Merlin sighed as he walked slowly down the long corridors of Camelot, carrying a tray holding Arthur's impressively sized breakfast. It was still early in the morning for everyone else, but for Merlin this was normal. (Although he did find it very early and more than often overslept- to the annoyance of a certain royal prat.)He was on his usual rounds to wake Arthur, give him breakfast, help him get ready for his knight training and then do a lot of chores. The young warlock must have walked down this route a million times and he didn't need to concentrate. Wearily, his eyes wandered down to the food on the plate he was carrying, he was very hungry. Getting up at stupid o'clock in the mornings usually didn't allow much time for breakfast, in fact, today he had overslept and had been forced to skip breakfast entirely, just so he could be on time to deliver another breakfast to someone else. Merlin didn't see the justice in this and just as he rounded the corner towards the prat's room, he came to the conclusion that no one would notice an apple was missing from the royal breakfast.
Merlin pushed the grand wooden door of Arthur's room shut and turned to walk through the his chambers as the lock clicked into place. Merlin had one of the biggest shocks of his life.
Well obviously he had had much more shocking and dramatic experiences in his short lifetime, but seeing as the young manservant was still half asleep and not expecting this, it still made him yelp and drop the tray of neatly arranged food with a clatter.
Arthur was awake. Arthur was awake and out of bed and dressed and standing up, looking at Merlin with a slightly shocked expression on his face. 'What jumped you Merlin?! Pft, you clumsy fool! Careful with my breakfast!'
'Sire! It's just…, well I'm used to seeing you completely asleep when I come in, and, well, it just took me by surprise… after all… it is still early…' Merlin bent down and proceeded to pick up Arthurs meal and arrange it hurriedly back on the tray. 'Yes, well anything could scare you Merlin- you buffoon '
While Merlin was on his hands and knees, he saw the apple he was planning on eating resting on the floor by the table leg, he reached out grabbed it, and as swiftly as he could, shoved it in his pocket. Then he finished clearing up the mess, stood up and placed the tray of food on the table loudly.
While Arthur was tucking into his breakfast, Merlin took the apple out of his pocket, took a bite and hastily hid it behind his back.
The apple was disgusting. It had no flavour of 'apple' whatsoever, it was bitter, sour and had a strange tangy tinge to It, making Merlin grimace. With his bad luck, he wasn't surprised that the piece of food he had taken wasn't decent.
Arthur looked up from his breakfast and noticed Merlin, 'Are you smirking Merlin? Don't do that! Please! It really doesn't suit you!' Arthur shot, but his look quickly turned inquisitive, waiting for some form of clever response. Instead, Merlin produced and apple from behind his back. 'Oh, I was just eating my breakfast… this isn't the best apple in the world'' he mumbled, through a mouthful. He swallowed and took another big bite of the apple, hoping the next bite would get better (It didn't) . 'Hang on Merlin, did you say you were 'eating your breakfast' because I'm pretty sure you're not meant to be eating on the job' Arthur friendlily shot. Merlin stopped chewing and swallowed- with difficulty. He then appeared to be conjuring up a valid excuse, when Arthur noticed his eyes absent-mindedly, wander to the food in front of Arthur, and just as Merlin was opening his mouth, Arthur interrupted:' Merlin! Did you steal my apple?!' Arthur snorted loudly at Merlin. The dark-haired boy looked around, slightly panicked, this was going to win him at least a few days in the stocks. So instead of thinking up a clever come-back, Merlin just took another bite of the disgusting piece of fruit and choked it down as fast as he could. 'Arthur- you honestly wouldn't want to at this!'
Arthur snorted back, 'I bet there's nothing wrong with it Merlin- and- you should not be stealing my food! You should have your own breakfast!'
'I overslept' Merlin replied quickly in a slightly strangled voice,' and your right, there is nothing wrong with this apple! Would you like to try?' Merlin threw a sneaky glance at his master.
'You're the only thing that's wrong Merlin. You're just a clumsy, fussy little fool- so how about you eat the apple without complaining like a little girl.' Merlin nodded at Arthur and took a slightly smaller bite this time, and concentrated on keeping his expression composed while carefully chewing on the gross lump of food, and what seemed like after a lifetime for Merlin, he finally swallowed with a gasp. '-rthur, that is not 'fit for a king'' Arthur raised his eyebrows at his friend and reached his hand over towards him. Merlin put the evil apple in Arthur's outstretched hand, 'be careful' Merlin joked.