Spellbound

[ayoungboy]

This week has been fucking exhausting. He'd been consuling all week and dealing with a threat over in Norway. Somebody trying to brew mind control potions, again. Why couldn't everybody just get along and stop fussing? He's finally back home, in England, heading up the wizarding council while they go over worldwide news, and he gets an invite - no, it isn't that. It's more of a demand, from King Pendragon.

He's a bit tired, really, and didn't feel like dealing with it. "Not now, thank you. Politely decline, for me?" He told the runner. "Send him some magical candy."

He just wanted to go home and finish his book, thank you. He didn't ask for these powers, but if he took a holiday the world would flip out. People held him in high regard for some reason - he wasn't that wise, or old. He was just a young man trying to do right. Yet somehow the King was demanding his presence.

Comments

[royalpratness]

"Okay then. At least we won't have to worry about sunburn." Arthur grins, folding the napkin just as the waiter brings their food.

[ayoungboy]

Merlin almost groans at the smell. It looks bloody delicious and he hasn't eaten in a day or two. Too busy.

[royalpratness]

Arthur smiles, pleased that Merlin seems to be happy about his meal. The waiter disappears again and they eat in silence for a while.

[ayoungboy]

"Mm, thank you." Merlin sighs happily, smiling at Arthur. That's about when the click of a camera goes off behind them.

[royalpratness]

Arthur has been conditioned to recognise that sound anywhere. "Fuck! He curses under his breath, not turning around. "Merlin." He leans over the table. "I think I've been spottet by some papparazi." Or maybe they were lucky and it was just a tourist who could be bribed.

[ayoungboy]

"Hm?" Merlin's got a mouthful of pizza. He glances back curiously. There are two teenage girls whispering and giggling, phone's out. With their luck, it's probably already on the internet. "...more like fans." He says, after he swallows.

[royalpratness]

"Really? As long as it's not the press..." Slowly, he turns around, giving those girls a strained smile.

[ayoungboy]

The giggle and snap another picture. "...pretty sure they're not going to keep those pictures to themselves, Arthur."

[royalpratness]

"What do you want me to do? Steal their phones?" Arthur frowns. "Can't you magically break them or something?"

[ayoungboy]

"I don't care. Nobody knows who I am." Merlin shrugs a little. "Ah, no, Arthur. Really? The data is still recoverable."

[royalpratness]

"They're teenagers, not hackers." At least Arthur thinks so. "But I care. How am I supposed to explain how I managed to get to Italy so quickly? I was in a meeting in London just two hours ago."

[ayoungboy]

"I break the phone, they take out the SIM card." Merlin laughs, sighing a little. He glances back at them as another photo is taken and they laugh happily. "I don't know. I think they're more interested in us sharing a pizza."

[royalpratness]

"Great." Arthur groans, hiding his face in his eyes. "They're going to turn it into a big gay scandal. My PR team is going to have a meltdown."

[ayoungboy]

"Why don't you just tell the country you're gay?" Merlin asks curiously. "You could always get a surrogate, with whoever you choose as your partner, you know?"

[royalpratness]

"It's not about being gay. I doubt that's a secret anymore." Arthur assumes that Merlin isn't a keen reader of the non-magical press. Several years ago, a picture of Arthur kissing a random bloke in a nightclub had been on the front page of every newspaper in the country for weeks. "It's more the general speculations about my love life.. or the lack thereof."

[ayoungboy]

No, he isn't. Hasn't the time. "How about this: just tell them you have somebody. A red herring."

[royalpratness]

Arthur scoffs. "Make up a fake partner? I doubt that'll work and it'd be a disaster if it ever came out."

[ayoungboy]

"Use me." Merlin shrugs, picking up another piece of pizza. "They've already got the photos. I knew this would happen. But as long as Mary is there, who would suspect me of being Emrys?"

[royalpratness]

Arthur considers this for a moment. "Who would I say you are though? Just some random bloke I met at a coffee shop? It doesn't work like this for me. I'm the King."

[ayoungboy]

"Say I'm a mail-order bride." Merlin jokes, snorting. "Aye, so? People fall in love all the time, in the strangest of places."

[royalpratness]

"Again Merlin, I'm the King. I can't just casually walk into a coffee shop. Whenever I meet someone new, it's carefully planned beforehand. So unless you can think of a better coverstory..."

[ayoungboy]

"You snuck out. You snuck out just to walk about like a normal person, and I bumped into you and spilled coffee all over you. I insisted we go clean it up and we hit it off."

[royalpratness]

Arthur chuckles, glancing over his shoulder, seeing the girls leave the restaurant. "That sounds like it's been taken straight out of a rom-com. It might work."

[ayoungboy]

"The public loves that sort of thing. They'll eat it up." Merlin smiles, chewing thoughtfully on the pizza. "Ask them not to bother me. Say you'd rather not make me uncomfortable. I'm sure they don't want to drive your 'boyfriend' away."

[royalpratness]

"I should tell them that you're a doctor or some other kind of 'noble' profession." Arthur pours Merlin some more wine.