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merlinrpf2015-02-08 04:05 pm
hyponymn.livejournal.com) wrote in merlinrpf2015-02-08 04:05 pm
A Case of Mistaken Identity (Multi-chapter, Chapter 3)
Author: 
hyponymn
Title: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Bradley/Colin, Bradley/Merlin
Summary:Colin Morgan is a really good actor. He doesn't just play a character, he becomes the character. He builds the world of the character, synthesizes the struggles of the character, and dreams about the character. And it just so happens that Colin’s character is exactly the type of cotton-headed ninnymuggins that would fall in love with a familiar, friendly face and a parcel of bad jokes. Bradley heroically understands; he totally recognizes his own awesomeness.
Warnings: frustrated boys (Not even UST. Just frustration.)
Word Count: 2,200
Running Word Count: 5,560
Spoilers: Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are fair game; also video diaries and interviews (if those count as spoilers?!)
Bradley is toweling his hair dry when the hotel door swings open and Colin turns bright red.
“Sorry,” he mumbles and he’s already back in the hallway. Bradley adjusts his towel on his hip and sprints after him. Colin’s even faster than he looks and Bradley might as well get back in the shower because he works up a sweat as he chases Colin down two flights of stairs before he lunges and catches Colin’s trailing arm.
“Totally uncalled for,” Bradley points out. He tugs on Colin’s wrist, and Colin complies.
“I thought you had a training session,” Colin says. He’s looking at Bradley’s hold on his wrist like it’s the bane of his existence.
“I did.” Bradley shoves Colin in front of him. “We ended early. Rupert’s horse threw him, but he’ll be fine.”
“Ahh,” Colin says. He trudges up the steps.
“So you’ve been avoiding me.” Bradley tries to keep his tone light and conversational, but the accusative edge still manages to slip in.
“I wouldn’t say avoiding,” Colin hedges. “We’re both really busy.”
“Yeah,” Bradley agrees. “You’re definitely busy avoiding me.”
“Understandably.” Colin says it like he’s asking permission, and it’s a bit late for him to be asking for permission to avoid him because Bradley hasn’t seen him for nearly four days straight.
“You can explain that to anyone we run into.” Bradley hitches his towel up from where it was slipping as they climb the last flight of stairs.
“You weren’t supposed to chase me.”
“You weren’t supposed to be running.”
“You weren’t supposed to be here.”
“Where would you have me be, Colin?” Bradley runs a hand through his hair. “Look, you either talk to me or we go back to some couple counselor.”
“It’s not exactly a textbook case.”
“If a trained therapist can’t work through it, how are you supposed to work through it?” Bradley thinks he’s being incredibly logical. “You have to at least talk to me.”
“I can’t talk to you without Merlin talking to you and Merlin talking to Arthur.” Bradley gets that; he got it when Colin first alluded to it four days ago. He gets that when Colin interacts with him, he’s affected by how Merlin’s disappointed that Bradley’s just an actor, by how Merlin’s frustrated with how comparatively shallow Colin and Bradley’s relationship is, by how Bradley’s not defined by honor and courage and leading knights into battle.
“Fortunately for me, I’ve had experience talking to Merlin. As Bradley and as Arthur.”
Colin holds the stair door open for Bradley. “It’s not exactly something talking to you would help.”
“What you’re doing now isn’t working.”
“What you’re doing is making it worse.” Colin trails Bradley back to their room. “You know how when you watch a fictional character fall in love with another fictional character, you fall a little in love with that character too?”
“The one falling in love or the one being loved?” Bradley opens their room door and Colin slips past him.
“The loved one.”
Colin sits down on his bed and he doesn’t look like he’s going to keep talking, so Bradley picks up the conversational slack.
“Yeah. When the Goblin King fell for Sarah Williams, everybody fell for Sarah Williams.” It’s apparently the right thing to say because Colin flops down on the bed and keeps talking.
“Merlin’s in love with you, Bradley. And I’m stuck with his perspective.”
Bradley stands over Colin so he can get a good look at his face because Colin hadn’t sounded like he was joking, but his face is always a tell. “You’re in love with me?”
