Chapter Text
His tail was wagging the whole night after the party. Even in his sleep, his tail might still have shaken once or twice.
He got to meet Louis Redder last night and make a good impression too, it seemed, at least. He had to call his grandfather to thank him for the tips on whisky and breath mints one of these days, and Sebun for the conversational skills.
He woke up the next morning in a good mood he did not expect. He should get the shooting schedule later today, and he is set to go to the location where they’ll start rehearsing and table reading soon to meet the place, but for now, he has some free time.
“Hey, Kabu,” He turned to the beetle on his desk. He had recently upgraded to get a larger round terrarium for Kabu to live in. “I met Louis Redder last night! He was every bit as cool in person as I thought, though he turned out to be much more laid back once you give him some alcohol.” He snickered. Kabu walked around his home, in something Legosi took as an acknowledgment.
He pushed himself into sitting on the bed, his tail wagging softly while the beetle kept pacing around its habitat.
"I was being so awkward around him, I was afraid of creeping him out! But thank Rex that he gave me a chance, or else it could be some tough months of filming ahead." Legosi sighed and got off the bed. His morning breath, as always, was awful and reeked as all hell, so the first order of business is brushing his teeth and taking a shower to start his day. "Well, gotta get ready for today. I'll see you later, Kabu!"
His apartment was relatively small and cramped, full of his things spread around the room because he kept forgetting to clean up, but at least it was his and he was paying for it on his own. His plants needed some watering and Kabu needed some food, so that was the priority after he washed the stank out of himself.
Sebun would be mad if she showed up and saw his room in this state, cans of energy drinks from late nights typing away at his laptop decorated his table instead of vases and flowers, but at least he got one short script for a short film down and sent to his grandpa, his clothes are scattered around the room from the days he runs in and out of the house, and from the smell, at least a handful of them should be gym clothes.
A week of him being careless already resulted in this whole mess. He started moving around, collecting clothes and trash scattered around from nights of working away when inspiration hit; he’s mutually happy and upset that those haven’t happened in a while.
Trash on the bin and from that to the garbage dump outside; clothes on the laundry bin, ready for him to wash them later today; a lot of air freshener got rid of the smell of sweat and food but left him with the lingering feeling that he is living as if he were in a college dorm.
His pet and plants set, Legosi dropped at the couch, tired and already annoyed at the air freshener he sprayed everywhere, only now realizing he got the wrong smell, he happens to not be a big fan of "Summer Breeze", whatever that means.
His laptop was still on his desk. An unfinished script staring at him with disapproval and contempt. Legosi closed the laptop, he could spare a few more minutes to rest. Sebun told him that he was free until the afternoon, so he should use the time to rest properly, "And by rest properly, I mean it. No writing. Rest." She said clearly and motherly.
So Legosi listened. His house tidied up and spacious enough to let him lay down on his couch with a movie and maybe even a snack, though his ears flattened in sadness remembering it was not his cheat day.
Damn those hard-to-keep abs. He has to dehydrate himself just to show them off, and he wasn't sure if they're worth it anymore. He'd kill to be able to eat some egg sandwiches whenever he wanted.
The loud tune of an old-fashioned song spread around the room. A tune he knew well, it was his grandfather's ringtone.
Legosi picked it up with an excited energy to his body.
"Hey, Grandpa!" He greeted.
"Legosi! How are you?"
"Great, I met…"
"Louis Redder, right?"
"Yeah! How did…?
"For you to be that excited? Probably him" Gosha laughed . "How was it?"
"Great! He was super nice and seemed pretty happy to work with me! Your whisky trick worked like a charm with him, thank you!"
"It often does," Gosha said with a smug tone to his voice. "I am glad it helped you, boy."
Legosi giggled. "So, what did you call me for?"
"Well… couple things." Gosha's tone lost all the joviality, now sounding more upset and even a little guilty. "Some stuff went sideways on the project I'm working on. I'll need some more time here?"
"Oh. How long?"
"A couple of weeks, at least. Director is getting changed, executives want to mess around a bit. Lots of incoming rewrites."
"Oh, sorry about that."
"Not as much as me, be sure of it. So, it seems I won't be back for a while, but hey, if you'd like it, I can read your scripts!"
Legosi choked with an uncomfortable feeling. "Eh- no need… they're not… not my best, I don't think I'll do anything with those…?"
