Chapter Text
Fitting perfectly in the idyllic countryside that it was nestled in, Avalon Independent School for Boys stood proudly, a relic of the past, its grand buildings borrowed from a converted stately home belonging to the family of its headmaster, Sir Kilgharrah. It was situated in amongst the rolling hills and vast forests in rural England, and was considered one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the entire country. Consisting of a Lower and Upper school, it was split between nurturing its students knowledge in the lower school, and precision tuning their intellect in the Upper school, where they’d likely end up shipped to the various Russel Group, Ivy League, and other elite universities across the world. The school itself had produced 1 United States President, 5 Prime Ministers, a few dozen Members of Parliament and Congress from various countries, more than its fair share of top 100 CEOs, and also several top ranking military officials - and that was just in the last 30 years. The school’s history goes back centuries, and positions there in the modern era have become so competitive, that the school’s entrance exams are mandatory for every student - even the handful of royals that apply there. Only one student per year is not granted a full scholarship to the upper school, which was exclusively for boys aged 16 to 18 years old, this time that student was Merlin Emrys. Any day now, the school term would start, the school’s staff were busy preparing the grounds for the students to return from summer, and Kilgharrah had particular excitement for the students in the Upper School this year.
Merlin admitted that perhaps applying to the most competitive boarding school in the country was a mistake, but it was too late now. He was about to leave everything he ever was, everything he ever knew behind him. The ache in his stomach was dull until his mother rose from her bed early to bid him farewell, it grew much sharper when he saw the sadness in her face, even if she was happy for him too. Maybe she was just sleep deprived... who got up at 6am on a Sunday after all? His mother Hunith was a teacher herself, albeit at the local primary school, but it meant she fully understood Merlin’s need to seek out new and challenging horizons. “I’ll be able to visit you on the weekends, the school’s only an hour’s drive from here. You’ll be great.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and the tears in her eyes were evident, but her smile proved that she was proud of her son. When Merlin’s own tears threatened to fall down his cheeks, she reassured him, “I’ll write to you every week, you better write back. I’ll be lonely, left here all by myself.” She raised her hand, and gently brushed his tears away, before helping him finish his packing. Merlin didn’t have an awful lot to his name that he truly treasured, the most expensive thing that he owned was his mobile phone, and he’d saved up for three years so that he could buy the newest model of iPhone. All he would be taking with him was the suitcase full of all of his clothes for when he wasn’t wearing the school’s uniform, and a bag containing his more personal possessions. The most precious of them being his father’s old blue scarf, which he took everywhere with him. He never got to meet his father. He doesn’t remember his face, and he doesn’t remember his voice, but his mother had told him several times that he loved him and that the scarf was the only belonging she has left of him before he left. He half resented the scarf, that was no real surprise considering it was a constant reminder of his childhood abandonment. Hunith insisted that she bore no ill will against his father, and that his duty took him elsewhere; she wouldn’t even tell Merlin his father’s name, to keep him from looking for him. But still, it was one piece of his paternal family that he got to keep for himself. The backpack also contained several books that he treasured, many of them worn from the tens of times that they’d been read, and a model dragon that he’d carved himself from a piece of the tree in his garden - it was to remind him of home. Even though he didn’t have much, Merlin thought that it felt like overpacking when he had to haul both of the bags out of his now empty room, and down the stairs in the tiny terraced house. It was weird thought, that he was now going to be leaving Essetir after living there for over 16 years, especially to go and live at a school full of kids with families that were worth over 4000 times the value of his mother’s house. That thought in particular made himself feel particularly small. Merlin’s inner doubts were solidified when the sleek black car stopped outside his home, a smartly dressed chauffeur stepped out, popping open the car’s boot before making his way to knock on the front door. It was time. He opened the door, and allowed the nameless, unspeaking driver to take hold of his bags before he turned to his mother and leapt into her arms. “I’m going to miss you so much, Mum. I promise I’ll write to you, and we can talk on the phone whenever you like.” A cough behind Merlin signalled that it was time to go, with one last quick hug, with Hunith once again wiping her son’s silent tears away before placing an encouraging hand on the small of his back. Merlin let himself be led out of the door, and into the car where he climbed into the back, and sat in silence. As the chauffeur closed the boot and climbed into the driver’s seat, Merlin raised his hand to the window and stared at his mother, seeing her sad, but proud smile, before the car’s engine rumbled to life and they set off down the road, toward Avalon Independent School for Boys.
