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Entry tags:

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Characters: Oliver Day (

oliverplus) and OPEN
Location: Your reality!
Time: After Oliver's fairytale has ended, and during or after yours, as you prefer
Summary: Oliver goes on an involuntary reality-hopping tour of the multiverse~
Warnings: Oliver is a geek, and depending on your reality, he might just show it. Possibly a lot.

Tag in if you'd like Oliver to visit you! Prose-style or action tags are fine; just tag in the way you feel like playing.

"Samwise! Don't go under there!"

Oliver had learned a long time ago that "getting lost" and "going somewhere in the TARDIS" were basically synonymous, so he'd long since given up on getting annoyed when it happened. Instead, he usually just looked at it as another adventure to conquer--plus, you never knew what sort of cool things you might find in the meantime. And that was all well and good when he was alone, but this time he'd made the mistake of bringing one of his pets along. Watching a dwarf rabbit run off to be lost in the TARDIS was not the sort of adventure he'd had in mind for today.

He crouched down by the random large machine that was sitting by one of the walls of a room that otherwise appeared to be some sort of study. Aside from the hulking metal contraption, the room was lined with comfortable sofas and armchairs, the lighting coming from lamps on sidetables. Fancy rugs were scattered about on the polished wooden floor, although the area around the machine was bare aside from some telltale scuff marks. And while the space underneath the machine was large enough for a rabbit to fit, Oliver doubted he could even get one of his hands in there. "Come on, come out! I'll get you some nice greens?"

As he leaned down to look under the machine, he just caught sight of a furry ball shooting out and across the room. "Samwise!" He jumped to his feet, realising now that he'd been so intent on the rabbit that he hadn't even thought to close the door to the study when he came in. And, of course, he pet was making straight for it. Oliver ran after him, hoping to grab the door and shut it before Samwise could reach it and disappear into the corridor. It was going to be a close thing. He grabbed at the side of the door--

--and missed. Oliver skidded to a stop, almost falling over in his surprise. Because it was immediately apparent that he hadn't simply missed in his grab--the door wasn't there anymore. The study wasn't either, nor was the familiar hum of the TARDIS.

"What...?" Oliver breathed, looking around him in confusion. "Where am I?"

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Oliver's eyes widened. "Oh," was all he could manage. He was glad he hadn't been seen now, too--not that it would have been the first time he'd been arrested. But he had a feeling there were plenty of things in Camelot he'd rather see than a cell.

He hugged Gwen back, smiling at the greeting. It was good to see that she was as glad to have him here as he was to be here, especially as that hadn't always been the case at his previous destinations. At the offer of a tour, his eyes widened for an entirely different reason. "That would be fantastic!" he gasped.

A lot of things had changed for the better since Arthur had taken the throne, but the laws regarding magic were as harsh as ever. (Although Guinevere was no politician, she understood that introducing new laws and repealing old laws so soon after Uther's death would make Camelot's already tentative position even more uncertain. Their position had to be solidified before they could do anything else.) Even Morgana's intervention would not have been enough to save him.

But that did not matter now. Gwen was proud of her home and more than happy to show him around.

"Tell me what you'd like to see first."

Oliver was surprised by the question. He didn't have any idea what to ask to see; he was just excited to be there! "What could we go see?"

A thought occurred to him then, though, after Gwen's initial uncertainty. He glanced down at his T-shirt and jeans. "And, uh...you think I'll be okay in this? Nobody's gonna get upset?" Nevermind getting himself accused of sorcery; the last thing he wanted to do was risk getting Gwen in trouble for being with him. This was supposed to be a fun visit, after all--and considering this was Camelot and he was with Gwen, he was sure that, as long as they stayed safe, it would be for sure.

"I don't know," she said, truthfully, "There's the palace? Or the market place?"

Although the training grounds - the home of the famous knights of Camelot - would probably be the most interesting to a visitor from another world. Especially a visitor who knew so many of their stories already.

That was a good question. After a moment of consideration, she nodded.

"You're probably the same size as Merlin," she said, "I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow one of his tunics. Then we can go down to the training grounds and see the knights?"

