Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Leon let loose

Leon is the perfect knight in every sense of the word, he is noble, brave, handsome and loyal to the end. If Leon had one tiny fault however, it would be that he was just a tiny bit too composed and serious about his duties.

This leads to unnecessary stress and when Merlin takes matters into his own hands to help him the result is somewhat unexpected…

One-shot

Everyone who knew sir Leon was aware of the fact that the knight had been under a lot of pressure lately. His father had unexpectedly fallen ill and he had hastily travelled home to help his mother manage the estate. Once his father recovered there was the attack from the Saxons and then mercenaries hired by Morgana. Then there was that mystical illness that had been brought onto the citizens of Camelot and after he recovered from that he led a patrol that were attacked and he'd spent a week confined to bed rest nursing an injured leg.

This alone would have brought a lesser man to his knees. But Leon was Arthur's second-in-command and he was not about to back out on Arthur, or anyone else that placed their trust in him. So not only did he deal with that, he also carried on all his other duties, such as negotiating new treaties and travel to other kingdoms to form alliances. Not to forget hauling Gwaine, drunk off his arse, home from the tavern every now other night and help keeping Merlin in line.

All this had left Leon with no other solution than to exchange a couple of hours' sleep every knight to keep up and this quickly took its toll. At practice he'd lost concentration at a critical moment which led to a deep gash on his upper arm, a shouted string of curses, a displeased Arthur, a worried Merlin and an apologetic Gwaine.

"Merlin, it's fine" Leon protested as he was hauled off to Gaius' chambers.

"No, it's not." Merlin stubbornly trudged on and Leon dug his heels into the ground.

"Really, it's just a scratch" he insisted and Merlin gave him his best Gaius-impression with a raised eyebrow. But there was no one who could pull that of quite like Gaius and Leon was unfazed.

"Listen, just let me go back to training and I'll come see you afterwards, all right?" Leon suggested hopefully.

"Nope" Merlin said and gestured to Arthur who was looking at them. "Can't do that I'm afraid, king's orders and all that." When Leon still didn't move Arthur shouted at him to get going and Leon had to admit defeat. With shoulders slumping he followed Merlin into the castle.

"Leon, when was the last time that you even relaxed?" Merlin complained when the knight squirmed impatiently as Merlin finished dressing the wound. "You're worse than the damn squires, keep still!"

"I don't have time" Leon muttered and winced when Merlin poked a finger into his shoulder. "Ouch!"

"It's a wonder you can still lift your sword with muscles like that" Merlin commented feeling how tense the muscles were.

"I know I've been a bit stressed right now but it's all right. I can handle it" Leon insisted and was starting to pull his tunic back on only to have it snatched from his hands by Merlin.

"Try telling someone else that, you're not fooling me" Merlin huffed and went to get a small bottle. "Get on your stomach" he ordered and Leon just looked confusedly at him until Merlin sighed impatiently and pushed the knight down on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Leon's question was muffled due to the fact that he was talking straight into the covers and Merlin took the opportunity to straddle his hips now that the knight was temporarily incapacitated.

"I'm going to give you a massage, that's what I'm doing" he answered, already warming some oil from the bottle in his hands.

"But I don't have time for…" Leon's protest was cut off as Merlin started moving his hands in long, firm strokes down his back. "All right, but just a short one then…" the knight mumbled and Merlin felt his muscles going softer and more pliant.

By the end of the massage Leon had fallen asleep and Merlin smiled at the sight. His friend was working way too much and Merlin was worried that Leon would make himself ill carrying on like this, or killed for that matter, if he kept losing his concentration like this. If only there was a way for Leon to be a little more relaxed. Unless…

As soon as the thought hit him Merlin grinned widely, murmured a quick few words under his breath and his eyes glowed briefly in gold. Then Leon started moving and Merlin hurried to climb off his back.

"How are you feeling?" Leon stretched carefully and then yawned.

"Good" he said smiling. "Very good in fact." Merlin smiled back at his friend.

"Great. Just take it easy for the rest of the day, all right, give that arm a chance to heal properly, yeah?" At this Leon threw his head back and barked out a laugh.

"Seriously, Merlin, where's the fun in that? I feel like going to the tavern." Leon picked up his tunic, not bothering to put it on and sauntered out of the room, leaving Merlin with his mouth wide open and wondering what he'd done.

Later that evening Merlin nervously stood outside Arthur's chambers. He lifted his hand to knock, then lowered it, only to lift it again. He realized that he must look ridiculous.

"Just do it" he told himself and hastily knocked before he could change his mind again.

