"I get told my job is interesting when I tell people what I do, but this rates to bizarre."
Arthur ignored Elyan and stared into the back of the 4X4. Then shook his head and looked around.
"I wonder if an estate car might be better," Arthur mused. Elyan shrugged.
"What's wrong with the old one?"
"It's going to need too much work to go through the MOT and might need work later on. This is apparently more cost effective."
"It's not something you need to worry about though, is it?" Elyan said looking around the cars while trying to contain the three large dogs. Arthur had a least taken custody of Gwaine, which always made life easier. The only thing Elyan had to worry about was the three dogs sniffing tyres and the danger of them cocking a leg against one of the cars.
"No, but just because I have money, doesn't mean I am stupid with it," Arthur said. Elyan raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. Arthur was paying him enough to follow him around looking at cars, while he brought all the dogs, to test them in the back. Transporting three large dogs was no mean feat. They were all fairly well behaved but the two smaller ones needed to be accommodated. Gwaine, oddly, was no problem snuggling in with the other dogs. It was Merlin that Arthur felt concerned about. Although none of them were aggressive towards him. But he liked space, and preferred to be with Arthur.
"Maybe something without backseats, so they can be nearer to you," Elyan suggested. "Perhaps you might need to spend the dosh getting something custom made."
"That might be excessive," Arthur said, examining an estate car intently.
"Can I help you?" a female voice asked. Arthur turned to look at the saleswomen. Elyan's eyes widened and he looked her up and down with interest. Arthur had to admit she looked attractive, neatly dressed in a pencil skirt and matching jacket, and light-coloured plain blouse underneath. She looked from Arthur, to Elyan, who was distracted by Percival, who had, at that moment, decided to cock his leg.
"Yes, I need a car that fits this lot. Well, except Elyan, I don't think he wants to share with this mob."
"No, fear. At least when I take them anywhere I can lock them in the back of the van," Elyan said. "Maybe you need a van like ours."
"No I don't," Arthur contradicted him smoothly.
"Or maybe he doesn't," Elyan commented to the saleswoman.
"I like the dogs to be able to see me," Arthur said.
"None of them care when I take them. Although we never take Merlin anywhere," Elyan said. Merlin spent all his time with Arthur, and got his walk when Arthur took his lunch break at work. And he had managed to charm most of the workforce, even Kara had thawed towards him, since the party.
For two weeks or so after that she had watched Merlin warily, since Arthur had pointed out that Merlin liked her. Arthur thought it was a slight exaggeration, but Merlin felt quite comfortable around her. But she had started petting his head, whenever she passed Merlin in Arthur's office.
"I need to take them all, the rest of them are used to your van."
Elyan shrugged. "So could Merlin, if you... maybe not," he added in response to himself as Arthur glowered. Elyan decided to distract him, so he turned to the saleswoman. "Could we try them in here?"
"Sure," she said, glancing down at Lancelot who, in the presence of female company, had turned on his charm, and was wagging his tail and looking at her with interest. She petted his head, which caused his back end to swing along with his tail and he gave her his best endearing look. She turned to open the back and Elyan was nearly pulled off his feet as Leon and Percival took the hint. Fortunately Lancelot was still interested in the saleswoman so he acted as ballast for Elyan to keep his balance.
"Oi, enough!" Arthur told the over excited dogs. Both Percival and Leon sat down, and Arthur looked up at Elyan.
"Let go of them."
Elyan obeyed, and as Arthur looped up each lead the dog jumped in the back of the car moving about to get settled. Gwaine yapped and wagged his tail. Merlin sat down and looked confused, and his nose nudged Arthur's leg. Arthur petted him.
"It's all fine," Arthur said. "I will pay if you need any cars washing out after this, as I may try a few."
"That's fine. We have a Volvo estate over there that may suit your needs, and our other store might have something as well, if you want me to ask."
"That would be great. Some of those big Hilux things look okay but the jump is too high."
