This was inspired by the tumblr post about a Death Eating Seating Chart.

I know that in the show and most of the legends its strictly Knights at the Round Table, but I thought that since Arthur seemingly got rid of his father's long rectangle table he would have to have his council meetings at the Round Table as well, so there. Plus, I'm 80 percent sure that the show made it all knights in that opening scene to make it cinematically pretty.

There are a few subtle references to both the legends and the show in the fic- if you guess them correctly you can submit an OC character for one of my future fics- either one shot or mini-arc.

One thing that amused Gaius about Camelot's "young people" was how much they were creatures of habit. Oh yes they may claim they were the "faces of change" that were bringing Camelot into a new era of equality and acceptance, but Gaius knew better- half of them he had known since childhood, they couldn't fool him that easily.

For their credit, they were bringing a lot of change to Camelot- anyone had the opportunity to try to become a knight or soldier, which had almost tripled their numbers. Eylan and Percival were brainstorming ways to reach out to the outlying villages and towns of Camelot, in order to teach the farming and peasant boys fighting techniques that would put them on par with lord's and soldiers sons. Last Gaius had heard, they were thinking of giving each knight a boy who was interested in becoming a knight, and having them train them individually. Percival called it "squiring" a term Gaius and Merlin both think he made up.

Guinevere was using her status to work on bettering education for villages, so that they could build up into towns. Arthur's advisors- now a mix of nobles and particularly gifted and foresighted artisans and tradesmen- were working on bettering the road systems and had also come up with a more efficient letter delivery service.

As for Arthur himself, he was firing off diplomatic treaties and making alliances at twice the speed Uther had, coped up for hours pouring over wording and economic advantages. (Gaius always felt a burst of pride when he noticed a phrase or demand in treaties that echoed Merlin.)

So yes, these amazing young men and women were changing Camelot for the better. But they themselves fell prey to such habitual routines that had Gaius shaking his head fondly.

Some of these routines made sense- Arthur and Guinevere heard requests the same time each week, so that the citizens of Camelot knew when to come request an audience. Knight training took place in the morning so that advising meetings wouldn't start until after lunch, and would have to end by dinner. Gaius appreciated that; as Camelot's one physician he did not have time to spend all day in meetings.

But other habits were just everyone being to lazy to change it, and the worst of these was the Round Table.

The Round Table itself was such a symbol of change that it was almost ironic how it became a nest for tradition. But it was so obvious to Gaius that he couldn't ignore every time he sat down at the table.

Supposedly, each seat was the same- each of them were the exact same height, width and wood. None of them had more room at the table than anyone else- it was the epitome of fairness. One was just like all the rest.

Yet every single time, everyone sat in the exact. Same. seat.

Gaius hadn't noticed it until halfway through the second meeting. He had arrived late (it was the cold season and half the palace was sick) and had taken the only seat left. About thirty minutes later, while Leon and Galahad were waxing on about training numbers, Gaius looked around and realized that he was in the exact same seat as last time.

Not only that, but he was seated between the exact same people.

Lord Dembridge (one of Uther and Arthur's most trusted diplomatic advisors) was on his left, and Sir Bors sat on his right.

Gaius began to move his gaze around the table, while keeping his face turned toward to Leon. To the casual glance, it looked as if he were paying attention.

On Bors right sat the same sequence of knights that had been there last time- Bors, then Kay, Bedivere, and Gaheris. They had been with Arthur for years, and though Gaius knew they weren't as close to Arthur as the original Round Table Knights, they still contributed to his new vision of Camelot.

Next to the knights were various advisors, nobles, and tradesmen that Arthur had brought into his inner circle in order to have a broad perspective and idea exchange. Several of the nobles had been taken aback at this, and going off of the distance that Lord Caradoc was keeping from Ector, (a talented and loyal sheriff who Arthur had brought on to advisor on Camelot's banditry problem, criminal court system, and the moral of the villages) were still not pleased to be so close with "the commoners." Given Ector's body language, he was not thrilled about his seat mate either.

Gaius was one of the few who saw the value in Arthur's choice- although he felt that a blacksmith would be a better advisor on Camelot's criminal punishment, since most of their prisoners seemed to escape from the dungeons. (He kept that thought to himself though- too often Merlin was the one escaping.)

