#ittybittywriting

It's over.

After seeing his older self surrounded by the desolate world of his own creation, Viktor’s glorious vision for the future is shattered, and he feels such unrelenting shame and despair that he pushes Jayce away. Turning so he doesn't have to face the man that had begged him to see reason. He thought he was doing the right thing, only to find out that he had lost his way so long ago that nothing he had achieved since had made any difference.

Looking out at the vast network of lights, now knowing that it was not some wonderful new state of being, but a massacre.

What have I done?

His metaphysical form depletes, actualised by his shame and despair. 

“You must go, Jayce,” he says before it becomes too noticeable. He cannot bear to face his partner right now.

He slumps forward, bowing his head. His breaths are still unsteady.

He's surprised when he feels something underneath him, and opens his eyes to see Jayce’s large hand cupped under his now very small body.

He's lifted up, the fingers curling closer as he's brought upward. 

He turns his head and his metaphysical heart skips a beat. 

That damn expression. 

Those crinkling eyes and soft, barely present smile that shows that Jayce understands. It's so earnest and empathetic that it melts Viktor's insides.

Something tingles underneath him and he looks down to see the rune that had previously been on Jayce's wrist now decorating his palm. 

“We finish this, together,” Jayce says with a determined finality. Viktor nods solemnly, pivoting to face Jayce before reaching down to touch his large hand.

It activates, and they both flinch.

The pain is strange, it expands and burns, like a star turning into a supernova. Jayce curls his fingers around Viktor, either protectively or from the pain making him clench, maybe both.

Viktor holds Jayce's thumb that's to his left and seemingly in response, Jayce pulls Viktor to his chest, bringing his other hand to hold over him as well. Viktor rests his forehead against Jayce's chest, closing his eyes as they face the end together. Two stars burning out into a beautiful nebula to prevent one from becoming a black hole.

A short story for Gtober Day 13!!

Original characters, crushes, teenage anxiety, shapeshifting, meeting the family, 1920s era fantasy, hurt/comfort!!!

Go read it on AO3

(Also includes Morgana/Gwen)

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3

Chapter 1

There was an uncomfortable silence between Merlin and his mother. Her fingers shook as she tied his bag to his back, and she kept pulling her hand away to wipe her face from tears.

“Mom… It’s for the best…” He said, turning around and grabbing her wrists gently. She looked down.

“I know... I just wish that wasn’t the case…” She looked up and ran her fingers through her sons hair.

“Please be careful my boy,”

“I will, I promise,”

“Okay you say that but then you go and do reckless things,” She laughed softly but her eyes were still sad. He kissed her forehead and smiled at her before turning to the door.

“And don’t forget to write! And visit!” She said as she watched him step out into the darkness. He nodded and closed the door slowly, leaving Hunith standing solemnly in her dimly lit house before collapsing into a chair and grasping her face in her hands.

Merlin gave a heaving sigh as he looked back at his childhood home. He had to hurry to the meet up spot because sunrise was quickly approaching. Gaius would be waiting there and the ride to Camelot would take all day.

Of course Gaius had to meet him a safe distance away from his Sprite village just in case Gaius was followed. You could never be too careful.

“Gaius?” He called out after climbing up a small tree. He had finally reached the meeting spot and the sun was slowly crawling into the sky. A head of gray hair popped up nearby and a figure stood up, rising up above Merlin.

“Merlin?” The man said, looking around keenly.

“Down here,” He said, waving his arms. Gaius looked down at him and smiled.

“Ah, there you are,” Gaius bent down to get at eye level with the small boy. Merlin had no memory of meeting Gaius as a child, so he felt nervous being so close in proximity to a human. He gripped his bag tightly. Gaius was oblivious to the small boy’s nervousness and put out his hand.

“Let’s get going my boy, we have a long ride to Camelot,” Merlin gulped and stepped cautiously on his awaiting hand. He struggled to keep balance as Gaius lifted his hand and carried him to his horse.

“Would you like to ride in the saddle bag or in my pocket?” Merlin honestly didn’t know which one would be better, he’d never been in either of those things before. But being close to this human was making him uncomfortable.

“Saddle bag,” He replied. Gaius opened up the bag and slipped Merlin gently inside. Merlin landed on a big pile of soft fabric and began situating himself as Gaius got on the horse. As the two rose off Merlin was surprised how much he was being jostled, he tried his best to ground himself but it seemed he would have to live with it. He popped his head out of the bag and watched the scenery pass by. The sun shone across golden fields and the breeze rustled the trees and glistened in the sunlight. Merlin was entranced. He rarely left his community in the dark, shady part of the forest. He started feeling optimistic about his new journey in this new place if it meant seeing more sights like this. Gaius glanced down at the bag and saw Merlin’s small head poking out. He chuckled to himself, finding it very cute.

