AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYSSSS!!!!!! So for this oneshot I decided to try something different. Have any of you seen the movie The Imitation Game? If you haven't, YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT (if ur allowed to watch M-rated movies) CAUSE ITS REALLY GOOD (and the protagonist is played by Benedict Cumberbach so thats a bonus). So this oneshot is based off Alan Turing (the protagonist)'s childhood. The oneshot's gonna have a lil more depth and meaning if you've actually seen the movie, but you'll understand it just fine even if you haven't. Nothing much to say here, so lets get to it.
PS: Shoutout to SsuMmMmerR , she's written a superb Merthur fanfiction (Arthur's Return) that you NEED to check out if you haven't already, and flowerspetalsroses , who's currently writing a book (Fighting The Temptest) that I highly recommend you read as well.
Setting: The year is 1928. Merlin is a child prodigy in the area of mathematics, and attends Sherborne School, which is an all boys boarding school. Whenever there's italics, imagine that Merlin is older (in his mid-twenties), and is retelling his experiences at school to someone else. Whenever there's bold writing, its a Cryptograph or a translation from a cryptograph. For reference, Cryptography in this chapter is when you substitute letters in the alphabet for different ones, and write messages using this new alphabet. Eg: if I swap the letters H,E,L, and O with J,T,F, and D, I would write the word 'HELLO' as 'JTFFD'. Just incase anyone gets confused.
The Imitation Game AU.
The problem began, of course, with the carrots.
My hands feverishly manoeuvred my knife and fork across the plate, pushing the carrots and peas to opposite sides of my plate, as far away from each other as possible. The other boys at my table were giving me peculiar looks, but I payed no heed. I was more than used to it.
Carrots are orange. And peas are green. They musn't touch.
The last pea was forced into the pile of green on my plate, separated from the orange carrots. I was finally satisfied. Picking up my fork, I was about to dig in, when abruptly, a shower of carrots and peas cascaded down onto my uniform, hair... and my plate. There was orange and green all over it. Touching.
Raucous laughter echoed through the Dining Hall as I hurriedly brushed vegetable chunks off my uniform. I recognised Valiant Mercia as the one who poured the carrots and peas over me, but could not spare any attention to him, because there was green and orange on my plate, green and orange that weren't separated. Laboured breathing rasped out of my throat as I proceeded to sort out the vegetables. Again.
***
Do you know why people like violence?
My body hit the ageing wood below the classroom floorboards with a loud thud, arousing dust particles around me. I tried to pull myself back up, but the firm hands of one of the boys pushed me back down with merciless force.
It's because it feels... good.
The laughter and taunting only increased, as another boy lifted the floorboards in his burly hands. He replaced the wood next to the other floorboards, enclosing me under the floor completely.
Humans find violence deeply satisfying.
The unmistakable sound of nails being hammered added to my strained ears, already burdened by the bullies' sneers and the sound of my piercing screams of protest. They were sealing me in, eliminating any chance my weak figure had of escaping from under the classroom floor.
But remove the satisfaction...
As the last nail was forced into the floorboards, my screams subsided into heavy breathing. I was disconnected from my body, too consumed by the ocean of panic I was drowning in.
...and the act becomes hollow.
"Ambrosius? Come on. Don't be such a kike about it." Valiant Mercia's gloating voice burrowed through the floorboards.
"Leave him to bloody rot." Another of Mercia's friends spat, and I could hear footsteps trailing away from where I was trapped. The sound of the classroom door closing followed shortly after. I was drained. I couldn't move. There was barely enough space to breathe, but not as nearly as enough strength in me as I needed to try and push the floorboards away.
I didn't learn this on my own, of course. I had help.
The creak of the classroom door as it reopened sliced through my train of panic-induced thoughts. Hurried footsteps raced over, stopping above where I was imprisoned under the floor.
Arthur helped.
"Merlin?" A crisp, but anxious voice travelled down to me. The floorboards prevented me from seeing who it was, but I could recognise that voice positively anywhere.
"A-arthur?" I rasped, engulfed in newfound relief.
Immediately, the floorboards above me began to loosen, and after a few tugs, they were pulled free. Arthur's sturdy hands wound around my waist and hoisted me up, and proceeded to wipe the dust off my clothes.
"Merlin, are you alright?" His vibrant blue gaze found mine, and my heart jolted when I saw genuine worry swimming in them. Aside my mother, no-one had ever looked at me in such a manner.
