The Masterplan (Elyan)

[thegwaine]

Though on the outside, Gwaine remained as cool as he usually y was, he could feel his gaze drifting to Elyan like a hawk would to it’s prey. He didn’t really like the idea of Elyan beating him at cards, it was hardly going to be an amazing start to the evening. He wanted to take control of this in a way and if Elyan won it would hardly start the evening off on the right footing. Also, as it was now just between him and Elyan it felt like there was more at stake. Gwaine wasn’t an amazing loser, and this wasn’t a great time to start. He watched as Elyan put his hand down after taking a swig of ale. It took him a few moments to realise that he had won, but his smug grin was already plastered on his face. He took his money from the table and grinned at the men, “Pleasure doing business with you all.” He smirked at Elyan, he didn’t really want to play again, mainly as he probably wasn’t going to have that good a win again. Gwaine was of course confident in his abilities, but he also didn’t want to look like an idiot, “Another game, or should I buy a round?” Gwaine asked, more to Elyan than the other drunks around the table, hopefully they wouldn’t want a drink as well. He wouldn’t be buying them one even if they did.

No, Gwaine was already losing interest in the card game and he stood up rather abruptly, he was already missing the comfort of women. A night with men was alright, but only if there was a woman there to liven it up. He winked at Elyan, gesturing for him to follow, he had won a game so he wasn’t intending to lose that streak. He could have his head held high and suchlike. Anyway, he could hear a lute in the other room, and that could only mean there was a jig going on. The jigs were usually in a dingy room, and the heat caused you to sweat through your shirt if you even thought about it. Gwaine loved a good dance in the tavern, because it was accompanied by ale, women and good music. It wasn’t dancing anyway, everyone just seemed to nod and weave around each other from time to time. “How are you at dancing my man?” He asked Elyan, clapping him on the back, “You’re in for a treat and a half.”

[cherryblossom131]

Elyan rolled his eyes at Gwaine's smug face. He knew it would happen but that knowledge certainly didn't make it any better. He decided it was no fun being the sore loser and he should just get over it, though he didn't particularly like losing. It seemed Gwaine, however, was enjoying his moment of winning. He watched the smug knight address the others at the table who also looked less than happy at losing too, but the smirk he shot Elyan's way made him narrow his eyes slightly. “Another game, or should I buy a round?” He didn't really want to lose to Gwaine again and risk watching his smugness emerge once more. "Another drink would definitely be nice," he smiled taking the last gulp from the tankard of ale in his hand. His brain was telling him that another drink was not a good idea and would probably lead to other drinks. But he had just lost a game to Gwaine of all people, so basically he deserved a good drink.

Elyan's eyes widened slightly in alarm as Gwaine suddenly stood up. The wink directed at Elyan didn't exactly soften his alarm or confusion. He stood up rather reluctantly and took a cautious step in front of Gwaine to where he was motioning. Elyan creased his eyebrows in confusion and was wary in his footsteps. He heard the sound of some music playing in the other room, and smiled. The people in there must be having fun. “How are you at dancing my man?” His face instantly dropped as Gwaine continued. He had to be joking. "Wait you want me...to dance...in there?" he pointed at the door leading to the room where the sound of a lute was coming from. Elyan wasn't particularly good at dancing and he did not wish to humiliate himself here...in front of Gwaine. "I need a drink." He said more to himself than to Gwaine. If he was going to do this, then he did not wish to be sober and remember the inevitable humiliation to come.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was still quite impressed he had won so completely, not just against the drunkards in the tavern, but against Elyan. That meant a lot more in terms of a win, in Gwaine’s opinion. He smirked to himself, he was actually quite surprised that Elyan didn’t want another round of cards. After all, he was almost sure that his friend would want to try and beat him, but perhaps he was still a little unsure of himself, which was completely understandable as well. He nodded though as his friend suggested just going for a drink. He wasn’t going to suggest anything other than that, mainly because that would mean that there would be a chance that Elyan could win against him in cards. He wasn’t about to let that happen, so the card game was left behind them, and instead he went over for the tavern and was handed two ice cold ales. He handed one to Elyan and clinked his glass with his as he began to lead him over to the room where the music was coming from.

