A/N: I'm back! And I'm trying something light-hearted, for a change. Do drop me a review and tell me what you think, aye? *grin*

Disclaimer: HA, that's a thought.

"This is all your fault, you idiot."

The accusation was akin to a scream in the dead silence that had fallen upon their shoulders.

Merlin stiffened, then looked up from the boulder he was sitting on to glare at the king leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the cave. "How is this my fault?" he asked incredulously.

"You're joking, right?" Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes, "You made the top of the cave crumble down when we were obviously doing fine!"

"Sure," the raven-haired man sniped back, "if you could call us being surrounded by eight men doing fine."

Arthur threw up his hands in exasperation. "Gwaine and his men were coming for us!"

"They were trying to hold their own against another group of bandits, in case you didn't notice! And for the record, I seem to remember that it was you who dragged us both into this pungent cave."

Again, Arthur scoffed, scooping up a chunk of earth and hurling it at his Court Magician. "What were you going to do then," he sneered, sniggering as it hit him square in the chest, "wave your fingers and make them trip over their own two feet? Even then, they would look better than you usually do."

"It's not as if poking them with that stick of yours would make any difference, either," Merlin retorted, jerking his head in the direction of the glowing sword, its eerie glow being the only source of light in the cave.

"Hey!" Arthur exclaimed, tightening his hold on his beloved blade. He mentally berated himself for the childish tone his voice had suddenly taken on, in front of Merlin, no less. "This is Excalibur, I'll have you know!"

"Of course I know," Merlin said, the corners of his lips quirking up into an evil smirk, "I gave it to you, didn't I?"

Arthur glared at him, then looked away. "I would have done fine," Arthur muttered stubbornly, "I would have managed it, with a few supporting tricks of yours...not ones that have massive consequences like this one, mind you."

Merlin looked up to the ceiling in exasperation, as if asking the heavens why he even bothered. "For the last time, you prat," he said slowly, "I do not support you and your kitchen knife with my tricks. My magic is my own, I do what I want with it!"

The king raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "I could have you thrown in the stocks for calling me a prat, you know."

"W-WHAT?" Merlin sputtered, jumping up from where he sat, "B-But I'm Court Magician! And it's been a whole year since I've been back there!"

"Not my problem," Arthur said, shrugging indifferently.

"You...pig!"

Arthur found himself grinning at the enraged look on Merlin's face. Oh, how he enjoyed teasing his former servant. Merlin may be a trusted member of the court now, but whatever it is, their friendly relationship would always remain the same.

In the end, Arthur decided not to poke fun at him anymore.

"Don't worry, alright?" he said instead, running a hand through his hair, "Gwaine saw what happened. We'll be out of here in no time."

"But until then," Merlin sighed, clearly pained, "I'll be stranded in here with you."

A while later, Merlin had sat back down on his boulder, but Arthur had started scraping his boots against the floor like a child.

Groaning internally, the warlock looked up from his hands. "Would you please stop that?" he asked, a hint of annoyance colouring his tone, "It's not something you'd want to hear when you're stuck inside a small, dark cave with an irritating clot pole."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you rather I throw bits of earth at you?"

"No," Merlin replied hastily, "I mean, it's just that the sound is rather annoying." Another thought popped into his head. "And you're spoiling your boots."

"It's not as if you'll have the pleasure of repairing them, you know," Arthur retorted, smirking a little.

Merlin snorted. "Like you would know," he muttered.

There was a pause. Then, as if to annoy him further, Arthur got up and started pacing the small space, the sound of chainmail boots scraping against an earthen floor grating on Merlin's nerves even more.

"For heaven's sake, Arthur!" he snapped.

"They should have started digging by now," Arthur murmured to himself, not even sparing Merlin a glance as he continued walking up and down, "Gwaine saw what happened, I'm positive of that. I hope he'd hurry, I'm so bored. And hungry."

"Maybe you wouldn't be so hungry if you just sat still," Merlin commented.

"And not to mention longing to get away from an irritated warlock," the king continued listlessly.

Merlin took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Look, Arthur, we're both tired, bored to tears, and hungry," he said, "so let's just sit down and not irritate each other. That would be best, wouldn't you agree?"

To his surprise, Arthur complied, sitting back down at his spot opposite Merlin.

"Don't suppose you can do something about this?" the blonde asked when he settled down.

"And risk having it backfire on us or anyone outside?" Merlin replied drily. "Not a chance."

"But there has to be something we can do. We can't just sit around like fools all day while waiting for someone to get us out. We should at least try to shift the rock ourselves. Or maybe..."