Merlin found himself becoming sick after about an hour on the ride, sinking down into the fabric and holding his stomach. Maybe he should try to sleep? He rested his head back and slowly closed his eyes, smiling just a bit seeing the light filtering into the bag. It felt serene, this warmness and sunlight, and even with his stomach turning against him he felt calm. He found it rather easy to fall asleep, with the help of a mix of sleep deprivation and calmness.

When he woke up he felt something prodding at him, his eyes shot open and he saw a giant hand reaching into the bag with a worried face peering in past it. He scrambled upright and the hand retreated.

“Oh, you were just asleep, thank god,” He chuckled nervously. “Well we’re almost there, just a couple more hours or so, thought you might like some water,” Merlin stood up and climbed out of the bag, seeing they were parked near a stream. The horse was bending down to get a drink. Before Gaius could offer his hand Merlin was traveling across the horses body and sliding down it’s neck. He grabbed its mane and lowered himself to the ground right next to the water. Gaius watched him in astonishment, but that was nothing to what happened next. Merlin lifted his hand and a droplet of water rose out of the stream and levitated towards the boy. Gaius knelt down to get a better look, startling Merlin and making him lose his water.

“Oh! Sorry I just wanted to see what you were doing,” Merlin looked up at him then returned focus to the water. He repeated his action and lifting a larger water bubble out of the water. Gaius gasped softly and reached out a hand.

“Wonderful… You’re very talented,” Merlin felt pride gush in him but his arms were shaking. It didn’t take long for the spell to collapse and the water to explode into a little spray. Gaius jumped a bit.

“But also inexperienced, I see why Hunith sent you to me, I have many books that can show you how to control that power of yours,” Merlin panted and his legs shook. He nodded up at Gaius before bending down to get water with his hands.

After they had hydrated and rested, they were back on the road again. Merlin stayed awake this time and watched the view as they traveled. He saw many birds and even a deer, it ran away as soon as they came close but the creature took his breath away. And as they approached the towering walls of Camelot, Merlin retreated back into the bag but peaked out at the huge city, his jaw never closing. He was already overwhelmed by one human, but seeing probably hundreds walk about around the horse was deeply unsettling. He hid in the bottom of the bag as he heard the conversations and footsteps outside. He even heard some of them address Gaius, but the conversations were muted out by all the other voices. It was overwhelming, he covered himself with the fabric and stayed that way until the noise died down outside. He felt the horse moving around and suddenly there were hands around the bag. Gaius had taken the bag off the horse once it was in the stables and was now carrying it across the courtyard. Merlin stayed completely still and held his breath. He knew it probably wouldn’t do anything but he was too anxious to think. It felt like it went on forever before the bag was set down.

“You can come out now Merlin,” Gaius said, watching as Merlin stayed still for a while before slowly stumbling out. He looked up and looked around at the huge room he was now in. It was filled with bookshelves littered with books, bottles and various herbs. Seeing Gaius staring down at him, Merlin quickly gathered himself and stood up.

“Thank you for letting me stay with you,” Merlin said after gathering his courage.

“Oh so you do speak!” Gaius said with a smile, Merlin blushed but kept his cool, walking across the table and getting a better look at the bottles filled with various colored liquids.

“It’s no problem my boy, Hunith is a good friend of mine,” Of course Merlin knew this, Hunith talked about him often; the only human to ever show her kindness. “And since I’ve been studying and collecting magic books for many years, I knew I could at least be of some help to help you stop your… accidents,” Merlin rubbed his arm nervously.

“Alright, I set up a secretive place for you to sleep, you should be able to study in peace here while I treat patients,” Gaius said, leading him over to a wall where Merlin could climb up to a little loft surrounded by books. Merlin clambered clumsily up to the ledge and peered down at Gaius, who was smiling up at him. He looked back and saw a small bed and a big pile of books. They were human sized books of course, but Merlin was happy with what he could get.

“What do you think?” Merlin looked down and saw Gaius walking away towards a door at the other side of the room, presumably his room.

“It’s nice, thank you,” Merlin called back in reply. Gaius yawned.