It had been some time since he had joined in the music and antics in a tavern. After all, he usually only came here to have an ale, or several, after a hard day doing knightly things. Of course he never let work and pleasure mix, though he had been to training a few times with a hangover. He had been punished every single time for it, but he never let it stop him. He had to dull the pain from training somehow, and alcohol was the only thing which worked usually. Gwaine clapped his friend on the back, he could tell he was nervous, but he would pick everything up soon enough. “You’ll be fine, you’re a knight, you have to dance now and again.” Yes, that was usually at more formal occasion at court, but the point still stood. It wasn’t that hard to dance at a jig anyway. You just got o with it, and did what everyone else was doing and hoped that all worked out. “Down your drink, and we’ll go in.” He instructed his friend. After all, the ale would warm his blood, and would mean that they could get on with dancing, and mainly of course, dancing with women.

[cherryblossom131]

“You’ll be fine, you’re a knight, you have to dance now and again.” Elyan narrowed his eyes at Gwaine. "I think there's a pretty big difference between dancing in the castle and dancing in there," he said pointing toward the door into ultimate humiliation. He wasn't the best dancer anyway, he'd never needed to know how to when he'd just been a blacksmith. But after becoming a knight, and a few gruelling lessons in things like footwork, he had become alright at dancing formally. At least that's what he thought. He was fairly certain that the dancing on the other side of the door was very different from what he'd learned. He was already a pretty clumsy dancer to begin with and he didn't need to show Gwaine, of all people, that.

He looked down at the drink in his hands with wide eyes when Gwaine proposed he should just down it. Elyan had been drunk before...many times. Almost every time though, he'd do something horrible that he'd most certainly regret the next day, if he remembered that is. Obviously, Elyan wasn't quite as wild as he used to be, but that didn't change the fact that he wasn't the best at holding his liquor. He looked back up at Gwaine with a reluctant look on his face and sighed. This is what he signed up for when he decided to go out with Gwaine, he might as well follow through. He began gulping down the full tankard of ale until there was not a drop left. He swayed slightly from the sudden intake of so much alcohol but got back steadily to his feet. "Right then," he rubbed his hands together, looking at the dreaded door with the loud music on the other side. "Ladies first," he smirked at Gwaine, while holding his hand out in front of him mockingly.

[thegwaine]

As irritating as it was, Gwaine knew that Elyan was right. There was a huge difference between the sort of dancing which went on in taverns, and the dancing at feasts. Feasts of course were more formal, and they had a more acquired and classy taste to them. Dancing in a tavern however was an incredibly drunken, yet fun affair. Elyan would enjoy himself, Gwaine was sure he would. It was quite nice to have a different sort of dancing every now and again. Gwaine did grow tired of formal dances, he’d had to learn half of them from scratch of course since being knighted. He had vague memories of some of the dances from when he had lived as a noble, but the memories were small and almost dream like. They hadn’t been of much use at his knighting feast, to put it bluntly. He had felt a bit stupid having to have tuition in some of the dances in Camelot, the woman he had asked to show him had thought that he had been joking. However, the tavern required less effort, so it was more fun on the whole. “There is a difference, this is more fun.” He flashed his flashy grin at Elyan as he began to nudge the man in the way of the tavern. The music sounded like it was particularly lively and active tonight; just how Gwaine love it.

Gwaine watched Elyan intently, wondering if he was actually going to down the pint before. Surely he’d done this hundreds of times before? What knight didn’t know how to down a pint? Well, one knight crossed his mind, he doubted Iwan would know how to do anything fun. He wasn’t going to drag Iwan into the conversation now, for all he knew Elyan and Iwan could be quite good friends and he didn’t want to insult anyone, especially when a good night was in order. He downed his pint as Elyan took up the challenge, and grinned as he set down his tavern, wiping off the last remains of the ale from his lips. Gwaine raised his eye brows at Elyan’s words, he wasn’t going to take that sort of comment lying down. He cocked his head and laughed, standing slightly to the side of Elyan. “In which case, go ahead.” Before Elyan could protest, the door was open and Gwaine had both of his hands on Elyans shoulders and was pushing him into the room. As he had suspected, the large hall was packed out with men, women and the occasional child running round their mothers skirts. The music was so loud the roar from the people around him could just be heard, “I told you this would be fun!” He had to shout to be heard, but for now he didn’t care. This really was the way to do things.

