Leon. His knight Leon. His friend Leon. How was he here? Teaching a class?
Arthur couldn't seem to stop staring, and as the book hovering between them lowered a fraction, the blond felt Merlin's elbow dig into his side, spurring him into action. "Thank you." He managed to force out, taking the book with robotic movements.
"Are you alright?" Leon questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in concern as his gaze shifted between the two.
Arthur's voice failed him when he tried to respond, any reassurance he might've said dying on his lips. Instead, he nodded, hoping it was actually a smile he wore instead of a grimace.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Merlin clear his throat, and his eyes cut to the warlock who looked as stunned as Arthur felt.
"So, uhm, how did you start this? I mean, getting into this line of teaching. Arthurian legend." Merlin questioned, his voice too high and too stuttered to be even close to normal, though Leon didn't seem to notice.
Instead, the man smiled, and turned back to his desk and began gathering a stack of papers into a bag. "You know, I get asked that a lot, so you'd think I'd have a proper answer to give. In all honesty though, the best I have is that I've felt a connection to the legends ever since I was young."
Pulling the bag over his shoulder, the man leaned back against his desk and looked between the two with a smile. "It was the sort of connection that told me I was on the path I needed to take. What I needed to learn, and to study. Not to mention that I have something in common with you, Arthur." The professor stated, turning his attention back to the blond.
"Oh?"
"Just as you share a name with the King of Camelot, I share a name with one of the knights, Leon. So, I suppose a connection like that to these myths would make a bit more sense."
Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Arthur nodded once. "Yeah, I can imagine."
"You feel the same way." Leon gestured, and the blond openly stared at him in return.
"Sorry, what?"
"The book," The man chuckled, waving a hand towards it. "It must mean a lot to you to come hunt it down like that. Not to mention that it's an old, loved copy."
"Oh, yeah! Yeah, course." Arthur's laugh was strained, and he side eyed Merlin.
The warlock seemed to take his look as a cry for help, because he cleared his throat again and clapped a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Well, we should get going."
"I'm sorry, I never caught your name?" Leon stopped him, staring at the warlock as the man froze.
"Right, never introduced myself, my mistake. I'm Morgan." As Merlin extended his hand out to Leon, Arthur stared at him in surprise. Not only had the name and the lie rolled off his tongue easily, he suddenly seemed much more at ease than he had a few seconds ago.
"Pleasure to meet you both." Leon smiled, taking the other's hand and shaking it. As he did, a jolt seemed to run through Merlin as he jerked his hand back, his face paling as Leon stared at his own palm before offering a strangled laugh. "The static electricity here never ceases to fail us, it seems."
"We ought to watch out for that." Merlin mumbled, all the while Arthur's gaze shifted from one man to the next and back again. What had just happened that he missed?
"Right, well, I'll see you boys later." Leon spoke while turning away, evidently eager now to have them leave. "Feel free to join my lectures anytime."
"We will." Arthur spoke up when it was clear Merlin had nothing left to say.
Grabbing his friend by the arm and ushering him out the door, Arthur spun the warlock around once they were in the hall and pointed back to the door.
"Was that—"
"Yeah."
"But how—"
"I don't know." Merlin shook his head slowly, staring at the ground as if he had just seen a ghost.
"Are we sure it's not just a doppelganger or something? I read an article once that said that everyone has seven people in the world who look just like them."
"No, that was Leon. I felt the magic inside him." Merlin said, lifting the hand he'd used to shake Leon's and staring at it in disbelief.
"Wait, Leon has magic too?" Arthur gaped as Merlin looked up and smirked.
"No, Sire. But there's magic at play. He was brought back, and that sort of thing isn't possible without the use of magic. It's like the dregs of tea carrying bits of the leaves. Magical residue was left behind inside him when he was brought back, and it has stayed with him throughout his whole life. When I touched him I sensed it, the power and the old religion."
