Chapter Seven

Mr. Right for the Role

Lucy steadied the trembling in her voice as she gripped the side of her seat. "M-My father will have your head if you lay a claw on me." In real life, her father wouldn't know about her death until years later, depending on how rigorous the schedule of his next long-term business plan was. With Natsu, full protection was guaranteed, along with his profound way of establishing the kind of emotional security lacking in her life.

Only, he'd completely changed on her.

"Your father isn't here." He jeered with a growl, his eyes craving for bloodshed, causing her shoulders to tense up. Jumping down from the stage, every step towards her enhanced the unrecognizable malice behind his too wide grin. "And since he already killed one of my kind." He tilted her chin up towards him, his face now inches from hers. "I'll take one of his."

Her breath caught, and she repressed the urge to knee him in the groin. Regret then scolded her for even thinking of doing that. Natsu wouldn't really kill her. Why punish him for evoking fear that this scene called for in the first place?

He'd evoked something else within her too. But she quickly tamped it down before it could form a burrow into her fantasies and infest her logic. She cleared her throat, cursing herself for those sudden warm, fuzzy feelings returning at the wrong time, especially for someone who was more interested in playing the most vile character than her. "I… don't think that sort of action was on the script."

He blinked, suddenly out of character. "Oh." He pulled away from her and rubbed the back of his head. "Eh, sorry about that. Guess I got a little too carried away again. Need me to start over?"

"Oh no! That won't be necessary." Upon seeing his raised questioning brow, she quickly clarified. "You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry. You were amazing! Unbelievably talented! The audience sitting at the farthest end of the theater would be at the edge of their seat. Your improvisation just…" She picked her words carefully. "Caught me by surprise and... I really like it." If Happy had seen the images that ran through her mind right before she said the last part, a dirty joke would be made. She jerked her gaze onto her notes and the stagecrafting book, forcing herself to focus on the mission and not the warm flutters in her heart nagging for closer examination.

According to her reading on The Art of Stage Crafting, her actors mustn't feel conformed to the script. Instead, they must act however they feel their characters would make to enhance a scene. If Natsu thought he'd be penalized for adding a new action into the script, she would stunt his creativity and engagement to the story, and fail as a good director.

Natsu grinned with satisfaction. His fists rested on his sides with an air of accomplishment. "So that means I got the role, right?"

"Aye!" Happy cheered, hopping around at his feet. A bit too soon than she'd wanted.

"Uh, no." She tried to put it delicately.

"Huh?!" Their mouths dropped.

She sighed. "Guys, there are some things to consider first before casting a role to anyone."

Happy's tail fell flat to the ground and he looked lost. "Like what?"

Hating to be the wet blanket, she picked up Happy from beside her feet and placed him onto her lap, stroking his head. His eyes melted into purring bliss. "Well for one, the actors must have the abilities to adapt to new ideas in a scene," She looked right at Natsu, insinuating every word. "Read and study scenes to memorize lines and blockings before showtime."

Natsu folded his arms. "Back at this topic again, huh?"

Happy tilted his head back, giving her fingers access to scratch beneath his chin. "Sucks for Natsu. He inherited his memory skills from a goldfish."

"Anyway." His tone hinted annoyance before growing serious when he shifted his attention to Lucy. "You said something about blocking. What does fighting in defense got to do with acting?"

She giggled with the shake of her head. "I don't mean it in that sense. Blocking is a term we use in theatre. It means the actor must be at a certain position in a scene to provide momentum in the story. It's more entertaining and easier for the audience to follow."

He kept a blank stare.

"We'd talked about this before back at the Onibus theatre?"

He blinked.

"He wouldn't remember that." Happy intervened. "Remember we had to use sound effects for him to get the blocking right? That's why we made him play the dragon with one line. He had one job, Lucy. To roar on cue. And he went and burned up the entire stage!"

"Quit your exaggerating, Happy." Natsu scowled. "I only burned up Lucy's dress." His serious expression forced a chuckle out of Lucy, and he glanced at her. "What are you laughing at?"

She shook her head with a dismissive wave. "It's nothing. Here. Allow me to demonstrate blocking." Setting Happy down on the floor, she rose out of her chair and led them back onto the stage. Then, Mira Jane called out from the bar counter to remind them that she would be closing really soon. After reassuring her, Lucy turned to her teammates. "Ok, when we look towards the audience." She faced the guild hall for emphasis. "Behind us is called upstage while the front is downstage."

