Fanfic - It's a Little Bit Funny (This Feeling Inside) - 1/6
Title: It’s a Little Bit Funny (This Feeling Inside)
Author: Mel (accordingtomel)
Summary: When an editing error accidentally makes it on the air, Bradley is forced to take a step back and re-evaluate his relationship with his co-star.
Pairings: Bradley James/Colin Morgan
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 48,484
Disclaimer: This is all a figment of my overly active imagination and is 100% fictitious. No offense is intended to anyone in the fic or to anyone reading. The boys belong to themselves only (even if I like to play around sometimes).
Author’s Note: This is a repost from the kinkme_merlin prompt here. It’s back, parts slightly rewritten, and has now been betaed by the wonderful adelagia and Brit-picked by the fantastic ellasphere. Thank you both so very much for looking at this monster for me! *hugs* I also need to thank everyone for all their kind comments and support over on the meme. It was so greatly appreciated! You’re all amazing! :) Also, apparently I am incapable of writing anything even remotely short any longer. Concrit always welcome and appreciated!
It’s a Little Bit Funny (This Feeling Inside)
To be honest, Bradley is not entirely sure when this all happened, how he somehow ends up standing outside Colin’s flat at one o’clock in the morning, drenched from head to toe from the thunderstorm raging outside. The image - this entire scenario - is so utterly cliché that Bradley almost wants to laugh.
But he doesn’t laugh, because there’s probably only so much madness Colin Morgan can handle at any given time from Bradley, and he thinks he’s already gone far past his quota in the last few weeks. Everyone has their limits, after all.
Several moments pass after he rings the buzzer, and then several more, before Bradley starts to think this was a bloody fucking stupid idea. It’s a Friday night, so either Colin got sick of sitting around the flat by himself and is out somewhere with friends, or he’s sleeping, and Bradley’s just gone and woken him up. Neither option leaves Bradley feeling very good. He shakes his head in frustration, making the decision to leave, just get the hell out of here as fast as he can and save whatever face he has left, but he is stopped in his tracks as the door pulls open to reveal an extremely puzzled-looking, and very much awake, Colin.
A single eyebrow arches high on his forehead. “Bradley?” He squints, and then adds, “How did you get into the building?
Bradley shoots him a sheepish smile. “I, uh, snuck in with some bloke. From the fifth floor, I think. He was too pissed to even notice me.”
“Glad to know this place has such good security.”
“Yeah, you might want to talk to someone about that,” Bradley jokes, playing absently with the frayed cuff of his sweatshirt.
Colin’s other eyebrow joins the first, and he graces Bradley with a hesitant smirk himself before gesturing towards Bradley’s hapless appearance. “What happened to you? Why are you all wet?”
“Would you believe I’ve been walking in the rain for the past hour?”
A thoughtful look passes over Colin’s face, like he truly doesn’t even know what to make of Bradley sometimes, but he moves away from the doorway finally to allow Bradley to step over the threshold. “If you were anyone else, I might not. But I can honestly say that there’s not much you could do to surprise me any longer.”
Just you wait until you hear what I have to say, Bradley thinks, but he doesn’t voice it. Instead, he presses the door closed behind him and toes off his trainers awkwardly. He’s trying not to drip water everywhere, but it’s sort of difficult, what with him being rain-soaked and all.
“Uh, mate, do you think...?”
But Colin is already one step ahead of him, retreating down the hall even before the words have left Bradley’s mouth, and returning a couple of minutes later. “Here. Dry yourself off. You can put on the clothes at the end of my bed,” Colin says as he hands a towel to Bradley.
Bradley accepts the towel and attempts to mop up as much water as he can before hurriedly making his way to Colin’s room and snatching the spare clothes from the end of his bed. Once Bradley is changed and significantly drier, he joins Colin in the kitchen, trying very hard not to think about the fact that he is wearing Colin’s clothing. It has his scent - all musky with faint hints of his eco-friendly detergent - and it causes Bradley’s breath to catch in his throat.
“You want some water or tea or something?” Colin asks, even as he’s already filling a kettle, scratching the back of his head a little awkwardly.
“Only if you’re making something,” Bradley replies, shooting him an appreciative look.
A heavy silence fills the room as Colin quietly prepares some tea for them. He must be wondering what Bradley’s doing here, and is well within his right to do so. Bradley has been acting madder lately than he ever has before, and that’s saying something. Considering the last conversation they had, Bradley’s grateful Colin didn’t send him back out into the rain straight away, and he is instantly grateful for Colin’s ceaseless patience and endless understanding.
“So, not that a late night visit isn’t appreciated,” Colin finally says, breaking the silence, and smiles despite the concern that is playing across his features. “But why are you here?”
He sets down a coffee mug filled with tea in front of Bradley, exactly how he likes it - of course Colin knows; he seems to know everything about Bradley - and takes a seat across the table from him, waiting expectantly.
For a second, Bradley blanches, again thinking this was all a terrible mistake. It’d seemed like a brilliant idea a few hours ago, but now? Now he’s certain it isn’t. But he knows exactly why he’s here, and considering the fact that he’s sat at Colin’s kitchen table, wearing his clothes and drinking his tea, the least he owes him is an explanation.
So before he can stop himself, Bradley blurts out the words, “I have more chemistry with you than I do with Angel.”
In all the numerous scenarios that had played through Bradley’s mind on his hour-long trudge through the rain about how he was going to start this conversation, he can honestly say that this never once factored into the equation.
Colin eyes Bradley as though he suspects Bradley might finally have stepped over the edge for good this time. “What are you on about?”
Since he’s feeling a bit like an idiot and would like a moment to recover, Bradley does the only logical thing he can think of, and takes a large gulp of his tea. Which is, of course, still quite hot, and he can feel the liquid burn as it slithers down his throat. He mentally adds this decision to his ‘Not Actually As Brilliant As I First Thought’ list, which has grown quite lengthy over the past several months.
“Bloody hell,” Bradley sputters, clutching at his neck. He shakes his head a few times as if that will do something to soothe the pain. It doesn’t.
“Did you forget that tea is hot?” Colin asks, voice a mixture of concern and gentle exasperation, even as he’s already on his feet, retrieving a glass of cool water for Bradley.
The water is gratefully accepted, and Bradley downs the entire cup in one go. “No, I’m just an idiot,” he says, offering a cautious smile in return.
“Clearly,” Colin replies, but he’s looking at Bradley with something resembling fondness, and it makes Bradley’s heart flip in his chest for a moment before he shoves the thought aside.
“Maybe we should go and sit in the living room instead?” Colin suggests with a shrug. “I have a feeling we might be here for a while, yeah?”
“Er, maybe,” Bradley says and follows Colin dumbly down the hall, tea still in hand even though he thinks his throat won’t be able to handle any more of it right now.
They each take a spot on opposite ends of the sofa, angled towards one another, and Bradley throws his left arm over the back of the sofa casually.
Setting his tea down on the end table, Bradley clears his throat and attempts to muster up the courage he needs to tell Colin everything he came here to tell him.
“So-” is as far as he gets before silence takes over again, and he feels a bit like a coward.
“So. You were saying something about chemistry?” Colin prompts when Bradley doesn’t say anything for several moments. He feels fingers brush against the back of his hand then, unsure if it is a tap or a caress (he’s probably projecting, he reminds himself), and Bradley’s gaze darts up, first to the spot where Colin’s touching his hand, then to Colin.
Almost instantly, Bradley feels his face warm, as if he were a schoolgirl with a crush, and he finds he can’t hold the gaze. It merely serves as yet another reminder that he is right and truly buggered. Subtlety has never been Bradley James’ strong suit, and for a second he wonders if Colin could figure out everything running through his mind without even having to utter one word.
Swallowing the lump of anxiety in his throat, Bradley forces himself to soldier on, hoping it will become easier once he actually starts talking.
“Um, yeah. Er, I suppose I should just start at the beginning,” Bradley says, purposefully picking out a spot on the sofa to focus his attention on, as looking at Colin for any length of time right now might be a bit more challenging than his tired and distracted brain can handle.
The beginning. Figuring that out will be a little on the tricky side, seeing as how everything sort of happened out of order. But he’s pretty sure he can trace the start back to the one night when the pieces began to slowly fall into place, even if he didn’t know at that time where it would lead him.
Four Months Earlier
It is the second Saturday in November, and Bradley has plans to get together with a couple of his mates from high school. They haven't seen one another in months now, due to the hectic filming schedule required while working on Merlin, and Bradley is glad for the opportunity to see them again. The third series wrapped up just over a month ago but Bradley has barely had any time to enjoy the break. Promotional events, interviews, visits home, and then catching a cold have taken up most of his time.
Everything was going fine for the last week until Bradley somehow managed to contract the stomach flu, or food poisoning - possibly both - the day prior, and his social plans aren’t looking too promising any longer.
Rolling over, Bradley blindly fumbles around his night table, trying and failing to locate his mobile. On the third try he manages to close fingers around the familiar device, and quickly punches in the number he’s been avoiding dialling all day. It’s still a few hours before they are supposed to meet up at a nearby pub, so that should give them enough time to make new plans, if need be.
Settling back against the pillows, Bradley waits for someone to answer, praying that the sudden churning in his stomach will hold off for a few minutes. The thought of racing to the loo while John hears him retching through the line isn’t an overly appealing one.
The phone is picked up on the fourth ring. “Bradley! About time I hear from your sorry arse. I was beginning to think you were going to cancel on us tonight.”
Even though this is very much not his fault, Bradley feels guilty anyway. “Actually, about tonight...”
“Shit, don’t tell me you are cancelling. Toby and I haven’t seen you in months, mate.”
Bradley sighs, swiping a hand down his face. “I know, and believe me, I’d rather not.” He proceeds to explain the situation, in graphic detail, until it begins to make his own stomach roil over again, and he decides it might be wise to prevent instead of encourage another run to the loo.
