Chapter Text
Astro Novalite could remember the day he was first shoved into the limelight—all of which was against his wishes, of course. It was for a small soda company commercial where he had to promote their recent recipe. What happened instead featured a small, very young, version of him frozen on stage as the soda exploded from his hand and sprayed the little girl next him, ruining the pretty outfit she had worn for the shoot.
He’d rather take a swan dive into a pit of fire ants than ever be a star onstage. However as the prime son of a well off family—celebrities in specifics—attention followed him anyways. There was barely any consideration for his privacy and if there was any at all, it was a rhetorical question that paparazzi blurted out before shoving microphones in his face.
Grown adults acted as if he cured cancer from just trying to eat spaghetti in peace and lined up whenever he went to grab school supplies.
Suddenly, he had a lot of relatives, multiracial cousins, disowned mothers, and even a miscarried child at the age of 10. (He wasn’t even of age to sire a child nor had been in any relationship? HE WAS A CHILD! HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT GETTING 4s ON HIS SPELLING BEE AND MATH QUIZZES!)
Keep in mind; this continued since he went up to his mother’s hip and still attended public school. So in fairness, he wouldn’t say he was afraid of people—no, he wasn’t afraid at all. It was repulsive. An icky feeling whenever a camera caught his face because then it led to instances like some kid who sat behind him in fifth grade, would proudly proclaim how their best friends when they had tried snatching his favorite book moments ago.
He hated the public.
Because they couldn’t mind their own damn business.
So Astro had made it his goal to make himself reclusive as possible; overgrown hoods pulled up, beanies covering half his face, dull colors to blend into the dark—all that finesse if it meant disappearing from the crowd for his own self decency.
How wonderful. Truly a statement of the stars. He couldn’t help but feel frustration towards his parents. The same ones who brought him into the world sat in cushy chairs and slept in cushy beds while he stayed awake praying no one broke into his room again.
He hated the public. He hated the entertainment industry. And hated his parents for throwing him into acting. There was no joy in his expressions, no joy in the fake laughter his co-actor let out when his character delivered a horrible joke. He hated it.
He hated.
And he hated.
And he was 12 when he started to lose a bit of that hate.
It started when Astro was a special guest star featured in a local sitcom for children. His character; a tired upper classmate thrown into detention with the main cast. The writers wanted to recreate a kiddier, more family friendly version of <<The Breakfast Club>> but with their mess of a roster of leads.
While Astro never flaunted his skills, he could tell none of the other kid actors knew how to perform. He sat in back with his head down when the camera panned away from him, right up to the protagonist’s oblivious, cheery face. Looey or whatever the kid’s name was, rambled on listlessly, his voice dipping with tone fluctuations from how he excitedly bounced in place. The balloon animal kid kept turning around, making it difficult for the mic to pick up on him from his fast movements. Heck, even the lanky tech crew members were struggling to hold themselves upright, to keep audio connection smooth from how the boom mic kept shaking.
Why was Looey even excited? He just got sent to detention! That wasn’t something to be quite proud of. Getting caught in questionable behavior? Having your business aired out to multiple people in the vicinity? No self respect!
Honestly, Astro felt sleep crawl over to him like a loyal pet, eager to claim his attention. It would have served him better than sitting in a secluded spot in the classroom because his character was too ‘cool’ to get close to. They barely even included his character outside of PG eye candy for his fans.
Cameos they can point out in the background and go “THAT’S ASTRO NOVALITE!!! THAT’S ASTRO NOVALITE, RIGHT THERE IN SEASON 3, EPISODE 17, 13:24:05 IN THE TOP LEFT CORNER IN THE DARK BLUE JACKET!!!”
The boom mic hovered over him just as two of Looey’s friends giggled his way, one of which looked away too quickly. Astro blinked owlishly before remembering his character was supposed to be the perfect, suave, cool, kid from the grade above. He nodded in their direction; sending a charming smile.
As soon as the camera moved away, back to the girls, his smile fell and he returned to glaring at the desk.
Someone snorted next to him, startling him.
“Sorry…” One of the other background characters whispered to him. “It’s just—that was so funny! I couldn’t help it.”
Astro raised a brow. He couldn’t recognize the kid but he did recall the other boy sitting close by, just on the other table. Background Student 4. This child was smaller than the others and for a worrisome moment, Astro wondered if they dragged some third grader into what was supposed to be a fifth grader’s class.
He was chubbier than the others, with a soft, pale, yellow body hidden under his plain clothes. Too crisp if anything, and much too stiff. Pale petals curled behind his head and his round cheeks puffed out to draw detail to that bright smile of his.
Astro glanced around. The mic still hovered over Looey and his croonies, dabbling just above their teeny heads like a cat toy.
The lad next to him giggled.
“You look so serious!” He whispered. “Mr. Serious face!”
“You’re not supposed to talk during shooting.”
“Oh.” The small flower-boy blinked. “Sorry! This is my first official job!”
“Sh.” Astro hushed him.
“Sorry.”
The boy did not shut up, though. Whenever the opportunity came up, he would lean closer to Astro and innocently ask him questions. Anything he was curious about really. What’s a Boom? What’s a Set Dresser? Stuff such as that.
