Work Text:
“Cut!”
Just like that, the wind stopped, no longer sucking them towards the hole in the wall. Whereas some of them just shifted how they stood, Ray fell to the floor, Basil quickly helping them up, and Lindon scoffed from wherever they had ended up. River pulled themself up onto the crate they'd been clinging to, sitting on top of the metal box.
“Good job, everyone. Let's break for lunch. Sage, good work, but let's not yell as loud next take, got it? We're focusing on Ray and Basil in this shot.”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Sage said, awkwardly rubbing the back of their neck as they stuck one hand into their hoodie pocket. “I'll do better next time.”
“Sure hope so,” the director joked.
“Anyone know what they've been making? If it's those tacos again, I'm gonna hurl,” Ray complained.
“They always use too much cilantro,” Basil added.
“At least I don't taste soap,” Ray tried. Onyx grumbled.
“Count yourselves lucky,” they muttered, fixing their choker. “It even smells like soap to me.”
“Dang. That sucks,” Ray noted.
“I call sitting next to Percy!” Robin exclaimed, darting ahead.
Percy sighed. “Someone remind them I have two sides and a front, and this isn't middle school anymore…”
“They ain't gonna listen,” Lindon said, finally popping out from a different crate. Ocean squeaked with shock, jumping into Percy, who quickly stepped away. “Besides, it's Wednesday. It's Taco Tuesday, hot dogs and burgers Friday, and sandwiches Wednesday.” They spoke like it was something everyone knew. River could see the confusion on everyone's faces-- even Citrine, who was usually great at smiling and nodding at even the worst critique River had ever heard, couldn't help but squint.
“Ten bucks says they were in the trash again,” Robin said to Citrine, far too loudly to be a secret. Lindon threw up their hands in irritation, then walked through the others, paying no mind to who might get bumped. Ray and Basil quickly split to protect their white aprons from Lindon’s dirty makeup, but Robin was a moment too late to avoid getting a brown smear on the edge of their coat.
“Again? Another smudge? The costumer’s gonna kill me if I get a third one.”
“Suck it up, buttercup,” Percy said with a slight smile. River finally climbed down to trail at the back of the group.
The actors had only met a few weeks ago. A relatively short turnaround from hiring to filming, absolutely, but the loose style for the dialogue made it easy to remember lines or create new ones. They'd already settled into groups-- Citrine usually liked to be around Onyx and Ocean (though Onyx preferred their headphones), Robin had latched onto Percy just as their character had to Purple only for Sage to usually end up in the same area almost all the time, Ray and Basil already started working out every detail of their characters’ friendship and barely broke character, and River floated between everyone as easily as a leaf being swept downstream. River suspected that when Finn was finally on set for their week of filming, they'd likely join with Percy, Robin, and Sage, seeing as those three seemed to be the favorites of the writing team.
That left one person on their own, though. Lindon rarely talked to any of them without someone else starting the conversation. They didn't seem lonely, but they didn't hide their thoughts about things at all, and most of those thoughts were more than a little bit frustrated. For instance, they didn’t hide that they weren’t too happy about the options for lunch, despite being correct about what it was.
River got their sandwich last, and turned to the tables. Most of the actors had gathered together, with Onyx sitting a bit away and Robin right next to Percy as they had planned, but Lindon didn't bother sitting at one of the tables set up for everyone. Instead, they sat by the wall on a prop crate, picking at their hand and swiss as if it had personally offended them. The other three tables were mostly full of crew, making the lunch hall extremely loud, but the actor table still had plenty of seats. It was their choice to sit on the edge, almost as if they were a loner at school sitting on a bench in the corner. River walked over to them.
“Do you mind if I sit with you? It's rather loud around the others, and I want to check my lines again.”
“Do what you want,” Lindon said. “Doesn't matter to me.”
River turned around and hopped up onto the crate, sitting right next to Lindon. Despite how little space there was between them, Lindon didn't budge. Instead, they kept picking at their food.
“Is something wrong?”
“I forgot to pack my lunch,” Lindon admitted. “I can probably eat the bread, but not the rest.”
“Is… something wrong with it?”
“Vegan. Got Alpha-gal as a kid, never got properly diagnosed. Had to figure it out myself. Doctors kept telling me it was Lyme or something else instead.” Lindon grimaced. “And don't make the joke. I get it. You're playing Lime, it's funny they'd think you had Lyme, blah blah blah.”
“I wasn't going to.” River looked at their sandwich. “I'm sorry that happened to you, Lindon. It sounds mortifying. Would it help to swap? I asked for a peanut butter and jelly---”
“They had PBJs this whole time?!” Lindon exclaimed. “Why don't they put it on their menu?!”
“I honestly don't know, but would swapping help?”
“You sure you wanna?”
“I don't mind either way. They were out of ham by the time I got there, and I don't like roast beef.”
They swapped plates, and Lindon immediately took a bite of theirs, smiling for once.
“How did you know it was sandwiches today? I'm curious.”
“Doesn't take much effort. Just gotta pay attention to things. We've been here for what, three weeks? Both Fridays we've had burgers, all three Tuesdays had tacos, so I was pretty sure they'd follow the pattern for today too. Monday's been back and forth between spaghetti and ravioli, so I'm betting tomorrow's gonna be pizza again.” They shrugged. “Simple. Just gotta remember.”