Colin closes his eyes. “I’m not, but I keep seeing how and why Merlin loves you. It messes with my head.” Bradley takes a careful step away from the bed.
“I’m going to go put on clothes now.”
“You do that,” Colin says dryly.
“Names.” The receptionist made looking bored an art form. Everything from her tone to her ironed sweater vest screamed bland professionalism.
“Bradley James,” Bradley said.
“You sign yourself in.” The receptionist crooked one finger at the clipboard, and Bradley was pretty sure it was the tiniest, most effortless little finger wiggle he had ever seen.
“Right.” Bradley scrawled his name and passed off the pen to Colin, who wrote “Merlin of Ealdor.” Bradley grabbed the pen back. “You can’t write that.”
“That’s my name.”
“Your legal name, the name of your body, is Colin Morgan.”
“So you say.”
“So you have to write down your actual name—“
“Mr. James, the therapist will be referring to him by the name on the page, so he may list himself however he likes.” The receptionist didn’t look up from her computer. Colin beamed at Bradley, and Bradley scratched out his name and penned in a new one.
Bradley led Colin over to the waiting area and sprawled out on a sofa chair.
“So Dr. Harris can get me back to Camelot?” Colin asked.
“Dr. Harris is going to get Colin back. That’s the priority.”
“But you think I’m Colin.”
“Yeah.”
Colin cocked his head and waited for Bradley to elaborate, but Bradley grabbed a women’s health magazine and tried to look interested in a quinoa salad recipe. Colin began pacing. After ten minutes, Bradley was seriously considering telling Colin to knock it off, but he was saved by the bored tones of the receptionist.
“Merlin of Ealdor and Batman,” the receptionist called. Colin looked at Bradley, and Bradley led the way through the double doors. On the opposite side of the door and in a sharp collared dress, stood another woman.
“Hello,” she smiled. “I’m Dr. Harris. Who’s who?”
“Merlin of Ealdor,” Colin said. He did a little awkward bow.
“Batman.” Bradley offered her his hand, and she shook it. “Or Bradley. Either’s good.”
“Noted,” Dr. Harris said. Colin smirked at Bradley.
“Now Anthony made mention of your current situation, but I’d much prefer hearing your version. If you would follow me?” Dr. Harris trailed into an office. Colin threw a nervous look at Bradley before following.
Dr. Harris’ office was minimalist. There was a firm loveseat, a uniform bookshelf, and a very square desk. It didn’t look, Bradley mused as he and Colin perched on the loveseat, particularly inviting.
“Is this your first time in therapy?” Dr. Harris asked. She sat crisply in her chair, completely tucked in behind her desk, and looking politely interested.
“First time I’ve fallen into another world.” Colin grinned weakly, and Dr. Harris smiled back.
“I should make clear what I do. I help people recognize and address issues in their lives. For couples, we work on addressing underlying issues in relationships.” She leaned forward onto her desk. “I’m afraid that I do not have the ability to transfer people from world to world.”
“So you’re an advisor?” Colin asked.
“Colin thinks he’s Merlin from Merlin,” Bradley explained.
“What do you think?” Dr. Harris completely ignored Bradley, which was basically the story of being on set with Colin.
“Bradley looks like Arthur,” Colin said softly. “He moves like Arthur. He smiles like Arthur. He sounds like Arthur.” He swallowed. “I want to get him home.”
“I am home!”
“If I may,” Dr. Harris interrupted,” I suggest that you respect each others realities. You don’t have to believe each other in order to respect the situation that the other believes himself to be in.”
Bradley shut his mouth mulishly.
“I would like to clarify some things,” Dr. Harris continued. “Merlin. Bradley’s friend Anthony explained some aspects of the show that Bradley works on to me. On that television show, the character Merlin is an incredibly skilled magician.”
“Sorcerer,” Bradley corrected before he remembered that he wasn’t speaking to the so-called therapist who was clearly going to be taking Colin’s side.
“Sorcerer,” Dr. Harris amended. “Do you have magic, Merlin?”
Bradley felt Colin tense and turned to see him wide-eyed and quivering.
“No,” Colin choked. He was shaking slightly, and the look he gave Bradley was witless terror. Bradley’s mouth went on autopilot.
