Fanboys And Idol Stars (Merlin Fanfic Chapter 3)
Title: Fanboys and Idol Stars (3/?)
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: None.
Summary: AU. Merlin is a fanboy, currently idolising over his old friend Lancelot. Arthur is another idol. When they meet at a CD signing they're bound to conflict but do they really hate each other as much as they claim? Merlin/Arthur.
Chapter Three: Evening's Apart
The rest of the school day had passed quickly; he’d sat in his lesson and listened to his teacher prattle on about the notes they’d had to take for homework before setting some more. That part of his psychology lessons were boring but the topic itself was interesting enough. He just wished he had more enthusiastic teachers.
His form period had been okay, they’d had the form quiz and Gwen, Will, Morgana and himself had enjoyed it overall. Some of the questions were stupid but people’s answers could be pretty amusing.
The bus ride that had followed had been loud and as usual Merlin had kept to himself. Rushing off the bus out of sheer relief seemed to be a daily occurrence for him but finally he was home. He was greeted with the smell of his mother’s Sheppard’s Pie cooking and he sighed. It was good to get home from school and it was only Monday. Dropping his bag and coat on the floor by the door, he slipped his shoes off and went into the living room, slumping onto the sofa as he pulled out his phone.
After that phone call Arthur had stopped bothering him. It was both a relief and a little disappointing. The singer may have been annoying but at least the pair could have a bit of an argument and Merlin couldn’t help but enjoy their slightly rude exchange of words. Face to face, Arthur was no fun to get into a fight with but when he didn’t have to see the blond’s arrogant smirks it could be very amusing.
Merlin sighed and slipped to his feet again, padding in his socks into the kitchen where his mother was cooking. She’d usually leave the dinner until early evening but if they were to expect guests then she’d be cooking when he arrived home.
“Hey mum. Who’s coming over tonight?” he greeted as the brunette woman turned her head to smile at her son.
“Gaius has found some time to come visit tonight. It’ll be nice to see him again, he’s been busy for a while now,” she responded, turning her body fully and held out her arms for a hug. Being a good mood for Hunith usually meant being affectionate. So he stepped into her arms and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing slightly before he moved away.
“I saw Gaius on Saturday Mum, he seems fine so I’m sure you two will have plenty to catch up on,” he said with a small shrug. Shaking her head Hunith turned back to the cooking pot before she walked past him into the living room.
“I don’t want to know what you did to have got him involved in his professional capacity,” she scolded quietly before she sat down to watch a bit of television for a little while. He dark haired boy rolled his eyes,
“It wasn’t my fault mum and it wasn’t that bad. He’s just a manager,” he responded before he turned around and headed into the hallway so he could go upstairs.
“I’m going on the computer for a while, call me when dinner’s done,” Merlin added before he plodded upstairs and into his room.
He was lucky really, the only computer in the house was in the room and though it was hardly the newest model it was good enough and hey, it still worked. So he was able to go on and sign into all his messengers and regular sites without being bothered. The first thing he did was to get onto LiveJournal and check his Lancelot community. It was regularly updated and though his community didn’t have as many members as some it was very friendly and everyone got along, often having special icons and nicknames for each other.
Someone had posted while he was at school. In caps lock and checking who’d posted it-a girl who lived locally actually, they’d met up to go to a few of Lancelot’s early gigs-and she only ever posted in capitals when she was genuinely excited about something. Well okay, only the title was in capitals but still, it had to be something good.
~~~
OH MY GAWD!
14th December 2009 / 1:05PM
I have just found out something absolutely amazing! Now, I know not everyone likes Arthur Pendragon but he and Lancelot did well together, right?
Well a lot of people seem to think so, including the label and apparently Lancelot and Arthur will be recording an album together early next year. Apparently there will be some separate songs from both artists as well which means we’ll still get to hear Lancelot’s awesome voice alone!
Ooooh I can’t wait, I want it already.
~~~
Merlin stared at the post for a few minutes, not blinking until he’d rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nope, it was still there. Could that have been what Arthur was trying to tell him earlier? The guy did seem to find himself important after all. No, he didn’t think it was that exactly, maybe something to do with it?
