Merlin was sitting in his office looking over papers when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said cheerfully.
Mordred entered, the usual scowl on his face ten times darker. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
"What's that Mordred?" asked Merlin leaning forward.
"That new boy, your little pet," the words were spat out from his mouth.
"Who, Arthur?"
"Yes Arthur. He's not what he says he is." Mordred sighed impatiently.
Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Then what exactly is he?"
"A Pendragon," hissed Mordred. He was getting quite good at that actually.
"Wait, what?" asked Merlin.
"Gaius came to tell Morgana and I that he recognized your new friend as Arthur Pendragon," Mordred replied, a smug look on his face.
"Arthur...Pendragon...Why didn't I see this before?" Merlin was truly angry now. He felt betrayed, and like a fool. To think he had even started to show some affection to the other man.
"He tricked us all," Mordred said darkly. "Gaius wanted me to warn you before anything happened."
Merlin nodded. "Yes, I can see everything now. What a fool I've been."
Mordred bowed his head. "I'm sorry, sir."
Merlin cracked a small smile. "It's not your fault, Mordred. Thank you for telling me."
Mordred bowed his head once more before leaving the room. Merlin sat, with his feet on his desk in deep thought. He tugged thoughtfully at the chain around his neck, pulling the pendant he always wore for good luck out from under his shirt. It was a miniature sword cast in sterling silver, with writing down the front too small to be read by the naked eye. But Merlin knew that it said Excalibur. It had been given to him as a gift from Kilgharrah, who had promised that it would protect him. Merlin snorted, that old man was crazy.
There was a knock on the door, before the head of his secretary appeared from the crack in the door.
"Emrys, sir, an Arthur is on the phone. Would you like to speak to him?" she said quietly.
Merlin's hands balled up into fists, anger surged through him once more. "No." it came out through gritted teeth, he was barely staying calm.
The secretary nodded, before shutting the door with a click.
"Mr. Emrys cannot make it to the phone at this time, can I take a message?" it was the voice of the young lady from before.
Arthur frowned. He was in his own apartments, it being too early for him to even get out of bed. "Are you sure he's not there? Mer- Emrys always likes to get an early start. Is he sick?" Arthur asked anxiously.
"No sir, Mr. Emrys is in perfect health. He just cannot take a phone call at this moment," the secretary said patiently. "Can I take a message for you?"
Arthur sighed. "No, thank you though."
"Of course sir," there was a click as the call was disconnected. Arthur fell back onto his pillows in frustration. He had wanted to talk to Merlin, not about anything of real importance, but just because.
Arthur shook his head. Was he falling for Emrys? He wasn't really his type...So thin, with a mop of dark hair, hiding bright eyes and flushed cheeks. No certainly not his type. But the more Arthur thought about it, the more he realized that he was very attracted to the other. He groaned, how Romeo and Juliet this whole affair was. Why couldn't he have just found a guy in his own gang, someone his father would approve of. If his father knew his son was gay, that is. Uther had kept throwing young women at his son, in hopes of finding a match. None of them had worked out, for obvious reasons.
Arthur looked out the window, before making a decision. He got out of bed and threw on whatever was nearest him. He passed his father in the dining room.
"Arthur, you're up early," Uther sounded pleasantly surprised.
Arthur just kept walking, causing his father to follow him to the door. "Where are you going?"
"I have a meeting with one of our partners," Arthur lied. "I figured I should inspect them, and make sure the money is where it is in the books."
Uther nodded with a satisfied look. His son would make a great leader one day.
Arthur brushed by his father, and entered the bustling world of Camelot. Men in suits with briefcases were hurrying to their offices. Women were milling about cafes, and shops whispering gossip like little birds. It was so chaotic. Even in his car he couldn't drown out the noise of the city. It seemed to seep in like water, and honestly Arthur felt like he was drowning. He made his way to the other part of town, where he knew Merlin's offices were.
He parked the car, and made his way into the brightly lit rooms. "Hello, I'm here to see Emrys," Arthur said leaning against the front counter.
A woman looked up at him. "Do you have an appointment?"
Arthur grinned. "Come now, Miss, I'm an old friend of his. Do I really need an appointment."
It was clear the woman had dealt with unsavory types of men before, and she didn't seem the kind to back down. "If you don't have an appointment, then I'm afraid you can't see him. Mr. Emrys is a very busy man."
Arthur suddenly realized where he had heard that voice before, it was the secretary he had spoken to this morning. "Look I called earlier hoping to speak with him, but he was busy. So I decided to come down here myself to see him. Is he free now?"
She eyed him carefully. After their previous chat Merlin had called her in and told her that if Arthur came by she was to keep him out at any cost. "I'm afraid he's in a meeting."
Arthur shrugged. "I can wait."
"It may last all day," she warned.
"Ring him up, see how long it will take," Arthur said.
She sighed, this man was insufferable. "Mr. Emrys? My apologies, I know you didn't want to be bothered, but there is a Mr –?"
"Just Arthur," the boy supplied.
She nodded. "Arthur here to see you. Any clue when you will be done the meeting? Yes I see. Yes, that is what I told him. He is very persistent in that matter. Yes, sir. I will do what I can." She hung up the phone before turning to their guest again. "It appears that Mr. Emrys will be very busy all day. He asks that you come back another day."
Arthur sighed. "Alright, give him my card will ya?"
She took the card from his hand and set it on her desk. "Thank you for stopping by."
He put his hat back on, and strolled leisurely outside. There was definitely something going on, that wasn't quite right. He walked into the alley as if searching the walls for something. On the third story, just by the fire escape Arthur could see the dark head of his friend. And surprisingly he was alone. Arthur smirked. He jumped up, pulling the ladder down and made his way up the set of stairs.
Behind Merlin there was a knock at his window, causing him to jump. He turned his chair around, and to his surprise he found Arthur Pendragon banging on the window. Merlin's jaw dropped. He glared at the other, before spinning his chair around completely ignoring the other. The knocking didn't stop. It got to the point where Merlin was sure he was about to go crazy.
"What do you want!?" He opened the window so suddenly, that Arthur fell back onto his butt.
"Nice ruse you've got going, but clearly you aren't in a meeting," Arthur said with one of his cocky grins.
"Did you ever think that maybe I had a job? Work that needs to get done. I can't spend all my time babysitting you," Merlin retorted.
"Can I come in?" Arthur asked with a sweet smile.
"No."
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," Arthur teased.
"I said, no."
Arthur's smile dropped. "What's gotten into you?"
Merlin tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I don't know, Pendragon, why don't you enlighten me."
All the color drained from Arthur's face. He let out a little oh, before falling silent.
"That's what I thought," Merlin said about to slam the window shut.
"Wait, I can explain," Arthur said hurriedly.
"Really? How do explain lying to my face. Lying to all my friends? Stop being cliché, and get off my fire escape," Merlin said angrily.
"Merlin?"
It was too late. The window was shut, and the blinds were drawn. Miserably Arthur made his way back down the fire escape. He looked once more at the building before turning to go. He'd just have to find a way of proving himself to Emrys. Then everything would get better.
Thank you everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed. It's because of y'all that I finally got around to updating! A little note. I'm going to change the genre because honestly the way this story is headed isn't actually all that humourous. I thought it was gonna be a lighthearted type story, but that just doesn't quite work with this plot. So just warning y'all now. I hope none of you chose to abandon me because of that! I promise you there will be a happy ending. ~T.W.o.W