ask: Do you have any headcannons of Merlin growing his hair out all curly and everyone in the castle collectively loose their minds

dude this was so fun!!! i hope it’s what you had in mind :))

My pronouns are she/her

I’m like the biggest loner. i love spending time alone in my own world doing my own thing. I spend way too much time daydreaming. I literally can go from astrophysics to aliens or dark matter to magic in 20 seconds. Reality, we don’t know her.

I can be quite touchy feely and emotional but do everything to hide it. I struggle with my feelings a lot.

i either overthink or don’t think at all there is no in between. one minute I have a set out plan and the next I’m jumping into things randomly. It’s like I’m either super anxious or am pretending my problems dont exist.

my hobbies include creative coding, digital illustrating, weight lifting, watching movies/shows, playing video games, reading fanfic in the dead of night (you know the 4 am fics hit different).

im obsessed with Starbucks vanilla lattes (Ik so basic) and that’s probably the only reason I actually go outside

My style is pretty much the fandom sections at hot topic from 2012 (the chokers, plaid skirts, combat boots and fandom shirts. Bonus if u add knee socks or fishnets💀)

i absolutely hate the cold, small talk, crowds, and social gatherings. I’m super awkward not in the cute uwu way but In the 😐 way.

if it helps in anyways I’m a Slytherin, intp personality type, and true neutral alignment.

Thanks ❤️

dude this was awesome!! you sound super cool :)) also i did a specific section for modern day ones bc i didn’t know which you preferred <3 thanks for giving me an excuse to write more merlin stuff :D i hope this is what you were looking for!!

- you guys spend a lot of time just hanging out in silence. theres never any pressure to talk yknow? like he’ll be laying on his bed and you’ll be laying on the ground just daydreaming and enjoying each others company

- he loves that you do weight-lifting dude.. genuinely he thinks its awesome

- also he definitely likes to bring you drinks and snacks and then leave you to have some alone time. hes such a sweetheart ab not wanting to overwhelm you

- i feel like hes totally supportive of whatever mindset you’re in. if you wanna impulsively go running into the woods, hes right beside you holding your hand. if you’re having an anxious day hes content to just sit and let you talk stuff out

- sometimes when you guys are in a group setting and merlin can tell you’re unhappy, he’ll just make up some ridiculous excuse as to why you guys have to leave

- ^^ like “sorry guys, we have to go! theres a- cat.....missing.” *awkward pause* “bye!”

modern stuff

- he’d absolutely go shopping with you and watch you try on stuff. hes so genuinely happy to be involved and is always like “do a spin!!”

- you teach him how to play every game you know and he is so bad at all of them.

- lots of movie nights!!! he brings snacks and always remembers ur starbucks

- arthur looking at merlin out of the corner of this eye, as merlin flits around the room picking things up and moving them around. merlin doesn’t know that arthur can hear him humming but arthur thinks it’s the most comforting sound he’s ever heard. he can’t quite place the melody, but sometimes he’ll catch himself humming it to himself when he’s alone.

- the knights like to mess with them, pushing them towards each other any chance they get. merlin just laughs it off, but arthur usually ends up tripping and making a fool of himself.

- arthur watching him with the other knights, smiling gently at the thought of spending his life with merlin by his side.

- gwen spends hours trying to talk arthur into saying something, it’s never worked. but sometimes merlin will walk into arthur’s room to find all the cleaning done and arthur suggesting they go on an adventure. merlin never refuses.

- sometimes merlin will let someone buy him a drink, and for the life of him, he can’t figure out why it always seems to bother arthur

- arthur tends to come up with random excuses for keeping merlin nearby, and merlin doesn’t mind so he doesn’t argue

- merlin and arthur sitting side by side and when merlin turns to face him, arthur jerks away like he’d been watching him and didn’t want to get caught

- arthur doing the ‘he loves me-he loves me not-he loves me-’ on a flower and then panicking and throwing it behind him when gwen walked in

yes absolutely!! bless your soul for asking, i was literally just thinking about jealous!arthur

- everyone getting drunk at the tavern and the knights are being a little touchier  than usual and maybe gwaine puts an arm on merlin’s shoulders and arthur immediately shifts to merlin’s other side and puts an arm around his waist and merlin is just sitting in the middle like “oh dear, what now?”

