Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Merlin hadn’t been having a good day.

First, he’d somehow misplaced Arthur’s armor.

That armor kept his best friend safe, and the Warlock took great pride in being the one to take care of it, even though he’d moan and groan and complain whenever he was tasked with doing so.

Having lost said armor, made Merlin miserable, and he dreaded the moment when he’d have to tell Arthur.

Then, he’d forgotten that he’d promised to run Gaius’ rounds this morning before attending to Arthur.

Gaius was getting on in years, and couldn’t make his rounds as easily or as fast as he used to, and he’d been feeling off the night before, so Merlin had volunteered to take that bit of the load off the Court Physician’s hands.

And he’d forgotten.

He’d slept longer than he’d meant to, and had rushed out of Gaius’ Chambers, not remembering why Gaius had been standing by the door, holding out his medicine bag, until he’d almost reached the kitchens.

Merlin felt terrible for forgetting, and was slightly worried about Gaius doing the rounds, since he could tell that the old physician hadn’t been feeling well.

But, he also knew that by then, Gaius had surely already left to do the rounds, himself.

Then, Merlin had had a run-in with a pair of some of the superior and condescending Knights that Arthur hadn’t weeded out yet.

Since becoming King, Arthur had done well at making sure that his Knights held to the ideals of Knighthood, and he’d rejected any hopefuls that hadn’t.

But, there were still some arseholes leftover from Uther’s reign that Arthur hadn’t assigned elsewhere yet, and they all knew that it was only a matter of time before he did so.

So, none of them pulled their punches with the one person they could target with little to no consequences.

Merlin.

He was the only one close to Arthur that wasn’t either a woman or a capable warrior, and they found him to be the logical choice for venting out any pent-up aggression, irritation, or anxiety they had concerning their new King.

Merlin could have fought back, of course, but that would mean revealing his magic, and, arseholes or not, they were still Knights, and the council would side with them without hesitation.

Not to mention, as King, Arthur would have to stand by his Knights over his manservant, no matter if he wished to do otherwise.

Or, Merlin could always tell Arthur about how those select few Knights were treating him. Arthur wouldn’t hesitate to bring down his full might upon them if he knew what they were doing.

But, he was a new King, and, while he had the loyalty and support of the people and his Knights, he had yet to win over some of the more staunch members of the council, nor had he yet replaced Uther’s Court staff with his own.

If Arthur defended a mere servant against his own Knights, which he would, he would risk losing the tenuous support of the older, higher-ranking Lords.

Merlin couldn’t ask him to do that, so he endured whatever those Knights dished out.

Today, it had mostly just been words, but they had been hurtful, and they had upset Merlin more than he tried to let on.

By the time he’d reached Arthur’s chambers, Merlin looked the most unhappy the vigils had ever seen him.

And, though Arthur was stunted when it came to his own emotions and feelings, it didn’t take much for him to see that Merlin was clearly not himself.

He didn’t say anything, of course.

What could he possibly say that wouldn’t make him sound like a girl?

So, he pretended not to see the crease of Merlin’s brow or the slump of his shoulders.

But, when Merlin’s bottom lip started quivering slightly, Arthur felt that he could no longer ignore the manservant.

The young King strode across his chambers, towards where Merlin was now straightening up papers on Arthur’s desk, and turned the Warlock towards him, before pulling said Warlock into a crushing hug.

Merlin tensed up and scrunched his face up in confusion.

After a couple seconds, Arthur seemed to think that the hug had gone on long enough, and he hurriedly released his manservant, before awkwardly stepping away.

“What…?” Merlin asked with a frown.

“You looked like you needed it.”

Gaius’ eyes looked unimpressed as they tracked the pacing figure of Merlin.

“I think you’re reading too much into this.” The Court Physician said bluntly. “It was only a hug.”

“Arthur doesn’t do hugs, Gaius.” Merlin said distractedly as he continued to pace. “Getting that man to do anything remotely close to emotional is like pushing a heavy boulder uphill in a snowstorm with one arm tied behind your back. I’ve got to almost die to even get a shoulder pat.”

Gaius raised an eyebrow. “Be that as it may, he did hug you.”

Merlin ran a hand through his hair, still pacing. “Exactly. And he would never do that.”

“What are you suggesting, Merlin?” Gaius asked with a frown.

Merlin stopped pacing and turned to face the Court Physician. “Arthur’s enchanted. He’s got to be. But what kind of enchantment? And why? What could anyone have to gain by making Arthur hug me?”

