"So, when you assume this position, you will constantly be under watchful eyes. You will probably feel an intense weight on your shoulder as you-" Uther dragged on, boring his only son with yet another talk about the family cooperation. Arthur may have been attentive the first time Uther filled him in on everything to expect when he would be appointed the head of their company, but every time after that he more or less tuned out after "When I retire…" He normally tried to pay attention, he really did, but the way Uther would always use the most boring words like 'inflation' and 'monopoly' made it pretty hard for Arthur to hold interest.

Every time Arthur was called to his father's home office, he knew what was in store for him. He'd go in and sit down in the chair placed before Uther's desk and attempt to listen to his business rants. He would always wish for some excuse to leave as he'd heard it all a million times before. Sadly, though, he almost never had one, and almost anytime he did Uther still wouldn't permit him to leave.

This particular time, though, right when Uther got to the part about responsibility, Arthur felt his phone vibrating in his right pants pocket. He carefully slid it out, grateful that his father hadn't noticed as he continued to ramble on, and checked to see who had texted him. Arthur read the new text in the string of messages between himself and his best friend/other types of friend, Merlin.

'you busy?' it said.

Arthur briefly glanced upward at his father, checking to see if he was looking. He wasn't, so Arthur texted back with,

'I mean… kinda. Why?'

'wellllll…' Arthur knew what was being implied here.

'I can't right now. Stuck in another one of Dad's talks.' But God, did Arthur want to.

'cant you get out of it?' Damn did Merlin want it.

"Arthur? Arthur, are you even listening?" Arthur's head snapped back up when he noticed his father addressing him.

"Hm?"

"If you can't take these talks seriously, Arthur, how can I know you'll take this job seriously?"

"So are we done, then?" Arthur asked, suddenly a lot more eager for this conversation to end than usual.

"Arthur-" They both looked down when Arthur's phone vibrated again. "Arthur, we are not done here. Do not answer that message, whatever it is. This is a serious matter, Arthur-"

Arthur couldn't help it. He unlocked his phone, almost dropping it when he looked at what Merlin had sent him. He looked up at his father, then back at his screen, and repeated. He stared the recently received picture a moment longer before glancing back up at Uther.

"Arthur," Uther said warningly.

Arthur really couldn't stop himself. He dropped his phone and bolted out of his seat and out of the room. Uther called after him, but to no avail. After a moment, he stood from his desk chair and walked around the surface to grab his son's phone from where it had fallen on the floor. When his eyes fell on the screen, he almost dropped it just as his son had.

He simply couldn't fathom why Arthur's best friend of seventeen years was sending him such promiscuous pictures.

FIN.