#the funny 'sneak around the camp base to get the triskelion and climb to the tower of ashkanar' was directly preceded by a heavy convo abou

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

About a month ago (I thought it was longer!) I posted some ficlets with the promise that a longer Lancelot Lives Alt Season 4 full fic was coming. It has been going slowly. Like, "less than 15k words since then" slow. I started alt Servant of Two Masters literally with Mercelot Week and they've just found out that he's trying to kill Arthur slow. And I thought, you know, I could post another sneak peek.

A few days ago, I made myself sad writing the first conversation between Lancelot and Merlin since the latter went missing (not that the scene itself comes off as all that sad, it is from Fomorroh!Merlin, but I thought of how sad Lancelot would've been and well). Yesterday, I made this fic into a comedy:

“It’s probably best that we get there first,” Gwen tried to demur.

“We think Merlin might have been enchanted to kill Arthur,” Gaius said.

Gwen made a sound like a mix between a boiling kettle and a cat whose tail had been stepped on, but Lancelot didn’t pay it any mind.

“What?” he yelped and didn’t wait for an actual answer before breaking into a run. 

Fortunately, while the physician’s chambers were on the top of a tower, isolated from the rest of the castle, they’d also been placed close to the Royal Chambers. He burst through the doors not a minute later, just in time to see Merlin pull an arrow out of a pillar. Thinking only of that weapon in his hand (the danger to Arthur’s life, to Merlin’s life if he was caught after the act, how it’d break his heart if he hurt Arthur or worse) and not the startled look on his face or the bewildered question from behind the privacy screen, Lancelot launched himself at him.

They went down in a tangle of limbs.

“What on earth— Lancelot?!” Arthur exclaimed, running over. “What is going on?!”

“Get off me!” Merlin struggled like a fish on land.

“I just… hadn’t seen him since he came back!” Lancelot said, barely dodging an elbow to the face. “I’m so happy he’s alive!” he insisted, finally managing to wrap his arms around his torso to immobilize him.

“What are you talking about? We just saw each other in the Armoury!” It was a good thing Merlin had dropped the arrow when they fell, because Lancelot was pretty sure he’d have been stabbed by now otherwise. 

“I think you imagined that.” Lancelot was half trying to pin Merlin’s legs under his own, half trying to avoid a kick to any sensitive spot when Gwen arrived at the door, out of breath.

“Arthur, they need you at the Throne Room,” she gasped out. “You have to go.”

“Why would I ever torture myself by imagining more conversations with you? The ones I have to suffer through in reality are more than enough for any sane being,” Merlin said, still wriggling.

Lancelot shot Arthur a wide beam. “He’s so funny.”

Merlin took that moment of distraction to twist suddenly, getting his legs under himself. He might have gotten enough leverage to shake Lancelot off and stand up if Gwen hadn’t jumped on him as well.

“You too?!” Arthur demanded, arms spread. “You saw him this morning!”

“I missed him so much,” she explained, holding on for dear life.

Gaius appeared at the door and Arthur turned to him.

“Let me guess.” Arthur gestured wildly. “Do you want to drop to my floor?”

“No, sire,” Gaius answered, eyes narrowed. “Do you?”

Arthur made a strangled noise that choked itself into a laugh.

“Back to normal, then,” he sighed. He walked across the room, past the wrestling figures in the floor that became a lot more active when Merlin saw Arthur come within reach, and grabbed his ceremonial sword. “I better get going. You” —he waved a hand— “have fun.”

“Wait,” Merlin shouted after him. “Don’t you need me to—?”

Arthur slammed the door behind himself pointedly.