All That Glitters Is Gold
Fandom: Wizards vs Aliens
Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Pairing: Tom/Lexi
Word count: 1944
Summary: From the prompt: 'We're both actors on a popular TV show, and our characters have just been written as love interests after god knows how many seasons of unresolved tension. How am I meant to hide my off screen crush now?' Tom/Lexi ONESHOT.
AN: Here we are again. Enjoy! :).
DISCLAIMER. I do not own Wizards vs Aliens.
"I don't believe it! They've killed me off again!"
"Jathro." Lexi looks up from her new, improved script and rolls her eyes at her co-star sitting next to her. "You've been killed off and brought back at least four times over the past five years. It's not like the viewers are never going to see you again."
Jathro huffs, turning a page of his own copy of the revised script for the penultimate episode of the series. "Even so. Adam Wright is an astrophysicist, the cleverest alien-in-hiding in the entire show. He's not cannon fodder. Why can't your precious, fan-favourite Lucy be bumped off every once in a while?"
"I did get bumped off, as you so crassly put it! I died at the end of series three, remember?"
"Yeah, for about thirty seconds. And then Jimmy brought you back, fully human. No mystery whatsoever. Just a happy ending."
"Happy ending?" Lexi snorts. "Lucy's been through hell since she's been human. Just because you can't keep yourself alive for more than ten minutes, Adam." She flips over to the next page, reading on ahead. She's been on this show since it started, five long years ago, and, still, it never fails to surprise her, keep her on her toes.
Jathro also turns to the next page. "At least I have a knack of memorising farewell monologues. Adam could write a book on the subject."
"Hm," Lexi replies vaguely, distracted by the lines in front of her. They've only got a few more minutes before they are due back on set to shoot the final moments of episode nineteen, and she needs to get her new lines memorised in order to properly get herself into her character's head. The fifth series has been a series of ups and downs for Lucy, and there's a lot more that she still has to find out, including the fact that Jimmy, the main character who's played by her co-star Tom Clarke, has been walking around soulless since his encounter with Alex Piper in the series finale last year. Currently, in the final moments of the episode, they're arguing about Adam's most recent death, and the emerging fact that Adam and Lucy may have accidentally re-started the alien invasion by trying to make contact with Lucy's brother, prompting him to take his revenge on Jimmy and the others.
And then her eyes focus in on one particular set of stage directions towards the bottom of the page, almost making her choke on her current intake of breath.
[JIMMY moves forward and kisses LUCY].
"What?" Jathro's noticed the sudden change in her posture. "What is it? I haven't gotten that far yet."
Lexi merely passes him her script without saying anything; Jathro skims the page, and then rolls his eyes.
"About time."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, c'mon, Lexi, have you actually watched a finished episode of this show? Lucy and Jimmy have always had this tension between them. Everyone can see it, especially the fans, if all that fanfiction is anything to go by."
Lexi nods at that. She's never delved into the fandom thing, choosing to leave it to the audience instead of poking her nose in where it isn't wanted, but she's fully aware of the scale of it all.
"Really," Jathro continues, "it was only a matter of time before the writers got involved and did something about it. Don't pull that face!" He nudges her in the shoulder. "You and Tom are professionals, despite your little infatuation with him -"
"Little?" Lexi raises an eyebrow. "We passed little when we filmed series two!" She sighs, slumping down in her chair.
No sooner than the words leave her mouth, the door to the room opens, and Tom himself pokes his head around the door frame, followed a few seconds later by Chloe Martin, one of the producers.
"There you both are!" She shoots them both a smile. "Jackson wants you both back on set. Like, right now."
"Great." Jathro rolls his eyes, as the three actors follow Chloe towards the set they're shooting in, made up to look like a dark, dingy alleyway, the site of Adam's fifth death scene. "Time to roll over and play dead. Again."
Lexi ignores this comment; instead, she falls into step beside Tom, clearing her throat. "Did you, um, did you read the revised copy of the script this morning?"
"Of course I did." He raises an eyebrow, grinning. "I'm a professional, remember?"
"Right. Yes." Lexi winces a little at her lame response, and Jathro snorts from behind her. "Professional. Sorry."
Tom looks slightly confused. "Are you alright, Lex'? You've gone really red. Have you got a fever? I can console Jackson, if you want to go home, or take some time off -"
"No!" Lexi interrupts quickly. "We're on a tight schedule as it is, if we want to get this series broadcasting in August. We don't need me complicating things further."
Tom still looks concerned. "You can't work if you're feeling unwell, Lexi."
