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[merrilinie]

Things I think Merlin did while waiting for Arthur:

• he definitely learnt music, both as a form of self expression and just as something to do

• as an add to this, he wrote songs to help him remember things and his first one was about a beautiful Lady of The Lake

• I think he kept up medicine and helped out when he met passing travellers and this inadvertently started a village that’s on became a town around the Lake of Albion

• He definitely refused to use his magic for a while, thinking it was pointless and hating it for failing Arthur and himself but eventually made peace with it

• he still loves the circus and joined one for a bit, but he got pissed off by the bullshit magicians both for them faking and because what he was once hunted for has now become a mocking entertainment

• he definitely started to plant seeds into peoples minds that being gay was okay, it still took hundreds of years but he thinks it worth it when he sees two girls shamelessly holding hands and giving cheek kisses

• I think he’d tell stories to children, mainly of Arthur, and he’d make sure to show them how human he was as well as how great

• Painting would become something for him as well, he’d struggle at first but soon it would be like second nature but he would stop when he one day decided to paint Arthur and realised the image in his mind was too blurry

• his love of painting mixed with his travels and he met this amazing man who painted so beautifully and just knew he would make it one day, even if people doubting him then. He had to, no one else painted the night sky so beautifully.

• He probably spent a lot of time judging and genuinely hating the royal family, especially when they began to work very hard to remove Gwen’s existence as a commoner and coloured Queen

I’ll add more as I think of them!!!

[merrilinie]

During a hunt, Merlin wonders off after claiming he could hear meowing. None of the Knights could hear the sound but Merlin was adamant and insisted he go find the poor thing. They let him after he promised not to wonder too far and almost an hour later he returned with his neck heir bundled in his arms.

From the piece of fabric came a soft, rumbling purr.

They all watched him as he cleaned the little thing up with his water. The animal itself barely even fit in his whole hand, small and wet and covered in dirt and tiny little bugs that could be seen jumping up every now and again.

Arthur told him to leave it so he wouldn’t get fleas but Merlin wasn’t listening, too busy carefully drying the kitten up and whisper sweet words of comfort despite the obvious language barrier.

Percy gave him some more water so the little thing could eat and Merlin beamed, which was the only reason Arthur gave up on trying to get him to abandon the thing for everyone’s well being.

He bought him back to Camelot with them, never letting go of it throughout the entire ride.

Any time he wasn’t serving Arthur or helping Gaius, he was with the little kitten. He helped it rid its fleas and slowly fed it until he was much more kitten shaped then it had been. He admittedly used a little magic on the fleas, as well as the blisters and cuts on the little things feet.

After a week he named her Constance, Connie for short. After a proper bath the kitten was revealed to have a few white spots on its black fur, around its paws and chest.

Eventually, when she was bigger and much more a healthy young cat, she started to follow him around the castle as he tended to his tasks. Connie could be seen sitting on his shoulders and back as he hunched over to clean Arthur’s boots and armour, or in his lap as he restitched a torn short, or most commonly, trialing along after her owner with a swishing tail.

She was bigger than most cats with a rich looking face and an endless amount of fluff, which was the only give away that Arthur actually liked her when he was caught with fluff on his white tunics.

[merrilinie]

Thinking about he Knights making a game out of who can get Merlin to blush the most, with them only allowing a point to be given to the person if the blush reaches his ears. Quite frankly, it’s not as hard as it seems.

The winner is whoever had the most by the summer solstice and is allowed to be the one to ask Merlin to dance.

The winners are as follows:

Year 1: Gwaine

Year 2: Gwaine

Year 3: Lancelot

Year 4: Gwaine

Year 5: Elyan

Year 6: Gwaine

Year 7: Leon

Year 8: Gwaine

Year 9: Percy

Year 10: Finally, Arthur.

.

..

…

….

(Year 11: Gwen)

[merrilinie]

TW: mentions of torture, talk of scars

Merlin who doesn’t like it when people touch his back. Arthur and Leon notice it first and near instantly when Leon gives him a friendly pat and the boy tenses so hard it’s a surprise his shoulders didn’t pop out of place.