"Those sound good!" Oliver replied immediately. "I mean, either one. Both. We could start with the palace? Can we go in the palace?" Thankfully, despite his excitement, he was at least pausing to breathe--but not to do much else.

Then Gwen mentioned Merlin, training grounds, and knights all in the same sentence, and Oliver sputtered, staring at her. "You're going to...Merlin!? And I can see the knights!?" His jaw stayed hanging open even after he'd spoken, but he didn't notice--or care. This sounded too good to be true already, and he'd only just arrived!

Once again, Oliver's enthusiasm made Gwen's customarily warm smile bloom brighter than ever. She didn't understand it - this was her world, her home, for all that it would be a legend in the future - but she was delighted to witness it.

"Yes, he's one of my closest friends. I'm sure you'll like him."

Even Arthur liked him. Merlin had helped to guide the prince from his position as a spoiled and arrogant bully to his current place as the ruler of Camelot.

"Of course. I do work there. We'll slip in through the kitchens and no one will have to know. Not that they'd mind if you would. They're really very friendly in Camelot."

"B-but Merlin!" Oliver sputtered. "But isn't he...if..." He waved vaguely, struggling for words, but then realised that he was on the verge of sharing information that it would probably be much better not to share and snapped his mouth shut. If magic was outlawed, he shouldn't walk around pointing out Merlin as a wizard, even if he suspected a close friend like Gwen might already know. "Well, uh...if you say so. And yeah, 'course I'll like him!" He smiled sheepishly, still shaking his head in disbelief. How could he not like Merlin?

"You work on the training grounds?" Oliver echoed, hardly able to believe it. "Okay. Yeah. Let's do that!" Despite his shock and confusion over the situation, he flashed her a grin, his excitement still very much intact, even if part of his brain was continuously telling him that this had to all be a dream of some sort.

Although she wondered what he had been about to say about Merlin, Gwen knew better than to ask. She had no desire to know the future. She was content to simply live it, discovering things in their own time.

(Unusually, Gwen had no idea about Merlin's powers. He hadn't been as careful as he should have been, but he had been careful enough to keep them hidden from his friend. Morgana ... Morgana was a different matter, even if they never spoke of the abilities that her mistress possessed.)

"Well, I work wherever I'm needed. Sometimes my duties take me to the training grounds."

Oliver was trying to a be a bit careful at least, so he let the subject drop and kept following Gwen. Thankfully, his excitement quickly overtook his concern, and his questions continued to be just as animated. "Wow, that's fantastic!" he declared. "But you're sure I'm not gonna get you in trouble for being there, too? I could like...hide...while we watched."

He knew that he should probably be offering an intelligent solution like not going if it was going to get her in trouble, but she had him too excited now to even consider not seeing the knights. He couldn't wait!

Gwen laughed, taking his arm gently to guide him in the right direction.

"If it was dangerous, I would not have offered," she assured him. "The knights are heroes to all of Camelot. They are used to being watched."

She released his arm when they passed an unremarkable stone building that housed the laundry, returning a moment later with a cloak that Oliver could use to conceal his unusual outfit.

"Try to relax and enjoy yourself," she suggested with a smile.

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense." Oliver smiled at her sheepishly, allowing her to lead the way. While she was getting the cloak, he took the opportunity to look around at his surroundings. He'd been to the past before--you could hardly avoid it, travelling with the Doctor--but he'd never seen it quite like this. Because this wasn't exactly the past, he reminded himself. It was legend--but it was definitely real, as well.

He accepted the cloak, looking at it for a moment in some degree of awe. "Is this really Merlin's?" he asked, treating it with more care than he usually would a cloak as he pulled it on.

"Oh, I will do!" he assured her once the cloak was safely in place. He grinned widely. "Don't worry about that."

"It is," she assured him, helping Oliver to arrange the cloak after he'd pulled it on. It was important that he looked the part and that he kept his own garments hidden from curious eyes. "There. You certainly look the part now. Shall we?"

She already knew the answer to that question. With a smile, she led the way to the training grounds on the far side of the royal citadel.

