Not Another Cinderella - Chapter Four
Merlin had offered to carry their belongings to their room; they declined respectfully. Merlin offered to design an itinerary for the couple (yes Merlin called Morgana and Percy a couple, though only in his head because both parties had made it very clear, and loudly so, that they weren’t together. Merlin was tempted to call bull, but though he was not the most mannered person in the world and it was a known fact that if the Inn had been owned by any other than Gaius, he would be out of the job for the frankness which with he spoke, Merlin was not stupid enough to purposely irritate a guest), they accepted that with smiles and smirks, and Merlin was sure that if they weren’t so decided on not being a couple, they would spend most of their time locked away in their room.
That had led Merlin to think about his sex life, or the lack thereof, and the non-date he had set with Gilli. Merlin liked Gilli, or at least he liked him as well as anyone. He was tall and pleasant and had an off humor that Merlin had at first mistaken for crudeness but now thought to be almost endearing. Though he wasn’t sure he could have sex with Gilli, because Gilli is what he imagined a brother might be like, and the thought of having sex with him was a little nauseating. He’d almost prefer a shag with Will, only that was nearly just as disgusting. Gwaine, of course, would be willing to accommodate Merlin and see to his needs, but Gwaine was far too charming for Merlin too risk that; he had never been very good at separating lust from love, and sex tended to make things blurry for him. Gwaine came with the real possibility of heartbreak, something Merlin tried his damnedest to avoid after watching his mother wallow through life in mild to severe depression for five years after his father decided he liked his teaching assistant more than he liked his family. The subject of Balinor was another thing he liked to avoid if possible.
He took a list of meal preferences to Freya, who, when the inn allowed, enjoyed preparing meals to order instead of a large batch of whatever. The list also included a nut allergy Morgana had and the fact that Percy was a vegan, which had been a surprise to Merlin because if asked, he would have said the man was a meat and potatoes man. Food allergies was something Merlin never forgot to ask for, he could be forgetful in some areas but that was not one of them. Watching a fifteen year old girl struggle to breath because he had forgotten to learn about her allergy to shellfish had been far more than enough for him to learn its importance.
He was thinking about going out to the garden and picking new flowers for the rooms when the bell over the door chimed.
"Being summoned?" Freya questioned, coming from the pantry with a box of noodles in one hand and a can of beans in the other. She sat them both on the counter and set out retrieving the pots needed, turned on the burner with a click, and measured out water and oil as he stood with one hand on the door, watching.
"Seems so."
"Then best be getting to it like a good little boy." Her coral pink lips parted in a smile and she swatted at him with a dish rag.
"I could probably marry you if it weren’t for the fact that I’m, you know, gay."
"Something that I cry about nightly, I assure you." Someone was tapping the bell at an annoying rate. "Now please go, before I have to shove whoever it is in my oven. It never works quite right after."
Merlin exited the kitchen and nearly jogged to the front, which might have been why he didn’t see the damned cat until it was too late. Dragoon screeched as Merlin’s feet caught his tail and hind legs, sending the cat scurrying across the room. Merlin tripped in his failed attempt to keep from trampling over the feline (it may be annoying, but neither Gwen or Will would forgive him if he killed the thing, even on accident.) and fell forward, all flailing arms and a shout that was aborted suddenly when he ran into something warm and solid and so not the hard floor he was expecting.
"Oof." His cushion exhaled with a loud grunt as they both left their feet.
"Ugh. Get off me."
Merlin drew himself up to his arms and looked down at his cushion….who turned out to be a man with the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Deep pools of crystal clear water look back ar him in anger. And, yeah, Merlin could understand that. Having a stranger cause you bodily harm probably wouldn’t endear warm fuzzy feelings.
"Ah, sorry." Merlin went to his knees over the man, paused to take in how handsome his cushion was, then figured it was more than likely an improper position to be in and hurriedly got to his feet. Nearly tripping and falling once again the process, only to be held up by the hand of his cushion.
He should probably stop referring to the man as such, even if it was only in his head.
"God you’re clumsy," the man said; wiping his hand against his trouser leg as though he had been disgusted at having to touch Merlin again. If that wasn’t enough to make Merlin instantly dislike the man his next comment certainly did the trick; "And an idiot apparently. A clumsy idiot with big ears."
