So... Feeling Confident? (Griff)

[thegwaine]

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair. He had walked half the way with Brynn and her mother, but then he had doubled back to get the bread he had been trying to eat throughout their little conversation. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself now, he was too alert to sleep now, and Brynn’s words still rung round his ears. He hadn’t meant to annoy her, but she had clearly been upset about Caitrin in some sort of sense. Sometimes he thought Brynn let herself get dragged into things emotionally which weren’t really any of her concern. It wasn’t a bad thing though, after all, if there were more people like Brynn in the world then it would be a better place.

He knew his friend would get no rest tonight, she would probably be helping her mother as Caitrin went into her labour. He pulled a face, slightly disgusted. Those were women issues; nothing to do with him. He would rather go the tavern and forget all about what he had heard about this evening so far. However, he was still wandering through the castle; half a loaf of bread in hand. Gwaine was still following the corridors as he heard a slight shuffling. Poking his head round the corner, he smiled as he saw a familiar face sat in the corridor, opposite one of the guest chambers. “Griff, fancy seeing you here.” He grinned and walked towards the man, setting himself down beside him. He supposed this must be where his wife was giving birth. It was a bit weird of him just to be sat outside a random guest chamber, then again, this was Griff.

Looking on at Griff, and then back to the door he gave a short chuckle, “Didn’t fancy it in there then?” Gwaine couldn’t blame his friend, after all, men weren’t supposed to be anywhere near the woman when she was giving birth were they? He couldn’t imagine it being particularly fun anyway, so much better that they just avoid it altogether. Gwaine didn’t know that much about Griff and Caitrin’s relationship, well, he had seen it at its lowest point but that was it really. “How are you holding out?” Gwaine asked casually, and offered Griff some of the bread, “Want some, it’ll be a long night after all.” He supposed everyone would be worried about Caitrin’s welfare, well, she was the one in labour, but the waiting was sometimes worse. So he could help Griff along in any way he could, and perhaps jest and tease the man along the way.

Tags: Griff Aubert
Timeline: During Cait's labour, series 4-5 gap
Time of Day: Evening

[Griff Aubert]

Griff had sort of calmed down a bit, although the term "sort of" was being used extremely lightly. It wasn't every day his wife went into labour and even if it was, at least he'd know what to do about it. He had been pacing, but that hadn't proved terribly helpful so he'd sat down but his leg was still moving and that wasn't terribly helpful either. Unsurprisingly, all he could think about was Caitrin, and a lot of what he could hear was Caitrin too. Not that he'd been expecting anything else, but childbirth really, really didn't sound like an awful lot of fun.

He was about to start pacing again when he caught sight of Gwaine making his way towards him. He didn't bother asking what his friend was doing hanging around the castle's guest chambers instead of where the other knights had theirs, with Gwaine such questions never needed asking. In one sense, he was glad Gwaine was here because he could definitely do with some company, it was just a shame that it was this company in particular. As much of a good friend as Gwaine was, he didn't really strike Griff as someone who was going to be terribly useful at a time like this. "Cait's gone into labour." He said, as if it wasn't obvious enough. "She's actually in labour. Right now. Giving birth. To a child." He ran a hand through his hair because he had to do something instead of just sitting here waiting.

"Want some, it'll be a long night after all."

Griff just stared at the man. Who wanted bread at a time like this? No man in the history of well, history, had ever found themselves in this situation and thought "Hmm, do you know what I need, I need some bread." It was an utterly ridiculous think to suggest, and yet Griff found himself accepting it anyway because there was nothing else to do. "How are you being so calm about this? Cait's in labour."

[thegwaine]

Gwaine quite surprised that Griff didn’t ask exactly why he was wandering round the corridors, if he had, Gwaine could have made up some sort of convincing argument about the fact he had a sixth sense about these sorts of things. Then again, he supposed his friend had better things on his mind right now. He looked at the door of the chambers and pressed his lips together. God, he hoped he wasn’t ever in this situation. It didn’t seem particularly fun. What Griff needed was a drink, but he quickly thought better about dragging him off to the tavern. All he needed was a hormonal mother, Brynn and Meghan baying for his blood because he’d taken the soon to be father away. He chuckled to himself, Meghan would probably have a thing or two to say about it if he did, and she would probably have a bigger go about the bread that he had stolen. Really, she should have taken the fact he stole her bread as some sort of compliment. It showed he appreciated her cooking; sort of.

Gwaine just raised his eye brows at his friend at his friend as he spoke, but didn’t say anything in reply, he just offered the bread. He knew his wife, Cait, was in labour. Jesu, it was a miracle the entire castle didn’t know by now. Running a hand gruffly though his hair, he raised his eye brows at his friends next remark. “Well she isn’t my wife.” Gwaine pointed out rather carelessly. He knew Cait was in safe hands with Brynn and Meghan, Brynn for one wouldn’t see any harm come to anyone if she could prevent it. He offered the bread again, because Griff would probably regret not taking it eventually. He heard a cry, or at least he assumed it was a cry, from the room, and he winced slightly. He was glad he was on this side of the door, and not the other. “And I know she’s in labour, Brynn and Meghan are good friends of mine, I was with them when the servant fetched them.” He shrugged and broke a bit off the bread and took a bite thoughtfully. He’d never really been in this situation with anyone before, and it was already gearing up to be quite amusing, Griff was already panicking. “But what else did you expect her to be in labour with?” He asked in answer to Griff’s earlier question, “Of course she’s giving birth to a child; your child remember?” Gwaine pointed out with a wink, and clapped his friend on the shoulder. Gwaine wasn’t the paternal type at all, but he was sure Griff was going to discover all those lovely instincts in time, or at least hopefully.

