Arthur stared intently at the strange box hanging on the wall behind the bar from where he sat at the at the restaurant table. He recognized this box as being the same sort of device that Merlin kept tucked away in the corner of the living room, though he'd never seen Merlin use it. He watched as the box showed the image of little men running around after a ball. "So, it's some sort of advanced scrying stone then?"

Merlin looked up from the menu in front of him, "Sorry?"

Arthur pointed to the object, "The box, you have one like it in the living room."

Merlin smiled fondly, "It's called a television."

"Tele-vision. For, telepathic-vision, so a scrying stone?"

Merlin shook his head, "It's not magic, actually. It's science."

Arthur looked at him in disbelief, "I know magic when I see it, Merlin."

Merlin smirked, "Of course, sire."

They arrived home from their night out around ten. Merlin led Arthur into the living room and had him sit down on the new couch. He handed Arthur a long rectangular device with many differently colored buttons. Arthur looked at it strangely, "What's this?"

Merlin turned and began reaching behind the big black box fiddling with the cables, "The remote."

"The what?"

Merlin stopped fixing the cables and crawled onto the couch with Arthur. He put his arm around Arthur's shoulders and pointed with his free hand to the red button, "Press that one."

Arthur pressed the red button and promptly dropped it in surprise when the big black box suddenly was filled with colored images and noise came out from it.

Merlin laughed at Arthur's surprised state, but Arthur just stared at the magic box.

In the box, an illustration of a leprechaun was trying to steal a box of breakfast cereal from illustrated children.

Arthur whispered, "Magic …"

"No magic. Just science."

Arthur glared at Merlin, "Merlin, I'm not an idiot. This is clearly magic."

Merlin just smiled, "Press that button again."

He did and the box suddenly went quiet and dark again.

Merlin got up and went back to the box. He reached behind it and fiddled more with the cables. "Now press it again."

Arthur pressed the red button, but nothing happened. "It's not working. What did you do?"

Merlin held up the cable in his hand and explained to Arthur that the cables carried electricity, the same force that powered the lightbulbs, microwave, and other things in the house.

"So, you see, it really is just simple science."

Arthur responded grumpily, "Oh, yes. Simple."

Merlin held out his hands in front of him, "Magic would look a bit more like this." He spoke an incantation and his eyes shone gold.

Arthur stared in awe as golden sparks appeared in the air between them. They started as a light spattering, but then a pattern began to appear in the sparks. Arthur stared in amazement as the Pendragon emblem took shape before his eyes.

Merlin spoke, "For you, Arthur. Always for you."

After some time admiring Merlin's magic and his sexy gold eyes. Arthur did eventually pull Merlin back onto the couch.

And so it happened that Arthur saw his first moving picture, or movie.

It was about some magic kid who was fairly surprised to discover he had magic.

"I can't be a-a-a wizard. I mean I'm just – Harry! Just Harry."

Arthur leaned over to talk in Merlin's ear. "Is that what it was like for you? Learning you had magic."

Merlin smirked, "Not at all. If anything, I struggled to accept other people didn't have it. It was natural for me, like breathing."

Arthur continued to ask questions throughout the movie. The magic portrayed was a bit different than what he knew about it, but not totally alien. Merlin seemed to appreciate Arthur's curiosity and gladly answered his questions.

Arthur was a bit disappointed with how the movie ended, but was glad when Merlin told him there were seven more. "Can we watch the rest? Not now obviously, but sometime."

Merlin smiled, "As you wish, sire."

The next day, Arthur was sitting in the living room with a history book. He was very interested in learning about the New World across the sea. He stared in wonder at the illustration of what Tenochtitlan looked like when the conquistadors first laid eyes on it. He marveled at its beauty and sophistication. Perhaps the Aztecs were a people of magic, but then Arthur thought of the television. If such seemingly impossible things as moving pictures were made possible by science, what else might be accomplished?

Arthur was suddenly jostled from his thoughts by the sound of crashing and clanging from the kitchen. He stood up and hurried towards the sound, "Merlin?"

The shattered remains of a large ceramic baking pan were scattered all over the floor along with a meal of uncooked chicken breasts and various vegetables. The oven door stood open and heat emanated from it. Merlin stood beside it, his hands covered by a pair of blue oven mitts were held out in front of him. Etched on his face was a look of shocked panic.

Arthur hurriedly walked around the mess on the floor to Merlin. He grasped Merlin's shoulder, but the warlock continued staring in front of him, frozen. Arthur shook his shoulder, "Merlin? Merlin what's wrong?"

Merlin stuttered, "I …" He took a deep breath and slowly glanced down at the floor. "Oh, sorry. I've made a mess." Still looking shaken, Merlin began pulling off the oven mitts and went to close the oven door.

Arthur tightened his grip on Merlin's shoulder, "Merlin, tell me what's wrong."

