Outsiders
The next morning, the alarm clock startles you awake. There's a bad moment when you flash back to being attacked in the alley and somehow creating a burst of magic fire. Your fur's standing on end... which is your first reminder of where and what you are. Roughly another two weeks of being a fox, and female, left before you can escape. Sort of.
You open the generic curtains to a sunny, peaceful morning. The valley town feels different today. You sense that there's more going on than your tourist visit. Whether that's a good thing, you aren't sure. You don't want to wear your burned clothes to work, and your leg-fur is still noticeably singed, so you end up in the long skirt you had earlier. At least it has pockets.
At the studio, there's still a movie to shoot. You're not on for a few hours, so Bragho and one of the extras (in bandit getup) take you aside for an acting lesson in a vacant studio.
They're walking along with you when the lights suddenly shut off, leaving you in the big empty room in darkness. With your foxy eyes you catch sight of them as Bragho points and shouts, "Look out!"
You turn and see... nothing. The extra laughs. Bragho pats you on the back, saying, "Well, you can do a startle pose right. Hey, out there, get the lights!"
The lights come back on. "That's one lesson," says Bragho. "You've got to feel the role."
You feel your heart pounding, anyway. "Don't do that!" you snap. "You're lucky I didn't..."
"Didn't what?"
"Nothing, nothing." You glance at the extra. "Say, Bragho, who exactly knows about my situation?"
The extra says, "Him, me, most of the studio. Doesn't look like the newspaper picked up on it, which is probably good."
Bragho adds, "When I showed up, nobody much cared about the guy I replaced. I don't know who might be interested in investigating, though, if you made it widely known you're from another world. We can pass you off as Lenara and say you got a makeover. Anyway, we need to work on your emoting for the next few scenes."
You hold up a hand. "There's something I want to know first. Who are the 'Fens'?"
"Why do you care?" says Bragho. The extra shifts, tail flicking nervously.
"I've heard muttering about them."
Bragho says, "They're... in charge. The country got taken over about twenty years back, so we're part of their empire. Let's see. Do you know what a... math machine is? Runs on electricity?"
"You mean a computer?" You cover your muzzle for a moment, realizing the word you said is an unfamiliar rasping thing in the natives' language. You seem to know words you've never heard in this world. "The toon equipment uses them, right?"
"Yeah. You wouldn't believe what a 'toon' is in some of these worlds. Anyway, only the Fens are allowed to own computers, or even fix the things without a permit. Same with paper-copying machines and some other things."
"Why?"
The extra mutters, "To keep control." Bragho nods.
This situation doesn't sound like something you want to get involved in, not after the incident last night and what the police told you about your power. "Maybe we should get back to the acting."
They have you strutting around the empty set and saying ridiculous things, pretending to argue and carouse with Bragho and the extra. It helps take your mind off the trouble and make you feel like you might even have some acting talent. Also you realize you totally messed up that line yesterday.
Bragho's decently satisfied with you -- "for a first lesson" -- by the time you break for a quick lunch. You get back to the main set a little later, feeling relaxed.
The costume squad mobs you and gets you into the electronic bodysuit. The little director finds out you haven't been given the script for this scene yet and starts cursing people out. "I have a gratuitous bar brawl ahead, and my female lead doesn't know what movie she's in!"
While he's doing that, you read a copy, and blink. "'They kiss passionately'?"
"That they do," says Wylan, suited up already. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. It doesn't mean anything. Just a story."
In a way that makes you feel worse. Wylan sees you drooping and says, "You get used to it."
"Acting?"
Wylan hunches his shoulders and looks off into the fake, painted sunset. "I can pretend to be something I'm not. It's why people think I'm some kind of hero, when I'm just a pretender."
You realize something. "You and the real Lenara..."
"No," he says. "She was a swell lady, and I think she'll find a new place somehow. But the one I really cared for got taken from me, and I did nothing." Wylan gestures to the crossbows over in the prop chest. "Do you know how hard it is to pretend I'm brave enough to rush out and avenge someone, when I couldn't do it in real life?"
"Avenge?"
"My wife was in the war. When the Fens took over, they made an example of her." His ears and tail are held carefully still, but you can smell something clammy and frightening in his scent. "But that doesn't concern you. You're a tourist, if an unwilling one. Now show me how you pretend to be in love."
Wylan has straightened up and smoothed his exposed fur already. You glance at the script and see he's just gotten back from clobbering the bad guys and finding some lost treasure, which he left behind for your sake. So... get in character... do you really have to do this? There is the possibility of hiding under your bed for the next week or two.
No! You're going to do this right! Or at least get this movie done with, so you aren't making things in this world any worse for Lenara's absence. You bristle a bit inside your suit, step closer, and blush as he wraps an arm around you. You look up into his sad eyes, try not to bonk muzzles, and imagine him riding out to save you from a horde of muggers. He'd be good at it if he tried, with those muscles... You feel warm breath on your neck as the two of you touch, nose to nose.
Softly, the director says, "And, cut."
Written by Snow on 06 June 2010