"Arthur," Someone said somewhere behind the man who was steadily becoming less attractive.
"You’re a right prat…you…you. Prat!" Okay, so it wasn’t his best work. Sue him. "And we don’t have any available rooms so get out." It was a lie, a dirty, dirty lie, and Gwen would kill him but only after Gaius was through with him, if there was anything left that was. The inn did a good business in the winter, but not good enough for him to be turning away guests.
"I….what did you call me?"
"A prat. Do you not know what a prat is? Are you daft as well?" Surely it wasn’t the first time that someone had spoken to him as such.
The man blinked long, dust colored lashes that threw shadows over the curves of his cheeks, and it angered Merlin that he noticed. He didn’t want to be attracted to this man, he was in the firm belief that what was on the inside was just as, or in some cases more, important that what was on the outside. The prattishness of this man colored his pretty shell dark, and blue eyes and long lashes could not make up for that.
"You can’t speak to me like that!" The prat exclaimed.
"Why? Who are you, the bloody Prince of Wales? I can talk to you however I like, seeing as how you acted like a giant arse. It was a bloody accident and if you had waited a moment I would have apologized. But no, you acted like a self entitled prat." Merlin could feel blood rushing to his face and he was close to yelling. "And why the hell is he holding a turtle?’
Merlin had finally caught sight of the two men behind the giant arse. One tan and dark and handsome enough that if Merlin had been in the mood, he would have given him a second look. Though he did notice that the man had lush hair that curled around his neck and was sure to make Gwaine jealous if they were to meet. The other was ginger and fair but taller than dark hair and the giant arse. He wore a red jumper that was splattered with something Merlin hoped was mud and had not come from the turtle he held in his hands.
They both stared at Merlin with slack jaws and half in awe.
Maybe he had been out of line? Or at least he should have made sure no other guest, nearby.
He blamed the giant arse. He blamed him a lot.
"Hi, I’m Leon," Turtle holder greeted Merlin, coming forward to shake hands and allow Merlin to pet the turtle.
"Are you with him?" He cut his eyes toward the blond arse that was looking at Merlin as though he were torn between yelling at him or…..something Merlin was unable to decipher.
"Ah, kind of."
"Are you an arse too?"
"I try not to be."
"How about you?" Merlin directed the question to dark haired man.
"How about me what? Am I with him or am I an arse? The answer is yes."
"To which question?"
Dark haired shrug. "You pick."
Merlin studied him for a moment before deciding that he liked him, and not just because he was really hot. He told him as much.
"I’m Lance by the way."
"Lance?"
"It’s short for Lancelot."
"With a name like Merlin I have no room to say anything so….nice to meet you Lancelot. Leon." He turned to round the desk. "Would you like to check in? A room or a suite?"
"I thought you said there were no available rooms," said the giant arse, okay that might be getting old but Merlin was still kind of angry and the arse hadn’t provided a name.
"There are none. For you." He flipped through the ledger, not that he needed to see which rooms were available of course. It just gave him something to do.
"Well then it’s a good thing then that I’ll only be working here and not staying as a guest."
"A very good-" The whole sentence ran through Merlin’s brain and he paused, looking at the man with wide eyes. "What did you say?"
The man leaned against the desk with a charming smile that was false and full of bravado. "Which part?"
"We’re not hiring."
"Hm. Then I guess it’s also a good thing that I’ve already been hired."
"What?"
"You know you’re not doing anything to prove my idiot accusation wrong."
The man glared at him and Arthur’s cock twitched with interest. Though to be fair, it had been fairly consistently showing its approval of the buffoon ever since the idiot had knocked him over and landed on him. His cock had wanted to rise up and make use of the position while his brain had commanded that he yell. Arthur had thought it a better idea to follow his bigger brain.
Big ears had beautiful sea blue eyes and a mop of dark hair as black as Morgana’s. The ears were larger than Arthur was sure was normal and stood on the side of his head as though preparing for flight. He was skinny, far too skin, though Arthur supposed a nicer term like lanky could also apply. His dark dress trousers hung off the width of his hips in a way that suggested it wasn’t from design but that the man had no hips to hold them up properly. The blue jumper he wore looked to be made of cheap material but made his eyes even brighter beneath the curl of his dark lashes. But it was his cheekbones that struck Arthur. They were sharp and elegant and made Arthur’s tongue tingle with the want to lick them.
