The Most Adorable Army The World Has Ever Known (2)
Title: The Most Adorable Army The World Has Ever Known
Author: Jammeke
Rating: g
Summary: Young Merlin, Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan, Leon and Percival vie for Teacher Arthur's attention. Here be knights, griffins, fathers, pointy hats and an exasperated teacher who is not fond of his children in the slightest, thank you very much.
A/N: Please note that this chapter is not a continuation of what happened in the last chapter. These stories will be posted in no particular order; they take place in the same universe and anything you learn will still apply in other chapters, but since the order is not chronological, some events may not yet have happened in future chapters.
Part 2: Of Dreams And Griffins
~*~
It was quiet in the classroom.
Those with practiced ears would undoubtedly be able to make out the sound of pencils on paper, and those with practiced eyes would roughly be able to tell what each child was drawing and which colors they were using, but those who didn't look too closely and didn't listen too attentively wouldn't be able to tell they were surrounded by a group of children, and a group of six-year olds at that.
His father had advised him not to pursue this career, had gone so far as to forbid it and order him to find a decent profession.
"I'm telling you, Arthur, even those who show promise can not become what they're good at if they don't try hard enough. Those who don't even try . . . well, those . . ."
"What?"
" . . . end up as teachers. People who have no other options in life."
Arthur could feel his fists clench into fists just thinking about his father's belittling words. Had the man ever stopped to consider that teaching was his son's dream? That he didn't need other options in life?
"Mr Pendragon?"
Arthur was startled out of his thoughts by a small voice to his right, one he immediately recognized as Percival's. He turned his head and looked down at the boy. "Yes, Percival?"
Percival bit his lip. He was naturally shy and wasn't known for his way with words, but he was a friendly, hard-working boy and he stood up for those who needed his help - in a fight, generally, though his very presence was enough to send people, children and adults alike, packing most of the time.
"I don't . . . I don't quite know . . ."
"Percival," Arthur interrupted the boy's stuttering, his voice imploring.
Percival swallowed. "I was going to draw you something, Mr Pendragon," he said quickly, as if getting the words out fast would mean he didn't have to say them at all, "but I don't know how . . ."
In the back of the classroom, Leon suddenly rose from his seat, a concerned expression on his face. "Percy, we practiced this yesterday."
"I know, I just . . ."
Merlin got to his feet as well. "We can help."
"No," Arthur said curtly, before the boys got the chance to cross the room, "you can not, not unless I ask you to."
Leon and Merlin looked crestfallen and Arthur sighed, aware of the twenty-seven pairs of eyes that were now on him. "Helping others is admirable, certainly, but you're not allowed to get out of your seat during class unless you have a question. And even then, raising your finger would be a better means to gain my attention." That last sentence was directed at Percival.
Percival blushed.
"But what if-"
"Merlin, what did I just tell you?"
Merlin's hand immediately shot up into the air. "Mr Pendragon, what if-"
"Raising your hand is not enough, Merlin, you have to wait your turn."
Gwaine furrowed his brow. "When-"
"You speak only when I tell you to speak," Arthur explained, doing his best to sound patient. "We've been over this."
"Yes, but-"
"Merlin, what did you want to say," Arthur said, cutting straight through Elyan's comment.
"I was going to say," Merlin said, unperturbed, "that people mustn't always listen in. Percy is ashamed of his question. And if you make him ask in front of everyone," he waved his hand around as if to indicate the meaning of everyone, "he's going to blush. Or not talk at all."
Arthur's gaze immediately snapped back to Percival, who held on to his drawing for dear life, hugging it tightly it to his chest.
"All right, everyone, back to your drawings," he said loudly, waiting until he was certain his children were looking down at their desk and at least pretending not to strain their ears to hear what he and Percival were talking about before addressing Percival again. "What did you want to ask me?"
Percival took a deep breath, then stared up into Arthur's eyes. "How do you spell "for Mr Arthur Pendragon"?"
~*~
Most drawings featured flowers and princesses without noses, their faces decorated with two dots and a narrow, quivery line. Then there were the drawings of batman and superman, a thin, black stroke at the top of each sheet symbolizing the evening sky. Some children had drawn cats and dogs, the only difference between the two creatures being their size and color; dogs were big and brown, cats were small and black. There must be an unwritten rule about that somewhere; Arthur had yet to find it, but all his children seemed to have heard of it.
Mordred had drawn a big, black raven with eyes as black as its feathers. Arthur stared at it for a few seconds before hurriedly turning the drawing over.
He found six more drawings on the corner of his desk, strikingly similar in some ways (the artists had all drawn knights, a castle and what appeared to be a cross between a eagle and a lion) and noticeably different in others (one of the knights wore blue robes and a pointy hat in one drawing), but one thing they all had in common was a tiny blond figure with a crown on his head in the middle of the group, waving his sword around and poking at the clawed creature in the sky. With the exception of the odd figure in blue, all the knights wore swishy red capes.
Arthur stared at the drawings, his lips curving into a small smile.
At least they didn't draw him any dragons this time. They must be getting tired of drawing the same creature over and over again, though Arthur vaguely recalled Elyan telling him a few days ago that Merlin had set Kilgharrah free and that Kilgharrah no longer roamed just the realm but Africa and Asia as well these days, which . . . had puzzled Arthur at the time, but things were rapidly becoming clearer.
Another thing the drawings had in common were the words "for Mr Arthur Pendragon" at the bottom of each sheet. In one drawing, the word King had been crossed out and replaced with Mr at some point. Arthur stared at the words and tried to figure out who had written them. It could be Leon, he was strangely insistent about calling Arthur his King, but the handwriting looked more like Merlin's and . . .
. . . it really didn't matter, did it?
With a sigh, Arthur rearranged the drawings into a pile and leaned back in his chair. Most drawings would be going home with their respective makers tomorrow, but the ones with the knights were apparently his to keep, meaning he was going to have to think of something to do with them. Throwing them away would be heartless, and to be honest, Arthur didn't feel like parting with the children's art just yet.
There was something about the drawings that fascinated him.
As he carefully put the small pile into his suitcase, Arthur made up his mind. There was a bare wall in his office; one wall Morgana hadn't had a go at yet - much as he appreciated her sense of style, he didn't exactly approve of her taste in art, though that didn't seem to stop her from hanging his house with it. He'd frame the drawings and get back to analyzing them if he still felt the need in a couple of weeks.
Thinking back on the strange figure in blue and the blond figure in the middle of each sheet that looked suspiciously like him, Arthur had a nagging feeling he would.
~*~
FIN
Chapter 3 >>