Chapter Text
The first thing Archer noticed about the production office was that it was too cold.
The second thing was that there were already too many people in it.
He stood just inside the door, script tucked beneath one arm, while people moved around him with the particular frantic energy of a production that had somehow managed to make its first day feel like opening night.
He hated rooms like this.
Too many conversations.
Too many introductions.
Too many people asking questions he didn't care about.
He checked the email on his phone again.
TABLE READ - 9:00 A.M.
He was early.
Good.
He could find his seat, sit down, and hopefully avoid talking to anyone until they actually needed him.
A woman near the front looked up.
"Archer?"
He looked over.
"Yeah."
"I'm Celeste."
He immediately recognized her from the casting emails.
Director.
She smiled and held out her hand.
"Glad you're here."
Archer shook it.
"Thanks."
"You can put your things down anywhere at the table. We're still getting everyone settled."
"Okay."
He headed toward the table.
There were name cards arranged around it.
He found his.
ARCHER
He pulled out the chair.
Then someone dropped into the seat beside him.
Archer glanced over.
The guy had dark hair, a script in one hand, and the expression of someone who had already been annoyed at least three times that morning.
Their eyes met.
"Damian?"
"Archer?"
"Yeah."
"Damian."
They shook hands.
Briefly.
Damian sat down.
Archer opened his script.
For approximately twenty seconds, everything was fine.
Then Damian looked over.
"You're playing Rowan?"
Archer glanced at him.
"Yeah."
"I'm playing Elias."
"I figured."
Damian frowned slightly.
"Why?"
"Your name card."
"Right."
Archer went back to his script.
Damian looked at him for another second.
"You always this talkative?"
Archer looked up.
"Do you always ask questions you already know the answer to?"
Damian stared at him.
Archer stared back.
A beat passed.
Then Damian gave a short laugh.
"Okay."
Archer raised an eyebrow.
"Okay?"
"You're going to be fun."
"I wasn't trying to be."
"Clearly."
Archer turned back to his script.
He already disliked him.
That had happened surprisingly fast.
Across the table, someone leaned toward another actor.
"Are they already fighting?"
Archer heard it.
Damian definitely heard it.
Neither acknowledged it.
Once everyone had arrived, Celeste called the room to order.
Introductions began.
Archer learned names.
Forgot half of them.
Learned them again.
Eventually, Celeste started explaining the show.
"It's a romance, obviously, but we're not treating it as just a romance. The relationship between Elias and Rowan is going to be the emotional center of the series."
Archer looked down at his script.
Damian did the same.
Celeste continued.
"They start off with absolutely no interest in each other."
Archer almost laughed.
That part seemed easy.
"Eventually, they're forced into working together."
Damian glanced sideways at Archer.
Archer caught it.
"Then," Celeste continued, "they start developing feelings."
She paused.
"Slowly."
Someone at the table nodded.
"Very slowly."
"Good," Archer muttered.
Damian heard him.
"You sound relieved."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because if they fell in love immediately, we'd have a lot of explaining to do."
Damian's mouth twitched.
"Fair."
It was the first time they had agreed on anything.
It lasted approximately five seconds.
Celeste started the read-through.
The first few scenes went smoothly.
Then they reached the first Elias and Rowan scene.
Archer straightened slightly.
Damian did the same.
Celeste read the stage direction.
Elias steps closer. Rowan doesn't move. Neither looks away.
Archer read his line.
"You're standing very close."
Damian responded.
"You're the one who didn't move."
Archer looked up from the page.
Damian was already looking at him.
Something about the exchange worked.
Too well.
The room got quieter.
They continued.
The characters argued.
Then softened.
Then argued again.
Their timing was almost annoyingly good.
When they finished the scene, there was a moment of silence.
Someone at the table said:
"Well."
Another person laughed.
Callum, sitting farther down the table, looked between them.
"That's going to be a problem."
Archer frowned.
"What?"
Callum grinned.
"You two have ridiculous chemistry."
Damian immediately shook his head.
"No."
Archer nodded.
"Absolutely not."
Callum's grin widened.
"You both said that way too quickly."
Celeste was smiling.
Archer noticed.
"What's funny?"
"Nothing."
"Celeste."
"I'm just pleased."
"With what?"
She glanced between them.
