Running an errand (Felicity)

[Merlin Emrys]

It was busy in Camelot's central marketplace. Alongside a few of the palace maids, Merlin had been sent to pick a few bits and pieces up from the marketplace. He had the long list written on a piece of parchment that he had tucked into his belt. He unravelled it now, his eyes scanning down the list and then back up at the stalls.

Following the maids who were buying wares for their ladies, he seemed to have wandered into a particularly feminine section of stalls sporting jewellery and material for dresses. He needed scrubbing brushes, several different sorts of herbs for Gaius and a jar of honey that the prince had requested for breakfast the next day...

Merlin began to back away from the material stalls. Not looking where he was going, he tripped over somebody's foot and lurched forward, almost falling over but grabbing onto a passing woman for support. The onions he had already purchased rolled out of the sack and across the floor where many pairs of booted feet were still treading.

"Oh no!" he cried, dropping to the floor and trying to gather them up again.

[Felicity Wood]

It was an ordinary day as Felicity walked through the many shops in the Market place. She wasn't buying anything today. She just wanted to look around at all the many shops as usual.

Felicity was heading in the direction of the jewlry that she would never be able to afford. Not that it mattered. She wasn't much for jewlry anyway. She only wore the necklace given to her by her mother and that was it.

As she started to head off towards some place else, she was shocked as a young man started to fall, grabbing onto her for support. Felicity understood exactly what this sort of thing was like. She had tripped and fallen in the market place and city square about a million times. That was the curse of being a klutz.

"Oh no!" he said as he immediatly dove for the floor to grabb the dropped items. Felicity bent down and began to help him.

"Oh, don't worry about it...." she said kindly, giving him a small smile. "I do this all the time....It's no big deal."

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin dropped the sack down beside him and started grabbing up the onions before they rolled away into the crowd. He was surprised to hear the soft voice of a girl, who dropped down beside him and began helping.

"I do this all the time....It's no big deal."

Her smile and words reassured Merlin, and he momentarily paused from collecting up the onions. "Me too." He replied with a lopsided smile, "I'm just so clumsy, I can't seem to help it." He suddenly remembered why he was on the ground, and with Felicity's help, managed to collect up most of the onions.

He stood up, his clothes covered in dust from the ground and held out a hand to help Felicity up.

"Thank you." he said, "I'm Merlin by the way."

[Felicity Wood]

Felicity shook his hand and smiled at Merlin. She was extremely clumsy herself, so she understood perfectly. She was glad to know that someone else understood the way she felt. She felt as though she could relate to nobody at times.

Everybody that she knew had something special about them or were of nobility. She was just plain, clumsy, old Felicity Wood. She looked at the boy. He seemed very friendly. Felicity didn't know many men. Her father had walked out when she was a child and Felicty really didn't have a lot of friends. She really wasn't sure what to say. She didn't feel too nervous, though. He seemed nice.

"Pleasure to meet you, Merlin." Felicity said shyly, "My name is Felicity Wood. I don't recall ever seeing you around before...."

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin dropped his hand back to his side and knotted the top to the sack of onions so no more would roll away if he was unfortunate enough to drop the bag again.

"It's nice to meet you." He replied, looking at Felicity properly for the first time. She was a young girl, around about his age, if a little younger, he would guess. She had pretty fair hair, although Merlin couldn't tell her social standing from her looks alone. A few market shoppers walked in between them, and he had to lean around them to speak again. "I live up at the castle, I work there. But I do have to come down to the market every so often."

More people pushed in between them. "Shall we move over there?" he asked, pointing to one of the quieter areas at the edge of the marketplace.

[Felicity Wood]

He lived in the castle. Felicity felt a bit self concious now. She was so poor and she couldn't help feeling a little ashamed about it. What if he didn't think highly of her when he found out that she was a meer peasant? He didn't seem the type, though. He seemed very kind.

Felicty nodded at his suggestion and followed him to a quieter place. She gave him another small smile. He seemed so friendly that she couldn't suppress a smile.

"Where do you work in the castle?" she questioned with interest. Perhaps if she got to know him before telling him her social status, he would still find her interesting enough to talk to. She really wanted to be friends with him for some reason. Something about him drew her in. He didn't seem like the typical jerks that she usually ran into.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin dropped the sack to the ground as soon as they had moved to a quieter spot. Felicity smiled again and Merlin felt at ease. He wasn't the best at coming across well to strangers, especially female strangers, but after offering him help Merlin was already convinced she was a nice person.

