Wrap Your Arms Around Me (merdred)

5. No One, Nothing

        MERLIN WOKE UP TO AN EMPTY BED; no arms wrapped around him, no legs tangled together, no breathing down his neck and no gentle touches along his chest. He began to think maybe it was it was just a dream, but everything felt too real... more real than any nightmare he'd ever had.

In fact, he didn't remember having any last night. Did that mean he'd slept the whole night peacefully for once? He had! He really had!

But he slept the night peacefully in the arms of a man who would one day betray him and the kingdom. How could he do it and yet not feel bad about it? Although it hurt to admit, he rather enjoyed being helped by Mordred. He liked his touches and the comfort he provided. A blush creeped up on his cheeks once again.

The warlock looked out the window and then immediately jumped out of bed as quickly as he could, nearly tripping and falling over again. It was late! Far too late. He should have woken the king up at least an hour ago. Arthur was going to be so grumpy at him.

He ran down to the kitchens and snagged his breakfast off the table before running back upstairs. He didn't bother with knocking since Arthur had not yet awoken. Merlin pulled open a door and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw the fully awake, fully clothed, completely clean king shoveling food into his mouth. He blushed and awkwardly tried to hide the plate of food behind him, which didn't work in the slightest.

Arthur snagged the tray from behind his servant and shot him a glare. "And what's this? The breakfast you were supposed to give me an hour ago?!" He yelled, shoving the plate back into Merlin's arms. "A lovely servant who actually knows how to do their job woke me up and practically did all your morning chores while you were off sleeping!"

Merlin nervously scratched the back of his neck, face flushing deeply as he thought of the reasons he was late in the first place. The way Mordred had held him in his bed, how his breath hit his skin and his fingers trailed along his hips, which caused him to sleep in and thus be late for work. Was this really the only thing he was going to be thinking about today? He hoped not, otherwise his face would be stuck as red as a tomato forever.

How did it even happen in the first place? He'd gone from being annoyed and mad at the man to being spooned by him.

"Merlin?"

"Sorry, sire. It will not happen again," he replied sheepishly, setting the extra plate of food down on the table and grabbing Arthur's chainmail. He quickly suited him up and adjusted all of the straps into place.

"Merlin, you're never this late," Arthur started. "What happened to cause this?"

"No one- erm, n-nothing!" He exclaimed quickly as he placed a sword into his hands. He felt the king's eyes on him so he lifted his head to see that he was in fact staring at him with a questioning look. Merlin swiftly brought his gaze back down to the floor.

Arthur scoffed and mumbled something about his servant being an idiot while they exited the room and walked downstairs to the training grounds outside. Merlin took his usual place at the wall and watched the knights from afar.

He was surprised at the smile on his face as he watched the knights move. It was a genuinely warm grin, not a fake one he plastered on his face. He felt amazing! It had to be the amount of sleep he'd received. Had he really been that deprived before? He wanted to thank Mordred but didn't know how to do so without it being awkward or making a fool of himself. He was already ashamed that the knight had to practically rock him to sleep.

But how would he thank him? And what would he say? "Hey, I just wanted to thank you for snuggling me in my bed last night because I'm a baby that needs to be swaddled." No, that wasn't it. Maybe he'd just wing it and hope for the best.