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]

"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.

[bitchprince]

Arthur snorted. "You trusted me well enough, in the end," he said, "At least I can rely on you." He cut off a piece, slowly.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Yeah." Merlin reached out to touch his arm for a quick moment.

[bitchprince]

Arthur flashed him a quick smile. Maybe a little more vulnerable than he'd be willing to admit, there.

"Suppose I'll have to stuff you with this," he said, after a moment or two. "You might actually gain weight."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You want me to be fat."

[bitchprince]

"You'd rather be that much of a twig?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I'm not a twig!" Merlin said, waving his twig-like arms.

[bitchprince]

"Oh, please," Arthur retorted. "If you were any thinner, I'd be able to look straight through you."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Not everyone is built like you." And, you know, now that he had clothing that fit, the difference wasn't so extreme.

[bitchprince]

Nevermind doing kind things for Merlin's backside.

Not that Arthur would admit to looking.

"And not everyone is built like a twig," Arthur said, shoving a plate with a slice on it. "It's the best you'll ever eat, so enjoy it."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Which is why I got it for you."

[bitchprince]

"I'm not going to eat the whole swan on my own," Arthur retorted, "Although really it's much too good for you. Sit here and eat."

He got up off the bed, and wandered towards a cupboard.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Do you like it?" Merlin asked, quickly stealing bit of skin.

[bitchprince]

"I don't know where you got it," Arthur snorted, pulling the wooden, undetailed but still unmistakable merlin out of said cupboard.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I--bought it." He bought the toy, at least. "And got the butcher in down to take care of the dressing."

[bitchprince]

"Well." Arthur flopped back down on the bed, and... offered him the wooden thing. "...thank you."

Which said miles more about how much he liked it than actually saying he liked it.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin blinked at the offered little statue before taking it. "A hawk?"

[bitchprince]

"Almost," Arthur allowed, snagging himself a nice slab of swan.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...A merlin?" Really. And he was supposed to be the girly one.

[bitchprince]

"Shut up," Arthur told him. Frankly. "You don't even celebrate the day."

He took a bite from his swan. It was... really, really good.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I like it," Merlin amended quickly, running a thumb over the back of the bird. "Thank you."

[bitchprince]

"You'd better," Arthur muttered, closing his eyes. Shut up. It was really good swan. "Francine left a gift for you as well."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"She did?"