Ok, I know I rarely put an author's note. But I'll make an exception for this story! To tell you that this is what happens when turn2stone and I are trying to figure out how the hell do druids thank people! Hope you'll like it. –LC
Yes we are terrible influences on each other. To be honest though; the initial idea was way better and quite deep into the M territory. So if you want to read that go bug LC. – turn2stone
Camelot had entered into a golden age. Gone were the dark days where magic was persecuted. Arthur had made peace with the druids. Morgana hadn't been seen in months. There had been no attacks, magical or otherwise. All in all, Arthur's reign as King of Camelot was something to be proud of. But every king needs respite from his duties, and that's what brought Arthur to the lower town that day.
Actually, Arthur often went to the lower town with Merlin. These small "trips" allowed the King to better understand his people. Obviously no one ever found out who he was. But that was about to change and in a weird way. Arthur had made Merlin an official member of the round table and he wanted to celebrate that. That's why he was on his way to the tavern, a tavern recommended by Gwaine. He was proud of his accomplishments, as he was walking in the streets a few druids were trading with blacksmiths, herbalists…
All of a sudden, a druid saw him and jumped him. It was more than strange really. One second the King was walking; the next was he was immobilized with his pants down. To be clear, what actually happened was; the King was passing by a druid, minding his own business, when the druid saw him and screamed "Thank you so much!" It would have been all right, if the druid hadn't try to grab him and kneel at the same time, bringing the mighty King's pants down in his gratitude.
So the King of Camelot found himself in the street of his city- with his pants down- struggling to keep his underwear from slipping. The druid didn't seem to have noticed anything wrong because he was still looking at the King with eyes filled with adoration and he kept on saying "thank you, thank you so much!"
Arthur saw the knights coming his way; he doubled his efforts to not have his arse bared in public. Unfortunately Gwaine saw the spectacle. He started laughing so hard, that he was fighting to breathe. The other knights bumped into him and when he pointed at Arthur, the knights just stood there. They didn't know how to react; the King was under no immediate threat- except for his dignity, so killing the druid was out of the question. So what could they do? They followed Gwaine's example and laughed!
Arthur might have survived the indignity if only the worst secret keeper of the kingdom- Merlin had not come up running just then. Unconcerned by his King's dilemma, he appeared to be yelling at the knights for not waiting for him; but stopped mid motion when he saw the knights laughing and Arthur struggling with a druid. The druid- Arthur had almost forgot about him, jerked away from Arthur to kneel in front of Merlin. Everything would have gone smoothly if the druid had just let go of Arthur's pants as he was trying to cling on Merlin. Except he didn't! So when he started going toward Arthur's servant, he pulled Arthur with him. He only let go when he grabbed Merlin's pants and kneeled in front of him.
That's how Arthur fell to the floor- his pants still down, staring at Merlin as he was now fighting to keep his pants up while the druid was saying "thank you, thank you so much Emrys!"