Elyan and Gwen notice it when they invite him over for a late dinner once he and Gwen are finished with their duties and he refuses to press his back to the chair.

Gwaine figures it out on the first day, with it being him who tells Lancelot and Percival about it. Lance tries to ask the other if it has something to do with his magic, but upon Merlin’s face going cold and a shadow of fear crossing his eyes, he promises not to bring it up again.

They all just know not to touch his back or anywhere on his torso or even his upper legs, there’s bo need to question it both because they respect his boy dies and, well… they’re scared of what the answer might be.

It’s when Merlin gets hit in an ambush that the truth of it is revealed.

The gash along his side is not all that deep, but the cowardly bandits who attacked had laced their blades with poison. With no choice, they remove his jacket and shirt to properly clean out the wound as best they can.

There are a few gasps, a lot of purposeful ignored tears, but they all steel their nerves and pretend not to see the vicious scars on his body. None of them could deny the sight, try as they might, not when the scars were big and jagged and so clearly from some kind of whip. They tried not to look at the ladder like lines across his stomach, going up to his lower pecks before turning into vicious swirls that seemed to mock the Druid mark.

It was useless.

Merlin was conscious enough to tell them what to put on his wound, to order them to make him drink as much as he could so wash what they could out of his system. He told them to find a river for him to lay in as the fever broke, which they did.

No one said a thing about the burns littering his legs.

When he awoke with full consciousness, he knew instantly that they had seen even though he had been given clothes. If they weren’t different to what he had been wearing, maybe he wouldn’t have.

Alas, their saddened eyes gave it away.

It’s Arthur who asks, “Merlin… who did this to you?”

Merlin cries openly, always refusing to hide his tears unlike every other man, he spews apologies over and over. Even as Lance and Gwaine hold him close he continues, ignoring their assurances that it’s okay until eventually he answers.

“It was Uther. He found out my father was a dragon lord. He only spared me because he wanted to see a dragon lord become a slave.”

Arthur’s tears join his in the soil.

[merrilinie]

Thinking about Arthur and the Knights comforting and consoling Merlin the first time he takes a life, probably in self-defence. One of them helping wash the blood of his face and hands, them cooking for everyone at the camp that night, letting him sleep well into the next day and taking over what chores of his they can for a few days when they return.

Arthur making sure to never put Merlin in a position where he has to kill again, yet failing every time because Merlin will always try to save him first.

[merrilinie]

Summer in Camelot can be overbearing. The heat is all-consuming, leaving every one sweaty and exhausted to the point that Arthur moved the Knights routine training inside.

Despite its hardship, summer has its advantages.

Namely the fact that when Arthur canes back to his room after training, it’s to find his lover sprawled across the bed in nothing but his wedding ring and dark splotches from their previous night.

He’s fast asleep, fist curled in the sheets and mouth agape as he slumbers with no hesitation or fear.

Arthur knows it’s the most beautiful sight any man could behold, his Merlin, safe and happy in their bed.

Luckily it’s just for him.

[merrilinie]

My friend showed me this and it gives me so much Merlin x Arthur energy

[merrilinie]

Things I like to think would happen if the Knights and co knew about Merlin’s magic (and merthur):

• “Merlin, can you do the fire trick with the dragon again?”

• “I’m not drying your clothes, Gwaine. You chose to go in the river fully clothed, you pay the price.”

• Merlin making them flower crowns and them bullying Arthur into wearing his

• Everyone asking him if he can make them fly

• Merlin pretending he can talk to the horses and making them think him and the horses are shit talking

• Him and Gwen pretending to do chores together but really he magicked it and they’re just having a nice evening

• Merlin and Morgana having lessons in the forest while the knights what over so none one spits them

• “No, I can’t read minds.” One of the knights, “oh, okay.” *realises they didn’t ask that out loud.* “WAIT-“

• Merlin and Arthur cuddling together at night accidentally and everyone knows because Merlin’s magic is safe now and leaves a patch of flowers under him when he sleeps

• Merlin creating plants with his magic so he doesn’t have to spend so much time gathering herbs for Gaius