[Griff Aubert]

As Griff had expected, Gwaine was being wonderfully helpful. This was a man who could be called upon in any situation to make it better... but he was also the man that, in a round about sort of way, had made Griff realise he was throwing his life away and simply couldn't be without Caitrin, so, in another round about sort of way, this was the man who was to blame for Griff's panic now. He shot his friend a look just to let him know how impressively unhelpful he was being.

He stood up again, because he had to do something other than just sit around, even though there wasn't anything he could do. "You're not helping. At all." He said before he began pacing again and scratching his neck. He wasn't ready for this, not at all. He could barely look after himself, what was he doing to do with a baby? Drop it, probably, and then a look from Caitrin. Oh this was a disaster. He didn't know how to be a father and didn't exactly have a very good role model either. If he went with his father's parenting technique his own child would probably end up a lot more of a mess than he was himself, which would actually be quite impressive.

He collapsed back on the bench. Pacing wasn't helping, sitting wasn't helping, Gwaine definitely wasn't helping. He just wanted this all to be over, so he could stop feeling so useless, but then this all being over would mean he was a father instead of just a future one and that was probably a far scarier thought. He leant forward, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. "I'm not ready for this Gwaine. What am I going to do with a child?"

[thegwaine]

Gwaine just decided to watch Griff for a few moments as he finished off eating his bread. Honestly all the trouble he had gone to in order to get this fresh bread, and Griff was completely unappreciative. Well, more for Gwaine anyway. Hmm, this was probably going to be a long night, Gwaine would have suggested going getting an ale if he thought it would be any help at all. Well what else could Gwaine suggest to calm the man down? At least the woman wasn’t screaming yet, Gwaine wasn’t an expert on childbirth or things like that at all but he knew it was supposed to be painful and well not all that pleasant to listen to. Then again, watching Griff wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences either.

As Griff stood up, Gwaine was still watching him. He was quite insulted that Griff thought he wasn’t helping. He’d only offered him bread, what on earth was the problem with that? It wasn’t his fault that Griff had got his wife pregnant was it? Gwaine hadn’t had a hand in that at all. All Gwaine had try to do was make sure he didn’t go hungry, but apparently that was completely the wrong thing to do. Finishing off the bread, Gwaine wiped his hands on his tunic, but didn’t stand up just yet. Eventually Griff sat down again, and Gwaine was trying his hardest not to smile or grin at the man’s reaction to his wife’s condition. Gwaine would have hours of listening to Griff going on like this; well wasn’t this going to be fun?

Gwaine was quite confused by what Griff said, but he was concerned at the same time. Well that was a first. Surely Griff had had enough time to come to terms with the fact he was going to be a father? He must have noticed after all; a pregnant belly was hard to cover up after all. He ran his hand through his hair, how would Gwaine know what to do with a baby? He’d never had to bother with things like that before. “Well, erm, you look after them and-“ He held his hands out in front of him, trying to mimic a woman he’d seen holding a child, “You just stop them crying I suppose.” He put his hands down and looked across at Griff, “How would I know what to do with a baby?” But Griff was of course going to have to learn very quickly as the baby would be here before the morning, he bit his lip and looked down as he ran his hand through his hair again, “I suppose you just love them and all that other stuff.” Gwaine wasn’t really the sentimental type at all, and he wasn’t about to start now, “Look you’re going to be a father whether you feel ready or not.” His words weren’t harsh, they were more sympathetic than anything, he didn’t want to panic Griff but his words were true, “Aren’t you, I don’t know, excited?”

[Griff Aubert]

It was safe to say that Griff wouldn't be going to Gwaine for parenting advice, or any advice really. He wasn't the most...helpful of people. If you wanted someone to have a good time with, or were a young damsel in need of a knight in shining armour then he was definitely you're man, and while Griff was in rather a lot of distress he, unfortunately, wasn't a damsel and so shining armour wasn't going to cut it. He looked over at his friend with a look of confusion and disbelief. Did Gwaine really think he was being helpful? He really, really wasn't, and this came from someone who knew a good deal about not being helpful. He was quite a master at it. "That's it? That's your great advice?"

“How would I know what to do with a baby?”

Gwaine did raise a good point, but that wasn't what Griff wanted to hear at the moment. He wanted someone to tell him exactly what he was supposed to - both right now and when the child was born, or, in an ideal world, he needed someone to look after said child for him and he could just stand there nodding and giving the impression that he was actually contributing and doing rather well. But, that wasn't going to happen and all he had was Gwaine. "Well I don't either." He leant back, hitting his head on the wall in the process. "Ow." See, he couldn't even stop himself from smacking his ahead against a stone, let alone keep a baby alive.

“Aren’t you, I don’t know, excited?”