Gah, he was getting himself all confused and now he was curious to what Arthur had been trying to tell him earlier on. Staring down at his phone that sat by him on the desk he bit his lip slightly, debating whether to contact the other male or not. He was interrupted by a pinging sound from his computer and he turned his head to see that Gwen had spoken to him over IM.
NotALady: Merlin! Lance just texted me, wants to know if we want to go for a drink with him Friday night. Wanna come?
SecretSorceror: Sure, as long as he’s buying.
NotALady: Great! I’ll come over to yours at 5 and help you get ready and Lance is gonna pick us up from yours at 7.
SecretSorceror: Am I really gonna need that long to get ready?
NotALady: Yep. I’ve got to go do my homework now. See you tomorrow.
SecretSorceror: Bye
NotALady has signed out
Well that was something to look forward to, apart from the fact they finished school for Christmas on the Thursday but still. It would be good to go out with his friends for an evening. It wasn’t something he did very often.
Humming to himself quietly, Merlin stretched back in his chair, his long arms hanging over the back of it. That was when his mum shouted up to him that dinner was ready and that Gaius had arrived. The dark haired boy jumped in his seat, knocking his arms and back against the back of the chair and knocking it off balance. The chair tipped and fell, Merlin lying back in the chair, his legs half in the air and half tangled around the wheels. He groaned and listened to the footsteps rushing up at the crashing sound. Hunith stuck her head around the door to see her son and the chair lying in a heap on the floor. She stepped in and held out a hand to help the boy up.
“What am I going to do with you Merlin,” she sighed as a pale hand gripped hers tightly and she tugged the teenager to his feet.
“Pick the chair up and come downstairs,” she told him with a peck on the cheek. She really despaired her son’s clumsiness sometimes, not to mention his laziness and well, she was sure she could find a few other flaws but she didn’t want to think badly about her son. He was a very kind hearted person and he would always help when asked-even if he did whine about it sometimes. Those were the things she should be concentrating on.
As she thought about this she joined Gaius at the table and smile kindly at him,
“Merlin will be down in a second. He’s just got to clean the mess he made up,” she explained and with a small chuckle from Gaius, Hunith decided to forget about thinking so deeply about her son for now. She would enjoy a good night with her family and a friend who was practically family anyway.
*****
The evening was settling in as Arthur reclined on the leather couch, he was happy to be alone at last. He’d had a busy day and though bothering Merlin had been enjoyable it hadn’t stopped the day from becoming boring.
At least he was alone now, in the quiet, where no one could bother him.
There was a buzz at the door, Arthur huffed slightly and glowered at the door. Surely if he didn’t answer the person would just go away. He didn’t want to have to deal with anyone else today. He’d had to attend several meetings with the label to talk about terms, costs, timings etc. for the new album he would be doing with Lancelot. Then he’d had to attend an interview with one of the music magazines about the album. He’d have to go to a few more with music and teen magazines later in the week so for now he just wanted to relax. Was that really too much to ask for?
The buzzing stopped and Arthur almost heaved a sigh of relief but his phone decided to go off at that moment instead. Growling to himself, the blond picked his phone up off the coffee table in front of him and answered it, not bothering to check who was calling him.
“What is it?” he snapped. There was a tutting sound from the other end before Morgana’s voice entered his ear.
“That’s a fine way to answer the phone Arthur. Now would you let me in please, it’s cold out here and I know you’re in.”
Arthur cursed under his breath. It was just his luck that it was Morgana visiting him. Anyone else then they’d have gone away and if they had called he’s have been able to deny them without fearing for his life. It looked as if he’d be having a guest that evening after all. Rolling off of the couch, he got to his feet and answered the girl,
“I’ll buzz you in.” It was admittedly a half grumble but to be fair, Arthur had a perfectly good reason to be annoyed at the girl. He hadn’t had much of a break all day and now she was interrupting his alone time. He hung up on the phone and stalked over to the door, buzzing the girl in before he returned to his seat.
The black haired girl soon swept in, her long raven locks had been pulled into a loose ponytail and she was kitted in a long grey jumper with a large black belt and jeggings, black boots protecting her legs from the cold. She soon joined him on the sofa, reclining back elegantly as she crossed her arms and studied him.
