Work Text:
A Little Fire to Warm
"Gaius! Gaius!" Merlin shouted, sprinting up the last few steps and bursting through the door into Gaius' rooms.
"What on earth's the matter, boy?" Gaius said testily, looking up from his book.
Merlin doubled over with his hands on his knees and answered through gasps for air. "Arthur. He went through the ice," and Gaius jumped up with a mutter and grabbed for his bag of medicines.
"Where is he?"
"Some of the knights are carrying him up to his room. I ran ahead," Merlin said, hurrying after Gaius as he swept out of the door and down the stairs. "He was breathing when we got him out, but he won't wake up," he added, having to jog to keep up now as Gaius' robes billowed out behind him with the speed he was moving.
They reached Arthur's rooms and ran in and through to his bedroom in time to see Sir Olus and Sir Bors about to lift Arthur onto the bed.
"No!" Gaius snapped and the knights started and stopped moving, "Put him on the rug next to the fire, you'll soak the bed."
"Sorry," Bors grunted as they shifted and settled Arthur gently onto the fur rug, Arthur's head lolling limply.
"All right, thank you gentlemen. Go and get yourselves warm, we have it from here," Gaius said, moving over to Arthur. The knights looked relieved, nodded to Merlin, took a last look back at Arthur and then left.
"Merlin, find me some warming stones," Gaius said over his shoulder as he knelt down and started to pull off Arthur's cloak.
"Stones, right," Merlin said, forcing his eyes away from Arthur's far-too-pale face. There was one in Arthur's cupboard and he found another two in the chambers next door and hurried back through to Gaius, who was now working Arthur out of his jacket.
"Good, now shut the door, we don't want any heat to get out," Gaius said and Merlin dropped the stones on Arthur's bed, closed the door and then poked up the fire as much as he could. "Can you warm the stones with magic?" Gaius asked, looking up for the first time, and Merlin nodded quickly. That was an easy spell. "Not too hot, mind," Gaius admonished absently and Merlin grimaced. He'd only set fire to his blankets once by overheating his own stone and the explosion hadn't even broken anything, Gaius didn't have to keep going on about it.
He warmed up the stones with a few quick words over each and then as an afterthought he stuck his hand on Arthur's mattress and warmed that up a little as well.
"Oh, good idea," Gaius said.
"I could warm Arthur up too," Merlin offered and Gaius' head shot up and he glared at Merlin.
"What have I told you about using magic to cure people?"
"That it only works if the ailment is also magical," Merlin recited. "But he isn't sick, just cold, surely I could –"
"No," Gaius said vehemently and Merlin flinched back a little. He just wanted to help. Gaius sighed, tugging one of Arthur's arms out of a sleeve, and then went on in a milder voice, "Body temperature is quite delicately balanced. Heating Arthur too fast could stop his heart from shock, and it doesn't take much overheating to cook a person's brain. Would you risk Arthur's mind on your control?" Merlin wrapped his arms around his stomach and shook his head in chagrin. He had a lot of power, but even he could admit that he very rarely managed to apply it with any subtlety or delicacy. The exploding stone was only one example of that in many.
"Never mind," Gaius said kindly. "You can help by giving me a hand getting him undressed and dry."
Merlin dropped onto the floor and started working on Arthur's breeches. Gaius had managed to get him out of doublet and shirt and had wrapped Arthur's torso in a blanket while he dried Arthur's hair. Merlin got rid of Arthur's boots, socks and breeches, tugged the blanket down to keep him covered as much as possible and started rubbing his feet with another blanket.
"No! Don't rub!" Gaius said, and Merlin jumped guiltily at his tone.
"Sorry," he said, even though he wasn't sure why it was wrong.
"If he has frostbite, it will make it worse," Gaius explained. "Don't worry, just get him as dry as you can," he added and Merlin nodded and patted Arthur's legs as gently as he could. Arthur looked so white now he was undressed and he still hadn't woken up, though he had made a few small noises. It was unnerving to see him unmoving and helpless like this.
