Room 325, Sunday Afternoon

[bitchprince]

Bored. Bored bored bored. A morning spent in the salle had not alleviated Arthur's enormous helping of boredom. He needed to distract himself. With no weapons allowed in the dorms, it had been a bit difficult (if not impossible, but he'd put it aside after a while) to work on Merlin's not-really-a-Christmas-present-anymore, so that was out, too.

He had already put Francine's sweater away as far as he could (it wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture. It was just that it wasn't... well, you know. He was trying to be nice, and it was decent craftsmanship, but it kept reminding him of Merlin's absurd obsession with items of clothing his mother had made), poked around the room, tried the Teevee (still not pleasant, especially without the distraction of someone in the room) and gone through the first chapter of Salammbo.

Nothing.

Which was why, by the time the middle of the afternoon rolled around, there was a dog sitting on Arthur's floor.

"Stay. Just-- no. Stay."

[[ open post, half-open door ]]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

There was an actual knock on the door instead of someone just barging on in. Mostly because he was a bit busy carrying something far too heavy.

...one day he'd remember he could use magic to help.

"Hello?"

[bitchprince]

"...Is that you, Merlin?" Arthur asked, sounding mildly surprised.

The dog also propped her head up. "I thought I told you not to do that." Except for all the times where he didn't do it and Arthur had to ask him to do it, but.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...do what?" Merlin asked, leaning to the side to peek into the room.

[bitchprince]

"Knock," he said, leaning down to pat Bryn on her head. "But while you're being disturbingly well-mannered, do come in."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...could you help with the door, actually?"

[bitchprince]

Arthur rolled his eyes a bit, but got up anyway to... get the door. "Merlin," he started. He had a question, to ask, after all-- "...What on Earth?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Hey, a roast swan was heavy, okay? "...merry Christmas?"

[bitchprince]

Arthur was, in fact, chivalrous enough to hold the door for him. This once. "...Is that a goose?"

No, wait.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Um." Merlin shoved it at him before his arms gave out. There was a lot of walking, okay? "Swan, actually."

[bitchprince]

"...You managed to find a swan?" Arthur asked. His arms were manlier than Merlin's by far, so he had no trouble holding the damned thing up. "I'm almost impressed."

Scratch away the 'almost', and you got the actual emotion.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

It might be best not to mention how. "And Francine cooked it."

[bitchprince]

"That's likely for the best," Arthur said, setting the bloody thing down on his endtable. "We need to talk."

... Arthur didn't watch nearly the amount of romantic comedies that Merlin did, so he should be forgiven for using such an omnious phrase.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...Um." Merlin watched enough. Oh. He watched enough. "Alright."

[bitchprince]

"I spoke to Leto the other day," Arthur said, "He finally admitted to having powers." He glanced up at Merlin. "He also implied you'd known for quite some time. Is that true?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin glanced away. "Yes, it's true."

[bitchprince]

Arthur nodded once, slowly. "How long?" he asked.

There was a markable absence of anger in his voice.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Nearly the beginning. I knew more once I started working with Lady Ghanima."

[bitchprince]

"Why didn't you say anything?"

They were going to keep this short if the swan was still to be enjoyed; he just needed to know.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin stepped around the dog to sit on Arthur's bed. "Because it wasn't mine to tell. And he wasn't a danger to you as far as I knew."

[bitchprince]

"For the last time," Arthur said, lightly, "I really don't need you to guard me."

Funnily enough, two out of three people mentioned or present in this conversation would disagree, but Arthur would say they were full of it.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin just shot him a look. "What do you think it is I did before we came here?"

[bitchprince]

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself," he pointed out. "But while this is clearly food fit for a prince, it's too much not to share if we don't want it to get cold."

He gave Merlin a look in turn. "Tell me next time?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"It's not that simple, Arthur. They're not my things to tell."

There was a pause before, "There's a carving knife on the platter."

[bitchprince]

"He was my roommate," Arthur muttered, rubbing at his forehead. "But not a friend, apparently."

So maybe he did feel a little betrayed on that end; at least Merlin had actually chosen to tell him. "Sure. I'll do all the hard work."

He reached for the knife.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Things aren't as simple as we might wish," Merlin said, moving a bit closer to Arthur at that.