But now, he watched the man gape at him like a fish as he grabbed at a phone with clumsy fingers and felt the lust again and was almost tempted to give into his cock’s desire until he remembered that the man was an idiot who made Arthur worry about the world.
"Gaius!" The man with his weird name, Martin? Marwick? Something with an ‘M’ of that he was sure. "Gaius, there’s an idiot here who….yes…well I guess that could be his…..What? Gaius we don’t need another clerk, we’re fine."
Arthur was tempted to smirk, and so he did, showing teeth and playing with the pencils in a painted cup on the desk. Arthur glanced around as Merlin (yes, he finally remember the pretty boy’s name. He wasn’t an arse no matter what awesome cheek bones said.)
The anger in Merlin’s voice, was barely contained as he tried his damndest to make this Gaius too see his side. It soon turned to pleading and, really, a pout should not look so bloody attractive on a grown man.
"Fine." And yes that was a huff the skinny, big eared, admittedly (reluctantly) handsome man let out as though he was some teen poof who’s parents wouldn’t let him go to the prom. "Yes, I understand……I said I got it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, now do I?"
"So, I take it I do have a job after all."
If looks could kill and all that, Avalon would’ve been out of an heir.
"You’re kind of cute when you pout."
Merlin huffed again and crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes into even smaller slits.
Leon shoved him in the back and though he couldn’t be sure Arthur thought he heard Lancelot muttering something about ‘idiots’.
Maybe his time here wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Merlin hated surprises. Nothing good ever came from them. The last surprise he’d got consisted of his father coming home early from work one afternoon and saying that he was leaving them to be with his blonde twenty-five year old teaching assistant.
So surprises and he did not mix, and Gaius knew this. So why would he not mention that some prat would be showing up for a job that Merlin had not even known they were hiring for? And that prat would be bringing two friends along, who also expected jobs that Merlin was fairly certain they couldn’t pay for. These questions and the nagging need to get away from the new rude clerk was what had caused him to call Gwen back to the Inn early after he showed his new employees to rooms that Gaius said they’d be staying in during their stay, another thing Merlin hadn’t known about. He hadn’t spoken a word to anybody and almost bowled Gwen over as she entered the Inn on his way out. He needed to speak to Gaius.
It wasn’t hard to find the graying man; he was at Merlin mothers eating fresh baked lemon biscuits and drinking tea. Like he did every evening around this time.
Merlin entered the house through the back door with a clank of the screen door and a squeak of his wet sneakers over the ceramic tile of the kitchen floor.
"Oh Merlin! Hullo sweetheart," His mother greeted him after a startled jump.
Hunith was a woman of middle age. Built short and round with a soft features and bronze hair. She was half Greek and ate like it. Merlin sometimes wondered how he’d made it through his school years without resembling a whale.
Dressed in a brown wrapped shirt that showed far more cleavage than he was strictly comfortable with and leopard print leggings, she rose from her seat at the small table to give him a hug and place a wet kiss on his forehead.
"Mum."
"Would you like a cup of tea? I can make some fresh." She hurried over to the kettle. "How about something to eat. I hardly think you’re eating enough."
"No mum, I just need to speak with Gaius."
She made a sound of disappointment but still opted to re-fill the kettle and place it on a burner.
Gaius sat at the table watching the mother and son, his thick salt and pepper eyebrows arched over his eyes like caterpillars. Merlin as he bit into a biscuit watched and took a sip of tea before waving a hand and inviting Merlin to sit as though Merlin needed an invitation to sit in from him in his mother’s house.
Gaius had been a part of Merlin’s life for as long as Merlin could remember. He had more memories of the old innkeeper than he had of Balinor. An old friend of his mother’s who had grown up across the street from her, Gaius had been a great comfort to Hunith when Balinor had bailed on his family. He had given Merlin his first job at thirteen as a kitchen hand at the inn, and had made sure Merlin knew everything needed to run the Inn properly before more or less handing over the reins on Merlin’s eighteenth birthday.
He was a friend. A guardian. A mentor. But at the moment Merlin wasn’t feeling very friendly towards the old man.