For most of the journey, Merlin stared down at his hands in silence, this was meant to be a new start but he couldn’t help but feel guilty at his leaving his mum alone at home. He pushed the negative thoughts down, and sniffed some confidence into his chest and began to take in his surroundings. On the chair to his right, right behind the driver’s seat, was a clear bag that clearly contained his new uniform. He could see the Avalon crest in its brilliant sky blue on the block navy of his new blazers. He flashed back to the fittings he had been sent to, less than one week after being notified of his acceptance into the school’s scholarship. The prodding, pinching and poking that seemingly dragged for hours had resulted in the uniforms that now seemed to stare at him. The entrance exams to the college were definitely hard, even by Merlin’s standard, but he had to admit that enduring the fitting for the uniform was a much more unpleasant experience for him. The worst part is that he’d have to endure it all again next year, before his second year. If he was being honest to himself, he was actually looking forward to being able to wear some clothes that were smarter than his usual t-shirt and jeans get up. Because of his humble origins, he had never worn a suit outside of the interview for the school he was now on his way to attend, it would be the biggest culture shock of his life… he didn’t even know how to tie a knot in his uniform tie. ‘One thing at a time…’ He told himself, he would have plenty of time to get to grips with the fine details of his uniform when he actually arrived at the school. He was just praying that he’d be able to make some friends, since he’d never been very good at that before. He'd left the only friend he'd ever had, Will, behind in Essetir.
The driver was still silent throughout the journey, the only noise in the car being the faint rumble of the road and the rush of the wind as the car sped through the early morning traffic. Out of the window it seemed like they were racing further and further into the countryside, there were no buildings out here save for the occasional farmhouse and a few walls that stood crumbling at the edge of the fields. He was no stranger to the countryside, having grown up in a small town on the Welsh border, but the 60 mile rout into England was definitely a major step up. The dawn was just about getting bright enough now that he could make out a few sheep in the fields, and the dance of tree branches in the breeze. The faint oranges of the sunrise just visible, bringing a small, quick smile to his face, quickly dismissing the saying ‘red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’ that popped into his head. He decided that the silence of the car ride was going to drive him mad, so he pulled his headphones out of his jacket at plugged them into his phone. He made a playlist of songs that he knew would distract him from any niggling anxieties, and he pushed the volume to the loudest it could possibly go. Merlin’s favourite song came on some minutes later, he allowed himself to jam out to it, before turning his head once again to his new uniform on his right. He then noticed a neat envelope that had slipped from between the bags and onto the chair next to him, it was clearly nestled discreetly underneath the uniform that he’d been grimacing at earlier, and he reached to inspect it. His name was printed on the front, so it was clearly addressed to him, but he still spent time and care when tearing it open to read its contents:
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Dear Merlin Emrys,
I cannot begin to put into words my excitement that you shall be joining Avalon Independent School for Boys this year in the Upper School. It is our privilege to be able to offer someone of your talents a place at our prestigious college. I understand that this change is likely to be a major challenge for you, but we hope that you settle into the school in a seamless transition. Please find enclosed in this letter the results of your entrance exams, and your weekly timetable for the coming year. If you require any assistance or would like to discuss or propose any changes, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Gaius, our Student Guardian and Head of Sciences.
Before we continue, please allow me to reiterate our college standards and guidelines - Unfortunately these are non-negotiable:
- Uniform is to be worn at all times on weekdays, from your rising at 7.30am to end of classes at 17.30pm. Outside of these hours, and at weekends, you may either wear your uniform or your own personal clothes.
- Visitors to the school must be agreed with the Student Guardian with at least 7 days notice. Visitors that attempt to enter college grounds without this provision being made will not be admitted to the school buildings.
- Electronic communications devices, such as mobile phones, smart watches, smart calculators, electronic tablets, and personal computers are not permitted in classes. All notes in classes are to be made on paper.
- Laundry day is every Friday. You must deliver your laundry (Uniform and Bedclothes) to your dormitory's designated laundry bin before the start of classes at 9am.
