The Preserve, Friday Afternoon

[bitchprince]

Crossbows were still right out for another week or two.

Traps weren't. And swords, despite the obvious lack of use they tended to be in the hunt. Knives, too. Spears were out, which hadn't kept Arthur from ordering Merlin to bring one.

They were going on a hunt, and while circumstances dictated that it would have to be a slow one, it wasn't going to stop Arthur. He needed this one. He needed it rather obviously, and no amount of Merlin's moon-eyed courting would keep it from him.

He snuck through the preserve with stealth and a clarity of mind. He could only hope that Merlin had somehow miraculously found his.

Not likely.

[[ chiefly for the manservant, but open preserve is open ]]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin, clad in his brand new scarf, followed behind him. And he was perfectly stealthy, think you very much.

"What exactly are we hunting?"

[bitchprince]

"Rabbits, hares, anything small," Arthur replied, keeping his head low. He took care not to step on a twig. "A proper deer if we find one. Now keep your voice down, you idiot."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"The ones here are rather... blueish," Merlin said, making a face at the thought of eating one.

[bitchprince]

Oh, for the love of-

"I hadn't noticed," Arthur hissed back.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"You hadn't?" Was Arthur blind?

[bitchprince]

Without any further ado, Arthur reached back to thwock him in the head. "You don't quite understand 'keeping your voice down', do you, Merlin?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin ducked, shooting him a dirty look for that. "I don't see how hunting here will do any good."

[bitchprince]

"No," Arthur said, resuming his stalk with a thoroughly dedicated level of commitment, "I suppose you wouldn't."

Because Merlin was a girl.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Arthur had been in a beast of a mood all day and, it seemed, would be bearing the brunt of it.

"Doubt you know either," He muttered under his breath, continuing to follow.

[bitchprince]

"Quiet," Arthur hissed, and to further make his point clear (as Merlin would clearly forget it if he didn't) he held up his hand.

Something... he caught something moving.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Something that was probably a squirrel. There was no big game here, after all.

Merlin managed to remain silent for a whole three minutes before he couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

[bitchprince]

Oh, just- Arthur made a noise that sounded an awful lot like rarrrrr as the rabbit started and ran off.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...it was rather small?" Merlin said, taking a careful step away from Arthur.

[bitchprince]

"Merlin," Arthur snapped, "I am in desperate need of killing some small defenseless creatures right now. Do not tempt me!" He fixed the patented Pendragon Glare of Death on him, and while he had yet to achieve Uther's levels of proficiency, he felt he was still rather good at it.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"There are more!" Merlin insisted, still spooked by the look of doom there.

[bitchprince]

"Then stop talking, you idiot, you're going to scare them all off!"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin looked affronted by that for a good five minutes. Five blissful minutes of silence.

"You know, we could always try in another area."

[bitchprince]

Arthur entertained some incredibly satisfying but sadly unprincely mental imagery of stringing Priestly and Merlin up by their ridiculous hair and poking them with very sharp objects.

"And what other area would you be suggesting," he said, tightly.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps by the water?"

Merlin had never been so glad to have no stocks about on the island.

[bitchprince]

Arthur repaid his suggestion by glaring at him and stomping off towards... wherever.

Stealthily.

And yes, he expected Merlin to keep up. And not to bump into him as was his wont. It was a hell of a lot more fun torturing Merlin with hunting trips if he wasn't suffering himself.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Stomping was inherently not stealthy, but Merlin kept that little tidbit to himself.

And just followed, trying not to be too amused by this.t

[bitchprince]

After a while (and a slight decrease in stomping), Arthur's hand went up again.

Rabbit? Rabbit.

At least it wasn't one of those bloody teal deer. He sunk down into the underbrush.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Nearly tripping over Arthur there, Merlin fell onto the ground by him. Silently. Really.

Well, he managed not to say anything, at least!

[bitchprince]

"MERLIN!"

Arthur swore once in a fashion entirely unbecoming of a prince, and nudged the boy's body with his foot. "Tell me, are you really that stupid, or are you sabotaging me?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I didn't say anything!" Merlin insisted, rolling to get back onto his feel before anymore nudging could happen.

[bitchprince]

"You didn't have to," Arthur said sharply, and jabbed a finger at him.

Rarrr.

"Let's see if we can lay out some traps without you alarming the whole bloody forest."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement to keep Arthur from bursting a blood vessel. "...did you bring traps?"

He was the best servant ever.

[bitchprince]

Arthur's eyebrow twitched. "You should thank God for the preservation of your life," he snapped, "I did."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin stared at him after a moment. "Shouldn't you be setting them up?"

[bitchprince]

Arthur shoved him rather demonstratively out of the way so that he could get to work. Merlin was useless, not to mention feckless, awkward, stupid...

Maybe he should simply return to the dorms and murder Priestly. That'd help.

If, again, decidedly unprincely.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Well it was hardly Merlin's fault that he'd never set a trap before!

"Are you well?" He asked warily.

[bitchprince]

"I'm fine," Arthur said, very, very pointedly not snappishly. He knelt down on the ground and moved to set it. "I just happen to have the most incompetent manservant that ever lived."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"That's not new," Merlin pointed out from a safe distance of... a foot away. "Did you get into it with someone again?"

[bitchprince]

"I don't get into anything," Arthur grunted. He wasn't being as thorough as he'd like, but if it meant dead rabbit, then it would be worth it. "Stop. Talking."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin just frowned at him, not stopping his scrutiny of the prince. Because if something was wrong, he'd have to deal with it.

...it better not be some sort of irritable curse. Only ladies got that

[bitchprince]

Finished, Arthur got up to his feet. He turned around, stalking towards Merlin- so he could snag the boy's shoulders and shove him back, away from the trap.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Because Merlin had been planning on walking right into it.

Prat.

"How long do we wait?"

[bitchprince]

Considering Merlin's hunting competence, as once again displayed today, Arthur really wouldn't put it past him.

"Longer and longer the more time you spend gabbing, Merlin."

He was frustrated and miserable and for some insane reason, he'd thought the answer was going hunting with Merlin of all people. What was he thinking?

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin sighed and made a face. This was him being quiet. This was his quiet face.

See?

Quiet.

[bitchprince]

Merlin was going to make him paranoid. He gratefully took the silence as a good thing and crept into a carefully planned position. One trap wouldn't do much, but it'd make him feel better, and he did still have the weight of his throwing knives in case something appeared.

Like a proper deer.

He should probably set some more traps. That might keep his mind busy while that rabbit over there nosied his way over.