"I'm-I'm fine." I stammered shakily.
"They're getting worse, Merlin." He sighed, leading me out of the classroom.
"They only beat me up me because I'm smarter than they are." I grumbled.
"No, they beat you up because you're different."
"Mother said I'm just an odd duck."
"And she's right." Arthur gave out a small chuckle, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling back. "But, you know Merlin, sometimes it's the very people no-one imagines anything of, who do the things no-one can imagine"
A warm bubble settled into the pit of my stomach. It was a new feeling, having someone believe in me, having someone not see me as the scrawny know-it-all who existed to be bullied.
"Thank you for that." I said in a small voice. Arthur's face softened, clearly touched by my words.
"My pleasure." He replied.
Ever since last week, Arthur had helped me when I found myself in particularly tight spots with the bullies. Heaven knows why he bothered. Even before, he'd been the only student at school that hadn't laughed at my mishaps, but I could never have foreseen that he'd actually do something about it. But why he did it mattered only a little. I was simply grateful that he'd wanted to help, that he cared.
***
Arthur's POV
"What's that you're reading?"
I looked up from the book in my hand, and turned my head towards Merlin.
"It's about cryptography."
"Like secret messages?"
"Not secret. That's the brilliant part. Messages that anyone can see but no-one knows what they mean. Unless you have the key." I replied excitedly.
A soft breeze trailed over us and rustled the leaves of the tree we were sitting under. The sound of the other students running around were strangely secluded from us, as if we were in our own little world, disconnected from everything else that made life miserable.
"How's that different to talking?" Merlin suddenly enquired.
"Talking?" I was slightly taken aback by the strange question.
"When people talk to each other, they never say what they mean, they say something else, and you're expected to just know what they mean. Only I never do." He faltered, seemingly deep in thought. "So, how's that different?"
My eyes were locked onto the peculiar boy next to me. His eccrentic gaze bore into mine, seas of warm blue water that I could swim in forever, without drowning.
"Merlin, I have a funny feeling you're going to be very good at this." I placed the book in his hand with a smile. My gaze stayed on him as his slender fingers opened to the page I'd been on, his eyes immediately sparking with interest at the words on the page. He flashed me a thankful grin, and returned to the book.
***
Arthur's POV
"If we assume that the square root of two is a rational number," Mr Downing drawled on, prowling amongst the students' desks. The last period was always such a bore. Even more so, when it was the last period of the term, with everyone itching to go home. But, being the top students in the class, me and Merlin had always found maths class boring.
"-then we can say that the square root of two is A over B," the Professor continued, as I folded up a small slip of paper. I glanced at the next desk to my right, thinking of a way to attract Merlin's attention. But, I realised with a jolt, Merlin had already been staring at me. I slowly held out the folded paper, and he reached out and took it in his hands, neither of us noticing the approaching figure of our Professor.
"-where A and B are whole numbers, and B is not zero. Mr Ambrosius, passing notes, are we?"
"No sir." Merlin replied automatically. Nevertheless, Mr Downing extracted the paper from his desk, and unfolded it. After a moment's confusion, he looked back at the class, and held the note up for everyone to see.
"Only Ambrosius would pass notes written in gibberish." Mr Downing said above the laughter that had built up around the classroom, at a note bearing seemingly random letters. But Merlin and I exchanged knowing smiles. With a roll of his eyes, the Professor scrunched up the note, and tossed it into a waste-paper basket.
The sound of the ringing bell echoed through the school, and everyone immediately hustled to stuff their textbooks in their bags.
"Alright, gentlemen, do not forget your algebra over the break, Have a pleasant holiday, and we will resume your irrationals when we return." Mr Downing concluded, looking rather relieved himself. One by one, the students filed out of the classroom, eager to walk out the gates of Sherborne School, and into the arms of the holidays. Except Merlin, who'd be staying here throughout the two weeks. My feet dragged themselves towards the dormitories, so I could pick up my trunk and head out to the train which would take me home. Away from Merlin. It had been but a few minutes, but I'd already begun to miss him.
Merlin's POV
Once the maths classroom was empty, I slipped through the oak door and made my way quietly towards the waste-paper basket, which was empty aside from a few scrap pieces of paper. I extracted the notepaper that Mr Downing had thrown into it mere minutes ago, and tiptoed out of the classroom. Cryptography was a habit between us; we always used it to communicate in class. We'd been caught countless times, and the teachers had been fooled each time.
