Chapter Text
.i
Bradley swiped his employee ID and entered the staff break room to fix himself a cup of coffee before seven rolled steadily closer. It wouldn't be the first time working twelve-hour shifts, but the mornings were always the roughest. When the door didn't click and swung open instead, Bradley glanced behind him, meeting the blue eyed stare of a young man around his age wearing a hoodie and worn jeans. Bradley was guessing maintenance crew.
He nodded a greeting and made room in front of the coffee pots after grabbing a Styrofoam cup. "Mornin', in for the brew?"
Tech Guy grinned and stepped beside him to take a cup as well, left hand stretching the sweater pocket. "Always. You, then?" he asked. Bradley hummed in agreement and added just one packet of sugar to his coffee while the other circled around him to the fridge. "You're new here," he commented as he poured milk into his coffee.
"Oh," Bradley smiled slightly in embarrassment. "Yeah, first day in. Name's Bradley." He stuck out his free hand when the milk back into the fridge. Tech Guy put his cup down on the counter and shook his hand, his left hand not emerging still. Bradley looked over it with politeness.
"Merlin," Tech Guy said with a bright smile.
Bradley waited for the punch line, given that the institute was called Camelot, then smiled politely when nothing was offered. "Really?" he asked, disbelievingly. He didn't want to take the piss on his first day from any prats.
"Yes, really," Merlin said without dropping his smile, but dropped his hand to reach for his milky coffee. The blue eyes closed briefly in a delighted expression, a sound of contentment coming from him. Then he focused on Bradley again, gesturing to his attire. "So. CNA, RN...?"
"LPN, actually," he replied, taking a drink of his own and glancing at the clock that hung over the door.
"Ah, both of two worlds, then," Merlin said sympathetically. "I don't envy it, not one bit. Some of them are just bonkers here at Camelot, but I guess that's what you might expect. Though Will can be excused, I suppose, though I gotta say his anger management sessions aren't really working."
Bradley glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Were the non-nursing staff really eager to gossip so quickly about the patients? The training videos and books stressed too much about patient confidentiality, Bradley couldn't make a reply on it. He led the direction off nursing on to maintenance. "You think you have it easier, then? With all the demands for assistance with little broken jobs?"
Merlin raised an eyebrow over his cup. "What?"
Right as Bradley was going to elaborate, the door opened to two women in scrubs. They looked between Bradley and Merlin, which they didn't seemed surprised but still disappointed in seeing Merlin there.
"Colin," a short woman scolded lightly, long hair framing her cheekbones that gave her a slightly sunken appearance. "You know the dining room is for staff only. Who's card did you swipe?"
Merlin appeared affronted, feigned cheaply. "I just came in with Arthur--" Bradley bristled. He didn't even remember his name? "Good man held the door open and everything for a servant like me." He grinned cheekily at the both of them.
The woman held the door open for him to leave, the other woman volunteering to go with him. "Just go on back to your room. Breakfast will be around soon."
Still grinning, he bounded forward with a coffee salut. "Right-o, then. See you later, Freya. I hope to see you around, Arthur!"
"Its Bradley!" he called as the man named Merlin Colin left. He looked at Freya as she let the door close behind the two. "Is he always like that?"
Freya smiled and also went to the refreshment counter, making hot chocolate. "He's sweet and means well, but Colin's always getting around where he shouldn't be. I've been suggesting to the DON we put a magnetic bracelet on him to keep track of him." Before Bradley could understand, he was caught under her studious gaze. "You must be the greenhorn. Bradley, right? The LPN?"
"Yes," he said, keeping up. "And... you're Freya, I gather?"
Her brown eyes widened. "Wha-? Oh! No! Sorry, I'm Laura. Laura Donnelly, CNA. Colin just calls me Freya. Say's its my real name like how Merlin's his." Laura quirked a grin that was mostly teeth. "Though I've never seen him anoint the heavy name of Arthur on anyone, so that's something to mention in report."
"Wait- report?" Bradley backtracked, blinked, and felt momentarily winded. "Merlin's a patient here?"
Laura nodded and sipped her chocolate. "Yeah, and his name is Colin Morgan. Identity delusions, as you gather, but you'll read more in his file and care plan - et cetera, et cetera."