"Hey Arthur," Merlin said, slowly counting to ten in his head as the king continued ranting, "let's play a game to pass the time."

Arthur stopped his incessant mumbling and looked up, clearly interested in anything that could keep them preoccupied for the moment. "What game do you have in mind?" he asked.

"The Silent Game."

To pass the time, Merlin had closed his eyes and had begun glowing very slightly as he held his palms flat against the ground. In turn, this was annoying Arthur, who had been drawing in the dirt with his gloved finger.

"Now would you stop that?" he cried, grabbing fistfuls of his hair in frustration.

"AHA!" Merlin yelled childishly, leaping to his feet and pointing at him, his face alight with triumph, "You lose!"

Arthur looked at him as though he had grown an extra head. "Are you out of your mind?" he demanded, his face taking on a bewildered countenance, "Lost what?"

"The Silent Game, of course!"

"Merlin, you idiot! I didn't even agree to play that game!"

The man grinned, infuriating Arthur even more. "But you didn't disagree to it, either."

"That has got to be the stupidest reason I have ever heard," Arthur muttered, burying his face into his hands. "Gwaine, where are you?"

"Oh, don't you worry," Merlin said unexpectedly, placing a hand on the wall, "he's out there behind all those rocks at the entrance with a whole bunch of other people."

"How on earth did you know that?" Arthur asked in amazement.

"Well, what did you think I was doing?" Merlin asked, raising his eyebrows, "I was trying to see if anything was happening outside!" He chuckled at the incredulous expression on Arthur's face.

"And here I thought you were trying to infuriate me," Arthur said shamefully, "Why didn't you tell me you were doing that?"

Merlin burst out laughing, much to Arthur's surprise. "Are you joking?" he choked out, wiping his eyes, "If I had talked, then I would have lost The Silent Game!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE SILENT GAME, MERLIN!" Arthur roared.

However, to his fury, Merlin did not appear the least sorry or intimidated. Instead, he patted the king's shoulder with a smile slowly unfurling on his face.

"Are you being a sore loser, sire?" he asked, doubling over as he watched Arthur's face contort with rage, "It's alright, there's always a next time."

"Merlin," Arthur growled, "I swear, if you mention that again, I will-"

CRASH!

Both men jumped as stones fell inwards, a beam of sunlight shooting through a hole amidst the cave-in.

"What the...?" Arthur began, all rage forgotten.

Then, the sunlight disappeared as Gwaine's face came into view. "Your Majesty! Merlin!" he exclaimed, relief spreading over his features, "You're both safe!"

Arthur found himself beaming despite his previous frustration. "Thank goodness for you, Gwaine," he called, "I wouldn't have lasted another moment with Merlin here!"

The knight laughed. "I can only imagine, My Lord, and I can only ask you to wait a little longer while we hurry to rescue you." He moved away and returned to helping his men.

Arthur heard the warlock snicker wickedly behind him but paid him no mind. He was enraptured by the wonderful feeling of the warm sun bearing down upon his face. Gradually, the hole became bigger as the men outside grunted and heaved.

But of course, the moment was ruined by Merlin.

"You've got a silly look on your face," he commented, grinning cheekily.

At that, Arthur slowly turned around.

"You know, Merlin," he said, "If we hadn't been found, I think I would have pummelled you to the ground right now."

Merlin's grin only became wider. "Oh, you wouldn't do that," he said confidently.

"And how would you know? Do tell."

"Because I am the Court Magician, and your best friend. You wouldn't harm me."

It was Arthur's turn to grin. "Oh reeeeally?"

"Oh, come on, Arthur! You're just fooling around, aren't you?"

"Not at all."

At that precise moment, the last few rocks of the cave-in came down with a thud, illuminating the cave with bright, warm sunlight. Gwaine stood at the head of the weary group, shaking his head.

"If it was anyone who would get stuck in these situations, it would have to be you two, wouldn't it?" he asked, smirking.

"Thank the heavens!" Merlin cried, brushing past Arthur and dashing out of the cave, "I couldn't stand another moment with him!"

"Okay fine, I was joking!" Arthur called, running after him. He looked back at an amused Gwaine and a bemused-looking group of men as he continued following his Court Magician. "You wouldn't believe the ideas he came up with-"

"You were the annoying one, Arthur!" Merlin called back.

"Speak for yourself!"

"If I am so annoying, then why are you following me?"

"Don't be so full of yourself, Merlin; I'm only heading back home!"

Gwaine turned back to his men as they continued to argue. "I believe we all missed something very special," he said to them, smiling as they burst out laughing.

Some things would never change.

A/N: So how was it? :D