Oh brother (Galahad)

[galahad]

Galahad scooted through the door, repeating his room number over and over in his head so he wouldn't forget it while they were walking down the hall. He had a lot to remember these days, and a room number was such a small thing he was likely to file it away somewhere irretrievable if he didn't pay attention.

He was aware, at least on an instinctive level, that Lancelot probably thought he was a little silly for coming here, all this way, to find a brother he'd never spoken to. And he was aware on his own count of how unlikely it was that he would find his brother anytime soon, given the limited information he had.

What information did he have? He paused, his eyes searching the air for some kind of answer to that question as he went over the facts he'd repeated since he was very small. To be honest, most of the "facts" he counted on weren't really facts so much as they were inventions of Galahad's own fantasy.

"I know he was abducted before I was born," he came up with, finally. "My mum thought he looked a bit like our father even little as he was. An' I look like our father too, rumour has it, so I imagine he looks a bit like me as well."

[Deleted]

Lancelot nodded slightly, taking in the information as he scanned the doors they walked past - not that it would help, since he had no idea what room they were going to, it was just somewhere to look as they walked. It turned out to be surprisinly distracting, because he just kept nodding along with what Galahad was saying for a minute or two longer than was necessary before he suddenly clicked what the words actually meant.

"Well..." He said after a moment, awkwardly "This is a fairytale school, past abductions are not that uncommon here, I mean, I was taken away from my family at birth, and I'm, what, the first person you've met?" he tried to sound as apologetic as possible, but came across just frank. "And it's not like your looks or colouring are all that rare either..."

[galahad]

Lancelot was right, of course. As much as Galahad didn't want to hear these things, as much as he wanted to believe that he was going to just be able to psychically connect with his brother or something upon contact...he needed to hear these things. He needed someone to point him towards the reasonable way of going about this, and whether that was Lancelot's intention or not, his words were serving that purpose. Galahad felt the need to concede something, to at least admit that he had doubts, lest Lancelot assume that he was both stupid and idealistic.

"I know," he said, his eyes darting towards the floor. "You're right. It's just that I've been planning this for...my whole life, really, and it seems as if there's some amount of destiny and such involved. I know practically it's going to be difficult, but I feel as if luck might be on my side. I don't expect to just run into him right away, but whatever sent me here is guiding me, I feel it."

[Deleted]

That immediately made Lancelot feel just a little bit bad for pointing out the obvious. of course the kid knew what he was getting himself in for, that it was going to be a difficult tasks - wasn't any task that was really worth completing? You just had to struggle onwards and do what destiny required of you before it gave up its rewards - like how he had to really impress Arthur in order to get his knighthood.

"Of course, I'm sorry." He apologised, nodding encouragingly "I know what it's like to have a calling, I shouldn't doubt yours when I believe so strongly in my own. I pledge my assistance to you, Galahad, I will help you locate your brother."

Even if he wasn't quite a damsel, surely helping somebody out on their quest would be good, knightly practice.

[galahad]

Maybe Galahad wasn't stupid, like he was afraid Lancelot would think, but he could be blindly idealistic...in fact, he had been most of his life. He hadn't even really thought twice about coming on this particular venture - not in a negative way, anyhow, seeing as he'd been planning it his entire life. The opportunity presented itself, and he had gone, it didn't really matter if he didn't know exactly who he was looking for.

He wasn't expecting such a swift and decisive response. He was pleasantly surprised, and for a moment he found himself hoping that wherever his brother was, if he came across someone on a similar quest, he would be as helpful as this fellow was.

Of course, his brother was probably even more helpful, but at the moment, Galahad appreciated the offer so much that he wanted to offer something in return.

"I thank you for that," he said (because that sounded like a chivalrous way to just say thanks). "When you are a knight, if you find yourself in want of a squire...granted I haven't found my brother and he hasn't any need of me as his..." Where was he going with this? Oh, right. Squire. "I...volunteer." Was that how that worked? Technically he'd never been a page, but he was a bit old for that now.

[Deleted]

At first, Lancelot was a bit taken aback - what need did he have for a squire? He was only... but then he remembered himself, he was, apparently, a minor prince, and even without that little fact of nobility, he would still be a knight, and it was definitely part of the whole knight thing to have a squire - or at least an accepted practice, even if not overly common.