"I see." Gosha seemed thoughtful for a second, but whatever is on his kinda he did not share. "Well, if you ever need some constructive criticism you know who to call."
Legosi awkwardly thanks his grandfather, but explaining that he is not confident enough just yet seems to get him to understand. They threw some more conversation away, and that gave them some time together, even at a distance.
"One more thing before I go, Legosi." He said, in a more serious tone than anything else he said "About the Redder boy. Maybe… no, you know what, forget about it."
"What do you mean, grandpa?"
"Forget it, forget it. It's just some gossip around the industry, I'm sure it's nothing. Just be careful with him, I hear he can be a handful sometimes and drink like a fish."
"Oh, ok, I see." Legosi nodded to nobody in particular, but he itched to ask. "Guess people are always talking around here."
"You have no idea. But, it does keep me informed for our next jobs."
Legosi and his grandpa finished their call soon after, but there was a lingering feeling of unsatisfied curiosity when it all was done. Legosi thought about calling him again, but decided not to. Louis was great, at least he seemed great, he's sure they'll have a great business relationship in the next months.
Maybe he should keep that flask around.
--
The shooting schedule was relatively light for a series, likely because of the ensemble cast element of its plot, much attention would also be diverted to other actors. This was another sign that the project was, at least partially, picked to give him some light work. He gritted his teeth at the realization. He hadn’t called his father about the subject yet, he’s been planning to, though, and practicing in his mind what exactly to say, in which way, and in which tone to rebuke any argument he might have.
Ibuki is out looking for possible next projects in pre-production, something that gives Louis the illusion that he’ll be plenty busy soon, even if the idea is to avoid that.
He figured a few things about this project and his father’s plan: TV shooting is usually longer and they provide a steady job, even if this series is a short one with a plan of only two seasons, this is likely supposed to keep Louis focused on it to not go looking for more stuff to put in his schedule while Ibuki or his father aren’t paying attention, because of his father keeping him occupied with a single project for a long while, and with the bonus of the relatively light workload needed for him for the standards of long-form series.
Yet another day of being treated as if he couldn’t watch out for himself. What do the two of them plan with it? Is it just time that they want? Time for Louis to do a single thing? Time for him to adjust to his father’s new demands? Even at the possible cost of important projects? Who knows, his father was always unreadable.
Ibuki also took all the alcohol from his apartment, so his usual rituals have been a bit impaired, he probably needs to think of new ones.
And speaking of alcohol, he does owe some whisky to someone. Pity that all of it is gone from his house and if he goes out to buy it, he’ll never hear the end of it.
This was a day off. He had no pets or plants to water, so not much to do except maybe clear around the house and watch Adler for the 100th time.
What about that cactus Haru gave him? He looked to the window on the other side of the room. Oh fuck, it died.
This apartment might be a bit too big for him. He could downsize one of these days, especially if he keeps traveling for recordings.
Sitting on the couch does little to help him, his body is demanding something to work, he felt the need to pick up the simplistic script and start doing some line reading, maybe read the book again or read some of what the fans talk about the character to get some more ideas about his character.
A knock in the door cut his train of thought.
“Boss?” The shy voice of the youngest member of his father’s team came from the door.
“You can come in, Agata,” He said, and the congo lion quickly let himself in.
"Good morning, boss! Big Boss asked me to come by and help if you need anything."
"He asked you here to keep an eye on me while Ibuki was away, didn't he?"
Agata shot up but stayed quiet, a silence that confirmed all of Louis's suspicions.
"He is... well…"
"Worried about me, I know, I know," Louis finished and lifted himself from the couch.
"Do you need anything then, boss?"
“Whisky.”
“Boss! I can’t-”
“It’s not for me, calm down,” Louis said, coming closer to him. “I had a nice time chatting with Legosi Growlf at that party last night. He gave me some of his hip flask whisky-”
“Boss!” Agata jumped at the revelation.
“Oh, calm down, it was one hip flask!”
“That’s, like, three glasses!”
“Agata, that’s not the point here, the point is that I owe him and I’d like to send him a bottle of whisky or something like that. Do him a nice gesture.” Louis put a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder. "I swear I won't even look at that bottle, all I want is someone to buy it and send it to Legosi Growlf, with a message from me."