I sat down on a set of steps, and pulled out my pencil. Upon opening the scrunched up paper, I was greeted with Arthur's familiar, slightly untidy scrawl.
WII CSY MR XAS PSRK AIIOW HIEVIWX JVMIRH
Thanks to the many times I'd written and translated messages with the key Arthur and I had made, I was able to instantly recognise what each letter stood for. I instinctively translated each letter, writing them down at the bottom of the page.
SEE YOU IN TWO LONG WEEKS DEAREST FRIEND
Nothing could have even come close to erasing the grin that spread onto my face. Again, I felt the strange feeling returning to me. The strange feeling that had been burrowing into my mind whenever Arthur was near. I couldn't pinpoint when I'd first felt it, but I knew it was getting stronger. So I made myself a promise; a promise to act on those feelings once Arthur returns from the holidays.
***
Merlin's POV
My hands had never trembled as they did now. A kind of nervous energy was buzzing through my veins, as I wrote down the encrypted version of 'I LOVE YOU' onto a slip of paper.
P ZQAE TQR
I shakily folded the paper up and slipped it into an envelope. It had taken me the best part of two weeks' holiday to put a name to the unknown feeling I'd been harbouring towards Arthur. The chances of my feelings being returned was very slim, not to mention the fact that homosexuality was strictly forbidden. But I'd had enough of hiding from Arthur, and from myself. My life was full of lies, and Arthur was the only truth in it. He was my only true friend, the only person that truly cared for me.
(AN: what happens from now on is not what happens in the actual movie.)
I peered out the dormitory window and into the courtyard, where I spotted students bearing heavy trunks trudging towards the school building. My heart sped up as I leapt off my bed and dashed outside. By the time I was in the courtyard, my heart rate could give a bullet's speed a run for it's money. My eyes scanned the crowd of boys making their way inside, before I felt a hand tap on my shoulder.
"Arthur!" I whisked around, smiling brightly at the blonde boy next to me.
"Hullo, Merlin. Had a pleasant holiday?" He asked, as I helped carry his trunk inside.
"I doubt that's possible, considering how wretched this place is." I mused. If anyone ever wonders how a person can love learning but hate school, they needn't look further than me for an answer.
"Of course." Arthur laughed at my remark as we set his trunk down outside his dormitory. This was it. A part of me wanted to chicken out and forget I was ever planning to do this, but I pushed those thoughts aside (with great difficulty) and pulled out the envelope with quivering fingers.
"By the way, Arthur, I-uh- here you go." I fumbled, pushing the envelope into his hands. "See you in class to-class tomorrow." I turned round, willing my vibrant blush to go away, and for my heart to stop beating itself to death. Rounding a corner, I moused away towards my dormitory, while cascading my mind with phrases like 'Stupid Merlin' and 'Stupid stupid stupid Merlin' and 'Can't think of a more stupid way to lose your only friend'.
Arthur's POV
I stared in confusion as Merlin briskly walked away, and then stared with even more confusion at the envelope in my hands. I presumed it to be an encrypted message, but didn't see the need for an envelope. Opening the flap, I slid out a small piece of paper, which seemed to have been folded again and again until the edges lined up perfectly. Curiosity morphed into shock when I unfolded the paper and found three words: P ZQAE TQR
Having near-memorised the secret key we used in cryptography, I immediately recognised what the letters stood for. But even if I hadn't memorised it, there was only one thing the message could have stood for. Shocked into silence, I stared at the letters, my brain was temporarily frozen in time. The first coherent thought I had was 'He loves me back'.
Merlin loves me back. My feelings were not one-sided. A tidal wave of emotion engulfed me, my mind swimming in its warm waters. This was better than I'd ever dared to hope for. I'd always been anxious of what Merlin thought of me; he was the smarter one out of us, and was better than me in countless ways. I'd never allowed myself to think what it would be like if Merlin felt the same way about me as I did him. But now I had the opportunity, and I wasn't throwing it away.
Screw the Government's laws. Merlin and I could keep it a secret; we could be together. And at that moment, I made a promise to myself that we will be together, that things will be okay. Whatever it takes.
AN: okay I failed but TRUST ME PLZ CHECK OUT THE IMITATION GAME its on Netflix. Also thanks millions for sticking with my story, and HAPPY NEW YEAR. Cya