[cherryblossom131]

Elyan's grin wiped off from his face when Gwaine began pushing him into the room. He stumbled slightly, but stood back up straight, well as straight as he could in the crowded circumstances. The room was absolutely full of people; a few thoroughly drunk men and giggling barmaids; he even thought he saw some children running about. His eyes widened at the sight before him. It had been quite a while since he had been in a room like this and despite his previous reluctance, a grin managed to stretch across his face. A barmaid passed by him with a tray of ale and he grabbed one right off and downed it in one. He swayed slightly again, already feeling a light haze in his head. His better instincts were telling him what a bad idea that was, but right now he wasn't really listening to his better instincts, he thought with a smirk.

“I told you this would be fun!” He let out a laugh and pulled Gwaine from his elbow behind him so he could stand next to him. He looked around the room, still smiling in the face of the slightly out of tune music. The sight was a happy one, but he was still reluctant to dance. "What now?" he very near shouted at Gwaine, over the loud music. Before he could get an answer he felt someone tug at his collar. His eyes widened in alarm when a woman, probably a barmaid, with black hair and a very low cut dress with sleeves down to her shoulders, began dancing with him. He heard her giggling when she took his hands and began practically dragging him around the room. He attempted to look over to where Gwaine was and shot him a look that clearly said 'Help me.'

[thegwaine]

Gwaine took a few moments to just take in the general atmosphere of the room. It was everything he’d hoped it would be. This was such a breath of fresh air from the feasts they had to attend in Camelot. Here you could just be yourself, rather than acting a part in front of the other nobles in Camelot. Gwaine did love his job, and he did enjoy the feasts, but this was him well and truly letting his hair down, and he was already plotting how to put Iwan in this uncomfortable situation. It wasn’t uncomfortable for Gwaine, but it would be for Iwan. He was sure he could arrange it somehow. Irritating Iwan had become one of his favourite hobbies recently, however strange and stalkerish that sounded. As the music struck up again, there seemed to be unorganised dancing at the front of the room nearest the musicians. Gwaine wasn’t about to jump straight into the dancing, it was sometimes just as amusing to watch everyone as it was to dance. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a young couple already heading out into the dark. He chuckled to himself; those had been the days. Gwaine still enjoyed the thrill of such things, but he found himself now aiming for a women of a higher calibre some of the time...

Gwaine would have answered Elyan’s question, but as he looked to his side his friend had already disappeared. Wait, what? Where had he gone? He went to call out his friend, not that that would have helped in the slightest, there was no hope of being heard in here anyway. He quickly spotted his friend though, being pulled off to dance. Elyan looked quite out of his depth, and as funny as it was, Gwaine did feel some obligation to help him. He grabbed the mans shirt and pulled him from the woman who looked slightly put off but quickly found another partner. “Not to your taste eh?” He winked at his friend as he gestured to the woman, “Come on, we should join in the dance.”

[cherryblossom131]

He felt instantly relieved when Gwaine pulled him away from the dark-haired girl. He gave him a look of thanks before looking back and seeing the barmaid had already found a new partner to dance with. He wasn't sure whether to feel slightly insulted or not that she had found another person to dance with so quickly after him. Then again practically everyone here was more or less thoroughly drunk so there really was no point in being offended at all. He decided maybe it would be better for him to just stick with Gwaine, at least that way he wouldn't be dragged to dance around the room by a complete stranger. He chuckled at Gwaine's words but still silently agreed. He wasn't the ladies' man Gwaine obviously was, he didn't even really know what his taste actually was come to think of it.

