'What are the chances?'

Merlin's smile thinned as the woman once again exclaimed in amazement, whilst pulling him this way and that, patting his hair down and fixing cufflinks to the bottom of the arms of his shirt. More than once he had bit back a protest as she prodded him in an attempt to force his scrawny body into submission.

Morgana was Arthur's half-sister, and although she seemed perfectly lovely on the surface, Merlin suspected that she was slightly unstable and a bit manic. Her hair cascaded down around her shoulders in messy knots, and her dresses seemed to be always green, or some variation of the colour.

Another thing that unnerved Merlin slightly, was the faint crackle of magic he could feel radiating through her fingertips as she brushed off the suit he now stood in. It didn't seem that she was aware of this supernatural occurrence, but Merlin had had enough experience to sense magic when it was there, whether it went unnoticed or not.

'Your hair is simply gorgeous, by the way.' Morgana noted as she moved herself to the boy's left.

'Erm, thank you.'

Merlin felt her expertly running her hands through his raven locks, styling it into something a bit more presentable than the wind swept mess that it had been previously. Her fingernails scraped along his crown to find his parting, and then combed down each side until it was folded neatly around to the back of his head. The gel she used was cold and the sensation of stiff strands of hair glued to his face was somewhat unpleasant, but he kept the smile on his face and thanked her repeatedly for her kindness.

The suit fitted perfectly, the collar resting just high enough above his collarbone to be decent, but not so much that it made him look pretentious. Morgana slipped on an embroidered waistcoat over his shoulders and it sat comfortably over his torso. Merlin couldn't help but run his fingers over the material, marvelling at the intense detail and care that was clear in the design. He suddenly felt very aware that his normal eating methods would be somewhat impractical; he would never forgive himself if he ruined this beautiful piece of clothing by being too clumsy.

Adding the final touches took longer than one would expect, them being the final additions, but eventually, giving the suit a final, satisfied brush, Morgana turned Merlin around to the mirror with a grin on her face.

It was all Merlin could do not to let his mouth drop open.

He had never looked so... polished in all his life. His face was rosy red with all the intense scrubbing Morgana had gone through to rid him of the dark marks that littered his face, even the ones that Merlin knew had been there for the best part of his life. The normal scruffy look of his hair had vanished, replaced by a slick, incredibly neat style that Merlin himself was not in any way familiar with. As nice as he looked, it unnerved him slightly to look so completely different, void of all the things that he would normal associate himself with.

He could see Morgana in the mirror too, as she smiled triumphantly at her work, eyeing each part of the suit, expertly seeking out any imperfections that could be altered.

'By God, I did a fine job with you didn't I, Merlin?'

Merlin grinned at her, turning away from the mirror. 'You really did. Thank you so much for the suit and the- err...make-over.'

Morgana burst into peals of laughter and gave him a hug. 'I am just very fortunate that you were so utterly gorgeous underneath all that dirt. Your cheekbones! I thought I was going to cut myself running my hands over them!'

Merlin pulled away and laughed nervously, making a mental note to avoid Arthur's half-sister at dinner. He didn't think he could handle the embarrassment of her raving about his cheekbones to Arthur's father. He was already terrified of him.

'Arthur? Arthur.'

Arthur's eyes reverted quickly back to his father and the rest of the guests at the table, who he now noticed were all looking to him expectantly. He flushed and glanced at his father for prompts. He instantly wished he hadn't.

'I'm sorry; I was a million miles away.' Arthur shot his most charming, apologetic smile to the rest of the table, forcing the laughter into his voice. It seemed to work, as he was rewarded with a few chuckles and one or two goodhearted, 'Honestly, children!'What were you saying, father?'

Uther looked as though he was going to comment on Arthur's obvious lack of attention, but seemed to think better of it. They were in the middle of dinner after all.

Instead, he gave his son a thin smile, huffing false laughter with the other guests. 'I was just saying how well you have been handling your duties these past weeks.'

Arthur blinked at the unexpected compliment, but composed himself quickly. 'Well, thank you, father.'

'Yes.' Uther's smile became more genuine as he continued. 'So much so that I have no doubt in my mind that you shall make an excellent impression when we dock in New York. You do have such a gift to influence people on matters of such importance as this, I'm sure you will have no trouble coaxing an agreement out of the President.'

'Yes, father. Of course.' Arthur didn't let his face fall until his father turned away once more to the rest of the table. The conversation started up once more and Arthur was again ignored, allowing him to block out their voices, and distance himself from the meaningless chatter.

His mind drifted to the night before, how he had almost ended it all. Almost threw it all away into the sea. He could have been free from all this. His head swam with confusion at that idea. He had no idea what he wanted anymore. Would it have really made it any better? Surely it would have made matters a thousand times worse?

Well, at least I wouldn't have had to deal with it...

He halted that selfish thought before it had a chance to expand. His mind bounced of it and dissolved in a sudden fizz of excitement. His eyes snapped into focus as he turned his head towards the staircase.

And just like that, nothing else seemed to matter.

Merlin took several deep breaths before rounding the corner into the dining hall. Repeated words of 'You can do this. You can do this,' chanted like a mantra in his head, his subconscious way of trying to prevent himself panicking.

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly working well.

He tried not to start hyperventilating as he eventually forced himself towards the top of the staircase.

Oh, shit.

Staircase.

No matter how much he tried to stop it, his legs seemed to have a mind of their own and the desperate urge to flee from this place and back outside overwhelmed him to such a degree his found himself walking backwards a few steps.

