It was a busy day in the castle, servants and cooks running around preparing for the feast. Merlin made his way to Arthur's room already extremely late (what a surprise). Merlin barged through the door, breathing heavily from running and dodging other people. Arthur jumped, startled at Merlin's sudden presence, and drew his attention away from the window. Arthur was angry at Merlin's lateness, but he was so incredibly cute he couldn't stay mad at him. His cheeks were a little pink, his hair looked as if he just got off the pillow, which gave him his traditional goofy look. His chest rose and fell quickly, matching the sound of him breathing. Arthur couldn't show his feelings of course, so he strode towards Merlin quickly, with a large scowl on his face.
"Merlin where have you been?!" He barked, surprised by his own acting skills. He studied Merlin's face and as soon as he yelled at him he looked scared and his eyes shot down. Arthur's heart melted a little bit at the affect he had on him.
"I- I'm sorry sire, I was delivering medicines for Gaius." He quivered as he spoke.
"Well at least you're here now, you can start by writing my speech for tonight." Arthur ordered. Arthur started to walk out of the room to talk to his father about the feast. "And don't forget who you work for when writing it!" He added once near the door.
"Yea, a royal prat" Merlin muttered to himself.
"I heard that!" Arthur shook his head and smiled as he stepped out of the room. Merlin grinned and sat down to write Arthur's speech.
. . .
It was almost time for the feast to begin, and Arthur had to get ready. Merlin had laid out all his clothes for him to get into. They were very handsome, he thought. He couldn't wait to see Arthur in them. Arthur entered the room and saw Merlin sitting by the window.
"My speech is done no doubt?" Arthur mentioned.
"Yea, it's there on your desk and your clothes are laid out for you sire." Merlin replied. Arthur looked over at him and gave him an approving look.
"Hm, I guess you can be useful sometimes." Merlin looked over at Arthur and detected a small smirk. "You can't go wearing that to this feast." Arthur said.
"What's wrong with this?" Merlin gestured to what he was wearing. Arthur grinned,
"You have to wear the official ceremonial robes of the servants of Camelot." He pulled out the most ridiculous looking outfit that Merlin has ever seen in his life. His mouth fell open at it's hideousness. It was bright red, and the hat. Oh the hat. There were so many huge green, red, and brown feathers sticking out reaching about a foot away from the head. Merlin gave Arthur a pleading look.
"You can't be serious." Arthur's grin widened and he turned to go change.
. . .
The room was filled with loud people, many people eating and drinking. Some were drinking a b i t too much. Merlin was tired already from going around and refilling drinks and tending to the orders of the prince. There was a gap of entertainment, as the clown partook in too many drinks and had to be escorted out. Arthur had a fabulous idea. He glanced at Merlin standing alone at the side of the room. He stood up and clinked his glass to get everyone's attention.
"Don't worry everyone, tonight's entertainment isn't over," He glanced at Merlin again, who gave him a quizzical, nervous look. "Merlin here is going to perform for us!" Everyone in the room cheered and clinked their glasses together. Merlin immediately shook his head angrily at Arthur, receiving only a smirk back. He reluctantly goes into the middle of the room and has no clue what to do. Someone handed him three knives.
"What do I do with these?" He asked the man.
"Juggle of course!" Everyone began chanting 'juggle' and after a few moments of glaring at the prince and nearly dropping the knives from sheer nervousness, he begins to juggle. The first few throws go ok, but Merlin throws one straight up instead of to the left. He gets scared, drops all of the knives and jumps back. As the knives fall to the floor, everyone, including Arthur heartily laugh. Merlin's cheeks burned from embarrassment and knew he had to get back at Arthur.
Later on into the night, it was almost time for Arthur's speech. This time, Merlin had a fabulous idea. Arthur was on his way to his seat carrying a cup of mead. Merlin's eyes shone gold for only a moment, and watched Arthur's cup spill all over his clothes. Only a few people notice, Merlin was hoping for more, but he took what he could get. The people that noticed chuckled and looked away, and Arthur's face got beet red. Merlin watched him quickly walk out of the room and decided to go follow him. Once there, he knocked on the prince's door and let himself in.
"Arthur?" Merlin looked around, not seeing him. "Are you here? It's nearly time for your speech." Arthur suddenly popped out from behind the folding screen with just wet pants on. His hair was ruffled, like he just frantically took off his shirt. Merlin couldn't contain himself. He laughed, and managed to choke out "What happened to you?"
"Oh shut up Merlin!" He moved to a nearby table and threatened to throw a vase.
"Ah! Ok ok!" Merlin backed away and put up his arms in defense. "Would you like some help?"
"No of course I don't need help Merlin." Arthur snaps back. He comes out from behind the folding screen moments later, looking completely dressed. Merlin holds the door open for him as he walks out. He noticed the back of Arthur's shirt ruffled, not completely tucked in his pants. Merlin smirks and chuckles to himself quietly. In the hall Merlin reaches up behind Arthur and quickly tucks in his shirt. The prince jumped and swatted at his hands.
"Merlin what are you doing?!" Merlin stood in front of Arthur and slyly said,
"Maybe you should learn how to dress completely." With a smile Merlin turned to continue walk down the hall, but not without receiving a punch on the arm from Arthur.
"Ow.." Merlin decided to punch him back, and realized his mistake. He sped up, and began running back to the feast with Arthur shortly behind him.
"Merlin!!"
Thanks for reading!! It means a lot to me. If you have any suggestions for further chapters, I will gladly take them. Happy Holidays!
