Chapter 3: In Which Sir Gwaine Buys Some Flowers And Maid Merlin Isn't Quite So Oblivious

Several days had gone by since that disastrous date, and Gwaine had finally come up with a new plan- sort of. He realized right away that this "romance" business was not something that came naturally to him. If it was, than his night with Merlin would have gone much better. So, Gwaine decided that he needed some help.

Arthur was immediately out. It had taken him over three years to just work up the nerve to even admit his feelings for Gwen to himself, let alone to her. Gwaine didn't have that time.

Gwaine had considered asking Tristan, who had become quite popular with the maids of the castle thanks to his and Isolde's "tragic love story" (their words- not his). Tristan was new to the castle, though, and, although he and Gwaine had gotten on fine the few times they had talked or seen each other down at the tavern, Gwaine honestly did not know the older man well enough to be comfortable to ask for help.

Not that he felt all that comfortable asking for help from the knights, either. No doubt he would be teased without mercy and then, if he was lucky, he might get some decent advice, but it was doubtful.

The only knight that Gwaine knew would neither tease him nor give him bad advice was Lancelot, so it was to Lancelot he went.

He found him in the armory, polishing his armor.

Unlike Arthur, most of the knights polished their own armor. Although Gwaine understood that, as king, Arthur had more jobs and responsibilities than a normal knight, he'd never tell Arthur that to his face and miss the chance to give him a hard time.

"I need your help, my friend" Gwaine finally said, swallowing his pride. Lancelot looked up in surprise.

"Mine?"

Gwaine nodded tersely. Shrugging, and deciding not to comment on his friend's odd behavior, Lancelot threw the rag over his shoulder and stood up. He began to put his armor away and turned to Gwaine.

"I will help in any way I can," he said. "What do you need help with?"

"Merlin," Gwaine said uncomfortably.

Lancelot smirked knowingly. "Ah. Yes, I heard about what happened a few nights ago."

"Who told you?" Gwaine frowned. He hadn't told anybody about what had happened with Merlin, and Merlin hadn't even know what had happened, so there was no chance that she had told anybody.

Lancelot frowned. "You did."

"I did?" Gwaine asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Last night," Lancelot chuckled. "At the tavern. You were drunk and passed out. I had to help you back to your room."

Gwaine glared, hating Lancelot in that moment for being so good and wholesome and noble. Save for the entire Gwen issue (during which he had never done anything wrong, since everything that had happened between them had happened before she and Arthur had acknowledged their feelings for each other and when Gwen cheated on Arthur with him, Lancelot hadn't even been real), Lancelot had been the model knight.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Gwaine asked.

(He did not pout, no matter what Lancelot said).

"Of course," Lancelot assured, placing his arm on Gwaine's shoulder reassuringly. "First thing? Flowers."

"Flowers?"

"Flowers."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gwaine asked, entering the florist shop. It was a small shop, but well lit thanks to the help of several well positioned windows. There were several very pretty arrangements set up strategically around the shop, and many bundles of different sorts of flowers.

"Positive." Lancelot assured. "You gave her the necklace, which was a good start, but nothing says romantic like a lovely bouquet of flowers. Give them to her when you invite her to a picnic later."

The picnic had been Gwaine's idea. On their way to the florist shop, Lancelot had suggested they share a meal and Gwaine, knowing of Merlin's fondness for the outdoors (when they weren't hunting) had immediately suggested a picnic.

Lancelot agreed, but warned, " Wait on her, for a change, instead of the other way around. Treat her as though you view her as an equal."

"But I already view her as an equal," Gwaine said, confused.

"I know," Lancelot said slowly, as though speaking to a particularly dimwitted child. Gwaine didn't particular appreciate his tone, but decided that he better hold his tongue. It wasn't worth the risk of getting Lancelot angry. Then he might not help him.

"However," Lancelot continued, "Merlin is still a servant. She may not mind being one and helping us and coming with us on patrols and cooking our food for us, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still her job. She'll enjoy the break and a reminder that you were her friend before she was your servant. And try to prepare as much of the basket yourself as you can. She'll appreciate any effort you go through on her behalf."

"Even if lunch is rubbish?" Gwaine had asked, knowing that anything he cooked was liable to give them food poisoning. Not quite the romantic lunch he'd had in mind.

Lancelot had nodded. "Even if lunch is rubbish."

