Merlin and Arthur in Lockdown

Three

On the TV screen Uther finished his speech. Merlin sat motionless and unnecessarily straight.

'You alright?' Arthur asked, eyes narrowed at Merlin.

Merlin loosened up as the press conference was replaced by news updates.

Some supermarket shelves are already empty as shoppers stock up for the lockdown. The newsreader spoke over footage of a chaotic supermarket aisle.

'You're kidding,' Merlin muttered.

'Right, we probably should have gotten some supplies too.'

The camera zoomed in on a shopper's trolley with a stack of three mega-sized toilet tissue packs.

'Obviously not to that extent,' Arthur added. Just then his phone rang from the tabletop. It was Uther.

'Hello, Father,' Arthur said, receiving the call. Silence as he listened to the other end. 'There was no need for that!' His voice rose.

Merlin turned to see his expression.

'I'm sure it would have been like what everyone else is going through,' Arthur said. 'Well, yes, thank you.' He really didn't sound grateful. 'And if you wanted my opinion, now isn't the best time to be persecuting sorcerers on live TV.'

Merlin swallowed. This was a surprisingly agreeable response from Arthur.

'Yes, I will.' Arthur finally seemed to yield. 'You take care too.' He placed the phone back down.

'What is it?' Merlin asked.

Fifteen minutes later, he saw for himself.

<<>>

Two masked men carried in four large cardboard boxes and two iced boxes.

Arthur stood at the door and watched, arms tightly folded as the number of boxes at the door grew.

'Thank you,' he told the delivery men after they finished, and smiled behind his mask.

He and Merlin carried the boxes over to the kitchen floor after shutting the door behind the men. They took off their masks, revealing a look of disapproval on Arthur's face as he surveyed the deliveries.

Cutting through all the sticky tape, the cardboard and iced boxes revealed groceries and non-perishable supplies.

'This is enough for... six months,' Arthur observed with concern.

Merlin turned to see his discontent. 'Guess we don't have to go shopping any time soon.'

Arthur noisily pulled out a stool and sat down. 'Don't you get it, Merlin? This is precisely what I wanted to leave behind by moving out. 'I should have to...' He waved a hand in the air. 'Fight it out at the supermarket just like everyone else. That was the whole point of moving here - having an idea of what it's like out of the Citadel.'

Merlin took a seat on another stool without words. Arthur really meant what he had told his father. He wanted to live outside of the Royal bubble to better understand what causes actually mattered to the average person in Camelot. To prove he could handle some things on his own without the Royal privileges.

'Right,' piped up Merlin, 'you can always share them.'

Arthur slowly turned to him. 'That's not a bad idea.' There were people out there who didn't get to have their hands on this much stock. Or any stock, if they got beaten by a fellow hoarder.

'I saw Morgana post something about supporting this organisation, CF something or other,' said Arthur. 'I could get in touch with her to see if we could send some of this elsewhere.'

Merlin grinned, glad Arthur gave his idea importance. 'That sounds good!' As does the excuse to see Uther's adopted daughter, the gorgeous Lady Morgana.

'I say we try to get the stuff we originally planned and hopefully that works out. Then we can arrange to have this lot given to those who need it.' Arthur rose with a renewed energy.

The doorbell rang again.

After this second delivery person left, Merlin stared at the latest arrival of supplies sent by Uther. 'Yeah, I figured the toilet paper was on its way.'