Various Fandoms Oneshots

Memories Are Fickle Things

Fandom: Merlin

Characters: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Leon, Gaius (minor part)

Canon Pairings

Desc: Merlin is acting weird, and it's up to the Once and Future King to find out why. With a little help from the knights and Gwen, because lord knows he can't do it on his own. Spoilers for 1x10 and minor spoilers for 4x06. Bit OOC for Arthur and Merlin, but I guess it depends on how you view their relationship. This is uh, way longer than I intended it to be so...whoops.

Fluff, bit of angst

Sad!fic

Word Count: 7'153

"Time to get up, Sire!" Merlin prodded with a huff, throwing open the blinds and letting a wave of sunlight into the room. Arthur couldn't help but notice that his cheerfulness was just the tiniest bit forced, but his groggy, only half awake brain just wouldn't let him consider it any further. Probably nothing.

"Urgh," The king threw an arm over his squinting eyes with a groan. "What time is it?" He asked, words slurred from sleep.

"Time for you to get your lazy arse out of bed," His manservant replied briskly.

Arthur let out another groan, but rolled sluggishly out of bed without further prompting. Wiping sleep from his eyes, he stumbled to the table where an admittedly mouth watering breakfast of sausages, rolls, and eggs sat steaming. He slid into a chair and immediately began digging into the meal.

"Late night?" He asked Merlin between bites.

Merlin, who was organizing the blonds outfit for the day, raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" He demanded sharply, avoiding the question.

Arthur raised a hand in the air in a sign of peace. "You just seem...off, that's all."

"Well, I'm fine," Merlin said curtly, turning back to his task with a frown.

"I'm sorry I asked," said Arthur with a gentle eye roll.

"So am I."

Now it was Arthur's turn to raise an eyebrow. He was used to their casual banter, throwing fond insults and witty comebacks back and forth, but Merlin's cold tone was as unfamiliar as the haunted eyes and firm glower he wore at the moment. Something, Arthur deduced thoughtfully, was obviously bothering his friend. Wracking his brain, he tried to remember if he had said anything the day before, or if possibly today specifically was of any sort of significance to Merlin. But as far as he could remember just yesterday the man had been his usual self, even taking it upon himself to try and enjoy the hunt they had gone on with the knights, an activity he usually avoided like the plague. And although he had to admit he didn't know a whole lot about Merlin's personal life before he came to Camelot (and even after), Arthur felt fairly certain this particular day in April wasn't of much importance to the servant.

With a small shrug, Arthur decided that if something was truly upsetting Merlin, he would talk about it eventually. He returned his attention to the food before him and filed the odd behaviour to the back of his mind.

He finished his meal in quick succession, equally because it was good and for that fact that he had training with the knights. Merlin dressed him quickly, just as sloppily as usual although missing their usual trading of insults. Sliding his sword into its scabbard with a satisfying and familiar shlick, Arthur strode out of his chambers and down the hall, Merlin trailing him reluctantly.

Servants nodded politely as the king passed—as was expected of them—but greeted his manservant in a completely different way all together, vocally and cheerfully, cries of 'Morning, Merlin!', 'Same old, same old, huh Merlin?', and 'Have a good day, Merlin!' Filling the hallway. This did not come much to the surprise of Arthur. Merlin was well known and well liked among the other servants and citizens of Camelot, his open smile and cheerful manner making him easy to befriend, his sharp wit and habit of helping whenever possible only enhancing his likeability.