Just a Ride; Merlin RPF
Title: Just a Ride
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Colin, Bradley, Angel, Anthony
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG
Summary: There comes a time in every young actor's life when he must learn how to drive...
Author Notes: Written for mustbethursday3 beta'd by sgmajorshipper. The title comes from Jem's song by the same name.
My Merlin Prompt Table
Colin Morgan, aged twenty-five, had attempted to drive once in his life. It hadn’t been a success and he had scared himself into never getting behind a wheel ever again. Even when they’d gone go-karting he had been wary of it. The idea of being in charge of something that went fast enough to be able to cause serious damage scared him.
But there comes a time in every young actor’s life when he must learn how to drive.
It hadn’t been an easy task asking for help. Especially from his cast mates. He had deliberately chosen not to ask Bradley because he knew that the blonde would be unbearable. He could be insufferable at the best of times but even more so when he was playing teacher. Colin had decided against asking Katie because her driving was, frankly, a little scary. He could have asked Anthony but he didn’t want to get in-between him spending time at home with his family after filming. And Richard, well, he disliked driving nearly as much as Colin did.
So, by the powers of deduction, he asked Angel. She’d smiled and nodded and agreed to help him. He’d asked her not to tell Bradley which she also agreed to, knowing perfectly well why he didn’t want the older man to know. They quickly arranged at lunch to meet in the afternoon once they had finished filming their scene. Once they were changed out of their costumes and ready to go she would take him out to the back roads outside Cardiff to show him the ropes.
Or so they had planned.
Colin had failed at losing Bradley after they had finished. He followed him out and he couldn’t shake him, especially when he headed to leave with Angel; “What’s going on here?” he said teasingly, “Should I be worried?”
“We’re having a Colin and Angel night.”
“And what does that involve, exactly?” he poked, looking between them.
“None of your business,” Angel defended. Colin smiled at her thankfully but Bradley kept pushing, “Just stuff, Bradley. You really wouldn’t care.”
“Oh just tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Bradley raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.
“I’m teaching Colin to drive.”
“You?” the teasing didn’t come, if anything a look of hurt flashed in his eyes, “Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Because you’d be unbearable,” Colin said quietly, looking to the floor.
“Thanks, Colin, nice to know what you really think of me.”
“Well fine,” Angel intercepted to save an argument, “You teach him. I don’t think I could manage it anyway. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“You should come anyway,” Colin said looking at her with pleading eyes, You can’t leave me with him.
“Yeah, Mummy and Daddy should share,” Bradley ushered the two of them towards their driver driven car to take them back to their flats.
X
Angel, having point-blanked refused to sit up front with Bradley out of fear for her own santiy, sat in the back seat behind Colin, with her seatbelt on but sitting forward in her seat so she could add input on Bradley’s explanation of how to feel the biting point, “You’ll feel the car want to start to move,” Bradley said, “Then you push on the accelerator and the lift your other foot at the same time.”
“I don’t feel it.”
“You’ll feel a slight tug,” Angel suggested, leaning between the two front seats. Colin tentatively moved his foot, the car stalled, “There! That moment before it stalls, you’ll feel it.”
“Now you tell me.”
“Well if you never stall you’ll never know,” Bradley reasoned. He had his sun glasses on, with the sun shining brightly above them, “Try it again but this time take the hand brake off and try pulling away.”
“Maybe he should try the revs without the handbrake off first?”
“No, who’s teacher?”
“Both of us, actually.”
X
“You can’t even see the sodding roads in those things,” Angel complained, reaching forward and stealing his glasses from his face. She put them on the top of her head, she swiped his hand away from her face as he tried to reach for them, “No, if you want to play teacher you have to be able to see,” she sat as far back in her seat as she could and relaxed as much as her mind would allow her to, as Colin drove them down the road at a snail’s pace.
“If you think you could do a better job I’d love to see you try,” Bradley argued hitting at her while trying to retrieve his belongings; “No?” he offered when she didn’t reply, “Then shut up.”
