Fic: An Army Of Fortune
By: 
girlsofthenight
Title: An Army Of Fortune
Rating/Warnings: FLUFF, FLUFF: So none.
Pairing: Colin/Bradley
Summary: Colin, Bradley, Angel and Katie play a particularly stupid version of spin-the-bottle which, de facto, isn't spin the bottle at all.
Disclaimer: No characters are mine. They are based on real people but this never ever happened. I do not know them and I don't mean to offend anyone. This is pure fiction.
Note: This is not betaed but I'd like it to be. If anyone would like to offer their services after reading, I'd appreciate that. Very much so. (My gratitude would know no boundaries, tbh.)
Colin pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands, his fingers playing absentmindedly with the fabric, and took one long frowning look at the rain droplets gliding down the windowpane. Outside of Katie’s hotel room the world was drowning.
Like a sour old man hovered the sky over their little french village; grey and unforgiving, pouring down on them relentlessly. As it was the way with such weather dismal thoughts were never short behind, lurking in every corner, eager to ambush unsuspecting victims.
It was therefore no surprise to Colin that he found himself, together with Angel and Bradley, huddled up in Katie’s hotel room in the unspoken, agreed on attempt to fight off every touch of melancholy.
All four of them sat cross-legged on something that must have been a grey carpet once; facing each other while playing a particularly stupid version of spin the bottle; Katie’s version of spin the bottle, which truth be told, wasn’t really spin-the-bottle at all.
It was Colin’s turn. Basically, all he had to do was to spin the bottle and ask the person at who the bottle pointed at a question. The person could answer as long or as short as they liked but everyone was allowed to chime in at any time anyway. Katie had invented the game back when they were still shooting Series One; Several weeks of intense shooting had gone by during which they had had almost no free time to themselves and all their talking had been reduced to working related topics during lunch break. They had needed a break then; to separate themselves from their characters and to refresh their knowledge on what their own relationships with each other were all about. So now, whenever shooting got particularly heavy, Katie threw a spin the bottle party and if Colin was quite honest he thought it genius.
He grabbed the empty soda bottle they were using and spun. The plastic made a rubbing noise against the carpet while slowing down and eventually stopped, pointing in the general direction of Bradley, who, after rearranging the unlucky furniture that was in his way, had propped himself against the now empty wall, clad in his most comfortable and worn-out sweatpants.
When Bradley saw that the bottle pointed at him, he raised his eyebrows at Colin, expecting some super stupid question no doubt.
“What's, erm, what's been your favourite part of shooting this week?” Colin supplied happily; not really able to make something funny up at the moment. They were still getting warm after all.
“Blimey Morgan,” replied Bradley dryly. “Your questions are by far the most boring questions ever. I sincerely hope you don’t cherish any illusions towards that particular aspect of your life. Some might even call it hopeless.”
“Hopeless, yeah alright." said Colin, "Still bullying me, although I am merely the messenger.”
“Oh, are we playing innocent again now, Colin? Ooohh, Colin, no it is not his fault. It's Bradley’s fault. Bradley is the stupid one. Ooh, Colin.”
All Colin replied with, was a smile as if butter could melt in his mouth but the treacherous cheeky laugh glistened, no doubt, in the corners of his eyes. Bradley’s fake-bullying still made him laugh.
“Yeah, Colin” said Bradley in mock indignation. “You are merely a moron, Morgan. You are Morgan the merely moron!”
“Jeez Jolly-James,” huffed Katie impatiently. She was leaning against the foot of her bed, a shawl which Bradley had lovingly named “the bath towel of doom” slung around her shoulders and a pair of ridiculously colourful woollen socks put over her feet. “Just answer the bloody question.”
“Yes, answer the bloody question Jolly-James,” chipped Angel in. She was sitting on something somewhat resembling a pillow throne, gleefully wiggling her toes. “Jolly-James jeopardizes joy!”
“Why are you on his side, now?” exasperated Bradley in a high-pitched voice, pointing at Colin.
“Because, Bradley,” said Katie. “You just cannot not choose Colin, can you? Just look at him!”
They all turned to look at Colin who had plastered his sweetest smile on his face and blinked his long eyelashes guilelessly at Bradley, supressing a laugh. Sometimes Colin thought to himself that he enjoyed their good-natured banter just a tad too much. It was probably the other side of the professionalism he displayed by day.
“Shall I repeat that question or have you, erm, got it?” he asked Bradley, still feigning innocence.
“Yeah, yeah I’ve got it, alright. And the best part about yesterday’s shooting was clearly you being chased by bandits again, having to be saved by me again!”
“Oh.” said Colin frowning; completely serious now while overthinking Bradley’s answer. “Was it?”
