Time's Up, Epilogue
Chapter 6 Masterpost
...
“Merlin, any progress?” As usual, Morgause stopped by the lab before leaving for the day.
“Definitely. We are on the right track.” Merlin gave her a tired smile.
“Does it mean your theory about using irregular conditions to perform the reaction worked?”
“Not exactly. But the idea was correct. When I started analysing the results further, I discovered-”
“Stop.” Morgause smiled. “I believe you. We’ll talk to Balinor tomorrow.”
“All right.” Merlin nodded and leaned back in his chair. The clock was showing ten in the evening. It was time to go home. “Although, I’d prefer to wait. What if my conclusions are wrong and the experiment fails next time?”
“It won’t,” Morgause said with conviction, throwing a light raincoat over her shoulders. “And Merlin...”
Merlin peeled his eyes away from the papers.
“Balinor will be very proud.”
While Merlin was blinking in great surprise, Morgause disappeared in the lab’s hallway. Well, maybe Arthur was right after all, claiming that Morgause actually liked Merlin. It was hard to fathom at first, considering how much they argued and clashed all the time. Merlin never allowed himself to curse in front of Morgause, even though she was a bloody devil in a skirt. She drove him mental by constantly undermining, ridiculing and nagging him. And only when Merlin threatened to throw a radioactive reagent at her, she backed off. Actually, she just hissed that she was sick of waiting for Merlin to make a bloody decision already.
She was kind of right. Merlin had planned to extend his team but had no idea who to hire. Bringing Balinor’s people didn’t make sense since Merlin declared himself a lead-researcher. After several interviews with the candidates sent by agencies, it became clear that this way, it would take years to find someone suitable for him. So Merlin made a decision. He offered a job to his two close friends from uni, which, of course, was flat-out rejected by Morgause. But Merlin, who had enough of it with her already, firmly declared that he was the one running the lab, and Morgause suddenly calmed down-and agreed. She still mockingly knocked on his door every time before entering. He actually did the same for her, too.
Merlin stretched languorously and yawned. Besides work, which held him up until the wee hours most days, he also had school, and somehow he had to manage both. It was hard. But Merlin discovered with great surprise that he actually loved this mad pace he was thrown into. He worked it out with the dean of the faculty to turn in his winter exams ahead of schedule, and spent every minute free from research and experiments studying in the library. With horror, he recalled how he steadily hit the rock bottom all last year. If it wasn’t for Arthur...
Those three weeks, given to Merlin “to think” blended into a one long day. The funny thing was, he never found the time to actually think. He had to make a quick decision about his projects for the next semester, organise his compact schedule, meet new people-his future employees. Merlin immediately made it clear with his team: they’d have to work hard, yet he expected a camaraderie. He wanted them to be responsible, result-driven, and supportive of each other. He couldn’t stand being too formal with them himself, for which Morgause constantly gave him a hard time, condemning familiarities.
Locking the door behind him, Merlin slid his access card through the card-reader, the light turned green, letting Merlin out. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and started a slow walk down the street, carefully stepping around the puddles. And of course he missed a car parked not far away. Only when someone honked, Merlin flinched and snapped his head in the direction of the sound. Arthur, talking on the phone, smoothly drove up to the kerb, and Merlin slid into the warmth of the car. Arthur rolled his eyes.
Merlin mocked his expression... and for the next half an hour listened to the to-do list Arthur dictated to George for the next day. Then, as they walked from the garage to the house, gravel crunching under their feet, to his playful bickering with Gwaine Then, while riding the lift, to his quick conversation with Uther Pendragon.
“Hold on, Merlin, one more call, and I-”
“Enough,” Merlin said firmly, taking away the mobile and making a show of turning it off. “You’re home. I am, too. And all your time belongs to me.”
“Merlin, this is important-”
“No,” Merlin interrupted him again and shoved the phone into his back pocket. “What was that you used to say? Time’s up? Well, Arthur, for everyone else-it is. For me-it’s only just beginning!”
