Drowning Your Sorrows (Griff)

[thegwaine]

Getting mostly drunk was only half the fun really. If you were half drunk then you could still remember the problems in your life. However, when you were completely drunk you were in some sort of bliss. However even that was bittersweet as being in that state meant that you were vulnerable. With Gwaine's life style being as it was, making yourself vulnerable was always a big no no. He could get drunk enough to be happy, but not drunk enough to lose his wits. No he had only done that a few times in his earlier days, and he had regretted it ever since. Shrugging at Griff's words he took another swig of ale. It was starting to get to that point where he wouldn't have known the difference if he was drinking ale or water. He should probably stop drinking soon... "Mostly drunk works for me." He insisted and therefore kept on drinking. "I don't want to look as bad as you anyway." He gave him a grin just to let him know he was joking.

It was probably the amount Gwaine had had to drink, but he liked Griff's thinking! What did it matter how much he had drunk? What mattered most was how much he was about to drink. After all social drinking was acceptable wasn't it?

Gwaine was slightly inspired for a few moments. He should be helping cheer Griff up, not slowly getting drunk here with him. It had been a while since Gwaine had had any fun with another man whilst he was on the way to getting drunk. Perhaps he could make it fun. He looked around them, hmm now the nightlife round here was incredibly dull. Oh well Gwaine had an imagination. He set his tankard back down on the table and looked at Griff. "Well as long as we're here, with drink, shall we play a game?" Gwaine had picked up a few drinking games in his time. They were basically used to get yourself drunk in the quickest and most amusing way possible. "I have a few ideas, unless you'd prefer to drink and talk until we drop?"

[Griff Aubert]

His answer satisfied Griff – apart from the looking bad as him. Griff Aubert happened to be a rather handsome drunk, thank you very much. Everyone thought so. Well, everyone who Griff spoke to, and they were usually just as, if not more, drunk but that wasn’t the point. Who wouldn’t want to look like him? He gave a small cheer of “Here, here” before taking another swig. As long as Gwaine was drunk enough to stop trying to make Griff feel like he was failing as a human being everything was fine. He had enough of that from himself, hence the drinking in the first place. He stopped himself. This was not how this was supposed to be working. His sorrows had already been drowned, now it was the time to move on and enjoy himself and not care about anything. Just like the good ol’ days.

Griff was surprised that Gwaine was even asking that question. Surely he should know that by now Griff was not in a “talking until we drop” mood. He was in a “Let’s do stupid things and regret it in the morning” mood. It had been a while. What he needed to do was to get back into the swing of things. Everything would be fine again and he could pretend none of this had happened. He could pretend he never went to Camelot in the first place. And then he would be fine. “No offence, but talking will only make me feel worse. So what game do you have in mind?”

[thegwaine]

The more Gwaine drank, the giddier he got. At least he took pleasure in the fact that he was a happy drunk. Not that he got drunk that much. After all, it was quite dangerous to let yourself become too drunk when you traveled on your own. However, sometimes it was unnecessary to let your hair down or as so to speak. Gwaine was a great believer in having fun, but now he thought about it, perhaps Griff was beyond standing or even moving. Gwaine himself was getting rather tired; ale had that unfortunate effect on him.

Did this place even have beds? Well Gwaine had slummed it before, he was sure he could do it again. As for Griff, he didn't think he would care much where he slept; he didn't look as if he had moved for days anyway. He took another swig of ale, because that would clearly help, and pressed his lips together.

Now what could two half cut men get up to in a tavern? Unfortunatly there was a lack of women; that was annoying. He groaned slightly but turned his attentions back to his young friend. "Perhaps we could get up to some mischief?" He grinned, "Or we could do something like truths, always a bit depressing, or we could just sit here and you could enthuse about your tragic life?" He winked, he was of course just joking, "Or we could move onto the next tavern and hope there are some beautiful women to help take our minds off the world."

[Griff Aubert]

Gwaine was clearly overestimating Griff. While the young nobleman would be more than up for “getting up to some mischief” he wasn’t sure just how capable he was of standing up, let alone anything else. If Gwaine wanted to do anything that required more from Griff than just staying where he was then he would have to wait quite a long time for him to firstly sober up and secondly manage to survive the hangover that was more than well overdue. He would be waiting rather a long time though, as Griff wasn’t planning on being sober anytime soon. But as Gwaine continued speaking, something (and he was quite confused as to what, his brain had long since given up trying to help) had decided that no good was going to come of just staying where he was. He’d been doing just that for two months, and it hadn’t got him anywhere. Now he had a chance to actually do something – despite the fact that he probably couldn’t walk anymore. That was just details, and something he could improve on. He had, after all, had plenty of practice at the drunken shuffle.