“Both of you shut up,” Colin said breaking sharply.
“We’re creating a hostile environment. You need to learn to drive in one.”
“Not when I don’t even know how to change gear,” Colin said not taking his eyes off the road, his knuckles white as he grasped the wheel.
“Right foot off. Left foot on. Shift the gear stick. Left foot off, right foot on,” Bradley said quickly.
“Helpful, thanks,” Colin replied sarcastically, slowly trundling down the road.
“You asked!”
“You’re meant to be teaching him, not barking instructions at him,” Angel complained, “Explain them to him! Don’t just bark the orders at him. Say; slowly push your foot down on the clutch as you left up on the accelerator. Guide the gear stick into second gear, slowly, take your time with your movements. Repeat the movement with your feet in reverse, but take your time-”
“Alright, alright!” Bradley snapped to shut her up, “As you get around the next corner, do what she said,” he said narrowing his eyes over his shoulder at her.
X
“Get the camera out, Angel, he’s learning!” Bradley announced after another hour and they were successfully travelling at twenty miles per hour down the road in third gear.
“Don’t be mean.”
“It’s something for the record books, the day Colin Morgan learnt to drive,” he grabbed behind the seat for his bag, grappling for the camera himself. If she wouldn’t do it, he would. He pulled the device out and went to record Colin, only to have Angel swipe the camera from him.
“You concentrate on teaching. I’ll film.”
She powered up the camera focusing it mainly on Bradley, knowing he would want to do an introductory piece before she filmed Colin’s efforts, “Hello Merlin Fans,” Angel couldn’t help but crack a smile behind the camera, “We are here today to witness the new chapter in the life of Colin Morgan. Today, he is learning to drive,” he turned to Colin, Angel following his gaze with the camera to focus on a driving Colin, “How is it going Colin?”
“Bradley is the worst teacher, ever,” he announced as he came to a corner and concentrated on braking while he turned the wheel around the corner.
“He’s pretty terrible.”
X
Colin trundled down the country lane at twenty miles an hour, despite Bradley’s complaints that he was going so slowly; it was plenty fast enough for him in the darkening back road. He slowed as they came to a sharp corner, shifted back down to second gear and tried as smoothly as he could to go back up to third again as he came around the corner.
He beamed as he got it right.
There was a massive crunch and a lurch; “It wasn’t me!” Colin shouted as he stepped sharply on the brake.
X
Bradley had taken control of his car again, relegating Colin to the back seat with Angel whilst he backed up the road to the small lay-by they had gone past. He cracked out his phone from his pocket and popped open the bonnet.
He illuminated the insides of his car, trying to find whatever it was that wrong. He was no mechanic. He could change a flat tyre and sort out the simple things but whatever was wrong now he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
“There is officially nothing I can do. We don’t have a torch and I can see jack shit by the light of my phone. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Just call the AA or whoever,” Angel said as she instructed Colin on how to drive using a stray tissue box as the wheel and the umbrella that had been in the foot well as a gear stick.
“I haven’t got a number for them, my card’s in Katie’s car.”
“Why?” She asked as she guided Colin’s hands from the tissue box to the umbrella then pushed on his feet so he could see what it was he should be doing. He kept practising the movements as his co-stars argued it out around him. The less he said the better, that way Bradley could knock him back for breaking his car.
“She stole it from me last time I was in there and I forgot to get it back.”
“Great. So we’re stuck?”
“I could call Tony or something.”
“He’s gone back to Bath, it’ll take him hours to get here; that’s not fair.”
“He’s filming until late then going home. He’ll still be there.”
“So you’ll stop him going home?”
“We’re twenty minutes from set, ten from my place; he can tow us back and still be home within the hour he aimed for.”
“Bradley, no.”
“What else do you suggest?”
“Phone Katie, get your info.”
“They’ll want my card when they get here.”