- Excursions off of the school’s campus are not permitted without a signed permission slip from the Student Guardian.
- Consumption of alcohol or other controlled, unprescribed substances on campus is strictly prohibited. Students above the age of 18 may visit the nearby public houses as a permitted excursion with a signed permission slip, as per guideline 5.
- Our school is an inclusive place of learning. Attitudes and behaviour that endanger that will not be tolerated. Students that repeatedly disobey faculty members and the guidelines will be suspended or dismissed from the school with extreme prejudice.
I can also notify you that you will be given a room in our smaller two person dorms this year, owing to this being your first time schooling away from your family home. You will be sharing your dormitory with Lancelot du Lac, our Student Ambassador. I’m sure he will be able to help you settle in nicely.
I am particularly excited for this school year, and I have no doubt that your unique admission to our school will be a particular point of interest for the year ahead. I wish you the very best of luck, and I shall see you in our History lessons and our personal tutorials.
Signed,
Sir Kilgharrah, Headmaster of Avalon Independent School for Boys
Student: Mr Merlin Emrys
Dormitory: West 1
Personal Tutor: Sir Kilgharrah
Timetable:
Admissions Exam Results:
History - 99/100 (Equivalent Grade - A*)
English - 83/100 (Equivalent Grade - A)
Mathematics - 100/100 (Equivalent Grade - A*)
Politics - 100/100 (Equivalent Grade - A*)
Specialist Subject of choice: Computing - 100/100 (Equivalent Grade - A*)
Admissions result: PASS, proceed to interview. Note - Scholarship Requirement.
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Merlin snorted at Sir Kilgharrah’s assertion that his admission to the school was unique, but he did allow himself to feel proud of himself for being offered the admission. He did feel a slight irk at his grade in English, although he knew that words was never going to be his specialist subject. The funny truth was that Merlin already knew the results from his admissions exams, as he’d broken into the schools server a few days after they were submitted for marking; he knew that he could get into a lot of trouble and theoretically lose his place there if he was caught, but he was driving himself crazy speculating whether he had passed or not - let alone irritating his mother by wearing tracks in the carpet from his pacing up and down in his bedroom. He would come out of the Avalon Independent School for Boys with 5 A-Levels, and now that he’d been allowed to settle into the car ride he could not wait to begin his lessons. Looking at his watch, he realised that they could only be a few minutes away from the gates to the school grounds. The tension in his stomach quickly turned into the buzz with excitement.
He looked back to his skype interview with who he assumed must be faculty members, but none of them shared names with the staff on his timetable. They asked him questions about his specialist subject, with Merlin proudly proclaiming “I am already far above and beyond the ability of practically everyone else in the world.” It was a brag of course, but one that he needed to make if he ever wanted to get into the school. As a demonstration, Merlin requested to be allowed the use of his laptop for 60 seconds, and in that time he had hacked into all three of their social media accounts, and changed their profile pictures into cartoon bananas. He also emailed all of them an extremely detailed portfolio of his site-building work, and the link to an online 2d video game that he had built from scratch. An awful lot of thinking, and an awful lot of gambling had gone into his pitch to be given the scholarship, and now Merlin supposed that it was worth it. Maybe that was the uniqueness that Kilgharrah was referring to. With that thought, he noticed the car was slowing down significantly, passing through a small village seemingly made out of nothing but pubs. The next sight he saw were the looming iron gates with the word “AVALON” cast above them. He had arrived.
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The drive to the actual house itself seemed to take just as much time as the drive from Wales, but eventually the car pulled up to the main building of the school. Merlin had obviously seen pictures and maps of it before, but it was much more beautiful in person. The central front of the house itself had imposing columns typical of its baroque architectural style, it looked as if hours of painstaking detail work had gone into the masonry, and the large windows made it look delicate and inviting. The East and West wings of the house were nearly identical, and seemed to contain smaller duplicates of the striking front entrance, and at each end of the wings was an ornate, understated tower. The house was a work of art, there was no other way to do it any justice. As the car pulled up, Merlin noticed there was a young boy his age, with a beautiful mediterranean complexion waiting for him. When he stepped out of the car he briefly studied him, deciding he looked kind but strong, before the boy stepped forward to introduce himself.
