Archive of Our Own ^beta

No. 29 – Reluctant Bedrest

Light falling across Merlin’s face woke him. He blinked woozily, peering around his bedroom, squinting as the light hit his eyes. From the position of the sun in his window he could tell it was halfway through the afternoon. Why was he still in bed? How come Arthur hadn’t come in yelling yet?

He tried to sit up, crying out and falling back onto the pillow when pain cut across his stomach. He lifted his blanket and saw a mass of bandages wrapping his middle, blood spotting through in some places.

“Merlin!” Gaius came hurrying into the room.

“Ow,” Merlin complained, frowning up at Gaius.

“Lie still, my boy.”

“Ow. What happened?”

Gaius put a hand on Merlin’s forehead, it was cool against skin Merlin suddenly realised was hot and sweaty.

“You were stabbed with a cursed blade.”

Merlin groaned. Of course, he remembered. They’d been on a quest to find… oh something or other that was very important. Only they’d met a Druid thief also trying to find said thing. He’d tried to stab Arthur and Merlin had leapt in front of him, only to get the blade in his own stomach.

He didn’t really remember much after that, other than the fire of evil magic coursing through his veins.

“Cursed?” Merlin asked warily, poking at his stomach through the blankets. It felt tender and stung sharply when he pressed the wound, but he couldn’t feel any badness with his magic.

“Your magic burned through the curse,” Gaius explained. “You’re very lucky. But you still have the wound.”

Merlin sagged back down. His whole body felt achy, it wouldn’t hurt to stay in bed a little longer.

“Is Arthur alright with me having the day off work?” He said it mostly as a joke, it wasn’t like Arthur really had a choice if Merlin was injured. And Merlin knew Arthur was a lot more reasonable than he liked to pretend he was.

“He’s still on the quest.”

“He’s what?”

Merlin sat bolt upright, swearing and groaning at the pain. He tried to swing his legs out of the bed but Gaius pushed his legs back and then put both hands on his shoulders, stopping him from moving any more.

“What exactly do you think you doing?” he asked, irritation clear in his voice.

“I should be with Arthur!” He wriggled against Gaius’s hold on him, ignoring the searing pain that radiated up from his stomach as he moved.

“Merlin, for goodness sake!” One of Gaius’s hands fluttered down to the bandages, Merlin batted him away.

“Arthur is useless,” he stressed. “He needs me to stop him getting himself killed.”

Merlin tried to get up again, one arm wrapped tightly around his middle. He managed to get one foot down, before his head swam and he nearly pitched forward onto the floor. He caught himself on his bedside table, knocking a few little bottles and vials off the surface.

“I’m sure he can manage. He’s been doing quests like this for years before you got here.”

Gaius took his hand off Merlin’s shoulder in order to bend down and pick up the dropped bottles. Luckily none of them had broken. Merlin used the moment his back was turned to pull his other leg out from under the blanket and stumble up from the bed.

“Do you know how many times I have had to save his life?” he asked, waving his free hand dramatically.

“Countless, no doubt,” Gaius said. He slammed the bottles back on the bedside table and made a grab for Merlin. Merlin evaded his hand, scowling.

“Don’t patronise me.”

“The knights are all with him.” Gaius said this like it was supposed to solve the problem. That just caused a bigger problem as far as Merlin was concerned. He let out a tsk sound from the back of his throat, picking up a clean shirt from his cupboard.

“Do you know how many times I’ve saved their lives?”

“Merlin.” Gaius stomped towards him, his hands on his hips. “Get back in bed this instant.”

“Gaius, I have to go.” Merlin tried to pull the shirt over his head. Agony shot up his torso, so badly he doubled over and staggered heavily against the cupboard. He was stuck, one arm in the shirt, with it over his head.

“No you don’t.” Gaius helped him ease the shirt down, gently guiding his other arm in without causing too much more pain. He gave him a pointed look as if this proved his point. “You have to recover from your injury.”