“I know. I know Merlin has magic. Arthur’s conflicted about magic, but I get it. I know it’s not evil. It’s okay. Merlin’s a good guy. A good friend. Arthur couldn’t betray him if he tried. It wouldn’t be in character. I wouldn’t let it happen. I wouldn’t act it. You’re fine. It’s fine. It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you. No one’s in any position to hurt you. I wouldn’t let that happen.”
The panic began to fade in Colin’s eyes, but he still held himself carefully, so Bradley threw an arm around him and tugged him to his side before turning back to face Dr. Harris.
“You just went for the jugular on that, didn’t you,” he told Dr. Harris. Her face was still firmly set in that pleasantly interested expression.
“Are there any other land mines we should be navigating?” she asked.
Bradley couldn’t think of any.
“Alright,” Dr. Harris said. “We’ll avoid talk of magic for now. Let’s explore potential incongruencies.”
“Meaning?”
“Things that changed from off-set, or aspects from off-set that were never explained onset. Scars, birthmarks, things that are present in both your reality and Merlin’s reality.”
“Right,” Bradley said. “Uh…I had some dental work done last break.”
“Excellent starting place as any,” Dr. Harris said. “Merlin, did you notice that Arthur’s teeth changed since when you first started working with him?”
“For him,” Colin corrected. “Yes, a horse kicked out most of Arthur’s teeth in a hunting accident. Uther summoned a specialist doctor from Gogodin to make the highest quality false dentures. Arthur wears them at all times, even while sleeping. He only takes them out to clean. And since then I’ve had to be careful in selecting tender meats and small fruits.” Bradley lifted his arm away from Colin.
“That’s not scripted,” Bradley said. “I just came back with different teeth. The directors said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Your thumb ring,” Dr. Harris said. “I saw it in one of the series promotions. Is that a token from set?”
“No,” Bradley said.
“It’s his mother’s,” Colin explained.
“Is not!” Bradley scowled at Colin. “My mum doesn’t have man hands.”
“Arthur’s mother’s,” Colin elaborated.
“Arthur’s mother also doesn’t have man hands.”
“It was a gift for Arthur that Gaius passed on to him on his sixteenth birthday. Gaius told me all about it. Uther was not Igraine’s love; she loved another but once he knew that the king had set sights on her, he told her that Uther could do more for her than he ever could. He gave her his ring and told her that he wished her every happiness, and Igraine wrote in her letter to Arthur that she loved him dearly and wished him to marry for love as she could not.”
“It’s from my mates,” Bradley said. “We got eighteenth birthday presents because we knew we were going separate ways but we want to keep each other.” He rolled the ring on his thumb. “It’s never addressed in Merlin.”
“I want you to keep exploring these.” Dr. Harris made a note on a piece of paper. “And, Merlin, to better understand where Bradley’s coming from, I suggest that you consider watching the television show Merlin. Let’s move on to discuss how the two of you are handling the situation. What’s working and what’s not working?”
“He calls me Colin,” Colin said immediately. “He wants me to be Colin, and I don’t even know Colin.”
“You expect me to be Arthur.”
“You are Arthur.”
“You’re Colin!”
“At least you know who Arthur is! All this is your world, and you tell me that my entire world is fabricated, that it’s something that you can act out and put away whenever you like.”
“I’ve not put any of that on you!”
“Oh, in what ways have you not? I’m sorry that I’m not Colin, but—“
“But you are Colin.”
“I’m not!” When Colin shouted, his Irish accent returned in full force.
“We’re going to keep these discussions constructive,” Dr. Harris said. “So, Bradley, from Merlin I’m hearing that he would be more comfortable if you stopped trying to turn him into Colin.”
“But he is—“
“Bradley.” Dr. Harris stood. “Regardless of what reality you ascribe to, it is incredibly damaging to be told that you are not the person you are supposed to be. We are going to make every effort to let Merlin know that he is okay as he is.”
“But he’s—“
“And,” Dr. Harris continued,” in return, Merlin, it would help Bradley if you tried to grow more accustomed to his world.”