“Come on, we should join in the dance.” He looked over at Gwaine reluctantly. He'd known, in a room like this, sticking to the side lines and watching wasn't really a possibility. That had been demonstrated by the fact a complete stranger had danced with him not 5 seconds after he'd walked through the door. Dancing in this place was an inevitability but he'd been hoping he could hold out just a little longer. He grabbed a drink from a tray left on a table behind him and gulped down half of it. He swayed again and knew it was a bad idea. If past experience had taught him anything it was that a drunken Elyan was never a good thing. It seemed he never really learnt his lesson as he drank the rest. It was the only thing that would give him the confidence though. He let out a sigh, making sure it was loud enough for Gwaine to hear even through the loud music before he paused. "How do I actually...join in the dance?" He couldn't just jump in could he? He didn't think he was quite drunk enough to just randomly start dancing in the middle of the room.

[thegwaine]

Rescuing friends from women in taverns was starting to become a sort of habit for Gwaine. He had done a similar thing to Percival, but he had been a lot more drunk than Elyan was at the moment. He just shrugged off the woman who had tried to steal him away for a dance, he knew her by face, and he was sure she would find someone else incredibly quickly; she had a reputation for it. Perhaps he shouldn’t have rescued Elyan, in retrospect, it would have been quite amusing to watch him with the woman after all. However, Gwaine knew he had to look after his fellow brother in this situation. This was just one of the ways he had to look after him. Maybe Elyan would return the favour by helping him back up to the castle later when he was full of ale and the pleasure of the evening.

Gwaine wasn’t really sure how to describe how to join in the dancing. It always just felt natural in a sense because by this point Gwaine was usually too drunk to care if he looked elegant or not. He looked around the room, looking to see if there was a particular etiquette that was being followed tonight. Nothing was giving him a hint, so he shrugged at Elyan. They didn’t have to join in the dancing straight away after all, they could just enjoy themselves listening to the music and watching everyone else for a while. As long as he dragged Elyan up for a dance eventually, he didn’t really care when it happened. He clapped his friend on the back, “Why don’t we ponder it over another drink?” There was another bar in here, so an ale was within arms reach. Before Elyan could protest, he had hooked his arm through his friends and he was dragging him towards the bar. Gwaine’s coin purse was still heavily laden with the money he had won through cards earlier, so he felt obliged to buy his friend a drink; mainly because getting him drunk would probably be the only way he would ever persuade him that getting up for a dance would be a good idea. Once he had two ales in his hands he passed one to Elyan and began to watch the dancing; he already felt quite warm from the atmosphere in the room overall. “Well, what do you think of it all?” Gwaine was used to tavern scenes like this, he had witnessed them all across Albion, but he wasn’t sure whether Elyan was used to this side of society.

[cherryblossom131]

At Gwaine's shrug, Elyan merely sighed. Now what? He looked over at Gwaine when he spoke and before he could answer he was being dragged toward a bar. He knew he shouldn't, but a drink would probably do him good. After all Gwaine was buying anyway. It would be absolutely rude of him to pass up an opportunity like this. How many drinks had he already had tonight, two or three? He couldn't really remember, but he knew if he drank anymore he probably wouldn't remember the rest of the night either. Never the less he accepted the ale from Gwaine, he wasn't exactly going to turn it down. He could already begin to feel a fuzziness cloud his mind. That was never a good sign and he really didn't want to make a fool of himself.

“Well, what do you think of it all?” Elyan chuckled. He had seen this type of thing before on his travels. Heck, he'd been a part of it. But after the recent circumstances and coming back to Camelot, he'd finally decided to be responsible for both himself and Gwen. After he'd let her down so much before, he really didn't want to disappoint her again. So it had been quite a while since he'd been in a place like this, and even longer since he'd danced quite like the people he and Gwaine were watching now. "It's incredible," he said without really thinking. He watched a scrawny little man attempt to lift a girl about twice his size and he couldn't help but laugh at the fact that after the failed attempt she'd decided to lift him up in the same manner. "It's been a while," he let his voice trail off.

