♡ for Merlin, the sassy manservant ^^
*clears throat awkwardly*
He has a very dedicated harem of knights at his beck and call.
Arthur is an awkward idiot who is very bad at using his words properly. He tries, he really does. But romance comes to him rather frustratingly. Not to mention the whole being-king-thing. He is more the one... not outright demanding Merlin’s attention and affections, but... questioning whenever said attention and affections aren’t on him. (He doesn’t get down-right jealous, since he and the knights all agreed to this arrangement, but he still grumbles to himself whenever he can’t have Merlin all for himself.)
Merlin knows that, so he knows he has to be straightforward about what kind of attention and romantic gestures he wants when with his king.
When he wants something down to Earth, normal, he knows to go to Elyan or Percival. A normal picnic, just a dinner. It’s... romantic but casual.
Whenever he craves something less romantic and more wild, he has Gwaine for that.
And if he truly wishes to be serenaded and romanced, well, that’s what he has Lancelot and Leon for.
That’s why he needs his knights, because he has different cravings and urges and they are so different, they can’t all offer him everything. And that’s okay. That’s what healthy, happy poly relationships were for (well, not that they called it that back in the day...).
For Merlin, it varies on the day. How stressful it had been with his duties, how much magic he had used and thus how drained he felt. Did he want to be pampered, did he want to pamper, did he just want a grounding piece of peasant-reality, so to speak, or a wild adventure? Well, he had a knight for everything. ;D