“Was it not?” asked Bradley without missing a beat. He never failed to pick up on Colin’s mood swings that were, to most people, elusive at best. People just didn’t know that Colin sometimes followed a train of thought and ended up only voicing part of it, often leaving people feel confused or uncomfortable. He had gotten much - much - better at preventing those moments but he would never forget that first year, in which Bradley had had to save him during almost every Interview they had given by unnoticeably explaining Colin’s mumble or reacting to it in a way that made people actually understand what Colin had said in retrospect. Bradley’s infamous “Myself and Colin” existed for a reason. It had helped Colin to not feel so awkward - Awkward for other people at that. He knew who he was after all; but people were always so keen on being normal that his “otherness” often caught them off-guard. Not so much since he had become an actor and even less since he had become “Merlin”, though. He shrugged those thoughts away, focusing on their conversation instead.
“Well, you did shoot with Richard, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” said Bradley, his whole face lightening up at the memory, raising himself up. “The scene with Richard was pretty awesome. It’s been only two- or something like that- scenes that I had with him alone. In four years. Unimaginable! So, yeah, you’re right, Cols, that was great.”
“Uhm,” said Colin, trying to impersonate what he thought, a fourteen year old stoner must sound like. “It was pretty dope, wasn’t it?”
“Jahahaha!” laughed Bradley his really infectious laugh. “It was the bomb!”
Colin laughed, rocking forth, eyes crinkled. Bradley threw his head back.
“I miss Richard,” said Katie with a sad pout. “He was my personal potions master…”
“Ohh,” crooned Angel, and empathically patted Katie’s feet that poked dangerously in the side of her throne, causing it to wobble.
“Well, Morgana,” said Bradley teasingly, flashing Katie one of his “well-aren’t-you-stupid”-grins that saw the corners of his lips get thin and twitch upwards. “You should have thought about that before you changed your wardrobe. Gaius is a very fashionable man, and those Goth-clothes and that badly applied Make-Up of yours might’ve strained your relationship a little.”
“So Bradley,” shot Katie back, ignoring him effortlessly. “If you had to choose, what would you lose: Your arm or your leg?”
“Arm, no doubt.” answered Bradley, deadpan. “I can still wield a sword with one hand but I couldn’t run for my life without a leg, so there you go.”
Katie snorted.
“Clearly, one of the important questions in life: Whether you can still wield a sword or not after losing a limb.”
Angel snickered, wobbling in unison with her throne and Bradley said, mimicking Katie: “Oohh, I am Morgana, if I have to choose between leg and arm, I will choose my leg, because I am a witch and I can fly and I need both my hands anyway, for making ridiculous knots in my hair to make it look as … as ridiculous as I can!”
Bradley had mockingly waved his hands in the face of disaster. Katie glared, raising one eyebrow as if to say “poor-Bradley-you-are-clearly-demented-so-I’ll-let-that-one-go….for once”.
“Angel could also give up her leg,” said Colin feeling a grin tucking at his lips at that stupid game, “I mean she’s Queen now. She doesn’t need legs. She could just order people to carry her around in a palanquin and Arthur won’t mind because he loves her anyway. Oh, how he loves her”!
“Yes!” exclaimed Angel happily from her pillow throne that she, only by wonder, hadn’t fallen off yet. “The Queen. That is me!”
“Well Cols, you don’t need to worry. You could just lose whatever.” said Bradley and Katie nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement.
“Because,” she said, “you are MER-lin!”
Her impersonation of Bradley was so bad that all four of them started to laugh really hard, not able to stop for some time, and Angel did fall off of her pillow throne then.
“That was awful Katie!” managed Colin to say and she laughed and affectionately gave him a shove.
Then it was her turn and the rest of the night continued just as it had started. Angel had asked Colin what his take on frogs in general was; Bradley had wanted to know what the funniest thing was Richard had ever said to Colin and whether Angel enjoyed showing her cleavage much. Katie had also ordered Bradley to characterize Eoin in five sentences and thrown more than just one pillow at Bradley’s head and Colin had also almost died of choking since he had tried to not spit his drink all over the other three when Bradley had made an extra lame joke that had Colin gasp for air just when he had been about to take an extra-large swig.
It was probably around 3 am and the rain still hadn’t stopped. Katie had her head lazily propped on one side of Angel’s pillow throne and Angel was lying half on it; the other half was sprawled over Bradley’s lap. Bradley was sleepily resting against the wall and Colin had snuck up his knees to his chest, sitting straight in order to not doze off.
“So, Colin,” yawned Angel (whose turn it was). “What would you say? Who is your favourite person in the world?”
Colin opened his mouth to answer, when Katie interrupted, holding up one finger. ”Apart, from your family.”