- arthur picks up a habit of ranting to gwen about merlin ignoring him to hang out with the other knights and gwen just nods along, knowing full well arthur is jealous

- merlin starts to pick up on this, but he isn’t absolutely sure yet. so he decides to test it every couple days to see if he’s right. 

the first day he shows up to work with a bouquet of flowers and claims a girl in town gave them to him. arthur clenches his teeth and says he doesn’t know why merlin’s telling him this. 

the second day, during training with the knights, merlin gives leon a flower for ‘good luck’ and arthur walks over with an expectant face and a bitter, “so where’s my good luck flower?” but merlin just shrugs. 

the third day, they’re camping in the woods and merlin takes lancelot’s jacket, complaining about being cold. lancelot goes to let him take it but arthur refuses, saying merlin should just use his. merlin’s perfectly happy to take arthur’s jacket, content in knowing he’s right.

the fourth day they’re at the tavern and merlin taps gwaine affectionately on the nose, much closer to his face than he needs to be. arthur walks up behind him, his arms crossed, “merlin why-,” but before he can finish his sentence, merlin spins around and kisses him gently on the lips. arthur just sits down and spends the next couple minutes processing what just happened.

- arthur tends to jump at the chance to help merlin. whether it’s letting merlin on the back of his horse or loaning him a cloak for a cold night, he stares the other knights down to make sure he can do it.

- gwen taught merlin how to make flower crowns and so almost everyday merlin shows up with a flower crown and tries to put it on arthur’s head

- “it’s a crown!” “that is not a crown merlin, those are leaves in a circle”

- arthur complains at first but always surrenders eventually and puts them on. he likes them

- arthur has nightmares,,almost like morgana’s. he’s been through so much war and trauma and violence, how could he not

- so when merlin hears him tossing and turning, he opens the door and ever so carefully, sits on the bed, leaning against the bed frame. and almost as if arthur can sense that he’s there, the prince settles down immediately.

- merlin stays awake to watch over him

- merlin never got the cloak back that he let arthur use. so he just took one of arthur’s. arthur pretended not to notice.

- sometimes during formal meetings, arthur requests to have merlin in the room. he claims its simply to have a witness. gwen and morgana think differently

- both of them tend to go to gwen and morgana for advice about the other

- every morning, there’s fresh flowers in arthur’s room. arthur thinks they’re brought in by the castle staff, but’s it’s actually merlin

- all the knights know arthur likes merlin, and that merlin likes him back. but they also know arthur will never do anything about it unless they give him a push, so that’s exactly what they do

- the next time they’re all hanging out without arthur or merlin, they decide on a plan to make arthur jealous enough to actually do something.

- now cut to the tavern. it’s pretty late, they’re all just hanging out, as they do. they’re also extremely drunk

- merlin is an affectionate drunk, which the knights already know and makes their plans infinitely easier. arthur is a clumsy drunk.

- so maybe gwaine casually leans back and puts an arm around merlin’s shoulder, pulling him closer. merlin doesn’t think anything of it, that’s just how gwaine is, especially when drunk. he just grins, tapping gwaine on the nose and taking another swig of his drink.

- but arthur glances up at them and practically chokes on his drink, coughing violently. leon puts a hand on his shoulder with a cautious, “everything okay sire?” but arthur just waves him off and tries to avoid looking towards merlin.

- ten or fifteen minutes later, they’ve shifted and gwaine arm is no longer around merlin’s shoulders. merlin has stood and wandered over to arthur, a hand on his hip. arthur can’t help but find it endearing.

- but as arthur starts talking to merlin, elyan walks up, sidling up beside merlin, much closer than he needed to be, and ruffling his hair gently, “hey,” merlin stops to turn and smile

- arthur falters slightly but assumes elyan’s just drunk and tries to shrug it off, continuing the conversation as best he can, pretending not to notice how close elyan is to merlin

- he only gets a couple more minutes in before lancelot joins the group, swooping in to grab merlin’s hand and pulling him away from the group, winking at the younger man.

- merlin just grins and lets himself follow lancelot, grabbing his other hand and going into an uncoordinated spin. arthur cant help but let his face fall as merlin lets out a laugh.

