Merlin and Arthur in Lockdown

Eleven

'Catch,' said Arthur, stepping into the veranda.

Merlin sat on one of the two beanbags, his Legs stretched out. The veranda was lit by the city lights around the apartment and more immediately by Merlin's phone screen. He had just enough time to take out his earphones before Arthur tossed him the small cylindrical package of biscuits.

Merlin picked up the pack of McVitie's which had landed on his seat while Arthur sat down on the unoccupied beanbag.

'Since dinner wasn't to your liking apparently,' said Arthur, 'you might as well have the caramel McVitie's for dessert.'

'Thanks,' said Merlin. The crunch of the biscuit wrapping filled the air as he opened the packet and took out one of the wheat biscuits with a coating of caramel on one side. Taking a bite, he offered the pack to Arthur who also took a biscuit for himself.

For a second they watched a stream of night traffic pass way below them as they crunched through biscuits.

Arthur smacked his hands together to get rid of crumbs. 'What is with your obsession with the McVitie's anyway?'

Merlin's lips broke into a smile. 'I'm not obsessed.'

Arthur sat with his knees up, resting his forearms on his knees, and looked straight ahead even though he raised an amused eye brow at that.

'I guess...it's something from when I was a kid, ' Merlin continued. 'It was just me and my mum. Sometimes I'd give her a hard time and not eat whatever was for dinner. She had a lot to juggle and would just let me have the biscuits instead.'

Arthur turned to look at Merlin as he told the story.

'It was a good time though. I guess, it's sort of a reminder of that time.'

Arthur gave him a silent nod.

'So.' Merlin turned to him. 'Do you have any sentimental stories behind the pickled eggs?'

'No, Merlin! No sentimental stories there.' Which made Merlin grin anyway.

Arthur twisted the ring he wore on his index finger. 'I...never met my mum.'

Merlin nodded sympathetically. The whole kingdom knew Queen Igraine had suddenly passed away from a medical condition days after she had given birth to Prince Arthur.

'My father doesn't like talking about her. But he told his butler to give me a box of my mother's things. It had photos, so I could see what she was like.' He was glad to find it was a more personal collection to the official photos Arthur had found by Googling her. 'And I found this ring. It's from her family.' He paused before continuing more hesitantly. 'I thought I'd wear it...To have her memory with me, I guess.'

'That's cool.' And here Merlin was sure the ring was some fashion thing. Guess there were other sides to Arthur he didn't know.

'I like to think, maybe she's watching over me,' Arthur added. 'That she'd support me in the times when I disagree with Father.'

For a moment they stayed silent before Merlin spoke again. 'My mum doesn't like to mention my dad either. She said they went separate ways even before I was born. But sometimes I feel some kind of connection to him.' Especially when he used magic, which he didn't say out loud. Merlin had guessed his magical abilities must have come from his father, which may have been behind his parents going their separate ways and his mum being protective of him but also wary of his powers. Merlin understood now how a young Hunith must have felt - not knowing what to do with this magical child of hers.

A moment later, Arthur stood up. 'I have to be up early tomorrow.' He had to join the taskforce. And no matter how much Merlin tried to gauge it, the location where they were headed was top secret. 'You should stop looking at your screen and get to sleep.'

'Yeah, I'll go in a minute,' said Merlin. When Arthur went back inside, he unlocked his phone and continued reading the chat forum he had opened. It was between a group who were planning a protest against the government and the royals investigating the magical origins of the plague. They were ready to cause some trouble tomorrow, outside the Camelot City Library. Because they had some intel that that was where Uther's secret taskforce was going.