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Lee bit and worried his lower lip. The five-minute break was under the guise of letting the costume artists have another go at the cobwebs on Richard's hair and the wrinkles in his own robes, but he knew why it had been necessary. Rehearsal often didn't take this long - or so he'd heard, he'd only been in New Zealand for three weeks versus everyone else's two months. Rehearsals were three, maybe four times before Peter brought the scene in front of a camera and separated them into their respective green screens.
This was the twelfth rehearsal take, and not once had the cameras been turned on for a proper filming.
Something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, on the utter lack of chemistry between him and Richard once they donned their characters and spoke their lines. He huffed a small breath of annoyance. The crown was starting to dig painfully into his skull, but the last time he'd tried to ease the pain there, a WETA artist cried. Several meters away, Richard was being tended to by Tami, and he looked every bit as annoyed as Lee felt, and twice as uncomfortable.
"It's like the two of you aren't even in the same scene."
Oh. That felt correct. Lee turned to find Mark slumped on a chair beside him with his legs spread and a glass of something ice-cold in one hand. Just looking at him made Lee want to sweat. "I'm not sure what's wrong," he ventured. "The script's pretty straightforward."
"Tried talking it out with Richard?"
Lee made a face. "I tried. He wasn't...um." He wanted to say "welcoming," but that felt unkind, even though it had been true. He knew Richard had been knee-deep in Thorin's mindset, but it had still stung when his smile and greeting had been met with a silent glare.
Mark gave him a knowing smirk over the rim of his glass. "Accessible?"
Lee breathed out a relieved laugh. "He get like that often?"
"Nah. Just sometimes, when the scene's...well." Mark patted him on his arm. "Guess this is your lucky day."
As Mark left his seat to wander off to where Jed was monkeying around with Adam's slingshot, Lee contemplated having another go at talking to Richard. But that was when Peter decided to return and an assistant started calling places. He sighed, squared his shoulders, and hoped against all odds that thirteen would prove to be a lucky number in the next few minutes.
"Let's take five, everyone."
The crown was thankfully extricated from his head during this break. Lee was sure there'd be a bruise at his temple the following morning. He massaged a crick on his right shoulder and was about to spend the next few minutes sitting miserably in his chair, when he caught sight of Thorin's deep blue eyes fixed on him.
No, he corrected himself, Richard. It was eerie how easy it was to tell the two apart. Two white cables ran from beneath Richard's wig - earphones, Lee realized. Richard was looking oddly hesitant about something, and just as Lee was starting to wonder whether it actually involved him or not, Richard seemed to arrive at some sort of conclusion and beckoned him over with one hand.
Lee approached. Richard cleared the chair beside his and distractedly patted the seat. He seemed to get lost in whatever it was he was listening to while Lee seated himself, which left Lee twiddling his thumbs and feeling out of place.
"Richard," Lee slowly said, wondering if his voice could even penetrate the audio playing through the earphones, "can we talk about the-"
He stopped abruptly when Richard raised one hand without looking at him.
"...Guess not," Lee muttered, and slumped back in his chair. He felt a little better when Richard threw him an apologetic, though brief, smile.
A minute later, Richard gestured for Lee to lean forward and dislodged one of the audio buds. Lee bent closer, careful not to let Thranduil's wig get tangled up in Thorin's hair or costume, and quickly put the proffered but into his ear.
A flood of instrumentals poured in, sensual and mystical, with an underlying aggressive beat. Nifty. "What am I listening to?" he asked, trying to place the song.
"Shh," Richard curtly said, with a finger pressed against his lips.
Lee was on the verge of an apology, when the next few lines had him clamping his mouth shut. He had a feeling his eyebrows were climbing his forehead. "Oh. Wow. That's very...uh..."
Intimate. Hateful. Wanton.
"...Interesting." Suddenly, Richard felt a little too close, and his outfit felt a little too form-fitting.
Despite the intent stare Richard was giving him, he could see an insistent flush creeping up from the beard-dusted neck. It distracted Lee so much that he needed a moment to sort through the low, gravelly quality of Richard's voice when he spoke.
"Kind of fits them," Richard said, while still looking at him like that, and if it weren't for the slow-crawling blush, Lee would have thought he was impervious to how inappropriate this situation was. "Doesn't it?"
"'Them'?" Lee repeated, frowning. Realization hit and his jaw dropped. "Fits them?! Are you serious?"
"You don't think so?"
