Merlin×Arthur One Shot

History or Just a Story? Part 2

Merlin woke to the sound of a crash coming from the kitchen followed by a murmured curse. glancing at his clock he was surprised to find that it was only seven, Arthur usually didn't wake up until nine at the earliest.  'I wonder what's gotten into him?' He asked himself as he rolled out of bed.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked tentatively as he peered around the corner into the kitchen where the blond was glaring angrily at a smashed tea cup on the floor. 

Arthur jumped slightly at the sound of his name and smiled sheepishly when he saw Merlin watching him with an eyebrow raised questioningly. 

Merlin crossed his arms and regarded the state of his kitchen. Arthur seemed to be trying to prepare breakfast. he had an egg frying in a pan that was bordering the lines between burnt and very well done, cold toast waiting in the finished toaster and to Merlin's relief, a pot of tea brewing. "Now I know you did not wake up at this hour just to break my favorite cup, so what's going on?"

Arthur barked out a laugh "that pink frilly thing was your favorite? I think I did you a service getting rid of that hunk of trash." 

"It was a gift from Queen Elizabeth the second from before she was the queen, thank you very much." Merlin replied with a heated glare. 

Arthur paled slightly at that and Merlin could visually see the air in his pratish chest deflate. "Oh." he said and then he hurriedly explained  "I'm sorry, I was trying to make you breakfast because you had to put up with my temper tantrum last night."

Merlin smiled at that. "You don't have to make me breakfast, it's not like you can cook. You couldn't even cook back in Camelot when that technology was much simpler, let alone now."

Arthur didn't take the bait to begin their usual bickering and he was looking at the broken pieces of the cup still lying at his feet.  "Hey, Arthur. It's alright." Merlin reassured him. "This minor disaster is nothing that a little bit of my magic can't fix." 

With a wave of his hand he lowered the temperature of the stove and threw away the ruined egg. He manually added two fresh eggs to the pan as he had his magic conjure up a fire to make fresh toast. All the while Arthur sat back and watched Merlin work. 

"At least you got the tea right." Merlin said with a chuckle as he used his magic to flip the eggs. 

Arthur snorted and crossed his arms. "I never realized that magic could be used for something so... domestic." 

Merlin turned to look at his king. "Arthur, magic is but only a tool. It can be used to do what ever the one possessing it wills so long as they have the control. If it is needed to defeat entire armies, set fire, or flip eggs it is up to the sorcerer to decide that." 

"if only my father could see me and you now, he would never believe that someone as powerful as you would ever use his magic to make breakfast instead of taking over kingdoms." Arthur replied with a bitter laugh. 

"Yes, well your father was a bitter old man whose beliefs were clouded with fear, heartbreak and hate." Merlin stated as he returned his attention to the eggs.

Merlin placed the food onto two plates and crouched down to look at the crushed cup that was still on the floor. "Magic can be used for  wide variety of things, your father only saw the destruction that it can cause, but the most vital thing that he failed to notice is it's ability to create as well." He explained as he waved his hand over the remains of the cup. when he was finished and he moved his hand out of the way Arthur could see that the cup was now back into one piece looking as good as new. 

Merlin rose back to his feet and filled their cups with tea and brought it all to the table. They ate in silence for some time before Arthur said quietly while he used his  fork to paint swirls on his plate out of egg yolk "Sometimes I wonder what I would have done if I was the one gifted with your magic. Would I turn out like Morgana? Would I have fled Camelot all together?" 

Merlin reached across the table and squeezed Arthur's hand reassuringly "That is a question that we never need answered because that would have never happened." 

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"You were born of magic, Arthur." Merlin began and waited for Arthur to nod before he continued. "And I am magic. I was born in order to balance out the magic in this world. when you were born magic was taken out of the human realm to create a life where there was none, and by adding me, a child who is the human embodiment of magic, it has been balanced." Merlin tried to explain. 

Arthur didn't seem to be quite understanding as he sat and thought about what Merlin had said. "So because of me you were born?" He finally asked.

Merlin nodded and added. "I was also born to protect you and stay by you  and ensure that you would live to become king so you could rise again when Albion needed you most."  

"Well what good is all of that if no one remembers?" Arthur asked with a furrowed brow. "Who am I supposed to protect or lead if I have no kingdom to rule? All my life I was trained to be a king, I just don't know who I am anymore. I feel as if I lost my purpose."

"Arthur..." Merlin whispered. "You are here for a reason. You may be some character in a fairytale, but you are much more then that." Arthur wasn't looking at him so Merlin grabbed his hand in a firm grip. "Look at me." He said. "You are the most important king that Albion has ever had."

Arthur scoffed. "I know that you've been around a while Merlin, but I do believe that you are exaggerating. How much influence could a king have that didn't sit on the thrown for a year?"

"The legend of King Arthur has lived in the hearts of all for thousands of years. You have influenced children to grow to be honest, brave and kind. You have taught many people how to be the best they can be without even trying! Imagine what the two of us can accomplish! I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that you are going to be great." Merlin explained.

"How did you get so wise?" Arthur asked wonderingly.

Shrug, "I've done a lot of reading."

Arthur barked out a laugh at that causing merlin to laugh uncontrollably as well. After a few minutes Arthur sobered. "So what do we do now? Walk out into the streets and declare ourselves King Arthur and his Sorcerer?"

"In a nut shell, ya. But, I think we need to take a slower approach." Merlin said with a nod.

"We're going to be sent to the loony bin, aren't we?" Arthur asked with a groan. "I can't go galavanting around the street calling myself a hero who dies thousands of years ago."

"Heroes get remembered and legends never die. You, Arthur are both. The people know the legend of the hero, they just need to be reminded of the truth behind it." Merlin said, looking deeply into the king's eyes.

Arthur's smile was almost shy under his gaze. They gazed at each other for what seemed like hours until they vote startled and yanked their hands away.

"I-Im going to go take a shower..." Merlin mumbled and made a hasty escape to the bathroom.

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Author's note

Hiya to anyone who's actually reading this. I've had this chapter saved in my drafts for WEEKS so I decided to just finish it off and publish it. I'm sorry if it sucks :/

Please please please leave comments/ likes I would love to hear what you think. Maybe even help me with an idea of where this should go? I was thinking of some Merthur, let me know what you think 😊