Hey guys! Shooting Blindly here. Yes, i know, i know, its been a long time. Im sorry! I hope this chapter makes up for it. Ive been told that my chapters could stand to be a bit longer, but i honestly dont know how much more i can writer per chapter, cause its exhausting. Particularly when you do all your writing in one day.
Anyways, thanks so much to all of my readers and reviewers, especially to Jayfire, who left me the two most beautiful reviews i have ever received. thank you so much! you made my day! And keep up with the reviews, everyone. the more i get, the more motivated i am to write more. and i appreciate the love, but a bit more than "awesome story" would be really nice. Thanks!
Chapter Seven: Une Réunion Familiale
"Arthur, I found Morgana," was the first thing that Arthur heard the next morning. The phone had woken him up and he'd picked up and mumbled a bleary "hello", not expecting the news. He blinked.
"Wait, say that again."
"I found Morgana. Turns out that that ten day spiritual retreat did her good, and she's been traveling around the world and trying to stay away from the most crowded places. God knows it was hell to find her, but I did it. That woman leaves a massive paper trail."
"Alright awesome. Anything else? It's…" he turned to check the clock, "eight in the morning. I was sleeping. This couldn't have waited?"
"Actually, no, it couldn't have. Morgana is currently on her way to you, and she'll be there within the hour. I thought I would give you a heads up to make yourself and your dorm presentable," Leon said. Arthur didn't catch the last bit; he was already flying around the room, desperately cleaning everything within his reach. He took a shower and changed into something he hoped Morgana would deem acceptable, and sat nervously on the couch in his living room. His fingers moved in a blur, his leg jiggled, and his eyes darted around the room.
With a great bang, Morgana shot into the room, making a beeline for Arthur.
"Oh! Darling! Are you alright? I just heard the news." Morgana gathered Arthur into her arms, and he brought his hands to rest on her back. He'd missed her more than he'd thought. "I know you had a strained relationship with that man, but surely you still miss him," she said next to Arthur's ear. His chest tightened, and he held Morgana closer to him.
"I'm alright," he managed shakily.
"Let me look at you," Morgana said, pushing his away from her and holding him at an arm's length. Her eyes traced his face, took in his posture. She nodded as if satisfied, and let go of him. "Yes, it seems you are." She breezed past him and into his bedroom. Arthur sighed and followed after her.
He found her sorting through the papers on his desk. He sat on his bed just as she pulled out a smudged and slightly crumpled piece of paper. She raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I didn't know you still drew," she commented, eyes looking over the paper to meet his.
"I don't. Didn't."
"Then what is this?" she asked, flipping the paper so he could see it. It was the leaf that he had drawn with Merlin all that time ago.
"That is a drawing. Which I did with a friend," he said. Morgana smiled, placing the paper back on his desk. She came over and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers.
"How are you, dear?"
"I'm alright. How are you? Did you enjoy traveling to the wilds of the world?" he asked. Morgana wrinkled her nose.
"God, no. I didn't even do that. I gave my card to Gwen, you remember Gwen, and I went back home after those ten days. She called me just the other day to say that you and Leon were looking for me," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "So naturally, I came to see you as quickly as I could. My dear brother needed me."
"Yeah, he does. I need you to take care of Cam for me."
"You want me to what? You realize Uther would have killed you if he knew this, right?"
"Yeah, well he isn't here right now, is he?" he snapped.
"No, I suppose he isn't."
"Right, so I'll say it again. I need you to take care of Cam for me." Morgana eyed him wearily.
"Why? Why won't you take her?"
"Because as much as I want to take care of my father's legacy, I need to finish school. If I just leave now, then no one will ever take me seriously. You know how important that is in the business world. If anyone has any doubts about your legitimacy, they'll rip you to shreds."
"Yes, that they do." She considered. "Alright. I'll take care of your precious Camelot. How long do I need to do this for?" she asked, as if it was such a burden. In reality, Morgana had thrown a fit when Uther had announced that Arthur would take over, and not his eldest child, Morgana. It had sent her into her various expeditions around the world, and Arthur and Uther rarely had the chance to see her. She wanted to prove to Uther, and perhaps even to herself, that she was worthy enough to take care of Cam. Because she'd certainly never felt like she was.
"Just until I finish school. Then you can go back to traipsing around the world," Arthur said, with a roll of his eyes.
"Excellent." Morgana stood up, her curly hair bouncing. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I expect gifts, parties and phone calls every day for my trouble." Arthur stood and captured Morgana in a hug.
"Thanks, Morgana. I owe you."
"Yes, you certainly do," she said, patting him on the back. "Now let me go so I can do the job you've given me." Arthur grinned. Morgana was never one for expressing her true emotions, and neither was he. But the two loved each other, and as much as they detested showing it, it was obvious to anyone who cared to look close enough.
Arthur let her go and took a step back.
"I'll be expecting to hear from you tomorrow. I'll tell you how I'm getting on in my new office, and you can tell me more about school and that friend you're drawing with. Ta, Arthur." And just like that, she was gone, a cloud of sweet smelling perfume and a small indent on Arthur's bed the only sign she'd been there to begin with.
Arthur sighed, feeling relived. Morgana hadn't made any comments about the state of his room, his hair, his clothes, or his life. He'd expected her to walk in and say something like "well, your dorm certainly looks… lived in". He'd been pleasantly surprised. Maybe he should have sent her on a spiritual retreat years ago. It may have prevented many arguments.
