500 Days of Freya (Merlin)

Blind Date

Chapter 31

Warning/s: None.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: I'm really hungry because my dad said he would go out to buy bacon for breakfast and he's been like 2 hours. I have no idea why

Prompt: ruapilot02 – "Gwen decides to start playing matchmaker for Merlin convinced that he needs to find a wife and settle down. Her efforts are doomed to failure because Merlin still loves Freya." (Second part to follow)

"Sofia," Gwen said to the serving girl who was plaiting her hair, "what do you think of Merlin?"

The girl blushed and ducked her head a little. "He's very kind, m'lady," she answered shyly.

Gwen nodded thoughtfully. "This may sound a little odd, but...I am worried about him. He has no girl in his life, and I think he may be slightly lonely. Would you consider talking to him a little, maybe?"

Sofia looked up and bit her lip. "Of course, m'lady! We – me and the other servants – always thought he must have someone because he's so kind and sweet and never makes any advances towards us."

"Oh no," Gwen assured her. "I think he just doesn't know how to go about it, that's all. And he is so kind, as you say, that it is against his nature to do anything that could make someone uncomfortable."

"I will talk to him tonight," Sofia said brightly. "I often see him because we do our laundry at the same time. We tend not to talk about anything important most of the time, but I'll try tonight."

"Thank you," Gwen said, satisfied.

"Evening, Sofia," Merlin said in his usual friendly tone. He hauled a load of dirty clothes out of his basket and into one of the tubs of hot, soapy water.

"Evening, Merlin," Sofia replied, doing the same. "How has your day been?"

"Alright – Arthur had me running around all day and I'm exhausted, and I think he's going to use me as target practice tomorrow. How about your day?"

"Oh, it was fine," Sofia breathed, rolling up her sleeves. "This might be a bit forward, Merlin, but would you like to maybe go out for a picnic sometime? As friends, of course," she added hastily, seeing his confused imagination. "I just...I feel like we have known each other for a long time but have never really gotten to know each other, that's all."

"That is true," Merlin agreed, pulling out a heavy, sodden shirt and examining it. "How about tomorrow evening? I'll ask Mary to prepare some food in the morning, she owes me a favour."

"That would be lovely, thank you." Sofia couldn't wait to tell Gwen – she had done even better than she ever thought she would.

"What a lovely evening," Sofia sighed, looking out over the wooded areas of Camelot.

"Beautiful," Merlin agreed.

Truth be told, whilst Merlin was lovely, and Sofia had to admit that he was also very attractive, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to go further than friends with him. He was a brilliant friend and she sensed a sort of sadness about him, one that came with loss. And she was truly enjoying spending time with him as a friend – she decided to remain as just that.

He and Sofia were still chatting and had become a lot friendlier with each other recently thanks to the picnic, and Merlin was relieved to see that she truly wasn't seeking any romance. But ever since that, more and more serving girls – who had always known him, always worked with him, always been willing to lend him a favour or quick to ask for a hand with something – were sending him flirtatious glances, talking to him a lot more about non-work related things, and generally finding excuses to bump into him more often.

The latest was when Julia, an olive-skinned girl with long blonde hair, came into Arthur's chambers to deliver a message about how the council meeting would be held an hour later than usual, she purposely walked into Merlin, apologised, and winked as she walked out.

"She just flirted with you," Arthur said, half-surprised and half-amused.

"I know," Merlin groaned. He hit his head against the stone wall in frustration. "They all are and I don't know why!"

Arthur laughed at his manservant's annoyance. "Aren't you enjoying the attention?" he asked jokingly, though he did seriously wonder why Merlin was so wound up about it.

"I don't like any of them," Merlin complained, still leaning against the wall. His voice was muffled from it, and also echoed around the room a little. "Not in that way."

"Isn't it time you found someone who you can settle down with, though?" Arthur asked cautiously. His servant, as far as he knew, had never expressed any interest in that before, either women or men.

"I did find someone," Merlin said sadly. "Her name was Freya. She was perfect and now I don't want anyone else."

"Well, why don't you tell them that you already have someone special then?" Arthur asked him, apparently oblivious to the past tense that Merlin had used. "And why didn't you tell me?" he added indignantly.

Merlin turned around and leant his back against the wall. "Because she died a few years ago, and although I should be over it, I'm not, and I don't think I ever will be."

Arthur was speechless for a few seconds. "I am sorry," he said in shock. "Why did you not tell me at the time?" I hate to think of you suffering alone, he added in his head, but that sounded far too much like he was Merlin's friend to be said aloud.

"We weren't really on friendly terms," Merlin said ponderously. "And I guess it was part of my private life and I prefer to deal with my private life, well, privately."

Arthur nodded and frowned down at the papers he was meant to be signing. He couldn't concentrate on them anymore. "You can have the rest of the day off," he said quietly. It wasn't much, but Merlin knew what the gesture meant.

"Thank you," Merlin said softly, slipping out of Arthur's chambers silently and heading back to his room. He hoped he didn't run into any admiring serving girls on the way back, and he took the lesser-known passage ways at a run.

A/N: SOOOOOO HUNGRY