Chapter Text
“Only eight years after Wanderer published Paradise Idols, the critically acclaimed novel is getting a screen adaptation. The elusive author, formerly known as Hat Guy, debuted with this novel and was met with great success. The novel successfully intertwines five character arcs in a beautiful tale of connection and passionate romance.
The main character, Aurelia, decides to start a band with her childhood friends, Cosmo and Otto. From there, she recruits two up-and-coming rival musicians; Fern and Kai. The story goes through the challenges they’re presented with as a band that’s just starting out, with some added relationship drama between Kai, Fern, and Aurelia. Slowly but surely, a romance blooms...”
I’ve read the screenplay already, I don’t need to read a plot summary...
“Directing this movie is the highly experienced Nahida, who has directed plenty of romance dramas throughout her career. Her most notable films include Summertime in the City, Flowering Hibiscus...”
I’ve worked with her before, she was great at her job... not to mention how polite she was in the auditions... I’m so glad she got to direct this film, she’ll really bring the book to justice...
“Aurelia, the manager of the band, is played by Nilou, a steadily rising presence in the acting sphere due to her previous career in dancing. She’s starred in a handful of long running TV romcoms, including...”
I remember meeting her a while ago... good for her, getting in on a name this big...
“Cosmo, the stubborn drummer, is played by Tighnari. He’s been in the industry for quite some time, and has a few big names under his belt...”
Not the choice I would’ve made, but he’s nice, so it won’t be weird talking to him on set...
“Otto is the singer of the band. He is played by Cyno, and after some discussion, his singing parts will not be dubbed over. He’s starred in several dramas before...”
Well, that makes Tighnari’s casting make a lot more sense...
“Fern, the angsty guitarist, is played by Kaveh. He is most known for his hit roles in Palace of Alcazarzaray, the one film Dori produced, widely considered a masterpiece, and Flowering Hibiscus, directed by...”
Yeah, yeah, I know... yeesh, people really don’t need to mention Dori any time they mention that film...
“Kai is the male lead and bassist of Paradise Idols, and his actor is the most notable out of the cast. He hasn’t done any romance dramas so far, but...”
This is all fluff... skip, skip, skip...
“That’s right, the male lead of Paradise Idols is Alhaitham, the famous actor who...”
Huh?
HUUUUUUUUH!??
•--- ( ˶°ㅁ°) !! ---•
Unfortunately, after several hours, Kaveh’s agent convinced him to not drop his role in Paradise Idols. Meaning that, for the next several months, Kaveh will work on set with Alhaitham. In several scenes. He’ll have to attend parties with him. Tolerate his presence. Again.
It’s fiiine. It’ll be fiiiiiiine.
At least, that’s what Kaveh tells himself, repeatedly, on the car ride to the table read.
Surprisingly, he gets there before any other cast members. Instead, he finds Nahida and... someone he doesn’t recognize in the room, looking over the screenplay intensely. Nahida smiles at him and gestures for him to sit in one of many chairs.
It’s a nice and quiet place, isolated from the outer world, but comforting in spite of it. In the center is a large circular table that looks like it was made specifically for this one table read. There’s a plant in every corner of the room... even one on the windowsill. For some reason, it reminds him of high school. He brushes away the thought as quickly as it came, and sits down. The chair is strikingly comfortable.
There’s water bottles placed by every seat, along with a small table of snacks on one side of the room.
Tighnari comes shortly after Kaveh, and just behind him, Cyno. After a while, several tech members enter — along with some other vaguely recognizable people, likely producers or writers.
Eventually, Alhaitham arrives, and Kaveh distracts himself with small talk.
Once tech hands out hard copies of the screenplay, Nahida begins, “Hello everyone! I’m Nahida, the lead director of Paradise Idols. This,” She gestures to the man sitting beside her. He takes a moment away from the script to acknowledge her. “Is Hat Guy, the author of Paradise Idols. If you open your script, you’ll see the cast list--I’d like to take a moment to introduce them all, their names, their characters, and their character’s personalities. We’ll start with the name at the top of the list and work our way down.”
There’s a long pause filled with the sound of paper flipping before someone speaks up. She looks young, though she’s impeccably well-dressed. She has bright red hair, and Kaveh swears he’s seen her before.
She says, “Um... hello! I’m Nilou, and I’ll be playing Aurelia. I think she’s a nice person who’s really dedicated to her friends and her career. I mean, moreso her career. I think that, um, at the core of her character is her altruism and ambition. I really look forward to portraying how complex she is! Thank you.”
The next person who speaks is Alhaitham.
Kaveh represses a flinch when he starts speaking. He’s proud of himself when he manages to look him in the eyes from across the table.
“I am Alhaitham, and I play Kai. He is an introvert who learns how to open up over the course of the story,” he says, monotone, like he’s practiced those lines many times before. After he’s finished speaking, he looks at Kaveh to signal who is speaking next.
Kaveh closes his eyes and clears his throat before he starts talking. “Hello, everybody. My name is Kaveh. I’m playing Fern, who is best described as an annoying jock who doesn’t believe in the concept of personal boundaries. He’s very self-centered, but he also has a large inferiority complex. Personally, I think he has a good heart, even if it’s covered by his other qualities. I look forward to portraying him as intended by the author, and I look forward to getting to know all of you along the way.”