“I tried to call you during one of your breaks earlier today,” she stated. Arthur raised a fine blond eyebrow at her,
“And?” he prompted, why was the fact she’d tried to call him earlier so important that it warranted a visit during Arthur's relaxation time. She’d gotten through once he’d finished talking to Merlin.
“There was a boy standing near me, a friend of a friend actually, and he was speaking to an irritating sounding Arthur. Couldn’t have been you could it?” she inquired. Arthur snorted in response, was that all she’d wanted? She could have just asked him that over the phone.
“That could have been any Arthur. There wasn’t any reason to bother me for something so ridiculous,” he commented dryly. His step-sister glared at him in response,
“Arthur isn't exactly a common name any more. Are you sure you don’t know a Merlin. Dark haired, big ears?” she responded. She was certain that she was right and when Arthur's expression morphed into one of shock she smirked. She loved it when she had something over the blond.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said after the blond hadn’t responded for a little while. He looked like he was thinking hard.
Eventually Arthur spoke up again,
“You go to school with Merlin?” he asked, slowly. Uh oh, warning bells went off in Morgana’s head and she returned to glowering at the male.
“So what if I do? What are you planning?” she retorted, her tone sharp and seeping with suspicion.
Okay, Morgana seemed pissy; Arthur wasn’t going to be able to use her to pass any messages onto Merlin. Still, he had his ways. He and Lancelot were going to gather a few of their friends together and go out for a drink on Friday. He was pretty sure that the other singer would invite his dark haired friend along.
The blond enjoyed getting into petty little fights with the other and though Merlin could be genuinely irritating Arthur found himself looking forward to being able to talk to him again. Maybe they could eventually be friends. That was why earlier that day he'd called him to tell him about the night out on Friday. He knew Lancelot would invite the boy anyway but looking for something else to do, Arthur had decided to do it. Only Merlin hadn't been paying attention and that had annoyed him so in the end he hadn't told him. Still, it could work out for the better. Merlin may not have came if he'd asked.
Morgana was still watching him intently and eventually she stood up.
“I have to go now but don’t you dare do anything to Merlin. I may not know him that well but he’s a nice boy and he doesn’t need you hurting him,” and with those harsh words, Morgana departed.
Arthur stared at the door as the girl left, what did she think he was going to do to Merlin?
*****
Back at the Emrys household dinner was wrapping up, Gaius was relaxing in his chair as Merlin helped his mother with the dishes. Hunith smiled at her son as she took the dishes from him and headed into the kitchen. As Merlin settled back into his chair, Gaius turned his old gaze on the teenager.
“I hope you've been staying out of trouble Merlin I feel that little scene on Saturday was enough for one week,” the old man commented as he raised one eyebrow, in that famously high way of his. It was always slightly creepy.
“That wasn't my fault Gaius. Arthur started it,” Merlin replied with a small scowl. All he received in response was a sigh.
“Merlin. I'm not saying it was your fault but I wish you would just be more careful who you aggravate. You're lucky he reacted so well,” the old man explained with a shake of his head.
The dark haired boy studied his mentor's wizened face, he'd always been good to him so he was aware that he was saying for Merlin's own good.
“Okay then. He's contacted me again so we've been chatting and he's been an annoying git but he was friendly enough I guess,” he replied. Gaius studied the young boy, raising an eyebrow again. Arthur had seemed even remotely friendly? That was strange, Gaius was well aware that Arthur was a nice boy at heart but he also had a cruel streak and had a short fuse and when someone annoyed him, he didn't drop it easily. Still he supposed that no one other then Morgana ever stood up to Arthur any more, a chance to actually have a good argument must have drawn Arthur's interest. Maybe the two could actually do each other some good...if they didn't kill each other first.
________
Okay, so no Arthur and Merlin interaction this chapter but it was to start to move things on and to put in a few other characters opinions. Ummm please tell me if any of the characters are OOC and if anyone wants to give me any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
I'm also looking for some artists who are willing to do some pictures for me for this, possibly of the characters in this AU or fake CD covers or something.
