LOYAL.

         ✽┊  Gawain’s eyes were really.. fascinating. It didn’t matter that Lancelot was drunk, he could still appreciate them. In a strange way they made him feel safe— His eyes were especially pretty now that the moonlight hit them & gave them a nice glow.. then again maybe they looked like they were glowing because Lancelot’s vision was blurry at the moment.. But still, very pretty. Like lavender or delphinium.. those flowers always grew around Nimue’s lake.

         It was ‘common knowledge’ Lancelot preferred to keep his his visor on at all times. He didn’t want to get any unwanted attention for having red eyes.. A priest once told him he had the eyes of the devil. He tried not to let it get to him, but on bad days, he often thought about his own appearance. Why did he look like this? Was he was cursed since birth? Lancelot can teach himself to use his right hand instead of his left, because some people thought those who are left-handed are evil & brought misfortune to others.. But there’s nothing he can do to change his eye color.. maybe with magic, but that could potentially be very dangerous.. and he’s not that desperate anyway. His visor was enough for him.

         “Mmh?” He doesn’t mind when Gawain breaks free from his hands (although he could have stayed still just a few more seconds..) but Lancelot doesn’t understand why the other looked a bit.. flustered, maybe? His attention quickly focused on the echidna’s words, though. A favor, huh? The knight’s expression softened a bit. Then he looked a bit surprised when Gawain let out a small laugh. What’s so funny..? “But.. y-you don’t..” He looks away. “.. care about me.” Why would he? At best, Gawain thought Lancelot was a good sparring partner, right? Why would he help him walk, bring him to his house & tell him it’s alright to.. stay? For the whole night? “You.. Are you sure this is.. alright? W-where would I even sleep? On your bed?” His cheeks felt a bit hot when realized Gawain lived alone.. which meant he probably had only one bed.

         Ah, his mind filled with foolish thoughts again. He shouldn’t be like this. Letting someone else take care of him was absurd. “I am sorry.” Lancelot didn’t stutter this time. “You’re doing me a favor.. Which means I need to.. repay you somehow. Is there anything you want? Gawain—?” Ouch. His head was starting to hurt. Lancelot rubbed his own temples for a moment, praying he wouldn’t feel like death tomorrow. “… I’ll do anything.”

LANCELOT HAD A HABIT OF SAYING THINGS that caught Gawain off guard , usually it was because he took everything pretty literally or simply because he was as smart as he was strong and thus often came out speaking things that Gawain couldn’t even begin to comprehend . This time , however , Gawain understood him loud and clear he just , well , he just didn’t have an answer . For a moment , the silence between them is heavy and it almost suffocates the echidna until he speaks , saying the first thing he thinks of if only to break this dead lock . “Who said I don’t care about you?” Answering a question with a question , very smart , you’re gonna’ get nowhere doing that . A sigh , “Why do you think I don’t care ?” That was better , even if he doesn’t wait for an answer , “You’re a fellow knight. We’re a team ... with Percival , of course. If I didn’t care about you , Lancelot , you’d be the first t’know.” he shrugs , “Life is too short to waste on people that don’t matter to you.” Did that mean Lancelot mattered to him ? Probably. The thought wasn’t too ... lucrative. 

“Like I said, life is too short and you didn’t want to go home to Galahad.” Was the alcohol affecting this guy’s memory or something? This is why Gawain very rarely did favours for people, they were too much effort. But ... Lancelot was the exception , he was the exception to a lot of things , Gawain was starting to realise. “Hm ?” Gawain shrugs at the question , if there’s any awkwardness in the room , he doesn’t sense it , “Who do you think you are, the King? Why would I give you my bed?” he crosses his arms and smirks, raising a brow at the other. Drunk and suffering or not, sometimes Lancelot made it too easy to tease, “But, sure, you can have my bed. That’s now two favours , though , that you owe me. I’m keeping track.” 