Of course he was excited, but that excitement was currently overshadowed by nerves and fear. He had no idea how to be a father and it wasn't as if he had one he could turn to for advice. The only thing Corneous was good for was teaching his son how not to be a father. Griff bit his lip, trying to surpress the nerves so he could just enjoy that excitement but it was no easy task. "I am, of course I am. I'm going to have a mini Griff," he grinned half-heartedly. He'd already decided that any son of his was going to be a smaller version of himself. He'd take him to taverns and teach him how to charm a free ale. No doubt Caitrin would disapprove but that didn't matter. If she had it her way they would have a daughter, a ginger daughter, who would grow up worse than her mother. Now that was a terrifying thought.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine had no idea why Griff was asking him anything about children. He wasn’t that fond of children if he was being honest. He taught swordplay to Brynn’s younger brother and his friends, but that was about it. Even that was only children in small doses, and Gyrth was a boy, not a baby so Gwaine had no experience to offer his friend. How hard could it be to look after a baby? Gwaine couldn’t understand why Griff was so nervous, babies didn’t do much, so surely they wouldn’t require that much attention. Gwaine shrugged at Griff’s words and ran both hands through his hair. In fairness he knew he wasn’t being incredibly helpful, but that didn’t change his feelings about the matter. He was going to be stuck outside a room with a screaming woman who was giving birth with a man who looked like he was going to be sick with worry. Gwaine decided he didn’t want children, not if it did this to a perfectly reasonable man. “Well what else would you have me say?” Gwaine asked him with a raised eye brow, “I’ll give you better advice when your son can wield a sword and shoot a bow, you do want a son right?” He asked quickly, as he didn’t want to offend his friend if he did want a daughter rather than a son, but he couldn’t imagine why he would to be honest.

He just looked on at Griff as the man sat down, smacking his head in the process. Gwaine winced slightly as he watched the man and he pressed his lips together, not sure what to say to his friend. However unready Griff felt about being a father he was going to have to learn incredibly quickly. The woman, (Caitrin was it?) was already screaming, or groaning or whatever, and it was incredibly off-putting. Gwaine bit his lip nervously and looked across at Griff, “Well it’s not like you have to do it on your own.” He reasoned, it wasn’t like Griff would have to do everything for his child was it? Surely the mother would have to do most of the work, she’d have to feed them. Gwaine scrunched up his face, he didn’t really want to think of women’s things right now. “Have you told your wife any of this?” Meaning his worries about becoming a parent, because it would make sense to talk to the mother of course. Maybe she felt the same?

Well it seemed at least Gwaine had managed to say one useful thing. He chuckled at his friends words, wondering what a mini Griff would be like. That would be something to behold of course, and he just nodded enthusiastically at his friend. “Would you call him Griff?” Gwaine asked curiously, he knew some fathers did name sons after themselves, but he wondered if Griff had even thought of names and suchlike yet. After all, he was probably too busy panicking about everything else which could go wrong wasn’t he? “I don’t know why you’re worrying, you’ll make a better parent than I ever would.” He smirked in jest and chuckled, he needed an ale. Hmm. He always needed an ale, but he couldn’t leave which was incredibly irritating, something told Gwaine this was going to be an incredibly long and sober night. “So you should be excited, about you, your wife and mini Griff.”

[Griff Aubert]

While it was true that Gwaine was raising a good point, it was also true that Griff really wasn't in the mood for good points to be raised. He was in the mood for not having a panic attack and generally being able to cope with his wife being in labour. "I would have you say...nice things." Griff replied, waving his hand in his friend's general direction. "Things to make me feel better. But you're...rubbish." It seemed his inability to cope at present was also making him unable to speak articulately. He didn't care though, he was getting his point across.

His child might not be in the world yet, but he was fairly certain he wouldn't be letting them near Gwaine with a bow or a sword. That would just not end well, and he'd rather like to still have a child at the end of such a meeting. Preferably one that was still intact. None of that really mattered though, because, as he'd just thought, his child wasn't in the world yet. He closed his eyes as a horrible thought found its way into his head. He'd been trying so hard not to think about it, but somehow Gwaine's thoughts had brought the fear to the forefront of his mind. Until the child was delivered, and until he saw Caitrin, they could both be in danger. She wouldn't be the first mother to die during childbirth, and the child wouldn't be the first either. Oh Jesu. He didn't want to think about that. He wanted to know that both Caitrin and the child would be perfectly fine, that he had nothing to worry about. "At this point I just want a healthy child. And Cait...I want Cait to..." he trailed off, not allowing himself to say the words because he was just worrying over nothing and everything would be fine because Caitrin was strong and healthy and there was no way she was going to let herself die during childbirth. Everything would be fine. He had nothing to worry about, nothing whatsoever. It would be fine.

“Well it’s not like you have to do it on your own.”

Griff had already convinced himself that the worst was going to happen and so Gwaine's words were of no comfort whatsoever. If anything it just made him panic more. "But what if I do? How many women don't survive? Or what if they both...what if I lose..." he clenched his fists, trying to calm down, only it wasn't working. "Everything will be fine, won't it?" The words were rather rushed, desperate almost, he just needed someone to tell him that yes, things would be fine and he should stop worrying and just sit and wait.

