"Never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun." -Katherine Hepburn
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As the weeks passed in filming, Daphne and Jared grew closer. They were even more media fodder after someone had leaked a photo of the two of them on set looking very close. They were very flirtatious and close with each other, but no one really knew what that meant. They couldn't tell if it was because of their characters and them filming a lot together or if it was because they were truly that close together. They were photographed out and about all the time. Then there were rumors that Daphne and Shannon were dating when photographers got shots of Daphne on the back of Shannon's motorcycle while they were out for a ride in the city without Jared.
But currently, Daphne was prepping for a reunion interview in Hawaii for the cast of 'Lost'. It had been five years since the last episode had aired and Jimmy Kimmel, who had been a big fan of the show, wanted to do a reunion show on the anniversary of the last episode's airing. Daphne was excited to see everyone again, and even though she left the show in the fifth season, she was the most requested member of the cast to be there. And Daphne never liked letting her fans down, so she had agreed to go. Their plane had touched down at LAX and they were waiting to get on a plane to go to Honolulu in an hour. Oddly enough it seemed some of the cast that lived in Los Angeles was taking the same flight.
"Well, if it isn't the Oscar winner, herself," a husky British accent met Daphne's ears. She looked up and saw Naveen Andrews standing in front of her.
"Hey!" she said, jumping out of her seat to give him a hug.
He hugged her tightly back and then held her at arms' length to look her over. It had been several years since they had last seen each other, but Daphne had always gotten along well with Naveen, especially since he had a child already and seemed to have a more fatherly air to him.
"Your hair is green," he said simply.
She laughed, sitting down. "It's for a role."
"I know," he started, sitting next to her. "I saw the publicity shots. Quite risqué for you, aren't they?"
She smiled. "Since when have you cared about how risqué my behavior is?"
He leaned back into the chair next to her, draping his arm across her shoulders and pulling her close to him. "Oh you know, just doing my duty and all of that." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, it's just a little weird to see you wearing very little with a guy's hand around your throat and him looking like Dracula, about to suck two pints out of you."
She laughed loudly as he took his sunglasses off and tucked them into his collar. He settled her with his dark brown eyes and signature grin. "Naveen, have I told you how much I've missed you lately?" she said.
"Nah," he joked. "But it's alright. I know you're busy. By the way, thank you for the gift for Joshua's birthday. He really liked it. But I should be thanking your assistant, not you," he said, sticking his tongue out at her teasingly.
Daphne gave him a mock shocked look. "How could you suggest that? Of course I picked it out!"
He laughed. "Fair enough, whatever you say. How's filming going?" he asked, nodding his head to her hair.
She sighed. "It's going. It's a little different for me, but I'm enjoying it. It's actually nice to have this break, even though I have to go back tomorrow morning for a night shoot," she rolled her eyes and made a face.
He smiled. "I'm glad you're keeping busy. I don't think you'd know what to do with yourself if you had to stay still for more than a few days."
She gave him a light punch on the arm. "I was in Los Angeles for weeks prepping."
"But you were doing press and other things as well, so no, you weren't still," he said. "What about this Jared guy? Are you two dating?" He pulled his phone out of his jeans and looked at it for a moment.
Daphne paused. "Are you stalking me?" she asked with a nervous laugh.
"No, Dom told me to ask," Naveen said, glancing up from his cell phone. "Speaking of, there's the little bugger right now."
Daphne looked up and saw Dominic Monaghan coming toward them, his ever-present goofy grin on his face when he saw her. She took off running with a smile on her face and he dropped his duffel bag at his feet just in time to catch her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He let out a loud grunt as she made contact with him, but his smile never left his face.
"Hey," he said softly into her hair, squeezing her tightly. "How are you?" He set her back down on the floor, still holding her tightly.
She smiled, straightening out his shirt. "I'm good. Just flew in from Toronto, though. So I might be a little loopy with the jetlag."
He chuckled. "I can see that," he said, picking up his bag and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
Anyone who wasn't really aware of their relationship might think that Dom Monaghan and Daphne Brando were more than just friends. But they weren't. They had a very close friendship, having spent the time on 'Lord of the Rings' working together and the time on 'Lost' working together. Of all the members in the 'Lost' cast, they were the closest with each other. But Daphne sort of had that effect on everyone who met her. It was hard not to become friends with her and even harder not to leave without a small crush on her as well.
Naveen stood to give Dominic a hug when they approached the seats. "How's it going, mate?" Naveen asked, clapping Dom on the shoulder.
"It's good, just got back from filming in Borneo," he added. "You should have come down and done a show with me there," he said to Daphne. "I know you had a few weeks off."
Daphne rolled her eyes. "I was prepping for a role and doing all sorts of press. I didn't have time to breathe, let alone fly to South East Asia and get attacked by whatever insect you were filming."
Dominic smiled. His affinity for insects and nature had always creeped Daphne out, mostly because he had a habit of picking up insects and holding them right in her face once he figured out she didn't like them. It seemed to be his favorite activity whenever they were near nature together.
"Right I forgot. Pole dancing," he made a face at her.
