#gaius & merlin

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Remember that one time Merlin called Arthur a toad then said magic was outlawed so he’d never turn into a handsome prince?

What if he kept doing that casually, as his way of showing Arthur magic can be useful.

For example:

Arthur: do you ever wish there was a way to start fires without needing to gather firewood?

Merlin: there is. Your father outlawed it.

Arthur: there must’ve been a reason. Fire can be dangerous if it gets out of control.

—

And he tries to defend it, but it doesn’t hold up and over time Arthur starts just making sarcastic comments instead of actual defenses

—

Arthur: torches are so inconvenient. We need a better way to make light that can keep hands free for swords or other weapons.

Merlin: Magic, but it’s illegal so you’re stuck with carrying a torch.

Arthur: last time I needed light because you were dying it wasn’t evil.

Merlin: well, it’s unfortunate that you don’t know how to use magic then, sire.

—

Until he just can’t defend it

—

Arthur: six weeks?! I can’t miss six weeks of training for a broken foot! Is there some way to speed it up? Or just… fix it now?

Gaius: I don’t think-

Merlin: yes.

Gaius, who knows Merlin’s plan: *sigh*

Arthur: Thank god. Do it then.

Merlin: No. It’ll land us all on the pyre and I’m quite fond of, y’know, breathing, so suck it up.

Arthur: why is that kind of magic illegal? Surely healing isn’t evil.

Gaius: what you ask is treason, sire. Please be cautious.

Arthur: …

—

Merlin: who knows? Maybe all the bandits will decide to magically take a day off so you can go hunting without being hunted.

A few hours later, being chased through the woods by bandits:

Arthur: non magic sucks!

Merlin: yep. You can always repeal the ban once you’re king!

Arthur: huh… you know, I think I will.

Merlin: great, pardon my treason then. *magically knocks out the bandits and summons their horses and Arthur’s weapons back*

Arthur: THIS WHOLE TIME?!

Merlin: yep.

Arthur: …

Arthur: I can’t believe that worked.

Merlin: me neither, to be honest, sire.

—

Then they both laugh about it and Arthur repeals the ban, magic is free, Morgana is never evil, Agravaine doesn’t exist, and Mordred comes back to Camelot and gets therapy.

[morganadeservedbetter]

Merlin: God, if only someone loved me… Arthur: standing behind them with a wedding ring roses Freya: holding box of chocolates Gwaine: has balloons Gwen: holding out a flower crown Mordred: has a card Morgana: bringing him special books Lance: literally just dropped everything he was doing because Merlin needed help carrying things Gaius: facepalms This is sad.

[lesbicosmos]

gaius, about arthur: he'll be fine! he's the once and future king!

merlin: That's just what he's called, it doesn't mean he actually knows what he's doing!

[spitefulcheddarcheese]

morgana: merlin kissed you?

arthur: *staring woefully out of his window*

morgana: and you said thank you…?

arthur: yeah

morgana: well that was very polite of you

———————meanwhile ————————

merlin:thank you?!?! WTF DOES THAT MEAN

gaiuse: he’s stupid merlin you know that

[inamagicalhallucination]

merlin au where merlin makes friendship bracelets for everyone he likes but plot twist he’s merlin and he likes everyone like come on he adopts ppl like 2 minutes into meeting them

like

obviously gwen has one - one of the first if not the first he made in camelot - yellow and purple

and gaius too but his is one merlin made when he was a kid - its really old so the colors are faded but its made of all the thread merlin could find and its kinda ugly but he loves it anyway cuz he’s a fucking sap

and then during some attack on camelot sir leon pulled him back because its his fucking job but merlins like <3 omg a new friend and leons like uhhhh but he never takes it off

lancelot leaves camelot with honor and a yellow bracelet and a new best friend <3

even the great dragon has one but its less of a bracelet and more of a ring

a bunch of the servants have one - almost everyone in the kitchen (they give merlin extra food so he’ll make one) the guards outside gaius's door (which is lowkey why they never report the magic because they and merlin are besties) 

morgana wears it with her ridiculously fine and expensive jewelry 

sometimes visiting nobles leave with one 

a bunch of shop owners have one

because merlin’s literally besties with everyone

but who doesn’t have one?