Colin closed his mouth again and said: “Define favourite.”
“Favourite, as in…-” Angel stopped mid-sentence; clearly she hadn’t been thinking it through.
“Come to think of it, it is rather a stupid question.” she said after a while
.
Katie used a hand to wave that thought away and said: “It is only stupid if you wanted to know who, for example, Colin would miss the most or something like that. That would be a stupid question to answer. You would always miss everyone, like, whoever would be gone, you would miss them. If I would be gone, he would miss me and if you were gone, he would miss you… To that question, there would be not one answer…”
Angel nodded and impalpably crinkled her forehead because she clearly didn’t know where Katie was heading.
“But,” said Katie “I know how you could define that question without making it stupid and actually answerable…if that is even a word.”
“Hear, hear.” said Bradley suddenly who had closed his eyes half an hour ago and not said a word since.
“So Colin.” said Katie thereupon, suddenly very serious. She even sat up making sure to look him straight in the eye.
Colin nodded gravely not taking this too serious at all, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to answer that question anyway. There was no such thing as a “favourite person”. Everyone you loved, you loved for different reasons, everyone having something the others didn’t and everyone equally important in their own way. But he wasn’t going to ruin Katie’s fun just yet.
“So close your eyes Colin.” ordered Katie solemn and very sober.
Colin did as he was told, but not before flashing Angel and Bradley, who were now watching curious and seemed definitely more awake than just minutes ago, an amused grin.
He breathed in deeply and comfortably rested his hands in his lap.
“Now clear your mind.” continued Katie with an awful impersonation of what she must thought a fortune-teller sounded like. The four of them giggled at that but it didn’t break the mood.
“So, Colin. When I say “favourite person”, I don’t mean the person you share the most with or the person you laugh the most with. Not the person you talk to the most or the person that you have the most honest and loving relationship with. And obviously not the person you like… like the most. That would be stupid.”
“Obviously.” Said Bradley dryly causing Colin to snort but he managed to not open his eyes.
“I feel,” Colin said, “like you’re doing that somewhat backwards there Katie.”
Now it was Bradley’s time to snort.
“Oh be quiet, I am trying to get it right here. Now think about the one person in your life, Colin, you wouldn’t be you without them. I don’t mean a person that shaped you or said something to impress you. No. I mean someone, who, through their sheer presence, makes you, you, the way you want to be, because they reflect your personality in a way you are not able to yourself. The way they react to the things you say or do makes you like yourself more. Through their eyes you feel completely like you are you and if you meet new people with them, you just love it, because you know those people will get to know the real you because you are always you with that person. It is a person you feel absolutely calm and right with. If you are with them you actually don’t think about who you are, because they show you. Everything you do with them is absolutely right because it is always you. It is simply the person that makes you, you in a way that if they were gone, would take a part of you with them. Take me, for example, I know you love me, but I also know that when I would be gone you would still be you, Colin. But with that person, you are you. And without them you just-“, Katie hesitated and then finished simply, “-aren’t.”
Colin was glad his eyes were still firmly closed as it was hard enough to breathe properly right now. His head felt lightheaded and his palms were covered in cold sweat, because he knew the answer. He knew the answer. And he hadn’t known the answer before because he had never asked himself that question. He hadn’t known there was such a question to begin with.
Colin opened his eyes slowly, meeting Katie’s gaze who was facing him, her face calm and open, her green eyes sparkling.
Colin swallowed and then, not braking eye contact with Katie started to smile. He felt so certain.
Katie smiled back and when she spoke, she did so very quiet. ”So Colin, who is it? Who is you favourite person, your favourite person, in the world?”
Colin registered in the corner of his eye that Angel and Bradley sat up straightening themselves, watching him in suspense and Colin couldn’t help but smile even wider and then he said, without hesitation or uncertainty, the one name that made absolutely perfect sense. His favourite person in the world was -
“Bradley.”
It wasn’t a love declaration or revelation of any sort. It was simply the truth and Colin suspected that everyone had already known that much anyway. He already did call Bradley his best friend but he had never thought about what that actually meant. He just hadn’t and he was so glad that thanks to Katie now he had, because surely one should know such a thing. He should know that he wouldn’t be Colin without Bradley. Not fully.
Yeah, he really should.
Before he could voice these thoughts, before actually anyone could do anything at all there was a muffled groan and then Colin was tackled to the ground, swept up in two strong arms. Limbs were flying and Bradley was everywhere, completely surrounding him and Colin couldn’t help but laugh, laugh and laugh.
Bradley tucked Colin so close to him, Colin almost couldn’t breathe but he nevertheless wrapped his arms around Bradley in response and squeezed back as tightly as he could.
