A Drink Will Fix Everything (Leon)

[thegwaine]

Overall it had been a mixed day, and that was putting it nicely. Gwaine was already, justifiably, sinking his lips into another drink. This was his first since Arthur's birthday celebrations earlier that night, and he had promised himself he wouldn't get too tipsy at the celebrations. After all, he had to look knightly at these sorts of functions; he owed that much to Arthur. However, it wasn't keeping sober at the birthday celebrations that was bothering him; it was what had followed that series of events.

They'd been told that there had been an attack on the Prince and the King, but by the time they had been told it had been too late. The King was fatally wounded. There was nothing they could do for Uther, and the man in question who had stabbed the King was dead himself. Of course there were those looking for his accomplices, but Gwaine knew that there was little chance of finding them. Usually he was quite the optimist, but he knew himself how easy it was to just slip away into the night. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Gwaine now looked up to his companion. He had managed to convince Leon of all people to accompany him for a drink. It was going to be a long night, so they might as well break it up with a drink or two. There was no point in sitting up at the castle in a somber mood; they could do that here with an ale in their hands. "Lets hope not all Arthur's birthdays are this eventful, or else there'll be no one left in Camelot by the time he's fifty." He joked softly and ran a hand through his hair, looking across at Leon, hoping that the man took the jest in the full joking sense that it was intended with.

Tags: Sir Leon
Timeline: During The Wicked Day, after Uther is stabbed
Time of Day: Evening
Location: The Rising Sun

[Deleted]

Today had started out fine; Leon had been looking forward to Arthur’s celebration, like any celebration in Camelot. They were to be fun and you were to have a good time, laugh, drink and be merry with your fellow knight well the prince became another year older. But like all things in Camelot they were short lived and like anything if affect the all the people within its walls. It had when from happy times to worst time and no one knew what the outcome was going to be.

As like any event that happened in Camelot, there was always someone trying to attack the prince or the King or both for that matter. And this time it had been serious. Leon just wished there could have been something he could have done. He had spent his whole life serving the Pendragon family only to learn that his King had been wounded badly and by the looks of things he wasn’t going to make it. Of course the persons who commented the crime were nowhere to be found, more than likely slipping away in the middle of the night, knowing well that they could easily get out of there without being found and this angered the knight.

He had taken up Gwaine’s offer to have a few drinks with him. It would help Leon get his mind off the events of the evening and plus it would give him some time with his fellow knight. He came to the tavern a few times before, with other knights, some nights by himself. There had only been a few rare times he’d come. This had been his second time coming because of something bad happening. Before it had been after the dragon attack and ale seemed to numb the pain he had been feeling over the weeks his wound had to heal. Now he had another time to numb any pain it might be feeling about the state of the King right now. He smiled as he put down his glass of ale, and chuckled a little at Gwaine’s comment, “Please, every celebration is eventful. Welcome to Camelot”. He said with a smirk, "There’s not a day that there not something going on”, he spoke, as it was true, pretty much every day in Camelot was eventful not matter it be big or small, there was something going on. And Gwaine might be right, by the time Arthur is fifty there might not be anyone left in Camelot.


Tag: Gwaine
Timeline: The Wicked Day
Time: Evening
Setting: The Rising Sun

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[thegwaine]

If every even in Camelot was going to be so...eventful, then Gwaine would have to stop drinking so much at these functions. As much as that thought pained him, he would rather not fall into the mercy of whatever bandits or soldiers that were going to pop up at these sorts of things. Although obviously a function such as this would be a perfect cover, and Gwaine had supposed that was why the men had struck when they had, because no one was really expecting it. That didn't make it any less shocking though, no it more increased the shock. It struck Gwaine how easily the men had perpetrated the walls of Camelot. Jesu, they were always on red alert, and the one time they hadn't been this had all happened. Although Gwaine knew there wasn't anything he could have done to prevent him, it still struck a cord that this was the kind of thing the Knights were supposed to prevent and they hadn't. He took another swig of his drink and forced a smile, it wouldn't do to sit in such a somber mood in company after all.

He grinned up at Leon and forced a chuckle, "Then I shall make sure to keep a sword about me at all times." He shrugged and drained the last of his ale. It had been greatly needed after all, "Wouldn't want anyone to attack you on my watch would I?" He jested lightly. Leon was more than an equal against Gwaine with a sword, but it was still nice to bring him down occasionally. The Knights were all like brothers anyway, and he couldn't imagine now being without any of them. Funny, he'd never really been a family sort of person, and perhaps he still wasn't. He just had quite a few people who felt like a sort of dysfunctional family. It was still nice though. "How do you think Arthur's taking it?" He forced himself to ask. After all, despite Gwaine's close friendship with the Prince, Leon had known Arthur a lot longer than he had. Therefore his opinions on these things would probably be a lot more valuable.