After John lays into him for being unnecessarily descriptive, he switches tactics and offers up an alternative suggestion. “Why don’t we just come over to your flat instead?”
There really is no arguing with logic like that. So that’s how, just over three hours later, Bradley winds up wrapped in a blanket on his sofa, looking slightly better than death warmed over, Toby and John making themselves comfortable while keeping a safe distance from him.
They spend the first hour chatting and catching up, Bradley enjoying the company of friends he’s spent far too little time with over the past couple of years, but it quickly becomes apparent that Bradley won’t last long in the state he’s currently in.
He makes one failed attempt at trying to convince them to watch Labyrinth. Bradley considers it his ‘feel good film’, perfect for taking away all manner of illness, but apparently his so-called friends don’t agree.
“Let’s just see what’s on the telly,” Toby suggests instead. Bradley pouts. They wouldn’t know a good movie if it kicked them in the arse. But he is too weak to fight them on this, so he reluctantly acquiesces.
Somehow they wind up watching the latter half of Strictly Come Dancing -- and Bradley’s not one to judge or anything, but he sort of thinks this is actually quite a lot worse than Labyrinth -- and it’s immediately clear that none of these celebrities can compare to the awesome power of David Bowie.
Bradley manages to watch the dances without heaving, which he considers to be a feat in the end. He realises then that Merlin is scheduled to air next, and makes to change the channel.
“Oi, mate! What are you doing?” Toby cries, reaching to snatch the remote from his weakened grasp.
“You don’t seriously want to watch this, do you?”
“Course we do, right, Johnny?”
John looks a bit surprised, but quickly recovers. “Sure. We want to see the reason you haven’t had time for us over the past eight months,” he adds with a laugh.
Bradley wants to argue, but in the end he decides it isn’t worth the effort, and they settle down to watch Merlin.
The episode is good, and it's one that Bradley hasn't seen yet. In fact, the only episodes of the series he's managed to watch thus far were the first two that were aired at the BFI screening in September, and the two others for which he provided commentary. Long hours and hectic days of filming multiple episodes at once have blurred the lines between the different scenes, so it's nice to actually see the episode in its final form.
Bradley has two thoughts almost instantly. The first is that Merlin is sad far too frequently for Bradley’s liking. It’s bad enough sitting through take after take after take of Colin crying while Bradley is lying on the ground and can’t do anything about it. But when he’s in tears almost every other episode, it just gets to be a bit much. This first scene happens to be one of Merlin’s more emotional moments, and Bradley has a sudden flashback of having to completely ignore him. Again.
The thought that immediately follows, though it isn’t expressly related, is just how much he actually misses everyone. It’s great to have a break from filming, but over the past three years, the cast and crew of Merlin have become like family, and seeing his co-stars on screen again makes Bradley wish they were there with him, all of a sudden.
Shaking his head, he returns his scattered thoughts to the episode on the screen. It doesn’t take long to get drawn into the plot, as it is one of the more intense episodes of the season, and even Toby and John seem to be enjoying themselves, if the random comments are any indication.
“You been working out, mate?” Toby teases, partway through. “Arthur seems to spend a lot of time shirtless.”
Bradley glances around for something to throw at him, but the only items he finds are either too lightweight to cause any damage, or too heavy to be considered safe. He settles on making a rude gesture instead, though it doesn’t quite bring the same level of satisfaction.
While this is one of the few episodes this series that has a strong focus on Arthur and Merlin, there is an important scene featuring Arthur and Gwen towards the latter half of the episode that helps to set up a plot point that will continue until the end of this series. While Bradley sometimes questions the way that the dynamic between them has been written - only in that it feels inconsistent at times, and that both he and Angel agree there is no need to rush this romance - he has to admit that he quite fancies the way this particular scene came out in the end.
Arthur has been injured after being knocked unconscious while out with Merlin - and really, Bradley thinks that there's only so much longer they can keep using that plot device before people start thinking the future king is suffering from a mental affliction of his own - and he is being tended to by Gwen in his chambers later that evening.
“This really isn’t necessary, Gwen,” Arthur says, watching her as she finishes cleaning the cut on the side of his head.
“I know,” she says with a smile, “but while you’re running around looking after everyone else, who’s looking after you?”
“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
A tiny smirk forms on Gwen’s lips. “Well, you might want to tell that to your head, sire,” she says, gesturing to his injury.
Arthur lifts a shoulder and stares at Gwen, a fond expression on his face. “Well, someone has to take care of Merlin. He’d walk himself off a cliff without noticing if I wasn’t around.”
Gwen places the cloth on Arthur’s table, turning back to face him. She chuckles softly, knowingly. “And this is just one of the many reasons why I know you will make a fantastic king someday. You don’t just rule the people, you care about them, too.”
They stare at one another in silence as the camera focuses on Arthur’s face. He is smiling gently, and it is filled with warmth and affection. “I may care about the people,” Arthur says, “but there are some who mean slightly more to me than others.” He shoots her a significant look, implication hanging in the air.
And then the shot changes as the camera pulls away, revealing Arthur, as he gazes affectionately at-
“Merlin?!”
Bradley’s eyes widen, mouth falling open of its own accord, and he wonders what the hell just happened.
The entire moment lasts no more than a few seconds, and as the shot cuts away once again, Arthur is standing across from Gwen as he always should have been. But it’s most definitely enough time for people to notice, and there is no doubt that they will notice.
John is the first of the three to speak again. “What was that?”
“I don't know...” Bradley shakes his head, at a complete loss.
“Why was Merlin there?” Toby asks.
That’s what Bradley would like to know. There’s something niggling at the back of his mind, something related to this particular scene, but he can’t quite grasp it.
“I wish I knew,” is all Bradley can think of to say. “But it looked like a different scene. Maybe they made an error when putting the final product together.”
He shrugs casually, hoping his friends will take his word for it, even as the words ring false in his own ears.
“Maybe it was a projection,” John suggests, gesturing between the television and Bradley, “implying that Arthur has other people on his mind than just Gwen?” The knowing glance he shoots Bradley is annoying enough, but when the arsehole starts to wiggle his eyebrows, he runs the risk of being punched instead. Even with the stomach-flu-slash-food-poisoning bringing down his normal strength and abilities, Bradley thinks he could still take John on if need be.
Toby blinks, as if he's entirely lost, confusion clear. “I thought Arthur was in love with Gwen.”
“He is,” Bradley says uncertainly.
“That's not what the internet thinks,” John adds, continuing to smile mischievously, like he knows a special secret that nobody else does.
If looks could kill, John would have died five times over already. Unfortunately, they can’t, much to Bradley’s chagrin. “Don’t you bloody start talking about that.”
“Why not? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“What are you two on about?” Toby interjects, still as lost as before.
John either doesn’t see or chooses to completely ignore the venomous warning glares coming from Bradley’s direction, though he suspects the latter to be true, the little wanker. “Seems like there are a lot of people online who think Arthur and Merlin are shagging.”
“No fucking way. You’re taking the piss,” Toby accuses, eyes widening dramatically.
“Why would I lie about that? Do you have any idea what pops up when you google ‘Merlin and Arthur’? Never mind what’s on the fan websites.”
“What’s there?” Toby sounds far too eager, which seems to only fuel John’s fire.
Warmth seeps up the back of Bradley’s neck, because he knows exactly what’s there and what some people think when they watch Arthur and Merlin interact, and it’s not really the sort of conversation he wants to be having with two of his best mates while he’s sick.
“Stories, pictures and conversations about Arthur and Merlin being in love and snogging and shagging, and things like that.” Their old English teacher would weep if he heard a sentence containing that many ‘and’s. In fact, Bradley sort of wants to cry right now too.
“Why the hell were you even online searching for information about Merlin in the first place?” Bradley jumps in before Toby can respond, hoping to salvage the conversation before it spirals completely out of control, though it’s nearly there already.
John shrugs, folding his arms across his chest. “I was bored one night so I decided to see what kind of things people were saying about you on the internet. Sure as hell didn’t expect what I found, I’ll tell you that much, mate.”
“I’m well aware,” is all Bradley says. He is grateful, then, for the stomach flu, which gives him a ready excuse, should anyone ask why he appears flushed.
Toby stares at them both, forehead crinkled, dumbfounded expression still plastered across his face. “So you mean to tell me that people think Arthur and Merlin are, like, gay? With each other?”
God, Toby is an idiot, Bradley can’t help but think. Thankfully he’s a loyal friend with a kind heart and a face that women seem to adore, because he sure doesn’t have a hell of a lot else going on for him.
“Yes. Some of the fans think that Merlin and Arthur are more than just friends,” Bradley explains, his tone distinctly long-suffering. “But that’s not true on the actual show.”
“Then what was that all about?” Toby gestures towards the TV, which is now displaying the ending credits. So much for finding out how the rest turns out, even though Bradley technically knows.
“Like I say, it was probably just an editing error in post-production. It happens all the time.”
It’s a lie. This has happened on occasion in the past, but this is by no means a frequent occurrence. And especially not with something quite this obvious. But Toby and John won’t know that. Besides, it wasn't anything inappropriate, but it's likely that the BBC will still be receiving a lot of calls anyway. Bradley doesn't permit his mind to contemplate how a certain subsection of their fanbase will, in all likelihood, explode over this whole mistake, while another may react the opposite way.
John raises an eyebrow sceptically. “That's quite the error,” he points out, and Bradley would like to smack him for being so bloody obnoxious this evening. Then again, perhaps he deserves it for being such a terrible friend, most of the time.
Nevertheless, Bradley is forced to agree. “Yes, well, what do you expect me to do about it?”
“Nothing. I’m just making a point.”
He’s not certain he even wants to know what that point is, and is thankful when Toby doesn’t ask for more details.
