The Game of Smiles
"How do we find the horseman Edward?" asked Arthur sternly.
The young farmer woman shut the door at his face. With force.
Merlin huffed exasperatedly and pushed Arthur aside proceeding to knock on the door again. It opened with the same mighty force.
"Don't you get the clue to-!" The woman was shouting angrily but stopped when he saw Merlin there with a hesitant smile instead of a proud arrogant blonde.
"Good afternoon my lady. I´m sorry to bother you but I thought it would be appropriate to apologize for the behavior of my arrogant friend. It´s a permanent trait I fear. His father is also the most arrogant being I have had a displeasure of meeting so it has been stuck on him since really early age."
Merlin´s voice was low and calm his expression turning from hesitant to apologizing. The young woman blinked a few times, opened the door more, slowly this time, and let a little smile grace her lips.
"Yes, he was very rude. I can´t help but wonder how you could be his friend."
Merlin let the smile on his face, the one that outshines the sun itself.
"You are flattering me my lady."
Arthur couldn't believe it. The woman was blushing. Blushing!
"How can I help you mister?" she asked and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well if it´s not too much of a trouble could you please tell as where to find this man called Edward? He is known from his skilled work with horses. We have come a long way for him and are a bit lost."
"Of course!" and then the woman started a very detailed instruction where to find the man in question which would surely help them a lot.
The knight and the prince were whispering but the woman would probably not notice them even if they were singing through their discussion. Gwaine, very helpfully, pointed out to Arthur that the girl would tell them anything to receive another one of those smiles of Merlin´s.
Arthur had to agree. The transformation from furious woman to that lady with glowing smile of her own was painfully obvious. Her cheeks would light up in flames any second now.
"Since when has Merlin been able to charm women?" Whispered Arthur.
"I´m taking the honor of that. He has always been damn pleasant and friendly to almost everyone but I pointed out how he could combine that with his smile. Merlin has became a master since then." Whispered Gwaine while smirking. The woman was still talking to Merlin enthusiastically.
"You pointed out to Merlin that he has the ability to smile?"
"Don't be stupid princess. I told him he is adorable while smiling and could light up the room with a single smile if he wanted. Which he probably did since the next moment the tavern was on fire… You should have seen his face. He thought I was even more drunk than usual and trying to flirt with him. That would not have been the first time…"
"What, him thinking you are insane?"
"No. Me flirting with him. But that´s beside the point. Just come on, you can´t say that you disagree!"
And to Arthur´s utter internal humiliation he did not; could not. Not when Merlin turned to look at them over his shoulder with sunshine in his eyes.
Damn it!
The Game of Smiles
Winner: Merlin
His smile is adorable. Don´t even try to deny it. I just needed something happy instead of my more usual stuff. My valentine's day was absolutely, depressingly lame. No point trying to deny that either. I hope this makes someone´s day even a little bit better.