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[sortileges]

"--a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Is that it? How do I tur--"

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[sortileges]

I'm up for anything-- [ Take a tip from Gwen, Merlin, and don't say things that sound Suspicious. ] It's not like we've got anything else to do here.

Rock, paper, scissors? [ That's a no. ]

[psycholawgy]

It's a game.

Rock, paper, scissors, [ she says as she moves her fist up and down twice. ]. Rock beats scissors, [ her fist remains clenched. ] Scissors beats paper [ she extends her index and middle finger. ] , and paper beats rock [ and then she opens her hand. ].

It's easy.

[sortileges]

Alright. That makes sense. [ He copies the motions with his own hand to memorise them, careful that he doesn't mess it up. ] Do we just...? [ He makes a motion with his hand, flattening it out like the paper one. ]

[psycholawgy]

We say "rock, paper, scissors", and our fists are closed until we say scissors. Then you play your piece... or something.

[ never in her life has she imagined that she would have to explain rock, paper, scissors to somebody. but hey... he's from the past. . . ]

[sortileges]

[ Look they mostly do hide and seek based games... plus he didn't really have many friends before he moved to Camelot, just Will and his mother. Less judgement, Athena?!?!

He nods then clenches his fist. ]

Then whenever you're ready.

[psycholawgy]

Ready any time.

[ as shown by her fist. ]

I'm glad you can't cheat in this game, because you probably would. Anyway, we can just take turns, you know? Whoever loses first has to be the server.

[sortileges]

[ R u d e . ]

I don't always cheat. [ He frowns at her, though it's probably 70% of the time, let's be honest here. For example, how did he get the extra credits to live this month? Poker dealing gone wrong, that's how. ] That sounds fair.

On 3?

[psycholawgy]

On 3.

[ she was smiling just then, but her expression turns serious as she looks at his fist. this might just be a game to decide who goes first in another game, but she still wants to win, anyway... why so competitive, athena cykes... ]

One, two...

[ scissors! ]

[sortileges]

[ He knows what she's like, and partly because he can't cheat he doesn't know what to expect.

On three, his hand opens up, also to a pair of scissors. He blinks up at her, a little amazed but also confused. He'd done paper as his example before so he didn't want to do it again but... ]

...Again?

[psycholawgy]

Yes, let's do it again. Rapido!

[ she sounds like she's in a hurry, but she's not serious, though. she waits for merlin to ball his hand into a fist again before she starts counting. ]

One, two. . . and-- [ she chooses rock this time around. ]

[sortileges]

Rapi-- [ He wants to ask what that even means but then she's counting and he has to count fast. He flattens his hand out instantly as soon as it gets to one, signalling paper.

Paper beats rock, he even reaches out to cover her hand. ]

I promise I'll be nice. [ He's trying to not laugh, knowing how competitive she can be. ]

1/2

[psycholawgy]

Merlin!

[ at the very least, she's only enraged for like, two seconds. ]

[psycholawgy]

[ she really has to stick to her word, especially when this was her idea. she relaxes and puts her hands on her hips. ]

So, what should I wear? Or should I just pick on my own?

[sortileges]

[ He puts both hands in the air, shrugs his shoulders. ]

You said it yourself, I can't cheat with this. [ :) ] Surprise me.

[psycholawgy]

[ "surprise me" is the worst thing you can tell a girl when she's trying to decide what to wear... she'll take forever, merlin. ]

Alright. I'll look for something good.

[ definitely not a gypsy outfit, considering his reaction at the carnival. ]

Sit down and wait for me.

[sortileges]

[ He blinks when she replies with that, expecting her to ask for at least a few ideas. He chews on his lip, a little worried for what she's going to come up with. Some of the outfits are... weird. ]

Right. Did you want me to boil the water for tea? It'll take less time.

[ Just in case someone does come in and interrupt this. ]

[psycholawgy]

That would be great, but you don't have to.

[ she starts walking to the dressing room, her hand tracing the surface of the counter as she goes. ]

You're... a [ she hesitates to call him her "master", but actually thought about it. she's wearing a maid costume right now, after all... and protocol. . . ] patron, after all.

[sortileges]

It's fine, I'll only be waiting otherwise. [ And he already assumes it'll take a little time for her to decide. ] This way I can keep an eye on the counter in case someone comes, too.

