The Warlock and the Dragonlord

More character and relationship development, nothing big. I have two more chapters (as long as I don't decide to add any more) before the main point of contention in this part of the series starts. This series will have three works in it, with probably about ten or more chapters each.Still don't own any of the characters or world....

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Merlin figured meeting Arthur in town near the same alley he'd met him at before would be a decent place to walk home with him the rest of the way. Merlin sat in the shadows of an alley, leg bouncing, staring down at the entrance for Arthur to pass.

Arthur had seemed as though he wouldn't mind Merlin's company, but Merlin didn't want to be a pest and overstay his welcome, so he'd waited, rather impatiently, a few days before coming; even with his magic that was straining to reach out to the other teen.

Merlin didn't understand why it seemed to like Arthur so much, but Merlin didn't understand his magic in general, so none of it was necessarily out of the box for what his knowledge was. Anything could be possible for all he knew.

The strain in his magic was startling, none-the-less. Merlin had never had anyone that his magic cared so much about. He'd had moments with Gaius, where his magic seemed to seek him out to make sure he was okay, but it had never completely reached for anyone.

His magic knew Arthur was getting close before Merlin saw him, a sort of underlying buzz every step closer, so he stood up and moved to the edge of the alley right as his friend got to it.

"Hey, Arthur."

He jumped, startled as he spun for Merlin. "Merlin! What the heck?"

Merlin grinned at the other boy. "You heading home?"

Arthur took a calming breath. "Yes. I am." He hesitated a moment, then nodded his head to the side. "Just from school."

Merlin snorted. "Obviously."

Arthur nudged his shoulder. "Shut up. Well, what were you doing anyway?"

Merlin shrugged. "Uncle Gauis didn't go into work until the afternoon. He has a late night working. So I spent some time with him. We went to the store to get some food."

Arthur side-eyed him. "Good. Looks like you need it." The small smile on the side of his face told Merlin he was joking. Mostly at least, Merlin knew that he was rather skinny, so it wasn't entirely a joke.

"Well, not all of us can have twenty dollars for pizza every night. You eat a lot." Merlin kept his tone cheerful even as the words were more true than he'd like.

"You calling me fat?" Arthur's tone turned defensive, but still playfully, luckily. Merlin can handle playful. He's only had Will as a friend, and Freya for a little while. Will was playful, but Freya was sensitive, and Merlin had to be careful what he said to her, at first, until she finally realized he was teasing and got thick skin. Even still, he was more careful with her.

But it looked like Arthur was made up off tougher skin, in some ways at least, and gave as good as he got.

Merlin eyed him up and down. "Well, I'm not calling you skinny." Was his non-answer answer, unable to hold back laughter for more than a few seconds.

Arthur scowled at him a long moment, then finally broke and chuckled. "Did you enjoy the book I gave you?" He asked at last.

Merlin grinned. "Yes, I read it all. It was interesting, even though it doesn't necessarily help with controlling magic specifically. It's at least good to… you know, understand a little bit about the world and how the magic came about." He'd given Merlin his sisters old copy about the history of magic. He'd finished reading it. "I have it with me in my bag. I'll give it to you when we get to your place."

Arthur nodded. "Thanks. My sister will kill me if she doesn't have it when she gets home for the summer — at least with me not telling her about you." He eyed Merlin worriedly, and Merlin knew that he really wanted to talk to his sister — or someone, at least — about Merlin. About why he wasn't invited to the school. How Merlin could have possibly been forgotten about. And while Merlin had the same questions, he was grateful Arthur hasn't told anyone, and was hopeful he never would.

"You're sure it's okay for me to borrow them?" Merlin asked, suddenly apprehensive all over again, the worry going straight to his stomach. "I really don't need them." He didn't. But he truly wanted them. He wanted to learn more. He wanted to learn spells. He couldn't ever be so helpless again.

Arthur elbowed him gently, which pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, then shrugged. "Relax. It's going to be fine, Merlin. Honestly. She won't be back until Christmas anyway."

"I just… if anything happens to the books, and… I mean, I really need — want, I want to know about it, because I just need to—" Merlin felt his breathing pick up a little, realizing he's not explaining anything correctly, and Arthur pulled him to a stop facing him.

"Seriously, Merlin, it's fine. I want you to know as much as you can. This is who you are, and I don't know what happened with the schools records, but I know you need to know this. How it works. What it is, even. You seem terrified of it, and you need to know that you don't need to be."

