Chapter Text
The first day of stepping onto a new set is always both exciting and terrifying, especially when you’re a guest star who appears for the first time in season three. Everyone knows each other, they’ve got their inside jokes and a lot of the time (though not even close to always, Cynthia had found) the main cast is already a close knit group of friends. Stepping in as an outsider can definitely be intimidating.
When Cynthia was sent a script for Masks of Fable—a TV show inspired by Dungeons & Dragons that they’d been religiously following ever since it came out—they had to audition. They’d actually auditioned for it when the initial script for the first season was sent out, but they hadn’t made it past the second round of auditions.
In season three, one of the main party members, Sevyn, would be confronted with someone from her backstory—Wexten, an ex-romantic partner. Cynthia’s agent had told them they were perfect for the part, because Wexten is so close to their own personality. They’re a carefree and impulsive menace of a half elf who cares more about their friends and loved ones than anything else. Cynthia had immediately gotten to work and eventually landed the part.
Which is how they ended up in this trailer park, trying to find their way to the one assigned to them to drop off their stuff before going into hair, make-up and costumes, where they’re put through a thorough transformation. While they’re working on this, Jackson Harris walks in, already in costume. He’s a bulky black man in his mid-thirties who got his big break as a child actor and still hasn’t surpassed his peak, he lands one hit show after another. He’s one of the five main cast members of Masks of Fable, the core adventuring party. He plays Edge, a purple tiefling with the most tragic backstory of all— that is, as far has been revealed until now. He’s Cynthia’s favourite character.
While Cynthia is being transformed into a scrappy looking half elf, he makes small talk. “So, are you excited?”
“Absolutely,” Cynthia says.
“Do you play D&D?” They nod. “That’s amazing!” He leans in closer and half whispers, “Me and Owen are the only cast members who’ve played D&D before, it’s kind of sad.”
Cynthia chuckles. “Well, I love it. Me and my friends used to have a weekly game, but life has been so crazy for all of us lately, it’s been over two months since we’ve had a chance to play. I miss it, but that’s why being here is extra cool. I really can’t wait.”
“That’s great! Hey, I’m gonna run to catering, but I’ll see you on set, okay?”
They say goodbye and Jackson leaves. When everyone is done, Cynthia looks like a real half elf. When they were given the part, they’d been told Wexten has a mullet and were given a choice between either growing their hair out into a mullet or wearing a wig. Considering they were already halfway there, Cynthia had decided to just grow out the mullet.
They look at themselves in the mirror, admiring their new look—elf ears, messy mullet, dirty, moss green sleeveless shirt made to look like it used to be a dress but was cut off for some reason and a very prominent dark red scar shaped like a crescent moon right next to their right eye, sort of following the shape of their eye socket.
“You’re all done,” Jenny, one of the ladies in the costume department, smiles.
“Thank you,” Cynthia says. They leave the trailer and check the time. There’s about half an hour before their call time, so they decide to retreat to their trailer and go over their lines one more time before then. On the way there, they pass a trailer with a plaque that reads “Lydia Wilson - Sevyn” on the door. They briefly consider if they should knock or not before deciding yes, maybe they can get to know each other a little bit before their scenes.
They’d met before during the table reads, but Cynthia hadn’t had a chance to talk to her much. They were never even formally introduced. Lydia was usually first to leave, permanently in a rush. She never had time for anyone except Floyd. She’s the only person Cynthia has never had a full conversation with before.
The door swings open and Lydia stands in the doorway, looking down at Cynthia. She’s wearing a dark green overall dress over a light beige—almost white—dress shirt. Her character’s signature outfit. “Who are you?”
“Cynthia. Zdunowski? I’ll be playing Wexten, remember?”
“Right. What do you want?”
“Oh, just wanted to get to know each other a bit maybe, considering we’ll have a lot of scenes together. Might be more comfortable if you know who’s across from you.”
Lydia crosses her arms. “I’m not interested. I’ll see you when I need to, but that’s it.”
“Really?” Cynthia says. “I mean, we don’t have to be best friends or anything, but I always find I’m more comfortable when you’ve, you know, at least talked to each other.”
“And other people can just perform without needing all that extra shit. Guess that’s the difference between professionals and amateurs.” She delivers the blow with the sweetest, most vicious smile before slamming the door shut.
