The Wrong Time; The Right Drink [Merlin]

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was celebrating, well, if anyone asked what he was drinking for that would at least serve as some sort of excuse. He sunk his lips into yet another pint of ale, and as he felt the liquid wash against the back of his throat he gave a soft satisfied sigh; this he could live with. He hadn't had this much ale in a long while, and he was certain he was going to make every drop count, well until he could remember what he was drinking that was.

He hadn't been drinking long, well, it all depended on how long you classed as 'long'. To Gwaine, drinking for the past few hours wasn't a long time at all, but he was certain it would be for some people. He tried to stand up, thinking that he would need another pint sometime soon but nearly overbalance and was forced back into his seat. It was fine; he would just get a pint later, after all there was nothing wrong with the one he had, except it was disappearing at an alarming rate.

Gwaine grinned inwardly, this had been the first night he'd been allowed out or so to speak. Things had been a bit rough around the edges in Camelot since Arthur had returned, and of course Gwaine had done his knightly duty and aided the recovery. Now however he could drink, satisfied he had done his bit for Camelot and the people he was now bound to protect.

Gwaine, Knight of Camelot Even he had to admit it had a nice ring to it.

Tags: Merlin
Location: The Rising Sun Inn
Timeline: Not long after the series 3 finale

[em]

Merlin was once again on a last moment errand for Gauis. The landlord of The Rising Sun had some kind of back ache (yet Merlin hadn’t actually seen the man do anything other than stand and watch as the townspeople drinking) and was in need of some kind of relief. Of course being an assistant, it was only obvious that Merlin should have to take the remedy to him.

Making his way into the Inn, Merlin found that at this time, business was starting to pick up at this time of the evening, when the people had usually finished their work for the day and were in need of relaxing. Sometimes the Knights would come down for a drink or two, should their duties have finished. Merlin had watched the training that afternoon, winced a few times as some ended up on their backs or face down. He certainly wouldn’t want to be in that position where his opponent was coming right at him brandishing a mace.
Then again, Merlin had faced far worse, so a mace would be pretty easy in all fairness.

Merlin found the landlord and gave him the remedy that Gauis had given him, telling him how much to take a when. Turning to head back out and finally to his bed, Merlin noticed a familiar someone in the corner. The corners of his lips twitched, almost wanting to smile, but at the same time wanting to give the person a lecture. He walked over and pulled up a chair across the table where his friend sat, looking very chipper.

“And here was me thinking that you’d given up on barmaids and ales, Sir Gwaine” he smirked.
Of course he hadn’t thought that. Gwaine without a drink was like Arthur without his ignorance.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine had finally managed to stagger up to the bar to get himself another ale. He wasn’t wearing his noble clothes in the tavern, he’d donned his more casual look; the look that felt more like him. He didn’t want to give the Knights a bad name after all. Gwaine turned around, god his seat looked a lot further away than it had been when he’d first moved to the bar. He took a few steps forwards and nearly fell into a man who dodged Gwaine quickly as he managed to regain his footing, apologising to the man, well at least it was meant to sound like an apology rather than the slurred words which actually came from Gwaine’s mouth.

He gave the man a toothy grin and managed to get back to his seat. Things just seemed better when he was sat down whilst drinking. For one he didn’t have to worry about not falling over, he could just fall into the back of his chair, and that didn’t hurt as much either. He took a swing of his ale, at least this was all blocking the pain from his vigerous training session he’d been through that afternoon. He’d been slightly hung over from his ale antics the previous night and Leon had made it his job to knock some sense into him. A few bruises and a wound on his arm had done little to persuade Gwaine to do anything but drink the nights away, it was after all making him feel better.

It took him a few moments to register there was a new face in front of him. He gave a toothy grin as he noted who it was. He clapped his friend on the back at his words and gave a hearty laugh. “Now Merlin, surely you knew me better than that.” He took another swig of his drink as if proving his point and then looked over to his friend, wondering why he was here; probably to lecture him no doubt. Gwaine loved Merlin, as a friend obviously, but the lad really needed to learn when it was time to just have a drink.

He could see Merlin was already seated, so Gwaine gestured to the bar, “Grab yourself an ale,” He placed a few coins down on the table, “First ones on me.”

