Merlin One-Shots

Strawberries

Merlin's eyes were narrowed in concentration as he checked out the stalls at the market. 

"Merlin?"

Merlin snapped out of his concentration as he turned to the woman who was walking by his side. She looked at him, concern in her eyes. Merlin just smiled at her before turning back to the stalls.

"Merlin, what are you looking for?" she asked, folding her arms.

"It's a surprise, Freya," Merlin replied, still observing the stalls.

"Come on, why can't you tell me?" Freya asked, looking at him with pleading eyes. 

Merlin chuckled before answering. "I already told you that it's a surprise. Your pleading eyes won't make me change my mind."

A giggle made both of them turn around. Arthur stood there, his wife, Gwen, by his side. Her hand was covering her mouth hiding a smile. Arthur was giving Merlin a mocking smile as both he and Gwen made their way over to Merlin and Freya.

"Freya, do you mind coming with me?" Gwen asked, smiling at her. "I would love to pick out a new fabric to make a new dress."

Freya gave Merlin a look before joining Gwen, and soon the two girls had left. Arthur joined Merlin's side as Merlin continued to observe the stalls.

"Alright Merlin," Arthur began. "What in the world are you looking for?"

"Strawberries," Merlin replied curtly, moving onto the next stall.

"Why strawberries?" Arthur asked, following his manservant around. 

"I wanted to make a strawberry cake for Freya, since strawberries are her favorite," Merlin replied, sighing and turning to Arthur. "But I can't find any."

Arthur gave him a small smile, and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"You're looking in the wrong area, Merlin," Arthur said, beginning to walk away. "Follow me."

Raising an eyebrow, Merlin followed after Arthur. They walked for a while in silence until they approached a clearing. Many strawberries decorated the clearing, and Merlin's face brightened. He untied his neckerchief and began to gather some strawberries. Arthur chuckled to himself when Merlin approached him, neckerchief full of strawberries.

"Do you need help baking the cake?" Arthur asked as the two made their way back to the market.

"From you?" Merlin replied, a mocking grin plastered on his face. "Remember when you tried to make dinner for Gwen that time?"

Arthur winced as he remembered the time when he tried to cook chicken, but then gave up and threw the raw chicken at Merlin instead. "Yeah, I remembered."

Merlin let out a laugh as both of them approached Gwen and Freya. Gwen was holding a yellow-green fabric against herself, Freya making a disgusted face. Arthur nudged Merlin with his elbow, and mouthed 'let's go make the cake.' Merlin nodded, and they made their way to the palace kitchens.

"Okay," Arthur said, rubbing his hands together as Merlin placed the strawberries on the table. "What do we need?"

"Well, we need some flour, some milk, and some eggs." Merlin's words just barely escaped his lips before Arthur disappeared from sight.

Merlin just ignored this and began to clean the strawberries, ignoring the glances he received from the cooks and kitchen maids. He began to hum to himself as he washed the strawberries and placed them into a bowl. He heard footsteps approaching and soon a bag of flour, a couple of eggs, and a small bucket of milk appeared next to him. Merlin looked to his side and stifled a laugh as he looked at the King of Camelot.