Work Text:
“Why do you keep coming here?” A voice asked curiously, pulling Arthur from his wandering thoughts as he stared out the large window. The blond Prime Minister looked at the doorway and saw a familiar face. With his curly hair down to his ears and wearing far too casual clothes for the type of meeting this was, This sight wasn’t unfamiliar to Arthur. Not in the least.
The man was Merlin Wyvern, also known as Emrys. Also known as Arthur’s number one rival.
At least, according to the papers and media. And while that wasn’t too far off from the truth politically, the same couldn’t be said in any other aspect.
Definitely not in any other way.
“What d’you mean?” Arthur asked, feigning confusion. He knew, however, just what Merlin meant and judging by the look on Merlin’s face, the other wasn’t buying his act as he sat at the long meeting table at the end closest the door.
His usual spot.
“You’re a terrible liar.” Merlin snorted, crossing his arms as he stared at Arthur. “You always were. Answer my question.” He insisted, his voice firm. While Arthur could tell that Merlin was already annoyed, he couldn’t help but push him just a little more.
Even if Arthur was worried about the other’s mood.
“Someone’s testy today.” Arthur commented, moving from his spot at the window to the table, leaning against it only a few feet from where Merlin was sitting. It wasn’t where he usually sat, preferring to sit at the other end of the table. However, He didn’t really feel like going through negotiations just yet.
Merlin shot him an annoyed look at the words. “Excuse me if I don’t like wasting time anymore arguing over basic rights.” He said, then huffed. “We go through this song and dance every day. Negotiations don’t go anywhere; you never budge on what you want, and I won’t bend any more than I already have. We’ve been at a stalemate for two weeks and yet, you always insist that these meetings keep happening and you keep showing up. Why?” Merlin asked again and his annoyance was stronger now than before.
Arthur hummed at that. “Maybe I just like to see your pretty face.” He answered and couldn’t help the smirk that came to his face when Merlin rolled his eyes.
“Maybe my pretty face can persuade you to give my people equal rights then.” Merlin snapped and it was clear that his annoyance was quickly turning into anger. Arthur sighed at that and shook his head, not moving from his spot near Merlin.
“Merlin, you know it’s not that easy-”
“The hell it isn’t.” He responded, blue eyes watching Arthur. ”What about my compromise? I feel like my latest one was really worth considering, but you didn’t even glance at it before throwing it away.” He snapped. “It’s only ’not that easy’ because you don’t want it to be. If you compromised, everyone would be happy.”
Arthur crossed his arms and frowned. ”Not everyone.” He pointed out. ”My people wouldn’t feel safe.”
“And my people don’t either. The big difference is that magic users have reason to worry and be afraid. They’re being hunted down and killed for merely living!” Merlin threw out, standing up.
“Magic is killing people!” Arthur said, raising his voice to match Merlin’s. If Merlin wanted to yell, so could he.
The activist groaned. “I keep telling you, magic is no different than a gun or a knife!” He protested, running a hand through his locks. Arthur knew he did that when he was frustrated and to be fair, he didn’t blame Merlin. The situation was frustrating for both sides.
“It’s far different from a normal weapon, Merlin.” Arthur disagreed, narrowing his eyes at him. ”Despite what you always insist, magic cannot be regulated.”
“That’s not what you said before.” Merlin said, his tone suddenly becoming less heated and more sad. “When I first told you about regulating magic, you agreed with me and said it was a good idea.” Merlin reminisced, watching Arthur carefully.
The blond deflated at that, sighing as he remembered the time specifically Merlin was talking about. A time when things were simpler, a time when neither of them had the weight of the country’s future on their shoulders. A time when they could just be.
But that time was long gone.
“Merlin, that was years ago. Things have changed.” Arthur pointed out, his tone gentle and yet, firm as ever. “Times have changed. We’ve changed.”
“The only thing that changed was that I couldn’t stand by and let the killings continue. You could live being complacent, I couldn’t.” Merlin said, his voice still sad, but his eyes spoke of irritation.
Arthur swallowed at Merlin’s words and stood up, standing toe to toe with Merlin, a few feet separating them. “I wasn’t being complacent. I was…” he trailed off, unsure of what to really say at first. Had he been complacent back then, just letting Magic users get killed without reason? Possibly. “I was letting my father do what he felt was right. They were dangerous people.”
Merlin scoffed at that. “Please, the only people he thought were dangerous had Magic. Anyone using any other sort of weapon were treated far better than Magic users were.” He pointed out, voice back to a tone of displeasure. “And look where all the hate and terrible treatment got him.”
“Yeah, murdered by your people.” Arthur snapped, breathing deep. Uther’s death, even though it happened years ago, was still a sore spot for Arthur, especially with how awful and sudden his death was. The blond still had nightmares some nights about watching his father die. And Merlin knew that.
“The assassin was caught by ‘my people’ right after it happened and what did they get in return? Nothing.” Merlin reminded him, then roughly sighed. “Arthur, please-“
“Please what? Please let Magic be legal? Please release all prisoners with Magic no matter what terrible they committed? Please just…forget about how Magic killed my parents?” He asked in anger. “You’d rather I just forgivethe atrocities that magic users have committed and pretend it never happened? Stick my head in the sand about it?”
“I didn’t say that-“
“Oh, but you implied it! You all but said it, Merlin, and I’ll be damned if that happens.” Arthur finished, breathing heavily after his rant. He finally took a good look at Merlin and expected the anger that was there. What he didn’t expect was the glassy look in his eyes mixed with the anger.
“We just want to be equal, Prime Minister. Nothing more, nothing less. We just want the exact same rights non Magic users have. And if you’re not willing to even give that, then we really have nothing more to discuss.” Merlin said in a cool, even tone. Something broke inside Arthur at Merlin calling him by his title, but he pushed the feeling of hurt and heartbreak away.
No emotions. This was for his people.
“Then you know your way out.” Arthur dismissed, moving back to the window he’d been looking out of earlier and staring out at the city of Camelot. After a heartbeat or two of silence, he heard a rustle, followed by the faint sound of something landing on the table and then footsteps going towards the door. Only when they paused did Merlin finally speak once more.
“You want a battle? We’ll give you a war.” Merlin said and it sounded like a promise. After a moment of feeling Merlin’s ocean blue eyes on him, he heard the door open, footsteps leaving, then the door closing.
Arthur turned to the table after a few moments of waiting and he swallowed the lump in his throat at what he found.
A picture laid there face up, featuring Merlin and Arthur kissing with bright smiles on their lips. And on Merlin’s hand, which was facing the camera and on Arthur’s cheek, was a shiny gold engagement ring.