The Deck, Early Saturday Morning

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Winter was a while off yet, but it was considerably cooler than a few months ago. Naturally, this called for hot coffee. It was a good thing then that Edmund had been into town to the bakery and coffee shop. There was a large Thermos of hot coffee with some disposable cups and a box of pastries on the table if anyone came by. For now, Edmund was content to sit back in his deck chair and enjoy his breakfast.

[OOC: Open as decks often are. I'm asleep now though. Sleeeep.]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"We never really had much of... the church in Ealdor. Still a bit of the old religion there."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Ealdor is...home?" he guessed. They hadn't started out in Camelot in the books, after all.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"It's the village I'm from," Merlin replied brightly. "It's just outside Camelot's borders."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"And you still follow the old ways at home?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"As far as I can tell, it's a bit of a mix of them?"

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund nodded in understanding. "Arthur doesn't give you trouble for not going to church with him?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"He goes with Francine," He said with a shrug. "I always thought it was a bit of a peaceful time for him."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"That's a good thing for him to have. And that's a good thing that he doesn't give you trouble. Some people, no matter their religion, can be insistent about you doing what they do."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin frowned at that. "You can't force someone to believe."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I agree, but history has shown - or, well, the future for you most probably - that that's never stopped people from trying."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Huh. I think I rather prefer now. None of that here."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Don't watch CNN."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I watched that channel with all the yelling," Merlin replied brightly. "Though, I don't think I'll be doing any of that for the paper."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"That's good, Merlin," Edmund replied in an encouraging way. "Journalism over the last 70 or so years has gone considerably down hill. It's less about what's going on in the world and more about telling you what you should believe and why believing the other side of the argument is morally wrong and makes you a bad person."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Though no one gets killed over it," Merlin pointed out. Which was a plus.

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"No, they don't," he conceded. "I wish that was the case in all of their stories. People are capable of great cruelty against one another."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I think that may be the case no matter what the time."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"You'd think we'd learn. But then you watch reality television and realise that some people consider it the pinnacle of entertainment and then come to terms with the possibility that we're doomed."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

There was a pause. "...do those cake shows count as bad entertainment?"

Don't you judge his love of sweets.

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"The cake shows never count," he said solemnly.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin nodded back, just as solemn. "Then I think they are the finest form of entertainment I've found here."

A beat.

"Did you know you can just order things on the television?"

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I didn't," he admitted. Which was probably a good thing that he didn't know. Those infomercials were addictive. "How?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

But what vaguely medieval boy didn't need a Snuggie!?

"You just call the number and they ask you a few questions!" No, Merlin had not gotten anything because he lacked a credit card, but calling was still rather fun!

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"And then they send you things?" He was not considering trying this at all.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"You need something called a credit card," Merlin said sadly. "I really ought to find out how to get one."