#awotc

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[misswriteress]

(This is the first of what will essentially be a digital closet for Alex in The Weight of the Crown, containing all of her clothing and (eventually) her jewellery) 

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- sappho | For day 2 of @merlinrarepairfest

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- Devil's Spoke by Laura Marling | For Day 3 of @merlinrarepairfest

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- Dear fellow Traveler by Sea Wolf

For Day 1 of @merlinrarepairfest & based on chapter 1 of my fic The Ingenuous

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Insp | For Day 6 of @merlinrarepairfest

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MerlinRewatch2023 ->"The Beginning of the End" Mabinogi: Manawyddan the son of Llyr ~ Masterlist [Prev <- • -> Next]

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Mordred's "Emrys?" gives me the same energy as Jack's "What's a ghosts?" Like I mean—

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But I am your keeper/And I hold your face away from light/I am Yours till they come/I am Yours till they come

Devil's Spoke by Laura Marling ~ Companion to "What Things Could Have Been"

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My friend, the fates are cruel / There are no dreams, no honor remains / The arrow has left the bow of the goddess / My friend, your desire / Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess / Legend shall speak / Of sacrifice at world's end

Loveless - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

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Did I do something good?

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"Promise?" "Promise..." From The Ingenuous

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AWOTC

This was essentially all started because I got sad of how all these one off characters were treated in the series and so I went "hey what if they live 😃" and thus this whole thing was created. The characters that you'll see are Mordred, Daegal, Kara, Sefa, Gilli, Eoghan, Drea, Lamia, Will, George, Freya, Tyr etc. So without further do, here is all the things I've created centered around them or featured with them!

#awotc

Fanfiction:

"Title" | Rating | Relationship/characters | Warnings | Status | Word count | Tumblr link | Ao3 link | Series

"The Ingenuous" | Gen | Mordred & Daegal | None | Incomplete 1/2 | 15k | Tumblr | Ao3 | "I Defy You Stars"

"We Must Reinvent Love" | Gen | Sefa/Kara, Mordred & Daegal | None | One-Shot | 1k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Of Knights And Frogs" | Gen | Daegal & Elyan | None | One-Shot | 3.5k | Tumblr | Ao3 | "I Defy You Stars"

"An Unlikely Evening" | Gen | Daegal & Mordred | None | One-Shot | 1.2k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Battle Of Nightmare And Kings" | Gen | Mordred & Kara & Daegal | Nightmares | One-Shot | 2.2k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Love Can't Be Helped" | Gen | Sefa/Kara | None | One-Shot | 1.1k | Tumblr | Ao3

"You Always Hurt The Ones You Love" | Gen | Daegal & Merlin | Accidental Injury | One-Shot | 1.1k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Turn Off The Lights, I'm In Love" | Gen | Mordred(&/)Daegal | None | One-Shot| 2.3k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Could This Love At First Sight? (Or Should I Walk By Again?)" | Gen | Mordred & Gwen | None | One-Shot | 1.5k | Tumblr | Ao3

"How Hard Can It Be?" | Gen | Daegal & Everyone | Menstruation | One-Shot | 1.8k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Golden Bluffs" | Gen | Arthur & Merlin & Mordred | Gambling | One-Shot | 1.3k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Sea May Rise, Sky May Fall" | Gen | Merlin & Mordred | None | One-Shot | 1.2k | Tumblr | Ao3

"Maybe We Live or I Die For You in Secret" | Teen & Up | Kara/Sefa | Character Death | One-Shot | 1.1k | Tumblr | Ao3

"The Things I Do For Love" | Gen | Mordred & Daegal | None | One-Shot | 3.2k | Tumblr | Ao3

"A Row Of Words" | Gen | Merlin & Arthur Pendragon & Mordred | None | One-Shot | 1k | Tumblr | Ao3

Fanart:

Pinky Promise scene from The Ingenuous

Edit's:

Mordred, Kara, Daegal, Gilli, Sefa, lamia, Drea, Eoghan - "loveless" from ffvii: Crisis Core