Gaius moved over to the bed and Merlin kept on drying, unwinding bits of Arthur from the blankets and then rewrapping as he went.
"He's dry," he announced and Gaius came back and threw off all of Merlin's carefully wound blankets to lift Arthur up.
"Take his feet," Gaius said and Merlin helped him lift Arthur into the bed. Gaius had covered the warm stones with a sheet and arranged them so that when they rolled Arthur on his side, they sat in a line from his chest to his groin. Arthur groaned again as he was moved and his eyelashes fluttered briefly against his cheek but his eyes stayed stubbornly shut and Merlin bit his lip in worry as Gaius covered Arthur up with blankets and fleeces and furs until all that could be seen was a flash of golden hair at the head of the bed.
"Is he going to be all right?"
"I hope so," Gaius said, gazing down at the lump in the middle of the bed. "We've done almost all we can."
"Almost?" Merlin asked.
"Yes, almost," Gaius said. "Now, get your clothes off and get in there with him."
"What?"
"You heard me," Gaius said, lifting his head and glaring.
"Have you gone mad?" Merlin said incredulously.
"Another body is one of the best ways of warming there is," Gaius said impatiently. "Get on with it, boy."
"But… naked?"
"Your clothes are soaked through, and anything wet will make you both colder," Gaius said and Merlin realised that his clothes were uncomfortably damp, probably from the snowball fight Arthur had started before they'd made their way back, and that he was shivering. He hadn't had time to notice before. "Merlin," Gaius said firmly.
"But…"
"Strip. Now."
"If Arthur has me executed in the morning, I am so blaming you," Merlin said giving up and glaring at Gaius as he dropped his hat on the floor and started struggling out of his winter layers.
"That is your prerogative, of course," Gaius said in a dry tone as Merlin kicked off his breeches, towelled dry with one of the discarded blankets and slid reluctantly under the heavy pile of covers. "Well, you're not going to do Arthur any good all the way over there," Gaius said exasperatedly. "Get over and hold onto him, idiot."
Merlin glared again and wriggled close enough to feel chilled skin against his chest, wrapping an arm over Arthur's waist. "Happy now?"
"Ecstatic," Gaius said. "I'm going to tell the King. You lie there and think warm thoughts. And don't rub anything!" he threw back over his shoulder as he went out the door and Merlin felt his face go red and buried it in the blankets over Arthur's shoulder.
This was going to go high on his list of most embarrassing moments ever. He'd never thought his being naked in Arthur's bed would be accompanied by a grumpy physician standing over them and giving orders.
Not that Merlin had thought about being naked in Arthur's bed.
Much.
Just once or twice. In idle moments when he was alone in his room. And sometimes when Arthur was being particularly bratty, Merlin would imagine tying him to that nice big headboard and making him beg, but that only happened, oh, say every other day or so.
Oh, all right, Merlin thought about him and Arthur being naked together all the bloody time. Like anyone wouldn't when Arthur was wandering about in front of them every day, with his wide shoulders and pretty eyes and mouth and the way he would sometimes be shirtless when Merlin arrived in the morning.
And now here he was, probably the only chance Merlin would ever get to actually feel Arthur's bare skin against his own, and he was too busy fretting over how cold Arthur still felt to enjoy the experience. He did notice that Arthur was just as firmly muscled and fitted as nicely against Merlin as he'd always thought, but then Merlin was worried, not dead.
… and dead was really not a word he wanted to think about right then.
Merlin curled his legs in so that his feet tucked against Arthur's and warmed up the mattress beneath them again. He really didn't like this habit Arthur had of nearly dying.
If he'd been further away when the hunting party had crossed back over the frozen river instead of right at Arthur's shoulder… Arthur had gone through the ice so fast that only Merlin's magic had made him able to lunge and grab onto Arthur's arm before he vanished completely underwater. He'd felt Arthur fight to resurface but then go limp terrifyingly quickly and Merlin couldn't do anything but lie there and not let go. He wasn't strong enough to pull Arthur out and he hadn't been able to use his magic to do it because he'd felt the rest of the ice trying to crack and break apart under him and it had taken all the control and power he had to stop that happening.
