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Tayuya is halfway through filming for the day and halfway through draining her water bottle when she thinks she hears something.
Operative word ‘thinks’.
Damn these stupid horns costuming put on her. The irony of playing a sound-themed character while being smothered half to deafness by her headgear isn’t lost on her either.
At the risk of Sasori going nuclear on her at touch up she pulls the headband of the horns out from her hair a bit, nudging them back from her ear until she can hear a distinct; “Psst, hey!”
“Me?” she asks, looking around for the source of the voice and finding only an ajar door a bit back and to her left.
From within a weary voice calls, “Can you pass me one of those water bottles out there please?” and although part of her wants to say ‘get your own, you’re right there’ she is conscious enough of the fact that she’s done three hours of takes and has yet to take lunch to not actually say it.
Tayuya grabs a new bottle from the refreshment table beside her and crosses the hall, shouldering the door open casually.
“Here ya- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
Whatever Tayuya was expecting on the other side of the door it had not been a nearly naked half-serpent man, covered in pronounced veins and bloodied scales, gnarled hand outstretched for the water bottle over a massive severed stump of a snake body protruding from his chest.
She fumbles the water, half throwing it at the creature in the chair, staggering back till she hits the door frame. Likewise startled by being offered water by a yelling demon woman with black and yellow eyes and a crown of horns the snake man slaps the thrown bottle away in a panic and screams back.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHWHATINTHEFUCK?!?!?!”
“WHATISONYOURHEADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
There’s a second or two more of mutual screaming, then hard panicked breathing, and then…
“….Tayuya?”
Her heartbeat is coming down a few notches as the situation sinks in but her eyes still go wide as she recognizes his voice. “Kabuto?”
He sighs with explosive relief, laughing a little now that he recognizes her too.
“Oh my god, it’s you! I forgot you were filming that third stage stuff today.”
“Holy FUCK!,” Tayuya flails a hand at the elaborate cocoon of prosthetics he’s been ensconced in. “What did makeup DO to you?!” she asks in fascinated horror, scooping up the fallen drink to give to him.
“They’ve been torturing me for hours!” Kabuto groans, as he tries to find a way to open the bottle without messing up the carefully painted veins on his hands. “Now the last layer has to ‘bake’ or something? I don’t remember I just know if I move from this spot before he brings back lunch Sai might murder me with a makeup brush.”
Tayuya reaches out to twist the cap off the bottle for him, feeling a sympathetic frown creeping over her face. And here she’s been bitching all morning about her sclera contacts itching. At least she’s not wearing a horrible stretchy snake sleeping bag thing.
“I thought they were gonna do this shit with CGI?”
“I guess only for the distance shots.” Kabuto grumbles. “They wanted to get some closeups for my death scene today so here I am.”
“Dude that sucks.” Tayuya gives a sympathetic pout as she looks him over. “…it does look pretty sick though. I mean, shit you look creepy.”
“I’ll tell Sai that you said so.” Kabuto says with a wry smile, one he is still wearing when the camera flash on Tayuya’s phone pops off…
“…Hey so uh, do you still use that dating profile? Is your password still infocards with all the vowels as numbers?” she asks, thumbs already tapping away on her screen as she slides a step back toward the door.
Kabuto pales under his layers of makeup. “Tayuya….”
“You know you haven’t had a date in a while have you? Maybe you need to change it up a little? New profile picture?”
“Tayuya don’t you DARE!”
“Don’t worry, glasses.” she teases as she slides back out into the hall. “I definitely got your good side!”
“TAYUYAAAA!!!”