• the Knights and Gwen taking this a step further and making a garden of herbs for him and Gaius

• Arthur realising they should have done that years ago and putting the royal funds into it despite Uthers annoyance

• Morgana and Merlin being taught how to fight with swords (even if she already knows a fair bit) so they can protect themselves with something other than magic

• the two of them then teaching Gwen because they both think she’d be an amazing knight

• Gaius having a mini heart attack whenever he hears Merlin and the Knights talking about magic

• them realising he’s insecure about his healing magic because it’s the hardest form of magic and being sure to praise him whenever he does it or any other form of healing

• After Merlin and Arthur finally get together, his magic doesn’t want to leave him alone and so when he does his little fire show for them it instantly goes to Arthur and the others get jealous

• after an attack and Merlin nearly gets hurt, Arthur ‘forces’ his Knights to be sworn to Merlin with Merlin’s staff and so technically, they’re also his Knights and Merlin is a royal

• The druids instantly knowing this and calling him a prince

• the knights going along with it

• After a while the Knights (who know how) begin to teach the Druids things like reading and currency

• everyone teasing Merlin by saying his magic has a crush on Arthur despite the two being together already

• he blushes every time

• Merlin openly enchanting their amour to be stronger and magic proof

• him giving Gwen and Morgana matching necklaces that are also enchanted that they keep hidden

• all of them are so impressed with his power but then they are just straight dumfounded because like… how the fuck did he keep this hidden for so long?

• Growing strawberries once he sees how much Gwen loves them and they are really rare

• tricking the Knights into thinking he can talk to ghost just to laugh at their faces

• Just constantly embarrassed by the Druids cause they see him as a god or, as the knights point out, as a king and the Knights decide that means he’s Arthur’s wife and Queen of Camelot

• Arthur making this worse by saying, “Queen or Consort?”

• Merlin flicking water in his face despite none being near them

I’ll add more as I think of them :)

[merrilinie]

Love the idea of Arthur and Merlin’s relationship just being known in Ealdor as a couple because whenever they are near the border and need a place to stay, they just go there. They just see the two being close and protecting each other and go ‘oh cool the prince and the weird kid who talks to trees are in love, good for them’.

Like every other person in the kingdom might have suspicions but to Ealdor it’s just… true.

At least, Hunith calls him her son in law

[merrilinie]

Merlin who was born blind and uses magic to see. His eyes are actually a light colour, closer to grey, but when using the magic that grants him sight they turn blue.

So, when he looses his magic both in existing plot lines and any other, he has to learn to navigate the world without sight, something he was able to avoid before.

This could be how he tells Arthur, maybe he gets some curse on him or someone uses a magic object to subdue his power and he goes blind once again and ha to tell the Knights that he can’t see without it.

[merrilinie]

CW: graphic depictions of torture and assault

Merlin could only taste iron. That was the only thing he had to focus on outside of the blistering pain ravaging his body.

After being captured while collecting wood for their camp the Knights had set, Merlin had managed to bluff his way into making them think he was alone yet still was foolish enough to have his magic revealed. The men who took him had quickly become infatuated with him after seeing how much he could take as his magic healed him and made a game out of who could cause the most damage without him passing out.

Merlin never thought he would curse his magic but as it kept him alive even as salt was covered over his open wounds, he couldn’t help but damn it.

He had been whipped at first, painful but typical. Then they got more excited and started getting creative. He was doused in water while hung outside between two trees so he would freeze over the night then burn in the sunlight come day. He had no finger or toe nails, his hair had been burnt off, his nipples had been cut with a ‘X’ to leave them split into quarters. The cruel men had played a game of noughts and crosses with knives on his chest then licked the blood up and rubbed wine into the wound before licking again. They caught spiders and forced the beings to bite him by no means other than instinct, causing him to have moments of delusion and hallucinations but also, thankfully, paralysis. His hands were shattered bone by bone with nails and hammers, leaving at least twenty embedded inside and stuck into the table he was rested before, but only for two days before they ripped his hand off and shredded them yet again.