“Have you told your wife any of this?”

He just shrugged rather non-committedly. Caitrin always managed to make him see sense and reassure him that he wasn't going to completely fail as a father, but without her all of that just sort of crumbled. "Well it's a bit late now." Griff replied, running a hand through his hair. "Besides, she's had enough to worry about herself. I didn't want to make her worry more."

Gwaine's words, simple as they were, were rather surprisingly calming him down a bit. It was a long standing argument between him and Caitrin that a son should be called Griff. For some reason quite unknown to himself she didn't seem to think this was a good idea. She was clearly an idiot. "I don't think Cait would let me." He said with a small laugh. "I am excited...it's just...everything else. The worry, the not knowing if...no. Cait will be fine. The baby will be fine. I'm exicted. There." He exhaled. He had decided it would all go smoothly, so it had to now.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine wasn’t that happy about being called rubbish, but luckily he was in too much of a jovial mood to let it bother him too much. He knew Griff was going to be stressed and panicked, so he was just going to sit here and nod at his friend, because provoking him wasn’t going to help in the slightest was it?

Urgh. This wasn’t how Gwaine had imagined this to be at all. He was supposed to just sit here with Griff, and the man was supposed to be strong, and hold it together. Gwaine pressed his lips together, and looked across at his friend, quite at a loss on what to say. For a few moments, he wasn’t thinking about the screaming woman in the room opposite them. His thoughts were cast back to his own parents. He wondered if his father had been this nervous, or excited when he had been born. He’d never really known his father, he had vague memories of being taught the way of the sword by someone, but that could have been anyone. He was sure his father would have taken care of him, and his whole family, he just hadn’t been given the chance. The Spirit’s had seen fit to take him from the earth, and Gwaine had been left on his own. He didn’t voice any of this to Griff of course, Jesu, the man really had enough to deal with right now didn’t he? For a few moments Gwaine wasn’t sure what to say at all, he just looked down at the floor, trying to block out the woman’s cries. He could understand why Griff was so afraid, because he could go from having everything to nothing in a few hours, and Gwaine knew the issues with women and childbirth, especially if it was the mother’s first birth. “Everything will be fine Griff.” He was trying to sound assertive, and sure but he obviously couldn’t say anything with complete certainty. He had no idea if Griff’s wife and child would be fine. All they could do was hope and pray. “You’ll have a healthy baby, and your wife...your wife will be fine, absolutely just fine.” Gwaine often found he was the last person anyone called upon to give advice in such situations, and this was one of the first times he had. Griff was his friend though, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

Gwaine stood up now and went over to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder in what he assumed would be interpreted to be supportive. Sort of. This was all new and strange, but Gwaine was taking it on with open arms. Griff still wasn’t any calmer as he spoke about his wife again. Somehow Gwaine wished he had some sort of magic words, though not magic obviously, just to make this seem more bearable for his friend. “Look, you’re not going to lose anything. You’ll have your baby, and your wife, and whatever fun comes with that.” He managed a grin at his friend and clapped him on the shoulder, a little gentler than he usually would, “And in a few months we’ll be laughing about this moment when you’re begging me to give you a few moments of respite from your family.” He winked at his friend, because he knew that wife’s could be very draining things, and that was why there were always so many married men in the taverns.

It struck Gwaine, as Griff spoke, that he must love his wife a great deal. Heh, well he’d suspected he’d loved the woman when he’d found the man drunken in that tavern. Jesu that felt like a lifetime ago now. He just nodded at the man’s words, he supposed it was too late for him to tell his wife he was worried about all of this. She was rather indisposed. He chuckled along with his friend, that was no to Mini Griff then, at least Griff was at least making an effort to look happy. He was having a baby, he had every reason to be happy. “Everything will be fine.” He said again, because if he kept telling Griff that then maybe he would believe it. “Well perhaps we should start thinking of other names, and by we I mean you.” He winked back at Griff and then looked back at the door, “How long does this usually take?” He had no ideas of the complications which went along with women who were giving birth, but it was the middle of the night, and if they were going to be here for hours he’d rather know about it now.

[Griff Aubert]

Griff bit his lip and turned his head towards Gwaine. He'd really needed to hear those words, especially from someone like Gwaine. He was the one that had convinced him to come back to Camelot, without his...wise...words he wouldn't be sat here now. He'd probably be in some other tavern, drinking and flirting with some woman and generally regretting everything. But now he waiting to hear news that his child had been born. Now he thought about it, everything seemed to be happening so fast.

It seemed like only yesterday when he'd first met Caitrin by the stables and sort-of-stalked her into the woods. He'd loved her from the second he'd met her, he just didn't realise it yet. Naturally she'd loved him from that moment too, but she had been far too stubborn and far too Mercian about the whole thing. And then, after a few...hiccups...they were married and he couldn't imagine being happier. The prospect of a child had of course changed that, but now he was in danger of losing it all and for once it wasn't his fault and there would be nothing he could do. "Thanks, Gwaine." He pressed his lips together, managing a small smile. He wanted Gwaine to know he appreciated his presence. He definitely couldn't do this alone. In all honesty, he could barely do it now - the waiting, the worrying, the not being able to do anything but sit there uselessly. He absolutely hated it.

