Title: The Impossibility of Silence Rating: PG-13 Pairing: Brad/Ryan, because I’m eeeeevil. And slight Ryan/Colin. Summary: Being quiet has never been Brad’s forte. Word Count: 612 Notes: Spurned from the B/R rant over at whoselineslash. –pets OTP- Disclaimer: Any similarity between the fictional version of the person portrayed here and the actual person is purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction. This is not an attempt to defame the character of said person on the basis of libel, as the work is FICTIONAL (and NOT an intently false statement created with the express purpose of misleading others about the actual character of said person). Any mention of Whose Line is it Anyway, ABC, any associated entites, or any copywrited material pertaining therein is reasonably protected by the Fair Use Rule of the United States Copyright Act of 1976, and is not intended to infringe upon any copywrited material. The first thing Brad realizes when Ryan is gone, is that things are uncharacteristically quiet. He can lay back on the cushions of the couch and stare at the ceiling, and hear the droplets of dew on the outside of the window fall and condense. There’s a truck over on the opposite corner of the world whose breaks need to be checked. The sun is setting, and it crashes and explodes on the horizon in a burst of reds and oranges. Being quiet was something that Brad could never quite get a grip on. When something happened that he found interesting, he spoke up, giving his brash opinion and often getting into trouble and carrying a black eye home. He was surprised that he hadn’t been killed yet for some of the things he’s said. It was Brad who first brought up the idea of Ryan and Colin being more than friends, and everyone else laughed and heckled them about it. Ryan blushed and hid his face, and Brad had to wonder if it was true. The next day in the green room, he asked him about it when they were alone, half expecting a laugh, or a brushing off, or something like that. But Ryan was never the type of person to just give you a straight answer right away. “Do you know how many times I get asked that question?” he asked, a note of displeasure in his voice, though he was smiling. “I was just wondering. You know, like everyone else in the world who watches the show.” “Well, it is pretty damn gay.” Brad lingered a while. “So, is it true?” Ryan managed a laugh before responding. “We’re just good friends, It’s never gone anywhere past that. So no, it’s not true.” It was then Brad realized that he had never been this quiet this long. It’s been almost fifteen minutes, and not a sound aside from a cough has left his mouth. The two men sit together like that for what seems like a long time, before Brad’s hand finds Ryan’s knee, and in a moment of complete audacity and astonishment even to him, his lips find Ryan’s as well. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he had been harboring these feelings for some time, but he never disclosed them to anyone, apparently even to himself. And as Ryan pressed back, shifting a hand to the back of Brad’s head, he decides that maybe he’s not the only one. What occurred next continued the surprising trend made Brad gasp into the cushions of the green room couch, as a condom was taken out of Ryan’s pocket, making Brad wonder if this was an ordinary occurrence. If just maybe, co-workers fucked in the green room on a regular basis. It’s over fast, before anyone can realize that the two have been gone and alone in the room for close to an hour. It hasn’t even occurred to Brad that the room had been left unlocked and that any person could have just walked in at any time. But that doesn’t seem to really matter. And when Ryan pulls up his pants and gets up, walking over to the door, he turns around, looking his friend in the eye and speaking softly, he whispers, “This never happened.” Brad can only nod in agreement. He doesn’t speak a word for a while. When he used to sit in his chair on the stage during commercial breaks, he noticed how everyone would talk and laugh and be noisy, but Colin would sit to himself, looking at his hands and listening to everybody else talking. Now Brad can understand why.