Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Arthur woke up with a terrible headache. Well, the underlying cause was probably those 5 shots of tequila last night, but he decided not to think about his irresponsible behaviour not fitting someone with a Doctor in front of their name. Arthur sat up and thanked all the gods he didn't believe in for Lance, because on his bedside table was a glass of water and aspirin. He heard voices from the kitchen, and tried moving (calling it crawling would be too generous) towards the door.

"Oh, look at our resident sleeping beauty! Didn't you need a true love's kiss to join us this glorious morning?" Lance was surprisingly chipper this early in the morning after a night at the club. Arthur was ready to forgive his gleefulness for the pancakes he was making for the past half hour, judging by the state of the kitchen. A faint aroma of sandalwood and lavender alerted Arthur of Percy's presence, but he still almost flinched when Percy put a coffee mug in his hands.

"Ha-ha, you are using my disrupted state to let it all out, how brave." Arthur grunted and sat down as slowly as humanly possible. Still, sharp pain made its way into his eyes, and once again Arthur shamefully hoped to stay blind. "How are you two… alive?" It was a rhetorical question, Arthur just assumed that these chemistry nerds invented a potion for hangover, but didn't give any to him.

"Power of true love, baby." Percy sat down on the counter with the sole purpose of distracting Lance from the pancakes by, well, being himself. Unsurprisingly, it worked, so Percy's little kiss turned into a full make out session, and after two minutes Arthur had to save the pancakes.

"Ugh, your cuteness is disgusting, would you please be happily in love somewhere else?" He said with a grunt, turning off the stove. They looked at him with a mix of smugness and pity, so Arthur tried to hide behind his coffee mug.

Lance chuckled and put a plate full of pancakes in front of Arthur. He draped over the chair and said, for the umpteenth time, "Need I remind you, that you chose to live with me out of your own free will?"

Arthur took a sip from his cup, made a face most fitting for a newly born kitten, and took a bite of a pancake. "Need I remind you that I have student debt and do not earn nearly enough for a flat in London?" Lance was about to open his mouth, so Arthur put his hand up and took a deep breath. "And before you start your rant about my parents, no, they wanted me to go into the military because it is a family tradition, not because they hate me, and the money…" Arthur's voice cracked. "Well, who would blame them."

"I fucking would." Lance said in a tone he reserved for a few selected topics that aggravated him the most. "I second that." Percy landed on Lance's lap like a fat pigeon near a piece of bread and took a pancake.

Arthur shot them a tired look. He knew they were right, but it was reassuringly simple to think that they just didn't know enough. Well, at least for now.

Arthur finished his coffee and got up, as slowly as he could. And while he thought that aspirin and a hot espresso had defeated his headache for good, it got him, like a drunk, jumping out of the alley with a knife. As a true Pendragon, Arthur endured the pain in front of others, but as soon as the door closed, he quite literally fell to his knees. It was going to be a great day.

***

Professor Merlin Emrys did not want to wake up this morning, but his body had other plans, so for the past hour he has been drilling a hole in his ceiling with his "I'm done" look. He was, in fact, done. Well, at least, that's what he was telling himself every day, but he never quite believed it. It may have been easier to be done with everything, but today was just another day of fighting for historical information in the name of research.

He sighed and got up. His room was dark, it always was, even on sunny days, for some mysterious reason. Merlin never really questioned it, he just assumed it was his personality filling the place up with darkness and desperation.

The annoyingly happy sound of his alarm broke the gloomy silence of the flat, or "the cave" as Gwen called it. Merlin turned it off, picked up the clothes he threw on the floor last night, and opened his closet. The inside of it was a stark contrast to the rest of the room. One may assume that anyone who chooses to dive into the endearing field of history trades sense of style for dark brown tweed jackets and toupees, but Merlin simply did not care for the trends among his peers, so even his students usually mistook him for one of their own rather than for a member of the tweed tribe. A dozen of colourful shirts and equally flashy scarves started at him from the closet. Under their intimidating gaze, he grabbed a blue shirt, a red scarf, and trousers of a vague gray-ish colour.

He was buttoning up his vest, when he heard a purely customary knock on the door, which was immediately followed by the door smashing into the wall. "Hello, Gwen." He said, coming out of his room, trying to hide his smile.

