Work Text:
Gwen had long since learned not to question Merlin.
Arthur hadn’t. Neither had a number of other servants and knights and even occasionally Gaius.
But Gwen had learned. And she had learned quick.
Whether it was to steal a statue of a dog out of the blue, defeat a goblin or deal with evil snakes that possessed people, questioning and refusing to help Merlin only made the situation worse.
She knew there was something Up with her friend, something that was off like he was hiding something. It certainly was strange that whenever these mishaps came up, especially magical mishaps, Merlin was always at the center of it.
But then again, she had learned not to question it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!” Merlin burst through her door one day. “I need your help. Do you think you can forge a round metal ball the size of my palm?”
Gwen blinked before nodding.
“Great! Can you help me?” Merlin patted his pockets nervously before entering and pacing about the room. “Um, I’m willing to pay for the… whatever material you use if needed, but I really need it and it’s really important and vital and if I don’t get it then someone will probably die so we should really get onto forging it right now, because, as I said, someone’s probably going to die. I know that this is strange but I promise you that it’s completely necessary and—”
Merlin went on chattering her ear away, only stopping once she was already placing the iron on the lit forge.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!” Merlin knocked on her door in the middle of the night in a panic. “I was wondering if you could grant me a favor?”
A few minutes later Gwen watched as Merlin took the sword her father had forged for a very special, super important, absolutely necessary mission.
He grinned at Gwen with that big goofy grin of his while leaving and waved with the hand holding the sword and accidentally sliced a bit of his shoulder.
Gwen winced as Merlin dropped the sword and looked at his shoulder. He briefly examined the cut before giving her a thumbs up, picking up the sword—much more carefully this time—and running off again.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!” Merlin tripped over the doorstep. “Do you have a ball of wool? Or seven? I really need them, I swear it’s important.”
Gwen was already reaching into her shelf before Merlin could finish the last sentence.
“I know it’s strange, but I promise you that it will be put to good use and—”
“Merlin,” Gwen interrupted before he could ramble some more, handing him the basket with the wool. “Just take it.” She gave him a fond smile.
Merlin grinned. “Thanks, Gwen, you’re the best!”
He rushed out.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!” Merlin called from outside her door. “Gwen! Gwen! Gwen! Gwen! Gwen! Gw—”
She opened the door.
“Oh hi!” Merlin beamed, bouncing on his heels, his cheeks flushed from the cold outside.
“What is it this time?” Gwen sighed heavily.
Merlin looked at her inquisitively, then shook his head. “I was wondering if you had a necklace. Preferably one that has been kissed by Lady Morgana? I know she gives you some of her jewellery she doesn’t use, so I was wondering if she might have kissed a necklace and then given it to you later because I really need it for something super important and I wouldn’t be asking you if it wasn’t important and completely necessary, but it is, and I really need it, so—”
Gwen interrupted before he could say something weirder, “I don’t have one kissed by her right now, but I can get her to kiss one. Would that help?”
Merlin paused for a moment, thinking, then his face cleared up and he nodded eagerly. “Yes! That would work! Oh, thank you, Gwen! Did you know that you’re the best person to ever have lived in all of the five kingdoms? Because you are and you deserve the world and—”
This time Gwen interrupted before she could start blushing, “Thank you, Merlin. I’ll see you after dinner with the necklace.” She shut the door in his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“You want me to what?” Morgana frowned.
Gwen grimaced. “Please don’t question it. A friend of mine needs it and they said that it’s a matter of life and death.”
Morgana raised an eyebrow. “And you believe them?”
Gwen looked at her in the eye. “With my entire being.” She smiled. “They may be an idiot sometimes, but they’re brave and loyal and wouldn’t do things without a good reason. I trust them.”
Morgana sighed. “Fine. Seeing as you trust them so much.”
Gwen smiled again. Morgana had been acting a little off ever since she was found after being kidnapped by Morgause, but at times like these, it just reminded Gwen that even with her acting strange after the trauma of being held prisoner to a sorcerer, she was still the same Morgana she knew and admired.
Morgana pressed her lips to the necklace and handed it back to Gwen with a slightly confused, but smiling expression.
“Thank you, my lady,” Gwen curtsied and left the room.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!”
Gwen stifled a sigh and turned around to see Merlin running up to her, dodging the people in the market.
“I need your help!” he waved at her, his hand accidentally colliding with another person. He turned and apologized profusely, being waved off by the man, then came to stand before her, slightly out of breath.
Gwen looked at him expectantly.
“I need—” he stopped and looked around as if suddenly noticing the presence of people. He lowered his head and whispered, “I need a lady’s perfume and I was wondering if you had any?”
“How much of it do you need?” Gwen asked, clutching the bag of the new perfume she had brought tightly.
“Just a bit! Which was why I was asking you instead of buying one myself. It’s not like I need it,” Merlin chuckled nervously.
