A/N: Thank you for your patience as I worked out some of these pasting issues!
The windy drafts seemed worse in the castle, Percival noted. Winter came fast and hard, with snow beginning to fall directly after the leaves changed. For weeks, the wind had been howling in the council meetings, in the armory, and the outside training sessions had been especially bleak. Even Gwaine had uncharacteristically fallen silent in the last session, a hopeless look on his face as he waited for Arthur to finally call it quits amidst the snow.
A short, barking cough left Percival's chest before he even realized it, and the passing servant girl gave him a wide berth in the hallway. Colds and coughs were not to be taken lightly, he was reminded – too many people in too close quarters, and a simple sickness could wipe out a village: or worse, a royal family. With this in mind, Percival went to his chambers, quickly changed clothes, biting back more coughs, and went on his way to the physician's chambers. He might as well try to nip whatever made his chest ache and throat tingle right in the bud.
Gaius must have been out to do rounds for the villagers, so Percival waited in his chambers for him to return. He was awfully tired – doing perimeter rounds of the castle and lower town, attending council meetings, and Arthur's legendary training sessions must have been catching up to him. He fell asleep at Gaius's table without even realizing what he was doing.
The winter sun was much longer in the shadows when a hand on his shoulder awoke him. "Percival?" Gaius asked, questions and concern knitting over his face.
Percival sighed, which led to a cough. Admitting weakness was never easy for him, but he'd hate to put others' lives in danger because of what he may have come down with. "Well, it all started with these outdoor training sessions, and I can never get warm, and I've been noticing this cough", he tried with an easy tone, though he could feel the blush creeping up the back of his neck and the tickle in his throat.
Gaius nodded a quick confirmation and sighed. Even through the different levels of pomp and circumstance between the lower town and the castle, sickness struck everyone equally. He gathered some herbs and started his physical.
Sometime later, Gaius had reached his conclusion. "A cold" he proclaimed, watching the concern fly off of Percival's face. "Your lungs sound normal, and you aren't coughing up any fluid, but I'd like to keep an eye on it all the same. These types of sicknesses can spin out and become something truly formidable," he ended with his infamous raise of the brow. "No more training sessions for you this week, and I'd like you to stay inside the castle – no quests or extended time outside.
Percival sighed. He understood why the physician was concerned about it growing but mentioning that he was on quarantine to Arthur would only cause jokes and jabs from the King and the other knights – besides, he didn't want to be seen as being weak. "I understand, thank you," he solemnly told the physician. He left Gaius's chambers a little later, a satchel of lemon and honey tucked under his muscular arm.
As luck would have it, Percival met Arthur just around the corner of Gaius's chambers, almost smacking into each other. "King Arthur!" he proclaimed in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." At this, Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked up at his burliest, toughest knight. Percival was definitely in his own little world, and finding him this close to Gaius's chambers probably meant one thing- the knight had a health concern that he was trying to hide from the king. Though Arthur could play the part of a king, he considered himself a warrior first, and making sure his knights were taken care of was one part of leadership he never slacked on.
A quick smile graced Arthur's lips, more to put Percival at ease. "Just trying to find my manservant, you know how Merlin likes to hide away from work." With this, Percival looked slightly uncomfortable. If he confirmed Merlin wasn't in Gaius's chambers, Arthur would know that he was in to see Gaius. However, if he lied, it'd be lying to the KING, and he was pretty sure Gaius included the stocks in his previous "no extended outside time" demand. He quietly blew out a breath in frustration at his own humanity. Stupid body, getting sick.
Merlin's not in there, sire, I was just in to see Gaius," he confessed. "Just a slight cold; I'm sure it's nothing." Arthur quaked a brow. "What did Gaius tell you was acceptable to get over this cold?"
Percival looked sheepishly at the ground. "No extended time outside, no training, extra sleep" he repeated, embarrassed. With this, Arthur looked relieved that it wasn't anything more serious, and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's not so bad, why don't you skip the afternoon chamber meeting and try to sleep? The more you sleep the quicker you'll get over this nuisance." He tried to speak assuredly, having seen firsthand how colds could morph or go away seemingly on their style.
Percival decided to heed Arthur's advice and headed to his chambers on the other end of the castle, near the front of the citadel. In fact, his bones were starting to ache, so maybe some sleep would do him good.