Yet, despite the dislike between the two men, they sat next to each other once again. It wasn't a question of room- Gaius' current seat had been empty until he arrived late. Somehow, both men had decided it would be easier to sit in the same seat as before even though they couldn't stand one another. It had been a matter of habit- and also of pride, Gaius suspected. Neither willing to be the one to move seats.

On the other side of the circular table- next to another long string of knights were Elyan, Percival, and Gwain, Galahad's and Leon's empty seats one either side of them, with Leon seated right next to Arthur. Guinevere, naturally, sat right next to Arthur.

Merlin stood off to the side, slightly behind Arthur, just like he did last time. Gaius takes a moment to study his boy's face, remembering with a dull pain what had happened at the first meeting a week ago.

Arthur and Gwen had arrived been among the first to arrive, in order to take care of any issues that could have arisen. Merlin trailed right behind them, giving Gaius (already seated) a quick smile. A few of the other knights were milling about at one end of the table, while Gwaine, Elyan, Percival and Galahad already seated. Gwen sat down a few seats away from Gwaine, and Arthur stood behind the chair next to her automatically, pulling her chair out gallantly for her as she gently touched his arm in thanks.

Arthur turned expectantly to the empty seat between himself and Gwaine, pulling it out a few inches from the table. He hesitated only a brief second before turning and gave Merlin a nod.

Merlin's eyes had gone wide, before he resolutely shook his head. Gaius can practically hear the eye roll that Arthur responded with but Merlin simply shook his head again, a pointed glance at the in-streaming nobles. At this point Gwaine and Elyan both open their mouths, disbelief on their faces, but Arthur holds up his hand, a silent command to let him deal with this. The following silent exchange of looks and expressions between the king and his manservant said more to the two of them than the rest of them could ever hope to interpret.

After a moment or two Merlin raised his chin defiantly, and took another step back. Arthur glared at him, but he kicked the chair back toward the table, a silent surrender.

The air in that area of the table grows tense, before Leon, who had been hovering at Elyan's elbow since he arrived in the middle of the situation, tepidly sat down in the chair himself. One chair between Sir Gaheris and Lord Balin remained empty in the end.

The arguments that had gone on over the next few days between Merlin and Arthur, Merlin and the knights, and Arthur and the knights had started rumours flying through the castle. (Since there was no empty chair at the table that second day, Gaius had a feeling that Merlin had won his arguments.)

Between Gwen and Gaius sat the four top members of Arthur's war council, some of whom were as old as Gaius was- Gaius had noted with a inner chuckle that these men were not only sitting in the same spots as the last meeting, but in the exact same order as they had during Uther's councils, which had been organized by rank. He wondered if Arthur or Leon noticed.

Now, six months later, they were having yet another council, and if Gaius believed that travelling through time was possible, he would have thought it had happened right then. He was seated with Sir Bors on his left and Lord Dembridge on his right. A few seats down from Sir Gaheris Lord Caradoc and Ector were still sitting next to each other, closer than they had a few months earlier but still shooting each other irritable looks whenever the other spoke. Galahad sat next to Percival, Gwaine sat next to Leon, and Merlin stood a few steps behind Arthur.

He had tried to mess with the system a few times, sitting in random seats just to see what would happen, but the general confusion it caused, as well as the panicked nervousness one of the artisans had at trying to tell a courtier to "please move, that's my seat" eventually took the fun out of it

Good lord, Gaius was fairly certain some of them were even wearing the same clothes. He snorted to himself as Arthur called the meeting to order.

Honestly, and they had the nerve to say he was set in his ways.

At least he wasn't trying to sit according to some pre-destined seating chart.

I've only written Gaius once before, in one of my post 5.13 reaction fics, but it was fun. Gaius seems to have a lot of general contempt for some of the more ridiculous things Merlin and co go through, as only the elderly and therefore too wise to go through that stuff do. I know I made Gaius a little bit more mischievous than he usually is shown, but it felt right. I think that Gaius was a bit of a mischief maker in his younger days- he certainly puts up with some of Merlin's antics. (Braying Arthur anyone?)

I'm thinking of doing a compainion piece to this one for the next chapter focusing on the different arguments between Merlin, Arthur, the knights, and Gwen that I alluded to earlier in the chapter…I had a lot of ideas spring to mind that I couldn't incorporate into this story for fear of losing focus.

As always thanks for reading, reviewing, following and/or favouriting.

-ED