It's the way you make me feel (Merlin)

[Arthur]

Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot was one of the most arrogant and self assured men that had ever walked this earth. He knew he was good looking, he knew he could be charming, he knew that when it came to dating and wooing he was pretty damn good at it. Which is why he was so glad that no one he knew would be around to witness the next couple of hours where all that self-assuredness, arrogance and ‘charming’ qualities would be completely knocked down by one person.

Merlin.

Because none of it was going to work was it? Merlin knew what an arse he could be, he knew that Arthur wasn’t always that charming so how the hell was he supposed to be like that tonight? How did this dating thing work, what the hell was he doing? This was a bad idea, such a bad idea.

He pulled at the cuffs of the suit jacket he was wearing for the third time since he arrived at the front doors of the restaurant. For the first time in his life he had actually spent more than five minutes deciding what to wear, or rather, he had allowed Gwen to spend more than five minutes deciding what he was going to wear, she actually had looked a little disconcerted when he actually gave her opinions instead of just huffing and sighing and telling her anything would do.

There had also been the problem of flowers? On a first date, flowers were normally the things you brought right? A small gift or token or something just to show how nice he was. But that wasn’t going to work for Merlin, that just seemed ridiculous, flowers, he could see Merlin’s raised eyebrows and quickly pushed the idea out of the way. So instead he had jumped into the souvenir shop and picked up something he had seen in the window. It was stupid, it was really stupid but he couldn’t very well turn up with nothing he thought that maybe Merlin would like it.

Well he would either like it, or laugh at it.

This was a nightmare.

[Merlin Emrys]

Was it worse to have a normal cocky attitude knocked down, or worse to be a natural worrier in a situation that was ripe for disaster and disappointment? Merlin didn't really know, but he knew he was definitely in the latter category.

What if this had actually just been some elaborate ruse in order to somehow humiliate him? Ok that was a bit of a long shot since, well, he was pretty sure Arthur wouldn't do something like that for one thing, and he was also pretty certain that Arthur wouldn't go this far just to humiliate him. There were probably easier ways that didn't involve confessions of love and kissing. That kiss... that definitely had not been... where was he? Oh, almost running late, that's where!

He'd changed outfits three times before finally settling on the clothes that Gwen had laid out for him that morning, she'd been busy elsewhere and not answering her phone and what if the outfit she'd chosen wasn't the right one, but eventually he'd realised that she knew she wasn't going to be available (wherever she was) and that she'd planned, as she always did, and that he should probably just wear the outfit she'd chosen or he'd get in trouble - because she'd find out, she always did.

Realising he was still two streets away from the restaurant and had only minutes to spare, he broke into a run, stopping just round the corner to compose himself - but he was still a little flushed, still a little windswept, and more than a little awkward by the time he rounded the corner and caught sight of Arthur.

"Um... hi..."

[Arthur]

Arthur turned round at the sound of Merlin’s voice and smiled…then had to stop himself form laughing due to the rather windswept look he was now sporting. He took it that his manservant had been running a little late to their…dinner… Reaching he attempted to smooth down the hair a little which was of course to no avail, before realising that the action and touch was actually a little too intimate really and removed his hand quickly.

The composure dropping for a moment as a brief panic flitted through his eyes he quickly put everything back in to place and smirked, “Well, I see that nothing will change the fact that your timekeeping is terrible, not even when I invite you out for a nice meal. Let me guess, you lost track of time putting the finishing touches to some essay or other for the great professor Balinor or something?”

Remembering, he handed over the small box that was in his other hand, holding it out for Merlin to take…once again the slick charming composure dropped a bit and he looked just a little bit awkward, “Speaking of the professor, uh…this is for you…I was in the shop and I saw it and…well…I thought you would like it. I saw a Unicorn as well but then I decided the less things to remind us of that incident, the better.”

Inside the box was a little Dragon statue.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin froze when Arthur smoothed his hair down, unsure exactly how to react to the gesture - it wasn't that he didn't like it, actually it felt good. Gentle and soothing and not like Arthur at all but that didn't really matter because he definitely didn't want him to stop, only he did, and Merlin immediately felt embarrassed and awkward over how much he'd enjoyed such a simple gesture.

"Something like that," he agreed awkwardly, even though it wasn't quite the truth, he would rather let Arthur assume that than admit to the real reason he'd been late, since he was pretty sure the prince would mock him for that. Although... he was a little surprised to see that Arthur appeared just as out of his depth as Merlin felt. It made sense, of course, since it wasn't like Arthur was exactly in the habit of dating his manservant, but it was still strange to see.

"You bought me a gift?" he asked, surprised "I'm sorry I didn't... I haven't..." was he supposed to have brought something as well? He barely knew the convention for normal dating, let alone this... not that this wasn't normal, it felt perfectly normal. Ok that was a lie, it felt awkward and strange and exciting and confusing, but he was pretty sure that love was supposed to feel like that, it didn't really matter who you were in love with.