It was enough to drive Astro off a wall. Even if the buddling hadn’t shared his freshness in film, Astro would have recognized it from the way he had to lock back in character whenever something interesting walked by him. At one point, Astro plopped his head onto the table to hide away from the chatterbox next to him. Couldn’t he get the hint? Astro was not interested in speaking. He just wanted to get the ordeal finished with and then sulk away in his room.
The director whirled around to yell at the boy next him, effectively silencing him. It sent Astro a small prickle of pity, so he spared him a small sympathetic look but otherwise kept to himself.
Whatever shame his company felt made him slink back in his seat, looking sheepish with a burning flush of embarrassment.
Astro’s been there before.
While he wouldn’t say they were friends, Astro did sit with the boy again for the next shoot after their lunch break. This time their characters had to interact while the leads took up space in the foreground, so it was practical for them to be next to each other.
Despite the headache, he felt form when Chatty Background Kid saw him approach and lit up.
Astro traced the camera’s line of sight and discreetly positioned himself so he stayed within frame but didn’t show his full face. There; he still got revenue, his agency got their minimal screen time recognition, and the production team won’t flay him for wanting to skedaddle.
To Astro’s surprise, Background Character 4 had picked up on what to do and what to avoid, rather very quickly. He kept his head down, his expression twisted into something diligent as he worked on his ‘homework’ and kept it down throughout the session. Additionally, they were given the chance to speak, as both Cool Older Kid and Background Character 4 were supposed to be conversing before ‘The Loopy Looey’ squad interrupted.
“What are we supposed to be talking about?” Background Character 4 asked, scribbling nonsense on his patchy paper.
“Nothing in specifics.” Astro replied.
“Nothing in specifics, huh? Guess we can talk about anything then. I’ll go first! My name is Dandy, I’m ten, and I guess ya can say that I'm a newbie in all this.” The other boy, now referred to as Dandy, said.
If Astro had to guess, which occurred regularly to justify certain behavior, Dandy had no idea what he was signing up for and had simply just agreed for a small spot in an overly cheesy show. Even then, his placement wouldn’t be anything really significant on his building portfolio —should he build one.
He was too excited to be a simple faceless crowd member. In fairness Dandy should have reached for something higher if he wanted to stand out, granted that’s what all the kids in the shoot wanted. Astro didn’t, but he didn’t judge because he didn’t understand.
“What’s your name?” Dandy asked, lowering his voice. The boom wasn’t anywhere near them, yet he kept his volume down regardless. “Unless you have one of those stage names to hand out!”
“It’s Astro.” The young star said. “I don’t use a stage name.”
His name was fancy enough.
“Nice to meet ya, Astro!” Dandy said happily. “Thanks for keeping me company during all this. I didn’t quite tell ya, but I was really nervous when they started rolling the cameras and everything…I’m not used to being on film! I did those plays and theater—musicals back in my hometown so it was really different than all of this stuff! Kind of…?”
“You did plays?” Astro inquired. “Nice…I think. I never got to be part of one, if you don’t count rehearsals..”
Mostly since Astro did whatever he did to avoid main attention on stage.
“Huh uh!” Dandy nodded. “I usually play Villager B! Or Tree 6—but a few months ago I did this show with some of the other shelter kids and I ended up playing as a supporting hero sidekick! That’s where where Ms. Connie picked me up!”
Astro glanced at the director’s deck. From what he saw in the gaggle of attendees scattered around the equipment; Ms. Connie could have been anyone in from the visual tech team to audio assistants. Or maybe she was like Mr. Dazzle, his agent, and served as Dandy’s manager.
“Ms. Connie?” He echoed.
“Yeah, she’s the one who got me this jig! Without her, I would have probably still been back in the church as a backup villager! She said I had real potential and stuff, no one really told me stuff like that before!” Dandy said, continuing on. “I know this role ain’t that big, or important like a normal superstar, but it’s enough for me to get up here—ya know? I don’t mind not being in the spotlight like Looey over there—I just like acting! I like being here and pulling different characters outta my head!”
Astro furrowed his brows.
“Why?”
“Why what?” Dandy tilted his head.
“Why do you like it? The attention on you and all? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“I mean obviously.” Dandy shrugged. He stopped scribbling and neatly placed the pencil to the side.
A scratchy, unorganized, and horrible sketch sat in the middle of the page, depicting an eerie looking woman with long wavy hair and tired eyes. Despite the fatigue etched onto her features, the lady in the drawing had a smug grin and spark in her expression.
In an instance, Astro recognized the figure’s presence at the deck behind cameras. That must have been Ms. Connie, he presumed. Except her real counterpart was a ghostly blue color instead of black and white charcoal on paper.
“Having everyone look at you and stuff? Really scary, cuz they can see your mess ups and stumbles and everything…” Dandy said. “But, whenever I did my thing back there, I focused on this nice gal— Sister Tisha, she’s like my big sister—cuz she had my back and all, right? And everytime I got nervous, I’d just look for her in the crowd cuz she loved my sketches and I loved those silly acts too! It made me feel like I could be anything all while still being in one place..”
He took a breath and turned to Astro.
“And if I can make others enjoy what I do too, even if it’s a small thing like being Tree B; I’ll take it. I’ll be the best tree I can!”
Astro blinked.
“You’re silly.” He said instead.