Mordred/Kara/Daegal & Gilli/Sefa - "Devil's Spoke" by Laura Marling

Mordred, Daegal, Sefa, Kara - Quote from Star Wars "The Force Awakens"

Moodboards:

Mordred - Old | Re-Done

Daegal - Old | Re-done

"The Ingenuous" Mordred/&Daegal

Playlists:

Mordred's

Daegal's

The Ingenuous

Other ramblings:

Tags:

#sir mordred

#bbcm kara

#bbcm daegal

#bbcm sefa

#bbcm drea

#bbcm lamia

#bbcm gilli

#eoghan the map makers apprentice

#bronwen the servant

#george the servant

#tyr seward

#will of ealdor

#morris the servant

#bbcm freya

Ships:

#morra (Mordred x Kara)

#morgal (Mordred x Daegal)

#sedred (Mordred x Sefa)

#sefakara (Sefa x Kara)

#gillisefa (Sefa x Gilli)

#dreoghan (Eoghan x Drea) (I think it's cute)

#morgalra (Mordred x Daegal x Kara)

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Title: "A Row Of Words"

As always I'm late but here is prompt #218 for @flashfictionfridayofficial! And happy 15th year anniversary Merlin fandom!!! 😊 enjoy!

FlashFictionFriday - Tumblr | Ao3 - [Prev <- • -> Next]

Fandom: BBC Merlin

Prompt(s): "How do you use it?"

Relationship(s): Arthur Pendragon & Merlin & Mordred

Character(s): Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Mordred

Important Tag(s): Canon Divergence, Long Suffering Mordred, Mordred is so done, Merlin is so done, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon, Oblivious Merlin, Good Mordred, Bickering, No beta we die like Mordred's sanity in this fic, Humor

Rating: Gen

Warning(s): None

Word Count: 1,028

"Oh, I'm sorry, I do recall hearing quite a fuss around your so-called title, Merlin!" "And that's supposed to make me all knowledgeable about everything!" "Well I'd sure hoped so." "What do you want me to do then?" "Just—" Arthur pointedly gestured to the slab of stone in front of them. "What? Shall I poke it with a stick then, your majesty." Mordred bit his tongue, beginning to wondering if he could take back his word on not considering murder against the both of them.

Or

A multi-day trek, a large empty ominous castle, and a useless slab of stone craved with a language only Mordred knows... well, actually—nevermind, but murder is starting to terrific.

Continue reading below or over on Ao3

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"This is ridiculous." Arthur's voice was muffled as his face laid in his hands.

Mordred watched as Merlin took a deep breath, his patience wearing thin as they all stood In near the entrance of something resembling an empty castle hall. A layer of dust covered the floors and every surface, including the medium sized stone structure, carved with writing that laid in front of them.

"Arthur—"

"We've been traveling for how many days, for this?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "If this is it—

"If?" Arthur exclaimed, his eyes wide as he ran a hand through his hair.

Merlin turned towards Mordred, some semblance of pleading in his eyes that the knight rather not dare to help on behalf of himself and the proximity that was the King and his Manservant's relationship. He pressed his lips together and averted his eyes. 

"We went through all that," Arthur gestured wildly, "and you don't even know if this is what we're looking for?!"

They both stayed quiet.

Arthur let out a strangled groan and turned away, marching to the other end of the hall.

"Sire!" Merlin yelled. "Arthur! Come back!" He followed him.

Mordred looked at the two before back at the slab of stone. It certainly wasn't what they were looking for which he knew at the least. He waited as Merlin turned Arthur back around on his feet.

"I don't believe this is it," he said.

Arthur made a move to walk away again but was pulled renderless as Merlin grabbed and yanked back on his upper arm, keeping him in place. "Is it something that is guiding us to this other thing?"

"Or anything for that matter," Arthur grumbled.

Mordred grimaced.

"Surely you must know how to make it work." He turned to face Merlin, shoving his hand off in the process.

Merlin recoiled. "Make it work?" 

"It is not a machine, my lord," Mordred quipped.