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3

Chapter 3

“Help!” Merlin wakes with a start. Sweat dripping down his face. He could have sworn he had just heard a voice. A woman’s voice, screaming loud in his head. He pulled away his covers and looked down at the room. Gwen was sleeping in the cot below, not showing any signs of consciousness. He sat on his bed for a bit, waiting to see if he would hear it again. Sure enough.

“Someone help me!” The desperation of the voice was crippling to Merlin, who put his hands to his ears in pain. He quickly climbed down from his ledge to investigate. He somehow knew where it was coming from, even if it was in his head.

He traveled across the room, past the sleeping Gwen to the window and squeezed through the crack, dropping onto the street below. He knew this was incredibly dangerous, but the voice was so… scared.

“Find it! Uther will not have any Sprites in his castle!” Merlin looked over and saw knights scouring small corners across the courtyard from him. Was it another Sprite calling out to him? She must be in trouble… He held a hand to his head and focused hard to find where she was.

A picture materialized in his mind, showing her hiding behind a cart near where the knights were searching. He gasped. He had to be quick or she would be found. He slid along a wall and waited for someone to come by, then he jumped by their feet and walked with them across the courtyard. Once across he dashed to the cart and finally saw the sprite face to face.

She was gorgeous, catching Merlin off guard, her eyes were a piercing green and her black hair was thick and flowing down her pale face. He quickly grabbed her hand and she was too scared to give any resistance as he ran with her to another hiding place. They waited silently until another passerby walked past them. Merlin pulled her forward and they hid beside the woman’s dress and dashed the rest of the way to another dark hiding spot. They used this time to catch their breath. She panted and struggled to keep her hair out of her face. Merlin managed to glance at a gash in her side in the chaos but she quickly covered it back up

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Merlin replied before pulling her against a wall and holding her mouth shut. A knight walked by a second later, not seeing them.

“Maybe we should talk later, we need to get back to my place,” Merlin grabbed her hand again and led her slowly to the window he had left from and the slipped back in. They sat there, catching their breath for a bit, but Merlin was staring at where he had saw her wound.

“You’re hurt,” He said, seeing her tense up. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing, I’ll be fine,” Merlin glared at her.

“Liar, luckily, you managed to get the attention of someone who knows how to treat wounds,” Merlin got up. “Gwen!” He called out as loud as he could, making the girl jump. The sleeping woman’s head shot up and she looked around.

“Over here!” He called out, and the girl started to panic after noticing the human. She eyed the window and looked up at Merlin in worry. He bent down and reassured her.

“Gwen is a friend, she’ll help you,” She didn’t look convinced, just scared. Gwen got up and turned around, squinting to see the two. As soon as she noticed the second sprite huddled over she rushed over.

“Merlin! What happened? Who’s that?” She said, reaching out to the tiny woman, but the small girl flinched away from her hand. Gwen pulled back.

“No time to explain, she needs help, can you get me some bandages and alcohol?” Gwen grew stern and nodded, heading over to get the supplies. Merlin bent over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Can you tell me your name?” Merlin asked.

“It’s… Morgana, my name is Morgana…”

“Nice to meet you Morgana, my name is Merlin,” He smiled at her but she just looked down. Gwen came back and set down the bandages and a small bottle of alcohol. Merlin was quick to work, cleaning up the wound and sterilizing it before wrapping it up nice and tight. Gwen sat nearby, watching intently. Morgana felt incredibly self conscious being stared at, but silently put up with it, very grateful for the kindness the two were showing her.

“How did you know I was in trouble?” Morgana spoke up after a while of silence. Merlin looks up.

“I heard you call for help in my head,” Morgana looked down.

“Thank you…”

“It’s no problem, and you’re welcome to stay here for a while to recover if you’d like,” Morgana looked at him in surprise.

“Really? Are you sure? Those knights are probably still looking for me…” Merlin looked at Gwen, not thinking about that.

“That might be a problem… Could you help us if that happens?” He asked Gwen, who nodded quickly.

“They might come searching here, we should prepare,” Merlin said.

He set to work making his loft look like just another shelf. Meanwhile Gwen grabbed a bundle of soft fabric and put it in the bottom of her pocket. Morgana watched her closely. She had never been able to look at a human this close before without being in imminent danger. She’s actually really pretty… Morgana thought. She noticed how soft her skin looked, and how beautiful her curls were- Morgana slapped her face with her hands. Stop! What the hell are you thinking? Gwen walked up to her and offered her hands to her.

“I’ll need to hide you if the knights come,” Morgana looked up at her, blushing hard. She didn’t know why, she barely knew this human.