- psa merlin isn’t being an asshole, he’s just drunk and thinks everyone’s simply being,,nice

- anyway percival walks up to where elyan and arthur are standing and nods towards lancelot and merlin dancing happily in the center of the bar, “are they-,” arthur just waves vaguely, “i just didn’t realize they were so close,”

- elyan and percival exchange a look, and glance back to leon and gwaine, who just give them a thumbs up. percival gestures to merlin, “for the sake of your dignity, just go get him sire, i promise he’ll go with you,”

- arthur meets his eyes, pausing slightly before nodding slowly and walking over to where merlin is. lancelot meets percival’s eyes and steps back, dropping his hands and allowing merlin to turn and see arthur. he grinned, grabbing arthur’s arm

- “where have you been? i-,” before merlin can finish his sentence, arthur just sorta takes a breath and meets his eyes. merlin lets the sentence fade and falls silent, realizing something’s different

- they kinda just look at each other for a minute, unsure of where to go. at least until gwaine downs a glass of beer and yells a drunken, “get a room,” which results in a glare from arthur and a stifled laugh from merlin

(in case you weren’t aware, there’s a little fandom theory about leon being immortal, because he managed to survive all these battles that supposedly killed everyone involved. it’s mostly a joke but it kinda got me inspired so)

- it’d been almost a century since arthur’s death. merlin had stayed in camelot of course, taken care of gaius, gwen, and the knights. they helped him cope and for a while, it was almost okay.

- and then of course, they began to age and die, leaving him feeling a little more empty. it didn’t take long for merlin to decide he might as well leave them, to save himself the heart ache. he said his last goodbye to the people that were still alive, and left. he couldn’t bring himself to venture far from the lake, so he simply settled there, near the shore.

- it was a small house, and he took care of himself. he had friends every once in a while, but he rarely got too close. he knew what would happen eventually, they would leave him, like everyone else had been forced to do.

- but he wasn’t exactly unhappy. he kept busy, continued fighting for equality in the world he now lived in.

- it didn’t even matter if it was no longer magic that he was fighting for. he yelled his support at woman’s marches until his throat was raw, had a pile of well-used black lives matter posters leaning against his wall, and never missed a chance to attend a pride parade. equality was equality, and that’s what he fought for.

- but he was lonely. it didn’t matter how many people he smiled to on the street, or the dogs who seemed to love him, it was like looking at everyone through clouded glass.

- and he saw his past everyday. a red shirt out of the corner of his eye, a familiar scent of herbs, a crown in a shop window. and for the first couple decades, he would look. his head would swivel and he would search for the voice or the blond man in the crowd. but after a while, it started to sink in that they were gone. so he let himself accept it.

- which is why he didn’t turn when he once again heard a familiar voice while sitting in a coffee shop. he just shook his head gently and continued his typing. and usually, that would be the end of it.

- and then he caught a glimpse of someone sitting on the other side of the room, having just hung up the phone. it took him a moment to even register why just looking at that person brought tears to his eyes. but then it clicked.

leon

- he knew it couldn’t really be him, but he couldn’t stop himself from staring, trying to find something tonprove himself wrong. but there was nothing. the man was a spitting image of the knight he used to see everyday. the same curly hair and bright eyes that had always gleamed with a bright determination. they were a little duller now.

- merlin didn’t even realize he was moving until he was standing, looking at the man on the other side of the room. he opened his mouth, but his voice broke as he began to speak.

- “leon?”

- it was enough. the man’s head lifted as he glanced around the room to figure out who had called him.

- after a moment, his eyes locked on merlin’s. just like that, merlin felt his eyes begin to water again.

it was leon.

he wasn’t sure how he knew or how it was possible but it was him.

- leon stood as well, leaving his phone lying on the table and inhaling shakily, “merlin?”

- merlin could barely bring himself to nod. but he must’ve, because the next thing he could remember was leon stepping quickly towards him and enveloping him in a tight hug

- he felt his whole body let out a breath of relief as he wrapped his arms around leon, holding on like he was afraid that leon would fall through the floor and leave him alone again

- eventually leon pulled apart, holding tightly onto merlin’s shoulders, his eyes reignited with that familiar gleam. his face was streaked with tears and merlin was sure his own face would look the same

- they took each other in, faces breaking into grins as it began to finally sink in that this was real. leon was the first to speak, reluctantly letting go of merlin’s shoulders and gesturing around the coffee shop, “shall we take this elsewhere?” merlin realized half the customers in the room were staring at them and nodded gently, forcing himself to take a step

- they walked out of the shop, barely able to take their eyes off each other, stopping a little further down the sidewalk, side by side. they both paused, feeling like something was off. merlin looked towards leon, linking their arms with an understanding smile.

- after this many years of being alone, they simply wanted to be as close to each other as possible.

- this time, merlin spoke first. “so why-how are you-,” leon gestured vaguely to the air, “it’s a long story but i’m-i’m kind of immortal,” merlin let out a loud laugh, a genuine kind of happiness that he hadn’t felt in a long time filling his chest, “yeah i guess i figured that,” he paused before continuing, “me too,”

- it felt like a kind of childlike joy, the way they were clinging onto each other to keep themselves from vibrating with excitement.