Bradley did not like couples’ therapy.
hyponymnTitle: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Bradley/Colin, Bradley/Merlin
Summary:Colin Morgan is a really good actor. He doesn't just play a character, he becomes the character. He builds the world of the character, synthesizes the struggles of the character, and dreams about the character. And it just so happens that Colin’s character is exactly the type of cotton-headed ninnymuggins that would fall in love with a familiar, friendly face and a parcel of bad jokes. Bradley heroically understands; he totally recognizes his own awesomeness.
Warnings: frustrated boys (Not even UST. Just frustration.)
Word Count: 2,200
Running Word Count: 5,560
Spoilers: Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are fair game; also video diaries and interviews (if those count as spoilers?!)
Bradley is toweling his hair dry when the hotel door swings open and Colin turns bright red.
“Sorry,” he mumbles and he’s already back in the hallway. Bradley adjusts his towel on his hip and sprints after him. Colin’s even faster than he looks and Bradley might as well get back in the shower because he works up a sweat as he chases Colin down two flights of stairs before he lunges and catches Colin’s trailing arm.
“Totally uncalled for,” Bradley points out. He tugs on Colin’s wrist, and Colin complies.
“I thought you had a training session,” Colin says. He’s looking at Bradley’s hold on his wrist like it’s the bane of his existence.
“I did.” Bradley shoves Colin in front of him. “We ended early. Rupert’s horse threw him, but he’ll be fine.”
“Ahh,” Colin says. He trudges up the steps.
“So you’ve been avoiding me.” Bradley tries to keep his tone light and conversational, but the accusative edge still manages to slip in.
“I wouldn’t say avoiding,” Colin hedges. “We’re both really busy.”
“Yeah,” Bradley agrees. “You’re definitely busy avoiding me.”
“Understandably.” Colin says it like he’s asking permission, and it’s a bit late for him to be asking for permission to avoid him because Bradley hasn’t seen him for nearly four days straight.
“You can explain that to anyone we run into.” Bradley hitches his towel up from where it was slipping as they climb the last flight of stairs.
“You weren’t supposed to chase me.”
“You weren’t supposed to be running.”
“You weren’t supposed to be here.”
“Where would you have me be, Colin?” Bradley runs a hand through his hair. “Look, you either talk to me or we go back to some couple counselor.”
“It’s not exactly a textbook case.”
“If a trained therapist can’t work through it, how are you supposed to work through it?” Bradley thinks he’s being incredibly logical. “You have to at least talk to me.”
“I can’t talk to you without Merlin talking to you and Merlin talking to Arthur.” Bradley gets that; he got it when Colin first alluded to it four days ago. He gets that when Colin interacts with him, he’s affected by how Merlin’s disappointed that Bradley’s just an actor, by how Merlin’s frustrated with how comparatively shallow Colin and Bradley’s relationship is, by how Bradley’s not defined by honor and courage and leading knights into battle.
“Fortunately for me, I’ve had experience talking to Merlin. As Bradley and as Arthur.”
Colin holds the stair door open for Bradley. “It’s not exactly something talking to you would help.”
“What you’re doing now isn’t working.”
“What you’re doing is making it worse.” Colin trails Bradley back to their room. “You know how when you watch a fictional character fall in love with another fictional character, you fall a little in love with that character too?”
“The one falling in love or the one being loved?” Bradley opens their room door and Colin slips past him.
“The loved one.”
Colin sits down on his bed and he doesn’t look like he’s going to keep talking, so Bradley picks up the conversational slack.
“Yeah. When the Goblin King fell for Sarah Williams, everybody fell for Sarah Williams.” It’s apparently the right thing to say because Colin flops down on the bed and keeps talking.
“Merlin’s in love with you, Bradley. And I’m stuck with his perspective.”
Bradley stands over Colin so he can get a good look at his face because Colin hadn’t sounded like he was joking, but his face is always a tell. “You’re in love with me?”
Colin closes his eyes. “I’m not, but I keep seeing how and why Merlin loves you. It messes with my head.” Bradley takes a careful step away from the bed.
“I’m going to go put on clothes now.”
“You do that,” Colin says dryly.
