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Griff didn't particularly appreciate Caitrin's comments. If she was going to be his wife then she should probably get used to just blindly agree to whatever he said - not that he was going to vocalise this opinion, nor did he actually believe it. If he wanted a meek, obedient wife - which he certainly didn't - then he wouldn't be marrying Caitrin. But the point still stood. He happened to be an expert on all things Griff Aubert, so she shouldn't need to be a judge of anything. There was nothing for her to judge. Life with him being fantastic was just a fact. He'd been too busy justifying such thoughts to himself that he hadn't noticed her hand move, and was taken quite off guard by her poking. "Ow." Of course it hadn't hurt that much, but he was never one to make light of anything, especially when he good get some sympathy out of it...actually, seeing as this was Caitrin there would be no sympathy at all. "I speak the truth." He argued, but was quickly distracted by her kissing him again.

He was rather put out when she moved away from him. That had been a rather enjoyable position to be in. He shuffled closer, putting an arm around her waist rather loosely. He wasn't quite ready to severe all contact just yet. It seemed such contact would not last, however, as Caitrin half-sat up, resting on her arms, and so Griff's own arm was returned to his side, and he was, once again, rather put out. He narrowed his eyes slightly at her question. He had something to give her? His brain was only giving him inappropriate answers. Somehow he didn't think Caitrin meant that. Oh...wait...did she mean because of the engagement? He knew it was tradition in other kingdoms for a man to offer a woman a ring at such a time, but it wasn't a popular one in Glouchedon, and even if it was, his proposal had surprised even himself, and so he wouldn't have had one anyway.

He scratched his neck. He couldn't not give her anything. For once he found himself rather irritated that he didn't make it a habit of wearing a ring himself. Obviously that would have been to easy an answer. Coming to what he thought would be an appreciated solution he sat up and started fumbling with a chain around his neck. It was something he always wore - never took it off, and so more often that not completely forgot he was wearing it. Hopefully it would suffice. "Well there's this," he said, now that he was holding the small pendant and chain he was less convinced of its suitability. It was only a simple thing, but it was the only thing he had. "It's was my mother's, so I suppose it's not strictly speaking Aubert but..." he trailed off. She either wanted it or she didn't, and his babbling wouldn't help. But if she didn't want it then he was a tad stuck.

Griff Aubert may have been a self-professed ladies man, but he never had any complaints - well apart from Caitrin and she only did it to wind him up - and so it was with confidence and his signature flashy grin that he made his way over to the brunette woman. He supposed she was fairly attractive, not that he was really thinking about that sort of thing. As far as he was concerned, the girl was nothing more than proof to Gwaine that he could have anyone he wanted, regrdless of whether he actually did want them or not. It seemed he hadn't matured much, but at least his motives had changed somewhat. Instead of trying it on with the girl in the hopes of taking her back to his, or being invited into her bed, he was merely making a point.

He walked over to her, making sure that when he reached her he was on one side, so Gwaine would have a full view and could fully appreciate his effect on women. It had been quite a while since he'd last flirted with a woman - or rather since he'd last flirted with a woman who wasn't Caitrin or his brother's ladyfriend but neither of them really counted. The girl had obviously noticed him - well, how couldn't she? - so he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly before flashing her a grin. "Hello." The girl gave a small smile, downcasting her eyes for a moment before looking back up at him. Griff repressed the urge to smirk back at Gwaine. Yes, it really was this easy. "So..." he shuffled slightly closer to her, "Would you like a drink?"

The girl didn't answer, she just continued smiling at him, rather expectantly actually. Griff was just confused. Oh...she was foreign, wasn't she? Bloody Gwaine. Right then. "Erm," why had he left his tankard on the table? Oh yes because that would make things easier. "Drink?" He curved his hand, holding an imaginery tankard and turning his wrist to "drink" in. "Yes?" She still didn't reply. Well she was getting one anyway.

Less than five minutes later, they both had drinks and the girl was laughing, although whether that was at him or with him Griff couldn't be certain, but then Gwaine wouldn't be able to tell either so it didn't matter. However, now that he'd established she didn't have any idea what he was saying, he didn't see any point in continuing their acquaintance. He'd proven that he could charm any woman, or he'd proven that he could appear to charm any woman and really that was the same thing. He downed the last of his drink before clearing his throat. The girl had stopped laughing, so he took this as his oppurtunity to leave. "Well it was a pleasure to meet you...whatever your name is..." He took his hand in his own, kissed it, gave her a wink and then turned to make his way back to Gwaine. Well, that had all gone rather well.