[Deleted]

It was true; there wasn’t an event in Camelot that wasn’t eventful. If there wasn’t sometimes going on than it really wouldn’t make Camelot what is now. They had become stronger because of all the events they had to deal with every day or it seemed like every day that something was going on. If it wasn’t something to do with the King then it was something to do with the prince and if it wasn’t that then it was something to with Camelot itself. He had seen many of these events himself and he was sure that many more of them had happened before he had become a knight. It pained Leon to think that the Knights were trained to stop these kinds of things, serve and protect the King no matter what, and when the King had needed them the most they were either off still partying from Arthur’s birthday or they were sleep in there chambers. How could they be such fools, Leon knew he shouldn’t be kicking himself over it but he was in the small part of his mind. But these men had known that the Knights would be in a different state because of the prince’s birthday and it had been a prefect cover and it had worked.

He grinned as Gwaine’s comment, “Trust me, you learn to keep it with you at all times”. Leon didn’t go anywhere without some type of weapon. His sword was never far because you never knew when something might happen. He also made sure that the barracks was always stocked with weapons and they were sharped and well managed. He had learned to keep a dagger under the other pillow in his chambers just in case. You could never be too careful right? He chuckled loudly and took a swing on his ale, “I feel so much safer knowing you’re watching my back Gwaine”, he smirked and lightly punched his friend. It was all fun and jokes between them. The knights were like brothers and they were always joking between them. So he knew that the comments between him and Gwaine were just friendly joking. Leon looked down at his ale as Gwaine asked him about Arthur. Leon had seen Arthur in his best and his worse and Leon had always been there for the prince. “I am sure he’s not handling it well, but knowing him he’ll tell you he’s fine and things will look up”. The knight hoped that things did look up; he wanted the King to get better, and everything back to normal. But things were never normal in Camelot.

[thegwaine]

Really, Gwaine could see the logic in attacking a kingdom while it was celebrating, however it wasn't exactly sporting of them, esepecially on Arthur's birthday. Gwaine was always a man of honour, and such things could only be gained on the battle field. However, he knew that not everyone was as noble of the knights of Camelot. If they were then everyone would be a knight. Gwaine sighed softly and ran a hand over his face. The only issue with drinking with friends was that he often shied away from trying to flirt with every woman who took his fancy. Perhaps if the woman had a sister it would work, as then he and Leon would have a woman on their arms and then it would be a little less awkward... But perhaps he should leave that for a more upbeat occasion.

"Remind me to not tell Arthur when my birthday is." Gwaine muttered into his ale. He would not be attending any more feasts than he had too if each of them ended as badly as the one last night had. Really, it was surprising that anyone held feasts anymore. From Gwaine's limited experience they had a tendency to end badly eventually. Or perhaps Camelot was so used to the threads that they just took it in their strides. That was also conceivable, and Gwaine was sure he would get used to his life being constantly in danger, but it wasn't the most comforting through. Especially when he was tryng to enjoy on his ale.

Gwaine grinned at Leon and clapped his back, "And so you should Many would die for the protection that you hold right now." Well they wouldn't die as then there would be no point in Gwaine protecting them... but details details. The point still stood. Gwaine certainly had his own style in the field of battle, and the other knights appreciated that when he was fighting with them. He knew Leon could hold his own, but it was still nice to jest with him. "I'm sure Arthur will deal with it in his own way." Gwaine replied thoughtfully and took another swig of his ale, "Want another one?"

[Deleted]

What better time to attack one of the most protected kingdom in Albion, was a major party hosted for the prince. It was the perfect cover, they could walk right in when everyone was busy enjoying themselves and bam something like this happened. It had sad and by no means honourable or noble by this knights mind, but there were not many people who had the same morals as the Knights of Camelot. As Leon eyed the other people in the tavern and what was going on around him, he noticed his friends sigh. He knew this wasn’t what Gwaine was used to, the nights he did come to the tavern. He was sure most of the time he spent it alone maybe even with some lady he had taken fancy to during the night, but of course Gwaine could not do these things with Leon sitting beside him and sharing a drink. It there was two things Leon and noticed about his fellow knights since meeting him, he loved his ale and women. Leon on the other hand was not this type of person and was well let’s just say different around ladies then say Gwaine would be.

