Unrealistic that all these magic reveal merthur au’s out there have Merlin remembering enough of his life to be able to recap the entirety of the show to Arthur without leaving anything out all in one go.
magic reveal fanfic’s:
Merlin: my magic’s for you arthur. Its only for you. *proceeds to give chronological order of events starting at ep1 all the way up to the reveal*
10x funnier and more likely:
Merlin: *months or years after the reveal* so anyway, there I was, tied to a tree, and a serkhet stings me, right?
Arthur: *spluttering* I’m sorry what
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How I picture Leon finds out that Merlin has magic:
Merlin was tired.
Not because of the abundance of chores and the fatigue that came from running around after yet another assassin, but because he hadn't used his magic at all for the past month. Yes, even with the presence of the assassin. Gwaine had fortunately been there to knock the guy out and throw him in the dungeons, catching him red-handed.
He had been trying to stay as cautious as possible, which was why he hadn't used magic in such a long time.
But the fact was - Merlin was born with magic. It was as natural as breathing to him. So when he didn't use magic for an extended period of time, he would get tired.
He needed to use magic. Just a small bit.
He would do it in the safety of his room, but he was currently carrying Arthur's armor to his chambers from the training field and it was heavy and he was so so tired and- well, it would only be a small spell.
He put the armor down, checked that no one was around, then held up a palm. His eyes flashed gold and a small fire appeared on top of it.
Just because he had missed his magic, he flashed his eyes gold and made the flame morph into a butterfly. He smiled as it slowly flapped its wings, staying on Merlin's palm.
Then Merlin heard a gasp and he snapped his head to the newcomer.
The thing about knights was that they were trained to be as quiet as possible even in armor. It was required for certain missions as well as hunting. But armor was impossible to be quiet, so Merlin, having spent a significant amount of time with them, had trained himself to automatically hear when they were approaching. And since they were always in their armor anyway, even sleeping in it sometimes, he had relied on that to alert him of anyone crossing the hallway.
After all, anyone else - servants and nobles alike - wouldn't bother quieting their footsteps while walking.
If they did, it would be because of malicious intent so it wouldn't matter if they saw Merlin or not.
But occasionally - very very occassionally - knights walked around without their armor.
That, combined with their light footsteps and silent movements, had caught Merlin unaware.
So when he snapped his head over to look at Leon staring with wide eyes at the butterfly made of flame in his hand, Merlin was surprised. More than that, he was afraid.
The two of them froze, with Leon's gaze on the fire butterfly and Merlin's on Leon, standing rigidly like deers caught in the wild.
Then Leon raised his eyes from the butterfly to Merlin, then back to the butterfly, then back to Merlin again-
Before he spun on his heel and walked the other way whistling jovially like he hadn't seen anything.
Merlin was still frozen like a deer. He didn't move until several minutes later when he did hear armor clinking against each other. That was when he got rid of the butterfly and hefted the armor up, walking back to his room, leaving Arthur's armor in favor of panicking.
~
When Merlin met Leon in the armory that evening, he tried to approach him. Leon, recognizing what Merlin was trying to do, let him, moving into a secluded changing room far from the armory with the other knights and squires and pages.
Leon nodded at Merlin in greeting when Merlin closed the door.
"Leon," Merlin started. "What you saw-"
"That you were shirking Arthur's chores? No worries. I didn't give you away before, I won't do so now."
Merlin blinked. "What?"
Leon sighed. "Look, Merlin. I don't get paid enough, even as a knight. Not with all those missions and calamities that keep getting Arthur into trouble. So I refuse to deal with anything above my paygrade. Even you avoiding chores."
Merlin blinked again.
Leon clapped a hand on his shoulder, and with a smile, left the room.
Merlin looked after the knight, wondering for the first time, exactly how many times the knight had committed or aided or turned a blind eye against treason for him to be this casual about it.
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Rewatching the first episode of Merlin, and I totally get why Arthur thinks he’s so brave even without knowing about his magic. Like not only did Merlin square up with Arthur twice, he takes Arthur’s own weapon and tries to get Arthur to yield to him. Merlin is ballsy from the start!
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Sorcerer: it's said that the more you insult someone, the more you care about them.
Merlin: *snorts* then Arthur must be in love with me
Arthur: *panics* haha... Haha. Yeah. That's ridiculous.
Gwen: Merlin, Arthur called you a daffodil.
Arthur: yes, exactly. I'd never insult Merlin. Look? He's adorable. Totally lovely, no reason to insult him, ever.
Merlin: ...
Gwen: ...
The sorcerer: ...
Arthur: you know what? I'm just going to leave.
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“I know you seem to forget sometimes, Merlin, but I am the crown prince. Of course I know how to dance.”
“Then what are you so worried about?”
“Well, I might just be a little out of practice, is all, and I’m not particularly fond of the idea of embarrassing myself in front of everyone I know, let alone the nobles coming to visit.”
“Then let’s practice.”
“What?”
“Practice with me. You teach me the basics, and you’ll be able to prance around with whatever lady your heart desires by the time the banquet rolls around.”
“…Alright, then. I suppose you’ve had worse ideas.”
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