Katie and Angel laughed happily behind them but Bradley dismissively waved a hand at them without raising his head out of Colin’s neck, where it was buried, and in another movement managed to pull himself and Colin into a sitting position, the knees of Colin’s cross-legged legs resting on Bradley’s, as close as possible, Bradleys arms big and strong over Colin’s shoulders holding on firm, while Colin had one arm around Bradley’s waist and the other across his back, holding onto Bradley’s shoulder. Without losing a second Bradley grabbed the “bath-towel-of-doom” from the floor, where Katie had left it and pulled it over his and Colin’s head in an attempt of giving them a little privacy but at the same time not minding Katie’s and Angel’s presence at all. They were Angel and Katie after all. Family.
Colin’s laugh had subsided into quiet happy chortles but Bradley muffled against his neck, against his hair, against his ear. ”Shut up Morgan. It’s my turn.”
Colin didn’t stop but Bradley made no move to say anything anyway and so they just sat there in silence, sharing their breath and body heat and pretty much all of their personal space and Colin knew he should feel uncomfortable, but he didn’t so he didn’t care. The shawl over their heads filtered the light of the room, dimming it, leaving them in a half-dark.
Colin’s heart was pounding heavily and he concentrated solely on listening to their shared breaths. The grin on his face hurt his cheeks but he was so very very content to sit here with Bradley, knowing that he was that person; that person that, without him trying, without him doing anything in particular, everything made absolute sense with.
When Colin eventually felt the need for Bradley to say something, he simply raised one finger from where it was holding onto Bradley’s broad shoulder and poked him gently in the cheek, eliciting a grumble but it had the desired effect because Bradley finally, finally raised his head; Very slowly at that.
They loosened their grips on each other, albeit grudgingly so, and only to allow them enough space to actually look at each other, and when Colin met Bradley’s gaze he couldn’t help but grin so wide it hurt, because now he could see why Bradley had refused to look up. Tears were standing in his blue eyes that caught Colin’s unreadable.
Bradley looked embarrassed; not in a self-conscious way but in a “oh-shut-up Morgan- don’t-be-so-smug-as-if-you-didn’t-know-I-cared” way, and a genuine smile was tugging at the corner of his lips.
Colin could almost envision their following conversation. Bradley saying: “That wasn’t fair, Cols.”
And Colin answering. “It was Katie not me.”
And Bradley nodding and adding jokingly. ”But you know I will never let you hear the end of it, you sappy man. Because now I know I am your favourite and nothing is ever going to stop me. You should have really considered that Morgan. Irresponsible fella.”
And Colin, playing along, faking shock, would say: “Stupid me, but I lied anyways just to test you.”
And Bradley would start an annoying sing-sang, going: I am your favourite. I am your favourite!
And Colin would laugh and shove him away and everything would be fine.
Well, it wasn’t what happened.
Bradley simply missed the moment to fall back into their old habit of banter and thus left them staring at each other unguarded instead.
Colin thought once more that he should really feel uncomfortable now, but he still didn’t, so he still didn’t care.
Bradley cocked his head to one side, making the shawl above their heads rustle and said with his deep voice: “That is that than Cols. Proving you are just as stupid as me.”
Colin shrugged unfazed and Bradley snorted. “You do know,” he said, piercing Colin with his eyes, to make sure he understood. ”That you are my favourite person, too, right?”
Colin nodded and answered nonchalantly:” Yeah, I fathomed.”
Bradley broke out in laughter, throwing his head back and simultaneously pulling Colin back into his arms so that Colin’s head rested against his chest. Colin simply fisted his hand in Bradley’s shirt, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling Bradley’s painfully familiar scent.
Colin felt how Bradley nuzzled his nose against his hair and thought that this moment wasn’t awkward or sappy at all. It was just warm. And also it was pretty much them.
Bradley’s breath against his head was even, his arms around him reassuring, his big hands, playing with his hood, trusted and his heart, pounding in his chest just were Colin’s head rested, alive. Bradley was very real.
Eventually, Colin pulled back. Not because he wanted to or because he felt embarrassed or awkward but because he thought it didn’t matter. He knew now that he was Colin and that Bradley was Bradley and that together they were Colin and Bradley and that was never ever going to change.
Bradley grinned and nodded, letting go of Colin without really doing so. He pulled the shawl from their heads and they turned to Katie and Angel.
Katie and Angel were both leaning against the pillow throne once more, speaking in hushed voices but the moment they noticed Bradley and Colin were back with them, they turned to smile at them and Angel said: “Gosh, I am going to miss this,” she waved around helplessly.” You. All of it.”
And they all nodded and just sat there grinning stupidly at each other, because what better moment was there to be true and just a little bit emotional, than four o’clock in the morning on their last week of shooting? Really?
