"Now, raise your left leg… your other left leg… good, now rest it on the back of the couch… hold it, hold it… you know, I don't like it, it just looks stiff. You need to sell this character to me. Now tell me, who you are?"
Kijima answered immediately. "Hanna Akira, a lazy man who barely graduated college and is an extreme playboy. He has a new girlfriend every few weeks. He has no desire to work because his looks usually get him gifts from girls. Everything else that he needs he mooches off of his sister."
"YES!" The photographer, Mike, cried. "Yes, yes, yes! You are a low energy playboy who never has to try to get a date. He's a scoundrel and a dog, yet he knows he will be forgiven because he is handsome. I need you to look sexy, not 'look at how sexy I can be', but naturally sexy. I need you to sprawl on that couch and just be sexy without looking like you are trying. You are alone, so you need to look bored, and look like you don't have a care in the world because you don't! And for god's sake, stop looking directly at the camera!"
Kijima nodded and complied, sinking into the couch with one leg sprawled over the back, one hand behind his head, the other hanging over the side. He sank into his character and, a minute later, a lazy playboy emerged. Mike was pleased, taking pictures faster than the speed of light and shouting orders in a mixture of English and Japanese to the crew as he worked quickly.
"That photographer is intense." Kyoko muttered to Kanae, as they sat in chairs designated for the actors waiting their turn.
Kanae nodded. "But he does seem to know exactly what he is doing."
"That's 'cause he does." Cara plopped into the chair on Kyoko's other side. "Mike has been with Silver Raincloud longer than I have and he is one of the best photographers out there that does natural shots, not just beauty, masculinity, or sex. He rocks and he is the best person to ask for tips about finding the light and your best side and so on. He's one of the main reasons I was chosen for this project. His photos of me in my portfolio were amazing."
"And don't forget that you promised to date his roommate in exchange for those pictures." Lani said smiling, handing Cara a bottle of water before offering some to Kyoko and Kanae, who graciously accepted.
Cara sighed dreamily. "Oh, I won't; Clark is so fine! I have a date set for when we are done today. Lani, remind me to buy some chocolates; Clark loves chocolate."
Lani nodded and turned back to Kyoko and Kanae. "So have you guys taken your shots yet?"
Kanae shook her head. "No, they are doing the boys' individual shots first. Kijima, Fuwa, and Tsuruga are the only ones left."
"Well you might as well relax right now." Yashiro and Ren had come up behind them. "I heard from Deedee that we will break for lunch after Ren finishes his individuals." Yashiro continued. Ren smiled at all of them and turned to Kyoko.
"NEXT!" The photographer's shout drowned out whatever Ren had said. "I SAID NEXT!" There was a moment of silence before the burly photographer yelled again. "SOMEONE GET THE NEXT ACTOR!"
It took the staff five minutes to find Sho and another ten minutes to tear him away from the three busty fangirls who had cornered him in the hallway. Unlike the rest of the American photography crew, Mike wasn't upset, just annoyed. "When I say that you are next that means you need to be ready whenever for whenever I call you. Now your shooting time is going to run into Tsuruga's. You are going to need to get these photos done right on the first try if you and Tsuruga are going to have time to eat. You're playing a rock star, so it shouldn't be too difficult; just be you but less Visual Kei and more… cool rock." He turned and looked at the other actors. "All of you break for lunch. I will be done with Fuwa and Tsuruga as soon as possible."
"FOOD!" Cara yelled, jumping out of her chair and sprinting out of the room. "FOOD FOOD FOOOD! I'm starving!"
The Japanese actors just looked after her, dumbfounded. She was like a little kid. A quick glance around showed that the American crew wasn't even fazed by this behavior; they must have been used to it.
Lani just shook her head. "Sometimes I swear that I am looking after a six year old." She rubbed her temples before getting to her feet. "Come on; we'd better get in there before she eats everything in sight." She followed her charge into the break room, filling a plate with food and taking a seat next to the tall actress. The rest of the cast and crew who weren't needed for the boy's shoot trickled in after them.
"So," Cara drawled, switching languages. "What do you think of these people?"
Lani shrugged. "They are certainly good at what they do and they seem like genuine people. Why do you ask?"
