In the end Arthur´s return wasn´t as spectacular as Merlin had imagined for hundreds of years. Instead of seeing the Once and Future King stepping out of the Lake of Avalon bathed in bright light and with a gracefully waving cape Merlin found him soaked and half naked at the shore. Lying there, the face pressed into the sand, he looked more like a piece of flotsam than the majestic king he once had been. But that didn´t keep his heart from skipping a beat as he saw him again after an eternity of living alone.

When Arthur opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of Merlin, he wasn´t sure what had happened to him. The last he could remember was the face of his friend getting darker while the life was floating out of his body. And words he wasn´t able to say anymore. He´d died. Of that he could be sure.

Did Merlin revive him? Were they in Avalon? Or did Merlin follow him?

A certain fear started to rise in his chest and he had to let one hand slip into the back of Merlin´s neck to assure himself that this wasn´t a dream . The skin felt warm under his fingertips. His friend was breathing and the movement of his lips signaled Arthur that he was trying to tell him something. But his ears seemed not to be working well yet. As was his voice.

So he had to find another way to reply. With little strength he pulled his manservant's head down until their lips met. Arthur had always wondered what they would taste like. Right now they were salty due to the tears that were running down Merlin´s cheeks. Besides that they felt cushion-ly soft and warmed his own excellently. So he intensified the kiss.

Merlin himself had already noticed his king still not having recovered full consciousness to this world. So he tried to wake his mind with cozy words which were disturbed as he felt this familiar touch in his neck. It brought tears to his eyes. Arthur's last gesture to him before he had...

"Arthur, can you hear m-" The rest of the words were muffled by a pair of gorgeous and cool lips shutting his own. After a short moment of confusion Merlin felt a wave of want roll over him and he forgot his worries and all the questions he was going to ask. Arthur was here now. Was his now. Finally.

/Sorry, Gwen, but it's my turn./

The king slid his other arm around his manservant's back and rolled them over. His weight pressed on the other one's slim body he pushed his tongue into Merlin's mouth to finally taste all and everything of him. Merlin was completely disarmed. His thoughts blurred while his groin started to rub against Arthur's. A surprised moan left their throats and they broke away from each other. Breathing hastily the king stared down at the man in his arms, at his flushed lips and cheeks. No word was spoken between them for some time as they were just listening to the other one catching his breath.

Only slowly Merlin began to notice how the coldness from the wet ground was seeping into his clothes and he became aware that Arthur still was soaked and only dressed with some pretty thin

linen trousers.

"Sire, I think you should get dried and dressed."

Arthur's hearing seemed to have returned. At least he dropped his head to look at himself.

"You may be right..." He answered and with these words they arose shakily.

Merlin pulled a towel out of his backpack and handed it to his king who gave the thing a skeptical look but started to dry his slightly shivering body with it a few seconds later while curiously observing the other things his friend was dragging out of his bag.

"What is this?" He asked by taking the boxer shorts into one hand.

"Underwear."

"No, I mean all of it."

"Your clothes. I had to guess your size by modern standards...and after being - uhm - dead in a lake for a few hundred years but...they should fit."

"My size by modern what?" Arthur's eyes widened. "I should wear these?"

Merlin smiled a little irritated. "Yes?"

"No! This stuff? What is this supposed to be anyway?" Arthur unfolded the hoodie. "It´s as thick as a jacket but closed in the front like a shirt and got a hood like a cloak. And this fabric...did you make it with magic?"

Merlin started to laugh madly and got shot an angry look. He tried to pull himself together.

"No, Sire. This is how clothing looks like today. You won't get anything different."

"No way! Forget it! I'm not going to wear these. Where's my armor?"

As an answer Merlin pointed to the lake. "Still in Avalon, it appears."

"So, I'll go back."

"What?!" Unbelievingly he watched how his king turned around and started stumping into the water. "Sire, don't be ridiculous. You can't go back." But he was ignored. "Fuck, this can't be happening...Arthur, damn it, come back!" he shouted angrily. Uncontrollably his magic acted on it´s own. It grabbed the king and dragged him back to the shore.

"Merlin!"

"What?", came it reproachfully from his manservant's lips.

"How dare you use your magic on me? I am your KING!"

"I have SWORN to protect you. Even if that includes your own stupidity." These words resulted in a sulking look and a pair of crossed arms. Without digging deeper into the topic, Merlin yanked the hoodie over Arthur's head and pulled it down in one fast movement what brought him a yell of protest.

"No, I don't want that!", screamed his friend another time but Merlin was relentless. They began to stumble across the shore in a grim fight which almost ended in a royal tantrum as Arthur's arms got caught in the fabric.

"Damn it! Don't be such a clot-pole!"

"Stop calling me that! This is no wardrobe for a king! I want my armor back!"

"It'd be useless! Nobody wears it these days!"

"How's that even possible?!"

At last Merlin won and pulled the fabric over Arthur's hips. Their hair was a complete mess and they looked at each other exhausted.

"So, what do you think?"

Arthur plucked disapprovingly at the edges of the sweatshirt but he nodded slowly.

"Actually quite comfortable."

"Great." Merlin answered. "Let's move on to the bottom." He said grabbing the boxers with a grin. Arthur´s expression was priceless.

In the end the not-that-young-anymore sorcerer had to admit the trouble to get Arthur in modern clothing paid off well. His king in slightly too tight jeans was something he'd wait another hundred years for to see.