tampered | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

When; Saturday evening
Rating; pg
Characters; Merlin, Charlie and Arthur
Summary; Charlie makes dinner for Arthur and Merlin in an attempt to befriend the prince.
Log;

Cooking with Merlin had been the most amusing experience of her life. There had been goofing off, patiently explaining and re-explaining instructions and the occasional moment spent kissing and Charlie was just loving every second of it.

It helped alleviate the stress and worry of making a good impression on Arthur. She felt bad for stealing Merlin away so often and this was her way of making it up to him, letting him know she wasn’t about to get between him and Merlin at all. They’d been friends since well before Charlie came into the picture and she understood how important that was to both of them.

While Merlin went off to get Arthur, Charlie finished with the last of the cooking. There was baked macaroni and cheese with ham, a small salad and brownies for dessert. Arthur was probably used to more at the table but since there was just the three of them, Charlie didn’t see the point in cooking a whole lot, even if she still managed to cook enough for six at the very least.

Now, all she had to do was wait for Merlin to return with Arthur. She sat on the couch with Petrichor, Phantom locked in her room and Hypnos in her usual spot inside the cat tower. She’ll take things out of the oven when they got here, provided she timed this right.

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When Merlin said it would be when he said so, he did mean it. There was no set time, so rather than just send Arthur a message telling him to come, Merlin figured he might as well go get him.

While he didn't exactly have anything against cooking, it was certainly much more fun to do so with Charlie. She had a pretty great ability overall to just make him feel very good about... everything, which, to be fair, Arthur could be rather awful at, being the prat that he was. That was alright, though, because when it really came down to it, Arthur cared incredibly much and most often things were all in good fun.

Arthur was like no other and Merlin could never not have him in his life, no matter how far he may sometimes stray, and he thought there really had been too little Arthur in it lately. Which was one reason he wanted to get Arthur personally.

And Arthur liked fussing just for the hell of it, but it didn't take an awful lot of time to get going again. Only way Arthur would get food, after all.

"It's going to be interesting to see what her pets think of you."

Well it's about time Merlin showed up! Arthur was nigh on near to starving after fidgeting around the house all day and wallowing in nerves. Do you know what a nervous man does? He takes an axe to a dummy and rips it to shreds and then he beats up a suit of armor with his sword and then he goes and makes a mess of his room just because he can and Merlin isn't there to scold him for it.

But Arthur does look over, still plucking lint off his shirt and wondering what in the world life was coming to that he was wearing a T-shirt of all things. It's just downright impractical.

"What pets? I don't believe you've mentioned pets before." Although Arthur was rather nostalgic for his dogs...

Edited 2012-07-22 21:43 (UTC)

No, that's only what a nervous Arthur does. Merlin never does any of that and we're not pulling any woman teasing here thank you.

"Well, I've never brought you over to her place before," Merlin said, scratching at his cheek. "Guess it slipped my mind. She's got three. It's supposed to be rare that all of them like new people."

But they all liked him. It would amuse him to no end if it wasn't like that with Arthur.

"Three what? However much I enjoy a well behaved dog, I'm not keen to have one at the dinner table."

Arthur wouldn't be able to resist feeding one his table scraps if they were. But...

He sighs. "What else should I know? I never seem to quite say the right thing around her." See? He can put in an effort to make this work. He really would, much rather have things be civil then hostile. Especially if she's going to be taking up half of Merlin's time.

Merlin chuckled quietly and shook his head. You would think that, since they have a cat now, Arthur would be a little used to having an animal walk around their legs at dinner. It happens.

"Two cats and a white fox." He glanced back at Arthur and smiled, warmly. "Are you saying she makes you nervous? She likes you, she knows I like you, so don't worry too much."

One would think, but he'd never admit it. That cat is Arthur's faithful dinner companion, you know! Which is sad, really. His only reliable companion, a cat...

"She keeps a fox?" Arthur is/i> surprised. She must have him well trained indeed. And he covers that up with a roll of his shoulder and a stretch of his arms. "And I'm not worried. I'm merely trying to be polite."

"I'm sure you are," Merlin said, not at all hiding that he didn't believe Arthur concerning that for a second. "But you don't need to be. I want her to know Arthur, and Arthur is a prat, not a sweet gentleman."

And he reached over to gently nudge Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur shoves Merlin right back. "How many times must I tell you I am not a prat?" He's certainly learned that putting on airs in this place does him little to no good.

It's hard being a common man.

He only wished he'd learned this earlier, not that there was time to learn this. Arthur could never, ever be a common man. Sticking his hands into his pockets, he looks over. "So beside the fox and the cats, is there anything else I should be wary of? And just how much further do we have to go anyway?"

"How many times do I need to tell you that I don't believe you?"

Honestly, Arthur should just give up on it because it was never going to get him anywhere, ever. Once and future prat, or whatever. It would n e v e r change. Merlin loved him anyway, though, which was another reason he would never stop saying it, aside from it being the truth.

"Soon there. I think that's it. She's not dangerous, honestly."

"Until you get it through your thick skull exactly who I am." Which is the once and future ex-prat, King of Camelot!

But, there's a smile on Arthur's face when he turns away and he's decidedly more relaxed. This is why he keeps Merlin around. Even if he is mostly useless.