[em]

Gwaine appeared not to recognise him at first, and this wasn’t surprising considering that he almost looked as though he was about to fall off of his chair. “Unfortunately yes” Merlin agreed and gave his friend a grin. Obviously he was taking advantage of his newfound knighthood. He’d earnt it – they all had, but it wasn’t about to change Gwaine and his love of taverns. “Shouldn’t you be off doing knightish things like being arrogant and hitting people with maces?”

Gwaine of course didn’t seem to register this as he was now ordering Merlin to get himself ale and sit down with him. Merlin sat down at the table and pushed the coins that Gwaine had shoved towards him, back to their owner. He and ale didn’t exactly mix and Gauis always said that one whiff of a barmaid apron had him singing like a sailor.
Another thing that puzzled Merlin was why Gwaine was actually drinking alone – with the exception of himself interrupting- usually the knight would be seen with the others rather than by himself these days. Merlin had hardly the time to catch up with him as he was now run off of his feet with even more duties for Arthur, so just staying to chat (or in Gwaine’s case, talk nonsense) wouldn’t hurt.

“Alright, I’ll stay – ONE drink” he gestured with his finger and got up to go and get himself something less stronger than Gwaine was having.
After returning with both drinks, he settled himself down opposite Gwaine and smirked. “The others couldn’t handle drinking after a hard days training then?”

[thegwaine]

It was probably starting to become too difficult to completely focus on Merlin. That should be a sign to stop drinking but Gwaine still had half a tankard of ale left. However for the moment he did not take a swig, although he vowed to himself he would polish the drink off once he could completely focus his vision on his friend. Gwaine let out a sharp laugh at Merlins words and ran a hand through his hair, probably making it more scruffy than it usually looked. “The maces were out in force today.” He gestured to a nasty bruise on his arm, “And I prefer not to mix work and pleasure, if I brought a mace in here I might cause a panic.” He chuckled to himself again and looked across at his friend. “And as for the arrogance, well,” He leaned in closer to Merlin and cocked a grin, “I leave Arthur to that.” He clapped Merlin on the shoulder as he chuckled to himself once more, he knew that one of Merlins many taglines for Arthur was that he was arrogant, but just because one knight was arrogant it didn’t mean they all had to be did it?

As Merlin pushed the coins back to Gwaine he was a little put out. He had never encountered Merlin drinking before and perhaps the reason was because Merlin did not take well to drink. He could only guess of course, but it occurred to him he had never seen Merlin drinking before, well this had to be changed in his company of course. He pushed the coins back towards Merlin in a stubborn sort of way so that Merlin knew he was serious about asking him to join him for a drink. “Come on, call it a social drink.” Now that was surely a good enough excuse?

Gwaine managed a satisfied grin as Merlin said he would stay for one drink. Gwaine raised his tankard to his friend and as he could now focus on Merlin he took a swig of ale and winked at him, “Thats the spirit Merlin.” Well this could only go well in Gwaine’s learned opinion and he settled back in his seat. He had been in this tavern quite a few nights since he took up permanent residence in Camelot and it still felt odd seeing the same faces night on night. As Gwaine had moved from place to place so much he never became that well acquainted with people to know them by face or name, but he was starting to now in Camelot and it felt odd, but he supposed he would have to get used to it now.

Gwaine shook his head at Merlin’s question as he returned to sit beside him. Some of the other knights had insisted on getting an early night in and had therefore turned down his offer of a drink. “Well they aren’t seasoned drinkers like myself.” He winked at Merlin and set his tankard down again. He knew he’d regret this drink in the morning, but now he had an excuse to be drinking at least. Well, he had an excuse, he was celebrating becoming a knight, but now the drink felt more sociable. “Arthur still got you running round after him at this hour?” Gwaine asked, he knew Merlin and Arthur were close, but surely he couldn’t still have him running errands at this time?

[em]

Merlin knew all too well what weapons were out in force that afternoon. Arthur had tossed a few his way, expecting Merlin to catch them. No matter how good his reflexes were, Merlin wasn’t about to catch a sword with his hands. He usually watched from the sidelines whilst polishing, arranging and procrastinating. “Ouch” he hissed as Gwaine showed him the bruise to the arm, most likely given by Sir Leon or Sir Percival, as they had been the two to swing for Gwaine a few times. “Who gave you that one? I know Arthur’s capable of bruising but to that extent?” he smirked.

