Chapter 1: The Teacher

Merlin put his head in his hands and sighed, it had been a long, arduous morning and it was still only eleven now. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands and then continued marking the papers on his desk; he loved the kids, but they were damn hard work sometimes. He enjoyed the temporary peace and quiet, whilst it lasted, this was one of the reasons he worked through break; that and the fact that he should have done more work over the weekend.

He had gotten to 'Townsend' in his marking when there was a knock on the door, Merlin sighed to himself quietly.

"Come in" he said clearly, without looking up from his paperwork.

"Merlin? Oh, sorry to bother you" a voice said timidly as its owner stepped through the doorway.

"It's just,… I thought you'd like some coffee" The voice said apologetically.

Merlin looked up from his desk. A co-worker of his, - a tall, blonde man with blue eyes was carefully stepping round the tables, holding a cup of coffee in each hand. Merlin smiled to himself slightly.

"What are you smiling at" the blonde man enquired with one eyebrow raised,

"Nothing" Merlin replied shyly

"Suit yourself" the other man chuckled. He placed the coffee heavily down on the corner of Merlin's desk, and then hopped up to sit on one of the tables. Merlin picked up the cup, nursing it in his hands and took a large sip.

"Thanks Andy" Merlin said, replacing the mug down on his desk

"Any time brother" The blonde man – Andy replied jokingly.

"You enjoying the job? They seem to be working you hard" Andy laughed

"Well it's been nearly four months now and I'm still here" Merlin replied jokingly back.

"Well the kids seem to enjoy your classes, they say you seem to have an edge and a passion for your teaching" Andy mocked, Merlin stayed quiet.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back, the bell's going to go shortly and I have to finish my coffee and get down to the gym" Andy explained, almost leaping off the table and jogging out the room, Merlin shook his head and laughed quietly, then went to marking the papers.

The bell went a few minutes after Andy had left, Merlin stacked his paperwork into a neat pile and downed the rest of his mug of coffee, it burned his throat a little, but he ignored the dull ache it left behind. He slid his chair back and stood up, straightening out his waistcoat and tie, then walked over to the white board and began scribbling notes, something about the First World War. The squeak of the pen irritated him slightly, but that was just a minor annoyance so he ignored that as he had the coffee. He stepped away from the board to admire his work, smiled slightly and then strode over to the door to let the onslaught of children in.

Merlin was a history teacher, he taught mainly the lower years in the school, year's seven to nine, about British history, and sometimes he stepped in to teach the older years when colleagues called in sick. He'd been there for most of the curriculum he taught, so that 'edge' Andy said the kids talk about was first-hand experience. He enjoyed teaching and getting to pass on his knowledge, and watching the children grow. Seeing the way their faces lit up when he was telling them a harrowing tale of an iconic British hero from ages past. It wasn't exactly difficult for him either, teaching history, it was quite a natural course for him to take. Having seen and been alive through most of it, he might as well make use of the experiences and knowledge he'd gained whilst waiting. Forever waiting.