On Thursday everyone pulled extra hours to get David caught up on the show.
After the initial bewilderment he displayed at being hired, David took to the project like a fish to water. Not only did he manage to perform each scene with aplomb, but he quickly became a favorite with the cast and crew. It was more than being a skilled actor, David seemed to be a genuinely pleasant person. He was outgoing without being demanding, light-hearted and funny while maintaining professionalism, and seemed to genuinely find something he liked in everyone he met.
Despite his initial reservations, Louis was starting to enjoy working with David, too.
But one thing still bothered him. While David's initial discomfiture at the prospect of working with Louis seemed to have faded, he didn’t seem overly friendly toward him, either. He was perfectly courteous and approachable, Louis supposed, he just didn’t approach him. Not like he was wont to do with other cast members.
Louis wished he would. It wasn't hard to imagine a pint-sized David writing about moths to someone he admired, but Louis couldn't fathom why he had written to him. He wanted to ask, but that seemed like a step too far—especially given David's initial reaction to him.
The knowledge that he should keep it to himself did little to satisfy his curiosity, though. Louis still wanted to know more about him.
He had looked up all of the projects David had been in, but Rosemarie was right to say that there was nothing notable. The only other thing Louis had seen him in was a commercial for body wash, and they hadn’t even shot his face. Just his washboard abs. Not that Louis could fault them for that; David had an excellent physique, even clothed.
Louis was not the kind of man who made the first move in friendships. He was the kind of person that waited until someone engaged with him and then sorted them into casual acquaintance, friend, or hookup. So it was a shock to himself as much as anyone else when he got tired of waiting and decided to take the initiative himself.
His opportunity came at lunch time. David sat at a table with a couple other people. Louis watched as Jennifer Yang stood up, smacked David playfully across the head, and left him there grinning after her.
It was a strange display for multiple reasons, half of them being that his brain had trouble processing Jennifer Yang as being anything but severe and professional, but also because they seemed to be closer than he had originally assumed. The thought bothered him, for some reason.
Louis watched for a moment to see if David interacted with any of the other crew, but no one seemed to have taken note of him yet so he started wolfing down his lunch while pulling out a piece of crumpled paper from his pocket.
“Is anyone sitting here?” Louis said, setting his tray down across from David. The man looked up at him and swiped the paper off the table so quickly that he nearly took his glass of water with it. Louis pretended not to notice, though he had to tamp down on the disappointment at his inability to sneak a peek. Was David writing more lyrics?
“Nah, go ahead,” David said, gesturing to the seat.
“How has your first week been?” Louis asked, then cringed internally. He was terrible at small talk. David took a moment to swallow the food in his mouth, creating an awkward pause in which David met his eye for just a bit too long. Louis cursed his timing.
“Good, thanks,” he said after a moment. Then, when Louis failed to think of something else to say quickly enough, he continued, “Nabila is amazing. I’ve seen the sets and some of her plans for the episodes. Honestly, I’ve no idea how she put it together. She said that it almost didn’t happen.”
“It almost didn’t,” Louis confirmed, grasping at this new topic to start an actual conversation. “We’ve had a slew of problems so far.”
“I heard about Bran Jacobs,” David said, sobering. “I was sorry to hear that. I worked with him on The Wake of War a while back. He was a great guy.”
Louis nodded, surprised. He hadn’t realized Bran had been in that movie. “That delay was certainly the most immediate,” Louis said before realizing how his words might come across as callous. David just nodded, taking another bite of his beans and rice.
“What do you think of the script so far?” Louis asked, taking a bite of his own lunch.
David glanced up at him, still looking a little surprised that Louis was talking to him. Louis had to wonder if maybe he was the one who seemed unapproachable. It certainly hadn’t been intentional, he thought he achieved some degree of amiability with most of his coworkers, but maybe not.
“I think it’s great,” David said. “I’m not usually an urban fantasy reader, except for a couple books, but I can appreciate a good story however it’s told.” David then went on to list more than a couple books that he had enjoyed over the years. Louis nodded, commenting on the one or two that he had read—mostly due to Rosemarie’s influence—and laughing about some of the stories David told about his time on the set of Lust Story.
“It was probably the worst career decision I’ve ever made,” David admitted after a while, grimacing at his empty plate. “But it was still fun on set. Well, except for the really awful things that some of the characters did.”
