Thespis - Part 1

[nicslash]

 
Part 1
Jared had been drinking too much coffee and eaten far too many chocolate bars the day he met Jensen Ackles. It was the powerful mix of not getting enough sleep on the redeye last night and being on an overdose of caffeine and sugar that made him super hyper. Combine all that with the excitement of visiting the studio for the first time and somehow Jared transformed into a complete sex-fiend goofball.

“So his dick kinda tasted like chicken and I’m like, blowin’ him, ya know? And all I could really think about was some honey barbeque sauce and how that might’ve made things a little more interesting,” Jared laughed as he told his story to Trish, one of the personal assistants, his voice echoing throughout the empty set.

“Ew. That’s so gross!” Trish giggled, tears forming at her eyes, “Don’t you hate it when their spunk tastes weird too?”

“Oh God. That’s the worst,” Jared agreed loudly. “I always make sure I eat plenty of fruit before I know I’m gonna get head. I mean, I might as well be considerate of the other guy’s taste buds, right? Unless he acts like a total douche on the date, then I drink Red Bull and man, that shit’s nasty, makes it taste like rotten eggs.”

“Sick!” Trish giggled-snorted again and reached to get a tissue out of her purse. Jared was about to tell her that he hasn’t been on a date in months and that he was currently in the middle of a serious dry spell when he spotted Jensen standing with David, the director of the movie, about five feet away.

Jared cursed under his breath, knew he’d been too loud and that they probably had heard their entire conversation. When he glanced up again and caught the death glare from David and Jensen Ackles’ very wide, surprised eyes, along with a blended look of disgust and shock, Jared’s stomach dropped into the floor.

Not exactly the best first impression.



“You have to be more professional, Jared. It’s just not an option if you want to work on this movie. We hired you for your talent, yes. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find someone else.” John keeps going on and on and Jared feels like he’s back in school, being lectured by one of his old teachers, except now it’s his boss, the producer of the movie. At least David isn’t here too. Being ripped a new one by the director and the producer would not be the best way to start his morning.

So yesterday he had messed up. Big time. But today is a new day and now he would prove to everyone that he isn’t a fuck up. He had just gotten carried away and Trish is someone who he knows from way back, and somehow they got talking about non-appropriate work topics and really bad dates gone wrong. Okay, so a blow job discussion isn’t even really appropriate for most settings except for maybe a frat house or strip club.

“Okay, John. I get it. I’m sorry, alright? It won’t happen again. Consider it a lapse in judgment.” Jared stands and moves slowly to the office door, anxious to get back to his makeup trailer.

“Fine,” John sighs, “I don’t want to hear David complaining about you again. He’s one of the best directors to be working for so don’t screw it up. And I don’t want to hear a peep from Jensen either. This is his first time acting in awhile and he doesn’t need any distractions from you. Now get going, we both have a lot of work to do so I suggest we get to it.”

Jared takes that as ‘get the hell out of my office, now’ and flings the door open.

“And Jared?” John calls out, right as Jared was about to make his escape. He pushes the door a little and pokes his head back in the room.

“Yeah?”

“Get a haircut.”

So Jared also might’ve had pigtails in his hair yesterday. But that was just because it was really hot in the trailer and he had to keep his wild hair out of his eyes. By the time everything was where he wanted it, he was sweating like crazy and that’s when Trish came and got him for a coffee break.

If she had just come ten minutes later, Jared is sure he would’ve missed Jensen and David completely. But no, now he has to do some damage control.

He just grins politely at John and shuts the door. There is no way he’s getting a haircut. The longish, brown, shaggy hair is his thing.

The studio is pretty big and Jared makes his way out of the office buildings and to the very back of the lot, passes all the other trailers until he gets to his own, almost to the edge of the thick forest.

Home. At least, for the next three or four months.

It’s a double-wide trailer, thank sweet baby Jesus that it’s not a single, with plenty of room to move around in and tons of space for all of his crap. He can even stand up straight without hitting his head and flail around in circles if he wanted to without bumping into anything.

There are still at least ten boxes piled up at the side of the trailer, filled with all the equipment and supplies he’ll need for the duration of the movie. Jared breathes in deep. Ah, he loves the smell of fresh, new, sterile brushes.

“Hey Jared,” Trish knocks on the door and holds out a cup of coffee, “It’s a peace offering. I’m sorry I got you in trouble yesterday.”

Jared smiles and takes the warm cup in his hand, “Dude, totally wasn’t your fault. But thank you.” He takes a sip of the coffee slowly, careful not to burn his tongue.

