Lost In The Right Direction

Just a little giftfic for Emmy :) I do not own the rights to Merlin, I just like playin' with our favourite boys! (And that sounded SO WRONG XD ) Please note that I've never actually watched Merlin (FOR SHAME!) and am writing this based solely on what I've been told about the show...let's hope I do it justice

A-M-A-M

This was the last time Arthur Pendragon would ever take his manservant hunting with him. Ever. In the few hours they'd be trekking through the forests on the outskirts of Camelot, Merlin had managed to get them lost. And not the "Oh dear, where are we?" type of lost, this was the "Merlin, you clotpole, what have you done?" sort of lost. Which is dramatically worse, particularly when it's getting increasingly dark.

"I'm sorry, Arthur! I thought I was watching where we were going..."

Merlin said softly, nearly tripping over an upturned root for the millionth time in the last ten minutes. Arthur snorted, unamused as he grabbed the boys arm, stopping his downward momentum.

"Of course you were, Merlin. You were watching us get more lost by the minute."

Merlin blushed to the tips of his overlarge ears. He'd never had a good sense of direction, it came with the territory, what with his lack of everything else (mostly balance, and when to keep his mouth shut). Leave it to the prince of prats to point it out though. He only hoped Arthur wouldn't notice that Merlin had lost half of their supplies when he'd found a small ravine to fall/roll into.

"So Merlin, shall we set up camp? You have got a tent, right?"

...Crap.

"Well, you see Arthur, I did-"

Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes, "I knew it. It was your little adventure down the hill, wasn't it?"

Merlin nodded silently and sat on a relatively safe-looking patch of dirt. Arthur sat heavily beside him and tugged the rucksack out of his grasp.

"Well, what have we got to work with, at least?"

After a few minutes of unpacking, they looked helplessly at the small pile before them. One blanket, a few pots and pans, various other trinkets of little importance...Arthur was beginning to really hate this situation. Almost as much as he was hating Merlin at the moment.

"I'm going to get firewood. You stay here and try to get a fire going."

Easier said than done, Arthur thought, chuckling. There was no doubt in his mind that all the task would do was keep Merlin out of trouble while he was gone. But how wrong he was. The manservant waited until his companion was well out of sight before concentrating on the pile of dried grass before him.

"Here goes nothing," he whispered.

*~Somewhere in the forest...~*

"What the hell..."

Arthur looked up from prying a dead branch from a felled tree to see a thick column of smoke coming from where he assumed was the clearing he'd left Merlin. Shaking his head in disbelief, he ran back to the clearing to see the gangly servantboy poking at a roaring fire with a long stick, looking vastly pleased with himself. The prince could've sworn he'd seen Merlin's eyes flash a dark colour before returning to their brilliant blue, but he was quickly distracted once again by the flames.

"Merlin Eymrs, you are brilliant!"

Arthur laughed heartily, dropping his armload of wood to clap the other boy on the back. Merlin turned a peculiar shade of red once again, grinning broadly. The sun set quickly that night, and the cold swept in as the light crept out. The blanket Merlin had managed to keep was hardly big enough for the two of them, Arthur thanked the stars that no one was around to see how close he and his manservant were. The moon was bright in the sky when Merlin decided it was time to hit the hay, so to speak.

"See you in the morning."

He whispered, untangling himself from the blanket. Arthur looked up at him with a blank expression.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, his voice cracking from the hours of uncomfortable silence he'd just been subjected to. Merlin stared at his feet, not wanting to meet the prince's eyes.

"I hardly think you want us to sleep so close, Arthur. I was going to find a nice soft spot over here…" he gestured vaguely behind him. Arthur huffed impatiently.

"You'll do no such thing, you idiot! You think I'm gonna let either of us freeze out here?"

Merlin grinned in the dimming light of the coals left by the fire. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw Arthur doing the same in the darkness beside him. The servant crawled slowly under the blanket once more, careful not to accidentally elbow Arthur in the face, as was bound to happen when he got too close to him. After a few minutes of shifting and awkward "sorry"s in the dark, the two unlikely bedfellows fell into a restless sleep.

Morning came all too suddenly for Arthur Pendragon, who never in a million years would've thought he'd wake up next to his idiot servant Merlin, let alone nearly on top of him. The realization hit him like a rogue jousting horse and he stood quickly, praying the sudden movement didn't wake his companion. Merlin snuffled noisily in his sleep and went back to snoring quietly, making Arthur smile. Maybe Merlin wasn't such an idiot after all. In fact, when he was asleep, he was even kind of…cute.

"You're something else, Merlin." Arthur said to himself, poking at the fire with a stick to stir the coals before finding a nearby bush to relieve himself behind. Merlin was still sleeping peacefully when he returned, besides shivering slightly after losing his sleeping partner's warmth. The prince frowned, looking around. Confident that this would never leave the forest, he sat back down beside Merlin, prying the blanket out from under his left side and slipping under it, wrapping an arm around the sleeping boy. Much to his surprise Merlin snuggled closer in his sleep, burrowing his face in Arthur's broad chest and twisting his slender fingers into the front of his shirt. The prince smiled and let his other hand reach to play with Merlin's dark hair, twining a strand between his fingers as he waited.

Merlin was having a wonderful dream. Or at least he hoped it was a dream. He was in the arms of his beloved prince, fit snugly in his embrace like the space was carved just for him. He smiled up at his lover, placing a chaste kiss on his lips before laying his head back down on his chest, listening intently to the beating of his heart. This was where he'd always wanted to be, ever since the day he'd met Arthur. Sure, it hadn't been under the best circumstances (Arthur was being an insufferable prat at the time) but sometimes love happens like that. And Merlin wouldn't have it any other way.

"Merlin?"

Arthur's soft voice broke through the sleepy haze, bringing the servant boy back into reality. Merlin looked up, surprised to see the confused and flustered look on Arthur's face. Merlin blanched. Had he…? No. It was just a dream….wasn't it?

"Y-yes, Arthur?" he almost didn't want to ask.

"What were you dreaming about?" Arthur asked cautiously, sensing Merlin's distress.

"I- it was nothing…just…wishes. Why?" Merlin hoped his unconscious self hadn't done anything rash. Arthur's expression was thoughtful, intrigued. Merlin tried to shy away, but Arthur's arm held him firmly to his chest, one hand still twined in his mop of tangled hair. Suddenly the prince's face lit up in a smile and he leaned down, pressing his lips to Merlin's in a sweet kiss. The other boy was stunned.

"What was that?" he asked finally, bringing a hand up tentatively to touch his still-tingling lips.

"You kissed me in your sleep, idiot. Just….settling the score." Arthur said matter-of-factly, pushing the boy gently off of him and standing, stretching as he went.

"Now let's go home, shall we?"