Not one of them noticed that the rain had stopped.
girlsofthenight
Title: An Army Of Fortune
Rating/Warnings: FLUFF, FLUFF: So none.
Pairing: Colin/Bradley
Summary: Colin, Bradley, Angel and Katie play a particularly stupid version of spin-the-bottle which, de facto, isn't spin the bottle at all.
Disclaimer: No characters are mine. They are based on real people but this never ever happened. I do not know them and I don't mean to offend anyone. This is pure fiction.
Note: This is not betaed but I'd like it to be. If anyone would like to offer their services after reading, I'd appreciate that. Very much so. (My gratitude would know no boundaries, tbh.)
Click to viewColin pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands, his fingers playing absentmindedly with the fabric, and took one long frowning look at the rain droplets gliding down the windowpane. Outside of Katie’s hotel room the world was drowning.
Like a sour old man hovered the sky over their little french village; grey and unforgiving, pouring down on them relentlessly. As it was the way with such weather dismal thoughts were never short behind, lurking in every corner, eager to ambush unsuspecting victims.
It was therefore no surprise to Colin that he found himself, together with Angel and Bradley, huddled up in Katie’s hotel room in the unspoken, agreed on attempt to fight off every touch of melancholy.
All four of them sat cross-legged on something that must have been a grey carpet once; facing each other while playing a particularly stupid version of spin the bottle; Katie’s version of spin the bottle, which truth be told, wasn’t really spin-the-bottle at all.
It was Colin’s turn. Basically, all he had to do was to spin the bottle and ask the person at who the bottle pointed at a question. The person could answer as long or as short as they liked but everyone was allowed to chime in at any time anyway. Katie had invented the game back when they were still shooting Series One; Several weeks of intense shooting had gone by during which they had had almost no free time to themselves and all their talking had been reduced to working related topics during lunch break. They had needed a break then; to separate themselves from their characters and to refresh their knowledge on what their own relationships with each other were all about. So now, whenever shooting got particularly heavy, Katie threw a spin the bottle party and if Colin was quite honest he thought it genius.
He grabbed the empty soda bottle they were using and spun. The plastic made a rubbing noise against the carpet while slowing down and eventually stopped, pointing in the general direction of Bradley, who, after rearranging the unlucky furniture that was in his way, had propped himself against the now empty wall, clad in his most comfortable and worn-out sweatpants.
When Bradley saw that the bottle pointed at him, he raised his eyebrows at Colin, expecting some super stupid question no doubt.
“What's, erm, what's been your favourite part of shooting this week?” Colin supplied happily; not really able to make something funny up at the moment. They were still getting warm after all.
“Blimey Morgan,” replied Bradley dryly. “Your questions are by far the most boring questions ever. I sincerely hope you don’t cherish any illusions towards that particular aspect of your life. Some might even call it hopeless.”
“Hopeless, yeah alright." said Colin, "Still bullying me, although I am merely the messenger.”
“Oh, are we playing innocent again now, Colin? Ooohh, Colin, no it is not his fault. It's Bradley’s fault. Bradley is the stupid one. Ooh, Colin.”
All Colin replied with, was a smile as if butter could melt in his mouth but the treacherous cheeky laugh glistened, no doubt, in the corners of his eyes. Bradley’s fake-bullying still made him laugh.
“Yeah, Colin” said Bradley in mock indignation. “You are merely a moron, Morgan. You are Morgan the merely moron!”
“Jeez Jolly-James,” huffed Katie impatiently. She was leaning against the foot of her bed, a shawl which Bradley had lovingly named “the bath towel of doom” slung around her shoulders and a pair of ridiculously colourful woollen socks put over her feet. “Just answer the bloody question.”
“Yes, answer the bloody question Jolly-James,” chipped Angel in. She was sitting on something somewhat resembling a pillow throne, gleefully wiggling her toes. “Jolly-James jeopardizes joy!”
“Why are you on his side, now?” exasperated Bradley in a high-pitched voice, pointing at Colin.
“Because, Bradley,” said Katie. “You just cannot not choose Colin, can you? Just look at him!”
They all turned to look at Colin who had plastered his sweetest smile on his face and blinked his long eyelashes guilelessly at Bradley, supressing a laugh. Sometimes Colin thought to himself that he enjoyed their good-natured banter just a tad too much. It was probably the other side of the professionalism he displayed by day.
“Shall I repeat that question or have you, erm, got it?” he asked Bradley, still feigning innocence.
“Yeah, yeah I’ve got it, alright. And the best part about yesterday’s shooting was clearly you being chased by bandits again, having to be saved by me again!”
“Oh.” said Colin frowning; completely serious now while overthinking Bradley’s answer. “Was it?”