Miraculously, the conversation eventually manages to steer itself away from Merlin, the editing error, and the ‘gay debate’ - and Bradley is both amazed and eternally grateful that the topic managed to remain solely on Arthur and Merlin, never once drifting in another logical direction. Though Bradley quickly loses steam from that point on, exhaustion kicking in while his mind simultaneously remains focused elsewhere (though he’d rather not provide details).
Another hour and a half passes, and by that time, Bradley has all but passed out on the end of his sofa.
“I think we should probably go home,” John finally suggests, taking pity on Bradley’s sorry state. “You look beyond knackered.” No one disagrees.
Somehow Bradley manages to drag himself up off the sofa and see his friends out with the promise of going to the pub in a week or two, when he’s feeling rested and healthy again. Stumbling back to his bedroom, Bradley is barely able to shuck his jeans and t-shirt before nearly collapsing into his bed, and he is sound asleep by the time his head hits the pillow.
~*~
Sunlight streams through the curtains, filling the room with a warm glow, when Bradley finally opens his eyes, the last wisps of his dream floating away into oblivion as he regains consciousness.
The first thought dancing around at the forefront of his mind has to do with Colin, though it’s vague and unclear, and he chalks it up to memories of the editing error from last night’s episode of Merlin. Speaking of which, he resolves to give Colin a ring later to see what he thought of the whole thing.
Bradley takes several minutes to simply enjoy his lie in, and the fact that he hasn’t had to run to the loo to vomit since late yesterday afternoon. Eventually he climbs out of bed, padding across the room to the bathroom, stumbling into the shower. He takes a ridiculously long time, even for him, taking joy in the fact that he has no place to be today.
By the time he wanders into the kitchen nearly an hour later, his stomach - almost as if on cue - begins to growl, indicating for the first time in two days that it actually desires something that won’t immediately come right back up again.
Half an hour later, Bradley has managed to eat a bowl of soup and his stomach hasn’t protested once, so he considers the whole endeavour a relative success.
Bradley’s mum calls him on his mobile just as he finishes washing the dishes (and wouldn’t she be proud of him right now).
“Hello, Mum,” he says into the phone with a smile, wandering back into the bedroom.
“Hi, love, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. Even ate some soup today.”
“Isn’t it a bit early for that still, Bradley?”
He does his best not to roll his eyes, biting back the sarcastic remark he wants to make. No matter how old Bradley gets, his mum never seems to be able to stop mothering him. “I haven’t eaten real food in over two days. I was hungry. It’s fine, but thank you for your concern.”
Of course, she can’t quite let it go just like that, so Bradley endures a few more pointless questions and does his best to reassure her that he’s not going to die.
They talk about his sister and her latest shenanigans for a few minutes before she gets to the real reason she called, apparently. “So I was watching Merlin last night, and I noticed something interesting.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bradley settles back against the pillows in his bed, trying not to smile too much. It is the same thing every Sunday - his mother calls to tell him she saw him on the show, and to talk about whatever random thoughts she might have. He strongly suspects he knows what she’s going to say today, though.
“Yeah. I noticed partway through that you cut your hair.”
Bradley blinks. In all honesty, that was not what he’d been anticipating at all. In fact, he’s amazed she even noticed something that insignificant. He can’t remember if that’d even happened, but his mother has yet to be wrong about something like this, so he trusts that she’s probably correct in her assertion.
“Are you serious, Mum? Of all things to pay attention to, you noticed that my hair was trimmed?”
The shrug is almost audible through the phone line. “I can’t help that I pay attention to details about my baby.”
Bradley groans. “Mum, please don’t say things like that.”
“Why not? I know you’re a grown man, but that doesn’t make me any less proud of you, or any less of a mum.”
And really, what is he supposed to say to that?
They talk for a few more minutes, Bradley learning that she’d missed the last fifteen minutes of Merlin, and for some really odd reason, he feels relief, even though there is no logical reason for the reaction. When she finally hangs up, Bradley feels worn out again and considers taking another nap.
Instead, he makes his way over to his laptop, sinking into the desk chair and flipping open the cover. It doesn’t take long for Bradley to find a download link to the previous night’s episode, and after a moment’s hesitation, he clicks on it. He can’t seem to get that editing error out of his mind, and for some inexplicable reason, Bradley feels the need to re-watch it in order to figure out what scene was accidentally spliced into the original one.
While he waits for the download to finish, Bradley checks his e-mail, and finds that he has four. The first is from John, making sure he’s still alive and inviting him to a party tonight, if he’s up for it. Bradley closes the e-mail and moves onto the next, both of which happen to be junk mail. After deleting them, Bradley is pleasantly surprised to see an e-mail from none other than Colin.
To: bradleydotjames@gmail.co.uk
From: colin_i_morgan@gmail.co.uk
Subject: Hey!
Hey Bradley,
Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be in town next week. If you have some free time we should go to the pub or see a film or something. Let me know.
Colin
Bradley smiles to himself and immediately clicks the ‘reply’ button.
To: colin_i_morgan@gmail.co.uk
From: bradleydotjames@gmail.co.uk
Subject: Not very creative, Morgan.
Hey Col,
Are you asking me out? How very bold of you. My schedule these days is quite hectic, but I’m sure I can manage to squeeze you in somehow. Give me a ring when you get into town.
Looking forward to it,
Bradley
He stares at that last line for a few seconds before determining that it sounds a little too eager, and decides to delete it instead.
The download finishes, and Bradley opens up the episode on his laptop, scrolling through to the scene in question. He watches it twice before pausing right after the shot zooms away to reveal Merlin standing in Gwen’s place. Something is still bothering him about this scene, and he’s determined to figure out what episode this is from. Their positions in the room are almost exactly the same as Arthur and Gwen’s were, but that’s not entirely odd. A great number of scenes are filmed in Arthur’s chambers, and that doesn’t help narrow things down.
What does stand out, however, are the two goblets and a flower-filled vase resting on the table just behind Merlin’s arm. Those are props that are not regularly in Arthur’s chambers. In fact, Bradley is quite sure that they were only present for that particular episode. And the only other Arthur and Merlin scenes in this episode were outside of Arthur’s chambers. Which means that this scene must, in theory, be the same as the Arthur-Gwen one. But that doesn’t make any sense, and Bradley can’t figure out why they would’ve filmed the same scene twice but with different people, especially when it was written specifically for Gwen and Arthur.
He ponders this notion for quite a while, coming up with nothing. And then, Bradley remembers.
~*~
It is the last major scene to film for the day, but unlike Angel, Bradley needs to stick around to finish up a couple of night-time reshoots with Colin. He’s tired just thinking about it, as it’s been an exhausting week of shooting, both physically and mentally. The current scene is run only once before the director, Paul, puts a temporary halt to the shooting.
“Take five,” he says, rushing across the room without further explanation.
Bradley raises a brow, noticing in that moment that Angel is been carted off somewhere - probably to make-up or wardrobe or something, even though she seemed fine a moment before - and shrugs.
“We need to make some adjustments to the camera angles,” Paul announces, out of the blue a few minutes later.
He is about to go find something to drink, since this issue apparently isn’t about to be resolved in the next thirty seconds when he is stopped by someone yelling at him. “Stay in place, Bradley. We're making some changes to the camera angle and lighting, and we need you to hold your spot while we do that.” So he does as he's told.
Many boring minutes later, and Paul is grumbling at several people simultaneously about something that Bradley doesn’t particularly care all that much about. It’s at this time that Bradley notices Colin making his way onto the set, presumably finished with his own individual scenes for the day. He is about to call out to him, but apparently isn’t quick enough.
“Colin!” Paul gestures him over from the side of the room. “I need you to step in for Angel for a second.”
They share a bemused look, but Colin is ever the consummate professional, and he merely shrugs and makes his way over to Bradley, completely unfazed. Someone wrangles them into the proper positions and gives them firm instructions to stay put.
“Not that I'm complaining or anything,” Bradley says, loudly, to no one in particular, “but isn't there a bit of a height difference between Angel and Colin? If you're trying to adjust the cameras and all that, I mean.”
Nothing but silence meets his protest, and Colin, who seems to find this terribly amusing, snickers. “I think I could probably pass as Angel, yeah?”
Bradley scratches his chin with mock thoughtfulness. “Well, you're not quite as pretty-” His words are cut short by a shove to the shoulder.
“Ow! No rough-housing, Morgan. Sometimes the truth hurts.”
“Or you’re just a big baby,” Colin points out ever so helpfully, mischievous glint in his eyes.
Their argument is promptly interrupted by the director again. “Can you guys run the scene please?”
Colin blinks. Bradley snorts incredulously, turning to stare at Paul. “You do realise that Colin isn’t actually in this scene, right?”
“Yes. But do it anyway. We’re pressed for time.” He waves a dismissive hand at them. “Bradley, just say your lines, and Colin, ad-lib.”
And that is that, apparently. Paul moves with lightning speed back to the other side of the room and in less than a minute, he seems ready to begin.
Colin leans in close. “Should I be holding your hands?” he whispers teasingly.
“You wish,” Bradley says with a grin, poking him in the ribs for good measure. But then he remembers himself and takes a moment to get into the correct frame of mind, even if it is just a run through with the wrong person.
“Okay, take this seriously and we’ll get the test done in one shot,” Paul calls out. “And… action!”
“This isn’t really necessary, Gwen,” Bradley says, mentally trying to superimpose Angel’s face onto Colin’s, with little success.
“I’m quite certain it is,” Colin replies.
“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
“Yeah, no one except Merlin, that is.” Colin’s lips pull up into a tiny grin, and Bradley has to fight to keep from laughing.
By the time they finish the lines, Bradley is so absorbed in what he’s doing that he is almost surprised when he hears, “Cut! That was perfect, thanks.”
Funny how he'd forgotten about that, Bradley muses. So they’d recorded this little practice scene and it somehow ended up accidentally airing. Interesting… Very interesting.
