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.

Clerking for a clotpole

Arthur is Merlin's boss, and a clotpole at that according to Merlin.

"Get me coffee, Merlin" Arthur ordered. He never asked Merlin to do anything. Never. He ordered. And Merlin obeyed. Because Arthur was his boss and he had to stay on Arthur's good side if he ever wanted to find work in the city again. In fact, being blacklisted at Pendragon & Pendragon meant that you might as well be blacklisted in the whole country, if not the rest of whole world. Merlin didn't really fancy having to move to another solar system to be able to work at a legal firm again, and so he tried to keep Arthur happy. But it was damn hard at times.

He was grateful for his job at Pendragon & Pendragon, he really was, but it was just that he'd never thought that it would be as a paralegal.

He'd always wanted to be a barrister. That's what he'd told his mum growing up, that he wanted to help people fight against big companies and unfair governments. That he wanted to be like a superhero, but in a suit. He followed the reports on big cases that were on the news. He watched every TV series about lawyers that he could get his hands on and Hunith smiled and told him that of course he would become a lawyer and help lots of people. He worked harder than ever in school to get his grades up. He watched and re-watched Two weeks' notice despite the fact that Will teased him and called it a girls' movie and he got back at Will by rescuing his sister when she was falsely accused for shoplifting. Will never teased him again, but he still refused to watch Suits on Saturday evenings. He did however help proofread the essay that Merlin sent with his university application. When he got his acceptance letter, Hunith was so proud of him that she cried. Well, partly because she was proud and partly because that would mean that he'd have to move away from home, Merlin thought. But she'd been so supportive and encouraging and even taken extra shifts at work to be able to buy him a brand new laptop for his coursework. She'd so much wanted for him to succeed.

And now he'd failed her. Because Merlin Emrys, law school student was now Merlin Emrys, law school dropout. And Hunith was dead.

And he was not working at the prestigious law firm Pendragon & Pendragon as one of the barristers, but as the paralegal to the owner's son, Arthur Pendragon. He'd hoped that he could work for a while and get back on his feet and then, if he made a good impression, he could hopefully be allowed to do more and more legal work, maybe even go back to law school, finish his courses and graduate and then come back to work as a barrister. He'd started out full of enthusiasm and had been eager to show his new boss and colleagues that he did good work.

He got on really well with his colleagues, both the other paralegals and secretaries but also the other lawyers working there. He made friends easily and was soon brought along when the rest went out for lunch or met up at a pub after work, and they seemed to appreciate his company as well as the work he did. His new boss however, wasn't easily pleased. He seemed to find fault with everything that Merlin did and had made it quite clear that he didn't think too highly of his new employee. Arthur treated him not as his paralegal or even his personal assistant but as his personal slave. Merlin absolutely hated it. But it was his job. And he could not afford to lose it.

So besides going all across town to pick up copies of contracts, spending endless evenings in the library looking through dusty old court records, hauling heavy boxes of files from the archive to his boss' desk only to return them again the next day and proofreading briefs, he also got Arthur his coffee, (black with two sugars), he answered his phone in the middle of the night when Arthur forgot his password, he arranged for Arthur's dry clean to be sent to his apartment and he made dinner reservations at a minutes notice and he gritted his teeth and held his tongue when Arthur called him an idiot and a clumsy catastrophe.

Because it was his job. And he could not afford to lose it. Not even if his boss was a complete and utter clotpole.