“Was it not?” asked Bradley without missing a beat. He never failed to pick up on Colin’s mood swings that were, to most people, elusive at best. People just didn’t know that Colin sometimes followed a train of thought and ended up only voicing part of it, often leaving people feel confused or uncomfortable. He had gotten much - much - better at preventing those moments but he would never forget that first year, in which Bradley had had to save him during almost every Interview they had given by unnoticeably explaining Colin’s mumble or reacting to it in a way that made people actually understand what Colin had said in retrospect. Bradley’s infamous “Myself and Colin” existed for a reason. It had helped Colin to not feel so awkward - Awkward for other people at that. He knew who he was after all; but people were always so keen on being normal that his “otherness” often caught them off-guard. Not so much since he had become an actor and even less since he had become “Merlin”, though. He shrugged those thoughts away, focusing on their conversation instead.
“Well, you did shoot with Richard, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” said Bradley, his whole face lightening up at the memory, raising himself up. “The scene with Richard was pretty awesome. It’s been only two- or something like that- scenes that I had with him alone. In four years. Unimaginable! So, yeah, you’re right, Cols, that was great.”
“Uhm,” said Colin, trying to impersonate what he thought, a fourteen year old stoner must sound like. “It was pretty dope, wasn’t it?”
“Jahahaha!” laughed Bradley his really infectious laugh. “It was the bomb!”
Colin laughed, rocking forth, eyes crinkled. Bradley threw his head back.
“I miss Richard,” said Katie with a sad pout. “He was my personal potions master…”
“Ohh,” crooned Angel, and empathically patted Katie’s feet that poked dangerously in the side of her throne, causing it to wobble.
“Well, Morgana,” said Bradley teasingly, flashing Katie one of his “well-aren’t-you-stupid”-grins that saw the corners of his lips get thin and twitch upwards. “You should have thought about that before you changed your wardrobe. Gaius is a very fashionable man, and those Goth-clothes and that badly applied Make-Up of yours might’ve strained your relationship a little.”
“So Bradley,” shot Katie back, ignoring him effortlessly. “If you had to choose, what would you lose: Your arm or your leg?”
“Arm, no doubt.” answered Bradley, deadpan. “I can still wield a sword with one hand but I couldn’t run for my life without a leg, so there you go.”
Katie snorted.
“Clearly, one of the important questions in life: Whether you can still wield a sword or not after losing a limb.”
Angel snickered, wobbling in unison with her throne and Bradley said, mimicking Katie: “Oohh, I am Morgana, if I have to choose between leg and arm, I will choose my leg, because I am a witch and I can fly and I need both my hands anyway, for making ridiculous knots in my hair to make it look as … as ridiculous as I can!”
Bradley had mockingly waved his hands in the face of disaster. Katie glared, raising one eyebrow as if to say “poor-Bradley-you-are-clearly-demented-so-I’ll-let-that-one-go….for once”.
“Angel could also give up her leg,” said Colin feeling a grin tucking at his lips at that stupid game, “I mean she’s Queen now. She doesn’t need legs. She could just order people to carry her around in a palanquin and Arthur won’t mind because he loves her anyway. Oh, how he loves her”!
“Yes!” exclaimed Angel happily from her pillow throne that she, only by wonder, hadn’t fallen off yet. “The Queen. That is me!”
“Well Cols, you don’t need to worry. You could just lose whatever.” said Bradley and Katie nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement.
“Because,” she said, “you are MER-lin!”
Her impersonation of Bradley was so bad that all four of them started to laugh really hard, not able to stop for some time, and Angel did fall off of her pillow throne then.
“That was awful Katie!” managed Colin to say and she laughed and affectionately gave him a shove.
Then it was her turn and the rest of the night continued just as it had started. Angel had asked Colin what his take on frogs in general was; Bradley had wanted to know what the funniest thing was Richard had ever said to Colin and whether Angel enjoyed showing her cleavage much. Katie had also ordered Bradley to characterize Eoin in five sentences and thrown more than just one pillow at Bradley’s head and Colin had also almost died of choking since he had tried to not spit his drink all over the other three when Bradley had made an extra lame joke that had Colin gasp for air just when he had been about to take an extra-large swig.
It was probably around 3 am and the rain still hadn’t stopped. Katie had her head lazily propped on one side of Angel’s pillow throne and Angel was lying half on it; the other half was sprawled over Bradley’s lap. Bradley was sleepily resting against the wall and Colin had snuck up his knees to his chest, sitting straight in order to not doze off.
“So, Colin,” yawned Angel (whose turn it was). “What would you say? Who is your favourite person in the world?”
Colin opened his mouth to answer, when Katie interrupted, holding up one finger. ”Apart, from your family.”
Colin closed his mouth again and said: “Define favourite.”