The boys nodded.

"The stage is divided into three sections: Left, Center, and Right." She pointed at her feet. "Right now, I'm standing on centerstage." She pointed at Natsu. "And you're on right centerstage. Our positions tell the story to our audience by setting a certain pace in a scene. For instance…" Her lips pursed in deep thought. "Let's start with one of your lines: 'I should have your head by now, so I don't know what I'm waiting for.' Allow the lines to make you feel angry or vengeful. Natsu, show me how your character uses this energy to move his body. Without using magic!" She quickly added as soon as the flames flickered around his hands. "Ok, now come to towards me to centerstage." She gestured him to do so.

When he obeyed, she realized she had made a terrible mistake. She forgot the guy bore no shame in standing mere inches from her, close enough to feel his body heat. Her hand naturally planted onto his chest to stop him. Another mistake made. Between his black, open front waistcoat, her palm felt the lean and chiseled aftermath of his morning workout. She didn't dare to lift her eyes up to his face. How embarrassing would it be if her gaze stayed at his bare chin, or worse, rose up to his mouth. She shut her eyes tight, shaking off the images out of her head.

"Hey, you ok?" Natsu broke her train of thoughts.

"Oh! Yeah!" Her voice sounded an octave higher than she intended. "Uh, why wouldn't I be?"

"Your face is turning red."

"Ah ha ha… You don't say?" She forced a grin and fanned her hand over her face. "Whoa, is it just me or this place is a little warmer to you guys? "

"Nah, it's just you." Happy seemed to needle her. She shot him a warning glare, hoping he could take a hint and keep his thoughts to himself. He returned a casual wave of his paw, unfazed. "Proceed with the demonstration, Director Lucy. I'm having fun watching this."

"Not me, man." Natsu deadpanned. "Still confused here."

"Don't worry." She assured instantly. "I'm getting to the point." She took a deep breath. Spontaneous romantic feelings were normal to have, she reminded herself. She could still choose not to entertain them with her coworkers, especially with one of her closest friends. They'd been friends for one year; she could stay friends with him for another year, and the year after that, and so on. And besides, it wasn't like Natsu would be interested in a romantic relationship with her anyway. With determination restored, she continued. "This is a block. When the Dragon Prince's action causes the scene to progress by moving closer to the princess. A block also can reveal character development. On right centerstage, the Dragon Prince was distant and suspicious towards the princess. But after moving to centerstage where the princess is standing, this action changes his relationship with her, from being distant to up close and personal. The audience senses this because, Natsu, your next line is…" She gestured with her hand for him to recite.

"Your father isn't here. And since he killed one of my kind, I'll take one of his."

"And then the next block would be touching the princess' chin." She felt his fingers again, this time with more hesitancy from his side. The warmth of his touch had always made her feel safe. No. She balled her fists at her side. She shouldn't be thinking like that. Stepping away from him, she turned around to hide the flush reappearing on her cheeks. "That wasn't part of the script, but you can still use that action if you choose to. That's the end of the demonstration." As well as any desire to be this physically close to Natsu in her own play. "Any more questions?"

Happy raised a paw. "I got one. Can you give us another blocking demonstration on the kissing scene?"

"No way!" She snatched up the book, knocking over the ink bottle. The ink splattered on top and pooled beneath the stack of parchment paper full of handwritten notes. A hollow clink sounded as the bottle rolled across the floor. "No no no no!" Her hands hurried to lift up the stack, but wet pieces of paper stuck to the desk. Only remnants of her handwriting were left unsmeared, but time spent in recording auditions for future reviews could not be salvaged so easily. Lucy closed her eyes, sighing deeply, and glared at her teammates.

Natsu knitted his brows together, recovered from shock. "Don't look at me. I didn't do that."

"Ugh!" She stormed past them, clutching the book and the ink-stained pages close to her bosom. The double doors to the exit were the clearest elements from the surrounding blur. Only Mira's snowy white hair was visible as her mouth opened to say something. But even that didn't stop Lucy from trying to get some fresh air, and clear her head from the topic of romance enough to put back the soggy pieces.