Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Arthur Pendragon's aversion to pets

The fucking dog was yipping and yapping again and Arthur was running on only four hours of sleep and too much coffee. He had two reports to finish before he could even think about going to bed and his father had all but publically humiliated him at the board meeting earlier that day. It was safe to say that he wasn't in a very good mood and since he normally barely tolerated Merlin' pet on a good day, the feeling that he was currently experiencing in regards to the wretched animal was downright murderous.

"Merlin!" he barked out. "I'm trying to work here!" The noise quietened down and Arthur sighed in relief and redirected his weary eyes back towards the laptop screen. He really needed to get his work done, and as soon as he'd finished he fully intended to do nothing more than slam his laptop shut, walk across the room and flop down on the bed for ten hours of glorious, uninterrupted sleep. Even getting out of his clothes or brush his teeth seemed excessive to him at this point. He managed to write a couple of more sentences before the barking started again, this time also accompanied by small whines and whimpers and the last of Arthur's patience disappeared like that.

"Merlin!" he roared. "If you can't get that puny little dog of yours to shut up I'll wring its pathetic little neck and have it served as shish kebab, do you hear me?" Complete silence from his flatmate followed but the dog continued undeterred, serenading the neighbourhood at the top of his lungs, and Arthur had to fight the instinct to throw the laptop across the room.

"Right" he seethed as he got to his feet and charged towards Merlin's room. "Right. That's fucking it!" He wrenched the door open and stormed over the threshold. "Merlin, if you don't…" he started angrily but then pulled up short at the sight that greeted him. "Merlin!" Merlin was on the floor, laying on his stomach, beside his upturned desk chair and he wasn't moving.

"Fuck!" Arthur all but jumped across the room and fell to his knees beside his flatmate, impatiently shooing the wailing dog away to get a better look.

"Merlin?" he asked, without getting any response and he could feel the panic flaring up inside him. He forced his hands to stop shaking and put his fingers' to Merlin's neck to check for a pulse, almost sobbing with relief when he felt it, strong and steady beneath his hand. Slowly and carefully he turned the other man, hissing when he saw the bleeding gash on his forehead.

"Merlin?" he tried again, gently shaking his shoulder. "Merlin?" No response and the first tendrils of panic that he'd felt now spiralled into a full-blown tornado as he fumbled for his phone and called for an ambulance. A calm, collected voice assured him that help would arrive swiftly and he continued to gently shake the other man's shoulder, praying to any deity that would listen for him to wake up again.

And finally, finally, Merlin started moving again. His eyelids fluttered a couple of times before he opened his eyes.

"Arthur?" he asked, looking around with dazedly. "Arthur?"

"Yes, yes I'm here" Arthur answered as he took Merlin's hand.

"What happened?"

"You fell I think." Merlin tried to sit up but Arthur quickly stopped him.

"No stay there, the ambulance is on its way, they'll want to look at you before you start to move around" he rambled nervously. Merlin, normally stubborn enough to sit up just to spite Arthur for telling him what to do, obediently laid back down again and if Arthur hadn't been worried before he sure as hell was now. Merlin never did as he was told, and especially not when Arthur was involved.

"Arthur? What happened?" he then asked again.

"I think you fell" Arthur answered for the second time, feeling his stomach twist uncomfortably. Maybe Merlin really had a serious head injury? "And I think you hit your head on the way down" he added when Merlin tried to sit up again. "Please just wait until the ambulance comes, they'll need to look at you before you get up."

"I'm tired" Merlin mumbled sleepily, eyes already drooping again, and Arthur panicked. Wasn't he supposed to keep Merlin awake, like they did in the movies? Talk to him? Should he whip out a flashlight and check Merlin's eyes? Except, he didn't know what to look for, should the pupils be small or dilated and was that good or bad and where was that bloody ambulance that should have arrived hours ago already?

Luckily the distant sound of sirens cut through Arthur's inner panicked monologue and as soon as he heard the vehicle pull up outside he almost sprinted through the house to let them in. After that it was a flurry of action with two paramedics poking and prodding, doing various tests and asking a lot of questions but not receiving many answers as Arthur hadn't seen anything and Merlin didn't remember anything. All he did was to keep insisting that he was fine and that he didn't need to go to the hospital. When it became clear that neither the paramedics nor Arthur were prepared to let it slide and that Merlin was going to the hospital whether he wanted to or not he gave up and only begged Arthur to take care of the dog until he was back. Since Merlin looked close to tears Arthur didn't have it in him to refuse and agreed to look after Freya until Merlin returned. After Merlin had left abundant, very detailed instructions that Arthur dutifully wrote down he was loaded onto a stretcher and lifted into the ambulance, looking all pale and small beneath the yellow hospital blanket, and Arthur was left alone to inform Hunith and try to figure out what to do with the inconsolable dog.

