Merlin fic: In The Still Of The Night
Author: Neyah
Title: In The Still Of The Night
Rating: PG-13
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Summary: Merlin has trouble sleeping. He blames it on the heat…
Warnings: unbeta'd, slash
Word Count: 2,200
Author’s notes: This is a drabble series originally posted in 20 chapters (18 chapters of 100 words and 2 chapters of /last two/ 200 words.) for fanfictionnet, but now I'm posting it in one go. The first ten is Merlin’s POV then Arthur’s.
In The Still Of The Night
He was lying in his tiny bed, thinking about the events of the night. Well, not much to think about, it was quite uneventful, really. It had been just a spark of moonlight shining through the window that had caught Arthur’s eye just right, and made Merlin’s heart beat a little bit faster than normal. His room was hot from the August sun beaming on it during most of the day, and despite his semi-nakedness he was sweating profously. With a sigh he closed his eyes. Great, he thought, he’ll have trouble sleeping again. He blamed it on the heat.
-----
Lying in his bed awake became sort of a habit these days. The precious little time he could spend sleeping was wasted. He idly traced a line from his chest to his bellybutton, a featherlight touch, fingers barely brushing the surface of his skin . The contact sent shivers running up and down his spine making his whole body shudder, and he had to close his eyes and grab the side of the bed for fear of falling. Altough he had no idea where that fear came from.
’God, this has to stop’ he whispered to the dark, empty room.
-----
’It really must be the heat. Or those thoughts. Those confusing thoughts and conflicting feelings running through his head as soon as it hit the pillow.’ No matter how tired he was, sleep wasn’t merciful enough to rob him of them. He desperately tried to focus on clearing his head and will himself to sleep. The list of tomorrow’s chores flashed through his mind, reminding him that he needed to be fresh in the morning to be on time, and not fall asleep while…say, mucking out the stables. A replay of that particular scene would be beyond embarrasing.
He failed.
-----
No wonder that they call it beauty sleep. The bags and dark circles under his eyes were the clear evidences of his restless nights. There has to be a spell for this. The only spell he knew that put others to sleep easily failed him, but there has to be something else that would work. How long can someone be deprived of the much needed rest before they reach breaking point? Between working for Arthur, helping Gauis and defending Camelot he had to find the time to deal with this. He had to be on his guard at all times.
-----
Fifth night in a row. This was getting ridiculous. He couldn’t understand why his own mind was playing this cruel game, making him suffer. It was just Arthur. Same arrogant, insensitive, pompous… beautiful Arthur. He groaned inwardly. Since when did he begin to think about his master’s looks? But it wasn’t about looks, was it? No, it was more than that, and it was much worse. It must be some sort of enchantment because there was no way he would lose sleep over HIM. He turned on his other side. If he could only get an hour. Just one. Just…
-----
He cried out and woke up panting heavily, covered in sweat. His length was pulsing in time with his quickened heart, warm liquid pooling around his bellybutton. A desperate moan escaped his lips. ’What the…?’ Nothing like this ever happened to him before. His whole body relaxed and he could feel the disturbing pictures of the dream slipping away with the tension draining from him. Only a pair of striking blue eyes buried themselves deep into his own, burning into his mind.
’Merlin, are you alright?’ came the concerned question from the other side of the door.
Great. Just.. great.
-----
He wasn’t sure if he wanted a repeat of last night or not. It wasn’t bad after all, far from it. Only weird. But the weirdest thing was how different Arthur seemed today. He was just smiling at Merlin for no reason at all, watching him, like he was trying to get into his head. Until Merlin realised that he was staring and Arthur was only amused by his strange behaviour. But he never looked more lovable than today. No, last night wasn’t bad he decided, at least he got two hours of rest. It was better than tonight’s… nothing.
-----
’…you are getting curiouser and curiouser by the day, Merlin’. That’s what he said today, but Merlin couldn’t concentrate on the words, just watched those lips forming his name, the corners turning slightly upwards. But now that he thought about it, what did he mean by that?
Tonight would not be wasted. If he’s unable to sleep, then he might as well start looking for a cure for this enchantment. He was losing his mind. Who would curse him with such a thing? Or was it a spell made for someone else but went wrong? Of all people, why Arthur?
-----
Arthur was particularly mean today, but honestly, he had it coming. After so many endless days and sleepless nights Merlin was on edge and just snapped. He was always a bit out of line but today he went too far, even by his own standards. It wasn’t the regular teasing, his comments were just plain rude. He should be apologising first thing tomorrow, and he knew he had a whole night ahead of him to think of ways to make it up to him. His attempts at finding a solution to his problem still proved futile. Gaius could probably help.
-----
He woke with a start, shivering despite the heat, his skin tingling where Arthur’s fingers touched him just moments ago deep in his dream. He was so hard remembering those images, and they weren’t something Merlin ever wanted to forget. They were so vivid. He touched himself just to relieve some tension, but without the intent of coming, he was just satisfied as he was. No matter what curse this was, he never again wanted to be rid of it. He smiled to himself. At least Gaius’s sleeping-draught worked, and now he was finally more than ready to face Arthur.
**********************
The august heat was rolling off of Arthur in waves, making it harder to fall asleep these days. Furthermore his brain was working overtime. There was just something about Merlin. For the last few days he had been unusually quiet, clumsier than normal, like his head was totally elsewhere. He tried everything, talking to him, distracting him, teasing him but more often than not, he got no reaction out of him at all. He couldn’t deny that it got him worried. Tomorrow he’d try again. ’Well, whatever it is, I hope it’ll pass.’ he thought, and drifted off to sleep.