“Good morning Merlin! I’m Lancelot du Lac, Student Ambassador at Avalon- and your dorm mate.” His cheery disposition this early in the morning was somewhat off-putting, but Merlin took the boy’s outstretched hand and shook it politely. He wondered if Lancelot volunteered for this job, or if it was something he had been made to do.
“Well, I guess you already know that I’m Merlin Emrys. Avalon’s newest pet poor person.” Merlin beamed as Lancelot sniggered, thankfully getting Merlin’s crass humour. “I didn’t realise the honour guard would be here to greet me upon arrival. Are you here to hand me a peasant crown that I don’t know about?” Lancelot laughed again.
“I don’t know about a crown, Merlin, but how about I tell you a bit about the school?” Lancelot suggested, gesturing at the gigantic house that stood behind him. Merlin nodded and shrugged simultaneously, not exactly sure how to act. He admitted to himself that the excitement had quickly regressed into the same anxiety he felt when he awoke. “What you can see here, the central house and the two wings, all encompass the Upper School. There’s a mansion house behind, which is attached to this front that houses the Lower School, but we get the good digs because… well we’re older and the Lower School is mostly a day school for rich snobs.” Lancelot gestured for Merlin to follow him, “See, I was one of the pet poor people in the Lower School, so I know you must be nervous, but everyone here has accepted me just fine. The driver will take your bags and uniform straight to the dorm in a few minutes, let me show you the central house and we’ll make our way to the dorm from there. By the way, most of the boys call me Lance, since I figure you’re not a psycho we’re probably going to get on fine, so feel free to call me that too.”
Merlin nodded again but didn’t say anything. He followed hot on Lance’s heels, as he was shown though the front door, passing a desk and a lounge. There was a grand hall that functioned as the lunch hall for the whole school, but Lance pointed out that the tables at the south end was reserved for staff, and the table at the north end was reserved for Upper School students. “There are only about 40 Upper School students, compared to the 200 or so Lower School students.” Lance added. Merlin found himself growing to like Lance pretty quickly, which probably answered his original question; Lance was the type of person that would decide to be the Student Ambassador off his own back, and was likely helping Merlin so much because he wanted to. It was admirable, and it settled his anxieties a little that he was going to be sharing a dorm with someone like him. As they left the main house and headed into the West Wing of the house, Lance pointed out the different classrooms which belonged to the various faculty members. Dr Gaius, Sir Kilgharrah, and Geoffrey Monmouth’s rooms were in this wing, whilst Iseldir, Godwyn, and Bayard had rooms in the East Wing. The Physical Education department that was run by Olaf was found in the old stable-yard, where the playing fields were located. When Lancelot was satisfied that Merlin had grasped the layout of the school, he declared that he’d take him to the West Common room, which he would share with Lance and 8 more students of the Upper School. The common room was at the base of the tower, and above the common room were 3 floors of dormitories. Even the door to the student's quarters was grander than Merlin's entire town, he was starting to feel woozy with the scale of the whole school. He was clearly way out of his depth, not that he'd let anyone else know that. When they arrived, all of the other students were there chatting amongst themselves. All but one of them noticed them enter, all of them turning to focus their attention on Merlin, who felt himself shrink inside of himself, knowing that the boys were sizing him up immediately.
“Merlin, let me introduce you to the fine young men of Avalon West.” Lance said, with a generous amount of bravado, he pointed at each of the boys one by one, “Curly blond guy there is Leon, he’s probably the most stand up guy out of all of them, myself not included of course.” There were a few murmurs, but the other boys seemed to agree with that statement, Leon simply smiled and raised his hand in a wave, “Fancy pants there is Gwaine, and the boy he’s clinging to is Percival. Yes they’re an item, and yes Gwaine will still flirt with you. I promise Perce isn’t the type to be jealous, and Gwaine knows he’s been whipped by Perce too.” Gwaine started to protest, but Percival shot him a raised eyebrow, quickly silencing any squark that he was about to make. “Over there in the corner is Elyan, he’s another scholarship kid but he’s had his since the Lower School like me, so he’s integrated well too.” Elyan nodded in Merlin’s direction, which was returned quickly, but Merlin couldn’t help but indulge in a quick smile. Everyone seemed so nice so far. “By the fire we’ve got Mordred, Gilli, and Daegal. They’re all country boys like you, just richer. Mostly keep to themselves.” Lance sighed as he came to point at the last boy in the dorm, “Last but not least, that is Arthur Pendragon. He’s a year older than everyone here because he was homeschooled a little late, kind of like the dorm’s big brother, but don’t let him push you around… he can be a bit prickly.” Merlin’s eyes landed on the… ridiculously gorgeous blonde boy who was curled up on one of the sofa. He was still defiantly tapping away at his phone screen with his headphones in, clearly thinking himself too important to care about the new arrival. Merlin was torn between being deeply offended by his failure to acknowledge him, and being in awe of how stupidly handsome he was. He quickly snapped himself back to reality, figuring that he wasn’t here to gawk at gorgeous toffs, he was here to get great grades and make a name for himself.
