So we meet again... (a merthur au)

Within the Stone

However, the "in with the new" was still debatable.

He was not so quick as to allow Emrys to be "the new" and immediately let him into his life on a more permanent basis. The curiosity he held from the sense of familiarity was odd, sure, but he wasn't a fool. Lapses in judgement, such as trusting too quickly, is a one-way ticket to be taken advantage of. That, he had experienced enough of for a lifetime.

He remembered Emrys watching the movies intently, clearly wanting to comment but keeping to himself, and found his thoughtful expression endearing. It reminded him of a cousin of his, the small child's face scrunched in thought whenever he was asked a difficult question. Maybe Emrys was a secret fantasy buff, Arthur wondered, but it seemed unlikely to be a fantasy buff and yet not be familiar with a staple of the genre.

He glanced around at the remaining boxes and sighed, deciding to go to sleep instead of dragging any more old trinkets out for the night. He changed his clothes before curling up into bed and facing the wall. As he was falling asleep, he felt his dog jump on the bed and curl into his back which made him smile as he drifted off.

...

Sunday, the dreaded day he usually devoted to drinking a bit with Finn and Morrison. Finn, his coworker, and him were pretty close but Morrison was more Finn's mate than Arthur's. Morrison and Finn went to uni together and were roommates while Morrison was getting his doctorate and psychologist certification wrapped up, and likely gave Finn sessions for free.

Typically, they met at The King's Palace and had a few pints and went their separate ways, nary a drunk skunk among them. However, Arthur and Finn got a long weekend off (thanks to someone in HR suggesting an extra day off once every other month would improve morale) it was likely they would be drinking more than usual tonight. And, knowing Finn, Arthur knew he would bring the girl Amy with him if things had gone well last night. Morrison would turn in early due to an early work day tomorrow, and Arthur would be going home alone, per usual.

The group chat usually didn't start to get active until at least 6pm so he had time to spare. He finally got the energy to open his eyes, Wade laying on his stomach in the corner of the room as he ate from his bowl. He glanced at the clock, groaned and stuck his head under the pillow.

"Wade. Why the hell didn't you wake me up earlier bud? How did I sleep through my alarm?" Arthur asked his dog, glancing back under the pillow and noticing the numbers blinking softly. "Ah, looks like a small power outtage hit during the night. I bet you slept right through it too, didn't ya?"

Wade huffed, ignoring him to eat his food in peace. Arthur took that as his sign that even Wade didn't feel like putting up with his shit today. He walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, hair disheveled and eyes glazed, then looked at the analog clock ticking away on the wall. Noon. He hadn't slept so deeply, let alone so long, in months. No dreams at all. Unusual, seeing as even though he never remembered details, he always had dreams at night. He chalked it up to staying up a little later than usual to go through the boxes.

Leaving the bathroom, while rubbing his eyes, he managed to trip on the corner of a box and would have ate carpet if he hadn't caught himself with his arms. He cursed loudly, punching the box aside in disgust.

Wade sat and watched unamused, as if to say Wow, you really showed that box who's boss.

Arthur squinted at him angrily, pointing with his finger, "Shut up. Quit it with the face, Wade. It's uncalled for."

He looked around from his spot on the ground. Looked like 6 more boxes to go, thinking back he tried to remember what could be left in the boxes. After lying a few minutes staring blankly, Wade started licking his face and whining to go out.

Arthur got up, letting him into the back yard and going back to make a cup of instant coffee for the sake of getting started as soon as possible. Looking at the boxes over his mug, he decided that the remainder of the boxes were likely old clothes, some photos before he regularly used a cell phone with a camera on it, and some old mementos from his youth.

Once Wade was let back in, he opened boxes one by one that had been dispersed throughout the tight living room. He set items into piles of things he recognized, things that felt important, and the sentimental junk not worth keeping. The process took hours to finish, as well as a small break 3 hours in. Most of the time was spent staring at the old things and deciding if they were worth keeping.

At the bottom of the final box he found a photo of him at about 10 years old (based on the date on the back) at the Sword in the Stone tourist attraction. His class had gone as a fun history lesson.

...

That day, he had swore up and down he had felt the sword move when he tugged, but everyone laughed.

"Yeah, sure, Arthur." Some joked. "The Once and Future King lives in Knightsbridge."

"I'm serious! It moved!" Arthur insisted, tearing up some before becoming angry and the tears fading. "Whatever, who cares what you sods think anyway?"

...

He set the picture to keep, smiling sadly at the memory. He was smiling so happily in the photo, unusual for the stern and subborn boy he was at that age. When he told his parents about the incident, they humored him. Asking if he would let them move into the palace when he took the Queen's place. That felt much worse than when the boys in his class overtly teased him.

He put the garbage in one of the boxes, calling up a donation house for the clothes and old, gently used toys. The momentos he decided to ship to his parents, whether they decided to keep them or not. He wrote a note saying as such and stuck it in the box.

Arthur's phone dinged and upon checking it already found his suspicions confirmed. Finn was bringing Amy from accounting and Morri planned to go home before 10 to get shut-eye. Arthur jumped into the conversation, letting them know he just finished up and was ready whenever they are.

Meet you at the Palace at 7 - Finn

C u there - Morri

Yup - Sent

He stood up and dressed quickly, filling up the food and water bowl before opening the dog door for this particular occassion. While Wade preferred to have the door opened for him, he dealt with the dog door for the sake of Arthur's social life. Wade wagged his tail and barked a goodbye as Arthur headed out, going to the couch to lie down until he got back.