In Your Shoes, in Your Heart

A/N - This fic had been sitting in my WIP folder for months, titled "merlin april fools fic". As you know, it's not April (unless it is for future readers, hello there). I kept forgetting about it, started proofreading it and had to reread it again and again in order to remember what the fic was even about and at this point, I'm just so done with it and glad that it's finally done so here you go

*inserts the started making it, had a breakdown, bon appetit meme*

Anyway, I hope some of you enjoy it.

***

The warm morning light reached the windows in the prince's chambers and the door opened soon after. It wasn't the manservant who entered, no, it was one of the guards from outside the chambers. It was their job to wake up the prince tonight, not Merlin's.

"Sire," said the knight, gently shaking the prince awake. Another knight opened the window to let the fresh air in. "Sire, it's time to wake. It's morning."

Arthur's eyes slowly opened and he groaned in answer. He looked up at the guards and upon noticing the clear absence of his servant, he closed his eyes again and groaned even louder. "It's today, isn't it."

The knights looked at each other before one of them nodded, "yes, my lord."

The other one smirked.

"Alright, leave me then."

The knights nodded and both left the chambers, closing the door again. Arthur found himself alone in his bed, with no servant to wake him up and no breakfast prepared at the table. He felt almost like a commoner – which was precisely the point.

Arthur hated this tradition. It was the stupidest one of them all! How did it even start? Who was the one who decided that letting servants and their masters switch their positions for one day a year was a good idea? Arthur was the crowned prince, not Merlin's servant, and Merlin was certainly not a lord.

The prince sighed and gazed out of the window. It was sunny outside. The first day of April, of the fourth year that Merlin was his manservant and close friend. He'd seen how much Merlin was looking forward to this day – almost the whole year in fact, since the last time they had to go through this. Well, since Arthur had to go through this, Merlin just enjoyed the whole day with glee in his smile.

Not this year though, no. Arthur had special plans for today . . . Yes, he'd have to do everything that the idiot told him to do, but this year Arthur planned to show Merlin that even as a lord, he had responsibilities. It wasn't just lying in bed and ordering others around all day.

Arthur sat up in his bed and instead of getting up and going to the tower to wake Merlin up, he spent the next fifteen minutes just sitting there, thinking, preparing himself for today, and yes, wasting time. That was the point. Merlin never cared to wake Arthur up on time, so why should Arthur bother?

After he'd spent another five minutes in silence, his thoughts wandering places he'd never let them before, he finally stood up, rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to go wake up his servant, follow all his orders, and then hope for an early tomorrow.

xoXÖXox

Merlin had been awake long before the sun rose above the hills. It was all the excitement – it had made him wake up too early and he couldn't go back to sleep since. He'd been looking forward to this day for months, reminding Arthur that it was going to come and enjoying his face of annoyance every time he mentioned it. He knew the prince wasn't actually seriously annoyed about this, he could stand taking orders for a mere day, but it would not be pleasant for him.