*
“Names.” The receptionist made looking bored an art form. Everything from her tone to her ironed sweater vest screamed bland professionalism.
“Bradley James,” Bradley said.
“You sign yourself in.” The receptionist crooked one finger at the clipboard, and Bradley was pretty sure it was the tiniest, most effortless little finger wiggle he had ever seen.
“Right.” Bradley scrawled his name and passed off the pen to Colin, who wrote “Merlin of Ealdor.” Bradley grabbed the pen back. “You can’t write that.”
“That’s my name.”
“Your legal name, the name of your body, is Colin Morgan.”
“So you say.”
“So you have to write down your actual name—“
“Mr. James, the therapist will be referring to him by the name on the page, so he may list himself however he likes.” The receptionist didn’t look up from her computer. Colin beamed at Bradley, and Bradley scratched out his name and penned in a new one.
Bradley led Colin over to the waiting area and sprawled out on a sofa chair.
“So Dr. Harris can get me back to Camelot?” Colin asked.
“Dr. Harris is going to get Colin back. That’s the priority.”
“But you think I’m Colin.”
“Yeah.”
Colin cocked his head and waited for Bradley to elaborate, but Bradley grabbed a women’s health magazine and tried to look interested in a quinoa salad recipe. Colin began pacing. After ten minutes, Bradley was seriously considering telling Colin to knock it off, but he was saved by the bored tones of the receptionist.
“Merlin of Ealdor and Batman,” the receptionist called. Colin looked at Bradley, and Bradley led the way through the double doors. On the opposite side of the door and in a sharp collared dress, stood another woman.
“Hello,” she smiled. “I’m Dr. Harris. Who’s who?”
“Merlin of Ealdor,” Colin said. He did a little awkward bow.
“Batman.” Bradley offered her his hand, and she shook it. “Or Bradley. Either’s good.”
“Noted,” Dr. Harris said. Colin smirked at Bradley.
“Now Anthony made mention of your current situation, but I’d much prefer hearing your version. If you would follow me?” Dr. Harris trailed into an office. Colin threw a nervous look at Bradley before following.
Dr. Harris’ office was minimalist. There was a firm loveseat, a uniform bookshelf, and a very square desk. It didn’t look, Bradley mused as he and Colin perched on the loveseat, particularly inviting.
“Is this your first time in therapy?” Dr. Harris asked. She sat crisply in her chair, completely tucked in behind her desk, and looking politely interested.
“First time I’ve fallen into another world.” Colin grinned weakly, and Dr. Harris smiled back.
“I should make clear what I do. I help people recognize and address issues in their lives. For couples, we work on addressing underlying issues in relationships.” She leaned forward onto her desk. “I’m afraid that I do not have the ability to transfer people from world to world.”
“So you’re an advisor?” Colin asked.
“Colin thinks he’s Merlin from Merlin,” Bradley explained.
“What do you think?” Dr. Harris completely ignored Bradley, which was basically the story of being on set with Colin.
“Bradley looks like Arthur,” Colin said softly. “He moves like Arthur. He smiles like Arthur. He sounds like Arthur.” He swallowed. “I want to get him home.”
“I am home!”
“If I may,” Dr. Harris interrupted,” I suggest that you respect each others realities. You don’t have to believe each other in order to respect the situation that the other believes himself to be in.”
Bradley shut his mouth mulishly.
“I would like to clarify some things,” Dr. Harris continued. “Merlin. Bradley’s friend Anthony explained some aspects of the show that Bradley works on to me. On that television show, the character Merlin is an incredibly skilled magician.”
“Sorcerer,” Bradley corrected before he remembered that he wasn’t speaking to the so-called therapist who was clearly going to be taking Colin’s side.
“Sorcerer,” Dr. Harris amended. “Do you have magic, Merlin?”
Bradley felt Colin tense and turned to see him wide-eyed and quivering.
“No,” Colin choked. He was shaking slightly, and the look he gave Bradley was witless terror. Bradley’s mouth went on autopilot.
“I know. I know Merlin has magic. Arthur’s conflicted about magic, but I get it. I know it’s not evil. It’s okay. Merlin’s a good guy. A good friend. Arthur couldn’t betray him if he tried. It wouldn’t be in character. I wouldn’t let it happen. I wouldn’t act it. You’re fine. It’s fine. It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you. No one’s in any position to hurt you. I wouldn’t let that happen.”
