Think Twice Before Lying

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had a strong feeling that Gaius knew. Actually, he was fairly certain of it. Firstly, because he had to have checked on the body of the ceased knight, Sir Alinor . . . and in its stead, found the assassin. And second, because he may recognize that the wound was not inflicted by a spear or any other weapon that the assassin could have attacked him with in the middle of the woods. Would he know it was from a lance with a blade at the end? Arthur could not be sure about how much Gaius would know about wounds and the marks different weapons left . . . but he was a physician for many years; the best in all of Albion even. His expertise was what made Arthur trust him completely . . . and yet not involve him in this plan. He had left him out for the less people who knew, the better. And the less being just himself, Merlin and Guinevère. How the assassin had found out, Arthur had no clue. He probably should have considered that Gaius would eventually find out . . . and that time was now.

His shoulder was in a make shift sling, but the blood was already heavily leaking through. Guinevère had tended to him to the best of his abilities but he knew he had to get it checked out by Gaius, so that it would not get infected and so that perhaps Gaius could give him something for the pain He had left the throne room, have a brief -- yet emotionally intense conversation with Guinevère -- and had made his way to the physician's quarters, walking alongside his father. He heard his father speak to him, giving details of the tournament, about Sir William and how remarkably he had competed. How his father was eager to see him and Arthur in next years tournament, and so on. But the young prince was only half listening. His thoughts were consumed with -- oddly enough not the fact that he had actually won -- but what he had done the morning of the tournament. How he felt his relationship with Guinevère was forever changed. And the pain in realizing that nothing could ever become of it.

He also consumed himself in thoughts about Odin; how to achieve some sort of peace with him. Though he did not want to retaliate, he knew this would not be his last act of revenge. He almost didn't notice when they had arrived at the physician's quarters, and may not have realized had his father not told him he'd check up on him later. Arthur gave a short nod as he entered Gaius's quarters, taking a seat on the wooden table that his patients were often treated on. He put his other hand over the wound, to apply pressure to stop some of the bleeding, though he found himself inwardly cringing at the impact of pushing it. He hoped Gaius would get here soon so that he could just get this over with, and move on. He knew though, that he might have some explaining to do . . . and waited for the physician to enter so that he could determine by the look in his eyes, just how much he knew about everything that had happened.


_{Setting: In the physician's quarters
Time of Day: Let's say, late morning
Timeline: Shortly after Once and Future Queen; when Arthur is getting treated for his injury
Tag: Gaius
Notes: Hope this is alright! Let me know if you'd like me to change anything!}

[dannygaius]

Gaius was confused. Confused as to why it had all happened, right under his nose. He had smelt a rat, suspected something from Merlin as the boy hurried around, looking dishevelled as if he was hiding a secret. Yet then again, that was nothing new. Merlin was always hiding secrets from him, yet he needed to learn to trust the old man more than he did so already. Gaius new what was best. And he knew how to not get them killed! But it had happened. Merlin had snuck Arthur to joust in the tournament in disguise, because Arthur feared people were going easy on him just because he was the kings son. Gaius had never thought that for a moment, and it only became clearer as Arthur won the tournament, despite an assassin attempting to kill him. He was purely a very good fighter. However, another thing confused him. How Arthur had said he was going to reveal himself and claim his glory when the battle was over, yet he did not do it. Arthur was proud, and usually quite arrogant in Gaius’s opinion. Never missing a chance to show off. So this utterly baffled him. Still, maybe it meant good.

The old physician was also worried. He had seen the nasty wound Arthur had gained while jousting with the assassin and it could only mean infection and pain. His mind was troubled as he hurried along his quarters. Merlin was out, as usual, doing something or the other. That made him angry. His leech tank needed cleaning again and they didn’t have anything for dinner. But it could wait. At the moment he set his thoughts on boiling some medicine he had promised a young man earlier that week. The peasant had a nasty cold, probably the flu, and couldn’t afford anything so Gaius had agreed to make him some medicine for free. That was the kind of man he was. Simple, serious, but kind and giving. The physician hurried along, grabbing roots from the cupboards and water from a bucket. Sliding a large bowl from under the wardrobe he began to mix ingredients together. Some herbs here, liquids there. With a wooden spoon he ferociously pushed the mixture along, pulling his arm faster and faster until the mixture was thick and a metallic blue colour. Perfect. he muttered, pouring some of it into a little potion-bottle and storing the rest away. With a satisfied sigh, he swept his grey hair from his wrinkled face and tucked the bottle into his jacket.

Half an hour later he was back at his little home again, having given the medicine to the very grateful man. His flu had been serious and the medicine worked almost straight away, leaving his family joyful. They had given him some cake. Gaius liked cake. It was in his hands, wrapped in brown paper. He meant to put it on the wooden table for later. Because of his full hands, he pushed open his familiar door with his back, and Gaius tumbled in. His eyes found the familiar little space, the space he had lived In for so long. But with a jerk of his head, a surprised “oh” came from his mouth as he saw Arthur perched upon the wooden table. Gaius quickly placed his cake down and then turned his gaze back to the young prince, the physician sighing and shaking his head at the bloody wound. Oh dear. I was wondering about that. his startled gaze flicked to the pail of water near the table and he hauled it up, squeezed out a cloth, and dipped the rag in the water. Undo your clothes, and then stay still. he said.. He was not a “good evening your highness *bow*” kind of guy, he simply did and said what needed to be done. He waited until Arthur had hopefully unbuttoned his shirt and then he reached over, gently unwrapping the dressing on the wound and then bathing it with the wet cloth, gently dabbing away the blood. It would sting. It would hurt. But it would pain Arthur a lot more if he left it without it being attended too.



