![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
definewisdomTitle: The Lazarus Experiment
Fandoms: Merlin
Rating: G
Word Count: 671
Warnings: Sort of death!fic, but not really.
Pairing/Characters: Arthur, Merlin
Spoilers: None really
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or any of it's characters, these fics are purely for entertainment purposes. Nor do I own Dr Who.
Author's Note: I can't remember who prompted this, but it's another fic from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
comment_fic. The prompt was the Dr Who Ep Title The Lazarus Experiment.
Summary: future!fic, Arthur keeps vigil over Merlin after he once again does something stupid to save Arthur's life.
Three hours passed him by, and the evening faded to dusk and then to night. The sun slipped down, and the air in the room began to chill. But the King did not move.
Servants came and went, hurrying in with hushed footsteps to bring food that was not eaten and messages that were ignored. The fire was lit. But the King did not move.
He sat by the edge of the bed, leaning forwards, his chin resting on his joined hands, his eyes intent on the figure that was lying before him. Every now and then he would mutter to himself, a few words, a plea to a god or gods that might be listening.
The man lying on the bed was as pale as the white sheets he lay on. His chest was not rising. The court physician had pronounced him dead three hours ago, after Arthur had carried him up the stairs to his room alone, ignoring the attempts of those around him to help.
“You cannot die,” he told the room at large. “You hear me, Merlin? That’s an order… Though I don’t know why I’m ordering you – you never listen to me when I do that.”
He paused, lifting one hand to run it through his hair, leaving it chaotic; he let out a sigh as though even the simple act of raising one arm wearied him. “You are not dying now… For God’s sake, Merlin. Who’s going to ineptly trip over his robes while trying to save me from magical attacks now?”
There was no reply from the man on the bed.
“You said you had a plan… I knew it was a bad idea from the moment you said that. Your plans are always utter bollocks. You know they are, I know they are. Why on Earth did I let you do anything after you said you had a plan?”
He reached out to touch one hand to Merlin’s forhead, drawing it back when he couldn’t feel any warmth.
“When you wake up I’m going to kill you,” he promised. “I’ll throw you into the dungeons and make a decree that all the children of Camelot will have to go and see you so they can know what not to do with their lives… when you wake up.
“You told me not to worry, said you’d got it all sorted… you said it would be easy. Easy. Now you’re…” he broke off and buried his head in his hands again. “Wake up, you ridiculous, incompetent idiot. Wake up.”
“Good morning to you too…”
The world froze, Arthur’s head in his hands, Merlin’s eyes looking at him with deep amusement as his chest began to rise.
Arthur’s head snapped up so fast that, had he been wearing his crown it would have ended up on the other side of the room.
“Merlin! You imbecile! You utter moron, and git. You rotten piece of horse dung. You were dead.”
“Yep. Didn’t stop you from insulting me, though, did it?” Merlin said, pulling himself into a sitting position with a grunt of pain. “Just so as you know – dying hurts like hell. I’m not doing that again in a hurry.”
“I should damn well hope not!” Arthur snapped, clenching his fists, torn between wanting to hit the idiot sorcerer or hug him. In the end he settled for a rough embrace, so tight that Merlin ended up gasping for breath as he drew away. “Dead, Merlin… Dead. You said you had a plan.”
“Ah… yes,” Merlin said, a little abashed. “That was sort of it.”
“Your plan was to die?”
“Yes?”
“You could have warned me! It would have been nice to know you were going to wake up.” Merlin grinned a little sheepishly and Arthur’s glare grew. “You did know you were going to wake up, didn’t you?”
“Uh… not exactly?” Merlin hazarded. Arthur cursed lengthily. “It was an experiment.”
The tray of food made a loud clanging noise as it connected with the far wall.
-
Fandoms: Merlin
Rating: G
Word Count: 671
Warnings: Sort of death!fic, but not really.
Pairing/Characters: Arthur, Merlin
Spoilers: None really
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, or any of it's characters, these fics are purely for entertainment purposes. Nor do I own Dr Who.
Author's Note: I can't remember who prompted this, but it's another fic from
comment_fic. The prompt was the Dr Who Ep Title The Lazarus Experiment.Summary: future!fic, Arthur keeps vigil over Merlin after he once again does something stupid to save Arthur's life.
Three hours passed him by, and the evening faded to dusk and then to night. The sun slipped down, and the air in the room began to chill. But the King did not move.
Servants came and went, hurrying in with hushed footsteps to bring food that was not eaten and messages that were ignored. The fire was lit. But the King did not move.
He sat by the edge of the bed, leaning forwards, his chin resting on his joined hands, his eyes intent on the figure that was lying before him. Every now and then he would mutter to himself, a few words, a plea to a god or gods that might be listening.
The man lying on the bed was as pale as the white sheets he lay on. His chest was not rising. The court physician had pronounced him dead three hours ago, after Arthur had carried him up the stairs to his room alone, ignoring the attempts of those around him to help.
“You cannot die,” he told the room at large. “You hear me, Merlin? That’s an order… Though I don’t know why I’m ordering you – you never listen to me when I do that.”
He paused, lifting one hand to run it through his hair, leaving it chaotic; he let out a sigh as though even the simple act of raising one arm wearied him. “You are not dying now… For God’s sake, Merlin. Who’s going to ineptly trip over his robes while trying to save me from magical attacks now?”
There was no reply from the man on the bed.
“You said you had a plan… I knew it was a bad idea from the moment you said that. Your plans are always utter bollocks. You know they are, I know they are. Why on Earth did I let you do anything after you said you had a plan?”
He reached out to touch one hand to Merlin’s forhead, drawing it back when he couldn’t feel any warmth.
“When you wake up I’m going to kill you,” he promised. “I’ll throw you into the dungeons and make a decree that all the children of Camelot will have to go and see you so they can know what not to do with their lives… when you wake up.
“You told me not to worry, said you’d got it all sorted… you said it would be easy. Easy. Now you’re…” he broke off and buried his head in his hands again. “Wake up, you ridiculous, incompetent idiot. Wake up.”
“Good morning to you too…”
The world froze, Arthur’s head in his hands, Merlin’s eyes looking at him with deep amusement as his chest began to rise.
Arthur’s head snapped up so fast that, had he been wearing his crown it would have ended up on the other side of the room.
“Merlin! You imbecile! You utter moron, and git. You rotten piece of horse dung. You were dead.”
“Yep. Didn’t stop you from insulting me, though, did it?” Merlin said, pulling himself into a sitting position with a grunt of pain. “Just so as you know – dying hurts like hell. I’m not doing that again in a hurry.”
“I should damn well hope not!” Arthur snapped, clenching his fists, torn between wanting to hit the idiot sorcerer or hug him. In the end he settled for a rough embrace, so tight that Merlin ended up gasping for breath as he drew away. “Dead, Merlin… Dead. You said you had a plan.”
“Ah… yes,” Merlin said, a little abashed. “That was sort of it.”
“Your plan was to die?”
“Yes?”
“You could have warned me! It would have been nice to know you were going to wake up.” Merlin grinned a little sheepishly and Arthur’s glare grew. “You did know you were going to wake up, didn’t you?”
“Uh… not exactly?” Merlin hazarded. Arthur cursed lengthily. “It was an experiment.”
The tray of food made a loud clanging noise as it connected with the far wall.
-
