Underage Drinkers (Griff)

[Dristan de Archer]

Today was the day, Dristan de Archer was finally going home. Well, he was in Camelot so technically he was home, but he knew he hadn’t actually done what he had intended yet; he had not yet ventured to the estate, and made his peace with his father. Instead he had travelled to Camelot under the cover of darkness and had been renting rooms in the rising sun for the past week or so. Overall this wasn’t going to plan. In his head, Dristan had mapped this all out, he was supposed to spend one night at the Rising Sun, comb his hair, get it cut, find some decent clothes and then go back home and see his father again. It had been too long, Dristan knew that, but he was his father, and he had to try regardless. However, it had been a week, and all he had done was sit here, drink, play the lute and watch the world go by from his window.

Everything seemed so new and different in Camelot now. Dristan remembered the King when he was still a young boy at court, and still a prince then. He had never met the Queen though, and he had been told on many occasions that this was a new time for Camelot, where commoners were knighted, and servant girls became Queen. Dristan had heard such tales when he had been in Caerlon’s kingdom, but he had never paid them much heed, thinking that those relaying them were probably drunk or repeating nonsense for the sake of their audience. However, the rumours were true, and Dristan was currently living in the middle of it. He fitted in quite well, considering he had been away for so long. Dristan had retained his accent, so not as many heads were turned when he opened his mouth as he had experienced in other kingdoms. It wasn’t a bad thing, the aim at the moment was to keep his head down, as he didn’t want his father to know he was here just yet.

It was afternoon by the time Dristan decided to leave his room. He slung his lute case across his back, the strap keeping it in place, and locked his room. Descending the stairs, he pocketed the keys, and looked around at the tavern; it wasn’t heaving, but neither was it empty. There were a few empty tables, but most were occupied with a gentle hum about the place. Dristan allowed himself to grin at the scene, he didn’t recognise any of the faces, not that he expected to. No one recognised him, so why should he be able to recognise others? On the first few days here he had been hoping to hear something of Melodie, some news or even just a glimpse of her, but he hadn’t dared ask or go looking. It would hurt too much, and he knew by now she would be married, and with children running around her feet. As long as she was happy that was all that mattered; him reappearing in her life would do nothing but upset her.

Walking up to the bar, Dristan was handed his usual ale by the landlord, who asked him how long he would be staying; Dristan shrugged in reply, and handed him a few coins to pay for the rent he owed so far. Turning back around, Dristan took in another quick glimpse of those who had pitched up in the tavern today. On the table nearest to him, in the corner and somewhat away from some of the locals, was a young man Dristan couldn’t recall seeing before; with two children toddling about and another in his arms. It struck him as odd, mainly as he had never seen men alone with children, or with them in a tavern. Before Dristan could move away, one of the toddlers had walked up to him, and had grabbed onto his trouser leg. Amused, Dristan took the girls (he assumed it was a girl) fingers from his trousers, and pointed her in the direction of her father (again, assuming this was the father and not some hapless babysitter) in the vein hope she would leave him be. “Looks like you have your hands full.” Dristan chuckled at the man in front of him, as he figured it would be rude to ignore the man completely, “Are all of these yours?”

Tagged: Griff Aubert
Timeline: Series 4-5 Gap
Location: The Rising Sun
Time of Day: Afternoon[/color][/size]

[Griff Aubert]

There were some things in life Caitrin really shouldn't do, especially if she valued the lives of her children. Unfortunately, one of those things also happened to be something she'd set her heart on this morning. So, quite against his will and despite his arguing, Griff Aubert had been put in charge of three small children. Alright, they were his small children but that didn't mean he should be expected to keep them alive by himself. His wife - his annoying, stubborn wife - had argued that unless he was forced to be with them on his own then he'd never learn. He was fine with not learning. He was fine without the responsibility of three lives. Caitrin, however, was not going to change her mind and had disappeared before Griff could say anything else. It was safe to say, Griff did not have high expectations of everything going smoothly. What was he supposed to do with them?

After about ten minutes of just staring at them - and them just staring back, he'd decided he needed a drink and his children needed to learn the ways of the tavern - especially the boys. They needed to get used to the environment and Esmae needed to get used to never being in a tavern by herself in case she ended up like her mother. Now there was something he didn't want to think about. He pushed such thoughts out of his mind and called for a servant to help him get the children ready for their obviously very exciting trip. The twins were only a year and a half, and Alfie was still a baby so how Caitrin had expected him to cope on his own was beyond him.

