A/N: I sent Julian Barratt a birthday card about two weeks ago. An autograph arrived in the mail today and when my friend Amber suggested that maybe Julian and Noel had seen it together, this ficlet was born.
Disclaimer: Not affiliated with Noel or Julian. Though I'd like to be. Call me!
"Why don't you ever open your mail, Ju?" Noel was sitting on his couch, leaning forward, leafing through a stack of parcels that Julian had picked up from his agent's earlier that day.
"Fan mail is more your thing, don't you think? I'm surprised I even got any." He came out of the kitchen, juggling two cups of tea. Honestly, he was completely uninterested in the mail and had planned to throw it away until Noel came over, intent on opening it.
"There could be some brilliant things in here, Julian! People send us presents all the time. You have to at least open them!" Noel took his cup without even glancing at Julian, too intent upon reading the return addresses on the post.
Julian flopped down on the couch next to him, "Weren't we going to do something productive today?"
"Well, yeah. But it is your duty as an entertainer to look through this genius mail. Your birthday's just past. I bet there are presents in here." Noel paused and then gasped, "Oh, this one is from America!"
He held up a fairly large manila coloured envelope and thrust it in Julian's face, "Open it then!"
Julian sighed and took the envelope, "This is stupid, Noel."
Noel just shook his head and kept silent, waiting to see the unveiling.
Julian pulled out another slightly smaller envelope and a homemade card fell out, "Oh, Ju! I told you there would be birthday cards!"
"I think you said presents." Julian bent to pick up the card but Noel got to it first, grabbing at it and pulling it away.
"This is genius! It's in crayon! It looks like whoever made it took a lot of care." Noel was enamoured with the bright colours and swirls on the front of the card.
The amount of work displayed on the card had piqued Julian's interest. He snatched the card out of Noel's hands, hearing his sharp "Hey! Gimme that!" in retort. He read the card to himself and chuckled. It was actually quite cute.
"I thought you didn't want fan mail." Noel grabbed for the card again, "I'll take it. It would look nice on my fridge."
Julian glanced at Noel and chuckled, "Obviously, this isn't just your average fan mail. The little card inside says she wants to be a comedian. We're making an influence on people." He looked at Noel again, "Or I am, at least."
Noel shook his head, "You're a big softie, Barratt. One minute, you're against fan mail all together. Now you're all gung ho!"
Julian shrugged and laughed, "What can I say? I like crayon."