kageygirl | FIC: This Whole Deception Lark (Merlin, PG, Spoilers for 1x07 "The Gates of Avalon")

I come bearing fic! Which for a while I was despairing of ever typing again.

780 words, PG-rated, Merlin/Arthur-ish because, hi, have you seen the show? (If you haven't, why the hell not?) Post-ep (and therefore spoilers) for 1x07, "The Gates of Avalon." Huge thanks to

suzvoy and

shetiger for making sure I still knew how to speak English.

Summary: Truth be told, Merlin's actually getting worse at it.

This Whole Deception Lark

The lake does not give Arthur up easily. When the cold still waters release his bootheels, he shudders all over, and only then gasps in a deep breath, though he does not truly wake.

Merlin nearly cries out in relief, kneeling with Arthur on the rocky ground. He attributes it to the head wound.

~

Camelot suffers more strange noises, more things falling over, more doors opening and closing with no one behind them that morning. Merlin's not quite up to glamours, but he distracts the guards and servants he cannot avoid with anything that comes to mind, and makes it to Arthur's chambers with none the wiser (though possibly more confused about their sudden clumsiness).

Gaius is waiting there for him, and he helps Merlin settle the sodden prince into the chair by the fire. "I didn't want Morgana asking any questions in case you came back--" He looks Merlin up and down. "--looking something like that."

"It's a long story," Merlin says. He closes his eyes and breaks the spell that made manhandling Arthur back though the woods and the castle easier, and then staggers as his headache surges to the fore of his attention.

"Sit down before you fall down," Gaius says, sternly but not unkindly, and he maneuvers Merlin into another chair. "I'm going to reassure Morgana, send her back to her room, and I'll be back with some dry clothes and some herbs to boil for vapors."

"I'll be here," Merlin says faintly, trying not to jostle his head, lest it decide to fall off. Through slitted eyes, he watches Arthur breathe from across the room.

~

They strip Arthur down and sponge the lake-waters off him before settling him in bed, because there will be no sense in trying to misdirect him if he wakes up smelling of algae. Merlin's not usually this familiar with the prince, but his aching head and creeping exhaustion make it all seem slightly surreal.

Something about Arthur's bare toes makes him giggle, and Gaius stares at him in concern.

"I'm all right," he says, trying to hold in his inappropriate mirth.

"I wouldn't go that far," Gaius says, and his look of mingled disgust and affection makes Merlin laugh all over again.

"Well, I will be," he says, and Gaius settles a warm hand on his shoulder in silent agreement.

~

He hides Arthur's clothing for the time being and sets to cleaning his armor with magic. For once Gaius does not raise a single disapproving eyebrow, though he does caution Merlin to be quick about it. "Enchantments can wreak all manor of havoc with the mind," Gaius says from his seat at Arthur's bedside. "There's no telling what Arthur will remember."

Merlin looks up from the weed he's trying to pull free of Arthur's hauberk. "I'm still not sure why we can't we just tell him the truth. Well, leaving out the part about me, I mean."

Gaius's mouth draws into a frown, and he shakes his head. "As I would not trust Uther's judgment with Morgana's secret, I would not trust his forbearance if he found out Arthur had been ensorcelled. We need to decide upon a story, in case he remembers very little."

"A story. To explain why he can't remember anything." Merlin lights on a fantasy he's had more than once, and he grins over at Gaius. "Can we say I hit him with a big stick?"

~

Gaius has gone for something to ease Arthur's headache, and Merlin is trying to ease Arthur into his clothing, but Arthur is pained, panicked, and more than a little bewildered, and he's not really aiding the cause. He stops pacing so suddenly that Merlin nearly bumps into him with the coat he's been trying to proffer.

"We need to come up with a story," Arthur says, and Merlin can't quite choke down a laugh. Arthur whirls on him, then raises a hand to his head and grimaces even as he glares at Merlin. "This isn't funny. If my father finds out what an idiot I was, he'll have me thrown in the stocks."

"Oh, no, we definitely wouldn't want anyone getting thrown in the stocks," Merlin says, giving Arthur a mild look. He holds up the coat again, and Arthur shrugs it on with a wince, and Merlin considers bring up potatoes but decides that not doing so will be his last good deed for the day.

No matter what kind of look Arthur gives Merlin, that's it, he's gone above and beyond. He's completely done.

The very next moment, a servant knocks on the door to summon Arthur before the king.

***

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Coldplay, "Viva la Vida"