Merlin and Arthur in Lockdown

Six

After his meeting with the king, Arthur shut down the laptop, stretched his arms and popped his head into Merlin's open door. 'Ready for the video, Merlin?' he asked.

Merlin sat at the end of his bed, one leg folded and the other dangling off the bed. He looked up from his phone. 'Sure am.'

As much as he wouldn't speak it out loud, Merlin's positive vibes lifted the tension off Arthur's shoulders. His forehead wrinkled. 'How on Earth is your bed made so neatly? I swear you're bringing in room service on the sly.'

Merlin briefly glanced at the sheet flowing from his bed, as if freshly ironed. 'I don't.' He used magic. He rose from the bed and followed Arthur out of his room. 'It's called "actually completing your chores". You Should try it sometime.'

'Right, throwing a blanket over everything is also a valid method,' Arthur defended. At least it was a first step. He recalled, ashamedly, that he did, in fact, have room service when he stayed at the Citadel.

Merlin set up Arthur's phone on the kitchen bench to record the video for the Prince's account. Then he got out the glass jar of eggs from the fridge and set it on the bench. He cradled the jar in the crook of his elbow and twisted the lid with his other hand. It was jammed. He tried again, the lid refusing to budge. Damn, if only Arthur wasn't present, then he could have used magic.

'Let me,' said Arthur, extending his arm. Merlin almost rolled his eyes, but gave up the jar to him.

The jar was opened in no time when Arthur gave the lid a precise twist. Merlin tried not to huff out his annoyance. He had to get used to this; he had to learn to go without his magic sometimes. Even if it made him feel like a loser. Despite which he added, 'Thanks, Camelot's First Knight comes through.'

To Merlin's relief, Arthur didn't take the opportunity to show off. 'Let's hope your pickling skills come through,' Arthur replied.

Merlin opened the app on the phone to record the video. 'Alright, folks,' he told the viewers, 'it's the moment of truth.' On the agenda for today's video was a review of Merlin's pickling project.

Arthur momentarily shoved his folded sleeves up a little and dipped a fork into the jar to roll out a few of the eggs, draining the liquid, into a shallow bowl. Then he ditched the fork and grabbed one of the pickled eggs with his hand. 'I warn you, I'm gonna say so if it's rubbish,' he said giving Merlin a look before popping the egg into his mouth.

Merlin also grabbed one off the bowl. Arthur had already popped the second half of the egg into his mouth. Merlin guessed he could have eaten it in one go but was being polite for the camera. Arthur silently finished eating and pinned Merlin with a precision-stare. Merlin met his eyes, slightly nervous.

'It's actually pretty good,' Arthur then said casually. 'For a first attempt.' He turned to the phone to address the viewers. 'I approve of the eggs, so he won't end up on the stocks this time.'

'Yeah, they're not too bad,' said Merlin. 'Though I wouldn't enter a competition to eat them or anything...'

'Yeah, no. You'd only enter a digestives eating competition.'

'What? They're good. Especially the chocolate coated McVitie's,' said Merlin, in defence of the biscuits.

He resumed talking to the audience while Arthur ate another egg in the background. 'Okay, next up,' Merlin announced, 'the art recreation contest. The cut off for that was 5 pm today, our time. So you have another,' he took a glance at the time on the screen, 'four minutes to post it. After which the Prince will judge the winner.' This was part of their lockdown video series, where they held competitions and content to get the viewers through the quarantine, wherever in the world they were. The situation was similar in most countries. The latest one was a competition to recreate a famous painting with things at home. It was all the rage on the Internet.

As were the videos from Prince Arthur's channel. The live stream already had a lot of viewers and oncoming comments.

After the video was over, Arthur said, 'You know you're not supposed to do a live stream? That's the Royal protocol.'

'Thanks for letting me know that after I finished the live stream.'

Arthur half smiled. 'Yeah, you have to break the rules sometimes to keep our publicists on their toes.'

Merlin did a swift scroll of the comments:

You gotta give us the recipe, Merlin!

I so can't be bothered making sourdough. But I might give the pickled eggs a go.

His Royal Highness looks great with the rolled-up sleeves. Then he ruins it by casually eating boiled eggs. I Love it!

Yay, you chose my art to be in the top 3! You guys are a highlight of this lockdown : )

'Well, it was worth it if we're helping people get through the lockdown,' said Merlin, lingering on the last comment.

Arthur took his phone back to have a read himself. He shut off the screen and put the phone away. 'My Father thinks it's not enough. He wants me to join the taskforce, to investigate sorcerers connected with the plague.'

Merlin swallowed. A shadow crossed over his face.

Arthur didn't seem particularly keen either as he sat on a stool in front of the bench. 'I don't think Father needs to drag magic into this just yet. Not when everyone's having a bad time of it as it is.' He cast his eyes forlornly at the bench, twisting the ring on his left index finger. 'But If I say so he'd just take me for a coward trying to get out of the taskforce.'

'Aren't you being a bigger coward?' said Merlin, 'by not speaking up?'

Arthur looked up, meeting Merlin's eyes. He thought about the words silently. 'You're right,' he said quietly before getting up and speaking more lightly. 'Oh, and as it turns out, I can go on the next grocery run without worrying about the security guards.'

'Great,' said Merlin. A thought struck him swiftly. What if he wasn't the only one to have used magic at the supermarket aisle? 'But what if there is an actual threat and you need protection?'

'Then I'll be in the same boat as the rest of the people in the store.' Arthur grabbed the reusable bags and put on a mask. 'After all, I'm just any other shopper, right?' 

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Author's Note: Disclaimer - I've never made or tried pickled eggs...heard of it from Merlin, actually! But I admit the McVitie's biscuits are pretty good.