The best way to get over someone was to get under someone else, as they said. And they usually knew what they were talking about. He was going to somehow, and probably with some difficulty, go and find himself someone new and probably forget their name in the morning but it didn’t matter because they wouldn’t be Caitrin and he’d be being himself again and everything would be just how it should be. This sounded like a rather good plan, and Griff Aubert was never one to turn down a good plan. “Now you’re talking.” Griff grinned, probably the first genuine grin in months. “This tavern is far too dull. You can help me find someone to distract me – and no redheads.”

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was quite surprised that Griff was so up for moving onwards to the next tavern. The first issue would be getting the young man out of his seat, but maybe the temptation of a pretty lady would tempt him. After all, he was too young to be hung up over woman. It was safe to say that Gwaine didn’t really understand the concept of love. Perhaps it was one of those things which you could only understand once you were in love. Gwaine hadn’t really been around the same woman for long enough to let feelings develop past anything but friendship. But, oh well, it wasn’t really something that Gwaine dwelled on for that long. For now, the prospect of moving onto the next tavern was distracting him.

No red heads? That was a bit too specific for Gwaine’s liking. He presumed that the woman who Griff had left was ginger, or perhaps he had had a traumatic experience with another woman who was ginger. Gwaine didn’t really want to ask because it would probably lead to yet more grief from the young man, and wasn’t this evening all about having fun? Gwaine therefore just shrugged, “More for me then.” He grinned and stood up rather too quickly. Gwaine took a few moments to steady himself and put his hands on the table until he was certain that he could stand on his own two feet by himself. Pushing himself back off the table he looked at Griff and ran a hand through his hair, “Come on, there’s a tavern just down the road which has a bit of a... loose reputation.” He winked quickly, perhaps that would tempt Griff to his feet rather quickly and would mean they could get on their way sooner rather than later. The night was still young, and they could start to sober up on the walk to the next tavern. Griff still hadn’t moved so Gwaine raised an eye brow at his friend, “You coming? Or do I have to go into the company of women alone?”

[Griff Aubert]

Surprisingly, Griff was beginning to feel a lot better. Perhaps Gwaine just had this effect on people, or perhaps it was the prospect of finding himself a woman and getting back into the game. As far as he was concerned Caitrin de Archer was just another notch on the bedpost, nothing more. This was him declaring himself independent, entirely free from love and everything that entailed. He’d been far too busy feeling sorry for himself to realise that it simply wasn’t worth it. He was young and single, handsome and charming and he was going to exploit it to the full. Following suit he stood up – after one or two attempts – but found it surprisingly easy to find his feet. He either wasn’t as incapacitated as he had thought, or he just really needed a jump. Either way, he wasn’t complaining.

This felt strangely liberating. This was more than just going to a tavern and finding himself a woman. This was freeing himself of the past two months, of feeling worthless and useless and just wanting her more than anything else in the world. He didn’t need her. That was ridiculous thinking. He just needed another ale and another body. “Of course I’m coming. You don’t think I’m letting you have all the fun, do you?” He grinned at his companion, staggering slightly as he stepped away from the table. If he was going to achieve anything tonight, being able to walk would probably help. This was going to take some concentration. He ran a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the fatigue. There would be time for tiredness later. For now, Griff Aubert was getting his flirt on.

[thegwaine]

As Gwaine watched Griff raise himself from the table, he couldn’t help but grin, “That’s the spirit.” Griff could forget about this woman, and whatever they had had together and almost start afresh. That was the plan anyway, maybe Griff could move towards some sort of normality; he certainly looked as if he needed it. Anyway, Griff couldn’t get any worse, so Gwaine didn’t have that worry at least. Out of the corner of his eye, Gwaine caught sight of the tavern owner’s rather disgruntled face. No doubt he wasn’t impressed at the fact that Gwaine was stealing away one of his best customers, but staying here wasn’t doing Griff any good so Gwaine needed to get him out.

