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The first day on set was hard for both of them.
At first it was all fun and games. They dressed up in their costumes, and took a moment together before the shooting began.
"Feels… familiar. Weirdly." Colin picked at the threads on his costume only to have his hands batted away by a passing costume assistant.
"Costume department have done well. Even my mail feels heavy."
"Yeah but you'd move wrong if it wasn't. All that football and you'd be prancing about the set like a clotpole."
"Hey, only Merlin can use that line."
"But I am Merlin." Colin teased at Arthur, almost flirting. Almost. Things were still… uncertain sometimes.
It wasn't until filming began that it got strange. Colin's gawping at the scenery wasn't really acting. Every prop was in place, every chicken and poor peasant cloth and the food on the market stalls. He really did feel like Merlin walking so naively into Camelot all those years ago.
Then the Execution happened.
It was done in only a few takes, and Colin was grabbing a drink from the hospitality when he saw Bradley sitting behind a table, on the floor.
"Come on, costume are going to shout at you if you manage to get mucky between takes. Continuity remember?"
Bradley looked up sadly.
"You know I didn't feel the way my father did. Don't you?"
Merlin crouched down and put his hands over Arthur's gloves. This was a thing between Merlin and Arthur again, Colin and Bradley had no space here.
"I know. And I know the you that you have to be in this series is not the you that I have now. You're a brilliant actor. I won't hate you for it. I couldn't hate you back then either."
Bradley still looked sad, but this time his eyes looked less full of tears and more ready to take on the next take.
"Are you sure?" Colin's heart pulled at the vulnerable expression he put on.
"Yes. I know you can do this. And afterwards we'll go out for drinks with the crew and smile and laugh like we really are just actors acting the parts. We'll only ever be praised for feeling it strongly, but remember what you were like back then. You really were an idiot."
"Yeah but so were you." There was a smile back on Bradley's face and he was coming back to himself.
"Not as much as you."
"But I was far handsomer."
"No arguments there. Shame about your head."
"What about my head?"
"It's rather alarming size."
"Oh don't cut yourself on that wit of yours. And try not to impale any of the extras on your cheekbones. I'm not sure they've been risk-assessed." With that, Bradley scrambled out of the way of Colin's reach and was chased back onto set by an indignant Colin.
Colin supposed he didn't really mind. As long as he got to see Bradley smile.