"What the hell, Gaius?!" Merlin shouted as he stomped to the table, ignoring his mother’s astonished gasp of ‘Merlin’.
"Merlin,"
"If you think we need someone else, which I don’t agree with by the way, then fine. Gwaine’s looking for something new, and I’m sure there are people in town how could use a job."
"Merlin-"
"I mean, why him Gaius? He’s a proper idiot and a prat at that. He’s rude, will probably scare away the customers, and he doesn’t look to have worked a day in his life,"
"Merlin," Gaius tried once again, and again he was ignored.
"His mates are okay, I guess. Except one of them had a turtle, and I’m not sure what that’s about. But…..he’s such a prat. I mean Arthur Penn? What kind of name is that?"
It’s around this time that Merlin noticed Gaius’s eyebrows doing the angry caterpillar dance of disapproval.
"What?" Merlin asked, totally lost because Gaius was looking at him as though he was the one who had done something wrong here.
"Oh? I’m I allowed to speak now?"
Merlin figured that was fair and sat with a sigh and a apology bit out a little reluctantly.
"Now don’t you think you’re being a little unreasonable Merlin?"
"I-"
"You’ve only just met Arthur. Maybe you can give him more than five minutes before making a decision on him.’
"I,"
"He’s a good boy, Merlin. His father’s an old friend of mine,"
"Maybe." Merlin grumbled, picking at the end of a biscuit and licking the crumbs of his fingers as they fell.
"I know that you don’t like change."
"That’s not what this is about."
Gaius didn’t look as though he believed him.
"Of course not. Just give it a chance, okay. It’s only for six months. Surely you can go six months."
"I make no promises." Hunith told him to either eat the biscuit or leave it alone and Merlin, to make his mum happy, did as she said, taking the lemon sweet between two fingers and biting into it. "He’s just so rude."
"So are you on occasion." Hunith pointed out as she swiped at the crumbs on Merlin’s jumper; the result of him speaking with a mouth full.
"Yeah." He huffed and finished off the biscuit before standing. He best be getting back to the end before Gwen took her heel to his arse. "Six months?"
Gaius nodded. "You never know, six months is a long time, you might come to like Arthur."
Merlin snorted. "And Will’s bloody cat might learn to fly."
Arthur hadn’t expected the room being provided for him to be of the same caliber as his own back at the palace. To expect the same accommodations from his new place of employment would have been unreasonable, and despite what some would say, he was not an unreasonable man. He could ignore the fact that his room was as big as a postage stamp. He could even overlook the fact that it looked like the place flowers came to die.
The floral pattern extended all over the room. The bedspread that scratched at his skin, and Arthur was sure would give him hives. The large rug that covered most of the wood floor - for which Arthur was grateful as winters spent in Camelot and the holiday Castle in Allura had taught him that wood floors and cold weather didn’t necessarily go together - was designed in the shape of a rose. The walls had a floral border lining the pale blue drywall. Even the air smelled of flowers in here; lilacs and roses, he thought, reminding him of his grand mum.
But he didn’t think it was too much to ask for a room in which the only window closed.
After shooing away Lance, Leon, and Brian the turtle (‘Why Brian?’ Arthur had asked. ‘Why not?" Had been Leon’s answer) and unpacking and putting away his newly bought ‘norm’ clothing, Arthur had spent fifteen or so minutes trying to get the bloody window closed. He was a mess of sweat and out of breath by the time he finally gave up with a thump on the window pane; the window didn’t look to have moved even an inch.
So Arthur had grumbled and, reluctantly, went to find the big eared Merlin to bitch to him about his stuck window. Merlin had insisted that the window was not stuck; implying that maybe Arthur was just too stupid to know how to close it.
Merlin may have fallen on his way up the staircase after that. And it may have been of Arthur’s doing. He had worn a smirk on his face and watched Merlin’s arse on the way up the stairs. Not that he liked the way Merlin’s arse looked of course, only it was right there so he saw no reason not to look.
The smirk had been replaced with a scowl when Merlin had entered Arthur’s room with a flourish as though he owned it, going straight to the window and, with little effort, closing the window with a slight snap of wood meeting wood.
