Staring at the script, Blake tilted his head to the side at his part. Steff knew he had always been hard to please when it came to his lines and they had both been wanting more screentime for his character, but somehow, the viewers still had him ranked ten and below on the online lists they made of their favourite characters. She didn't blame him, having always struggled with what direction to go in, but going 'good' was apparently the opposite of what Blake ever wanted.

"You're making me-...him soft," he observed, his tone sensible as he set down the screenplay. "Sorry, it's still weird that we're using our real names as our character names. But still...He's from this battle-hardened faction and now...he's buying things for Rose and taking her out for dates? Something just doesn't make sense."

Frowning slightly, Steff reached over for the script, her attention broken when Rose rushed over to hand Blake his contacts case. His eyes originally were a bright blue, which Steff would have been fine with, but Rose had insisted that he follow the original character design of faded green eyes. Blake seemed to sigh a little as he took the case, leaning back in his chair as he waited expectantly for Steff to respond.

Flipping through the script, Steff raised her eyes. "You might be from a 'battle-hardened faction', but you're still susceptible to feelings. I mean, we gave you that backstory that you had a girlfriend-"

"And she was super tough and hot and they were both only together to use one another," he mentioned. "I mean, Rose is nice and pretty but doesn't really fit what he likes."

"He wants something different. That's why he asked her out."

"Will we develop that more?" His voice was laden with skepticism, his expression worried.

Nodding, she handed him the screenplay back. "Of course, don't worry about it. I haven't planned out what I'm going to do with him in season seven, but I'll certainly figure it out."

When he seemed satisfied enough with her answer, she stood up to head out, wanting to go check up on how the others had been progressing before her break. Picking up her book bag with all her supplies - she never went anywhere without a copy of the script, a pen, and a book for downtime- she started out of the office and through the halls. Often, there were people working on editing in the side rooms and she dipped into them every now and again to see how they had progressed. Their crew was always busy, having to both act and produce, but she thought it was worth it after seeing the final product and hardly anyone complained about the long hours.

Stopping to peer into a room, she opened it quietly to not disturb Aric and Riley, who were sitting in front of two large screens as they edited in effects. They had bickered at first over artistic differences in season one and two, but after they somehow managed to find a compromise between their styles of editing, Steff applauded their work. She could never really grasp how they managed to create the realism of the scenes that, thankfully, helped them avoid becoming a b-list show with bad CGI.

"Change the saturation of the background inlay," Aric said, gesturing at Riley's screen. "The contrasts are a little off."

"I've been trying to fix that," Riley sighed, typing a few things into his keyboard. "The application is being finicky, though."

"Want me to get Lev to look at it?" Steff asked, finally speaking up. "I'm sure he's available. Percy took a little long in hair and makeup so their scene is going a little longer than expected today, but when they're finished, I can page Lev to come here."

"'Page'?" Aric repeated. "Don't let Lev hear you say that. He'll think you're living in the stone age."

"Well, then maybe he'll give me a new phone," Steff laughed, watching their screens. "Hey guys, this is really good work. When you're done, just email Rose or Alaric and they'll check it over. I'm sure it'll be great, though."

Confidently, Riley raised his eyebrows. "It'll be perfect. It always is."

"You messed up last season," Aric replied with a smile, always finding ways to poke at his work. "Remember when you were editing one of your own scenes and the cigarette smoke was blue?"

"That was the system's fault, not mine," Riley said to defend himself, never one to take any blame. "We'll keep working on it, Steff."

Nodding, Steff adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "Good, good. Well, I'm really excited to see what you guys come up with this season. I'll get Rose to send you more footage later today. Of course, if you need anything, feel free to text me. I'm always available."

"Geez, Mason, get a life away from bothering me," Piper complained, lazily munching on a snack as she watched Mason suspiciously. She leaned back in the chair in her room, gesturing at him with a half eaten mint slice. "Besides, you should stop barging into my room. I could be...naked. Or busy. Or both."

"Cut the crap, Piper. I gave you that assignment weeks ago and you still haven't made any progress." Refusing to acknowledge her comments, Mason crossed his arms across his chest and gave her a stern look. Most people would have obeyed him quickly, but Piper had always been difficult, especially with him. "I'll give you three more days to report to me. I need information on him. I gave you his case file so you have to bring back work or I'll revoke your privileges."

Rolling her eyes, Piper popped the treat into her mouth. "Oh? What privileges? Not getting a hitman set on me every Thursday? That's real great. I'm really determined to catch this killer now."

"Don't test me. You have a job." Mason looked less than impressed with her attitude. "Get on it."

"Oh, I will but at my own pace. Then you can celebrate when I crack the code and voila, I am your favourite." She couldn't help but poke a bit of fun when he didn't seem to play along with any of her jokes. Truly, when he wasn't ordering her around, he was boring her half to death with his talks of duties. "Don't fall in love. I am the best."

"I'm expecting answers on Friday." Without another word as to not encourage her chattering, Mason walked swiftly out of sight to end the scene.

When the cameras cut, Piper shoved another mint slice in her mouth and celebrated with a muffled cheer around her food. Glancing over at Rose, she gave her a big thumbs up, swallowing her food.

"Sweet," she said, hopping off the set to brush off her shirt. "Now that we're done, that's my last scene in season six, right?"