"I'm fine," she insists, painting a smile on her face. "See, I'm smiling. That means I'm feeling fine."
The worry slips away in favour of amusement. "Very funny. But you're going to have to try harder to fool me, Lexi. I know you too well. What's up? Is it about the scene?" He nods in the direction of the set to which they're heading towards. "Don't worry about it. I understand. But it won't make anything awkward. All part of the business, eh?"
"Yeah," Lexi replies, although even she can detect how disappointed her voice sounds. "All a part of the business."
"Infatuated," Jathro whispers conspiringly from behind them, covering it up with a cough when Lexi turns to glare at him.
Jackson Hawke, the director for this episode, is waiting with his arms folded when they eventually make it to set.
"Taking a nap or something?" He snaps, tapping his foot impatiently, gesturing to Chloe. "Get Katie down here. Mr Kooth hasn't got enough blood on his face."
Jathro mutters something unintelligible as they start to get into place, Adam on the floor, Jimmy and Lucy stood over his dead body. Katie, the makeup girl, splashes fake blood across Jathro's face and checks Tom's hair, something Lexi suspects is rather deliberate (because, if she were Katie, she would take as much opportunity as she could get too), before Jackson retreats into his chair, megaphone in hand.
"QUIET ON SET!" He booms, causing everyone in the crew to fall silent. "I WANT THIS DONE AS QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE, UNDERSTAND? GOOD. AND...ACTION!"
Lexi takes a deep breath, letting herself slip into the character of Lucy. "They killed him," she murmurs. "He was their kin, and they killed him."
"After you kick-started the invasion for a second time," Tom replies cuttingly, Jimmy's voice cold and frosty, nothing like his own.
"Jimmy -" Lexi cuts herself off with a sigh, turning to face him. Tom is watching her angrily, forehead pinched into a frown, eyes dark and empty. But there's still that one strand of hair that tumbles over his face, the one that hasn't been swept up by the quiff, and suddenly she wants to push it back from his forehead, or run her fingers through it. Or possibly both.
Still attractive, Lexi thinks wistfully. Even when playing soulless Jimmy.
"CUT!" Jackson yells through his megaphone, glaring at her. "Did it ever cross your mind, Miss Nekross, that I gave you the morning off to learn your lines? Once more, from the top! AND, ACTION!"
Lexi returns to her original position and repeats her lines, making sure to keep her mind focused when she turns to face Tom a second time.
"Jimmy - I recognise that you're feeling angry right now -"
"Believe me, Princess Peach, angry doesn't even begin to cover it."
"- but can you not find it in yourself to have some remorse? Adam is dead!"
"Oh, doesn't that make a change?" Tom snaps, playing on the running joke of Adam's constant deaths.
Lexi narrows her eyes at him, showcasing Lucy's distrust. "What's happened to you, Jimmy? Ever since we rescued you from Alex Piper, you've been -"
"What, Lucy? What have I been?"
"Different." She spits the word out. "You don't sound like you anymore, Jimmy."
"Please." His voice takes on a sneer. "You don't know anything about me, Lucy. In fact, for all of your talk, you don't know anything about what it means to be human, at all."
Lexi blinks, recoiling slightly, before regaining Lucy's composure, clenching her fists.
"Really, Jimmy? That's what you think? Well, if that's true, why the heck did you make me human in the first place? Why didn't you just leave me to die amongst the rubble of that stupid spaceship, like you were supposed to -"
She's cut off suddenly, as Tom steps forward and grips her shoulders, silencing her mouth with his, making Lexi let out an embarrassing squeak. He pulls away after only a few seconds, turning away from her almost instantly, stepping over Jathro on the ground and stalking out of shot, leaving Lexi staring after him.
"CUT!" Jackson bellows, startling her. "Good job, everybody, we got it in one take! Take five, and then we're going to set up for Adam's death monologue!"
"Great!" Jathro yells from his spot on the floor; he scrambles up a second later, hurrying over to where Lexi is still frozen into place and clapping her on the shoulder. "So? How was it?"
"Um..." Is all Lexi can say, before Jathro bursts out laughing.
"Oh, boy. You really are infatuated, aren't you?" The pair of them glance over at Tom, who has made his way over to Jackson and the camera operators in order to review the playback. He looks up when he feels their eyes on him, throwing Lexi a wink, before returning his eyes to the camera monitor. Jathro snorts as his co-star turns a startling shade of red. "Yep. Infatuated."
"Shut up, Jathro," Lexi grumbles.