“Hi everyone… I’m Merlin, I guess. I’m just glad I made it up that damn driveway without falling asleep.” Merlin joked. Everyone apart from Arthur smiled, all of them knowing too well the trek between the house and the village. All of the boys started to ask Merlin questions about where he was from, what subjects he was taking, how he’d done in his exams, questions about his specialist subject, who his tutor was… “Really, Kilgharrah’s never tutored anyone before…” Leon mused.
Gwaine took a step towards Merlin, waving his hand up and down as if assessing Merlin’s outfit, “Pretty boy with Black skinny jeans, and a tucked in t-shirt… slightly awkward disposition… You’re gay, right?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. It earned him a slap on the ass from Percival, but…
Merlin just grinned, then he laughed, then he stared straight into Gwaine’s eyes, “Oh yeah, about as gay as they come. Don’t worry though, I’m way out of your league.” he said. The room went silent. One by one though, starting with Leon and then Lancelot, the boys began to howl with laughter. Gwaine’s face was instantly beet red, and his jaw was firmly placed on the floor in a gawk, but he soon doubled over in laughter too. Eventually everyone wiped caught their breath, with Percival slapping Merlin on the back, remarking how that was the first time that he’d seen his boyfriend speechless. Eventually the room fell back to its natural chatter, and Merlin found himself swept up in a conversation with Gwaine and Lancelot. Of course, the good welcome was bound to end at some point.
“Who is that?” Arthur said, silencing the room. His headphones were swinging in his hands, and he had an eyebrow raised as if the entire room as just
“I’m Merlin Emrys. Good to meet you.” Merlin replied, pushing his shoulders back in faux confidence.
“Whatever, I guess you’re the new scholarship student. Good luck keeping up.” Arthur deadpanned.
“Arthur, be nice. You’ve basically got identical timetables.” Lance chided.
“I’ll be nice when I know he’s not going to go home crying like ever Upper School scholarship attendee in the last decade.” Arthur snapped.
Merlin whispered a soft “Prat” under his breath, just loud enough for Arthur to hear, causing the blonde to shoot a deadly scowl his way. Some of the other boys commented things along the lines of “Come on Arthur” and “We agreed not to tell him that”, but Merlin was not perturbed. “Listen, Arthur, you might not have high expectations of a mere peasant like myself. But if you take a look at these entrance exam results, I think you’ll find they beat even yours.” Merlin took the letter from his pocket, and handed it to Arthur who studied it briefly before he focussed on the timetable on the next page.
The boy seemed to ponder what he was going to say next, but he still wore the scowl on his face, clearly still unimpressed by Merlin’s appearance. He didn't raise “How would you know the results of my entrance exams?” Arthur questioned.
Merlin scoffed and crossed the room towards the stairs, snatching his letter and timetable from Arthur as he passed, “I know everyone’s grades because I broke into the school’s server to find out if I got an interview. I’m not some goody two shoes with a dream to go to a kick ass school, and I’ve worked too hard to go home now.” Merlin took a breath, pausing in the doorway, looking back directly at Arthur's piercing eyes “The only grade that you have that was better than mine was in English, which you achieved full marks in, congratulations. However, you were 7 marks behind me in History, 3 in Maths, and 5 in Politics. You didn’t take Computer Science like I did, but you took Philosophy, and you got 75/100 on that… So good effort Pendragon, but not good enough.” He left a stunned and silent room, but the image that was burned into his mind was the smirk that Arthur now wore, as if Merlin had passed some test. He decided to just retreat to his dorm, wanting nothing more than to hide away until tomorrow, when he could just get on with his classes.
