Merthur oneshots

A bad day

It was the middle of the day on a bright Saturday when Merlin suddenly stormed into the prince's royal chambers while breathing heavily. And no it's not what you think, Merlin is not angry with Arthur (though he is an insufferable, arrogant prat most of the time).

But if you looked closer you could see that his legs were shaking and soon his shoulders would start to shake too. His head drooped down and showed the crown of his head where his hair had matted with dirt and leaves to match his jacket which was also covered in the like.

In the midst of his body heaving it stopped and a watery hiccup escaped his mouth as a harsh shudder ran through his torso. But soon he hitched in a breath and the shaking started once again.

He hadn't moved from his spot just inside the room for some time now and he wasn't worried about anyone barging in too soon, he made sure that Arthur got to practice on time and knew he would be there for at least a little while more.

He had dropped Arthur off at practice and made an excuse that he needed to gather herbs for  Gaius so he could go into the forest and fight off a sorcerer planning to kill Arthur. And his plan worked but the sorcerer was stronger than he expected and when he had deflected one of his attacks it flew and hit a nearby village leaving 13 wounded and at least 5 dead. Merlin finished the fight quickly and went to the village to assess the damage but the people there thought he was responsible and ran him out only for some of the older men to chase him halfway to Camelot.

So when he was running back through the forest he got a little messy. And he was heartbroken at the thought of being unable to help those injured people. If he couldn't help then why was he even here? His whole purpose is to serve humanity as a bringer of peace; but all he has done here is bring pain and suffering.

His breathing had calmed now and he without thinking shuffled over to Arthur's bed. He just wanted to sit on something comfortable for a minute before he had to get up and do more chores. So he sat down on the edge and let his shoulders slump. From all other standpoints he looked like a cashew.

He soon got lost in thought as he stared silently down at his hands criticizing the dry crusted dirt under his fingernails and imbedded in the creases of his palm. He was so lost in fact that he didn't hear the chamber door open as the prince himself walked in.

Arthur paused for a moment when he saw Merlin and, making an odd face, he offered a hesitant, "Merlin?" As an announcement of his presence. Instantly Merlin's head shot up but the rest of his body did not move, he was so tired and he was sure that if he stood up he would fall over instantly.

"Merlin, why are you in my bed?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head at Merlin as he walked around the big bed. He waited expectantly for Merlin to talk back but it never came. And from what he could see Merlin was covered in dirt and sitting in his freshly washed bedsheets.

"I.... I uhm," Merlin tried but his voice was horribly hoarse and his throat felt raw from all of his panicked shouting. He tried  to look at Arthur but the closest he could get were his boots.

"Merlin what happened? You don't come back this mussed up from gathering herbs." The prince reproached as he slowly approached the hunched over form of his manservant.

Upon closer inspection Arthur noticed the dirt clots imbedded in Merlin's hair, he also noticed the general dirtiness of Merlin's attire and called on a maid to get a bath ready for him. He also called for a new set of bed sheets to be used.

Soon the maid came with the bedsheets and two other maids were trailing behind her, the first with a large bucket for bathing and the second with buckets of steaming water to fill the tub.

Arthur thanked the young ladies and dismissed them turning to grab Merlin's arm so he could bring him to the bath. "Merlin you need to take a bath, you are covered in dirt." But Merlin didn't respond he just stayed in his place and swayed a little from side to side looking a little lost. "Merlin," Arthur tried again, "come on the water is going to get cold!" Arthur pulled Merlin more this time and tried to start pulling his shirt off.

Merlin resisted but eventually gave up and let Arthur pull the soiled shirt over his head. And what Arthur saw underneath was horrific. If his servant going into the woods for herbs could leave this much damage then he should never let Merlin out of his sight again.

Arthur steeled himself, and continued to help Merlin undress and get into the bath. Clearly something had upset Merlin and bothering him about his scars was not something he needed right now. But Arthur also realized that this time Merlin was shaken up by more than a physical wound.

Fifteen minutes passed, fifteen minutes of agonizing silence as he silently let himself be taken care of by his king. No fighting, no bantering, just thick, slimy, unwavering silence. Arthur almost thought he was going insane, and if it weren't for the rhythmic shallow breaths of his manservant he probably would have.

And then suddenly Merlin was cleaned up and standing covered in the towel Arthur had given him. Arthur was satisfied with the cleanliness of his manservant and turned to his wardrobe sifting through the piles of soft shirts for one to give Merlin to wear while he slept, Arthur knew that none of his pants would fit Merlin so he had just decided to be okay with Merlin wearing a shirt and underwear for now.

A few minutes later Merlin was drowning in Arthur's too large shirt and looked like an adorable sleepy toddler. All Arthur wanted to do was wrap him up in his arms and cuddle him until dawn the next morn.

Arthur scooped the scrawny man up and carried him to the bed that was covered in the fresh sheets, he gently placed him down and tucked him in making sure the covers came all the way up to his chin. Merlin then started to seem responsive, and he reached his hand out to Arthur as the latter tried to move away.

Arthur was immediately attentive to his eerily silent friend and leaned back over him to assure him he wasn't going anywhere. Merlin grabbed the front of Arthur's shirt and tried to pull him toward himself. Arthur thought maybe he wanted a hug and despite his previous disposition on hugs being too girly or a sign of weakness he leaned down further to envelope Merlin in a soft reassuring embrace.

And Merlin did seem content with this for a second and then he became dissatisfied with the amount of affection. He kicked off the covers and wrapped his legs around his king's torso in addition to his arms. So Arthur now had a very big koala bear on his hands.

But if he was being honest he didn't mind and he just laid down on his back holding Merlin against himself like he was an ancient treasure.

They laid like this for what felt like an eternity but in reality was just a few minutes but eventually Merlin spoke in a hushed voice seemingly pleading with Arthur.

"I'm... I do- I am good.. right?" Merlin mustered the words and forced them out, and when he saw the expression of shock on Arthur's face, he had to work hard to hold back the fresh torrent of hot tears waiting to tear down his face and leave searing burns on his cheeks from their intensity.

Meanwhile an gazillion things were running through Arthur's mind. 'What does he mean, am I good?! How could he be anything but good!?' 'And what happened in that forest that messed him up so bad?'

But when he finally managed to put himself back together he finally responded to Merlin's question. "Of course you are, Merlin. You are a good friend, the best friend. You are a good person, an amazing person in fact! You're an okay manservant, but they can't all be winners Merlin." The king assured and joked gaining a small chuckle in response.

'That's better' Arthur thought, 'at least Merlin can still laugh at my jokes.' As he thought this Merlin buried his face in the king's shoulder.

Arthur held him close the whole night, and even though they both knew they would need to have some heavy conversations later, they were not willing to let this warm moment go just yet. The serious stuff could wait for tomorrow, now was the time for sleep.

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Dudes! I wanted to get this out to you guys sooooo long ago! I'm so sorry. Anyway thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed the story! Don't forget to comment any new stories you want me to write and have a beautiful day/night my lovelies!!💚