Merlin One-shots

Uh, Arthur?

Word count - 2,033

Merlin

Merlin was not having a good day.

First he woke from a solid three hours of on and off sleep, only to be late to work anyway.

Then, in the rush to get out the door, forgot to grab something to eat so effectively skipped breakfast, leaving him to work on an empty stomach.

And, just to add on to it, Arthur wasn't in a good mood and had an extra long list of chores for Merlin to complete before midday, leaving Merlin no moment of rest as he ran across the castle, task after bleeding task, right up until he brought Arthur his lunch.

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Merlin burst through the door, miraculously balancing four platters across his outstretched arms, breathing heavily through the effort of running all day, and placed the dishes on the awaiting table as quickly as he could before his arms dropped to his sides in exhaustion.

"You're late." Arthur muttered, slamming the parchment he had been reading on his desk and stalked over, huffing heavily as he sat, glaring at the meal placed before him.

"Any-" Merlin leant against the table, trying to catch his breath. "Anything else, Sire?" 

Arthur simply shook his head and grabbed a fork, poking at the chicken and pushing the tomatoes around his plate.

Merlin rolled his eyes and straightened, hands placed respectfully behind his back. Something had Arthur all grouchy. Best not test him, lest he threw a fork at his head.

The king stared blindly at his food, head resting on his fist. Finally, Merlin's childish curiosity got the best of him and he took a deep breath.

"Is something wrong, Sire?"

The man in question sighed, putting his fork down and looking at Merlin, not with anger, but with tiredness.

"Guinevere has been gone for a week now." He muttered, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. "I know she said she would be gone for a while, to stay with her uncle, or something, but I didn't know it would be this  long." The king sighed, running his hand down his face.

Merlin didn't entirely know what to say. A pang of jealously twisted his gut, the feeling that he cared for someone else so dearly, someone that wasn't him, made him feel all kinds of bad, but he shoved it down. Arthur married Gwen. Nothing more to be said on the matter.

Suddenly, Arthur's head snapped up, a grin plastered on his face as he stood. 

"Everything alright, Sire?" Merlin questioned, concerned at the sudden change of heart.

"A hunting trip!" Arthur exclaimed, pulling on his crimson jacket. "That usually makes me feel better! Gather the knights, tell them we leave at the next hour."

Merlin internally groaned but nodded, not wanting to break Arthur's spirit with his sarcasm. His bones ached at the thought of more exercise but he sucked it up and went to gather the others.

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"Stop moaning, Merlin, or that beater will be up your-"

"Alright, alright. Don't need to get into detail about your fantasies, Arthur." Merlin shot back, tailing his king as they galloped through the forest, on their way to a more dense and quiet area where they hoped to get more luck than the two rabbits they had so far.

Arthur glared at his servant as the knights laughed at the comment. "Watch it, clot-pole."

"Hey, that's my word!"