"I hope you took notes," he said as soon as he sat down, a grin on his face. Now it was his turn to choose, and he was determined to find someone as hard as possible. He started scanning the ro- wait...what was Caitrin doing here? Could he...no, she wouldn't appreicate that. But then she wouldn't give Gwaine the time of day no matter how hard he tried...so this could only go well... "Right, redhead over there," he inclined his head to where Caitrin was sat by herself. "Good luck."

What was he expecting? Griff had thought it was quite obvious that he didn't know what to expect at all. He hadn't expected to be this scared, he hadn't expected to be unnerved by a newborn baby and he certainly hadn't expected to be this happy, or to feel so much love not only for his children, but for Caitrin as well. Esmae and Arthur seemed to have done the impossible - they'd made him feel like he was falling in love with her all over again. He sat there watching her, the smile not leaving his lips. She looked so happy, so at ease with everything, like it was all coming naturally to her whereas he had no idea what he was doing, or what he was meant to do and was just going to sit here and wait for her to inform him. But it didn't matter - the nerves and the worry and the fright, they were all still there, but they were in the periphery. It was just Caitrin and Esmae and Arthur, that was all that mattered.

At his wife's words he looked down at Esmae, "Is that what you want? Attention?" She shifted slightly so he took this to mean yes. "You're going to be demanding little thing, aren't you?" No doubt she would end up with an ego to equal either of her parent's. Arthur probably would too...what had they let themselves in for? The panic was coming back. He was going to have to look after this child, and Arthur, and bring them up to be suitable human beings and hope that they turned out better than him. He didn't know how to raise a child! He didn't even know the basics. How did he know when they wanted something? And, having established that they wanted something, how did he tell what? What if they wanted feeding and Caitrin wasn't there? Oh this was a disaster. They'd only been alive ten minutes at best and already he was failing at being a father.

Caitrin was right, this didn't happen every day, but there was no reason why that prevented his ego getting its daily outing - besides, it if weren't for his ego, and a certain amount of stalking, they wouldn't both be sat here. Without his ego he wouldn't have tried his luck with her, he wouldn't have fallen in love and he certainly wouldn't be as happy as this. She should, therefore, appreciate his ego. After all, it was the source of her current happiness too. "Well technically, children are born every day," he pointed out, "But not ones nearly so impressive as these two."

Griff watched her as she started shifting across the bed, about to ask whether she needed any help - not that he could provide much with Esmae in his arms, and she'd probably refuse any aid anyway. So Arthur was a fan of sleep? Good lad. He'd do well for himself. Griff watched her putting him down, a sense of pride at his son, who seemed to already be taking after his father. He'd have him seducing women in no time, of that he was certain. But for now his attention was on his conscious child, who had found something far more interesting to stare than him, although he couldn't quite work out what that was. She was just staring into the distance. Maybe she'd noticed Caitrin moving and was trying to see where her mother had gone, well, if she understood the concept of "mother" yet. "She seems alright..." Griff replied, not entirely convinced whether that was true or not. "How can you tell?"

Why was Gwaine doubting Griff's abilities? Didn't the man know that he was quite the charmer? He'd managed to build quite a reputation for himself, around the taverns anyway, one that he would be trying to hide from Caitrin if hers wasn't just as bad. Griff didn't care much for Gwaine's attitude - it implied that he'd been trying to get hundreds of women to marry him and Caitrin just happened to be the one to agree. Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Women were always throwing themselves at him - why wouldn't they? His face was rather nice - Caitrin wasn't the one who happened to agree, she was the one who made him want to ask. "And how many women have wanted to marry you?" Griff asked with the same light tone that Gwaine had used and took a sip from his drink. He didn't need an answer - Gwaine could easily say that there wasn't a woman alive who didn't want to marry him, but without any proof of that fact Griff wasn't going to believe him.

He didn't have to charm anyone, Griff thought rather petulantly. The man was making it sound like a chore, well that certainly wasn't the correct attitude to have. No wonder he wasn't very good at it. Gwaine's words were, no doubt, said to make Griff jealous. Of course he wouldn't be trying it on with other women, but it was hardly something to be regretful about. Why would he want to seduce other women when there was Caitrin? And yes, his sense of self-preservation also prevented him from doing such, but mainly it was the fact that he was more than happy with his new found state as a one woman man. "I can guarantee whoever you "pick and choose" will be nowhere near as good as Caitrin." His words were continuing their jest, but they were also said with a sense of pride. She was the best woman he knew, one of the best people he knew, and she was going to marry him - mad woman that she was.

Griff had suspected Gwaine would suggest this - no doubt he'd already found someone for him; someone who he really didn't want to be charming at all. He didn't particularly want to follow Gwaine's finger, having already decided that he wouldn't like whoever he'd picked out, so he took another swig of his ale before turning his head and oh, she wasn't too bad actually. She didn't look like she was around here though, which could be a problem if she didn't speak English...maybe that had been Gwaine's plan. How annoying of him. He downed his drink before standing up and looked down at his friend. "Watch and learn, my friend." He said before making his way over to the woman.

