One Prison is much like another - part 35A
Author: 
archaeologist_d
Title: One Prison is much like another - part 35A
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur
Summary: Dragons are a handful, whether they be days old or centuries. Arthur wasn’t having any of it.
Warnings: none
Word Count: 680
Camelot Drabble Prompt #611: Hurdle
Author’s notes: Arthur is regent in all but name. AU and all.
---------------
Merlin’s been in a few dungeons in his time. They all have the same smell, of vomit and piss and fear. The rustling of rats in the moldy hay, the way the bedding-if there was any-deteriorated the second it was used, the green slime on the walls, and the drip, drip, drip of water in the darkness.
Not his favourite place.
It was nearing dusk, the first torches lit in the guards’ room. Above him, the sounds of servants scurrying about their duties were muted as the activity of the day quieted.
At least, as far as Merlin could tell, no scaffold was being built for him. Small mercies, perhaps, but Merlin had more to worry about than death.
The dragonets would be getting restless and Kilgharrah away on a scouting expedition to find a more permanent home for them. Soon, they’d start looking for Merlin and that would be disastrous.
Even more disastrous than Merlin stuck in a dungeon and Arthur furious with him.
He was just starting to think that maybe he should escape the dungeon, take care of the dragonets, and tiptoe back in so that no one would notice him missing for hours at a time. But then Arthur showed up.
“Arthur, I-” Merlin started to say but Arthur waved his hand like he always did when he wasn’t going to listen anyway and Merlin just stopped. He did scowl, though. He wasn’t about to let Arthur think Merlin was fine with any of it.
But instead of Arthur yelling at him, maybe accusing him of treason again, Arthur just rubbed his hand across his face, then settled back against the stone wall outside the cell. “I should have known something was wrong when you came back from Candleston Castle, injured and quiet. Quiet? Hell, you’re never quiet.”
Merlin could have protested, maybe insulted Arthur a little, but it was true. He babbled, a lot, sometimes because he was nervous, sometimes hiding truths in ridiculous stories, sometimes because he was just so excited to share something with Arthur. It was a shield as much as anything else.
Giving a long, harsh sigh, Arthur said, “You didn’t insult me, not as you normally do. No cabbagehead or prat or supercilious clotpole. At first it was disconcerting, but then when Gaius told me you had a head wound, it made sense. And then later, when you hit your head again, everything seemed to right itself. We went back to you being an absolute idiot and it was fine. Or so it seemed.”
Merlin could never stand for Arthur to be unhappy with him, and it was ten times worse this time when he was trying to be both dragonlord and Arthur’s other half. Destiny and duty were terrible taskmasters.
Still, he had to try to make things right. “Arthur, I can explain.”
Arthur shook his head, scowling at Merlin. “But you were exhausted all the time and making excuses that even a village idiot wouldn’t believe.”
“I was exhausted. I’d been working for Gaius and you and… things just got out of hand and… I,” Merlin stumbled to a stop as Arthur stood up and stomped over to the cell bars, grabbing them with both hands as if ready to strangle someone, likely Merlin.
“Stop lying to me,” Arthur snarled. “Stop lying before I do something worse than throwing you in prison.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Merlin snapped back. “I’m the one in prison. I’m the one whose life remains forfeit. Don’t tell me to stop lying when it doesn’t matter one way or another.”
“Of course, it matters,” Arthur yelled out, slapping at the cell bar. The echo of it bounced off the walls, then down into the hallway. “You fool. From our very first encounter, you showed that you had absolutely no idea of how things in Camelot worked. And I let it slide because, honestly, I thought it hilarious that you could be so clueless. So stupid. You gave new meaning to the title of village idiot.”
archaeologist_d
Title: One Prison is much like another - part 35A
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur
Summary: Dragons are a handful, whether they be days old or centuries. Arthur wasn’t having any of it.
Warnings: none
Word Count: 680
Camelot Drabble Prompt #611: Hurdle
Author’s notes: Arthur is regent in all but name. AU and all.
---------------
Merlin’s been in a few dungeons in his time. They all have the same smell, of vomit and piss and fear. The rustling of rats in the moldy hay, the way the bedding-if there was any-deteriorated the second it was used, the green slime on the walls, and the drip, drip, drip of water in the darkness.
Not his favourite place.
It was nearing dusk, the first torches lit in the guards’ room. Above him, the sounds of servants scurrying about their duties were muted as the activity of the day quieted.
At least, as far as Merlin could tell, no scaffold was being built for him. Small mercies, perhaps, but Merlin had more to worry about than death.
The dragonets would be getting restless and Kilgharrah away on a scouting expedition to find a more permanent home for them. Soon, they’d start looking for Merlin and that would be disastrous.
Even more disastrous than Merlin stuck in a dungeon and Arthur furious with him.
He was just starting to think that maybe he should escape the dungeon, take care of the dragonets, and tiptoe back in so that no one would notice him missing for hours at a time. But then Arthur showed up.
“Arthur, I-” Merlin started to say but Arthur waved his hand like he always did when he wasn’t going to listen anyway and Merlin just stopped. He did scowl, though. He wasn’t about to let Arthur think Merlin was fine with any of it.
But instead of Arthur yelling at him, maybe accusing him of treason again, Arthur just rubbed his hand across his face, then settled back against the stone wall outside the cell. “I should have known something was wrong when you came back from Candleston Castle, injured and quiet. Quiet? Hell, you’re never quiet.”
Merlin could have protested, maybe insulted Arthur a little, but it was true. He babbled, a lot, sometimes because he was nervous, sometimes hiding truths in ridiculous stories, sometimes because he was just so excited to share something with Arthur. It was a shield as much as anything else.
Giving a long, harsh sigh, Arthur said, “You didn’t insult me, not as you normally do. No cabbagehead or prat or supercilious clotpole. At first it was disconcerting, but then when Gaius told me you had a head wound, it made sense. And then later, when you hit your head again, everything seemed to right itself. We went back to you being an absolute idiot and it was fine. Or so it seemed.”
Merlin could never stand for Arthur to be unhappy with him, and it was ten times worse this time when he was trying to be both dragonlord and Arthur’s other half. Destiny and duty were terrible taskmasters.
Still, he had to try to make things right. “Arthur, I can explain.”
Arthur shook his head, scowling at Merlin. “But you were exhausted all the time and making excuses that even a village idiot wouldn’t believe.”
“I was exhausted. I’d been working for Gaius and you and… things just got out of hand and… I,” Merlin stumbled to a stop as Arthur stood up and stomped over to the cell bars, grabbing them with both hands as if ready to strangle someone, likely Merlin.
“Stop lying to me,” Arthur snarled. “Stop lying before I do something worse than throwing you in prison.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Merlin snapped back. “I’m the one in prison. I’m the one whose life remains forfeit. Don’t tell me to stop lying when it doesn’t matter one way or another.”
“Of course, it matters,” Arthur yelled out, slapping at the cell bar. The echo of it bounced off the walls, then down into the hallway. “You fool. From our very first encounter, you showed that you had absolutely no idea of how things in Camelot worked. And I let it slide because, honestly, I thought it hilarious that you could be so clueless. So stupid. You gave new meaning to the title of village idiot.”