Gwaine saluted the bar man in a rather over emphasised way, cocked him a grin, and turned back to Griff who by this point had already started walking towards the door. Gwaine opened it and let Griff go through first, the cold evening air would probably do him some good and help to sober him up. The prospect of a new tavern and meeting new women had cheered Gwaine up no end, and he felt like he was on the path to being sober. That was a slightly irritating fact, it meant like he was going to be feeling the cold a bit too quickly. It wasn’t too dark yet, so that was something. Gwaine could see the road to the next tavern was quite private and that worried him somewhat as the slavers could still be about. Oh well, perhaps they would see Griff and decide to not waste their time on defective stock. It was a hope that he would cling onto. “Come on, the tavern’s not too far away.” Gwaine gestured in the general direction of the up and coming tavern and smiled at Griff, “Think you can manage that far?”

[Griff Aubert]

Of course Griff could manage that far. He daresay he could manage a lot further if the woman was attractive enough. Well, in spirit anyway. His legs were already protesting, but they were just going to have to live with it. He couldn't move on with his life if his legs weren't with him. Besides, it was really really cold outside. Griff didn't cope well with the cold, not that he particularly coped well with anything, but the cold was a particular nemesis of his. He started rubbings his hands together and hopping from one foot to the other, trying to warm himself up as he waited for Gwaine.

His companion gave him a definite look, one that was judging his behaviour and not much appreciated before he began to lead the way towards their destination. Griff just muttered something about being really cold before following him down the road. It was only a five minute walk or so, and once his body started heating up, found the air to be rather refreshing. It appeared to be clearing his head, which could only be a good thing, although probably a little useless once they got inside and acquired some more alcohol. It would probably improve his chances of getting lucky though. He found he was always much more charming when he could actually think with words.

As expected, the tavern was lovely and warm and a lot busier than where they had been before. Griff took a moment to take in his surroundings - and of course to see if there was anyone worth his bother. He would be rather put out if there wasn't. He was about to give up hope until a rather nice looking brunette came into his line of vision. He bit his lip, looking her up and down for a moment and deciding that she was probably worth his time. But first he'd need another drink.

[thegwaine]

The walk to the tavern was turning out to be more pleasant than Gwaine would have previously thought. The stars were out in the sky, and even though Gwaine was slightly drunk, he still took a few moments to take in the general night sky. After all, a night under the stars was how he had spent most of his adult life, so he almost felt safe under the watchful eye of the night. He pressed his lips together; who knew a drunkard could be so poetic! He should probably drink more and then proceed to write down his ramblings. He could become a travelling poet. Well, that would only work if poetry was linked with drinking. Gwaine wasn't sure that he could ever give up drinking for any amount of fame.

However, the night brought its own issues. The main one of these was the slavers as they were probably still hot on his trail. He looked around over his shoulder, even when he was drunk, Gwaine was still good at noticing if he was being followed. It was a trait he had picked up on over the years. It meant he could get drunk and avoid danger at the same time. Overall it was a win win situation. However, Gwaine couldn't see anyone, so he could only assume that he and Griff were safe.

As they entered the tavern, Gwaine was quite pleased to find that it was a thriving community. This was much preferred to the first tavern, and of course it was better experienced in company. Gwaine, out of the corner of his eye, could already see that Griff was eyeing up the population. Well, he could hardly blame him. Maybe it'd help him get over this woman he was so hung up over. Gwaine clapped Griff on the back and began to make his way to the bar. "Two ales my fine man." He said quite boldly towards the bar man, who shoved two ales into Gwaine's hands. Gwaine handed one of the ales to Griff with a small grin, "We've been too long without an ale after all."

[Griff Aubert]

They'd been without ale for less then ten minutes, but Griff really wasn't complaining. He had been beginning to sober up, or at least that's what it had felt like, so obviously the next thing to do was to have another drink. But he wasn't drowning his sorrows anymore, he was getting himself back in the game, and alcohol had always been favourable in such situations. He liked to think it kept him on form. It probably didn't but in his experience women in taverns were easy enough without him being on form. Usually he just needed a wink and a little artificial charm.

The brunette was still in his line of vision and therefore rather distracting. He'd almost completely forgotten about Gwaine's presence until another drink was pushed into his hand. He shook his head at Gwaine's words, but there was a smile on his lips and an amused expression. He was quite sure he'd never met someone quite so accotomed to alcohol like Gwaine was. Griff had liked to think that he was rather talented when it came to alcohol consumption, but he was beginning to believe that such talents were nothing compared to ones his companion possessed. Perhaps he had a lot more sorrows to drown. "It's a sad truth." He replied and then grinned, holding his tankard up for a toast, "But one that is easily remedied."