"Why do I have to know how to make it work anyway?" Merlin continued, offended at the prospect of the king's words.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I do recall hearing quite a fuss around your so-called title, Merlin."

"And that's supposed to make me all knowledgeable about everything."

"Well, I'd sure hoped so."

Merlin crossed his arms. "What do you want me to do then?"

"Just—" Arthur pointedly gestured to the slab of stone in front of them.

"What. Shall I poke it with a stick then, Your Majesty?" 

Arthur gave him an incredulous look and it was Merlin's turn to run a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Mordred then," Arthur spoke.

Mordred up from the structure in front of them. "Me?"

"You grew up around magic."

"Oh, that's your reasoning," Merlin retorted. "And possibly not maybe because his mother tongue is written all over this thing."

Mordred looked down and furrowed his eyebrows at the writing. "Actually this isn't—"

"Well I can't read that now, can I? And apparently, neither can magic-himself over here," Arthur said back, Mordred's words falling on unheard ears.

"Well neither can I but—" 

"That doesn't make me fluent in every language in Albion!" Merlin exclaimed.

Mordred sighed, looking down trying to see if he could figure out some of the writing.

"You know for being this all-powerful sorcerer you're not very helpful when it comes to sorcery related things."

"I think it's the Saxon's native tongue," Mordred continued as he heard Merlin let out a fake laugh.

"I could say the same for you, Sire."

Arthur scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"Exactly. Excuse you, Arthur!"

Mordred gave it another once over. Surely it was safe to touch. He wiped off some of the dust.

"Are you questioning me being king?"

"Some once and future king," Merlin grumbled under his breath.

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to," he spat back. "You know we wouldn't even be in this mess if you'd just listened to me!"

"Oh, I listened to you enough Merlin!" Arthur yelled back, a battle less so of matching who could yell over the other. "And that's why we're here to begin with!"

Mordred followed the words across, his eyes coming to rest on a string of words he knew meant nothing good. Maybe, perhaps, it was not safe to touch after all. He slowly pulled his hand away.

"Uh, Arthur?" He tried.

Merlin's hands fell to his side, with a loud muffled thump. "That's it then, huh? You still don't trust me!"

Mordred carefully stepped back. "Merlin?"

"So we're going back to that now, is it?"

"Oh, it is."

He looked up the moment Merlin decided to return Arthur's shove from early, sending the king stumbling to the side and catching himself on the stone structure.

"Oh, you little—"

Mordred grabbed Arthur, hauling him up, but it was too late. They all watched as the base of the structure made an unsettling noise before it lowered itself into the ground and stayed there.

"That can't be good," Merlin groaned.

Their eyes all met as the ground began to rumble, the walls around them increasingly began to shake.

Mordred pushed Arthur towards the entrance as Merlin quickly followed. The floor broke apart with every step they took, all while the top of the empty hall began to crumble and fall in on them.

Mordred ran to one side, his foot catching on a broken stone and making him stumble, bringing him close to his knees before he felt a hand grab the back of his chainmail and yank him through the entrance. Merlin to his side and Arthur's hand still grabbing his chainmail as they tumbled on the forest floor.

They watched as the whole structure completely collapsed behind them, only dust and the aftermath of destruction hanging in the air.

"So that's what it does," Merlin said, swiping at the air as they all choked on the debris.

It was Mordred's turn to scoff at them, shrugging Arthur's grip off him. "It was a trap."

Arthur turned to him. "Then why didn't you say so?"

Mordred bit his tongue, beginning to wonder if he could take back his word of not considering murder against the both of them.

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Title: "The Things I do For Love"

Not me finishing last year's prompts still pfft nope... For day 3 of @flufftober 2021 prompts!

Flufftober 2021 - Tumblr | Ao3

Fandom: BBC Merlin

Prompt(s): "Lazy day in"

Relationship(s): Mordred & Daegal (Platonic or slash)

Rating: Gen

Warning(s): None

Word Count: 3,259

Daegal reached up and grabbed the handle as he neared the last door along the corridor. His expectations were already faltering as the door was usually left a crack open. The rush of the breeze from open windows usually coursing through the small gap. But he ignored it as he focused on not dropping the platter and pushing the door open.

