A/N: So, for the last three months, I have continuously stalked the Merlin fandom, checking every hour or something ridiculous like that to see if there was anything new to read because, honestly, Merlin is AMAZING. Needless to say, I love it and, now that the show is sadly over, some increasingly annoying plot bunnies have chosen this inconvenient time to pop up in my already-full head. Unfortunately, letting said bunnies free is a lot harder than it seems; I have spent a very, very long time convincing myself to actually post anything. This is my first fanfiction and as I just want to spend some time getting used to this, I'm going to start of with drabbles/one-shots as it seems easier than writing a whole fic straight away, especially since I'm so unreliable when it comes to actually finishing things.

I've seen a lot of people do this at the beginning, so I'll try too;

Title: First Impressions

Author: FlYiNgPiGlEtS

Summary: Arthur explores his first and current impressions of his manservant turned friend.

Rating: K+

Characters: Arthur and Merlin

Pairings: none in this one. I won't write slash, but if you want to read and interpret it that way that's fine with me :)

Spoilers: none that I can think of.

Disclaimer: unfortunately, I don't own Merlin; it belongs to the BBC and Shine.

Warnings: none.

On with the writing…

I: First Impressions

As a child, Arthur was told many a time how important first impressions were.

He was the future King of Camelot, he had to come across as what his scholars must have described as chivalrous and noble and powerful, but he simply thought of as 'perfect'. If he showed himself up, it would reflect badly on his father, on his kingdom, on his future rule; it would shape the way whichever lord, lady or peasant alike he was meeting thought of him for the rest of his life. First impressions are unchangeable, correct and unimaginably important. For such a long time, Arthur believed that.

Then he met Merlin.

The man was undeniably an idiot. He was rude and disrespectful and Arthur, at the time, truly wanted to believe that he hated him. That was his first impression of Merlin – insolent, disregarding, careless, stupid – and, of course, Arthur assumed that was the way he would always think of Merlin.

But as time went on, he was proven wrong. The daring disrespect was somewhat refreshing and, eventually, he came to welcome it because, admittedly, sometimes someone needed to put him in his place. He found himself liking the way Merlin rarely used titles, how he treated him almost like an equal and gave him something no one else had really offered him before – a chance to escape the pressure of being prince, if only for a moment. The carelessness gave way to the most unbelievable, unbreakable loyalty to both Arthur and Camelot, an unwavering willingness to do anything to protect them both that Arthur would call rash and foolish, but secretly admired.

And then there was the stupidity. Time after time Arthur would insult Merlin, tell him he was a brainless buffoon or something equally as degrading and, as he would come to realize, wrong. At first, he had dismissed it as an accident; he said so many ridiculous things, at least one sentence had to actually make sense. But then it started happening far more frequently and Arthur couldn't help but realise his servant was… well, he was wise. He had this knowledge about him that he must have been born with but developed with age and Arthur soon found himself turning to Merlin when he needed help because he was always there, with something so surprisingly true to say that he often didn't know what to say back, let alone thank him for it. Merlin was more of an advisor and more of a friend than anyone had ever been to him before.

Merlin was a friend.

That was defiantly not his first impression of Merlin; clever, loyal, selfless, someone who would one day become his closest friend. Arthur had been proven wrong – and he was glad for it. He was glad he had given Merlin a chance to change the way Arthur viewed him, to cement his trust in the warlock's advice and dependability, because now Arthur didn't know what he would do without him. One of the many lessons Merlin had taught him was that first impressions weren't always right.

There was one thing, however, that he had been right about: Merlin was brave. He was the bravest man Arthur had even known and he was privileged to have him by his side as they built Albion together. He was privileged – privileged to have such a good friend.

Because that's what Merlin was, and always would be; a friend, and an equal.

Okay, there you go, my first ever Merlin drabble. I hope it wasn't too bad. Reviews (good or bad) and prompts welcome :)