After Arthur walked through the door, Merlin tried to just ignore him. He introduced himself to the boy who was sitting in the corner playing with a puzzle.
"Hello! My names Merlin, what's yours?" He greeted the boy politely.
"My names Will. Can you help me with this puzzle? There should be a piece to fit here, but I can't find it." The boy, Will, pointed to a hole in the half completed puzzle.
"Sure," Merlin sat down and began sifting through puzzle pieces. "Are you excited for school?"
Will nodded, "Yeah! My mum and dad are looking around the playground. Did both your parents come to?"
"I only have a mum, I don't know where my father is, but mummy says he was a good man, and left to help us, not hurt us, so it's okay." Merlin placed another piece into the puzzle.
"Oh, sorry" Will muttered, thinking he'd embarrassed the only boy who had spoken to him since his arrival.
To Wills surprise, Merlin chuckled, "it's okay, Will. Everyone asks."
Will grinned at Merlin, and then at the now completed puzzle, "we make a good team Merlin!"
"I see you've made a friend!" Hunith said, as she walked over to her son and the dark haired boy he was talking to.
"Mummy! This is my mum, Will. Mum, this is my friend Will. We finished the puzzle! See?" Hunith chuckled at her son's delight in something so simple.
"Hello, Will. It's quite nice to meet you." Hunith offered her hand for Will to shake.
As he grabbed it he said "hello! I'm sorry, mummy says it's impolite to call somebody someone's mum, but I don't know what I'm allowed to call you."
"You can call me Hunith, if you'd like" Merlin's mum laughed.
"Okay Miss Hunith! My mummy is over there! Her name is Elizabeth! And Daddy is Charles!" Will pointed at two adults observing the posters on the walls.
As Hunith left to introduce herself to Wills parents, the boys started on another puzzle, chatting about school and excitement. Across the classroom, the last student to arrive finally walked in.
"Leon!" Arthur greeted the curly haired boy, "You're late. You were meant to be here five whole minutes ago."
"Of course. I'm sorry. I'll be on time tomorrow, we hit a nail in the road and had to replace the tire" Leon hung his head, embarrassed about being yelled at by Arthur already.
"No excuses," Arthur snapped, storming over to a table, Leon following him closely.
"What a mean person." Will said, glancing at Arthur.
"That's prince Arthur. He's awful. He pushed me off a swing, when I first met him. It really hurt. I still have a bump on my head I think!" Merlin whispered.
Over at the table Arthur pulled a plastic toy from his pocket. "Look, Leon. Isn't it neat? It's a dragon. I nicked it from the kid at the park I told you about. He's over there." Arthur gestured towards Merlin, who, upon hearing the word dragon had frozen up.
Merlin turned slowly and saw the dragon in Arthur's hands. His dragon.
"Hey! That's mine! You stole it! Give it back!" Merlin shouted lunging at Arthur.
His attempt to get his toy back, was met with a plastic dragon jammed painfully into his eye. He stumbled backwards into the arms of his mother.
"Mummy!" Merlin cried out, "he stole it! He stole my dragon! Make him give it back."
"Merlin, I'm sure Arthur may just have had his own. Just because it's the same toy, doesn't mean he stole it." As Hunith reprimanded her son, Will walked over to his own parents.
"Dad," he whispered, "Arthur really did steal it. I heard him say it. That's my friends toy. He told me he lost it."
Will's father nodded, and went over to tell Miss Davie what his son told him.
Meanwhile, Arthur was screaming, "I don't like you! And who cares if this dragon had been yours anyway?! It's mine! You're just a freak! It's mine and I'm keeping it! If you try to take it again I'll hurt you! I bet I could knock you out with one hit!"
"You're just a- a- a clotpole!" Merlin stammered out tears threatening to burst from his eyes. Truthfully, he had no idea what that word could possibly mean, but it fit the obnoxious brat.
"Arthur," Miss Davie said sweetly, putting her hand on both boys shoulders, "Was the toy Merlin's?"
"No! It's mine!" Arthur stated.
"Well, another boy has told me he overheard you say you took it from another boy. Someone from the playground?"
Arthur's ears began to turn a light shade of pink as he stuttered out "Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. It's still mine now."
Merlin screamed then, "No it is not! Give it back to me! You stole it at the restaurant! You were there! I saw you!"
Now Arthur became very red, and was unable to give a proper answer. Tears welled up in the boys eyes, in anger at not being able to say it was his without being told he was lying. Of course, he knew he was, but that was beside the point.
"Give the toy to Merlin, please." Miss Davie demanded, pulling Merlin slightly closer. Grudgingly Arthur threw the toy at his head, where it bounced onto the floor and a grinning Merlin picked it up. "Okay! Thank you! I want all the children to circle up please! Over there, by the window.
As was just their luck, when the two were allowed to go sit with others the only two spots open were right next to each other. Both boys grumpily sat down, backs to the other.
While the other students went around the circle telling everyone else their names and something about them, Arthur kept muttering threats in Merlin's ear, and saying he would get the dragon back.
Finally as Arthur's own father, the king, walked in the door Merlin couldn't help it and he tackled Arthur.
Of course, at the same instance, the hanging shelf full of books decided to collapse. To anyone looking, it seemed as though Merlin was pushing the older boy out of the way of the falling shelf. King Uther seemed to think this as well.
"Boy, you just saved my son's life! What is your name?" He demanded, pulling a slightly stunned Merlin to his feet.
"M-merlin" The boy stuttered.
"Well, Merlin, you deserve some sort of payment for your actions. No, don't be so modest," He said as Merlin shook his head. "You can be Arthur's personal study partner!" He exclaimed, like that was the best form of repayment he could give.
"Father! Not him!" Arthur gasped. Merlin just stared, slightly unhappily. How could he deny the slightly frightening king?
As per usual, tell me what you think, and please leave a review. Do you like the chapters this length? Or should they be longer? Again, I own nothing and all rights go to BBC.