He chuckled lightly, “It might be the best choice, if you don’t want it to be your last”. Feasts were the most common thing in Camelot. They had feasts for the king and prince, they had feasts for knighting’s and for knights, and they had feasts for visiting guests. So they were pretty much use to something going on during one. That didn’t stop them from having them though. Just not each time they would have to be more careful and be ready for anything that might happen. Once you had been here as long as Leon had, you got use to all the danger filled days and never knowing which day might be your last one.

He nodded his head and smirked taking another swing of his ale. It was getting pretty low and he didn’t know how many more Gwaine wanted to say for, or how many it was going to take before he would even forget about the events of tonight. Leon didn’t know where the night was going to go. He would just take it as it came. “I am sure they would, they’ll be lining up in the streets of Camelot for your protection”. He grinned at this thought, it was always nice having a few good old jokes between good friends, it always brought the knights closer when they were joking with each other. It was true Arthur would deal on this with his known. “He always fine’s a way to deal with things like this”. He nodded again, “Ya I would love another one”. He hadn’t even known that he had finished it all of the ale in his glass. He looked at his fellow knight, “You know, if you want to find some lady that you fancy tonight, and then by all means go right ahead, I don’t mind”. He had drank alone before it wasn’t like he didn’t want his friends not to be happy right now, and maybe if Gwaine was with a lady it would get his mind off of the events that had happened earlier, Leon was sure it would help his mind, if he was any good with women.

[thegwaine]

Feasts were unfortunately a regular occurrence within Camelot. Well, that was unfortunate in the sense that there was a constant threat of danger, however, the flowing ale and the fresh set of women often meant that feasts were usually a joyous thing. Plus it meant that Gwaine got to catch up with his band of brothers, which wasn’t something he often got to do. The knights were often all busy doing their own thing, so the one time they were all together was at a feast. Apart from that they were often separated in their different duties, and such like. Gwaine for one was either in the tavern or performing his duties. He never really let ale get in the way of his knightly duties, as he took them with the seriousness in which they should be undertaken. He was of course immensely grateful to the honour of which Arthur had bestowed him with, however adapting from his old lifestyle had been harder than he originally thought. For the first time in years he had a family, and one he was actually quite close to.

Gwaine lifted his glass to Leon’s comment with a chuckle and took a swig from the tankard. He really wouldn’t be letting Arthur throw any more feasts in his honour in the near future, not if they carried so many risks with them. After all, feasts really were the best point of attack as everyone was distracted with festivities. However, if they had to cancel such events because of the worries of attack well, they would never end up celebrating anything would they? “I’ll just have a quiet celebration this year then.” He said thoughtfully and took another swig out of his tankard. A quiet drink in the tavern was probably the best option for his birthday. And by a quiet drink, Gwaine meant quite a few drinks with whichever friends he could muster in the local tavern. It would probably involve women, drinking and gambling. One day Gwaine would switch his life around, however for now he was just after enjoying it how it was.

If Gwaine wasn’t so fond of Leon, he would have been annoyed about the smirk which accompanied his words about Gwaine’s protection. He was quite proud of the protection he could offer to the people of Camelot. “I’m surprised that they aren’t lining up already.” He voiced with a chuckle, polishing off the ale he had in his hands, “Want another one?” He asked. Gwaine could probably charm an ale or two out of the barmaid which was serving tonight. It would save a penny or two out of his coin purse anyway, which was always a good thing.

Gwaine wasn’t quite sure whether to believe Leon or not about Arthur. Arthur always had a habit of seeming fine even when he really wasn’t. However, Gwaine would never ask or introduce the topic of feelings in front of Arthur. It really wasn’t like Gwaine to get bogged down in such things. He just nodded at Leon because he knew about things like this better than he was. Gwaine was still getting used to the people of Camelot after all. Leon’s next comment did however distract him somewhat and Gwaine let out a hearty laugh. “The women will still be here tomorrow night, and every night after that.” Unfortunately many of the women in Camelot were proving themselves to be quite the same. “Besides, what could beat a drink with a fellow knight?”

[Deleted]

Even with the constant danger that feasts and events brought to Camelot, they still put them every year or every time there was a call for it. Camelot was well known around the land for its feasts and events. When they did have a tournament, many people come far and wide. It also brought people from many different places and such. Feasts were a good time to catch up with old friends and new, and it was a good time for all the knights to be in one place together which wasn’t that often. Most of the time they were all busy doing something, it was not often they were on the same patrols or training together. Most of the time when they were together it was on some quest to save Camelot. Feasts were the only time the second in command got time to relax and have fun. Drink some ale and maybe just maybe talk to a lady or two. Other than that Leon was always busy with his own duties. He never really had much time to himself to do anything for himself really, so having fun at feasts made up for it. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had any rest or a break from his duties, other than the few times were he had been wounded but even then he was still back to his normal duties within a few days after getting his wounds, he was the type of man to put it off and get back to his work because that was all the knight knew.