“Then get her to bring it out, you can’t expect Tony to be at your beck and call.”
“But I can expect Katie to be?”
“Bringing a card out is different to towing you home.”
“Tony won’t mind. I’m the son he never had,” Angel tried to grab his phone from his hand but was too late, he already had it pinned to his ear with it ringing. She mimed slapping him up side the head but decided on saving it until later. She could hit him all she wanted after he was done ruining Anthony’s night.
X
Within the hour Tony had finished on set and had agreed to coming out to help. Angel had spent the time they were waiting alternating her attention between beating Bradley on the arm and explaining the finer art of driving to Colin.
Bradley had cracked out his video camera and had started to film the pair of them, as well as explaining what they were actually doing in the middle of the countryside; “Colin broke my car.”
“I said I was sorry!”
He’d even filmed Tony pulling up and getting out of his own car; their knight in shining armour.
“Thanks for this,” Bradley said as he helped Tony attach the required roped to their cars.
“That’s okay. You’re lucky I’m not filming tomorrow.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
Both Angel and Colin opted to sit in Tony’s car for the journey back, “You know, Colin, if you’d asked, I’d have taken you back to the farm and got you out in the fields in the range rover to learn.”
“I didn’t want to impose.”
“Codswallop. come down next time we’re both free and I’ll get you trained better than these two can.”
“Thanks Tony,” he said with a slight blush, “Angel wasn’t that bad,” he said quickly, turning to smile at his friend, “But with Angel comes Bradley a lot of the time, and he was rubbish,” Angel patted him on the knee in her amusement and gently gave him a one armed hug.
“He’s not a natural, but he did okay,” she concluded, “Until the car broke.”
The both laughed, “I hope he doesn’t make me pay for it.”
“I’ll slap him if he does.”
“Now, now, children. Violence solves nothing.”
“Unless it’s Bradley James,” Colin said with an impish grin.
“Unless it’s Bradley James.”
Authors: mydoctortennant
Pairings/Characters: Colin, Bradley, Angel, Anthony
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Not real. Despite birthday wishes and night time prayers to Santa (all Hail Amy Pond!) Merlin still isn't mine!
Rating: PG
Summary: There comes a time in every young actor's life when he must learn how to drive...
Author Notes: Written for mustbethursday3 beta'd by sgmajorshipper. The title comes from Jem's song by the same name.
My Merlin Prompt Table
Colin Morgan, aged twenty-five, had attempted to drive once in his life. It hadn’t been a success and he had scared himself into never getting behind a wheel ever again. Even when they’d gone go-karting he had been wary of it. The idea of being in charge of something that went fast enough to be able to cause serious damage scared him.
But there comes a time in every young actor’s life when he must learn how to drive.
It hadn’t been an easy task asking for help. Especially from his cast mates. He had deliberately chosen not to ask Bradley because he knew that the blonde would be unbearable. He could be insufferable at the best of times but even more so when he was playing teacher. Colin had decided against asking Katie because her driving was, frankly, a little scary. He could have asked Anthony but he didn’t want to get in-between him spending time at home with his family after filming. And Richard, well, he disliked driving nearly as much as Colin did.
So, by the powers of deduction, he asked Angel. She’d smiled and nodded and agreed to help him. He’d asked her not to tell Bradley which she also agreed to, knowing perfectly well why he didn’t want the older man to know. They quickly arranged at lunch to meet in the afternoon once they had finished filming their scene. Once they were changed out of their costumes and ready to go she would take him out to the back roads outside Cardiff to show him the ropes.
Or so they had planned.
Colin had failed at losing Bradley after they had finished. He followed him out and he couldn’t shake him, especially when he headed to leave with Angel; “What’s going on here?” he said teasingly, “Should I be worried?”
“We’re having a Colin and Angel night.”
“And what does that involve, exactly?” he poked, looking between them.
“None of your business,” Angel defended. Colin smiled at her thankfully but Bradley kept pushing, “Just stuff, Bradley. You really wouldn’t care.”