"I would be glad of your services." He accepted gracefully "Although, are you not perhaps thinking of becoming a knight yourself, or are you not nobility?"

[galahad]

Galahad immediately wished he had spent more time reading up on courtly customs. He was fairly certain, anyway, that you didn't just volunteer to be someone's squire the way he just had...and he had been under the impression that being a squire was something like a step on the way to being a knight.

"I would like very much to be a knight," he said, nodding enthusiastically. "Only I don't know a lot about how to act, the proper things to say in a king's court and all that. As a squire, I could learn those things, train with knights, and then perhaps earn my own shield." Was that right? Earning a shield? Maybe?

[Deleted]

Lancelot nodded, if nothing else, that proved that Galahad had a good head on his shoulders - at least where other things were concerned if not his brother, because that was an entirely sensible answer, rather than going rushing in before you were fully prepared, like certain people who shall remain nameless and who are totally awesome whatever anone says, anyway.

"Very well... in the mean time, perhaps I could introduce you to Prince Arthur? He might know something about the other knights who are here, which would help you find your brother, and he could give you tips for training, back in Camelot he's the one who trains the knights." He tried not to sound too admiring when he talked about Arthur, but he couldn't help but look up to the prince.

[galahad]

Galahad got the feeling that he had made a useful contact in Lancelot. Beyond that, though, he was tentatively willing to admit that he might also be on his way to making a friend.

"That would be excellent, thank you," he said, politely. The volunteering to be a squire thing had seemed, in retrospect, like it might have been a bit over-zealous, so he was trying to show a little restraint here. "I should probably pledge my loyalty as well. Does he train you?"

He paused in the hallway...yes, this was the right room. Digging into his pocket, he retrieved the key, and unlocked the door, kicking it open with the toe of his left boot.

"Here we are," he announced. "Home sweet...where's the fireplace?"

[Deleted]

"He does." Lancelot nodded, privately wondering if it got him any closer to being a knight to 'recrruit' someone else. He felt almost like he was taking Galahad under his wing a little bit, and that thought immediately made him feel responsible - if Galahad was getting the same impression, would that mean he would blame Lancelot if things went wrong?

"Fireplace?" he repeated, putting the box he was carrying down "Oh, there isn't one." After a moment he realised the cause of the assumption and decided to add a little more information, just in case Galahad had somehow missed out on it all "There's no cooking in rooms, and heating is all.... well, it comes from over here" he tapped the radiator, hoping Galahad wouldn't ask too many questions, because in all honesty he didn't know that much.

"A lot of things here probably won't be what you expect..." he started carefully, seeing it as a good lead in to not getting the kid's hopes up - after all his promises he wondered if maybe he'd made the whole situation about the guy's brother even worse. "...Including your brother, you know, a lot of people here aren't... quite what they're supposed to be just yet...and getting good enough to be a knight can take a long time..."
That was something he definitely knew from experience.

[galahad]

No fireplace? Galahad felt a pang of disappointment, thinking of the box of spices and various flours and sugar still outside on the footpath. He couldn't cook for himself? He hoped the food they were feeding him would be good; it ought to be if he wasn't allowed to improve upon it himself.

"Oh," he said, trying not to show his disappointment too obviously. "Is there...anywhere I might be able to cook? I've brought some supplies, and it seems a shame to just ship them back home to my mum, I don't think she knows how to use some of them." That was a fairly stupid excuse, but it was true.

He wasn't expecting Lancelot to go back to talking about his brother, though. It had seemed a little like that topic was kind of...awkward, for both of them, Galahad for his certainty that his brother was here and wonderful without any proof to back it up, and Lancelot for having to listen to it.

What was he trying to say? Did he know something about Galahad's brother? Or was he just..pretending to?

"But...you don't know my brother," Galahad pointed out, trying to stay polite in spite of the twinge of resentment that had popped up in his mind. "And if...if you do, and don't know it, he's probably the best of the knights you know. The very best one, think of him, and that's probably my brother."

[Deleted]

Lancelot shrugged slightly "I'm not sure," He admitted "There's the kitchens, I'm not sure if you'd be allowed in there, but nobody here seems to really pay attention to any sort of boundaries anyway. I'm sure you'll find use of a kitchen somewhere."

