None of the three men were surprised to find an unconscious Merlin lying on his face just outside of the clearing, but only Lancelot realized that he had been their savior. Again.

"Good God, Gwaine" said Arthur, kneeling beside his recumbent servant and prodding him in the shoulder, "How hard did you hit him?"

"Not that hard," Gwaine shifted guiltily, "Actually, it all goes a bit blurry for me after the odd smoke in the forest the other day. Same for you two?"

His companions nodded.

"From what I do remember," Arthur grimaced, "We were not at our best."

"That doesn't really matter now, does it?" Lancelot asked, "We were wrong yes, but we were enchanted, and we managed to overcome the spell. I think the three of us can forgive each other for that." The other two knights nodded. "So I guess that just leaves Merlin."

"Yeah," Gwaine cringed, "I guess we owe him quite a big apology too."

"Actually," Lancelot said, chuckling, "I meant, how are we going to get Merlin back to Camelot?"

"Maybe we should just leave him here," Arthur said, as he gave his servant another poke. Lancelot raised his eyebrow at the prince. "What? He's going to wake up eventually. I'm not carrying his lazy body all the way home."

"Well, we do have a horse…" Lancelot said.

Gwaine winced, "Merlin's not going to like this."

The situation seemed very familiar. The smell, the motion, the awkward position he was lying in, and—oh, wow, pain, yes, lots and lots of pain in his head. Fortunately, he already had a standard response for this situation. He groaned.

"Merlin?" Well, at least Lancelot sounded concerned.

"Come on, Merlin, rise and shine!" Gwaine was loud. So very loud.

He decided to groan again.

"Come on, Merlin. Let's have you lazy-daisy!" Merlin wasn't even going to dignify that comment with a groan. Arthur was such an ass.

"Guys," Merlin said with much effort, "Quick question—"

"Have we tied you to the back of a horse?" Gwaine interrupted, "Yes, we did. No one hit you on the head this time though, you just passed out. And we tied you to the horse for your own good, really. We had to get you back to Camelot somehow."

"Well," said Merlin, "Now that I am awake, can you please untie me?"

"Tell me, Merlin, can you walk?" Arthur drawled.

"Of course!"

"You haven't even opened your eyes yet!"

Valid point. Merlin forced his eyelids open and was assault by light and color and waves of nausea. He thought another groan was appropriate.

"Sorry, Merlin," Lancelot said sympathetically, "I don't think you could even sit upright on the horse right now."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure he'd slide off if he wasn't tied on…" Gwaine murmured.

"Face it, Merlin," Arthur said haughtily, "None of us are having you collapse again, so you're stuck like that until we get to the palace."

Merlin sighed, giving in. As he listened to his three companions bicker—in a non-aggressive, cheerful way, thank goodness—he closed his eyes and relaxed. He was actually pretty comfortable. Merlin let himself doze.

After all, what was a little humiliation between friends?

The End

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the story. Abundant thanks to my splendid reviewers!