#Merlin is immortal until he's not

[justaz]

arthur is immortal in the same way merlin is immortal, he can die but he bounces back after a while. merlin putting arthurs body on a boat and sending him out onto the lake but not burning him as he did to lancelot and freya. merlin disappearing off the face of the earth, unable to go back to camelot where every stone is carved with arthur's name, every room holds the faintest echo of his laughter, the shadows cast by the flickering flames of torches match each line and curve of arthur's body which merlin had memorized after years of dressing and undressing him, wandering and lingering hands that were just casual enough to pass off as platonic.

arthur crawling out of the lake the night after the morning merlin put him to rest, dazed, confused, and alive. arthur searches for merlin but can't find him. he's disappeared. gwen rules camelot as queen, she lifts the ban on magic, and rules fairly. arthur is content to leave his kingdom with her as he searches the land for merlin. he visits every place he and merlin every visited but he's nowhere to be found. time passes but arthur only grows more desperate. he's sure he's searched every inch of albion twice. no merlin.

enough time passes, everyone he's known has died and he looks exactly as he did when mordred drove his blade into his abdomen. arthur is forced to admit to himself that enough time has passed that merlin was bound to have died, leaving arthur all alone. immortal merlin is literally like chilling in ireland or some shit. but both immortal idiots are living in the same area and end up just missing each other. literally like end up holding the door to a coffee shop for one another but they don't meet each other's gazes bc they're busy mourning each other

[sneakyboymerlin]

“Merlin must still be mourning Arthur every day in the modern world” actually he smokes weed now

[lovebotomy]

immortal leon in fics is such pet peeve of mine leave immortality to magic bitches please... ik it's funny that he should die bunch of times and doesn't but it doesn't fit narratively for him at alllll he's not even a likeable knight.. and even if why would he and merlin interact after finale merlin dgaf about him beyond arthur association..

[mr-and-mr-pendragon]

Somewhere halfway down the post I realised where this was headed 😭 It's not even the holidays yet lol

I have to say the writers were quite the geniuses for that finale. It was heartwrenching and I bawled my eyes out but here we are 11 years later and we're still talking about it. But I wish Merlin had told Arthur about his magic sooner T.T

merlin showrunners really went: "ok everyone, this is will, merlin's best friend from ealdor, he's nice isn't he? good. let's kill him! let's move on... this is freya, a poor girl affected by a horrible curse, but don't worry because merlin will help her! but sadly she has to die lmao. who's next? oh yes merlin's father, how sweet to see a bond develop between him and his son after so many years apart... we can't allow that tho, bye bye balinor. lancelot! you're merlin's dearest friend and the only one who knows about his magic, so what are you still doing here? through the veil, up up! what? an innocent boy who loves frogs and comes to like and help merlin even though he was supposed to let him die in a ditch? unacceptable behaviour! here's an arrow coming for you, should've minded your business lol. moving on again... oh gwaine! you've always shown such loyalty to merlin and helped him whenever was needed so you shall die a painful death without even saying goodbye to him, hehe we're so funny... but here's the funniest thing of all! why don't we let arthur die in merlin's arms after the latter spent ten years protecting him and fulfilling his destiny for nothing? such a great finale we're geniuses"

[d-one-in-the-dirty-trench-coat]

"Do I know you?" is one of the first questions Arthur asks Merlin when he meets him, despite never having met before. Literally one of the first quotes Arthur gets. Like in every lifetime they met.

Arthur recognizes Merlin by his eyes alone, even when they are in a different body. How queer is that?

Every plan Arthur has for his future, even if they include running away from his inevitable fate, involves Merlin as a very important part of it.

Despite being just a servant, he treats him better than that, like a friend, like a brother, (or something more).

Merlin uses most of his magic to protect Arthur or help him, either directly or indirectly. Even in a coma he uses his magic to guide him and take care of him.

Merlin could never run away from Camelot, even in mortal danger, because it would hurt his soul to leave Arthur behind. Arthur can't let him go either. So strong is their connection that Arthur mentioned it in dreams, and was really disappointed that he didn't want to accompany him on a single (and last) campaign.

