knight in shining armpit

"This is beyond understanding," said the king. "You are the wisest man alive. You know what is preparing. Why do you not make a plan to save yourself?" And Merlin said quietly, "Because I am wise. In the combat between wisdom and feeling, wisdom never wins.” An independent RP blog for Arthur Pendragon of BBC's Merlin. Tracking pratquefuturus.

[pratquefuturus]

expectations || arthur & merlin

[servingliesarch]

            “Oh, that’s funny, because see, last time I checked              you’ve never actually given me a day off. So, I can’t              help but wonder where exactly did this impression              come from if that has never happened.”

                        “I don’t know. Perhaps a good one?”

[pratquefuturus]

“That can't be right ––      surely you've had a day off at some point.”

“All right, Merlin.      We'll give this a go then, won't we? Let's see if      you can manage to spend a full day finding ways      to keep yourself entertained – ways that don't      involve spending the entire day holed up in the      tavern. My bet is you'll be crawling back to me      by midday.”

[pratquefuturus]

expectations || arthur & merlin

[servingliesarch]

                          “I do have hobbies, thank you very much.                                        Why don’t you give me a free day                                         so I can actually enjoy them, huh?”

[pratquefuturus]

           “I would, but it seems that on your precious days off,            I either find you trailing after me like a kitten who's lost            its mother, or else staring wistfully into space with            nothing to do.”

                                                 “Besides, what sort of master would I be                                                  if I denied you the opportunity to whine                                                  about your job?”

[pratquefuturus]

expectations || arthur & merlin

[servingliesarch]

                   ’ I know it’s a terribly difficult concept to understand,                      sire, but not everything I do is about you. ‘

[pratquefuturus]

       “No, of course not.”

                           “Only, I couldn't help but notice, but                                             you have literally                                   devoted your life                                               to my service.                           You should find some outside hobbies.”

[pxsitronic]

               Lt. Commander Data

               I  chose  to  believe                that I was a person.           That    I     had    the                                                           potential to be more                                                           than  a  collection of                                                           c i r c u i t s      a n d                It is a belief which              subprocessors.                I still hold.                                           [ H O M E ]                                             [ A S K ]                                          [ R U L E S ] 

[pratquefuturus]

fall is here || arthur & merlin

[xmerliin-deactivated20160104]

“What is it, Pendragon? I’ve got a class to get to.”

[pratquefuturus]

                “Well, in brief – don't you think it's rather      time we got started with it?”

[pratquefuturus]

impertinence || arthur & barty

[kalanadi]

    “Oh, Merlin, don’t tell me you want proof now. Are you a pervert, or something?”  

  Barty took a step away from him, giving the older boy a judging look.

   ”Don’t be gross”

[pratquefuturus]

               “I am not a pervert,” Arthur said, perhaps a bit      too quickly, too forcefully. “And while I really do not      want proof, I don't believe that you were actually      standing here in the middle of the corridor trying to       get off.”

               “You have a choice – you can tell me what      you were really doing here, or you can follow me to      Professor McGonagall's office and I can explain to      her that you were engaged in inappropriate      behaviour in a public space.”

[pratquefuturus]

it was wrong, but you said it was right || arthur & merlin || sometimes it burns

[justaservantoaprat]

Merlin could feel that the tension was on both sides. It was nice to know that Arthur was not just brushing this whole thing off, even if the terrible attempt at brightening the mood was threatening to get under his skin.

“Well, you’ll have to excuse me if I forget some things. After all, it has been a while. I understand though, considering what we serve here at Midknight Brew is not up to your pricy standards.”

Maybe bringing up status was a low blow but Merlin was angry and he would like to show it without throwing anything at that blonde head. He scribbled on the cup, leaving the counter to fix the idiot his drink.

[pratquefuturus]

          Well, shit. it looked like Merlin was going to make a huge fuss about this, which was exactly what he had hoped to avoid. 

