Merlin one shots

Who did this to you

"Merlin, what happened?" Arthur sounded genuinely worried. Normally he acted like he didn't care. Not this time. Merlin was panicking inside. What was he going to do?

Beginning to treat his wounds standing up, he heard Arthur stand, perhaps he was leaving. Cleaning the wounds was not getting very far because it hurt to move. Merlin was getting stiffer by the minute.

Carefully Arthur pried Merlin's hand away from the cut, before gently bringing Merlin to the bed. He then retrieved the water and the cloth.

Merlin was confused. What was Arthur doing? The haze from being hit on the head was not helping. Bruising was sure to be on his face by now.

Gentle patting began on Merlin's back. By now exhaustion had taken over, and he could barely comprehend it.

"Merlin, who did this to you?" the voice a soft melody Merlin felt echo through his ears.

The kindness was surreal. Merlin hadn't let anyone take care of him for such a long time. Since he'd learned more medical practices, Merlin had began to treat his own wounds and injuries. This was the first time in years he'd been cared for and truly felt safe.

"Who did this to you Merlin?"

"Some random dude who wanted information about the castle," Merlin murmered tiredly. "They didn't get any information though. This has happened before."

At some point Merlin had lay down on his bed. He didn't remember when though. This calm was intoxicating. Like a drug, it lured him to a high. The high in this case was sleep.

Arthur continued to care for Merlin until all the injuries were adressed. As much as Arthur wanted to stay, it would be suspicious if he stayed in a servant's room overnight. So he trudged back to the castle. His thoughts swirling with questions. Who would do that to Merlin?

.......

Arthur hadn't expected Merlin to weak him up the next day. The idiot was acting like normal. As if nothing ever happened. Suddenly Arthur realized the reason Merlin always had a weird walk was because he was always injured. Did it really happen that often?

The stiff movements. Flinches that Arthur thought were out of habit, weren't. They were flinches of pain when doing certain movements. His sensitivity, was possibly from all the bruises he'd obtained along with other injuries.

In honesty, Merlin looked better today than usual. His smile was more... real.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur asked.

Merlin gave him a strange look. "What do you mean?"

Did Merlin not remember yesterday? Was he that exhausted?

"You have injuries all over your body Merlin. Why are you here? You should be in bed resting."

"H-how do you know about that?" Merlin was fiddling with his fingers. That was Merlin's nervous habit. He did it fairly often when he was nervous.

"Do you remember yesterday?" Merlin shook his head. "Well, I Waited for you in your room after checking the tavern. Gwaine said you never go to the bar. Then you came back nearly unconscious. I helped you out, and headed back here. Now I believe I asked you a question. Why are you here and not in bed?"

"Because a certain prat told me I'm fired if I make him late one more time," was Merlin's timid reply.

"Merlin, how often do people do this to you?"

Instead of replying, Merlin moved to start cleaning up laundry.

"Merlin?" Arthur demanded.

"Pretty often.' He whispered.

Arthur's heart dropped at those words. "Why didn't you tell me this? I could've tried to protect you!"

There was a snort emitted from the raven haired boy.

"It's not me that needs protecting Arthur." With that Merlin left.

When had Merlin become so cryptic? (Must be spending too much time with the dragon)

Despite Arthur's wishes, Merlin never went home. The only difference was Arthur gave him the easiest jobs possible because it seemed Merlin was going to work one way or another.

Arthur had become aware. Things would never go back to the way they once were. At least not for Arthur. He was going to keep an eye on Merlin whenever he could.

.