I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead
I lift my lids and all is born again
(I think I made you up inside my head)
Arthur, storming into Merlin’s chambers: MERLIN!
Merlin, half-asleep, clutching a blanket: …Unless the castle is on fire or you’ve suddenly developed manners, this can wait.
Arthur: Did you—did you put a toad in my bed?!
Merlin: A toad? No. That would be childish.
Arthur: (narrows eyes)
Merlin: (casually sipping water) It was a very large frog.
Arthur: MERLIN!
Merlin: Look, you said I should “respect the creatures of the land more,” so I thought, who am I to deny a lonely frog the honor of royal company?
Arthur: (rubbing his temples) You’re an idiot.
Merlin: (shrugs) And yet, still employed. Weird, isn’t it?
Once Arthur comes back, Merlin will film EVERYTHING.
Merlin knows he will survive Arthur, no matter what. But sometimes, he’s so busy trying to keep the memory, that he forgets to live them.
Arthur is annoyed at first because Merlin keeps holding that rectangular lightning brick in his face and asks him to stop. It takes a long while for him to listen.
But once he realises what Merlin is doing, Arthur keeps a video log. He uses it every night when Merlin is asleep, and sums up their day, confessing his love long before they even get together. Sometimes he hides a camera in their room, so they can live life normally, but Merlin will still keep the memory.
Arthur lives a long healthy life and dies a sudden death at the age of 98 in Merlin’s crying arms. His will leave Merlin terrabites of memories.
It’s so many that Merlin can’t go through all of them before Arthur reincarnates once more :)