princess in distress

Author: undercardboards
Title: princess in distress
Rating: PG
Pairing/s: Gwaine/Percival
Character/s: Gwaine, Percival
Summary: Gwaine and Percival were captured by Morgana’s men and sent to the caves to search for The Diamair. This is a missing scene before they’re rescued by Arthur and Merlin.  
Warnings: None
Word count: 551
Prompt: Bingo Round 2 – exhaustion
Author’s Notes: set during the Arthur’s Bane eps. i was writing a completely different story at first, but it strayed away too much from the prompt. oh well. 

It’s been a week since Percival and Gwaine were captured, and they were digging for some sort of key. Neither their fellow prisoners nor the guards seemed to have any clue what this key was supposed to be. They simply said that if they were to see anything unusual, they needed to report it immediately.

As the days went by, with no sign of this so-called key, he could feel his strength leaving him. They barely had a few hours of sleep. Plus, they ate whatever scraps the guards would give them, which usually arrived only twice a day; three if they’re generous. 

Now, as Gwaine kept digging, he was having more difficulty breathing and his vision was starting to blur. He stopped digging and sat down to steady himself.

Barely a minute after, two guards approached him. “No stopping unless we said so,” the first guard sneered.

Gwaine raised a hand. “Just a minute, gentlemen.”

“How dare you disregard our order?” The second guard was about to punch him when someone held his arm. The guard looked up and looked frightened when he saw Percival towering over him. 

“Don’t hurt him. With a man down, it would also take longer to find what we’re supposed to look for, right?” Percival said.

Several of the prisoners paused their work to look at them. The guards exchanged looks, then the first guard spoke. “Fine. You’ll put in the extra work to make up for what your friend abandoned.”

“No, I can do it –” Gwaine was about to haul himself up when Percival put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. 

“Fine,” he told the guards. They gave them one last look before leaving. The other prisoners looked away and resumed digging. Percival followed suit.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Gwaine hissed.

“You’ll pass out and you know it. Come on, lie down and rest.” Percival striked a rock and looked at him pointedly.

Gwaine sighed but did as he was told. He did think that he might have passed out earlier if he had continued, anyway. 

He started to lie down, and the rocks behind him almost pierced against his back. He winced, but he stayed down. His eyes were heavy and he was tempted to sleep, but he didn’t want to leave Percival behind. So he fought to stay awake and focused on the sounds of digging around him.

Several minutes later, he noticed the digging next to him stop. He opened his eyes and saw Percival staring at him. Specifically, he was looking somewhere along his torso.

Gwaine smirked and put his hands over his head. “I see someone’s liking the view.”

Percival blinked and chuckled as he continued working. “Don’t flatter yourself too much.”

“Come on, Percy. We all need a break every once in a while,” Gwaine winked.

Percival rolled his eyes and smiled. “I’ll take you up on that later.”

“Looking forward to it,” Gwaine said, then he yawned.

“Go on, princess. Sleep.”

“Hey, that’s my word.”

“It does suit you.”

“Shut up.”

Gwaine closed his eyes and adjusted himself until he found a more comfortable spot. He was getting sleepier by the second when he felt a brush of lips on his forehead. 

He smiled, then moments later, he drifted off to sleep.