He'd held the ice together long enough for Olus and Bors to crawl back and drag Arthur out and for them all to get back on land and then he'd let go and the whole path they had trod across the river collapsed into shards of ice behind them.
Arthur had been so still and cold that Merlin had been almost certain he was dead, but before he could fall apart like the ice, Bors had found a pulse and they'd rushed Arthur back to the castle.
Merlin trusted Gaius to make things right, but he wished Arthur would just wake up now. He held on a little tighter and then promptly attempted sideways levitation as the door crashed open and Uther strode through.
"Y-your Highness," Merlin said, trying to fight clear of the blankets to bow, or at least sit up, but getting hopelessly tangled. Scratch the thing with Gaius earlier on; this moment was going straight to the top of his list of most embarrassing moments.
"No, stay where you are," Uther commanded with a hand gesture and Merlin subsided as Gaius came in too and leaned over Merlin to feel Arthur's brow. "Well?" Uther said and Merlin could hear the strain in it though no concern for Arthur showed on his face.
"He may have a touch of frostbite, but nothing serious and I believe there is no other cause for concern just yet," Gaius replied, standing up again and Merlin sighed quietly in relief and then looked firmly down at the blankets as he caught Uther's eyes on him.
"And so, once again, you have saved my son's life," Uther said with one of his unfriendly smiles and Merlin shook his head rapidly.
"I was just lucky enough to be close by," he said. "It was Sir Bors and Sir Olus who pulled him out."
"Then they shall be rewarded," Uther said, looking slightly more pleased. "Don't let him get cold," he ordered as he turned to go, gesturing Gaius out of the room with him.
Merlin waited a moment after the door closed before lying down and wrapping himself back around Arthur. Far be it from him to disobey the king of Camelot. He waited until the sound of Uther and Gaius talking next door stopped and he heard a door close and then he quietly warmed the stones up again as well.
Gaius had said there was no cause for concern. Arthur would be fine.
Of course, Gaius had actually said 'no cause for concern yet' Merlin remembered in a panic as Arthur suddenly began to shudder violently in his arms. "Gaius!"
"What?" Gaius said, popping back through the door with an alarmed look on his face.
"Arthur's worse! He's shaking like a tree in a storm," Merlin gasped out and he clutched Arthur's chest and tried to keep him still.
"Ah. Good," Gaius said and simply smiled smugly at Merlin's horrified look. "He's warming up."
"Right. Of course. Being wracked with shivers obviously means he's toasty," Merlin said and Gaius chuckled.
"Trust me, Merlin. He will be fine. Now, I'll be in the next room. Let me know when he wakes up properly. And stop worrying so."
"Worrying? I'm not worrying," Merlin muttered as Gaius left and closed the door again and Arthur shook and shook against him. "No, I'm just peachy. You can't ever do anything the easy way, can you, you princely idiot," he added to the back of Arthur's head and felt even worse when there was no sharp come-back.
Arthur did feel like he was a bit warmer though, now that Merlin was calm enough to pay attention. He supposed Gaius must be right, but it wasn't like he had much experience with thawing people out: if someone went through the lake-ice where he came from, they waited until the spring thaw and then buried the body. Merlin shifted his hand so that he could feel Arthur's heart beating in a reassuring rhythm and relaxed a little.
It took a while, but eventually Arthur's shivering died down and Merlin could feel the muscles in his back ease up from the tension they'd been in. He really was getting better.
Merlin was still startled when Arthur's hand brushed and then held onto his arm and Arthur made an enquiring sort of grumble. After a minute, Arthur twisted around far enough for Merlin to see that his eyes were open. Arthur frowned dazedly at him and then the corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. "Huh. S'you," he mumbled and his eyes dropped closed again like they were too heavy for him and he fell straight back asleep.
Merlin grinned like an idiot for a whole minute before he even thought about calling Gaius. And then he changed his mind and didn't call because Arthur hadn't really woken properly and Gaius would only want to wake him up again and ask questions and Merlin thought Arthur probably needed some real rest. He would tell Gaius the next time Arthur woke.