Something settled in him, the magic in him agreeing to the words, and Merlin's frantic brain calming. He pressed against Arthur's arm as Arthur turned them back to walk, just lightly, and the magic once again seemed to envelop both of them. Arthur seemed to draw just slightly closer, a tension falling from his shoulders that Merlin hadn't even realized.

"So." Arthur moved on, recognizing that Merlin had nothing to say to that. "I do have some homework tonight, but you're welcome to come over. You can read from more books for a while. We can get some food, then when I finish my homework, maybe we could start a movie or something."

Merlin grinned again. "Sounds good," he agreed.

Arthur was watching him again, shaking his head. "Do you've got ADHD or something? Or paranoia?"

"What? Why?" Merlin furrowed his eyebrows.

"You are literally bouncing on the balls of your feet with each step, nearly vibrating, I swear. And you don't stop looking around for a second, as though keeping an eye out for someone around you."

Merlin blushed, but shrugged. "I don't know. Just… cautious, you know?" He didn't know how to explain it further than that. "Cautious, but… I still am excited for… well. I don't know." He cut himself off, feeling embarrassed.

Arthur snorted. "Alright then."

"Hey, maybe you should be more paranoid. Last time I saw you, you were pulled into an alley by four boys. The time before that you had plowed into me."

Arthur blushed, but he had a retort for that one. "And yet, you were the one with your eyes shut in the middle of the sidewalk for the first one." He smirked at Merlin. "And you're the one that followed me into the alleyway."

"Only to save your ungrateful butt."

"Yeah, yeah, and thanks for that." Arthur waved a hand dismissively, but the light in his eyes told of his sincerity.

"Besides if I hadn't we wouldn't have… you know, become friends." Merlin said the words softly, still unsure where their friendship actually stood.

Arthur softened, a small smile on his face. "Yeah." And Merlin felt his shoulders relax at the confirmation.

They got to Arthur's hotel and walked in. Merlin didn't speak as they entered, even in the elevator because someone else was on it for most of the ride. It was only after the person left that Arthur put in his key and hit his floor number, then leaned back against the wall. Merlin picked at a hole in his jacket sleeve as he waited, then as soon as the door opened, after checking to make sure no Uther was in sight, he rushed to the window with a bounce.

Arthur laughed. "Seriously."

"Like I said, it'll never get old," Merlin answered without looking at him, beaming.

Before Merlin could say anything, there was a sudden hit against the window pane and he jumped as a bird fluttered against the glass. A big bird. An owl.

"Shoot." Arthur jumped forward, dropping his backpack on the floor and went for the latch on the window, pulling it open quickly. Merlin took a quick step back as the owl flew past their heads to land on the back of the couch, jaw dropping even as he watched Arthur quickly move to the bird and untangle something from the leg.

"There's an owl in your house," Merlin muttered, taking another step back.

Arthur looked at him, then snorted. "Brilliant deduction, Merlin."

His name being said, in just that tone of voice, again, brought Merlin out of his shock rather quickly. It truly was a rather quick way to do so, and he had no idea why Arthur had taken to doing so. It was equally exasperated and seemingly fond. Merlin found he didn't mind.

"Prat." Merlin folded his arms, still eyeing the bird, but allowing for a small smile in his direction.

Arthur waved him off, already opening the letter that came attached to the owl, petting it. He had a smile on his face as he started to open it.

"A letter?" Merlin took a timid step closer. "I might not be… uh… popular, or anything, but by owl is not the usual way to get mail."

"No," Arthur agreed, not looking at him. "It's the magical way. It'll be from my sister." He went quiet as he read, and Merlin slowly sunk into the seat across from him, staring but staying silent as he read.

Arthur's smile slowly slipped from his face, his eyebrows furrowing. Merlin wanted to ask what was wrong, but he made himself wait.

Finally, Arthur sat back in his seat. He didn't seem worried, more confused than anything.

"All okay?" Merlin asked in a whisper.

Arthur looked up at him. "Well… sort of." He leaned forward in interest. "Do you ever get nightmares?"

"Uh…" Merlin leaned back. "I mean, sure. Doesn't everyone?"