After he finishes talking, he looks to Tighnari. He nods before he starts talking. “Hello, I’m Tighnari. My role is Cosmo. He’s largely described as a stubborn, emotionally stunted man who doesn’t know when to quit. He’s also a perfectionist. Over the course of the story, though, he learns to be a better person through the bond he forms with Otto.” Tighnari takes a pause and signals for Cyno to start talking.
Cyno says, “I’m the actor who is playing Otto. My name is Cyno. My character is mostly a mediator for the rest of the cast. He is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy who doesn’t change much over the story. He’s also very talented vocally, like me.” He pauses, as if he expects a laugh. Instead, another person starts talking, assuming he finished.
After everyone introduces themselves, the table read finally starts.
To Kaveh’s surprise, Nilou starts off very strong in her performance, even though it’s a table read. It sets a mood for the other actors, who then proceed to give strong performances in return. Except for Alhaitham, who just acts like himself most of the time.
Kaveh, of course, would give it his all regardless of the other actors.
About halfway through, Nahida calls a ten minute break for snacks and water. To avoid talking with Alhaitham, Kaveh starts talking to Nilou.
He’s never worked on a film with Nilou before, but thinking back on her enthusiasm, he can’t help but feel some respect towards her. At first she’s nervous, which is to be expected. As time goes on, though, her confidence shines through.
Over the course of the conversation, Kaveh keeps seeing Alhaitham pop up in the corner of his vision. He silently apologizes to Nilou for getting tense out of seemingly nowhere.
She doesn’t seem to mind, though.
She rants passionately about Aurelia and how excited she is to get a role in a production this big. After a while, she starts asking him about his previous roles, and he goes and rants about his role in Flowering Hibiscus.
“It’s definitely well-known, but it’s far more of a cult classic than it should be, y’know? I really thought that the critics would appreciate it more.” Kaveh shrugs.
Nilou opens her mouth to reply, but Alhaitham cuts in before she can speak. It almost makes Kaveh jump out of his shoes.
“It’s a shame Flowering Hibiscus didn’t get the recognition it deserved when it first came out. Though, I heard that it got quite a few awards after the fact.”
Nilou brightens to a new level Kaveh didn’t know was possible. She says, “Hello Mister Alhaitham! It’s such a pleasure finally meeting you for the first time. I’m a huge fan of yours!”
Alhaitham raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms, his attention split between Kaveh and Nilou. Kaveh wonders if he should just leave the conversation.
“Of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, knowing that we will be spending a lot more time together on set in the coming months.”
“It’ll be wonderful to star alongside someone as good at acting as you are. Although, I do hope you can give me some tips, as I’m mostly versed in much more simple character acting...” She looks nervous as she speaks, and Kaveh can’t help but take a little pity on her; not only is Alhaitham her senior, he’s also an ass.
Before Alhaitham can say something stupid (by Kaveh’s standards), Kaveh butts in, “I’m sure everyone on set would be happy to help you whenever possible. I, for one, wouldn’t be opposed to answering any questions you have at any point.”
From the corner of Kaveh’s eye, Alhaitham smirks, just a little bit. For a moment, he looks exactly like he did in high school — wildly self assured, horridly blunt, mildly comedic Alhaitham.
it hurts
Before Kaveh can linger on the moment too long, Nilou starts talking again. For that, he could not be more thankful.
“Aww, thank you! I really appreciate it. Maybe you could help me get introduced to Tighnari and Cyno? If it isn’t too much of a bother, in any way.”
“Oh, it isn’t a bother at all! They’re actually long-term friends of mine, ever since Tighnari and I worked on Alcazarzaray together briefly.”
Nilou looks a bit surprised at this information.
“Tighnari worked on Alcazarzaray with you? I don’t remember him in the film...”
“Oh, really? He had a cameo as the botanist. I got his number then, and mainly relied on him to get advice for my performance. He was really helpful with it all--I’d recommend talking to him if you’re ever nervous about how a scene will turn out. He’s really good at soothing performance anxiety. Trust me, I know.” Kaveh laughs softly to himself.
Just as Kaveh is getting back into the lovely flow of conversation, Alhaitham decides to cut in again. Kaveh swears his eye twitches for a split second. He can only hope it doesn’t show.
“Palace of Alcazarzaray was a great film. You outshined the other actors there, including Tighnari. Did you really rely on his advice that much?”
Kaveh takes a moment to breathe. And another.
“Yes, Alhaitham. Tighnari was quite helpful in the filming process. Even though he didn’t mentor me, he helped me through my nervousness, as Alcazarzaray was the first film I truly starred in. I’m very grateful towards him.”
Nilou looks nervous, but Kaveh isn’t paying much attention to her at this moment. Just as Alhaitham is about to respond, Nahida calls the end of the break. Kaveh silently thanks the Archons for this luck.
After sharing an apologetic smile with Nilou and a terse smile with Alhaitham, he goes back to his seat.
The rest of the table read goes surprisingly smoothly, even in the scenes where it’s just Alhaitham and Kaveh. Just because Kaveh might be a little on edge doesn’t mean he can’t lose himself in the character.
Especially when Fern is so opposite to who Kaveh is, with all of his outstanding faults. Kaveh can’t really fathom why Nahida chose him out of all people to play Fern, but he can’t help but be glad for the opportunity. Fern was his favorite character back when he read the novel for the first time.
The table read concludes much like the rest of the night; smoothly. People filter out mostly in pairs, and Kaveh is left alone to gather his belongings in the dimly lit room.
He hadn’t even realized so much time had passed.
If anything, he just wants the filming process to go smoothly. That’s not too much to ask for, right?
Right?