Chapter Text
“Alright, let’s set up camp for the night,” Leon said as he, Lancelot, and their hunting group stopped near a creek. Lancelot and Leon gathered some firewood so they could get a fire going while the rest of their group started fixing dinner and setting up camp. Since winter was quickly approaching, the nights were cold, so they needed fire as quickly as possible.
“Damn, this is awful…” Leon groaned as he tried to get the fire started with a flint stone and knife.
“Here, let me try,” Lancelot said, holding his hand out for the stone. He saw how Leon’s hands shook in the cold, and he knew the stubborn man wouldn’t easily give this up. “I’d like to eat tonight, you know, so let me try,” he said, hoping the threat of no supper might work to his favor.
“I’ve almost got it,” Leon said instead, striking his knife against the stone once again. He groaned when the sparks did nothing to light a fire.
“Give it,” Lancelot said one more time, opening and closing his hand until Leon finally resigned to letting him try. Unfortunately, it still didn’t work. “What is going on?” Lancelot said mostly to himself as he inspected the wood. It seemed that their tinder was a bit too wet and cold to ignite. Great.
Leon tossed his head back with a loud groan, and he raked his fingers through his hair. “Come oooooon!” He put his hands out in front of himself to plead with the stone and wood. “We just need a fire!” As he clenched his hands into fists, Lancelot saw a flash of gold in Leon’s eyes, then suddenly the fire caught. “Ha! There we go!”
Now, Lancelot had only one thought: What the fuck?! “How did- did you- Leon, how-”
“I think sometimes the sparks just take a minute to actually catch,” Leon said as he moved the wood around with a stick. “This happens sometimes, it’s just so annoying.” He rolled his eyes as though this was nothing but a casual nuisance.
“I don’t think that’s how fire works, Leon,” Lancelot said, unsure of what to do.
“What else could it be, then?” Leon asked, brows knitted together in confusion.
“Leon has magic.” Lancelot sat on the floor of Merlin’s room beside his best friend.
“Are you sure?” Merlin asked, eyes wide in disbelief. “I mean, it’s Leon we’re talking about. First knight of Camelot, Arthur’s right-hand man, a man who does not particularly like any magic…”
“I don’t think he knows he has magic,” Lancelot said. “When we were setting up camp last night, we couldn’t get the fire to light. He got frustrated at it, said ‘we just need a fire’ and I saw his eyes flash gold like yours do. Then we had a fire.”
“…And he thought nothing of this?” Merlin asked.
“He seemed convinced that sparks just need some time to catch fire.” Really, Lancelot was still in shock and still a bit worried about Leon. This was nearly enough to send him to the tavern.
Merlin had to laugh at that one. “Oh, he has no idea!” He fell over on his side and cackled, just imagining how terrific that must have been.
“But, how?” Lancelot questioned. “You’ve known your whole life, so shouldn’t it be something that he just…knows…?”
“Not necessarily,” Merlin said. He sat up and leaned against his bed. “When Leon was a kid, he was probably always Camelot-bound, so if his parents knew, they probably didn’t tell him. And if he thinks of it like he did with the fire, then he just thinks he’s a very lucky guy.”
“That sounds ridiculous, Merlin.” Lancelot wished Merlin wasn’t so amused by this.
“Utterly.” Merlin had to laugh once again. “But, still plausible. I’ve never even seen him do anything remotely magic, even when it would benefit him, so…he has no idea what he’s doing.” The two sat in silence for a moment, just thinking about the absurdity that was Leon not knowing he had magic. “I’m going to talk to him,” Merlin said after a minute, and Lancelot smacked his shoulder. “Ow!”
“You can’t talk to Leon about magic, Merlin!” Lancelot fussed. “That could only end in two ways: you burning in the pyre, or Leon burning in the pyre. No, you can’t.”
“I’ll be gentle about it!” Merlin insisted. “No one has to get hurt; it’ll be fine.”
“You have no other proof other than what I’ve told you, Merlin,” Lancelot said. “If you tell him he has magic with no more proof than that, you’re just asking for trouble.”
“You’re right.”
Lancelot sighed in relief. Yes, he loved those words. Those were his two favorite words.
“I’ll watch him and get more evidence.”
…Lancelot did not love those words.
While the knights trained outside, Merlin sat in the grass along the fence line to watch. Mainly he watched Leon, hoping to catch him using magic. After all, it’d been two weeks since Lancelot told him about Leon’s accidental magic fire and he’d yet to see Leon use magic himself.