"See. Not stuck." Merlin smiled and Arthur wanted to hit him. "It’s okay, though," he said as he came even with Arthur’s shoulder. "A lot of people have problem closing windows. Five year olds and old people."
Arthur’s not even surprised when he sees her. He’d have been more surprised if he she’d had stayed at home like he had told her to. The shock of that might have sent him to an early grave. So he doesn’t even sigh when he looks up from whatever it is that Guinevere is showing him. In fact, he doesn’t acknowledge his cousin in any form or fashion. He only scrunches his eyebrows and frowns before lowering his eyes once again.
It’s when he sees her with Percy that he begins to get a little angry. And worried.
They’re both carrying bags and dressed in ski gear when Arthur goes over to serve them; he’s playing waiter today. Freya thinks he needs to learn how to properly take orders before the winter rush of tourist begins.
Percy, the git he is, laughs at him as his big Bambi brown eyes takes in Arthur, focusing on the apron around Arthur’s waist. It’s a pea green color with ‘Destin’ written across it in gold.
"Wow!" Percy reared back in his chair, cackling like an idiot. "The commoner look really doesn’t work for you, does it?"
"Shut it." Arthur whispered harshly, eyes darting about to make sure that he hadn’t drawn any unwanted attention to their table. He could see Gwen and Merlin through the arched doorway, their heads together as they leaned over the reception desk. He could hear Freya in the kitchen, yelling or singing, it was hard to tell.
"What the hell do you two want?" Arthur grits out between clenched teeth.
"That’s no way to treat guest." Morgana took him to task. She was smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Fingers steepled together and beady green eyes looking up at him in delight.
Arthur thought she looked like a villain in a cartoon he’d once saw. Something about dogs and coats.
He grunted. "Listen here, you harpy…."
He trailed off as he caught sight of Merlin out of the corner of his eye. His hair was a tussled mess, as it had been every time Arthur had caught sight of him over the past couple of days. His green jumper looked cheap to Arthur’s trained eye but the lower quality material looked good on Merlin, Arthur decided with some reluctance.
And he absolutely didn’t watch the way his worn jeans stretched over his crotch as he walked over to the table, a frown on his face. In a blink, it was a blinding smile directed at the couple at the table.
"Excuse us for a moment." He took Arthur’s elbow, "C’mon," he whispered in Arthur’s ear before proceeding to pull him away.
Arthur allowed himself to be more or less dragged along behind the scrawny man, resolutely not looking at the swells of his arse that were round and bite able, cupped in the seat of his trousers as they were.
Gwen looked at them with a startled expression from her position behind the reception desk. Merlin moved his head in a subtle shake, and Gwen threw a questioning quirk of an arched brown eyebrow before going back to what she’d been doing.
A few steps away from the desk, Merlin pulled him into a small alcove beneath the staircase.
"Oi! No need to get rough," Arthur said. "Unless, of course, that’s how you like it."
Arthur could see that it took Merlin a moment before he caught wind of the innuendo in his words.
"Like I would shag you," Merlin denied.
"Your lost."
Merlin looked at him sideways.
"You can’t talk to guest like that."
Arthur sputtered. "She was being a…."
"I don’t care what she said, or what she did. She is a guest at the inn and you are an employee. It’s your job to smile, say yes ma’m, then grumble angrily to yourself when you’re alone."
"I don’t know how people do this."
"It’s called customer service. If you can’t stand it, then why would you want this job?"
Arthur opened his mouth before he realized he had nothing to say to that. He didn’t want the job. He’d been working all of three days now and he couldn’t stand it. He ached at night. Smelled of sweet, burnt grease, and cat pee. And his bed felt as though it was made out of rocks. Why the hell anyone would subject themselves to this for so little reward was beyond Arthur.
"And if I don’t." Arthur challenged.
Merlin smiled. Wide. Bright. And all pearly white teeth. It was a real smile, not the sour grimaces that usually graced his face in Arthur’s presences.
"Then I get the pleasure of firing you. Unless you want to quit. But please, please don’t quit. I suspect firing you would be just as good as sex for me."
Arthur thought that was pathetic.
"I’m not going anywhere." He crossed his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes, daring the other man to try to fire him.
He was a Pendragon. Nobody fired him.
"We’ll see about that."
…………..
~~~ Masterpost~~~ Chapter Five