It all started on a Friday. A servant girl had given Arthur something to drink and then he looked over at me. That's when things went, well, weird.

This Friday was just like any other day being Arthur Pendragon's servant, prolonged and difficult with little to no praise. But believe it or not, I get it luckier than most servants. The day started off with the usual mucking of the horse stables and polishing Arthur's armor. I spent the rest of the day doing various chores for Arthur like cleaning his chambers. It's not like he was lazy, he spent all day training with the other knights yet he couldn't bear lifting a finger to do something around the castle. Anyway, by the end of the day, Arthur had returned to his chambers with his usual smug stride. It was around dinner time and he had no plans to eat with Uther so he sat down at the table in his room.

He stared at the empty table in front of him and expectantly looked at me, "Uh, Merlin? Where's my dinner?" he said with a certain attitude that he always has. It never fails to annoy me.

"On its way, sire," I gritted through my teeth.

"You would think it'd be here by now," Arthur complained, "I am one of the top priorities, correct?"

I was about to say something to that prat but a knock on the door indicated that Arthur's suffering had come to an end. I walked over to the door and opened it. A small servant girl was standing there, smiling at me. She was holding a tray of meats, cheeses, and an empty cup. In her other hand, she was holding a pitcher. I've seen this girl before but I didn't know her name. No point in asking though, the prince was waiting. I took the pitcher out of her hand and let her walk ahead of me with the food. She took the cup off the tray and placed it front of the prince. As she gently placed the tray down on the table, I filled up his cup with water from the pitcher. Arthur nodded at her but she continued to stand in front of him. He didn't notice at first and went to take a sip of his drink but stopped and slowly looked up at her. She smiled at him but Arthur just furrowed at her.

"Your services are no longer needed, thank you," Arthur said with no compassion whatsoever. Her face instantly fell and she awkwardly stood there. I touched her arm and tried to guide her to the door. She was resisting a bit but I opened the door for her and she turned back and looked at Arthur's figure at the table, which was taking a sip of water. She went wide eyed and looked back empathically at me before leaving quickly. I shrugged and walked back over to Arthur.

"Do you need anything else, sire?" I asked.

Arthur slowly looked up at me and met my eyes. They had gone all doughy and he stared deeply into mine, "No, Merlin."

I went to leave but Arthur grabbed my wrist, "Sit down. I could use some company," he said with a genuine smile.

I stared blankly at him. I must have heard wrong. Arthur never cares for my company unless it's a on a quest but even then he usually just yells at me and calls me useless. I might as well go along with it; I have nothing else to do today. I turn around and pull a chair up to the table across Arthur. He folded his hands together and propped them under his chin. Still a little confused about the whole situation, I smiled awkwardly at him.

Arthur unfolded his hands and stabbed his fork into the cut up steak on his plate, "Would you like some?" he asked tilting the fork towards me, "There's plenty for both of us."

"Uh-I'm not, uh, " I stuttered, "No thank you, sire."

"Whatever, Merlin," he put the fork in his mouth and said, "So, how was your day?"

I had to hold in a laugh. Arthur Pendragon, one of the most conceited people I've ever met, just asked about my day. Was this his attempt at small talk?

"I don't think you'd find my day interesting," I said.

"I find you interesting," Arthur replied smoothly.

Now I definitely heard wrong. Maybe Gaius has something I could use for my ears. I slowly looked up at Arthur. His hands were back under his chin and he was looking at me as if he was in a daze. His stare was constant and was making me sort of uncomfortable. He unfolded his hands again and slowly slid one over to mine. A warm, and surprisingly gentle, hand closed over mine. I froze. What the hell is going on? I thought to myself. I reluctantly caught Arthur's gaze. He was staring at me like I was a god. Like he worshipped me. When he batted his eyes, I was done; I had to leave.

"Sire, thanks but I just forgot Gaius wanted me to come straight home," I lied as I retracted my hand and scrambled out of my chair, "Goodbye!"

I pushed the chair back into place and rushed to the door. I didn't even wait for a response. I closed the door behind me with a slam and began walking down the hallway. It's nothing; I thought to myself, Arthur is just in a good mood today, nothing else. I physically shook the thoughts away and started home.