The Body Swap

[Arthur Pendragon]

What the hell was Merlin doing?! While Arthur had asked this question many times before, he never meant it more so than now. Merlin may have said to follow his lead, but he sure as hell was NOT going to follow that kind of lead! He was not going to approach the man . . . touch him . . . tempt him. It was incredibly, disturbing for Merlin to have done such a thing. Arthur would have planned to torment him to no end over what he was doing . . . had Arthur not been in a dress -- showing that he was not one to talk -- and had Merlin not been providing them with a distraction to get out of this place! Still, when the man began to lean down, clearly showing what intimate action he was about to partake in, Arthur began to actually be scared for Merlin!

Look at this was strange. It was a horrifying scene, and yet Arthur could not look away, because it was just so revolting. It was not until Merlin grabbed for the candle stick, hitting the man hard, and urging Arthur -- or 'Arwen' rather -- to kill it, that the Prince actually snapped out of shock and disgust. Though there would always be a bit of disgust in him, over how they were dressed, and how they were forced to act. Arthur raced over to grab their bag -- their VERY important bag which would give them their masculine clothing back before entering the kingdom. Arthur moved towards the door, hearing Merlin tell him to kill the man. Arthur was not going to do that. As revolting as the man was, they were after all in a brothel. And he was just drunk. Instead, Arthur pulled open the door, and began to push Merlin out of the room.

When the man began to groan though, Arthur knew that they would not get very far, since this drunkard seemed rather persistent when it came to them. Who knows why! Still, it was not a risk he was willing to take. Arthur moved the bag back, and with all his strength, swung it at the man's head, sending him back to the ground. This action, combined with the hard hit of the candle stick, was finally enough to render him unconscious. Arthur doubted he would have been far from unconsciousness anyway, seeing how much alcohol was in his system! "Go!" Arthur exclaimed to Merlin, going back to pushing him out of the room so that they could get out of this ridiculous place that yes . . . he had brought them to in the first place. Unknowingly of course. Yes. Unknowingly!

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[pie]

Merlin didn't protest when Arthur began to push him out of the door. He had no problems with leaving that very instant! This whole thing was just getting creepy, and there was now a chance to escape from the man -- who at the moment seemed a more pressing problem than Cenred's men! Their current roadblock was a drunk man with bad intentions! As long as they weren't recognized by anyone, then they should be good. But if they ran through the Brothel with a persistent drunk man coming after them, than that would certainly draw their attention to them. Which was not something they wanted surely.

So when the man groaned, though, Merlin casted a wide-eyed worried expression backwards. Of course a hit with a candle stick wouldn't knock him out, though he had hoped. Arthur's solution to the problem, however, gave Merlin an amused smirk. "Aha! So there is a plus to carrying these things around!" he exclaimed, obviously delighted as the man fell unconscious. This was a good thing, the hit had finally been enough to knock him out, perhaps when he woke up he would be sober, and hopefully they would be a long ways away! A long ways away and a safe ways away!

Still wearing a grin, Merlin didn't argue when Arthur exclaimed "Go!" and pushed him out. Glancing both ways down the hall of this section of the Brothel, Merlin headed towards the direction that he believed that they had come from to begin with. He stopped a short ways away, though, and look at Arthur, his grin fading to be replaced with a slightly curious one. "So, what now? Do you think they're still down there?" he asked, glancing down the hall. He referred to, obviously, Cenred's men. They had entered the Brothel, if they suspected that they were still in here, than they were likely still looking around, or waiting for them. Dangerous indeed, particularly with their luck as of late.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Once they were out, Arthur closed the door behind them. Hopefully he would stay in there long enough for Arthur and Merlin to get out of this dreadful place! "Besides the fact that it contains our clothes, yes!" Arthur said a bit sarcastically though Merlin was right . . . the bag did make a rather good weapon. Then again, a feather would make a good weapon if they were trying to knock out an already drunk and disoriented man. He needed a sword! SO desperately! Yet right now, that seemed to be an impossibility so they would have to wait until finding a sword wasn't so difficult and . . . awkward to carry. A woman running through the brothel with a sword in her hand, wouldn't look suspicious at all.

Merlin's next question certainly was an important one. And Arthur only wished he knew the answer to it. "I don't know," Arthur said in a very low voice, not wanting to be overhead. Besides, his octave wasn't quite that of a woman and he -- unlike Merlin -- could not fake a female's voice. Thank god for that. "Why don't you find out," Arthur stated giving Merlin a bit of a shove to move in front of him. Before he went too far ahead though, Arthur spoke again. "Keep your head down. Do not make eye contact with anyone." Arthur knew he had used these words when first entering, but right now, they were more important than ever. A single glance from anyone; a single lock of gazes . . . could only attract very unwanted attention to them.

One could not trust drunkards to be rational. Plus, if Cenred's men were in here, they would hopefully stick out a bit. As it would probably look obvious that they were looking for someone . . . that they were looking for them. "Go on now," Arthur repeated, once again pushing Merlin forward. Since he was such an expert at this, he could go first! In the meantime, Arthur looked to their sides and behind them to make sure no one was watching. Good. This seemed to be their only chance to get away and they had to take it . . . now!

[pie]

"Oh, well... there's that too." he spoke sheepishly, glancing at the bag once more. Of course it was a good thing that it held their clothes, they would need them once they got out of this place! Which, hopefully, would be quite soon! Even Merlin was starting to get annoyed by this... They hadn't even left the room when they'd encountered their first barrier!