Cynthia stumbles backwards a little bit and continues their way to their trailer, shocked by the whole interaction. Amateurs? Sure, they may not have an as impressive CV as Lydia, but they’ve done their fair share of TV and film work. For a brief period, they were even on Broadway, playing Maureen in a limited revival of RENT. They’re anything but an amateur. The only reason Lydia has double the credits to her name is because she’s been acting since she was three, while Cynthia only got into the business six years ago, when they were seventeen.
They try focusing on rereading their lines, studying the script one last time, but Lydia’s words cut deep. Cynthia is more than ever determined to show Lydia they are a professional, maybe even better than her. It doesn’t take long for them to abandon the script and make their way to catering instead, where Jackson and Owen are having a conversation over coffee.
“Hi, can I join you guys?” Cynthia asks, suddenly very self aware. What if they reject them too? Maybe Jackson was just being nice because he felt like he had to.
“Sure, pull up a chair,” Owen says. He’s a lanky, nearly 40 year old man and he plays Eran, an aasimar monk, on the show. Just like everyone else Cynthia has seen, he’s in costume, though he’s wearing a clear rain poncho over it, despite being inside.
“What’s that all about?” they ask, vaguely gesturing at it.
“Oh,” Owen chuckles. “We’re not supposed to eat in costume, but I really wanted a burrito. Figured I couldn’t spill on my costume like this.”
“That’s genius.”
“Why thank you very much,” Owen grins.
“Did you know they play D&D as well?” Jackson asks. “We’re not alone anymore! At least, not for a while.”
Cynthia will be staying for at least six episodes. After that, they’ll have to await news about a renewal for the show. If it gets renewed, they’ll be back for more, considering the season ends on a cliffhanger that has everything to do with Wexten.
“Oh?” Owen says. “Want to tell us about your character?”
“I fear I’m a forever DM,” Cynthia says, shrugging sadly. They’d had to beg Jane, Olivia and Nancy to play D&D with them for weeks, so when they finally set aside their prejudices about it being a nerd game to try it, Cynthia obviously couldn’t ask one of them to DM. None of them had any experience with D&D, while Cynthia had DMed a few times before. It’s been four years since they started playing, and except for a one shot Richie had prepared for their birthday, Cynthia never got to be a player.
“Ah, that’s too bad,” Owen says. “If you ever want to be a player, you just let me know. Maybe I can make you a guest character in my game.” He smiles, and it makes the offer sound all the more genuine.
Emilio, the director, gives them notes, resets the scene and makes Lydia and Cynthia do it all over again. They’re outside in the woods with an entire camera crew set up around them. The other actors aren’t in this scene—or they were, but Sevyn is supposed to stay behind because she’s exhausted and they already have the shot of the rest of them walking on without noticing her missing—so they’ve been dismissed for a break.
The scene they’re shooting right now is very short—it’s the cliffhanger for episode three. Sevyn stays behind in the woods and gets ambushed by Wexten, someone she used to know before she met the rest of the party. After this, they’ll immediately shoot the rest of the scene—the beginning of episode four.
Cynthia and Lydia are back in position, ready to redo the scene.
“Aaand… action.” The clapperboard sounds.
Wexten is hiding in the thickest part of the bushes, a dagger in each hand, ready to attack, when Sevyn sits down on a rock just a few feet away, her pack dropping to the ground next to her. As quietly as they can, Wexten sneaks closer and eventually grabs Sevyn from behind, putting a dagger against their throat.
“Not a sound,” they whisper.
Immediately, there’s a flash of recognition on Sevyn’s face. She slowly turns her head towards Wexten and whispers back, “Wexten?”, her voice catching a bit.
Wexten’s grip loosens, allowing Sevyn to fully turn around to face them. As soon as she does, they drop the daggers. “Sevyn?”
“Cut!” The director calls out. “Excellent job guys.”
He walks over to the camera crew and rewatches the scene they’ve just shot. After that, they reshoot from a different angle and get some close ups until he’s satisfied and then Cynthia and Lydia get dismissed for a short water break before shooting the next part.
Lydia didn’t lie when she said she’d see Cynthia when she needed to and nothing more, because she disappears immediately, and Cynthia doesn’t see her again until they’re called to places for their next scene.