What's Next?

[pie]

What was he doing? Well, he was polishing the Prince's armor! Again! Really, you think that it would be permanently clean by now! Sighing, he continued to keep his gaze downward, rubbing the armor with his polishing cloth in small circles, making sure to get every spot. Heaven only knew how much Arthur would get angry at the slightest little mistake and make him do it all over again so he could watch and laugh! Well, at least it wasn't too bad. To others it would seem that they hated each other, but they had grown closer over time, and now they could even be considered friends.

He sat in the outer courtyard of the castle, a rather differing place from his usual ones. Usually, one would find Merlin -- if at all -- polishing it in his room at Gaius' place. But he felt like a change of scenery was in order, and so here he sat, wishing he hadn't, as everyone who passed had their eyes on him. He ignored them, keeping his gaze lowered as he embarrassedly polished Arthur's helm. He kept polishing it, even though by now it was so shiny you could see your face in it from across the courtyard almost! The more he thought of them watching him, though, the harder and faster he would polish the helmet.

Oh how he wished someone would show up for some reason, giving him an excuse, at least temporarily, to ignore his chores! Bah! Chores! Even making sure the Prince was dressed in the morning was a chore! Oh, then there was the laundry, cleaning up the impossibly impossible mess Arthur managed to make overnight without even being in his chambers, oh, and the Prince's favorite to make him do: Muck out the stables. He pushed that unpleasant thought away and finally set the helmet aside before he managed to create a hole in the top. With his luck it would happen.

Instead, he now picked up the voiders, or the protective armor that went over Arthur's shoulders, and began to polish those. He should have stayed at home and just used magic to clean them. But, well... He had also wanted to get away from Gaius. The old man always made him do chores too! Even when he was already hard-pressed on time with a thousand others -- and he couldn't even use magic for those!

Place: Camelot Castle Courtyard. Perhaps eventually elsewhere
Time: Around Noon
Timeline: Just for a general time-knowledge -- within the first season
Tagged: Amerante Patrizo

[amerante]

Amarante wasn't all that busy that morning. She had been doing a round of the castle. Unlike merlin, the prince Arthur hadn't given her all that many chores at all. Maybe it was the whole gender basis that separated the two from their work. Amarante, had already cleaned up the boy's room. Though Merlin did the laundry, which seemed to never be folded just the right way for the girls tastes, she did the rest. How do you think the boy's room stayed all nice and shiny whenever anyone important came within it. Though, normally she never cleaned it when either of the boy's where within the place. Probably because of the whole gender issue yet again.

The girl had finished that rather swiftly. It hadn't been long since she had been at the castle under the prince's orders, but then again, it hadn't been that long ago when she had first met them either. Amarante strolled out of the castle walls carrying a small bucket. She walked briskly to the water fountain and filled the bucket up as quickly as possible. As she was walking back however, she heard a few people talking among themselves. The conversation must of been rather hilarious because they were quite loud. Walking on the other side of the street she could still hear them.

"Some people simply don't have manners anymore, i presume." her voice said without her own consent. Well, it wasn't a lie at least. Sh just hadn't meant for it to come out of her mind. Horrible how those things tended to happen now and again. Amarante noticed that she had taken a different route while she was thinking. She actually felt quite foolish at the moment. Thankfully there was another way back inside with the route she had taken. It would lead past Gaius' chambers as well.

The thought brightened up the girl a bit. Maybe merlin was there. The girl stopped halfway in her train of thought. Why was she getting so excited about seeing merlin? Amerante couldn't possibly like him or anything. There was no way. Just no way. They were friends nothing more, he was close to the Gwen girl anyway. Amerante quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She honestly didn't want to think of such things. The girl hadn't gotten entirely back to the castle before she heard giggling once again.

The sound made the girl look up. She saw another group of people walk by closer this time. As they passed she caught a few words. One that stood out, Merlin. The simple word made her mind whirl . What could he of possibly gotten himself into this time. It made her pace speed up. She raced forward until she saw him. He was polishing Arthur's armor no doubt. No wonder people were laughing at him. She smiled and shook her head. She walked up to him though she doubted he would notice.

His head was down anyway. "Looks like you don't even need Arthur to make yourself look like a fool. Why in the world would you polish Arthur's armor out here?" she asked calmly. She looked at him and noticed he seemed irritated at something. The girl was a little confused. Then she thought of something quick. "Besides Merlin, why would you be doing your chores when you need to go clean yourself up?" she said. She waited a few seconds for him to protest against him needing to clean up or whatever he was going to say.

She waited till he finished before she took the bucket filled with water and dumped it on him. She made sure not to get Arthur's armor though, not wanting merlin to have to redo his chore whenever he got back to doing them. Cause, whatever god was up there, knew he was going to be busy for a while, according to Amarante's plans. "GEEZ MERLIN! You are soaking wet! Why in god's name are you doing your chores when you are wet? Guess you will just have to do them later." she said smiling

Amerante was definitely in a good mood right now. She was already having so much fun and the real fun hadn't even started yet.




Place: Camelot Castle Courtyard
Tagged: Merlin Caradoc
Notes: LOL!~~ This was so much fun when I wrote it
Words: 720

[pie]

The longer he polished the armor, the more and more frequent he heard whispering directed at him, or more so, about him. Yes, he looked ridiculous. The armor glared brightly in the sunlight, shined as if brand new, and could literally make a squeaking noise if you drew your finger across it gently. And he had a whole pile that was yet to be done, sitting beside him, ranging from the helmet, the voiders, the bracers, the hauberk, the chainmail, Arthur's sword... Yes, he looked ridiculous, but at least he was showing he was loyal to Arthur, right? Right?

No, not really.

He was about ready to give up this ridiculousness, just go home and face Gaius' chores-of-doom (as he labeled them right now), but, through the laughter that he could hear, finally heard someone's voice. He hadn't noticed her come up to him, but gladly took the distraction that she provided and looked up at her, beaming widely, innocently, his typical grin for when he was happy. But as the words sank in, he frowned a little, and stood up defensively, pointing at the armor, then out around them in the general direction of Gaius' chambers.

"Why would I polish Arthur's armor out here? Because one, it's easier to see the armor in the sun. Two, who knows when the Prince might have need of me and call me, not for the first time, to come be his practice dummy or something else. And three, even more so then the others, Gaius wants me to do chores too. Do you know how many times I've cleaned out that leech tank? More than I can count!" The ran was quick, fast, and all said with a manner of moments, though they came out quite clear.

He blinked then, his flustered attitude disappearing instantly. Was she insulting the way he looked?! He wasn't sure, but he did know that he had enough insults about his clothing from the "noble" Prince Arthur than he liked! "Clean up? What's wrong with me? Heavens know I haven't had the time to get in any mess, I was woken up too early for my tastes! I haven't even mucked out the stables yet, nor completed even half of the many chores that I am going to have to do, let alone any random ones he happens to come up with throughout the day!"

Merlin could only spare her a confused glance as she reached for the bucket of water. His mind didn't process her intentions fast enough, and only realized what she intended to do with it when all of a sudden the cold was was dumped all over him. He was used to cold water being poured on him now from when he fell asleep on the job, but never was it pleasant, and never did he like it. He just blinked, staring ahead, water dripping into his eyes as he was soaked completely.

To her words -- an excuse for him to get out of his chores, he knew -- all he offered was a blinking stare as he attempted to keep the water from getting in his eyes. "Well... I'm not tired any more," he whispered out in an exasperated, slightly irritated tone, a taut, thin-lipped smile being forced onto his face as he struggled not to shiver. "What did you do that for?"