          Why did he have to be so difficult about this? It wasn't even as though Arthur had done anything wrong. He was perfectly free to buy his coffee from wherever he chose. Had Midknight Brews been in dire financial straights, perhaps Merlin would have had more of a right to demand his loyalty, but with as many people as Arthur saw filtering in and out of the shop on a daily basis, he really didn't think that one customer would make much difference, even with the generous tips he was always sure to leave.

          And somehow, he didn't think that Merlin was upset over a couple of extra pounds in the till. Perhaps it was something to do with their last meeting, their lunch together, but...

          But no. Arthur had done nothing wrong.

          Fine. If that was how Merlin was going to act, so be it. Arthur would not rise to his provocation. One of them had to be the adult here.

          Instead of responding to the comment about his wealth (though, was it just his imagination, or was there rather more bitter resentment behind the jibe than usual?), Arthur simply pulled out his wallet to hand over his payment. As he looked up, he finally noticed what was scrawled across his cup.

          “So I'm 'King Prat' now, am I?” Arthur asked, not entirely sure if he was meant to be hurt or amused. “And here I was thinking I'd heard it all from you.”

[pratquefuturus]

equality || arthur & kiara

apurekindness liked this post for a starter.

               “I'm sure you realise who I am. Please, do not      be intimidated – I want for all of my subjects to feel      just as equal and important as me.”

[yddraigmawr]

sooner curse me than curtsy || arthur & kilgharrah

[yddraigmawr]

“I believe his name,                at the present,                          is Sir Gwaine.”

[pratquefuturus]

               “I don't understand you at all.  If you mean      Gwaine, why don't you just use his name? It's as      though you enjoy speaking in infuriating riddles.”

[pratquefuturus]

doubt || arthur & merlin

[gentlemanhart]

— “Why would I lie to you?”

[pratquefuturus]

                    Arthur tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair           as he listed off the reasons. “Fear of punishment,           embarrassment over your own misbehaviour, and, ah           yes, because you've lied to me countless times before.           Really, Merlin, it's a wonder I keep you around.”

[freshprinceofealdor-archive]

pants

[freshprinceofealdor-archive]

         “You have no idea. Biggest glutton   in the castle I would venture to imagine. I will not divulge his identity, for the sake          of honor and respect, so don’t ask.”

   William took a certain amount of joy     in making light of Arthur even when Arthur did not know it was happening.                                         “So are you even slightly                              curious as to what your favorite                    manservant is up to with my clothes or                is it that you already know. Don’t lie to me           Arthur. I have been involved in the nonsense              you two get into before, as you know well.                      I am not thick enough to think anything  about that has changed since you’ve become King.”

[pratquefuturus]

                    Arthur stared at his knight for a long moment           before allowing himself a brief chuckle. Sir William           was a strange one to be sure, but the king had           grown fond of the man's eccentricities.

                    “Very well,” he said, amusement plain in his           voice. “If it's a matter of such secrecy, I won't ask           whose trousers you've taken. Still – ” here he           attempted to cast the other a stern look “ – you           should return them once you've retrieved your           clothes. And for the love of Camelot, wash them            first.”

                    Perhaps it was a consequence of William's           many years spent herding sheep, but there was a           certain smell that lingered around him, putting even           Gwaine's awful stench to shame.

                    At William's words, Arthur let forth a weary           sigh, as though begrudgingly giving in to the           inevitable. In actual fact, he was very interested to           hear what the man had to say.

                    “If you must,” he said. “What have you and           that degenerate fool been up to this time?”

[pratquefuturus]

simple sounding words || arthur & merlin

washingroyalsocks liked this post for a starter.

               “...”

               “You're an idiot, Merlin.”

[pratquefuturus]

doubt || arthur & merlin

thebravestmanhesevermet liked this post for a starter.

               “You don't actually expect me to believe that's      what you were doing, do you?”

[pratquefuturus]

expectations || arthur & merlin

servinglies liked this post for a starter.

               “You know, Merlin, if you were trying to      impress me, that really wasn't the way to go      about it.”