Merlin was born to serve Arthur until the end of his reign. There is no kingdom without Arthur and there is no Arthur without Merlin.

Merlin is an immortal being who was told by another immortal being to wait until Arthur returned from the dead.

Everybody calls them "two sides of a coin", "your destiny",

Your honor, they are soulmates.

[irishmammonagenda]

"Solomon?" You ask, eyes unblinking like a lizard as you stare at your favourite Rat Bastard. "You know how you're immortal?"

Solomon turns to you in mock shock, "Really? Why I never wouldve guessed."

You deadpan. "It was a serious question."

Solomon smirks his usual evil smirk, which to anyone else observing would look like a pleasant smile. "Yes, and what about me being immortal, MC?"

"Well, did you ever know Merlin?" You tilt your head as Solomon's smile falters for a split second before he fixes it.

"..."

"Solomon?"

"Yes, I knew Merlin."

"Before or after you became a Rat Bastard?" You ask him, eyes trained on his pretty smile. (evil grin)

"Well...I may or may not've been good friends with him..."

"Do you think I could meet him?" You ask, bouncing one of your legs after you sit down on Solomon's workbench.

Solomon moves towards you, something flashing in his eyes for a split second before his hands find their rightful place around your waist. "No."

"Why not?" You pout.

"Because I'm the only famous sorcerer in your life." He states, that something flashing in his eyes once more. Something animalistic. If Solomon was a demon, you were sure his demon form would sprout out.

"What about Maddi?" You raise an eyebrow.

Solomon scoffs. "You hate Maddi. You put on a mask with Michael's face on it, and then tried to drown her in a ditch."

You shrug. "I'm just mad the bitch didn't drown."

"She did damage her oesophagos though." Solomon smiles evilly, actually evilly this time.

"So why can't I meet Merlin. I want his autograph." You bring th conversation back to the topic at hand, your flustered gaze trained to where the Great Sorcerer holds you by the waist possessively.

Solomon scoffs once more, grey eyes narrowed in on you. "And why do you want his autograph?"

"Because he's the greatest sorcerer to ever live? Duh."

Solomon's grip tightens at that. His brows furrow.

"...No he's not." The silver-haired sorcerer replies after an awkward moment of silence.

"Yes he is."

"No he's not." Solomon glares at you, grip tightening once more, it's almost painful. "I can give you my autograph if you yearn for one that badly. End of."

"But-" You pout, eyes flickering with the flame of mischief, wanting to see how far you can take this.

Solomon's eyes snap up and down your body before meeting your gaze, forcefully he moves closer to you, you lean back until he's directly in your face and your back is up against the surface of his workbench.

You feel his hot breath on your ear as he whispers, "The next words out of your mouth better be 'I love you Solomon!' or I'm not hearing them."

Your breath hitches, you suppress a grin, "It's just that-"

"Not hearing it."

"Emrys is just so cool-"

Solomon flicks you on the head for that one. He moves away from your ear so he can look at your face. Grey eyes instinctual and crazed.

"My darling apprentice....you don't want to know where this is headed." The Witty Sorcerer grits out, emphasising the word 'my' like it's an ancient incantation.

You stiffen, you've really done it now. There was no way you could keep teasing your favourite Michelin Star Murderer and come out unscathed.

A dark purple surrounds the sorcerer, are those flames?!

You pout, looking into the crazed feral eyes man who's about to lose control. You'd have to stop being a gremlin and take responsibility.

"Sol...I love you." You say, and you mean it.

And like clockwork, rhe dark purple flamey aura disappears, Solomon's grip loosens on you, he moves a little farther back, allowing you to get up off the surface of the workbench. His usual Rat Bastard smile returns, and the crazy feral look in his eyes diminish, never fully going away.

You raise an eyebrow teasingly, "So that's a no on meeting Merlin?"

Solomon sighs exasperatedly, love ever-present in his expression, "Forget Thirteen, you'll be the death of me."

You laugh, "Back to your Alchemy lesson now?"

