fic: The Sound of Merlin

[nyargles]

Title: The Sound of Merlin
Rating: PG
Pairings: Merlin/Arthur, a little TINY bit of Arthur/Morgana
Word Count: ~11,000
Warnings: Too much fluff may kill.
Disclaimer: Not mine. D: BBC and Shine's.
Summary/prompt: Featuring Maria!Merlin, Captain!Arthur and Children!Knights in The Sound of Music a la Merlin for reel_merlin. Merlin is sent by his temping agency to work for Captain Pendragon, and ends up far more involved than is professionally suitable.
A/N: This ended up a... er, tad longer than expected, but hey. And there will be accompanying side stories! *flails* They are planned!

"Merlin!" Once his name was called, Merlin jerked his head up in surprise, having been contemplating the musical cadence of the song that had been stuck in his head all morning again. He blushed slightly, having been caught once again not concentrating. "I swear your head is stuck permanently in the clouds," Gaius sighed, exasperated, from over the pile of folders he was carefully balancing. Merlin smiled, ruefully. It wasn't his fault that he often got bored with what he was doing and his mind started to wander even as his hands continued to work, absently. "Anyway, I think I've found somewhere that would suit you."

Merlin's ears perked up at that. Working in a temping agency was mostly monotonous office work, covering for women on maternity leave. He'd get a six month stint here, telemarketing, or a nine month stint there, photocopying. No one with an interesting job ever seemed to go on maternity leave, he mused, and it was probably because their job was interesting. "Suit me how? I'm fairly sure that even the dumbest person would suit more fetching and carrying." As it was, Merlin was actually not very suited to fetching and carrying, seeing as how he seemed to have fits of clumsiness every so often.

Gaius waved a folder at him. "Captain Pendragon needs a governess. Er. Governor. Someone to look after his children, anyway." Merlin just stared at him. "Er, I've been assured that the children are all very well mannered, very disciplined."

"I have," Merlin raised his hands to demonstrate his cluelessness, "no idea how to teach children. I don't even have any siblings!"

Gaius slid the folder over at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "No better time to try, eh? Besides, you don't have to teach them; they have personal tutors." Merlin contemplated muttering something about stuck up, rich kids who had personal tutors. "I already told him that you'd be starting tomorrow."

"Gaius!" Merlin flipped open the file, about to protest about his supervisor accepting a job on his behalf before even informing him of the opening, but was very quickly distracted by one other, important detail. "He has eight children?!"

-

Having packed a suitcase which contained most of his presentable clothing, Merlin looked at it, slightly melancholic. Although he was sure that the Captain, whom, he had learnt, was apparently highly ranked in the marines, had provided perfectly adequate quarters for him to stay in, he would miss his little flat, which was cosy and quirky and all his. Not least because the tenancy on it had another few months left and he'd be paying rent on it whilst living at the Pendragons'.

Merlin took the time on the long train journey up to compose himself, familiarising himself more on the family background and going over various greetings he had started making up in his head. It was best, he decided, to stay formal but friendly at first, and then ease into being more casual as the family started getting to know him. He also started becoming quite enthusiastic about this whole thing, composing a long list of games, ones from his own childhood and others he'd pilfered off Will when on the phone to him last night, because all children liked to play games, of course.

Unfortunately, all of Merlin's carefully laid out plans and enthusiasm just fizzled out a bit when he saw the sheer size of the Pendragon estate. He'd had to get the train up from near his, then switch to a smaller local train to a station that consisted of two platforms and a sleepy ticketmaster to a bus on a small muddy lane where he'd left his battered guitar and had to run after it to get it back, and... well, he had certainly not expected to find this at the end of the journey. The manor house, mansion, whatever it was, was massive. Merlin didn't know people still even actually lived in places this big. Simply walking up the driveway, which was almost the same length as his walk from his flat to work, intimidated him. Especially when he passed the solid marble fountain up the middle of it.

Finally arriving at the pristinely white door with an ornate dragon-headed knocker and a smaller, delicate bell, Merlin was at a loss as for what to do. Hyperventilating and having a mental collapse on the doorstep of his new workplace was probably not the best place to start though, so he exhaled shakily, and rung the bell once.

The door opened immediately to reveal a sedate gentleman, and Merlin smiled, his natural friendliness coming through despite his nervousness. "Captain Pendragon? I'm the new... er, governor, Merlin." He raised a hand, and the gentleman looked at him with a neutral expression.

"I'm the butler. Geoffrey."

Oh. Well. Oops. People still had butlers? "Geoffrey. Nice to meet you too!" Geoffrey looked at Merlin's hand as if it was some sort of foreign object, and he very quickly dropped it, picking up his suitcase and guitar case and shuffling in.

"Captain Pendragon will be with you shortly, please take a seat." Geoffrey might have looked like he was hiding a smile as he disappeared through one of the doors but frankly, Merlin missed it because he was gawking. This place looked even larger from the inside. His footsteps echoed as he stepped down a flight of short flight of stairs into the large entrance hall, which was the size of his parent's entire house, and that in itself was eerie. Who even had a flight of stairs to get to the entrance hall?! There were stairs branching upwards from the front door too, to a landing that ran around the whole of the hall: countless doors were sprinkled over this landing. How was he ever to find his way around this place?

Then there was the hall itself. It was, of course, grand; marble statuettes were scattered tastefully around the room, an exquisite vase harboured large, vibrant flowers that Merlin didn't know the name of, and Corinthian styled columns lined the room. However, it seemed so... empty. Merlin knew that was ridiculous, since he was the only person physically in the entrance hall, but the house was completely silent. Surely eight children would make quite a bit of noise.

This was, Merlin surmised, going to be an odd place to live in. Rich people seemed to exist in a little world of their own. He started to examine the statuette closest to him and found that he recognised it. It was a copy of that famous Venus statue, the one with no arms. As his eyes flickered from statuette to statuette, he realised that they were all such copies, made from beautiful white marble. Cupid and Psyche were tucked in a corner, whilst Aphrodite emerging from her sea shell was next to a column. "Governor Emrys," a cool voice rang across the hall, and Merlin nearly smashed his face into Aphrodite's smooth, marble bosom.

"Yes," he tottered skittishly back out into the open, finding a tall, blond man looking at him critically. That man's look wondered if Merlin was up to the job. Merlin wondered that very same thing. "Captain Pendragon, nice to meet you." Once again, his hand was looked at as if a handshake was an unheard of thing. Merlin pulled his hand back again, smile quavering slightly. He tried to surreptitiously wipe his hands on his trousers - maybe it was dirty and he hadn't noticed?