“That's… wow.” River smiled. “You have a good memory. I hardly remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday, let alone what was for lunch last week.”
“I write down a lot of stuff,” Lindon said with a shrug. They pulled a notebook out of their backpack, waving it a little. “Names, dates, things. Anything important. Helps me figure out what's connected, what's important, and what's actually going on.”
“I tried journaling, but… I could never get into it. I felt like it was a chore instead of something freeing.”
“Helped me out when I lived places without internet.” Lindon took another big bite of the sandwich. “Couldn't look up stuff so I had to do it quick at school, write it down, and try to figure out the rest on my own.”
River nodded, listening intently. “...Your life seems strange.”
“Oh, that ain't the half of it, buster.” They chuckled, and River couldn't help but stare. Underneath the fake dirt and grime, under the wrinkles and the grumbling, there was a spark there, something much lighter than the character they played on screen. “Hey. Stop lookin’ at me like that,” Lindon said, and River flushed, quickly turning away.
“Sorry. I-- I was zoning out.”
“I can tell. You still got time to run those lines. Need me to get in character too?”
“If you want. I mostly just need someone to give me the cues.”
“Nah, I got it.” Lindon shut their eyes for a moment, before they opened them again with a scowl that didn’t match their tone. “What bit you need, doc?”
“My introduction, mostly. Though I've heard rumors I'll have a lot to do next episode.”
Lindon winced at that. “You? Dang… You’re one of the easier ones to bounce off. Citrine stonewalls me, Sage corpses, and Robin's so focused on winning over Percy that it's impossible to get a word in with them in the same scene.”
“What? You… you think it's a bad thing?” River recoiled slightly. “But it means I'm getting more time in the spotlight--”
“Exactly. That's how things like this work. They focus on one guy, then they kill ‘em. Gotta make sure the audience knows about your character before you kill ‘em off. Me, I know Lime's dead by halfway.”
River stared. “But-- nothing would indicate Lime is going to die? There's not even any death yet. They're actually safer than the others, with a place only they can go.”
“Hah. That's what people think for now. There are some obvious parts in every horror movie-- the harbinger, the fakeout death, the final person-- so I know enough to spot it. Lime's the crazy one, so no one listens to them. They're gonna say something absolutely right, no one's gonna listen, and they'll do something about it on their own. Since they're the only one who can get in the vents, the killer’s gonna use that to frame the crazy person. Everyone thinks it's them, the audience either knows or not, and if they know it's not Lime, it'll end with someone suddenly killing them, ending the first act of the show with a supposed killer caught.
“It won't be the right one, though. If they don't know, the group kills Lime, same thing happens. Things seem fine until bam! Another body. Turns out Lime was right, no one realized it, who could've guessed.” Lindon leaned back. “And if you get a lot of screentime early on, you're either dead or the main character, and those three--” Lindon nodded towards the group. Without looking, River knew they meant Sage, Percy, and Robin-- “They're the main characters. They're living to the end. Purple's definitely not the killer, so it's either gonna be Red, Green, or someone else who was presumed dead but we never saw the body. Easy as that. Since you ain't them, getting a lot of screentime early on is a death sentence. That's why White died early. Orange is gonna die pretty early too-- I'd bet right after Lime, whether they're the first killer or the next victim.”
Once more, River couldn't help but stare in surprise. Despite Lindon usually being quiet, when they spoke, it was clear they knew what they were talking about. Especially when it came to predictions.
“...Could be wrong, maybe, but I know it won't be Yellow, Brown, Orange, you, or me making it to the end. It's gonna be those three, with maybe one of either Cyan or Black. If you can describe everything you need to know about them with five words, they aren't living to the end.”
River opened their mouth before quickly closing it again. “I… suppose that’s probably accurate,” they finally admitted. “But can't I hope?”
“Be my guest. But I ain't gonna stay in dreamland. I got a job lined up after this for fixing someone's vents, and then I'm gonna be back on the audition circuit.” Lindon lay back, looking up at the ceiling. “...Guess I'm bringing a lot of that to the character. Genre savvy… but no one's gonna listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“Dunno why.” Lindon crammed the rest of the sandwich into their mouth, then wiped their hands on their overalls. It took them a bit of chewing, but they swallowed it easily. “You could talk to any of ‘em. They’d let you in their groups. People like you, River.”
“I don’t need to talk to any of them. I’m happy enough just getting to talk to you.”
Lindon quickly turned away, rubbing their face with a napkin. “You lie like a rug on a craggy cliffside-- I ain’t fallin’ for somethin’ that bumpy and full of holes.”
“Well, then I’ll just have to prove it to you over time, won’t I?” River smiled. “I’d like to get to know you, so…”
Lindon chuckled. “Good luck. I ain’t easy to get close to.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
“Last call for food!” one of the cafeteria workers called. “If anyone else wants more, now’s the time.”
With that, Lindon stood, and they fixed their bandanna. “I’m gonna head back to set. See ya there, River. I’ll make sure that they didn’t mess with the medbay set for ya.”
Before River could find anything to say, they were already off. All they could do was watch them go.
Finally, they’d found someone who had something interesting to say. Even if they didn’t have long on set, they’d at least have time to (attempt to) get to know them. River just hoped they’d manage that much before they had to go their separate ways.