He began looking around the room with a light smile when his face suddenly dropped. Was that...NO! He grabbed Gwaine's arm and ducked down with wide eyes. "Shh," he whispered at Gwaine. Elyan turned around and stared at the very large and very scary man at the opposite side of the room with a drink in his hand. He stayed down.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine hoped that Elyan wasn’t going to get used to him buying his drinks for him. This was Gwaine at his most generous, and it wasn’t a regular occurrence, so Elyan was just going to have to accept that this was mostly going to be a one off and it wouldn’t be happening very much in the future. As he was spending other drunks money at the moment it didn’t feel as bad, buying drinks that was. However, this would probably be the last round that he was getting. He would have to fleece ale off the barmaids or get Elyan to buy him drinks from now on. He didn’t want to be supplying the ale all night, that would feel incredibly silly, and he almost felt robbed already.

Gwaine chuckled at his friends reaction to the general atmosphere of the room. It was incredible, and not a lot of nobility got to see this side of society which was a great shame. Though he was a nobleman, he had hidden that fact about himself, so he wasn’t conventional in the slightest. Scenes like this, therefore, were quite normal for him now. He’d seen larger and smaller gatherings than this in the past, but the night was always what you made of it. Tonight, Gwaine was sure was going to be good.

He took a sip of his ale with a grin to himself. He was about to suggest that they should try and find some women who took their fancy, but Elyan already had other ideas. He felt his fellow brother pull him down so they were now bending, crouching; hiding. This wasn’t the first thing which registered with Gwaine, no, the first thought was that by pulling him down, Elyan had spilt some of his ale, and he wasn’t incredibly impressed by that. “Oi!” He protested and gestured to his ale; he’d paid for it and everything, the least he could expect was to enjoy it, “What’s got into you?”

[cherryblossom131]

It had been a complete misunderstanding. It wasn't even Elyan's fault despite what anyone may say. He'd just been at his forge on a completely normal day. He had been fashioning a horse shoe for one of the nobles and was almost finished when a women; a very attractive woman barged into his forge. He was about to tell her to leave before he saw her. Long brown wavy locks of hair and big brown eyes. He was still a man after all. She'd batted her eyes at him and told him she wanted a new dagger to be made for her and that she didn't want to go to the royal blacksmith. It was an odd request from such a petite young woman but he of course obliged. He started lightly flirting with her and to his luck she had actually flirted back. At that point Elyan had thought it was a very good day. That's probably what jinxed it. The man sitting away from where Elyan and Gwaine were crouching had in fact been her husband. Apparently he had been looking for her and when he found her in the forge with Elyan...and he'd gotten the wrong idea. Basically...Elyan had never thought he'd have to escape his own forge and run out the back door as fast as his legs could carry him.

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head when he realised Gwaine was upset about Elyan spilling his ale. That was hardly the most important matter. Elyan just wanted to stay alive and not get clobbered by a man twice his size who had threatened to wring his neck the next time he saw him. Elyan quite liked his neck and vowed to himself that he'd do all that was possible on God's green earth to avoid him. “What’s got into you?”He rolled his eyes and gestured with his head to the man in question. It was too risky to point. "You see that man over there drinking on the side." With muscles just as big or even bigger than Percival's. "Yeah let's just say he and I aren't really on the best of terms." That was one way of putting it. Another way would be that he wanted nothing more than to gruesomely kill Elyan for something that wasn't really his fault.

[thegwaine]

Of course Gwaine was still incredibly unimpressed with how Elyan was acting. He’d spilt his ale, which was the main problem which Gwaine had at the moment. Ale was a precious nectar, and was not to be wasted. He took a sip of what ale he had remaining in his tankard, granted, it was mostly full, but it was the principle of the matter that Gwaine had to retain. Some of his ale was on the floor, and Gwaine felt like he had lost a part of himself. He was probably overreacting a little, but he didn’t get to overreact a lot so he was completely justified. He was still just staring at Elyan, wondering what had caused him such panic straight away. He didn’t see his friend panicking very often, so he was quite concerned. Then of course, Gwaine hoped that this wasn’t some sort of ploy from Elyan to trick him into thinking that there was a problem so they would have to leave. If his friend wasn’t enjoying himself he’d rather he just came out with it instead of making up some far fetched story about some man in a tavern.