Well, now he had actually made it to The Rising Sun - with the servant a safe two or three tables away just in case Griff had a panic attack - he was feeling...slightly better. This could have something to do with the alcohol though, he wasn't entirely sure. Either way, the whole thing could be going a lot worse, so that was something to take away from this. See...he could cope...sort of. Caitrin didn't need to know that Griff-children bonding time had turned into Griff-drinking-while-children-had-fun-with-table-legs time. She also didn't need to know that he was planning on doing this more often as he'd noticed he was getting a lot more free alcohol just by sitting here with small children than he did by flirting. This was something he'd do well to remember, although Caitrin might become a tad suspicious if every time he and Gwaine went drinking he insisted on taking the children...hmm...he'd find a way.

A young barmaid had just put a drink in front of him when Alfie started crying. Oh...this wasn't part of the plan. Griff was not alright with crying children. He started rocking the infant in his arms in an attempt to calm him down. "Come on Alfie, taverns are not places to be crying." Alfie didn't seem to care. Of course he didn't care, that would be helpful. "One day you'll learn to love them." He was an Aubert after all. As suddenly as he'd started, the child stopped crying and just stared at Griff. His father narrowed his eyes at the boy. Why had he stopped crying? What was he up to? As it happened, Griff didn't have time to find out as he was approached by a man and...Esmae. Oh. He hadn't actually noticed she'd been missing...oops. Griff smiled at the man, "Yes," he replied with a nod before looking down at Alfie for a moment or two, "All of them are mine. Sorry, was she disturbing you?" Griff never apologised before having children, and now it seemed that was all he did on meeting new people. And it was always Esmae's fault, but then what did he expect with parents like hers?

[Dristan de Archer]

Dristan couldn’t recall seeing children this young in a tavern before, at least not in a long while. Those who had young children generally didn’t travel much, or thought to bring them to taverns. It wasn’t something that Dristan disapproved of, so long as they were kept under some sort of control, oh, and as long as they weren’t crying of course. If there was one thing that Dristan couldn’t stand, it was children crying. He couldn’t really think of a more horrific sound. These children seemed rather content, and though the father had an ale in front of him he seemed reasonably sober, so he couldn’t really say fairer than that. It seemed like quite a nice little set up, aside from the lack of a mother figure of course. That was something Dristan always noticed with young children, they were usually attached to their mother, or a wet-nurse if the family was rich enough. He couldn’t see either here though, and it was quite uncommon for a father to be tending to his children by himself, and in public. Dristan was well equipped to know that fact inside out. He shook the thoughts from his head and realised he was still in the company of the young girl.

She was a sweet little thing he supposed; Dristan didn’t really have that much experience with young children; he’d never really had the opportunity. The most experience he had of them was probably when they wanted him to show them his lute; he would often let the children who came to see him play have a little strum on the instrument. He had never really bothered with the younger children though. The girl was looking up at him with big eyes, her hand in her mouth. Dristan looked down at her, and then looked back to the father. Was he supposed to be doing something? He decided against doing anything encouraging with the girl and instead shook his head when the father spoke, “No, it’s fine honestly.” He grinned a little, “Not shy at all is she?” He asked, taking a sip of his ale before setting it down on the table. He hoped he wasn’t interrupting anything, maybe the mother had gone off to get drinks or something, and wouldn’t want this family time interrupting by anyone. Dristan was well used to latching onto whoever he could find in the tavern, or anywhere really. He generally didn’t have time to feel awkward about these kinds of situations.

Dristan notice another toddler sat by his father’s side, and seemed to be a lot more reserved than his sister. They were probably the most ginger children he had seen in, well, ever. He couldn’t really see the baby, but as long as they weren’t crying he couldn’t say that it mattered much. Babies all looked alike anyway. Taking another swig of his drink, Dristan looked at the little scene in front of him; someone had certainly been busy. “Looking after them on your own, are you?” He finally forced himself to ask; Dristan wasn’t sure he would be able to cope with one child, let alone three. He wasn’t sure whether to call the man in front of him an idiot or applaud him, “I’m Dristan by the way, sorry, terribly rude, I should have already introduced myself.” Physically batting away the comment with the back of his hand, he sat down, and took a sip of his ale, “This seat isn’t taken is it?” He asked, just before the little girl walked back over to him, and sat down by his feet, sucking her fingers. Dristan watched her, wondering what she was up to, if anything.

