Imperfect Platitudes: Chapter 7

Arthur stared at Merlin.

Merlin stared at Arthur.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Uh…" Merlin replied.

"That escalated quickly." Arthur said. He sat down with his back against the hot metal of the car. Merlin stared for a few more seconds, then sprawled back down across the dirt.

"Your neckerchief is going to get dirty." Arthur pointed out.

"I know." Merlin replied. Neither of them wanted to talk about Merlin's outburst.

"So."

"So."

"D'you ever wonder if everything is real?" Merlin asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe none of this is real. Maybe we're all just… Sims." Merlin replied.

"Sims?"

"Or computer programs. Hey, maybe we're all secretly a race of secretly advanced robots!" Merlin's grin faded away. "They would have programmed us to feel certain things, emotions, and to react accordingly. But then once in a while, a robot might have a glitch in its programming, and it won't work the way the rest of them do."

"I wonder who programmed you!" Arthur teased, trying to cheer Merlin up. Merlin looked melancholic.

"Yeah, yeah, I wonder that too."

"They must have been brilliant. A nutjob, of course, but brilliant."

"Who needs the laws of nature anyway?" Merlin sat up and stared at the sun for a few seconds. It was starting to get lower on the horizon, and it was turning a million different shades of orange and pink and red.

"We learned about those in high school. Darwin's theory of evolution and stuff." Arthur said. "The one with the long-legged deer."

"Yeah."

"The days are getting shorter. There's only going to be a couple more weeks at the dig, and then we'll be headed back home."

"So where's home for you?" Merlin asked. He was still staring blankly into space, his voice clipped and automatic.

"Back to Uni, I guess. With Dad and Morgana and my mates. You?"

"I'll get a flat somewhere, I suppose. By a lake, with cows and green grass. I need to get out of the city."

"Wasn't that why you came out here in the first place?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love the city, I just…"

"What? You just what?"

"What if I accidentally hurt someone? With… whatever I have. Physic ability, or what do they call it? Telekinesis?"

"You won't." Arthur wasn't sure whether Merlin was crazy or he himself was. Both seemed equally likely. "Besides, how do you even test this? You don't know that you have… It." He finished lamely.

"Say it, Arthur. Say it."

"You know. Magic."

Merlin stared at the sun for another few seconds. It had sunk lower during the few minutes their conversation had taken.

"We should head back soon. Can you, y'know, magic the car into working or something?"

"I wish." Merlin laughed. The mood had lifted all of a sudden. "Hey, if it's just magic, that means I can learn how to control it."

"How?"

"I don't know. What would Dumbledore say?" Merlin picked up a random stick from the ground and pointed it at Arthur. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He swished and flicked the stick.

A second later, Arthur was floating above the ground. "Merlin, put me down! Make it stop!"

"I don't know how!" Merlin replied frantically.

"Think about it you idiot, think! What is the spell and the wand used for?"

"A focusing tool." Merlin replied, understanding. "The spell and the wand are used to make the intent of the spell come true. So I can get you down without a spell, I just need to think of what I want to do." Merlin concentrated, his brows low in concentration. Half a minute later, Arthur dropped to the ground. He landed on his feet, then lost his balance and landed on his butt with a soft thud.

"What else can you do?" Arthur asked. He looked mesmerised.

"I don't know." Merlin's voice was higher, and it squeaked.

"Try lifting me again. Without words this time." Merlin was able to lift him quickly this time, within half a second of Arthur's request. He made Arthur float around for a few meters before letting him down again. Arthur pointed towards a withering tree. "Can you make that healthy again?"

Merlin did, paling. He sat down suddenly.

"Ok, maybe I'll hold off on the healing magic for a bit."

"Hey, can you fix the car?" Arthur asked. "Or fly us back to camp? Or create the groceries out of thin air?" Arthur was practically overflowing with enthusiasm for Merlin. Merlin, on the other hand, felt nervous and just a little bit morally dubious. Having this power, this strange ability that no one else had shouldn't have felt so good.

"I'll try." Merlin replied absentmindedly. "What did you want me to do again?"

"Fix the car." Arthur repeated. Making things appear out of thin air seemed like a pretty tall order for a guy who had only discovered his magic existed five minutes ago.

Merlin brandished his stick and prepared to say the spell reparo, but he felt silly with Arthur watching and set the stick down. Glaring at the car, he willed it to start working again. A couple things clunked, but otherwise nothing else happened.

"You could try again?" Arthur suggested. Merlin looked at him, then at the car. He concentrated.

All of a sudden, the car was blonde with two blue headlights.

"Whoa, that wasn't supposed to happen. I better turn that back." Merlin concentrated, and the car turned back to its normal pine-green shade. The headlights became grey again.

"Now try to fix it." Arthur demanded.

Merlin concentrated fiercely on the car. He pictured it in his mind's eye, and imagined it working again.

The car juddered to life. With a whoop, Arthur jumped in.

"Come on then, Merlin. We have to go tell everyone about your new powers!"

"Wait-No!"

There was a flash, and a tiny lizard came scurrying across the grass, straight towards Arthur. It looked right at him, and then Arthur slumped over in his seat, unconscious.

The lizard looked towards Merlin, then backed up a few paces. "Don't be too shocked, young Warlock." It said.

Wait- It SAID?

"HOW DOES THAT WORK? THERE HAS BEEN QUITE ENOUGH OF AN INTERRUPTION IN THE BASIC LAWS OF NATURE FOR ONE DAY!"

To prove him wrong, the lizard transformed into a dragon.

Merlin took one look at it, and bit down a scream.

"Let's talk about destiny, young Warlock."

AN: Camp Nanowrimo complete, exams done, volunteering done, now the month of August will be spent (hopefully) (almost) finishing this fic. Apologies for the long wait, and thanks to everyone who reviewed.