"Good morning to you too, hotshot." Gwen sat on the counter and held out a cup of coffee. "From 'Camelot', just like you like it."

"Thank you, you are the saviour of the lonely history professors." Merlin took a sip and sat beside Gwen. "Without you, we would all be dead, either from hangover or cirrhosis."

Gwen gave him a friendly push, though her 'friendly' can be considered an attempted murder in some countries. "You will probably die of loneliness if you don't get over yourself and talk to someone apart from lesbians and senior citizens."

Merlin shot her a shocked look and gasped. "How dare you ask me to abandon my people?"

"Find new people." Gwen got up and shook Merlin so hard he was ready to throw up. He was sure, if he ever decided to become an astronaut, he wouldn't need training. "Your new research assistant is starting tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, but he has to audit and teach classes this semester. Also, I gave him an extensive book list, so he will be spending most of his time in the library."

"You are a tyrant." Gwen said with admiration in her voice.

"I learned from the best, Madam Chair." Merlin gave her a bow, so she got off the counter to smack him in the head and push out the door. It was going to be a great day.

Chapter Text

"Bloody hell, where am I?" Arthur said to no one in particular, though he hoped that some sort of trickster would appear to trade his soul for the comprehension of the twisted path inside and outside the university. "Even the catacombs were easier to navigate…" Arthur's voice was already showing its defeatist notes. He looked at the empty hallways one more time and slid down the wall — his dignity was not worth the pain and humiliation of being lost. Well, at least he came a day before he was supposed to start, so for now he was just a stranger, by cruel irony, stranded in the endless labyrinth of UCL.

"Oi! 're you lost, mate?" A cheery voice reverberated in the corridor, making Arthur look up. The voice belonged to a short dark-haired guy, an undergrad, judging by the eye bags and a Red Bull in his hand. And the classes haven't even started yet.
"Oh, well, kind of—" Arthur ran his fingers through his hair, "I was just trying to find the history department… or the library, at least." He made an awkward chuckle, trying not to look at the undergrad's face.

"I hate to tell you this, mate, but you're in the chemistry building." He looked as if he had just told Arthur that his whole family is dead. "But, um, the science library is 'round the corner, and that's something, innit?"

"God damn it, the biohazard signs should've tipped me off, right?" Arthur chuckled, — "But, anyway, thanks for showing me the error of my ways—" Arthur paused for the undergrad to jump in. "Oh, it's Mordred, but people call me Mort, but you don't have to, we just met, and you're a history major—" Mordred was spiralling out of control, so Arthur took it into his own hands to calm him down. Essentially, by taking him into his hands and giving a little shake.

"Hey, hey, slow down, lad." Arthur looked into Mordred's eyes, feeling nostalgic. "Pleasure to meet you, Mordred." Mordred's face lit up, even though he almost dropped his bag trying to shake Arthur's hand.

"Great to meet you…"

"Arthur."

"Arthur! I've got time, if you want to know where the library is?" Mordred's statements sounded a lot like questions, when he was nervous.

"Who am I to refuse such a polite offer? Lead the way!" Arthur grabbed his bag, and followed the surprisingly fast Mordred to the lift.

In the span of two hours, Arthur learned that Mordred was nothing short of a genius, starting university at 16 to pursue his passion for… Arthur didn't quite understand what, but he was sure it had something to do with all the letters in STEM. He was starting his second year, and was already involved in some sort of groundbreaking research, so Arthur's upcoming work in the broad field of History of British Isles started to look a lot less impressive. But Arthur couldn't help himself, feeling something utterly parental overcome him. In their whole conversation, Mordred hasn't mentioned any family or friends, just classes, professors, and librarians, so Arthur could only assume Mordred was in a similar position as him.

"Thanks again for the tour and the conversation. I'll see you around?" They were standing in front of the library, watching the twilight slowly swallowing the city. "My pleasure! And…" Mordred took a deep breath, trying to summon all of his courage. "Do you want to, maybe, talk again sometime, mate?" His voice dropped on the last word, as if he was ready to get his head chopped off.

"Of course, mate." Arthur smiled, remembering himself being 17 and almost as awkward. "I'll be at the library day and night, so you can always find me there. But if for some unforeseen reason I won't be there, you can have my number."