[Griff Aubert]

No, Esmae wasn’t shy, Griff thought with a hint of irritation, every day she was becoming more and more like her mother, which was a terrifying thought. The young girl was beginning to get sneaky as well, waiting until Griff was preoccupied with Alfie’s crying before wandering off and finding some random stranger. If this was a glimpse of what was yet to come, Griff was going to have to consider getting her some sort of chaperone...someone like Rouland...only more muscular, someone even he wouldn’t have wanted to get on the wrong side of in pursuit of another conquest.

“A handful as well.” Griff replied, giving Esmae a look. He was nowhere near as good with discipline as Caitrin was, but for some reason the expression he was currently wearing seemed to work on his daughter. Ignoring the conventions of chairs - not that she could get up on one anyway due to her height – she sat herself down on the floor obediently, but there was still a flash of defiance in her eyes which, if she was older would have made Griff slightly worried, as it happened, she just looked rather adorable.

Griff shifted in his seat slightly, carefully so as not to bother Alfie, but so he could keep an eye on her as well as Arthur – although he was actually behaving. “The wife thought it would be a good idea,” he told his new acquaintance in a tone that clearly suggested he didn’t feel quite the same way. Alfie was beginning to struggle in his father’s arms, so Griff shifted again, sitting Alfie on his lap with an arm around him to support him. The youngest Aubert always kicked up a fuss if he couldn’t see everything that was going on around him.

“Griff Aubert, and no, that seat’s free. It’s nice to have some company, well, company who can talk.” As much as he loved spending time with his children, having them all with him at once without Caitrin was more than daunting, and of course now there was someone he could talk to who could talk back. As soon as Dristan sat down, Esmae got up and found her way over to him. Griff just stared at her. It had already begun.

[Dristan de Archer]

If there was one thing that Dristan had next to no experience with, it was children. They were a bit too…homely for his liking. Though he had entertained the village children back at his last home, he had done little more than that. He had never got attached to anyone, nor thought to have children of his own. Dristan was not one of those people who settled easily, and as such, he had never thought to. This little girl though was quite sweet, and with redder hair than he could ever remember seeing before on one so young. He smiled at her, and was given a smile in return. Dristan felt like he recognised the features of the girl from somewhere, but he was no doubt mistaken. He had met so many people in his time that he had probably just got confused, and that was it. Dristan couldn’t imagine such a sweet, little girl being much of a handful, but then again he wasn’t a parent and therefore couldn’t really say much on the matter. “Really?” He couldn’t help asking; he was sure that this man would have one or two irritants to get off his chest, given his choice in words.

Ah, so this was supposed to be a bonding activity was it? Dristan creased his brow, what kind of a mother sent her husband and young children to a tavern? Maybe the poor woman had had enough and just wanted some peace; he could imagine that peace and quiet was a rarity in such a household. “Ah, I see.” He grinned a little at the man opposite him, “Well, there aren’t many women who would let their husbands take children to a tavern.” He paused, and then looked up at his new acquaintance, “Unless- she isn’t going to find out about this, is she?” He chuckled, sure that he had hit the nail on the head. He had no interest in stirring things, he was merely amused. It was a good plan; it wasn’t like the children would be able to tell their mother anything was it? They were much too young for speaking, or so it looked like it.

Well, at least he hadn’t been told to leave yet; this was going well wasn’t it. And all this of course was helping him in his quest to go back home and finally face his father. Yes, that was completely going to plan. Oh, they were doing formalities were they? “Oh, if we’re being formal you may call me Dristan de Archer.” He winked, “You might have heard of my father if you live around here? Rouland de Archer?” He doubted that Griff had ever met him, especially with children. He was sure his father was allergic to the younger generations, or just anyone that wasn’t him, or his wine. He grinned as the little girl wandered over to him. Dristan, quite instinctively, picked her up and placed her on the seat next to him, hoping he hadn’t overstepped the mark with the father. He was just doing what he thought she wanted, “You are a curious little girl aren’t you?” She didn’t answer him of course, she just stared up at him. “So what are they all called then?”