Leon sparred with Gwaine, which Merlin always found very fun to watch. Gwaine gave Leon a challenge, not that Leon would admit that, which was why he loved sparring with him. Their swords clashed together, and Gwaine swooped down to break the hold, then he brought his sword back down toward Leon’s arm.
But, before Gwaine even got the chance to land a hit, Merlin saw Leon’s eyes flash, and Gwaine dropped his sword. Merlin sat up a little straighter, a goofy grin breaking out on his face.
Leon let a smug little grin take over his face. “Bit clumsy today, Gwaine!” he teased, patting his cheek.
“That wasn’t me!” Gwaine insisted.
“Oh, yeah, you just magically dropped your sword.”
“Something happened!”
Merlin had to hide his laugh behind his hand, and he looked over at Lancelot, who sighed exasperatedly as the two argued. Lancelot just shook his head, which made Merlin laugh even harder.
Leon had magic, he had no idea, and Merlin couldn’t wait to learn more.
With winter properly set in Camelot, colds of course spread like wildfire. The knights were no exception, and even someone like Leon couldn’t hide from the illness forever.
“A-ch!” He sneezed into his elbow, groaning when he was sure he wouldn’t sneeze again. He sniffled hard, but that didn’t stop his nose from dripping still.
“Someone sounds sick,” Merlin said from behind, and Leon turned around with a start. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Leon said before sneezing once more. “Oh, this is awful…” He felt absolutely miserable, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed for a week.
“You should try holding a warm, damp cloth to your face. It’ll help some,” Merlin said helpfully. “If that isn’t enough, just drink something warm with a bit of honey.”
“I’ll try that…” Leon said, sniffling once again. “I’ve got to do something; it’s been four days, and I still feel like shit.”
“You know, the best remedy for a cold is rest…” Merlin said, which earned him a glare. “Just saying.”
“I’ve got too many responsibilities, Merlin,” Leon said. “I can’t just…rest as much as I’d like.” He’d already been over the pros and cons of ignoring his responsibilities for a nap, so he really didn’t need Nurse Merlin tempting him.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you could do all your responsibilities without lifting a finger?” Merlin asked, and Leon quirked a brow. “I mean, I know I’d love it if I could polish armor, clean the floors, and wash clothes without having to move from bed…”
“That would be magic, Merlin. You don’t want to do that,” Leon said, shaking his head. Sometimes he worried about what went through Merlin’s head…
Leon started to walk away then, and Merlin had to repress a laugh. As Leon made his way down the hall, though, he sneezed again. This one must have snuck up on him; he didn’t even cover his mouth, and he jumped. As he sneezed, a potted plant flew off the table it rested on and shattered on the floor. Leon spun around when he heard the crash, and he looked at Merlin in surprise. “What just happened?” he asked in a pitiful voice.
“I think that table wobbles,” Merlin said, pointing to the little table. “You must’ve made it shake when you sneezed, and the plant fell.” The reason made no sense. Leon wasn’t close enough to that table to do make it wobble that much, but Merlin had to stay confident that that was the only thing that could’ve possibly happened.
“Oh.” Leon’s face flushed as he looked at the pot, and he stooped down to clean it up. Merlin helped, which ultimately looked more like Merlin cleaned it up while Leon tried not to pass out. After he got the pot cleaned up, though, Merlin herded Leon to his room and made the knight lay down. He promised to clear it up with Arthur.
Merlin waited until Leon’s head hit the pillow, waited until he heard Leon’s breathing even out, before he used his magic to drag Leon’s blankets up to his shoulders. He smiled to himself, and he shut the door as quietly as he could before he ran off to find Lancelot.
Merlin ducked behind a tree when a group of bandits attacked the camp. His eyes flashed gold time and time again as a tree branch fell, a bandit soared through the air, and too many swords and other weapons slipped from bandits’ grips. Honestly, Merlin wondered what the knights would do without him. They’d surely have died several times over by this point without him.
A scream from a bandit pulled Merlin’s attention toward Leon, but before Merlin could do anything to help, the bandit tripped, and Leon ran his sword through him. Merlin couldn’t say for sure that Leon had tripped him with magic, but he certainly didn’t see anything that the bandit would have tripped on.
…He decided then that Leon would be the only knight to survive without him.
Once the bandits had been dealt with, they decided to finish their dinner that had been so rudely interrupted. Merlin took a seat beside Leon with his plate, which surprised the knight. “Hi…?” Leon greeted, a bit confused why Merlin sat so close.