Solomon chuckles. "Back to my Alchemy lesson." He nods, taking his hands off of you and walking over to his cauldron.

You follow him like a lost puppy, unaware of the extent of the danger just a few moments ago. Not danger you were in, of course, like Solomon could ever hurt you. But the rest of the realms?....well that's a different story....

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Never wake a sleeping dragon....

Never underestimate the obsession love that Solomon the Wise has for his Darling Apprentice.

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello everyone! Here's a new au for you all! Don't worry, I'm still going to be doing a part 3 for the Disir au, but this is something for you all while you wait! Enjoy! :D

This au takes place in a modern setting where Merlin has been waiting for Arthur for over 1500 years. Merlin believes that Arthur will rise directly from the lake, as Kilgharrah led him to believe, but in actuality, Arthur, Gwen, and all the knights were reincarnated and born into new lives without any memory of their past lives.

In this modern setting, Arthur's reincarnation, Arthur Penn, works for a top-secret task force in MI6, known as the Knights. The Knights are tasked with monitoring and hunting down dangerous otherworldly or supernatural threats.

The Knights task force was successful for many years, up until one fateful mission. The team was exploring a cave with high levels of strange radiation, which usually indicated strong supernatural forces. While they didn’t encounter anything in the cave, agent Lance DuLac got separated from the group somehow and was missing for several hours before they found him sitting in front of some crystals, seemingly entranced. 

While he was physically fine, Lance was never quite the same afterwards, having strange dreams or speaking in an unknown language at random. Since one of their best agents was left near-insane and they didn't even find anything, that mission was deemed a disaster, which led to the Knights getting disbanded by their superiors. 

After the Knights were disbanded, Arthur was put on several solo missions, hunting down supernatural creatures, but he eventually got a new mission. 

MI6 had been following and observing an entity known as Emrys for decades, ever since the 1930’s, when reports of an “immortal man” first reached intelligence agencies. 

Ever since Emrys's immortality and presence through history was confirmed, MI6 always had someone trailing him and documenting his actions. However, he had never shown any real threat to humanity despite his estimated power level sitting at that of a god’s. In fact, the only documented case of any sort of power from that they had observed in their 90 years of tailing him was during WWII, when a bomb was dropped over his little cottage and he made it disappear with a wave of his hand. 

Over the years, the post of watching Emrys had become the most laid-back and least threatening job in the entire supernatural department of MI6. After all, he had never hurt anyone in the entire time that they had watched him, so all an agent had to do was keep their distance and they’d be fine. Hell, it was practically a 9 to 5 job. It was, as far as jobs within the supernatural department went, extremely boring. 

Which made agent Arthur Penn extremely overqualified for the post. Unfortunately, agent Gwaine Greene, who had been assigned to Emrys post in the years following the Knights’ disbandment, had been running his mouth to their superiors that Arthur was too high strung and throwing himself into one dangerous mission after the next and needed a lighter mission to cool down. And, even more unfortunately, their superiors had listened to that loudmouth.

So now Arthur was being assigned to watch an old man for an unspecified amount of time. Yay, this was exactly what he hoped his career as an agent at MI6 would look like. Agent coordinator Gwen Smith gave him his debrief, showing him the extensive file that MI6 had on Emrys, his abilities, his routine, and his alternate appearances, because apparently this bloke could change his age as well. 

So, Arthur begins his new assignment with a generally bad attitude, but he still performs his duties. Arthur tails Emrys, during which time Emrys mostly sticks to the routine that Gwen had showed him: walking around a nearby lake every morning, then going into town for lunch and to chat with locals about mundane things like the weather, going back home, reading and writing and cooking and cleaning, and then going to bed. Rinse and repeat. 

However, as the weeks go by, Arthur notices something… strange. All the previous agents who had post had reported that, even if he knew they were trailing him, Emrys never really paid them much attention. A passing glance or a knowing smile perhaps, but never anything overt. A few years ago, one agent even made the bold move of having a drink next to Emrys in a pub, and Emrys had only asked him if he was "off the clock". If Emrys was upset about being followed, he certainly didn't show it.