Merlin shook his head and tried to shrug off Arthur's hand. "Nothing. I just lost my grip."

Arthur reached out his other hand and grasped Merlin's other shoulder, forcing the warlock to look at him. Arthur took a breath, "Merlin, please, please don't lie to me."

A guilty look flashed across Merlin's face and he looked away. "It's just … I thought I heard something. It was probably just my imagination."

Arthur pressed him, "What did you hear?"

Merlin muttered, "Just my name."

Arthur was getting irritated now. Getting Merlin to share the truth with his other half shouldn't have to be like pulling teeth. He briefly remembered what Leon had said about Merlin before, that he was a pathological liar. Arthur made a mental note that he would have to find some way to look up the term's meaning or ask Leon about it. For now, Arthur forced himself to be patient.

"Merlin, there's more to it than that, I can tell. You can trust me. I promise you can trust me. Please don't shut me out."

Merlin placed his hands over Arthur's where they held onto his shoulders. He took a breath and looked back up at Arthur. "I heard a dragon."

Arthur eyes went wide in shock.

Merlin continued nervously, "I mean, I thought I heard a dragon. I could have imagined it. I've heard voices before. I am old, and sometimes memories creep up on me and I can get confused, so that's probably all it was."

Arthur tried to speak calmly, "How do you know it was a dragon's voice?"

Merlin glanced downwards and muttered, "I'm sort of a dragonlord."

"What?"

Merlin looked back up at him, "The last dragonlord, actually."

Arthur shook his head, "No, I remember the last dragonlord. We were taking him to Camelot and he died."

Merlin glanced around nervously, avoiding Arthur, "Uh yeah, thatwasmydad. And he died. And I became a dragonlord."

Arthur took his hands from Merlin's shoulders and took a small step back, "That- that was your father?!"

Merlin gave a slight nod.

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

Merlin crossed his arms, "Oh, I don't know. Guess I didn't really fancy getting my head chopped off."

Arthur shook his head. They'd already been through this. Arthur had already forgiven him for the secrets and lies. But this revelation felt different somehow. Merlin had lost his father and Arthur didn't know. "Why didn't you say anything before now, in this time?"

"It was 1500 years ago. It's not important."

Arthur gazed at Merlin and realized that look was back. He was old. His eyes swirled with memories, pain, and tears from the past. He looked small and fragile. He could tumble down at any moment, his bones, skin, and flesh finally returning to dust, scattering on the floor with the broken pan and uncooked dinner at Arthur's feet. It would happen quickly, one moment Merlin would be there and the next he would be gone. Arthur would stand in the kitchen alone. He would get on his hands and knees, not caring as the broken ceramic pieces dug into his skin and the oil on the floor soaked through the clothes, and try desperately to gather the dust up. He would be left alone and incomplete. He couldn't bear the thought.

Arthur didn't realize he was crying until Merlin was already wiping away his tears. He sobbed with relief as he gazed into worried blue eyes. The moment had passed. Merlin was back. He was flesh and bone and would not fall over and disintegrate before Arthur's eyes.

Merlin started, "Arthur-?"

Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin's shoulders and pulled him in close. Merlin embraced Arthur as he caught his breath. "No more secrets. Please, Merlin, promise me."

Merlin hesitated, his brows furrowed together, "I-I'll try. I promise I'll try."

Together they cleaned up the mess on the kitchen floor and ordered pizza. They talked over dinner. Merlin explained more about his father, Balinor, and the passing of dragon tongue from father to son. Arthur's memories of the event came back to him slowly. He remembered Merlin's sorrow and how Arthur had told him "No man is worth your tears". He held his head in his hands, overwhelmed by guilt. Merlin comforted him and insisted he was forgiven.

Arthur asked questions about Merlin being a dragonlord which were answered, but Merlin had trouble answering his questions about the voice Merlin had heard in the kitchen.

Arthur chewed on a piece of pizza crust, "Where was the voice coming from?"

Merlin furrowed his brows, "I don't know. It didn't last long enough for me to be able to tell."

"And you're sure there are no dragons left in the world?"

Merlin shook his head, "The last dragon died in 1000 C. E.. She should have lived longer, but she didn't develop properly."

"And I suppose this dragon is the same that …" Arthur's voice trailed off as he reached for his side where the scar was.

Merlin nodded in understanding, "Yes, that was Aithusa." He looked down, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have hatched her when I did. I should have waited until magic was legal. Then I could have kept her from Sarrum and Morgana. She would have been able to develop properly, and she never would have forged the blade."

Arthur tried to tell him none of it was his fault, but Arthur could tell Merlin believed what he'd said.

That night, when they had turned out the lights and crawled into bed, Arthur slept peacefully unaware as the man beside him stared wide awake at the ceiling, a voice ringing through his head.

"Merlin."