“Hi,” Merlin said with a big grin. He took a big bite of stew, eyes never leaving his plate. If he looked up he’d have seen Lancelot giving him that mother-henning look of his. “Have you ever noticed how clumsy these bandits are? It’s like some of them butter their hands before combat.”
Leon huffed a laugh, giving a short nod to Merlin. “Some of them are pretty bad with a sword, definitely. But, what can you expect? They’re not exactly trained in weaponry.”
“I suppose not,” Merlin said. He could feel Lancelot’s glare bearing down on him. “And those tree branches! Wow, talk about luck. I’m pretty sure I even saw one of them just trip in front of you, too, that was very lucky.”
“Merlin,” Lancelot warned. Merlin just grinned innocently at him.
“I suppose we are very lucky,” Leon said with a grin, nudging Merlin in the side. “Some patrols aren’t nearly as fortunate as we tend to be, though. Maybe it’s you.”
That caught Merlin off guard. “M-me? How would I be the lucky one?”
“Perhaps you’re our lucky charm,” Leon suggested. “After all, things tend to go more smoothly when you join us.”
…Was Merlin seeing things, or did Leon’s face seem a bit pink? It must have been from all the effort, after all those swords were not light to swing around. Merlin glanced toward Lancelot, and he saw how sweaty his forehead was. He decided then that must have been why Leon’s face was so pink, even if that color only appeared after Leon called him their lucky charm.
Arthur huffed a laugh from where he sat with Percival. “We have very different perspectives, Leon. You seriously think things go more smoothly with Merlin around?”
Leon shrugged and took another bite of stew. “I believe so, sire.”
“Then you can ride between him and Gwaine in the morning!” Arthur said decidedly. “Tell me how smooth the trip is when they’ve talked through you for an hour about nothing. It’s especially great when one of them eats a bug because they don’t shut their mouths.”
“Merlin, I think the princess is jealous of our friendship,” Gwaine teased, and Merlin had to laugh as Arthur sputtered and scoffed.
One good thing about the knights not knowing much about herbs and plants, Merlin decided, was that during the winter he could conjure up as many plants as Gaius could possibly need and they’d be none the wiser that these plants shouldn’t exist.
Merlin hummed to himself as he gathered up bundles of his carefully, meticulously curated abundance of thyme and lavender. The clearing he’d designated for his own personal garden was far enough away from Camelot to remain hidden from prying Arthur eyes but still close enough that Merlin could be back in the citadel before Arthur even noticed he was missing. The garden was one of his favorite secrets, perfectly hidden away so Merlin was the only one who could find it. Or so he thought, at least.
“What’s all this?” Merlin heard from behind, and he shot upright stiffly. He turned around to see Leon stepping over a bush to get a closer look.
“Um- well, it’s, um…well, you see…” Merlin stuttered as he searched his mind for a story to use. He truly had no good explanation for this. Shit.
“You’ve got some green thumb, Merlin,” Leon said, stooping down in front of a patch of chamomile. “I didn’t even know these could grow in the winter.”
“Oh, well, it’s difficult, but I manage,” Merlin said nervously. He stooped down beside Leon and picked some of the chamomile as he tried to seem casual. “This area, uh…it gets a lot more light, and stays a bit warmer than other areas, so it works better for growing plants in the winter.”
“That’s incredible you have all that figured out,” Leon said fondly. “Not everyone could do something like that.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit,” Merlin said. He nervously rubbed his arms, hoping to calm himself down. “Gaius did help me find this place…”
Leon chuckled as he stood to his full height. He walked around to admire the flowers for a few moments more. “You’re very humble, Merlin,” he said as he stooped down in front of a patch of wild roses. “But I think that might be to a fault. You’re very intelligent, and I should hope you can understand that.”
“Uh- thank you?” Merlin tried as he stood back up. It felt very hot suddenly, despite the abysmal temperature. Leon stood with a rose in his hands, and he made his way back over to Merlin. He handed the rose to him without another word.
“I’ll leave you to your work, but just know that Arthur has been hollering for you.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “When is that prat not hollering for me?”
“Fair point,” Leon said with a laugh. He ruffled Merlin’s hair and turned around to leave, and with a flash of golden eyes, Merlin stuck a couple blossoms in the knight’s hair.
He turned around and found that the roses all bloomed brighter, bigger than they’d been just moments before. He grinned at them, stooping down to admire just how pretty the roses Leon affected were.
