When he is ten years old, he loses a footrace to Will. Will teases him all the way home.
That night he dreams of being chased and wakes up panting.
He runs every day after that even after the nightmares go away. He runs even after he wins every last race.
Even when he wins, his face is as pale as if all the knights of Camelot had been behind him.
. . . .
When he is being Arthur's servant, he runs. He runs to avoid goblets after cheeky comments, he runs to get his work done in time, and he runs to get to a hiding place when they fight bandits.
When he is being Gaius's assistant, he runs. He runs to gather herbs, he runs to deliver goods to patients, and he runs to get out of earshot before Gaius can tell him to clean the leech tank.
When he is being Emrys, he runs. He runs to fight monsters, he runs to save Mordred against his instincts, and he runs to avoid the guards.
He runs.
. . . .
When Will dies, when Freya dies, when Balinor dies, he runs. He runs through the woods when he can, through the castle when he has to. He runs until his breathing is ragged from running instead of sobs. He runs until his muscles burn instead of his heart. He runs until the whole world is a comforting blur and he finds himself at the edge of the battlements.
Then he turns around and runs back.
. . . . .
When Arthur makes the knights run in training, Gwaine teases Merlin until he decides to run too.
When they finally catch up to him at the agreed upon finished line, his face is white, and his eyes are red.
Arthur does him the courtesy of pretending he doesn't know Merlin has been crying.
"Since when can you run like that?" he demands instead.
"I can do lots of things," Merlin says. What he doesn't add is:
"Like steal."
"Like forge documents."
"Like kill."
"Like lie."
"Like magic."
Instead he says, "Beat you back," and takes off before the knights have even caught their breath.
He doesn't say what a comfort it is to know he's faster than Camelot's best.
A/N: Today's unbeta'd drabble is brought to you by a very contrite fanfiction writer. As I said in my last post, inspiration is coming slower these days, and I've been focusing on my original writing and some not-so-fun-but-I-have-to-do-it-anyway writing. Between that and an extremely troublesome chapter for "King" (yes, an update's coming), this has taken the back burner.
Also, I've been marathoning NCIS. Which is not as good an excuse, but in my defense I've been stressed, and Tony makes me laugh.
I still owe you the comfort to last chapter's hurt, I want to write a sequel to Relius's chapter, and I've an idea for an Avengers crossover and maybe an NCIS one. That's it.
Prompts, people. Please.
Happy Tuesday!