"You need a van, just put Merlin in the front. Gwaine doesn't care where he is," Elyan said.
"I know but... I like to see them all."
The dogs didn't care, other than Merlin, Elyan realised; but Arthur did. This was nothing to do with the dogs and all to do with Arthur. His previous car was able to take them all and Arthur could converse with his brood as he drove. And Arthur was a responsible driver, wanting to keep them contained.
Once the three big dogs were in the car Arthur reached down and scooped up Gwaine with one hand. The little dog wriggled and jumped into the back of the car, clambering over Leon to snuggle himself against Percival. The bigger dog huffed, and shifted slightly to accommodate Gwaine.
Then Arthur reached down to gently pick up Merlin. He was far more careful with the lurcher than he had been with Gwaine. Arthur put Merlin down in the space at the back. Merlin looked around, and sniffed the car uncertainly, then looked up at Arthur, before sniffing again. Arthur petted him gently, for reassurance. Then Merlin looked around again, with a little more confidence before slowly clambering between Lancelot and Leon, placing his paws down with thought. He went to the far end of the boot, and sat down, facing forward. Arthur watched him with some surprise. Then Merlin glanced over his shoulder to check Arthur, who grinned, came round the car and opened the back door to pet Merlin's head.
"Good boy."
"Well, it looks to have enough space, but..." Elyan paused, assessing the dogs. They all looked comfortable enough.
"I'm not sure, considering where you drive them out to. You need something four wheel drive. Plus, you need something that might need to consider Morgana and the baby."
Elyan watched the saleswoman's eyebrows lift. Clearly, so had Arthur, as he retracted his head from the car.
"My sister," Arthur said. "And that's true, she can drive herself most of the time. But I do have the other car, which is sensible and boring. I'm not likely to be taking Morgana, plus baby, plus dogs all in the one go."
Elyan calculated that in his mind. "No, probably not. I presume we'll take over when you're busy with Morgana, and Merlin can easily fit in the boot of your work car, you've been using it."
"He normally goes in the footwell, but I take your point," Arthur said. He looked at the car again, the dogs all staring at him expectantly. He turned to the sales woman.
"You said you had a Volvo?"
"Yes," she said looking amused as Arthur called the dogs and they all tumbled out of the back, Gwaine hurling himself out of the back to run at Arthur and fuss round him in the way he did; as if Arthur was the most wonderful person to ever exist. Arthur waded through them to pick Merlin out of the back and put him down at his feet, which the other dogs made way for. Elyan started to gather up leads again. Lancelot sat at the saleswoman's feet, staring up at her adoringly. She petted his head and then gathered up his lead. Taking the hint Lancelot stood up and waited patiently. Elyan decided to leave her to it as she walked off with Lancelot trotting next to her. Arthur shrugged, he tended to like people unfazed by dogs, so he allowed the saleswoman to lead Lancelot over to the Volvo. Merlin and Gwaine trotted along with Arthur and Elyan brought up the rear with Percival and Leon.
The whole scenario, as they went from car to car, seemed to entertain the entire staff and other customers. Arthur happily talked about dogs, tried them in cars and went back to the Volvo Estate.
"I think this is it, Merlin can sit in the back or the footwell."
"Gwaine has potential to cause chaos wherever he is," Elyan said.
"And your three big bruisers sit in the back perfectly," the saleswoman said. Lancelot sat at her feet and she petted Percival's head. Even he seemed to have been won over. Merlin pressed himself against Arthur, as if to remind him that at the end of the day, he was loved by them all.
"Can I take this one? No need to clean it out, but if you want to clean the others we tried I'm happy to pay."
"No need for that Mr Pendragon, I'm the senior sales manager..."
"And you are not about to take your subordinate's hard earned commission. She has spent the last hour dealing with us, she showed us the car and she will sell us the car. She is perfectly capable of doing the paperwork, I co-run a multi-national company and know the value of my staff."
Arthur glowered at the man until he went away. The girl shifted from foot to foot.