-----
Arthur noticed the change in Merlin’s appearance. He looked paler, skinnier, his skin darker around the eyes. The signs of exhaustion. He didn’t know what caused his manservant’s lack of sleep, but he could definitely symphathize. He was having more and more troubles with it each night. Like tonight. He could have blamed the heat again, but he knew that it was more to it than that. He was worried. Because whenever Merlin was troubled, something bad followed, so that couldn’t mean anything good. He needed him to be chatty, derisive and insolent . The way he should have been.
-----
Okay, this was getting really weird. Merlin was giving him a look today that could be only described as… funny. He was glancing at him incredulously, than shook his head, turned his back on him and carried on working. Occasionally laughing to himself, or murmuring something that sounded disapproving. Naturally, when the prince asked what he said, he said it was nothing, or simply just remained silent.
That left Arthur dumbfounded, lying in bed, contemplating whether his manservant had gone mad. One thing was quite sure though, Merlin was utterly useless in the state he was in. Moreso than usual.
-----
The nights spent either worrying or floating between awake and sleep were taking their toll on Arthur. The bags and circles aroung his eyes were starting to mirror those of Merlin’s, and when his servant was in the room, an unbreakable silence settled between them like a thick, impenetrable wall. And this time, it wasn’t a comfortable one. The prince never realized before how much they usually talked, and how he needed that to get through his day, to fulfill his duties as an heir to the throne. Merlin managed to become what a good servant should be: completely invisible.
-----
Sleep wouldn’t come, and Arthur slipped into the bad habit of thinking about Merlin. During the day he had been watching the boy as he worked, and wondered what caused the change in their dinamic. He had been staring at him, smirking as he was mudding through his chores, and couldn’t help noticing that there was just something so attractive about him. In the still of the night it suddenly struck him what it was. It was his soul, his strenght, his firm belief in something only he could see. Arthur would have given everything to see what Merlin saw.
------
The looks have stopped, just like the conversations, and Arthur found that he not only missed the voice that always gave him sound advice, and reassurance when he needed it, he also missed those eyes. The eyes that spoke of sincerity and unquestionable loyalty, that gaze that felt like it pierced his very soul, and told him silently that all would be right in the end. He found that as crazy as that seemed, he craved Merlin’s approval, to make him proud, although he would never admit it aloud to anyone. It was hard enough to admit that to himself.
-----
’Are you even listening? Meeeerlin! I swear you are getting curiouser and curiouser by the day, Merlin’. He had told him, and it was true. The boy’s whole body had seemed to be as tense as a string about to snap any minute, but for one shiny moment in time it relaxed, when he had turned around and glared into Arthur’s face, particularly his lips, like he was deaf, and trying to read the words off his mouth. The prince couldn’t explain it, but it angered him to no end. Lately his days were just as unbearable as his nights.
-----
’Out! I can’t even look at you right now!’ He hadn’t been in a forbearing mood today. Looking back on it, he was exactly the prat Merlin often accused him being. He had snapped, and not just because his lack of sleep. It was disappointent. Merlin clearly hated being around him. Those funny looks, those awkward glances. He had thought he figured it out, he had lost sleep over this after all. But when in the cruel light of day he seemed to be proven wrong, he couldn’t handle his hopes being shattered. If this could all just go away…
************************
Next morning Arthur noticed the subtle change in Merlin’s looks.
’You seem…relaxed.’ he mused, and secretly he was glad that his manservant looked better, but the tension was still there. The way he looked at Arthur was different. Intense.
’I am. It was nothing a good night's sleep couldn’t cure.’he was just standing there with no intention to start working just yet, his gaze never left Arthur.
The prince knew that look. He knew it so well. That was something he had often seen girls sending his way. He certainly didn’t expect to see that on his servant, and it was a little bit different. There was no shyness, it was determined, unapologetic. If Arthur didn’t know better, he would have thought that Merlin was under some kind of a spell. He hoped he wasn’t.
Oh, God, this is really happening. He wasn’t imagining those funny glances. The recognition hit him hard, and he turned away a looked out the window. It was all he could do keep from crossing the room and pin that lean frame agains the wall. He cleared his throat.
’What are you wainting for? Get to work.’ he said, and heard movement behing him.
Someday. Soon.
************************
The moment Merlin stepped into the prince’s chamber, he knew that that would be a point of no return. He had always been an open book to everyone, but his master knew him exceptionally well. How he managed to hide his magic from him this far was as big a mystery to him as it was to Gaius. But when it came to his feeling, his eyes always betrayed him, what was the point in trying?
He stubbornly held the blonde’s gaze, almost daring him to read his eyes, and he could have sworn he saw realisation crossing the other man’s face.
’What are you waiting for? Get to work.’ Arthur was probably steeling his voice, but it gave everything away as it broke.
Merlin moved to pick out the prince’s clothes for the day, and he was secretly smirking to himself. He saw what he wanted, and he would take it. It was enough. For now.
The answer was there all along. He softly chuckled to himself as he left to fetch Arthur’s breakfast, humming absentmindedly. As much as he wanted to deny it, he was in love. So it did turn out to be an enchantment after all.
The End