“Are you all set up in here?” Trish asks, looking around the mess and scrunching her nose. “Looks like you got some done yesterday. Anything else you need?”

Jared pushes a box with his foot,“I don’t think so. What time is Jensen gonna be here for a run through?”

“Not until tomorrow,” Trish says. “That’ll give you time to get set up. You want me to send someone back here to help you unpack these boxes?” She steps into the trailer and looks at herself in the mirror. “You think I need some highlights? My hair is seriously having a bad week.”

Trish is kind of a tomboy; at least she was a couple years ago. Now, Jared can tell she’s wearing makeup and her sweater is purple instead of brown. She has these big blue eyes and short blond hair, and a brain on top of it.

“I don’t know,” Jared says dryly. “I may do hair and be a gay makeup artist, but I still don’t know what’s in for girly cuts.”

“You know, Jared. If you didn’t put your hair in pigtails and talk about cock all the time, I wouldn’t even know you were gay.”

“I don’t talk about cock all the time. You just caught me reminiscing. And that’s too damn bad,” Jared teases, “Because my gay is the most attractive thing about me.”

“Yeah,” Trish’s gaze dances across Jared’s broad shoulders and lingers to where his t-shirt stretches across his flat stomach. “I’m sure.”

“Hey do you know when lunch is? I’m starving,” Jared asks. He turns quickly so Trish can’t see him roll his eyes. Girls always think that they’re so sly when they check him out. It kind of squeaks him. He picks up a box of hair dye and sets it on the counter, shakes off the mental grope session

Trish looks at her watch, “Actually, they’re probably bringing out the food now. You wanna go get some and I’ll show you around a little?”

“Sounds good,” Jared grabs his coat and scarf. It’s chilly out and the clouds are already starting to roll in. It figures that this would be a winter shoot, not that Jared minds too much. Screw that. Hell, yes he does. Nothing will beat the summer he spent in Hawaii working on Surfin’ Time. Too bad it went straight to video.

“Okay so that’s Jensen’s trailer right there,” Trish points out as they make their way across the huge plot of flat land. Jensen’s trailer is pretty close to Jared’s, probably because Jensen will be spending a lot of time getting makeup done since his look is so complex, Jared guesses.

“And that one is Brent’s. He seems really nice.” Trish points to a trailer at the front of the lot, way off to the side. As far as Jared can tell, from the brief read through of the script he skimmed over, the movie is based around two characters. Jensen is one of the main actors and Brent Butler is the other. Jared was hired specifically for Jensen and has to do all the work himself because he isn’t allowed an assistant, which Jared finds a little weird. “And there’s wardrobe, editing, sound, production, props, lighting, medic…”

Jared only half-heartedly listens as she continues, pointing to trailers and trucks that all pretty much look exactly alike. Jared figures he really doesn’t need to know all this crap and lets his mind wander until he smells food.

“And finally we have craft services,” Trish finishes. “There isn’t much because we haven’t officially started shooting yet so grab what you can.”

Jared takes two sandwiches, a bag of chips, and stuffs a donut in his mouth as he sits down at a table. “I’m still growing,” He says when Trish lifts an eyebrow.

“You grow anymore and you’ll be tall as a tree,” Trish grins and starts to riffle through her messenger bag. “Here, I’m supposed to give you this,” She hands over a thick binder, “David said to look these over because this is what they’ll be looking for tomorrow. He’ll approve Jensen’s look and give you feedback on what he wants changed.”

“Okay,” Jared takes the binder, wishes David had given it to him a week ago so he could have planned better. Plus he still has to put his stations together. He can’t really mouth off about the director of the movie though so he’ll have to deal with it. Fuck, it’s gonna be a long night.

“David and John will probably show up in the late afternoon and we told Jensen to be at your trailer around eight in the morning so that should give you plenty of time.”

“Okay.” Jared says again, now feeling slightly overwhelmed. He glances up just in time to see Jensen at the end of the crafts service table. Jared gives a small smile and waves.

Jensen stares blankly and turns away to sit at a table by himself.

“What’s with Ackles?”

Trish doesn’t say anything, but her eyes shift down.

“Is it because I made an ass outta myself yesterday? Is he a homophobe? That’s just fuckin’ great.”

Trish sighs and moves to sit on the bench besides Jared so she can talk quietly. “Look, I don’t think he’s a homophobe. He has been like that since he came on set three days ago, to everyone expect for Brent, John, and David. Even to them he doesn’t really talk much.”

“I wonder what his problem is,” Jared says as he watches Jensen eat across ten rows of tables. The actor fidgets for a minute and then hastily gets up, throws his half eaten sandwich away and takes off towards his trailer.