As Elyan began to explain why they were now hiding from whoever this was, Gwaine found himself no more enlightened than he had been when Elyan had dragged him down into this position. At any rate, it didn’t sound like Gwaine was involved in this situation at all, so the irritation at spilling his ale was still there. “What on earth are you going on about?” Gwaine asked, looking at the man Elyan was gesturing towards. The man himself didn’t look incredibly friendly, and he certainly didn’t look like the sort of man you would want to meet in a dark alleyway. Looking across at the man, and taking another swig of ale, Gwaine just shrugged slightly, “He doesn’t look that bad.” He jested, chuckling at his friend, this might not be the time for jokes, but Gwaine couldn’t think of anything else to say.

[cherryblossom131]

“What on earth are you going on about?” Weren't his words clear? There wasn't really all that much that needed to be understood. The big scary man over there wants Elyan dead. That was the most important part and Gwaine didn't really need to know why. Elyan leaned up slightly and risked looking in the man's direction. Thankfully his head had been turned the other way. Elyan could still see that unnerving murderous look in his eyes. He might be a little over dramatic about that but he wasn't exaggerating at all when he said the man wanted to kill him. He had made that very clear indeed, Elyan cringed. He sighed, why was it always him that got into these messy situations? What had he done that was so bad that he'd been cursed with the horrid ability to attract trouble. He should just never talk to girls if there was risk that they were married to men with such hot tempers.

“He doesn’t look that bad.” He creased his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes at Gwaine. "Not that bad? Look at the size of him. He's practically a monster." A slight exaggeration, but he was still really big. He sighed deciding he might as well let Gwaine know why they were now crouched on the floor. "Look, that...man basically wants my head," detached from his body. "For reasons of no fault of my own by the way. But he basically thinks...I was having a torrid affair with his wife." They were just flirting, it had been nothing more. But despite his protests when he had been in the process of legging it out of his own forge, the man hadn't believed him for some reason. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that at the time the man had been a raving lunatic. "Which isn't true by the way," he clarified. He didn't want Gwaine getting the wrong impression.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was still quite confused overall, if Elyan was going to drag him down here and bother him while he was trying to have a good time he was owed an explanation. He hoped this wouldn’t mean a premature end to their evening, but from the tone in Elyan’s voice, Gwaine quickly realised he might be underestimating the situation somewhat. He pressed his lips together, not sure how he should be reacting in this situation. He should probably be being more concerned than he actually was at the moment; that would be a start wouldn’t it? Gwaine’s eyes followed Elyan’s back to the man in question, he’d seen the man knocking around Camelot, though before now he’d never paid him much attention. Before now he’d never ha d a reason to give the man a second glance.

Again, Elyan was right, the man was the size of a monster. In a way, he was glad that it was Elyan in trouble with him and not him. Gwaine was hedging his bets that he could probably run away from the man though. He didn’t look that smart, or quick, so speed would probably be the way around him if it ever got that far. Hopefully it wouldn’t, but Gwaine could run, even with a belly through of ale. Gwaine listened to his friend, and far from feeling concerned, he felt more amused than anything. What was the point of being accused of having an affair with someone’s wife if he hadn’t actually done anything? That was just a waste of time in Gwaine’s opinion, “Was she beautiful?” he asked, missing the point of Elyan’s little rant completely. Gwaine had no idea that Elyan had been getting up to such antics, “Are you sure you didn’t do anything?” He winked at his friend, well aware that he wasn’t making the situation any better. He wouldn’t have guessed that Elyan would have got up to such antics, because situations like this were expected by Gwaine; not Elyan.

[cherryblossom131]

Elyan was already beginning to formulate an escape plan. It was his only chance of survival...unless he chose to fight. Looking at the extremely large man, and noticing the fuzziness clouding his mind from one too many drinks, he knew fighting probably wasn't the best option. They could just shuffle along, it's not like anyone would notice in the noisy room, until they got to the door, then they could flee in hopes that they weren't seen. It wasn't a particularly great plan but it was all he had under the circumstances. “Was she beautiful?” He rolled his eyes at Gwaine's comment. Now really wasn't the time to discuss whether the ten foot man's wife was attractive or not. Even though she actually was quite beautiful. No, they should be escaping so that Elyan wouldn't die tonight. He knew he was just dragging Gwaine into something that didn't really concern him, but if this was going to turn into a fight then he needed someone on his side.

