"Rise and shine," Merlin cheered happily as he drew the curtains of Arthur's chambers.

The king stirred uneasy in his bed and faced the opposite way of the sun's incandescent rays.

"Arthur, it's your birthday! You've got lots to do before the feast," Merlin stated elatedly.

Arthur grunted, buried his head in the pillows, and pulled the sheets over his head. Merlin sighed and literally dragged the king out of bed. How Arthur managed to still be tired after going to bed so early was still a mystery to the young warlock.

"Nooooo!" Arthur struggled as he Merlin set him gently on the floor.

He stood up reluctantly as Merlin shoved him his clothes.

"Breakfast is on the table," he pointed before reassuming his additional duties in preparation for the king's party.

The lanky young man eyed around him to make sure nobody had followed him out of Camelot. He paced anxiously and started to doubt that the old hag would keep her word. Just then, a gust of violent wind created a tornado of the fallen autumn leaves; it died down and the witch appeared in the same ancient rags and cloak she'd worn the night she'd made the promise to him.

"Do you have it?" he asked assertively, making an effort to mask the trepidation in his voice.

The old woman reached into her torn robes and pulled out a plump red apple and a small glass vile containing a thick, dark green liquid.
The man walked over and reached a craving hand at the objects. The witch pulled them to close to her chest and extended her opposite hand. The boy reached into his pocket and placed a small brown pouch containing gold coins that he'd managed to steal from a drunken old man at the tavern, and a nail clipping, in the dirty hand of the witch.

She inspected the coins before opening the vial and dropping in the nail. It dissolved vigorously into the potion, tuning it from a dark green to a clear purple. She handed the man the objects.

"Nobody must touch him while he bites the apple or they will be sent off too. And remember, Arthur Pendragon will only have twenty-four hours to return before he is stuck forever," the old witch croaked.

"Where exactly will he be stuck?" the young man asked confused.

She smiled, revealing a set of rotting yellow teeth, before being engulfed once again by the dead leaves. A foul odor filled the air and the young man stood alone in the forest once more. He cackled victoriously before heading back to the castle to prepare the dining hall for the king's birthday feast.

Arthur lingered nervously outside the door; with his manservant sticking to his side the entire time.

"Nervous?" Merlin mocked.

"Of course not! Don't be so dumb, Merlin," Arthur said annoyed.

"Is it because it's your first birthday as the king?" Merlin smiled.

Arthur grabbed him the shoulder and scrutinized him angrily. He let go of Merlin, going soft at the sight of his innocent, boyish grin.

"You better be a fine servant tonight," Arthur warned less harshly.

He motioned to the guards and the already loud chatter turned into a roar of delighted cheers. The knights raised their wine-filled goblets as Arthur walked by. Gwaine smirked apologetically to Merlin and pointed at Arthur. He returned the gesture with a gentle nod.

The night went by very smoothly. Arthur had only motioned to Merlin thrice for wine, which was a big change from the Arthur that drank himself close to unconsciousness.

Arthur stood and thanked everybody with a short speech before leaving the party but encouraged to continue as long as they wished. He motioned for Merlin who followed him obediently. They were out the door and headed for the king's chambers when they were stopped by a redhead man dressed in the castle's servant attire.

"Sire," the boy bowed. "May I be so out of mind as to offer you a simple birthday gift?"

Arthur watched wearily but signaled for the servant to proceed.

"My lord, I wish to bestow you with this meager apple to show my most sincere appreciation and gratitude. I know it is certainly not a present fit for a king," he looked down shyly, "But I grew it with my own hands and it took a lot of effort. It would mean the world to me if you so even consider accepting it, Sire."

Arthur smiled and patted the servant tenderly on the shoulder. Merlin gawked invidiously at the servant.

"What is your name?" Arthur asked.

"Tobias, Sire," he bowed again.

"Tobias, it would be my pleasure to accept your gift. You can be sure that I will indulge of this fruit when I return to my chambers," Arthur smiled again.

