Unfortunately, it would take all three of the possible days that Gaius had predicted for Merlin's hearing to fully return.

Fortunately, he was surrounded by caring friends, who had no intentions of letting Merlin suffer alone.

After getting him to his chambers, Arthur allowed Merlin to perform his usual jobs under his watch like he had told him in the armoury. Arthur's mindset was to let Merlin carry on as normal if that was what the idiot wanted despite his generous offer of time off. He sat at his desk and found himself looking up at Merlin more times than he realised as his manservant tidied his chambers. He was just checking to make sure he was okay, the last thing Arthur wanted was to see Merlin break down again as he had seen in the armoury. Adding to the images that he was trying to get out of his head.

Arthur had promised himself not to let Merlin out of his sight until he was better, but that had proven to be harder to keep than he initially realised. In hindsight, it was impossible to constantly keep an eye on Merlin. The man was always floating around, either not doing his jobs properly, drinking mead at the tavern or doing chores for Gaius. Arthur carefully considered this once Merlin had left him that evening after tending to his duties.

Still blinded by the image of Merlin's breakdown, which he intended to never see again, Arthur was hesitant to see Merlin dismissed for the night. But he knew that Gaius would look after him, he always did. The pair were like father and son. After making it clear to Merlin that he wanted him to get some decent rest, Arthur let Merlin go. He knew that it was not just he and Gaius that cared for Merlin, even though he would never admit it out loud. There was Guinevere for one, Gwaine, and all the knights come to think of it. He made a list in his head.

With that in mind, Arthur set his plan into motion.

When Guinevere came to his chambers later that evening, Arthur told her about Merlin's deafness. She was horrified but then thought back to her encounter with him the previous night. Despite what Gaius had told her, the back of Gwen's mind shouted that something was wrong with Merlin. But she didn't want to pursue it in case it did more harm than good. In turn, she told Arthur about this encounter, with Arthur listening intensely. He realised that Merlin had tried to cover it up even to Guinevere, someone who Arthur knew he was close with. It seemed that Merlin really didn't want anyone to find out.

Arthur did not tell Gwen with the intention of hurting Merlin. He only told her so she could help keep an eye on him for the next few days, for the times when Merlin wasn't by his side. He knew Guinevere's kindness would shine through and that Merlin would certainly have an eye kept on him if he told her.

The next morning, Merlin woke up feeling odd about the day before. One thing that he couldn't get out of his head was the fact that Arthur, the very same clotpole he had known for years, had hugged him. He had actually hugged him. Not that he was complaining, he secretly loved it. He didn't know he needed one from Arthur until he got one. It certainly made up for the 'almost-hug' that had happened ages ago when Uther married a troll. It didn't change the fact that Merlin still couldn't hear the birds outside his chambers or the people in the citadel. The young warlock sighed; he was still deaf. Merlin put it together himself that it would take those three days after all for his hearing to make an appearance.

Accepting this, he hauled himself out of bed and got ready for the day. Gaius had come in to see if Merlin was awake and was surprised to see his ward's head buried in a book. Merlin noticed him come in with his peripheral vision and spoke before Gaius got the chance.

"Before you ask, no, I can't find a spell that can return my hearing." Merlin told him bluntly as if he was annoyed.

"I'm not sure that would be a wise decision anyway, Merlin." Replied Gaius, looking sadly at his ward.

Even though Merlin had not heard Gaius' response, the pair of them were thinking the same thing. It would look mighty suspicious to Arthur if Merlin's hearing had miraculously returned so suddenly after telling the King it would likely take three days. Merlin knew he couldn't take the risk as it may get Gaius in trouble too. He put the book down and the pair proceeded to have breakfast.

Gaius was summoned to attend to an ill woman in the lower citadel shortly after they finished, leaving Merlin on his own. The raven-haired man opened the door to leave and was met with the smiling face of Gwen outside, mirroring their encounter from the day of the hunt. The smile on her face was something Merlin couldn't help but return.

"Hey Gwen, erm, what can I do for you?" He asked, thinking she was there to see Gaius and so prepared himself to act as a lipreading substitute. But Gwen had other ideas. Instead, she handed Merlin a piece of paper with a message:

"Don't worry, I know about you. Is there anything I can do?" The message was written in neat handwriting that complimented Gwen greatly.

Unfortunately, Merlin briefly forgot about his deafness and thought the message was referencing something else entirely. Sending him into a small state of panic, he looked up and saw Gwen's now concerned face and realised what she meant.

"Oh!" He said in relief, making Gwen form a confused smile. "Yeah, that. Well, I could do with a hug, actually." So, Gwen wasted no time in giving Merlin what he asked for. Gwen was relieved that she had made Merlin feel better, that was her intention from the start.

She then wrote down for Merlin that he should take the paper with him to Arthur's chambers, hoping that Arthur would take a hint and do the same thing that she was to make things easier for Merlin. They said their goodbyes and Merlin scurried away to Arthur's chambers. Gwen secretly watched him go with a small smile.

Once again, his royal pratishness was already dressed and working at his desk again when Merlin got there. The only difference from yesterday was that Merlin was holding Arthur's breakfast this time.

"Ah, Merlin." Arthur greeted him fondly. He waited until Merlin was facing him until speaking again, hoping it would give him a chance to lipread. "I trust you had a decent nights rest as I instructed you?"