The fun mood drains for him when he sees Lancelot reach for his head , its replaced by a strange wave of sympathy and the smile that graces his face is almost sad , but it’s mostly gentle and kind . “Your head hurting ?” He has to ask, otherwise Lancelot would never tell , another lesson he’s learnt well over the years. Gawain crosses the room and stands before the other, “Stop apologising, you fool.” there’s mirth in his voice, but also the silent command that Lancelot need not be so apologetic and Gawain won’t hear anymore of it. Tentatively , Gawain takes ahold of Lancelot’s wrists and slowly pulls the latter’s hands down from his head. “Repay me? Well, you could let me win a few times when we spar. Let Percival think I’ve finally gotten better than you.” He’d never admit that Lancelot had ever bested him if the other wasn’t so drunk and probably wouldn’t remember this tomorrow. It was odd, this side of Lancelot, he almost wasn’t drunk as he was unguarded and it made Gawain braver, “Actually, there is one thing you can do...” 

“... You can head to bed now and say no more of this. I’ll be in here if you need me.” 

          ✽┊  The foolish knight was genuinely hoping Gawain would punch him. Maybe the pain would wake him up a little.. or knock him out. Right now both of those choices sounded fine to him. He hated feeling like this. Lancelot felt himself so worthless.. so pitiful. He was waiting completely still with his hands curled into fists, but the echidna doesn’t do it—— Why? Was he not good enough to be his punching bag? There’s a disappointed sigh but then he notices something. Gawain didn’t look.. angry. Not really. His expression was more.. determined? Almost like he was trying to reassure him. Ah, but he was imagining it.. right? There’s just no way. Gawain had always hated him.

          When the other suddenly moved, the hedgehog was pulled from his thoughts. What was even going on..? “Nnngh— !?” It hurts. Gawain moved his body like Lancelot was just a puppet, forcing him to stand up straight. A small whimper managed to escape him. “… Must you?” But he’s not protesting. He’s way too tired to even try to start a fight. Instead he just gives a pained expression, gritting his teeth.

          Wait, where are they going? Why was he doing this? Lancelot was confused, his heart starting to beat faster. He almost tripped over his own feet multiple times.. This was too sudden, but he had no other choice but to walk with Gawain. “Ahh. H-home with you? But I-I don’t know where y-you live..” He rambled some more nonsense & tried to get the other’s attention by repeatedly calling his name. “Gawain, Gawain.. Gawain! You cannot.. do this. It is a-alright.. to leave m-me here. I am.. I am fine.” Looks like he still doesn’t understand. Good thing there wasn’t anyone else outside at this hour..

          As they approached Gawain’s home, Lancelot was just getting more anxious, taking quick & short breaths. He didn’t know this place at all.. so he didn’t exactly feel safe. When the echidna started to fiddle with his keys to his home, Lancelot took the opportunity to break free from his grip. But he wasn’t trying to run away or anything like that. Instead he cupped Gawain’s cheeks & pulled him close enough that their noses were touching.

          “It is you, isn’t it? You are.. not going to hurt me.. are you?”

MUST HE ? MUST HE ?! Yes, he must, you liability ! Those are the words racing through Gawain’s head, anyway. He wouldn’t dare say such things out loud, for fear he would either offend Lancelot or really piss him off and both of those situations would drag this experience out for much longer than necessary. It’s not just the hedgehog that was finding this whole experience laughable and was desperate to get away from the public eye and away from here -- honestly, King Arthur’s finest men, Knights of the Round Table ... reduced to this ... well, one of them was, anyway. 

On the average day, getting Lancelot to speak was a very, very trying task indeed. Sure, nobody was obliged to be a chatterbox and share every waking detail of their lives with people, but one would expect polite conversation amongst team mates ... friends, if that’s what they were. Of course, they were knights and serious duties were abound and all that garbage, but even Percival spoke more than Lancelot did and Gawain didn’t know anything about Percival, but they still made the effort to converse and socialise. Trying to talk to Lancelot was like getting water from a stone. 

Gawain longs for those times right now, what with Lancelot chattering down his ear like some irritating child. He’s talking so much and not even saying anything ! How is that even possible ?!

Suddenly, Gawain was very tired ( wonder why ... ) and was desperate to just toss Lancelot somewhere safe and leave him to sleep this off ... and then mock him relentlessly in the morning. So, the moment he feels Lancelot pull away from him he is ready to start throwing punches, he’s not doing a wild goose chase at this time of night and he’s certainly not going to --- huh ?! God, even in the dark of the night he can see just how piercing Lancelot’s eyes are. Gawain is one of the lucky few that sees Lancelot without his visor on and he does so quite frequently, certainly not taking the display of trust for granted, after all, he knows the reason Lancelot keeps his eyes so guarded and Gawain knows its not easy to show something so dangerous to somebody else. Does this mean Lancelot trusts him ? Maybe. Gawain would like that. For a long beat, Gawain just stares back, slightly stunned by Lancelot’s actions but also fixated on the other’s gaze.