"Go ahead"?! Merlin cast him a doubting look, even as the Prince pushed him ahead. What if he were caught? What if Cenred's men were still here in the brothel, waiting, and recognized him? Merlin didn't want to think about that possibility and yet it kept creeping up into his mind anyway. Suddenly he was doubting the logic of this plan. He didn't want to die dressed as a woman! He was positive that this doubt showed on his face somehow, probably from his furrowed brow as he bit his lower lip nervously. When Arthur stopped and spoke again, Merlin paused before nodding slowly. Yes, he couldn't make eye contact with anyone, it would draw attention. Yet at the same time, he couldn't purposely "ignore" everyone either, it might look suspicious as well.

He took a deep breath and nodded again, looking at Arthur with a serious expression. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be back in a few minutes." With another deep breath, Merlin walked away from Arthur, heading back down the stairs they had ran up earlier as an escape route. Each step he took was measured and careful, as if he was sneaking around. If someone saw him now, they would probably give him strange looks... Calm, Merlin, he told himself. Unsuspicious. Don't look anyone directly in the eyes, don't draw attention. Look quickly and go back to Arthur immediately. This was your plan, be confident in it. The little pep talk failed to make him feel better, but he did pull himself together, looking a little less suspicious as he walked down the stairs the remainder of the way and into the main room.

To his relief, no one paid him any attention as he moved through the throng of people, of drunks and women, taking a wide route to circle around back to the stairs. At first he didn't see anyone, but than he noticed a man at the door, as if standing as a sentry. He glanced around, spotting no one else that looked similar or suspicious. They guard's gaze lingered on him as he passed, and he kept his eyes low. He didn't think the man recognized him, though. Good, he decided.

Where, though, were the other men? he wondered. Glancing at the door out of the corner of his eyes he got a good idea as of where. Either that, or they were off somewhere else in the brothel. With this "knowledge", he began to circle back towards the stairs, hoping that nothing went wrong once more.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Don't go anywhere. Arthur did not have to vocally agree to this. He was not planning on moving an inch from his currently, somewhat hidden position. Ok, so not really hidden at all, but still. He watched Merlin extremely carefully, making sure that the man . . . the woman . . . the female man . . . was able to assess the area without any problems. Arthur too was analyzing everything from a slightly higher location than where Merlin was. He was making sure that he did not arouse any sort of suspicion, and thankfully so far so good. He watched everyone. All gazes . . . even that man at the door. Good. Merlin was being subtle, for once. He did not seem to be cautious of Merlin, and that was definitely a good sign. While Arthur knew that the large crowd would help camouflage them upon first entering, it was even better right now.

Uh oh. Arthur spoke too soon. He recognized one of the men. He just looked too oddly familiar to ignore and the way his eyes was darting through the crowd made it evident that he was looking for someone Of course, he would have just blended in with the crowd had Arthur not been looking for someone who was looking at them! These thoughts complicated even him, but Merlin needed to be warned. Damn it. Was that man at the door part of this too? If so then they would need another diversion for he was blocking their only exit. His question was confirmed when he saw the one familiar looking man, make eye contact to the one standing at the door, seeming to motion to him about something or the other. This was getting far too risky. Arthur emerged from his hidden position, and began to slowly descend on the stairs, trying to mentally formulate a plan . . . and quickly! What was the best distraction to create right now.

Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, Merlin only a small distance away and keeping his gaze on his surroundings, had not yet noticed Arthur's changed location. So much for the Prince listening to Merlin's one command: do not move. Well, he had moved and it was too late to go back now. Arthur needed to think of something and fast. Those two men did not look like they were going anywhere, and they needed them gone. So Arthur's plan was probably not the best, or the most thought out but such situations called for rash, impulsive, quick decisions. He tapped some random man on the shoulder as his back was faced to him. When the man turned around -- clearly drunk and delirious -- Arthur raised his hand and punched him clear across the face, pushing him forward so that he stumbled over, collapsing onto another man. Of course, the fact that he was already tipsy to begin with helped as it made him less balanced and thus, less stable.

The man who was toppled over was not too pleased with this. Arthur knew the snowballed effect of his small attack: a fight. It was what he was anticipating anyway. This way, if everyone could get involved, it would be the ultimate distraction and they could escape this place. It did not take long for chaos to ensue . . . well, more chaos than what was there before. Arthur turned to find Merlin, but he had not been where he last saw him. That shouldn't have surprised Arthur as much as it did. Everyone now shoving other people out of the way, and random punches getting thrown about -- no one quite sure who they were hitting anymore, as half the crowd was yelling and fighting while the other half continued their . . . scandalous and promiscuous activities. Arthur needed to find Merlin in this messy sea of people!

"MER -- " Arthur paused, abruptly stopping mid sentence. He rolled his eyes as his mind struggled to recall what the hell he had called them when offering their names to that horribly perverted man upstairs. They were the most obscure names! What was his?! He was Arwen and Merlin was . . . he was . . . uh . . . "MORGLIN?!" Ah! That was what it was! -- What a stupid name. But none the less, it was unique and bizarre enough for no one else to respond to it. Hopefully Merlin would, as Arthur continued to push through everyone in attempts to find him. He glanced at the door way, the man who was stood there now gone. He probably got lost in the crowd as well. Great. Just great. Arthur knew he had started this, but he had not expected every single person to get shifted about this quickly! Just the man at the door!