Gaius leaned back against the work bench behind him. “Perhaps there was no enchantment, and Arthur simply decided to hug you.”

“This is no time for jokes, Gaius!” Merlin blustered, resuming his pacing.

Gaius let out a put-upon sigh, then plopped down a book on the table to Merlin’s left.

Merlin stopped pacing and frowned at the book.

“What’s that?”

Gaius raised an eyebrow. “It’s a book, Merlin. More specifically, it’s a book about enchantments. If Arthur is truly enchanted,” Gaius’ tone plainly said that he didn’t believe that to be the case. “then the solution could be in here.”

Merlin stepped up to the table, and started flipping through the book. His eyes seemed to light up more and more the more pages he saw.

“This is perfect!” The Warlock exclaimed. “I can use this to save Arthur!”

“If Arthur needs saving.” Gaius said with a pinched expression.

 “Merlin.” Arthur said incredulously. “What, exactly, are you doing?”

Merlin quickly hid the herb he’d previously been shaking over Arthur’s head behind his back.

“Nothing.”

“Hm.” Arthur sounded unconvinced.

“Do you feel any different?” Merlin asked, scrutinizing the young King. “Maybe a bit less compelled to do things?”

“Oh, well, now that you mention it—” Arthur cuffed the back of Merlin’s head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Stop acting weird!” Arthur demanded.

“I’m not acting weird!” Merlin protested.

“You just spent 5 minutes shaking rosemary above my head!”

“It’s lavender, not rosemary!”

“Why were you shaking lavender over my head?”

“I thought it would be an improvement!”

“Over what?”

“I don’t know!”

Gaius looked up from his work bench when Merlin entered his chambers.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

Merlin tossed a handful of lavender onto the next bench over. “It didn’t work.”

Gaius turned back to the tincture he’d been making.

“I told you. Lavender is a simple remedy, but it’s not very strong. If there is an enchantment in place, anything stronger than a mild compulsion would be unaffected.”

Merlin slumped. “I know. But I was trying to try something that Arthur wouldn’t immediately recognize as magic.”

“Lavender isn’t magic. That’s why it’s not very strong.” Gaius pointed out.

“What would be something stronger to try?” Merlin asked.

Gaius produced a poultice from a bowl off to the side.

“I was sure that the lavender would do nothing, so I took the liberty of making this for you.”

“What is it?” Merlin asked as he inspected the small bundle.

“It’s better that you don’t know.” Gaius said in a tone that plainly said that Merlin wouldn’t like what was in it. “But it’s strong enough to break all but the most powerful of enchantments.”

“What do I do with it?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of poultice that uses proximity. It has to be smeared on bare skin. The closer it is to the heart or brain, the more effective it is. If you can get it near both, it’ll be even stronger.”

Merlin tilted his head to the side with exasperation obvious on his face.

“How am I supposed to smear— whatever this is— on Arthur’s bare chest and head without him noticing!”

“You can’t.” Gaius said gravely. “He’ll definitely notice.”

“He’ll kill me.”

“Probably.”

The shocked look on Arthur’s face when Merlin shoved a slime covered hand up his shirt was priceless.

Merlin may have laughed any other time.

“Merlin!” Arthur’s voice cracked as Merlin rubbed the slime onto his chest.

“I don’t like it any more than you do.” Merlin said with a red face.

“What are you doing!?”

“You’d like it even less if I told you.”

“Get. Your hand. Out of my shirt!”

“In a minute.”

“Now!”

Merlin pulled his hand out of Arthur’s shirt, and studiously ignored the demanding look on said King’s red face.

“Do you feel any different?” Merlin asked.

“Well, I feel violated, if that’s what you mean!”

Merlin scrunched his face up in anticipation, then whipped his slime covered hand up towards Arthur’s face.

The King caught him by the wrist when his fingers were mere centimeters from his forehead.

“Merlin.” Arthur growled. “You’d better have a good explanation for this.”

“I have a great explanation.” Merlin blustered.

“You do.” Arthur clearly didn’t believe Merlin.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

“Give me a minute.”

“Why?”

“I have to think of a convincing story.”

“Merlin!”

Merlin suddenly lunged forward, surprising the King enough that he wasn’t able to stop Merlin from smearing a line of slime across his forehead.

The next thing Merlin knew, he was flipping over Arthur’s shoulder, and landing on his back on the stone floor.

