Title: A Matter of Patience
Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu
Pairing(s): Arthur/Merlin
Summary: Someone else is waiting for the day Merlin can reveal his magic. Unfortunately, Arthur enjoys his attempts at lying too much to tell him so. Goes from pre-friendship all the way to definite Merthur. 3rd in series but can stand alone. Arthur's POV.
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
AN: I'm still not certain I like how this came out, but after three re-writes, I've decided to just go with it.
***This first chapter takes place pre-friendship (pretty much due to denial on Arthur's part) before Opinion & Perfection.***
Chapter One: Waiting for Answers
Arthur paused in his trek towards his chambers as a loud crash rang out just behind him. Hand on his sword, he slowly crept back towards the corridor he'd just passed. He stopped for a moment, listening to soft-spoken words that almost seemed in another tongue. A foreign assassin?
He whipped around the corner, sword drawn and was met with the sight of…Merlin. The two young men stared at each other for a moment, his manservant's eyes especially wide. Arthur's gaze was then drawn down towards the small vase he was holding, one which looked startlingly familiar.
Frowning, he accused, "Is that the vase Sir Devon gave us?"
Merlin quickly shook his head, "No." Arthur raised an eyebrow while sheathing his sword. The servant quickly changed his answer, "I mean, yes, of course." He was now nodding enthusiastically. Arthur spread his hands in an unspoken "What are you doing?" question.
"Well, I-I was…cleaning it?" The look on Merlin's face made the statement into a question far more than his voice did. Goodness, the other was a horrible liar; Arthur wondered why he even bothered.
He contemplated for a moment whether such an atrocious fib should even be blessed with a response, but in the end he couldn't pass up the opportunity for the sarcastic, "In the middle of the night?"
"I was having trouble sleeping and since I was awake anyway, I decided to get some work done." That line could have almost been genius if it weren't for the known fact that Merlin was the worst manservant in history, including tendency towards laziness when he could get away with it.
"I wasn't aware that it arrived dirty," Arthur said mockingly, watching several expressions pass over his servant's face before the other shrugged.
"You never know what can be hidden in these old things." Arthur had to resist snorting at the cryptic response. For an idiot, Merlin could be bloody brilliant sometimes.
They continued to look into each other's eyes before Arthur finally gave the impression of giving in to Merlin's "Please believe me" smile. In truth, he'd known from the second he'd caught glimpse of familiar blue eyes he was going to leave the other to do whatever he wanted. After all, Crown Prince he may be, but who was he to get in the way of a determined sorcerer?
He stepped aside and indicated with an arm that Merlin could go first. His manservant took the opportunity to try and make a hasty escape but was unfortunately stopped by his own feet when he seemingly tripped over air.
Make that determined, frighteningly clumsy sorcerer.
Arthur looked Heaven-wards, as if the stone ceiling above could protect him from unintentional magic, which he was certain was going to turn him into a toad one day. The Prince silently thanked whoever might be listening for at least making sure Merlin didn't drop the "unclean" vase while he was still nearby. The last thing he wanted was to be cursed to eternal sleep or enchanted to love Morgana or something equally horrible. On top of that, knowing his luck, it would be then that Merlin turned him into a toad.
The worst part of it all was that he couldn't even properly reprimand the idiot without giving away what he knew. And he was determined to make Merlin tell him, not the other way around. Or, rather, he was determined to be amused until the other conceived a lie so unbelievable he had to call him out on it.
Not to mention, things could get very complicated very quickly once the other knew that he knew. He might even expect the Crown Prince of the most magic-hating kingdom on the planet to help him with his spells, and that was something he just wasn't going to do. Ever. He would keep his manservant's secret, but he wasn't going to directly defy his father by participating.
Unable to shout at the dolt for potentially endangering them both with his usual blundering, he settled for, "Yes, of course Merlin, let's break Sir Devon's priceless antique vase the night of its arrival."
"I'm sorry, won't happen again."
Arthur snorted. The day Merlin didn't break something was the day his father took up reading Merlin's "secret" spellbook (the one he kept in plain sight by his bed) at the breakfast table. In fact, now that he thought about it, he wondered if he'd not already magic-ed the vase back together earlier when he'd heard the foreign words. He gave the other an uncertain look, now worried that someone's soul was wondering about the castle or something equally likely to be caused by only someone as inept as Merlin. For his part, the servant gave him a completely innocent look in return.
"See that it doesn't. Or, knowing your usual failure at everything, at least wait until I'm far away and have reasonable deniability."
Merlin gave him a disbelieving look, "So, you're saying, if the vase were to suddenly disappear, you wouldn't say anything?"
"I'm saying, if I were to leave now, while the vase is still intact and it should come up missing tomorrow I'll not know anything of it should my father ask," He looked away, pretending to be observing something in the distance. For some reason, even after everything he had done and everything he would do for the other, it still felt wrong to openly admit he would lie to his father. For a servant no less!
"You would really do that for me?" he asked in wonder.
Arthur, unable to take the tender hope that had come into the other's voice, snapped back, "You doubt my word?"
"No, of course not! It's just so…not prattish," Merlin replied with a smirk. Arthur gave him one in return.
"You're going to the stocks tomorrow," he replied in his most charming voice before walking determinedly past the other.
"What did I do?"