Agata uncomfortably shifted around a bit.
He's the youngest of the group of the most trusted men of his father, all doubling as agents and bodyguards. Entering after Louis already ascended to his current star power combined with his age always left him a bit more starstruck and easy to deal with than the others.
"I'll buy it, all I want is for you to send it to him," Louis confirmed.
"Uhhhhh…" The lion regained some composure before continuing. "Fine. But you won't even see the bottle I'm picking. This is strictly meant to be a professional courtesy for a coworker."
"It's all that is."
"And I'll tell your father all about that."
"Feel free. It's just some professional courtesy, as you said."
"Not just that. About last night."
"No," Louis's friendly facade dropped into a frown. "All that will do is worry him and make him less likely to listen to me. Besides, it's completely fine."
"Boss, that is non-negotiable. It's my job to tell the Big Boss all about it. We're just trying to help you."
"I don't need help!" Louis hissed like an angry reptile.
The awkwardness lingered in the air for longer while Louis dropped down on the couch. Agata wisely did not push the subject further in that direction.
"It's my job." He reinforced.
Louis's shoulders dropped and he huffed, but the lion knew to take it as his version of an accepting nod. The air a bit clearer, Agata sat down on the couch next to the other boy, putting on a jovial air to his presence.
"But hey, Legosi Growlf, the guy's becoming a pretty big deal lately."
"He's in that phase shifting from just 'heartthrob' to 'actual actor'," Louis commented. "He's doing well with it too. He's been getting into some interesting movies."
"Oh yeah, he starred in that one that came out a little while ago! The one with his ass out!"
Louis choked on a laugh. "What?"
"Oh yeah, backside nudity scene. Word on the business is that it was supposed to be a full-frontal that he turned down and the director reworked the thing." Agata talked with a smile.
"Seems like we missed an eyeful." Louis snickered.
Agata was checking information on his phone, muttering information already, like that Juno was his co-star, to Louis's surprise, as he had assumed they didn't know each other from the way she was excited to see him, but he just concluded she was plain horny for him.
"It's available in VOD! Do you wanna watch it?" Agata said, but he was already grabbing at the TV controller.
"Well, sure, why not see what my coworker's ass looks like?"
"Afraid he has a better one than yours?" Agata joked and laughed through the light punch he got in his arm. "C'mon, it will be good for you to see his acting chops! Gage his skill and stuff."
"... I guess so. It'd be embarrassing if he realized I lied about having seen his movie. But if he happens to be a lousy actor, and I have to tone down my skill so he doesn't look awful next to me, let's cancel that whisky bottle."
Louis was happy to be proven wrong.
Legosi was, indeed, more than a heartthrob. His acting was nuanced, with little gestures and smiles that added depth to a character that would have been otherwise a generic thirst bait. His intonation is perfect, but he speaks with his body every bit as he does with his mouth, using his tail, ears, and even the way his fur moved to great effect in emoting and giving his character depth. But regardless, he did do what this character was meant to do: seduce the audience even more than he did the main character. A piercing gaze, a husky sounding voice laced in an exotic accent, and a domineering body language all added up to Louis understanding the thirst posting on the internet and why so many covers plastered the man's abs in them to get some attention, every time the poor woman on the screen swooned at the wolf's actions and words, he caught himself with an empathetic sense of agreement and looking to a dazzled Agata on his side on the verge of blushing like an enthralled maiden.
There was an element of particular elegance and poise in the way he behaved that gave Louis a familiar tingle, but he couldn't quite put his finger in it.
A shower scene as the main couple, fugitives now, rested in a hotel. Legosi's character disrobed in a titillating way as the camera followed his movements, selecting itself on the expanded grey fur and hard muscle freed from cloth.
"Join me, mademoiselle?" He spoke, a teasing finger pulling on the waistband of his underwear.
Juno's face showed many confused emotions before her eyes visibly dilated when Legosi fingered his underwear down his leg. While Juno was the only one with the VIP seat, Louis and Agata were still treated to a nice sight of his shapely ass, his tail wagging in a snake-like motion.
"Oozes sex appeal," Agata commented to himself. Louis nodded.
The rest of the movie was predictable, to say the least, made to tease and titillate women and men who want to see two very attractive carnivores getting it on over the marketable safe edge of charming criminality, but it was carried throughout by the performances of its leads pouring their hearts out in character that would not have been a fraction as interesting with anyone else in the roles. Credits rolled soon after, with a cathartic kiss over the sunset.