Louis's lips quirked. Sometimes David talked about the characters and the actors like they were two sets of actual people instead of one set of people playing roles. It was... endearing.
“My sister watched the entire series,” Louis said. “She disagreed with some of it, but enjoyed it overall.”
David choked on the water he had been drinking, then laughed as he said, “She was probably the only one. Sorry. Was that rude?”
Louis shrugged. “She likes vampires.”
“Jennifer—” David began, “Jennifer Yang, that is, the special effects head. We’ve been friends since we learned to talk—anyway, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was a fool to take that job, but I didn’t listen. It was just supposed to be this tiny show. I had no idea that the marketing team so outstripped the production team. I thought it would just be one of those shows that I could add to my portfolio, sort of break into the world of TV. I didn’t think I’d become infamous for it.”
“Well, you’re here now, so it must have done you some good,” Louis said.
“Or I just have connections that aren’t above blackmail,” David said with a wry smile. Louis froze, suddenly wondering what exactly David knew. Had Jennifer already told David that Louis know about the lyrics? Had she told him Louis had them?
He considered all the possibilities until David continued with, “Honestly, she’s the one who bribed me to catch a flight over here and to go to the audition—” he paused, then, his gaze dropping to the table. “I’ve meant to ask, by the way, why did you ask me back after that horrendous audition?”
Louis opened his mouth and then closed it, wondering how much of the story he should tell. He finally settled on, “Ms. Yang came to me and told me that you were a better actor than I am. She then told me to go watch your performance in The Wake of War if I wanted to see it for myself.”
“She didn’t,” David said, looking horrified. Louis couldn’t help but chuckle.
“She did, and it did intrigue me,” he said. “I had to see who was good enough to get her that worked up. Your first tape was the best of them anyway, so I figured there was no harm in checking you out.”
David’s cheeks reddened and he seemed to struggle for a response before just shaking his head with a forced chuckle. “We should get back to set,” David said at last, then, “Oh, god, I’m so sorry for Jennifer. She sometimes defends my honor too viciously. I think she’s too inured to my faults at this point, she doesn’t understand how everything I get myself into is actually my own fault.”
Louis let his amusement show on his face and shrugged, walking with David to clear their trash away.
“She seems like a good friend,” he said. David nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as they returned to set.
Their next scene was the first they would be acting in together and Louis was curious to see how it would go. Their chemistry during the screen test had been exhilarating, but Louis wasn’t sure how much of that was his imagination. Even now, though, he could feel some sort of pull toward David.
Sure, part of it was physical attraction, Louis wasn’t oblivious enough not to notice that, but there was something else, too. It was an unfamiliar pull, stronger than just wanting to sleep with an attractive man. He wanted to get to know him.
It was almost like Louis wanted to be friends with David.
Maybe it was that he wanted to see if the affection that David had for him as a child was still there, or maybe it was just because the more he was around David, the less arduous this whole production seemed.
Either way, he was going to have to be careful to cultivate this companionship. After his initial surprise that Louis was talking to him, David didn’t seem at all hesitant to converse with him. He didn’t seem to hold any resentment for Louis over the letter he had written, either—of course, David had to realize that Louis, himself, had been about seven when he had written the letter, right? Why would a grown man care about that?
Louis would just have to be persistent. It wasn’t his MO, but he was an actor—he could pretend with the best of them.
Being friends couldn’t be that hard, could it?
*****
David wasn’t sure what to make of Louis Greene. He gave the impression of being aloof most of the time, but David had seen him smile and laugh with some of the cast and crew, too. The part of David that liked being on good terms with everyone on set had wanted to approach Louis, but his embarrassment from his audition and the fact that Louis himself had asked for David to come back kept him from taking that step.
But then Louis had come and sat down with him at lunch. David had been struck speechless for a moment, but after the initial shock, he had been able to get over himself and actually enjoy his costar’s presence.
And David really enjoyed his presence.