“Favourite, as in…-” Angel stopped mid-sentence; clearly she hadn’t been thinking it through.
“Come to think of it, it is rather a stupid question.” she said after a while
.
Katie used a hand to wave that thought away and said: “It is only stupid if you wanted to know who, for example, Colin would miss the most or something like that. That would be a stupid question to answer. You would always miss everyone, like, whoever would be gone, you would miss them. If I would be gone, he would miss me and if you were gone, he would miss you… To that question, there would be not one answer…”
Angel nodded and impalpably crinkled her forehead because she clearly didn’t know where Katie was heading.
“But,” said Katie “I know how you could define that question without making it stupid and actually answerable…if that is even a word.”
“Hear, hear.” said Bradley suddenly who had closed his eyes half an hour ago and not said a word since.
“So Colin.” said Katie thereupon, suddenly very serious. She even sat up making sure to look him straight in the eye.
Colin nodded gravely not taking this too serious at all, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to answer that question anyway. There was no such thing as a “favourite person”. Everyone you loved, you loved for different reasons, everyone having something the others didn’t and everyone equally important in their own way. But he wasn’t going to ruin Katie’s fun just yet.
“So close your eyes Colin.” ordered Katie solemn and very sober.
Colin did as he was told, but not before flashing Angel and Bradley, who were now watching curious and seemed definitely more awake than just minutes ago, an amused grin.
He breathed in deeply and comfortably rested his hands in his lap.
“Now clear your mind.” continued Katie with an awful impersonation of what she must thought a fortune-teller sounded like. The four of them giggled at that but it didn’t break the mood.
“So, Colin. When I say “favourite person”, I don’t mean the person you share the most with or the person you laugh the most with. Not the person you talk to the most or the person that you have the most honest and loving relationship with. And obviously not the person you like… like the most. That would be stupid.”
“Obviously.” Said Bradley dryly causing Colin to snort but he managed to not open his eyes.
“I feel,” Colin said, “like you’re doing that somewhat backwards there Katie.”
Now it was Bradley’s time to snort.
“Oh be quiet, I am trying to get it right here. Now think about the one person in your life, Colin, you wouldn’t be you without them. I don’t mean a person that shaped you or said something to impress you. No. I mean someone, who, through their sheer presence, makes you, you, the way you want to be, because they reflect your personality in a way you are not able to yourself. The way they react to the things you say or do makes you like yourself more. Through their eyes you feel completely like you are you and if you meet new people with them, you just love it, because you know those people will get to know the real you because you are always you with that person. It is a person you feel absolutely calm and right with. If you are with them you actually don’t think about who you are, because they show you. Everything you do with them is absolutely right because it is always you. It is simply the person that makes you, you in a way that if they were gone, would take a part of you with them. Take me, for example, I know you love me, but I also know that when I would be gone you would still be you, Colin. But with that person, you are you. And without them you just-“, Katie hesitated and then finished simply, “-aren’t.”
Colin was glad his eyes were still firmly closed as it was hard enough to breathe properly right now. His head felt lightheaded and his palms were covered in cold sweat, because he knew the answer. He knew the answer. And he hadn’t known the answer before because he had never asked himself that question. He hadn’t known there was such a question to begin with.
Colin opened his eyes slowly, meeting Katie’s gaze who was facing him, her face calm and open, her green eyes sparkling.
Colin swallowed and then, not braking eye contact with Katie started to smile. He felt so certain.
Katie smiled back and when she spoke, she did so very quiet. ”So Colin, who is it? Who is you favourite person, your favourite person, in the world?”
Colin registered in the corner of his eye that Angel and Bradley sat up straightening themselves, watching him in suspense and Colin couldn’t help but smile even wider and then he said, without hesitation or uncertainty, the one name that made absolutely perfect sense. His favourite person in the world was -
“Bradley.”
It wasn’t a love declaration or revelation of any sort. It was simply the truth and Colin suspected that everyone had already known that much anyway. He already did call Bradley his best friend but he had never thought about what that actually meant. He just hadn’t and he was so glad that thanks to Katie now he had, because surely one should know such a thing. He should know that he wouldn’t be Colin without Bradley. Not fully.
Yeah, he really should.
Before he could voice these thoughts, before actually anyone could do anything at all there was a muffled groan and then Colin was tackled to the ground, swept up in two strong arms. Limbs were flying and Bradley was everywhere, completely surrounding him and Colin couldn’t help but laugh, laugh and laugh.
Bradley tucked Colin so close to him, Colin almost couldn’t breathe but he nevertheless wrapped his arms around Bradley in response and squeezed back as tightly as he could.