So this? This had never happened to any of the other agents watching Emrys before.

A few weeks into his new post, Emrys had started… staring at Arthur. The stares were accompanies by an unnerving feeling, like Arthur was an insect pinned against a microscope. Like Emrys was looking into Arthur very soul and judging him for something. 

The feeling of being watched by Emrys made the hairs of the back of Arthur's neck rise, just like whenever he was facing down monsters that looked like they crawled out of humanity's worst nightmares. He was the one supposed to do the watching, not the other way around!

After only three days of Emrys's petrifying stares, Arthur decided to go back to headquarters and give them an update. If Emrys's behavior had changed so suddenly, it might be a sign that the entity was planning something bigger, and they needed to be prepared for anything the immortal could throw their way.

Arthur's paranoia at being watched must have really gotten to him over the past few days though, because for the entire trip back to London, he swore he could see glimpses of Emrys out of the corner of his eyes. But every time he whirled around to see if Emrys truly was following him, there was nothing there. Besides, Emrys had never once left that little town by the lake in over 90 years. Why would he leave now?

Arthur arrived back at headquarters by the end of the day, and he quickly arranged a meeting with his superiors. If Emrys was plotting something, the entire supernatural division had to go on high alert.

About halfway through through the meeting, however, the lights started to flicker and the entire building started to shake, as if a massive earthquake was happening. Everyone sprang into action, weapons in hand and ready for any attack, but Arthur's eyes went wide with panic. He knew, somehow, what- or who- was behind this.

Sure enough, a guard burst into the room a couple second later, yelling about how Emrys was in the lobby making demands and shaking the earth with his anger.

Arthur and his bosses ran out to the lobby and were met with a horrible sight: Emrys standing at their front door with the guards' weapons disintegrating before they could even take aim at him.

"I will not ask you again. Where is he?"

Emrys's voice was more impatient than furious, but the threat of his power was more than enough to send a shover down everyone's spine, Arthur's most of all. Because while his superiors and fellow agents were frantically whispering to each other, trying to figure out who Emrys could be referring to, Arthur knew. There was only one mortal Emrys had shown any interest in over the past 90 years, after all.

"He's after me." The whispering of the agents around Arthur ceased as a horrified hush fell over the group. "I don't know why, but he's looking for me."

The agents around him shared a look, which slowly morphed from terrified to determined.

"Then we have to make sure he doesn't get to you," Gwaine said, uncharacteristically solemn. "Whatever reason he wants you for, it can't be good for anyone."

The other agents around them nodded and murmured in agreement, even as their voices were quickly drowned out by the rumbling of the building around them and the sounds of gunfire and screams behind them.

Suddenly, Lance, who had been silent the entire time, cut in.

"I know a back way out of the building. I can sneak Arthur through the back and escape to a safehouse, somewhere Emrys can't find us."

"No, absolutely not. I won't run away and leave you all to fight-"

"Arthur." Gwen's voice cut off his denial. "For all we know, if he gets his hands on you, he could become even more dangerous. Please, if not for your sake, then for everyone's: don't let him get to you."

Arthur swallowed thickly, holding back tears. Lance looked at him, his face growing more and more panicked as the sounds of conflict grew closer and closer to their hiding spot.

"Alright, I'll go, but I expect to see all of you when I get back. You told me not to let him get ahold of me, but the same goes for all of you: no dying on me today, got it? Especially not to some ancient bloke."

His friends smiled and nodded at him, and Lance took his arm and started leading him through the building, running down narrow hallways and darkened corridors until they reached a small, hidden exit on the side of the building, disguised among the building's brick exterior. The two of them burst out of the building into the adjacent alleyway, out of breath from their frantic sprint.

"Alright, where to now? How do we get to this safehouse of yours?"

Lance turned to face Arthur, but there was something strange about him. His face looked oddly conflicted and... guilty?

"I'm sorry, Arthur."

"What? Lance, what are you-"

Arthur froze as a figure stepped into entrance to the alley, blocking the only escape route. Arthur's hands reached for his gun, but he froze as two burning golden eyes stared into his soul.

