Canal Boat Summer (Merthur Fanfic)

Obviously And Annoyingly Straight

"I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon," Morgana's brother told them as he helped first Gwen, then Merlin, onto the canal boat. Merlin decided this was all very James Bond, despite the fact that he was dressed in a navy polo shirt and wine coloured chinos rather that a suit and tie. And also the fact that he was helping them aboard a canal boat. Arthur grew increasingly attractive by the second, but no one was that perfect. He was either a jerk, ill-mannered or annoyingly straight and since he seemed to him to be neither of the first two, he settled on the last. Even so, Merlin couldn't stop staring. He tried his best to avert his gaze from the handsome stranger, but failed quite spectacularly. Everything about this perfect stranger pulled him in: his azure eyes; the flick of his blond hair; the soft pinkness of his lips; the strong line of his jaw. Arthur seemed to be enjoying the occasion, smiling as they sat down inside the barge, and revealing a set of shiny, but slightly crooked teeth. The man was flawed, but irresistibly so.

They sat inside on the sofa, which also doubled as Arthur's bed apparently. Morgana poured them each a small glass of bubbling rosé; Arthur's thank you gift. It tasted pleasantly like its name. Chatter began as Lancelot continued to blacken various foods on the roof. Arthur was Morgana's half brother. He was three years younger than her, making him eighteen, the same age that Merlin was, and that Gwen would soon be. Their father was a "prejudiced bastard" who had reportedly cheated on Morgana's mother with Arthur's. It seemed that he abhorred anyone who was different, and so Lance, with his earring and nose ring, his shoulder length hair and his guitar, his veganism and his jumbled-up little shop, was exactly the kind of man Uther did not want for his daughter. At this point Gwen interrupted to point out that Uther Pendragon could not be an authority on relationships, which made Arthur chuckle. A stab of undeserved jealousy twisted in Merlin's gut. He wanted to be the one making this beautiful stranger laugh.

Lancelot served the food about two minutes later and they sat outside on flimsy plastic chairs to eat. The family had obviously been expecting Merlin and Gwen- or expecting Arthur to eat a lot- as the food was plentiful. They sat for hours, chewing and chatting and growing ever closer. Merlin, Gwen and the Du Lacs had been friends before, but they had been friends with everyone. Now it seemed that this could become a regular thing. Merlin could think of nothing better than to spend every evening in the coming summer sitting in a flimsy plastic chair by the canal with his absent-minded, curly-headed best friend, the dark haired, aesthetically pleasing, vegan family and this wonderful, beautiful stranger.

Three and a half hours later, after she had had her fill of free food, booze and good conversation, Gwen dragged Merlin away from their little party. She had made arrangements to meet another group for end-of-school drinks, refused to be late. She had her own gorgeous man to impress after all; golden haired, rugby playing Leon. She thanked Lance and Morgana for their hospitality, told Arthur it was lovely to meet him and ruffled Mordred's hair. Then she grabbed Merlin's hand and pulled him away so he barely had a chance to do the same.

As soon as they were out of earshot she turned to Merlin and pelted him with girly ramblings.

"He was HOT wasn't he?" Merlin could hear the capital letters in her speech.

"I guess so..." He could feel himself blushing and cursed his goddamn pale, British complexion.

"Hot and checking you out." She added.

Merlin choked on a laugh, "Don't flatter me. He was Obviously and Annoyingly Straight."

"I'm not so sure, I was getting vibes."

"Vibes?" He raised his eyebrows.

"You know like a sense..." She began.

"I know what vibes are, I'm just stating that they are utterly ridiculous." Gwen punched him lightly on the arm and they both laughed for a solid two minutes.

They were still laughing when they heard footsteps running up behind them. A blond head, barely panting, caught up with them. Arthur greeted them with a well spoken, "Hi again," before adding, "Can I ask you a favour? Where can you get a decent meal around here? I don't have anything against vegan food, but it's not exactly filling." Gwen opened her mouth, but Merlin got there first.

"We're on our way into town so we could show you, if you like?"

They led Arthur into town, making polite, but sparse conversation. Every thirty seconds, Merlin found himself staring at the snug fit of Arthur's shirt or the peachiness of his backside. He knew that checking out a stranger, who just happened to be your friend's brother, was inappropriate and slightly creepy, but Arthur was a God. And the perfection of a God was supposed to be admired. Eventually, the three of them stopped at a tiny little Chinese Takeaway named The Great Dragon. Merlin had never seen anyone who was actually Chinese working in there, in fact he had never seen anyone other than an ageing man with comical eyebrows and shoulder length grey hair. It was, unusually, all locked up when they arrived. They were just about to pass it by completely when a soft whisper drifted through the air. "Merlin..."

"Did you hear that?" He asked, but neither of his companions had heard a thing. "Don't worry, it was probably just my phone. I should probably see who it is- you two go on." He shot a look at Gwen, just to make sure that she wasn't going to "accidentally" let something slip, before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

After Gwen and Arthur were safely around the corner, he replaced his phone, and made towards the door of the restaurant. Trying it, he realised it wasn't locked, as he had originally thought. As his hand pushed against the glass, an airy whisper filled his ears again. Merlin took a deep breath. He opened the door just enough for him to slip inside. "Merlin..." There it was again, a third time now, and he was convinced he couldn't have been imagining it. Nervously, he stepped inside the restaurant. The whisper sounded a fourth time.

He took a step forward.

Then another.

Then another.

A fifth whisper.

It sounded as if it was coming from behind him this time.

Merlin turned sharply on the spot, only to find nothing at all. His breathing was fast now and the voice in his head telling him this was all one of Gwaine's practical jokes was rapidly being overpowered. He completed all three-hundred-and-sixty degrees of his turn and found himself face to face with a familiar old man. Merlin screamed. Only, he thought he screamed, but there was no noise.

"Can I help you?" Asked the only man he had ever seen work in the Great Dragon. His manner was a stern one, and made the blood rush to Merlin's cheeks.

"I... Umm... I'm just... Errrr..."

The man raised his eyebrows; transforming his face in an instant.

"I wasn't breaking in or anything the door was unlocked and...." He was jabbering now.

"I know, Merlin, I know. I wondered how long it would take you to end up here." The old man's tone had changed along with his facial expression.

"Oh, thank God, I thought I was gonna b... How do you know my name?"

"Everybody knows your name, Merlin Emrys."

"No they... Why would they know about me? I'm just the skinny, gay kid from Ealdor."

"Everyone with magic knows about you." The man replied.

"Magic! You're telling me the thing I can do, that's actual magic?" Merlin spluttered.

"What else? Not only do you have magic, young man, you have very p..." He trailed off as Merlin's phone emitted the first few bars of "California Girls" from his pocket.

"You should go," he said, gesturing towards the door, "But please, do come again."

Merlin nodded, before looking down to pull his phone out of his pocket. By the time he looked up again, the old man had gone.