"I love you too."
The body in Neptune's arms slowly relaxed as soon as the words left Neptune's mouth. It was a natural, well practiced movement. The girl wondered briefly how many times they had gone through this routine and how many more times before they'd get it down just right. It didn't matter to her. She'd be willing to do it forever until they got it just right if she had to.
"I-I'm not going to say 'I know', if that's what you want from me..."
Neptune's grin turned to a smile, and then it widened. She didn't need the other girl in her arms to say any more than she already had. She knew they had gotten it right now for sure.
"I know."
Like that, the two held on to each other. They both knew it. They felt it.
Everything was going to be okay.
"And... cut! That's it girls! That was a perfect take!"
Neptune let out a sigh of relief at the director's words, rolling onto her side to allow the other actress on the bed some breathing room as various studio staff began rushing over to their sides with towels and water bottles and all sorts of things to cool off the hard working leading ladies — not to mention some clothes to change into before they got back to their dressing rooms. They'd been at this scene for hours, but now that they'd finally gotten it right, it was time for a well deserved rest.
At least for Neptune's co-star, anyway. The night was still young in her case.
For most, it was just another day in Filmindustri, but for Neptune, today marked much more the last day of filming for the second season of The Proposal. Despite that, she couldn't help but marvel over that fact though, even now that talks of a movie were in the works. She had just been a small time actress before she'd landed this part, always in the shadow of her two older sisters' — who coincidentally had landed smaller roles as her younger sister and her alter ego in this show.
No, she didn't get it either.
As an intern offered Neptune a bottle of water, which she happily began guzzling down, she shot a brief look at the black haired girl who had been in her arms only a few moments ago. She was already off the bed, dressed, and looking like she was ready to hit the red carpet even though she probably needed to change just as much as Neptune from the quick stuff she'd just thrown on.
Still... Wow.
Noire was the star of the movie and television world right now. Neptune was still amazed that she'd landed the lead role of something alongside her. Pretty, popular, classy, and able to act out any role she pleased. To think she'd started out as a regular cosplayer — now she had movie directors lining up at her door every morning, starring in Filmindustri's highest rated show, and happily engaged to the woman of her dreams.
Neptune wasn't the jealous type, but if she were... Man! That was the professional kind of person she'd totally be aiming for being like... if she were the super motivated type, anyway. She supposed it was really her own fault for being a slacker for so long before she'd landed this gig, having only really been in commercials for game consoles (Nepata Tuneshiro did have a pretty big following, in her defense!) before this.
She wasn't going to let it slip away from her now that she'd finally gotten it, though!
"Neptune? Did you hear me?" The purple haired actress blinked. Her co-star had been talking to her. Woops! Luckily she was an airhead anyway, otherwise she might've lost some points on that one. Neptune grinned sheepishly at the girl before her, who was already looking like she was thinking about what important thing she had to do in her life.
The reality of Noire's thoughts at the moment was far from what Neptune visioned, of course. She just wanted to get something to eat, then go home and take a nice, long bath to relax her muscles before her adorable fiance came home and tied up for a good portion of the rest of the evening... but Noire wasn't about to get into those boring details with Neptune.
"Uhhh, sorry! I was thinking about something." The black haired actress shook her head, sighing at this response — expected as it was. Neptune didn't take offense to it, like one might expect given their positions. It was funny, really, how Noire had started off so polite and professional when they had started working together, but now they seemed to be close enough that Noire was fine acting natural like this around her. Not that a bubblebrain like Neptune was different, mind, but that was because Neptune was like that with everyone... "What's up?"
"Sheesh... This is why you have trouble with your lines." Noire ran a hand through her hair, hopping off the bed and walking around it to face Neptune on her side head on. The purple haired girl rolled her eyes in response — sure, Neptune may have been scatterbrained, but even the pro before her had stumbled sometimes! She still had that blooper reel, thank you very much! "I wanted to know if you want to grab some dinner. Plutia's going to be late tonight, so I'm free."
Neptune quirked a brow. There was a time when she wouldn't have said anything, given the drastically different standings that existed between the two of them, but now...
"Could it be... you're feeling lonely, Noire!?"