~*~
The week ends up flying by - reviewing offers from his agent for a couple of projects in January, playing football with some of his mates, reading a book he’s had sitting, untouched, on his night stand for months - so much so that Bradley has almost entirely forgotten about the weird editing error from last week’s episode of Merlin. Friday is the only day this week he doesn’t have any definite plans, and decides that a lie in is in order. Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite happen, the shrill ring of his mobile jolting him awake at practically the crack of dawn. Even without the distinct ring tone Bradley has programmed into his phone, he knows there’s only one person who could be calling this early.
“Hello?” he mumbles sleepily into the phone, not even trying to pretend he was already awake.
‘’Lo, Bradley. Did I wake you up?” The sound of the familiar Irish brogue, full of genuine concern, unconsciously pulls Bradley’s mouth into a wide smile.
“Nah. I’m always up before the sun rises,” he jokes, yawning into the back of his hand and reaching over to flick on the bedside lamp. The light is nearly blinding. Bradley quickly shields his face with an arm.
“It’s not that early. But I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Sorry.”
“Not a problem. What can I do for you?”
“Just wanted to let you know I’ll be in London on Sunday. I’ll be sticking around for a week or two. I promised a friend I’d help out with a stage production he’s putting on, so it’s hard to say right now how long he’ll need me.”
Bradley’s ears perk up at ’a week or two’. “Where are you staying?”
Colin shrugs. Not that he can see it, but sometimes Bradley just knows these things. “Some expensive hotel, since most of the rest are full, it would seem.”
The words are out of his mouth before he even has time to process them. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can stay with me.”
“Nah, I couldn't impose on you like that, Bradley.”
“It's not an imposition. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you to.”
“Yeah, but I'm messy and I wake up early. I can't put you out for more than a week.”
Bradley eyes the state of his flat and bites back a laugh. From the looks of things, that shouldn’t be a problem. “You are not messy, Colin. I've seen your hotel room. I'm the one you should be concerned about.”
There is a lengthy pause, and Bradley can almost hear Colin's mind changing. “What about the hotel reservations?”
“Cancel them. You shouldn't be charged if you give them two days’ notice, right?”
“I suppose not,” he says, reluctantly, and then, “but you only have one bed.”
This time, Bradley does laugh. “I can sleep on the sofa.”
“That can't be comfortable.”
“It's fine. In fact, when I first moved in I didn't even have a bed. Had to sleep on it for more than two weeks before my bed finally arrived. It was great!” And okay, so maybe it's a slight exaggeration - he'd only slept there for five or six days, at most, and it certainly wasn't the best night's sleep he'd ever had. But Bradley won't stand for Colin staying at a hotel and paying money when he could just as easily spend the week at Bradley's flat instead. Colin is the most courteous person Bradley's ever met, and he knows there won't be any issues with them rooming together. Plus, he has to admit that he's been feeling a bit lonely as of late. It'll be nice to have some company again, and it doesn't hurt that said company happens to be one of his best mates.
“Well, I don't know...”
“Colin.” He is using his 'imploring' voice. It usually works well on unsuspecting victims, and particularly so with Colin, though he has yet to do research to determine why that is. Katie often refers to it as his 'whining' voice instead, but she’s really a demon in disguise - of this, Bradley is entirely convinced; he has a large collection of evidence to support the claim - so there is little weight given to anything she has to say on the matter anyway.
A long-suffering sigh filters through the line, and that is all the confirmation Bradley needs to know that he's won this battle.
“As long as you’re sure,” Colin says finally.
“I definitely am,” he says, full of barely concealed excitement. Bradley has spent the vast majority of the past year with Colin and yet he can’t help but look forward to seeing him again. “Now, tell me what time your train arrives Sunday.”
~*~
On Saturday evening, Bradley has nothing better to do, so he decides to watch Merlin again. He considers it a wise decision, especially given the colossal error from last week’s episode.
Everything is fine, at first - nothing out of the ordinary - and Bradley finds himself relaxing. Not a thing to worry about this week. But then that all changes as the episode nears the end. Often Bradley isn’t all that fascinated by the throne room scenes, but he thinks that something occurs in this one that is important for the future of Arthur and Merlin’s friendship, and he can’t help but want to pay attention.
Uther and Arthur are discussing the result of a recent battle, in front of some members of the council. Arthur is outlining what happened and how he and Merlin managed to escape.
It’s obvious that Arthur is watching someone across the room, the way his eyes continually drift away from Uther. Bradley knows that Arthur is watching Merlin, because he happened to be there at the time, but the audience is still none the wiser. The scene progresses, and by the end of it, Arthur’s lips pull up into a small smile as he’s still staring across the room. Bradley is suddenly filled with the intense desire to find out who Arthur is eyeing, even though he knows, and he feels silly for getting so caught up in his own show.
And then, Bradley receives his second consecutive surprise while watching the show. Arthur is still smiling in a way that looks almost private when the shot cuts away to the opposite end of the room. But instead of cutting to Merlin, the camera cuts straight away to Gwen. Who, during the filming, wasn’t even standing near Merlin, though the audience wouldn’t know that from the way it was filmed.
But Bradley is thoroughly confused, yet again. He knows with absolute certainty that he’d been watching Colin the whole time, as he’d been directed. It didn’t even really make sense in context of the scene to cut to Gwen, and yet that’s exactly what’d happened. This isn’t something that Bradley would normally even pay attention to, but after last week’s obvious error, he finds he can’t help but pay a bit more attention than usual, and for good reason, it would seem.
Of course, it’s equally possible that he’s simply remembering wrong and jumping to ridiculous conclusions. After a while he decides that he’s probably over-reacting and chooses to forget about the whole thing. It’s not really that important, after all.
Besides, Bradley has more pressing things to think about. Namely, the arrival of his guest the following day, and what he’s going to need to do in preparation.
~*~
Bradley wakes up early Sunday morning with two main goals in mind. The first is to clean his flat from top to bottom so that it can be presentable for Colin. Which is not to say that he lives in utter filth - his mother raised him better than that - but it's been far too long since he's done any sort of thorough clean, and now seems as good a time as any to accomplish that task.
It takes more than two and a half hours, but Bradley is feeling pleased with himself when he finally finishes cleaning, and rightfully so. He's vacuumed, dusted, swept, mopped, cleaned every inch of the bathroom, done the laundry, and even emptied out the spoiled food in the fridge. He flops back onto the bed with an exhausted sigh - which he's made, by the way, for the first time in close to a month - throwing one arm over his eyes while the other flings a rag haphazardly across the room into the dirty laundry basket.
He permits himself ten minutes to rest before setting out to accomplish goal number two: grocery shopping. Bradley’s fridge isn’t exactly equipped for the likes of a vegetarian - and one who’s highly allergic to everything delicious, if you ask him - so he’s made a list of some of the things he hopes will be all right for Colin to eat. Bradley hasn’t exactly kept track of every little thing that Colin likes (or won’t eat), but he knows his allergies at least, so that should logically be a decent place to start.
By the time he returns from the Tesco, it’s nearly time to pick up Colin. After putting away the food and double-checking the train schedule one last time, Bradley heads out to retrieve his house guest.
The station is busy, which is not much of a surprise, and Bradley just hopes that Colin remembers not to take a taxi, that Bradley was planning on picking him up. It would appear that his train arrived just after Bradley did.
He keeps his eyes peeled for his lanky, dark-haired friend amidst the crowds, wondering if a large ’Colin Morgan’ sign might have been a smart idea. Of course, then it would’ve drawn a great deal of attention to the two of them, and Bradley’s quite sure Colin wouldn’t appreciate that too much.
A minute later, Bradley spots him, and is filled with unexpected relief, and a little bit of excitement. As Bradley pushes through the crowd - because he doesn’t think Colin’s actually seen him yet - he briefly contemplates how to greet him. It is not a new debate. Bradley is very physically affectionate with his family and friends; he always has been. But Colin is a little more reserved, only touching Bradley to get his attention or if he gets really worked up about something. The first time they’d reunited after working together on series one, Bradley had enveloped Colin in a bear hug. Colin had patted his back awkwardly until Bradley finally pulled away, smiling in his typical tolerant manner, but it was obvious hugs weren’t really Colin’s thing.
“Colin! Col!” Bradley calls out, waving his hands back and forth without particularly caring that he looks like a fool.
It takes a second or two, but it becomes obvious when Colin notices him finally, waving back as they continue to make their way towards one another.
There are a few options actually. He could hug Colin anyway, and blame it on the excitement of seeing him again. Except Bradley had tried that last time without much success, so perhaps it isn’t the best plan. He could shake Colin’s hand, but that just seems too bloody formal. Besides, Bradley doesn’t greet his mates like that. Then there’s always the tried, test and true method of a firm clap or punch to the shoulder, but that idea isn’t overly appealing to Bradley either. It feels too… Arthur-ish. Not Bradley James-like at all.
“Hey, Bradley,” Colin says, interrupting his thought process as they finally come face to face for the first time in nearly six weeks. It feels both like an eternity and no time at all has passed, if that’s possible.
They stare at each other for several silent seconds, smiling widely, and just when Bradley decides he’s going to go for the manly half-hug, consequences be damned, Colin does something that throws Bradley completely for a loop. He wraps his arms around Bradley and pulls him in for a hug. A real hug, one arm around his waist and the other across his shoulders. Bradley is so surprised that he forgets to react for a moment, but he rectifies it as quickly as possible. This might be the only time Colin is initiating a hug between them, and he’s determined to take advantage of it.
The whole thing ends rather quickly, and when they pull apart it’s possible that Bradley might be grinning like an idiot, because he kind of adores Colin far too much for his own good, but Colin doesn’t seem to care, so neither does Bradley.
Wrapping an arm around Colin’s shoulders - and he’s incredibly grateful when Colin doesn’t shove him off - Bradley steers them towards the car park. “So, how was your trip?”