"Come!" he heard Arthur say and pushed the door open. Arthur looked surprised.

"Since when do you knock, Merlin? Have you fallen over and hit your head?"

"Very funny, sire" Merlin mumbled half-heartedly.

"Is something wrong?" Arthur asked frowning.

"Um…" Merlin hesitated worrying his bottom lip. "I might have done something a little bit stupid" he continued and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"That would hardly be the first time, now would it Merlin?" Merlin ignored the comment and continued.

"You know Leon got injured in training this afternoon?"

"Yes, Merlin, I was there, remember?" Merlin ignored this as well.

"I fixed his arm and then I felt that his muscles were so tense and he's been so stressed so I thought that a massage might help him relax and I might have…"

"Might have what?" Arthur said impatiently when Merlin hesitated.

"I-might-have-added-some-magic-to-help-him-relax" Merlin blurted out and Arthur failed to see the problem.

"And?" he asked. "Isn't that good?"

"No…?"

"Spit it out Merlin, or I swear to the gods that I will have you thrown in the stocks" Arthur growled impatiently and Merlin winced.

"He became very relaxed, too much relaxed."

"Merlin, it's Leon we're talking about here" Arthur pointed out. "How could he possibly be too relaxed?"

"He's not himself anymore!" Merlin half-shouted exasperated and started pacing the room, arms flailing madly. "He flirted with three chamber maids, walked around the whole castle without putting his tunic on and now he's gone off to the tavern. He picked a fight with a guard and when I told him to go home and get some rest before practice tomorrow he called me boring. He's basically turned into Gwaine!"

"Oh dear gods" Arthur groaned burying his face in his hands, finally having grasped the seriousness of the situation. Then he snapped head up and looked dangerously at Merlin.

"Do something!" he ordered. "Bring him back to normal at once."

"But I don't know how to…" Merlin started but then he saw Arthur's expression he interrupted himself. "I'm on it, sire" he promised and rushed towards the door.

Arthur had just managed to settle down for the evening when there was a knock on the door. He threw on a tunic and called out:

"Enter!" A guard cautiously opened the door and eyed the king warily.

"We've had word from one of the tavern, sire. It seems that sir Leon is too drunk to manage to get himself home." Arthur cursed loudly.

"Send Gwaine and Percival to get him" he ordered and the guard left. "Serves Gwaine right for all the times that Leon's had to haul his drunken arse home" Arthur muttered to himself.

"He's bloody heavy" Gwaine panted and looked at Leon accusingly, only getting a smile in return.

"So are you" Percival retorted and Gwaine couldn't really say anything about that. At last they managed to haul Leon to his chambers and dropped him on the bed. They pulled off his boots and placed a blanket over him. When they'd left Leon's room, Gwaine put a hand on Percival's arm and stopped him.

"I promise not to get so drunk that you'll have to haul me home" he said solemnly. "At least not more than once a week" he added on an afterthought and Percival shook his head.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Gwaine."

"All right then, how about I promise I'll try?" Percival answered by cuffing him over the head.

The next morning Leon was still the same, only more hung-over, and Arthur called an improvised emergency meeting in his chambers. Everyone talked at the same time and Arthur's patience snapped.

"Quiet!" he barked and everyone fell silent. "Now, what are we supposed to do?"

"I'd say we keep him like this" Gwaine suggested. "More fun that way." Arthur just looked at him coldly.

"Not helping, Gwaine" he grumbled. "Have you found a solution Merlin?"

"Not yet." Merlin was frantically rifling through volume after volume of old, dusty magic books to find something that might help him reverse the effects of the spell.

"Then work faster!" Arthur snapped and Merlin shouted back:

"It's not my fault!"

"Hate to break it to you Merlin but I think it is" Gwaine pitched in and Merlin turned on him instead.

"No, this is all your fault Gwaine!"

"What?" the knight exclaimed. "I didn't do anything."

"If you hadn't injured him, I'd never given him a massage."

"I'd never injured him if he wasn't so damn tired. It's princess' fault if anyone's to blame" Gwaine retorted and Arthur's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Gwaine, you shut up and go keep Leon out of trouble" he growled. "Merlin, you find a cure, Elyan, you help him and Percival goes with Gwaine. Move!"

