A Servant's Love/ Merthur

Chapter 6/ Handsome?

The smell of herbs, meat and stew filled the air. Arthur’s eyes fluttered open as his stomach began to growl and looked at the bowl beside him. ‘Gosh, you sure know how to impress a guy Merlin…Merlin. Merlin? Where’s Merlin?’ Arthur thought and began to worry. He calmed when he heard splashing behind him. Grunting from the pain as he lightly shuffled and turned his head to see Merlin, with his bare chest swimming around the water. The fireflies illuminated his body and showed every muscle in his arms. Arthur never realised how much muscle he had. He looked so scrawny in his daggy, long sleeved outfits but that was just his build. Underneath he was so much more, well with all those chores he did and all the heavy armour he carried around Arthur didn’t understand why he was so surprised. Men with muscle didn’t hide it like Merlin did, he was so selfless, brave, intelligent, handsome… ‘Wait. Handsome? Arthur what the hell! No that’s not right’ Arthur mentally kicked himself, ‘…although if he was wearing a nice dark blue then, SHUTUP! NO. JUST. NO.’ He sighed to himself and looked away with a blush as Merlin got out the lake and dried himself, then put on his pants. Arthur began to move back against the tree again but his arm collapsed on him and he cried out in pain as his back hit the ground. Merlin was next to him in seconds, silently helping him up and laying him against the tree. His chest was bare, he had no shirt on as he had ran over hear very quickly.

Merlin stood and snatched up the shirt he’d dropped and pulled it on before Arthur could stare at him in close view and find out about the scars he had obtained on his body and mainly chest from all the years of saving Arthur and his knights. Merlin look back worriedly to Arthur who looked as though he had not noticed. Arthur was staring at him though, more fixated on the muscle in his arms.

 “I don’t think it’s a good idea to move around sire.” Merlin said breaking the silence after he had put the shirt on properly.

 Arthur snapped back to reality, “Merlin seriously after all this time, please don’t call me sire.” Arthur replied ignoring the rest that Merlin said.

“Sorry Arthur. But the point still stands. Although you’re not gonna die it’ll still feel like you’re going to.” Merlin said in a concerning tone.

“Right.” Arthur said. He reached for the bowl of stew, his face scrunched from the pain in his chest as he did.

“Here let me.” Merlin stepped over and grabbed the bowl from Arthur’s hands.

“I still don’t get why you’re doing this, you’ve saved my life countless times before, at don’t even try to deny it. You could just leave at any time but you still choose to stay. Why the hell would anyone freely choose to be a servant?” Arthur said between spoons of stew that Merlin fed to him. Merlin laughed, “You really don’t listen to anything I say do you? I’m your friend and I want to help you Arthur, I’m not just gonna abandon you, especially the state you’re in. There is no way you’re getting back to Camelot without me. Anyways, our destinies are entwined, so even if you wanted to get rid of me, you can’t.”

“I never want to get rid of you Merlin” Arthur said before he could stop himself, he looked down to the ground unable to make eye contact,  tiredness overcame him once again and he drifted back to sleep.

Merlin smiled down at him and placed the finished bowl of stew by the fire, too tired and devastated to do it now.  He sat on a log by the fire and crossed his arms into his chest. Merlin was finally alone in silence, with no chores to do and nothing to keep himself busy, nothing to do but think, something he definitely didn’t want to do.

A/N: heya, I've already had over 150 reads, I'm very astonished and   privileged .  Thanks to everyone who's reading.