"Thank you so much, Sire," he bowed for the third time, before making his way back to the kitchens.

"What was that?" Merlin said as if he were jealous.

"What? The man offered me a gift, Merlin. I was in no place to deny it. You should take a lesson from him," Arthur said as they made their way back to his chambers.

They were both completely unaware that Tobias had hid behind a door and now followed them booth to the king's chambers.

"Merlin, I wish to take a bath," Arthur said taking his shirt off.

"What? You could have told me this before. Now, I have to walk all the way back to get the water," Merlin complained.

"Merlin," Arthur warned in his usual tone.

"Alright… prat," he muttered under his breath.

Merlin headed out the doors but hid behind a curtain when he heard faint footsteps making their way down the hall. Tobias sneaked his way to the hallway of the king's chambers. Merlin spied and witnessed Tobias pulling out a small vial filled with a purple liquid, from his shirt.

The guy gulped it down with one swig and collapsed to the floor with a sickly cough. Merlin watched as his red hair turned a familiar ashy blonde tone and his scrawny body slowly morphed into that similar of a knight. His arms were almost too muscular and his back was visibly strong underneath the thin fabric of his shirt. The body seemed so familiar to Merlin, but he couldn't quite explain why. As Tobias stood up it was very clear to Merlin why he knew the body so well. It was so unbelievably obvious that he almost didn't believe his eyes. Tobias had transformed into Arthur Pendragon.

"Arthur," Merlin whispered, quickly understanding the danger the real king was in.

He ran from his hiding spot to Arthur's chambers. All of a sudden, he was held at the throat by the now fake, Arthur's arm. His eyes instinctively flashed their warm golden color and the guy was thrown to the floor with a harsh thud.

Merlin ran into Arthur's room and lunged himself at the king when he saw his motion to bite the poisoned apple.

"ARTHUR NO!" Merlin cried, slapping Arthur's hand with his rough finger tips just as he sank his teeth into the fruit's tempting flesh.

A cloud of lustrous silver glitter exploded out of thin air and vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving no evidence of Merlin and Arthur's existence.

"John!" Sherlock called impatiently.

Barely thirty seconds had passed before his voice broke though the small flat again.

"John!" Sherlock yelled once more.

Upstairs, John retrieved his towel from the floor; not bothering to put on any pants, wrapped it around his waist, and grabbed his razor blade. He rushed down the stairs afraid that Sherlock might be in danger.

"What's the matt…" John stopped mid-sentence. "Sherlock! What now? I was about to take a bath!" John said annoyed when he saw that Sherlock was in no danger, but sitting comfortably in a chair looking into his microscope.

"Can you pour me some more tea, thanks," Sherlock said without looking up.

John said nothing; he was used to Sherlock's ridiculous demands by now. He walked over to the teapot, and poured more tea into the empty mug with his free hand. He was so into making sure it was filled completely that he barely noticed his towel was slipping off.

"Put some pants on, John," Sherlock said as soon as the towel hit the floor.

John looked down and reached for his towel with a blush, noticing that Sherlock was still plastered to the microscope.

"Christ. Sherlock I wouldn't hav…" he was cut off by a crashing sound on Mrs. Hudson's bins.

"What wa…" Sherlock stood and moved his hand over John's mouth.

John glanced awkwardly around him so he would have something else to look at other than Sherlock's galaxy colored eyes.

It was completely silent.

"Get dressed quickly," he demanded.

"What?" John looked around bewildered.

"Go get dressed, John!" Sherlock said impatiently.

"Why?" John asked.

"Unless you've gone deaf all of a sudden, John, I am to assume you heard that too," Sherlock said obviously.

John ran upstairs and back down in less than a minute, all dressed and ready to go. He made his way down stairs when he noticed that Sherlock was no longer in the flat. He waited for John with his coat in hand at the door. He followed Sherlock behind the alley; both men completely unaware that they were about to acquire new temporary flat mates.