Griff had been roped into drinks with Gwaine, and alright, yes when he said "roped" he meant Gwaine had turned up and said he was going to the tavern and asked if Griff was going too. He used the term lightly. The knight was one of the few people that Griff actually enjoyed drinking with - he was certainly one of the few people that was used to drinking as much as he did. Well, not including Caitrin and Rouland, but he couldn't go out drinking like this with Caitrin because she was a girl, and this was a boy's night out, and no one drank as much as Rouland. Even if Griff did though, it certainly wouldn't be a social event.

It was rather fortunate then, that Gwaine and Griff had happened to meet again in Camelot and become rather good friends. They were quite similar really - both full of their own importance and abilities, and both stubborn enough to argue about such importance for hours. As it happened, arguing about their own importance was exactly what they had been doing. Gwaine was a self-proclaimed ladies man, and until recently, Griff had been too. He'd found Caitrin though, and while he had no intention of going back to his womanising ways, he was still convinced that he was better at it than Gwaine. It was therefore no surprise that Gwaine should propose such a wager. It was a challenge rather readily accepted.

A grin formed on his lips - this would certainly liven up the evening. He looked around, the tavern was full of some rather attractive women, and although he had no intention of engaging in anything beyond a few innocent flirtations, he could still appreciate that fact. "You might want to get your purse ready," he replied confidentaly, "we both know how this will end."

Wait...why was Caitrin leaving? Where was she going? Why did she think leaving was an appropriate thing to do at this juncture? He was fully aware that he had married a mad woman, but this...she was leaving him on his own, not only with the twins which was bad enough, but with her niece. He could just about cope on his own without injuring himself or dying, but now he was responisible for three people. If any of them died, it was her fault for trusting him.

Aoife's first question was a rather odd one. They didn't have a wet-nurse. It just hadn't been something either of them considered - they were both adamant that their children would actually have happy, loving childhoods, a wet-nurse would get in the way of that. Besides, why would either of them want to give up moments like this? Or rather moments like this minus random Mercian teenagers. "We don't have one." He replied simply while pulling Esmae away from his foot, trying to keep some kind of level of control. "Never have."

Had he ever been to Mercia? Well there was a nice and awkward conversation. Yes, he had, and he certainly wouldn't forget the visit. He hadn't particularly wanted to go in the first place - the north was depressing and cold, but Caitrin had forced him. It would be fun, she had said, they would be with Oliver and Yassia and he'd enjoy himself. He hadn't, well, he mostly hadn't. He'd been right about it being a depressing and cold place...and then he'd met Caitrin's father. He still couldn't think about that night without the anger returning, which is why he tried not to think about it all. But that was all in the past now and that was the main thing.

Aoife was still expecting an answer, he had a feeling she would always be expecting something. She had that look about her. "Yes, before the twins were born we went there together." That was probably enough information for now, especially as he didn't have many positive things to say about the place. "What about you? Is this your first time in the south?"

No, what he'd said probably didn't matter, at least not as much as her hand did. This was rather rare, him actually admitting that something he'd said or did wasn't the most important thing in the world, but Caitrin's hand was moving again and it really was terribly distracting. Honestly, how she thought he was going to manage to have a conversation, with words and thoughts and articulation, with that hand of hers being all...handy...he didn't know. He was a man of simple tastes after all. "Well...it is something that, that I said." He shifted slightly, trying to ignore her actions and failing miserably, "So it probably does matter-" she cut him off with a kiss, one that he returned rather eagerly and managed to entirely contradict his own words in the process. Griff had known a lot of women throughout his time on the earth, but no one had managed to cut off his ego mid-flow. It was quite impressive, or at least he'd think it was if he wasn't otherwise occupied.

And then, before he quite knew what was happening, Caitrin was on top of him. What a good turn of events. His hands were automatically making their way up her thighs. He was more than willing to rise to her challenge, as she probably expected he would, but he was still quite enjoying their current position. Luckily he had a few tricks up his sleeve. His hands had reached her hips, her rather lovely hips it had to be said. One hand moved to the small of her back, his fingers lightly caressing the skin there, finding the small dent of her spine and working upwards.

His other hand, however, was taking a very different route. While her spine was equally as nice as her hips, he was supposed to be "taking charge", something a little more than hands and hips was required. His hand dropped from her hips, smoothing along her thigh again, across the curve of her leg. He paused, fingers resting on her inner thigh. He smirked up at her, "Well...if you want taking charge..." His fingers were moving again, finding her more intimate part, working against her as he watched her reaction, his own excitement and need ever increasing.