“O-Okay,” Morgana said and shyly stepped onto the girls awaiting hands. Gwen curled her fingers around Morgana slightly as she set her gently in her pocket. With Morgana secure she turned to Merlin, who was finishing up hiding any evidence of him being there.

“You ready? I think I hear them somewhere close,” She said, reaching out her hand to Merlin. He jumps on her hand and she quickly slips him in her pocket with Morgana. Only a few seconds later there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” She says, gently patting her pocket to make sure they were still. Arthur and a couple of knights came in through the door.

“Hello Gwen, have you seen any sprites? We spotted one in the castle,” Arthur’s look of disgust unnerved Gwen.

“No, sorry, I haven’t,” Merlin and Morgana stay completely still, occasionally looking at each other for reassurance.

“Alright, we’re just gonna do a quick check around to make sure,” With that the knights entered the room and starting looking under things and behind books, occasionally knocking some things over. Gwen stayed out of their way as much as possible.

“Sorry about the mess Gwen, but it’s necessary,” Arthur said, stopping next to Gwen.

“Why all the fuss about a sprite?” Gwen asked, keeping her hands over her pocket protectively.

“My father will not stand to have them running around his castle, they’re pests,” Gwen winced and Merlin clenched his fists. After a long few minutes the knights came over to Arthur.

“Nothing sire, it’s probably fled the castle,”

“Good, let’s hope an animal kills it,” Arthur said, waving the knights away and following after them. Morgana grips at the material of Gwen’s pocket, her gut tightening in fear and dread.

When Gwen was sure they were gone she quickly pulled the two out of her pocket and set them down. She and Merlin quickly noticed that Morgana was shaking, and before Merlin had a chance to stabilize her Gwen reached out and put her hand around the small lady. Morgana immediately stopped shaking and looked up at Gwen. She had the instinct to pull away but the warmth and comfort filled in the one touch drained away all the fear she had felt from what the prince had said.

“Are you alright?” Gwen asked, slowly pulling away her hand but keeping it close. Morgana pulled her hands close to her chest and nodded, blushing.

The three waited in silence until the search was over, and they all let out a collective breath of relief.

"Why were you in the courtyard anyway?" Merlin asked, turning to Morgana. The female sprite looked down with a grave face.

"My sister told me to meet her here, she said she had this amazing plan to stop the violence against sprites," Merlin perked up in curiosity.

"Really? That sounds.."

"Crazy? Impossible? Yeah, I know, but she is pretty smart so who knows,"

"So what happened?"

"I never found her, I was spotted by a human who immediately started… attacking me," Morgana moved a shaky hand up to wipe her face from tears.

Gwen was horrified. She had always had mixed opinions because she had only ever heard about how sprites were evil and mischievous, coming into houses and causing illness with their magic. But as soon as she met one she knew that none of that was true, they were just like people.. But smaller, and magical. She pondered this. What if she tried showing them to others? Would it help them see what she saw or put them in danger? She was so lost in her thoughts she realized she was missing a lot of the conversation.

"-we don't talk about where it is as it could jeopardize the safety of it so yeah I understand," Gwen sighed, wishing she had payed attention.

"Thank you for understanding, even though it's just me and my sister there we have worked hard to make it our own,"

"Maybe when Gaius gets back he can help you return there,"

"Gaius? Who's that?" Morgana asked.

"Oh yeah, he's the physician I've been working under, he's been out of Camelot so that's why Gwens here," Gwen waved shyly at being mentioned.

"Well I would owe him much if he did that…and I owe both of you so much as well for saving me and hiding me," Merlin smiled and nodded in reply, Gwen smiled as well.

"So where's your sister?" Gwen asked, finally joining the conversation. Morgana jumped a bit, still getting used to a humans presence.

"I don't know, but I should probably search for her, or she could end up in the same situation I was in…"

"We'll help in any way we can," Merlin and Gwen share a look of understanding.

"So, we should probably get back to making medicine, still lots of people to help," Gwen said, straightening up and walking over to the workbench. Merlin offers Morgana a hand to get up.

"You can stay in this room with us, I'll get you situated, okay? How about you go keep Gwen company until I can come help," Morgana nods and starts making her way to Gwen. Merlin climbs up to his shelf and starts the process of making another bed.

"I know we never introduced ourselves but I'm Morgana," she said as she walking across the workbench.

"Oh! My name's Gwen! Very nice to meet you," She gave a smile, making Morgana almost swoon.