He nodded and took a swing of his ale as well. Yes it might be best if Gwaine did leave out the date of his birthday from Arthur. Anything big in Camelot, brought out those who would do anything to bring down it down. And the knights were good targets for that; their lives were in danger every single moment. He had learned to take each day as it came, knowing that each one could end up being his last. He hadn’t done anything for his birthday since he was a young boy. After his parents died and he lost contract with what siblings he might still have left, Leon kept to himself and really never spoke up about it. It was just another day, another year older, so he didn’t need anything big or grand, so that’s why it was just best to not say anything more about the matter. He grinned, “There always the best, quiet celebration’s”. It didn’t draw attention to yourself by having a huge grand party, but of course Arthur being the prince of Camelot, there was no say about not having a birthday party.

After he had spoken the words to Gwaine he had seen a spark of some kind in his brother’s mind. He could see that Gwaine might be annoyed by his comment. He hadn’t might ill words about his fellow knight or the protection he could give. The people of Camelot care for the protection the knights gave them, they loved it, and they loved the men who served and died to make sure that they could live each day. Gwaine would soon learn and see that, Leon since he had been in Camelot all his life, he had grown up here and he had served Camelot most of his life, he had seen how the people were towards the Knights of Camelot and how much they cared and enjoyed the protection they gave. “I am sorry”, he said, not knowing well if Gwaine would pick up what he was sorry for, but he hoped he did. “The people of Camelot truly are proud to have us protecting them”. And as knights, they should be proud to be protecting them, because Camelot was not a kingdom without its people.

He nodded when he was asked if he wanted another drink. He might as while it’s not he had this much all the time, and this time he could say it was called for. Leon had seen how Arthur dealt with his feelings, all the years he had known him, Arthur would tell you everything was fine when it wasn’t and he rarely told these feelings to anyone, but Gwen he was sure and maybe even Merlin from time to time since Merlin was always there with Arthur. Knights were like that as well, Leon was one of them, he never really said how he felt, and only on the rare time when it was something he felt was wrong and he would voice it. But when it came to feelings and things, knights were trained ad pushed to feel no pain and have no feelings. Arthur would open up if he wanted too. He smiled and looked at his friend, “I guess you’re right. I just thought I would offer, if you wanted some other type of company”, he spoke the truth, really if Gwaine wanted to go find a lady to spend the rest of the night then by all means go, Leon could find something else to do with his night, as he didn’t think he would be sleeping much after what had happened tonight. “Seeing as we never really have much time to have a drink between friends”. He commented while waiting for Gwaine to come back with their drinks. It might be the only time the two of them get some time to talk and bond. In else they happened to get on the same patrol or were training together.

[thegwaine]

Quiet celebrations would defiantly be the way to go from now on, unless someone wanted to meet a sticky end during the celebrations. In his more jovial moment, Gwaine figured that if you had someone you weren’t particularly fond of, an obscure relative perhaps, then inviting them to one of these Camelot feasts would probably be the right thing to do. He didn’t voice this to Leon though, as given the circumstances, he doubted his friend would see the funny side of his reasoning. “Then a quiet celebration will be the way to go I think, from now on.”

Gwaine was sure he was missing something. Why was Leon apologising to him? He thought about it for a few moments, but he really couldn’t muster an answer; he really had no idea. He took in a bit of his ale, figuring thinking about it a while longer might give him an idea, but still nothing was coming to him. “Why are you apologising?” He asked in a more serious way and took in some more of his ale. After all, when in doubt, there was always a drink at the end of your hand. He did nod at Leon’s later words. Even thought the Knights were quite an odd mix of fighters, they knew that the people had faith in them. That was important, because without the peoples faith, they would never be the force that they were today. The people knew they could count on them to protect them, and that meant more than any title could ever do.

Gwaine shook his head, really he couldn’t see what would give Leon the idea that he would rather spend the evening in the company of a woman rather than a fellow knight. Well, ok yes, Gwaine did have a reputation of being a womaniser, so that was probably where the doubts came from, but still, he was here with Leon wasn’t he, and he hadn’t even looked back at the pretty young bar maid who was giving him they eye. Ok, maybe he’d looked back once or twice, but he hadn’t done anything yet had he? Focussing his thoughts, which was something Gwaine struggled to do at the best of times, he looked back to Leon with a quick grin, “This is why they should let women become knights, I could kill two birds with one stone then.” He chuckled all the way into his ale. He was of course not being serious in the slightest. Women weren’t cut out to be knights, and the natural order dictated that men were knights, and women were the ones behind them, supporting them. This didn’t mean that Gwaine thought that all men were better than women, because he would never suggest such a thing. He had met so many strong women over the years that his opinion had been formed for him. Some women were stronger than men, some were probably even better fighters than men, but the fact remained that they would never become knights, and that was how things would remain.

