So there is this show called "Married At First Sight" which, I don't know if you've ever watched it or heard of it, but, basically what it is is specialists matched up couples and they were married to people who were supposed to be, scientifically speaking, their perfect match. I'm over-simplifying the explanation of things, but, yeah, that's the basis of it. And I was inspired by it about two years ago to write this fic and it's... been a process, okay, but here we are, and I just hope that you enjoy it.

I'm sure the actual process involved in this show is like... way more complicated and time consuming than it's gonna be in this fic but like... well, my version will make for better reading I hope, so, okay, just work with me, guys.

The title of this chapter is a line from the song Six Degrees of Separation by The Script.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin and I don't own Married At First Sight and I don't actually own anything else, so. Yeah. Awkward.

Scientific Soul Mates

Prologue:
You're doing all these things out of desperation

*.*.*.*.*

Arthur Pendragon was not what you would call 'good' at relationships. He'd had his fair share of them, starting when he was a young teenager, but, somehow or another, they always seemed to end in heartache and chaos. From miscommunication to cheating to the keying of cars—usually Arthur's—he'd been through it all and, quite frankly, he was sick of it. Sick of failed relationship after failed relationship, sick of dates that didn't go anywhere, sick of dull conversations, sick of blind dates and set-ups—he was simply sick of it all.

And yet, the older he got, the more hours he put in at work… the more he craved something more, the more he hated, dreaded, going home to an empty house at night. He had his friends, his sister, his father, to an extent, and yet he craved more. A partner, someone to come home to, someone to just be there for him at the end of long days and weeks and years. God, he just wanted someone to spend and share his life with—surely that wasn't asking for too much?

But relationships were not meant for him, he told himself time and time again when he found himself yearning for such a thing, so he simply resigned himself to an empty house and an empty heart, and got on with his life as best he could.

Until one morning, sitting in his office, clicking through a few websites as he was waiting for his next client to come in, when an ad of sorts caught his eye. It was a dating ad, from the look of it, which were not rare, of course, but this one was vague and gave him pause before he pulled the browser down. He wasn't meant for relationships, he reminded himself, but this ad…

Seemed promising, so he pulled the browser back up and clicked on it, and, somehow or another, wound up clicking through the website it took him to for quite some time after.

The whole thing seemed interesting enough—it wasn't even a proper dating website, it was... a process. Something about finding the love of your life with little effort on your own part, and if that wasn't something that Arthur Pendragon would be interested in, then his name really wasn't Arthur Pendragon. There was an orientation, a presentation of sorts, the following Saturday, and anyone who was interested was invited to come to it. Afterwards, information would be collected, interviews conducted, background checks ran, surveys and questionnaires filled out, and the pool of people would be narrowed down, and couples put together. These couples, it promised, would be—scientifically speaking—perfect couples, soul mates, it promised.

The whole thing sounded a bit far-fetched and too good to be true—if it was really that easy to find the love of one's life, then why hadn't Arthur found them himself yet?—as far as Arthur was concerned.

But…

He took up a pad of post-it notes and jotted down the details anyway, before clicking out of the website and busying himself with the paperwork on his desk. He wouldn't get his hopes up or anything, but, if nothing else, it would at least be a way to kill some time on a day when he otherwise had nothing to do.

He didn't have anything to lose.

*.*.*.*.*