"Those eyes of yours could swallow stars, galaxies, and universes. What hope did I ever have?" -Unknown
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"Alright, you two are going to need to get real close," David said, directing Daphne and Jared in front of the photographer's camera.
They were doing some publicity shots to be released in the next few days and it was the first time they had really seen each other's costumes in the flesh. Jared was shirtless, pale, and covered in crazy tattoos, but they weren't sure if they were going to keep them or not. It was an effort to give him a sexier feel. In reality, he was going to be covered more often and the tattoos wouldn't be visible and he'd be a much subtler sexy. Daphne had on a really sexy costume as well, but it was likely to stay the same for the film. A mini skirt fell just below her butt, making her fairly nervous about flashing everyone, and a crop top with a skull and cross bone symbol wearing a jester's hat barely covered her breasts. It was safe to say this was the sexiest role she'd ever taken on. Her dark hair had been highlighted with lime green strokes, mirroring Jared's. Her eyes were lined in black liner and a bright red lipstick highlighted her lips.
"Jared grab her and pull her to you," the photographer said. "Sex it up a bit."
Daphne felt him press himself up against her, his bare chest against her mostly-bare back. He pressed his right palm into her abdomen and brought his left one up to wrap around her neck lightly. "Like that?" he asked, causing a light shiver to go down Daphne's back.
"Good, but it's missing something. Just try a few things and we'll stop you if we don't like it," David replied. "Daphne I need your face this way," he added. "And give the eyes."
Daphne knew what he wanted. She had a trademark dusky stare that everyone wanted. Her green eyes already stood out with the kohl liner, but they had given her contacts that made them an electric green-another tribute to Jared's hair. She shifted her face toward the camera, narrowed her eyes, and opened her lips slightly as she felt Jared rest his teeth against her ear.
"Yes! Exactly that," David shouted in happiness. "THAT'S what we want."
Daphne squealed a little as she fought the urge to push Jared away. She felt him smile at her reaction. She had a strange thing about her ears being touched that she suspected developed from eighteen months of elf ears being glued to her head several times a day. The photographer snapped shots in rapid-fire. Jared pulled her to his chest even harder, digging his fingers into her hip and stomach. He lightly scraped his left hand down her throat.
"Jared that's PERFECT. Exactly what we want," David praised Jared. "Daphne, lean your head back a tiny bit-there. Perfect."
After a few more minutes, David had them change positions and do individual shots. This was the first time many people were seeing the extent of Ophelia and the Joker's relationship because she was a relatively new addition to the DC Comics universe. Very little had been revealed about her in the comic book world and they were getting fresh information from DC Comics themselves about her story. There was a great amount of buzz surrounding every actor in the film, but specifically Jared and Daphne seemed to be getting the greatest attention.
"Alright, we've got what we want," David said. "You guys can go get cleaned up."
Jared nodded, heading back to the makeup room to get hosed down. Daphne followed.
"You know I don't like my ears being touched," she told him as they walked down a silent hallway.
"I know," he replied. "But it seemed like the right thing to do. You did give me free rein to do whatever I felt was right in the moment."
She sighed. "I'm starting to regret that now."
He stopped. "Daphne, I'm not going to take advantage of you," he laughed. "I did it because I felt it was right. There needs to be a sex appeal between the two of us. Plus, with her being a figment of his imagination, I thought it made sense that he had complete control over her."
"I get that," she admitted. "But it just felt a little odd that things were THAT close."
He turned toward her, walking closer, causing her to walk backwards into the wall. "Daphne, it only feels weird because you let it feel weird."
She avoided his gaze. "I have a boyfriend, Jared. It's going to feel a little strange to have another man basically dry-humping me, strangling me, and biting my ear like I'm in some porno."
"I have nothing but respect for you and your relationship with Swedish boy," Jared said, leaning against the wall next to her. "But there can't be a wall there between us when we're filming. It won't work." He glanced over at her next to him. "I promise no funny business on set or off. Just friends."