When he turned away from Gwaine the young brunette had disappeared into the crowd. That was annoying. It seemed he was actually going to make an effort here. Hopefully being made to try a little harder would get him back in the game again. That was the plan after all.

[thegwaine]

As much as Gwaine was enjoying his time with Griff, he knew it wouldn’t be for much longer. It would be lucky if he could last to the end of the night before having to run off. He would probably have to sober up at some point as well, but he had the whole night to worry about that, and at the moment the ale in his hand was rather distracting. He could worry about slavers and such like after the ale. He didn’t really want to stick around with Griff for too long anyway, he’d only cause the man trouble of some sort. With the lifestyle Gwaine led, he did make quite a few enemies and ended up in stupid situations for no apparent reason. He didn’t want to put Griff in danger; after all, the man had enough in his life without Gwaine messing it up any more. Maybe he could palm Griff off on some woman who could distract him for a time, it would probably be easier and safer for both of them that way.

Grinning at his companion, he raised his tankard as well in a sort of toast. A toast to their first drink in ten minutes... It was a hollow victory at best. As Gwaine looked round, he could see that the woman Griff had been eyeing up had disappeared. Clearly the man had lost whatever touch he had in the first place. If that had been Gwaine in that sort of situation, he would have already got the woman on his arm. Gwaine shrugged at Griff, it wasn’t that much of a loss anyway, the tavern was booming with women, and pretty ones at that. He was sure if Griff had any talent at coercing with women, he would be able to pick something up by the end of the evening. Whether that was a woman or a slap was yet to be seen.

“She probably wasn’t all that anyway.” Gwaine said, taking another swig out of his drink before looking around the tavern. Grinning, he gestured his tankard to a woman who was standing behind Griff; her eyes intently on him, “But that one seems a little more interested.”

[Griff Aubert]

Griff just nodded at Gwaine's words. He wasn't put out about the woman, but it was rather odd that she'd simply disappeared. Well, like he said, she wasn't that good looking - only slightly above average. There was plenty of other women he could amuse himself with. This was a sign of how his sobering up. A few days ago he would have just thrown himself at the first woman he saw. But he was going to be picky now. This was a new start for him and he didn't want to start with just any woman. He had a standard to set and only one rule: no redheads.

Eyebrows furrowing, he tried to look behind him without making it obvious that was what he was doing. He'd never been subtle. But then, as he soon discovered, neither was she. He gave her a quick look up and down before turning back to Gwaine and focussing on his tankard, playing with it in his hand. "Well why wouldn't she be?" He said with a grin. "What about you? Seen anything to take your fancy?" He may have only just met Gwaine, but he'd already come to the conclusion that he was more than a bit of a philanderer. And, as he appeared to be capable of holding his drink, a more successful one than he was. Well, he had an excuse to be a little below average at the moment. He took a swig from his tankard. He needed to stop thinking about her. Nothing good was to come of constantly having his head full of her. She hated him, he reminded himself, she'd probably moved on too, so it was about time he did the same. He looked behind him again - the woman was still there. This time he gave a her a wink before turning back to Gwaine. That should keep her happy for a while.

[thegwaine]

So far the evening was going well in Gwaine’s opinion. He hadn’t been beaten up, or been called a thief or something similar. Somehow one or the other was usually on the cards, but perhaps that was because next to ale and women, Gwaine enjoyed a good game of cards. Men never enjoyed being made fools of, especially when money was involved, so even when he won fairly (Which did occasionally happen) he was still labelled a thief. He hadn’t gambled since Merlin had found him in the tavern a few weeks back, somehow it had lost its appeal somewhat.

Heh, he did miss Merlin’s quirky nature and his company, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see him for quite some time. He had only come across his friend the other week because Merlin had needed his help in saving Arthur. Oh well, maybe Arthur would get himself into some ridiculous situation and Merlin would come calling once again, it was plausible, Arthur didn’t seem to have a concept of danger; journeying to the Perilous Lands alone told Gwaine that.