Griff would have been fairly certain that no one could be less welcoming than his father, especially as Griff had never gone back to Glouchedon after leaving all those years ago. But, past experiences had proven him wrong. Payton was definitely the least welcoming, Griff had the missing teeth to prove it - although luckily Caitrin's father had prefered the side of his head, and so he'd only lose a couple of molars. His perfect looks still remained intact. He looked over at Caitrin, just in time to see her shudder slightly. He bit his lip, just thinking about that night still made him angry, not for himself, but for her. He would never understand how Payton could hurt his own daughter like that. It made him all the more determined that their child would be happy and loved and everything they had both been denied.

He hadn't noticed Caitrin falling behind until he turned to ask if she was alright and saw that she had stopped a few feet away and was leaning against a tree. He'd been going to fast for her, well, this was already a good start. He walked over to her, "Are you alright?" It was quite obvious that she wasn't, but he was going to ask anyway. Besides, if she said no then he knew there was a serious problem, she never told him when something was wrong. Personally, he couldn't see why a couple of nobles would cause this much trouble, especially as neither of them were actually from Camelot. They hardly posed a threat, and yet here they were, running for their lives, running to Glouchedon. Fortunately one of them happened to be an expert at all things cowardly and danger-avoiding.

Unforunately, Caitrin was correct in that sleeping outside would be the safer option. It hadn't actually been that long since he'd last gone without a roof over his head. After he'd left Camelot all those months ago he'd taken to wandering and falling asleep wherever. How he hadn't been robbed and murdered by now he didn't know. "Yes," he sighed, "I expect your right." He was fine with sleeping outside, he'd done it enough, but Caitrin shouldn't have to, especially not as she was pregnant. Well he'd make sure she had his cloak has well, that was the least he could do. He frowned at her words, when had she least slept outside? It didn't seem like the sort of thing she'd do. He'd have to press her about that later, for now finding somewhere comfortable was his priority, but she'd beaten him to it. "I don't suppose we'll find anywhere better." He shrugged, feeling rather tired now himself.

Caitrin might not care about what he thought she deserved, but Griff did, because he knew it was more than him. She deserved someone better, someone who could give her everything she wanted and needed, someone who would never let her down and knew exactly what to say and how to solve any problem. Griff had pretended to be that person for a while, he'd even managed to convince himself for a moment or two, but he'd soon reverted to his normal state. He'd run away because that was what he did. It was all he knew how to do, and for the first time in his life it was something he regretted. He could see the consequences of his actions, how he'd hurt her, how everything was his fault because he'd been scared, because he wasn't good enough. He knew that now. He had to accept it. He had to accept it for her.

"I want you too Cait," he replied and took a deep breath and scratched his neck before continuing, "I want you to be happy, and yes, I want you to have everything I think you deserve. And...and that's not me. I said I was a coward, it's not an excuse, Cait, it's really not. It's...it's a fact." Jesu, this was a lot harder than he had thought but he had to continue because he was right, she did deserve so much more than he could ever give her. He couldn't stay and run the risk of hurting her again. That wasn't an option. "I love you, I really do, but I can't promise I won't leave again and I can't promise I won't hurt you. I want you to be happy, but I can't be the one to make you so." He hated himself, and he hated her for making him feel like this. He hated her for being everything, for making him realise that he was never good enough, but he couldn't do this. He couldn't be the man she wanted, deserved, needed, anything. He'd only hurt her again if he stayed.

His arms were still around her, but he felt numb, detached because he was making himself feel that way. If he let himself feel anything else, or anything at all he'd change his mind and he'd stay. Caitrin needed him now, and he would be here for her but he couldn't continue. He needed to break away from her, from this need to be with her, otherwise he'd just end up hurting her and destroying himself. "I know." the words sounded hollow, he wanted them too, he wanted her to think he didn't care so she'd push him away, so she'd hate him again and make him leave. She'd push him away instead of trying to pull him closer. She'd make it easier for him to just disappear. And she'd move on too, she'd find happiness and love. She'd be better off. She just needed to hate him first, and he needed to make her.

He looked up to see Celyn approach them, he hadn't noticed the man leave. He still wasn't happy about his being there, but he could hardly voice such opinions now. It seemed like he couldn't just leave then, he was stuck here for the night at least. This wasn't the plan. He needed to leave now while he still had the willpower. If he stayed longer he'd just change his mind and beg Caitrin to forget everything he'd just said. This was all going wrong. "I...erm, I should...I should probably leave." He was already regretting this decision, but his desire to save Caitrin from any more pain at his hands was stronger than his regret, and even if he did want to say, she probably hated him by now.