A Bucket List
Merlin is dying of an unknown terminal illness that even his magic cannot cure. Arthur had him devise a bucket list and is very enthusiastic to help him complete every single thing on the list, no matter how hard or how stupid it may be. EVENTUAL MERxTHUR and crippling angst towards the end of the story.
In this story, Merlin hasn't met Freya yet so he hasn't had his first kiss...there will also be some skyrim landmarks as the map of camelot, caerleon and cenred are still unfamiliar to me also it appears that Merlin had already visited every single landmark onthose kingdoms.
Chapter 2
Arthur awoke in the afternoon next day for the first time. He had hardly gotten much sleep after what had occur the day before. Merlin may be annoying and probably the most insulting servant in the castle yet he occupies a space in the prince's heart. He misses their morning banter already. Arthur stretched his arms and forced himself to dress. Hopefully, it wasn't anything serious.
Arthur went down to the kitchen and collected his breakfast. Before leaving, he glanced back and thought 'How about I give him breakfast too? As a sorry attempt for my cake'.
He called out for Braith and requestec sugared bacon, poached eggs and some beans. Luckily, they also had some left over sweet rolls from yesterday. He then hastily made his way to Gaius' chamber and knocked on the door impatiently. Gaius answered the door and let the prince in.
"Where's Merlin? Is he awake?" Arthur set down the food onto the nearby table and headed towards Merlin's room. Gaius quickly grasped onto the prince's forearm and shook his head.
"I think it is best not to disturb him." Gaius suggested.
"Why? Has he not awaken since yesterday? He's been asleep for nearly a whole day he must be up."
"Yes but I'm afraid he is quite ill."
Arthur froze. Surely it can't be that serious.
"How ill? That's impossible he was just normal yesterday and the days before how exactly could it affect him so quickly?"
Gaius sighed and offered a seat to Arthur as he attempted to explain the situation.
"Well sire, I have come with a diagnosis but I am still uncertain as I have only heard very few cases of this. And after examining Merlin yesterday after you left, the symptoms I have found are random bleeding, lumps on his torso, fatigue, weakness, very low body mass and last night he suffered from heavy night sweats."
Arthur looked at Gaius puzzled, not knowing what these mean. Based completely on intuition, he knew it doesnt sound very good.
"So what does this mean, Gaius?"
Gaius took a deep breath before breaking the news to Arthur. Everyone is already aware of the close bond between the prince and the servant and he knows that this will break him as much as it broke Gaius.
"He's dying, Arthur. The cause of this disease is not yet discovered and due to this, we cannot treat him." Gaius' voice broke a bit.
Arthur meanwhile, is speechless or rather emotionless. It was all happening at such an unrealistic pace. Merlin had just been active and playful a few days ago and now he is near his death. A world without Merlin's bubbliness is deemed unimaginable to Arthur. The prince remained silent for a while, still trying to process what Gaius had told him.
"What does that mean?"
Gaius sighed. "It means there is nothing in this world that can cure him. Not even magic as it appears to not be reversible."
The prince shook his head. His heart grew heavy with grief and sadness as reality slowly hit him harshly on the face. His sea blue eyes watered and doing so brought Gaius to tears as well.
"My poor Merlin." the prince muttered over and over. His head hung down to prevent Gaius from seeing him broken. Quickly, he gathered himself together and demanded to just bring the food to Merlin so he could see him anyways.
Arthur peered through the crack of the door just to ensure if his servant was asleep or not. His mood lightened a bit when he saw his servant awake, upright... and shirtless. Only then did Arthur see the true nature of this disease. Purple and blue stained small spots all over the boy's arms and chest. His once glowing skin is dull and transparent. Arthur pushed the door open, frantic to be beside Merlin.
"Here, Merlin. I brought you breakfast. And a sweet roll." Arthur offered. He placed the tray on the boy's lap and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Oh. I see you took initiative today." Merlin seemed surprised at this gesture. Never in a million years would he have thought that Arthur would be the one giving him breakfast in bed. Merlin ate his breakfast in silence with Arthur watching him eat. Occassionaly when the servant would violently cough, Arthur would pat the boy on his back. Arthur winced when he saw the blood trickle from Merlin's mouth. He quickly used his own sleeve to wipe it off Merlin's face.
"Merlin, has Gaius told you what was wrong with you?" Arthur asked.
