#pratquefuturus

     William had perfected a strategy he liked to call 'sleeping while awake'. The Round Table was pretty big and if he sat in between Gwaine and Pelinor he was not likely to be caught if he did it right. The plan was simple. Will would close his eyes thoughtfully and occasionally nod to look agreeable or grunt along with the other knights when there was something worth grunting over. Did he really know what was being discussed? No, but it did not matter. He voted whenever he felt Gwaine raise a hand next to him and all was well.

     Well            all was nearly well. The plan had gone well, probably. No one even noticed, most likely. Except when the meeting was adjourned and the Knights trickled out of the hall to leave the King to oversee the last of the business. That was one queue Sir William Cynwrig had missed and there he sat, dozing in his chair as he had for most of the meeting.

Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.

Magicians were not big on birthdays. Being born was a marker of before. That time in their lives when they were helpless and named- maybe even loved. They once were common as the rest of the world. Mortal. Unremarkable. Naming days were better though not by much. Merlin Emrys only knew a few magicians who celebrated their name day and they were considered either arrogant or foolish.

While Merlin did not know the name day of his boss, William Gladstone, he did know it was sometime this month so the first seemed like a good oppertunity to celebrate it. Celebrate being a very loose term.

Gladstone did not have any friends that Merlin trusted in his office so this alone ruled out much of a party. It was just him then. Just Merlin. The secretary and, honestly, now that he thought about it, not someone very suited for giving gifts at all. He had only been working with Gladstone a few months and they had been months of verbal abuse and underappreciation. Still, Merlin felt as though he had moments with his boss. Unexpected, quiet, sincere moments.

Merlin had been getting serious about the idea of getting to know Arthur Pendragon. Sure he was a Quidditch player (which came with pluses and minuses) but he also seemed like a serious student, with a good personality, and great abs. Not that Merlin had seen his abs. But he imagined they were quite gorgeous...just like the rest of him.