The chemistry between them seemed to extend beyond the screen, because David found himself opening up to Louis about his experience on Lust Story—something he usually reserved for Jennifer—and Louis hadn’t seemed at all perturbed by the fact that David had enjoyed working there despite the bad name. Louis had listened attentively and even laughed at some of David’s stories.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Whether it was just professional courtesy, or because Louis actually wanted to talk to David, he had approached him first. That was like tacit permission to keep talking to him, right? It made sense for them to try to get along, anyway. They would be working closely for the remainder of the season and this could be the start of a great working relationship.
Today’s set was a police station with a typical small-town feel. The scene they were supposed to be filming was the first one where he’d be working directly alongside Louis. As he turned toward the other man, he could see that acting facade falling over his face.
David was suddenly struck with the realization that he was acting with someone who had been working successfully in the industry for nearly twenty years. David had been acting professionally for the last six years, but hardly ever on anything worth remembering. He was utterly outmatched here and the thought made his heart rabbit in his chest.
David inhaled deeply, trying to picture the scene in his head. He had memorized his lines last night, but suddenly wasn’t sure if he remembered them all correctly.
Nabila was giving them some instruction on blocking and the anxious energy was starting to creep up on David again. Louis watched Nabila with complete attention, asking questions here and there and David wished that his ears weren’t filled with buzzing so that he could hear more of what was being said.
Breathe, David reminded himself, imagine the story. Get into the part.
David didn’t realize he had closed his eyes to picture it until a warm hand landed on his shoulder. David looked over to see Louis watching him with something that might have been concern.
It was probably concern more for David’s impact on the show than David himself, but either way, it bolstered him enough to give a half-smile and begin.
INT. POLICE STATION - DAY
Marcus sat at his desk shuffling through papers. Odd things had always happened in Shadow Falls but things were getting even more suspicious of late. His brows furrowed as he glanced down at a picture of a recent homicide. It was one in a long line of them. Serial killers in Shadow Falls. Marcus grimaced.
“What’s this, then?” he asked Detective Lindenburg, holding up a piece of paper.
“Notice from the director,” she said. “We have orders to help this guy. Don Christoph. PI. Pretty big name.”
“Bullshit,” Marcus snapped. “The SFPD doesn’t work with PIs. Better guess is he’s in the mob’s pocket.”
Lindenburg shrugged. She, apparently, didn’t care that they were working under a crime lord.
“Speak of the devil,” she said, pointing. Marcus looked over to see a tall man enter the station. His brows were heavy over dark eyes and his jaw was peppered with a five-o-clock shadow, though it was barely one. He was dressed less like a crime lord and more like some city slicker. Black turtleneck, black jeans, black boots. Hell, he was even wearing a black leather jacket with a pair of sunglasses folded over the pocket.
“Detective Lazarus,” Don Christoph said to the station at large.
“That’d be me,” Marcus said, standing up so that he wasn’t so dwarfed by the man, then leaning back against his desk with crossed arms. The two men made eye contact, assessing each other for weakness.
Then Don Christoph smiled, lips quirking in the kind of smile that said he had judged you and deemed you unworthy. Marcus sneered back, eyes locking with Christoph’s.
“What do you want?” Marcus snapped.
“I hear you are the man leading with the Rockbottom murders,” he said, his voice velvety smooth, though there was still a hint of that patronizing smile in his tone.
Marcus nodded, but didn’t volunteer any information.
“I’m Don Christoph,” he said, holding out his hand. Marcus took it, though grudgingly. His eyes widened a little in surprise. The man’s hand was like ice and he glanced down to see long fingers wrapped around his hand.
“I believe Director Divato told you that I’d be coming?” Christoph said. Marcus didn’t respond except to drop the man’s hand, giving Christoph an unimpressed look. “Tell me what you know about it.” Christoph made an unwavering sort of eye contact with him and for a moment Marcus was almost tempted to respond, but then he shook it off, his grimace returning full force.
“Oh, should I? Because you asked so nicely,” Marcus said. He didn’t think he imagined the look of surprise that Christoph gave him. The man probably wasn’t used to having anyone tell him no. Served him right.
“I’m sorry,” Christoph said with a genial smile, “I should have been more clear. It is imperative that I receive the information you have on the case. I believe I made this clear to the director.”
“I’m not about to go around handing out information on an open murder case to every whack-job that walks into this joint!” Marcus snapped.
“Careful,” Christoph said, taking an imposing step forward. Unable to move away from that enthralling gaze, Marcus straightened. They were nearly of a height and, standing, they were close enough that Marcus could feel Christoph’s energy pressing up against his own like a sparkler.