He had sobbed as his magic stabbed the bleeding and kept him alive.

The worst of it all was when they strung him up with his arms behind him and a thick strand of rope around his waist so he would be easy to… access. They only prepared his hole enough so it wouldn’t hurt them and stuffed frozen metals rods in afterwards to help him ‘keep shape’. They had gagged him after he bite one of their cocks clean off, but they undid it after a while so they could rip out his back teeth and cut his tongue down the middle.

It was only a month of him being there before the Knights and Arthur, who had acted against King Uther’s orders, and to save him.

Merlin swore he was there for longer, at least by a few more months.

He had whined high and pathetic when he saw Leon’s familiar face, crying like a child when he realised what that meant. He hated to see the most honourable knight cry but it meant he wasn’t alone.

Upon exiting the camp he had been trapped in, he had passed out with his first bout of genuine sleep. It was only a few days later when he awoke that he was told that he hadn’t been mistaken and that the men who tortured him and put up magic wards that slowed time down enough that a month outside of it… was almost a whole year within.

[merrilinie]

I love the idea of the Knights fully supporting Arthur and Merlin. Not just by not outing them and keeping it a secret but by actively helping the two find time to be together and willingly lying to novels and Uther for their benefit (yes, even Leon.)

Things like them taking over caring for Arthur’s horse as well as their own so Merlin can spend more time with him or them taking turns to hold onto a second horse on their trips so Merlin can ride with Arthur. One of them taking their own plate of food up to Arthur’s quarters so Merlin and him can eat together without it being suspicious that Merlin has two plates of food. One of them come sup with a knocking code they can use as a way to alert the couple if someone who isn’t in the know or isn’t trusted is on their way to them where ever they may be. Them asking for hunting trips just to stop and pull out a picnic basket so the other two can go on a date while they lounge around a camp fire talking shit about Uther.

Just little things like that make me happy.

[merrilinie]

CW: scarring and torture mention, implied murder

A storm had blown through while the Knights were on a hunt. It wasn’t bad compared to earlier in the season, but it was enough to drench them to the point that Arthur was willing to put them in an unknown cave just to keep dry.

Merlin started a fire as quickly as he could, but it was weak with the wood so damp and unlike the Knights he didn’t have as much waterproof clothing like armour. He was shaking badly and eventually Leon ordered him to stop and get himself changed and dry, though he had to borrow clothes from the others as his own were ruined by the rain.

The cold combining with the wetness of his clothes made Merlin careless, so he followed his given orders without question.

In the weak firelight and the organ he hues of the setting sun, the Knights and Arthur all stared in horror as Merlin removed his shirt while facing away from them. They watched as pale skin went taunt and pulled against his bones, the heavy scarring of his back jarring his movements in a way that was so clearly pain and not that of a fumbling fool like they had all admittedly assumed. The scars were that of whip lashings, deep and straight and much to their horror, overlapping, meaning this was not a single event that caused such horrific art to be formed on their friends skin.

Merlin felt the stares and rushed to put his shirt on, looking up for only a second before hiding his face with the shadows as he saw their sorrow and confusion.

They were all silent as he continued to dress, ignoring how they all seemed to be trying to get even a slim glance to confirm what they just saw.

Before anyone can speak, which. He knows they will, Merlin cuts them off, “It is in the past. What’s happened to me has happened and those who did it are gone. So, please, let this stay in the past. It’s where it belongs.”

More silence, though now with a few nods.

Time passes slowly before Arthur speaks, “You swear? That they are gone?”

Merlin looks at him with grief in his eyes, the story behind them reminding them of how Merlin has survived with them, how he too has held a sword in order to live through their travels and they all realise at the same time that this sieving, this torment, is not new to him.

“They all are. Every last one.”

[merrilinie]

CW: child birth, miscarriage scare, minor character death

The Knights had wanted to go for a hunt but had chosen to stay out longer than the day long trip after coming across an old Bandit camp. That in itself was not an issue, there were plenty of them around and this was was clearly left a week before at least.

It was the woman tied to a tree by her hands and very obviously pregnant.