He was a little confused why the boy would want to cook for himself, but that was because he forgot that not everybody was as disastrously bad at cooking as he was. It wasn't a very knightly thing to want to do, but then he probably had some un-knight-like habits himself, and he knew Arthur had picked up some unprincely ones.

He winced slightly at Galahad's response, getting that this wasn't going to be easy, but the feelings of responsibility coupled with not wanting the kid to be disappointed if his brother was not what he expected (and most things here at Tintagel were definitely unexpected) meant that he kind of had to press on, as delicately as possible.
Besides, he thought a little bit grumpily, maybe he, Lancelot, was the best knight... or would be, as soon as he'd become a knight, he'd been training for this his whole life after all, and if he wasn't a knight yet, then why should this guy's brother be one already?

"I'm sure he could be, or is, or will be," He decided to try agreeing first, to mollify Galahad "But I'm just saying that things here are usually... not what you expect..." He certainly hadn't expected Kay, or Merlin's confusing crush on Arthur, or Arthur's acceptance of Merlin's magic. "I just think you should be prepared for the possibility that it's the same with your brother."
It's not like I'm saying he won't find him, he reasoned mentally, just that he might be different to what he imagined.

[galahad]

Having been almost-assured that he would maybe have access to a kitchen, Galahad relaxed slightly. More likely than not, Lancelot was just trying to help him out, and Galahad didn't want to alienate him by being an absolute jerk.

"You're right," he said, for the second time since they'd met. "He probably won't be exactly what I'm expecting him to be." He began pulling things out of the box he'd carried in, setting them on the empty stock furniture in the room. "He'll probably be..." Here he paused, struggling to put something on an upper shelf (he wasn't very tall, after all). "Even better."

He tried to imagine what could be different, the kinds of things that might surprise him when he eventually found his brother. Physically, he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it, mainly because he had never had a concrete picture in his mind of what his brother would look like. He hadn't focused on the physical. He had focused on the things he wanted to see in himself...bravery, skill, intelligence...

"What have you seen that you didn't expect?" He asked that because he reasoned that, coming from a similar culture, as he assumed Lancelot had, he might have some idea of all the little ordinary things that might be disorienting at first.

Like..whatever that thing was he said the heat came out of.

[Deleted]

Lancelot actually groaned out loud, he couldn't help himself, Galahad just wasn't getting the picture at all, how hard was it for him to comprehend that things might not go perfectly? Lancelot was sure that eventually he'd get what he wanted, but he'd learnt by now that it wasn't always going to come smooth, and he thought that Galahad had already accepted that when they'd discussed how difficult he'd be to find, why wasn't he budging on this point?

Reaching out almost in annoyance, he grabbed the thing that Galahad was struggling with and plonked it up on the shelf for the other boy.

"Not even better, just... different..." He trailed off "Like Kay. Kay turned out to be... weird.... Or... one of my friends, Merlin, he turned out to have this totally bizarre love for Arthur, this place is just... it likes to make things difficult for people, I think." he tried to explain, though he realised that in his frustration he wasn't making a lot of sense "It's strange getting used to how modern the place is, but they help with that, it's the complications you have to look out for..." Here he frowned a little, he'd had to deal with a 'complication' the second he arrived, a certain Guinevere Summer.

[galahad]

What was he moaning about? Did he think Galahad had come all this way just to decide that his brother was a schmuck and not worth finding after all? He had already conceded that it would be difficult to find him. To go further and admit that there might be things about his brother that weren't desirable to find in the first place, that he would not do.

He didn't know who Kay was, or why he was weird. Nor did he care that Merlin loved Arthur, although...yes, that was very bizarre. Very, very bizarre.

"That's...disappointing," he managed. "But I'm sure my brother isn't...weird. Or in bizarre love with any...men or anything." He had noticed the fact that things were more modern here. Most of it was terribly convenient, like having light all night long if you wanted it, and not having to dig a hole in the woods or visit a building with a terrible stench when you needed to relieve yourself. "What sort of complications are you talking about? I don't intend to be distracted, so I'll keep my eyes open for them."