Sitting across from Gwaine with his drink, his friend told him that they were not seasoned drinkers. Merlin knew all too well of Gwaine’s tavern manner, having been involved in at least two brawls with him. Yet it was those that had made them become friends, so he guessed that he had to be grateful somehow. “None of them are as addicted as you” he smirked, having never seen Leon or anyone else involved in a tavern brawl. Then again they were Knights and they stuck to a code, which Merlin had tried to bend once or twice.

“Arthur still got you running round after him at this hour?”

“Err no” Merlin took another gulp of ale, “Gauis actually – I had to run a few errands for him, the landlord has backache and so I’ve basically just been making deliveries all evening.” He waggled his eyebrows, “No rest for the wicked, especially when Arthur is in one of his moods and is yelling for me to scrub the floors again because I missed a spot”

Merlin sat back and folded his arms into his chest, “but I suppose at the end of the day it’s worth it”.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was sure he would get back whichever knight caused him his injuries today. Had it been Leon? Or perhaps even Lucan? He couldn’t remember, which was probably an after effect of the alcohol, but he was sure he would make whichever one of them it was pay dearly. Well, as soon as he remembered which one it had been, it could have even been Percival. Merlin was probably unaware of the effect his question on the functioning’s of Gwaine’s head. He thought about it hard but shrugged, he couldn’t be bothered with complicated things like names with that amount of ale in his body. “No idea.” He said honestly, using his hands to emphasise his annoyance, “But I’m sure it was Lucan or Leon, I remember someone beginning with ‘L’ being involved.” He paused thoughtfully for a moment before looking back to Merlin with a grin on his face.

Gwaine resented being called addicted to taverns. He wasn’t addicted, he just enjoyed the atmosphere, and anyway, he hadn’t been drinking a lot recently. Well, at least not as much as usual. He tried to raise an eye brow at Merlin and scoffed, “I’m not addicted.” He said in probably a more hurt tone than he was intending, “I just enjoy…the ale!” Ok that wasn’t exactly what he had been aiming for but he wasn’t thinking incredibly well at the moment so that would have to do for now. “The others just don’t know how to have a good time.” There, clearly it was everyone else’s fault for not wanting to drink with him.

So it had been Gauis who had been clipping Merlin’s heels this evening then? Gwaine couldn’t say he was surprised. Between Gauis and Arthur, Gwaine was surprised that Merlin looked so perky all the time. As his friend reminded him that it was all worth it he nodded silently before sinking his lips into his drink. He was right really. Even though Gwaine often complained of the long training hours, now he thought about it he wouldn’t give up being a knight of Camelot for anything. He’d been trained to be a knight from being a young lad, it was all he knew. “Well, I suppose being beaten up is worth it in the end too.” He gave a quick laugh, “After all, what are us knights for?”

[em]

Merlin chuckled as Gwaine was running through names of possible candidates that had managed to give him the massive injury. “Lucan may not look like the kind of person to pull that off – but he’s actually capable of doing so, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he gave you that as a ‘welcome’ present” Merlin smirked to Gwaine. Every Knight had their own area of strength, even if they didn’t look as though they had. Merlin had found this out by playing ‘dummy’ when the ones used from training had been broken and not replaced. Even though he’d been put into armour that was waaaaaaay too big for him, he remembered that the ringing in his ears hadn’t stopped for days after that.

Gwaine started to make his excuses of just liking ale and that the other Knights were killjoys. Merlin looked into his own drink and smiled. He enjoyed the banter they all came out with during training, just to wind one another up easily. “Well I know what I’d rather be doing after a long day of beating the seven bells out of my friends.” His eyes flickered up to Gwaine’s with a look of cheekiness in them.

Merlin yawned slightly after finishing his drink – the wryness of the day was only just kicking in and yet he still had to go back and clean the wretched leech tank that had been sitting looking all slimy and horrible in the corner for days. Gauis was once again moaning and Merlin had promised that he’d do it that evening…with a little help of course. “I really have no idea how you are still just sitting there looking bright eyed and flirting with any woman in here tonight”
Merlin looked around and spotted one standing at the bar talking to the landlord. “Like her” he said, picking the woman as an example, “I bet that you have at least got her name by now”. He knew Gwaine inside out – and it was obvious that his friend had been at the inn for some time before Merlin had actually arrived.