Griff gave a small laugh at Gwaine's words. He probably would laugh at this - or just pretend he hadn't quite so nervous because that was hardly the manly thing to be doing. He hoped Gwaine was right, he just couldn't lose Caitrin, not again, not after he'd fought so hard to get her back. As for losing the baby...well that didn't bear thinking about either. "You speak rather knowledgeable for somone who doesn't havy any children." Griff said with a small grin, feeling a little better and hoping some banter would keep his worries at bay. "Then again, there seem to be an awful lot of children about who don't look like their fathers..."

He wasn't entirely happy with Gwaine's defeatest attitude when it came to what the child would be called. He'd been expecting Gwaine to be all for a son to be named after Griff. To him, it seemed like the only logical name for a son of his to be given, but apparantly Gwaine didn't agree. Or maybe he just knew what Caitrin was like. "Supportive as usual." He replied, with a slight eye roll. Yes, he was certainly feeling a bit better. The more he focussed on things like this, the less he'd be worrying, so that could only be a good thing. But how Gwaine expected Griff to know how long Caitrin would be in labour for was a mystery. They'd already established he didn't know anything about this sort of thing. "As long as it takes, I suppose..."

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was starting to feel a bit like he only saw Griff when the man was having some sort of crisis. It was an odd sort of tag to their friendship, mainly because Gwaine wasn’t really good at advice of any sort. Last time his advice had been to forget about his fiancée and find someone else to distract him. Somehow that had led Griff back to Camelot, and the fact he was now happily married showed that Gwaine was really bad at judging situations and giving advice. So what on earth was he doing here?

Gwaine raised his eye brows at his friends words, though his words were said in jest, he was still slightly insulted. To the best of his knowledge he didn’t have any children, he was always more careful than that, and he didn’t want children for a long long time. He didn’t feel like he was a particularly good family man, so what use would he be with a child. He was sure he would be fine with other peoples children in short bursts, but he doubted he would ever be able to cope with a child on his own. Perhaps Griff felt like this, because you rarely had a choice in this matter. Accidents happened, and most children were unplanned. “Not worried about who your own child will look like, are you?” He jested with a wink, but it was of course only a jest, after all even Gwaine had limits, and he never touched any of his friend’s women. It wasn’t in his style at all, and if he did that then he would have a lot less drinking partners. He was pretty sure he would have noticed if any of the women around Camelot who he had seduced had started to quicken, so far so good!

In all fairness, it wasn’t any of Gwaine’s business what the child was called or to get involved in that side of things. After all, that was for the parents to decide. Surely if Griff wanted to call his son Griff as well his wife would have to accept that? Then again, she was Mercian wasn’t she? Gwaine knew all about the Mercian women, they were incredibly stubborn and once their minds were made up they were unyielding, yes that was from personal experience. “I thought you were joking.” Gwaine said, pressing his back up against the wall and running his hand through his hair, “Would you really call your son Griff?” Gwaine wouldn’t call his son, should he ever have one, after himself. He wouldn’t think the child would want to be named after him either. “And if your wife won’t let you, what names would you have? You can’t call a girl Griff after all.” Perhaps this would distract Griff somewhat from his panicking. Gwaine was almost sure this would all be fine, and that it would have a happy ending, but as long as Griff was kept distracted then it would all be fine, and everyone would get through this unscathed.

In all his travels, Gwaine had never come across a woman in labour, and that could only be counted as a good thing. At the moment he wasn’t enjoying the waiting at all, and he wasn’t even the bloody father. He supposed Griff’s wife was probably enjoying this less than all of them put together, but still, Gwaine was entitled to complain. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. Well, he sort of was because he was such good friends with Griff, but still. “I have no idea how long labour takes.” Gwaine finally said to end the silence. He scrunched up his face as a sharp scream pierced the air, “Sounds bloody painful.” He muttered, and was suddenly incredibly grateful that he wasn’t a woman, though he wasn’t enjoying listening to it. “Looks like we’re here for most of the night anyway.” Gwaine finally declared, because it seemed likely that no one was going to get any sleep tonight. Fabulous.

[Griff Aubert]

Alright, trying to tease Gwaine was a bad idea, because obviously he was returning the favour and no, it wasn't making him feel any better. The words were said in jest, but even so, Griff didn't appreciate that sort of comment being made about his wife. Yes, she was as bad as him, but that was before they were married and anyway, her standards were far higher than Gwaine. He just narrowed his eyes at the man, "What makes you think my wife would like you?" He asked, if Gwaine was going to make comments then so was he. Besides, once he ignored Gwaine's comment, being disparaging towards him was actually making him feel slightly better. It was taking his mind off what was happening on the other side of the door.

Griff shrugged in response to his friend's question. He'd been toying with the idea of naming his son - if indeed the child was a son - after himself, but that was probably more to do with Caitrin's reaction than a need to call the child Griff. The more Caitrin became adamant that wasn't going to happen, the more Griff felt rather hard-done by and all the more in favour of said name. In all honesty, it didn't matter what the child was called - well, as long as it wasn't something horrific, or Rouland. If Caitrin had her heart set on a name then he would be happy to oblige. He could always give the child a nickname, anyway. But then that led to Gwaine's next question - if he didn't want to name the child after himself, what did he want to name them? Rather helpfully he hadn't given this much thought - being far too occupied with trying to convince Caitrin why Griff was a charming name. He shrugged again. "I haven't really thought about it, not seriously anyway. Knowing Cait she'll just announce it." A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, that would be Caitrin alright and then there'd be no arguing, well, no successful arguing anyway.