Though his faltering was correct and he should have known something was wrong the minute he approached the door.

Continue reading below or over on Ao3

(Other Works) (Fic Requests) (My Ao3)

The sunlight that streamed in made Daegal groan and roll over in bed. The bumping of items and Merlin's calling voice was another factor to his everyday morning. The same style of clothes put on as his hair was ruffled and the same two words muttered from Merlin before he served him breakfast. 

Everyday was the same and he wouldn't change it as it became something he held onto and couldn't even ponder letting it go.

His steps to the trip out to the stream not far out from the citadel were the same. Same number, same path and the familiar rushing water that beat against stones under his shoes as he crossed the paths. 

Flowers were in hand as he walked back to the castle eventually after some time spent out there. Season from season the colours and structure of the petals changed. White and flowery, delicate sky blue and velvet to the touch, others a vibrant announcement of colours. 

They were then laid on the side of a platter of whatever breakfast was served that morning, waiting to be placed in the vase he knew sat in its place on Mordred's desk. 

He knew the way through the castle by heart, like the back of his hand. The number of steps and twists and turns never changed as he expected the normal of what he encountered every morning. 

The bickering and yelling from the king's chambers as he passed by, followed by seeing whatever poor servant was tasked to wake up Gwaine. The Queen already started her Morning duties but not before she stopped by Elyan's room for a quick chat. 

Leon's chambers next with the doors open as well as he sat having a peaceful breakfast while conversing with George. Lancelot's was closed shut, probably to block out the noise that could be heard from his fellow knights. Then came Percival's room who was in the midst of being not quite awake but not asleep either.

Daegal reached up and grabbed the handle as he neared the last door along the corridor. His expectations were already faltering as the door was usually left a crack open. The rush of the breeze from open windows usually coursing through the small gap. But he ignored it as he focused on not dropping the platter and pushing the door open.

Though his faltering was correct and he should have known something was wrong the minute he approached the door.

Candles were still cold at the wick, curtains hung flaccidly blocking all sun that was normally enveloping the room. No Mordred lounging on the window sill with a book in hand or a breeze coursing through everything from windows that were almost always open. It quickly became what wasn't everyday, instead something he'd never seen before.

He backed up, looked outside, and checked the doors of the hall making sure it was indeed the right room. As unfortunately for him, it was. He returned in and kicked the door shut with his foot.

The slamming noise he at least expected to wake up Mordred if he was still asleep. But no movement came from the human-shaped blankets on the bed.

"Mordred?" He called out cautiously.

"Hm?" A hum came from the blankets.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to sleep."

Daegal set down the platter on the nearby desk. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"I did."

"Why are you still in bed?" He placed the flowers in the vase on Mordred's desk before he walked over to the side of the bed. "Are you sick?" 

"No," Mordred's nonchalant tone of voice came back.

"Then?" Daegal questioned. "You're usually up before the birds." 

"I fear the birds might have beaten me today." 

Daegal chuckled lightly. "Well, come on." He nudged Mordred who was still a ball on the bed.

"No, thank you." 

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, get up." He pulled the covers off of Mordred revealing the drowsy Druid. Still dressed in his nightclothes, and hair a nest of tangled curls as he laid with a pout on his face.

Daegal smiled and patted his leg as he left his side. Feeling an ounce of sympathy for Mordred as he never was like this. 

Mordred sat up in bed as Daegal threw open the curtains and opened the windows. "No," he whined, "too bright." He pulled the blankets back over his head huddling into another ball on his bed.

"Mordred," Daegal called in fond exasperation. "You're being impossible today." 

"I thought you were okay with impossible?"

"Ridiculous then," Daegal provided.

"I thought ridiculousness was rather fine also?" 

Daegal sighed as he sat back down on the side of his bed.