Oh and I think Merlin's IM name may have been used by someone else but I honestly couldn't think of anything else lol.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and please review
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: None.
Summary: AU. Merlin is a fanboy, currently idolising over his old friend Lancelot. Arthur is another idol. When they meet at a CD signing they're bound to conflict but do they really hate each other as much as they claim? Merlin/Arthur.
Chapter Three: Evening's Apart
The rest of the school day had passed quickly; he’d sat in his lesson and listened to his teacher prattle on about the notes they’d had to take for homework before setting some more. That part of his psychology lessons were boring but the topic itself was interesting enough. He just wished he had more enthusiastic teachers.
His form period had been okay, they’d had the form quiz and Gwen, Will, Morgana and himself had enjoyed it overall. Some of the questions were stupid but people’s answers could be pretty amusing.
The bus ride that had followed had been loud and as usual Merlin had kept to himself. Rushing off the bus out of sheer relief seemed to be a daily occurrence for him but finally he was home. He was greeted with the smell of his mother’s Sheppard’s Pie cooking and he sighed. It was good to get home from school and it was only Monday. Dropping his bag and coat on the floor by the door, he slipped his shoes off and went into the living room, slumping onto the sofa as he pulled out his phone.
After that phone call Arthur had stopped bothering him. It was both a relief and a little disappointing. The singer may have been annoying but at least the pair could have a bit of an argument and Merlin couldn’t help but enjoy their slightly rude exchange of words. Face to face, Arthur was no fun to get into a fight with but when he didn’t have to see the blond’s arrogant smirks it could be very amusing.
Merlin sighed and slipped to his feet again, padding in his socks into the kitchen where his mother was cooking. She’d usually leave the dinner until early evening but if they were to expect guests then she’d be cooking when he arrived home.
“Hey mum. Who’s coming over tonight?” he greeted as the brunette woman turned her head to smile at her son.
“Gaius has found some time to come visit tonight. It’ll be nice to see him again, he’s been busy for a while now,” she responded, turning her body fully and held out her arms for a hug. Being a good mood for Hunith usually meant being affectionate. So he stepped into her arms and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing slightly before he moved away.
“I saw Gaius on Saturday Mum, he seems fine so I’m sure you two will have plenty to catch up on,” he said with a small shrug. Shaking her head Hunith turned back to the cooking pot before she walked past him into the living room.
“I don’t want to know what you did to have got him involved in his professional capacity,” she scolded quietly before she sat down to watch a bit of television for a little while. He dark haired boy rolled his eyes,
“It wasn’t my fault mum and it wasn’t that bad. He’s just a manager,” he responded before he turned around and headed into the hallway so he could go upstairs.
“I’m going on the computer for a while, call me when dinner’s done,” Merlin added before he plodded upstairs and into his room.
He was lucky really, the only computer in the house was in the room and though it was hardly the newest model it was good enough and hey, it still worked. So he was able to go on and sign into all his messengers and regular sites without being bothered. The first thing he did was to get onto LiveJournal and check his Lancelot community. It was regularly updated and though his community didn’t have as many members as some it was very friendly and everyone got along, often having special icons and nicknames for each other.
Someone had posted while he was at school. In caps lock and checking who’d posted it-a girl who lived locally actually, they’d met up to go to a few of Lancelot’s early gigs-and she only ever posted in capitals when she was genuinely excited about something. Well okay, only the title was in capitals but still, it had to be something good.
~~~
OH MY GAWD!
14th December 2009 / 1:05PM
I have just found out something absolutely amazing! Now, I know not everyone likes Arthur Pendragon but he and Lancelot did well together, right?
Well a lot of people seem to think so, including the label and apparently Lancelot and Arthur will be recording an album together early next year. Apparently there will be some separate songs from both artists as well which means we’ll still get to hear Lancelot’s awesome voice alone!
Ooooh I can’t wait, I want it already.
~~~
Merlin stared at the post for a few minutes, not blinking until he’d rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nope, it was still there. Could that have been what Arthur was trying to tell him earlier? The guy did seem to find himself important after all. No, he didn’t think it was that exactly, maybe something to do with it?