Oliver let Gwen take care of adjusting the cloak. She was better at it, after all, not to mention he was still in some degree of shock that he was wearing something that belonged to Merlin--the actual Merlin! But he contained his excitement--relatively speaking--and grinned at her, nodding. "Yeah, let's!"

As they headed to the training grounds, Oliver was hardly watching where he was going at all. He was much more interested in taking in the sights around him, his mouth hanging open in both amazement and excitement. Unfortunately, this meant that, if Gwen were to slow down or stop short at all, he would surely walk straight into her. But at that moment, that wasn't something he was worried about. Seeing the actual, real Camelot was the only thing on his mind.

There was a small group of knights - dressed in chain mail and wielding formidable looking broad swords - on the field when they approached. Though there was no sign of the king himself, Gwen had no difficulty recognising the others.

"That is Sir Leon," she murmured to Oliver, coming to a stop. "He's the king's right hand."

Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't looking Gwen's way when she stopped, and even though he turned as she began to speak, it was too late; he bumped into her from behind before he could stop short. "Sorry!" he said sheepishly, taking a quick step back before focusing his gaze on the group of knights she was pointing out. "Oh..."

At the sight of those knights, in their armour with their swords and basically looking like every legend he'd read as a child, he had to try very, very hard not to gape. Instead, he stood beside Gwen and just stared. "They're...whoa." He shook his head, words failing him. He had no idea how he could possibly describe how amazing this was.

She wasn't hurt when Oliver bumped into her and dismissed his apology with a smile. At least the knights, focused on their training, hadn't noticed. Not that it would have surprised them. They were used to adoration. It was one of the reasons why Arthur had been so big headed in the days before Merlin had arrived in Camelot. The prince - the king, now - had changed for the better.

"Impressive, aren't they?" she agreed, "They're the reason that Camelot remains so secure, even after Uther's death. There are no other warriors in Albion like the knights of Camelot. Though ..."

She paused, before deciding that she could confide in Oliver.

"There are times when I do wish that they allowed ordinary people to join. Not just people of noble blood."

Oliver nodded silently when Gwen called them impressive. That hardly skimmed the surface of his thoughts, but he was too busy watching them in awe to be more articulate. "This...it's like--like a story!" He flailed his hands, as though that would explain what he meant where words were failing him. Really, his giddy, amazed expression probably better expressed his current feelings than anything else.

At Gwen's comment, however, his smile slipped. He turned back to her with a frown as stories and reality suddenly clashed in an unexpected way. He'd been looking at this like a childhood dream come true, almost forgetting it was a real place, but that certainly brought him back to Earth. "Ah...yeah," he agreed, not sure what else to say. Gwen had a point, and it was a point he'd definitely never thought about as a child reading all the stories of King Arthur. He glanced back at the knights, his expression troubled now. Of course it made sense--status was everything in a medieval society. Someone like Oliver would never have been more than a peasant.

And, he realised to his dismay, someone like Gwen was surely trapped by her own status as well. He put a hand on her shoulder. "You think the king and queen might do something about that one day?" he asked hopefully, keeping his voice quiet to avoid drawing any undue attention.

"I hope so," she said, smiling at the gesture of comfort. She was not ashamed of who she was - a maid servant and a blacksmith's daughter and an ordinary citizen of Camelot - but she hated the way that limited her. "I believe so. Arthur is a good man. A good king. If anyone can change Camelot for the better, it will be him."

She paused, once again debating how much to share. In the end, both Oliver's empathy and the fact that he was a neutral outsider, prompted her to continue.

"A few months ago, there was a man ... his name was Lancelot ... who came to Camelot with dreams of becoming a knight. He wasn't of noble birth, but he was one of the noblest men that I'd ever met. And one of the bravest. He saved the city from a griffin that nobody else could defeat. Arthur could see that Camelot needs knights like that, even if Uther couldn't."

He smiled a little at that. "Good." He didn't know Arthur himself, but after what he'd heard from Morgana and Gwen, he was ready to believe that he was the sort of king who could bring about changes like those.