The man cleared his throat. "Well, I'll have one of the maids take your belongings up-" Merlin opened his mouth as if to protest, since he really could take his own things up, and it would just bother a maid, but the significant look in the Captain's eye informed him that he had better not interrupt. There seemed to be a whole myriad of social norms here that Merlin hadn't had a clue about beforehand. "-and I suppose you'll be wanting to meet the children." The Captain handed something to him, and Merlin looked in confusion. A dog whistle? A shrill pattern of sounds blasted into his ear and he yelped, the sound ringing around the hall.

The house, if one could even call it that seemingly sprang to life. Thundering sounded from upstairs, and Merlin stared as all the doors he could see on one side of the house burst open with much banging, shuffling and giggling. All eight children descended down upon them, skidding to a halt in a wonky line in front of their father, taking a moment to straighten themselves up. Merlin gaped. "I run my house the same way I run my ship," Captain Pendragon said dryly, stepping forward to tug one boy's collar into place. "Efficiently."

Merlin gaped some more.

The man carried on explaining, evidently very used to being listened to. "There will none of that yelling in here; the house is huge and you'll never find anyone that way. Each of the children have a signal and if you require them, you would do well to learn them quickly. And I will call you the same way." The way the man carried on, Merlin eyed him nervously, one would think that the children didn't have names.

Fumbling as one of those darn whistles was tossed at him, Merlin turned it in his hands. "I couldn't possibly use this," he said slowly, cutting the captain off mid-speech as he talked about their daily regime. Children shouldn't even have something called a 'daily regime'! "They have names -" He hoped that they had names, at least, " - and I'm going to use them." He looked the Captain squarely in the eye, "And I won't be called around like a dog, either."

Merlin could see something twitch in the older man's jaw. "You did hear me say that the house is too big for that to work, did you not?" Not to mention that he looked like he was about to have a fit at the idea of people, heavens forbid, raising their voice in his house.

With a light shrug, Merlin smiled. "I'm sure I'll manage."

Narrowing his eyes, Captain Pendragon stalked off. "Use the whistle."

Cheekily, Merlin quickly blew a sharp blast on it. Goodness, one could go deaf from using these things. Pendragon stopped to stare at him. "And what, sir, is your signal for when I want to call you?" He could hear a light spatter of tittering from the children behind him. That little muscle in the Captain's jaw twitched again, and he stalked off without deigning to reply. He should get that facial tic sorted.

At least the man was gone though. Merlin thought that he was terrifying, and he had been scared at the prospect of working with the children. Wiping his clammy hands on the sides of his trousers, he turned to look over the children. Eight pairs of eyes surreptitiously judged him even as they appeared to look straight ahead. "Erm..." he had expected them to relax once their father was gone, but were evidently used to acting as if they were marines themselves. What was it that one said to make sailors relax? "Ah, at ease?" he tried. They relaxed their posture a bit. Well, it was a start.

-

In his rooms, which were about the size of his entire previous flat, Merlin slumped onto the bed, whimpering slightly. He had been wrong again. The Captain and his children were going to be difficult to get along with. He'd found out from the housekeeper, Freya, a lovely woman who clearly didn't expect him to stick around for very long, that he was the latest in a long string of governors and governesses they had tried. None of them had lasted more than three months. Merlin had been wide-eyed with fear until he realised that they hadn't died, just that all of them resigned sooner or later.

He realised why when he reached for a handkerchief and found a frog in his pocket. Yelping as his hand made contact, he had thrown the poor creature halfway down the stairs and then nearly fell all the way down them himself. At least it hadn't been a snake, he had told himself at the same time Freya told him that the last governess' first trick had been a snake. He might have squeaked slightly.

The children had been shepherded along, apparently requiring a brisk walk every day at four and Merlin was thankfully given some time to gather himself and reflect upon first impressions. It was going to be hard enough to remember all of their names, for one thing. In order from the oldest to the youngest, there was Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, Gareth, Pelinore, William, Owain, and the little chubby Leon, who was five and still clutched at Owain when their father wasn't looking.

Curling up on his ridiculously large bed as his new surroundings overwhelmed him, Merlin just about managed to set an alarm for half an hour before dinner before succumbing to a heavy sleep.

He was still late to dinner, mind. Winding through the corridors desperately as he tried to navigate his way through the house, Merlin despaired of finding anything he recognised. He was just going to be stuck meandering around for days until someone perchance stumbled across his starved, decaying corpse in two months' time.

Having found four empty bedrooms, a music study room with the first grand piano he had actually ever seen in his life, three bathrooms and an airing cupboard bigger than he even knew existed, Merlin finally stumbled into the dining room, a modest sized room smaller than he would have expected for ten people. Then again, he supposed that ten people counted as a modest size for this family.

"Finally join us?" Captain Pendragon did not seem impressed; everyone was waiting on him. Merlin was huffing a bit too much to really care. It wasn't his fault that no one seemed to have the sense to tell him where anything was.

Collapsing into the only empty chair, Merlin yowled and sprang straight back up. Dazedly staring down at the chair as everyone sniggered, he saw a pine cone beautifully plonked right in the middle of his seat. He stared at it for just a moment, mind going blank. "Any more hysterics, or can we get on and eat dinner?" Pendragon's voice cut through to him, and he tucked the pine cone into his pocket as he sat down, not saying a word. He did, however, scan the room, meeting eight individual pairs of eyes that mischievously pronounced themselves guilty.

As they started to tuck in to their food, which was absolutely delicious, Merlin watched from his seat. This table was unnaturally quiet, with no idle chit chat happening at all apart from the occasional overly polite request for the salt or pepper. Leon struggled to use his knife and fork properly at the table, which was a bit too high for him, and Owain silently swapped his cut pieces of roast over to Leon's plate. Merlin radiated disapproval.

Clearing his throat, he took the plunge. "Well, I must say thank you for having me," he beamed. Everyone stared at him. "Your home is really so very beautiful," He carried on blathering, "and the children were just so lovely. They gave me a really warm welcome, you know." Captain Pendragon looked like he didn't quite know what to do with that piece of information.

On Merlin's right, Leon struggled to keep his face straight as guilt washed over him. Not only had Merlin not told on them to Father, he had complimented them instead! That had never happened. The people who came to look after them were always horrible; that was why they were horrible back to them... wasn't it? His face was going a bit blotchy and red, and his lower lip was wobbling. Owain and William, only seven themselves, were starting to shuffle and squirm in their seats as Merlin smiled, so warm and caring and genuine, at them.