Oooh first Gaius post.... aaah my laptop screen has gone terrible, lines and shakes and blurs everywhere so I can hardly see, it's sooo annoying! So that's the reason for any mistakes and fails!!!

[Arthur Pendragon]

When he head the door open, Arthur pulled himself out of his thoughts and focused his full attention on the physician as he entered with . . . was that cake? It didn't come as much of a surprise. For those who could not afford medicine, often gave him something else in return. Whether it be food or some other token of gratitude. Arthur did not question it. He just watched him set it down, noticing the slightly alarmed expression on Gaius' face. That came as no surprise either, for Arthur was not scheduled for an appointment. But he had still come out of necessity and Gaius did not inquire about anything . . . other than the wound itself. Arthur would have gotten up and greeted him properly, a sign of respect for the elder, but it had been a struggle enough to get on the actual table, that it would only be more difficult to keep moving around until he was properly treated. And that was going to be very soon as the physician did not waste a moment.

When he told him to remove his shirt, Arthur complied. He pulled the lacing on the top of his shirt, and with one hand, managed to move it from over his head, cringing in pain when he was forced to pull it through the arm of the shoulder that was wounded. Never the less, it was done. He set it on the side waiting for Gaius to continue. And perhaps he was waiting even more for him to begin questioning the series of events . . . or perhaps he would not at all. Arthur felt the immediate sting of the wet cloth directly on his wound, and his face showed evidence of this pain, where as the rest of his body remained perfectly still. The pain was familiar enough for him to endure quietly but that did not mean it didn't hurt. He looked down at the cloth on his injury, keeping his gaze there for a few moments before looking at Gaius' face instead.

The man was always so difficult to read; one never really knew quite what was on his mind. This was no exception. May as well start with a bit of small talk. "I hope I have not disrupted any other appointments you have." It was phrased as both a question and a statement. A question because he was actually not sure what the physician's schedule was like. All he knew was that it was often a busy one. There was always someone in town in need of something and it kept Gaius extremely busy. Besides, the cake was an example of where he must have been just now so Arthur wanted to check and see if there was someone else in more dire need of medical attention. On the other hand, it was a statement because . . . well, because he really needed to get this looked at. How could he serve on the army if he had a horribly wounded shoulder that seemed only to be getting worse and intensifying in pain? It was bad enough that he was likely to lose utility of it for the next few, or maybe several days.

[[ WOOO for the first Gaius post! BOOO for the messed up laptop!! It was an AWESOME post though!! No mistakes at all! It was perfecto!! ]]

[dannygaius]

The patient, as he was now, undid his shirt accordingly. Gaius winced at the nasty looked wound. He dropped the wet cloth in his hands on to the table and then unwrapped the dressing from around Arthur that just screamed Guinevère. His practiced eyes soon saw that it was her that had first tended to Arthur’s wound- it was good enough, simple. It had kept the wound clean at least. But not comfortable enough. Gaius picked up the wet rag once more and gently applied it to the dried blood around the main wound. He dabbed at the brown-coloured substance that he was so used to seeing; this bit wouldn’t hurt much though the skin might be tender. But Gaius was only just getting started. When the physician had cleared up the blood from around the bloody wound, he then washed out the rag and hurried to his cupboards, searching through his pots and containers rapidly, with as much speed as an old man could muster. Soon enough, out came the antiseptic cream. Made from various roots, plants, and of course cream from the farm down the road. He applied the cream to the wet rag and then rushed to Arthur again, gently placing the rag on the wounded shoulder, cleaning the wound with the cream. It would heal the wound faster. But oh, it would sting a lot. Gaius frowned, but continued his work. The wound was now looking clean, and a healthier colour. Still admiring his handiwork, he kept his face looking down as Arthur spoke to him. Gaius didn’t much like speaking when he was doing work, but he knew his patients did- it took their minds of the pain. “Oh no, of course not. You know I can make room for you any time.”

The man, dressed neatly in a clean shirt and leather trousers- both in clean, calm colours, cleaned up the materials he had used so far. He was nearly finished tending to the wound. Gaius opened up the cupboards again and got out some herb-leaves, the long type used as dressings. He gently wrapped these around the wound and then pulled out the handy roll of bandages from his front pocket, using them to tie the whole thing together in a neat, strong bandage. He cut the end of the bandage off with a sharp knife, and then tucked both weapon and medical aid back into his pockets. The serious expression still plastered firmly on the doctors face, he went to the cupboards for the final time. Pulling out a long, strong sling. Made with the firmest linen- only for the strongest and most powerful patients with injuries such as Arthur. He had been saving the sling especially. “This is a good sling.” Gaius muttered, stuffing an old stool underneath Arthur’s arm so he could rest it on the wood, before he took off the already dirty sling Arthur already had on. Gaius tied the sling around the shoulder and arm as best he could, until it was in a handy knot. And it looked pretty comfortable to him. Gaius smiled a little, and then flicked his startling blue gaze up to Arthur. “You know Arthur, I can always tell when you want to know something. Ever since you were a boy… you’ve always been curious.” maybe what you could even call a mischievous smile erupted on his face. “Cake? I have a feeling we’ll be here for some time” he said, handing a piece of the cake to Arthur before drawing up a chair for the prince. He had never let it show until now- Gaius had known something was troubling Arthur from the moment he saw him up on the table. And Gaius guessed that what Arthur wanted to talk about was most probably about the assassin… Gaius drew himself a chair and grabbed his own slice of cake, and munched thoughtfully, wise, old eyes watching the young prince who would soon grow to be the greatest king of all time. “Now. Tell me what you wanted to ask.” his tone wasn’t demanding, not at all. Just kind like always. And wise, and knowing. For that was Gaius.





{{Aww thanks so much! Aahaha xD Sorry for the wait. And mmmmmmm...........caaake......}}