"You said you had a business degree?" Arthur asked her.
Elyan smiled to himself as he watched Arthur Pendragon flex his muscles.
And when he was on form, he was good.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
It was astounding, she thought to herself, as she looked at the big building and walked in with a bit of paper in her hand. She sighed internally as a security guard walked up to her.
"You're Nimueh?"
"Yes. Hello Lancelot," she said petting the dog's head as he sat next to the guard, which appeared to make her look like a goddess in the young guard's eyes. Lancelot stared up at her adoringly.
"I'm told by Arthur he is the ladies man of the group," Nimueh added.
"Yes," Mordred said. "Arthur said it would be how I knew you, Lancelot's reaction. Although, weirdly, his big love is his vet."
"Who I presume is female?" Nimueh said.
"Yes, although I think Lancelot's second loves are the rest of his pack. Arthur said he's the most un-insecure dog he's ever known."
"Rare, normally it's the owner," Nimueh said. "That the dog wants to please," she added.
"He's generally pleased to see Arthur," Mordred commented as Lancelot turned his head and the tail wagging increased, but Lancelot waited for Arthur and Merlin to reach him, as opposed to Leon, who would strain towards Arthur when he appeared. Merlin and Lancelot bumped noses in a friendly fashion, and then Merlin sat next to Arthur, as close to his foot as he could, without actually sitting on it. Merlin gazed up at Arthur waiting patiently, then he looked over at Nimueh as Arthur held out his hand.
"Hi."
"Hello, Mr Pendragon."
Mordred raised his eyebrows at the respectful tone. However, Nimueh could hardly have been affected by the gossip about Arthur. Then again, Mordred had heard all the talk, but that persona of Arthur never seemed to equate with the man he knew. Although over the last few months the gossip around Arthur had waned slightly. The mileage in gossip currently lay with the relationship between Uther and Morgana. Arthur was the 'sane' Pendragon for the moment.
"You remember Merlin, say hello Merlin."
Then Nimueh looked down at the smaller dog. She hadn't really paid much attention to Merlin, who Arthur had been leading around at the car salesroom. Now, the lurcher sat down and looked up at her with a serious expression on his face. He lifted his paw, as Arthur had taught him.
Feeling a little self-conscious Nimueh reached down and gently took Merlin's paw.
"Hello Merlin," Nimueh said. Merlin regarded her for a moment longer before looking up at Arthur. Which seemed to bring Arthur out of his contemplation of the dogs.
"Right, I'll take you up to meet Morgana," Arthur said. "Are you all right with him, or do you want me to take him for a bit?"
"I'm fine," Mordred said. "I'll take him out for a walk in a bit."
Arthur nodded, petted Lancelot's head before letting Mordred lead him outside, while Arthur led Nimueh to the executive lift. Merlin trotted along at Arthur's side. He had long ago stopped using the lead on Merlin; since he never wandered far, there was never any need for it. His father disapproved, but since Merlin always behaved impeccably there was very little room for complaint. It also occurred to Arthur that since the moment Merlin had stood up to Uther, on Morgana's behalf, his father had developed the smallest nugget of respect for the little lurcher.
He stopped thinking about that as he felt pressure on his foot, as Merlin sat down, and Arthur realised Nimueh was looking at him, a slight frown on her face.
"Sorry," Arthur said. "I do zone out occasionally."
"And the dogs bring you back," she said.
"Something like that."
"How's the Volvo working out?"
"Perfect as it goes, Merlin and Gwaine go in the passenger foot well and the three big fellows fit neatly in the boot."
"And your sister and the baby in the backseat?" Nimueh asked as the lift doors opened.
"No way, being pregnant does not make me incompetent at driving. You must be Nimueh."
Merlin trotted out of the lift towards Morgana wagging his tail. Arthur wondered at the implications of the fact that again Morgana was wearing the velvet dress he had bought her, that seemed to be her go to comfort clothing. She bent down to pet Merlin momentarily before looking back up.