Turning back to Griff, he could see the man looking at the woman he had pointed out. However, now and again his features darkened ever so slightly, and that was something Gwaine understood. Sometimes no matter how hard you tried to be alright on the outside, you were never truly fine on the inside. He observed Griff for a few moments, without making a comment, but managed a small chuckle at his question but shook his head as he sunk his lips into his ale. “Many pretty ladies, but none worth the bother of particular attention.” He winked at Griff, knowing he would probably know exactly what he meant. Gwaine wasn’t particularly one for dishonouring women because of his own needs. Perhaps that was what Griff needed in his life right now, but it didn’t really appeal to Gwaine right now; he had other things on his mind. Gwaine lazily looked over his shoulder at the woman who was still standing there and cocked a grin at Griff, “If she takes your fancy don’t worry about me; go for it.” Suddenly Gwaine felt like he was the voice of temptation, perhaps he should be more concerned about that than he actually was, but Griff could take his suggestion or leave it; it was of no consequence to Gwaine.

[Griff Aubert]

It had been a while since Griff had found himself about to approach a random woman in a tavern and he was a little out of practice. Hopefully everything would come back to him once he was talking to her, after all, it wasn't like he'd stopped flirting with women completely, he just stopped leaving with them. Part of him didn't particularly want to do this, he'd much rather be nursing an ale for hours and feeling sorry for himself and not caring about what anyone thought or what he was going to do for the rest of his life. Luckily, the other part of him was slightly less pathetic, although quite convinced that the only way he was going to move on was to try his luck with this woman.

Gwaine was being rather encouraging - probably because he wanted Griff to go away and leave him to enjoy his drinking in peace. Griff couldn't blame him, he probably wouldn't care if Gwaine was being just as miserable and self-pitying as he was being. It was a wonder Gwaine had managed to put uup with him for this long, well, hopefully he wouldn't be doing that for much longer. Griff had a plan, well, sort of, but that was as good as it was going to get.

Griff allowed himself a final moment of contemplation - just to make sure that he definitely wanted to do this. There was no point going over there, working the charm and then deciding that it wasn't worth his bother. But no, this was going to happen, and it was going to help him stop thinking about Caitrin. He needed to move on with his life and he couldn't do that if he was wasting all his life drinking. "Alright, alright, you've convinced me." It wasn't that hard a task. "You honestly don't mind? Are you hoping someone better is going to turn up and you'll get there first?" He teasd with a grin. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case - it was exactly what he'd do.

He pushed himself away from the table and was rather surprised to find that he could stand up and walk without falling over. He must be sobering up somewhat which was rather impressive. Still, he needed his wits about him at a time like this. "Wish me luck," he said and took a final swig of his drink before setting the empty tankard on the table, "Although I doubt I'll need it." And with that he ventured forth.

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was enjoying Griff’s company, but he felt like he wasn’t quite what the man needed right now. The more time he spent with Griff, the more he became determined that he would never let himself fall in love. After all, he supposed love could be quite a good thing for people who were both in love, but seeing the state Griff was in now, was it really worth it? Gwaine would never consider it was worth it. He preferred having his options open to being tied down by one woman. He wondered if any of this would actually help Griff get over the woman he was being all emotional over. Gwaine sure hoped so, after all, he was hardly amazing company to anyone in his current state. Maybe this was the start of a new him in a way. Urgh, that was a bit too poetic for Gwaine really. He brushed the thoughts to one side, and pressed his lips together, taking in another sip of ale.

Shaking his head, Gwaine cocked a grin, “Don’t need me to hold your hand do you?” He asked with a cheeky wink and a grin. He knew it was easy to get cold feet about such things, but Griff ws good looking, so he shouldn’t have any problems convincing a woman to join him in an evening’s antics. Gwaine probably could pick up a woman with ease as well, but he wasn’t in the mood for it tonight. He’d much rather just have an ale or two, cheat some men out of money over cards, and be on his way as soon as he could. “Go on, never know, this could be the start of something.” He shrugged, he hoped this was a new start of sorts. It probably wouldn’t be anything more than a drunken haze in the morning, as it should be, but that didn’t matter, as long as Griff actually cheered up.

Gwaine was of course on hand to make sure that Griff wasn’t about to fall over due to his ale consumption. He was impressed to see how well Griff was standing up, he had been expecting the ale to get to him, especially at how quickly he downed that last ale. “Good luck.” Gwaine said and raised him tankard towards the man, “Make her smile.”