“Don’t.” Merlin warned as he saw Gaius clearly trying to hold in laughter.

“You’ve got a tomato seed in your hair.” The Court Physician pointed out.

“I’ve got a million tomato seeds in my hair.” Merlin corrected sourly.

“Why’d he have you put in the stocks?” Gaius asked.

“Hm,” Merlin said sarcastically. “I don’t know. It could be because I smeared a mystery substance onto his chest and forehead without being able to tell him why.

“Ah. That would do it.”

“And it didn’t even work!” Merlin exclaimed. “He’s still enchanted!”

Gaius looked incredulous. “Merlin.”

“No, Gaius!” Merlin started pacing. “He’s definitely enchanted.”

“If he is, it has to be an exceptionally strong spell. The poultice would have worked otherwise.”

“Then how do I break it?”

Gaius hesitated. “There’s a way. But I fear neither you nor Arthur are going to like it.”

Merlin grimaced. “I don’t have to ask Gwen to kiss him, or something, do I?”

Arthur had been in love with Gwen, Merlin knew.

But, they had ultimately decided not to court, because Gwen didn’t want Arthur to feel that he was always going to be playing second fiddle to Lancelot.

Merlin would hate to have to ask that of her.

“No.” Gaius answered. “True love’s kiss is mostly needed for love spells, and this is not one.”

“Then what?”

Gaius hesitated again. “The strongest enchantments require declarations to break.”

“Declarations?” Merlin said in confusion. “Like what?”

“Actions, mostly.” Gaius answered slowly. “Actions that declare love. A kiss, for instance.”

“You just said that it didn’t have to be a kiss!” Merlin pointed out.

“No, I said it didn’t have to be true love’s kiss.” Gaius replied. “But there are other types of love. Familial, platonic, hero-worship. Arthur’s your friend, and that’s a platonic love. It would be enough.”

“So, you’re saying, to break the enchantment, I have to kiss Arthur.” Merlin said slowly.

Gaius nodded.

“Well,” Merlin said, walking towards his room. “looks like Arthur’s staying enchanted forever.”

“Merlin!” Gaius scolded.

“Kidding!”

Merlin felt incredibly awkward as he stood outside the door to Arthur’s chambers.

How was he supposed to do this?

Arthur was his best friend.

How was he supposed to kiss him?

Sure, it was just to break an enchantment.

But that didn’t make it any less weird.

Merlin cleared his throat, and opened the door of Arthur’s chambers.

“If you’re coming in here to slime me again,” Arthur warned as soon as he saw his manservant. “I must warn you, I’ve already had Leon get some tomatoes together so that I can visit you at the stocks.”

Merlin cleared his throat. “Uh. That’s not what I’m here for.”

Arthur quirked an eyebrow. “Hm. Don’t tell me you’re actually here to do your job, for once?”

“Not this time, no.”

Arthur suddenly looked wary. “Then why?”

Merlin moved closer to Arthur, and watched as the young King tensed up.

That was fair. Merlin had been acting odd all day.

“I’ll explain in a minute, I promise.” Merlin said awkwardly, as he moved into Arthur’s personal space.

“No.” Arthur said with a frown. “I think you’d better explain now—”

Merlin surged forward, catching Arthur off guard, and kissed the King.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, before Arthur broke out of his shock and shoved Merlin away from him.

“What the hell was that?” Arthur demanded, wiping off his mouth.

“How do you feel?” Merlin asked, face almost glowing from how red it was.

“Confused as fuck!”

“Understandable.”

“Are you going to tell me why you just kissed me?” Arthur demanded.

Merlin awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I was trying to break the enchantment.”

“Enchantment?” Arthur asked, his entire bearing changing from angry confusion to concerned. “What enchantment?”

“I don’t know if you remember, but you… hugged me this morning.” Merlin said, as if breaking bad news.

Arthur furrowed his brow. “I did. Because you looked like you were about to burst into tears, and it was too early to deal with that.”

Merlin froze. “What?”

Arthur scrutinized Merlin for a second, then his face turned to an expression of resigned exasperation.

“Please don’t tell me that you based your entire enchantment theory off of the fact that I hugged you.”

“I… may have.” Merlin admitted.

Arthur sighed. “Merlin.”

“Well, I’ve got to get stabbed before I even get a hand on the shoulder from you, and you hugged me! It made sense at the time!” Merlin defended.

“Is that why you’ve been acting like a sleep deprived maniac all day?” Arthur asked lowly.

“Maybe…”