[thegwaine]

It was certainly true that Lucan didn’t look much, but he had certainly showed Gwaine a thing or two about swordplay in their many practice sessions. Gwaine had, at first, thought the man better suited to some noble position, but he’d been quickly put in his place in that view. Lucan was one of the few knights that Gwaine didn’t know through liberating Camelot, but they had been introduced soon after the event. “Well I wish they’d stop giving me presents.” He laughed, but he was being serious, those maces really hurt. He would probably have to repay the favour to the other knights in one of their up and coming practice sessions, preferably when he didn’t have a hangover.

Gwaine nodded at Merlin and raised his glass slightly at his friend. Gwaine knew exactly what he would rather be doing at the end of a long day, and he was here now putting this into practice. “So do I.” He agreed happily and took another swig of his drink. A voice of reason swam into the back of Gwaine’s head that told him that he would soon need to stop drinking. After all, he had training tomorrow afternoon, and he didn’t want to give the other knights the satisfaction of letting them beat seven bells out of him again, two days in a row.

The more Gwaine drunk however, the perkier he felt. He felt more at home, and more like himself. At Merlin’s words he could only laugh. Many people had wondered how Gwaine could still look and feel so good after a few ales, “It’s a talent.” Gwaine said, flashing a grin and winking at his friend. Gwaine’s eyes followed Merlins gesture towards the pretty young blonde woman he had bought a drink earlier in the evening. Gwaine nodded and took another swig of his drink, “Naturally I know her name, its Ardith, she comes in here quite a lot apparently.” And with that Gwaine couldn’t help but feel rather smug with himself, he supposed Merlin didn’t actually expect him to know the girls name but he had been lucky as that was one of the few women he had actually managed to charm this evening.

[em]

Merlin finished his drink fairly quickly – and was surprised to find that he wasn’t already dancing on a table or lying on the floor. That would prove Gauis’ theory of him being a total lightweight wrong.
He sat back and observed Gwaine for a moment. He was defiantly relishing in the life of Knighthood and it suited him. Arthur had made a good choice in knighting Percival, Lancelot, Elyan and Gwaine.

His friend was now turning his attention back to the woman that Merlin had pointed out earlier. “Naturally I know her name, its Ardith, she comes in here quite a lot apparently.”

“Of course” Merlin said with a hint of ‘obvious’ in his tone. “And let me guess – she enjoys sunsets, flowers and long walks in the forest” he smirked. Gwaine would have every woman in Camelot follow him if he could – he was like the Pied Piper.

Merlin shifted in his seat, “I should probably get back – otherwise Gauis wont be pleased if he finds out that I still haven’t cleaned the leech tank” he made a face.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine polished off his ale with relative ease, it was always easy to finish a good pint but now he was slightly annoyed that he had nothing now to look forwards to drinking. In truth that should be his last drink, but whether it was or not was yet to be seen. He knew he had practice in the morning, and Leon and Lucan would probably take it upon themselves to remind him why he should not spend his time in taverns; in the form of a big mace probably knowing them.

“She of course would enjoy all of those things Merlin if I were the one offering them.” He winked at Merlin, or at least he attempted a wink and that was that. His skills at charming were often unaffected by alcohol, and indeed some of the women who he probably would not go after always looked better after a few drinks.

He couldn’t leave just yet, now that was just rude, plus Gwaine wasn’t sure how well he would be able to manage the journey back up to the castle to his chambers. Somehow the journey from the tavern always seemed a lot longer than the journey there. He put his hand out, but he didn’t grab Merlin, he just meant it to be some sort of gesture. He wasn’t sure what kind of gesture, but one which showed Merlin he shouldn’t just jump up and leave him there by himself. “You’ve only had one drink, at least stay a bit longer, come on Merlin, live a little.”

[em]

Merlin really wasn’t one for chatting about girls. He’d hardly any experience of them (well with the exception of Freya and that was it) and suddenly realised that he spent more time with Arthur than he had with a girl! Of course in contrast to Gwaine, he was relatively inexperienced and unprepared should anyone happen to come along in the near future. He didn’t mind though, girls were the last thing on his mind right now.

“I really shouldn’t” he said regretfully, “Gauis doesn’t usually like it when I drink too much and is bound to give me some of that awful remedy of his that tastes like sour milk!” he made a face at the thought of having another concoction shoved down his throat as a ‘hangover cure’.

On seeing Gwaine’s face, Merlin knew that he’d had rarely an opportunity to sit and talk with his friend since he’d been knighted. Work for them both was hard these days and the only people Merlin mainly saw were Arthur, Gwen and Gauis.
“but I guess I could stay for just one more” he said knowingly and sat down again.