Arthur snorted. "Okay, not what I meant." He shook his head. "My sister, because of her magic, we think, she gets these nightmares that occasionally come true. This letter is her checking up on me because her dream last night panicked her. According to her letter, she can't remember all of it, and isn't sure exactly what was happening, but she did know it was about me getting… attacked. She wants me to be careful."

Merlin drew his eyebrows together. He didn't think his magic had ever given him any useful dreams. "Well… is it about something in the future? Or maybe a few days ago when you were bullied?" He didn't question the magical dreams, who knew the kinds of magic there was in the world.

"I don't know." Arthur shook his head, then dug through his bag to pull out some paper from his notebook. He wrote back a reply to his sister, taking a few minutes to make it longer than Merlin expected him to write. Merlin got comfortable in the chair, looking back out the window as he did so to give him an illusion of privacy.

When Arthur finished, he attached it back to the owl and sent it back. "Off you go, Hunith." And it took off.

Merlin froze, shoulders stiffening, staring wide at Arthur as he turned back around. Arthur caught his gaze and went still.

"What?" Arthur asked, a nervous expression on his face.

"Hunith?" Merlin asked, breathless, eyes distant, teary. His mother… All the memories were rushing back to him, his fingers digging into the chair beneath him.

It felt like a long moment before Arthur was kneeling in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Hey, Merlin, come on. What's going on? You've got to calm down."

His breathing… wasn't working. Why was it so hard to breathe?

The fires against the night sky, the death eater — he only knew the name because of Arthur. He hadn't even known what it was that killed his mom! He had no way of defending her, not even with his magic. What was the point of his gift, if…

He needed to learn how to control it. What if they came back? What if they came for Uncle Gaius, or Arthur? Or himself?

"Merlin!" Arthur placed one hand on his cheek now, the other moved to his chest. "Merlin, breathe! Slow down with me here."

More than the words, the magic in Merlin once again rose to meet Arthur, seeking strength and peace from the other teenager that suddenly, yet gradually, settled Merlin. He brought quivering hands to Arthur's wrists.

He was breathing with Arthur. He didn't even realize he'd started, but Arthur whispered words of encouragement. "Good, that's good. You're okay."

Merlin half sobbed, folding over on himself, head on Arthur's shoulder. "Shh… it's okay."

Merlin tightened his hands on his wrists. "Hunith was my mom's name." Merlin managed to gasp out, and Arthur stiffened, automatically realizing that she obviously… wasn't in the picture.

In the next heartbeat, Arthur was tightening his grip, pulling him further into the hug, but not saying anything.

Merlin took a few more deep breaths, then pulled back and tried for a weak smile, trying to fight the embarrassment. "So." He cleared his throat. "You said you have some homework? I can get to reading."

Arthur studied him a few long moments before pulling back. "Yeah." He stood, and when Merlin followed his movement, he paused once again, a hand on Merlin. "I lost my mom too."

Merlin met his eyes, seeing the sadness in them that matched his own. "You miss her." It wasn't really a question, but Arthur, eyes distant, answered.

"I was a baby when she…" He gave a long breath. "But yes. Everyday."

Arthur rolled his eyes as he waited for someone to answer the phone. Well, he hoped someone answered, he hated giving voice mails, but Merlin didn't have phone, which seemed insane to Arthur, yet he understood that they were just barely above homeless level, and Merlin had actually laughed at Arthur's shock and explained how there was no point in him having a phone when the only person he was close to was Gaius.

But, they had a landline at least.

Arthur honestly hadn't even known that landlines still existed until he met Merlin. His father definitely didn't have one anymore, even at work he had all his business calls forwarded to his cell phone. Arthur didn't like how he couldn't just text Merlin. He hated making phone calls.

He should get used to it though, one day he would have to take over for his father, and he would be expected to take a lot of calls.

"Come on…" he muttered, relieved when the call finally came in and Merlin's chipper voice came on.

"Hello?"

"At last!" Arthur grumbled. "I thought I was going to have to leave a voicemail. Seriously, can I buy you a phone?"

Merlin laughed. "I think that would be a waste of money on me. Besides, I'd probably lose it in half a day."

Arthur sighed. That was probably true. Merlin had lost his backpack and other items at least four times in the few weeks of knowing him. And that's just the times he knew about. "I don't know how you get anything done."

