So I'm going to try something a little different. I have written this little prank war story which I will hopefully be updating every day. Each knight (and Merlin) will have their own chapter with their own prank. At the end you can comment on which was your favorite. The character with the most votes wins the prank war. Rules: I won't count any votes that come before Chapter 8. You can only vote for one character. If there's more than one listed I'll just take the first name listed. And finally: only vote once. I hope this works out and that everyone has fun reading this.
Merlin flicked a grape across the table, landing in Gwaine's hair. It wasn't that impressive of a feat, considering Merlin had been flicking grapes at Gwaine for the past hour. There was bound to be one that actually landed in Gwaine's glorious manly mane of splendidness. Gwaine, for his part, was sleeping soundly, head tipped back, mouth slightly opened, and snoring just a tad.
"Merlin, stop it," Leon grumbled. His feet were propped up on the table and he had been watching a fly buzz around in the air for the past thirty minutes. It was making magnificent patterns in the air, looping and curving artfully. Leon was sure that the fly wasn't trying to be artful. But it was more interesting than anything that was going on in Camelot in the moment.
"But I'm bored and Gwaine makes a great target," Merlin groaned. He went to grab another grape only to discover that that was the last grape from the vine. Merlin gave another frustrated groan and smacked his head on the table. Leon glanced over when Merlin didn't lift his head up, slightly afraid that the boy had managed to knock himself out. Sadly, he couldn't tell from here but he was also currently too lazy to go check. Merlin would sort himself out eventually. Oh look, the fly changed the looping pattern so that he was coming from the left instead of the right. How interesting.
"His hair is rather sticky. I shudder to think from what," Percival responded. His head was resting in his hands. His eyes were glazed over, staring at a spot on the wall directly across from him. Percival began to try and imagine what could have caused the stain. Perhaps a hoard of evil pixies broke into the castle and chased a dog through the halls. This would cause a servant carrying wine to trip. The wine would spill over the ground. But it wouldn't stain because a sorcerer was in front of the servant, catching most of the wine on himself. However, he would have slipped on the wine and the spell he was trying to cast misfired, thus turning the wall black in that one spot. Yes. That is what happened.
Elyan sighed and blew out a puff of air. He wondered if he should grow his hair out again. There was a time when it was longer. It was hard to handle. Maybe a nice moustache instead? Naw, that was trying too hard. A beard? No. Gwaine, Leon, and Lancelot all had beards. At this point Elyan would just be seen as trying to follow them.
"It doesn't matter that you're bored, quit flicking things at Gwaine," Leon scolded. The fly landed on the window ledge.
"Merlin's right though, it's so boring. You would think that once Morgana turned evil there would be more things to do," Elyan groaned. He sat back on the chair. There was no new hairstyles for him to try.
"Can we not talk about my sister."
"Half sister," Lancelot corrected. He leaned forward, looking straight at Arthur. Arthur turned, unsure what Lancelot wanted. No one had really moved in the hour they had been in Leon's chambers. "Sire, I may be stepping out of line here, but we do need something to do. If this goes on for much longer, the men could get restless and things could get rowdy," he said. Arthur groaned and ran a hand over his face. Judging how much activity had happened this past hour, he highly doubted the men would become restless. Useless in battle? Possibly. Restless? Less likely.
"What do you want me to do about it? I can't very well go to war because you people are bored and want some excitement," he said, waving his hands in the air. His arms protested at the sudden movement, having lain limply at his sides, not so much at twitching.
"Yes you can. It's easy. Essetir is ripe for the pickings since Cenred kicked the bucket," Elyan said.
"I'm not going to war because you people are bored!" Everyone groaned. The fly flew out the open window. Leon felt even more bored at the loss of entertainment. Lancelot was right. They had to do something and fast. This was getting ridiculous. He looked thoughtful for a few minutes, scouring his brain for any idea. One came to him, causing him to smile.
"That's not good if Leon is smiling," Merlin muttered. He started flicking the grape stems at Gwaine now.
"Actually, I have an idea that should entertain us for a few days," Leon replied. He gently tugged the grape stems out of Merlin's hands. Gwaine yawned and slowly opened his eyes.
"I heard Leon's got an idea. Is it more training?" he grumbled sleepily.
"It better not be more training. My arms still hurt from the last bout," Merlin grumbled. Leon shook his head.
"No, no. It's not training, but it is in a way," Leon said. The knights became slightly livelier at Leon's words. By livelier I mean they actually started to move a bit.
"Well, what is this brilliant idea?" Arthur asked. Leon turned to him and smiled.
"It's a prank war."
oOoOoOo
Merlin still wasn't entirely sure what had come out of Leon's mouth, even thirty minutes later in front of Gaius and Geoffrey. He was sure the stoic knight had mentioned something about a prank war, but that was something so un-Leon-like that Merlin wasn't entirely sure that he had heard correctly. Months of boredom had led him to start hallucinating. That was just perfect. Now he would have to question whether things were really happening or if they were just in his head.
"So, Gaius, Geoffrey, I would like you two to judge the pranks and decide who is the winner," Leon said proudly. Gwaine raised his hand.
"Yes Gwaine?" Leon asked.
"I don't get how this is supposed to be training. Don't get me wrong, I love a good prank, but you said this was also training."
"Aw yes. The purpose of a prank war is to figure out a way to not only humiliate your enemies, but to not get caught doing it. For this exercise, you will have to be stealthy, smart, and plan ahead," Leon explained. Alright, that sounded more like Leon.
"I think you just want a chance to lose," Gwaine sniggered. Gaius sighed and held up his hand.
"Gentlemen, so this doesn't get out of hand, Geoffrey and I will go over some rules for you to follow."
"First, each of you will draw a number out of this hat. The number you draw will determine the order that you go in," Geoffrey croaked.
"Wouldn't we expect the prank then?" Merlin asked.
"Well, we can't have this going on forever. It will have to take place on the day." Gaius explained. Everyone nodded and went to step forward, each pulling a number out of the hat.
Percival was first, Elyan was second, Merlin was third, Arthur was fourth, Lancelot was fifth, Gwaine was sixth, and Leon was last.
"Do you all know the order you're going in?" Gaius asked. The group nodded. "Good, now, for the second rule the pranks can't put anyone in danger and cannot be illegal. Each prank Geoffrey and I will write notes and then at the end, we will compare and choose a winner," Gaius finished. Everyone nodded their understanding.
"Are you ready to start this prank war?" Geoffrey asked.
"Yes!" the group responded. Finally! They were actually going to do something that wasn't boring sword drills. Who knew, this might actually be a little fun.
"Good. Sir Percival, I hope that you have something good for us on Monday," Geoffrey said before shuffling out of the door, followed by Gaius. The group stayed behind, staring at each other.
"I am so excited for this," Elyan said once the two men had left.
"This will be so much fun," Percival replied.
"Do you already know what you're going to do?" Arthur asked.
"I do," Percival replied.
"I just hope no one takes my idea," Merlin sighed. They shuffled out of the door, each excited and fully ready for what lay ahead. Percival was more than excited for his prank. It was going to be one tasty bite to eat. That was for sure.
Alright, there's the setup. Hopefully I can find the motivation to update Chapter 2 tomorrow. Percival will be sure to delight. Have a nice night everyone.