"Interesting," Louis noted. "He has some credits spread around this."
“Oh yeah, seems like he was doing some backstage stuff, mostly lighting, some producing too. Maybe he wants to get on that side of the business as well?”
“Well,” Louis stood up, leaving the couch to move towards his kitchen. “A lot of actors have dreams of directing. He may want to have that under his belt as well.”
“Maybe, but at least he’s a pretty good actor, right?”
“Pretty good,” Louis agreed. “Maybe I can still have fun with this project.” Louis picked and poured himself juice from his fridge. “Hey, do you know how to throw away a cactus?”
----
Riz, overall, had a pretty lucky time. His last tryst with a herbivore ended with him heartbroken and in hot water when he hurt him.
Tem was nice, he was good for him, but maybe Riz wasn't ready for or didn't prepare himself for a relationship with a herbivore.
He hurt Tem, and he'll never forgive himself for it. And that is also a nasty stain on his resume.
If it wasn't for his uncle Gouhin willing to take him into his projects, it'd be much harder to get any work done. At least he can still work behind the scenes in the camera department, which is where he prefers, and give him enough time to build a better portfolio and for his comparatively minor offense to no longer matter, and he'd be fine.
So professionally, he is probably ok, even if he'll forever shun away from the limelight in this industry.
That said, love is a whole other thing.
Days get lonely sometimes. Herbivores don't exactly want to be with someone who once harmed one of them, and he feels bad if he doesn't inform them of it. Maybe he could just get used to jerking off and invest in a really good fleshlight and be buried with it. It's so sad to give up on love in your 20s.
Still, he needed money for a good fleshlight, and he better start working for it. The Director of Photography he's working under is sick today, so he's on the job of communicating with the lighting department today to check the lighting situation for the shooting to be and make sure all his requests were heard.
He left the break room and immediately felt the strong bump of someone against his side followed by a muffled huff.
"Sorry about…" His voice trailed off when he saw the perfect white wool of the fall sheep at his side.
Fuck, this job is already on the line if he so much as scared off one of the lead actors, and especially this one of all people, he might truly be fucked beyond belief.
"Mr. Wholte, I'm…"
"Nah, don't worry, big guy."
Pina Wholte's words were laced with a soft, approachable charm he seemed to bring to all his characters. It was, maybe, still an act.
"Not seeing someone your size is probably my fault anyway." He joked.
"Still, I'm sorry." Riz reiterated with a jittery tone.
"Well if you are, you could help me. I'm a bit lost around here, and I could use a local to show me where I need to go."
"Sure, no problem!" Riz suspected the lighting team could wait a few moments. "Where do you need to go?"
"I'm supposed to meet the other actors for a briefing on the schedules."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna happen not far from here, I'll take you there."
Pina accompanied Riz in their walk, and that gave the bear time to notice a few things.
Pina's outfit, composed of khaki slacks and a gray shirt, is casual in a way that was manicured to look casual to others. His wool, especially the parts of it that framed his face, were just the right level of disheveled to make it seem like it was partly accidental. Even the way he walked and moved was a carefully choreographed dance.
He was beautiful. Every part of his public persona must have been made and tailored to play up the beauty of herbivores, the delicate body hiding strength to survive, and the palpably soft wool.
“Pina is fine, by the way,” When he spoke, his tone was both casual and polite, easy to make anyone talking with him believe he cares about you and he sees you as a friend.
“Excuse me?” Riz asked.
“Pina is fine. I don’t like being called Mr. Wholte by people who are close in age to me. I’m still 25 and you don’t even seem to be in your 30s.”
“26.”
“Ha! You’re too young to be calling me mister, it just makes me feel old.”
“I see… I apologize.”
“Hey, hey, no worries big guy, no way you could’ve known,” With a gesture of the hand and a friendly grin, Riz’s entire mood was put at ease.
No wonder people threw themselves at him, did he ever turn his charm off? That could be dangerous because big dumb carnivores like Riz can walk right into a steel column in an open hall while deep in thought about the way he moved.
And such happened.
"Are you alright?" Pina asked with a tone of his voice that just barely betrayed that he'd laugh if they weren't in public.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, I got distracted."