"Right.." Arthur trailed off, beginning to walk through the corridor as he frowned. "Does that mean you felt magic inside me?"
"I wasn't really paying attention to what I sensed or felt at the time, Arthur. I was a little preoccupied fishing you out of a fountain."
Rolling his eyes, the blond shook his head. "Alright, fair enough."
As the two wandered through the halls of the building, Merlin glanced over and pointed at the book the other man kept secured under his arm. "Do you mind if I take a look at that?"
"Here." Arthur shrugged, holding it out to him as the warlock took it and slowed his pace, beginning to flip through the pages.
The blond already knew what the book contained, as he'd spent the last decade and a half reading it cover to cover countless times. It was filled with stories and legends about King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the Round Table.
Somewhere in the middle of the book, there were two torn pages held together with tape. On a page near the back, there were coffee stains from one drunken night he'd been trying to sober up and decided to read while doing it. And on the inside of the front cover in faded handwriting was a message telling him happy birthday, and it was signed by his father.
It was also filled with illustrated pictures, and that seemed to be what Merlin was focusing the most on, a frown set deep in his face.
"Why do they have to make me look so old?" Blinking at him, Arthur opened his mouth to respond, but Merlin kept talking. "I mean, look at this picture, they made my beard huge! And what's with all the wrinkles? And the sagging skin?"
"Merlin?"
"What?"
"You are old." Looking up in offense with a gasp to match, Merlin stared at his friend as Arthur over exaggerated his gesture of him. "Didn't you tell me that you've been alive for hundreds of years? You're actually older than the pictures."
"Yes, but I don't look it!"
"Only because of magic." Arthur snorted as Merlin closed the book with a scowl.
"Yes, well, I want a historically accurate version created of our adventures one day."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Arthur mumbled, tucking his hands deep into his coat pockets. "Hey, why did you tell Leon that your name was Morgan?"
"I couldn't exactly tell him my name was Merlin, could I?"
"There's stranger names out there." Arthur shrugged as the warlock folded his arms over the book and rounded a corner.
"Maybe, but I get an awful lot of side eyes when I tell people my real name. It's easier to just have a backup that's more common."
"It may be strange, but you are strange, so it fits."
"Thanks." Merlin uttered dryly as they walked past a bulletin board with a flyer hanging for Leon's seminars. "First you, then Morgana, now Leon." Merlin mused, pausing in front of it and studying the paper with narrowed eyes. "Something is coming. Something old and ancient and dangerous."
"Dramatic as always I see," Arthur spoke dryly, glancing at the board himself. "Here's hoping we know how to handle it."
Nudging the warlock on, the blond tried to force the thoughts from his mind. He didn't want to think about any of that, not right now. He wanted some time to acclimate to his new memories and being in the modern world. He'd grown up in it of course but looking at everything through the lens of King Arthur from back in the day gave him a new appreciation for things, like running water and heat.
As they walked outside the building and back out onto the campus grounds, Arthur noted the change in the sky, the clouds heavy and grey as snow began falling gently around them.
"We need to come up with some sort of plan." Merlin continued, oblivious to the way the blond slouched his shoulders. "Perhaps there is a way we can get Leon to remember who he was, like you did."
"And how are we going to do that?" Arthur frowned, huddling deeper into his coat.
"We could drop him in a fountain like what happened to you, see if it works the same. I wonder if he'd have to be drunk for that to work, though." The warlock mused, causing the blond to sigh.
"I tripped, Merlin. I was not drunk."
"You looked drunk."
"Shut up, Merlin."
"There you are."
Arthur froze in his tracks at the voice that sounded behind them, and his heart began beating wildly in his chest. There was no way. He wouldn't just show up on campus. Would he?
But one look over his shoulder was enough to tell Arthur that he would in fact show up, and he had. His father, standing there, glaring at him. As if things hadn't been chaotic enough already.
"Father." Arthur greeted tensely, feeling Merlin stiffen beside him as the older man studied the two of them with a critical stare.
