Because you see, I'm a big nerd from nerdville and this popped into my brain and demanded to be written, short though it is.
I own Merlin. And this plot. And half the lines in this. Yeah.
In Which Merlin is the Dreamer and the Dream
It was an ordinary day in Camelot, or as ordinary as anywhere ever is. Ordinary things happened, a few extraordinary things happened, Merlin made a new friend, Gwen became excited over something unexciting, and a whole slew of well and ill intentioned lies were told by many.
It was in the midst of one of these lies, "The prince, my dear Miles, cares for no one but himself. His favorite hobby is beheading puppies and guzzling their blood from the neck," that one of these extraordinary things happened, namely Merlin becoming disoriented beyond all experience.
Colin looked over and saw his costar walking along beside him and, shrugging off his momentary lapse of focus, continued to tease him for his unenlightened interests.
"I…like, robots."
"Of course you do," Colin replied, "But some of us are more interested in relevant topics like women's rights and racism." As they kept walking Merlin froze and looked about uncertainly.
"Are you alright?" Miles asked, wondering at the man's confusion.
"Of course… I just feel a bit unwell. Perhaps I'll go see Gauis. You know where to find me should you need anything." Merlin left Miles standing bewildered in the middle of the market as he turned heel back toward the castle.
Several days passed normally, with many taunts exchanged and sleep attained at odd hours and in odd places. Merlin awoke from his mid-afternoon nap huddled on the floor in the corner of Arthur's chambers to Arthur himself smirking at him. Merlin was forced to squint as the sun peeped from behind the clouds and nearly blinded him.
"Come on Colin, up. I'm hungry, and we only have an hour for lunch." Bradley hauled him to his feet, chanting "Up, up, up."
"I'm getting, I'm getting, let go!" Colin shoved him off, sending himself stumbling back against the wall.
"Whoa." Merlin uttered softly, gazing at the walls which had seemed so fake just a moment ago. And at Arthur, who had shifted back to himself and looked more annoyed than concerned. Chalking it up to a lingering dream, he lurched into motion to try and figure out what he had been doing before he fell asleep.
That night Merlin dreamt of fantastic things, of skyscrapers and fast food and technology that all seemed so commonplace and reasonable that he didn't think to question. And if Colin dreamt of actually being Merlin and doing chores for Bradley (Arthur?) than who would question? Much of his life was spent as Merlin, so it was perfectly reasonable to play out an unwritten but completely plausible script in his sleep, right?
It was during the knights' training that a third waking dream came upon him; Merlin stood with Elyan, wondering why Gwaine had yet to show up.
"Seriously? He's no better at baseball than the rest of us, and he thinks we'll somehow magically get better without him? Colin, could you… deal with, this Eoin situation?" Colin simply stared at him.
"Deal with? What do you expect me to do?" Colin asked.
Adetomiwa sighed long-sufferingly. "Find him. And KILL him."
Merlin shrugged. "He's probably just asleep. But I'll go get him." He took a few steps away before stopping, turning with furrowed brows, looking around, and then going on.
As Colin slept that night, he dreamt of receiving a medical exam. "These… spells. They come with no warning?" Gauis asked while prodding Merlin's head. "None!" he responded. "They seem to mirror who I'm with and what I'm doing, but everything's different- I'm even different. They call me Colin and I respond and they're entirely different people to me. I'm getting concerned." But, as was usual with Merlin, they could find nothing to explain the inner workings of his mind.
As Merlin slept, he dreamt of receiving a medical exam. "Thermometer." The doctor warned, placing the stick under his tongue. Colin went through the procedure almost on autopilot. Routine checkups only changed so much. Lost in his thoughts as he was he didn't notice them drifting to stare absently at the doctor. Wait, Merlin thought. Isn't that Kanen? But he's a bandit, not a doctor!
Merlin woke unsure as to where and who he was, and knew he had a problem.
He made his way to the clearing where he so often met with the dragon, and, unsurprisingly, summoned the dragon. He waited in the field, breathing in the night air trying to find some clarity.
Looking at the stars had always helped Colin come back to himself, but tonight they only served to take him further away from himself. He was confused to see – was that really a dragon?!- land in front of him.
"You seem troubled, young warlock." He prompted, knowing his friend would ask his questions soon enough.
Merlin started with the one that had taken over his brain. "Who am I?" Colin half yelled, half sobbed, questioning his sanity.
Kilgarrah smiled sadly. "As always, you are full of contradictions. You are my student and my master. You serve and defy the king. Your lies reveal as much as your truths. You are the dreamer, and the dream." Merlin could only return to his bed, not knowing which was the dreamer and which the dream.
As weeks passed, Merlin seemed to have no more bouts of otherworldliness. "The theories are endless and mind boggling," Gauis began. "Do you have any ideas that seem more reasonable than others?" Merlin shook his head absently, mulling something over. "I think it's more mind boggling the idea that perhaps, far beyond the borders of Camelot, and distant shores, and all those lands and peoples and years, Colin is dreaming of me just as I was dreaming of him. I wonder if that world could ever really exist."