Now that they had arrived at the florists, Gwaine couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. "Nobody's here. Maybe we should come back-"

He made to leave the shop, but Lancelot quickly stopped him and turned him back around.

"Nonsense," Lancelot said, clapping him on the back. "I'm sure somebody will be with us in a moment."

Sure enough, at minute later, a tall, blonde, and vaguely familiar girl walked out from the back room, carrying a basket of roses. She blinked when she saw the two of them and then, much to Gwaine's surprise, narrowed her eyes at the site of him.

"You!" she accused, pointing her scissors in his direction, brown eyes narrowed in a glare.

His eyes widened. That reaction from women was never good. Gwaine tried to remember if she had been one of the women he'd -ahem- bedded since he had first arrived in Camelot, but couldn't seem to remember her.

"What did I do?" Gwaine asked defensively.

"You stole one of my flowers," the young woman said certainly, placing her basket on the counter at the front of the show. She began to sort out the roses, stripping them of their stems and placing them in a pile to her left, not once cutting her slightly tanned fingers on the sharp thorns.

Gwaine blinked.

"Did I?"

"You did," the girl affirmed. "You took it right from my basket and tried to give it the pretty, dark-haired girl, but she wouldn't take it."

"That- that was years ago!" Gwaine said. Lancelot laughed at his expression and the girl blushed.

"Yes, well," she muttered. "You were making quite a fool of yourself."

"And it didn't even work," Gwaine said petulantly, not liking being so blatantly laughed at.

"That's why we're here," Lancelot supplied, finally stepping forward. The girl blushed again at seeing him (Lancelot had quite an effect on women, noticed Gwaine) and then nodded, clearly delighted.

"I am Sir Lancelot and this is my good friend, Sir Gwaine."

"Tegan," she said politely. "And you want flowers for the girl?"

"They didn't work so well last time around," Lancelot teased. Gwaine tried to hit him, but Lancelot was too fast for him. Gwaine didn't concern himself with it too much. He'd get his revenge another time. "We decided that two time's the charm."

"Oh! That's so sweet!" Tegan exclaimed, clapping excitedly. "She's very lucky! And I think I have just the thing!"

Tegan disappeared in the back room for another minute, giving Gwaine a chance to nudge Lancelot and say, "She seems to like you."

Lancelot blushed (he was probably the only knight who knew how, if Gwaine were honest with himself). Before he could say anything, Tegan returned holding a small bouquet of flowers, held together by a simple piece of twine. The bouquet consisted of the same small, white flowers he had given Merlin, along with flowers that Gwaine recognized immediately as lilies (his mother used to love putting them around the house).

She handed it to Gwaine, but he hesitated in taking it. Tegan frowned self-consciously. "Don't you like them?"

"No, they're lovely," he assured, reaching out, but once again hesitating. "It's just the moment I take these, my reputation is ruined."

"But Merlin will love them," Lancelot coaxed. Gwaine screwed his face up in determination and, in a great burst of strength, took the bouquet. Lancelot and Tegan applauded him and Gwaine handed Tegan the money he owed her.

"This is too much," she said, trying to hand him some back, but he waved her away.

"To repay you, for the flower I stole from you," he said simply. Tegan laughed and, if Gwaine hadn't been looking, he would have missed the slightly doe-eyed look that crossed Lancelot's face. It was broken by a light thump as the door to the shop opened and a little boy- no older than eleven- came running into the shop.

"Ollie!" Tegan scolded, blushing. "Behave! We have patrons!" She turned back to the knights. "I apologize for my little brother."

Lancelot just smiled in that way of his, that made everybody feel incredibly at ease. "It's perfectly all right."

Ollie turned to them and sniffed, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. Lancelot smiled directly at him and Ollie's eyes widened, taking in their swords, and said, "You're knights!"

"Indeed we are," Gwaine said. The boy reminded him of his own little brother, or at least his little brother when Gwaine had left home. Gwaine rarely dwelled on those thoughts, though. When he did, he usually ended up at the tavern, more drunk than usual. "I am Sir Gwaine and this is Sir Lancelot."

Gwaine's name didn't seem to affect Ollie at all, but Lancelot's name did. Ollie squeaked and ran behind the counter at the front of the shop, hiding behind his sister's legs. Lancelot looked shocked as Tegan giggled nervously. "I'm sorry," she said. "Ollie- Well, Ollie is a huge fan of yours, I suppose."

