered in blood, and feeling his fingers dig in under the skin had traumatized him. It took Will pinning him down to a bed and tickling him for Merlin to start smiling again. It took Hunith spraining her wrist for Merlin to start massaging again. Merlin still had problems with blood, and tended to shy away from it if he could,
She was harsh and sharp, and a bit scary, which was why it took awhile for Merlin to have a need to want to massage her. But after Morgana had gone to the dungeons for protesting Tom's death and come back with bruises, Merlin had wanted to massage them until they stopped hurting. It wasn't at all a servant's place to offer to do so, so he had decided to follow her around a bit. But then she had to make a ploy with Tauren to kill Uther, and that idea was soon discarded. Kaley had been the sharpest girl in Ealdor, and many said her wisdom rivaled the old mens. She was too proud to ask for a massage, and Merlin never found reason to offer. Until she got nervous about marrying Matthew. She also got clumsy and hurt her ankle tripping in a small ditch. Merlin massaged her, and saw how wonderful Matthew was making her. Instead of being the girl who had to challenge everyone, and walking around thinking she was better than everyone, she was all smiles and spent most of the time Merlin spent with her chattering about Matthew. After Kanan attacked and Matthew rode back on the horse dead, and Kaley burst through the crowd towards her now dead husband and Merlin wished he would've had some way to comfort her. But he was too busy trying to help Arthur.
Out of all the people Merlin had met in Camelot, he didn't think Arthur would be the first he massaged. Yes, he was Arthur's manservant, but he didn't think foot-massaging was a required service. But there were a lot of things Merlin and Arthur did that normal princes and manservants didn't take part in.
Merlin groaned. He was thinking about Arthur again.
It was going to be a long night.
Rating: PG/PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for episodes 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Pre-Slash Arthur/Merlin, Hinted Merlin/Will
Summary:
Author's Note: This is the follow-up to Service. This is more Merlin's POV, while the next one will be more Arthur's POV. I hope you enjoy this portions of the story.
Disclaimer: BBC owns Merlin.
Merlin was good at stuff, but he was never great. He could get a job done, but he wouldn't get it done as quickly as the strong people, and he would never figure out some smart way of doing it faster.
For a good amount of the first few years of his life he was somewhat of a brat. He bruised quite easily so a lot of the boys of Ealdor would make fun of him, and call him a girl. Because of his small frame, the women would have Merlin help with a lot of the baking, sowing, and cleaning jobs, instead of having him work in the fields. After a particularly strenuous day of mending the young men of Ealdor's clothes, Hunith had grabbed Merlin's shoulder's to massage the kinks out. Merlin had protested, and when Hunith refused to stop, Merlin had turned the tables on his mother. He dug his fingers into her shoulder and furiously massaged. She loved it.
Then the other women loved it.
Then the hard worked men loved it.
Then the older people of the village loved it.
Then any one who was visiting or hurt loved it.
And finally, Will, after he fell of his roof while he was fixing it in the rain, loved the massage. And Merlin.
And of course, people had to word things strangely and call Merlin's fingers magic. It never bothered him until he lived in Camelot. Then it was strange. So many times he was compelled to massage some one there, but he held back. Which was strange. In Ealdor he would massage any one at any time when they needed it. Mostly because his mother told him to, but sometimes he massaged people to get away from doing other work. But in Camelot it was not required. Merlin may have been rumored to have a mental infliction, but he wasn't completely daft. You couldn't trade a foot massage for chores you didn't enjoy doing.
Unless the Prince allowed it.
He really didn't mind massaging Arthur's feet. It didn't have anything to do with the groans and almost moans Arthur made while Merlin massaged him. While he ignored them at the time of the massage, later when he was alone he remembered them much clearer. Merlin was quite uncomfortable with the fact that he kept remembering them. Especially because the play by play of the massage was quite unneeded while Merlin tried to fall asleep. So Merlin thought of anything else that would get his mind off of the massage he had just given.