“Cut!” Nabila said. “Very good. David let’s try that again, but this time, when you stand up, I want you to puff out more, like you’re trying to intimidate him.”
The spell broke and David turned to Nabila, nodding along to her suggestions.
By the end of the scene, David couldn’t even remember anymore why he had been nervous. Louis took the job seriously, but he was never disparaging when David messed up, even laughing with him when he’d accidentally asked Don Christoph for his number instead of his card.
*****
Louis couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun filming. He’d been a little worried at the beginning when the man had suddenly closed his eyes with a peculiar look, but when they opened again, he had seemed determined.
In their first scene, Don was supposed to try and fail to hypnotize Marcus, but for Louis's part, he had almost been the one hypnotized by David’s eyes. He had wondered if they were contacts the other night, but after staring at them for so long today, it was clear that they were actually that shade of blue.
Next Friday—after their first full week of filming with their whole cast—there was to be a small celebration to congratulate themselves on overcoming all of the initial problems on set. Louis hadn’t intended to go, but as he watched David chat with Amelia Sargent—who played one of the detectives at the station—he was suddenly caught up in the idea of taking the opportunity to speak more with David.
“Excellent work,” Louis said, coming up behind David as he took a sip of water. He hadn't changed into his street clothes yet and Louis wondered if he was shooting more today. He couldn’t help himself as his hand came to rest on David’s shoulder. It was probably inappropriate at this stage in their friendship, but David didn’t seem to mind. He turned to Louis with a blinding grin, screwing the cap back onto his water bottle.
“Thanks, you too,” he returned. “I’ve never played a detective before. Kind of an interesting headspace to get into.” Louis's mind went to a completely different kind of headspace and he quickly banished the thought.
“Are you going to be at the celebration next Friday?” Louis asked.
“Hmm?” David asked, tilting his head a little in a parody of a confused dog. Louis raised his eyebrow.
“Nabila was just talking about it,” Louis said. “There’s a cast party after filming next Friday to celebrate our first full week of filming.”
“Oh,” he said, giving Louis a sheepish look, “I sort of zoned out there for a second. Sorry.”
Louis rolled his eyes, though he was more amused than irritated. “You should come. It’s at Blue’s Bar in the city. A little out of the way, but they have a great burger there.”
“Oh, in that case I’m in!” he said, laughing.
“We’re car-pooling if you need a ride,” Louis offered because, well, carpooling was logical and Louis wanted the chance to talk to David more.
“Thanks, but that’s all right. I’m sure Jennifer will be going, I can catch a ride with her,” David said. Louis just nodded, smiling to mask his disappointment.
“See you tomorrow, then,” Louis said after a moment more, unable to think of anything else to say. David waved and then started walking in the opposite direction.
By the time he arrived back at home, Louis had thought of exactly seventeen things that he could have said to keep David talking, but of course, at this point it was too late. He parked his car in the garage, checking that Rosemarie’s Acura was still in its spot, meaning that she’d gotten home from her chemo all right. Louis hated it when they had to ask the neighbor to take her because he had work, but there was only so much he could do.
He entered the house and tiptoed upstairs. It wasn’t late, but if Rosemarie had decided to go to bed early, he didn’t want to wake her. The lights were off upstairs so Louis snuck into the kitchen to find himself a sandwich. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Rosemarie asked how his day had been.
“Jesus, you scared me,” he said, flattening a hand over his chest. Rosemarie gave him an amused look over the rims of her reading glasses. She was curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book open on her knee. The lamp next to her was on the highest setting, which barely illuminated anything. Louis was suddenly worried again. She was usually so full of energy, but today she looked like she was barely holding on.
“Don’t swear,” Rosemarie scolded, stiffly readjusting herself on the couch.
“Do you want a light on?” he asked instead of answering her question.
“That would be lovely,” she said.
“Have you eaten?”
“I’m not very hungry. I had some juice earlier,” she said, giving him an apologetic smile. Louis got her a glass with some cranberry grape juice and set it on the coaster beside her without being asked. She smiled at him when he kissed her cheek and returned to the fridge to make himself a sandwich.
