When you think about the tavern excuse in Merlin (the only excuse Giaus seems to know), it makes a lot more sense in the later seasons if you're going under the assumption that Gwaine is just covering for Merlin. Like lying when Arthur asks occasionally while having no idea what Merlin is actually doing because he ain't no snitch.
Just a random thought that occurred to me while I was reading some fanfiction.
i mean, yeah, it does work a lot better and it's more believable if gwaine were the one to tell it.
if i'm remembering right, "the tavern" was used in the beginning of s3 before we meet gwaine and unfortunately, gwaine's stay in camelot that season is short bc he got banished. so, there'd be no way for him to cover for merlin BUT after the whole fisher king episode it would make sense (to arthur, i feel) that merlin would leave camelot to visit gwaine at a tavern bc the two just click.
i have half a mind to guess that arthur turns a blind eye if gwaine were to somehow sneak into camelot just to visit merlin during s3. i know we all joke about arthur being an oblivious idiot when it comes to noticing magic and shit, but the man is observant to a fault. he's got a keen eye (unfortunatley his observations fail when something contradicts a person he believes to know fairly well, and he chooses to ignore it), and it is not that hard to notice the chemistry between merlin and gwaine.
so when gwaine does join the knights in s4 and merlin starts going to "the tavern" more often, arthur could just chalk it up as him and gwaine having a night out. sure, he has to keep up appearances and one day visits gwaine just to remind him that it's not good for his manservant to be hungover almost every week. like, he has a job, ga-waine!
and gwaine just sits there, nods, cracks a joke about how maybe he should lighten merlin's chores, whilst making a mental note to ask merlin about whether or not he'll need him to cover for the man later this weekend. he never asks merlin why he'd need to cover for him (i'm of the belief that gwaine, though never told, had some idea of what big secret merlin was hiding), and merlin never asks gwaine why he'd lie to their king for him.
it's just a silent act of trust and love the two share and by god do i wish this was used because sure, gaius using the tavern is funny and all, but i would kill to have at least one scene where gwaine confirms, that him and merlin were hanging out at the tavern, covering for his friend without question.
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druidcraft + orym & fearne
this idea was in my head instantly and i’ve just been on vacation so i couldn’t write it for DAYS. but GOD i love fearne and orym. they’re my silly rabbits. their friendship is everything to me. so have some grade a feelings!
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Druidcraft is a cantrip on the druid spell list. We all know what it does—it can do other stuff but those flowers man—they’re an rp killer.
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Fearne misses Orym something fierce, and it’s really not fair. It’s not fair that they were separated after everything that had happened, it’s not fair that her prayers had gone unheard, it’s not fair that she can’t seem to hold onto her people in any substantial way, and it’s not fair that nobody seems to know what the hell is going on. It’s not fair that the sky is trying to rip Imogen from her arms, not fair that Laudna’s not here, and not fair that F.C.G. keeps running headlong at threats without Ashton there to watch their back. It’s not fair that Chetney has to face his past alone because Fearne certainly has no idea how to help him and couldn’t calm him down when he turned in the woods.
Also, Fearne’s flowers are dying.
She’d never learned how to make flowers like Orym could. He liked to say that he couldn’t do anything special, but Fearne couldn’t make flowers. She could try, sure, and if she tried hard enough, something would probably happen, but she can’t do it like Orym. Dorian was the one who first suggested her new hairstyle one night with the Crown Keepers, and after he’d left, Orym had kept weaving flowers and vines and honeysuckle through her horns, handing her belladonna when she needed it and thistles when she was mad.
And now, as she stares at her own face in Deanna’s lovely little house, she sees that the edges of Orym’s lovely petals are browning. Fearne doesn’t know how long it takes for flowers to decay, but usually Orym would help her daily, so it wouldn’t get close. But now, well, there’s no Orym, and all her flowers are askew.
She huffs, turning from the mirror, and resolves to ignore it. If she never sees Orym again, well—first, she’ll find whatever made that happen, murder them very harshly, and then she’ll cling to the shriveled carcasses of his flowers.
But it won’t come to that. Obviously. Because she won’t let it.
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And, of course, the first thing Orym notices once they’re alone in the Spire by Fire is that her flowers are wilting. He smiles, that same halfling smile, the same lovable smile, even with the shadows under and behind his eyes, and leans in conspiratorially.
“Fearnie, you still haven’t figured it out?” Orym chides gently.
“I know how to do it, Orym,” Fearne says softly, “I just—I didn’t want to, without you. You—you do it better, okay? So—so you can’t leave again. Okay? I’d look like a mess. It’d be bad. Mister would start gnawing on my horns without any honeysuckle to snack on.”
“I know, Fearne,” Orym says. “I’m not leaving again. Not if I have anything to say about it. You deserve better.”
And ah. Well. Does she? Does anyone? Isn’t that just how this works, in this stupid dimension? People come into your life and change you and make you care and then they leave, unceremoniously and with ever-broken promises on their lips. At Nana’s, nothing ever changes. Her friends are always there. It’s always colorful and bright and fun.
Why is she still here? If they’re all gonna leave? Why?
And then Orym gently wipes her tears, already forming more vines of honeysuckle and mint sprigs because he knows they’re her favorite and always calm her down when she’s stressed, and she can’t help it. Of course this is why she’s still here. Because he’d miss her, and she’d miss him, and they’re together until the end of the line.
“I’m sorry,” Fearne says mildly, as if tears aren’t streaming down her face almost of their own accord, “I just… I missed you so much.”
“I know, Fearnie,” Orym says, climbing up to press his forehead against hers. He grips her hand tightly. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t be there. I missed you too. And you deserve us.”
“Can we change up my flowers?” Fearne asks. “I have new skirts now.”
“Of course, best friend,” Orym says, smiling brilliantly at her again. “Anything you need.”
“You should get some too, Orym,” Fearne says, trying to hide her damp face. “Color looks good on you.”
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