Chapter Text
'Mum, don't look now, but that's the guy I was telling you about.'
Hunith immediately craned her neck and tried to follow her son's line of sight.
The son in question made a face and looked earnestly out of the window. Due to the time of evening, they were all dark, showing brightly-lit reflections of the table-filled hall instead of the outside world.
'Merlin, what have I told you about making faces?' she murmured as she looked around. 'Is he the blond one or the redhead?'
'Blond, and I did say not to look,' he hissed back.
'Oh, I see him. Gosh, that must be his father. He's a Pendragon, right? I think I knew his dad from my school days.'
'Mm-hmm,' said Merlin, now fiddling with his cuffs in an effort to look anything like he was not muttering about Arthur Pendragon at parents' evening.
'Well, he looks like a pompous arse,' she said dryly.
'Mum,' he hissed as loudly as he could manage. The parents of the girl next in line for Mr Filbert, Merlin's ageing Physics teacher, glanced at him suspiciously. He smiled back.
'Oh, well, looks like it's our turn now,' she said brightly, as though the previous topic of conversation hadn't even happened, because Katie H was getting up from Filbert's table, leaving the spot open for Merlin. Parents' evenings never ran to time, but this was a record: 15 minutes over the 10 minute time slot. Katie must have been the most conscientious Physics student in the school, because off the top of his head Merlin could name ten people with more involved helicopter parents, and Filbert wasn't known for monologues or tangents. If it had gone on much longer, he probably would have gone to his next appointment instead of waiting around.
The usual greetings and pleasantries were exchanged while Merlin squished himself into the seat. He'd had a growth spurt at the beginning of the year and now everything was knees and elbows, so he had developed a habit of clasping his hands in his lap in an effort to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle. Maybe to apologise for taking up space so awkwardly by trying to take up less of it.
'The mock exams went very well,' Filbert was saying, and Merlin was trying to listen. But the previous topic of conversation had just stood up from his seat in front of Mrs Atkinson and was now making his way decisively in Merlin's direction.
It wasn't that Merlin was afraid of or averse to confrontation. When he'd found Arthur and his gaggle of rich wanker friends picking on one of the Year 9s (ballsy move, because Year 9, but still wrong, because picking on younger kids), he hadn't hesitated in telling them exactly what he thought of them in no uncertain terms. It was just that he didn't really want to use such certain terms in front of his mother, his ancient Physics teacher, and the more than slightly terrifying Mr Uther Pendragon. So instead of making eye contact, he stared resolutely at Mr Filbert while taking in approximately none of the words he was saying.
'—on track for a very high grade indeed. Are you considering it for A-level?'
'Uh,' he stalled. 'Yeah...'
'Merlin isn't sure what he wants to do at uni, so he's keeping his options open,' interjected his mum. He gave her a silent look of thanks, all too aware of the fact that Arthur and his father had just sat down immediately behind them.
'Well, he could certainly go far in Physics.' Filbert leaned forward conspiratorially, and Merlin and Hunith echoed the motion. 'I'm not really meant to tell you this, but he's top of the cohort. A very able student.'
'I've been telling him he's better at school than he thinks, but he doesn't believe me,' said Hunith.
'He ought to start believing you now. Hard proof,' replied Mr Filbert, tapping on the notes he had on the desk in front of him.
Merlin glanced at the clock and tried not to act any more awkward. 'Is there, uh, anything I should focus on for the real thing?'
'Well, your electricity work is a little patchy but that can be worked on with some past paper questions. Just keep on doing what you're doing, and it should stand you in great stead in May.'
Merlin nodded and thanked him, and he and his mother were just beginning to stand up when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around. Dread washed through him: the tap had come from Uther Pendragon, father of Arthur Pendragon and famed pompous arse (senior).
'Congratulations on being top of the cohort,' he said, unexpectedly. Merlin threw a glance towards his son, who was staring pointedly at the ground to his side, hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets.
'Thank you,' he said reflexively, not bothering to comment that it was generally considered rude to eavesdrop.
'Which days of the week are you free?' Uther continued, without acknowledging his response.
'Excuse me?'
'My son, Arthur, is in need of a Physics tutor. Which days of the week are you free?' Merlin got the sense that Uther was not a man who liked to repeat himself.
'Uh, all of them,' he replied. It was true, because he didn't really go to clubs or societies and his friend group didn't do standing hangouts, but even as he said the words he was wondering why he was saying anything at all.
'Perfect. My driver will pick you both up on Monday from school.' With that, Uther moved to take the seat that Hunith had just vacated, and Arthur shouldered past to take Merlin's. Mr Filbert's eyebrows had almost disappeared into his receding hairline, witnessing the whole exchange.
'Hold on,' said Merlin, his senses catching up to him. 'Are you paying me? Why should I do this?'
Uther didn't respond, just took his wallet out of his pocket, retrieved two twenties and a tenner, and pressed the notes into Merlin's hand.
'For the first session,' he said, and then turned back to Filbert.
Merlin looked down at his hand, at the fifty quid he was so lightly gripping, and decided this was a turn for the better, in the grand scheme of things.
#
'Are we late for our next appointment?' mused his mum a minute later as they picked through the rows of desks and chairs towards the doors at the back of the hall.
He glanced at the clock. 'Yeah, but it's Classics. We can skive Classics.'
'Fine by me. Sooner we're out of here, the better,' she replied.