Mordred had the look of a fish out of the water, in a sense that he couldn't take a breath for so long Arthur actually started to worry about him. Arthur waved in front of his face to get Mordred back from the ocean of awkwardness. After ensuring Mordred’s return to reality, Arthur produced a pen and a piece of paper from his bag, wrote his number on it, and gave it to him, who looked at it like a treasure hunter looking at a stack of gold bricks.

"Okay, I have to go, but have a good evening." Arthur patted Mordred on the shoulder and started walking back to Lance's.

"B-bye!" Mordred unfroze and waved at Arthur. He felt like he had just found an older brother he never had. Maybe this year won't be as bad as Mordred expected it to be. Or at least not as lonely.

*****

The off-white walls of the university were closing in. They were supposed to make the space more "open" and "free", but Merlin never felt more trapped. He would usually retreat to his dusty office, to lecture halls, or to the top floor of the library, but today he had to face the tyrant, or as others called him, the dean.

Merlin dreaded this meeting all summer (and kept cancelling it), but one day before the start of the semester seemed like something unavoidable, so he went into the building. The minute on the lift felt like an eternity, Merlin was surprised his life didn't flash before his eyes, but, to be fair, a lot of it was deep in the repressed memories pile or at the bottom of a bottle of scotch. Merlin… well, Professor Emrys, was standing in front of the dean's office. He was about to knock when he heard the old, creaky voice of the man he really did not want to see.

"Come in, boy." Merlin shivered, but gathered himself and came in. The office was a unique place where everyone felt uncomfortable. Merlin thought it was because of the stale smell of something he could only assume was some sort of fungus, only that explained how needlessly angry this man was.

"Hello." Merlin was always trying to be on the line between polite and sarcastic when he talked to Uther, but he usually ended up sounding passively aggressively cold. "You wanted to talk to me about some budgeting issue."

"Yes, indeed." Uther closed something that was, judging by the colour, a personnel file, and did not bother looking at Merlin. His office was more of a cave than a room where an old, grumpy man would live out his miserable days. There even was something resembling a treasure — piles of books on what Merlin found out several years into knowing Uther was the socioeconomic structure of Ancient Greece, his previous research topic. The darkness and lack of air in his office only contributed to the feeling of being trapped anyone unlucky enough to end up here experienced.

"I requested a meeting with you in July, but only on the last day of August, you grace me with your presence." He made a pause long enough to make Merlin shift in his place. "But I understand you have been busy spending the limited resources you needed for research on a post-doctorate fellow from a second rate university."
"I did not exceed the limited, but generous" — Merlin almost spat it out, while maintaining a wide enough smile for it to be considered polite — "budget allocated for my research. Legally, ethically, and professionally, you have nothing to worry about."

Uther's eyes narrowed. "I did not think so. I am concerned if your new fellow would compromise your focus, alas, one cannot do everything one may want. I just wanted to inform you that you will be teaching both sections of all of your classes." Uther's mouth moved in a way one may mistake for a smile. Merlin responded with an equally disingenuous expression.
"I would be happy to dedicate even more of my time to teaching the brilliant young minds." Merlin didn't even try to fake sincerity, he knew Uther would enjoy watching his unsuccessful attempts to deceive him. "Would that be all?"

Merlin didn't wait for an answer and got up. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, he felt as if he was chocking to death. The door handle was about to turn and let him out to the world where the sun still existed, when Uther continued. "Oh, and since you have hired a fellow, in order to balance the budget I had to let go two of your TAs. But I am sure you will handle it, how did you put it? Ah, right, 'legally, ethically, and professionally'." Uther looked right at him, trying to spot a muscle twitching on Merlin's dreadfully blank face.

"I am always appreciative of a challenge." Merlin nodded at him and stepped out of the office. The door shut behind him, and he let out a breath he did not realise he was holding. He should have expected something like that, and it was part of the reason he avoided Uther all summer, but it still felt like a gut punch. Arthur better be worth all the sleepless nights Merlin would spend doing a TA's job. Uther really doubled his workload without violating any labour laws. One thing Merlin couldn't help but be amazed by was the easiness with which Uther was walking the fine line between being a good politician and a straight-up sadist with no regard for laws, morality, or decency.

It was time for an afternoon scotch.