Arthur had to give it to Merlin, he was impressed with the new boy’s grit… but that wasn’t why he couldn’t get him out of his head. Merlin was, frankly, beautiful; which meant that Arthur was, frankly, screwed. Only one of the boys at Avalon knew about Arthur’s sexuality, and that was his best friend Leon. Arthur figured that it wasn’t really any of their business, even if others were openly dating each other. All of them had known him since he was 12, when they all started the Lower School at the same time, at no point did anyone at Avalon Independent catch Arthur’s eye, but now of course the lower class, welsh, scholarship boy had his full attention. Whatever would his father think? None of the other boys except Lance dared to challenge him on his behaviour, but Arthur simply smiled at Lancelot and replied, “It’s fine, he passed my little test.” A few minutes after Merlin had wandered up to his dorm alone, Arthur made his way up the stairs too. He needed to be alone to think clearly about the spanner that had been thrown into his perfect straight disguise. There wasn’t going to be a problem if he came out, Arthur trusted each and every boy in the dorms, he knew that the only lads with a history of homophobia were housed in the less cohesive East Wing. There would however be a problem with his father, and he knew that if there was ever such a declaration of his inclinations towards guys, his father would find out from one of the teachers. There wasn’t hiding anything from his father, he was informed of every day that Arthur took off sick, every time his test scores were less than impressive, every time he underperformed in Physical Ed. The resentment Arthur held towards Uther Pendragon was second to only his half-sister, Morgana. Having enough of thinking about his father, Arthur decided to distract himself by drawing. He was a huge fan of fantasy stories, often finding himself lost in books in distant realms that didn’t really exist, mostly to escape the reality that he lived in. The reality where he was the son of a billionaire with too many expectations on his shoulders. He would write often too, escaping into a world where he could make things better. He was currently working on his longest piece of writing, a story about a prince who fell in love with his servant, who was secretly a mage sent to protect the prince from harm. He had created the prince in his image, since it was easy to sympathise with someone who had no choice but to inherit responsibilities greater than his comprehension, he could sympathise with someone who wasn’t allowed to live their life as they wanted to. In Arthur’s tale however, the mage was the prince’s escape mechanism from royal life, and they went on epic adventures all across the world. From trailing through scorching deserts in search of precious jewels, to scrambling through damp and dingy caves to rescue some of his citizens. He finished his drawing after a couple of hours, electing to begin writing the next chapter instead. If he wanted to use the story as a submission for his final piece he would need to put an awful lot more work into it, even if it was already at 40,000 words.
Hours passed and all he managed to put on the page was a pile of drivel. Something else that was Merlin’s fault. He’d never even spoken to the boy properly and how Emrys was occupying his every thought, rent fucking free. He wondered if Emrys was having the same difficulty thinking about him. After all, Arthur had secretly been listening the entire time Merlin had been there. He had paused his music as soon as the new boy had entered the common room, allowing him to listen closely to all of the introductions, and any interactions that followed. He had to admit, it took most of his strength to contain his own laughter when Merlin turned Gwaine’s awkward question back around on him, but he managed it when he realised that meant it could just as easily be done to him… he supposed he knew that too, considering the boy also knew all about his entrance exam scores. That was something he had not counted on. He swore the new boy had golden flecks in those eyes that were framed by those impossible eyelashes. There would be no concentrating if he didn’t find a way to come to terms with his very immediate attraction to the boy, since they shared practically every class together. One thing Arthur didn’t tell the other boys was who his tutor was, and it seemed that they even shared that similarity on the schedule. For the next year, provided Merlin made good on his vow to stay no matter how tough it was, Arthur was going to have to get used to having him around. It didn’t mean they had to be friends. One thing the young Pendragon was famous for was planning everything he did with a meticulous obsession. He decided he would sit as far as humanly possible from Merlin in all of his classes, and engage only when absolutely necessary. He didn’t have to be mean to the boy, he didn’t want to be mean to him, but if he let himself get too close the game would be up. He would lose his family, he’d be at risk of losing his friends - this was a secret that had festered for way too long. Deciding that he’d wallowed for quite long enough, he changed out of his casuals and into his running gear, slipping on his trainers and putting in his headphones, he bounced down the stairs and out of the dormitory’s door to the front grounds.