arthur

not because merlin doesn’t like him (though he’ll admit (only to himself) that perhaps he doesn’t want to be just friends with arthur) but because merlin simply doesn’t think he’d like one

on the other hand arthur’s seething with rage and jealously and when leon showed up with one arthur may have been a little more vicious in training

when one of the other knights gets one he gets vicious in training every training session since then

morgana knows and makes sure to flash her bracelet in front of his face

on the other hand merlin knows that arthur wouldnt like one but merlin still adores him so mayhaps he sews in a little pattern on the inside of arthur’s shirts that he’s mending where no one will notice but merlin will see him wear the shirt and think he’s wearing merlin’s friendship :)

yeah

[arthurandhisswordbros]

I really love the idea that all the spell books Gaius has that Merlin learns from are like extremely old and because magic has been around for a long time, the language of the old religion has significantly changed so like the druids have totally different spells or instead of saying the equivalent of “I summon thee from thy slumber, arise like the sun to cover the sky with thy warmth!” they would basically just say “wake up,” or something. Like maybe they even think the “immortal Emrys” is already like 100 years older than he actually is because of the way he incants. And every time he tries to do it the way the druids do, it’s very

[sorrowandchartreuse]

Y'all ever think about Gaius? like he snuck in this very magical boy into a place where he KNEW magic was punishable by death and he had to be thinking "this is dangerous for both of us, especially with Merlin living in the castle right under the king's nose. but if we're incredibly careful, we can make it work."

and then fast forward not even a week and said magical boy is now attached at the hip with the CROWN PRINCE and is blatantly using magic. Which tbh really explains why Gaius has this exhausted look 90% of the time:

[thefabledpheasant]

Don’t get me wrong, I think Gaius and Merlin’s relationship is overall very sweet and I’m happy they have each other. But does anyone else feel like Gaius kinda gaslights the shit out of Merlin sometimes?

Merlin will come up to him like, “Gaius, I just saw this guy use magic/do something bad. I know it.”

And then Gaius will say: “nah, you’re probably just tired. Eepy lil guy.”

[caffeinatedbisexual]

I forgot how good the Pendragon family drama was

[daisymintt]

Arthur: Yeah, Gaius hasn't talked to Alice since the Great Purge.

Gaius: All right.

Merlin: Wait, you haven't talked to her in 60 years?

Gaius: It's been… I'm not that old, Merlin.

Merlin: Aren't you, though?

[krug3r2312]

Merlin whenever he gets back from saving Arthur’s life and the lives of Camelot’s citizens yet again only to find out Gaius used the tavern excuse again:

I am disgusted, I am revolted, I’ve dedicated my entire life to keeping this kingdom and its prince from certain death, and this is the thanks I get?

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Arthur: Seriously, Merlin? The tavern again?!

Merlin, covered in blood and exhausted from running for both his and Arthur’s lives through the woods: yeah… sure…

[pumpkin-boylord]

Gwen: Merlin today told me that he thinks that there is nothing more romantic than a kiss under the rain with moonlight shining over everything...

Arthur: ...

Arthur: *runs to Gaius* GAIUS YOU KNOW MAGIC DON'T YOU?

Gaius: *almost dying of heartattacks* ...who? Me-? No, why would I-

Arthur: I know you do and I need a favour. *Puts a small bag of gold coins on the table* you need to make it rain tonight.

Gaius: ...

[star-rie]

merlin canon rewrite with merthur endgame where merlin revealed his magic to arthur somewhere between s3 and s4, merthur have magical adventures together, more merlin/arthur costume changes, gwen got together with lancelot, merthur adopts mordred and aithusa, arthur unbans magic, merlin becomes court magician and wears his formal clothes for more than one episode, george gets to be arthur’s manservant, and they all have a magical happily ever after. maybe with some deaths, probably gaius and hunnith and one of the knights (no hate to them i swear)

[multifandomsbabe]

Merlin AU: where everything is the same but Merlin (and only Merlin ) curses and every time he does everyone( especially Arthur) looks at him like he’s an alien. And then Gawain shows up and he too can curse and he receives the same reaction every time

[morganadeservedbetter]

Gaius: How do you solve it?

Merlin: …necromancy 

Gaius: yes, algebra