Chapter 3 – The one where Emma becomes an actor?
"I can't believe you offered me up as a backup actor," Emma laments. Regina turns in her seat and is actually surprised at what she sees, her brows nearly hitting her hairline as she looks the blonde up and down.
Emma's geared up in dark brown leather, the pants tight on her long legs and the sleeveless fur-lined vest showing off her sculpted upper arms. Dark under armour shields her chest and throat, made of a supple leathery material that looks tough and yet doesn't restrict her movements. Her forearms are covered by gauntlets, she's another two inches taller thanks to heavy fur-lined winter boots, and a sword sits at her hip, attached by belt. Her long blonde tresses have been pulled back into a tight, intricate braid, and the barest of makeup makes her green eyes stand out again defined cheekbones. The biggest change is a long, jagged scar that has been added to her jawline.
"Wow," is all Regina can say as the blonde stomps over. She'd noticed her bodyguard's attractiveness since the beginning, of course—she'd have to be blind not to notice the charismatic blonde—but there's something wild and powerful about her now, alluring in a way she's never found another woman to be.
"You don't pay me enough for this," Emma half-jokes, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing dramatically. Regina allows a slow smirk to cross her lips.
"Last I heard, the producers are paying you for this." She drags her gaze up and down Emma's form once more, appraisingly. "You look great, if it's any consolation. The scar is a nice touch."
"It feels weird," Emma admits, lifting a hand to gently touch at the fake line of raised flesh. She doesn't have a chance to say any more as Belle suddenly appears by her side with a fresh set of sides in hand, offering it up to Emma.
"I had to make a few last-minute changes to appease the producers, but here's your lines! Thanks so much for doing this, Emma."
"Sure," Emma says, managing a smile and taking the sides. Her eyes land on the character name and she quirks a brow. "She's still named Kavalan?"
"I'd chosen the name for a reason, and besides, it can still be a woman's name." Belle shrugs, grinning. "It's mostly all the same, I just had to swap out the dialogue that insinuates you're in a physical relationship with the Queen. The network would shut us down if we started promoting gay lead couples on TV." She rolls her eyes with genuine exasperation and Emma laughs, liking her attitude already.
"Well that's no fun."
"Nope," Belle agrees. "But we have to play by their rules for now or we don't get picked up at all." Then, lowering her voice and leaning in towards Regina and Emma, she adds with a conspiratory wink, "If you two wanna try sneaking in some eye-sex, though, you won't see me complaining."
Regina laughs her low, husky laugh and Emma just grins and shakes her head in amusement as Belle skips off to speak to Neal. She has all of five minutes to read over her new script before the entire cast is being directed onto the set, Belle moving people around and explaining the shot out loud for everyone to hear. Emma is placed next to the throne, told to look imposing yet subtle. She settles for resting a hand on the handle of her sword and glaring.
The first few scenes are all dialogue and interaction between Queen Reina and the visiting heroes, along with a bunch of establishing shots of the peasant crowd. Despite whatever personal feelings Regina may have against Mary Margaret, the two are definitely professionals and whenever the camera rolls, their attitudes towards each other change immediately. Regina comes across as graceful and kind, too kind if viewers are paying enough attention, and Mary Margaret is nothing but respectful, giving a sweeping bow and speaking to the Queen with warm admiration.
Emma maintains a stoic frown through all of it, watching the main cast and trying to differentiate their personalities from the characters they play.
Mary Margaret Blanchard plays the huntress Artemis, mature and responsible with a good head on her shoulders, an impish glint in her eyes. When Neal calls cut, she immediately turns bubbly and naive, beaming at her co-stars and occasionally high-fiving people.
David Nolan is the loyal but impulsive Atticus, hot headed and short sighted, but with his heart in the right place. Off camera, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, playful with a goofy sense of humor. When they're waiting on the camera crew, he sometimes breaks out in a little jig to keep the extras entertained.
Ruby Lucas plays Freya, the haughty and sarcastic warrior with the intimidating-yet-sexy warpaint on her face and around her eyes, who bares her teeth at anyone who so much as looks at her sideways. Behind the scenes, she's sassy and playful, and if Emma didn't know any better she'd think Ruby was sending flirtatious glances in Belle's direction.
Finally there's Graham Humbert, who is actually quite similar to his character Troy. He's quiet and barely has any lines except when giving Artemis advice. Mostly he broods and stares people down. Off camera, he's polite and more friendly, but no less quiet. Unlike the others, he doesn't interact with the extras, instead retreating to his chair to read a book between scenes.
Emma doesn't actually have any dialogue for the first half of the day, and the last scene they film before lunch is a close-up shot in which she and Regina exchange a loaded glance. Belle pulls her aside and gives her some personal direction, offering up some background info on her character that she's not supposed to tell the other actors about. Emma just shrugs and plays along, and after three similar takes (in which she doesn't really think she's doing anything different,) Belle seems happy with the footage and Neal announces that they're breaking for lunch on the walkie.
"Bored yet?" Regina asks her, amused. The brunette still sits on the throne, waiting for the extras to shuffle off set before she gets up. Emma shrugs, moving to shove her hands in her back pockets before realising she's not wearing her usual jeans.
"I like watching film sets. I just happen to have a very up close and personal seat this time."
Regina chuckles, but the sound fades off quickly as the other lead actors amble closer.