   “ I can’t believe you guys don’t have updog here. ”

          ✽┊  Lancelot doesn’t really pay much attention to anything that was said until Gawain started lecturing him. No knight should be reduced to this. To what? Ah, right. He wasn’t supposed to.. He wasn’t supposed to be his own person. What makes someone a great knight is the lack of identity. A perfect tool for this kingdom. And Lancelot was particularly good at locking his feelings deep inside of his own head, that’s why he was able to be so loyal & obedient. That’s why people called him “the Ultimate knight”.. Because he didn’t falter. He didn’t complain. And he always followed orders without asking any questions.

          But right now the wine was getting to him, forcing him to be honest to himself.. not in a good way. Lancelot didn’t want these thoughts in his head. 

          The knight cursed softly under his breath. “G-gawain? You left me in there..” His weak attempt to push the blame on someone else. He probably sounded a bit whiny. “I.. do not.. need y-your.. assistance..” He gives a glare & tried to push the other away from him. Another small, drunken step was taken & he fell right back into Gawain’s arms, only this time it was more like a hug. It was painfully obvious he couldn’t go anywhere without support. 

          A groan left him, but he doesn’t move. This wasn’t so bad, actually. Maybe this was what he desperately needed. A comforting feeling like this.. When was the last time someone embraced him? Held him? Probably his son.. but it was different. If Galahad saw his father in this condition———  Wait. His son? Where..? Ah, he was at home, probably sleeping.. but what if he was awake? No.. no! Lancelot would rather DIE than let his son see him drunk. He wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be his mentor. A good example..

          “W-wait.. I can’t go h-home. Galahad can’t see me like this!” He wasn’t muttering his words anymore. There’s clear panic in his voice & he pulled away from the hug just so he could look Gawain in the eyes. “What did I do..?” His fingers were shaking. “I- I am a fool. Gawain, punch me. It.. is what I d-deserve.”

TYPICAL LANCELOT. Even when his world is spinning and his tongue is heavy, he still manages to find ways to scold Gawain, one would think he’s desperate to assert himself as better than the echidna ... well, that’s exactly what Gawain thought. Desperatley, he tries not to take Lancelot’s pitiful protests to heart, he’s clasically going to blame the alcohol burning through the others veins and tells himself that there’s no serious, malicious intent to his words. Against his better judgement, he lets Lancelot step away from him, but he needn’t have worried as the other is stumbling almost instantly and falling right back to where he was previous, though he seems to be more dependent on Gawain’s weight now.

Aw, geez ... oh God, was this really happening ? Was Lancelot of Camelot - THE Lancelot of Camelot - drunkenly falling over him, whilst making things worse by groaning low in his ear. Gawain was seriously wondering why he was being punished in such a way, he was a good man ! Gawain huffs, silently begging for strength to deal with this whole thing.

The invitation to punch him was almost accepted, had Lancelot been anyone else Gawain probably would have spun their jaw, but this was Lancelot. As much as Gawain scowled at him, this was his friend, his associate-in-arms or whatever crap they wanted to call it. “Don’t tempt me,” he grumbles instead, changing in plan in his head due to Lancelot’s sheer horror at the thought of going home to his son. “Right. Okay.”

He’s talking to himself and he knows it, Lancelot is not capable of coherent conversation right now. Gawain is able to move the other effortlessly, he’s grateful for his height and strength advantage, they are certainly making this a lot less awkward. He shifts them around, throwing Lancelot’s arm across his shoulders and snaking his arm around the others waist, he tugs Lancelot against his side, keeping his grip firm and Lancelot upright, ( he probably tugs him a little too harshly, but he doesn’t care ). “Y’gonna’ try and walk for me ? ‘Cause I will just drag you home ; Knight of the Round Table or not you’re still just a pain in the ass to me.” There’s an underlying current to Gawain’s words, a subtle fonded that laces his words and it’s not unfounded - Gawain is fond of Lancelot, dangerously so. And feeling the warmth of the other against his side certainly doesn’t help. Still, he had a job to do and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to do it.