"Of course she isn't. Besides being a woman, what else could she do?" Falling back on stereotypes is Arthur's way of handling the future. He may well change his mind once he's come across Morgause, but for now, he is most certainly still biased.

Oh, Arthur.

Arthur, Arthur, Arthur. Merlin shook his head with a quiet, snorting laughter because such a stereotype couldn't really be more misplaced than with Charlie. Sure, she was harmless enough when you were on her good side, but thinking she couldn't do anything...

Hah. "She could probably burn our house down if she wanted to," he said, flippantly. "So I think it's a good idea to stay on her good side, yeah?"

Arthur claps his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "I do believe that's your job. You'll come up with something."

Oh, the supreme trust he has in you... Despite all the things, it seems to still be intact. Arthur's judgement may seriously need to be questioned and soon.

"..." Merlin just. Gave Arthur a Look. "I am not taking full responsibility for you."

And he declared that the end of that discussion, because they had reached Charlie's door now and he opened it to waltz right in. He always did that, really.

Arthur paused just outside the door because in the end, he is entering a lady's chambers

house

whatever.

But after a moment, he walks in, awkward, and looking at everything except, well, Merlin and Charlie. "I see your manners still haven't improved. Shouldn't you at least announce yourself before entering?" He had to say something, okay, okay?

Fantastic timing. Charlie was just pulling the food out of the oven, Phantom and Petrichor were in her room for now and her cat Hypnos was watching everything from the cat tower. She looked slightly more interested in things than usual, actually taking time to study Arthur from where she sat.

She overheard what Arthur said and smiles a bit, looking at Merlin with some amusement.

"He has special permission to barge in whenever he wants. I don't mind it one bit. Hi. I'm charlie. Thank you for coming."

Special permission indeed. Not that it meant Merlin didn't do it pretty much everywhere else, still, and he only grinned at Arthur because... well.

"I'm never going to change, remember?" he asked cheerfully, and grabbed onto Arthur's arm to tug him along towards Charlie. "Come on."

He's distracted from his view of the apartment and allows himself to be tugged over.

"Well, one would have hoped you'd change at least a little by now." Arthur's voice is dry but he turns and bows his head ever so slightly. "Thank-you for the invitation. I must say, I haven't had a meal that's smelled this good in ages. What is it?"

No worries, Merlin. Arthur still remembers that stew fondly.

"Baked Macaroni and Cheese. When I asked Merlin about the two of you coming for dinner, I asked him what I should make. He said something modern and exciting," And a slight shrug from Charlie. "I hope you enjoy it."

There is a thump behind her from the direction of the cat tower and Charlie turns. She blinks slightly and then turns to look at Merlin as Hypnos makes her slow way over. That cat almost never gets out of her tower for anyone so Charlie is a bit shocked as Hypnos sits in front of Arthur's feet and meows up at him.

Oh, he should hope Arthur remembers it, but Merlin still made an indignant sniff at it. Alright, so he may have been a bit of a lazy cook, but he wasn't very bad, was he?

"Ages?" he repeated, peering down at Hypnos. Oh. Huh.

He gives Merlin an incredulous look. "You could have asked for anything and you went for modern and exciting? I swear Merlin, I think the City's gone to your head."

But he's preoccupied since there's a cat sitting on his feet. Gently (or not so gently) he nudges the cat with a foot. "What does he want?"

"That's Hypnos. I think she wants to be your friend," Charlie says, sounding a bit stunned. "Honestly, she never leaves her cat tower for anything except food and her litter box."

A pause and Charlie grins at Arthur. "She likes you."

Merlin just raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands, shrugging with shoulders and arms and all. "I thought we should try something new but I don't really use all my time to research every type of food," he said with a bit of an indignant grimace. "Thought I'd leave that Charlie. My head is perfectly fine."

Thank you very much.

And then:

"She only likes him because she doesn't know him."

So there.

"And she doesn't like you because you're an annoying country git. It's clear she has exceptional tastes if she's choosing me over you."

And there goes Arthur kneeling on the ground to give the cat a scratch behind the ears. He's not above taking whatever victory he can get, even if it isn't exactly the woman he had planned to charm.

... although he should've perhaps rethought his first words. His apologies Charlie. There's not an ounce of malice behind it.

Charlie's arm goes around Merlin's waist again and she turns to smile at him. Hypnos may be picky about who she likes (and for the record, the cat is purring loudly at Arthur's attention) and Merlin may not be one of her favorite people, but it's clear Charlie likes him.

"We'll just have to do more cooking together. It'll be fun." Speaking of.

"Dinner's getting cold. We should probably eat."

Merlin looked utterly affronted and made to sling something back, but then Charlie's arm was around his waist and she was talking, so he closed his mouth and went quiet. For now. He would take the next chance he could to shove Arthur a little and call him a prat.

"I wouldn't mind that," he said instead for now, moving his own arm around Charlie's shoulder and squeezing her upper arm before he turned to do just that; get to eating. "Come on," or, well, why not just call him that now, "prat."

Not in front of company he hopes. That would hardly be a polite thing to do. What if he fell face first into the baked macarooni and cheese?

... or Merlin could do that and with one last scratch behind Hypnos' ear, Arthur will stand, barely refraining from another dig as he swallows. "Right, and we can't have that. Lead and I will follow."

Although it's perfectly clear where the table is. He can follow his nose on occasion.

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