"I cause that effect on people."
"Noticeably," Riz chuckled, with a hand caressing his hurt cheek. Pina only seemed proud of himself for it. "By the way, we're here." He indicated towards a black wooden door on the other side of the hall," They're probably waiting for you."
"Ah, great," Pina turned to him fully, a trained, but no less charming smile painted on his face. "Thank you for that…" The sheep placed his hand on his chest in a very delicate manner, with his index finger touching over the name in the ID card on his chest. "Riz. Hopefully, we'll see each other since we're working on the same project," He spoke his name as if he was trying to taste the letters.
"Yeah."
Pina didn't need all those fingers on his chest to read his name and role, it was in a pretty big font.
Pina turned around with a small flourish, moving forward and disappearing at the door, leaving the huge bear alone with his thoughts.
He thought he's hungry, and that he was salivating. He thought that Pina's wool looks very soft and velvety. He thought about that one site with fleshlights meant to emulate each species and that they had a sale on herbivores.
But for that he needed money, so he oughta get back to work and stop with the silly daydreaming of eating a celebrity’s ass, god knows that working around them strips a lot of the mystique about them, and none of them wants to fuck the sketchy assistant of the director of photography.
He made sure that his nose wasn't bleeding before moving on with his day. The lighting department was a little extra way down the studio, and if he was right, one of the stars of the show actually wanted to take part in those meetings.
----
"This is gonna suck," Louis complained.
"This is not gonna suck. It was one meeting, get it together," Haru said. She pressed the cold base of a can of soda to his nape, jolting his back straight and earning herself a mean look before he snatched the soda to himself.
Bad idea, it was one of those weird cream sodas only she liked and that almost made him barf. She just laughed at it as if she predicted the whole situation.
"I hate everyone involved in this. I hate that I'm being forced to partake in it. I hate that I can't back down now, out of professional obligation and pride…"
"You don't hate everyone involved. I'm involved!"
"Try me," he extended the can back to her, who happily drank from it.
Around them, only a few people were left in the room where the briefing happened. A few surrounded the director, asking and explaining things. Legosi vanished right after the briefing, with only a happy, curt nod to him, and now he's here, chatting in a low voice with Haru about his impending stress-induced aneurysm.
“The project actually seems fun and the script is pretty good!” She smiled at him.
He just stared at her, thinking of things that he could contort into a snarky joke, but he was not in the mood for that. He pulled up his phone and checked the time to see that he should be calling someone in the Shishigumi to take him to a dreaded appointment.
“Not even a retort, you truly are defeated today,” Haru leans her face against her hand. “Are you alright?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Anything I can do about it?”
“Do you have booze?”
“Louis!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” He wasn’t totally kidding, but for the purposes of this conversation, she didn’t need to know that.
“Louis, I’m serious, I want to help you but I need you to tell me how to help you. I don’t have experience with your… situation.”
Louis moved his face with a breakneck speed just to gaze at her as if she had just spat on his father’s face, but with the same speed, he forced the muscles in his face to relax and hide the sourness of the expression just enough to let her know what he might be feeling deep down, but not scaring her.
“Not treating me like a sick child would be a great start.”
“I am not…”
“It’s fine,” He pushed himself up, rapidly tapping his phone to pull up Ibuki’s number. “I have an appointment next, I should go.”
“Hey, wait!” She grabbed his arm.
“What?”
She was quiet for a moment as if the decision to talk was not planned, but she persisted speaking, “Juno was telling me about a party. She’s been inviting some of the other people in production. Do you want to go?"
“A party? For what?”
“I’m not quite sure, but it seems to be a natural beauty line or something like that. She’s been promoting that, but the party seems to be quite good. Other guys here are going.”
“I don’t like anyone here.”
“There’s me! And she told me Legosi is going too.”
“I…” Louis huffed but finally let his shoulders drop. “Fine. I’ll go. Text me the details, we’ll meet there to talk the details.”
Her next smile was bright and cheery and Louis smiled with softness.
“Ok! Great! I’ll call you later, now go on, I’m sure you have important stuff to deal with!”
“Yeah, yeah. Stay safe,” He parted with an affectionate gesture and was off down the hall. Without her energy around, he fixed his face into a professional look, put on sunglasses, and called Ibuki.
He had a goddamn therapist to see today.