@gwalchmci​

        ✽┊  He had promised himself to never go overboard with wine ever again. So why was he here? Ah, someone had arranged a party for the knights at a local bar. At first he had politely declined the offer, but Percival & Galahad had dragged him with them.. Just one drink wouldn’t hurt. But why was there so many empty cups at his table? Hm? His fingertips felt numb as he gulped down the last drops of wine. This wasn’t so bad. His body felt nicely warm & everything felt.. unreal to him. Maybe this was a nice dream..

          Some maiden had joined his table, eagerly suggesting that he’d drink more. At first Lancelot didn’t see anything wrong with it but when she suddenly got closer to him & started touching him.. that’s when he realized he should.. head home. The knight stood up, excused himself with slurred words & took a step towards the exit.. But after sitting there for so long.. he hadn’t realized just how nauseating & difficult it was to walk. His vision was getting blurred & he had to guide himself along the wall so he wouldn’t stumble. Fool. I am a fool..

          Lancelot weakly pushed the door open, only to bump into a very familiar echidna. Gawain asked him something, but he couldn’t really hear him. “S-sir.. I apologize.” He just wanted to get out of here. But would walking home even be an option? Lancelot felt like he would pass out any moment now.

THE FESTIVITES WERE of no major importance to him, sure, he was flattered by the gesture and appreciated the admiration of the people, but everything else about the whole situation didn’t really appeal to him. The day had been long and his bones grew heavy under his skin, Gawain had been adament that the night would belong to him and some much needed rest. And though he had managed to slip away early to achieve such things, there was an incessant knawing in his brain as the hours grew on. Was this rude of him ? Dishonourable, perhaps ? To turn away from the kindness of others for his own selfish reasons ... or perhaps he was overthinking this and nobody would even notice his absence ...

A sigh. With this on his mind, he was getting no peace, so it was only right to show his face amongst the company, at least. 

And such company was not hard to find, what with the noise and everything. Now he just felt angry that he was missing out on such a good time ! Though not for long. Before he could even enter the bar an exiting customer, rather clumsily, blocked his path and Gawain instinctively reached out his hands to prevent them from falling - it seems someone had too much of a good time. Lips part, ready to make a joke, but the wit dies in his throat when he sees just who the patron is. There are a few things whizzing through Gawain’s mind, the first being that he cannot believe Lancelot was here and not him, now he really did look like the most miserable knight in Camelot ! Secondly, and most importantly, really, Lancelot was not okay.

Gawain, as much as he’d rather die than admit it, also thinks Lancelot is a complete dilf. He has not told anyone this ... he never will tell anybody this ... leave him alone ... stop looking at him like that !

Gawain is just as stubborn as Knuckles.

Gawain is also incredibly loyal to a fault, though his loyalty is to his King and his Kingdom, not the Master Emerald, of course.

Gawain takes his job very seriously. He hates to fail at it.

Gawain doesn’t actively seek out fights as much as Knuckles does, but when faced with a fight or a potential fight, he is very much like Knuckles in the sense that he will go in head first without really thinking.

Gawain is more the brute force of the round table, he’s not much of a tactician.

Gawain is strong. Just as strong as Knuckles is. However, in this world, his strength comes more from his dual swords than it does from his fists - he can still pack a harder-than-average punch, though. He is an offence fighter and, though he has little stamina compared to Percival and Lancelot, he will keep up unrelenting attacks for as long as he can.

Gawain throws his swords a lot ... look out for that.

Gawain is also really durable. He can take a few good hits unphased.

Gawain can glide, like Knuckles does. Though not as far or for as long ... armour is heavy !

Gawain is a lot more in check of his emotions than Knuckles is. He’s not as quick to anger or offend, this is due to his lifestyle as a knight. He can still shout with the best of them, but it takes more to rile him up than it does Knuckles.

Gawain doesn’t really rest and nap as much as Knuckles does, he does try to always be doing something. He tends to animals, so if he’s not doing-knight stuff, he’ll be doing that. 

Gawain isn’t as bad with social interaction as Knuckles is, as he has had a lot more of it. He’s not as awkward with women and he’s fairly decent at conversation.

Gawain does like his own space, though. Like Knuckles.