"I work as a servant." he replied, "I'm usually around the apothecary rooms, I help the palace medic Gaius; he's my guardian."

Merlin thought about adding that he was also Prince Arthur's manservant, but usually girls only found him interesting as they saw it as a way of getting to know the Prince. For some reason, Merlin wanted to talk to Felicity a bit more without her knowing his relationship with Arthur... just in case she was one of those girls. I'll mention it later he thought.

"What about you? Where do you live?" he asked. People from all classes cam eto the markets, and so the girl could be from anywhere.

[Felicity Wood]

Felicity had the suspicion that the question would pop up. Her face turned slightly pink. How could she tell someone from the castle that she was a peasant? She didn't want him to look down on her. He didn't seem like the judgemental type. She hoped that her assumtions about him were correct. She wanted to know somebody. Somebody kind.

"I...I'm a peasant." she said awkwardly, looking away from him. She couldn't help feeling embarrassed. She didn't want to feel so low. "I....I'll understand if you don't think I'm worthy to talk to..."

In reality, Felicity would not understand. She honestly felt that people should be friends despite their social status. She wished that everyone could just be equal. It was so unfair. The way people neglected each other because they didn't have as much money or they weren't of nobel birth. It was ridiculous.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin was surprised at the girl's sudden awkwardness. He could tell it was because she was ashamed of her social standing. Merlin knew how she felt though, sometimes being at the castle around nobility all of the time made you feel inferior, and often peasants, lows and servants were treated terribly.

"Of course you're worthy to talk to Felicity," he said kindly. Merlin might have had misunderstandings with Arthur, but the Prince treated him as a friend despite their different classes. "You shouldn't feel that way. Look around," he broke off to gesture to the marketplace around them, "Most of Camelot's citizen's are peasants, and they're the ones that keep the whole city going with their work and trade." He smiled sadly, "And if you've ever visited the city's slums- and I don't recommend you ever go alone- but there's people that are a lot worse off."

His little speech had come from nowhere; Merlin wasn't the best motivational speaker, but he hoped his words had put the girl at ease.

"Have you been in Camelot for long?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

[Felicity Wood]

Merlin's words did assure Felicity. She gave him a small smile, feeling relief. She was already starting to feel comfortable around him. He didn't make her feel like a small pile of dust in a corner. She held her hand out and shook his hand, smiling at him. She couldn't believe that a trip to the market could turn out so wonderful.

"Well, I suppose we are officially meeting now." she told him, her confidence rising, "No secrets."

Felicity was very pleased to know that Merlin didn't care about social statuses. She wasn't going to be viewed lowly just because she didn't have a lot of money. It was nice to think about. She wasn't used to this feeling. She no longer felt shy. It was very unfamiliar, yet intriguing. She felt that Merlin would be a great friend to her. She hoped that she was right. It was very rare that she made friends. it was only recently that people were starting to notice her for who she was.

"So....How old are you, Merlin?" she asked, casually.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin was pleased to make Felicity's acquaintance, she had endeared herself to him by offering to help in the first place, and she seemed more confident now that she was talking to him.

"I'm twenty," he replied, "What about you?" Sometimes, when going about his Guild duties, Merlin felt a lot older and sometimes, when he was with Arthur or Gaius, he felt so much younger.

"Have you been up to the castle before Felicity?" he asked, "I'll be heading back up when I'm done here, and I could show you around? If you'd like." It was one of the biggest perks working in the Castle, that you got to spend time in the beautiful grounds. He wondered if Felicity would like to see them.

[Felicity Wood]

"I'm eighteen...." Felicity responded, feeling rather young now. She gave merlin a smile. She was glad that he was still here and not just running away. He didn't seem secretly bored either, so this was just fantastic. Perhaps she wasn't as uninteresting as she assumed herself to be.

Felicity was very surpirsed when he asked her if she would like him to show her around the castle. Wow...She had never seen the castle up close. This was an amazing opportunity, and that meant that she could talk to Merlin more. She had the feeling that they were going to be good friends. She hoped so, anyway.

"I'd like that very much." Felicity said with an appreciative smile at her new friend. "but....are you sure? I wouldn't want to bother you or anything. I mean...For all you know, I could be a murderer or something...."

After saying this, Felicity wanted to smack herself. That was really a foolish thing to say. Was she trying to scare the closest chance to have an actual friendship away? Felicity felt her cheeks begin to burn. Why did she say such idiotic things when she was nervous?

"I mean....I'm NOT...I was just saying that I could be. I'm not, though."