---------------
Continue to part two
Author: Mel (accordingtomel)
Summary: When an editing error accidentally makes it on the air, Bradley is forced to take a step back and re-evaluate his relationship with his co-star.
Pairings: Bradley James/Colin Morgan
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 48,484
Disclaimer: This is all a figment of my overly active imagination and is 100% fictitious. No offense is intended to anyone in the fic or to anyone reading. The boys belong to themselves only (even if I like to play around sometimes).
Author’s Note: This is a repost from the kinkme_merlin prompt here. It’s back, parts slightly rewritten, and has now been betaed by the wonderful adelagia and Brit-picked by the fantastic ellasphere. Thank you both so very much for looking at this monster for me! *hugs* I also need to thank everyone for all their kind comments and support over on the meme. It was so greatly appreciated! You’re all amazing! :) Also, apparently I am incapable of writing anything even remotely short any longer. Concrit always welcome and appreciated!
It’s a Little Bit Funny (This Feeling Inside)
To be honest, Bradley is not entirely sure when this all happened, how he somehow ends up standing outside Colin’s flat at one o’clock in the morning, drenched from head to toe from the thunderstorm raging outside. The image - this entire scenario - is so utterly cliché that Bradley almost wants to laugh.
But he doesn’t laugh, because there’s probably only so much madness Colin Morgan can handle at any given time from Bradley, and he thinks he’s already gone far past his quota in the last few weeks. Everyone has their limits, after all.
Several moments pass after he rings the buzzer, and then several more, before Bradley starts to think this was a bloody fucking stupid idea. It’s a Friday night, so either Colin got sick of sitting around the flat by himself and is out somewhere with friends, or he’s sleeping, and Bradley’s just gone and woken him up. Neither option leaves Bradley feeling very good. He shakes his head in frustration, making the decision to leave, just get the hell out of here as fast as he can and save whatever face he has left, but he is stopped in his tracks as the door pulls open to reveal an extremely puzzled-looking, and very much awake, Colin.
A single eyebrow arches high on his forehead. “Bradley?” He squints, and then adds, “How did you get into the building?
Bradley shoots him a sheepish smile. “I, uh, snuck in with some bloke. From the fifth floor, I think. He was too pissed to even notice me.”
“Glad to know this place has such good security.”
“Yeah, you might want to talk to someone about that,” Bradley jokes, playing absently with the frayed cuff of his sweatshirt.
Colin’s other eyebrow joins the first, and he graces Bradley with a hesitant smirk himself before gesturing towards Bradley’s hapless appearance. “What happened to you? Why are you all wet?”
“Would you believe I’ve been walking in the rain for the past hour?”
A thoughtful look passes over Colin’s face, like he truly doesn’t even know what to make of Bradley sometimes, but he moves away from the doorway finally to allow Bradley to step over the threshold. “If you were anyone else, I might not. But I can honestly say that there’s not much you could do to surprise me any longer.”
Just you wait until you hear what I have to say, Bradley thinks, but he doesn’t voice it. Instead, he presses the door closed behind him and toes off his trainers awkwardly. He’s trying not to drip water everywhere, but it’s sort of difficult, what with him being rain-soaked and all.
“Uh, mate, do you think...?”
But Colin is already one step ahead of him, retreating down the hall even before the words have left Bradley’s mouth, and returning a couple of minutes later. “Here. Dry yourself off. You can put on the clothes at the end of my bed,” Colin says as he hands a towel to Bradley.
Bradley accepts the towel and attempts to mop up as much water as he can before hurriedly making his way to Colin’s room and snatching the spare clothes from the end of his bed. Once Bradley is changed and significantly drier, he joins Colin in the kitchen, trying very hard not to think about the fact that he is wearing Colin’s clothing. It has his scent - all musky with faint hints of his eco-friendly detergent - and it causes Bradley’s breath to catch in his throat.
“You want some water or tea or something?” Colin asks, even as he’s already filling a kettle, scratching the back of his head a little awkwardly.
“Only if you’re making something,” Bradley replies, shooting him an appreciative look.
A heavy silence fills the room as Colin quietly prepares some tea for them. He must be wondering what Bradley’s doing here, and is well within his right to do so. Bradley has been acting madder lately than he ever has before, and that’s saying something. Considering the last conversation they had, Bradley’s grateful Colin didn’t send him back out into the rain straight away, and he is instantly grateful for Colin’s ceaseless patience and endless understanding.
“So, not that a late night visit isn’t appreciated,” Colin finally says, breaking the silence, and smiles despite the concern that is playing across his features. “But why are you here?”
He sets down a coffee mug filled with tea in front of Bradley, exactly how he likes it - of course Colin knows; he seems to know everything about Bradley - and takes a seat across the table from him, waiting expectantly.
For a second, Bradley blanches, again thinking this was all a terrible mistake. It’d seemed like a brilliant idea a few hours ago, but now? Now he’s certain it isn’t. But he knows exactly why he’s here, and considering the fact that he’s sat at Colin’s kitchen table, wearing his clothes and drinking his tea, the least he owes him is an explanation.
So before he can stop himself, Bradley blurts out the words, “I have more chemistry with you than I do with Angel.”
In all the numerous scenarios that had played through Bradley’s mind on his hour-long trudge through the rain about how he was going to start this conversation, he can honestly say that this never once factored into the equation.
Colin eyes Bradley as though he suspects Bradley might finally have stepped over the edge for good this time. “What are you on about?”
Since he’s feeling a bit like an idiot and would like a moment to recover, Bradley does the only logical thing he can think of, and takes a large gulp of his tea. Which is, of course, still quite hot, and he can feel the liquid burn as it slithers down his throat. He mentally adds this decision to his ‘Not Actually As Brilliant As I First Thought’ list, which has grown quite lengthy over the past several months.
“Bloody hell,” Bradley sputters, clutching at his neck. He shakes his head a few times as if that will do something to soothe the pain. It doesn’t.
“Did you forget that tea is hot?” Colin asks, voice a mixture of concern and gentle exasperation, even as he’s already on his feet, retrieving a glass of cool water for Bradley.
The water is gratefully accepted, and Bradley downs the entire cup in one go. “No, I’m just an idiot,” he says, offering a cautious smile in return.
“Clearly,” Colin replies, but he’s looking at Bradley with something resembling fondness, and it makes Bradley’s heart flip in his chest for a moment before he shoves the thought aside.
“Maybe we should go and sit in the living room instead?” Colin suggests with a shrug. “I have a feeling we might be here for a while, yeah?”
“Er, maybe,” Bradley says and follows Colin dumbly down the hall, tea still in hand even though he thinks his throat won’t be able to handle any more of it right now.
They each take a spot on opposite ends of the sofa, angled towards one another, and Bradley throws his left arm over the back of the sofa casually.
Setting his tea down on the end table, Bradley clears his throat and attempts to muster up the courage he needs to tell Colin everything he came here to tell him.
“So-” is as far as he gets before silence takes over again, and he feels a bit like a coward.
“So. You were saying something about chemistry?” Colin prompts when Bradley doesn’t say anything for several moments. He feels fingers brush against the back of his hand then, unsure if it is a tap or a caress (he’s probably projecting, he reminds himself), and Bradley’s gaze darts up, first to the spot where Colin’s touching his hand, then to Colin.
Almost instantly, Bradley feels his face warm, as if he were a schoolgirl with a crush, and he finds he can’t hold the gaze. It merely serves as yet another reminder that he is right and truly buggered. Subtlety has never been Bradley James’ strong suit, and for a second he wonders if Colin could figure out everything running through his mind without even having to utter one word.
Swallowing the lump of anxiety in his throat, Bradley forces himself to soldier on, hoping it will become easier once he actually starts talking.
“Um, yeah. Er, I suppose I should just start at the beginning,” Bradley says, purposefully picking out a spot on the sofa to focus his attention on, as looking at Colin for any length of time right now might be a bit more challenging than his tired and distracted brain can handle.
The beginning. Figuring that out will be a little on the tricky side, seeing as how everything sort of happened out of order. But he’s pretty sure he can trace the start back to the one night when the pieces began to slowly fall into place, even if he didn’t know at that time where it would lead him.
Four Months Earlier
It is the second Saturday in November, and Bradley has plans to get together with a couple of his mates from high school. They haven't seen one another in months now, due to the hectic filming schedule required while working on Merlin, and Bradley is glad for the opportunity to see them again. The third series wrapped up just over a month ago but Bradley has barely had any time to enjoy the break. Promotional events, interviews, visits home, and then catching a cold have taken up most of his time.
Everything was going fine for the last week until Bradley somehow managed to contract the stomach flu, or food poisoning - possibly both - the day prior, and his social plans aren’t looking too promising any longer.
Rolling over, Bradley blindly fumbles around his night table, trying and failing to locate his mobile. On the third try he manages to close fingers around the familiar device, and quickly punches in the number he’s been avoiding dialling all day. It’s still a few hours before they are supposed to meet up at a nearby pub, so that should give them enough time to make new plans, if need be.
Settling back against the pillows, Bradley waits for someone to answer, praying that the sudden churning in his stomach will hold off for a few minutes. The thought of racing to the loo while John hears him retching through the line isn’t an overly appealing one.
The phone is picked up on the fourth ring. “Bradley! About time I hear from your sorry arse. I was beginning to think you were going to cancel on us tonight.”
Even though this is very much not his fault, Bradley feels guilty anyway. “Actually, about tonight...”
“Shit, don’t tell me you are cancelling. Toby and I haven’t seen you in months, mate.”
Bradley sighs, swiping a hand down his face. “I know, and believe me, I’d rather not.” He proceeds to explain the situation, in graphic detail, until it begins to make his own stomach roil over again, and he decides it might be wise to prevent instead of encourage another run to the loo.