Merlin had rushed right over to her, ignoring the others shouting at him that it could be a trap. The others cleared the camp as Merlin examined the woman. By the time they looked back he had freed her and had her lying down with his jacket bunched under her head. He was feeling her stomach with gentle hands, speaking to her in a sweet voice they couldn’t hear. The woman was sobbing, hand clutching Merlin’s wrist as he did his job.

Eventually Gwaine went over, “what can we do?”

None of them had seen Merlin so serious, let alone so professional so all of his orders were followed without any question.

“I need as much water as we can get. Get all the clean blankets and bring them to me, make a barrier around these trees so she can have privacy and give me two bed rolls. Get me something leather for her to bite into.”

Arthur managed to get over his shocked awe enough to rebut, “Merlin, we don’t know who she is. Let’s take her back to the Cast-“

“No.”

Everyone paused at the finality of Merlin’s tone, something he never used on anyone even when Arthur was truely acting foolish.

Merlin sighed, brushing the woman’s hair out of her face, “she doesn’t have time, she’s going into labour now.” The woman lets out a horrified sob, and Merlin coos, “I’ve done hundreds of pregnancies. It’s not ideal, but we can do this. Now, I need you to decide now. If it comes down to it, and it most likely will, do you want me to focus on saving you or your baby?”

The woman doesn’t hesitate, “save my baby, let me die if means my baby lives.”

Merlin nods, but there’s a sadness in his eyes, “you’re malnourished, even if you baby survives… it may not have a good life. You could both die, but you have more chance.”

She shakes her head, “If my baby dies I will join right after. It… it’s all I have, my husband… they killed him.”

The Knights are all shocked, never seeing such a sight or hearing such a discussion, but Merlin doesn’t hesitate. “Alright, then if you do pass, what shall I call this little babe? I think you or you husbands name would be lovely.”

The Knights all sit as far away as they safely can and listen to the sounds of the woman screaming and sobbing, all tensing when it stops and no crying or anything follows. They wait, none of them speaking or looking at the others, too scared to move in case it upsets the careful balance of life taking and giving.

They all relax when they hear a child’s cry, loud and unapologetic.

Dread forms in their stomachs as Merlin emerges with the babe in his arms, the lifeless body of the mother just visible through the makeshift tent, and Merlin covered in blood with a knife in his hand.

He drops it and gives them a smile despite the horror in the air, “Her name is Lila.”

[merrilinie]

CW: violence and immortal mcd (so not really), child death

Merlin who is able to tell the weather and state of nature and season not because of magic, but because of how he grew up.

The small village was in a rather unfortunate place, at least to most. It was stuck between a forest and meadow with a large river bed that often flooded and took out numerous of their crops. It helped greatly with a permanent water source but every good thing had a fault.

So, Merlin learnt quickly when to tell it was going to rain by the humidity and clouds, so he could better help his neighbours with any preparations. He learnt what soil was best for planting what plants, what of those would be worthy he effort of growing, what could carry bugs and other insects that could house disease or venom. He learnt what habitats snakes and spiders liked, what caves could be good to hide in if the rain came in too quick or bandits came too close to the village.

That was what he learnt most, without ever really wanting to. He learnt when to tell if the air changed with the eagerness of bandits ready for a fight. He learnt how to spot traps after getting caught in two as just a child, the long jagged scar along his leg a permanent reminder of the danger he had to watch for.

Merlin learnt through trail and error, tasting the poisonous berries to know they were as such. He knew how to treat venom bites, to stay still as a rock when a snake caught onto his flesh, what to eat and drink when he had something wrong, how to get out of cruel traps made to rip a man apart by simply not passing out and keeping a clear head.

The knights and Arthur do not know this. They don’t know of his magic, if they did they would assume like the Druid’s did that he simply used that, which he did at times. They just assumed he had a knack for these kinds of things.

Then they go to his home for a rest stop as they target a group of bandits. This is where a elder hears the Knights making fun of Merlin and he marches right up to them and he tells them off in a way that both mortifies and compliments Merlin.