And until then, Merlin would let himself enjoy being warm and cosy and holding Arthur like a lover. He expected that it would be over soon enough.
Merlin yawned and snuggled further down into the bed. He was quite sleepy too; it had been a long day.
~
Merlin woke up later with a confused feeling of being trapped and nibbled on, only to find that he was trapped underneath Arthur and the nibbling was Arthur working his way along Merlin's collarbone.
"Ummm," he said, giving into temptation for a moment and moving into the touch, but then Merlin lifted his hand and tried to push Arthur away because Arthur was probably dreaming that he was with some fine lady and would be really pissed off when he discovered otherwise. No doubt leading to executions and other unpleasant things. "Arthur," Merlin said.
"Mm," Arthur purred against his neck, refusing to budge; he licked him and Merlin shivered.
"Arthur, seriously, stop that," Merlin said rather weakly and squeaked abruptly as one of Arthur's hands wandered down his back and squeezed. That felt much too good and Merlin was getting hard now so he tried to squirm away, but the blankets had got all twisted around somehow and he was stuck. He tried to tug Arthur's head up but got distracted by the feel of Arthur's hair and the way he was sucking just under Merlin's ear. "Stop, stop, you have to stop," he reminded them both in a chant and then added in desperation, "Gaius is in the next room!" and it was the last thought that gave Merlin the impetus to shove Arthur back finally.
"Merlin," Arthur complained and Merlin froze at the annoyed expression on his face. "You're never usually this difficult when I dream this," Arthur went on, in his 'Merlin, you idiot' voice and Merlin snapped back at that tone just like he usually would.
"That's because you're not dreaming, you prat," he said and pinched Arthur's arm, hard. Arthur jerked his arm away with a glare and then it was his turn to freeze and stare at Merlin in apparent horror. "Wait, you dream about me?" Merlin said incredulously as his brain caught up with what Arthur had actually said and Arthur went red, whipped his hand away from Merlin's arse and started trying to get away. He didn't have any more success at untangling them than Merlin had, particularly since Merlin was now hanging on just as firmly as he could.
"Let go of me right now," Arthur finally ground out.
"No." There was no way that was happening. Not when it suddenly seemed like Merlin wasn't alone in the wanting. Arthur had said Merlin's name, he'd said he dreamed about Merlin (apparently regularly) and Merlin wasn't going to let Arthur deny them both when there was no reason to.
"What do you mean 'no'? That was an order, and, and why are you naked in my bed anyway? What the hell are you playing at?" Arthur growled, going on the attack.
"Gaius told me to," Merlin said and Arthur stopped trying to push him away for a moment, looking completely confused, before he got angry again.
"Start making sense before I strangle you."
"You went through the ice on the river, we brought you back, Gaius says this is the best way to warm someone up," Merlin said hastily.
"Did he tell you to cling like a fucking limpet? Get off," Arthur said, starting to sound a little desperate as Merlin twisted with him and avoided another push away.
"You didn't seem to mind it earlier," he pointed out, grinning smugly, "It was you feeling me up, and don't even try and pretend you didn't know it was me."
"Shut up," Arthur said, going dark red and turning his face as far from Merlin as he could get it. Merlin tried to tug him back around, but Arthur grabbed his wrist in a painful grip and pulled his hand away and Merlin realised he hadn't given Arthur any sign that he wanted Arthur back. No wonder Arthur was being so difficult.
He leaned in and kissed the side of Arthur's face and then slowly along his jaw. Merlin could feel Arthur go even more tense as he twisted in to drop a kiss just at the corner of Arthur's mouth and suddenly he was flipped around and shoved, and despite Merlin's and the blankets' best efforts he ended up about a foot away from Arthur, both of them now on their sides. "I don't need your pity, or your service," Arthur hissed, looking furious and defensive at the same time and Merlin blinked and curled his lip.
"As if. I wouldn't give you either, believe me." Arthur was an idiot if he thought Merlin would do that out of duty.
"What was that then?"