“I’ll magic it better,” Merlin said with a shrug. He put his hands on his stomach, ignored the flaring pain and said the first healing spell that came to his mind. It did nothing.

“Breaking the curse took most of your power, Merlin.” Now Gaius had his hands on Merlin, he was trying to edge him back towards the bed. “You need to rest to rebuild its strength.”

“Then you can heal it,” Merlin said brightly. He pulled Gaius’s hand over the wound and said the healing spell again, prompting Gaius with a grin.

“I shall do no such thing.” Gaius snatched his hand away. He pointed at the bed. “Bed rest will heal it!”

“But I have to go on the quest.”

“You have to go to bed,” Gaius said crossly, as if he was talking to a small child.

Merlin groaned. “Arthur needs help!”

“So do you.”

Merlin was wavering slightly, sweat dripping down his temple. Gaius took a step towards him, hands out like he was calming a wild beast. Merlin gave a quick glance to the bed, then to Gaius, then the door behind him. He took a deep breath.

He managed to duck past Gaius and hurried – almost fell – down the steps from his room. He limped as fast as he could across the main room of Gaius’s chambers. It clearly wasn’t very fast though because Gaius overtook him and blocked the door.

They stood staring at each other, Gaius with his one eyebrow lifted, Merlin with his jaw stuck out stubbornly.

A knock at the door made them both jump. Gaius glared at Merlin then turned and opened it.

Arthur was standing the other side. He was dirt streaked and had a shallow cut down one side of his face. But he was grinning.

“Ah, Merlin! You’re up!” He strode into the room.

“Arthur!” Merlin sagged with relief. Mostly because Arthur was back safely, of course – but partly because it meant he didn’t have to go and find him and rescue him.

“We just got back, came to see how you were.” Arthur eyed him up and down, eyebrow lifting at the way Merlin still had his arm hugged around his waist.

“I’m fine!” Merlin threw his arms out wide, filling his voice with as much bravado as he could to try and detract from the fact that the movement made him wince and sway. More sweat trickled down his face.

“He’s not,” Gaius cut in. “He needs to be in bed.”

“Are you not listening to Gaius?” Arthur asked him, voice serious but eyes laughing.

“I’m not a child,” Merlin whined.

“Of course not.” Arthur smirked, looking like he was enjoying this conversation thoroughly. “Here, Gaius, I’ll help.”

He took a step forward and bundled Merlin into his arms. Merlin froze. Was Arthur actually giving him a hug? Finally? But then Arthur began dragging him across the room, manhandling him – gently so as not to hurt him – up the steps of his bedroom, and into bed.

“There we are. Lie down.”

“Arthur!”

Arthur pulled Merlin’s shirt up. The bandage was looking rather more red than it had been before. Gaius sighed heavily, grumbling under his breath.

“Look what you’ve done. Don’t move.”

He bustled back into the main room. There was an awkward silence, Merlin picked at a loose thread on his blanket.

“So, you finished the quest?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at Arthur.

“Yep.” Arthur dropped down to sit on the edge of Merlin’s bed. He pulled a small intricately carved wooden totem from a pouch on his belt, tossing it and catching it one handed.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.” He turned it this way and that, a small crystal at the centre glinting in the sunlight. “Father wants it kept safe in the vaults. Apparently it can be used for magic by the druids, so we have to lock it up.” He slid it back into the pouch.

Gaius returned with a wad of fresh bandages and a foul smelling poultice.

“Ugh, I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Arthur said, jumping up from the bed and eyeing the bowl of poultice with a disgusted look. He clapped Merlin on the shoulder and walked out.

“I can come with you!” Merlin called after his retreating form, trying to get up again.

“No,” said Gaius, pushing Merlin down onto his back. “You can’t.”

“You get some bed rest, Merlin,” Arthur shouted. “I’ll even give you a day off!”

The door to Gaius’s chambers slammed shut and Merlin groaned, throwing his head back on the pillow.