“Oh just tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Bradley raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.
“I’m teaching Colin to drive.”
“You?” the teasing didn’t come, if anything a look of hurt flashed in his eyes, “Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Because you’d be unbearable,” Colin said quietly, looking to the floor.
“Thanks, Colin, nice to know what you really think of me.”
“Well fine,” Angel intercepted to save an argument, “You teach him. I don’t think I could manage it anyway. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“You should come anyway,” Colin said looking at her with pleading eyes, You can’t leave me with him.
“Yeah, Mummy and Daddy should share,” Bradley ushered the two of them towards their driver driven car to take them back to their flats.
X
Angel, having point-blanked refused to sit up front with Bradley out of fear for her own santiy, sat in the back seat behind Colin, with her seatbelt on but sitting forward in her seat so she could add input on Bradley’s explanation of how to feel the biting point, “You’ll feel the car want to start to move,” Bradley said, “Then you push on the accelerator and the lift your other foot at the same time.”
“I don’t feel it.”
“You’ll feel a slight tug,” Angel suggested, leaning between the two front seats. Colin tentatively moved his foot, the car stalled, “There! That moment before it stalls, you’ll feel it.”
“Now you tell me.”
“Well if you never stall you’ll never know,” Bradley reasoned. He had his sun glasses on, with the sun shining brightly above them, “Try it again but this time take the hand brake off and try pulling away.”
“Maybe he should try the revs without the handbrake off first?”
“No, who’s teacher?”
“Both of us, actually.”
X
“You can’t even see the sodding roads in those things,” Angel complained, reaching forward and stealing his glasses from his face. She put them on the top of her head, she swiped his hand away from her face as he tried to reach for them, “No, if you want to play teacher you have to be able to see,” she sat as far back in her seat as she could and relaxed as much as her mind would allow her to, as Colin drove them down the road at a snail’s pace.
“If you think you could do a better job I’d love to see you try,” Bradley argued hitting at her while trying to retrieve his belongings; “No?” he offered when she didn’t reply, “Then shut up.”
“Both of you shut up,” Colin said breaking sharply.
“We’re creating a hostile environment. You need to learn to drive in one.”
“Not when I don’t even know how to change gear,” Colin said not taking his eyes off the road, his knuckles white as he grasped the wheel.
“Right foot off. Left foot on. Shift the gear stick. Left foot off, right foot on,” Bradley said quickly.
“Helpful, thanks,” Colin replied sarcastically, slowly trundling down the road.
“You asked!”
“You’re meant to be teaching him, not barking instructions at him,” Angel complained, “Explain them to him! Don’t just bark the orders at him. Say; slowly push your foot down on the clutch as you left up on the accelerator. Guide the gear stick into second gear, slowly, take your time with your movements. Repeat the movement with your feet in reverse, but take your time-”
“Alright, alright!” Bradley snapped to shut her up, “As you get around the next corner, do what she said,” he said narrowing his eyes over his shoulder at her.
X
“Get the camera out, Angel, he’s learning!” Bradley announced after another hour and they were successfully travelling at twenty miles per hour down the road in third gear.
“Don’t be mean.”
“It’s something for the record books, the day Colin Morgan learnt to drive,” he grabbed behind the seat for his bag, grappling for the camera himself. If she wouldn’t do it, he would. He pulled the device out and went to record Colin, only to have Angel swipe the camera from him.
“You concentrate on teaching. I’ll film.”
She powered up the camera focusing it mainly on Bradley, knowing he would want to do an introductory piece before she filmed Colin’s efforts, “Hello Merlin Fans,” Angel couldn’t help but crack a smile behind the camera, “We are here today to witness the new chapter in the life of Colin Morgan. Today, he is learning to drive,” he turned to Colin, Angel following his gaze with the camera to focus on a driving Colin, “How is it going Colin?”