He sang quietly to the lyrics as he went around, trying his best to keep his concentration fixed on his pace, and the beautiful surroundings of the school. The playlist he'd created fitted the School's grounds perfectly, but he only let himself listen to this kind of music when he was running, reserving it for when he knew that nobody else would hear it. The track he was running was one he knew well, and at just over 2.5km, he knew it wouldn’t be too strenuous and he could take a leisurely jog instead of pushing himself too hard; Olaf would do enough pushing in P.E. every Wednesday. P.E that he would have at the same time as Merlin Emrys… and just like that, Arthur had let his mind wander back to Merlin. Not that he could especially help it, he was likely the person that everyone in the entire wing was talking about, just not in the same way that Arthur was thinking. He wasn't ashamed of being gay, he told himself. He didn't believe it, but he guessed everyone had to start somewhere. What he did know that life as he knew it would be over if his sexuality was common knowledge. He wasn't sure that he wanted life as he knew it to change. He quickened his pace, deciding that the burning of his lungs would change what he was thinking about, and it worked. Arthur ran the rest of the distance at an excruciating pace, but his mind was clear of the doe eyed brunette that had been stuck in his head all morning. When he arrived back at the dorm, only the quieter boys were still in the common room. Arthur ignored them as he panted up the stairs, crashing into the dorm and onto his bed in a dramatic fashion. Leon was sat on his bed against the wall, holding a piece of paper, smirking at it. Instead deciding to focus on getting his breathing and his heart rate back to normal, Arthur quickly changed back into his casuals and patted the sweat on his brow with a towel. He shoved his phone on charge before flopping back onto his bed, raising an eyebrow at Leon’s ever-present smirk. “What?” He quipped.
“Arthur…” Leon started, “This mage sketch is really good, your character creation has come a long way.” His smirk grew into a shit eating grin, when he turned the picture around, “There’s just one problem. Don’t you think your mage looks an awful lot like our new friend Merlin? Isn’t this the mage that falls in love with the prince that looks exactly like you?” He raised another one of Arthur’s drawings as evidence.
Struggling to pick his jaw up off of the floor, much like Gwaine earlier, Arthur squinted at the drawing he had made of the mage from his story. He’d based that drawing off of the physical description that he’d written in his books… intoxicating blue eyes to match his prince, with deep chocolate hair to contrast. The Mage was slender, but firm in stature, standing proud as if he himself were from a royal line, despite his humble upbringing. His jaw was strong, not a rival of his Prince’s, but strong enough to stare for some time, and the mage’s lips were… Arthur shook his head to get himself out of the trance he’d sent himself into. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Leon, “Tell nobody.” He threatened.
His friend simply barked a laugh, “Why would I tell anyone? If you fancy the guy maybe you should just give him a chance Arthur? He seems…”
“Don’t even bother finishing that sentence, Leon. Regardless of whether I find him attractive or not, we're not compatible. I’ve a mind to tell Kilgharrah that he hacked the server just to get him out of my hair.” Arthur spat. Everyone was grinding his gears today, probably another thing he was going to blame Merlin for, that list was growing longer by the hour.
“With what evidence Arthur? Stop being so ridiculous. Just get to know him. Gwaine, Lance, and Perce still haven’t come downstairs after they went after him. I think he’s nice, he’s funny too, oh and he put you right in your place. Only a 75 in Philosophy? Slacker.” Leon teased, trying his best to illicit a reaction. Both he and Arthur knew that there wouldn’t be one though.
“I’m not ready to tell people. I’m not ready to come out. You shouldn't even know.” Arthur’s reply was quiet, and it made himself feel even smaller. Tears threatened to fall at the edge of his eyes before he coughed, wiping his face to compose himself. “Leon, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but there’s nothing there. I’ve never been one to date and I don’t intend on starting now.”
Both Arthur and Leon knew that the last part wasn’t quite the truth. They both knew Arthur had a crush, and they both knew that it wasn't going away.