HEY GUESS WHAT ONE TIME I DID THIS THING

Merlin didn't feel an ounce of nervousness as he bounced from his usual haunts back to the plains toward his dad's den. One would wonder why this was unusual and what circumstances might have prompted such an observation, and one could be forgiven for not knowing, because the effervescent young male didn't give any sign that this was any different than, say, a trip to the river to roll around in the mud. Which actually he'd already done earlier that day and then had to jump in the water to rinse off before heading this way.

But anyway.

He was bouncing along with seemingly no cares in the world on a super serious secret mission to talk to his dad.

Drawing within sight of the den it suddenly occurred to him that his dad might not be in (being a super busy important alpha sort of guy) and if he was in he might not appreciate being pounced on without warning (being that he might have super busy important alpha stuff going on already) so as he bounded and wove his way across the snake-and-rock strewn area (though with the cooler temperatures most of the snakes had already gone into their winter hideyholes) he threw up his malar-striped face and howled to let his dad know he was coming. For good measure, as the echoes of the howl bounced back to him he bellowed out a cheerful greeting towards the den. "Heyyyy Daaaaaaaaad it's meeee!"