Which ended up being all the massages Merlin had and hadn't given. All of the hadn'ts were from Camelot, and Merlin couldn't remember all of the hads from Ealdor.
The first of the hadn'ts was probably Gwen, after all that time she had spent in the dungeons just because of a foolish mistake made by Merlin. He had wanted to massage her ankles, feet, hands, back, and any where else she had been sore because he had felt really guilty. Much like when he had caused Emma to fall out of a tree when he was 11. She hadn't been paying attention, but Merlin shouldn't have snuck up on her. Emma didn't break anything, but she was bruised badly. So Merlin spent the next few weeks massaging her until the bruises finally faded.
The second was Lancelot after he had saved Merlin. And then put up with Arthur giving him the ridiculous amounts of chores to do. Then when he was thrown in the dungeons, much like what had happened with Gwen. Once again he wanted to massage Lancelot and help his muscles feel better. But Merlin had dealt with knots in knights shoulders before. Lancelot was no where near as bad as Woulf de Luc, but Merlin was still cautious. Woulf had been a mountain of a man, and even though he only stayed for two nights in Ealdor, his actions were spoken of ages after he had left. He had made a pass at nearly every thing that moved. Merlin had ended up giving him a massage because he had needed one, and none of the women would go any where near him. Despite the fact that Merlin wasn't female, Woulf still felt his butt more than twenty times that first night. Merlin refused to massage him the next night. Mostly because of the ass grabbing, but also because of the man's tight muscles.
After the whole Edwin incident, Merlin had thought about maybe massaging Gaius. But Gaius had been too busy righting every little thing that Edwin had wronged in the brief time he had been court physician. And Merlin knew better than to massage someone when they were busy with other things of greater importance. His mother had nearly stitched part of Merlin's fingers to a cloak when he had tried to massage her while she was mending clothes. It had taken two weeks of apologizing and sweet fruits(Merlin had been nine and was known to hold a grudge unless he was bribed) for Merlin to agree to massage her again. And Merlin didn't want that to happen with Gaius.
Mordred, even if he might end up killing Arthur, was just a sore little boy. And if he hadn't been bleeding through his bandages and looking so pale and sickly, Merlin probably would have caved in for those blue eyes and massaged the little one. But Merlin did not massage someone who was bleeding. He had been 11 the first and last time he made the mistake of doing so. Seeing his hands covered in blood, and feeling his fingers dig in under the skin had traumatized him. It took Will pinning him down to a bed and tickling him for Merlin to start smiling again. It took Hunith spraining her wrist for Merlin to start massaging again. Merlin still had problems with blood, and tended to shy away from it if he could,
She was harsh and sharp, and a bit scary, which was why it took awhile for Merlin to have a need to want to massage her. But after Morgana had gone to the dungeons for protesting Tom's death and come back with bruises, Merlin had wanted to massage them until they stopped hurting. It wasn't at all a servant's place to offer to do so, so he had decided to follow her around a bit. But then she had to make a ploy with Tauren to kill Uther, and that idea was soon discarded. Kaley had been the sharpest girl in Ealdor, and many said her wisdom rivaled the old mens. She was too proud to ask for a massage, and Merlin never found reason to offer. Until she got nervous about marrying Matthew. She also got clumsy and hurt her ankle tripping in a small ditch. Merlin massaged her, and saw how wonderful Matthew was making her. Instead of being the girl who had to challenge everyone, and walking around thinking she was better than everyone, she was all smiles and spent most of the time Merlin spent with her chattering about Matthew. After Kanan attacked and Matthew rode back on the horse dead, and Kaley burst through the crowd towards her now dead husband and Merlin wished he would've had some way to comfort her. But he was too busy trying to help Arthur.
Out of all the people Merlin had met in Camelot, he didn't think Arthur would be the first he massaged. Yes, he was Arthur's manservant, but he didn't think foot-massaging was a required service. But there were a lot of things Merlin and Arthur did that normal princes and manservants didn't take part in.
Merlin groaned. He was thinking about Arthur again.
It was going to be a long night.