The Ficus

[tygermine.livejournal.com]

Author: tygermine
Title:The Ficus
Rating: Gen
Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, A Cat
Summary: Arthur is very fond and proud of his ficus...
Warnings: none
Word Count: 427
Prompt: You Are The One
Author's Notes: Sorry for this being late - RL complications.

Arthur would never be accused of having green thumbs, so one could understand the pride he felt at having been able to keep the ficus on his balcony alive for the past few years.

Until recently, that is.

He stepped outside one morning with a cup of tea and noticed something was a little different about his beloved plant.

The leaves were drooping at least an inch lower than the day before.

Arthur put down his tea on the small table and knelt closer to the ficus.

There, just on the edges of each leaf was the beginnings of something sinister. The dreaded yellowing. There was also a strange smell emanating from the pot that housed the plant, but he couldn't see anything out of place.

Tea abandoned, Arthur rushed inside to google the symptoms and find a remedy.

A week later, the ficus was not doing much better and Arthur was becoming frantic. He refused to fail at keeping this plant alive. Driven to an act of desperation, he installed a webcam to keep watch over the plant while he was at work.

Barely two days later, he spotted something rather interesting.

It was his neighbour. The man stood on his part of the balcony, drinking a mug of something and staring off into space.

Arthur had never met his neighbour, but now, looking at the tall young man with a mop of black hair, he was feeling rather motivated to do the neighbourly thing.

Maybe with a six pack in hand?

But then, he saw something in the video feed that made all his warm feelings towards the man evaporate.

His neighbour’s cat had jumped over the separating ledge onto Arthur’s balcony and had made itself comfortable around the stem of his ficus plant, and by comfortable, Arthur meant that it looked like the cat was relieving itself in his pot plant.

That night, he went home and set up camp on his balcony, waiting for the cat to make an appearance.

Three beers later, the little feline perpetrator popped over the ledge and onto Arthur’s plant.

“Ah ha!” He cried. “You are the one!”

A voice came from next door. “I don’t think I am, but I’ll be happy to try.”

After Arthur had spluttered and complained about the cat and his neighbour’s cheekiness.

After the neighbour had introduced himself and charmed Arthur with a wide smile.

After the plant had been cat proofed and numbers exchanged.

After all that, turns out, the neighbour (Merlin was his name) turned out to be The One.