Gwaine raised his tankard to Leon as he spoke of having a drink with friends. He could often persuade one of his fellow brothers to join him for a drink or two. Once or twice, Gwaine thought it would be nice for one of them to invite him for a drink, rather than the other way around all the time. After all, that would probably make Gwaine feel less like an alcoholic, and like he was the only knight who wanted a drink after a vigorous days training. Ale was the nectar of life, but he didn’t want to be the only one who held that as such a firm belief.

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[Deleted]

That’s how Leon had been doing it since he could remember. He never really had a whole grand party for his birthdays and or any events. The last one he could remember was when he was knighted. But that as a few years ago. Of course he had to go to the parties and events that Camelot put on. It wouldn’t look good if the second in command didn’t show up at events, much so when it had to do with Arthur. After the death of his parents and hadn’t lost touch with his siblings, Leon had kept to himself all the time. That was until his new brothers had come into the picture and Leon found he was spending time with them. Not sawing that Leon wasn’t friends with any of the other knights, because he had been here awhile and gotten to know them, it was just when the others had come Leon had felt like he was different around them. He nodded his head to agree with Gwaine on the topic of quiet celebrations.

OK so by the look on Gwaine’s face he hadn’t got why Leon had sorry and now the knight looked like a fool for apologising for something so stupid has the comment he had made before and Gwaine, knowing Gwaine well he would just laugh it off like nothing was wrong but what Leon had said about the protection. But somehow the knight had felt like he needed to say sorry to Gwaine for it. Maybe it was just because Leon was so kind hearted that he would have hated himself so much if what he had said to Gwaine would have hurt his fellow knights feelings and also pride. He knew what some knights thought about their honour and pride. “I don’t know”, he spoke truthly, “I just thought I might have upset you about what I said earlier about the whole protection and everything..”, he rumbled on a bit telling Gwaine that’s why he had said he was sorry. It could have been just him, thinking that, but at least he would tell his friends truthly.

He was sure that his fellow knights loved to have some company with another knight. Time spent with friends was hard to come by. Most of the time they were busy doing different duties, and with Leon being the second in command had a whole different list and tasks he needed to get done during the day then his fellow knights. The only time they might talk would be either during training, or if they happened to get on the same patrol. It seemed the only real time was when they were called away from Camelot on some quest or something of that matter. He knew Gwaine. He had been around him enough to know that Gwaine loved being around women, and his ale. He smirked at that thought. Of course his fellow knight had changed a bit since becoming a knight, but there were some mornings at training that Leon would find Gwaine in one of his hung over states, and took a good laugh in beating some sense into him.

Not that Leon didn’t like having a drink once and awhile, and he was not bushing down his friends just because he liked to drink a lot. It was Gwaine’s choice and his alone. So all the best to him really, the life of a knight was hard and living life was good sometimes. He chuckled loud at Gwaine’s next words, “You would like that wouldn’t you”. If women were knights then Gwaine would be in heaven. He had nothing against women fighting; Gwen was pretty good with a sword and could handle herself in a battle. Why couldn’t women wield a sword and fight? But women would never be knights, it was the rules. But maybe in time that could change when Arthur becomes King. He knew that the whole rule about nobles and lower class citizens would change; it had already changed when Arthur had knighted his fellow knights, and he knew that when Arthur became King, him and Gwen could finally be together without any rules to stop them.

He smiled and raised his ale as well, he would drink to that. Maybe he should have a drink with his fellow knights more often. See how their doing and get to know them better. He had gotten to know Gwaine better by having a drink with him. He didn’t know much about Percival, and hadn’t really talked much to him. And he hadn’t seen Elyan in forever, and it would be nice to check up on things and talk about the past. Leon made a note that he would pick a day or two once a month to have a nice relaxing drink with one of his fellow knights. It would bring some life into his rather busy life, because for the time Leon had been a knight, it had always been work, work and more work, he never really did anything for him because he never had any time. He was always doing something for either the King or the prince. Maybe he would start having a drink after a good long day of training, or running around doing tasks for the prince or the King, it would sure relax him and maybe even help him get a better sleep then he normally would.