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"Aaaaand cut!"
There was a flurry of activity as the crew members scuttled about. Costumers and make-up artists rushed up to the two actors currently on set, to brush them up and straighten anything that had gotten crooked. Gaffers and key grips checked over the lights, while the director and first AD reviewed the footage on the digital monitor inside the tent.
Erza Scarlet stepped away from her blue-haired partner on set, taking a breather. The take they had just finished had been an emotionally charged diatribe and eventual romantic confession. She'd need a moment to clear her mental palate before they did it again.
Though the two of them shared amazing onscreen chemistry, they were infamously frigid off-camera. He was already turned away, mouthing his lines to himself while the make-up girl dusted his face.
The director's voice cut through the clamor. "All right, check the gate. That's a wrap people!" he announced.
There were small cheers and sighs of relief, and a louder bustle as the take-down process began.
Erza wandered off set, smiling as she spied a familiar face standing behind one of the Key Lights.
"You got done early," she remarked lightly.
Gray Fullbuster, who played another main protagonist on their show, gave a nonchalant shrug.
"Had a nice sitting-down scene for once. Lots of exposition but Macao only wanted a few angles."
"Lucky you."
"Stage fright get to you again?" teased Gray.
She seemed to tower above him suddenly, with narrow white angry slits for eyes.
Gray put up his hands, immediately cowering. "S-sorry! Just a joke!" he squeaked.
Erza returned to normal, running tired fingers through her hair. "Can I meet you later? After I'm done?" she asked. "And let's get dinner."
The young man gave another shrug. "Sure. I could go for some food."
"All right, Cana's place. See you soon."
-FT-
The frigid air made his breath visible, but Gray didn't shiver as he waited outside her trailer, hands in his pockets, wrapped up in his leather jacket and wool scarf.
The sound of the door opening behind him. Gray turned and found himself flushing lightly as his girlfriend stepped out. Erza had pinned up her hair and looked very cute in her long pink wool sweater, plaid skirt, black close-fitting slacks, and comfortable boots.
She finished tossing a white scarf around her shoulder, then descended the trailer steps lightly.
"Shall we go?" she asked.
Gray extended an elbow for her and her arm slipped comfortably into the nook of his.
As they walked, leaving the studio and hitting the snow-crusted, light-lined streets of town, he let her do most of the talking, listening with a smile as she complained about her script.
"And then there was this bit," she said, shuffling through the stapled stack of papers to find the line in question. "Right here. 'I missed you… so much.' Really? She hasn't once thought about him for the whole season. They're supposed to be in love aren't they? Shouldn't this have come up before now?"
Gray chuckled.
"What is it?"
"You gripe about the writing but when I was watching you on-set… you said it with such pure conviction." He smiled warmly at her. "I really believed you."
Erza puffed her chest proudly at the flattery. "One must dedicate herself to the craft. If I don't put my all into it, I feel like I'm letting the rest of you down."
"You? Erza Scarlet? Please," Gray scoffed.
"Don't laugh," she warned gently. "Remember the day we had to spend hours rigged up for that aerial battle?"
Gray flinched at the reminder. "You called Director Makarov a 'sadistic hack and an unpleasable old troll'. First time I've ever seen you snap."
Erza nodded. "And then he made us do thirty more takes of the same shot."
"Wasn't Lucy crying by the end of it?"
"Everyone was crying by the end. I kept flubbing the last line, making it take longer and longer… It was a mess."
Gray pulled his arm free in order to wrap it around her and rub her shoulder. "Yeah, but we all looked so cool onscreen when it aired."
"We did, didn't we?" Erza mused, leaning her head into Gray's neck. "I hope they write some more fight scenes in for me," she said. "I feel a little rusty."
"I just hope they quit finding excuses to get my shirt off," grumbled Gray. "Those damn lights are murder enough without exposing my skin directly to them."
"I like it when you take your shirt off," Erza confessed softly.
Gray flushed again, looking away uncomfortably and scratching his chin. "Yeah, well… when it's you it's okay," he muttered.
Laughing, Erza steered him to the right to take the steps up to their favorite pub.