The panic began to fade in Colin’s eyes, but he still held himself carefully, so Bradley threw an arm around him and tugged him to his side before turning back to face Dr. Harris.
“You just went for the jugular on that, didn’t you,” he told Dr. Harris. Her face was still firmly set in that pleasantly interested expression.
“Are there any other land mines we should be navigating?” she asked.
Bradley couldn’t think of any.
“Alright,” Dr. Harris said. “We’ll avoid talk of magic for now. Let’s explore potential incongruencies.”
“Meaning?”
“Things that changed from off-set, or aspects from off-set that were never explained onset. Scars, birthmarks, things that are present in both your reality and Merlin’s reality.”
“Right,” Bradley said. “Uh…I had some dental work done last break.”
“Excellent starting place as any,” Dr. Harris said. “Merlin, did you notice that Arthur’s teeth changed since when you first started working with him?”
“For him,” Colin corrected. “Yes, a horse kicked out most of Arthur’s teeth in a hunting accident. Uther summoned a specialist doctor from Gogodin to make the highest quality false dentures. Arthur wears them at all times, even while sleeping. He only takes them out to clean. And since then I’ve had to be careful in selecting tender meats and small fruits.” Bradley lifted his arm away from Colin.
“That’s not scripted,” Bradley said. “I just came back with different teeth. The directors said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Your thumb ring,” Dr. Harris said. “I saw it in one of the series promotions. Is that a token from set?”
“No,” Bradley said.
“It’s his mother’s,” Colin explained.
“Is not!” Bradley scowled at Colin. “My mum doesn’t have man hands.”
“Arthur’s mother’s,” Colin elaborated.
“Arthur’s mother also doesn’t have man hands.”
“It was a gift for Arthur that Gaius passed on to him on his sixteenth birthday. Gaius told me all about it. Uther was not Igraine’s love; she loved another but once he knew that the king had set sights on her, he told her that Uther could do more for her than he ever could. He gave her his ring and told her that he wished her every happiness, and Igraine wrote in her letter to Arthur that she loved him dearly and wished him to marry for love as she could not.”
“It’s from my mates,” Bradley said. “We got eighteenth birthday presents because we knew we were going separate ways but we want to keep each other.” He rolled the ring on his thumb. “It’s never addressed in Merlin.”
“I want you to keep exploring these.” Dr. Harris made a note on a piece of paper. “And, Merlin, to better understand where Bradley’s coming from, I suggest that you consider watching the television show Merlin. Let’s move on to discuss how the two of you are handling the situation. What’s working and what’s not working?”
“He calls me Colin,” Colin said immediately. “He wants me to be Colin, and I don’t even know Colin.”
“You expect me to be Arthur.”
“You are Arthur.”
“You’re Colin!”
“At least you know who Arthur is! All this is your world, and you tell me that my entire world is fabricated, that it’s something that you can act out and put away whenever you like.”
“I’ve not put any of that on you!”
“Oh, in what ways have you not? I’m sorry that I’m not Colin, but—“
“But you are Colin.”
“I’m not!” When Colin shouted, his Irish accent returned in full force.
“We’re going to keep these discussions constructive,” Dr. Harris said. “So, Bradley, from Merlin I’m hearing that he would be more comfortable if you stopped trying to turn him into Colin.”
“But he is—“
“Bradley.” Dr. Harris stood. “Regardless of what reality you ascribe to, it is incredibly damaging to be told that you are not the person you are supposed to be. We are going to make every effort to let Merlin know that he is okay as he is.”
“But he’s—“
“And,” Dr. Harris continued,” in return, Merlin, it would help Bradley if you tried to grow more accustomed to his world.”
Bradley did not like couples’ therapy.
no subject
Colin confessing that he's projecting Merlin's feelings on Bradley was very brave.
I love the spots of humor throughout the drama and this made me laugh out loud. “Merlin of Ealdor and Batman,” the receptionist called. Bradley's a smart ass. I like it!