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Technically, Athuisa was the daughter of whatever dragon had laid the egg she'd hatched from years ago. In practice, she was Merlin's. Merlin took her everywhere in a bag/baby carrier he insisted on referring to as a saddle, hug around his waist. Gwaine loved her. All the knights loved her and were a bit jealous that Merlin was the only one who continuously had her in petting range. She grew up well-loved and cared for and soon began to talk. Her first word was "Arthur", and her second word, mere moments later, was "Prat". Arthur and Merlin's bickering about it was cut short when Gwaine made the mistake of uttering: "She's fucking cute, isn't she?" Merlin and Arthur teamed up to glare at him. "Don't swear around the baby" the king said protectively. "She not a baby", Gwaine said, digging his grave further. "She's a bloody-
Another glare and the hand motion the king usually used on Merlin to indicate someone was going to be sent to the stocks, someone he was looking at right now, shut Gwaine up. "Your baby dragon is very cute", he said, trying to redeem himself. "That's all I was saying"
Arthur's gaze softened. "she is", he said. The group all voiced their agreement. A second later, Athusia said, "Arthur prat", a bunch of times, much to Merlin's delight and Arthur's fond exasperation, and the moment was forgotten. Well, Gwaine's swearing was forgotten. Arthur spent a not-insignificant amount of time trying to get her to call Merlin a clotpole, and Merlin himself was rarely such a proud father as when his daughter said "Arthur prat", especially after she began to make a connection between the words and certain types of behavior. She learned other words, like "Merlin", and "dad", tough with the collaborative efforts the knights and co put into raising her, she wasn't always sure who deserved that title. Merlin was always "dad", but it took her some time to come to a decision in regard to the rest of them. Her uncertainty disappeared first when it came to Arthur, who, much to his delight, got put into the category of people she always addressed as "dad". When she called Gwaine "Bad Knight. Bad" in a very serious voice, he swore. He was halfway through a 'bloody hell' before he caught himself and clamped his mouth shut. The damage was already done, however, he found out sometime later, when she called him "bloody knight" Again, he was on damage control. "Maybe she's seen too much violence?", he suggested, his armor completely clean and not at all bloody. "She's not that dumb", Merlin replied, narrowing his eyes. As if on cue, she said, "Merlin", and when he heard Arthur coming up the stairs and saying, "No, Athusia, you have to say: 'Merlin is dumb'", he took his chance and booked it out of there, hearing a faint "What, I'm just teaching her to speak in full sentences" before he was out of earshot of the conversation.
After these events, and Merlin's very threatening dad-glare that indicated he hadn't forgotten who was responsible for teaching his daughter her first real swearword, Gwaine tried very hard to do better.
It led to some very interesting situations, like when he'd subbed his toe, neglected to make note that Merlin and therefore Athusia was in the room, and almost said fuck, correcting himself just in time, by saying "feet!", with all the anger he usually put into his swear words, and then for good measure "Aaah, my feet, my feet hurt".
The whole thing came to a head when after some reminiscing with the group, someone brought up Aridian, the witchfinder, and she called him "A bloody arsehole"
"Don't look at me", Gwaine said. This time, he really was innocent. "I've never said a-, I mean used that word around her, honest"
"Aridian deserved far worse than a few insults about his character thrown at him", Lancelot said. "True", Merlin replied, coming to a decision. "Alright, Athusia, you can use words like that, but only about people who deserve it. "
Gwaine shot him a grateful look. "Dad," Athusia said. "Dad is nice. Knights are nice. Arthur is nice. Arthur, not a prat"
"You see", Arthur said, and then when Merlin glared at him, "I told you I was teaching her to speak in full sentences"
"Athiusa is nice", Gwaine said, and they all loudly agreed. And then, to Merlin's delight, she began to walk around, slow and a little wobbly, first to Gwaine, who petted her and gave her head pats, and then, one by one, to the rest of the group, who also petted her and gave her head pats.
The time they had together was indeed, in Athuisa's words, very nice.