"Jake. His name is Jake. Not 'Swedish boy'," she said, punching him lightly in the arm as she walked away.
He watched her walk with a smile on his face, admiring how incredibly short her skirt was and how much of her body was shown off. It was hard to keep his mind from wandering, but David's words echoed in his mind. He shook his head to clear it, pushing off the wall and following her down the hallway to get cleaned up.
A few days later, the photos were released, causing a media firestorm. People were shocked at how sexual they were and intrigued even more about the film itself. The photos even spurred the rumors about Jared and Daphne dating even further. However, they were on opposite sides of the planet as Jared had left the day after the photos were taken to return to his tour schedule, leaving Daphne to do press for 'Burnout'. Her filming schedule was exactly the same as Jared's and since Ophelia was in every scene the Joker was, Daphne didn't have to be on set.
She was in the process of reviewing scripts for projects after she finished the second season the 'Burnout', flipping through script after script in her hotel room. She looked up as a knock came against the door. She opened it, smiling wide when she saw who it was.
"Jack! I didn't expect to see you for another day or two!" she opened the door wider for him to come inside. He engulfed her in a bear hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I had a spare day so I came over early," he replied, coming into the room. He glanced at the coffee table laden with scripts and gave Kelly a wave and a smile. "Jesus, it looks like you robbed a Kinko's."
Daphne laughed. "I'm just reviewing options for my next project after next season."
"Oh to be famous and have directors begging you to be in their films," Jack joked. "It must be so damn hard."
She laughed. "Well since you're here maybe you can help me figure out what I want."
"If you want me to," he said with a smile.
Daphne had forgotten how much she loved spending time with Jack in the weeks it had been since they had seen each other. Because the main cast for the first season of 'Burnout' was so small, the studio was sending them all in different directions to cover as much ground as possible. It was rare for there to be interviews with more than one of them at a time. He sat down next to her on the sofa, sifting through the scripts laid out on the coffee table in front of them.
"Do you have a pile of ones you don't like?" he asked.
"Over here," she said, pointing to a rather large pile that had formed on the floor next to the sofa. "Those are ones I'm considering still," she said, pointing at the large number of scripts on the table.
He sighed. "Well, I guess you just narrow it down by start date, right?"
She glanced at the covers, removing two that had a start date that was too close to the last day of filming. "This one doesn't have a start date. It's sort of up in the air. I think the goal is to get me hired on and then finalize more."
He picked up the script she had mentioned. "What is it about?"
"It's about a couple who are trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of war. Basically the husband is a veteran who is paralyzed and becomes dependent on his wife," she answered. "It's a more female perspective on what it's like to be the caregiver in that situation and it focuses on the after-effects of war."
"So kind of like 'American Sniper'?" he asked.
"Not so much. The PTSD aspect is there, but it's much darker and the husband is more manipulative. It's darker," she replied. "Plus it explores how those relationships often end, the dependence the veteran feels and the reluctance the wife feels. She's trapped in this relationship-something she didn't sign up for when they got married- and feels intense guilt for feeling like she's trapped."
"Wow, who wrote it?" Jack asked, flipping through the pages.
"I think the Coen brothers did," she said.
"So why the hell hasn't it been picked up yet?" he asked in astonishment. "Those guys only turn out prime stuff."
"I think it's still in the early phases, so it could get picked up I guess," she said.
"It's one I'd take a look at. It really seems interesting," he said.
Daphne took the script from him and looked at it. It had caught her eye immediately after reading it and she was really intrigued in it. But nobody was attached to it yet, which was always risky. Sometimes studios would pull funding from things if they didn't like the pace at which it was being worked on. Even large budget blockbusters got funding pulled. She was hesitant to accept this role on the chance that the studio would pull its funding because it would mean losing out on other roles she had been offered. But that's how Hollywood worked. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the film and the concept. 'Battle-Scarred' was her next project.