“Are you sure you didn’t do anything?” He sighed. Gwaine really wasn't helping at all with his questions. "Yes I'm sure. I didn't really do anything." Nothing to warrant an accusation of an affair. He just flirted for about five seconds and in his defence she had flirted back. Her husband just happened to come when they'd been in a rather compromising position. In fact it had been a lot more innocent than it looked. She'd gotten soot on her dress, he tried to help he clean it off. Her husband would hardly let him get two words out. "Look, we have to sneak out of here undetected. Follow me." He began shuffling over to the direction of the door, but there were too many feet in the way. They were going to have to stand up properly. He sighed and got up still keeping his head down. If only that were enough. "Oi you!" Elyan let his head drop; of course they wouldn't be able to get out. That just wasn't how his luck worked. "You're the one who was having an affair with my wife." A chorus of oohs followed. Great, now everyone thinks it was true. "That's not true. It's just a complete misunder..." Before he could continue the girl, Maria's he remembered her name, husband already through a punch in Elyan's direction while he'd been unprepared.

[thegwaine]

Again, Gwaine realised that he probably wasn’t helping. He was more interested in the situation itself rather than the consequence of it. He guessed that if the situation had been reversed, everyone would be more interested in whether he had had an affair with the woman, rather than what problems that was now causing him. Maybe that wasn’t completely true, but Gwaine supposed it, so it must have been true in some sense. Elyan didn’t answer him, which in Gwaine’s opinion was incredibly rude. Gwaine rolled his eyes back at his friend. The fact he hadn’t done anything with the woman was slightly disappointing, mainly as it meant that Gwaine didn’t have anything to tease him about. You couldn’t really tease and jest with someone because they’d done the right thing. It didn’t really work like that; at all. “Wasted opportunity?” He joked and winked at his friend. Maybe that was why Elyan was getting so annoyed, because he’d missed the opportunity to jump into bed with this woman. Who knew?

Leave? That was equally annoying as everything else Elyan had said or done in the past few minutes. He was having such a good time, why would he want to leave now? Gwaine groaned and quickly downed the last of his ale, as annoying as it was, Elyan was right. Setting his tankard down on the bar, Gwaine began to follow Elyan. Perhaps they could get some ale from the kitchens and continue this night in a more private setting. Gwaine’s mind was already working out a plan, which too fell short as soon as they were noticed. Gwaine probably should have been paying more attention to being sneaky rather than thinking about where his next ale was going to come from. Hmm. He just sort of watched as Elyan and the man had a bit of banter, and then Elyan was on the floor, having just suffered a fist to the face. Gwaine just looked at him for a moment and then back to the man, his alcohol fuelled brain was trying to think of something to say, “I think you might have the wrong man.” He began, “This man is a model citizen don’t you know. So I think the best thing you could do now is to apologise.” It was a long shot, and Gwaine quickly found himself on the floor next to Elyan, his cheek burning from when the mans fist had collided against it. “Ow.” Was all he could think to say.

[cherryblossom131]

Elyan rarely intentionally got into fights. Well not quite rarely, but he didn't do it often. Well not anymore that is. He remembered Gwen used to always have to 'save him' when he was younger either way she still always thought it was his fault; which wasn't always actually true. She wouldn't always tell his father, but when he came into their home with cuts and bruises sometimes Tom would just ask Gwen because really they all knew she was a terrible liar most of the time. This time however Elyan was completely sure it wasn't his fault at all. If it was anyone's fault, it was Maria's fault, or had her name been Mary...he couldn't even quite remember, but he was sure it had started with an M. She was the one who had shamelessly flirted with him too, despite the fact that she was married to a monster.

