They were in a huge corridor. The walls were covered with old paintings and the floor and walls were of dark wood. The windows had long red velvet curtains hanging down and the carpet down the stairs, throught the hall and to the door was the same colour and material. Arthur was straightening Merlin's tie. It was a dark blue one Arthur had provided for the occasion. The blonde was obviously wearing a red tie. His suit was black like Merlins. All though Arthur was wearing a grey shirt and Merlin was wearing a white one. Arthur eyed the boy in front of him from top to toe and stroke his hands over Merlins chest. Merlin was nervous. He was nervous as fuck, but he wanted to assure Arthur, so as soon as his sky blue eyes met his own grey blue ones he flashed him one of his warm smiles and grabbed his hands in his own. He gave Arthurs soft hands a squeeze. "It's going to be alright, Arthur. Don't worry about it". Arthur chuckled nervously and looked down. "I guess. It's just he's very itimidating". Merlin laughed and tugged Arthur closer. "What? You think he's gonna scare me off? I'm dating you. You're father is as itimidating as you are when you're angry and I still fell in love with you didn't I?" Arthur's head snapped up and Merlin quickly realised what he just said. Arthur smiled shyly. "You're in love with me?" Merlin rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. "Of course you prat!" Arthur laughed and cupped Merlins cheeks. He kissed him soft on the lips. Their lips was apart but they were still leaned against each other, eyes closed. Arthur whispered softly. "I love you too".
The dinner was silent but not awkward. They were all seated around a huge oak table. Uther and Merlin across from each other and Arthur on the side. They would all eat in silence, no other sounds than food being cut to pieces and cutlery scraping against each other. They were halfway through the the meal until Uther spoke to Merlin. "So Merlin how do you like the school so far?" The older man held his focus on his food. Just like Gwaine. Merlin smiled at the comparison and answered the question. "I like it here very much. The students are nice and so are the teachers. I especially like that they pick old classics for us to do book rapports on." Uther nodded and smiled across the table. "So you're a book enthusiast then?" Merlin nodded and flashed Uther a smile. "Oh yes I love classics. Moby Dick, Sherlock Holmes, To Kill A Mockingbird." Uther took a sip from his wine and nodded at Merlin with the drink still in his hand. "You know To Kill A Mockingbird is actually one of my favourites." Merlin smiled bright and nodded agreeing. "Me too. We're actually doing a book rapport on it now. I've already read it a few times before I got here so I've been reading other books instead." Uther looked up at Merlin and paused eating for a bit. "Oh really? What books?" Merlin stopped to count each book on his hand. "Well it's The Perks Of Being A Wallflower..." "Old classic from the 90's. Go on." Uther said and Merlin did so. "Forest Gump, Sherlock Holmes..." Uther furrowed his brows. "Really? Which one?" Merlin curled his lips before replying: "Um all of them?" Uther looked at Merlin shocked. "Wow! Is this true?" Merlin looked around the room as he stumbled in his words. "W-well I can't seem to find The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes in the library so technically I haven't read them all but..." Uther clapped his hands together. "I have all the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle including The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes and I'd be happy to borrow it to you." Merlin smiled happily and surprised and Arthur had to lean back in astonishment as he watched his father and boyfriend discuss classic literature. "Well that would be lovely thank you sir" Merlin said. Uther leaned a little closer and looked at Merlin from across the table. "Tell me how long did it take you to read all of those Sherlock Holmes books?" Merlin looked to the side like he was thinking before giving an answer. "About a month I suppose." Uther nodded approvingly. "Read them when I was about your age. Took me a month and a half." Merlin smiled once again. Uther pointed at Merlin with the one finger that wasn't wrapped around the wine glass. "You're a very smart boy Merlin. I'm glad you're dating my son. Might knock some sense into him about classics." Merlin picked up his cutlery and started cutting a piece of his roast beaf as he spoke to Uther. "Oh I don't think you have to worry about that. Arthur loves poetry." Uther nearly spat his wine out and Arthur had to cover his mouth from laughing. Merlin smiled suavely at his boyfriend and popped the piece of meat in his mouth.
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The ride back to the school was silent. Merlin and Arthur was sitting next to each other in the black car driven by Urthers chauffeur. Uther was sitting right across from them and was looking out of the window. So was Merlin. The evening went surprisingly well. After the dinner they had dessert in front of the fireplace and Uther brought Merlin in to his private library. Merlin nearly lost himself in there. All the best books he could imagine. A few raindrops hit the car window and Merkin fastened his grip on his brown leather satchel with The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes in it.