Morgana didn't know anything about medicine so all she could do was watch as Gwen worked.

"Agh, blast, the fire went out," she cursed to no one in particular. The fire being a small flame under a glass beaker, heating ingredients for her concoction.

Without thinking Morgana raised her hand and lit the flame from where she sat. Gwen flinched at the fire and gasped. She looked at Morgana and gaped.

"Did you do that?" She said, astonished. Morgana looked down and flushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah sorry, reflex," Gwen stared at the fire for a moment longer.

"That's amazing!" Morgana looked up at her in surprise. She had never gotten a response like that for her magic. She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"Thanks…" Gwen smiled and went back to work.

"What are you guys on about?" Merlin asked, making his way down from the ledge to them.

"Morgana can light a fire with her mind!" Gwen said excitedly. Merlin smiled at her naivety.

"That's magic, all sprites have it in some form or another,"

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3

Chapter 2

Merlin had been staying at the Physicians chambers for a month now. He had finally settled on a routine that allowed him to study as he pleased but also help Gaius with keeping the place clean as well as making potions. He had almost been spotted a couple times in the first couple weeks, but now he had gotten used to the times that patients usually came in.

It was the middle of the night, and Merlin was awoken by Gaius rummaging through his supplies.

“Gaius? What’s going on?” Gaius looked up at Merlin.

“There’s a small town to the East that desperately needs medical assistance, I’m going to ask Gwen to take care of this place and the patients, you’ll have to be extra careful when you come out… I’m leaving some food in the emergency cupboard, and if I don’t come back in two weeks use the escape route to the kitchens and the forest as we planned alright?” Gaius drabbled on, obviously worried about leaving Merlin.

“Don’t worry, I left town all the time before you came here,” Gaius said, walking up to Merlin.

“Gaius, I’m not worried, I’m sure I can handle on my own,” Merlin said reassuringly. Gaius sighed and smiled.

“I’m sure you can my boy,” Gaius grabbed his satchel and headed for the door. “I’ll see you in two weeks, hopefully less,”

“Good luck,” Merlin called out as Gaius left.

Merlin wanted to get ready before Gwen came by, grabbing food and water and storing it on his little ledge. He also piled a couple extra books in front just in case.

He had seen Gwen many times before, she seemed nice, and always came to check up on Gaius even when there were no patients around. Even though it was a nice gesture, it had made it difficult for Merlin to get some time off his ledge. Sometimes he wondered why someone that nice would want to kill him, it felt wrong. But even with the fear of death he still liked her, and was excited to see more of her these next two weeks.

Sure enough, when morning came the girl came in, humming to herself. Merlin watched as she started cleaning up the mess Gaius had left in his rush the night before.

In the days following she would come by every now again, leading a patient into the chambers, and treating them promptly. She probably had to keep doing her everyday duties and let people know to come find her if they needed help. And even though she kept a smile while around patients, Merlin saw her collapse in exhaustion as soon as they leave. He felt bad, he wanted to help her but he knew he couldn’t. Hopefully she could handle it on her own.

But it only got worse. There was an outbreak of a rather common sickness, but it was extremely contagious and required medicine. Gwen was given permission to stop her duties as a servant and started sleeping in the physicians chambers in order to save time and spend more time making medicine. Merlin had no chance to leave his ledge in this time except in the night. He decided he would start doing a little to help with the medicine at night and hope she didn’t notice. Slowly he upped his help each night. Gwen was none the wiser, she was too exhausted to notice any changes and was relieved that she had made more medicine than she realized.

All was well until they ran out of one the key ingredients for the medicine. Gaius had assured her that what he had left her would be enough, and the letter he had sent her recently made it apparent he could not leave his post anytime soon.

“Oh god, this is awful, I have no idea where to find this herb,” Merlin bit his lip. He knew where to find it, but how could he tell her? He had to make a choice. Stay hidden and let more people fall sick as Gwen watches unable to help or help out and get caught, most likely leading to his death. It was an easy choice. He climbed down from his ledge and stood on a table behind Gwen.

“I know where it grows,” Merlin said quietly, Gwen snapped around. She didn’t see him at first and looked around frantically.

“Who said that?”

“I did,” She looked down and saw the small boy standing tall in front of her. She bent down slowly and got a closer look.

“You’re…” She started, a conflicted expression spread across her face.

“I know, but you need my help, I can lead you to where those herbs grow,” She backed up and sat down, holding her head.

“How would you know?” She asked, looking at the ground.

“Gaius showed me, he takes me on his herb collecting errands often,” She looks up at that.

