#Gaius is sometimes invited whenever he can afford to go

[natsu2501malo]

I have my own little version of this if anyone is willing to hear me out.

I feel like Merlin would hide the pain and try to figure out how to undo it himself but also stubbornly stay closer to Arthur then ever before believing this spell to be a plot to get him away from Arthur so they can finally have a chance to kill him without him around as protection.

Meanwhile the bad guys watching from the sidelines are freaking out thinking the spell failed. Merlin by this point has monster levels of pain tolerance and although he feels the pain he has become quite good at hiding his reaction to it with his secret and life on the line it's a skill he's worked hard at developing.

Arthur probably only feels a less severe version of the spell as Merlin subconsciously protected him from the worst of it. Que him asking Gaius why his heart hurts whenever Merlin is around, meanwhile Morgana who had original been worried and followed him into his check up snickers at her poor oblivious brother. Gwen is gonna love it when she tells her later.

Gaius having not been updated on the magic attack on the prince du jour makes a wrong assumption and refuses to answer the prince's delima and instead gets him to consult everyone he's known to have a crush on Merlin in the past and leaves it at that.

He's to old for the drama that will unfold from this, he just hopes Merlin comes out of it okay. (Meanwhile Arthur learns that basically all of Camelot is in love with his servant and hears that they all gave up because it was obvious Merlin either wasn't interested in love or was already devoted to another)

You both get the angstiest episode whenever Merlin's pov is on screen, then when it's Arthur's you get the sweetest purest episodes about realizing his feelings for Merlin and coming to the realization that Merlin is his world.

Maybe this could go on for a couple episode where other things happen and Arthur slowly realizes that he's been treating the love of his life like crap and tries to learn as much about Merlin as he can to make up for it. He slowly realizes how little he knows about hims and eventually he learns all of Merlin's favourite things, his mannerisms, but he also realizes that whenever Arthur is around Merlin tends to perform. Not quite lie but overreact or make himself seem dimwitted on purpose.

Whenever Arthur throws something at Merlin he reacts to pain strongly which had in the past lead him to believe Merlin to be a bit of a wimp. He know better now since the day he saw him burn his whole hand on a pot when he thought he was alone and barely reacts. Later on he asks him about the bandages and Merlin makes a story about his clumsiness leading him to get a small scratch. Arthur knows that Merlin definitely should no be able to do his chores let alone hold anything right now especially while being this calm about it.

This leads Arthur to more closely observe him when Merlin thinks he is alone or how he acts when around others. Thankfully Merlin seams to perform in front of other's too except Lancelot.

Btw this would not be rushed and be a weird fusion of angst, humour, fluff, romance and character development galore that goes on for a long time as other stories happen the curse would still be there.

Eventually would maybe overhear a version of his rant to Gaius about how much stress he's under + the spell.

The main reason Merlin hasn't fixed the curse is because he's been toi afraid to leave Arthur's side so Arthur decides to tell him he knows and that they can go look for answers together!

Except he messes up and confesses instead. He also lets Merlin know he knows about the spell but in the moment he forgets to also reveal that he knows about Merlin's magic.

So now Arthur has a secret of his own and struggles to reveal that he knows as him and Merlin get closer and closer then ever before.

In the end the reveal goes a little like this.

Arthur: "Merlin I have something to tell you. I'm sorry I've kept to myself for so long."

Merlin: Merlin having been so happy lately has totally forgotten about his own secret and assumes that Arthur is finally ready to say the words I Love You.

Merlin: "Arthur you know that whatever it is you have to say that I'll accept it and still be here, I'm not going anywhere 😌💙"

Arthur: "I really should have told you this long ago, I know that me not telling you has hurt you and I am so sorry"

Arthur: "I just want you to know that you are safe with me I will always protect you."

Merlin: 🥰

Arthur: Arthur trying to get this over with rushes his words "Merlin-you-are-a-sorcerer-and-I-still-love-you"

Merlin: "I love you t... Wait WHAT!? 😱"

Merlin: I'm a what now!?

The end.

Anyways if someone want to use this a prompt to make a story I beg you to do it just link this post, mention my name and let me know about it so I can read it too and you will make me the happiest girl on earth.

Imagine this

Arthur and Merlin get cursed by a sorcerer/sorceress to feel pain when they get too close to each other. The opposite of the forced proximity trope.

When they finally figure out how the curse works, they don’t seem that worried about it. Arthur jokes about how Merlin was annoying him recently and Merlin mentions getting some time off for once.

However, it’s so hard for them to stay away from each other. They keep accidentally getting too close to one another. It gets so bad that they have to be dragged to Gauis by some knights that found them passed out in the hallway.

Arthur and Merlin are more bothered by the curse than they would care to admit. They make a silent promise that they won’t leave the other alone for at least a week when it’s done.

as always, send me any fics that are like this