A/N: Sorry it's been so long and this is just a tiny chapter. I won't bore you with excuses but I've really been struggling with school recently and haven't had much time for writing. I promise that part three of Renovations is coming, I'm working on it a tiny bit every day.

Thanks, everyone, he's puny bad chapter to make up for it :D

Jobs

"I resign!" Arthur stormed into Gaius' chambers while the physician was out and began pacing.

Merlin looked up curiously from where he was mushing up a selection of herbs, "I'm not sure that's possible."

"I'm the king, I can do what I like. I want to resign."

"What's happened?"

"The trial, this morning."

"What about it?"

"I sentenced him to death."

"I know that, I was there," Merlin said, "Why are you still thinking about it?"

"Because apparently, I only sentenced him because he used magic and he didn't actually deserve a death sentence."

"He killed five people. It doesn't matter how. Five people- including three children- are dead because of him. By the laws of Camelot, that's punishable by death."

"I can't do anything right, Merlin," Arthur said, still pacing and throwing his hands around as he spoke, "I give someone one punishment and they deserved something more but I give them another and it was too severe! How does that work? Why can't I have an easy job?"

Merlin put down what he was holding and took Arthur's hand, "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"On a walk." Merlin led him out of the room and down to the kitchens where he picked up an onion and a knife, "Chop it."

"Excuse me?" Arthur studied him.

"Chop the onion."

"Why?"

"Because we're trying different jobs. You're going to cook a meal."

Merlin instructed Arthur on how to prepare a few vegetables, some meat, cheese and bread then present it on a plate. "There," he tried not to laugh at the mess that was the food, "Would you eat that?"

Arthur snorted, "No. It looks like it was prepared by a child."

"Exactly," Merlin picked up a wooden board which was stacked high with dishes, "Now, wash these."

"Merlin!"

"Wash them."

As Arthur was washing the few bits of cutlery they'd used, more and more dishes seemed to pile up from all around the room and soon he was staring at a huge pile of plates and bowls. The king turned to look helplessly at Merlin who was leaning against a table, munching on an apple.

"Stressful, isn't it?" Merlin laughed.

"Perhaps a bit."

"Leave them, it's alright."

"But someone else will have to do them."

Merlin smiled proudly, "Yes. It's their job. Come on."

Arthur allowed himself to be led out of the castle and down to the town where they entered the blacksmith's forge. Almost immediately Arthur began complaining about the heat but Merlin ignored him. He was busy chatting to the blacksmith. Soon, Arthur was hammering bits of metal with all his might, red-faced and sweaty.

When he stopped, and he was leaving with Merlin, Arthur gasped, "That's exhausting."

"That was barely a minute's work," Merlin said, "He spends all day in there doing that over and over again. Hard work."

"Like the cooks spend all day making food that tastes good and looks amazing," Arthur said.

"Exactly."

Merlin took Arthur all over the town where he tried all sorts of different jobs. In the stables, he spent an hour mucking out and brushing down the horses. In the tavern, he served dozens of people demanding all sorts of different things. Back in Gaius' chambers, he treated a couple of people for sickness or injuries. In the market, he sold fruit to his citizens. He chopped wood and harvested crops and even sewed some tunics.

They went everywhere and Arthur tried everything. Merlin watched him proudly from the side, laughing slightly every so often.

Late in the evening, the pair returned to the castle and fell into Arthur's bed side-by-side.

"So," Merlin said, "What job will you be doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since you don't want to be king, and you want an 'easy' job, what will it be? A cook?"

"And constantly have to make amazing looking and tasting food for other people but get none myself? No thanks."

"A blacksmith then?"

"It's far too hot in there and my shoulders hurt after only a few minutes."

"And you call yourself a soldier," Merlin teased, "What about a physician?"

"Far too much to remember. And some of the things you have to do are disgusting."

"A seamstress?"

"Don't be an idiot."

Merlin smirked, "Did you enjoy any of the jobs you did today?"

"I enjoyed all of them," Arthur admitted, "I had a great day. But I couldn't do any of it as a job. It's far too hard."

"So do you appreciate your job more now?"

"Definitely. I'm lucky. Do you know what I'd love to be, though?"

"What?"

"A farmer."

Merlin laughed, "Really?"

"Well, you'd do all the farming, of course. But we'd have a farm somewhere peaceful, out of the way. We'd only have to worry about ourselves, we'd be together. We could have goats and chickens and plants."

"But no huge, comfy bed or fancy food or posh clothes."

"Doesn't matter. You live without that, I can too. It'll never happen," Arthur said, "But perhaps it's more likely than me becoming a seamstress."