Imagines and Preferences: Book 1

Preference: You're Cute | Merlin

Requested by @realEmail

Creds to the freeloader SquishyMishy02 for the help because the idoot decided to go to bed and also doesn't watch Merlin.

ALSO THANKS FOR 66K THAT'S INSANE

Summary: Things you do that he finds extremely cute.

QOTP: Do you ship Merlin and Gwen or Arthur and Gwen more?

Word Count: 1117

Arthur -
"Come on, Gwaine, the ladies are watching!" Arthur says to the knight during training. You, Gwen, and Morgana are watching them from the sidelines. Arthur looks back at winks at you, then tells Gwaine to try again. You're not entirely sure what they're doing, but it involves swords and dummy opponents. You grin.

"Why don't you try it, Your Highness?!" you taunt. "You are the expert, after all!"

Arthur laughs and shrugs a little. "If you insist, darling!" He executes whatever it is, and apparently he did it correctly because he turns and bows.

Despite this, you shout, "That looked wrong! You should try it again!" A few knights try to hide laughter.

Arthur's brows furrow, and he starts walking toward you. "But I did it perfectly!"

You shake your head, crinkling your nose. "No, I shouldn't think so." Arthur stops, looking at your expression with a small smile.

"We get it, Y/N is adorable and you're in love, move on with training!" Morgana yells, a hint of laughter in her voice. Arthur only blushes and turns back to the knights.

////

"Gauis, do you have anything to make Arthur more sensible?" you ask the man, Arthur trailing behind you, laughing his head off. Gauis is sitting with Merlin, having dinner, when you walk in.

"No, my lady, I'm afraid not," he says. Arthur continues to laugh, causing you to cross your arms and give him a pointed look.

"May I ask what's going on?" Merlin questions. Again, you look pointedly at Arthur. He sighs, trying to stop laughing.

"All I did was hide behind my folding screen and jump out when she walked in."

"You scared me!" you shout, still irritated. Arthur only smiles at your expression, finding it adorable.

////

"Thank you, Merlin," you say after the servant in question sets your plate in front of you. He smiles and excuses himself, leaving you and Arthur to enjoy lunch in his room.

"I have training tomorrow," Arthur says through a mouthful of food. "Are you coming?"

"Not if you're going to keep doing that," you reply, laughing. "Chew your food first; you were taught better than that."

Arthur swallows, then opens his mouth. "Happy now?"

"Very much so," you answer, laughing yet again.

You continue to eat, not much conversation passing between you considering that fact, so you eventually zone out. Arthur finishes his plate, and he's about to say something when he notices you chewing on your lip, lost in thought. He smiles, setting his fork down, which causes you to jump. You immediately notice the way Arthur's looking at you. "What?"

"What?" Arthur asks back, and it's unclear if he even heard what you said.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Arthur smiles, shaking his head a little, then shrugs. "You're cute."

You blush, looking down. "Y-You should probably call Merlin in here, so he can take these plates..."

Merlin -
"I'm finally done with everything," Merlin says, cracking open the door to your room, having already knocked. He sees you sitting up on your bed, fighting to stay awake. Before you can reply, you yawn. Merlin chuckles and walks over to you, fully assessing the situation. "You need to go to sleep."

"But what about you?" you ask, though some of the words run together; you're that tired. "We were finally gonna spend time together-" You cut yourself off with another yawn.

Merlin chuckles, gently pushing you to lay down and pulling your blanket over you. "It's alright. We'll spend time together tomorrow."

"But-" you weakly protest.

"It's late, love. Get some sleep." You don't have the energy to argue, so you comply as he kisses your forehead and sneaks out, a smile on his face and his heart warm.

////

"Merlin," Arthur says, trying to be stern, "what do you think you're doing?" Merlin, blushing a little, shrugs sheepishly. Arthur closes his eyes and takes a breath in. "See, what you're supposed to be doing is polishing my armor."

"Yes, sire," Merlin says, glancing over at you. Arthur asked him to polish his armor who knows how long ago, but he caught him with you in the armory, distracted by conversation. However, he walked in as Merlin kissed you, which gave him the wrong impression.

"It's my fault, sire," you say, looking down at the floor. "I-I came in while he was polishing, but we were only talking. Y-You just came in at the wrong time..." Merlin looks over at you and notices that you're playing with your hair, which he takes as a sign that you're nervous. Even so, he thinks it's adorable.

Arthur sighs. "No, Y/N, it's not your fault. Merlin's just bad at doing his job." As he says this, he turns to Merlin, who's too busy looking at you to pay attention. Arthur shakes his head. "Unbelievable. Merlin!"

"Yes, sire?" Merlin jumps, blushing and looking at Arthur.

"I know you'd love to stare at Y/N all day as if she were your whole world, but you have work to do," Arthur says bluntly. "Don't let it happen again."

"I won't, sire."

////

"You should deliver medicine for Gauis more often," you say, walking through the heart of Camelot with Merlin, who's delivering medicine, as you said.

He laughs. "I would if I could, but Arthur usually has me running from sun up to sun down."

You're about to reply when you stop, seeing the cutest little girl run across the path. You look at Merlin. "Did you see her? She's absolutely adorable."

Merlin smiles a little, looking back at you. "Yeah, she is." After a pause, in which you grab his free hand and continue walking, Merlin asks, "So, want one of your own?"

"What's makes you say that?" you ask, concealing a smile.

"The look on your face when you saw her. And the two other girls that ran past after her."

You blush. "Okay, so maybe I want a daughter..." He just smiles, still holding your hand. After a few moments, you notice the way he's looking at you. "What?"

"What?" Merlin asks back, and it's unclear if he even heard what you said.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Merlin smiles, shaking his head a little, then shrugs. "You're cute."

You blush, looking down. "W-We should hurry. Gauis is probably expecting us back..."