"That was me kissing you back, you stupid git," Merlin said, getting completely exasperated. This conversation was another way he hadn't imagined Arthur and him behaving if they were ever naked and in bed.
"You were pushing me away before," Arthur argued stubbornly, "and now I'm suddenly supposed to believe you mean it?"
"I thought you were delirious before! I didn't want you to wake up tomorrow, realise it was me you'd been groping and have me beheaded," Merlin snapped.
"…oh," Arthur said, subsiding and looking lost and slightly hopeful instead of angry. Merlin lost his own annoyance at that and reached out slowly. When Arthur didn't pull back, Merlin cupped the side of his face and wriggled closer when Arthur licked his lips.
"Are you going to push me if I try that again?" Merlin asked and Arthur shook his head. Merlin grinned at that and he leaned in and kissed Arthur properly. Arthur was more hesitant now that he didn't think he was dreaming, but it was still good enough to make Merlin quiver. Arthur's lips were soft and warm and he made little noises when Merlin licked them, and Merlin had wanted this for so long. He wanted more too, and he slipped his tongue between Arthur's lips when they parted to tease and stroke, rolling Arthur onto his back, and Arthur's moan sent heat all through him. Arthur's arms wrapped around Merlin's back and he moaned at that too, and this was so very good and so very, very bad.
It took another minute, but Merlin eventually managed to stop kissing Arthur and he pushed Arthur back down on the mattress to stop him from starting it up again.
"Sorry, but we really can't do this just now."
"Why not?" Arthur protested.
"Because Gaius really is next door. And I am very noisy," Merlin breathed, not quite able to resist ducking his head for another quick kiss. "And, believe me, sire, you will be too," he added cheekily when he raised his head and was delighted to see Arthur blush and try to cover it with a frown.
"Bollocks," Arthur sighed as Merlin shifted over to lie down at his side and Merlin chuckled at his disappointment.
"Besides, I'm under strict orders from your physician not to rub anything," he said and Arthur smirked as he turned over so that they faced each other and slid his arm around Merlin's waist.
"So apparently Gaius just lives to be a spoilsport," Arthur drawled and Merlin grinned back, settling his own arm round Arthur's shoulders so he could stroke the nape of his neck.
"Apparently. Mind you, he didn't say anything about licking," Merlin said thoughtfully and smiled wickedly as Arthur blinked and went gradually red, his eyes going dark as he realised what Merlin meant.
"I thought you country boys were supposed to be innocent," Arthur said, sounding strangled.
"Clearly you've never lived in the country," Merlin said raising his eyebrows. Arthur shook his head absently, still staring at Merlin, before he moved forward and kissed him again. This time they moaned in unison and flinched apart at the same moment. Merlin had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the panicked look on Arthur's face and Arthur glared briefly, though after a few seconds he was fighting back his own smile.
"You are a tease, Merlin," he grumbled and Merlin did his best to look apologetic, though he was still feeling so happy that Arthur wanted him that he doubted he was very successful.
"Sorry. Next time, anything goes," he promised and Arthur grinned. "Just… don't go nearly dying first again, all right?" Merlin added, rather more intensely than he had meant to, and Arthur looked at him thoughtfully and nodded. "Right. Good. I'll go and let Gaius know you're awake," Merlin said after a slightly awkward silence. He didn't want to get up, but he wasn't sure if Arthur would want to share his bed when nothing was going to happen between them.
"No, he can wait until morning," Arthur said with a headshake.
"How do you feel anyway?" Merlin asked, realising he'd never thought to before. "We got you out as fast as we could."
"I'm fine," Arthur said. "I still feel a little cold though," he added after a minute. Merlin frowned in worry, but Arthur just smiled and tugged Merlin back in close. "That's better," he said nudging Merlin into settling curled half on top of him and Merlin ducked his head down onto Arthur's shoulder and sighed as Arthur yawned.
They were both warm and safe, and Merlin was going to get to feel Arthur in his arms again, most likely soon. He might even get to live out his headboard fantasy one day.
Merlin would never doubt Gaius' methods for treating people again.