But at her story, his eyes widened--for several reasons. It was a lot to take in at once, really, considering what a legendary knight Lancelot was supposed to be, combined with the legends about Lancelot and Gwen... Oliver swallowed, not wanting to give anything away. It wouldn't be right. After all, who was to say any of that would come true in her world anyway? Arthur and Morgana were king and queen, and Gwen was currently a servant. None of the rest of it matched up.

"Is he a knight?" he asked, trying not to let his tone betray his curiosity--or concern.

"No," said Gwen, shaking her head and looking down at her feet for a moment. "He had to leave Camelot. Merlin and I helped him to pass as a nobleman so that he could train with the knights. Even if Uther had asked him to stay after slaying the griffin, he wouldn't have accepted. He wanted to make amends for lying to them."

The warmth in her voice - and how much she wished Lancelot could have stayed, at least a little longer - was plain to see.

Her tone of voice told him just as much about her feelings as his empathy likely would have, had she been looking his way. He frowned, wondering if, in a world where Arthur and Morgana were already together... But he tore his mind from that sort of speculation. It didn't do anyone any good. These were real people, after all--not legends. Life was so much less straightforward. There was no telling what would happen now that Lancelot had left, or even as politics in Camelot continued on--particularly if the king did decide to challenge traditions.

But whatever was coming, it still hurt to hear Gwen's sadness at Lancelot's departure. That was a feeling Oliver knew all too well. "I'm sorry, Gwen," he said, sympathetically. He hesitated, then added, softly, "You think he'll come back?"

Watching the knights as they continued their training, he wondered how anyone could possibly stay away. Even knowing what he knew now about classes couldn't entirely extinguish his sense of awe and wonder at seeing them in action. And Lancelot had to come back, didn't he? Could the legends be that far off?

"I hope so," she confessed shyly, "He's got a lot of reasons to come back to Camelot."

She was watching the knights as well, but her mind was far away. She was lost in thoughts of Lancelot. It was strange to think that they'd hadn't known each for long. She couldn't put a name to the connection between them, but it had been instantaneous.

"Not just me," she added, quickly, flushing, "He's good friends with Merlin. And Arthur, of course. We'd all be glad to see him back in Camelot."

Oliver smiled back, amused at her need to qualify that statement. After all, why would he even have assumed Gwen was the only one Lancelot had to come back to? "Then I hope he comes back soon," he said, warmly. He meant it for Gwen and all her friends.

He turned back to the knights then--only to discover that he was now seeing both the knights, training in the field, and an image overlaying them. He frowned, feeling a twinge of regret. There was still so much to see in Camelot... But at least he'd been able to spend this time with Gwen.

"Gwen? I...think I'm about to go to a different world." He squinted, focusing on the image visible through the knights, but it was hard to make out any details--just an impression of walls. It had to be dark wherever he was going because Camelot's sun suddenly seemed to be dimming. "Maybe we should go somewhere less open," he added, urgently. The last thing he wanted was to get her accused of witchcraft after she'd taken him around so kindly.

She had felt the need to justify herself because part of her - and not a particularly small part - wanted to be the reason that he came back to Camelot. Which was utterly foolish. She was practical to the core, but something about Lancelot encouraged her mind to drift into fantasy. Perhaps it was because he'd been the first person to treat her like a lady.

"Oh! But there's so much left to show you!" And then she realised the implications of what was happening. "Oh!"

She grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the field.

"Quickly, this way!"

One day, Oliver would have to ask her more about Lancelot. But for now, he nodded, hurrying with Gwen to wherever she was taking him. "Maybe I can come back sometime?" he asked hopefully, still wishing he didn't have to leave. "And you could come to the TARDIS!"

As they went, he was growing increasingly glad that Gwen was leading him because the world was steadily darkening around him. He just hoped she didn't bring him too close to something he might crash into, as it was getting more difficult by the moment to distinguish Camelot from the walls that slowly seemed to be coming into existence.

At the same time, Gwen might notice that, while Oliver still felt solid, he was visibly beginning to fade beside her. He wouldn't be in Camelot for much longer at all.

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