The medals and fringe on his jacket made a tinkling sound as he moved, Lionel found it irritating. The fit was poorly done, if he raised his arms a certain way the jacket bunched in a decidedly non-regal fashion.
However, when the wardrobe tech had asked if everything was alright he couldn't bring himself to complain. She was young, and so tired her skin had a bluish tinge. He smiled and said everything was perfect. If he stood just right, it was.
His driver was a man named Lanny. He was rotund with shaking jowls and tight white curls in his hair. Lionel perched beside him on the bench and gripped the frame of the cart with one gloved hand.
"Everyone is wondering what you're doing here," Lanny said as he drove them haphazardly from the make up trailers to the sound studio. Lionel didn't answer him at first. He was watching the sky turn lavender between the low soundstages and arched warehouses. "The bets are you are either broke from a gambling addiction or uninsurable because you're hopped up on something."
"What?" Lionel clued back in to the driver's words, his head whipping around to look at the ruddy-faced man.
"This might be LA, Mister Thelwell, but it ain't Hollywood. Frankly, we're all on edge having you and the girl here."
It never ceased to amaze Lionel the way Americans just spoke their mind. It wasn't just rude, it was pathological.
He also didn't understand what they could have against his co-star. He could understand a hesitation towards himself, he came with a reputation of perfectionism, but she was a blank slate.
"Why is that?" he asked instead, looking across the lot to see if he could catch her red dress milling outside the studio.
"Seems like bad luck bringing her here. Actors are one thing, but rockstars? We'll be lucky if she doesn't disappear on us."
Lionel hesitated, he was surprised by his desire to defend Miss Astra against the criticism. He squashed it.
They were nearing the sound stage, beneath the floodlights Lionel could see another cart parked. Lanny cursed under his breath.
He parked perpendicularly to the cart and leaned out the driver's side to yell at the other cart. Lionel braced as the whole cart shifted.
"Zeke, Zeke," Lanny shouted. The gangly man didn't seem to hear until Lanny hooted the horn. He pulled off his headphones and looked around. "Stop sitting in the drop off zone."
Zeke waved and scooted his cart out of the way, Lanny looked too smug for the meagerness of his accomplishment. "Sold his soul to get to be that chick's driver. Says he's a big fan. Total weirdo."
Lionel twisted to catch a better look at Zeke as Lanny jostled them into the parking space. The thought of someone pushing to be closer to his co-star was as unnerving as the baseless animosity Lanny spouted. He tried to make out Zeke's features in the semi-darkness, commit them to memory on the off chance he became a problem.
Lionel got out of the golf cart, grateful to no longer feel the warmth of another body pressed against him.
"I'll be back later," Lanny assured him before peeling off from the curb.
Inside, the studio techs were clustered like ants in a single tight corner. Lionel could hear Fast's voice shouting above them all. Lionel walked in that direction.
"Look at you," Fast said as Lionel approached. "More tinsel than a Christmas tree."
"Yes," Lionel looked down. He was uncomfortable, this costume and the character it belonged to were still strangers to him. That was his own fault, as he couldn't care about the script. He knew he could carry the performance by mere presence, so why try? "Are we almost ready?"
"If you can find Astra. I sent an AD already and they got nothing."
"Oh," Lionel was taken aback. Her cart was outside and he would have spotted her if she were on foot on the lot. He glanced around and saw the craft table and the bank of chairs. He knew she wouldn't be there.
He thought of the first time he saw her, coming down from the rafters. She wasn't going to be somewhere predictable. She would want to be as far away from the crowd and chaos as possible.
"I will find her," Lionel offered. Fast gave him a hard look before shrugging. What could they do without their star?
Lionel walked around the unlit edge of the sound stage, inspecting the bits of set dressing leaning against the wall. He glanced inside the two sets facing away from each other. She wouldn't go there, the mood was wrong.
The last corner of the soundstage held the largest set. Lionel recognized it as being the place described in his script. This would be Edward's hotel room. As he drew closer to it, he saw the blue light of a laptop screen and heard voices. And the rustle of a skirt.
All of it barely audible above the sounds of the lighting and set crew, not to mention the ringing of Fast's voice.
"Miss Astra," he called from the shadows as she appeared from behind a partition. She gasped whirling around and covering her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
Thelwell frowned, stepping closer to her. "I came to find you."
"You found me, now go," she commanded into the muffle of her hands.
"Stephanie-"
"Stevie," she cut him off hard. He kicked himself, it felt too personal to use but he couldn't explain that.
"Stevie," he corrected. "What are you doing?"
Her face was covered and she was turned away from him. She was tense, like a kid who thought they would disappear if they closed their eyes.
"She hasn't seen you like this yet. I don't want to spoil it," she twisted to explain, her eyes resolutely covered. Thelwell was baffled by her words.
"Who hasn't seen me?"
"Mae hasn't seen Edward."
She was talking about their characters. He laughed in surprise, slightly charmed. He stepped closer to her. Her dress was garish and cheap just like his costume but there was something lovely about her exposed shoulders and long neck. She had no jewelry yet. There would be a moment when his character clasped some bauble around her throat. It was a shame to ruin the delicate expanse of skin with fake diamonds.
"Don't laugh at me," she hissed at him.
"I am not," Lionel protested, his voice still too amused. "Your sincerity surprised me."
"It shouldn't. Go away."
"I can't, I promised to bring you back."
Lionel knew he should just go. She wanted to be left alone, but he couldn't make himself leave. Part of him revelled in how annoyed she was. And the other part was enjoying trapping her there. He could tell by the way she shifted her feet that she was aware he was staring at her, she knew how close he was.
"I don't want to see you yet."
"Why not?"
She sighed at him as if he was the biggest dullard in the world. "It will ruin it if I know what you look like."
"You could act surprised, " he offered. Even with her eyes covered he knew she was glaring at him. "Tell me what you're thinking."
She shivered, and Lionel realized he had drifted closer to her. Too close for coworkers alone in the dark. He had whispered his request in her ear and his breath must have crossed her bare shoulders.
It made him feel powerful, and he leaned into that feeling. He hadn't taken this seriously before, but the fact they were going to be sharing scenes together became real to him. She would be Mae and he would be Edward, two lovers separated by wildly different circumstance. Artistic curiosity pushed him to stay in her space, and explore the vibrating tension in the air.
"This is the first time she sees Edward," her voice had gone quiet too. It was addictingly intimate to whisper in a corner.
"They have met before," Lionel argued next to her ear. He noticed on her shoulder there was glitter. It infested the set, sprinkling down from stored set pieces. Without thinking he brushed it away. She froze, goosebumps raising where his glove had trailed.
Lionel needed to step back, he was too lonely if he was enjoying teasing her this way. Except there was something between them. If he could capture it in his performance, he could possibly avert the disaster of this movie. To do that, he needed to understand it so he could call it up again when they were rolling.
"No," she insisted. Lionel wondered if she was half talking to herself. She shook her head, dropping her hands but keeping her eyes closed. "She hasn't realized it yet, who Edward really is. What a relationship with him would mean."
Her head turned to the side and she opened her eyes. He was behind her, she could only see his face. They were close to each other, her eyes dropped to his lips before moving back to his eyes. She looked away again, a flush creeping up her neck into her cheeks.
"Very astute, Miss Astra," he breathed. She closed her eyes, her head down. "But you have forgotten something."
"What?" she nearly snapped at him.
"That I might look very silly and you will laugh," he teased her.
"You won't," she murmured so he could barely hear it.
He stepped back then, aware they had roles to fill and he was needlessly delaying.
"Walk ahead of me," he told her. "I will stay where you can't see me until it is time."