The older boys might have had a bit of a set pout on their faces, but were much better at hiding their unease. They settled for nudging and kicking the younger ones to watch themselves. "I'm sure we'll be great friends," Merlin said, spearing a potato and stuffing the whole thing into his mouth at once. That was the final straw: Leon burst into tears, and Owain looked close.

Lancelot hurriedly bundled an entire stack of napkins at Leon. The Captain set down his cutlery, a frown set firmly across his face. "Are these..." he gestured, not quite sure what to make of it all, "hysterics to be a common occurrence, Merlin?" He looked very disgruntled that his silent dinner had been disrupted.

Merlin looked over, finishing his potato. "They're just happy, Captain," he smiled beatifically once more, and stuffed another potato into his mouth.

Silence slowly filled the room once more, even though each of the children kept sneaking little, weighing looks at Merlin, but Merlin felt that his work had been done. He had been ingenious, even if he did say so. The Captain received a special delivery parcel that seemed to be of some import and Lancelot excused himself early, but other than that, the dinner ended as it had begun. Merlin frowned into the leftovers of his cabbage; he was going to have to find some way of breaking into the icy atmosphere of this entire house.

-

The storm broke later that night. To Merlin, it was a relief, as the stuffiness of the day was whisked away in an influx of fresh air. It seemed to suit his mood, too. Taking a shower that was much needed, Merlin rubbed himself down with the fluffy towels he had been provided with, and exhaled. He had survived the first day, at least. Although the day had started out falteringly, the children hadn't been able to resist Merlin's natural charm for too long.

After dinner, he had sat with the children as they did various productive activities; apparently even when not in lessons, the children weren't allowed to just do anything. Gawain had been serenading everyone in the drawing room on the piano as several of the others drew; Gareth was playing William at chess and trying not to win so very obviously against his younger sibling. Merlin brought in a large book, and started reading aloud.

It was a work of fiction, but he had deliberately chosen something esteemed enough that the Captain wouldn't mind: Moby Dick for now. He was good at reading aloud, and narrated all the voices with character, bringing the story alive. At some point, Leon had shuffled over on his bum to lean over Merlin's arm and watch as he read. The evening had ended peacefully, and although not said aloud, apologies had been offered and, in turn, forgiveness given out.

Merlin was knackered though. Trying to juggle the many personalities of all the children had been difficult, especially when not a single one of them was willing to verbalise any of their thoughts. Stepping out into his room and still admiring that his room had an en-suite of all things, Merlin had just changed into his worn flannel pyjamas and was about to shut the window and crawl into bed when... Lancelot climbed in the window.

With a wild shriek, Merlin stumbled backwards, nearly knocking himself out on a small vanity set of drawers. Clutching his heart as he tried to convince his body that there was no threat, Merlin took in Lancelot's dripping clothes and soaked hair. "You're going to freeze!" he stepped forward, placing a hand on the boy as if he needed some confirmation that he was really real.

Looking out the window, Merlin's eyes widened as he stared down. "You climbed up to the third storey?" he gaped.

Lancelot shivered wildly, and gave him a wane grin. "I used to do it all the time. The ivy makes it dead easy. I'm sorry, I just saw your window open, and the door was locked, and-" he broke off to shiver violently again, and Merlin flapped his hands as if the explanation was unimportant.

"Come along. Why don't you take a shower and warm yourself up? You can borrow some of my clothes; I'm sure you'll fit, and then we can have a chat." He smiled encouragingly to let Lancelot know that he wasn't angry or anything before bundling him practically right into the shower. He abstractly noted that this was one more thing on his list of Why The Pendragon Family Was Bloody Weird.

Thunder rumbled through the room, and Merlin smiled slightly. The gusts of cool wind through his room were just what he had needed. He didn't really need all the rain pelting through his windows to go with it though, so he trundled around to close all the windows, shivering slightly in his thin flannel shirt. He took a moment to lean over the windowsill again, and shake his head in mild disbelief at how far up Lancelot had climbed.

Another rumble of thunder sounded, and Merlin's door banged open with it, causing him to yelp and almost fall over for the second time in five minutes. These children really needed to come with a warning: 'Prone to volatile explosions' or some such thing. "Leon? What is it?" The baby of the house stood in Merlin's doorway, wide-eyed and clutching a teddy-bear almost as big as he was.

Crossing the room, Merlin knelt in front of Leon, who looked far too embarrassed to say what was actually wrong. "Is it the storm?" He asked, knowingly. A little tip of the head probably meant 'yes', and Merlin smiled comfortingly, bringing Leon into the room and plopping him on the bed, shutting the door in the process. "It's quite all right, he said soothingly, tucking the little man into the bed, which quite threatened to swallow him, and climbing in next to him.

"M'scared," murmured Leon into the side of Merlin's ribcage, which was as high as he reached. Giving him lots of cuddles, Merlin's heart started to warm towards him; he might follow his brothers' leads in the pranks they played, but Merlin had to remember that he was still very young; he'd only escaped the clutches of a proper nanny a few months ago.

On the next rumbles of thunder, which had Leon burrowing his head under the duvet, the twins had appeared, although with no teddy bears. Merlin smiled. "Come on in, William, Owain. Plenty of room on the bed. Remember to close the door, please." As they all squished onto the bed, Merlin racked his brain for ideas as to how to distract children from scary things. He didn't quite think that getting his torch out and pretending they were around a campfire and telling scary stories was quite appropriate for this one.

It took barely five minutes for the rest of the boys to turn up, in various shades of embarrassment. Merlin hid his smile, although somewhere beneath his smile and welcomes, there was a bit of concern. It wasn't normal for an entire family of eight to share the same fear, was it? He hugged each of the boys as they all crawled onto the bed, even though Gareth and Gawain had insisted that they were only there to make sure Merlin wasn't scared. He had done his best not to pull his 'riiiiight...' face and had told them how thoughtful they were instead.

With Leon still cuddled up next to him, Merlin realised that all of them were relying on him to distract them from the horrible ole thunderstorm. "When there are things I'm scared of, I just think of things that make me happy," he started, somewhat lamely. Of course, thinking of holidays in the Mediterranean and sexy naked men hadn't helped at all through his first meeting with the Captain.