Merlin saw 'nights rest' form on Arthur's lips and nodded, placing the King's breakfast down on the desk. Arthur acknowledged this but didn't seem interested in his food. He was the same the evening after the hunt when George walked in with his dinner, he was too busy thinking about Merlin.

"I bumped into Gwen just now." Merlin started as he went to make Arthur's bed.
"Oh?" Replied Arthur, impressed with Guinevere's attention to the matter so soon.
"She handed me this." Merlin took the folded paper out of his belt and briefly returned to Arthur's desk, placing it in front of the King's eyes.

Arthur unfolded it and read the messages from Gwen to Merlin, figuring out that he knew that she knew. Arthur cursed himself for not thinking of the same idea of written messages sooner.

"Now, it might be my head injury, but somehow I think she knows about me." The sarcasm oozed in Merlin's voice as he looked to Arthur for an answer.

"Well, she would, since I told her."

Merlin already knew this but was surprised that Arthur had admitted it. He might have seen the words 'I told her' but didn't hear the sort of proudness Arthur held in his voice.

"I mean, I worked that one out." The manservant replied, not too sure where to go with this. "Why did you tell her?"

Without a word, Arthur grabbed his quill and began scribbling down a message on Gwen's paper. Leaving Merlin to stand by his bed watching from a distance. When Arthur had finished, he held the paper out and motioned for Merlin to take it. He let out an intentionally dramatic sigh and trundled back over to Arthur's desk to grab the paper, studying its words carefully:

"If I can't keep an eye on you all the time, someone else has to as well."

Arthur's handwriting was distinctly different from Gwen's. Merlin tried to not let his mouth go agape, he was not expecting that to be the message.

"That's why, you idiot." Arthur stated before getting up and heading towards the window, Merlin watching him as he went.

Merlin looked down and the message again, then back up at Arthur, who was now peering at the citadel through his window. Merlin wasn't annoyed that Arthur had told Gwen, he was just confused as to why he did it. But now, Merlin understood that Arthur wanted to keep an eye on him, to make sure he was alright. To say he was touched was an understatement.

"Thank you." Came from Merlin, which prompted Arthur to turn around and look his manservant in the eyes, where he could see he was being genuine. He gave Merlin a smile in return.

"You're welcome, but don't get used to it." Arthur teased, not really meaning it. Secretly, Arthur had planned for something like this to never happen again. He didn't care if he had to keep a permanent eye on Merlin. If that's what it took, he would do it.

Merlin managed to pick up on the 'but don't get used to it' in Arthur's words and grinned, he knew he didn't mean it, it was one of his King's usual pratty responses. He put the paper back on the King's desk and went to finish making the royal arse's bed.

"It's a lovely day out, perfect for some training when the knights return from patrol." Arthur stated, turning away from the window to face Merlin. The other man had heard that all too familiar buzzing of Arthur's voice, but wasn't looking at his lips and couldn't deduce what he had just said.

"Hmm?" Merlin murmured, bearing a confused expression. Arthur gazed at Merlin and realised he hadn't heard a word he said and so decided to resort to Guinevere's idea. Scurrying back to his desk, he grabbed that paper and started writing. As he was writing, Arthur could've punched himself for saying so much whilst he was far away from Merlin when it was obvious that he wouldn't pick up on it. He was still adapting to the situation himself.

This time, Arthur rose from his desk, quill in hand, and gave Merlin the paper himself, which bore a whole new message:

"I thought I could do with some training shortly. You up for it?" Was scribbled down.

Merlin's face went into worry, he would be terrible at training in his state, he thought Arthur would realise that. "Training? Erm, sure, it's not up to me..." Arthur saw the worry on his manservant's face and placed a hand on his shoulder, something which Arthur knew comforted him. He gave him a reassuring smile that Merlin immediately calmed at.

Using his bed as a surface, Arthur wrote down more on the paper. Merlin couldn't help but try and get a sneak peek at the message, but the King had concealed it well. Once finished, he handed it back to Merlin:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you the target. I was thinking you could stand there and judge me like you normally do. If you're up for it."

Arthur put emphasis on that last part, if Merlin wasn't up for it then that was completely fine by him. Usually, Merlin wouldn't have much of a choice in the matter, not that he often refused anyway. Arthur just wanted what was best for Merlin and thought that some similar routine may help.

Merlin smiled in relief at the message and couldn't believe that he had doubted Arthur even for a second. "Of course I'm up for it, you prat." He responded whilst looking directly at Arthur, who's face lit up very quickly at his manservant's reply. Arthur put his arm around Merlin's shoulders and turned himself and Merlin to the door, looking fairly giddy.

"Come on then."

"Oh? We're going now? But I've not finished..." Merlin stumbled over his words and was stumbling trying not to fall over, but Arthur's grip kept him from doing so. He looked at the King again, awaiting a response.

"No matter, you can finish your chores later." Merlin saw 'later' and figured out the rest himself.

"Prat."

"Idiot."

Merlin let out a small laugh, feeling so much better than he did yesterday. He may have still been deaf but Merlin knew that with Arthur, Gwen, Gaius and maybe some others by his side, he could get through this and come back stronger and probably wittier.