"Me neither!" he chirped, then continued. "Guess what happened to me today! I was on my way to the clinic and this cat attacked me! But it was so cute. After it calmed down I gave it some food, and now it's back at my apartment. Gaius is going to kill me."

Arthur wasn't sure what sound escaped his mouth, some sort of laugh, scoff, choke. "You brought the cat back home with you? After it attacked you?"

"Uh… yeah." He could practically see the eyeroll and hear the 'duh' that was left off. "It was starving, dude. I can see it's ribs. It has a collar though, so I'm going to see if someone is missing their cat. You know, someone decent at least."

Arthur felt a smile spread on his lips as he listened to Merlin's rambling. He wouldn't ever tell the teen, but it always calmed him. It reminded him that he actually had a friend.

"And anyway, after I fed her, it was super attached to me, started purring and shoving her nose in my neck. I seriously want a cat. If she doesn't have a home I wonder if Gaius would let me keep her."

"You can afford to feed a cat but not get a cheap phone?"

Merlin was silent a moment. "Right, that might be a little hard." His bummed voice about convinced Arthur to take the cat, but he knew his dad would never go for it. And he knew Merlin would never accept money. "It probably has a home anyway. I'll take it in to check for a microchip."

Arthur hesitated for a second, looking at his homework before deciding that, yes he'd already finished it all, and if he did much more studying he might blow up his brain. "Want some company?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Then, uh… if you have some time, maybe you can come over and play some video games or something?" Arthur didn't have that many games because he never had time to play it, but he could at least set up some Super Smash Brothers or Mario Cart or something.

"Sure, I haven't played games in a long time." Arthur caught the wistful tone in Merlin's voice, which told him that he probably hadn't played games since before his mom died. Arthur had only been over to Merlin's place once, having met Gaius briefly, and to be honest, Arthur didn't think he'd want to go again. It was rundown, not clean, and he didn't doubt there would be rats of cockroaches living in the space.

Arthur had already decided that whenever he was planning on getting rid of any of his clothes, he would pass them down to Merlin. He'd love to buy his friend some new stuff, but he knew Merlin wouldn't accept anything new. At least not much, and probably only on his birthday or Christmas or something.

"If you want to meet me at my apartment, we can walk to the vet together, then go back to your place."

"Alright, sounds good." Arthur agreed, even though just meeting Merlin at the Vet's office or getting a ride from his dad's driver would be faster. He didn't really care about fast, this just gives him something to do other than homework.

Which was honestly weird to him. He'd been so focused on school and extracurriculars, that he didn't know what it was like to do anything else. Didn't know what it was like to have a friend.

"I'll see you soon," Arthur said, saying their goodbyes before he rushed to get his shoes and coat on.

It didn't take him long to make his way to Merlin's house. Despite the fact that Arthur lived in a nice penthouse, it didn't mean all the area around was highest quality. Just two streets over you get off the rich and clean roads, and get into the more sketchy parts of town. Arthur always kept a wary eye out when he walked in the neighborhood, feeling his back itch as though he were dirty or being watched. It made him feel like a pompous jerk for feeling unclean just by being there, but he definitely couldn't help it. It just wasn't the way he'd grown up.

Luckily, he was knocking on the door soon, and Merlin answered even quicker. He was still holding the cat, and Arthur understood why he'd want to keep the cute bundle of fur.

"Oh gosh." Arthur immediately stepped closer to slowly offer a hand to the cat to sniff. It didn't take too long to gain approval from it, and he started petting it's head, leaning closer to look at it. Unlike what Merlin said, it's ribs were not sticking out that bad.

"You understand?" Merlin grinned smugly. "Isn't she pretty?"

"Very pretty." Arthur agreed, fighting a smile at Merlin's obvious obsession. He found out very quickly about Merlin's love of pretty much every creature other than rats.

"You know, if you can find a way to keep her, she'd probably do well to keep the rats away from your apartment," Arthur quipped.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Hardy-har." Clearly not amused, Merlin came out and shut the door behind them so they could start walking together. "So what games do you have?"

"Not many, just a few of the typical. Smash Brothers, Mario Cart. Things like that. I've never really played games much so I never cared to buy much more." He knew most people his age in school were a big fan of games like Halo and League of Legends and such, but he'd never cared to get into it. Especially when he had no one to play with anyway. He only really had the other games because Morgana liked to play them with him when she was home over the summer.