"Like... ice-cream, and cakes and scones with cream and butter...." He was just making himself hungry now, and no one looked in the least bit less scared, apart from William who was probably thinking about ice-cream. "Or, or...." he clutched desperately at straws, "PILLOW FIGHTS!" He pulled out the two he was leaning on and launched them both across the bed.

That had definitely been the right move. Suddenly they were screaming and yelling like normal children and teenagers, a most fierce pillow fight suddenly broke out, the boys substituting cushions in when there weren't enough pillows. Leon used his teddy bear to a most vicious effect.

At some point, Lancelot had slunk out of the shower and was somewhat surprised to find everyone else there too, but had joined in as if he'd been there all along. He shot Merlin a rueful grin, and Merlin gave him a look that he tried to convey 'We will have a talk later, young man' with and probably only managed to look like he was squinting a bit.

The pillow fight was in full swing, the younger ones banding together to take on their older siblings, when Lancelot choked, "Father!" Pillows flumped immediately to the bed and floor as all the boys scrambled to line up in front of Captain Pendragon.

"What," the man's face was twitching again, "is the meaning of this?" His voice was icy, and the boys squirmed under his gaze.

Merlin stepped up helpfully, "The boys and I were just having some bonding time to help distract them from the storm, you know." Pendragon's look said that he clearly regretted hiring Merlin, and that he wanted to send him back to the pits of insanity from whence he had come but couldn't, because his children had sent every single person he had hired so far packing and he couldn't really afford to be picky about anyone who was actually willing to stay. Merlin wondered how he managed to say all that with a single look when Merlin usually just looked a bit constipated.

"Boys, back to bed," ordered Captain Pendragon. They all tumbled out at once, and Merlin winced. That probably meant that whatever the Captain was going to say to him, it was not fit for the boys' ears. "You. You..." He didn't seem to really know the words. "You will not make bedlam of my house," he finally barked. "The children will not be allowed such raucous and disgraceful behaviour, do you understand?"

Merlin mentally pulled a childish face at him, but nodded nevertheless. If he thought this was raucous and disgraceful, he really ought to have seen the nursery that Merlin had worked at for three months. Thank goodness the man was leaving for New York on business tomorrow morning. Merlin tried not to slam the door on the Captain's back.

-

As Merlin completely disrupted the children's normal plans and dragged them out for a picnic in the park after their lessons, he smiled into the bright sunshine. He could do this. He was bad at dealing with a lot of small children at once, but he had Lancelot's help. Lancelot was still grateful that he hadn't been ratted out by Merlin, and Merlin hadn't had the heart to tell him that he'd actually been a bit too terrified of Captain Pendragon to even consider bringing it up.

He stretched out in the grass, probably getting stains all over his clothes, and kept half an eye on the youngest ones as they romped around the grass with a Frisbee screaming and yelling. "So I take it you don't do this a lot?" He asked Lancelot, who was sprawled next to him methodically ploughing a dent into the strawberries.

Lancelot took a moment to pat his lips dry courteously before shrugging one shoulder. "Before mother died, we did, a lot. But Pel, the twins and Leon won't remember."

Frowning, Merlin sat up. He'd read the file, of course. The long string of governors and governesses had started five years ago, when Mrs Pendragon had passed away following the difficult birth of Leon. Since then, the Captain had never remarried and had been left to raise the children himself. "So... he wasn't always like this?" It was clear that Merlin was referring to the Captain.

Shaking his head, Lancelot looked thoughtful. "No. I think mum was his world. He's been on business a lot since then. He just doesn't know how to deal with kids really." He smiled at the memory of a life long gone, eyes nevertheless bright and hopeful where they would have been jaded in anyone else. Merlin liked that about him.

As the young ones finally flopped over on the grass, exhausted and glowing, Merlin grinned at them. Pulling reams of handkerchiefs out, which were apparently things that posh children owned, Merlin started to dab them dry. "Why don't we do some singing?" He suggested. He'd been itching to play his guitar, but had been a bit too intimidated to do it in the house, where everything echoed. He pulled the battered thing out of its case, strumming lightly on it.

"Just a jam session, yeah?" He grinned, fingers flitting familiarly over the strings. "What do you guys know?" He generally played by ear - in fact, he was useless at playing with sheet music - and made chords up to songs if he could remember them. It made trying to play with other people quite difficult, but was perfect for just jamming.

The boys all looked at him, slightly askance. "What's a jam session?" Gareth blinked.

Merlin's mouth dropped open into a startled little 'o'. "Er, that's just where we just sing whatever songs you want to. Pop, or rock, or... you know, whatever," he trailed off, searching their faces for any sign that anyone knew what was going on. Even Lancelot looked clueless.

"I don't know any songs," piped up Leon. Merlin just stared at him. "I don't know how to sing."

There were no words to express Merlin's difficult in understanding this. The process of singing just wasn't something he'd ever had to explain. Surely one just opened their mouths and made the right note come out? "No nursery rhymes? Nothing?" He asked incredulously. Leon's lower lip wobbled a little bit as he thought Merlin was cross with him. "I mean, that's okay!" Merlin tried hastily, "We can just learn something new today! Everyone likes singing!"

The look that Lancelot sent him said clearly that maybe, perhaps Captain Pendragon disapproved of singing.

Merlin did not care.

The singing practices went slowly. Over the days, Merlin found himself being demanded to get the guitar out more and more often. He went into the nearest town and burrowed out some CDs on for them to listen to too, folk tunes and traditional things like Greensleeves and Auld Lang Syne and, and... Robbie Williams. Everyone needed to have heard Robbie Williams. Galahad had developed a mysteriously strong liking for 'Angels'.

The more time that Merlin spent with the kids, the more his heart reached out to them. They'd never been able to do normal things like kick a football around or romp in the snow or listen to bedtime stories. For the older three, whilst they remembered times with their mother, the loss was more prominent as they could recall the hard times when their father had been bleak and struggling with his loss and didn't know how to help his children deal with the same loss. Merlin hadn't even had the heart to scold them when they tried to skip lessons in favour of seeking out Merlin.

It couldn't last, of course. The Captain was due back from his business trip soon, and then surely he'd clamp down on what they usually spent the afternoons doing. Merlin was determined to make the most of it while he could. Even in the last three weeks, which he thought had been extraordinarily long for a business trip, the children had started flourishing. They actually smiled these days, and didn't look was if they were about to be reprimanded for everything. They looked like normal, happy children.