Gah, he was getting himself all confused and now he was curious to what Arthur had been trying to tell him earlier on. Staring down at his phone that sat by him on the desk he bit his lip slightly, debating whether to contact the other male or not. He was interrupted by a pinging sound from his computer and he turned his head to see that Gwen had spoken to him over IM.
NotALady: Merlin! Lance just texted me, wants to know if we want to go for a drink with him Friday night. Wanna come?
SecretSorceror: Sure, as long as he’s buying.
NotALady: Great! I’ll come over to yours at 5 and help you get ready and Lance is gonna pick us up from yours at 7.
SecretSorceror: Am I really gonna need that long to get ready?
NotALady: Yep. I’ve got to go do my homework now. See you tomorrow.
SecretSorceror: Bye
NotALady has signed out
Well that was something to look forward to, apart from the fact they finished school for Christmas on the Thursday but still. It would be good to go out with his friends for an evening. It wasn’t something he did very often.
Humming to himself quietly, Merlin stretched back in his chair, his long arms hanging over the back of it. That was when his mum shouted up to him that dinner was ready and that Gaius had arrived. The dark haired boy jumped in his seat, knocking his arms and back against the back of the chair and knocking it off balance. The chair tipped and fell, Merlin lying back in the chair, his legs half in the air and half tangled around the wheels. He groaned and listened to the footsteps rushing up at the crashing sound. Hunith stuck her head around the door to see her son and the chair lying in a heap on the floor. She stepped in and held out a hand to help the boy up.
“What am I going to do with you Merlin,” she sighed as a pale hand gripped hers tightly and she tugged the teenager to his feet.
“Pick the chair up and come downstairs,” she told him with a peck on the cheek. She really despaired her son’s clumsiness sometimes, not to mention his laziness and well, she was sure she could find a few other flaws but she didn’t want to think badly about her son. He was a very kind hearted person and he would always help when asked-even if he did whine about it sometimes. Those were the things she should be concentrating on.
As she thought about this she joined Gaius at the table and smile kindly at him,
“Merlin will be down in a second. He’s just got to clean the mess he made up,” she explained and with a small chuckle from Gaius, Hunith decided to forget about thinking so deeply about her son for now. She would enjoy a good night with her family and a friend who was practically family anyway.
*****
The evening was settling in as Arthur reclined on the leather couch, he was happy to be alone at last. He’d had a busy day and though bothering Merlin had been enjoyable it hadn’t stopped the day from becoming boring.
At least he was alone now, in the quiet, where no one could bother him.
There was a buzz at the door, Arthur huffed slightly and glowered at the door. Surely if he didn’t answer the person would just go away. He didn’t want to have to deal with anyone else today. He’d had to attend several meetings with the label to talk about terms, costs, timings etc. for the new album he would be doing with Lancelot. Then he’d had to attend an interview with one of the music magazines about the album. He’d have to go to a few more with music and teen magazines later in the week so for now he just wanted to relax. Was that really too much to ask for?
The buzzing stopped and Arthur almost heaved a sigh of relief but his phone decided to go off at that moment instead. Growling to himself, the blond picked his phone up off the coffee table in front of him and answered it, not bothering to check who was calling him.
“What is it?” he snapped. There was a tutting sound from the other end before Morgana’s voice entered his ear.
“That’s a fine way to answer the phone Arthur. Now would you let me in please, it’s cold out here and I know you’re in.”
Arthur cursed under his breath. It was just his luck that it was Morgana visiting him. Anyone else then they’d have gone away and if they had called he’s have been able to deny them without fearing for his life. It looked as if he’d be having a guest that evening after all. Rolling off of the couch, he got to his feet and answered the girl,
“I’ll buzz you in.” It was admittedly a half grumble but to be fair, Arthur had a perfectly good reason to be annoyed at the girl. He hadn’t had much of a break all day and now she was interrupting his alone time. He hung up on the phone and stalked over to the door, buzzing the girl in before he returned to his seat.
The black haired girl soon swept in, her long raven locks had been pulled into a loose ponytail and she was kitted in a long grey jumper with a large black belt and jeggings, black boots protecting her legs from the cold. She soon joined him on the sofa, reclining back elegantly as she crossed her arms and studied him.