...
...
Masterpost
...
“Merlin, any progress?” As usual, Morgause stopped by the lab before leaving for the day.
“Definitely. We are on the right track.” Merlin gave her a tired smile.
“Does it mean your theory about using irregular conditions to perform the reaction worked?”
“Not exactly. But the idea was correct. When I started analysing the results further, I discovered-”
“Stop.” Morgause smiled. “I believe you. We’ll talk to Balinor tomorrow.”
“All right.” Merlin nodded and leaned back in his chair. The clock was showing ten in the evening. It was time to go home. “Although, I’d prefer to wait. What if my conclusions are wrong and the experiment fails next time?”
“It won’t,” Morgause said with conviction, throwing a light raincoat over her shoulders. “And Merlin...”
Merlin peeled his eyes away from the papers.
“Balinor will be very proud.”
While Merlin was blinking in great surprise, Morgause disappeared in the lab’s hallway. Well, maybe Arthur was right after all, claiming that Morgause actually liked Merlin. It was hard to fathom at first, considering how much they argued and clashed all the time. Merlin never allowed himself to curse in front of Morgause, even though she was a bloody devil in a skirt. She drove him mental by constantly undermining, ridiculing and nagging him. And only when Merlin threatened to throw a radioactive reagent at her, she backed off. Actually, she just hissed that she was sick of waiting for Merlin to make a bloody decision already.
She was kind of right. Merlin had planned to extend his team but had no idea who to hire. Bringing Balinor’s people didn’t make sense since Merlin declared himself a lead-researcher. After several interviews with the candidates sent by agencies, it became clear that this way, it would take years to find someone suitable for him. So Merlin made a decision. He offered a job to his two close friends from uni, which, of course, was flat-out rejected by Morgause. But Merlin, who had enough of it with her already, firmly declared that he was the one running the lab, and Morgause suddenly calmed down-and agreed. She still mockingly knocked on his door every time before entering. He actually did the same for her, too.
Merlin stretched languorously and yawned. Besides work, which held him up until the wee hours most days, he also had school, and somehow he had to manage both. It was hard. But Merlin discovered with great surprise that he actually loved this mad pace he was thrown into. He worked it out with the dean of the faculty to turn in his winter exams ahead of schedule, and spent every minute free from research and experiments studying in the library. With horror, he recalled how he steadily hit the rock bottom all last year. If it wasn’t for Arthur...
Those three weeks, given to Merlin “to think” blended into a one long day. The funny thing was, he never found the time to actually think. He had to make a quick decision about his projects for the next semester, organise his compact schedule, meet new people-his future employees. Merlin immediately made it clear with his team: they’d have to work hard, yet he expected a camaraderie. He wanted them to be responsible, result-driven, and supportive of each other. He couldn’t stand being too formal with them himself, for which Morgause constantly gave him a hard time, condemning familiarities.
Locking the door behind him, Merlin slid his access card through the card-reader, the light turned green, letting Merlin out. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and started a slow walk down the street, carefully stepping around the puddles. And of course he missed a car parked not far away. Only when someone honked, Merlin flinched and snapped his head in the direction of the sound. Arthur, talking on the phone, smoothly drove up to the kerb, and Merlin slid into the warmth of the car. Arthur rolled his eyes.
Merlin mocked his expression... and for the next half an hour listened to the to-do list Arthur dictated to George for the next day. Then, as they walked from the garage to the house, gravel crunching under their feet, to his playful bickering with Gwaine Then, while riding the lift, to his quick conversation with Uther Pendragon.
“Hold on, Merlin, one more call, and I-”
“Enough,” Merlin said firmly, taking away the mobile and making a show of turning it off. “You’re home. I am, too. And all your time belongs to me.”
“Merlin, this is important-”
“No,” Merlin interrupted him again and shoved the phone into his back pocket. “What was that you used to say? Time’s up? Well, Arthur, for everyone else-it is. For me-it’s only just beginning!”
...
...
Masterpost