He opened the box and peered inside, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face when he saw the little statue.

"Thank you, it's perfect."

[Arthur]

Of course Merlin didn’t need to bring anything, Arthur hadn’t expected him too, it wasn’t really the done thing…was it? He realised that since his arrival in Avalon and then Tintagel he had been adapting more and more to the social ways of the place, but even in courtly love it was… but he really had nothing to compare this too did he? The kind of dating that happened here, courtly love, it just didn’t matter, this was something new, right?

It was too confusing.

However all confusing thoughts left his mind, for the moment, when Merlin grinned at the little statue of the dragon. Taking some confidence from the successful gift choice he too grinned and motioned to the restaurant, “I’m glad you like it, shall we go inside.”

Placing a hand on Merlin’s back and remembering to place his hand a little higher up than the small of his back gently pushed him in the direction of the restaurant doors. Just as they arrived the Maitre d’ rushed towards them and said, “Monsieur Pendragon, delighted to once again ’ave your highnesses patronage of our little ’umble restaurante.”

The Maitre d’ looked at Merlin, expectantly, waiting for an introduction, however Arthur merely removed his coat and handed it to the man saying, “Thank you Francois.”

[Merlin Emrys]

Maybe Merlin would be protesting being treated like a girl, maybe he wouldn't because he knew Arthur didn't really know how to do this any better than he did, but to be quite honest the touch of Arthur's hand against his back, any part of his back, was enough to make him smile and feel just a little bit giddy, even though it was such a simple thing. The physical contact he'd had with Arthur before, when they weren't under a spell and not counting the kiss they had finally shared, had been... friendly, at best, the normal boyish contact, punches on the arm and shoves and ordinary things. This was... different, and it just highlighted how things had changed.

He smiled politely at the maitre d', though a little awkwardly, he hadn't really thought about this part, about how he was supposed to act around Arthur when there were other people around, he didn't know how public the prince intended to be (though he could imagine it probably wasn't very). He decided just to take his cues from Arthur, handing his own jacket over.

[Arthur]

The Maitre ‘d took the jacket before motioning to a table in the corner of the restaurant near the back. To get to it, they skirted around the side of the dance floor, which at the top of was a string quartet playing gentle music as the other patrons around them ate their meals. They weren’t the only two men in the restaurant sharing a meal together although the place was primarily filled with couples in varying stages of Romance and Disinterest and one large table up the back that appeared to be celebrating a birthday. On arriving at the table Francois immediately went to work on removing anything that could be deemed as ‘romantic’ such as the candle and flowers before giving a little nod with this head and departing.

Arthur, being Arthur, didn’t really notice the significance of this, slipping back into his usual self with Merlin and forgetting about the whole ‘Charming and Wooing’ thing he had been attempting. He didn’t even move to pull out Merlin’s chair for him which was probably a good thing considering it may have raised a few eyebrows. He just sat down on his own chair, motioning for Merlin to do the same, before picking up a menu and handing it to him.

“They do a great steak here, I mean…it’s French, but it’s good.”

[Merlin Emrys]

It wasn't that Merlin wanted all the romantic frippery, actually there was a tiny part of him that was relieved because removing it made things distinctly less awkward, but he was still just the tiniest bit disappointed. This place seemed organised and the maitre d' had obviously known Arthur, so it was reasonable to assume that certain things were being done at his request - leaving Merlin to conclude that they were tucked away in the corner, with nothing to suggest romance, on Arthur' request. Just in case anybody spotted them. He understood, could guess why Arthur wanted to keep it a secret, but still... being all sneaky and discreet seemed to make the otherwise beautiful restaurant lose its shine a little bit.

"Good to know," Merlin replied without looking up from his menu, trying to ignore the lingering doubts and nagging worries and just enjoy the meal and the date, with or without flowers and candles. He was still here, still with Arthur, and that was the important part... right?

[Arthur]

Unfortunately at this point Arthur’s mind was far from Romance and focused entirely on the menu in front of him, hunger overriding any ‘charming’ he should be doing or any ‘worry’ that he should be feeling. He just didn’t operate without food and right now all that mattered was the steak. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, really, he did, in fact he cared so much that he hoped that Merlin would get himself something decent to eat as well. He hadn’t really considered how much the other young man ate, he presumed he did owing to the fact he had quite wasted away…although he was definitely far too skinny.
 
Arthur, being Arthur decided to say as much.
 
“That is in fact if you eat?” he said lowering the menu a moment and raising an eyebrow, “Or do I not pay you enough so that you can afford to eat?”

[Merlin Emrys]

Really, he decided, on reflection, he shouldn't have let that thoughtful little gift get his hopes up. He was still here with Arthur, who was still a prat, and while he probably was capable of being romantic, he was too relaxed around Merlin to think about it. He should remind himself that this was a good thing, even if it was hard to remember that when Arthur was saying stupid things about whether or not he ate.