“I tried to call you during one of your breaks earlier today,” she stated. Arthur raised a fine blond eyebrow at her,
“And?” he prompted, why was the fact she’d tried to call him earlier so important that it warranted a visit during Arthur's relaxation time. She’d gotten through once he’d finished talking to Merlin.
“There was a boy standing near me, a friend of a friend actually, and he was speaking to an irritating sounding Arthur. Couldn’t have been you could it?” she inquired. Arthur snorted in response, was that all she’d wanted? She could have just asked him that over the phone.
“That could have been any Arthur. There wasn’t any reason to bother me for something so ridiculous,” he commented dryly. His step-sister glared at him in response,
“Arthur isn't exactly a common name any more. Are you sure you don’t know a Merlin. Dark haired, big ears?” she responded. She was certain that she was right and when Arthur's expression morphed into one of shock she smirked. She loved it when she had something over the blond.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said after the blond hadn’t responded for a little while. He looked like he was thinking hard.
Eventually Arthur spoke up again,
“You go to school with Merlin?” he asked, slowly. Uh oh, warning bells went off in Morgana’s head and she returned to glowering at the male.
“So what if I do? What are you planning?” she retorted, her tone sharp and seeping with suspicion.
Okay, Morgana seemed pissy; Arthur wasn’t going to be able to use her to pass any messages onto Merlin. Still, he had his ways. He and Lancelot were going to gather a few of their friends together and go out for a drink on Friday. He was pretty sure that the other singer would invite his dark haired friend along.
The blond enjoyed getting into petty little fights with the other and though Merlin could be genuinely irritating Arthur found himself looking forward to being able to talk to him again. Maybe they could eventually be friends. That was why earlier that day he'd called him to tell him about the night out on Friday. He knew Lancelot would invite the boy anyway but looking for something else to do, Arthur had decided to do it. Only Merlin hadn't been paying attention and that had annoyed him so in the end he hadn't told him. Still, it could work out for the better. Merlin may not have came if he'd asked.
Morgana was still watching him intently and eventually she stood up.
“I have to go now but don’t you dare do anything to Merlin. I may not know him that well but he’s a nice boy and he doesn’t need you hurting him,” and with those harsh words, Morgana departed.
Arthur stared at the door as the girl left, what did she think he was going to do to Merlin?
*****
Back at the Emrys household dinner was wrapping up, Gaius was relaxing in his chair as Merlin helped his mother with the dishes. Hunith smiled at her son as she took the dishes from him and headed into the kitchen. As Merlin settled back into his chair, Gaius turned his old gaze on the teenager.
“I hope you've been staying out of trouble Merlin I feel that little scene on Saturday was enough for one week,” the old man commented as he raised one eyebrow, in that famously high way of his. It was always slightly creepy.
“That wasn't my fault Gaius. Arthur started it,” Merlin replied with a small scowl. All he received in response was a sigh.
“Merlin. I'm not saying it was your fault but I wish you would just be more careful who you aggravate. You're lucky he reacted so well,” the old man explained with a shake of his head.
The dark haired boy studied his mentor's wizened face, he'd always been good to him so he was aware that he was saying for Merlin's own good.
“Okay then. He's contacted me again so we've been chatting and he's been an annoying git but he was friendly enough I guess,” he replied. Gaius studied the young boy, raising an eyebrow again. Arthur had seemed even remotely friendly? That was strange, Gaius was well aware that Arthur was a nice boy at heart but he also had a cruel streak and had a short fuse and when someone annoyed him, he didn't drop it easily. Still he supposed that no one other then Morgana ever stood up to Arthur any more, a chance to actually have a good argument must have drawn Arthur's interest. Maybe the two could actually do each other some good...if they didn't kill each other first.
________
Okay, so no Arthur and Merlin interaction this chapter but it was to start to move things on and to put in a few other characters opinions. Ummm please tell me if any of the characters are OOC and if anyone wants to give me any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
I'm also looking for some artists who are willing to do some pictures for me for this, possibly of the characters in this AU or fake CD covers or something.
Oh and I think Merlin's IM name may have been used by someone else but I honestly couldn't think of anything else lol.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and please review