“Listen here, you ignorant fools! This young man had done more for this village than any of you have done for the Kingdom! It’s Merlin who learnt how to make the soil grow our crops properly, he who taught the children what food is okay to scavenge for! It’s this boy who warns us when the floods are most likely and helps us prepare, even though his home is on the other side of the village! Do you know how many times I’ve had to watch this boy nearly die because he took it upon himself to make sure the bandit traps were set off before a child got caught? He once spent two full nights in a cave with a broke leg after my daughter got lost, just to find her and bring her home even though-… even though she’d already passed.”

Merlin goes to his friend and hold so to his hand, trying to comfort him as memories flood his frail mind.

The man finishes his ramble with a pat to Merlin’s cheek, “You do not need strength and armour to be a good man. The selfishness of man has never once touched you, my boy. I will not allow such blasphemy to your name, not by a king or a pauper.”

Merlin only gives a single look at the Knights and shrinks under the pity and shock, deciding instead to take his friend back to his home so they can visit his daughters grave. He had died that first night when he looked for her, his first death and how he discovered his immortality.

He tried not to remember it, the pain and agony of starving and bleeding and a deep burning in his leg that made his body squirm with phantom pain.

The next day the Knights are quiet, Arthur watching him without ever looking away. They only ask him if what was said was true when they set camp up three nights later. So, he lifts up his pant leg to show his mangled flesh and gives them a soft smile that doesn’t reach his eyes,

“Don’t worry, I know how to heal things properly now if it happens to any of you.”

A tear slides down Gwaines face.

[merrilinie]

“Colour suits you Merlin.”

Merlin can’t get it out of his head. It was a joke, a meek jab at Merlin for the sake of it, nothing serious. It’s not the fact that Arthur insulated that Merlin woo ups wear a dress but the fact that Arthur had complimented him. Not just that, but he said that about an expense fabric colour only owned by royals.

Arthur was joking about it, yet Merlin can’t get the idea out of his head that Arthur had thought about or even knew what colours looked good on Merlin.

Being who he is, Merlin test it. He turns his typical blue shirt into a deep purple with silver tassels and waits for Arthur’s reaction.

When Arthur starts to bloody drool that morning at the sight of him…

Merlin nearly squeals.

[merrilinie]

CW: suggestive content, nsfw, a moment of unwanted advancement.

Merlin has known Arthur for a long time, nearly five years. In that time he’s learnt nearly every single one of his tells and figured out the difference between every change of octave and tone in his voice when he speaks. He knows when he’s lying, when he’s hiding something and when he’s scared.

So, when a very pushy princess from another kingdom comes into his room without them knowing and strips down to he lacy underthings, Merlin instantly clicks the fear in Arthur’s eyes. He had suspected for a long time that the other was like him, lusting after men and not woman, but that moment confirms it.

The princess orders Merlin to leave, but Arthur is frozen and his hand is shaking, so Merlin refuses. Instead, he pushes Arthur to be behind his dressing screen and calls for the guards, not caring as the princess protest to being seen in such revealing clothes as they escort her.

Merlin undresses Arthur and puts him in his sleep clothes, muttering about what the other needs to do the next day. It distracts Arthur enough to huff a laugh and make his own way to his head, but just as Merlin leaves he hears the other whispers a soft ‘thank you’.

He thinks about leaving, pretending not to hear, but instead turns to give Arthur a teasing smile, “don’t be, that lace was revolting, it would be dishonourable to my prince for me to allow such a thing in his quarters.”

Arthur is clearly amused, mood clearly better, but it’s no enough for Merlin. He needs the other to know he’s safe, accepted. So, he adds a another statement before he leaves the room, “plus, I own lace panties far more enticing.”

He can’t resist a wink as he watched Arthur’s face flush bright red, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Merlin knows it’s worth it when Arthur spends the rest of the next day staring at his ass, knowing the other caught a glimpse of the white panties Merlin put on that morning.

He decides to invest in such clothing when Arthur drops to his knees that night, mouthing and whimpering at Merlin’s neck and begging the other to let me see them please, just let him taste-

Merlin shoves him to his knees.