Mordred pulled the blanket down from his head as he felt the bed dip only to smile up at Daegal. Giving him one of his usual smiles, half-cocked and this time; mischievous. 

He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Stop… that." He tossed the covers back over Mordred. His laughter followed while Daegal got up and made his way over to Mordred's wardrobe.

"That, what?" Mordred asked. He leaned upon his elbow as he snatched the covers down once again.

Daegal threw open the wardrobe doors. "You know what." 

"If I knew what the what was, I wouldn't be asking what the what is." 

Daegal chuckled, "Nothing, Mordred." He fumbled with each item as he attempted to navigate Mordred wardrobe. Everything organized, much of what he expected, but didn't make it any less harder of rummaging through his friends clothes. Where were his shirts?

"It was something?" The knights tone almost a whine as he pried for an answer. 

"Something and nothing," Daegal repeated their words together. A small burst of realization guided his movements as he finally found a tunic. "If you stopped anything, you wouldn't be you." He continued as he turned around, tunic in hand. "Now, get up!" Daegal chucked Mordred's tunic at his head as hard as he could.

It hit with much of an impact before Mordred yanked down the tunic. "I am up!" He exclaimed. His hair, far more of a mess than before. "Now this, is not up." He proceeded to pull the covers back over his head and laid down once again.

Daegal groaned as he marched over and threw the blankets off him and to the floor before pinning Mordred to the bed.

"I will drag you out of this bed." His serious facade hardly composed as he only smiled more, with Mordred's contagious joy plastered on his own face.

"Go ahead," Mordred teased.

Daegal grinned. "Asked for it."

Mordred regretted his words shortly after as Daegal's hands wrapped themselves around his ankles and yanked him. A yelp of surprise being his first reaction rather than trying to stop him.

"Wait—no, no, Daegal!" He sputtered, far too late as he slid to the floor, blankets with him and all as he landed with a hard thud. 

"Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head from the impact it made with the floor. 

Daegal stood, staring down as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Can you please get up now?" 

He received an unamused gaze that looked up at him through messy dark curly hair. He smiled, uncrossed his arms and held out his hands. "Come on." 

His hands were grabbed as Mordred was pulled to his feet. The position lasted all but a split second till the knight was on his bed and the remaining sheet was pulled over him.

"Mor—" Daegal sputtered over his words before he sighed. "I'm leaving!" He turned on the ball of heels and walked towards the door.

"Wait! Come back." 

He paused where he stood, the door a meer couple of steps away. 

"Please?" Mordred begged. "I'll get up?"

He sighed. "Fine." 

Turning back around he was met with Mordred sitting up on his bed. He cocked an eyebrow. "Well?" 

"Over here." Mordred swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Daegal moved closer. He held out his arms in a what now way before letting them drop back down to his sides.

Mordred motioned with his fingers, beckoning Daegal towards him more than he already was. 

"Mordred," He warned. 

"Closer."

He did exactly that and inched closer to the bed. Before he knew it he was staring down at blue eyes and a content smile. He fought his own expression and rolled his eyes. "Now?" He said, trying to push some annoyance into his voice.

The distance was little lasted as Mordred leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his midsection.

Daegal shook his head and smiled with exasperated fondness, letting his arms wrap loosely around Mordred as well. He sighed again. They didn't have time for all the shenanigans Mordred was pulling. "Your breakfast is getting cold." 

He received a half-shrug, Mordred's face buried in Daegal's tunic. Getting any sort of reaction out of Mordred was always hard, with suppression and a lack of understanding for them. Never acknowledgement but full of desperation for some hook to place such words and feelings upon.

"And you're gonna be late." Daegal continued. But despite his own words, his arms never moved from around Mordred. 

"Not to mention—"

A yelp escaped as he was tugged down and collided onto the bed. Mordred had pinned him down with a wide grin on his face before he collapsed right next to him among the sheets.

"Mordred!" He chided him, playfully shoving his shoulder as he tried to act agitated or exasperated. But the smile on his face told otherwise as Mordred giggled at his actions.

He sighed and laid back in the sheets. "You're gonna be the death of me." 

