mamalaz:

Arthur and Merlin have a slow-mo first meeting (AU)

Excerpt (an idea by katiebuttercup for me to put a mini snippet with all my AUs)

Merlin didn’t even realise he was staring until Gaius’ cough pulled him out of his daze. 

“Eyes back in your head, Merlin,” his mentor said, amused. Merlin, who usually tried to cling to some modicum of dignity, completely threw it to the wind to blatantly ask, 

“Um, so who was that exactly?” 

“Prince Arthur,” Gaius responded, staring at Merlin with his usual mix of both fondness and exasperation. “Better known as ‘Your Highness’ to you.” 

“Wow,” said Merlin. “I just, he was… He seems…” Merlin floundered for an appropriate enough adjective so he stuck to “…nice.” 

“Indeed,” said Gaius, outright shaking his head now. “Now, if you could pick your jaw from the ground, Merlin, I have a leech tank that needs cleaning.” 

“Sounds great,” Merlin said distractedly, still staring after the prince so intently that he barely noticed Gaius shake his head and walk off.