... she just couldn't help it!
"T-That's not it at all! I've got lots of people around me! I don't need you for anything like that!" Neptune grinned cheekily at the response her tease had gotten. She was right on the money then. Noire narrowed her eyes at the smaller actress before her, knowing she was being toyed with... but also knowing unfortunately all too well that that was only possible because her co-star really had gotten to know her well. She didn't dislike that... much. "Anyway, do you or don't you? I'm not going to ask again."
The purple haired girl considered pushing her luck and teasing some more, but she decided against it. Instead, her grin somehow managed to become even wider than it already was.
"No can do." She flashed her co-star a victory sign with her fingers. "I've got plans. Sorry, but you can't come."
Noire tilted her head as Neptune added that hasty clarification — was it a sign of the last traces of the fading respect (or whatever one could call this girl's equivalent of respect) that Neptune once showered her with during nearly every moment of filming the first season that Neptune had added that, or was it for Noire's sake that Neptune had added that, to stop her from asking if she could tag along and... W-Well, it wasn't like Noire wanted to hang out with the girl or anything, she just...
The black haired actress sighed. She'd been beat. Neptune seemed happy enough, so she knew she shouldn't push it. She could find something else to do until Plutia got home.
"Okay, okay. Much as I hate to admit it, you've gotten a lot better at this." Noire offered the younger girl an affectionate look, like an upperclassman might offer a student that they had taken under their wing. Despite how their relationship had changed since they'd started working together, Neptune found herself swelling with pride seeing such a look from Noire directed at her. "Whatever it is you're up to, you've earned it. Go have fun before I decide to come with you whether you want me to or not, okay?"
Neptune beamed, before nodding brightly and dashing off towards her dressing room to get fixed up so she could head out.
Once she was gone, Noire let out a laugh, a wry smile on her face. She was a little disappointed, but she couldn't be too disappointed if she was facing that kind of expression. More importantly, that just meant she had extra time to get the ropes nice and ready for when Plutia got home... Maybe she could try getting herself ready to welcome Plutia home...?
"M-Miss Noire? Are you feeling ill? Your face is looking quite red, could it be you've got a fever-?"
"S-Shut up! I'm fine! I'll be in my dressing room!"
While Noire was already heading home from the studio, Neptune hadn't actually gone that far from the set at all. She'd quickly dashed into one of the studio's showers after cleaning herself up in her dressing room, gotten dressed, argued with her sisters for a few minutes (her oldest one, the one that could be a supermodel if she wanted, had no right to tease her about this!), and finally set off towards her destination.
It was weird. She had been really excited before, but now... Now she just felt nervous. Was that normal? It wasn't like the nervousness she'd felt taking this job and putting herself out there — a make or break gig that would change her career forever. This was something else. That kind of "nervousness" was exciting, and she was almost dull to it. Her oldest sister made fun of her for her inability to get too worried, but oddly enough... Here she was.
She was nervous. That was kind of like being worried, right?
It made sense, if she thought about it.
This time, it was personal.
"Oh, that sounds like I'm in an action movie." At least that thought took some of the edge off — it made her smile a little too. It didn't last, however, for her lonely trek still had a ways to go before she arrived at her destination.
And at long last, or maybe after no time at all, she realized she was standing outside of the door that she had had her mind set on approaching all day.
The door to the staff area.
It was where the writers, editors, special effects people, and other behind the scenes types typically hung out when they weren't working — or when they were even when they weren't supposed to be... well, most of the time, it was just a lounge for the writers to hang out.
It was the area where she hung out.
The actress tugged on her collar, a sheepish grin on her face as she recalled how often she would find herself coming her to talk to these people in the early days of filming. It had been hard, but the writers
one writer in particular
had been more than willing to work with the up and coming starlet, even if they often got frustrated with her — she was glad for that. No respect like they showed Noire — when she messed up, they didn't hesitate to help her get it right. She was the kind of person that laughed off just about everything, even criticism, so that treatment was just fine for her.