"The casting."
Damian leaned back.
"Because we hate each other?"
"You don't hate each other."
Archer looked at Damian.
Damian looked at Archer.
They spoke simultaneously.
"Not yet."
The room burst out laughing.
During the break, Archer escaped toward the coffee station.
He had just poured himself a drink when Damian appeared beside him.
"Do you actually hate me?"
Archer looked over.
"No."
Damian looked surprised.
"Really?"
"I've known you for an hour."
"That hasn't stopped you from acting like it."
Archer took a sip.
"You've been annoying for most of that hour."
Damian nodded thoughtfully.
"Fair."
Archer looked at him.
"Do you hate me?"
"No."
"Then why are you being annoying?"
"Because you make it easy."
Archer stared at him.
Damian smiled.
For some reason, Archer almost smiled back.
Almost.
Then Damian reached for the sugar.
Their hands bumped.
"Sorry."
"It's fine."
Another tiny silence.
Then Damian said:
"You were good in that scene."
Archer looked at him.
"So were you."
"Thanks."
They stood there for another second.
Then Callum walked past.
"You two flirting already?"
Both turned toward him.
"No."
"No."
Callum laughed.
"Sure."
He walked away.
Archer looked at Damian.
"I don't like him."
Damian nodded.
"Finally, something we agree on."
After lunch, they did more scenes.
And unfortunately, the chemistry got worse.
Not worse in the sense of bad.
Worse in the sense that it was becoming impossible to deny.
Their characters could argue naturally.
They could interrupt each other.
Their timing matched.
Even their quieter scenes had an ease to them.
Celeste kept making notes.
Callum kept looking increasingly entertained.
At one point, after another particularly good scene, Callum leaned toward the actor beside him.
"They're going to destroy the internet."
Archer heard him.
"Don't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because people will believe you."
Callum looked delighted.
"That's the best part."
Later, they were taken aside for promotional photos.
Archer stood beside Damian against a simple backdrop.
"Closer," the photographer said.
They moved closer.
"Closer."
Archer looked at Damian.
Damian looked at Archer.
"You've got to be kidding."
The photographer laughed.
"You're playing lovers."
"Right."
"Then pretend you like each other."
Damian muttered:
"That's asking a lot."
Archer elbowed him lightly.
"Just smile."
"I am smiling."
"You look angry."
"I always look like this."
Archer glanced at him.
"That's unfortunate."
Damian looked at him.
"You're enjoying this."
"Maybe."
The photographer snapped several pictures.
"Perfect."
Neither believed that.
By the end of the day, Archer was exhausted.
He picked up his bag and checked his phone.
There were already notifications.
One of the production accounts had posted a behind-the-scenes photo from the table read.
Archer opened it.
It was a picture of him and Damian sitting beside each other.
Nothing unusual.
Except the comments were already exploding.
THE CHEMISTRY???
THEY HAVEN'T EVEN FILMED TOGETHER YET AND I'M SHIPPING THEM
why do they look married already
ARCHER LOOKING AT DAMIAN??? HELLO???
I need ten seasons immediately
Archer stared at the screen.
"No."
Damian, beside him, looked over.
"What?"
Archer turned his phone toward him.
Damian read the comments.
His expression slowly fell.
"No."
"Exactly."
Another notification appeared.
A fan had already made an edit.
It was thirty seconds long.
It consisted almost entirely of them looking at each other during the table read.
Callum walked past, glanced at the screen, and started laughing.
"Oh, this is going to be awesome."
Archer looked at him.
"Why are you enjoying this?"
"Because you two are already acting like an old married couple."
"We've known each other for one day."
"Exactly."
Damian shook his head.
"This is ridiculous."
Celeste walked over, script tucked under her arm.
"Ready for tomorrow?"
Archer looked at her.
"What's tomorrow?"
Celeste smiled.
"The first major romantic scene."
Damian's expression changed.
"How romantic?"
Celeste looked between them.
Then smiled.
"Your first kiss."
Silence.
Archer slowly looked at Damian.
Damian slowly looked at Archer.
Callum immediately started laughing.
Archer closed his eyes.
"We have to kiss already?"
Celeste grinned.
"That's the job."
And somehow, that sounded much easier when they hadn't already discovered how convincing they were at it.