[pratquefuturus]

Hello lovelies! I've got some time to kill before work, so if you are so inlined, please like for a starter while I work on drafts! Feel free to message me if you'd like to plot something out.

[orderofemrysarchive]

Prefects || Arthur & Merlin

pratquefuturus

Getting the owl with his school list was no surprise anymore. Getting an owl carrying a little green and silver prefect badge, that was a more of a surprise, but a pleasant one. Prefect? He could work with that.

So at start of term, Merlin joined the other prefects for the briefing on the train, took a little head count on who else made the cut, and set out on his own way after that to join Lance and Gwaine in their usual compartment.

Term started without much fuss. Being a prefect didn’t actually change all that much. Now at least when he got in a huff about first years breaking rules he could actually do something about it. The only real change were the rounds he had to go on every few nights. Just a sweep of the castle to make sure students were in bed.

He’d checked the schedule before leaving the dungeons and saw he was paired with Arthur Pendragon, a Hufflepuff in his own year. He didn’t know much about him, did know he could be a bit of a prat for a Hufflepuff and that he and Morgana got into family rows now and then, but other than that Merlin wasn’t so sure. Slytherin and Hufflepuff had had double History of Magic for a few years and everyone just sorta slept through that class, didn’t they?                               "Evening, Pendragon,"                 Merlin said as he joined him near the Great Hall.

[pratquefuturus]

               Sometimes, Arthur was concerned that the Hogwarts      faculty weren't involved enough with day-to-day operations      of  the  school.  Oh,  they  certainly did their best,  but  with      limited  staff there was only so much that they could do.  A      lone  caretaker and a single  head  per house simply  could      not be as involved with the students as was necessary.

               Having prefects around to assist certainly helped, but      even there the system was imperfect. This was,  he thought,      a   direct   consequence   of   the   aforementioned   staffing      problems.    If   those    with    the    authority    to   delegate      responsibility had the time to get to know the students a bit      better,  they would be able to make better,  more  informed      decisions about who deserved a badge.

               Case in point: Merlin Emrys. Sure, by all accounts the      boy  was  a gifted enough wizard and a  dedicated  student,      but  was  that  really  sufficient qualification  to  be  made  a      prefect?  Arthur  thought  not. With  his unflattering  haircut,      his  ridiculous  ears,  and  general  demeanour,  Merlin  was      hardly  what  Arthur  would  consider  prefect  material.  He      didn't  have  the  presence  necessary  for   leadership.  He       doubted  very  much that the Slytherins,  notorious for their      difficult  attitudes and  general sense of entitlement,  would      be  particularly  inclined to listen to the  gangly boy.  Arthur      didn't know him well at all, granted,  but,  in some ways, he       felt that made his assessment of him all the more accurate.      How was Merlin to control rowdy  first-years who knew not      the  slightest thing  about  him  if  even  his  fellow  prefects      couldn't take him seriously?

               Well.  It would just have to be up  to  Arthur to ensure      that any misbehaving students were properly disciplined. At      least there was at least one respectable student on this shift.

               As  he  approached  his  partner for his first  shift  that      evening, Arthur made sure to keep his face calm,  impassive.      It  wouldn't  do  to start any trouble by letting the  other  boy      know exactly what he thought of him; that could come later,      perhaps, when Arthur had built up enough authority with the      other prefects to start implementing change. 

               At the boy's greeting, he inclined his head “Emrys,” he      replied. “Good of you to show up on time.”

               Arthur looked around the Great Hall,  watching the last      few  students  who had lingered close to bedtime make  their      way back to their respective dormitories. “It's almost curfew,”      he said. “We should get started now.”      

[orderofemrysarchive]

        // So I just hit 50 followers! Thank you guys so much!                     I honestly wasn’t sure how a multi-canon Merlin would be accepted,                     but you guys have made me feel hella welcomed here. I’ll do a proper                     bias list when I hit 100, but shout outs to orbiisunum / defiantcharms,                     parselmouthedprince, vaferserpens, and pratquefuturus for being                     generally awesome people with amazing ideas and styles.