"Merlin! Fetch me a glass of water!"
"Do it yourself," Merlin replied, amused. "Honestly Arthur, all you have to do is walk into the kitchen."
Grumbling under his breath, Arthur pushed himself to his feet and staggered in the direction of the kitchen. "But Merlin, I'm exhausted!"
If he had expected any sympathy, he was sorely disappointed. Merlin's only reply was; "Stop complaining, prat!"
Arthur glared at him and entered the kitchen. Merlin heard him rifling through the drawers and ransacking the cupboards, and remembered that he still hadn't introduced Arthur to a sink yet.
"Oh, this'll be fun," he groaned as he heaved himself off the sofa and made his way through to the kitchen.
"Merlin, where do you get water?" Arthur asked him impatiently. "You always go through to the kitchen to get it, but I don't know what you actually have to use to get it. Nowadays, things are so strange."
"You use this," Merlin told him, pointing at the sink.
"I cannot take another of these stupid inventions!" Arthur fumed.
"Arthur, please calm down," said Merlin wearily. "It's perfectly simple." He picked up a glass and held it under one of the taps. "You turn this," he told his friend over his shoulder, "and water comes out." He turned the tap as he spoke and filled the glass with water, hearing a gasp from behind him.
"Now you turn it again, and the water stops," he explained. "When you turn this tap you get cold water, and when you turn the other one the water is warm. See?" He turned to look at his friend.
Arthur's eyes were wide as he stared at the sink. "Wow!"
Merlin smiled, handing him the glass. "It's a very useful thing to have."
"But…but are you sure it's safe to drink this?" Arthur asked, suddenly nervous.
"I'm sure," Merlin replied.
Arthur nodded quickly, and his gaze returned to the taps almost instantly. "Merlin," he asked hesitantly, "can I…have a go?"
Merlin fought not to laugh at the rapt expression on Arthur's face. "If you want to, of course."
Arthur stepped forward eagerly and reached out a hand, flinching slightly as he touched the tap. Slowly, he turned it, and water began trickling out of it. His mouth fell open.
"Merlin! This is amazing!" he cried, his glass of water forgotten as he began turning both of the taps on and off, over and over again.
Merlin couldn't help laughing this time. "I take it you like the idea of running water then, Arthur?"
"Definitely!" Arthur enthused. "This is brilliant!"
"I'm not sure it was invented so people can play with it-" Merlin began, but Arthur cut him off.
"Play with it? Play with it? I'll have you know Merlin, that King Arthur Pendragon never, and I repeat, never, plays with things! I am merely conducting a scientific experiment, that is all."
"A scientific experiment?" Merlin repeated, amused.
"Yes. I'm currently trying to work out the science behind this, so kindly leave me alone so I can conduct it in peace!"
Rolling his eyes, Merlin left him.
Arthur remained in the kitchen for nearly the rest of the day. It took Merlin a full half hour to persuade him to come away from the sink and have some dinner, although Arthur did eventually comply, albeit reluctantly. However, as soon as Arthur was finished, he raced back into the kitchen again.
Merlin, who now needed the sink to wash the dishes, entered the kitchen where Arthur was currently turning both taps on and splashing the water round the room, beaming in delight. Merlin watched as he turned one of the taps off, then the other, and gazed in fascination at the drips of water now coming from the taps.
"This," Merlin heard him say, "is amazing!"
"Err, Arthur," said Merlin, trying for what felt like the hundredth time that day not to laugh, "I need to use the sink to wash the dishes."
Arthur's face fell. "Do I have to leave?"
"Well," said Merlin hopefully, "you can always help me."
"Will I get to use the sink?" Arthur asked hesitantly.
Merlin nodded. "In fact, you could even wash them by yourself if you want to."
"Okay!" said Arthur brightly.
Merlin grinned. "Brilliant!" He made his way across the rather wet floor and handed the dishes to Arthur. "I'll be in the living room if you need me. Are you sure you'll be okay in here?"
"Of course," said Arthur in a dignified voice.
Merlin left the kitchen, inwardly congratulating himself for finally managing to persuade Arthur to wash the dishes, not that Arthur had taken a lot of persuasion thankfully.
He was settling down to watch televison when there was a loud crash and a loud exclamation of; "Oops!" from Arthur. Merlin groaned.
"Arthur, what've you broken?" he called.
"Nothing!" Arthur sounded extremely offended that Merlin would ever even consider that he would break something.
Merlin remained quiet, until he heard Arthur laugh. "It's raining!"
Merlin sighed and stood up, heading through to the kitchen. Arthur was throwing water over himself, beaming. He turned the taps even more so the water gushed out of them with a new intensity, and tried to gather the water up in his hands, before attempting to throw it in Merlin's direction...
"Merlin!"
"Really, Arthur?" said Merlin, pretending to sound umimpressed.
"I'm sorry, but it was fun!" said Arthur defensively.
Merlin raised an eyebrow, but had to struggle to hold back the smile that was threatening to appear. "Arthur, you're acting like a child, honestly..."
Arthur opened his mouth indignantly, but, unable to think of a reply, promptly shut it again.
Merlin moved over to the sink. "However, I do need to get you back after what you just did..."
"I didn't know you were there!" Arthur protested as Merlin threw the water in his face. Laughing, he picked up another handful of water and threw it over Merlin.
So the day ended with the two of them having a water fight in the kitchen, completely forgetting about the dishes.
A/N: Thanks a lot to everyone who has reviewed this! :)