The evening came and Merlin was still not closer to a solution. Gwaine and Percival had not only had to drag Leon out of a bar fight, they'd also had to stop him from "borrowing" a horse that he liked to go riding just for the fun of it and endure a whole training session with more than twenty blushing maids following Leon's every shirtless move. Everyone involved agreed that the situation was getting unbearable. Just as Arthur drew a deep breath to continue to shout at Merlin there was a knock on the door and one of the serving maids from a tavern of a somewhat dubious reputation was escorted in by a guard. She curtsied clumsily and told them that one of his majesties knights had fallen asleep under a table and would require assistance to get home. Arthur cursed loudly and the poo girl fled, only to nearly run over Gwaine who just came running in the other direction.

"Lost something?" Arthur asked acidly and Gwaine nodded ashamedly.

"I don't know how it happened" he muttered, "one minute he was…"

"The white unicorn" Arthur interrupted him. "Go!" Gwaine didn't need telling twice and left as quickly as he came.

"Do something Merlin!" Arthur shouted desperately as soon as they were alone.

"I am!" Merlin shouted back, having had it with being shouted at. He tossed one book aside and picked up another.

"Yes I can see that but it doesn't seem very effective, now does it Merlin?" Arthur snarled.

"Do it yourself then!" Merlin got up to leave but Arthur caught the back of his tunic and yanked him back.

"Oh no you don't" he growled. "You got us into this mess and you better find a way to fix it." Merlin slumped in his chair looking devastated.

"I only wanted to help him" he said barely audibly. "I never meant for this to happen." Arthur immediately felt bad for how he'd treated Merlin.

"I know, I know. We'll figure it out somehow." He tried to comfort the warlock that looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"But I don't understand why he still acts like that" Merlin said. "The effects of the spell should have worn off by now, it was nothing permanent."

Meanwhile, Gwaine had found Leon and they started to make their stumbling and unsteady way back to the castle. When they got to Leon's chambers Gwaine tried to lower the other knight onto the bed but Leon stumbled and pulled Gwaine down with him. Realizing that he was lying on top of his friend Gwaine tried to get up but Leon tightened his hold and moved in to kiss him. Gwaine was surprised at first and felt that maybe he should pull back if this was only an effect of the spell. But then again, he was only human and he couldn't help but respond enthusiastically to the kiss, he'd dreamt about this for so many nights but he'd never thought that it would actually happen. Leon wouldn't want a man and even if he did, it would not be someone like him. Leon being Leon would of course choose someone responsible and trustworthy, not some flirty vagabond like Gwaine. But even if this was just because of the spell and only this one time Gwaine decided that this was an opportunity that he wouldn't miss up. He buried his hands in Leon's soft curly hair and went for it.

Suddenly he realized that Leon had gone still and saw that the other knight had fallen asleep. Gwaine carefully pressed a chaste kiss to Leon's forehead and rolled off him. He kicked off his boots and pulled a blanket over the two of them, quickly falling asleep.

Gwaine felt someone gripping his shoulder and cracked an eye open. The sun was blinding and he quickly closed it again.

"Gwaine?" it was Leon's voice and it sounded very hesitant.

"Yes?" he mumbled.

"Why are you here?" Leon asked and Gwaine made an effort to wake up enough to answer properly.

"Well, you were drunk and needed some help to get home and then I… stayed." Gwaine hesitated, maybe Leon didn't remember the kiss? His heart sank at the thought.

"So you didn't stay for another reason?" Leon asked so quietly that Gwaine almost couldn't hear him but he did and it brought wide smile to his face.

"Now that you mention it, I think that perhaps there was a reason for staying here" he grinned and pulled Leon closer to kiss him again.

It was later. Very much later. Gwaine was willing to bet that this was the longest time that Leon had ever spent in a bed, apart from being injured or sick. He smiled at the sight of Leon's messy curls covering the pillow and Leon looked back at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just how happy I am that you kissed me" Gwaine answered.

"Yes, about that" Leon started a little sheepishly and Gwaine felt his heart stop momentarily. Surely Leon wasn't going to tell him it had been a mistake?

"I might not have been completely honest." Leon was blushing and looking everywhere but at Gwaine. "I actually only pretended that the spell was still in place, it had already worn off. I thought that if you said no that I could just pretend I wasn't myself when I did it and…" His voice trailed away and Gwaine put two fingers under his chin, forcing Leon to look him in the eye.

"Why would I say no?" Gwaine softly asked.

"Well, you could have anyone!" Leon blurted out. "I know I'm not very special so I didn't dare hope…"

"Leon, I didn't think you wanted me" Gwaine interrupted. "I thought you wanted someone more responsible, more like…" They looked at each other stupidly before bursting out in laughter. Gwaine pulled Leon up on top of him.

"Let's make up for the lost time, yeah?"