And then, the world around him went dark.

I hope you all enjoyed this au! To clarify, Lance was trapped in the crystal cave and saw his memories of his past life as Lancelot, which led to him seeking out Merlin and forming a plan with him to get Arthur assigned to Emrys watching post so that Merlin could take Arthur to the crystal cave and finally reunite with his king.

And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings! :D

[captainfairygodmother]

Well now I need OP's opinions on the Immortal Sir Leon theory

on the topic of widely accepted fandom headcanons that aren’t actually canon i have to be so annoying here but immortal merlin is not canon... i admit the theory has relatively strong supporting arguments in the show like his near death experiences that arguably could be interpreted as him dying and coming back alive or his name “emrys” or the fact that in the finale he was shown to still be alive in the present day. But none of this confirms his immortality at all.

- he is a very powerful magical being and is very hard to kill, yet so are many other powerful magical creatures in the show, as well as the high priestesses, and they were all still ultimately killable. even in the mortaeus poison episode where his heart briefly stopped, it didn’t stop long enough for him to definitively be dead; real people in real life without magic have gone longer without a heartbeat and still survived… the best argument for his immortality is maybe him surviving the dorocha’s touch when gaius said no mortal man could, but even that isn’t definitive proof, bc emrys’ power is unprecedented and he could very well be the first and only mortal to ever survive the dorocha’s touch, he is after all the exception to so many rules. it proves that he is harder to kill than anyone else, due to his powerful magic protecting him, but not that he is unable to die.

- he canonically grows very very old but this too can be attributed to his abundance of magic. nimueh grew unnaturally old too.

- his name “emrys” meaning immortal also doesn’t prove anything as this usually isn’t interpreted so literally in the legends. it’s usually understood as his legacy staying alive forever through tales of his power and influence…

and as for my personal reasons for being kind of opposed to this immortal merlin theory. it’s first of all mostly the fact that it really just cheapens everything he goes through in the show lol. his own survival despite the dangers he faces is due to his determination to stay alive to fulfill his destiny, it’s thanks to his own stubborn perseverance and skill and yes, often luck. but not his literal inability to die. i feel like this theory really devalues his extreme struggle and the fact that he really was on the brink of death sometimes…

it’s infinitely more compelling to me that he’s ultimately still a mortal man. i prefer to think of his continued survival as hard-earned, and as a genuine wonder! he could have genuinely died so many times but he didn’t and he deserves most of the credit for it!

and on top of that, the complete inability to die is so deeply fucking depressing? never being able to die? i love a good tragic story but him outliving everyone else and staying behind alone (which is canon) is heartbreaking enough, i feel like the least i could do is allow him to die and rest at Some point…

so basically to me he’s only immortal in the sense that old age probably won’t kill him, but mortal in the sense that other things could. if not regular means then definitely excalibur.

[sagrmyers06]

What if Merlin wasn’t supposed to be immortal.

We know he can do magic subconsciously, he states that he was making things float around the room before he could talk. He is literally magic incarnate.

What if it was what Kilgarah said that made him immortal. What if Kilgarah was wrong, but since he told Merlin that Arthur was supposed to return Merlin never died. What if Arthur was never supposed return. So Merlin will wait. He will wait until humanity is nothing more than dust buried in the dirt. Arthur will never return, but by telling Merlin that Arthur would, Kilgarah cursed Merlin to wait.

Merlin will never leave, never let go no matter how long has passed. His hope may dwindle as the millennial pass, but it never dies. He stays on the off chance that if he does come back, he will need his servent. Arthur never could last long without him.

So he waits. Never aging. Never letting go. A false hope given by a manipulative old dragon, but…

If he does let go and Arthur comes back only to find him gone…

No, he will wait, by the edge of what was once a lake so many years ago

[papysanzonew]

The Labyrinth AU no-one asked for.

Featuring an “”“evil”“”, immortal and bisexual Merlin.