Come the second season's filming, however... She didn't need to come here as often. She had gotten better — thanks to them
thanks to her
sticking with her for so long during the first season. She didn't stumble as much, things didn't need to get rewritten to accomadate her clumsiness... She was coming into her own and everyone could see it. So why was it that she had started to long for the days of her constant screwups? Why was it that she had started to miss her frequent trips here?
It was obvious, really.
Neptune, rising star of Filmindustri's hottest new show, current face of television everywhere...
... had gotten herself a crush on one of her writers.
The potential for scandal was definitely there, but she was young and she didn't particularly care. She was selfish like that — and her confidence had gotten a huge boost thanks to the success of The Proposal on TV. Her sisters had given her their blessings, and that had been all she needed to feel like the potential risk was worth it.
Now all she had to do...
Now all she had to do...
"Oh. This might be a problem."
The actress lowered her hand as it dawned on her. Despite the fact that she had been acting in the number one love story in the country for over a year now...
... she had no idea what to do when it came to her own potential love life!
She didn't have a clue!
She knew she had wanted to somehow leave here with the object of her affection to dinner, but... how? What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? Why wasn't this as easy as it was on TV!? It was her doing it all!
Neptune sighed dramatically, a sheepish grin on her face. Her heart was pounding and her nervousness had somehow managed to triple thanks to this exciting new development — and still, here she was grinning stupidly at a door!
"It's too bad I can't just screw up and let her come to me. Real life doesn't work like it does on TV..." Grumbling to herself, Neptune kicked at the floor as she recalled how her character had lucked out, debating turning back and trying again another day. She had been working her nerve up all day for this moment, but maybe she had gotten herself too worked up. ... Wait, what was- "Oh."
In her attempt to vent, instead of just kicking the ground, she had just kicked the door open.
Her eyes met an all too familiar pair of blue ones.
She swallowed.
Should she consider this a stroke of luck or a disaster waiting to happen?
"H-Hiya Blanc! Whacha doin' here at this hour? Isn't everyone here supposed to be gone for the night?" She smiled awkwardly. She had known Blanc would be the only one here right now. She had planned this knowing that. She had been hoping for this exact thing to happen, in fact! The two of them had spent more than one evening here going over lines, and even rewriting the script just so on occasion to give Neptune a hand in her early days.
In other words, Neptune knew full well that Blanc stayed late. Considering that the writer narrowed her eyes in response to Neptune's words, apparently she wasn't falling for Neptune's feigned innocence.
"What do you want?" The quiet brunette cut right to the chase, shaking her head as she stepped back to allow Neptune entrance into the writer's lounge. Neptune offered the other girl a grin of thanks and took up this offer, already starting to feel more comfortable with their once normal routine starting to resume itself. She followed the girl in and settled down on a couch they had spent more than one night practicing things on. "You can't get a peek at next season's script yet if that's what you want. We're still working on it."
The purple haired girl tilted her head, blinking at the almost accusation. Was that what Blanc really thought she would want? Well, before Neptune could even think about her original objective of inviting the other girl out to dinner
inviting her crush out on a date
first she had to correct any confusion there was about how she was viewed! That should be easy enough, right? She was super friendly and likeable, after all! It wasn't like it had taken her years to get this job or anything, right...? It wasn't like she had been considering giving up and going into voice acting if this hadn't worked out or anything, right...?
"... Neptune? W-What's with that look?" Why did Blanc sound so concerned all of a sudden? Looking dejected as she recalled failed audition after failed audition, Neptune raised her head only to see a very surprising sight — the writer looking away and scratching one of her cheeks awkwardly. Maybe it was just the light, but that cheek looked a little redder than normal... "Stop it. I would show you if I had anything to show you, but I really don't. So... Don't look at me like that, okay? Knock it off."
Her heart skipped a beat seeing Blanc looking like that.
Nervousness slipped away and in its place, something else remained. Rather, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that something else returned.
Watching Blanc, Neptune just grinned. The good feelings she had been swimming in during filming earlier started to return. Seeing the writer looking so vulnerable... It was nice. It made her want to see more sides to her — more than just her quiet and angry sides that she was so used to.
Of course, Neptune's change in demeanor was quickly creating one in the writer now. With Neptune looking so... stupid, Blanc in turn was looking rather sour now — but that was okay, that was just how Blanc often was.
