A/N Gaius: I don't want a cat
Gaius about the cat: This cat has only been living in my chambers for a few hours, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself for making my ward (read: son) sad
In the beginning, there was only one.
Merlin had come home from accompanying Arthur on yet another quest, a sheepish look on his face, his coat wriggling in the most peculiar fashion.
At least it hadn't been some magical creature, like a dragon or a gryphon, was all Gaius could think.
No.
It was a cat.
Well, if you could really call the bedraggled clump of tiny fur a cat. It was more of a kitten, all big ears and more fur than actual body.
Gaius had stared at it blatantly, its blue eyes flickering about the room, wiggling in Merlin's grasp, the blacks of its eyes impossibly wide.
Merlin too was giving Gaius an impossibly wide, innocent look, one which Gaius had become familiar with over the years. But he was the court physician, he couldn't possibly have a cat wandering around his chambers, knocking the potions off of his shelves and making a mess of his papers.
And he had told Merlin as such, the young man's expression falling, gently holding the kitten close to his chest.
Then the darned thing had started to purr. Loudly. And Merlin's face had changed, from that sad, desolate look to one of pure contentment.
Gaius didn't have the heart to tell Merlin that he couldn't keep the darn creature after that. And so the small cat quickly became a part of their small family.
But then came the task of naming the damn thing. Gaius had never thought that naming anything would be such an arduous task, but he had long given up trying to understand his ward's mind.
A lot of the knights, and Gwen had suggested names, Merlin thoroughly thinking over each one, before it got thoroughly discarded. Meanwhile, Gaius had been left the task of looking after the small kitten during the day, which was no easy task.
The little toerag was curious about anything, wobbling on its small legs all over his workbench, and if the kitten wasn't getting in his business, then it was rolling through his sheafs of paper, its small teeth making quick work of his… well, work.
The name came to Gaius a week after the name debacle had started.
"What about Merlin?"
The name had slipped past his lips before the idea had been even fully formed, almost like those times when Merlin had first been his apprentice, and had accidentally put the wrong ingredient into a batch of Gaius' medecine, causing an explosion, and weeks of cleaning.
"About what?"
Merlin looked confused, looking very much like the kitten currently sat on Gaius' bench, watching some form of bug climbing on the window pane.
"The kitten," Gaius gestured, vaguely waving at the kitten. "You should call him Merlin."
Merlin (the human, that is) stopped what he was doing, a thoughtful expression crossing his face for a second, cocking his head to the side as he observed the small kitten.
"It works," Merlin said, shrugging his shoulders, before standing up to make his way over to the kitten. "What do you think? Do you like the idea of being called Merlin?"
The kitten looked up at Merlin with its big blue eyes and mewled in response.
Merlin looked up and grinned at Gaius.
"I think he likes it."
Gaius was going to regret this.
Despite the annoyed facade that Gaius put up, he did not, in fact, regret letting Merlin keep Merlin.
In fact, the chaos which was caused by the kitten being named Merlin was worth it. With Merlin the Second (so dubbed by Gwen) getting stronger everyday, the kitten had started accompanying Merlin everywhere he went, often making his perch on Merlin's shoulder, and on occasion in his hair.
Everyone thought it was the most adorable thing, the knights having fallen in love with the small kitten, and it slowly wormed itself into everyone's heart. Everyone that is, except for two people.
The first was Arthur. Although Gaius assumed that this was largely due to Merlin the second's tendency to wake Arthur up by attacking his feet. Of course, Merlin (human) often cited that he couldn't possibly stop his young counterpart, in the guise that Merlin (cat) needed exercise, and if it came in the form of entertainment for both of them, well… neither Merlin was going to compain.
The second person who didn't have an almost immediate love for the small kitten was Agravaine. Gaius wasn't quite sure what it was that Agravaine didn't like about the cat, but the traitor seemed to spend most of his time actively trying to avoid Merlin when he could. Which, ironically, Gaius thought was exactly what he did most of the time with the human version, albeit more subtly.
And so Merlin the second wormed his way into everyone's heart, and Gaius was content with the world at large.
But, after so many years of living in Camelot, Gaius should have realised that this wasn't the end. Not by a long shot.
However, if there was one thing which living in Camelot for so long had taught Gaius, well, it was that sometimes, you just had to roll over and give in.
There was nothing one would be able to do to stop it after all.
A/N Just to clear any confusion, this is more of a series of interconnected oneshots than anything else. I would put each oneshot as its own work, except unfortunately on this site I don't have a way of showing that they are interconnected.
Other than that, this is, unlike my other wips, such as TKatS and EatWotS (which are currently on hiatus while I finish writing them), this one is more of when I get an idea, a new chapter will be up, so it may be a while before the next oneshot goes up...
The oneshots may also not be in any particularly chronolgocial order either.
Hope you enjoy!