(Immortals until he decides to reign with Arthur)

My other Merlin art

[theroundbartable]

Time travel au:

Merlin goes back in time and singlehandedly takes over all the kingdoms except Camelot.

When he does finally arrive there, Uther Pendragon, prepared for an invasion, tells Arthur who kept arguing that maybe the sorcerer could be talked to, to face the immortal threat with the thousands of allies, with only a handful of knights.

Arthur, reasonably scared, faces Merlin: I am Prince Arthur! Why are you doing this?

Merlin, who has come alone: to unite Albion

Arthur: you can't unite them if you kill everyone!

Merlin: I only killed the kings and queens and only if they wouldn't back down after I put them in a dungeon for a few weeks. I put everyone in the dungeons until they complied or died voluntarily by their own hands or let the leave Albion. I treated them kindly. Brought them food and water and explained my vision to them. I demanded peace and freedom for my kind. If that's too much to ask -

only Cendred and Caerlon's king took their own life. Most of them agreed with my idea. King Olaf fled, predictably.

Arthur: and now you'll do the same to Camelot?!

Merlin: I think you and I do share a vision already. I'm here to offer my hand and my kingdom to you.

Arthur: ... Your... Your hand?

Merlin: yes

Arthur: to me?

Merlin: yes

Arthur: *blushing* I, urgh... I think I'll have to talk about this with my father.

Merlin: take your time, there is no rush.

[grace-below]

Don’t think about Merlin being immortal and probably never telling his friends. Don’t think about how he didn’t even think about it, until one day him and the knights were laughing over something or other and one of them points out how lucky Merlin is to still look twenty-three while they’ve all grown older. Don’t think about how he had to adjust the aging spell so he could continue to use it, making himself look as old as his friends, until all of them were gone. Don’t think about how it was eventually down to him and other, and how they jokingly whispered that they always knew Merlin would be the last of them, and that they were sorry, and how much Merlin wished they could understand. Don’t think about the centuries he spent alone, wandering and waiting for a time when he could finally go back to that lake that’s become notorious for burying loved ones and find his other half again. Just don’t think about it.

[nononsensesblog]

New concepts of Merlin’s magical abilities I would love to see in fanfics and headcanons:

1. Any person who drinks a bit of Merlin’s blood gains the ability to use magic. The show states magic is learned, people study for years to learn how to practice magic, only some people are born with a natural aptitude towards it. By drinking Merlin’s blood anyone can suddenly use magic, even if they never studied it before, but they’ll still have to learn how to control it.

2. Merlin can’t die by drowning, he can breathe under water for a longer time than an average human, but if water gets inside his lungs and he can’t breathe he will go into a dormant state until his lungs are cleared again, it could be hours, days or years (or centuries), he will always regain consciousness once he can breathe again.

3. Merlin can only be killed by weapons forged by magic or by the complete destruction of his body (like burning), if there’s even the smallest possibility of his body being healed, it will heal. Merlin does die from other common factors, but he comes back again. For example, if he’s given a deadly poison or stabbed by a common weapon, his heart will stop and he’ll die, then in a few minutes his heart will restart and he’ll live again. But every time he dies and revives, he’s a little less himself, like some parts are chipped away.

4. Merlin can build resistance to poison. Once he comes in contact with a certain poison he’ll become immune to it’s effects. Based on the previous concept, once Merlin learns he won’t permanently die from poison, he starts experimenting with various ones, his heart stops but he eventually comes back to life and heals from it’s effects, from then on he’ll be unaffected by it if he ever comes in contact with the poison again.

5. Merlin can enter the mind of animals at will, perceive the world through their senses and control their actions (like warging from ASOIAF). For example, while camping outside, he could enter the mind of a owl during the night and keep watch through it’s eyes while his actual body rests.

If anyone has other concepts and headcanons about Merlin’s magic and/or immortality I would love to know them too! Also english is not my first language, sorry if there’s any mistakes.

