Chapter Text
The smell of smoke hung thick in Alex’s kitchen, great big clouds of grey and black swirled around in endless circles as the once flaming pan laid sizzling in the sink. He’d opened a window which seemed to help. Once most of the smoke had escaped out into the street, he returned to the sink where his failed attempt at a fried egg laid pathetically in the basin.
“Shit” he mumbled to himself as he ran some water over it before grabbing a granola bar and heading out the door. He made a mental note to leave all the cooking to the wonderful workers at burger king the next time. The sound of his car engine revving to life was accompanied by his phone ringing.
“Hello?” Alex said as he attached his phone to the little holder his Mom got him for his birthday that clips to his dashboard.
Originally, he had laughed at the prospect of owning one of these things that he had always associated with middle aged dads and soccer-moms but he set it up in his car once when he had to give his mom a ride to a doctor's appointment. He hadn't wanted to face any questions that may come his way if he hadn't set it up and see the disappointment in her large overbearing eyes. Ever since then, the little gadget had stuck around.
“Are you planning on getting here anytime soon?” answered Jamie with an annoyed tone.
“Good morning to you too” replied Alex as he threw his car into reverse and backed out of his driveway.
“Look, I've got about half a dozen actors in the hair and makeup trailer and they are driving me insane” Alex snorted a little at Jamie's ridiculous display of anguish stemming from a few rambunctious actors.
“Please just get here so I have someone to share my anger with?”
“I'll be there in fifteen minutes, had a bit of a hectic start this morning”
“Well, you can tell me all about it once you’re here to distract me from my plan to violently murder the people whos hair I’m supposed to be styling”. In the background, an angry voice could be heard, followed by the sound of his phone's microphone being covered with a hand and more mumbly voices. Alex took advantage of this pause by unwrapping his granola bar and taking a large bite.
“Got to go, duty calls. Get here fast, please” Alex didn't even get the chance to respond before the call ended with three evenly spaced beeps. Alex shook his head and continued his drive, trying his best to plough his way through the London traffic.
After weeks of planning, and meetings, and screen tests this film was finally getting started. Alex had been hired on as a makeup artist after working on a short film the previous year that unexpectedly won an oscar. Through a friend of a friend, Alex’s name had been mentioned to a producer who was getting a team together to work on a new science fiction film that centered around extraterrestrials. After seeing Alex’s work on the zombie-like characters in the short film, he had given him a call, offering him a job that would no doubt open up hundreds of opportunities for him later in his career.
Working on a film that has actors who are seen on shows like Saturday Night Live and Graham Norton was something Alex had only dreamed of. Now it has quickly become a reality.
After flashing his identification badge at a very tired looking security guard, he was let through into the film lot. Small groups of people wandered about, carrying armfulls of wires or a ladder over one shoulder. It was a big production, far bigger than anything Alex had worked on previously.
‘Famously hot actor Miles Kane will star in the new Sci-Fi drama Pluto Returning, playing the part of half-alien half-human super hunk Axel. His co-star Amelia Hayes will play his equally as sexy love interest Stephanie in this steamy film that will leave all of us begging for more.’
This was the excerpt he had read from a gossip magazine as he waited for his coffee order at Starbucks two days previously.
“That Miles Kane is one handsome man, isn't he?” the barista had commented when she returned with his order, spotting him with the incriminating magazine. Alex quickly shoved it back in its holder, humming in a non committing manner before taking his coffee and retreating.
Ever since he did that trilogy of werewolf movies, Miles Kane had become the object of any woman's fantasy. For fucks sake, you couldn't walk ten feet without seeing his face plastered on the front of some overly excited teenage girl's shirt. If you asked Alex, the guy seemed like a self righteous prick.
He carried himself with the confidence of someone who believed that he was better than everyone else. His shoulders pressed back, that annoying smoulder present in every picture Alex had the displeasure of coming across. He had to admit, the guy was attractive but only in the most basic sense of the word. The narcissistic confidence that practically dripped off of him did a wonderful job of smothering any interest Alex could have had.
