All the Light I Cannot See

Two

Manoeuvring through the crowded cafeteria, Arthur twisted and turned, trying not to jostle anybody accidentally. His tray was balanced dangerously on one hand, while his left hand rested above his jacket pocket. His wallet was in there, and he had already heard some pickpocket horror stories. Arthur would prefer those experiences to belong to someone else.

When he emerged from the worst of the crowd, he scanned the room quickly, aware of the pressing issue that, if he didn't locate Gwaine in four seconds or less, he would have to abandon them altogether and sit at an empty table, all alone, like one of those movies where the nerdy new kid has to sit by himself because everyone hates him and picks on him and eggs his car....

Breathe. 

Arthur took in a deep breath, held it tightly for four seconds, then let it out slowly over a count of five. After that, he tensed up all his muscles and held it tightly, then turned to "spaghetti", his arms and legs going limp. Feeling better, he resumed his search, and finally located Gwaine's beautiful brown locks.

"Gwaine!" he called, and the head turned. 

For a moment he was confused, then understanding dawned. Standing up, Gwaine waved aggressively, shouting, "ARTHUR PENDRAGON!"

And I was worried about being unpopular, Arthur commented dryly, but he was secretly pleased. Gwaine was like an over-excited puppy, a little bit of work, a lot of patience, but 100% worth it. He smiles at you, and suddenly you forget all the blood, sweat, and tears. You forget that he peed on the carpet yesterday.

Okay, enough with the analogies. Back to real life.

Setting down his tray, Arthur plopped into the chair opposite Gwaine, who immediately started chatting about his biology teacher. He was suddenly becoming painfully aware of the others at the table. He shot Gwaine a meaningful glance, and the realization hit Gwaine like a 747.

"Oh!" he said, slapping himself in the face. "I knew I forgot something!"

Everyone laughed, sapping the tension around the table instantly. Arthur found himself wondering if his new friend was really an idiot, or if what everyone perceived as stupidity was really brilliance.

"So, everyone, this is Arthur Pendragon, as you might've gathered from the fact that I yelled it across the school. Arthur, this is Gwen." he pointed at a darker girl dressed in a soft purple sweater. She smiled at Arthur, then went back to eating. "She's the Student Body President. Leon's her boyfriend, but he's not here right now. He's in detention with Percival."

Gwaine took a breath to continue, but was cut off by another boy, one who was apparently sick of hearing Gwaine talk in circles. "I'm Elyan, Gwen's brother. This," he pointed beside him, "is Lancelot. We're on the rugby team. And this lovely lady is Finna." The other girl dips her head in acknowledgement, then continued scrolling the Internet.

Arthur's head spun. He knew he was never going to remember any of these names. Ah, well. At least I have names to forget.

Gwaine, annoyed, burst back into the conversation. "Everyone knows everyone. Fantastic. Did I tell you about my meeting with Emrys?"

All the teenagers went dead quiet, nervously glancing around at each other. The Curse of Camelot High had affected them all deeply, except perhaps Arthur. Morgana and Mordred had both been friends of theirs before their untimely demise. But nonetheless, Elyan spoke up and said somberly, "Let's hear it, Gwaine."

"Well, it went something like this..."

--

Taking the stairs to the east tower was the hardest thing Gwaine ever had to do. Normally he'd rush up flights like it was nothing, but he trudged up those stone steps like a man to a guillotine. When he made it to the top, he found himself wishing that there were more steps to climb, instead of an intimidating oak door.