After John lays into him for being unnecessarily descriptive, he switches tactics and offers up an alternative suggestion. “Why don’t we just come over to your flat instead?”
There really is no arguing with logic like that. So that’s how, just over three hours later, Bradley winds up wrapped in a blanket on his sofa, looking slightly better than death warmed over, Toby and John making themselves comfortable while keeping a safe distance from him.
They spend the first hour chatting and catching up, Bradley enjoying the company of friends he’s spent far too little time with over the past couple of years, but it quickly becomes apparent that Bradley won’t last long in the state he’s currently in.
He makes one failed attempt at trying to convince them to watch Labyrinth. Bradley considers it his ‘feel good film’, perfect for taking away all manner of illness, but apparently his so-called friends don’t agree.
“Let’s just see what’s on the telly,” Toby suggests instead. Bradley pouts. They wouldn’t know a good movie if it kicked them in the arse. But he is too weak to fight them on this, so he reluctantly acquiesces.
Somehow they wind up watching the latter half of Strictly Come Dancing -- and Bradley’s not one to judge or anything, but he sort of thinks this is actually quite a lot worse than Labyrinth -- and it’s immediately clear that none of these celebrities can compare to the awesome power of David Bowie.
Bradley manages to watch the dances without heaving, which he considers to be a feat in the end. He realises then that Merlin is scheduled to air next, and makes to change the channel.
“Oi, mate! What are you doing?” Toby cries, reaching to snatch the remote from his weakened grasp.
“You don’t seriously want to watch this, do you?”
“Course we do, right, Johnny?”
John looks a bit surprised, but quickly recovers. “Sure. We want to see the reason you haven’t had time for us over the past eight months,” he adds with a laugh.
Bradley wants to argue, but in the end he decides it isn’t worth the effort, and they settle down to watch Merlin.
The episode is good, and it's one that Bradley hasn't seen yet. In fact, the only episodes of the series he's managed to watch thus far were the first two that were aired at the BFI screening in September, and the two others for which he provided commentary. Long hours and hectic days of filming multiple episodes at once have blurred the lines between the different scenes, so it's nice to actually see the episode in its final form.
Bradley has two thoughts almost instantly. The first is that Merlin is sad far too frequently for Bradley’s liking. It’s bad enough sitting through take after take after take of Colin crying while Bradley is lying on the ground and can’t do anything about it. But when he’s in tears almost every other episode, it just gets to be a bit much. This first scene happens to be one of Merlin’s more emotional moments, and Bradley has a sudden flashback of having to completely ignore him. Again.
The thought that immediately follows, though it isn’t expressly related, is just how much he actually misses everyone. It’s great to have a break from filming, but over the past three years, the cast and crew of Merlin have become like family, and seeing his co-stars on screen again makes Bradley wish they were there with him, all of a sudden.
Shaking his head, he returns his scattered thoughts to the episode on the screen. It doesn’t take long to get drawn into the plot, as it is one of the more intense episodes of the season, and even Toby and John seem to be enjoying themselves, if the random comments are any indication.
“You been working out, mate?” Toby teases, partway through. “Arthur seems to spend a lot of time shirtless.”
Bradley glances around for something to throw at him, but the only items he finds are either too lightweight to cause any damage, or too heavy to be considered safe. He settles on making a rude gesture instead, though it doesn’t quite bring the same level of satisfaction.
While this is one of the few episodes this series that has a strong focus on Arthur and Merlin, there is an important scene featuring Arthur and Gwen towards the latter half of the episode that helps to set up a plot point that will continue until the end of this series. While Bradley sometimes questions the way that the dynamic between them has been written - only in that it feels inconsistent at times, and that both he and Angel agree there is no need to rush this romance - he has to admit that he quite fancies the way this particular scene came out in the end.
Arthur has been injured after being knocked unconscious while out with Merlin - and really, Bradley thinks that there's only so much longer they can keep using that plot device before people start thinking the future king is suffering from a mental affliction of his own - and he is being tended to by Gwen in his chambers later that evening.
“This really isn’t necessary, Gwen,” Arthur says, watching her as she finishes cleaning the cut on the side of his head.
“I know,” she says with a smile, “but while you’re running around looking after everyone else, who’s looking after you?”
“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
A tiny smirk forms on Gwen’s lips. “Well, you might want to tell that to your head, sire,” she says, gesturing to his injury.
Arthur lifts a shoulder and stares at Gwen, a fond expression on his face. “Well, someone has to take care of Merlin. He’d walk himself off a cliff without noticing if I wasn’t around.”
Gwen places the cloth on Arthur’s table, turning back to face him. She chuckles softly, knowingly. “And this is just one of the many reasons why I know you will make a fantastic king someday. You don’t just rule the people, you care about them, too.”
They stare at one another in silence as the camera focuses on Arthur’s face. He is smiling gently, and it is filled with warmth and affection. “I may care about the people,” Arthur says, “but there are some who mean slightly more to me than others.” He shoots her a significant look, implication hanging in the air.
And then the shot changes as the camera pulls away, revealing Arthur, as he gazes affectionately at-
“Merlin?!”
Bradley’s eyes widen, mouth falling open of its own accord, and he wonders what the hell just happened.
The entire moment lasts no more than a few seconds, and as the shot cuts away once again, Arthur is standing across from Gwen as he always should have been. But it’s most definitely enough time for people to notice, and there is no doubt that they will notice.
John is the first of the three to speak again. “What was that?”
“I don't know...” Bradley shakes his head, at a complete loss.
“Why was Merlin there?” Toby asks.
That’s what Bradley would like to know. There’s something niggling at the back of his mind, something related to this particular scene, but he can’t quite grasp it.
“I wish I knew,” is all Bradley can think of to say. “But it looked like a different scene. Maybe they made an error when putting the final product together.”
He shrugs casually, hoping his friends will take his word for it, even as the words ring false in his own ears.
“Maybe it was a projection,” John suggests, gesturing between the television and Bradley, “implying that Arthur has other people on his mind than just Gwen?” The knowing glance he shoots Bradley is annoying enough, but when the arsehole starts to wiggle his eyebrows, he runs the risk of being punched instead. Even with the stomach-flu-slash-food-poisoning bringing down his normal strength and abilities, Bradley thinks he could still take John on if need be.
Toby blinks, as if he's entirely lost, confusion clear. “I thought Arthur was in love with Gwen.”
“He is,” Bradley says uncertainly.
“That's not what the internet thinks,” John adds, continuing to smile mischievously, like he knows a special secret that nobody else does.
If looks could kill, John would have died five times over already. Unfortunately, they can’t, much to Bradley’s chagrin. “Don’t you bloody start talking about that.”
“Why not? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“What are you two on about?” Toby interjects, still as lost as before.
John either doesn’t see or chooses to completely ignore the venomous warning glares coming from Bradley’s direction, though he suspects the latter to be true, the little wanker. “Seems like there are a lot of people online who think Arthur and Merlin are shagging.”
“No fucking way. You’re taking the piss,” Toby accuses, eyes widening dramatically.
“Why would I lie about that? Do you have any idea what pops up when you google ‘Merlin and Arthur’? Never mind what’s on the fan websites.”
“What’s there?” Toby sounds far too eager, which seems to only fuel John’s fire.
Warmth seeps up the back of Bradley’s neck, because he knows exactly what’s there and what some people think when they watch Arthur and Merlin interact, and it’s not really the sort of conversation he wants to be having with two of his best mates while he’s sick.
“Stories, pictures and conversations about Arthur and Merlin being in love and snogging and shagging, and things like that.” Their old English teacher would weep if he heard a sentence containing that many ‘and’s. In fact, Bradley sort of wants to cry right now too.
“Why the hell were you even online searching for information about Merlin in the first place?” Bradley jumps in before Toby can respond, hoping to salvage the conversation before it spirals completely out of control, though it’s nearly there already.
John shrugs, folding his arms across his chest. “I was bored one night so I decided to see what kind of things people were saying about you on the internet. Sure as hell didn’t expect what I found, I’ll tell you that much, mate.”
“I’m well aware,” is all Bradley says. He is grateful, then, for the stomach flu, which gives him a ready excuse, should anyone ask why he appears flushed.
Toby stares at them both, forehead crinkled, dumbfounded expression still plastered across his face. “So you mean to tell me that people think Arthur and Merlin are, like, gay? With each other?”
God, Toby is an idiot, Bradley can’t help but think. Thankfully he’s a loyal friend with a kind heart and a face that women seem to adore, because he sure doesn’t have a hell of a lot else going on for him.
“Yes. Some of the fans think that Merlin and Arthur are more than just friends,” Bradley explains, his tone distinctly long-suffering. “But that’s not true on the actual show.”
“Then what was that all about?” Toby gestures towards the TV, which is now displaying the ending credits. So much for finding out how the rest turns out, even though Bradley technically knows.
“Like I say, it was probably just an editing error in post-production. It happens all the time.”
It’s a lie. This has happened on occasion in the past, but this is by no means a frequent occurrence. And especially not with something quite this obvious. But Toby and John won’t know that. Besides, it wasn't anything inappropriate, but it's likely that the BBC will still be receiving a lot of calls anyway. Bradley doesn't permit his mind to contemplate how a certain subsection of their fanbase will, in all likelihood, explode over this whole mistake, while another may react the opposite way.
John raises an eyebrow sceptically. “That's quite the error,” he points out, and Bradley would like to smack him for being so bloody obnoxious this evening. Then again, perhaps he deserves it for being such a terrible friend, most of the time.
Nevertheless, Bradley is forced to agree. “Yes, well, what do you expect me to do about it?”
“Nothing. I’m just making a point.”
He’s not certain he even wants to know what that point is, and is thankful when Toby doesn’t ask for more details.