He really wasn't surprised at Gwaine's lack of knowledge about child birth, he'd expected as much and that wasn't purely because it was women's business. Gwaine had a habit of appearing whenever Griff was about to have a panic attack and not having anything terribly useful to say, but somehow the situation managed to work out anyway. Hopefully, this would follow in the trend. He sighed, he really didn't need to start thinking about that again. He'd only just managed to convince himself everything would be fine.

He nodded at Gwaine's words - all he knew about childbirth was that it was long and painful so he'd been expecting to be waiting a long time already. He hadn't been expecting to be in company though. "Gwaine...I'm, well, I'm glad you're here." He pressed his lips together, pulling them slightly to the side. "You know what I'm like in a panic..."

[thegwaine]

Well, Gwaine was glad to see that Griff hadn’t lost his sense of humour, what with his wife screaming in the room next to them both. He couldn’t help but give a small chuckle, and he nodded at his friend, he did after all have a valid point. Well, he would have a valid point if he was talking to anyone other than him. “I fail to see how she could resist me.” Of course Gwaine’s ego was not being reined in at all in his matter. Why shouldn’t Caitrin find him attractive? He shrugged, but he couldn’t help but grin anyway, “And plus, she likes you, so...” He just chuckled and took a step back so that Griff couldn’t injure him. He hadn’t ever seen much of the Lady in question, aside from when she was with Griff of course. Gwaine never usually bothered them at feasts, and they always seemed to leave them early anyway. It just amused Gwaine, if that was what love was then perhaps he did need a wife. He did like the idea of someone warming his bed night after night.

It did amuse Gwaine that Griff always seemed able to speak confidently about what he wanted, but it would very rarely become a reality. For example, he already knew he wouldn’t be able to get his way with calling their son, if he had a son that was of course. He was quickly getting an appreciation that Caitrin was probably the more dominant in their relationship. Well, the fact Griff hadn’t thought of names wasn’t incredibly helpful was it? Though Gwaine suspected he wouldn’t be in this situation for quite some time, he guessed that he would have at least thought of some names. He hoped so anyway. This could be a way of distracting Griff though, as he could now actually hear the woman screaming. Urgh. He hoped that wasn’t going to last long, it made Gwaine feel slightly queasy. The best way to experience this situation was in the tavern, but he doubted that Griff would go for that. Anyway, he was getting off topic, “You could always name them Gwaine.” He pointed out with a chuckle, “Go on, give me some names, it’s not like we’re going anywhere.” Perhaps it would take Griff’s mind off the immediate issue, which was the fact that Caitrin was in labour. He might even calm down. It was a long shot, but still.

Childbirth was not something Gwaine had encountered before, and when he woke up this morning he wasn’t expecting to be experiencing it tonight. Well, he was only a bystander, but still. Women just seemed to complain about childbirth all the time, and he’d often jested with them, telling them there was nothing to complain about. However, listening to Griff’s wife now, he was certain that it actually did hurt. Griff’s words pulled him out of his thoughts though, which was welcomed. He found himself smiling, the first time he had met Griff he would have thought he’d never been in this situation with him. After all, Gwaine had been the one telling Griff to just get over his wife, and to sort his life out. He felt quite guilty now looking back on it. “Well, this is a happier occasion than last time.” He pointed out, running a hand over his face. Though women were lost in childbed, they weren’t thinking about that now. Griff would soon have a baby, and his wife would be fine. “I know you love your wife anyway, so y’know, anything I can do to help.” He shifted slightly and ran his hand through his hair, “What are friends for anyway?”

[Griff Aubert]

Gwaine might think he was irresistable to women, and he might well be right, but Griff had retained enough of his narcissism to know that no matter how irresistable Gwaine was, Griff was more so. It was just a fact of life. Therefore, there was no noubt that Caitrin's head would never be turned by the knight, not when she had such a fine specimen of a man for a husband. He looked at his friend with a questioning expression, eyebrows raised. "I could tell you," he offered, a grin forcing its way onto his lips. Strangely enough, trying to insult Gwaine was actually making him feel better.

Name the child after Gwaine? If he wasn't allowed to name his son - if the child was a son of course - after himself, then why on earth would he name them Gwaine? He was more likely to have the child be named after Lucan, and that was a very unlikely outcome. He gave his friend a look but didn't reply to his words, it wasn't a suggestion worth answering. So...as Gwaine had pointed out, if the child wasn't going to be named after either of them - or indeed his brother - what could it be called? Griff had been so adamant a son would be named after him that he hadn't really given any other names much thought. Besides, he'd always assumed if Caitrin were to disapprove of his suggestion she'd have decided on a name herself. It was the sort of thing she'd do. He'd walk in there and be told she'd already named the child and he couldn't argue against it. Damn stubborn woman that she was.

