New Bamf! series ( Decided not to take down the old one, so people who wanted to re-read could, as per request of a guest!) 'Nuff said.

It had been a long, long day.

He had done all the laundry, polished Arthur's chainmail, mucked out the stables, shined what looked to be an army's worth of boots, cleaned the chambers, cleaned the great hall, drawn a bath for King Dollophead, done rounds for Gaius, even cleaned out the leech tank!

Not to mention how early he had to get up, so as to get Gaius some herbs. Because god forbid you buy herbs at the market! And, he had gotten to bed late the other night, mending the prat's chainmail; couldn't he just not break it?

Yes, it had been a very long day. Merlin was ready to go back to Gaius', and rest for an hour or so, before he had to serve Arthur at the banquet later tonight. Ah, an hour to himself. One good thing to look forward t-

"MERLIN! Come on! We're going to be late for practice! And you are my sparring partner!"

Merlin groaned. Arthur smirked. Merlin growled.

"Clotpole"

"I heard that"

"Doesn't make it false!"

LINEBREKITYBREAKBREAK

The Round table Knights were gathered on the training field, along with Merlin, looking tired, bored and haphazard.

"Now, men, today, sparring practice is going to be a little different. I have noticed that though in sword fighting you are all adequate-"

Gwaine snorted "adequate enough to beat him 2 out of 10 times"

Arthur glared. "-as you are with most weapons, we have not done much work on hand to hand combat. So, that is what we will be doing today. All practice"

Groans rang through the field. Merlin, however, gave a small smirk, unnoticed by his comrades.

"Okay, pair up. Oh, and, shirts off"

Arthur went with Gwaine, immediately stripping of his freshly cleaned red shirt, tossing it. Straight. Into. The. Mud.

Merlin growled.

Lancelot walked over to him, nodding hello.

"Care to spar?"

"Sure" Merlin ground out, teeth still clenched at the thought of more work.

Lancelot pulled off his own shirt, and put it on the bench to their left.

Merlin did the same.

"Merlin… what's up with the bandage?"

There was, indeed, a large strip of linen covering most of Merlin's back and torso, wounding over his shoulder.

"Hmmm? Oh, right. I dislocated my shoulder the other day. It's fine now, but Gaius didn't have time to look it over, so he told me to wrap it in case it was loose."

"Well, I can't spar with you, then! You're injured!"

Merlin still distracted by Arthur and his dirty shirt, shook himself out of his stupor and said "Nah, I'm good. But, you now, Arthur can be a right prat sometimes! Anyway… let's do this"

They both got into position, watching as Gwaine and Arthur did the same. Elyan and Percival also struck up position.

"Begin!"

Lancelot swung in with a right hook, but Merlin, who had been stewing in anger over the clotpole's behaviour, blocked him. Grabbing his wrist, he pulled Lancelot in so they were shoulder to uninjured shoulder, and then flipped him over said shoulder. While Lancelot was down, Merlin moved his foot on to his chest, right over his ribcage. Merlin smiled down at him, and then offered a hand, taking his foot off the other man at the same time.

"Uhhhh…." Lancelot said, at a loss for words.

Merlin smiled once again, and they went and sat down at one of the side benches. They watched as the others fought. Elyan and Percival's was over soon after, with the winner being, as expected, Percival.

They joined Lancelot and Merlin at the bench, sitting down, tired after their little fight. Merlin grimaced as his shoulder twinged, rubbing at it. Elyan gave him a sympathetic look. "I hope Lance didn't hurt you too bad." Just as Merlin was about to retort with an indignant response surmising of "he didn't", Arthur and Gwaine walked up, Arthur slightly annoyed, having lost to Gwaine, totally unfairly, in his opinion. He brightened at the look of Merlin, rubbing his shoulder, and quickly made his assumptions.

"So, how quickly did Lancelot beat you, Merlin?"

Merlin, once again, was about to retort when Lancelot said, lightly

"Actually, sire, Merlin beat me. Quicker, in fact, than Percival here beat Elyan."

Arthur stared; slack jawed, at Lancelot, disbelief burning bright in his eyes. His gaze quickly wandered to Merlin, and noticed the bandage.

"Then what's the bandage for"

"I dislocated my shoulder the other day, actually." Merlin replied, feeling quite happy.

"So, not only did Merlin beat you, Lancelot, but he beat you while injured? No. Impossible"

"Well, Sire, as you can see, it really is quite possible." Lancelot replied, a bit annoyed at Arthur's inability to see Merlin's worth.

"Well, then. He wouldn't mind proving it again, then?" Arthur smirked, certain he would trip Merlin up in his own lie. Why Lancelot was involved, though-

"No problem." Responded Merlin, standing up and rolling his shoulders. "Elyan, care to join me?'

"Umm… alright?"

Elyan got up, walking towards Merlin slowly, confidence growing with every step. Pity was there too; he didn't want Merlin to be humiliated, or hurt.

"Ready?" Said Lancelot.

"Ready" responded Elyan. Merlin merely nodded.

"Begin!"

Both Merlin and Elyan crouched down, ready to spar.

Once again, Merlin's opponent made the first move. However, Elyan, unlike Lancelot, went in head first, grasping Merlin's forearms. Merlin responded by grabbing Elyan's arms, and, using the weight Elyan had used to rush him, twisted his whole body over his own torso, using his leg to push Elyan along. Before Elyan knew what had happened, he was on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Merlin, once again, stepped back, and offered his hand. He pulled Elyan up, and they looked to the watching group. Arthur looked shocked, and, though Percival's face remained stoic, his eyes showed his surprise. Lancelot and Gwaine both seemed amused, though Gwaine also looked suitably impressed.

"Once more" Arthur said, still in disbelief. Merlin sighed. "Whatever."

This time, Percival stood up, saying "I'd like to try."

Merlin, to his credit, did not appear sacred, but resolved not to underestimate this much bigger opponent.

"Ready?" Two nods.

"Begin!"

This time, Merlin attacked first, going in with quick, small, but powerful jabs to pressure points, and then darted back just as quickly. Percival managed to defend most of them, but it was clearly having an effect on him. Then, when Merlin was retreating, Percival's elbow caught him in his bad shoulder. He stumbled back, and, Percival, seeing his chance, lunged forward. Unfortunately for him, Merlin had already recovered. As Percival rushed, Merlin sidestepped, and hooked his foot against Percival's. Percival was flung down, and Merlin stepped forward, pushing his legs in. The figth had lasted no longer than 2 minutes.

"Woah."

Even Lancelot was shocked, and they were all impressed.

"Practice is over." Arthur declared, leaving the field, looking disgruntled. "Oh, and Merlin; you're relieved of your duties." Arthur said, begrudgingly. His manservant was injured, after all.

Merlin smirked.

Review if you'd like me to do a continuation where Merlin fights Gwaine! Also, I'd love some requests!