Miraculously, the conversation eventually manages to steer itself away from Merlin, the editing error, and the ‘gay debate’ - and Bradley is both amazed and eternally grateful that the topic managed to remain solely on Arthur and Merlin, never once drifting in another logical direction. Though Bradley quickly loses steam from that point on, exhaustion kicking in while his mind simultaneously remains focused elsewhere (though he’d rather not provide details).
Another hour and a half passes, and by that time, Bradley has all but passed out on the end of his sofa.
“I think we should probably go home,” John finally suggests, taking pity on Bradley’s sorry state. “You look beyond knackered.” No one disagrees.
Somehow Bradley manages to drag himself up off the sofa and see his friends out with the promise of going to the pub in a week or two, when he’s feeling rested and healthy again. Stumbling back to his bedroom, Bradley is barely able to shuck his jeans and t-shirt before nearly collapsing into his bed, and he is sound asleep by the time his head hits the pillow.
~*~
Sunlight streams through the curtains, filling the room with a warm glow, when Bradley finally opens his eyes, the last wisps of his dream floating away into oblivion as he regains consciousness.
The first thought dancing around at the forefront of his mind has to do with Colin, though it’s vague and unclear, and he chalks it up to memories of the editing error from last night’s episode of Merlin. Speaking of which, he resolves to give Colin a ring later to see what he thought of the whole thing.
Bradley takes several minutes to simply enjoy his lie in, and the fact that he hasn’t had to run to the loo to vomit since late yesterday afternoon. Eventually he climbs out of bed, padding across the room to the bathroom, stumbling into the shower. He takes a ridiculously long time, even for him, taking joy in the fact that he has no place to be today.
By the time he wanders into the kitchen nearly an hour later, his stomach - almost as if on cue - begins to growl, indicating for the first time in two days that it actually desires something that won’t immediately come right back up again.
Half an hour later, Bradley has managed to eat a bowl of soup and his stomach hasn’t protested once, so he considers the whole endeavour a relative success.
Bradley’s mum calls him on his mobile just as he finishes washing the dishes (and wouldn’t she be proud of him right now).
“Hello, Mum,” he says into the phone with a smile, wandering back into the bedroom.
“Hi, love, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. Even ate some soup today.”
“Isn’t it a bit early for that still, Bradley?”
He does his best not to roll his eyes, biting back the sarcastic remark he wants to make. No matter how old Bradley gets, his mum never seems to be able to stop mothering him. “I haven’t eaten real food in over two days. I was hungry. It’s fine, but thank you for your concern.”
Of course, she can’t quite let it go just like that, so Bradley endures a few more pointless questions and does his best to reassure her that he’s not going to die.
They talk about his sister and her latest shenanigans for a few minutes before she gets to the real reason she called, apparently. “So I was watching Merlin last night, and I noticed something interesting.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bradley settles back against the pillows in his bed, trying not to smile too much. It is the same thing every Sunday - his mother calls to tell him she saw him on the show, and to talk about whatever random thoughts she might have. He strongly suspects he knows what she’s going to say today, though.
“Yeah. I noticed partway through that you cut your hair.”
Bradley blinks. In all honesty, that was not what he’d been anticipating at all. In fact, he’s amazed she even noticed something that insignificant. He can’t remember if that’d even happened, but his mother has yet to be wrong about something like this, so he trusts that she’s probably correct in her assertion.
“Are you serious, Mum? Of all things to pay attention to, you noticed that my hair was trimmed?”
The shrug is almost audible through the phone line. “I can’t help that I pay attention to details about my baby.”
Bradley groans. “Mum, please don’t say things like that.”
“Why not? I know you’re a grown man, but that doesn’t make me any less proud of you, or any less of a mum.”
And really, what is he supposed to say to that?
They talk for a few more minutes, Bradley learning that she’d missed the last fifteen minutes of Merlin, and for some really odd reason, he feels relief, even though there is no logical reason for the reaction. When she finally hangs up, Bradley feels worn out again and considers taking another nap.
Instead, he makes his way over to his laptop, sinking into the desk chair and flipping open the cover. It doesn’t take long for Bradley to find a download link to the previous night’s episode, and after a moment’s hesitation, he clicks on it. He can’t seem to get that editing error out of his mind, and for some inexplicable reason, Bradley feels the need to re-watch it in order to figure out what scene was accidentally spliced into the original one.
While he waits for the download to finish, Bradley checks his e-mail, and finds that he has four. The first is from John, making sure he’s still alive and inviting him to a party tonight, if he’s up for it. Bradley closes the e-mail and moves onto the next, both of which happen to be junk mail. After deleting them, Bradley is pleasantly surprised to see an e-mail from none other than Colin.
To: bradleydotjames@gmail.co.uk
From: colin_i_morgan@gmail.co.uk
Subject: Hey!
Hey Bradley,
Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be in town next week. If you have some free time we should go to the pub or see a film or something. Let me know.
Colin
Bradley smiles to himself and immediately clicks the ‘reply’ button.
To: colin_i_morgan@gmail.co.uk
From: bradleydotjames@gmail.co.uk
Subject: Not very creative, Morgan.
Hey Col,
Are you asking me out? How very bold of you. My schedule these days is quite hectic, but I’m sure I can manage to squeeze you in somehow. Give me a ring when you get into town.
Looking forward to it,
Bradley
He stares at that last line for a few seconds before determining that it sounds a little too eager, and decides to delete it instead.
The download finishes, and Bradley opens up the episode on his laptop, scrolling through to the scene in question. He watches it twice before pausing right after the shot zooms away to reveal Merlin standing in Gwen’s place. Something is still bothering him about this scene, and he’s determined to figure out what episode this is from. Their positions in the room are almost exactly the same as Arthur and Gwen’s were, but that’s not entirely odd. A great number of scenes are filmed in Arthur’s chambers, and that doesn’t help narrow things down.
What does stand out, however, are the two goblets and a flower-filled vase resting on the table just behind Merlin’s arm. Those are props that are not regularly in Arthur’s chambers. In fact, Bradley is quite sure that they were only present for that particular episode. And the only other Arthur and Merlin scenes in this episode were outside of Arthur’s chambers. Which means that this scene must, in theory, be the same as the Arthur-Gwen one. But that doesn’t make any sense, and Bradley can’t figure out why they would’ve filmed the same scene twice but with different people, especially when it was written specifically for Gwen and Arthur.
He ponders this notion for quite a while, coming up with nothing. And then, Bradley remembers.
~*~
It is the last major scene to film for the day, but unlike Angel, Bradley needs to stick around to finish up a couple of night-time reshoots with Colin. He’s tired just thinking about it, as it’s been an exhausting week of shooting, both physically and mentally. The current scene is run only once before the director, Paul, puts a temporary halt to the shooting.
“Take five,” he says, rushing across the room without further explanation.
Bradley raises a brow, noticing in that moment that Angel is been carted off somewhere - probably to make-up or wardrobe or something, even though she seemed fine a moment before - and shrugs.
“We need to make some adjustments to the camera angles,” Paul announces, out of the blue a few minutes later.
He is about to go find something to drink, since this issue apparently isn’t about to be resolved in the next thirty seconds when he is stopped by someone yelling at him. “Stay in place, Bradley. We're making some changes to the camera angle and lighting, and we need you to hold your spot while we do that.” So he does as he's told.
Many boring minutes later, and Paul is grumbling at several people simultaneously about something that Bradley doesn’t particularly care all that much about. It’s at this time that Bradley notices Colin making his way onto the set, presumably finished with his own individual scenes for the day. He is about to call out to him, but apparently isn’t quick enough.
“Colin!” Paul gestures him over from the side of the room. “I need you to step in for Angel for a second.”
They share a bemused look, but Colin is ever the consummate professional, and he merely shrugs and makes his way over to Bradley, completely unfazed. Someone wrangles them into the proper positions and gives them firm instructions to stay put.
“Not that I'm complaining or anything,” Bradley says, loudly, to no one in particular, “but isn't there a bit of a height difference between Angel and Colin? If you're trying to adjust the cameras and all that, I mean.”
Nothing but silence meets his protest, and Colin, who seems to find this terribly amusing, snickers. “I think I could probably pass as Angel, yeah?”
Bradley scratches his chin with mock thoughtfulness. “Well, you're not quite as pretty-” His words are cut short by a shove to the shoulder.
“Ow! No rough-housing, Morgan. Sometimes the truth hurts.”
“Or you’re just a big baby,” Colin points out ever so helpfully, mischievous glint in his eyes.
Their argument is promptly interrupted by the director again. “Can you guys run the scene please?”
Colin blinks. Bradley snorts incredulously, turning to stare at Paul. “You do realise that Colin isn’t actually in this scene, right?”
“Yes. But do it anyway. We’re pressed for time.” He waves a dismissive hand at them. “Bradley, just say your lines, and Colin, ad-lib.”
And that is that, apparently. Paul moves with lightning speed back to the other side of the room and in less than a minute, he seems ready to begin.
Colin leans in close. “Should I be holding your hands?” he whispers teasingly.
“You wish,” Bradley says with a grin, poking him in the ribs for good measure. But then he remembers himself and takes a moment to get into the correct frame of mind, even if it is just a run through with the wrong person.
“Okay, take this seriously and we’ll get the test done in one shot,” Paul calls out. “And… action!”
“This isn’t really necessary, Gwen,” Bradley says, mentally trying to superimpose Angel’s face onto Colin’s, with little success.
“I’m quite certain it is,” Colin replies.
“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
“Yeah, no one except Merlin, that is.” Colin’s lips pull up into a tiny grin, and Bradley has to fight to keep from laughing.
By the time they finish the lines, Bradley is so absorbed in what he’s doing that he is almost surprised when he hears, “Cut! That was perfect, thanks.”
Funny how he'd forgotten about that, Bradley muses. So they’d recorded this little practice scene and it somehow ended up accidentally airing. Interesting… Very interesting.
