Work Text:
The Knights of the Round Table were together for what Gwaine had called a bonding moment .
“Meeting for the first time on the battlefield,” Elyan commented, after explaining why he had agreed to join them, “is not a good way to get to know each other.”
“Curly hair and I met there a long time ago.” Gwaine commented, taking off his socks and placing them to dry in front of the fire.
“Why do you have to call me curly hair ?” Leon murmured softly, almost like he was regretting all the choices he had made up to that point.
“Because your hair is so red and curly.” Gwaine replied, smiling at the older knight, before returning his gaze to Elyan. “We met here in Camelot, the first time I came here.”
"Oh." Percival blinked. “And how did it go?”
“He arrested me.” Gwaine pouted.
“You attacked nobles.” Leon pointed out.
“ Fake nobles, who were trying to kill the princess .” Gwaine rolled his eyes. “And, after having arrested me, he took me and threw me at the feet of Uther.”
“They were personal guests of the king .” Leon pointed out. “You could have left them alone, right?”
“And let them kill Merlin ?” Gwaine scoffed at Leon's idea. "Of course."
“Wait, what?” Lancelot asked. “Kill Merlin? Plans to kill Arthur? Fake nobles? What the hell happened?”
“Yes, tell everything.” Percival nodded.
Gwaine shrugged. “Short story: I met Arthur and Merlin in an inn, and saved Arthur's life from a bandit who wanted to kill him. I was healed by Gaius, and remained as Arthur's personal guest. I liked Merlin, so I didn't leave right away. We bonded quickly.” Gwaine smiled. “He discovered that two nobles were plotting to kill Arthur and wanted to get the evidence. The nobles saw this and I had to intervene to save Merlin's life from them. And, at that moment,” Gwaine glanced at Leon, “ mister perfection here arrested me.”
"I understand." Lancelot nodded. “I was arrested too.”
"I want to hear Gwaine arrested first," Elyan said. "Then we will move on to why Lancelot, the perfect knight , was arrested."
"Well, that's more or less how it went." Gwaine said, before starting to tell.
****
"Damn, you're twisting my arms!" Gwaine groaned, glancing at the knight carrying him.
"You shouldn't have attacked nobles." Was the answer the dandy gave him.
"They shouldn't have attacked Merlin ." Gwaine hissed, seeing the knight's steps falter, before he started walking again.
Probably, Gwaine mused, he was wondering who Merlin was.
"That's not the point." The knight said. "You will be judged by the king."
“A hypocrite judging a kind action toward a servant who was being harassed by other hypocrites .” Gwaine commented. “I wonder how this judgement will go.”
"To speak ill of your king is treason ." The knight said.
"Everything is treason to kings." Gwaine growled. “Unless it benefits them too.”
***
"And then, he threw me at Uther's feet. He wanted to kill me, Arthur said he owed me a debt, he exiled me. The two nobles were actually the bandits from the inn brawl. At the jousting, I crashed , I killed the two impostors and saved Arthur's life again. Since Uther is a hypocritical idiot , I was exiled anyway." Gwaine shrugged. "Can we talk about Lancelot here now?"
"I'm confused by the fact that you described your encounter with Leon in great detail, and glossed over things like, I don't know, saving the prince's life ." Percival murmured.
"Merlin does it daily." Lancelot shrugged. “And now it's my turn to say how I got arrested.”
"Was it Leon?" Gwaine asked.
“He was on a mission back in the day, otherwise it would have been him.” Lancelot nodded. "I'm sure of it."
Leon groaned. "I was following orders !"
"From a hypocrite ." Was Gwaine's response.
"It's still treason." Leon murmured.
"And I still don't care." Gwaine replied.
As the laughter died down, Lancelot began to tell how he met Merlin.