Merlin nodded. He had come to terms with his mortality months before this incident had happened in fact. He had already first noticed the symptoms around three months before his birthday. First, the weight loss which then lead to fatigue. And then the coughing began, bloodless first. Then once the bleeding started in between coughs, the lumps started to appear. It was one more symptom after another. Yet, Merlin was still able to somewhat function so he shrugged it off and waited for the problems to blow over. But when it appeared that the symptoms were getting worse, Merlin expected the worse to come, and it has come.
"Well...aren't you scared, Merlin?"Arthur prodded, wanting Merlin to speak to him about it.
Merlin set the tray of food to one side. "Of course I am. But what am I to do about it? If it is my time to go then it is my time to go."
Arthur frowned."So you're just going to give up?"
"Well this isn't giving up I'm just accepting my fate."Merlin snapped back.
"No Merlin. Your fate is to be beside me when I become king so you cannot let yourself die!"
"But I seem to have no choice here. You heard Gaius. He is the smartest man I have ever known and even he cannot tell me what exactly this disease is."
Arthur got up from the edge of the bed and paced around the room, all so that Merlin wouldn't be able to see his eyes watering. He placed his hands over his head, with his head hanging low. It killed him inside to see his friend suffering and now being able to do anything about it. The number of times Merlin had saved his life had been countless and now that it is Merlin's life at stake, he cannot do anything. This was simply unfair. Merlin resumed his breakfast, ignoring the prince as distracting as his pacing may be. Pity is the last thing he needs at the moment. Now that he knows his time in the world is running short, he would hate to waste that time feeling sorry for himself. He wanted to go on a final adventure with Arthur. Suddenly, as if Arthur was reading Merlin's mind, Arthur grabbed some paper, ink and a quill. He chucked the equipments at Merlin and simply announced "BUCKET LIST!"
This took Merlin by surprise."...What?"
Arthur took a spare quill and situated himself next to Merlin again. "A bucket list! Now is the time, Merlin, to write down all the things you want to be able to do before the day of your death."
Merlin eyed the prince, still confused. "And how is this going to help me in the long run?"
"We are going to do every single thing on that bucket list because I want to make sure you have done everything you need before you leave this world. Think about it! We only ever do the things you want to do on your birthday, but now we can do it every day!"
"Until I die?"
"Yes I promise. And I will be there for you every single day to make sure you complete it."
The pair looked at each other grinning to themselves. And at that brief moment, Merlin had almost forgotten about his condition.
.
.
.
The prince had fallen asleep while Merlin occupied his time making the list. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do during his last days, also taking into account his illness. Once the list had reached 50, Merlin tugged on the prince's hair to wake him up.
"Arthur, I'm done!"
Arthur rubbed his eyes and leaned his head on the headboard, just above Merlin's head.
"Mmmkay lets check for any silly ones...Woah hold up Merlin...you've never been kissed?"
The younger boy blushed ever so slightly. "Well...no. But I will be forever in your depth if you make that happen-"
"EW! No way Merlin I don't want to kiss you! Unless you mean it?-"
"What?"
"What?"
The two boys remained in awkward silence for a few seconds. Both in pure embarrassment.
"Let's forget that ever happened." Arthur says.
"Agreed!"
Arthur continued to read Merlin's list. Most seemed doable, some were utterly bizzare and some could probably get them both killed or hunted down. Then again, this is Merlin's list. Whatever consequences they face will purely be the servants fault.
1. Go to Markarth and steal a centurion model
2. Programme the centurion and programme it to make cake for Arthur's sake.
3. Food Fight
4. Make a potion for Arthur's penis.
5. Ride the dragon
6. Tame a dragon
7. Be the dragon
8. Climb the throat of the world.
9. Adopt a dog.
10. Join the Dark Brotherhood and 'accidentally' kill their chief.
11. Eat edamame
12. Make Arthur as my 'manservant'
13. Go on a date
14. Have my first kiss
15. Lose my virginity
16. get drunk
17. Tattoo?
18. Catch the largest fish
19. Build a house
20. Fly
21. Own a castle
etc...
48. Steal a sweet roll
married
50. Die in my lovers arms.
Arthur looked up at a grinning Merlin.
"You do realise you may not have 50 yrs right?" Arthur questioned.
"Yes of course! But all of that is possible I assure you!" Merlin ensured.
"But...are you honestly expecting me to make sure you get married and that you get your own castle? AND WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY ABOUT MY PENIS?! And the dark brotherhood thing, are you actually serious?"
"Yep!"