In comparison to Uther, his father in this era was, well, honestly about the same. He was tall, had thin hair that had mostly turned gray, and he wore the perpetual frown his royal father always tended to have.
The older man's harsh gaze drifted from his son to Merlin, and then to the book the warlock carried in his arms, and Arthur knew he was screwed before the next word even left his father's mouth.
"Is this why you haven't been answering my calls?" The man demanded, pointing a finger at the book as Arthur forced himself to draw in a deep breath.
"Father, it's not—"
"Give me that." Snatching the book from the warlock with no warning, his father held the book in front of Arthur's face and gave it a shake.
"Sir, I think you're not understanding the situation." Merlin interjected, receiving the older man's irritated attention in return.
"Oh, am I not? I just heard him call you Merlin. You think I don't know what's going on? You think I'm just some stupid old man who can't see what's right in front of his face?"
"Okay, I'm confused." Merlin whispered as Arthur closed his eyes for a moment before grabbing the book back.
"Father, my not answering your calls has nothing to do with him or this book." Well, it hadn't to begin with, but now was not the time to start specifying the little details.
"We have been through this time and time again, Arthur, and I'm tired." His father scowled, glaring at Merlin again. "And who even is this?"
"Hello, Sir. My name really is Merlin, and I'm an old friend of Arthur's."
"No, you're not." The man spat out, causing the warlock to flinch beside his friend. "I know all of Arthur's friends, and I've never seen you before in my life. But I'm certain that you're the cause of all this."
"Father, stop this." Arthur's tone was firm as he stared his father down. "Merlin has nothing to do with any of this, no matter what you might think."
"I've had enough, Arthur. You were supposed to have outgrown this years ago!" The words made Arthur's heart stutter, and he felt Merlin shift next to him.
"Sorry, but, outgrow what?" The warlock whispered again, only this time it was Arthur's turn to glare at him.
"Therapists and shrinks and all those appointments."
"Father." Arthur warned, but the older man seemed oblivious as he threw his hands in the air and continued to moan.
"Nothing helped, nothing worked! My only son, obsessed with some foolish folklore!"
"Father, enough!" Arthur shouted, his voice booming out across the field as a few people nearby turned to look.
"No, you don't get to be embarrassed by me. How do you think I've felt? Having to avoid the questions and the whispers because my son is delusional!"
Rage and fury boiled up inside Arthur until he felt ready to erupt. It was the same argument every time. On holidays, on weekend visits, on any phone call.
"Sorry, not trying to interrupt, but delusional about what, exactly?" Merlin chimed in, holding up his hand as if he were waiting to be called on in class.
"Merlin!" Arthur hissed, but his father croaked out a laugh.
"You ought to know, you're supporting it!"
"Father!"
"He has had this delusion for years that he is King Arthur of Camelot reincarnated."
The words left Arthur feeling hollowed out and empty, the fire that had raged through him moments before dwindling away to nothing more than a few dying embers.
"Wait, what?" Merlin stared, his gaze shifting from Arthur to the man's father and back again.
Arthur had never wanted to discuss that, not with anyone. And certainly not with Merlin now that he had found out that he was in fact King Arthur of Camelot returned. Now it seemed he had no choice, judging by the way his friend was staring at him.
"We will discuss this at a later point." Arthur uttered, leveling his stare at his father as he said it, hoping the man would take the hint and leave. Instead, the man kept going.
"Explain to me why you've been failing almost all of your classes this semester, Arthur."
"They've been more difficult than the last few semesters." The blond muttered, suddenly weary and tired of the man's questions.
Merlin shifted awkwardly beside him, trying to tuck his hands in his coat pockets and pretending he wasn't paying attention when the blond knew good and well he still was.