"I hope not." 

"If you hope not, then you—" he jabbed a finger at his chest, "need to get up."

"Why?"

"You have things to do, places to be." 

"Other people can do them."

"Mordred, you're a knight."

"And you have brown eyes," Mordred stated. 

"And yours are blue." He brushed Mordred's hair out of his face that was covering his said blue eyes. His bangs were beginning to hang slightly in his eyes, his hair had grown a bit.

"Now stop changing the subject." Daegal moved from the gentle touch and lightly flicked Mordred's forehead.

"I'm not—"

"Deviating the subject then," He corrected. He knew Mordred's games all too well.

"Why must I get up when I have the world right here?" 

He scoffed, "no, you don't."

"Then we can pretend."

"No, we can't."

"Who says we can't?" Mordred looked towards him 

"I don't know, maybe… the king?"

He received an unimpressed smile at his desperate attempts to find a reason. 

Sighing, he flopped back onto the bed, facing towards the ceiling. Finding nothing but the castle structure in front of him, he ridiculed the impossible. "How do you pretend you have the world?"

"Look up."

"I am. It's your ceiling, Mordred." 

"Use this." He tapped the side of Daegal's head.

"It is being used, you just...obfuscate words. And rhyme and reason and everything we're told to make sense of."

"Then let my words do just that."

Daegal scoffed. "It's hard to grasp them when they're never there."

"Not never there, just misplaced." 

"Well, find them quickly, please." He rolled to his side to face Mordred. "Because then I'll be bored."

"Bored?" He questioned. "Without my words?"

"Empty nothingness."

Mordred smiled at the pout Daegal would later argue was not on his face. "Not true. You hear that?" 

He heard many things. Mordred's soft breathing, his own breathing, the beating and rush of his heart in his ears. His own thoughts that were screamed in his mind accompanied by Mordred's gentle lingering question that pondered. He heard everything yet nothing at the same time.

"Silence?" He asked.

Mordred shook his head. "The birds," he said.

"What b—" a hand was clamped over his mouth.

He heard it. Beneath the wind, the rustling of leaves, the dim quiet of the rising sun over the icy chill of the fading night. A faint constant chirp echoed, but it was quickly countered with another so different yet the same. The base banter of a call and answer, constantly switching off while farther in the distance, weaving in and out, a stringed ribbon of sound cascaded through the air. Support in an enchanting harmony that started and ended in a dark timbre of sorrowful voices. 

More joined in and dropped out. Some with a sudden urgency to leave while others took their time like a wadding boat in the ocean that was slowly paddled to shore. Other voices played a game of hide and seek. Some truly doing so, jumping in and then quickly dipping out only to jump back in again like to sew a needle and thread. All while others faked the illusion, masking and hiding itself behind important chimes but far too important to be absent in the end.

The natural symphony of the dawn chorus that would soon end. Only to be treasured once in its pattern of only that moment.

Mordred's hand pulled away.

"Those birds," he whispered. His words, some sort of proof to tell Mordred you're not crazy. Even if the action to say it was not needed, he treaded carefully with a smile.

"Why do you pretend?" He continued, his voice soft and steady.

"I never said I did." Mordred corrected. "I said, for you to do it." 

"Do I not have an imagination then?" He took on a faux hurt tone, pulling back his smile from the dip the conversation had taken.

Mordred chuckled, "far from it, but requires proper usage."

"Proper usage?" Daegal questioned. "Then is yours not getting proper usage either?" 

Mordred looked towards him. All mischief and play gone from his demeanor. "Why pretend when I already have it." He spoke in all certainly of a proposition, and with it stated, he let his head fall to rest on Daegal's shoulder. 

Daegal let out a huff as he finally gave up on any qualms to get Mordred out of bed. Instead, he let his hand come up and tangled itself in his hair, careful not to yank a single strand as he carefully combed his hand through the curly tangled mess of hair.

"Something else?" He tried. A conversation was never that easy with Mordred. Hidden motives or brushed and hidden away thoughts that troubled him always seem to linger if he didn't push on.