“Bradley is the worst teacher, ever,” he announced as he came to a corner and concentrated on braking while he turned the wheel around the corner.
“He’s pretty terrible.”
X
Colin trundled down the country lane at twenty miles an hour, despite Bradley’s complaints that he was going so slowly; it was plenty fast enough for him in the darkening back road. He slowed as they came to a sharp corner, shifted back down to second gear and tried as smoothly as he could to go back up to third again as he came around the corner.
He beamed as he got it right.
There was a massive crunch and a lurch; “It wasn’t me!” Colin shouted as he stepped sharply on the brake.
X
Bradley had taken control of his car again, relegating Colin to the back seat with Angel whilst he backed up the road to the small lay-by they had gone past. He cracked out his phone from his pocket and popped open the bonnet.
He illuminated the insides of his car, trying to find whatever it was that wrong. He was no mechanic. He could change a flat tyre and sort out the simple things but whatever was wrong now he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
“There is officially nothing I can do. We don’t have a torch and I can see jack shit by the light of my phone. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Just call the AA or whoever,” Angel said as she instructed Colin on how to drive using a stray tissue box as the wheel and the umbrella that had been in the foot well as a gear stick.
“I haven’t got a number for them, my card’s in Katie’s car.”
“Why?” She asked as she guided Colin’s hands from the tissue box to the umbrella then pushed on his feet so he could see what it was he should be doing. He kept practising the movements as his co-stars argued it out around him. The less he said the better, that way Bradley could knock him back for breaking his car.
“She stole it from me last time I was in there and I forgot to get it back.”
“Great. So we’re stuck?”
“I could call Tony or something.”
“He’s gone back to Bath, it’ll take him hours to get here; that’s not fair.”
“He’s filming until late then going home. He’ll still be there.”
“So you’ll stop him going home?”
“We’re twenty minutes from set, ten from my place; he can tow us back and still be home within the hour he aimed for.”
“Bradley, no.”
“What else do you suggest?”
“Phone Katie, get your info.”
“They’ll want my card when they get here.”
“Then get her to bring it out, you can’t expect Tony to be at your beck and call.”
“But I can expect Katie to be?”
“Bringing a card out is different to towing you home.”
“Tony won’t mind. I’m the son he never had,” Angel tried to grab his phone from his hand but was too late, he already had it pinned to his ear with it ringing. She mimed slapping him up side the head but decided on saving it until later. She could hit him all she wanted after he was done ruining Anthony’s night.
X
Within the hour Tony had finished on set and had agreed to coming out to help. Angel had spent the time they were waiting alternating her attention between beating Bradley on the arm and explaining the finer art of driving to Colin.
Bradley had cracked out his video camera and had started to film the pair of them, as well as explaining what they were actually doing in the middle of the countryside; “Colin broke my car.”
“I said I was sorry!”
He’d even filmed Tony pulling up and getting out of his own car; their knight in shining armour.
“Thanks for this,” Bradley said as he helped Tony attach the required roped to their cars.
“That’s okay. You’re lucky I’m not filming tomorrow.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
Both Angel and Colin opted to sit in Tony’s car for the journey back, “You know, Colin, if you’d asked, I’d have taken you back to the farm and got you out in the fields in the range rover to learn.”
“I didn’t want to impose.”
“Codswallop. come down next time we’re both free and I’ll get you trained better than these two can.”
“Thanks Tony,” he said with a slight blush, “Angel wasn’t that bad,” he said quickly, turning to smile at his friend, “But with Angel comes Bradley a lot of the time, and he was rubbish,” Angel patted him on the knee in her amusement and gently gave him a one armed hug.
“He’s not a natural, but he did okay,” she concluded, “Until the car broke.”
The both laughed, “I hope he doesn’t make me pay for it.”
“I’ll slap him if he does.”
“Now, now, children. Violence solves nothing.”
“Unless it’s Bradley James,” Colin said with an impish grin.
“Unless it’s Bradley James.”