They were all out one afternoon when Captain Pendragon finally returned home. Gawain first spotted the family saloon on the drive and gasped. "Father's home!" They went from their leisurely roam up the driveway and to pelting up the stairs to the front doors, banging through to flood through to the Captain's study. Merlin followed somewhat more slowly, his guitar bouncing on his back.

"Father!" squealed Leon, wrapping his arms around the Captain's legs. Captain Pendragon looked thrown off for a moment, before gingerly patting his son on the back. "Father, did you bring presents?!" The Captain was momentarily speechless, before clearing his throat and gesturing. Everyone's attention finally snapped off him and onto the gracious woman next to him. Oh. He had company.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce the lovely Lady Morgana. Our parents were friends, and she welcomes me to her home every time I'm in New York and so this time I invited her back to see our home instead." He swung his arms back and forwards awkwardly as if he didn't quite know what to say. A shy, suddenly subdued chorus of 'Hello, ma'am' slowly tricked from the boys.

Merlin smiled awkwardly, "Well, I think you all need to go in and freshen up, so! Er, we'll see you at dinner then, Captain Pendragon, M-Morgana." He had to choke to make sure that he hadn't said 'ma'am' as if he was a child himself, and shepherded them all out as quickly as he could.

"Merlin," Captain Pendragon suddenly said, latching onto his wrist. Merlin paused, looking back in surprise. The man's eyes had narrowed. "Why are my children's clothes ruined?" he asked in a low voice. Merlin flinched, and glanced back at the retreating children. They hadn't even owned any casual clothes, and their most casual shirts and trousers had been ruined with grass stains, rips, and dirt by now.

The Captain made a 'follow me' gesture and they stepped outside. Morgana gave him a small smile over the Captain's shoulder. They stepped into another room aside, and Arthur Pendragon looked down at him. "What have my children been doing?" He asked in an icy tone. "They look like they've been tearing through forests in their state. Ruining good clothes, scuffed shoes, twigs in their hair." Oh, so maybe they'd been climbing trees, but the homemade kites had got caught!

Merlin swallowed. He'd tried to imagine having this conversation with the Captain, but somehow facing the man was much more intimidating. "Well, in the afternoons, after they've done their lessons, of course, we tend to go out into the sun." He started to wither under Arthur's stare. "The sun is healthy for children, you know," he said weakly.

That facial twitch had returned. "You mean to tell me that my children have been spending half of their days running around being utterly unproductive?" The voice was still calm, but it was that kind of forced calm where Merlin could foresee his head being ripped off.

"It's not unproductive!" Merlin protested, "Children need time to be kids!"

"Children need to learn discipline and responsibility!" barked the Captain, eyes flashing dangerously. "You do not get to tell me how to raise my children."

Merlin stepped back, just in case, and then frowned. No, he couldn't back down on this! "Yes," he spat, "I do. It's what you hired me for because you couldn't do it yourself." He gasped at his own audacity. "And they don't need to be responsible yet, that's what being an adult is for!" He could feel his head starting to ache. He hadn't even known he was this emotionally invested in these children.

"They need to be responsible so that they are ready to deal with life when life comes crashing down around their ears!" roared Arthur, colour starting to rise in his cheeks.

"You mean like YOU COULDN'T!" screamed Merlin, hands fisted. Both of them stared across the space at each other, choking on emotion. They were barely acquaintances. This was the longest conversation they'd ever even had, if it could even be counted as a conversation. These were things that should never have needed to have been said between them as employer and employee. And yet, Merlin knew that no one else would ever dare to.

Merlin took the chance while he could. "All they need," he started pleadingly, "is a normal life to grow up as normal kids. They can do that and still live up to your expectations. Don't even get me started on your expectations. They love you. All they need to know sometimes is that you love them back." He could see the Captain trying to form words to interrupt him, and ploughed on. "They're your children, you can't run them the same way you run a ship. Lancelot is practically a man, and yet he knows nothing about the real world apart from what's written on a page because you won't let him experience it. You couldn't even hug Leon in your own home. Look at your children, Captain! Look at them!" His chest heaved, "Are you really trying to tell me that you know so much better when it comes to raising your children? You don't even know them anymore."

He could only hope that his words found their way through to Captain Pendragon. Merlin didn't expect his next words though.

"You're just like... her." The Captain turned, picking up the small photo on his desk. It was the first, and only, picture of the Captain's former wife he had ever seen around the house. "So passionate about everything." He passed a hand over his face wearily, and finally sank into a chair. "Please... go get cleaned up." He waved a hand at Merlin. It was a dismissal, but not the angry, permanent one Merlin had expected at least.

When Merlin had showered and changed, he came back down, not sure what the atmosphere would be like. Nearly tripping over his guitar case, Merlin looked at it with a frown. Empty? Then, soft chords rippled through the house, and he turned the corner, sidling into the front parlour. The sight made him smile, as all eight of the boys sang Greensleeves to their audience of the Lady Morgana, who was dressed in a beautiful green dress. Soft high voices mingled with the lower ones of the older ones as Lancelot clumsily worked his way around the guitar, and Gareth's voice floated uncertainly somewhere in between as he struggled not to have it crack.

They finished, and Morgana beamed, a smile lighting up her entire face as she applauded. A softer, tentative applause sounded from behind him, and Merlin nearly had an aneurysm as the Captain somehow just emerged from behind him. He hadn't noticed the other man arriving at all. The boys, who had been smiling shyly at Morgana's reception, started, their smiles fading. They even started shuffling into a straighter line.

"No, no, carry on," Captain Pendragon said, looking strangely torn. He turned to Merlin. "You taught my boys how to sing." It was a statement, just a statement. There wasn't any accusation behind it.

Merlin bit his lip. "Er, yeah."

Even though Merlin did not know Arthur Pendragon very well, he felt as if he did. He knew how the man operated, with love for his family not no idea how to express it. He knew that he still sorely mourned his wife. However, even he could see the slow changes. When he had arrived at this house, it had been empty, the atmosphere as cold as the statues in the hall. Now, even if he walked through the empty corridors, there was somehow a more homely feel to the very air. He even saw Arthur smile sometimes.

-

"A party!" beamed Leon, bouncing on his chair. "But father never has parties!" Merlin shushed him half-heartedly.

"Ah, but I throw excellent parties," Morgana told him, swishing about elegantly. "Everyone who is anyone will be there. There will be music and dancing and champagne. Not that you'll be drinking any of that, of course," she smiled at him. She was, of course, a socialite and had somehow convinced Arthur Pendragon to throw his first party in five years. Lancelot had told Merlin that his mother had thrown lots of parties, but it wasn't something his father had wanted to do after her death. Merlin chose to view this as another sign of progress for the Captain.