"If you're here to play some stupid prank on me..." The brunette started off with a warning, but Neptune didn't even care. She wouldn't expect anything less from the girl that she had chosen.
She didn't know how Blanc viewed her. She didn't know how to approach the subject of asking Blanc out to dinner.
She was kind of stupid like that. She couldn't lie about it — Noire was old enough to drink, unlike Neptune (just a few more years!), and she had said as much to the younger actress in a tipsy fit of honesty on more than one occasion.
She was clueless. She was no better than the dunderhead she played on TV.
She did know one thing though.
She really liked the girl in front of her, even if said girl was staring at Neptune like she had three heads.
Therefore, Neptune did the most logical thing she could think to do — the thing that would answer all of her questions in one fell swoop.
What did she do?
Nothing drastic.
She just kissed Blanc, that's all.
She kissed Blanc.
It wasn't a "made for TV" kiss like most of her kisses in life had been. This was real. This was a kiss that had heart.
... Well...
Her heart, anyway.
Uh oh.
The actress slowly pulled away, her face starting to heat up as she began to put together how her action just how could result in some pretty terrible things going down, not the least of which being her sessions with Blanc coming to a swift and abrupt end.
"So... Uh..." Neptune was struggling to take the heat off of what had just happened, but this proved rather difficult. She wasn't moving and neither was Blanc. She could still feel Blanc's lips on her own, she could almost taste Blanc, but more than that... This wasn't going well. This wasn't going well at all. Realizing she was even more clueless now than she had been before she had kissed the girl before her, Neptune forced a grin despite the pounding she was feeling in her chest. "H... How's the weather?"
Blanc was looking at her, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. Emotion splattered all over her face like her heart had taken up painting. Shock. Anger. Confusion. It was all there and it was all over her face.
If Neptune had to guess, inside Blanc's head, there might be a countdown — like a bomb of sorts — and any moment now, the writer was going to explode, as she often did, and tear into Neptune. She hoped it would happen soon, because she was really starting to get scared now, and...
WHAM!
If that wall had been a person, that person probably would have a broken bone right now.
"G-G-Give me some goddamn warning before you do that next time or I'll write you into a coma next year!"
Neptune winced, covering her face with her arms just in case the next target of Blanc's fist happened to be her gorgeous face. One might say it was a strange relationship for actress and writer to have, but the undeniable fact was that she knew from experience that Blanc packed a mean punch — a punch she was all too sure was on the way right now.
Except... the blow never came.
Hesitantly, Neptune lowered her hands to sneak a peek at Blanc.
The brunette was staring at her, face bright red, with an annoyed, almost... expectant look on her face? Why? Was she waiting for Neptune to lower her guard before she finished her off?
"Aren't you gonna hit me?" Despite herself, Neptune couldn't help but ask. One just couldn't be too careful when around this firecracker of a writer — and if it meant avoiding being written into a coma, she should probably just take the hit anyway, right? Who knew what such a turn of events could do to the show's ratings...?!
Yet as Blanc replied, it seemed as though she and Blanc were on completely different wavelengths at that moment.
"Don't tell me you're into that stuff too. Do you know how hard it is changing Noire's scenes last minute when she's feeling sor..." Blushing deeper as she realized Neptune had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, Blanc cut herself off and looked away. She would be the one getting hit if she let that secret of Noire's slip out. For the moment, she simply focused her attention on glaring at the wall. "Just. Forget that. Anyway, why would I hit you?"
Neptune titled her head, her blush fading somewhat. If Blanc was really asking, then...
"For getting my lines wrong ten times in a row even with you showing me cue cards, for eating your leftover food without asking while you're working on changes I asked you to make on the script, for telling the music director you think she's a wimp, for giving your sisters too much pudding that time and getting them sick, for me getting sick here when we were working late and making you have to stay here overnight, for..." And now, after her list of actual examples started to reach its end, Neptune's blush returned. "... kissing you?"
In the back of Neptune's mind, it occurred to her that bringing up all of these examples might have been a pretty bad idea considering the writer before her was obviously already feeling rather testy. Why point out all of the things that had given Blanc reason to hit her in the past when she had, for some reason, yet to do so now?
