"Too Close for Comfort" (Rose)
My head swims with discomfort at the picture of destruction. The clanging coming from the nearby chambers certainly doesn't help the matter, either. The creature grunts and exclaims its displeasure with the things it finds, tossing them aside, breaking God only knows what.
Merlin's mouth opens slightly and forms an "o" shape, and from it slipping a constant string of "no's" as he slides into none other than Arthur's chambers.
"Actually, make that a yes," I say with a slight laugh, but not a pleasurable one. The only thing I can think is, we are in such trouble.
"No!" the thing proclaims. "None here!"
"Oh," it continues as Merlin hones in on its position under the bed. Another item is thrown, nearly smacking into my head. I duck swiftly and keep moving.
I continue to walk around to the other side of the bed frame as a boot slips out from underneath.
"None under here either!" it says in frustration. I bend down to peek at it, seeing nothing but Merlin on the opposite end, just as a new voice meets my ears.
"Merlin," Arthur begins, his tone as degraded and skeptical as ever. "I really hope for your sake that you have a good explanation for this." I don't see too much of a point in making myself known at this time, so I allow my body to slump to meet the floor, which is rather cold, I might add. I scan the various things scattered on the ground around me and notice the most popular theme was that of metal, such as jewelry. Whatever this thing is after, it must cost a pretty penny.
"I- do have a good explanation," Merlin stammers, finding his footing once more. "I'm spring cleaning," he adds brightly, sounding unconvinced by his own statement.
"It isn't spring," Arthur counters, "And it certainly isn't clean."
I can see his agitated expression in my mind's eye.
Merlin sputters a little laugh. "That's because I've only just started." I hear his goofy smile disappear. He stutters a bit. "You wait until I finish. You'll be able to eat your dinner off the floor." A couple of seconds of pure silence, surely with Arthur's "what are you even saying?" face on. "Not that you'd want to," Merlin attempts to recover.
A crash in the hallway sets Arthur's suspicion alight further. "What was that?"
I can feel that he's turned around and I observe Merlin's quick footsteps toward the door as I begin to rise to my feet.
"Why don't I go and see, and you can make yourself comfortable?" suggests Merlin as he plows past Arthur, who just stops there, perplexed by Merlin's oddities as usual. I pause straight behind him, almost having run into him, keeping calm, enabling my own stealth.
I side step softly as he turns toward the bed, slipping around him and out the door breathlessly after his seemingly unexplainable manservant.
It seems that our little "friend" has occupied a different chamber as the last scenario almost repeats itself. This time, however, it has found Morgana's jewelry box and keeps stating the word "nearly", while sending many a bracelet flying over its shoulders. As we pass through the changing screens, the small, eerie, green man sniffs Morgana's healing bracelet.
"No!" Merlin warns.
Appearing pleased with his find, but not with our presence, it peers over its shoulder, scowls, and scampers off to the nearest window.
"Oh no!" I shoot forward, just too slow to stop it from jumping out into the open.
Merlin walks around me, pulling the window open further, looking out, then closing it once more. I shake my head in dismay as he begins to clean up the more precious discarded pieces.
"I am sorry about this," I tell him honestly. "I really tried to catch him."
"Don't worry about it," he smiles halfheartedly.
"You're not very confident in your word today, Merlin."
"I know," he pauses, then continues his task, "But this still isn't your fault."
I look up from his at his task to see Guinevere gazing interestedly, clearing her throat at poor Merlin. He turns his upper body, clutching a necklace awkwardly.
"I'm not sure that really suits you, Merlin," she says in a low tone, yet I hear the underlying laughter in her voice.
Allowing myself to break into the moment, I laugh heartily. "Oh, you mustn't tease him so. He's only being a dear and clearing up the results of my clumsiness." Her face softens into one of understanding. "I was dashing for the window, thinking I saw a man harassing my horse, and that's when this disaster happened. I knocked over Morgana's jewelry box. It turns out one of the stable hands was simply attempting to coral him. Sorry for the mess."
"That's perfectly alright," she smiles. "And thank you, Merlin, but I could've done it."
"It was really not a problem," he says as he hands her the jewelry box. He brushes himself off once, "Okay ... Off we go then."
Gwen and I exchange knowing smiles and I follow after Merlin. He slows so that I catch up. "That was-" he pauses.
"Too close for comfort," I finish his sentence.
He puffs out a breath. "You can say that again."
"A Closer Look" (Merlin)
"This is getting out of hand," Rose remarks, keeping her tenderness, but I do sense the irritation. I really hope that it's not directed at me, although, I don't imagine it would be. Still … One can never be too sure.
"No, you're absolutely right. We just have to find out what that thing is … then we should better know how to handle it." I pause. "I suppose we could consult the Shelves of Knowledge …"
The "Shelves of Knowledge" is what we call Gaius's ridiculously extensive and highly informative library. We have been able to identify incredibly random things using his books. Naturally, we set for home to take a closer look at the pickle we- or should I say, I- have landed ourselves into.
I begin to mumble on for a moment about how we could go about finding the right book, when suddenly, the verbalizing of my thoughts comes to a stuttering halt. Rose has stopped in the doorway of the physician's chambers, and she is laughing … Lightly, but it's a laugh nevertheless. "You mean, a book like this?"
With a swift motion, she pulls the Bestiary we went looking for in the first place out from behind her back. Needless to say, her laughter was then self-explanatory. I join in with her this round, our laughs mingling in the air, making the place seem brighter already. I shake my head at my stupidity. "What would I do without you?"
"Let's face it," she raises an eyebrow, "You'd be lost and swallowed whole by one of Gaius's medical texts in a split second."
I ponder this for a second, then concede, "Accurate."
Now, I don't think I will be eaten alive by any books anytime soon … But she's right … If it weren't for her, I would be lost.