His car chirped happily as he pressed the lock button on his keys, wrapping his coat tighter around himself to shield his skin from the biting November air. Jamie wasn't kidding about a trailer full of loud, obnoxious actors. The counters which hold all of the expensive paints and brushes were crowded by half empty soda cans and coffee cups. The nearly consistent noise came in waves and would rise to its max if one person laughed which would trigger all the rest to do the same or talk louder in order to be heard.
His eyes scanned over the heads of those who were seated in the makeup chairs positioned in front of large mirrors framed by circular light bulbs. Soon, his eyes fell upon Jamie who was standing behind one of these chairs, his expression one of someone who was seconds away from losing their temper. As he sprayed down the hair of the man in front of him with water before combing it back, his eyes strayed to the right for a moment and caught Alex.
“Took you long enough” he said, the tension in his jaw lessening slightly. As Alex approached the counter to take a brief glance at today's schedule, Jamie scrunched his nose disapprovingly.
“Why the hell do you smell like smoke?” he asked, jerking the actor's head back into position to continue working on his hair.
“Told you I had a hectic start this morning,” Alex began collecting his various brushes from the boxes on the counter. “Turns out frying an egg is alot harder than I thought it would be”. This statement caused a small smile to crawl its way onto Jamie's face, despite his sour mood. It had seemed like a simple task, he’d seen his mom do it loads of times. However, some sort of non-stick spray was crucial which Alex wasn't aware of and an impromptu call from his grandmother had pulled his attention away from it for about two minutes too long. When he returned to the kitchen from his living room, the smoke was so thick he could hardly see well enough to get to the window.
“It's amazing that you are trusted to wield sharp objects so close to people’s eyes” Jamie once again jerked the actors head back to a front facing position.
“Everyone has their talents. For some its frying eggs, for me its makeup”
After a headband had been put into place on the actor sitting in front of Alex, he began his work by applying a greyish green paint to the man's face. He had attended a meeting with the rest of the art and makeup department to discuss the overall look the crew wanted when it came to the alien characters. In summary, they wanted something that was unmistakably extra terrestrial but in the way of ‘I've snuck into area-51 and these aliens are a lot sexier than I thought they would be’. So it was decided, greenish hue to the skin, prominent cheekbones, light grey dots scattered around the hairline resembling freckles.
The first two actors went by quickly as they were extras and, therefore, did not need to be as detailed as the actors who would be subject to up-close shots. Jamie talked constantly as Alex worked, even as he used the blow dryer and had to yell in order to be heard. As his captive audience, Alex had no choice but to listen as his applied dot after dot on the face of a very bored looking blond man.
“-I just couldn't find that damn leash anywhere. So I took my xbox controller, unplugged it from the console and tied it around his collar. Worked just fine, got some weird looks but I didn't mind too much” Jamie rambled on.
“So have you found the leash yet?” Alex inquired, rummaging around, trying to find his setting spray.
“Couldn't be bothered after that” Jamie turned on the blowdryer once again, causing him to yell the next sentence. “Controller worked so well so I thought why fix something that isn't broken!”.
Alex couldn't help but laugh at that statement. Jamie was always one of his most unusual friends. The one who came up with bright ideas like seeing who could jump over the bonfire without getting burned or eating whatever was in a mysterious jar in his fridge just to see what it tasted like. Both of these activities ended in a very late night trip to A&E. His Mom always said that he would grow out of his wild phase when the two were kids but in Alex's opinion, if he hadn't grown out of it by now, he never would.
After applying the final set of dots to the actor in front of him, Alex sent him on his way. Falling back against the counter with a sigh in the now empty makeup trailer, Alex ran a green stained hand through his hair.
“Lunch?” Asked Jamie, clearing the last bits of clutter from his counter.
“Starving”