Merlin sat back and drew his forearm across his forehead. “Finally finished,” he panted out, gaze scanning over the vast surface which was King Arthur’s chamber’s floor. He gave a small nod of approval at the now nearly sparkling floors. He worked for hours on cleaning them, and hoped that Arthur, for once, would appreciate it.
“Still working on the floors, Merlin?” came the voice of Arthur himself, tromping heavily into his room, each step making a very audible splat and squish. Merlin closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He didn’t dare look at the other man, fearing what the sound from Arthur’s boots was.
“Please, Sire, tell me your boots are not muddy…” he turned his head towards Arthur and opened his eyes to see, sure enough, a pair of mud and probably horse dung covered, wet boots. Merlin bit his lip, glaring at the boots, then turning his fiery stare up at Arthur.
“What?” Arthur said.
“What?” Merlin exclaimed, throwing his rag onto the floor and jumping onto his feet. “WHAT? Are you so unintelligent that you cannot possibly have ANY idea as to how hard I work for you only to have you throw it back in my face every single time?!”
“Whoa, calm down, Merlin, there’s no need to get upset!” Arthur rejoined, laughing a bit.
“No need t- no. No. You know what? Forget it,” Merlin shook his head and walked past Arthur, purposely bumping his shoulder into the king’s.
“Where are you going?” Arthur called, not turning as Merlin walked away.
“To take a bath and then a nap.”
“I did not dismiss you from your duties, Merlin!” the king yelled, turning on his heel to watch his servant storm off.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass, Arthur!” Merlin shouted back.
Arthur scoffed, but let Merlin leave. He shook his head and looked down at his boots and the muddy trail he had left. A small pang of guilt throbbed in his core as he noticed how the unsoiled majority of the floor looked cleaner than he had ever seen it before. Merlin had done a spectacular job and was right, he had gotten his hard work thrown in his face and practically spat on instead of receiving the praise he deserved. Arthur wet his lips and sighed, stooping to pull off his boots one at a time and leaving them there to prevent making more of a mess, then heading in his socks over to his desk to start on some paperwork. As he sat down, the guilt he felt twisted into a sort of irritation, “Merlin was just overreacting. It’s not that hard to clean a damn floor,” he told himself. “Stop feeling bad for him, Arthur. He’s your servant before he can be your friend or…anything else.” He sighed again and picked up a quill, dipping it in his inkwell before he tried to focus on work and get Merlin out of his head.
Merlin stomped his way to Gaius’s chambers. And yes, he stomped. As loudly and as dramatically as he could. He wanted people to know he was mad, no, enraged. He barely paid attention to anyone he passed, however, until a large hand gripped his upper arm, stopping him in his tracks only to see Leon being the one who had stopped him.
“Merlin, where’s Arthur?” he asked urgently. Merlin didn’t catch the panic in his tone, but noticed Leon’s boots were also caked in mud and it just made him angrier, “Why? Gonna go make a damn mess out of my hard work, too?”
Leon’s jaw dropped, taken aback by Merlin’s attitude. Unlike Arthur, though, he wasn’t about to just take it. “Hey. I don’t know what is bothering you, but that is no way to answer my question, and certainly is no way to address a Knight! Where is the king?”
Merlin swallowed, meeting Leon’s hard stare before turning his eyes towards the floor and answering quietly through gritted teeth, “Forgive me… A-Arthur’s in his chambers.”
“Good boy,” Leon said calmly, letting go of Merlin’s arm and clapping him on the shoulder before he headed off. Merlin swallowed hard and took a shaky breath before he continued on his way to his and Gaius’s chambers.
Tumblr story writer is Melody