The boys were naturally excited for the party, even though all the guests would be adults. That there would be delicious food and real women seemed to be the main highlights. Merlin had chuckled.

The evening of the party arrived with much fanfare and pomp. None of them were allowed into the large halls to watch decorations being put up. The musicians arrived in the late afternoon and soon they heard the sounds of instruments being tuned from where they hung over the banister, eager to see any progress at all. By the time the first guests had arrived, Merlin had forced them all into very spiffy clothes, and discovered that all of them to the man could tie a bow tie better than he could.

As they descended downstairs so that people could tell them how much they'd grown, and how handsome they were, Merlin smiled fondly. He hadn't even been with the family for that long, and yet he was already so very attached to them. True to their promise, they were all being very dignified and gentlemanly. He started down the stairs after them, feeling slightly out of place in his normal shirt and trousers. He spotted the Captain at the bottom. The Captain seemed like the sort of man who didn't like to dress and parade around, but his tailored suit fit perfectly, his hair gleamed in the light reflected off the crystal chandeliers, and he looked magnificent. Merlin reached the bottom and Arthur turned to look at him, and gave him a warm smile. It seemed as though he was trying to say something, but couldn't... quite manage to.

Merlin kept track of the children for the evening. It was like he had eight invisible strings that let him just keep a tab on where they all were at any given time. He wasn't quite sure how he had developed such a heightened awareness of them, but he was grateful for it now. He mostly tried to dodge the company, all of whom were dressed up to the nines and talked about things he didn't know or care about, like Ascot or the House of Lords. He heard titbits of people talking as he wound around the room. People were enjoying themselves, commenting on how lovely it was that Captain Pendragon was finally opening up his house again, and how he seemed to have become more social recently. Merlin reckoned that Morgana was doing him a world of good.

As the children finally made their rounds greeting everyone they needed to, they started to gather together on the patio outside, where the fresh air cooled them down after the heat of the hall. It had been turned into a ballroom for the night, and couples were dancing up and down doing gavottes and things that Merlin didn't have the faintest idea about. It looked beautiful though, so elegant with everyone in time.

"We're going to have dancing lessons soon," chirped William as they gazed through the window, admiring the women's frocks and the men's ties. "Me an' 'Wain." Merlin shook his head in exasperation. Of course they all learned to dance. Of course. It was just such an aristocratic thing to consider making one's children learn. Merlin's usual form of dance involved flailing his limbs and trying not to hit anyone.

Owain was looking wistfully through the windows. "Wish we could dance now." He was watching Lancelot who had, in a fit of being almost a man, asked a pretty young lady to dance. He had quickly garbled something about 'seeing her in the rain' that had somewhat concerned Merlin; he was going to have to ask about that later. They looked cute, dancing clumsily down the hall. Merlin grinned for Lancelot, and hoped that the girl was as nice as she looked. "Do you know how to dance, Merlin?" Owain pouted at him.

"Er," laughed Merlin, "I guess I know how to waltz? It's not hard, that one."

Owain's eyes shone. "Teach me?" He pleaded, shuffling towards Merlin. Galahad, Gareth and Gawain wickedly started to push the rest of the boys into a circle to watch.

"Well, I suppose," laughed Merlin, very much amused. "If you're the gentleman and I'm pretending to be the lady, you've got to lead." He gestured, "You should put your hands here, and then it's just three steps. One big one, two small ones. Like this. One two three, one two three." He could hear the rest of the boys sniggering as they watched, and he was grinning too. "And twirl," he awkwardly ducked under their arms to compensate for the fact that he was about two foot taller than Owain.

Merlin was just starting to get into it, stepping awkwardly with the steps of one who's never had dancing lessons before, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He straightened with a flush, to find himself staring straight into the eyes of Arthur Pendragon. "Why don't I show you how it's done, Owain," he said crisply before holding a hand out in invitation to Merlin.

Gaping for just a moment, Merlin ducked his head. "Why not?" He slipped his hand into Arthur's much broader hand and felt its pair settle comfortably around his waist. Doing the simple waltz started to come back to Merlin as he warmed to the steps, matching his strides to Arthur's. He felt a bit ridiculous twirling at first, but it seemed to feel right, and fit into the dance. After one twirl, Merlin himself much closer to Arthur than he had been before. The tips of their noses almost brushed, and he could see the startling blue of the other man's eyes even in the dimming light.

"Are you all right?" the Captain asked pleasantly, putting his hand back on Merlin's hip. "You look a bit flushed."

Merlin blinked, startled. "Oh, do I?" He bit his lip, stepping back with a sort of bob of his head to signal that the demonstration was over. "I think- I'll just go check," he stammered before making his way in. He hurried straight back towards his rooms. He wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with him. Maybe he was coming down with something; he hoped that he hadn't infected the boys.

Plopping down to sit on his bed, Merlin plucked at the duvet cover as he thought over things. True, he had been a bit pink when he looked into the mirror, but it might have been the heat, or the concentration of trying to dance well or any number of things. He was flattered that the Captain had asked him to dance, actually, when there had been a whole ballroom of people who were surely dying to talk to him.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he had sat there with a half-soppy smile on his face when someone knocked on his door. "Oh," he stood up, flustered, "come in!"

It wasn't anyone he'd expected at all, but rather the Lady Morgana. "Are you all right?" She asked, peering around the door, "Arthur tells me that you've disappeared for a while now. You're not coming down with something, are you?"

"Oh, no, no, nothing like that," Merlin blushed. To think that she had bothered to think of him, who was just a temping governor. "Just my first time seeing something of, of this scale, you know?" He gestured towards the sound of the party downstairs.

Morgana smiled at him. "It's pretty intimidating, but you get used to it. Why don't you properly join us? Put on something smart and I'll introduce you to some people." She started walking over to his wardrobe and flicking through it as if she owned it.

Joining her, Merlin said apologetically, "I don't really own anything so smart. I mean, I have a jacket and a tie, but it's not a suit or anything."

With a tut, Morgana pulled out his blazer which was wrinkled and jammed in right at the back. "Arthur really ought to ensure that you have this sort of thing seeing how fond of you he is," Her tone was disapproving as if he deserved better, and Merlin hurried to defend his boss even as his head whirled.

