fandomtownies | Support Services: The Perk, Friday after classes

Yes, there was an E in there again - it was getting chilly outside and Morgana had a feeling that after the past week, chocolate and whipped cream-laden drinks might help everyone's moods.

"If there is a lesson to be taken away from the last week, it's that sometimes the people our friends need to be rescued from the most is themselves," Morgana started, doing her best not to look at Arthur ~~if he was there~~. "Whether it is a gremlin bite or the island affecting people, sometimes our friends go mad, and nothing can cure them but simply waiting for the effect to wear off. The problem is, if we leave people to fend for themselves, they could, in the best case, do something terribly embarrassing or, in the worst case, hurt themselves, and possibly others in the process. The question we have today is: how can we best keep our friends safe when they're out of their minds? Is it all right to lock someone in their room? To bind them to their bed if necessary?" Now she really wasn't looking at Arthur. "Should we get consent about these things beforehand, or can it be assumed that if someone comes to their senses and finds themselves bound and protected, they will forgive those who caught them for saving them from potential trouble?"

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"Now aren't you sorry I didn't gag you with your scarf?"

Merlin paused. "...you were serious?"

"Oh, so serious. You have no idea."

"...I suppose it's better than a rabbit."

Francine snickered and released him, sitting down again and nodding to the chair opposite her. "I wouldn't turn you into a bunny, anyway. I'd make you a puppy so you could play with Brynne."

Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled despite himself. "I make a good falcon."

"True, but the puppy could have ice cream."

"...I suppose." Why were they discussing this? "Mostly I just hope nothing happens until long, long after the Yule."

They were discussing this because the alternative was talking about lapdances and how that was the closest she'd come to being naked with anybody in two months and if leaving him safe in Arthur's hands hadn't meant she could go back to her room and stop hearing him warble on about Karla and their perfect, fated love, she would have gagged him so hard he'd still have the taste of homespun in his mouth right now.

"Yule?" She knew what it meant, more or less, but it seemed like a safer bet than any of the previously-listed conversation topics.

"The solstice?"

Francine nodded. "I get that; we still call Christmastime 'yuletide.'" Sort of. In songs. "I meant why do you hope nothing happens until after it?"

"That will give me at least some time for it to happen to anyone else."

Francine blinked at him for a moment then burst into laughter. "I guess that's fair."

"Perhaps Arthur this next time."

She snorted. "Just so he won't feel left out?"

"Oh! Of course."

"You're all heart. So generous!"

"I try my best to be so kind."

"I'm sure Arthur will appreciate your generosity." No, no, he would not. "You should tell him the next idiot-making spell is all his. Make it a Christmas present."

Merlin laughed at that. "Right the--gift. Thing."

"You don't give gifts for Yule?" Okay, so none of the other celebrations he'd thrown were gift-giving ones either, but. Christmas.

"Not really, no," Merlin admitted. "It's mostly just spending time with loved ones and keeping the fires burning through the night."

"We do the first part for Christmas too," Francine answered. "Not so much with fires anymore, though. Unless you tune in the Yule Log on tv."

The future is a scary, scary place. Merlin.

"...it's on television?"

"Hours and hours of a burning log on the screen with holiday music playing in the background."

Aaaaand the sad part was that Francine kind of loved it, shh.