~*~
The week ends up flying by - reviewing offers from his agent for a couple of projects in January, playing football with some of his mates, reading a book he’s had sitting, untouched, on his night stand for months - so much so that Bradley has almost entirely forgotten about the weird editing error from last week’s episode of Merlin. Friday is the only day this week he doesn’t have any definite plans, and decides that a lie in is in order. Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite happen, the shrill ring of his mobile jolting him awake at practically the crack of dawn. Even without the distinct ring tone Bradley has programmed into his phone, he knows there’s only one person who could be calling this early.
“Hello?” he mumbles sleepily into the phone, not even trying to pretend he was already awake.
‘’Lo, Bradley. Did I wake you up?” The sound of the familiar Irish brogue, full of genuine concern, unconsciously pulls Bradley’s mouth into a wide smile.
“Nah. I’m always up before the sun rises,” he jokes, yawning into the back of his hand and reaching over to flick on the bedside lamp. The light is nearly blinding. Bradley quickly shields his face with an arm.
“It’s not that early. But I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Sorry.”
“Not a problem. What can I do for you?”
“Just wanted to let you know I’ll be in London on Sunday. I’ll be sticking around for a week or two. I promised a friend I’d help out with a stage production he’s putting on, so it’s hard to say right now how long he’ll need me.”
Bradley’s ears perk up at ’a week or two’. “Where are you staying?”
Colin shrugs. Not that he can see it, but sometimes Bradley just knows these things. “Some expensive hotel, since most of the rest are full, it would seem.”
The words are out of his mouth before he even has time to process them. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can stay with me.”
“Nah, I couldn't impose on you like that, Bradley.”
“It's not an imposition. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you to.”
“Yeah, but I'm messy and I wake up early. I can't put you out for more than a week.”
Bradley eyes the state of his flat and bites back a laugh. From the looks of things, that shouldn’t be a problem. “You are not messy, Colin. I've seen your hotel room. I'm the one you should be concerned about.”
There is a lengthy pause, and Bradley can almost hear Colin's mind changing. “What about the hotel reservations?”
“Cancel them. You shouldn't be charged if you give them two days’ notice, right?”
“I suppose not,” he says, reluctantly, and then, “but you only have one bed.”
This time, Bradley does laugh. “I can sleep on the sofa.”
“That can't be comfortable.”
“It's fine. In fact, when I first moved in I didn't even have a bed. Had to sleep on it for more than two weeks before my bed finally arrived. It was great!” And okay, so maybe it's a slight exaggeration - he'd only slept there for five or six days, at most, and it certainly wasn't the best night's sleep he'd ever had. But Bradley won't stand for Colin staying at a hotel and paying money when he could just as easily spend the week at Bradley's flat instead. Colin is the most courteous person Bradley's ever met, and he knows there won't be any issues with them rooming together. Plus, he has to admit that he's been feeling a bit lonely as of late. It'll be nice to have some company again, and it doesn't hurt that said company happens to be one of his best mates.
“Well, I don't know...”
“Colin.” He is using his 'imploring' voice. It usually works well on unsuspecting victims, and particularly so with Colin, though he has yet to do research to determine why that is. Katie often refers to it as his 'whining' voice instead, but she’s really a demon in disguise - of this, Bradley is entirely convinced; he has a large collection of evidence to support the claim - so there is little weight given to anything she has to say on the matter anyway.
A long-suffering sigh filters through the line, and that is all the confirmation Bradley needs to know that he's won this battle.
“As long as you’re sure,” Colin says finally.
“I definitely am,” he says, full of barely concealed excitement. Bradley has spent the vast majority of the past year with Colin and yet he can’t help but look forward to seeing him again. “Now, tell me what time your train arrives Sunday.”
~*~
On Saturday evening, Bradley has nothing better to do, so he decides to watch Merlin again. He considers it a wise decision, especially given the colossal error from last week’s episode.
Everything is fine, at first - nothing out of the ordinary - and Bradley finds himself relaxing. Not a thing to worry about this week. But then that all changes as the episode nears the end. Often Bradley isn’t all that fascinated by the throne room scenes, but he thinks that something occurs in this one that is important for the future of Arthur and Merlin’s friendship, and he can’t help but want to pay attention.
Uther and Arthur are discussing the result of a recent battle, in front of some members of the council. Arthur is outlining what happened and how he and Merlin managed to escape.
It’s obvious that Arthur is watching someone across the room, the way his eyes continually drift away from Uther. Bradley knows that Arthur is watching Merlin, because he happened to be there at the time, but the audience is still none the wiser. The scene progresses, and by the end of it, Arthur’s lips pull up into a small smile as he’s still staring across the room. Bradley is suddenly filled with the intense desire to find out who Arthur is eyeing, even though he knows, and he feels silly for getting so caught up in his own show.
And then, Bradley receives his second consecutive surprise while watching the show. Arthur is still smiling in a way that looks almost private when the shot cuts away to the opposite end of the room. But instead of cutting to Merlin, the camera cuts straight away to Gwen. Who, during the filming, wasn’t even standing near Merlin, though the audience wouldn’t know that from the way it was filmed.
But Bradley is thoroughly confused, yet again. He knows with absolute certainty that he’d been watching Colin the whole time, as he’d been directed. It didn’t even really make sense in context of the scene to cut to Gwen, and yet that’s exactly what’d happened. This isn’t something that Bradley would normally even pay attention to, but after last week’s obvious error, he finds he can’t help but pay a bit more attention than usual, and for good reason, it would seem.
Of course, it’s equally possible that he’s simply remembering wrong and jumping to ridiculous conclusions. After a while he decides that he’s probably over-reacting and chooses to forget about the whole thing. It’s not really that important, after all.
Besides, Bradley has more pressing things to think about. Namely, the arrival of his guest the following day, and what he’s going to need to do in preparation.
~*~
Bradley wakes up early Sunday morning with two main goals in mind. The first is to clean his flat from top to bottom so that it can be presentable for Colin. Which is not to say that he lives in utter filth - his mother raised him better than that - but it's been far too long since he's done any sort of thorough clean, and now seems as good a time as any to accomplish that task.
It takes more than two and a half hours, but Bradley is feeling pleased with himself when he finally finishes cleaning, and rightfully so. He's vacuumed, dusted, swept, mopped, cleaned every inch of the bathroom, done the laundry, and even emptied out the spoiled food in the fridge. He flops back onto the bed with an exhausted sigh - which he's made, by the way, for the first time in close to a month - throwing one arm over his eyes while the other flings a rag haphazardly across the room into the dirty laundry basket.
He permits himself ten minutes to rest before setting out to accomplish goal number two: grocery shopping. Bradley’s fridge isn’t exactly equipped for the likes of a vegetarian - and one who’s highly allergic to everything delicious, if you ask him - so he’s made a list of some of the things he hopes will be all right for Colin to eat. Bradley hasn’t exactly kept track of every little thing that Colin likes (or won’t eat), but he knows his allergies at least, so that should logically be a decent place to start.
By the time he returns from the Tesco, it’s nearly time to pick up Colin. After putting away the food and double-checking the train schedule one last time, Bradley heads out to retrieve his house guest.
The station is busy, which is not much of a surprise, and Bradley just hopes that Colin remembers not to take a taxi, that Bradley was planning on picking him up. It would appear that his train arrived just after Bradley did.
He keeps his eyes peeled for his lanky, dark-haired friend amidst the crowds, wondering if a large ’Colin Morgan’ sign might have been a smart idea. Of course, then it would’ve drawn a great deal of attention to the two of them, and Bradley’s quite sure Colin wouldn’t appreciate that too much.
A minute later, Bradley spots him, and is filled with unexpected relief, and a little bit of excitement. As Bradley pushes through the crowd - because he doesn’t think Colin’s actually seen him yet - he briefly contemplates how to greet him. It is not a new debate. Bradley is very physically affectionate with his family and friends; he always has been. But Colin is a little more reserved, only touching Bradley to get his attention or if he gets really worked up about something. The first time they’d reunited after working together on series one, Bradley had enveloped Colin in a bear hug. Colin had patted his back awkwardly until Bradley finally pulled away, smiling in his typical tolerant manner, but it was obvious hugs weren’t really Colin’s thing.
“Colin! Col!” Bradley calls out, waving his hands back and forth without particularly caring that he looks like a fool.
It takes a second or two, but it becomes obvious when Colin notices him finally, waving back as they continue to make their way towards one another.
There are a few options actually. He could hug Colin anyway, and blame it on the excitement of seeing him again. Except Bradley had tried that last time without much success, so perhaps it isn’t the best plan. He could shake Colin’s hand, but that just seems too bloody formal. Besides, Bradley doesn’t greet his mates like that. Then there’s always the tried, test and true method of a firm clap or punch to the shoulder, but that idea isn’t overly appealing to Bradley either. It feels too… Arthur-ish. Not Bradley James-like at all.
“Hey, Bradley,” Colin says, interrupting his thought process as they finally come face to face for the first time in nearly six weeks. It feels both like an eternity and no time at all has passed, if that’s possible.
They stare at each other for several silent seconds, smiling widely, and just when Bradley decides he’s going to go for the manly half-hug, consequences be damned, Colin does something that throws Bradley completely for a loop. He wraps his arms around Bradley and pulls him in for a hug. A real hug, one arm around his waist and the other across his shoulders. Bradley is so surprised that he forgets to react for a moment, but he rectifies it as quickly as possible. This might be the only time Colin is initiating a hug between them, and he’s determined to take advantage of it.
The whole thing ends rather quickly, and when they pull apart it’s possible that Bradley might be grinning like an idiot, because he kind of adores Colin far too much for his own good, but Colin doesn’t seem to care, so neither does Bradley.
Wrapping an arm around Colin’s shoulders - and he’s incredibly grateful when Colin doesn’t shove him off - Bradley steers them towards the car park. “So, how was your trip?”
---------------
Continue to part two