::

It turned out that informing Hunith and comforting her had been a walk in the park compared to taking care of the small Westie. Freya was clearly beside herself and just whined and wept miserably. Arthur tried everything. He'd given her food and poured fresh water into her bowl but all she did was sitting beside Merlin's desk, looking forlorn. He'd tried to take her for a walk but she was having none of it, and even tried tossing her hideously pink ball across the living room for her to fetch. With Merlin she would run back and forth for hours, barking happily, but when Arthur threw the ball she only looked at it mournfully and then laid her head down on one of Merlin's slippers. At his wit's end he crouched down and petted her silky soft ears a few times, remembering Merlin insisting that kisses and cuddles was an important part of raising a happy dog.

"There, there" he mumbled awkwardly. He looked at the instructions again, failed to see anything else about how to take care of a sad dog and then went to bed to sleep.

No sooner had he pulled the duvet up above his shoulders that he heard the quiet pitter-patter of claws against the floor and a small thud when Freya attempted to jump up on his bed but missed. Arthur sighed, turned and just knew what came next. The whining. Again. Loudly. Arthur groaned and leaned down over the bedframe to pick her up. Merlin always let Freya sleep on his bed and it was clear that she expected the same treatment from Arthur as well. Since he was still exhausted from work, and all other drama that day, he figured it'd be easier to just indulge her just this once and then tomorrow when he was rested he'd just be firm and resist both whines and puppy eyes as he calmly told her to go sleep in her own, perfectly comfortable dog bed. And with that plan Arthur went to sleep with the small Westie curled up behind his knees.

He also did the same thing the following night. And the night after that. And all the following nights until Merlin came back. Arthur told Freya that he wouldn't tell anyone unless she did, she woofed in agreement and they sealed the deal by sharing a hot dog when they went to the park. Arthur also made the private vow to himself to never reveal to anyone that he'd taken to carrying dog treats in his pocket everywhere he went. Nor would he ever admit to switching over from the news to watch cartoons instead, since Merlin swore they were Freya's favourites.

::

"… because I could tell my mum to come and get her and you cou-"

"It's okay, Merlin" Arthur interrupted. "I know that you don't like leaving her alone and I can work from home like you do, at least for a couple of days. I know Hunith can't take her to work, this is the best solution."

"But your father, Arthur, I don't want to cause trouble for you." Merlin sounded worried.

"Won't be a problem" Arthur sighed. "He's on a business trip with his 'new secretary' and won't be back until next week." He could hear Merlin's sympathetic mumble at the other end of the line. It wasn't something that he liked to talk about but one evening he'd been drunk and Merlin had pried the information out of him, about how Uther had been unable to cope with being alone after Arthur's mother died and how he'd paraded one new girlfriend after the other before his young, and still grieving, son.

"Yes, well," Arthur cleared his throat, "as I said, it won't be a problem. At least if you'll be back home before next week, which I assume you will?"

"Naaaw, you miss me?" Merlin asked cheekily.

"Yes, Merlin, that's exactly it. Arthur answered drily. "The flat is too quiet without your inane nattering and it looks entirely too clean without smelly socks scattered across the flat." Merlin laughed at the other line.

"I'd imagine" he answered, then sighed. "Well, I'd like to go home right now but they're still running tests…"

"But seriously, they've got to have figured it out by now haven't they?" Arthur noticed how worried he sounded and quickly tried to amend himself. "I mean, you can't just slouch around forever, can you?"

"I'll be home as soon as I can" Merlin promised, somehow more for Arthur's benefit than for his own.

::

After a week of single parenting Freya Arthur was so tired after the morning walk that he went straight back to bed and fell asleep again. Three hours later he woke up by frantic barking and Merlin's laughter. After a quick prayer of thanks for the fact that someone that was not himself would now take care of getting up at the crack of dawn to go for walks he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and stumbled out into the kitchen.

"Thanks for taking care of Freya for me" Merlin said smiling, holding out a cup of coffee and Arthur grabbed it and greedily downed half of its contents before being awake and conscious enough of his surroundings to mumble something along the lines of "no big deal." Merlin smiled.

"Yes it is" he insisted. "I know you're not exactly the world's biggest fan of pets." That was probably an accurate way of describing things. Sure, he had to admit that he could think that it looked a bit cosy to have a pet to cuddle with but it was a far way from there to actually getting one of his own and although Arthur couldn't really remember personally having anything against pets growing up, Uther had always insisted that animals only made messes and shouldn't be allowed inside the house at all. He'd never really questioned that point of view while living at home and since he'd moved out to live on his own he'd never had any reason to change his opinion, especially not considering that Freya had a penchant for eating his socks instead of Merlin's. Besides, between working and working some more he didn't really have the time to look after himself properly, let alone a pet as well.

"Yeah, well," he answered after finishing the second half of his coffee and finally feeling a bit more awake, "she's grown on me."

"Really?" Merlin beamed hopefully.

"Really" Arthur confirmed, deadpan. "Like a fungus."

"Prat!"

"Idiot!"

"Clotpole!"

"Good to have you home, Merlin."