“I’m still waiting for you to tell me how filming went. How was your new Marcus Lazarus? You said today was your first day filming with him, right?”
“David is...” Louis paused, trying to think of exactly how David was. “He was good.”
“I assumed,” she said with a chuckle. “You did tell me that Nabila hired him on the spot.”
“Yeah, but that could have been the exception not the rule,” Louis pointed out. “No, he was really good. I was impressed. He’s kind of funny, you know. He takes it so seriously, and when he’s in character, it’s a little scary. He seems like a completely different person. He told me during break that he likes to pretend that he’s actually the character.”
Rosemarie raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what acting is?”
“Not like that, though,” Louis said. “His explanation made more sense, but he said that it’s like suddenly he is the character not just acting as the character. Like roleplaying, I guess. Almost method, but not quite.”
Louis paused to spread mustard on his toast.
“And that's not all,” Louis continued. “He said he actually rewrites the script every night before he goes to bed. I asked him if he ever takes this to the director and he said that it’s only to help him figure out the story in his head so that he can remember his lines the next day.”
“He sounds dedicated,” Rosemarie said. Louis could hear the smile in her voice.
“He is serious about acting, but he’s also not. He screws up his lines as much as anyone I’ve known, and when he laughs he sets the whole crew off, but then he’ll also keep a completely straight face when something funny happens.”
Louis stopped when he realized he was rambling. Rosemarie was just watching him with a quiet sort of affection. Louis finished making his sandwich and brought it over to the couch so he could sit beside her. She reached out to give his arm a squeeze. “I haven’t heard you talk that much about another person since you were a teenager,” she observed. Louis could feel his face flushing.
“I don’t know,” Louis said, answering her unasked question. “It’s strange with him. I like him. I like him as a person. And I don’t like people.”
“The curse of introversion,” Rosemarie said, her hand moving up to stroke through his hair.
“He’s just really... I’m not even sure, magnetic, I guess,” Louis said. “Now would be a good time for you to tell me how to make friends.” Louis raised an eyebrow at her and she laughed.
“Wish I knew, Lou,” she said, “but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You were always the smart one.”
Louis rolled his eyes, taking a bite out of his sandwich. “You only say that because you’re my mother. You have to think I’m awesome.”
Rosemarie’s fingers tightened in his hair to give a playful tug. “Excuse me, you ungrateful brat, I’m not old enough to be your mother.”
Louis grinned over at her, making sure he had a mouthful of sandwich just to give the smile that extra air of petulance. Rosemarie gave an exasperated sigh even as she smiled back at him.
“You’re a heathen. Who raised you? Wolves?”
“The best,” Louis said, leaning back against the couch and knocking their shoulders together.
“It’s good that you’re making friends, Lou,” she said more seriously. “You should have lots of people to love you.”
“And to tell me how awesome I am,” Louis said, refusing to let the prickle behind his eyes ruin this moment.
“That, too,” Rosemarie agreed. “You should invest time in him if you think he’s worth it.” She paused then, giving him a speculative look, her brows wrinkling a little. “But don’t get too attached. If you still mean to leave this place after all this, don’t get too attached.”
Louis studied her features, his stomach knotting coolly. They both knew what she was really asking him not to do.
It wasn’t that she was exactly disapproving of Louis's interest in other men, it was more that she didn’t understand it. She didn’t approve of it, either, though, and she tended to stay away from the topic when possible. It was just one of those little things that they didn’t talk about with one another.
Louis couldn’t complain, though. Everything else was fair game, and avoidance of politics, drugs, and sexuality were a small price to pay for the love and affection she gave him otherwise.
Louis smiled at her, then stood to clear his dishes away.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not going to get attached to this town any time soon.” He gave her a look. “You’re the only good thing in this place.”
“Such a city kid.” Rosemarie chuckled.
“Anonymity is easier amid a large crowd than in isolation,” Louis noted, coming to sit beside her again. She looked pointedly at the sink. “I’ll do them in the morning,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. Rosemarie must have been too tired to protest because she simply closed her book and clicked off the lamp.
Louis stood and silently offered his arm. She took it with a small smile and he helped her into her bedroom, watching as she brushed her hair and got ready for bed. Each time he saw her like this, he wanted to soak it up.
If this was the last time he saw her, he wanted to treasure every moment.