Alarmed, he flung his arm out and grasped the side of the banister. No.

'You can do this goddammit. You can do this.'

Merlin forced himself forward again, shaking himself to rid his body of the stupid little tremors that had been present from the moment he set eyes on the room.

With a defiant straightening of his back, he made his way to the top of the stairs, his hand never letting go of the only thing keeping him stable.

As he began to descend, his eyes darted around, desperately seeking out the one face that he knew.

The room was so packed full of people, laughing, dancing, conversing from one table to another, that Merlin's heart began to speed up to the point that he thought it might physically injure him. He was almost to the bottom, and he still couldn't see Arthur. Reminding himself of the man's status, he suddenly locked on to the grandest looking table in the room.

He almost lost his careful balance as he let out a long exhale of relief.

The prince was sat at the very end, his face completely vacant as he stared out the window. The man to his side, who Merlin assumed was his father, ignored Arthur completely as he joked and laughed with the other guests at their table.

The neglect made Merlin want to frown, but before he had a chance to, Arthur suddenly straightened and his head turned, his eyes finding Merlin's, and his face split into the biggest grin, Merlin was fairly certain, he had ever seen.

Merlin found himself smiling hugely in return, very aware of the sheer relief that was surely written all over his face.

Merlin.

The warmth that spread like wildfire inside him made him feel slightly giddy, washing away all previous hellish thoughts and replacing them solely with the steady thump of his own heart, which seemed to echo throughout his entire being like a bell beat.

It made him feel so intensely happy that all his could do was smile at Merlin from across the room and hope to God that whatever he was feeling now never ended.

Morgana had definitely performed some sort of magic on Merlin. His worn, frayed clothes had been replaced with Arthur's cousin's best tux that seemed to fit the boy like it had been made for him. The trousers clung to precise points on his skinny legs, making him look tall and lean, the material flexible enough to walk comfortably but well fitted to prevent the material flowing around all over the place.

The jacket was done up at the front, shaping his waist, and the pads at the top broadened his shoulders, creating the illusion of hidden muscle and bulk.

The waistcoat-oh the waistcoat- was silver, embroidered with gorgeous patterns that stood out from the black of the rest of the outfit. It was too, buttoned up at his front, and the arms stretched up over his shoulders, resting companionably by the matching bowtie sitting just below the boy's Adam's apple.

Said Adam's apple bobbed up as Merlin swallowed nervously and Arthur realised he was staring. Merlin was smiling widely in his direction and Arthur found his jaw ached from the intensity of the grin that had already found itself onto his face.

He got up from his chair and maneuvered through the maze of tables to Merlin's side, which hadn't moved from where he had first spotted him. To be honest, Arthur thought that he just looked so relieved to be at the bottom of the stairs, that he was sure that Merlin would be content to stay there all night.

That warmed something in Arthur's heart and he found himself rolling his eyes at the boy. 'That couldn't have been more dramatic if you had tried.'

'I did try! I have bad experiences with stairs. It's a miracle I didn't make a complete arse of myself and fall flat on my face. That's what normally happens. In fact, I-'

Merlin could feel that his cheeks were getting steadily more scarlet as he babbled to the prince, unsure on why he felt the need to confess his clumsiness to the man before him. Arthur was the only person he had ever met that made him feel both completely at ease, and intensely nervous at the same time. The prince seemed to draw out this awkward, flustered side of him he can usually keep hidden. It was seriously unnerving as this was a part of him that he had always been mortified about, and had spent the last 20 years of his life perfecting the art of keeping it hidden.

'Merlin.'

Merlin's chattering stopped short and he blushed even more furiously. 'Sorry. I talk. A lot. I'm I'm sorry.

For some mad reason or another, Merlin had gotten under his skin in a way no other had, and it was this that sparked a sudden longing in Arthur to kiss the boy's apologies right off his gorgeous face. He shook the thought from his head and instead smiled down at him fondly.

'C'mon,' he closed his hand over Merlin's and pulled him towards his table. 'Come and meet the dullest people in existence.'

This made Merlin's smile return and Arthur celebrated internally at this small victory, as he led him over to where he was sitting.

Uther looked up as they approached and Arthur let Merlin's hand slip from his own to greet him.

'Father, this is Merlin Emrys. He will be dining with us tonight.'

'Ah, yes. The duchess's grandson.' Uther stood and shook Merlin's hand firmly.'Pleasure to meet you.'

'It's an honour, Sire.' Merlin returned the King's handshake politely, flashing Arthur a subtle glance of confusion. Arthur returned it with an 'I'll explain later' look, and pulled Merlin's chair out for him.

Merlin sat and placed his hands on his lap. It suddenly dawned on him he had no idea how to act. He had never exactly thought he would ever have to learn.

Was this how he was supposed to sit? No, his hands should be on the table shouldn't they? No, of course not. Morgana said that when dining he should always-

He felt a hand on his shoulder, stilling his anxious fidgeting and looked up to see Arthur's face smiling at him in reassurance.

He brought his mouth to Merlin's ear. 'Calm down, you're fine.

Merlin nodded in thanks and relaxed into his chair, finally turning his attention to the rest of the table.

Arthur's gaze didn't shift from the boy's face, as the sensation he had felt earlier stirred inside him once more, this time flaring up violently and consuming the space in his chest where his heart lay, leaving him unable to tear his eyes away.

You're completely, and utterly fine.

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