"That's right!" Rose nodded happily. "But we'll keep you updated if anything goes wrong with the footage we already recorded. I doubt it will, though. You guys were fantastic."

Slipping off his leather jacket, Mason brushed off his shirt and reached for his glasses. Despite having no blood relation in real life to Alaric, Rose had to admit that they looked alike and if they had said that they were brothers, she wouldn't have batted an eye.

"I still have one more scene, right?" Mason asked, his English accent starting to shine through, which Rose would have found dreamy if he didn't play such an unfriendly character. He was rather good at concealing it during scenes, though Rose thought it added to his off-set charm. Either that, or she was wooed by a shirtless training scene he had filmed a few seasons back.

"Yep! Just one more, but it's just you in it and it's super short," Rose replied, smoothing her dress. "I haven't asked Steff what we're going to do with you guys in the later episodes, but I'm sure it's going to be fun."

Piper folded a piece of gum into her mouth. "Better not have any plans for a romance between me and Mason. He's like a brother, really. In real life, I mean."

"Because I still nag?" Mason looked over at her, unlacing his gear boots to slip on some sneakers. "Or because I order you around?"

"Ha, ha." Sarcastically, Piper shot him a glare. "I'd hate to have a love story with that doof. It is not about to get all Cersei and Jaime in here."

Blinking, Rose tilted her head, her blonde curls falling slightly out of place. "Who?"

"That was a disturbing analogy, Piper. I really didn't need the visual." Once he had tied his shoes, Mason reached for his beanie to pull it over his hair. "Besides, of course we aren't going to get a love story. Steff already made it clear that she didn't want one for either of our characters, with anyone. Which, frankly, I'm relieved about. Anything other than that would have deviated from my character too much. And I think you're better forever alone."

Piper pointed at him, blowing a bubble with her gum. "Hey, I am a strong, independent woman that doesn't need any man."

"Whatever you say." Pushing up his glasses, Mason straightened up. "Aye, Piper. The boys and I are going to grab some food and go watch the game. Are you in?"

"As long as you don't say that you're feeling 'peckish' this time." Wrinkling her nose with a good-natured laugh, she worked on tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Like, dude, do you realize that you are way too-" she waved a hand at her stomach for reference, "-ripped to use such...delicate vocabulary? It's really throwing me off."

"Fine, then. I was hungry."

Unoffended that she wasn't invited - Rose had never been particularly close with either of them - she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who consists of 'the boys'?"

"Alaric, Hunter, Sol. Maybe even Kel this time even though he doesn't usually like to come along," Mason answered, picking up his phone from a table to check his notifications. "That's it, I think."

Piper clicked her tongue, satisfied with the people that he named. "Cool. You can pick me up at six."

Dozing off, Steff rested her head on her arms, her laptop dimming as the minutes ticked on without any activity. She had been stuck in writing, unsure of what she wanted. Instead, she had gotten caught up in reading the comments online about the show. Somehow, even though there were pages and pages of praise, the nasty ones seemed to stick the most. Eventually, she couldn't help closing her eyes, exhausted by the late nights she had spent in her efforts to make the upcoming season perfect.

Closing her laptop quietly, Cole picked it up to slip back into her bag before reaching for the cord to wrap it up. He didn't mind her coming over often to use his place as a workspace or steal his novels - he hardly ever had any company anyway. Watching her for a moment, he debated whether to wake her or not as he put her things together, careful to remember one of the books she had left on the kitchen counter.

When he glanced back, though, she had stirred and pushed her hair back from her face. "Did you take my laptop?"

"It was going to burn a hole in my table," he replied, setting her bag on a chair. Usually, his hair was neatly styled back, but she could tell he had washed it and it was mussed.

She pressed a hand against her forehead, looking apologetic. "Sorry-...Ah, I should head home. I just had a lot of work."

"It's no problem. You ought to refrain from overworking yourself." He seemed to read her mind and he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "You have an interview tomorrow to talk about the new season."

"I know..." Standing up, she stifled a yawn and pulled her bag closer to herself. "I'm not sure what to say about it yet as to not give it away, but I'm sure I can figure it out."

He nodded, leaning against the wall next to the table. Looking to the side when the cat jumped up, Cole reached to pet it absentmindedly.

"It was bad to bring you the cat," Steff decided aloud, a bit of humour in her expression. "Sometimes I think you're both scheming to do something crazy."

"Not scheming, only planning," he remarked dryly, lowering his hand when the cat padded away to leap back to the ground. "How far have you gotten when it comes to season seven?"

"I have three episodes done." Checking her bag to make sure everything was present, she zipped it closed before slinging it over her shoulder. "I'm just going to proof them and then start on the next ones. I've been reading some blogs on what people like and dislike about the show...Maybe I'll include some of the things they say...I'm not sure...I don't want to be too influenced by what they say but-"

"Whatever way you make it will be fine." Grabbing his keys, he slipped them into his jacket pocket. "I've never stressed about what others think. Surely, Stephanie, you won't let them get in the way of what you want to write."

"I-...You're right." Smiling slightly, she shook her head. "I promise, I'll give you some fun character scenes. I have a few ideas."

"You had better."

"I will, I will. Really." Her eyes flickered to the door. "I should really get going. Sorry...I didn't realize how late it was."

"No worries. I wasn't about to sleep anytime soon," he said and brushed past her as he headed to the door. "Here, I can drive you home."