"Shirtless scenes," grumbled Cooper. "Talk to the writers, make them stop giving me shirtless scenes, and then I'll be allowed to eat more."
"Hm," said Jimmy. He looked pretty serious at the moment.
"I'mkidding. Don't talk to the writers." Coop gave him a little shove, jostling him a few quick steps away, but not making him stutter a single step in his pace. The man had the natural grace of an amazing athlete, and to him, it was natural, normal, easy.
Jimmy grinned and came back at him, giving him a light shove in return, his eyes bright. He didn't say anything, but oh boy, were his eyesbright. They sparkled with a beautifully delicious promise—and a warmth that hit Coop right in the solar plexus and travelled clear through him.
He couldn't wait for the run to end, and hoped they might have some time and energy to steal before work. Unlikely, but what a way to start the day.
It was funny, because he cherished every thoughtful moment or unexpected kiss or kindness from Jimmy;they blew him away each time. But he always tried to steer the situation to sex if he possibly could.
Maybe because I think he'll stop liking me if we don't have that constant dopamine high?
Good lord, that was too deep and dark a thought for this early, or when they were doing so well together. He needed to stop second-guessing things, and not worry about whether he was fucked up or not.He already knew he was; that boat had sailed a long time ago. But so far, Jimmy liked him in all his insecure messiness, so it didn't really matter.
#
To his surprise, theshow kept getting more and more popular, as evidenced by ratings, the budget from advertising, and the amount of media coverage the show got, most of it positive. A raging fan base developed almost overnight, andthe show got coverage in various magazines and short interviews here and there on TV plugging the show. It wasn't deep stuff, but people connected with the characters and could feel good about the fact that it was "based on a true story."
So far, Coop hadn't meant anyone that the story was based on, although he'd heard it was actually an amalgam of people who'd worked with the Shifters and Partnersprogram through the years. His character was a combination of people Singh had known and gotten into the program, then tweaked for better ratings appeal, then changed again by him, as the actor, portraying a wolf when he wasn't one. It was amazing that anyone could enjoy a character who'd been created through such a Frankensteinian process, but they could and did, and Coop himself wasn'timmune. He felt protective of his character and loved him.
He hadn't told anyone this, but he thought Jimmy had guessed. If so, he didn't call Coop on it, just smiled sometimes in a certain way when Coop mentioned something his character liked, didn't like, or believed—only realizing afterwards that he was behaving as if the guy were real.
It was much harder to like Lincoln as time passed.Sure, he was being outwardly more and more civil, but it felt like he was trying to sabotage the show. He gave less and less in his portrayal, acting woodenly, deliberately leaving Coop high and dry when Coop tried to play off him in a scene, and basically making the chemistry unworkable. If anything good showed up on screen, it was a miracle. Coop started to hate shooting scenes with Lincoln—andhe had a lot of scenes with Lincoln. They were the lead actors.
Writers were scrambling to put in more side plots with shifter characters who could be portrayed by actual shifters, and that part was fun, at least, getting to meet shifter actors and interact with them on screen and off.
Some of them were remarkably prickly about the plum role he'd gotten, while they were consigned to being gueststars. He tried to let that roll off his back, since, to be honest, it wasn't an unfair feeling, and instead be as encouraging and helpful as possible. As usual, he wanted everyone to like him, and to their credit, most of the actors were as gracious as could be and never displayed a hint of resentment towards him.
Singh showed up on set a couple more times, and it didn't inspire the fear inCooper that it once would have. He nodded a distracted hello to Coop but didn't stop to talk. Instead, he spoke with the director and Lincoln. They looked like serious conversations, and he was wildly curious about them, but he knew better than to ask.
Afterwards, Lincoln seemed to be trying a little harder, but to resent Coop even more. Had he been called on his attitude? Had it come througheven in the final shows? It made Coop shudder to think of that. To be honest, he couldn't bear to watch the shows anymore, and he didn't always see what made it into the final cut and what didn't. He'd reached the point where it was extremely disorienting to try to watch it from the outside, and cringeworthy at times. He needed to focus on his character, portraying him as best as he could,doing what he was asked to do by the director, and memorizing and practicing his lines. It was a full-time job, and he had to keep the self-doubts and second-guessing agonizing away.
They would be on hiatus soon, and all the major actors would be doing the rounds of some talk shows and magazine shoots in New York and Hollywood. It was going to be exciting and terrifying, and Coop already knewit was unlikely that Jimmy could come with him. He didn't require private security, and if he had, the studio would have hired someone locally. Jimmy hadn't been working there long enough to say he was going to take a few weeks off and still have a job when he came back.
So Coop would be on his own, or with only a few other actors. He liked and got along with most everyone but Lincoln, buthe and Lincoln were the main characters, so he'd be likely to end up in interviews or photo shoots with him, and the awkwardness between them would be even more fully on display, unless Lincoln's agent could get him out of dual appearances. Coop was holding out hope for that. Lincoln had been in the game for a while now, and he was bound to have a powerful agent who could pull some strings.If the studio was smart, they wouldn't push the issue.
They had to see that the chemistry between Cooper and Lincoln was nonexistent when they weren't filming. It had been painful at first, but he'd begun to insulate himself emotionally from Lincoln, so it didn't hurt as much. He made fewer attempts to bridge the gaps between them, or to make friends, because it was obvious now that he'djust be putting himself out there to be snubbed.
In truth, the photograph with Swindon might have helped for a time, and the success of the show kept Lincoln from being openly hostile, but he didn't like or respect Coop and made no real attempt to hide that fact.
Everyone in the crew knew it, and Coop heard them whispering or exchanging looks about it sometimes. It made him ache to be thesubject of such negative gossip, and he knew it was him as much as Lincoln that they blamed. Maybe he had done something; maybe he was a scene-stealer. All he knew was, he gave a hundred percent to the job, and he wished Lincoln could bring himself to do the same and to not hate him when they weren't filming.
#
"It's justTomorrow, Today!I'm sure it'll be fine." Coop eyed Lincoln uneasily,aware he was trying to placate him, to avert a meltdown or rage aimed at himself or anyone else. He was as jumpy as a cat on hot sidewalk, seeing Lincoln's progressively darkening mood, his sour expression, his tight jaw. He had the look of a guy who would like to punch somebody. Coop and his people-pleasing, anger-avoiding nature were freaking out.
"It's my third fucking appearance with youthis week, and they askyouall the questions. I'm sick of it."
"I can volley some to you. You know that."
"Yeah. Thanks for your fucking charity." Lincoln walked away without looking at Coop and got on his phone again, probably to chew out his agent—again.
Coop might be in a cool period with his own agent, but he wouldn't dare talk to him like that. Not if he wanted to keep said agent,and to be honest, probably not even if he didn't. Still, maybe it was different if you were a big star. There did seem to be a different set of rules for them.
"Well, do something about it," Lincoln finished angrily, and hung up. "Damn, I need a drink," he muttered.
Coop felt his vision starting to tunnel. He really needed to hold it together here. Lincoln wasn't like his dad, not a fatherfigure at all, and if he did drink, it wasn't Coop's responsibility, and he wasn't likely to end up having to clean up any mess afterwards, either. Besides, Lincoln wasn't the sort to go into a blackout rage, was he? He hadn't so far, and he couldn't drink enough before the interview to do that, anyway. After the interview, they could part ways, and maybe Coop could stop acting like a scaredrabbit.