He heard scurried feet behind him and sincerely hoped the other didn't drop the vase again. The last thing he needed was a curse upon his arse. He frowned. Was that even possible? He made a mental note to ask his manservant one day, once his secret became known.
He wasn't surprised to see Merlin come up to his direct right, walking alongside him as an equal. He could be put in the stocks for that alone.
"I warned you what would happen if you called me a prat again."
"It was a compliment!" Arthur could just barely see Merlin's incredulous look out of the corner of his eye. Of course, he wouldn't think anything of his remark. He treated the Crown Prince as if he was some random street vendor.
"Your compliments suck," he drawled.
"Oh come on Arthur!" he whined.
"You're not supposed to call me by my name either. A servant addressing his master should always use sir or master and for me in particular it can also be sire, your highness, my Prince…I'm sure even you get the idea."
"Your Royal Clotpoleness," Merlin whispered.
Arthur stopped suddenly and glared at the other, "What did you say?"
"Nothing," Merlin gave him his best innocent look, which would have made a nun look guilty.
"You called me a clotpole," Arthur said it as a statement rather than a question.
Nevertheless, Merlin responded with a quick shake of the head, "No I didn't."
"Yes you did," he replied with emphasis.
"Did you hit your head today?" Merlin gave him a faux concerned look, pointing to his own temple. The Prince rolled his eyes and continued walking.
"You are definitely going to the stocks now." Arthur said in his unwavering "Prince" voice, inviting no argument. Of course, Merlin argued anyway.
"Couldn't we maybe consider it paid? You know, for all those times I helped you out while you were sneaking off with Sophia when you were supposed to be meeting with the King?"
Arthur didn't even pause, "That was you being a good servant, for once in your pathetic life. And, if you try to tell my father the truth, who do you think he'll believe?"
"They threw potatoes at me!"
They both froze at Merlin's outburst, waiting for the sound of footsteps. When none came, Arthur gave himself another mental note to post more guards around the area. Though, if they hadn't heard that, he worried for Camelot's safety in general. He shuddered at the sudden thought of depending solely on Merlin for back-up.
Turning towards the other, he nonchalantly whispered, "You know, if we get caught with that," he nodded at the vase, which he was surprised was still intact after all the walking, "I'm saying I was stopping you from stealing it."
"Some friend you are."
Arthur frowned. "Who said we were friends? I am Prince of Camelot and you are my servant. At most, I tolerate you."
Merlin had an uncharacteristically smug look on his face. "Right. That's why you'd lie to your father for me. Tolerance."
"Perhaps I'm just too honorable to see a man whipped for his incurable idiocy," he snapped back.
Merlin suddenly looked down at the vase with some worry, "You really think he'd have me whipped?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, his annoyance slightly dissipating at the ill-hidden fear in the other's eyes. "I did mention that it was priceless, didn't I?"
Merlin shrugged. "So was that tapestry, but nobody did anything then."
Arthur recalled the old family heirloom, destroyed by flying wine, with a shudder, "That thing was ugly," he leaned in to whisper, more out of habit than any real fear of being overheard, and Merlin leaned to meet him, "Truthfully, I think father was happy to have a reason to toss it."
Merlin smiled, "Sir Kay thought it was the epitome of 'beauty in stillness.'"
Arthur snorted, "Have you seen what's in Sir Kay's room?"
"You mean that cat-dog-thing he has in the corner?"
"And the statue of his lover he made that looks like a pregnant cow?"
"I'd love to see her face when he finally works up the nerve to give it to her."
They were holding their sides by then, leaning against each other. Before he knew what was happening, Arthur's hand went out to the other's shoulder to support himself. The touch jolted him back to reality. Noticing just how close they were, he quickly stepped back, just imagining what his father would say if he'd seen him fraternizing with his servant in such a way.
"Don't you have some cleaning to do?" He nodded towards the vase.
The sorcerer looked startled at having forgotten it, but not overly worried. That gave the Prince some peace of mind. If in nothing else, at least in the realm of magic did he place his trust in Merlin. After all, he was fairly certain that he was the one who'd actually defeated the gryphon; though that was something else he needed to ask his servant one day.
"Um…are you still going to put me in the stocks?" He asked slowly, as if he didn't want to remind the other in case he'd already put it out of his mind. Arthur looked into his eyes for a moment before turning around without answering.
Once a few paces away, he called out in warning, "Try not to be late tomorrow."
Of course, he wasn't surprised the next day when Merlin was not only late, but also more clumsy than usual due to lack of sleep. Nor was he surprised when his father called for the vase to be made the centerpiece of the table, only to find that all of its exotic markings had mysteriously come off. Merlin's excuse of "over-scrubbing" it didn't impress the King too much, but he soon forgave the lad, and even blessed him for his "dumb luck," when Sir Devon tried to stab him once it'd become apparent his plan had failed.
The Prince was quite curious to know what the harmless looking object would have done, but was patient enough to put it on at the bottom of his list of "Things to Ask Merlin Once It Is Known." The top of said list was a question which had plagued the Prince for many weeks, since he'd first learned of the other's magic. The question being: if Merlin was already the worst manservant in history with magic, how much worse would he be without it?
AN: Well, what did you think? All feedback & criticism is welcome. Also, I'd just like to take a moment to mention that I have a section in my profile in which I state what I'm currently working on (including things that aren't posted, such as the "Matter of" oneshots). This fic should have about three more chapters & thus I'll list there when I'm working on them before they're posted.