"Hey, great work," Ruby says in lieu of a greeting. Emma smiles and ducks her head. Regina returns the sentiment out of politeness. "Didn't get the chance to say hi earlier. I'm Ruby. It's really cool working with you, Regina. I loved Fourth of July."
"Thank you," Regina replies, though from the blank look on her face, it's clear she's trying to remember something she may have seen the younger woman in. "I'm sorry, I don't watch much television—"
"Don't worry about it," Ruby laughs. "I've mostly done random TV movies. This is my first big role." Then her gaze lands on Emma, and the blonde sees what is quickly becoming the girl's trademark flirty smile. "Emma, right? You're doing great for your first acting gig."
"Thanks. It's cool meeting you. I saw you in Werewolf Huntress."
At that, Ruby groans and playfully rolls her eyes. "That's embarrassing."
"You were the only thing worth watching in that, if it's any consolation," Emma offers kindly. Ruby gives a wolfish grin.
"Thanks. Hey, wanna have lunch with me?"
Emma glances down to Regina, who continues to sit primly on the throne and act as if she's only half listening. "I gotta stick by Regina. I'm still her bodyguard, temporary actor or not."
"Then let's have lunch together," the younger brunette says, still grinning. Regina shrugs and finally nods her agreement when she sees Mary Margaret wander off after David. At least the woman's not daft enough to try joining them.
Emma and Regina trail after Ruby, the younger brunette chattering happily as they join the line for food. A pair of gourmet food trucks are parked just outside the stage along with a smattering of picnic tables spread around the area, allowing them to enjoy their lunch in the fresh air and sunshine. They snag a table for themselves and are quickly joined by Belle and Neal.
"So we're moving on to the forest scene next, over on stage five," Neal tells them conversationally as they eat. "It'll be everyone but Regina and Emma, just so we can get all the extras wrapped early. Tina will call you two when we're ready for the rest of the throne room scenes back on stage four."
Regina simply nods, picking delicately at her salad. Emma munches on a club sandwich, mindful of keeping crumbs out of the fur lining of her costume.
"You two will have time to go over your new lines while we're doing that," Belle adds, beaming. "But that chemistry from your last read? Keep that. It's perfect."
She grins impishly. Neal gives a playful groan. "Come on, Belle, don't encourage that. You know it's a bunch of stuffy executives with sticks up their asses judging our pilot. We gotta keep it clean until we get signed for a full season, at least."
"I still say it's the LGBTQ crowd that we should be catering towards," Belle says with a delicate shrug. "The industry underestimates how many of us there are in the world, and how influential we could be if we really banded together against the old boys' club."
"Yeah, well, keep that quiet if you know what's good for you," Neal advises, lowering his voice, though his tone is more concerned for her than judging. "Gold lets you get away with the things you do because he's got the hots for you. Don't go starting a fight unless you're sure you can win."
When he feels three other pairs of eyes on him, he turns to the actresses. "Same goes for you three. Gold's as old school as they come. Don't give him a reason to make your life difficult." His warning is genuine and he gives them a sympathetic smile before moving off to socialize with the next table. Emma's still hung up on something Belle said.
"We?" she questions the director. Belle grins bashfully.
"Yeah, lesbian," she murmurs, holding up her hands as if she's been caught. "Which is why I was so excited when you took on the role of Kavalan. I was hoping to work-in better representation in the script once we got picked up and had a strong fanbase going - you know, when it's too late for them to try shutting us down without upsetting a big fanbase. That's not a problem for you girls, is it?"
Emma and Regina wordlessly shake their heads. Ruby fucking grins like she's won the lottery.
"Lesbian too," the leggy brunette whispers conspiratorially, holding up a hand for a high-five. Belle laughs and smacks their palms together, and if she notices either of the two odd looks on Emma or Regina's faces, she says nothing of it.
Lunch goes by faster than anticipated and soon cast and crew are hurrying off to stage five while others return to their trailers. Tina texts both Emma and Regina with a rough time estimate of when she'll be back to get them into touch-ups.
"My scar is peeling off, isn't it?" Emma asks as they meander their way back towards Regina's trailer. Regina gently swats at her hand when she prods at her jawline.
"Don't pick at it. Makeup will fix it before we head back to set."
"So, uh, what should we do for our scenes later?"
"What do you mean?" Regina drops down on her couch as soon as they're back inside, reclining back as best she can in her costume and fiddling on her cellphone.
"Well, the whole chemistry thing that Belle was going on about…" Emma retakes her seat at the table, unrolling her sides and glancing over her newly rewritten lines again. "I mean, I wasn't purposely…"
"Use your words, dear."
When Emma looks back up, Regina has one brow lifted and an amused smirk on her lips. The blonde laughs and goes to run a hand through her hair before remembering that she shouldn't mess up her intricate braid. "I mean, we should do what Neal said, right? Not play up the romance between Kavalan and the Queen? Hell, the producers had Belle rewrite all my lines just because Kavalan's now a woman."
"I wouldn't necessarily call it a romance," Regina says after a moment, dropping her phone to pick up her sides again. "It's purely physical. It's quite clear Belle wrote it as a one-sided relationship. The Queen doesn't know how to love, and Kavalan is driven by a sense of duty and loyalty, not out of a desire for romance."
"You think so?" Emma cocks her head, but decides not to give her opinion. She's no actor and she's not about to argue over a character's motivations. Besides, Regina's studied her character at length and surely knows far more about the story's direction than she does.
"Perhaps," Regina murmurs after a minute of silence, and says no more.
