Merlin Headcanons

I Can't Explain

A lot of things had changed over the past few months.

Merlin had changed. That was Arthur's first thought. It was a perfectly natural thought. Anyone would have after Morgana had used that nathair snake on them so much, and it didn't help that the spell she'd put on him to keep him from crying out still hadn't worn off yet. So of course Merlin had changed. That was only natural.

But he was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn't just that Merlin had changed so much as that Arthur now was paying more attention to him. He had, in order to work out what he was trying to get across or to - alright, alright, he admitted it - make sure Merlin was all right.

Merlin couldn't babble anymore to redirect an awkward line of questioning. He couldn't pull off his strange excuses for his disappearances like he used to. And with Arthur scrutinizing him for signs that Morgana had permanently damaged him, he couldn't hide that look in his eyes like he used to.

Arthur noticed.

And then he noticed something else about Merlin's eyes. Like their tendency to turn gold.

Merlin opened his mouth to explain before remembering that he couldn't. He stepped backward, looking desperate.

Then his eyes widened, and he ran forward, diving between Arthur and the last, unnoticed bandit. The bandit's sword bit Merlin in the arm before the warlock sent him flying backward into a tree.

And Arthur had no idea how Merlin had come to have magic, or how long he'd been hiding it, or anything like that. But he did know that there wasn't an evil sorcerer alive who would have done what Merlin just had, and the look on Merlin's face was so much like the time that he'd accidentally dropped a pie on Uther's head at a banquet that Arthur couldn't help but laugh.

Merlin couldn't explain. But then, he didn't really need to.