[onceandfuturelesbian]

*council arguing why arthur shouldn’t marry merlin*

merlin, over the loud bickering: if i may add something

*everyone quiets down, looking at him with irritation, arthur with curiosity*

merlin: as i’m the court sorcerer, you know i have magic, but you do not know everything.

merlin: the druids refer to me as emrys, the most powerful sorcerer to walk the earth, literally magic incarnate.

merlin, ignoring the shocked stares: not only does that make me immortal, it makes me the closest thing the druids have to a king. to sum it up for you, arthur would not be marrying his former servant or camelot’s court sorcerer, he would be marrying the king of magic.

*council is dead quiet*

arthur, smiling deadly at his betrothed: and why, merlin, am i only hearing about this now?

merlin, shrugging, not at all phased by arthur’s poorly disguised irritation: wasn’t relevant until now.

arthur, shookened by the fact that he’s basically engaged to a god: WASN’T RELE-

arthur: y’know what? nevermind. *turns to face the council*

arthur: so as you can see, you need not be concerned with our betrothal, council dismissed.

cue the council scurrying out of the room like a herd of sheep, arthur just being exasperated with merlin (and a little awestruck but don’t tell merlin that)

king arthur and king merlin lived happily ever after

the end

[thedaselcor]

Later that day, en route to Mercia

“So, when the snakes came out of Valiant’s shield?”

“Yes, that was me. I didn’t actually know how to do  that until about five minutes before it happened.”

“And Gwenivere’s father?”

“I couldn’t let him die… Granted that one initially backfired rather spectacularly.”

“Lancelot?”

“He really did kill the griffon, but I did enchant his sword. He knows, actually. I think his hearing’s a lot better than yours, he caught me the very first time.”

Arthur steadied his horse for a moment as they reached the crossroads, scanning the horizon before deciding they were okay to continue. “The light in the cave?”

“That was me, but I’m really not sure how I did it. You shouldn’t have risked yourself for me like that.”

“Nonsense you’re my… you’re… important to me.”

When the moment threatened to drag out rather awkwardly, Merlin cleared his throat and grabbed at the first jab he could find. “I didn’t assault you with a lump of wood though, with Sophia, she was a Sidhe, she enchanted you, and she was about to sacrifice you to a lake to gain immortal life--much more embarrassing.” He took off at a slightly faster clip to accentuate the punch.

“And here she could have saved herself the trouble of enchanting me and just dressed up like my pratty manservant,” Arthur grumbled under his breath, picking up the pace to follow.

“Arthur? My ears are also better than yours.”

[tora-the-cat]

Merlin realizes that he literally can't leave Arthur's side because the universe will punish him by killing everyone he loves, demonstrated thrice over, right? So he has his obligitory week long depressive episode about that of course but THEN he comes back thrumming with semi-manic energy and goes 'Okay. BUT on the flip side. I can do. Whatever I want? Right? Like, I can do whatever, and I'm not gonna die, and Arthur's not gonna die, and no one can do anything about it? Like at least until Arthur becomes King, right?' and like, it's out of character imo because he doesn't really lean into destiny that much especially that early on (thinking season 2-3), BUT if we're gonna play with that angsty troupe where he has the Realization in the first place, the least we can do is give him. Mania. Like, after Freya or Balinor dies or- OR if Gaius actually DID die to Nimueh, effectively nipping the only real impulse control and wise council Merlin had in the bud. So Merlin snaps and does this as like....A challenge to fate, I guess? like, staring the void down. 'Okay, fine. I'll play your game. *starts using magic more fragrently just to see how much he can get away with in like a vaugely suicidal gesture because he's SUPER fucked up*. Sure, magic reveal. What? Arthur can't kill me. He can't get rid of me. I Can't LEAVE. He gets extra treasonous, treason on crack. Says whatever to Uther, very much no one can kill me. This only gets worese when he goes from 'I'm not immortal, fate just won't LET ME DIE' to a very unambiguous 'oh fuck off. I'm immortal? absolutely not, FUCK OFF.' He kind of thinks he's a plauge onto those around him and lowkey wishes someone that can do something about him comes along. He has made his problems everyone elses problem now. He calls the king (uther) slurs. fuck ALL Y'ALL.