The lyrics being whispered into his ear went from suggestive to downright naughty. Jesus. "I..." His voice trailed off when that line about the bed came up again. "Um."
"Places, people," Peter's voice yelled through the megaphone. "Let's do this one more time."
Lee felt panic gripping him when everyone relevant was standing at their marks, and all he could think about was that fucking song. The beat was like a hammer pounding against his skull, the sinful, vengeful lyrics repeating over and over in his head while he recalled the way Richard's skin slowly turned beet-red under his gaze.
It took him three seconds to realize Richard had just uttered his cue.
Shit, he thought, as he stood there, frozen and embarrassed. What's my line?!
"Cut." There was a restrained sigh in Peter's voice. "Lee, everything all right?"
"Yes, sorry. I got distracted," Lee replied, careful not to let the thread of annoyance creep into his voice. He bowed and shuffled back to his mark. Richard's eyes caught his when he raised his head again, but there was little to see there. Thorin's stare was an impenetrable wall. Vile and unforgiving.
It must have started again at some point, because Richard was speaking Thorin's lines, and Lee once more felt bereft and unanchored. Before he knew it, he was suddenly confronted with the slow rise of a Dwarven prince's fiery stare amidst a sea of accusations, and it all clicked into place.
His lines. The song. Everything.
Their reactions synchronized in a way that had Lee wishing cameras were already rolling, because he wasn't quite sure if they'd be able to replicate it again. He understood it all now, the subtle things in Richard's body language that threw him off and left him wondering if he'd missed something. Most notably the intense look he was being given that was less a glare and more of a smoulder.
There was some clapping once the rehearsal was finished (mostly of the "thank God they finally have their shit together" variety, Lee guessed - everyone did look tired). Peter was so relieved and happy with it, that he quickly brought them all to the prepped slave-cam room and got a few, smooth takes.
Artists surrounded him once the cameras stopped rolling, gingerly removing one expensive prop after another. Peter came out of the control room and had a brief word with Richard before heading over to where Lee was standing very still, as per the instructions of the person peeling off a stuck cobweb strand by strand from his costume.
"Excellent!" Peter exclaimed. Behind him, Lee could see Richard approaching after his bonds had been removed. "That was worth the wait. The Elven King can rest for today. Just be sure to be back here tomorrow at eight."
"Tami said she needs thirty minutes before the next take," Richard said, when he was near enough. "Hair-punching isn't quite done for the Ri brothers."
"Oh, well. That's more time for you in the cooling room." Peter laughed. "Good thing you two worked it out. We can get Richard all wet and sweaty for the ride of his life."
Lee's eyes widened. "What? Why-why would you say that?"
"The river rapids? Barrel scene?" Peter peered at him. "Lee, are you okay? "
"Yes," Lee quickly said, feeling a flush of embarrassment warming his ears. "Yes, sorry."
"Good." Peter didn't look very reassured. "Let Richard know if you need a turn in the cooling room. Despite what Jed says, it's not a dwarves-only venue."
Lee watched Peter leave with the distinct impression that Richard was secretly laughing at him.
"You!" he said, fully facing Richard as soon as Peter was out of hearing range.
"Sorry," Richard pre-empted, while not looking sorry in the slightest. Not even his beard could cover the amused smile he was failing to hide.
"I can't stop thinking about them...in that way now!" Lee was aware he was sounding very close to whining, but honestly. They had three more scenes together, he wasn't sure how he was going to get through all of them now.
"Yeah. Me neither."
Richard was gracious enough to sound a little contrite and sympathetic. It calmed some of Lee's indignation.
"Makes my nights more interesting, at least."
Lee's jaw dropped. Richard was very pointedly not looking at him. Several feet away, a stagehand gestured wildly with her arms. "Richard, Tami needs you in makeup!"
Richard started walking away. Lee's hand raised in an aborted attempt to pull him back. "Wait, what did you-"
"I'm needed in makeup," Richard called behind him and fled, but not before flashing Lee a smile that looked deceptively innocent.
"No, you can't just-!" ...say something like that and leave! "Jesus. Christ."
A second stagehand appeared and began to wave him over as well. "Lee, you're needed in makeup, too."
"Yeah, I'm," Lee said, wincing when his voice came out a pitch higher than normal. He cursed Elven costumes and kept a chair planted firmly in front of him while trying to think of wild bears. Doorknobs. Orcs in bikinis. "I'm gonna need a minute."
\\\End///