[thegwaine]

There were many things which Gwaine found could distract his attentions without a second thought, and one of these was of course women. After all, what was there about a woman which did not posess the ability to distract? However, Merlin probably did not share this view. Gwaine could not recall Merlin even speaking about a woman to him before. Though between Gauis and Arthur, Gwaine was surprised Merlin had time to do anything else. At least he enjoyed his work, that was something he supposed. Gwaine there and then took it upon himself in the near future to teach Merlin the ways of charming, but that was for another time, and when he could focus fully on his friend.

“Gauis doesn’t have to know.” Gwaine pointed out, raising one eye brow in a sort of challenging way. Gauis had Merlin running round him enough to let him off the leash now and again. Even if Gwaine had to tie Merlin to the seat, he was determined that he wasn’t going anywhere until he had at least had another drink. Though Gwaine had to admit that Gauis’s headache cure did not sound appetising; he made a quick mental note to avoid Gaius when he was suffering from a hangover.

Gwaine felt like an incredibly bad influence on Merlin, but they could call this a social drink then of course that would make this seem a lot better. As Merlin said he would stay for one drink Gwaine could not suppress a grin. After all, this meant he would not have to go to the trouble of tying Merlin down and forcing another drink down his throat. Plus, Gwaine wasn’t sure he was up to doing much apart from just sitting at the moment. “I’ll get this round then.” He had after all not have a drink in quite a while so without waiting for an answer from Merlin he got up and ordered two ales from the bar. He gave a quick cheeky wink to Ardith before going to sit next to Merlin, placing the ale in front of him.

[em]

“Gauis doesn’t have to know.”

“Yeah, but he will do in the morning when I can’t get up for work and have a massive headache” Merlin told him. Then he’d be made to down another disgusting concoction to stop the ache and be sent on his way to another headache called Arthur. But Gwaine was already up stating that he was getting this round in. Merlin couldn’t refuse now.

He watched his friend give a wink to Ardith or whatever her name was, before returning with the drinks, ale shoved under his nose. “Thanks” he lifted his drink before taking a small sip. He needed to make this one last – if he drunk it any faster he’d be under the table in no time. Obviously that was Gwaine’s game plan. Merlin was sure of that anyway.

“Well…this is, cosy?” Merlin looked around at the other drinkers in the tavern. There were only a couple of familiar faces, but none that stood out.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was sure that Merlin had faced worse in the morning rather than a headache. Plus he was only on his second drink. For Gwaine it was a few drinks at least before the prospect of a headache even entered his mind. Though he supposed he was a more seasoned drinker than Merlin was. Merlin always seemed too busy to be in tavern’s every night. Gwaine clapped his friend on the shoulder, “You’ll be fine! A drink or two is good for you.” He gave a sort of toothy grin. He wasn’t sure if drink was actually medically good for you, in fact it was probably anything but, but it always made Gwaine feel good so it had to be good in some sense didn’t it?

He watched Merlin closely as he started to sip his drink. Gwaine decided there and then that this would be his last drink as if it were not he would not be up or even in a state to train the next morning. As much as he loved the other knights, as brother’s in arms, they would punish him if he turned up to training with a banging head in the morning.

Looking around Gwaine nodded at Merlin’s comment. It was indeed very cosy. There were the odd familiar faces but no one too interesting in the tavern tonight. He would really have to drag the rest of the knights in to share a drink with him one evening. That would be a historic evening he was sure of it. “It would be cosier with some more familiar company.” A wide smile came across his face, “What do you think the likelihood of me getting the other Knight’s to share a drink with me is?”

[em]

Merlin thought about Gwaine’s question for a while. Yes, what would the likelihood be? He’d never seen any of the other Knight’s in a tavern, mostly because Merlin himself never really spent any time there. He thought of a few Knights and then looked to Gwaine.

“Some of them might come out? I know that Lucan sometimes likes a drink and I’m sure that Sir Leon wouldn’t say no” he replied, “What about Percival? You two seem to have formed some sort of brotherly bond since you were knighted?”
Come to think of it, there were quite a few knights who might actually go to the tavern more than Merlin thought. The atmosphere within the castle had lightened now that Camelot was getting itself back together.