Lancelot didn't really know what to say to that. Tegan, taking it as a negative reaction, quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry! I-"

"No, it's fine," Lancelot said, walking behind the counter and, from what Gwaine could see, kneeling down. He smiled at Ollie. "Hello, again, Ollie."

Gwaine decided that now would be the time to go. "I'll leave you to it then, my friend."

"Good luck with Merlin," Lancelot offered.

"Good luck with your admirer." Gwaine offered back.

"Oh, I'm sure Ollie and I will get along splendidly." Lancelot said, taking the little boy's hand and shaking it. Gwaine snorted as he stepped out of the shop.

"I wasn't talking about Ollie," Gwaine laughed. As the door closed behind him, Gwaine could barely make out Lancelot's indignant sputter's.

This is going to be a brilliant day.

It most certainly is not, Merlin scowled, scrubbing the floor more furiously. She looked up, glowering at Arthur, who was currently looking over some paperwork and waiting for Gwen to arrive for lunch.

He felt her eyes on him and looked up to the meet them. Arthur smirked, seeing the expression on her face. "Enjoying yourself, Merlin?"

"Oh yes, sire," Merlin said, completely serious. Arthur was taken aback. He leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him, looking at Merlin curiously.

"Why's that?" He asked. "This is supposed to be a punishment, after all."

"Oh, I know," Merlin said, blowing some hair out of her face. She was constantly doing that- she really needed to invest in a ribbon of some sort. Merlin grinned at Arthur. "But if I wasn't doing this, I'd have to be mucking out the stables."

"You'll be doing that later, don't worry," Arthur told her simply, watching Merlin's expression fall. Merlin didn't say anything and instead went back to focusing on her cloth and bucket, remembering a time a few years ago when Arthur had put the bucket over her head. As awful as that had been, it wasn't nearly as bad as this.

A few days ago, after her night with Gwaine, Merlin had woken up with one of the worsts headaches she had ever had. Needless to say, when she had finally made it downstairs for breakfast, Gaius had informed her that it was, in fact, lunch. Merlin had wasted no time running to try and get Arthur his lunch (forgoing her own in the process), but Arthur hadn't been too happy with her.

Still, Arthur might have forgiven her, but she must have still been feeling the after effects of the alcohol, because she continued to drop things, forget things, and bump into things for the rest of the day- more so than usual. When she fell asleep while polishing his armor, Arthur had taken it as the last straw.

For the past few days, he had been giving her harder and longer and generally more jobs to do.

"To keep you out of the tavern," Arthur had said bluntly, "Or away from Gwaine. He's corrupting my servant and I can't have that."

Merlin dipped her rag back into the bucket and winced. Hopefully Arthur hadn't been too mad at Gwaine for making her late. He was just trying to be nice.

And he had been.

It was great to finally spend some time together. It wasn't often that they got to. He had also gotten a necklace for her, which she wore even now.

Merlin didn't know why he had suddenly decided to be so kind, but she wasn't going to question it. Although she got along with all of the knights, they didn't often spend much time with her outside of official business, except maybe for Lancelot, but even then, he was often incredibly busy. Gwen, Merlin's only real female friend since Morgana had gone off the deep end, was now getting used to being Queen, so Merlin saw less of her than ever.

In all honesty, Merlin had been getting a bit lonely when Gwaine had invited her to the festival. After everything with Morgana and the siege of Camelot and the ensuing chaos, Merlin needed a break from destiny and doom and fate. Gwaine, a festival, and drinking had been perfect (not that Merlin usually did that sort of thing).

Giving the little girl her rabbit and tricking the magician- Bedwyr, his name was?- had been icing on the cake. A bit of magic on her end (if Gaius knew, he would have given her that look) had made the pompous magician look like a real clotpole, although not as much as Arthur made himself look on a daily basis, and made it all worth it.

The creak of the door alerted Merlin to the fact that Gwen had arrived for lunch. Merlin put her rag in her bucket and stood up, knowing that she'd have to make a dash to the kitchen to get her and Arthur their food. Arthur got up from his desk, wearing the same goofy smile he always wore when Guinevere was within a few feet of him.

"Guinevere!" He said. "Perfect timing! Merlin was just about to go to the kitchens and get us some lunch."

Merlin gave Arthur a baffled look, although she had known full well that she needed to get the royal couple some food. "I was?"

Arthur's smile became fixed and he gave her a frustrated look. He yanked the bucket from her hands and placed it on the floor, in the corner.

