Time
Prompt by Beth Nottingham
"You can't blame him for that," the sorceress murmured sympathetically as Merlin made a hurried entrance.
Arthur blinked. "What?"
"Being late. Losing track of time. His sense of time in general."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked in confused exasperation.
"Merlin. Emrys. He's an immortal - he was born that way. His mind is equipped to think in terms of thousands of years, although he does not fully understand it yet. Don't blame him for losing track of a few minutes."
Arthur looked at his friend, and saw, like a fleeting shadow, the heavy weight of passing years that would never claim his friend.
". . . I hadn't realized," he murmured at last.
Her smile remained gentle. "Neither has he."
The idea of Merlin's immortality is going to be a revolving theme in these drabbles - not really a plot, but a recurring idea to explore. The show never touched that much on Merlin's status as both an immortal and a creature of the Old Religion, and also his humanity in light of that. I think it's a fascinatingly wide-open field, and I intend to explore it. I've already touched on it a little bit in Frogs, Spring, and Fireflies, and I'll certainly be coming back to it.