"Oh, no! It's not his fault at all, I just didn't really know what to expect when I packed, and Captain Pendragon has done so much for me already..." As Merlin talked about him out loud, he started to realise a few things about Arthur Pendragon. "I'll just get changed and meet you downstairs," he gabbled, forcing a smile onto his face.

With a nod, Morgana whisked out of the room in a flurry of silk. As soon as she was gone, Merlin sank onto the bed again. He closed his eyes, and imagined the Captain right in front of him when they'd been dancing. How his eyes had sparkled, and a smile had graced his lips. Oh, no. With a groan, Merlin grabbed the blazer and, instead of putting it on, stuffed it into his suitcase instead.

-

"What do you mean, 'He's gone'?" Lancelot frowned as they all stared at their father.

Arthur showed him the letter. "That's all. Merlin says that he found a long-term position more suited to him and had to leave our employ immediately. He gives us his best, and apologises that he didn't have time to say goodbye."

Lancelot frowned some more. Merlin would never just up and leave for another job without saying goodbye. He'd talked with him just two days ago, and Merlin was telling him how much he was enjoying it here against his initial thoughts. "So, that's it?"

His father looked surprised. "What do you mean? We certainly can't force him to stay, and it was only a temporary position anyway." Arthur turned to attend to other matters. Lancelot was sure that this was not It though, no matter how well his father could disguise it. He was going to have to rally the siblings later and see if anyone had any ideas as to what had really happened.

"So, when are you getting a new babysitter then?" Galahad asked, somewhat put out. He'd really liked Merlin, and that made the first babysitter out of about fifty!

"Well," Arthur put down his pen and looked at them. "I've been thinking about this." He got up, and led them all to the garden where Morgana was reading a book in the shade. She smiled at them all. "We've got something we'd like to tell you. You won't be getting a new governor. You'll be getting a new mother instead."

A moment of shocked silence took place as everyone tried to digest what that meant, before the word 'mother!' rippled around. It looked as though the word was quite hard to roll off the tongue for a couple of them. Swallowing, Lancelot stammered. "Hello, m-mother."

As soon as they had time to hold a pow wow without Arthur listening in, Lancelot hosted a quick meeting. It seemed as though no one knew why Merlin had left. Leon looked distraught at the idea of not seeing Merlin again. "Can't we go and get him back?" Leon asked, little face crumpling. It wasn't a bad idea, actually. They could easily find out which company Merlin worked for and go from there.

"Well, I have flute practice now, but the next time we have a full day off, we'll go," decided Lancelot.

That was how the eight of them ended up on a train at 8am, headed straight towards Merlin. Merlin was naturally unaware of this, of course, and was getting ready for a day full of office work and typing. He hadn't told anyone of the reason he'd left Pendragon estates, and had just said that he wasn't needed anymore. Gaius had asked with concern if the Pendragons had not treated him well; Merlin had hastened to say that it was nothing of the sort at all.

Merlin still hated office work just as much, but he didn't complain about it now. It kept him busy, paid and was peaceful. He was tucked away in the storage room of the tempting company when the boys arrived, confused and desperate. He didn't hear or see Gaius intercept them as they came through the door, ushering them into a separate office and asking if he could help them.

When Lancelot had explained the situation, Gaius pursed his lips. "I think that it might be most important for you to return home at the moment," he said firmly, "if you don't go soon, you won't end up getting home until very late, and your father will be worried. Merlin is quite all right, but he is working. I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you."

Four of them opened their mouths at once to protest, but Gaius held up a hand. "I am sorry. I really can't help you." He crossed over to the small safe in the corner of the office and opened it. "All I can do is apologise, and pay for your fare home."

The moment they had disappeared, Gaius rooted Merlin out. "Merlin, tell me what happened right now. The Pendragon children were just here, trying to get you back!"

Merlin paled. "I can't see them!" He panicked.

"Don't be ridiculous, as if I let them stay. What a mess, Merlin. Now, what in Heaven's sake is going on?!" Gaius managed to both comfortingly and threateningly shove him into a chair.

Burying his head in his hands, Merlin shook his head and murmured, "I'm so stupid. I work for Captain Pendragon and then I disobey my orders and then I argue with him but still he was so nice to me, didn't even fire me, and then we danced together and it was just wrong!" The words came spilling out all at once.

"Pardon, Merlin?" Gaius raised one eyebrow. "Was that supposed to actually make sense?"

"I just... I felt like I was becoming part of the family, Gaius," Merlin tried to explain.

It didn't seem to be working very well. "Isn't that a good thing?" Gaius asked.

Merlin sighed. "No, not when it means you forget that you're an employee and he's your boss. I think I fancy him, Gaius, quite a lot, and I want to be part of those kids' lives, and I'm the governor! It's not allowed!"

With a sigh, Gaius leaned over to ruffle his head. "My boy, did you forget something? You can both adults. You can actually talk to him about this sort of thing instead of ditching your job and running off in the middle of the night. Perhaps even see if he feels the same way."

With a blink, Merlin realised sheepishly that it never even occurred to him to actually try and talk to Captain Pendragon. "I... well."

"Besides, you can't just disappear from a job every time you feel like it," Gaius continued firmly, "it's bad for the company. You're going to have to go back and explain."

Gaius nearly wrestled Merlin onto a train himself, but finally he found himself headed right back towards the Pendragon estate, not entirely sure how everything was going to pan out. He arrived at the extensive gates once again, and huffed on his way up. He'd almost forgotten how ridiculously long this driveway was. He'd almost arrived when a small figure shrieked, "Merlin's BACK!" and suddenly he was being stampeded towards by seven eager boys and one young man.

Laughing and dropping his things in the drive as they swarmed him, Merlin decided to screw professional etiquette, and gave them all a large hug. "How are you all? I'm sorry for just disappearing like that; I promise there was a good reason." A chorus of voices answered him; he was quite good at separating them all out now though. "How did you break your flute? Congratulations on the running! A mouse, really?!" He found himself caught up in the kids' enthusiasm as they made their way into the house. "Boys, boys," Merlin extricated himself from them eventually, still grinning, "I need to talk to your father, where is he?"

The hushed whisper ran through them. "He's with the lady Morgana," Gareth pointed his finger towards the garden, "she's going to be our new mother."

"They're getting married," chipped in William, who didn't look happy at the prospect at all.

"Married?!" echoed Merlin, heart sinking even though he had tried not to hope that the Captain would return his feelings. It made no sense that Arthur Pendragon would like him back at all, and yet he had hoped. "Well, I suppose I still need to see him." They ushered him into the garden with a clamour, and both Arthur and Morgana's heads snapped up from where they had been bent together. A grin spread startlingly across Arthur's face as he got up. "Captain," Merlin started, "I'm so sorry I rushed off like that, I really hope I didn't inconvenience you very much."

