Prompt: A/G decide to 'christen' each room of importance in the castle, even Gaius physician's quarters. Only issue, Gaius and/or Merlin are always there...
A/N: For ag_fics Team Fic Battle.
This was getting ridiculous. There had been times in the past when Arthur needed someone to be in the physician's chambers, and no one was to be found there. Now that he wanted the rooms empty, it seemed never to be the case. On the one occasion that he and Guinevere found themselves alone in the main room, he had just been pulling her skirts up when Gaius popped back in to brew up a medicine of some sort. It was only through good fortune that they managed to right themselves before he noticed.
In fairness, they were Gaius's chambers; all the same, Arthur was beginning to wonder if he could not order Gaius and Merlin out for a short while on the basis of it being his castle... but, he hadn't the heart. And that was especially true since he felt quite awkward about the whole situation, to begin with. If not for the slip of parchment that had been passed to Guinevere in the marketplace by a cloaked figure, none of this would even be an issue. Yet, as there were starting to be murmurs about the need for an heir, they could hardly ignore the suggestion.
The chances of an heir will be greatly increased if the attempt for one is made in each public room of the castle.
It was weird, there was no questioning that, and he would have liked to know whose advice it was. But, it was also simple enough that, after quite a bit of discussion, he and Guinevere decided to give it a try. Some of the rooms had been trickier than others- the kitchens had proven especially difficult, with people coming and going at all hours- and he had ordered the dungeons cleaned out before visiting that area of the castle. They had never assumed that the physician's chambers would prove the trickiest, however.
After a second near-miss (more awkward than the first, since it had been Merlin to interrupt them this time, and he definitely had noticed), they were walking back to their own chambers arm-in-arm when Guinevere asked, "Are you sure that counts as a 'public room'? They're Gaius's chambers, after all."
Being that Arthur had had a similar thought, he replied, "No, I'm not sure. But, that is where anyone in need of a healer goes, which I think makes it at least a somewhat public place. Don't you?"
"Perhaps."
"I wish I could simply say no," he said. "If this does not work, though, we won't know if that's due to the whole thing being rubbish"- they both had to smile at that, since neither of them was completely convinced of its veracity- "or if it's because we overlooked a room."
Guinevere sighed. "It may be that we do not have a choice."
"They're not even particularly sound sleepers," Arthur muttered.
"Arthur!" Gwen laughed, only sounding a little scandalized. "I could not do that with Gaius in the room, even if he were asleep!"
He glanced over at her choice of words and, despite knowing better, teased, "But, you could if Merlin was in the room?"
"What? No!" She tapped his arm, the closest she would come to giving him a smack. "He has his own room, that's all I meant."
Arthur began to grin- and suddenly, came to a halt. "He does, doesn't he?"
Confused, Gwen also stopped walking. "Yes, but as you said, he's hardly likely to sleep through something like that."
"Maybe not normally."
"What are you thinking?"
His grin returned. "You'll see."
Two days later, Arthur led Gwen back down the corridor to the physician's chambers, a bottle in his hand. When they neared the door, he said quietly, "Wait here." Then, giving her a kiss, he ducked inside.
Several minutes passed, and she was starting to wonder what Arthur was doing. When she heard him yell, "Merlin, run! There's a fire!" she ignored his instructions and ran through the doorway, ready to help.
Worriedly, she scanned the room... but saw no sign of any fire. Nor did she see her husband, for that matter. "Arthur?" she called.
At that, he emerged from Merlin's chamber, pulling the door shut behind him and looking quite cheerful. "RIght here." He came toward her as if he hadn't a care in the world, and closed the main door.
"What was that about a fire?" she asked, still not at ease.
"Just making sure the sleeping draught worked," he said, as he gently pulled her into his arms.
She frowned. "The sleeping draught..."
"Mm-hmm." He pushed her hair back over her shoulder and leaned down to kiss her neck. "I got it from Gaius yesterday."
His lips on her skin were rather distracting, but Gwen wanted the full story, first. "And?"
He slid a hand down to her bottom, pressing her closer. "And, he is away for at least the next hour, visiting a cottage on the outskirts of town. Merlin has just had a glass of wine that included a dose of the sleeping draught, and he did not even budge when I yelled about a fire."
Finally, she smiled. "We should probably hurry, just to be on the safe side."
She could feel his grin against her neck. "As my lady wishes."