Elyan had been caught completely off guard by the monster of punch that hit his face. He fell to the ground from the force of it. His head already spinning from the ale he'd drank, felt dizzier than ever after the collision. He vaguely concentrated on Gwaine's horrible attempt at trying to defend him and soon enough said knight was on the floor next to him with but an 'Ow' escaping his mouth. "You asked him to apologise? Seriously?!" He kept his voice low, but couldn't help but narrow his eyes at Gwaine slightly. He sighed and chanced a look up in the general direction of the half monster half man. He still looked particularly angry and the look on his face meant he wasn't quite finished yet. He looked back at Gwaine again, already knowing a black eye was bound to appear, which would still show despite his dark complexion. Gwen was bound to notice it next time he saw her. "Do you think we could take him?" He asked. It was their only option really, but he still asked. On his own and without a weapon, Elyan knew he wouldn't have a snowballs chance. But now Gwaine was here to back him, they might have a chance to finish this once and for all. It was after all just a colossal misunderstanding.

[thegwaine]

In truth, Gwaine couldn’t see where it had all gone wrong. He was a knight of Camelot, and that had to count for something, all he’d asked for was an apology, the man didn’t have to be so rude about it. Gwaine shuddered, suddenly getting a feeling Iwan was having an effect on him, and that wouldn’t do at all. No, Iwan would never be in this situation, he didn’t know how to have a good night out. That wasn’t to say getting punched in the face meant you were having a good time, but there you go. It was then Gwaine realised how drunk he was, even his thoughts were making little sense, so his actions were probably heading the same way. He just blinked a few times, trying to remember how he’d ended up on the floor, but the throbbing of his cheek served as a quick reminder. He looked up at the man, and then back to Elyan. The tavern was alight with shouts and cheers for both sides, Gwaine couldn’t tell which side was the strongest, hopefully it was theirs. It would be comforting to know that the people of Camelot would prefer a knight to a monster to win a fist fight. “Well, didn’t you want an apology?” Gwaine protested, running a hand through his hair, trying to think what to do next. They needed to escape, but to do that they had to deal with this man first. Gwaine had thought he had left most of this behind when he had become a knight, but it seemed he was as bad as ever.

Looking at the man, he relied on strength not speed. That would be an advantage if Gwaine didn’t have a belly full of ale. He pressed his lips together, sure he’d fought down worse than this when he had been travelling by himself. He’d been in a fist fight practically every day back then, and he’d been left to mop himself up, at least he knew he had a comfy bed and a physician who could see him after this. “I’ve faced worse.” Gwaine shrugged, and shifted his body so he could kick the man in the shins, hard with the base of his foot. The man cried out in pain, and hunched down with the sudden sensation of pain, Gwaine stood up, probably too quickly, and punched the side of the mans head while he was still writhing in pain. It didn’t knock him down, but he stumbled. Gwaine turned back to Elyan, “Care to join me?”

[cherryblossom131]

“Well, didn’t you want an apology?” He narrowed his eyes disbelievingly at Gwaine. He couldn't be serious. It must have been all the ale they'd drank. "Sorry, Sir Gwaine, but it wasn't at the forefront of my mind, no," he said grinding his teeth together. Elyan sighed, there was no point fighting with the one man who was going to help him get out of this tavern alive. Earlier that night when he'd accepted the proposal from Gwaine to just have a drink at the tavern, he never expected to be here on the floor after receiving a punch from a man he'd been avoiding like the plague for weeks. It was strange how things could just turn out like that, and not for the better in Elyan's case. He could still feel the sore spot on his face from the punch.

Elyan creased his eyebroes when he watched the way Gwaine was assessing the situation in his head. “I’ve faced worse.” What was he planning? Just as he began wondering he heard a cry of pain, surprisingly not from either of them but the man Gwaine had just kicked in the shins. Elyan watched him get up with wide eyes, as he punched the man while he was still in pain. He had to admit any normal man would have gone down already but that monster was still surprisingly on his feet. “Care to join me?” He rolled his eyes but couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. They could actually get away with this alive. The man began straightening up again so Elyan quickly took the advantage with their significant height difference and punched the man right in the stomach. He moved unsteadily backwards, but he was still standing. Elyan motioned his head towards the man's feet hoping Gwaine would understand his plans to trip the man up. 'On three' he mouthed. "One...," the man was still stumbling but Elyan was waiting for the right moment. "Two....Three." Elyan kicked one of the man's feet so it was off the ground hoping Gwaine did the same with the other.