“Where did that come from?” Lancelot asked when Merlin barged into his and Gaius’s chambers. Merlin plopped down a basket of herbs on a table, and he searched around for an empty bottle tall enough to put the flower he twirled between his fingers in.
“From the flower patch,” Merlin said simply. He put the rose in the bottle and poured in just a bit of water.
“Did Leon happen to see that patch, Merlin?” Gaius asked, snipping the bandage he’d been wrapping around Lancelot’s arm. “He came in here asking where you were for Arthur earlier.”
“He saw it, but he just thinks it’s a product of my amazing gardening skills,” Merlin said proudly. “He likes the roses, too, apparently. Picked this one out and gave it to me.”
That earned him raised brows and growing smirks.
“What?” he questioned.
“Nothing, nothing.” Lancelot and Gaius waved him off and returned to the task of putting Lancelot back together without another comment. Merlin didn’t know what the two of them meant by that, and it made him feel a bit nervous. He twiddled his fingers and switched feet uncomfortably.
“I think I’m going to tell him he has magic,” Merlin eventually commented.
“Absolutely not,” Gaius said, never looking up from the stitches he meticulously hid right in Lancelot’s hairline. “It’s far too dangerous and you know it.”
“Or, hear me out,” Merlin started. “If I tell him, then I could finally have someone to relate to. Someone to share this with that gets it. You guys are great, and I appreciate that I have you to be open with, but if I tell Leon about it, then we could help each other, be there for each other. I could teach him everything I know, and even if it needs to stay secret, at least we’d have each other.”
“Are you trying to court my First Knight, Merlin?” Arthur asked as he came in, and Merlin’s eyes widened in horror.
“Arthur!”
“Leon said you were gathering herbs for Gaius, so I suppose that’s a good reason to be unavailable. But now that you’re back I need my armor polished, my boots cleaned, you’ve yet to clean my chambers, and my shirts need pressing. So, instead of waxing poetic about your crush, maybe do your job.”
“I-it’s not- I’m- I don’t have a- a crush on Leon!” Merlin managed out. Arthur rolled his eyes and patted Merlin on the shoulder before sauntering out the door. When the door shut and Arthur’s footsteps faded away, Merlin heard a snort escape Lancelot. He whipped around to see both Lancelot and Gaius failing to contain their laughter. “You could’ve stepped in and helped!”
“And said what?” Lancelot asked. Merlin’s cheeks flushed red, and he escaped to his chores before he could think about that too hard.
The knights, Merlin decided, were terrible gossips. It took only one afternoon for them all to be aware of Merlin’s (fake, totally baseless and unfathomable) crush on Leon.
When he thought back on it, it probably didn’t help that Merlin watched Leon so much for magic. Those looks could be misconstrued as longing under different context, he realized, so Merlin tried to be subtler.
“Don’t listen to them,” Leon said as he took a seat beside Merlin, who had not realized how close Leon had actually gotten.
He did not jump. Absolutely not.
“They’ve clearly got nothing better to do with their time than meddle in others’ lives,” Leon said with a grin. “They’ll forget about it when Gwaine gets drunk next.”
“Hopefully…” Merlin grumbled, choosing to focus very intently on the armor in his lap. “I’m sorry that they dragged you into this.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Leon nudged his arm, but Merlin didn’t look up. “Come on, Merlin, where’s the smile? I don’t want to see you upset.”
“I’ll smile when Percival trips over his own feet for his impression of me,” Merlin mumbled. He almost looked up when Leon chuckled, and if he had, he would’ve seen Leon’s eyes flash gold.
He did look up when he heard a crash, and he saw Percival splayed out on the ground laughing his ass off.
“Looks like you’ve got to smile, now,” Leon teased, and Merlin couldn’t help the grin growing on his face. “Much better.”
“What, did you do that?” Merlin asked, nudging Leon back.
“I wish! If I could trip people with my mind, no one would ever know peace,” Leon joked. “It was just a matter of time, honestly, with the way they’re horsing around.”
“Well, I choose to believe you did something,” Merlin said, snickering as Leon shoved his shoulder gently.
“You believe whatever you want, but at least I know the truth,” Leon said. He got to his feet to lead the men outside for training, making sure it was brutal enough to serve as revenge for gossiping about Merlin and himself.
Merlin laughed to himself as he watched them go. He decided, then, that it didn’t matter what Gaius and Lancelot said. He was going to tell Leon about their magic. Merlin just needed to figure out how to do it gently, how to keep Leon from freaking out. Surely he could figure something out.