He scratched his neck, names presenting themselves in his mind, but none that he particularly liked. This was important business, and so it was going to be something he wasn't very good at. He shrugged, rather unhelpfully, "I don't know...anything is going to be better than Griflet though." This might actually be the first time he'd used his real name around Gwaine. As a general rule he tried to use it as little as possible. He hated his name...oh great, now he was convinced whatever name he and Caitrin chose the child would hate it. And they'd be annoyed every time they had to introduce themselves using their full name, or if either he or Caitrin kept using it instead of their nickname because apparantly that was what parents did, despite how much the child protested or ignored them. He was getting ahead of himself again. His mind had a tendency to not wander, but sprint off whenever he was panicked. Or just whenever it felt like it really. "I quite like Alfie, well, Aelfred, but Alfie for short. Caitrin will have already decided on something I expect."

He really was glad Gwaine was here, because if he was alone he'd only manage to get himself worked up into far worse a state. With Gwaine here, there was still the panic and the fear and everything else, but he had Gwaine's reassurance that everything would be alright. The man was right, of course, it certainly was a happier time than when Griff was last in desperation, when he'd fist met Gwaine. If memory served, he was the one telling Griff that he should move on with his life and forget about Caitrin. Needless to say, that hadn't worked. "Normally they're for offering helpful advice...but I suppose you'll have to do."

[thegwaine]

Gwaine found himself once again just grinning at his friend. Really, he couldn’t see where Griff was getting this confidence from. Just because he’d managed to charm one woman to saying yes to him didn’t mean that he was better than Gwaine at all. Gwaine couldn’t see why his friend couldn’t believe that he could charm his wife. Well, all this was in jest of course, Gwaine wasn’t really annoyed at Griff’s conclusions, and he had no intentions of seducing a pregnant woman, well, by the time he got the chance he supposed she would be a new mother, and that was probably worse. “Go on, what do you have that I don’t that makes you think I couldn’t tempt your wife?” He asked with raised eye brows.

Gwaine was quite insulted by the look that Griff was giving him. After all, there were worse things to name a child than Gwaine. He thought it was quite a sturdy and strong name, and was deeply insulted by the fact that his friend was giving it little thought. Then again, if he were in Griff’s position then he probably wouldn’t name the baby Gwaine anyway, after all, it probably meant ‘Tavern Drunk’ and what kind of parent wanted to bestow that honour onto a babe? As Griff spoke again, Gwaine let out a small chuckle, “Why, who on earth is called-“ And then he stopped himself and looked back at his friend. Ah, right, well now this was ever so slightly awkward. He’d never really thought that his friend could have shortened or changed his name, he’d always just taken it at face value and accepted it. Yeah, Griflet didn’t sound like the best name ever, Griff was a lot better. “It’s not that bad a name.” Gwaine quickly was trying to redeem himself, and probably failing miserably. However, Griff’s own choice in a name did sound more appealing to Gwaine than the name Griflet, “I like the name Alfie, well, you’ll probably have more sons after this one, so you’ll get your turn.” Gwaine mused, as he was still confident that everything would be fine for Griff and his wife. No doubt in a few years Griff would have his own little hoard of children, and he’d be begging Gwaine to take him to the tavern for five minutes of peace.

Once again, Gwaine felt quite insulted by Griff’s words, it seemed like every time his friend had a crisis then Gwaine was walking on by. He felt quite bad now that he had been the one to tell Griff to move on with his life and leave Caitrin behind. Well, his words must have had some effect or else his friend would not have come back to Camelot. So he had done the right thing after all, sort of. “My advice is always helpful, just not always in the way I intended it to be.” He pulled a face, suddenly feeling quite immature; Griff had this effect on his somehow. It was at that point there was a sharp scream from the room they were both sat outside. Gwaine squirmed slightly, he didn’t really like this. It was like listening to someone being tortured, but being both alright with it and unable to change anything. He looked across at Griff, if Gwaine was finding this uncomfortable then he couldn’t imagine how Griff was feeling. They had been out here for some time, so Gwaine pressed his lips together and made his way to the door. He wasn’t going to go in, he just wanted to see if he could hear anything. He could just about make out Brynn’s mothers voice, ringing out, “Just a few more pushes my Lady.” Gwaine gave a small gulp and looked back to Griff, “If you were going to panic, and not that I’m saying you should, but I’d get it over with now. I don’t think we have much longer to go.”

[Griff Aubert]

Griff wasn’t sure they had time to go into everything that made him better than Gwaine. There were just far too many reasons why Caitrin had found herself completely and utterly and understandably head over heels in love with him, and therefore not going to be tempted by anyone. Especially by someone with such silly hair. “I don’t think we have the time.” He replied with a small smirk. In truth, he was far too tired to come up with an entire list – there would be so many things to include – and his attention was waning somewhat. Gwaine was doing a rather good at job at keeping the soon-to-be father from panicking, but Caitrin was doing an even better job and reminding Griff that before the night was out he’d be responsible for a life. It wasn’t an easy thing to ignore.