"I know, it's a little weird to think of the same sixteen year old girl I knew doing that type of thing now," Naveen said with a grin.
Dom scoffed. "YOU think it's weird? I've known her since she was eleven!"
Daphne laughed. "Boys, I would suggest you skip 'Suicide Squad' when it comes out next year then."
"And miss the chance to see you get strangled by a sociopath?" Naveen asked in mock horror. "Never!"
Daphne looked around and glanced at her phone. "I guess we're the only ones on this flight?"
"Everyone else already flew in," Naveen said without looking up. "We're the last ones left."
"Does anyone know what exactly this thing is?" Dominic asked, placing his sunglasses back on his face.
"It's an open panel where fans will get to ask you questions. Kimmel is moderating it but he will also ask things about what you've been up to since the show ended, how you felt about it ending, all that crap," Kelly said, coming up behind them with two coffee cups in hand.
Dominic and Naveen stood up when she came around their row of seats, having never met her before. She glanced at them as she passed them and Daphne could see a slight blush rise in her assistant's cheeks upon seeing the two men. Typically Kelly wasn't star struck, but she had been a big fan of 'Lost' when it was on and Daphne knew this would be a fan-girl moment for her. She took pity on the girl and introduced her.
"Kelly, this is Dom Monaghan and Naveen Andrews," she said. "Boys, this is my assistant, Kelly. Do not flirt with her."
Naveen gave Daphne a hurt look. "You always take the fun away from me!" He winked at Kelly as he sat down.
Kelly smiled. "Maybe I want them to flirt with me, Daph," she said, wagging her eyebrows.
"That's the spirit," Dom said as he gave her a smile and a wink.
Kelly handed Daphne one of the coffee cups and Naveen looked at Daphne with confusion. "Since when do you drink coffee?"
"It's tea," Kelly said in response.
"It's mostly because I flew straight here from Toronto after a night shoot and I want to sleep in the five and a half hours or so I'll get," Daphne said.
Kelly's phone rang and she excused herself to answer it. Daphne took a sip of her green tea, enjoying the warmth it gave her in the chilly terminal. One of the downsides of Los Angeles was that everywhere was air-conditioned to try to combat the heat of southern California. The only problem was that it was usually pretty chilly in buildings. Suddenly Dom started coughing and without even thinking about it, he grabbed Daphne's cup and took a sip.
Naveen laughed as she didn't even look up from her folder full of paperwork to see what happened. It was normal between the two of them. He was always curious about their relationship because they seemed extremely close. He was very protective of her but also very flirty with her. But Naveen didn't think they had ever been romantically involved with each other. Daphne had been sixteen when she started on 'Lost', plus she was also dating Elijah Wood, who was one of Dom's best friends. But there was always the air of closeness about them. They even held hands a lot, which kind of made people suspicious. Nonetheless, their relationship hadn't changed when Dom and Evangeline Lilly had started seeing each other and it didn't change when they called it quits either.
He handed her cup back and leaned over her shoulder, looking at the paperwork she had in her hands. "Contracts?" he asked.
She nodded, taking a sip from her tea. "Yeah, for the second season of 'Burnout'. They're already rolling them out because we start filming in mid-August."
"I'm loving you in this show, by the way," Naveen said. "Totally different from everything you've done. Do you know what direction it's going in?"
She smiled at him. "Honey, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof are writers on it. What does that say?"
Naveen and Dom laughed. "I see. So it'll be a while before you figure out what's going on?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Vince Gilligan and Diablo Cody are also involved so hopefully they'll light a fire under their asses and keep things rolling."
"I heard Terry's going to join the cast this series?" Dom asked, referring to Terry O'Quinn who was their cast mate on 'Lost'.
"I don't know," Daphne replied. "It's not my business who they hire."
"Damn," Dom said. "I guess I shouldn't sleep with you to get the job then," he joked, grinning.
She nudged him with a laugh. "You know I don't operate that way, anyways," she replied.
"But apparently you're dating Jared Leto!" Naveen said in a joking tone.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "It's becoming amusing who they think I'm dating. It's crazy."
"I remember the old guy in the Berlin airport that they snapped you with who was literally just walking behind you and that you'd never met in your life," Dom said, snorting.
Daphne laughed. "I called him to apologize for all the hassle he'd gotten from people and the poor bugger didn't even have his teeth in so I didn't understand half of what he said."
They all broke out laughing as Kelly returned from her phone call. "I guess you're all boarding last?" she asked.
Everyone nodded. When flying on a public airplane it was always nice to board last especially if you were in first class because then no one would be looking at you as they all walked by.
"I call next to Daphne!" Dom said like a child squealing for the best toy.
She smiled. "That's sweet of you Dom, but I really do need to sleep on the flight. Otherwise Kimmel will have eighty shots of my open mouth yawning and no sound bites from me."
"Fine," he said with a mock disappointed face. "I'll sit next to Naveen."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and got up, taking her bag from Kelly. They all walked over to the podium to hand over their tickets for scanning and within a few minutes were all boarding the plane to Honolulu.