He heard the front door open and close softly. Light footsteps made their way to the opposite end of the dorm, and another door opened and shut once again; his roommate was in.
Suddenly, Arthur was uncomfortable, not wanting to be in a house of two people and feeling alone. He got up and wrapped a scarf around his neck, making his way to the door. He shot a text to Merlin (where are you) and walked out of the dorm. The teashop and Merlin's dorm were in the same direction, and he figured Merlin would reply soon. His phone buzzed.
Dorm. Gonna shower. Get Gawain to let you in.
He didn't reply, just stuck his phone back in his pocket and trudged the rest of the way to Merlin's dorm.
When he arrived, he knocked on the front door. He was met by Gawain's big smile and the sound of a shower running in the background.
"Arthur! Nice to see you again, mate!" He leaned in, but Arthur put his hand on Gawain's face and shoved him away.
"No kisses, please," he said. Gawain licked his hand, and Arthur recoiled as if he'd been poisoned. "Ew! Gross!"
"Don't touch the money maker," Gawain said, looking smug, before turning back into the room. Arthur followed him inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. "So what brings you to this side of campus?" Gawain asked. "Oh no wait, don't answer that. Merlin." Arthur nodded.
"Yeah, I just fancied a talk," he explained. Gawain got up and made his way to a small fridge.
"Well, do you fancy a beer to go with that talk?"
"Yeah, thanks." Gawain tossed Arthur a beer. Arthur caught it with one hand. Covering his hand with his shirt, he pried the cap off the beer and took a swig.
"So, how was your date yesterday?" Gawain asked. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"What, Merlin didn't give you the full report?" he asked. Gawain grinned.
"Of course he did. Laddie interrogated him with an efficiency I could only ever dream of. I was just trying to make conversation," he said, taking a gulping down some beer. Arthur mirrored him, praying the beer would give him the courage to face the inevitable treat-him-right discussion.
"It was good. Idiot doesn't know the first thing about wine, though."
"Ah, yeah, he truly is an uncultured swine when it comes to his drink. Doesn't know his Smirnoff from his Grey Goose," Gawain said, nodding sagely. "I've tried to educate him, but he's quite hopeless. Can't handle his drink at all, that boy." Arthur grinned. "Oi, that's not an invitation to get him drunk, you know!"
"I know, I know," Arthur said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "We didn't actually have any vodka last night, so I brought him home to you relatively sober."
"Yeah, he was asleep when me and Laddie got back. We kept the dorm empty for you, just in case you two were busy. Came back at one in the bloody morning. Laddie woke him up and demanded the full report. Poor sod had a class in the morning, too." Gawain winced sympathetically. "So imagine my surprise when I found that you hadn't stayed. I thought for sure you would have spent the night. If I wasn't so in love with my girlfriend, then I would have been sleeping with Merlin since the beginning of the year," he said.
"It's not that I would have minded spending the night, but Merlin didn't seem too keen on it, and I want to do this right anyways," Arthur explained.
"Ah. Good lad," Gawain said, draining the rest of his beer and reaching for another.
"Gawain, stop drinking. It's too early in the morning to be drunk." Arthur snapped around. Without his noticing, the shower had stopped running. Merlin stood behind him, dripping water onto the floor, wearing a very warm-looking, fluffy-looking bathrobe. Merlin grinned at him. "Morning. Couldn't stay away for more than a night?"
Arthur opened his mouth to say that he could, actually, stay away for as long as he wanted, and then he realized the trouble was that he didn't want to stay away, and his mouth closed with a click. Gawain snorted, rolling his eyes at Merlin.
"He's in love," he laughed, nodding towards Arthur. Arthur blushed, but didn't say anything. Merlin's smile just widened.
"Alright, now look away, you wankers, so that I can change."
"Why? Nothing we haven't seen before," Gawain said cheekily. Merlin fixed him with a glare, and the two of the quickly turned and faced the other way. There was a rustle of clothing, and the Merlin dropped down next to Arthur, hair wet, but body fully clothed, radiating heat from the shower.
"Morning," he said, bumping Arthur's shoulder with his own. Arthur smiled and returned the favour. Gawain gagged.
"You two are gross. And I think I'm entitled to another beer because of that," he said, reaching for another beer. He jumped as something yowled: while reaching for his beer, he had grabbed Aithusa's tail. Kilgharrah looked on grumpily as ever. Merlin and Arthur were in hysterics, clinging onto each other for support.
"Clearly, Aithusa doesn't want you drinking that stuff!" Arthur laughed.
"Tastes like piss anyways," Merlin said between gasps. Aithusa hissed angrily and trotted off to snuggle against the older cat, who growled in warning, but did nothing to stop her. This sent the boys into another peal of raucous laughter. Gawain just scowled.
"Oh, ha, ha. I'm glad you two find me so amusing," he said, viciously tearing the cap off of another beer. Arthur and Merlin howled with laughter.
A couple minutes later, they'd stopped laughing, but Merlin still giggled every time Gawain drank from his beer.
"So, what are we going to do today?" asked Arthur.
"Bloody hell, mate. You came to visit your boyfriend without a plan? That's just sad, that is," Gawain said, shaking his head in disapproval. Arthur drew himself up in indignation.
"It is not! I just came to talk," he said. "And now I'm bored."
"I'm sure Merlin can think of plenty of ways to keep you entertained," Gawain said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Merlin blushed.
"Shut up, Gawain," he said. Gawain just winked and took a swig of beer.
"You'll get there," he said. "You'll get there."