Merlin liked having all the newest Knights around and he had seen first hand of what they were capable of. “Anyway, you should ask them – you train with them, patrol with them, so what’s drinking with them going to do?” apart from make them very merry that was.

[thegwaine]

Now that Gwaine thought about it, and thoughts were rather hard to concentrate on in his current tipsy state, he decided that he would make it his mission to get the other Knight's to join him in one of his drinking sessions. There had been a few tensions in the group at first, of course the division between those of noble birth and those who weren't was evident straight away. Arthur had helped to bridge that gap, and a friendly drinking session could even improve matters couldn't it? Everything always seemed better after a few ales, well, as long as you didn't end your night in a bar brawl. Gwaine always managed to get himself into those sorts of situations and never had any idea how. He could as easily get himself into a bar brawl as he could get himself an ale.

At Merlin's words he nodded thoughtfully. He had been getting on with Percival quite well, seeing as they were both not of noble birth and had entered Knighthood at the same time. The fact Percival spoke little as well swung in Gwaine's favour, as he more than made up for talking for the both of them. "I shall make a point of asking them, might even lighten them up a bit." He of course jested. The knights were like his brothers, and they were an odd hodgepodge kind of family, but they were still all like brothers in arms.

He looked back at Merlin and clapped his friend on the arm in a friendly sort of way. He remembered how eager Merlin had been to return to Gauis and get to bed, and of course Gwaine would not force him to stay in the tavern. He should probably be getting to bed soon as well, he had training tomorrow. "If you still want to leave I'll walk with you up to the castle; wouldn't want you getting scared in the dark now would we?" He cocked one of his famous grins and polished off his ale, setting back and waiting for Merlin to make a move. In truth, Gwaine could use some help back up to the castle, after all he wasn't in the best state and he managed to get lost in Camelot at the best of times. The fact he was bordering on drunk, and that it was dark was not working in his favour.

[em]

Merlin smiled and gestured for the barmaid to bring the pair of them another couple of drinks when Gwaine wasn’t looking. “They’re not that bad – anyway I’m sure they’ll come out soon enough, it’s been quite tough lately”.
Merlin wasn’t about to emphasise on what he meant but everyone had been working incredibly hard and most nights, he’d often get in and not even make it to the door of his room where he was so tired. Gauis would usually find him slumped down against the door frame the next morning and shake him awake.

“Why would I want to leave when there’s more drink? I’m pretty sure you couldn’t say no to another Merlin shot a knowing look at his friend as the barmaid brought over their drinks. “Anyway, one more won’t hurt, I don’t have to go back to Arthur and Gauis will most likely be snoozing away when I get in – plus, you look like you need help standing” he spied Gwaine’s expression that looked familiar. Drunk.

“Anyway I haven’t had the chance to ask, how is all this Knight business going? Is it all you imagined and more” he made a goofy face. He knew Gwaine had wanted to be a Knight and now he’d achieved his goal he seemed more than thriving from the whole aspect.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine raised his eye brows at Merlin as he gestured for the barmaid to bring them more ale. Hang on, wasn't Gwaine supposed to be the bad influence in this situation and not Merlin? Perhaps Merlin was a seasoned drinker after all and he just kept it on the quiet; that was always possible. However he figured his friends duties would be a hell of a lot more tedious than his own with a hangover. Gwaine just had to turn up to training and be his usual self and then leave for his bed; Merlin had to run around after Arthur all day. In truth Gwaine had no idea how he stood it, though he suspected Arthur was incredibly fond of Merlin. "If I have anything to do with it they'll be out tomorrow night with me." He winked at Merlin but the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact he couldn't really focus on his friend. Oh well.

Merlin really had him there. Could Gwaine ever say no to ale? That was a moment he was yet to reach in his life, and he was certainly not going to say no to another ale right now. He had good company and ale; what more could a man wish for? Well, apart from a beautiful woman on his arm. Merlin was a lot of things but he could never replace the feeling of having a woman practically falling at his feet. He chuckled at his friends words, "I'm sure I can manage standing, it's the walking I might struggle with." He chuckled again at his own words and sunk his lips into his ale.

Was this really the right time for Merlin to ask him about him being a knight? Not particularly; Gwaine could just about remember he was a Knight of Camelot in his state. He was determined to answered Merlin's question however and he straightened himself up in an authoritative kind of way. "It's different." He admitted, "But in a good way." He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, "Makes a change from the way I was living Merlin."