"Of course I eat," he shook his head despairingly. It was probably some kind of terrible faux pas to mention money, bringing up the fact that he was Arthur's manservant and that did kind of make dating a bit strange, but in all honesty it just cemented the fact that Merlin should stop having silly expectations and just enjoy the fact that he was here, with Arthur, on a date, an actual date, and really, wasn't that enough? "I just have a high metabolism, that's all."

[Arthur]

“Sure, that’s what it is,” said Arthur turning his attention back to the menu, “it’s nothing at all to do with the fact that you spend all of your time reading and studying and thus forget that it’s actually time to eat. It’s not that at all.”
 
Closing the menu, knowing what he wanted already, he considered the young man in front of him and smiled slightly. He liked that under all the clumsiness and bumbling, Merlin was actually quite intelligent. It was the kind of intelligence that meant he could rhyme off a complete chapter of some magic book he had been reading but still put his boots on the wrong feet. He liked that, he really did.
 
“Speaking of which, how is your classes going?”
 
Asking that was opening a can of worms, he prepared himself to be bombarded with explanations about a lot of things he really didn’t understand or care about…only that wasn’t true now was it? Because in a strange way, even though he didn’t quite understand it, he did care, he cared because Merlin cared.

[Merlin Emrys]

"I remember to eat," he replied a little defensively, although the '...sometimes' went unsaid, because honestly even if he didn't want to do it out loud, he had to at least admit to himself that Arthur was right some of the time. There was just so much knowledge to be found, so many books to read and so little time, sometimes food just... got prioritised a little differently, that was all.

"Oh, they're great," he grinned broadly, looking up from his menu with bright eyes. There was a lot that had him worried as far as this date was concerned, but Arthur had managed to pick the one thing that would distract him completely from any negativity and just get him focused on something he loved.

"I'm doing really well, or at least the teachers seem to think I am, and I'm learning so many interesting things. We've got a new magic teacher, finally, and he's quite strict but he's really good, and he's from our world so he can teach me so much about my own magic and how it works, and I think I'll really be able to learn a lot from him," he stopped himself, knowing that all the magic talk made Arthur at least a little bit uncomfortable, and changed the subject slightly "and my music classes are going well, too."

[Arthur]

The magic lessons and talk didn’t bother Arthur as much as Merlin thought, mostly because Arthur wasn’t really listening to what the boy was saying, more just how the boy was saying it. The way he spoke about magic and his classes, with so much excitement. Sure he was at least keeping a small tab on what was actually being said, just in case he got quizzed about it later or asked to comment on it, but really, it was the feeling behind what Merlin was saying. He loved it. He wondered if that’s how Merlin used to talk about him, probably not.

He wasn’t prone to self consciousness or to putting himself down, but strangely enough, faced with this skinny little peasant wizard…he was feeling very small, awkward and…lumpy. That was the best way to describe it, he felt like a lump, sure he could be smooth in some parts but he was still awkward and unsure and just…not the best looking smoothest shape in the restaurant.

Then Merlin mentioned music.

Arthur grinned, “I didn’t know you were taking music lessons. I don’t think you need them, you’re good enough already.”

[Merlin Emrys]

"You think so?" Merlin asked with a somewhat shy grin. His magic was something he took pride in, he was always learning new things and never considered his work to be done, but he did know how good he was, he considered it a skill of his, so when people complimented his magic he was grateful, but not surprised.

His music, on the other hand, was something he rarely showed to other people, it was that much more personal and he was much more hesitant about it, so hearing that compliment - especially from Arthur, who did not make a habit of complimenting him - left him slightly flustered.

"I know I haven't been doing it for very long, I really enjoy it, almost as much as magic, and there seems to be just as much to learn."

[Arthur]

“Well you would never be able to tell,” said Arthur smiling, “listening to you, a person would think you had been learning music for years it’s that good. I’m not sure how good a judge I am on music though. You only need to look at my vocals on you tube to know that…well…that you should probably wear earmuffs if we ever go to a Karaoke bar slightly intoxicated.”

That hadn’t been a very fun night. That unfortunately embarrassing moment had then been followed by a more embarrassing moment where he had stood under Meg’s window and sag again, before climbing a drainpipe and throwing up in her bathroom. Not a good night.

However, a better night was the time he had been out running and came across the young wizard sitting by the fire playing the guitar. It had been…for want of a better word, magical.

“I think that was when I realised, that night by the campfire, when you were singing,” said Arthur still in a slight daydream, remembering that night, “I think that was the moment I realised I was in love with you.”

He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He quickly and rather awkwardly picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip, avoiding any kind of eye contact with young man opposite him, trying to think of something to say to move the conversation away from the dangerous mushy moment that had just happened. “Of course, I knew I was totally screwed when I saw you in the maids outfit-I think I’m going to have a steak, steak is good and meaty and it’s good here, what are you having?”

Sometime he just shouldn’t talk.