"Nonsense, Merlin," the Captain patted him on the shoulder, "it's quite all right." Merlin heard himself mumbling an assent, as well as exchanging a few more inanities before retreating.

Merlin had come back with the intention of explaining everything to the Captain, but his engagement had seemed to change those plans. Merlin wasn't entirely sure why it should have changed those plans, seeing as he had known how unlikely it was that the Captain would return his feelings anyway. And Morgana... she was lovely. He couldn't begrudge her this engagement at all; he found her charming and witty and she had never treated him less for being the hired help.

Finding himself out in the gardens, Merlin breathed in the fresh air as the breeze blew away the emerging tears. Perhaps this assignment had been too much after all. He'd become too emotionally invested in this family, in a family he couldn't really be a part of.

Merlin never realised that he was being watched. From the patio, a stiff, insecure blond man with a heart that had been broken for five years watched him silently.

"You are brooding, my dear," Morgana sidled up, as she was want to do, with barely a sound but a rustle of cloth. Arthur started, but recovered and smiled at her, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. "What are you watching so intently?" She moved out to stand next to Arthur and looked out. She wasn't dumb; she quickly spotted the silhouette of Merlin fidgeting near the lake.

"He's adorable, isn't he?" Morgana quirked a smile. Arthur looked like 'adorable' would not have been his choice of word. They stood there for a moment or two, just watching side by side, Morgana contemplating the situation and Arthur not sure what to say. "I'm going back to New York, dear."

Arthur frowned, and straightened. "I thought you were having your things delivered over?"

Settling her skirts, Morgana looked him in the eye. "I'm going back for good. I adore you, Arthur, but you have eight children and I don't know how to deal with children. You live in the countryside and prefer your peace and I love being in the city and being a socialite." She paused, licking her lips. "And you are in love with someone else, and I don't love you as much as he does."

Even in the dusk, she could see spots of colour rise in Arthur's cheeks. "Morgana, I'm engaged to you," he insisted. She knew that. But men were so silly, weren't they?

"And I'm releasing you of that promise," Morgana said gently. It would have been ungentlemanly of Arthur to ask to un-propose to her, but it would be acceptable if she released him from it. He looked lost and confused. "Arthur, I do adore you, so very much. But maybe it should stay that way. You have your own fortune, and I want a man who desires me for my vast amounts of money." She tipped her head at Merlin, and gave him a little shove. "Go on," she insisted, making flapping motions for him to go over there.

"How did you know?" Arthur looked at her, still trying to think about she could be managing to do this with so much dignity when she was essentially telling him that she knew he had dumped her in his heart.

"Women know these things, Arthur," Morgana laughed. She turned to leave, but paused once again. Pressing a kiss to Arthur's cheek, she smiled. "We had a great time together, and you will always be welcome at mine in New York. You and your adorable governor."

Arthur couldn't help but admire her. Even after all this, Morgana left with grace, and with her blessing. "Thank you," he could only tell her with a choked softness in his voice he hadn't heard for a long while.

After she left the balcony, Arthur took some time to collect his thoughts. He started down the garden, trying not to walk too fast or too slow. The distance between him and Merlin seemed to stretch as he started down there, and his heart started beating a little faster. He felt... alive again. Catching Merlin by surprise as he sneaked up behind him, Arthur tapped him on the shoulder and watched, as Merlin spun around in surprise and squeaked. Morgana was right. He was adorable.

"Merlin, good evening," Arthur started, clearing his throat. He wasn't entirely sure how to approach this.

Merlin blushed at having been caught in his melancholic mood. "I'm sorry, sir, can I help you?" The children were all safely tucked in their rooms, reading or playing chess or doing other quiet activities.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk with you," Arthur fell in step with Merlin as they aimlessly wandered over the grass. "Will you be staying permanently?"

Shaking his head, Merlin suppressed the quaver in his voice. "No, the children told me that you didn't need a governor any more. I just came back to explain, I suppose. Oh, and congratulations on your engagement." He genuinely sounded as if he meant it, too. "Morgana will be so good for the children, having a mother figure back."

Arthur replayed the moment when Morgana had told him that she was useless with children, and chuckled mentally. "Morgana's leaving. We're not getting married."

Merlin gazed at him, wide-eyed. "I - oh. I'm sorry. The children will be so disappointed."

"They won't be disappointed," Arthur said dryly with a chuckle. "They much prefer you." Merlin blushed again, and looked down, hands fiddling nervously with his shirt hem. Arthur cleared his throat. "As do I," he added quietly.

It took a few seconds for the statement to sink in, and Merlin looked up at him uncertainly as if he had heard wrong. "You... do?" He frowned. "Why?!" He blurted out, before clapping a hand over his mouth. He meant it though. Morgana was beautiful and rich, she was lively and funny, and Merlin was... none of those things.

Arthur laughed. It was the first time Merlin had heard him laugh, and it was deep and loud. He liked it. "Morgana... Morgana reminds me of me," Arthur said, fiddling with a cuff-link. "She's very practical, very business-minded, very efficient at everything." Merlin narrowed his eyes - was that a insulting comparison at how useless he was? The Captain didn't seem to be doing a very good job of letting Merlin know that he preferred him over Morgana.

It looked as though Arthur was struggling with the words, but Merlin gave him the time to get his head around it. "Morgana could as well be my sister." That... sounded vaguely incestuous. "You," Arthur turned and looked at him with a frown. "There's something about you; I can't quite put my finger on it."

Merlin squirmed a bit under the scrutiny, but let Arthur carry on. "You are messy and disorganised and stupidly happy-go-lucky... You are just like her," Arthur finished both sadly and fondly, and Merlin remembered the laughing, happy picture of the woman on Arthur's desk. "You brought life back into this house."

"But..." Merlin's heart fluttered. "Morgana did that."

"No. Morgana helped me move on a bit, but you helped us all move on." Arthur laughed a slightly broken laugh. "You taught my boys how to sing. She would have done that." He exhaled shakily. "You are everything I could have hoped for in a second chance. If you'll give it to me." Arthur gave it just a few more seconds before taking just one step closer to Merlin and cupping his chin with one hand. "May I?" He whispered.

"Yes," Merlin whispered back just as softly, and Arthur finally leaned forward to press a kiss to the young man's lips.