Supermerwholock One Shots

(Modern) Merlin One Shot - Return of the King

A/N ~ Gabriel is pronounced 'Gabrielle', in this situation.

Arthur's head felt weird. At first, he didn't notice anything overwhelmingly different about his surroundings as his blundering idiot of a manservant, Merlin, was right beside him when he awoke.
While the first thing Arthur noticed was Merlin himself, the second thing he noticed was what Merlin was wearing. Merlin, incidentally, was wearing a short dark-brown trenchcoat and navy scarf on his outermost layer - the layer that Arthur could see. Underneath this, Merlin was wearing a Fall Out Boy band t-shirt and some plain black skinny jeans.
"Merlin, what happened to your servant's attire?" When Arthur asked this, Merlin felt like kicking himself in the head. (That's a hard thing to do, by the way, so don't try it!)
"Arthur," Merlin started. Arthur gave Merlin a look. "Sorry. Your majesty, there are a few things you should know..." Merlin set about trying to explain to the legendary Arthur Pendragon how he had died, vowing to return at Albion's (England's) greatest time of need, to save them and how it was now the 21st Century - the year 2017, in fact - and that England needed his help, as they were about to commit the suicide of the country, after voting for the country to leave the EU. Then there were in-depth explanations as to everything that might confuse Arthur.
This included telling him who the 'magic-loving, world-defying' people on Merlin's band t-shirt were. As Merlin was about to explain something else, a young woman entered the room, carrying a tray of mugs of steaming tea. That was another thing that Merlin had explained. Tea.
Arthur felt perplexed by the young woman. This was mainly due to her being in skinny jeans and a t-shirt, rather than a long dress. The other main reason was the way that she spoke when she saw him awake. "Drat!" she exclaimed, after setting the tray down and seeing Arthur awake. "I should've brought my pad and pen!"
Arthur ignored her and turned to face Merlin. "And are women permitted to speak so freely in a room of men in your 21st Century?"
Merlin sighed. "Arthur," Arthur gave Merlin the look again, but he ignored it, "I told you, women have rights almost completely equalled with men now." The young woman looked confused when Merlin paused and looked to her. He turned back to face his king. "Arthur, this is Gabriel. She... ahm, kindly allowed me to borrow a room in her house recently. This very room, in fact." He turned once more to face the young woman. "Gabriel, this is King Arthur Pendragon, legendary King of Camelot." In reality, Merlin had told Gabriel this when she'd first agreed to allow Merlin to use the room. Only, at the time, he had been waiting for Arthur to return.
"So it's really him?" Gabriel asked Merlin. Merlin nodded. Gabriel turned to face Arthur. "Is it true? What the legend says of your queen, Guinevere? Did she really start off at the castle as a maid?"
Merlin put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Too soon," he whispered.
"Yes," Arthur replied. "Gwen did start off as a maid in my father's castle. She was the maid for the Lady Morgana, my sister."
"Wow..." Gabriel breathed. "So it really is true!"
Slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand at Gabriel's 'subtlety', Merlin remembered first meeting Gabriel.