"Well, it'll be fun to play anything again," Merlin said casually, and Arthur felt like a prat again as he remembered that Merlin doesn't even have the luxury of any games. He doesn't even go to school, having been homeschooled most of his life, though from the sounds of it he'd probably start next year now that Gaius has had a job for long enough and they had a home.

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, noticing Merlin's gaze on him, but he was glad when Merlin didn't comment on his discomfort.

He listened idly to Merlin's chatter as he walked, wondering if the other kid ever really shut up for long. Not that he wanted him to, it was nice not to feel alone. But he couldn't fight the smile of amusement as the kid kept going.

"Uncle Gaius had a client yesterday who came in with a staple through his cheek. Apparently their kid threw a stapler at his face. They were just glad it missed the eye, but apparently the kid was inconsolable that he hurt his dad and was screaming the whole time he was in the clinic." Merlin was saying. "I guess it went deep enough that the man hadn't even wanted to try to take it out himself, just in case he caused more damage. It was a fairly easy fix, but…" Merlin shuddered. "That sounds pretty bad, to be honest, I'm kinda grossed out by the thought."

"Uh, yeah, me too. Imagine being hit hard enough to…" he trailed off, scrunching his nose.

"Anyway." Merlin changed topics quickly. "Gaius has a free night this Friday, and he wanted to know if you'd come over for dinner with us. He wants to get to know you better."

Inwardly cringing at the idea of stay in the apartment, Arthur nodded in agreement. "Yeah, okay, I'd like to get to know him too." He edged around some garbage on the ground — he didn't even want to guess what that trash might have been. He'd seen plenty of empty syringes in the area, so he always made sure to watch his step in this area. He definitely didn't want to impale his foot on one of those.

Merlin saw his look, however and laughed. "Spoiled prat."

"Yeah, yeah." Arthur shoved him gently, not wanting to jostle the cat. "I'm trying, alright?"

"Oh, I know." Merlin still chuckled though, tucking his face down toward the cat. "I do appreciate it too."

Arthur shrugged. "So have you had a chance to look at which schools you might want to get into next semester?"

"Well, I talked to my uncle, and he thought the one you go to might not be too hard to manage. He was going to go meet the principal with me in the next week so we could get everything figured out before Christmas."

"Okay, cool. They have pretty good science and English classes, I think you'll like it."

"As long as they don't make me do something stupid for a gym class, I think I'll be okay." Merlin eyed Arthur. "I definitely wouldn't want to get into some sort of sport."

Arthur snorted at the thought. "That would be a recipe for a disaster." He could just picture it, and Merlin would be trampled in a heartbeat.

"I'm pretty sure the only thing I'm good for with physical activity is taking the dodge balls to the face." Merlin grinned, the humor evident in his voice. "Doesn't matter how I move, I always get nailed."

Arthur was laughing before he even finished speaking, face tilted to the sky in a way that he hadn't laughed in years. Only since he'd met Merlin. Only Merlin. It startled him to realize that not even Morgana could get such pure humor and joy from Arthur anymore; probably because there will always be a part of Arthur that was jealous of her, even if he loved her more than anyone.

"No, no, I'm not kidding," Merlin continued as though Arthur hadn't believed him in the first place. "In my previous school I was always first chosen to be hit, and last chosen for everything else. And man, I don't know if you've been hit by a dodge ball, you know, because you can probably dodge them all like you're supposed to, but they can leave a sting! It's a good wakeup call, if it doesn't knock you out that is." Every word he said just added to Arthur's laughter, and Merlin was trying to keep a straight face, but was clearly getting amused. "No, seriously, Arthur, they aren't nice. I think I have nightmares about them. And yet people do sports for fun? Why would I ever want to play in a game that has a ball heading toward any part of my body at any time?"

"You're an idiot." Arthur finally managed to gasp out. "Sports are great, I don't know what your problem is."

"Yeah, sure, I don't see anything fun about it."

"That's because you have the grace of a dying fish. On land."

"Oi!" Merlin glared at him instead of hitting him — benefits of holding a cat he didn't want to disturb — but then he paused, before reluctantly admitting. "Yeah, alright, that's not entirely inaccurate. Only sometimes though."

Arthur snorted, shaking his head. He was honestly looking forward to playing video games with the other teen, and he wondered if he'd have the same lack of grace with something that wasn't even physical as he did with everything else.