"Well, Lory wants me to play cupid while I'm here but I dunno; this will definitely be the toughest match ever. I see so many people who would make great couples but none of them are willing to make the first move. You know, there's Ren and Kyoko, Kanae and Hiou, Shoko and basically any handsome man-"
"Now just stop right there. I came here to help you work, not pursue that stupid ideal that you and Lory are supposed to bring love back into the world. You two are not cupid, or any connotation, and the last time you tried to play cupid you were almost run over by an angry ballet teacher because you set up her husband with another woman!"
"Well how was I supposed to know that that woman was her sister!"
"They were twins, Cara, identical twins! It didn't once occur to you that they may be sisters since they look exactly the same?"
"Nope."
"And you really couldn't blame the woman; you broke up her marriage by setting up her husband-"
"Who she had separated from!"
"-with her twin sister! Not only that, but you didn't even try to pretend to be sorry. And if you weren't such good friends with at least half of the police department in Los Angeles, she wouldn't have even been arrested because there was no proof that she tried to run you down!"
Cara scrutinized Lani for several minutes before speaking again. "So what's your point?"
Lani rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The point is that your cupid schemes do nothing but get you in trouble. I can't stop you from interfering, but I am warning you, if you do something stupid like that this time around, I will not bail you out. Your meddling also must not interfere in any way with your work, or mine. Got it?"
"Sir, yes, SIR!" Cara shouted, jumping to her feet and saluting. The people around them stared, and the people from Silver Raincloud who had been close enough to hear the conversation laughed before returning to their meals.
Lani ignored them all and returned to her meal, her patience with the conversation seemingly gone.
Kyoko and the rest of the Japanese crew just stared at them. Whatever they were talking about, Cara seemed surprisingly serious about, while Lani just looked annoyed. It was also weird that they weren't speaking Japanese or English. Whatever language it was, it sounded pretty and they were speaking extremely fast.
"I wonder what they are talking about." Kanae voiced what they all were thinking.
Amamiya shrugged. "I want to know what language they were speaking. It wasn't English."
Hiou just grunted. "If they don't want us to know what they're saying, then we won't know. It's probably not very important anyway."
"But it's quite rude. They could be talking about us and we wouldn't even know it." Murasame and Kijima took seats at their table. "If they don't want us to hear it, then they shouldn't talk about it here."
"Talk about what?" Deedee appeared behind Kyoko, her arrival causing the young girl to choke on her food in surprise. Deedee thumped her on the back until she could breathe again. It was Amamiya who answered.
"We were curious as to what Lani and Cara were talking about, since they switched languages." Deedee looked over at the two women who were now have an intense exchange, judging from the fierceness in Lani's eyes and the serious look on Cara's face. The handsome woman listened closely before laughing lightly.
"Nothing to worry about, dahlings, nothing at all. And curiosity did kill the cat."
"What?" Tsuruga took the seat next to Kyoko, a small plate of food in his hand. "Who is curious?"
Deedee smiled brightly at him. "Finished already, dahling? That was fast."
Tsuruga nodded. "It was decided that my pictures would be taken first so that the photographer could spend more on Fuwa. He apparently was over-posing."Tsuruga inwardly grinned at that. "So, what about Lani and Cara?"
Kanae snorted. "They suddenly started speaking another language and are acting weird."
Deedee tutted. "And I told you dahling, that's normal."
"Normal how?" asked Kyoko.
Deedee smiled. "What they are speaking now is Spanish. They are probably just talking about Cara's life back in Los Angeles because they start speaking Spanish every time that topic comes up. Spanish is Cara's first language after all and she is much better at it than she is Japanese."
"Does that mean Spanish is Lani's first language too?" Murasame asked.
Deedee shrugged. "You'd have to ask her. Lani is not a regular at Silver Raincloud; she just shows up to help Cara from time to time. But," she pressed a manicured finger to her cheek. "I think she once said that Spanish was one of her best languages. If I remember correctly, she said she was fluent in five or six of them. I just assumed her real job is of an international translator." Deedee looked at her watch. "Sorry dahlings, I have to get the outfits ready for the next round of photos. Excuse me." She strutted away, barking out orders to her assistants.
Kanae just stared after her. "For someone who says she knows nothing, she seems to know an awful lot."
The table chuckled at her remark before everyone got to their feet. There was still 20 minutes left in the break and they were going to use it wisely. Kyoko turned to Tsuruga to ask him how the pictures came out when she saw what he was eating.
"TSURUGA-SAN!"
Ren sighed. He was hoping that she wouldn't notice how little he had taken for lunch. Guess he could kiss that dream goodbye as he readied himself for Kyoko's infamous lecture on eating right.