Fandom Imagines.

#22: A Strange Meeting-Merlin

A/N: This ones a bit long, but I still hope you like it! 

~Kiya221B

IMAGINE THIS 

Dust collected in a cloud before your eyes as you shut the book closed. Cringing at the loud noise, you glanced over to the old man librarian who was already sizing you up with narrow glare. The skin by his eyes crinkled as he scowled and put a finger to his lips. You avoided the urge to roll you eyes at him before turning back to scan the large selection of dusty books. Did they ever clean this place? Just before you, in the corner of the bookshelf, was a spider weaving its loose web over some of the stacked books. You watched it and smiled as it swung on the end of its silver string to reach the other side of the web. Stepping closer, you peered into the dirtied bookshelf. There was just one more book you had to find. You blew a lock of hair out of your eye in annoyance before reaching round your dress to find the list Gaius had given you. The crevices in the wall opposite you allowed some light to shine through so you used that to glance at the last book you needed to get. 

Wild Beasts of Camelot 

Wait a minute, you saw just a moment ago. You put the list away and tip-toed around the book case, you didn't exactly want another snobbish glare from the librarian for making noise. The stone floor was littered with crumpled bits of paper, used books and clumps of candle wax. Seriously, when was the last time they had a proper clean out in this place? Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward came into view once you'd turned a corner. Focused on finding that last book, you began to move along the bookcase; eyes flickering over each title as you went. 

"Oh, sorry!" A voice said upon bumping shoulders with you accidentally. Startled, you snapped back away the person. "Sorry." The voice was deep like a boy's, you peered into the orange light to see the outline of someone. "I really didn't mean to scare you there." A young man, around your age, stepped out of the shadows. He was so tall you had to arch you neck back to glance up. You noticed he had the most blue eyes you'd ever seen. Not a bright blue, a deep, pooling kind of blue.

"Ah, no, that's my fault." You brushed aside some hair, flustered. "Should've seen where I was going." The boy smiled, his ears turning up at the action. He had a very angular face from what you could see in the candlelight and dark, short hair. You swore you'd seen him before. Frowning with recognition too, he pointed to you. "Wait, I've seen you before. Oh, I know! You're Gaius' apprentice! I've seen you drop by every now and then." You relaxed a little, this guy seemed so friendly it was hard not to feel at ease. "Yes. You're... Prince Arthur's man servant, right?" 

"Yup, although some days it feels like I'm more of a slave than a servant." He grinned cheekily,"But tell him that. Oh, I'm Merlin by the way." Merlin held out a hand and you shook it with a smile. "'Merlin'. Huh, that's an interesting name. I'm Y/N." 

"Shhh!" 

You both turned to the grouchy librarian with sheepish and apologetic looks.  The old man gave you a glare before going back to his work. Merlin pulled a face and you put a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from giggling. Lowering his voice to a whisper, Merlin said,"Nice to meet you, Y/N. So you're an apprentice. I haven't seen you around the castle before until recently. How'd you get the apprenticeship?" 

You shrugged, hitching the huge book you were currently holding underneath your arm. "My village is mainly full of farmers so that means some get injured during harvest time when they use sharp tools to cut at the barley. My mother was the closest we had to a physician so she'd tend to injuries. She taught me everything I knew." Your lips tugged up, you continued on too caught up in your own story to notice you were rambling,"I wanted to become an official physician to make her proud. So, I left and came to Camelot in hopes of getting a job. Turns out there are no women physicians though. I was told that it was a man's job."