*A/N- Well, here this is, completely un beta'd or proofread, finished all of two minutes ago. My first ever Merlin fanfic despite having been watching the series since the pilot aired. Oh well, this was a good laugh to write

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They shouldn't be laughing. It wasn't funny, not really, but the tension had been so thick just a moment ago, then Lancelot had snorted and Merlin lost it and they had just descended into half-hysterical laughter while Arthur and the rest of the knights looked on incredulously.

"So what you just know a few spells, right?" Arthur had said, and Lancelot had snorted so hard he actually dropped his sword, which set Merlin off. The two of them were caught in the collective gazes of the knights as they struggled to regain control of their faculties to do the Very serious occasion, but things were always funnier when one wasn't supposed to laugh.

"Just one or two," Merlin gasped.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked angrily, his exaggerated angry face only served to make Merlin laugh louder while Lancelot struggled to inhale enough air to reply.

"I'm - aha, sorry, that's not quite, haha, that's not quite the case."

"What do you mean?" Arthur frowned, looking between the two, "he can't be all that powerful or I would have noticed, I'm actually rather perceptive you know!"

Lancelot positively screamed with laughter, now completely doubled over as his face turned a frankly worrying shade of red while Merlin was leaning heavily against a tree, clutching at his aching ribs.

"Not too powerful, no," Merlin managed, trying desperately to regulate his breathing for fear he might pass out.

"I'll bet you're as hopeless with magic as you are with everything else," Arthur snapped, getting more and more irritated to be out of the loop.

Lancelot fell flat on his rump, wheezing.

"Mercy, my lord, please, I'm begging you."

"I'm guessing that Merlin is actually pretty powerful, judging by these two idiot's reactions to the princess's questions," Gwaine said, speaking up for the first time since Merlin's magic was revealed. Merlin would have been emboldened by the complete lack of alarm Gwaine had displayed through this entire ordeal if he wasn't growing concerned his ability to breathe normally might never return.

"Powerful? How can he be powerful? This is Merlin we're talking about, he's a complete baffoon!"

As if to confirm what Arthur said, Merlin's feet slipped out from under him and he hit the ground hard, which only made Lancelot and himself laugh harder.

"No, not terribly powerful," Lancelot gasped, laying back on the forest floor and covering his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Someone had better tell me what's so funny right now," Arthur demanded.

"Do you want to tell him or shall I?" Merlin asked, looking over at the completely supine Lancelot, who let out one last tired chuckle and merely shook his head.