"Shall we go to my office?"
"Where I was bringing Nimueh to, you needn't get up."
"The baby is kicking again, easier to walk about," Morgana said, as if it was the most commonplace thing in the world. Arthur reflected that he seemed more excited by the baby's first movements than Morgana did. Unless of course the baby had made it's presence felt before Morgana had told him, and his sister had independently enjoyed the sensation for herself before letting him know. Which was, Arthur decided, entirely up to his sister. Although Merlin had been very attentive just before she had told him.
"Is it uncomfortable, my cousin hated it, although not because she didn't want the baby, she just really hated the movement. She couldn't really define why," Nimueh said.
"No, just, interesting," Morgana said. Merlin dropped back to walk with Arthur and they both hung back to let the women walk ahead. It was a bit of a punt on Arthur's side, but Morgana needed someone to cover her maternity leave, and Arthur had dismissed most of the senior workers straight away. If nothing else the only suitable one had been running the book and had Arthur as odds on favourite to be the father, with Uther in a close second.
Arthur had ended that shenanigans by hauling the culprit into his office and asked quite openly why he shouldn't fire him.
"I could take you to a tribunal, it's only a bit of fun."
Arthur threw the notebook on his desk onto the floor. And for this very reason, he had brought Gwaine to the office, for the hour he had set aside for this meeting, because the Westie had pounced in seconds, ripping at the paper as he growled and snarled.
The man watched Gwaine with wide eyes. It was a perfect foil for Arthur, to define exactly as he felt.
"Then again, it could be construed as sexual harassment, and implying that a woman has been impregnated by either her brother or father is probably some form of disciplinary offence."
"But?" The man pointed at Gwaine, still happily savaging the notebook. "You have nothing."
"Actually, that is just a blank notebook. I've left the actual book with Bayard's legal team. It seemed a conflict of interest for me to investigate. Bayard was happy to oblige, wasn't he, Gwaine."
At the sound of his name Gwaine paused and looked up. It was testament to how well Arthur had trained him, or the fact he was just generally inclined to listen to Arthur, who was, in Gwaine's mind, the best human being to ever exist. Arthur didn't sound cross but Gwaine decided to hedge his bets, he picked up the now very tattered notebook and brought it over to Arthur for inspection. He bounded over and jumped up to offer Arthur the book. He took it, and waggled it in Gwaine's face. With an excited growl Gwaine played his favourite game, tug-of-war. Arthur let Gwaine play, ripping the notebook even further, while he kept his gaze on the unfortunate employee.
"Suffice to say, it gives me good reason to think, you are not replacing Morgana when she takes maternity leave."
"I'm the best qualified!"
Arthur scowled. "She doesn't need someone qualified."
Which sounded like a very stupid statement really, but when Arthur said it, he actually thought it was true. Morgana needed someone she could trust, who could think for themselves, and who would also refer to her if needs be, even if she was busy with a baby. And the next day, Arthur, still musing had gone car shopping.
"Coffee?" Arthur offered. "Or green tea?"
"Actually orange juice, the tea made me sick this morning."
Arthur nodded. "Coffee, Nimueh?"
"Yes please, black one sugar. Unless the smell bothers you."
"Strangely not," Morgana said.
Arthur went away and came back with the drinks. Merlin walked in ahead of him, going over to Morgana, who petted his head. Arthur put the drinks down.
"How did Agravaine take the news you weren't letting him replace me?"
"Quite well, he found Gwaine a little intimidating though."
"Bet that little guy had fun."
Arthur grinned. "He did. There are times Gwaine needing an ASBO is a god send."
"He hasn't raised the issue with Bayard so far?"
"Not so far, I think that threw him."
"Nor is it easy, Bayard loves you."
Arthur frowned. "He would be objective, besides it's Merlin he loves."
"And Gwaine," Morgana pointed out.
"True, although, that is mainly his granddaughter."
"I can't believe that dog was so patient," Morgana said. "You met the Westie didn't you?"