"I don't remember hitting you for that." Instead, the scowling writer simply sighed. She almost looked amused, in a weird, angry sort of way — it wasn't like the tsundere way Neptune was used to seeing from Noire on set all day, this was a sweet, grumpy, "it can't be helped" expression that had its own charm completely unlike anything the beloved starlet she worked with had. "But I do remember hitting you for getting surprised by something we foreshadowed months beforehand... More than once too. I thought you were better at paying attention to dialogue. Haven't we gone over how every word can count?"
For some reason, despite the harsh words, the way Blanc was saying them was anything but.
Even so, Neptune had no idea what Blanc was talking about. What dialogue? They weren't talking about the script — Blanc had just told her there was no script to even look over in the first place. Wondering if she should be concerned — maybe she had shocked Blanc so much, she had amnesia! — Neptune hesitantly leaned forward to get a better look at Blanc, a small frown on her face.
"Blanc, I think I mighta messed your head up. We weren't talking about any dialogue or anything like that, all that happened was-"
Before Neptune could explain herself and her concerns for the person she had gotten to know and care about over the time they had spent working together, something prevented her from doing so. Something that, in a way, at least wiped all her concerns about amnesia away without any problem.
Blanc was kissing her.
Being the goofball that she was, Neptune didn't have to think too hard about how to respond to this.
She kissed Blanc right back.
It was a clumsy kiss. Their positions weren't ideal and there were no cameras they were trying to make it look good for. It was just for the two of them — but for the two of them, it was more than any of those kisses on screen could ever be. It didn't last too long, but it wasn't so short that it could be called chaste either.
It was just right.
For a moment, the actress and the writer simply sat there, taking in what had just happened between them. They both shared an expression of both embarassment and excited nervousness, or at least versions of the expression appropriate to them.
"But Blanc... I still don't get what you meant about that dialogue junk..." Unfortunately, Neptune was still Neptune, and she still didn't have any idea what Blanc had been trying to say to her prior to that very welcome kiss. She also didn't know the meaning of the word "tact."
The writer next to her lowered her gaze, her cheeks darkening considerably as she explained herself.
"I... I said 'next time,' you idiot. It was a cue. It meant 'saying that was the warning in itself, so shut up and kiss me again.'"
Neptune wasn't sure if it would ruin the moment, but considering how good she was feeling combined with the words that Blanc just spoke, she couldn't help herself. She laughed, and she didn't care that Blanc was glaring at her.
"Okay, maybe that was a cue I missed or it was foreshadowing for something or whatever you wanna call it, but I'm pretty sure you're the only one who would think of it like a cue like that." Still amused, Neptune leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't even imagined she would actually kiss Blanc tonight — she'd just wanted to ask her out! ... Which she still hadn't done, admittedly, but that would be easy after this! This had worked out so much better than she had ever imagined it would, so...
... why was Blanc looking grumpy again?
"Um..." Blinking, Neptune scooted over just a little bit — her shoulder now touching Blanc's — to really get a good look at her this time. She tilted her head and leaned over just a little more, face dangerously close to the face of the brunette that she had been kissing only moments prior — she could probably count her eyelashes if she wanted. "What is it? I know my breath isn't bad or anything, but..."
It looked like Blanc said something, and maybe she did, but either her words were such a mess or she had said it so quietly that it couldn't be understood, because for the life of her, Neptune had no idea what came out of Blanc's lips — if anything — in response to her question just then. She was still looking at the floor, too!
"I didn't get that."
The writer inhaled. Whatever was on her mind, Neptune was wondering if it was serious. Maybe she did have bad breath?
"The... The explanation just then was a cue too."
Oh.
... Oh.
Blanc wanted another kiss.
In that case...
A catlike grin spread across Neptune's lips as the pieces clicked together.
"You're gonna have to drop this 'I'm the writer' mumbo jumbo when we're together, Blanc, because I plan on 'writing' just as much as you here, if you know what I mean."
But... Just in case she didn't...
Neptune gently closed the distance between them, brushing her lips against Blanc's once more.
With that, Blanc understood what Neptune was trying to say to her loud and clear.