He felt a small movement from Mordred.

"Maybe it's easier that way."

"Easier?" He questioned.

Another movement he placed as a nod.

"Easier…"

He left the statement bare and unaccompanied, in absence of his own words to pry at Mordred's thoughts.

This was not how he was expecting his day to go at all. Expecting the normal actions that happened every morning that would then be followed by his normal routine of things. But instead Mordred threw him in for a sudden change. Not a bad change if Daegal could disagree with his earlier statements. Bad in the sense of Mordred's knightley duties but not so much of how much he was enjoying these moments with him. He knew Mordred all without knowing him and his smaller unique things that still made him, him. 

Of pretending things were not what they actually were, to playing a cat and mouse game of words. A game Mordred so loved to play, yet he never gave any answers or a factor of winning or losing. Strung into play, there was no end in sight but maybe he wanted that. A never ending maze for him to be stuck in, a loop that would never make the moment end.

The small daze left him with his thoughts. The sound of banter that had grown closer with the patter of boots before fading off again drawing him out. More voices slowly filled the halls along with doors being open and closed. 

The day was moving on and getting late. He looked over and sparred the discarded breakfast a glance before seemingly making his decision.

"Mordred?"

He waited for an answer but only his voice lingered in the uninterrupted silence of the room. He carefully removed his hand from Mordred's hair and glanced down at him. A sighed escaped him seeing Mordred's eyes closed and his chest rising and falling in a calming pattern. Though, he couldn't find any frustration at the predicament.

Headstrong was something he found came like a symptom to being a knight or even something of a higher or lower position. The King and Merlin both on opposite ends but equally tasked in their own ways of duty. Often time shoving important normal daily tasks aside to work on certain skills, which would lead to the neglect of health.The importance of their duty came before eating or simply resting when they should.

Even if Mordred hadn't meant to fall asleep at the moment, Daegal didn't want to wake him. Or couldn't wake him for that matter as the white lie bleed through from Mordred's earlier words and Daegal now saw how exhausted he looked. 

He should wake him so he could eat breakfast, get changed, then attend the meeting that was scheduled in due time. They would be late, terribly late if he didn't wake Mordred that minute. 

To wake him though? He didn't have the heart, hardly wanting to take a deep breath out of fear of waking him. Would that minute turn to two, then five, then far longer that they weren't considered minutes anymore?

They would get reprimanded surely by both Arthur and Merlin. Daegal more so, from Arthur given his position as a servant. And Mordred being him, would divert the blame off of Daegal, telling Arthur it was his fault. Arthur so far wrapped around Mordred's finger would hardly chide the other boy, Merlin in turn giving them both an equal lecture.

So terribly late they were, in fact, missed the meeting altogether. Breakfast would grow far beyond cold, the candle mark telling it's time for lunch. Maybe the only thing to wake them up would be Merlin's seeking words, worried and concerned about the sudden disappeared teenagers. 

But Daegal could care less about everything that was possibly to come. More worried as he pulled the covers over Mordred and partially himself. The window he opened brung in a crisp breeze, and with Mordred still dressed in a thin tunic and trouser, he would surely grow cold.

If only Daegal thought of beforehand what he was going to do if he himself fell asleep. His eyes felt heavy as they desired to succumb to the peaceful breeze and slumber that coursed throughout the room.

Maybe he could fall asleep? Then, there—safe. So impossibly safe that the reversed connotation that was usually secure arms wrapped around him held the exact feeling of then. Mordred fast asleep on his shoulder and his fingers caught loose in his tunic. An unspoken gesture of—you're safe—as Daegal never moved but instead pulled Mordred closer and held him tight.

What was a couple of minutes? Let his eyes rest somewhere he felt safe. And If not a couple of minutes, but hours. When the sun set so, and the stars Mordred worshiped so much were visible once again. Not imagination and the need for something that Daegal couldn't give, couldn't make better for his friend.

Was he allowed this? Were they allowed this? Something so simple and comforting it could make everything better...

What was one day?