"I am fed up with your behavior, Arthur. I have given you chance after chance only for you to throw it back in my face. If this isn't rectified, I'm done." His father threatened, and Arthur frowned in response, his shoulders straightening as he met the man's eye.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I'm done funding your galivanting, crazy theories, and inane research into subjects that are mythical. It means your funds will be cut off."
Arthur couldn't help the scoff that left him, and a piece of him was pleasantly surprised at the look of indignation his father wore at the sound. "I never cared about the money." He declared, watching as the vein in the side of his father's neck bulged.
"Perhaps you should care about your responsibility to this family."
This time it was a snort that left Arthur as he laughed. "You mean the company? And for the record, I never cared about that either. You're the one who declared I would take over. You've the one who wanted me to study business. And I did, to make you happy. But did it ever occur to you that I never wanted any of that?" Arthur demanded, his heart racing in his chest as all the words he'd never said in the past came spilling out of him.
His father just stared at him when he'd finished, and when he spoke it was quiet and hard. "You have two days before the next shareholder meeting. If you are not there, if you do not shape up and figure your life out, then it's over. I will disown you, and I will not look back."
The words hit Arthur like a punch in the stomach, and his next breath was strangled as the older man cut his eyes to Merlin one last time before turning and stalking away. Neither of the men spoke for a few minutes, the only noise the chatter from passing students hurrying to get inside and out of the cold.
"Arthur—"
"Do me a favor," The blond cut in before the warlock could utter some sappy nonsense he wasn't prepared to hear. "Turn my father into a frog for me."
Blinking, Merlin shook his head. "I-I can't do that, Arthur."
"Shame." The blond sighed, glancing up at the sky and walking across the field again, pausing at the trunk of an old, gnarled tree.
Merlin hurried after him, and as the two stood side by side under the heavy branches, the warlock cleared his throat loudly. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not even a little."
Tapping his fingers against his legs, Merlin glanced around the campus before turning back to his friend. "You know about my dark history, so tell me about yours."
"What do you want me to do, Merlin? Sit here and whine about my life and childhood to you?" Arthur scowled at his friend until the warlock turned away, ducking his head and staring at the damp grass.
"Don't think of it as whining." Merlin mumbled, digging the toe of his sneaker into the frozen ground. "Think about it as filling me in on how your life has been going." When Arthur looked up at that, Merlin shrugged. "Once upon a time we used to know everything about each other."
"Almost everything." Arthur corrected, giving the man a pointed stare as Merlin's expression turned sheepish.
"Alright, yes, almost everything."
"Merlin, would you have shared any of what was in those journals with me if I hadn't found them myself?" The blond asked directly, arching a questioning brow at the warlock who suddenly seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Maybe. One day."
"See?" Arthur pointed out as Merlin frowned.
"But you did find them, and you read them. With no concern for my privacy mind you, but that's my point. You learned about mine on accident, and I heard about yours on accident. Wouldn't it be better to explain what that was all about rather than let my mind wander and come up with my own answers?" Arthur didn't respond to that, and Merlin lifted his brows. "I haven't changed that much you know. Finding my own answers to things could be detrimental."
"I get it, Merlin." The blond sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This isn't going to help anything though."
"Accepting the past, both pasts, can't do anything but help at this point."
"Or perhaps you're just being nosey." Arthur muttered, side eyeing his friend who offered a smirk.
"That too."
Dropping his arms and leaning back against the trunk of the tree and watching the snow fall down, Arthur flexed his fingers. "Fine. But this isn't some fun story."
Merlin suddenly sat down on the ground at that, despite the snow and the cold, and stared up at the prince eagerly while resting his chin in his hands. Arthur couldn't stop himself from smiling at the display. He had missed him. Even when he didn't know who he was, Arthur had missed his best friend.
"Alright, alright. It started like this." The blond sighed, drawing in a deep breath before beginning.
A/N
Awful father who is judgmental and has set standards for his son? Check. Bonding between our two lovable idiots and seeing why Arthur really hasn't changed much in this era? Also check!
Thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!