He gave Gwaine a Look. Who did he think he was talking about? Idiot. Anyway, that wasn’t important. What was important was that – unless his friend was just humouring him – he didn’t think Griflet was “that bad a name”, and that was something that needed to be addressed. Griff raised his eyebrows. No one in their right mind thought it was a good name – apart from his parents, obviously, but their opinion could hardly be relied upon for anything. “Are you being serious? No one thinks it’s a nice name. No one.” Alright, maybe he was being a little over dramatic, but it was better than them just being sat in silence with nothing to occupy themselves with other than the sounds coming from the other side of the door. And it was certainly better than Griff panicking again. Anything was better than that.

When, exactly, was Gwaine’s advice ever helpful? If he was claiming his advice had been instrumental in Griff and Caitrin getting married and being very nearly parents, Griff would have to start arguing. Yes, Gwaine had told him to move on – obviously helpful as that was the exact opposite of what he had done – but Griff was never going to have left Camelot for good. No matter how drunk he was, how miserable, how utterly convinced that he’d never be happy or even not-horribly-depressed, there’d always been that thought in the back of his head that he could go back to Camelot. He could find Lucan again as he was his older brother, and older brothers were supposed to make everything alright. So, really, there was always the possibility – albeit a very fine one – that Griff and Caitrin would be reconciled (in his mind anyway), Gwaine just speeded up the process. He just gave his friend an unconvinced look and didn’t justify his comments with a reply.

And now Gwaine was back to being really, really unhelpful. Hadn’t he just spent all this time trying to stop making Griff panic? And now he was basically telling him to start again? Some friend he was! Oh have you finally finished panicking? Well start again now! Oh Jesu. Gwaine was right. There wasn’t much longer to go. He’d have a child. An actual child. A child that needed things like food and water and protection and clothes and and all those other things children needed. “I’m panicking again.” He said between quickening breaths. His leg was twitching again. This was not good. This was really really not good. “It’ll be fine, right? It’s still...it’s still fine? Everything? Yes? Fine?”

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was more than sure that he could charm Caitrin if he was given a real chance, how hard could it be really if Griff had succeeded? He was sure that he had been winding Caitrin round his finger when he had accidently flirted with her that time in the tavern. Gwaine hadn’t really gotten a chance to explore just how far he was able to charm the lady in question on that particular occasion, given Griff had gate-crashed his efforts. He had felt incredibly bad after that incident, given it was generally a rule of thumb for him not to intentionally flirt with his friend’s ladies. He would do so in jest yes, but not seriously. Griff didn’t have to know that though. “You just can’t come up with anything.” He said with a wide grin on his face; there was no reason why Caitrin shouldn’t fall for Gwaine’s charms. Well, the fact she would have a babe in arms might put her off being charmed somewhat, but Gwaine was sure he would be able to work past that. He’d done it in the past, so why not now?

There had never been a point of his and Griff’s friendship when he had ever thought that ‘Griff’ was short for anything. Griflet wasn’t an incredibly attractive name, well, when compared with the shortened version anyway. Gwaine looked at his friend as he voiced his distaste towards the name, and just shrugged. His parents must have liked the name enough to give it to their son, well, not the eldest son it had to be said, but the point still stood. Kind of. “So I take it when you finally get to name a son after yourself, it’ll be Griff, not Griflet?” He teased softly, and nudged his friend in the arm with a soft chuckle. No doubt in a few years his friend would have children running round his legs, driving him absolutely crazy; and Gwaine was sure that one of them would be called Griff.

Alright, Gwaine had been the one to tell Griff to leave his lover, and just move on with his life, but somehow that had led the man back to Camelot, and now everything was fine. Gwaine was sure that his advice had worked in a strange way, but it had worked nonetheless. Noting the look Griff was giving him, he decided against pressing the matters of his genius mind, as really he didn’t want to annoy Griff at the moment, given the man was on edge anyway. He couldn’t imagine what he was going through, as Gwaine hadn’t been given the privilege of this situation yet. Gwaine looked across, and put a sympathetic hand on Griff’s shoulder before pushing himself up to listen at the door. This was too still and too slow for Gwaine. He couldn’t say it was quiet of course; there was quite a lot of screaming coming from the room.

Wincing as he pressed his ear back up against the door; only to be met with a blood curdling scream. Jesu, it was worse than being on a battlefield. It almost made him feel sick. He had never given childbirth much thought until now, seeing as he had never had a reason to, but he couldn’t imagine it being incredibly pleasant for the woman involved. He knew from Griff that Caitrin was quite a strong woman, so if she was screaming like that then it was for a reason. Gwaine was quite aware that his words had just caused Griff to panic; he’d meant them in jest but obviously his friend wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “Don’t panic.” Gwaine said rather quickly, though he knew that it wasn’t going to calm his friend down. In a way, Gwaine was feeling quite excited, he knew that he wouldn’t see the baby tonight, or anytime soon, but he was excited for his friends. “It’ll be fine, understand? In a few minutes you’ll have a baby, and an exhausted missus to look after.” Gwaine wouldn’t want to be the one who had to look after Caitrin after this was all done with. Gwaine went to go to his friend to comfort him, but there was another scream from the room, and he darted back to the door, and heard Meghan shouting something about the baby, then a soft cry followed; a babies cry. Gwaine turned back to his friend with a wide grin on his face, and collapsed beside him, “Griff, I think you’re a father.”