EPILOGUE
It was so weird tofinally see the wolf, and to see so much of the man in him. Specifically, his eyes, but not just that. It was the big, shaggy, muscular build, the soft, direct way he looked at Coop, and the energy he exuded. He was really a beautiful wolf, and very much Jimmy at the same time.
Once Coop had finally gotten up the courage to ask, Jimmy had said yeseasily. In fact, he'd seemed flattered. Now, he gave Coop a gentle look, and then leaned in close and licked him on the nose. Coop had to resist the urge to say 'aww' aloud. He wrapped his arms around the big furry wolf and gave him a hug. Burying his face against the thick, clean fur felt as safe as hiding against Jimmy's chest. It really was amazing how he could be both wolf and man at once.
And he was far handsomer than his brothers. Coop would have to remember to tell him that.
They were on one of their rare days off. With both of them filming, as well as Jimmy's coaching, Cooper's fitness routines, and the promo work that now fell almost equally on Coop's and Jimmy's shoulders, they didn't have much time to kick back and relax, so they cherished the times they did have.
Jimmy had charmed the cameras, and the public, as Coop had expected he would. Coop had been half-afraid his character would become passé and would be written off the show, his boyfriend effortlessly both eclipsing him and replacing him, putting him out of a job, which would be bound to cause some tension in the relationship, no matter how happy he tried to be for Jimmy.
Jimmy outdoing him, whenacting had never been something he was passionate about, would have really stung. But he'd half-believed that would happen because Jimmy was just that awesome. He'd be good at anything he put any effort into, and of course he was absolutely gorgeous and the whole world would see that without his even trying.
But the public loved them together, and the truth was, Jimmy had to struggle at thisjob. The acting coaching, memorizing and emoting take after take, the critiques he'd rolled with and tried to learn from, the upward battle it had been for him—it was probably more of a challenge for him than the awful fitness routines had ever been for Cooper.
He felt a little bad for thinking it would be easy. But, yes, Jimmy was gorgeous, and his character was popular. There were reviewsthat called his acting sub-par at times, but viewers liked him. They liked the chemistry between Jimmy's and Cooper's characters on screen, a little spark ofsomething.
Still very much in the closet, despite replacing his agent and dating Jimmy as enthusiastically as ever, Coop tried to be blandly professional about it when they were questioned about their chemistry. What good friends theywere, how generous Jimmy was an actor, all the things he hadn't been able to say about Lincoln.
Singh maintained, and Cooper didn't disagree, that now was not the time to be public about their real chemistry off-screen. The show needed this from them now, and it wasn't such a burden to be a little bit private. At least it meant they couldn't be asked embarrassing questions about their relationshipon live TV.
There was no need to confuse the public about what the show was about, since right now it focused on the bonds of friendship and commitment, and that was how Singh wanted it. The public was enjoying it, and it was helping to cement the actual Shifters and Partners program in the minds and hearts of the public, shifter and non-shifter alike. There had been a steady increase in interestabout the program each time the show aired, and that was the biggest success of all—not the advertising budget, or the viewer numbers, or even how much money Coop and Jimmy earned, although it sure was nice not to have to worry about money anymore.
For some reason, Grant, the wolf shifter Singh was married to, had sat him down and gone through a lot of financial things with him as soon as Coop'ssalary was raised. By the end of their talk, Coop had agreed to all of the investment stuff Grant had suggested, and let Grant sign him up with a professional to manage the money and "make it work" for him.
Grant seemed rather protective of him for no good reason, but since he was wealthy enough to rival Rorke Swindon and generous enough to give advice, Coop thought the least he could do waslisten and "invest safely while you're young and successful." It was nice to be seen as young, somehow, not to mention successful. Occasionally, he felt as old as the hills, though even that seemed to be decreasing as he settled into life with Jimmy. It was impossible to feel as if he'd outlived his usefulness around Jimmy; the guy was so encouraging and full of life, and just generally amazing.
Their relationship hadn't so far suffered from their working together. It was nice to have more time together, and Coop liked being on hand to smooth out the edges between the director and the newbie actor, since Jimmy sometimes struggled to understand exactly what the director wanted from him this time, this dozenth take, that could possibly be different from the other takes.
For the show'spublicity, Jimmy's newcomer status was downplayed, but his coaching sessions were intense. Coop thought he'd have broken under the strain of that crash course, along with the insane amount of time that was needed for filming. He tried to sit in on some of the sessions whenever he could to give Jimmy someone to work with if it was needed. Jimmy wasn't the only protective one in this relationship.
Cooper did most of his "buff body" scenes during a few blocked-off weeks of time now, instead of steadily throughout the season. It was a relief to get it all out of the way at once and cycle through seasons of intense fitness and times of actually being able to prioritize something else...and eat some pasta.
Even Jimmy's critics agreed that he was gorgeous, a great addition to the cast becauseof his physical traits and abilities. He did all his own stunts and seemed to enjoy that more than any other part of the job. Not that he hated acting; there was just something bright in his eyes when he got to tear around and do something physically demanding.
The media played up the whole "non-wolf character being played by a wolf actor" thing, which pleased Singh and got a lot of goodpublicity for the show. The irony of the opposing roles, and so on.
