A/N: I'm bored! So I'll post early. Enjoy, friends!

The problem was that Blair and Victor were busy, and so didn't have much time for socializing. This concerned Merlin—because you can't court someone if you've only had a chance to talk to them once.

And so, the next part of his plan came into action—having them run into each other. A lot. Being Arthur's manservant helped him to execute this part of the plan.

First, they ran into each other at a banquet, filled with nobility. Of course, they didn't have much chance to talk to each other there, as Merlin knew they wouldn't, but at least they saw each other.

"Blair," was the whisper in her ear, "bring the platter over that way—Arthur loves those, and he's been staring at them hungrily."

Then he casually – but very quickly, or he'd miss the window of opportunity – sauntered over to Victor. It wasn't out of character at all for the silly servant to suddenly spill wine all down the front of the shirt he wore – thankfully, it was a shirt Arthur gave him to wear for the evening, not his own.

"Blast it! Victor, help, take this."

Chuckling, Victor took the plate out of Merlin's hands, because his own were momentarily empty. "Most graceful, Merlin."

"Thanks. Hey, please take some of that to Arthur before he has me thrown in the stocks or something; he's thirsty. I'll go clean myself up and be right back."

As Merlin hurried to the kitchen to wipe at the red wine as best he could, he looked back over in shoulder. Just in time to see Blair and Victor smiling at each other over Arthur's head. It was most certainly worth the scolding he was going to get from Arthur to see those smiles.

Next, Merlin recruited Gwen to help him in his plans. Because she was woman through and through, Gwen was only too happy to help a blossoming romance.

"Blair! Hello, dear," Gwen said the next day. "What happened to your sleeve?"

Blair inspected the rip in it. "Merlin. Whose idea was it to let him run around with a knife, anyway?"

Gwen pretended to be surprised. "At least he didn't hurt you. Did he fall?"

"Spectacularly. I swear, Gwen, he's clumsier than usual. I only have two dresses, after all, and this one will never look the same."

Gwen tsked a couple of times, shaking her head slowly. "Well, Blair, you know I'm a seamstress. I can fix that dress up as good as new, in no time. You won't even be late for making lunch."

Blair's eyes lit up. "You think you can?"

"I know it." She'd better be able to, she thought. She'd promised Merlin that she could.

"Great! Now?"

"Sure, if you don't mind running down to my house with me real quick."

"No problem!"

Meanwhile, near the outside wall of the castle, Merlin breathed out a foul word.

"Forget something?" asked Victor, who'd nearly run into him when he'd stopped in the middle of the walkway.

"Yes," moaned Merlin. "And I really need it, but I don't have time to get it."

"What is it?" asked Victor with neighborly interest. He wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, because he had the hour off. Merlin just kept running into him during his free time.

Such a coincidence.

"Arthur's red shirt. It's the only clean one, except the one he's out sweating in right now, and he's going to want to change into it… But it had a rip, so I left it at Gwen's place to be fixed…"

"…And now you forgot it," finished Victor, shaking his head. Merlin truly was incompetent, nice though he was.

"But I don't have time to get it, because he wants the floor cleaned when he gets back." Merlin gave a dramatic groan, perhaps overdoing it a bit, and put his head in his hands.

Victor shook his head sympathetically. "I wish I could help."

Merlin's face brightened suddenly. "You can help, actually. Thanks for offering. Since you're on break…"

Present

Arthur interrupted. "You had my red shirt fixed? I was going to have you get that done today..."

"I know," said Merlin with an impish smile. "I can put my schemes into action and get my work done at the same time, you know."

Actually, Arthur hadn't known. But he did now.

Back to the story

That afternoon, Gwen told Merlin that the plan had been a success. When Blair answered Victor's knock, he promptly forgot he was busy and they talked for ten minutes. "They'd have gone on forever," she told Merlin, "but then Victor remembered that you wanted him to hurry and said he had to go. She looked sorry to hear it."

Merlin sighed and put his head in his hands, with real chagrin this time. "We need to get them together and give them time to talk."

Gwen sighed and sat down at her table. "But they both work all the time!"

Merlin smiled. "Not all the time. We just need to get them together at the end of the day."

"That shouldn't be too hard."

Merlin agreed. "They'll be married in no time."