“You are friends of Gaius?”

“Yes, I’m here under his care,” Gwen laughed nervously and ran her fingers through her hair.

“What a crazy old man… Who else would-” Merlin crossed his arms.

“Okay, get over your shock, we need to get those herbs to stop the spread,” She straightened herself and looked back at the sprite.

“Alright, sorry,” Merlin nodded. He looked confident on the outside, but on the inside, his heart was racing faster than it ever had.

“So… How should I carry you? We could use this bag or I have a pocket…”

“You’ll need all the space in that bag for the herbs, you can put me in your pocket,” As much as he hated the idea, it was only logical. She nodded and put out her hand to him. Merlin gulped and jumped onto it. Her hand fell a little at the impact and she gasped softly.

“You’re heavier than I expected,” Merlin breathed and focused on his balance, trying not to grab onto her hand to steady himself. She lifted him over to her middle and slipped him in her pocket located just below her waist. Merlin plopped down onto something crunchy. He reached below him and picked it up. It was a dried flower, probably forgotten by Gwen a while ago. He poked his head out and presented the flower.

“Forget something?” He said with a small smirk. She blushed and grabbed it from him.

“Heh… Sorry,” He retreated back inside and stayed still as she quickly fled outside.

“Gwen!” Merlin heard an unfamiliar voice call out to her as they were heading across the courtyard.

“Oh, hello Arthur,” She said, a hint of unease in her voice.

“I just wanted to ask how you were doing… You’ve been in the physicians chambers for days,”

“Oh I’m fine, I’m heading to the forest to collect herbs for more medicine,”

“Oh! I’ll come with you!” Merlin bit his lip, hoping Gwen can come up with an excuse to keep him away.

“Oh… I don’t think you need to-”

“Nonsense Gwen, this is to help the kingdom!”

“Don’t you think there’s something else more important you should be doing? More princely duties?” Merlin squinted his eyes. Wait… Princely? Was this Prince Arthur she was talking to??

“I would say this is a high priority, seeing as half the kingdom is infected by this sickness,” Gwen didn’t know how to talk herself out of this, so she nervously nodded.

“Alright, you can come… But you should bring a bag of your own to collect herbs,” Arthur nodded and ran off. Gwen quickly hid in a dark alley and pulled Merlin out.

“I don’t suppose you can tell me how to get to the herbs now can you?” Merlin rubbed his neck.

“Well I was relying on this information a leverage so you wouldn’t kill me…”

“I won’t! I promise… Anyone who is Gaius’s friend is my friend too,” She assured the boy, who looked rather scared at this point. Merlin sighed.

“Okay, here’s how you get there…” Merlin gave her instructions vaguely and quickly.

“Gwen?” Arthur came running back into the courtyard and saw Gwen gone.

“Here!” Gwen said rushing out of her hiding spot to join the Prince.

“What were you doing back there?” He said, looking at her suspiciously. She smiled nervously.

“Oh nothing just… Talking to a friend,” He seemed satisfied with that answer and they walked out of town together. Merlin listened silently as the two talked. Though it was mostly Arthur complaining about his duties and his knights. Merlin rolled his eyes multiple times, wanted to make a snappy remark. He at least wished Gwen would say something, but she just listened politely.

Luckily Gwen was able to find the herbs from Merlin’s instructions and she and Arthur were able to gather enough to stuff both their bags to the brim. She rested a thankful hand on her pocket as they headed back. Merlin blushed in embarrassment at the gesture.

As they entered Camelot, a couple of knights came rushing up to them.

“Sire!” Arthur turned to Gwen.

“I’ll see you later Gwen,” He said and ushered the guards elsewhere to converse. She gave a sigh of relief and hurried to the physicians chambers.

As soon as she closed the door she reached into her pocket and pulled Merlin out. He breathed heavily.

“Are you okay?” She said, setting him down on the table. He bent over and took a few more big breaths.

“Yeah, it was just stuffy in there,” She blushed nervously.

“Sorry… But thank you so much for helping me, you risked a lot,” He straightened up and looked up at her. He flushed and smiled.

“Now, time to make some more medicine! Do you think you could help me?” She asked nervously.

“Oh you have no idea how long I waited for you to ask that,” Merlin smiled and jumped over to the beakers. She looked at him, confused. He laughed.

“I’ve been wanting to help you, but until now I could only make a few extra in the night,” She stared in disbelief down at him.

“Really? That was you?” They both got to work and Merlin nodded up at her.