Katie and Angel laughed happily behind them but Bradley dismissively waved a hand at them without raising his head out of Colin’s neck, where it was buried, and in another movement managed to pull himself and Colin into a sitting position, the knees of Colin’s cross-legged legs resting on Bradley’s, as close as possible, Bradleys arms big and strong over Colin’s shoulders holding on firm, while Colin had one arm around Bradley’s waist and the other across his back, holding onto Bradley’s shoulder. Without losing a second Bradley grabbed the “bath-towel-of-doom” from the floor, where Katie had left it and pulled it over his and Colin’s head in an attempt of giving them a little privacy but at the same time not minding Katie’s and Angel’s presence at all. They were Angel and Katie after all. Family.
Colin’s laugh had subsided into quiet happy chortles but Bradley muffled against his neck, against his hair, against his ear. ”Shut up Morgan. It’s my turn.”
Colin didn’t stop but Bradley made no move to say anything anyway and so they just sat there in silence, sharing their breath and body heat and pretty much all of their personal space and Colin knew he should feel uncomfortable, but he didn’t so he didn’t care. The shawl over their heads filtered the light of the room, dimming it, leaving them in a half-dark.
Colin’s heart was pounding heavily and he concentrated solely on listening to their shared breaths. The grin on his face hurt his cheeks but he was so very very content to sit here with Bradley, knowing that he was that person; that person that, without him trying, without him doing anything in particular, everything made absolute sense with.
When Colin eventually felt the need for Bradley to say something, he simply raised one finger from where it was holding onto Bradley’s broad shoulder and poked him gently in the cheek, eliciting a grumble but it had the desired effect because Bradley finally, finally raised his head; Very slowly at that.
They loosened their grips on each other, albeit grudgingly so, and only to allow them enough space to actually look at each other, and when Colin met Bradley’s gaze he couldn’t help but grin so wide it hurt, because now he could see why Bradley had refused to look up. Tears were standing in his blue eyes that caught Colin’s unreadable.
Bradley looked embarrassed; not in a self-conscious way but in a “oh-shut-up Morgan- don’t-be-so-smug-as-if-you-didn’t-know-I-cared” way, and a genuine smile was tugging at the corner of his lips.
Colin could almost envision their following conversation. Bradley saying: “That wasn’t fair, Cols.”
And Colin answering. “It was Katie not me.”
And Bradley nodding and adding jokingly. ”But you know I will never let you hear the end of it, you sappy man. Because now I know I am your favourite and nothing is ever going to stop me. You should have really considered that Morgan. Irresponsible fella.”
And Colin, playing along, faking shock, would say: “Stupid me, but I lied anyways just to test you.”
And Bradley would start an annoying sing-sang, going: I am your favourite. I am your favourite!
And Colin would laugh and shove him away and everything would be fine.
Well, it wasn’t what happened.
Bradley simply missed the moment to fall back into their old habit of banter and thus left them staring at each other unguarded instead.
Colin thought once more that he should really feel uncomfortable now, but he still didn’t, so he still didn’t care.
Bradley cocked his head to one side, making the shawl above their heads rustle and said with his deep voice: “That is that than Cols. Proving you are just as stupid as me.”
Colin shrugged unfazed and Bradley snorted. “You do know,” he said, piercing Colin with his eyes, to make sure he understood. ”That you are my favourite person, too, right?”
Colin nodded and answered nonchalantly:” Yeah, I fathomed.”
Bradley broke out in laughter, throwing his head back and simultaneously pulling Colin back into his arms so that Colin’s head rested against his chest. Colin simply fisted his hand in Bradley’s shirt, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling Bradley’s painfully familiar scent.
Colin felt how Bradley nuzzled his nose against his hair and thought that this moment wasn’t awkward or sappy at all. It was just warm. And also it was pretty much them.
Bradley’s breath against his head was even, his arms around him reassuring, his big hands, playing with his hood, trusted and his heart, pounding in his chest just were Colin’s head rested, alive. Bradley was very real.
Eventually, Colin pulled back. Not because he wanted to or because he felt embarrassed or awkward but because he thought it didn’t matter. He knew now that he was Colin and that Bradley was Bradley and that together they were Colin and Bradley and that was never ever going to change.
Bradley grinned and nodded, letting go of Colin without really doing so. He pulled the shawl from their heads and they turned to Katie and Angel.
Katie and Angel were both leaning against the pillow throne once more, speaking in hushed voices but the moment they noticed Bradley and Colin were back with them, they turned to smile at them and Angel said: “Gosh, I am going to miss this,” she waved around helplessly.” You. All of it.”
And they all nodded and just sat there grinning stupidly at each other, because what better moment was there to be true and just a little bit emotional, than four o’clock in the morning on their last week of shooting? Really?
Not one of them noticed that the rain had stopped.