"Yes, Merlin," Arthur said, giving her a light (for him) thwack over the head. Merlin reached up to rub it, casting him a sour look as Gwen finally came into view, closing the door with her hip, her hands full with a tray in her hand.

"Oh, there's no need," Gwen said, with a smile in Merlin's direction. "I stopped by the kitchens and got it for us. You've been working Merlin too hard. You need to give her a bit of a break before she exhausts herself.

"Thank you, my lady," Merlin said, with an over-exaggerated bow. "You should listen to her, sire. I need a break."

"Do you, Merlin?" Arthur asked with a sigh, clearly doubting her, as he sat down. Merlin nodded and took the tray from Gwen, giving her a nod to indicate that she should sit down and let Merlin set the table. Merlin didn't mind doing things for her friends, as long as they were polite about it and said thank you, or were more than ready to do the same for her. She didn't even mind doing things for Arthur, ungrateful prat that he was, but did wish he'd be a bit more appreciative sometimes.

"Indeed, I do," Merlin agreed, as though Arthur's question hadn't been completely sarcastic. "And a raise would be nice, too."

"A raise?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. Why?" Merlin asked. "Don't you think I deserve one? I've been working for you for over five years now."

"Well, generally, Merlin, we only give raises to workers who actually do their job, and do it well. Not workers who go missing for hours on end, worrying their friends, as they skive off at the tavern."

Merlin grinned broadly as she finished setting up the food, uncovering the trays with a flourish, making Gwen laugh. "Are you saying you worry about me?"

"Of course I do," Arthur said, with such an incredibly brutal honesty that Merlin was blown away- until he opened his mouth again. "As useless as you are, I've spent an incredible amount of time training you. I need to protect my investment."

Merlin smiled tightly and poured water for them. Arthur eyed her oddly, taking a sip of her water and staring at her chest. If it had been anybody else, Merlin would have dumped her water on them, but since it was Arthur, and he was so hopelessly in love with Gwen to even think about looking at other women, least of all Merlin, for goodness's sake, she refrained.

Before she could open her mouth to make some sort of witty comment (alright, so she hadn't exactly thought of one yet, but her mouth had yet to fail her, so she doubted that it would start now), Arthur gestured with his cup. "Clearly, you're already making enough money, if you can afford that necklace."

Merlin's hand went to the small pendant on her neck and she shook her head. "Actually, it was a present from Gwaine, during the fair a few nights ago."

"Jewelry on a first date?" Arthur hm'ed thoughtfully. "His affections for you must be stronger than I thought.

Merlin stuttered. "It wasn't- we didn't- Gwaine is my friend."

"A friend who has been trying to pursue you romantically -gods know why- for quite some time. It's your own fault for being too thick to see it."

"No," Merlin shook her head, feeling the heat in her face grow. "You've got this wrong, what you're saying. Wait- what are you saying? Are you saying- me and Gwaine- what?"

"Merlin," Gwen began, ready to explain, but Arthur held his hand up to stop her, the grin on his face clearly indicating how much he was enjoying this.

"Wait just a moment," he muttered to her, watching Merlin try to work out what they were trying to say. "Let's see how long it takes her to work it out for herself."

Gwen rolled her eyes and slapped his hand down. "Merlin, Gwaine intended to ask you out on a date, that night."

Arthur sat back in chair, slumping backwards. Placing his feet on the table and leaning back, he raised his hands in mock frustration. "And now, we'll never know."

Merlin, however, was too busy taking in Gwen's words. It made sense, in retrospect, Merlin admitted hesitantly. He had been oddly nice to her that night. As a matter of fact, he had been treating her rather oddly in general since that night with the Cailleach. First not wanting to spend any time with her, then seeking her out to help with her chores.

And the kiss in the tavern-

Merlin felt her face heat up at the thought.

Gwen smiled sympathetically. "Will you be alright, Merlin?"

Merlin nodded slowly. She liked Gwaine, after all. He was one of her best friends, one of the few people who had always treated her as an equal, right from the beginning. It might take some time to get used to the idea of entering into some sort of romantic relationship with him, but the idea wasn't a repulsive one. He was a good looking man, after all-

Merlin's face was in danger of exploding after that thought and Arthur, no doubt guessing what direction her mind had taken her in, took a bite of chicken and laughed satisfactorily at his maidservant's embarrassment.

This is going to be a brilliant day.


AN: Not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I always felt that Lancelot deserved a happy ending. Hopefully you guys agree! And thanks for all the great feedback!

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