[ His eyes follow her hand as she walks, before he moves to put the water to boil. He'll leave the rest to her, though he'll take a jug of water and two glasses to the table because water doesn't really cost much and it saves her carrying that on top of the tea.

That takes much less time than Athena does though, which leaves him looking out the window quietly as he waits at the table he's chosen. ]

[psycholawgy]

[ she does take a while—a little close to ten minutes—and she comes out wearing a yellow dress and a plastic and glittery tiara.

she walks slowly, absolutely sure that she'll step on the hem of her skirt if she walked briskly. when she gets to the counter, she remains quiet and prepares the tea for the both of them. she'll just put it on her tab, it's not like it would cost a lot, anyway. ]

It's Lady Grey. I hope that's okay.

[ she sets the teapot on the center of the table before taking a seat across merlin. ]

[sortileges]

[ At first he only sees her reflection in the glass, freezes in place as he shuts his eyes because he isn't sure he's ready for this after all. It's not what he expected, and she probably had to dig through piles of clothes to find something like this. Was it intentional? He isn't sure, he sits back at first, then slowly turns his head to look at her.

It's not completely accurate, but that's unsurprising. He still can't pinpoint his own time properly.

Her hair is down again, mostly down against her back revealing her shoulders with the way the dress slopes. Quietly, he raises a hand, bites at it as he tries to tear his eyes away.

It's really hard to swallow. ] It's fine. [ His voice even sounds hoarse, which is embarrassing. He clears his throat, then tries again. ] It's fine.

Do you... [ Are you trying to kill me? ] Still have your hair tie?

[psycholawgy]

Oh.

[ she blinks once, twice, thrice. is something wrong with her hair? she's definitely never seen a princess with her hair in a ponytail. not while wearing something like this, anyway. ]

It's back in the room. I can go get it?

[ though before doing anything about her hair tie, though, she serves him some tea by pouring some in his tea cup. ]

[sortileges]

I'll. I'll get it, it's fine. There isn't anything wrong with it, I just want to try something.

[ And he needs to go breathe into a paper bag. ] Where did you leave it?

[psycholawgy]

[ oh, good. it's not athena who might pass out right now. she doesn't get why merlin seems so... nervous, but that's fine. maybe the tea will calm him down. ]

By the dresser.

[sortileges]

[ The dresser. Right. He's a little shaky when he stands, glances back at her and leaves her with a small promise of "I'll be back in a minute". Granted, that might be more convincing if he didn't almost trip up over said dress with it laid out of the floor.

Ignoring that he keeps walking until he gets to the back. He finds the hair tie easily enough, but instead of going straight back out he takes a few long and incredibly deep breaths. His heart is still racing and he really has no idea what kind of reading Athena will get from this response but...

She does look like a princess, or as much of one as that dress and plastic allows. If he could, he'd transform it to gold for her--but without a stone of that kind of power it's impossible.

He pulls the hair tie onto his wrist and rubs his hands over his trousers, trying to clear his mind. He can do this. He can--

Walking out he immediately thinks he left too soon, but it'd be suspicious otherwise. ] Found it. [ Instead he steps behind her, hands reaching to take a section of hair from both sides of her face. ]

Hold this piece. [ As soon as she takes it he starts plaiting the other, getting half way before he holds that piece out for her to take. It shouldn't take her long to realise that he's plaiting two sides for her, eventually plaiting the both of them together to trail down her back. He starts explaining maybe half way through it. ]

I don't have the expertise for some of the styles the Lady Morgana or even Guinevere do but... this is closer to what they do.

[ She should be able to notice his hands are shaking a little while doing this though. Loser. ]

[psycholawgy]

[ she does figure out what he's doing to her hair, and she'd really like to see what she looks like right now. she's never braided her hair like this before, so she at least thinks that this is going to be an interesting look.

concern does occur to her when she realises merlin's hands being shaky. she still doesn't know what he's so nervous about, though there's the sinking feeling again that she just made him uncomfortable. is this too close to home, she thinks, because that might be why? the other costumes were in the laundry, and there were only a select few nice ones, so this was the one she chose. . .

if she had it her way, she'd much rather wear a different dress. it was always fun dressing up like a princess. she has to call the patrons your highness, and it just makes the whole royalty experience real. ]

If this is your first time fixing somebody's hair, then I can totally understand why you're nervous.

[ she looks up at him, a small smirk on her face. she's only teasing, merl. ]