Chapter Text
Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, and the rest of the round table knights had all been reincarnated 568 times, and Merlin had it down to a science. Every reincarnation started out the same, with each of them being reborn as a regular person who knew nothing of their previous lives, and in Merlin’s case, the magic he held within his body. In this way, every reincarnation held the same requirements in order for them all to regain their memories of their former lives: skin on skin contact with each other. It could be as simple as a handshake, or as memorable as that one time a security officer Percy full body tackled a con artist Gwaine who was trying to sneak past the giant of a man. In any case, the skin to skin contact triggered a flood wave of memories within the two who touched, bringing them back to their former selves.
Overall, Merlin couldn't complain. The reincarnations had allowed him to see Arthur again, and keep seeing him for lifetimes. At some point the two had come to care so deeply about each other that they fell in love. Or, perhaps, they had always been in love, and only the lifetimes of experience had allowed them to get their heads out of their asses and realize it. Actually, it was probably that second one.
Anyways, Merlin couldn’t be happier. He had his friends and the love of his many lives, and in all honesty, it was quite fun to be reborn and get to try the many things the ever changing world had to offer. Also, it was fun to mess with the other members of the “Knights of the Reborn Table”, as Gwaine had dubbed them.
There was that time Merlin had been a painter in the 1800’s and had regained his memories when he’d run into Gwen who was a lady of the court. They’d soon realized that Gwen knew where everyone else lived- because all of them were a part of the lesser nobility- and that no one else had regained their memories. They’d had fun making Merlin paint all the others portraits of themselves during their first life but changing up the roles. Merlin painted Percy as King Arthur, and Leon as Merlin, and so on. The sorcerer was most proud of his painting of Arthur, which had depicted the man as the manservant to the king. It had given Gwen and he particular delight going to the homes of their friends and trying to convince them that Merlin could see into their past lives. The two had had so much fun, even if none of the others ever believed them until after their memories had been regained. Then it was even more fun to watch their mortification and embarrassment (or in Gwaine’s case, delight) when they finally remembered. Arthur had taken one look at the painting of himself as a manservant and had kicked Merlin out of his home for a whole week.
Or there had been that life where Merlin was a professional magician and performed magic tricks on the street. Ironically, he hadn’t been a very good magician. His memories had returned when Leon had handed him a fiver for his card trick that hadn’t disappeared like he had intended, but instead the deck had exploded all over the sidewalk. Leon and Merlin had then gone on to perform a magic show, utalizing Merlin's real magic as a traveling duo until they encountered Arthur and Gwaine who had already met and regained their memories and had surprised them at the show by volunteering for the disappearing act. If Merlin had made Arthur disappear straight into his hotel bedroom, that was for them to know.
One of Merlin’s least favorite memory awakenings had been in the modern age. He and Arthur had been the last to remember, and so the rest of their friends had pretended to be a matchmaking service and set Arthur and Merlin up on a blind date. A blind date which included a clown, a cake, and a crying child. Merlin… Merlin didn’t really like to talk about that one.
But really, all his many lives were full of joy where everyone always found each other, even if the finding was often annoying for those who were first to remember. There was no life so frustratingly difficult though, than when Merlin couldn’t get to Arthur to make him remember because the once and future king was a famous movie star.
*
Twenty two year old Merlin Emrys was fresh out of university, had no money to his name, and no idea what he was doing with his life. To pay the bills, he worked nine to five at a small bookstore. Don’t get him wrong, Merlin actually quite enjoyed working in the shop. It was quaint and homey in all the right ways. Plus, Merlin got to read all the books he pleased. He was especially fascinated by any fiction about the Arthurian legends. Merlin wasn’t quite sure what it was, but every time the man read a story about King Arthur, he felt safe.
Merlin sighed, tracing the words on a worn book page containing a poem about the lady of Shalott. Not a particular happy story, but one that contained King Arthur, so Merlin couldn’t really complain.
The familiar ring of the shop bell distracted Merlin from his reading. Without closing the book, Merlin glanced up to see a startlingly attractive man walk through the door, a swaggering confidence in his step. The frankly gorgeous man had shoulder length brown hair, a tightly fit black shirt and blue jeans, and black boots. But it wasn’t just the man’s handsome physique which drew Merlin in. He couldn’t quite place it, but Merlin could almost swear he recognized him.
Before Merlin could puzzle out the feeling more, the man spoke. “The Lady of Shalott?” He questioned, “That’s a far fetched one.”
Melin blinked, taken aback, “You’ve read it? I mean if you think about it, aren’t all the Arthurian stories a little far-fetched?”
The handsome man huffed a laugh, crossing the small distance to Merlin’s counter, and leaning his weight against it. “I don’t know. I’d like to think that Arthur was such a good king, he was able to pull a sword from a bloody stone, you know? I mean who wouldn’t want to believe in a world filled with magic? But I always thought that the Lady of Shalott’s romance with Arthur was a load of crap. I mean, Arthur had his own love!”
As the man talked, Merlin felt a smile grace his face. It was rare anyone even knew about the legends let alone discussed them with such passion. “I suppose everyone would like to believe in magic. And I agree, I always thought Gwenuviere was a much better true love.” Merlin agreed, a slight pang of wrongness filled him as he spoke. Why had it all of a sudden become difficult to discuss his opinion about a fictional romance?
“Oh no,” the man said, “I meant Merlin and Arthur’s love story.”
Now Merlin was just confused. “Merlin and Arthur weren’t lovers? Merlin was a sidekick if anything!”
In response, the man simply smiled before adding, “That’s not the way I know him.” Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed, what was the deal with this man and why were Merlin’s thoughts swirling? “Sorry,” the man continued, “Here I am talking about history, and we haven’t even been introduced. I’m Gwaine,” The man said, holding out his hand.
Giving a shake of his head to brush off the confusion, Merlin gave a tentative smile. “Gwaine, like the legend?”
The man smirked, hand still extended. “Exactly like the legend.”
“Well that is rather ironic then,” Merlin said, “considering my name’s Merlin.” With that, Merlin reached for the newly introduced Gwaine’s hand, and then his thoughts exploded…
“Fuck you Gwaine!”
Gwaine let out a gleeful cackle, hopping over the counter to sling an arm around Merlin. “I haven’t gotten to wake you up in ages Merlin, I had to have a little fun!”
Merlin scowled at him in response.
“Oh come on, I wasn’t that bad. When Elayn woke you up at the circus was way worse!” Merlin cringed at the reminder of the life in which Elayn had kissed him full on the mouth in front of a trapezing Arthur, causing the former king to fall into a pit of water.
Merlin sighed. “So who’s awake?” He asked, as he shoved Gwaine off him and reached for the keys to lock up the shop for the night.
Gwaine shrugged. “Everyone.”
“Everyone? Then why isn’t Arthur here instead? He’s never passed up a chance to wake me before.” What that really meant was that Arthur had never passed up a chance to make fun of Merlin before he’d regained his memories, exactly like Gwaine just had.
“Okay not everyone everyone.”
“Gwaine,” Merlin snipped, annoyance seeping into his tone.
“We aren’t quite sure where Lancelot is, so not him. And Arthur…”
Merlin quirked a smile, sure Arthur had managed to get into some sort of trouble even without his memories. “Arthur?”
“Well, he’s kinda a famous movie star we can’t seem to get access to.” Gwaine said all at once.
Merlin was suddenly reminded of the extremely famous Arthur Pendragon who he’d watched in many superhero and action films. Merlin may have even had an oh so minor celebrity crush on the man.
Merlin blinked, unsure where to start with the new information. “Well,” he finally settled on, “That’s new.”