We found love in a hopeless place

[ayoungboy]

It's been 5 years since this whole nightmare began, and both sides had sustained incredible casualties. The whole of Europe was fairly decimated, but England was definitely the worst. Perhaps the worst of it all was the fact that Merlin didn't know if Arthur was dead or alive. Yes, he thought about him often. How stupid they'd both been. Merlin was willing to fight for what he believed in, but it hadn't been about him - it should have been about them, about working it out together. It should never have come to this.

He still wears the engagement ring on his finger. He's almost lost it once or twice, but it's still there - and he makes sure to take care of it and clean it, repair it. But that's not what this meeting it about; he's been selected to represent the magical community in the negotiations. All they wanted was their freedom back. Magic wasn't inherently evil; it was people that used it for nefarious purposes, people that mistreated it. They were willing to help put those people in jail. If only the non-magic users would understand.

They're meeting on what used to be Parliament, reduced to rubble, now. Merlin's fiddling with his hands, twisting the ring nervously. They've set up wards already; there are a few other magical delegates and guards there, but Merlin is to do the central talking. Still, there's only so much they can guard against, and if the non-magic users decide to attack…well, the magic users weren't going to be too keen on reopening negotiations after that.

Comments

[royalpratness]

Arthur chuckles as he reads the note, shaking his head. "How exactly am I supposed to reply, huh?" He folds the piece of papers and puts it into his pocket, planning on returning to the hotel that night to meet with Merlin again.

[ayoungboy]

Well...yeah, Merlin hadn't exactly thought that out. The flowers were a bit of an accomplishment, okay! Or he thought so. Eh.

I gotta go to bed now bb. Got a hell-ish week to look forward to T__T

[royalpratness]

Well he's lucky that Arthur is waiting for him in the hotel lobby that night anyway. He's made himself comfortable in an armchair, reading a book.

Aww, I'm sorry bb <3<3 I'll tag as much as I can, but I'm afraid I'm in much the same boat! ): /hugs

[ayoungboy]

Merlin appears with a wave of magic, grinning when he sees Arthur. "Hello."

;_; stupid RL

[royalpratness]

"Hello yourself." Arthur grins, closing his book. "Thanks for the flowers."

Ikr? Fuck i shouldnt be up this early xD

[ayoungboy]

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked them." Merlin sits down next to him. "What are you reading?"

oh man xD I'm already about to leave work... very early though xD got lots of errands to run

[royalpratness]

"Chaucer." Arthur pulls a face. "Not exactly my favourite but it's not like there's a great choice of literature these days."

God damn! It's 8:15 AM over here and I'm sitting in film studies class xD

[ayoungboy]

"I'm sure we can find a library, if you want," Merlin offers. "See if there's anything left."

yikes, that's early! It's 2:20pm here xD

[royalpratness]

"Yeah, let's do that once we have more time on our hands. Did you manage to handle the water situation last night?"

Fuck. I have to get up at 6:30 to get here xD

[ayoungboy]

"Yes, I did. Reversed the curse, but I couldn't track the origin."

fff students ;D I get up at 6:45 every day to go to work

[royalpratness]

"Who would put a curse on drinking water?" Arthur sighs, shaking his head as he gets up from his chair.

Ewwww oh god no xP

[ayoungboy]

"Someone who wanted to do a great deal of damage in the shortest amount of time."

XD

[royalpratness]

"That's just sick." Arthur offers Merlin his hand.

[ayoungboy]

"I know. But people are still...uncooperative."

[royalpratness]

"So you said." Arthur gently tugs Merlin up the stairs with him. "It's the same in our camp. You always have a bunch of radical idiots in every group."

[ayoungboy]

"i just wish we could find a way to establish enough order tha hey'fe not as dangerous."

[royalpratness]

"We will, in time. Let's hope there won't be any major incidents in the meantime."

[ayoungboy]

"Yes," Merlin muses, as they tumble into the room. "Let's hope."

[royalpratness]

"We need to talk about the prosecution of the criminals. This should be dealt with as soon as possible."

[ayoungboy]

"I think - half and half jury. You and I pick, people we know will be open-minded in honestly considering the crimes. You and I can switch off on judge? I'm sorry to say I'm not sure how else to make the judge fair; and as far as I know, we don't have any qualified judges or lawyers anymore."

[royalpratness]

"No, we don't. Your idea sounds like the next best thing, really. There's only so much we can do under the circumstances."

[ayoungboy]

"Oh, people will be decrying us for centuries." Merlin sighs, pulling Arthur to the bed.

[royalpratness]

Arthur pulls a face, following Merlin onto the bed. "You think so?"

[ayoungboy]

"Probably. Criticizing us for not doing it better, but we don't have another way."

[royalpratness]

"No, we really don't. I think I can live with going down in history as an asshole, as long as it helps us now." Arthur smiles wryly.