Hello, Merlin fandom! *waves hand* It's been a while since I actually posted a story...but to get into the Christmas spirit, I decided to release this thing, because I'm festive like that. XD

Enjoy!

Let it Snow

Merlin loved the snow. He loved it as a little boy, even though most of the villagers weren't quite fond of the cold weather. Most of the people he knew hated going out in the snow because it'd mean that their clothes would get wet and that everyone would be prone to illness. But Merlin wasn't exactly normal in the village – and he loved playing in the snow. Back in Ealdor, he'd often get into trouble for running out into the snow without permission from his mother.

And it seemed that even now, at the age of twenty-one, Merlin hadn't broken the habit of running out whenever snow was on the ground.

In fact, everything temporarily flew out of Merlin's head when he caught sight of the white fluffiness atop the ground. He forgot about his conversations with the Great Dragon, forgot about the fact that he was in Camelot, forgot about the fact that Gaius would probably be annoyed with him, forgot that he had to report to Arthur for the morning…the snow had that sort of effect on him.

So the very minute he slid out of bed, Merlin was scrambling to go outside. He shoved on his boots, his jacket, his ever-present neckerchief, basically all his warm things – and rushed out of the room without so much of a "good morning" to Gaius. (Well, actually, Merlin did greet him, but the poor physician could only hear a mess of words that roughly translated into, "there's snow there's snow there's snow hello Gaius there's snow there's snow there's snow!")

And moments later, the raven-haired manservant sprinted full-speed through the courtyard, a wide smile alight on his face. He looked up at the sky and let out a loud, happy laugh, not even caring for a single moment that there might be people stopping to stare at him. (Some people were smiling with him; others were rolling their eyes and muttering something about children.)

Content, Merlin allowed himself to fall back in the snow, which happened to be deep and soft enough for him to be in without hurting himself. He kicked up his legs for a few minutes and, after watching the snow dissolve into little clouds of white particles, sat up and started to throw snow in the air. With great delight, Merlin watched as a cold wind swept up and brushed the soft white away.

He did this action for a few more minutes until a familiar male voice called, "Do you intend on staying out there?"

Merlin's head whipped around to see Arthur Pendragon leaning against the inner columns outside of the courtyard, and much like Merlin, he was dressed in head-to-toe with warmer articles of clothing. (He must have gotten a different servant to help him get dressed – Merlin knew too well that Arthur couldn't dress himself to save his life.) "Good morning, sire!" Merlin called as cheerfully as he could; only now remembering that he was to tend to Arthur before.

"Must be, because I don't think I've ever seen you so excited for something," Arthur replied dryly, not budging from his position near the column. Merlin grinned and pointed at the space around him. "It snowed last night!" he said happily.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Merlin – I know it snowed last night."

Giving Arthur an incredulous stare, Merlin's arms flopped back by his sides. "Can't you just enjoy this?" he asked dubiously. He cupped the snow in his hands and threw them up in the air. "Just look at it!" Excited, he looked back at Arthur. "Tell me you don't find it interesting. Or pretty."

Arthur puffed out a breath. "I would tell you that I don't find it particularly interesting, though then I'd have to remember that I'm talking to you." He said, shaking his head. Unwilling to let his good mood falter, Merlin shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the snow. Fine, he thought. Arthur might not like the snow, but I do and I'm not going to let him spoil that.

It hadn't even passed a full minute before Merlin heard a great, heavy sigh from behind him. The sigh was followed by a series of ooph-phooph sounds of boots sinking into the soft snow. With another smile, Merlin turned to find that Arthur was standing right behind him. The bored, unimpressed expression had shifted to a bit more annoyed – or perhaps interested look. A little bit of both, to be honest.

"I knew you couldn't resist," Merlin said delightfully, picking up two mounds of snow. He threw them up in the air, letting it shower over Arthur and him. He flicked another glance at Arthur, and to his pleasure realized that the look of annoyance was beginning to melt off his face.

"Yes, well, you'd probably end up catching your death if you stay out here the entire time," Arthur muttered after a few minutes of silence. He looked up and snorted, lifting his hand to brush something off Merlin's head. When Merlin inched back, Arthur held up his glove, which held little dusty prints of snow, undoubtedly collected from Merlin's hair. "See?"

The younger man smiled sheepishly and then said, "Glad to know you care – worried about catching my death – our relationship must really be progressing."

Arthur's gloved hand lowered so he could wipe the snow off his trousers. "Don't get so full of yourself, Merlin," he said. "It'd be dreadful to go through the progress of finding another manservant."

With that, Arthur spun around and started to trudge back out of the courtyard. Merlin stared after him, shook his head, and rolled his eyes. "Prat," he murmured softly from under his breath and grabbed at a few more lumps of snow before Arthur shouted, "Come on, Merlin!"

"Right behind you, sire!" Merlin shouted back and tucking the little ball of snow from behind his back, he started to make his way after Arthur.

The prince was in for a little surprise.

A/N - I won't be taking requests because I had all of the chapters written up before posting this. Sorry! I'll also be updating this story daily - and if I happen to miss a daily update, then I'll probably make it up by posting two chapters in one day. (But hopefully, I'll be able to find two minutes to update this story everyday. -.-")

Reviews are always great! Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames are not!