1#: Sick

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Summary: Merlin is sick but continues with his jobs for Arthur, eventually it gets so bad he passes out. Arthur looks after him.

Bromance (but could be considered slash)

Merlin knew that it was going to be a bad day, from the moment he woke up he just knew. His head was pounding, his stomach aching, and his body felt 10 times heavier than normal. Still, he didn't want to make Arthur annoyed by not showing up to clean his room, so he forced himself out of bed and got working.

When he arrived Arthur was already up, surpisingly, and sat at his desk signing some papers. "Oh there you are Merlin! I was beginning to think you had gotten lost." he exclaimed when Merlin entered. Instead of answering, he just got started on making the bed, deciding his scratchy voice would give himself away.

There was no point in telling Arthur, that would just worry him and he was already stressed out enough, plus, Merlin would be sent back to sleep, Kings orders. He wanted to prove that he wasn't weak, and that some small illness wouldn't stop him from working, he need to protect Arthur at all costs, illness be damned.

He quickly finished tidying the sheets before walking over to set the table. "Are you quite alright Merlin? Usually I can't seem to get you to shut up." Arthur said, looking up from the papers to give the servant a funny look. "N-nothing, I'm fine." he replied, internally wincing at how his voice cracked slightly.

Before Arthur could protest he swiftly walked out the room to the kitchens to grab breakfast for the King. As he was walking, a wave of dizziness hit him and he stumbled into the wall, just managing to grab it in time to steady himself. Merlin closed his eyes and waited for it to pass before standing back up and continuing his journey to the kitchens.

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Once Merlin had the plate of food, he went back to Arthurs room, where he found the man still seated at his desk. He placed the food down and watched as the King wordlessly began to eat. He rolled his eyes at the lack of manners but immediately regretted it when it sent a burning pain through his skull.

He winced, but almost immediately realised his mistake when Arthur stood up. "Are you sure you're okay Merlin?" he asked, looking at the servant with concern. "Y-yeah, fine. Since when do you worry about me?" he replied, trying to hide his pain by cracking a joke. For a second he thought it hadn't worked, but then Arthur smiled. "Of course, you don't need me. Anyway I need you to come to training later." he said, seating himself down and continuing to write.

"Of course sire." Merlin replied, walking to the corner of the room to start scrubbing the floor, trying to muffle his whimpers as his stomach did somersaults.

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In less than 2 hours, Merlin found himself dressing up Arthur in his armour. Throughout the day his head and stomach had gotten progressively worse, and it was getting harder and harder to not show it.

Now all he had to do was train with Arthur. (more like be the target) Great. He walked out with Arthur onto the training fields, holding only a wooden sheild to protect himself. "Ready..Go!" Arthur yelled, charging forwards. Merlin brought up the shield to stop the sword hitting him and whimpered when the loud noise sent an explosion of pain in his head.

With every hit the darkness slowly began to cloud his vision as the pain became to much, he kept blocking the hits until they suddenly stopped. "-erlin?" he vaguely heard someone say, before his knees buckled and he went crashing to the floor.

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Merlin groaned, the pain in his head still very much evident. What had happened? He slowly opened his eyes and gazed around trying to figure out where he was. He realised he was lying in Arthurs bed. Wait. He was lying in his Arthurs bed?!

He shot up into a sitting postion, but winced when his head throbbed painfully. "Merlin!" someone exclaimed next to him. "Wha.." Merlin started, trying to comprehend the situation. "Come here you idot." Arthur said, helping to pull the servant into a more comfortable sitting position before passing him a glass of water.

After finishing the glass Merlin looked up at Arthur who was staring at him with a concerned look. "What were you thinking? Lying about feeling unwell? I was worried sick when you collapsed." he said in a soft, but firm voice. "M'sorry Arthur." Merlin said, reaching to grab the mans hand.

"I'm 'kay now." he said. Arthur smiled and held his hand tightly. "I know. Just don't do it again, promise me?" Merlin nodded, closing his eyes, as he was about to fall asleep another question popped into his head.

"Why am I in your bed?" he asked. "I,um, I didn't want to leave you alone so I brought you here, plus, Gaius is away and I don't trust anyone else to tend to you except him." Arthur replied avoiding Merlins gaze. The servant smiled sleeply, "Thanks Arthur." he said quietly, "I guess you do worry about me after all."

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