327: TAUNT

TAUNT

ASTRID just finished with his hair and make-up. He was also already wearing the costume for this shoot. He had already finished most of his scenes last week. He would have already probably been done with all his scenes if Lance Reid arrived three days ago as scheduled. But he was no-show.  1

All his remaining scenes were his scenes with Lance. Once he's done with those scenes, then he would also be done filming his part in [The Great War].

When the weekend came, he thought whatever method Wulfric was doing didn't work and that the production would probably have to hire a new actor for the role. But then, morning of today came and he was informed that filming of his remaining scenes would resume. Which only meant one thing – Lance Reid finally arrived.

From the time Astrid called Wulfric about Lance, it had already been almost two weeks. The duration in which the other spent under whatever 'method' Wulfric thought of would probably be more or less 10 days. 

Now, he wondered if those 10 days actually worked or something that's why Lance was here now. That would actually be quite a miracle if it was. 

"Let's go," Ellis said after seeing that Astrid was done with his make-up and costume. 

Astrid nodded and stood up. He followed Ellis out of the make-shift dressing room. 

"Do you think Lance Reid already got control of his ability?" Ellis asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

Astrid had already told Ellis about this whole Lance Reid situation last week, right after the other asked him if there was something he was hiding related to the guy. So, he told her. Of course, he excluded the part about Wulfric's involvement.

After that, he was scolded quite thoroughly. If he had mentioned Wulfric, that hour long scolding would probably turn to five hours or more. 

It's not like he wanted to keep it a secret from Ellis. But the fact that he personally knew the prince of the Empire was not really something he's ready to share with the other. It's not because he didn't trust her per se. Wulfric's identity was just too big to be casually mentioned like that. 

Although he did tell her about him knowing someone from the Fenris Squad. That way he could give Ellis an early baptism. So, once she found out about Wulfric, she wouldn't be too surprised. He would probably get much more scolding after that though. 

"I honestly doubt it," he said honestly. "But whoever was handling his case would probably have a plan B. That's why they allowed him to film."

Ellis nodded in understanding. "Ha, I still can't believe that you know someone from Fenris Squad."

Anyone who's not from some unknown waste planet would know the reputation of Fenris Squad. And what a reputation it was. 

She was actually quite terrified when Astrid told her about that. And then she felt… magical. Because she would have never thought that he would meet someone who actually knew people from that army. Much less an artist she's handling. But here they were.

"They're not some kind of mythical monsters, Sister Ellis," Astrid said with a chuckle.

"They might as well be," Ellis said. "You do know how bad the rumors around them are?"

Astrid shrugged. "They're just rumors. I'm not saying it's baseless but some of it are certainly exaggerated."

And Wulfric certainly didn't care about PR. Taking care of his image was the last thing that guy would worry about. 

"I'll just take your word for that," Ellis said. "Just be careful around Lance. If you think he's doing his voodoo, call for me immediately. I'll handle it."

She actually never expected that the reason why Lance Reid was able to hook up with those newcomers was because of an ability he had. If her impression of the other was bad, then after knowing that, it just became much worse.

"Yes, I'll make sure to come running to you."

After he said that, a land vehicle stopped near the filming site. A tall man first walked out. He had golden brown hair and a pair of dark gray eyes. Lance Reid still looked handsome. But if one would look closely, they would notice that something was actually missing. That's what Astrid thought when he saw the other. 

It's like the amorous atmosphere around the man just vanished. How peculiar. 

Following Lance was his agent. The latter looked like he was in a pretty bad mood. Well, if my artist had to postpone his schedule for almost two weeks, he'd be pretty mad too. Astrid would bet that the other might not have even known where Lance went.

And he was right. 

Lance's agent – Jon Farley – was very much in a bad mood. Lance suddenly disappeared almost two weeks ago, leaving only a phone call. He hadn't able to contact him after that. He was on the verge of reporting him missing if not for the voice message he left to him every other day. 

Jon was wondering if Lance would actually come today for this filming. He was already preparing an excuse to tell the director, just as he did for the schedule that Lance had missed for this past week. But then the other suddenly called him this morning and told him that he was on his way to FS05. That's all he said before hanging up on him. What else could he do but just go here and wait for Lance?

And now that they met, this guy didn't even try to explain to him what happened. 

"Lance, are you really not going to tell me what happened to you?" he asked.

"Not now, Jon," Lance said. 

He subconsciously touched the transparent film just at the base of his neck. This thing prevented his pheromones to leak out. But he honestly thought it was of no use. Because even if he's faced with the most attractive person in this crew, he wouldn't react at all.

Maybe he wouldn't be able to react ever again. 

Then, as if his subconscious was taunting him, Leland's face appeared in his mind.

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