Chapter Text
Merlin rushed past one of the VIP tables, his arms full with trays and glasses. From the corner of his eyes he saw one of the men raise his arms, but being too busy he ignored it, weaving through the table, trying to get passed without dropping anything. Suddenly a hand grabbed for the hem of his shirt, stopping him and nearly making him drop everything.
“Hey! I was trying to order something.”
“Sorry my friend, but you’ll have to wait a second.”
Thinking it was done with this, Merlin wanted to head further back to the kitchen, but the hand didn’t let go. Irritated Merlin turned around to look into the stunning face of a blonde and blue eyes stranger.
“Do I know you?”
“No, I- uh- I don’t think so.” Merlin tried to find his speed and thoughts, reminding himself that this bloke might be gorgeous but was still an arse.
“Yet you called me ‘Friend’.”
“Yeah sorry, my mistake.”
The blonde cocked and eyebrow and huffed.
“Yes, I think so.” His voice was condescending, as if Merlin would never been good enough to be his friend anyways.
“It was. I would never have a friend who could be such an ass.”
Some of the men at the table laughed and whistled, and finally the hand dropped away. Merlin sent a last smirk the man’s way, before continuing his way.
“And I never one who could be so stupid.”
Having heard the remark Merlin stopped dead in his tracks, once more nearly dropping everything. Angry he turned around, only barely holding himself back from a further insult. “Tell me, is it hard to find jobs around here at the moment?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Would you like me to help you find out?” Merlin squinted, not sure what the man was getting at.
“I really would prefer you wouldn’t.”
“Really? What would you do to stop me then? Hit me with one of your trays?”
Having just about enough of his pompous arse Merlin stepped closer, feeling his magic boiling close under his skin.
“You have no idea.”
“Be my guest! Show me and my friends what you can do!”
Even before Merlin could or couldn’t do anything someone bumped into him while walking by, and the tray full of plates and glasses went toppling over onto the blonde’s lap. Too startled to react with anything other than a panicked yelp Merlin attempted to regain some balance and at least stop two glasses from shattering. It had suddenly gotten a lot quieter around them, and when Merlin looked up he could see the blonde seething, his blue eyes cold and hard as steel, his chest heaving heavily.
“I’ll have you fired for this!”
For just a moment Merlin let the panic subside and be replaced by anger.
“What do you think you are, the boss?”
Now it got even quieter and Merlin realized that he had probably made a big mistake just now. The blonde man stood up tall, plates and glasses falling from his lap onto the floor. He wasn’t quite as tall as Merlin, but with his head held high, his broad statue and immense charisma might as well be 2 metres tall.
“That is precisely what I am.”
---
Dreading the moment that bar’s manager Kilgharrah would find out about the small escapade with the blonde who apparently was Mr Arthur Pendragon, Merlin finished his shift in tense silence and anticipation. Of course the one guy he got into a conflict was the owner and founder of the rooftop bar ‘Dragon’s Den’, which was on the roof of the five star hotel line ‘Pendragon’, run by his father. The bar has, within only two years, risen to one of the top places for the rich and beautiful to go, and scoring a job here, as a waiter had been Merlin’s goal for quite some time.
The work was harder but the money and the view was better, and studying and living pretty much alone in London, was no easy thing to finance. Gwen had already reassured Merlin twice that if Pendragon really wanted him out, he would have probably done so directly, since he was the owner. Also because he was pushed and several people could vouch for that, the manager would probably be able to persuade Pendragon from firing him.
“What are you still doing here?”
“Fearing for my life.”
Gwen only laughed and nodded towards the table Pendragon was sitting at.
“He’s still here, in case you want to apologize.”
He had changed meanwhile and was currently being joined by a stunning woman in a tight dark red dress that made the men and women alike stare. “She looks great doesn’t she?” Gwen asked with a dreamy smile.
“Yeah.” His eyes flickered over to Arthur.
“Some people are just born to be on top I guess.”
“No! You can get there as well, for sure.”
She sighed and smiled at Merlin, then her eyes travelled back to the beautiful pair.
“I hope so. I mean, not that I would want to be her, god who’d want to be around Arthur all the time.”
So that woman was his girlfriend? She looked about his age but there was definitely no sign of romance or loving affection between them. In fact, the woman seemed much more motivated to flirt with the man next to Arthur with golden locks and a beard.
“I thought you liked the kind of tough, safe-the-world type of men? At least when I think back to your boyfriend...”
“Ex-boyfriend Merlin, and no I like more ordinary guys. Like you for example.” Merlin huffed and shook his head.
“I’m not ordinary, trust me.” The heat shot into Gwen’s face when she looked at Merlin with wide eyes.
“I didn’t mean you obviously, I just meant men like you.”
Raising his brows Merlin watched as Gwen realised what she had said and only turned redder.
“Thanks.” He was barely holding back a grin as he shook his head. “It’s okay Gwen, I get it. And even if you had meant me, I wouldn’t have, you know, I’m not into girls.”
There was a short and slightly awkward silence before Gwen mouthed a silent ‘oh’ and nodded eagerly.
“I get it. Gosh that makes this so much less worse. I’m sorry. That was rude of me.” Now Merlin was openly laughing at her.
“Relax Gwen! I don’t think I’ll apologize though...I really don’t feel like it.”
"You should, it can’t really make things worse than this, can it?”
-
Arthur’s eyes followed the tall and gangly boy as soon as he left the bar and his friend behind. He was heading their way, and Arthur was unconsciously propping himself higher up.
“I see you came to apologize.” The young man frowned at Arthur’s welcome and turned away. “Aw come on, don’t run away again!”
“From you?”
Arthur made a mocking surprised face.
“Ah! And here I though you were deaf, as well as dumb!”
“I’m beginning to doubt how much I really want to apologize. And I’ve already told you, you’re an ass.”
Morgana snickered and took a sip of her Mojito. The young man’s eyes temporarily left Arthur’s, as he looked over at Arthur’s sister. “I just didn’t know you were an influential one.”
Gwaine barked out a surprised laugh and Arthur shot him a warning glance.
“Do you know that I could get you fired any time I wanted to? All I have to do is tell the manager and you’re out before morning. I’ve been trained to run a business all my life, you really shouldn’t underestimate me.”
“So how long have you been training to be a prat?”
Arthur jumped up, once more enraged at the stupid waiter.
“You can’t talk to me like that!” The man only tilted his head a little, a smile tugging on his lips.
“So how long have you been training to a prat, sir?” When Arthur was about to take a swing at him, Morgana quite forcefully pulled him back onto the sofa. Her expression was still contained, but her eyes glimmered with amusement.
“Arthur, don’t make a scene. And besides, I like him. What’s your name?”
“Merlin Emrys, Ms-“
“Ms Pendragon. I’m this hothead’s sister, god save me. Merlin is quite an interesting name...”
Then suddenly she began laughing and looked between the two. “Well if this isn’t a coincidence. King Arthur and Merlin, finally reunited!”
The others seemed to latch onto the joke, beginning to join in her laughter. Meanwhile Arthur and Merlin just stood there, Merlin looking uncomfortable while Arthur just seemed annoyed at his life.
“That’s enough Morgana, don’t you think?”
She sobered a little, but was still grinning. Arthur turned to Merlin with a sigh. “Leave before I change my mind about letting you stay here for another night.” For a moment the guy even seemed relatively grateful, before squaring his shoulders in a defensive position and walked away barely more than a nod.