Nimueh blinked at the question. "Not directly."
"He grows on you."
"Like fungus," Arthur said. Morgana turned to look at him, with the expression that made him think that she was wondering what was the point of him. Although he knew his sister was thawing towards the dogs. To the point she left the gate open to her bedroom in his house, now she had moved in almost permanently. And had started leaving her suitcase out so Gwaine could curl up in it when he wanted to. Arthur had lined it with an old towel to which Morgana had said.
"If he messes it up I'll buy a new one."
Gwaine now happily continued to snooze in Morgana's suitcase but less now, since it was openly accepted and he only now seemed to do it if Merlin was sat with Morgana, as he sometimes did.
Arthur sat down in the chair placed in the window, letting the two women talk. He wasn't wrong in his judgement of Nimueh. She would suit Morgana. Merlin seemed to think so as he put his head on Arthur's knee and Arthur looked at his phone as a text came through, from Morgana.
"Leave!"
She probably, Arthur thought, had that ready and set up on her phone to send.
"Right, you to can sort this out, Merlin needs his walk and if you need me to update anything in the contract, or make changes, send me the new draft and I can update it. Bat back and forth a bit, I can schedule for updates."
"Thank you, Arthur," Morgana said primly.
Merlin trotted over to her, and got patted on the head. He then went round the desk to Nimueh, he sniffed her, put his muzzle on her leg and as she gently petted him Merlin's tail thudded against the floor. He clearly liked what he sensed and Arthur raised his eyebrows as Merlin, happy with his world, got up and trotted over to the door, staring up at him adoringly.
"Ah, Merlin approval," Morgana said.
"And Bayard said Merlin is an excellent judge of character."
With that Merlin and Arthur left the office. Arthur took him downstairs, and went out to see Mordred and Lancelot out in the car park.
As Mordred threw a ball for Lancelot, who was very obliging to Mordred's need, and Arthur could see that Lancelot would be quite happy to keep going for as long at Mordred wanted. Merlin trotted about, cocked his leg on a tree and then wandered back to Arthur. Then his head turned and his tail thumped on the ground.
"Arthur!" Bayard roared his name as Arthur turned. "Merlin!" he added in delight petting Merlin's head and shaking his paw. Lancelot bounded over as Bayard produced some dog treats. Ones, Arthur noted, that he used himself, and Bayard had asked him about. Merlin crunched his, while sitting at Arthur's feet. Lancelot took his and eyed Bayard for a moment before trotting back to Mordred and the tennis ball.
"I spoke to Agravaine," Bayard said.
"Oh yes."
"It came to nothing, legal had all the bases covered anyway, but you can appoint anyone suitable for the role, which he certainly is not."
"I have already found someone. Headhunted from a car dealers."
"Really?"
"She sold me my new car. Morgana's meeting her now."
"Good, I can bring you all up to date on the new proposal I have, I called Uther this morning."
"Let's go up then, Mordred give Lancelot another twenty minutes and then take your lunch, Roy can keep an eye on him for a few minutes."
"Yes, Mr Pendragon," Mordred said, Arthur raised his eyebrows but realised that Mordred was being formal because Bayard was there. Bayard appeared to realise the same thing, smiling at Arthur before adding.
"See you later Mordred, Lancelot."
Lancelot took another treat and then bounded back to Mordred who proceeded to fuss the dog, quite jealously as Lancelot looked in Arthur's direction. He didn't want to have to order Lancelot to stay put, which Bayard clearly realised.
"Hey, kid!" Bayard yelled wrapping up the bag of treats and tossing it through the air towards him. Mordred caught them clumsily but it kept Lancelot's attention on him. Arthur didn't think that Lancelot was that fickle as to abandon Mordred on a whim, but it at least would make Mordred feel appreciated.
"So," Bayard said. "Tell me about this Nimueh, I might have to see if I can poach her!"
Arthur laughed. "I would love to see you battle Morgana."