Gwen made a face. Merlin may be a man now, but he still reeked like a teenage boy. Still, he was her friend so she kept these thoughts to herself, making a mental note to give him some soap along with the gloves she was making for him for his upcoming birthday.
“Can I dab it on some cloth?”
“Yeah! Uh.” Merlin looked around before spotting his neckerchief. He untied it and presented it to her with a little cheeky bow.
Gwen rolled her eyes and uncorked her perfume bottle, letting a few drops fall on his neckerchief.
Merlin grinned that big goody grin of his and kissed her hand. “Thank you!” he said, immediately dropping it and running off.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“Gwen!” Merlin panted, leaning against the doorframe. “Can you— please h— help me?” He let his upper body fall, his hands on his knees, to catch his breath.
“Have some water,” Gwen handed him the glass she was about to drink from.
“Thanks,” Merlin wheezed and drank the entire glass in one go.
“I need—” He straightened up, his breaths easing. “I need your hair.”
Gwen stared.
“Just a strand!” Merlin added quickly. “Not all of it, obviously.” He chuckled then cleared his throat. “Um. Yeah. Just a single strand of your hair. I realize this is weird and well, it is weird, but entirely necessary and I swear it’s important and will probably save a life and I will be very indebted to you if you could. I can return it too if you like, but, er, I’m not sure if it will survive— I mean, not that I’m gonna do anything weird with it! Of course not! It’s just that it needs to be a strand of hair from a woman who has taken no souls and is known to be pure of heart by at least three and, well, I know you’re pure of heart and Gaius knows and Arthur definitely knows. Of course, the knights know and your brother. Your dad knows too! Except. He’s dead. So. Oh. Oops. Sorry, that must have been inappropriate. Uh, anyway, if I could have just that one strand, then I’ll just get out of here and—”
Gwen plucked a single hair from her scalp and wordlessly handed it to Merlin, if anything, just to shut him up.
She gave him a pained smile before taking the glass back from him and closing the door before he could make the moment even more awkward.
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Gwen!"
Gwen opened the door and managed to give Merlin a smile in greeting before dissolving into a fit of coughs. "What can I do for you?" she asked once the coughs stopped, using the doorframe as support to stand up.
Merlin tilted his head in concern. "What?"
Gwen blew her nose, clearing the snot from it. "Do you need a strand of my hair again? Or another piece of jewelery? Perhaps a fresh menses cloth?" Yes, she was being sarcastic. She was sick, sue her.
Merlin's face twisted into confusion. "What?"
Gwen shook her head. "Sorry. That was inappropriate. Uther would have my head if I spoke of such matters in public."
"Gwen… Uther's not king. Arthur is."
"I know that," she snapped. Her stomach was cramping painfully and her head was heavy with the cold and aching dully.
But her friend needed her help and it wasn't like he was asking her to journey to the Forest of Balor to retrieve the Mortaeus flower or fetch a trident from the Perilous Lands.
"What do you need?" she asked, much more softly.
Merlin scanned her face for a couple more minutes before entering and closing the door, keeping the autumn chill out.
Then something crossed his face and he looked at Gwen with determination.
"I need something very important," he started. "I need you to sit down for this."
Gwen was only too happy to oblige.
"Good," Merlin nodded his approval. "Now I need a chicken. Just a single chicken for cooking."
Gwen's eyes scrunched up together in confusion but shook her head. It was better not to question it.
She told him where she kept her food and he went on doing… whatever he was. Gwen was tired and Merlin was stoking up the fire and putting a blanket on her as her eyes closed and…
She was asleep before she even knew it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
When Gwen woke up, she was feeling extremely invigorated and energized.
Her cold was almost gone! Which was… a bit of a surprise since colds took a while to leave, but hey, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She pulled the blanket off her, stood up and stretched from her chair.
Strange. Why was she sleeping on her chair instead of her bed?
Distantly, she remembered a knock on the door, someone standing there and…
"Merlin!"
She hurried to the kitchen and spotted Merlin sprawled over the floor, two empty bowls of soup in his hand.
Suddenly, she remembered.
Merlin had asked for an entire chicken, and Gwen had told him to take it then… then she dozed off into a deep slumber. Only to wake once… when Merlin was spoon-feeding her soup.
She looked down at her snoring friend. Ever since the Fomorroh possession, he had been so on edge. It wasn't just that, she had seen the years settle onto him, making his sunny personality darker and darker, less like the Merlin she knew and more like this strange Merlin whose guise of a fool didn't completely fit anymore.
Merlin was a wonder indeed.
But more than that, he was a wonderful friend who had decided to visit her and then stayed with her through the night, looking after her.
She took the bowls from Merlin's limp hand.
Speaking of… she thought she had seen a flash of gold in her friend's eyes once while she was sleeping. Could Merlin… could he have magic?
Gwen looked at Merlin's sleeping figure and his drool trickling onto the kitchen floor.
Well, whether he did or not, she certainly wasn't going to question it.