“You wanna know what I think?” Trish asks, “I think he’s a self-centered asshole who can’t see past his own arrogance. He’s fucking gorgeous and no one is good enough to even talk to him, let alone be in close proximity with the guy.”

“Hmm,” Jared scratches his head and takes a gulp of his root beer. He has worked with stuck up actors before, and even worse, stuck up actresses. Jensen doesn’t seem like the type. He’s too quiet, for one. Usually big shots, or wanna-be big movie stars, are always on their cell phones, barking out orders, or laughing too loud purely for the attention. They wear diamond watches and designer shoes, not an old black t-shirt and worn-in leather watch like Ackles. Although, Jared’s pretty sure the guy is wearing designer jeans but he can’t really blame him because the way they cling to Jensen’s ass? Priceless.

The only thing that Jared really knows about Jensen Ackles is that he’s damn good looking, which means he’s also probably straight. He also may or may not have a small attitude problem.

This isn’t much to go by.

Jared thinks he saw Jensen in a movie he rented a few years ago but can’t remember what it was about or even the title of the damn thing.

“Hey Trish? Do you know if we get wireless internet up here? I need to look up something on my computer.”



Ten minutes later and Jared kind of feels like a stalker. He would be really embarrassed if anyone walked into the trailer right now.

He takes a quick glance at the time. Shit, it’s already two in the afternoon. This would have to be a speedy search.

Jared quickly pulls up IMDB and settles with his laptop across his knee. Immediately he gets distracted by the images after he types in Jensen Ackles.

A half an hour goes by incredibly fast. The guy is insanely cute, with sparkling clear green eyes framed with dark lashes and crinkles in the corners if he’s smiling. Jared really likes the pictures of Jensen smiling. He bites his bottom lip when he comes across a close up of Jensen’s face. Guh. Freckles.

Surprisingly, and maybe a little disappointedly, there are only a handful of photos, but Jared looks at all of the carefully. From what he can tell, the pictures were taken during the opening of Jensen’s last movie.

Last movie. Right. Jared is supposed to be researching the actor he’s working with. He closes out of images and clicks on the main page again. Only a few facts pop up and the first is a one hundred word biography, so Jared chooses it to start with.

There’s only a short paragraph and Jared’s a little frustrated. Jensen is obviously not as famous as say, Brent, but Jared also thought he might’ve been living under a rock when it came to Jensen’s career. Definitely not.

In Jensen’s last movie, Heat Rising, he played a supporting role as a fireman who - ouch. Dies. It got two and a half stars, and it came out on dvd four years ago. Jared doesn’t recognize any of the other people in the movie, or the director’s name. Jensen’s middle name is Ross. He’s thirty years old. He grew up in Texas. He started out as a model when he was just a teenager.

That’s it.

Jared closes out of the biography and clicks on trivia. The only additional information that he gets there is Jensen has a younger sister, an older brother, and almost three years ago Jensen’s house was robbed.

Nothing useful. Jared shuts down his computer and gets to work setting up, his mind still on Jensen. It’s odd for an actor to have that much time in between movies, especially since Jensen is fairly young; at least he was when he started modeling, and seriously smokin’ hot.

Maybe he just sucks as an actor. It’s very possible. But then again, David Pitt is a well known director and has reasonably good movies under his belt.

Interesting. Well, Jared will have plenty of time to judge for himself if Jensen sucks or not while he watches the takes. Not having an assistant will also mean that he’ll have to be on set with Jensen at all times for touchups. Since Brent and Jensen are the main characters, they’ll have to be available round the clock, which means Jared will have to be too.

It doesn’t take long for Jared to set up the hair station. He lines up the colorful dye under the mirror and sets his clippers to the side, along with scissors, gloves, towels, gel and other random supplies.

The other side of the trailer takes a little longer to put together. Jared ordered a makeup case he knows will have everything he’ll need; he’s not too worried about that. He takes out two airbrushes, one for Jensen’s face and a larger one for tattoos. He’s glad he brought his own stencils he created awhile ago because the ones the studio provided for him are really stupid.

When all the boxes are empty, Jared stands with his hands on his hips, looking over the counters and calculating in his head anything that he might have missed. By now its early evening and he should probably pack it up for the night. Jared grabs the binder Trish had given him at lunch and slumps in one of the chairs, reclining it back a little to get comfortable.

He flips to the middle. The pictures are exactly what he pictured in his head, so he’s a little relieved for that. All the guys have either blue or red spiked hair, sometimes both. They have tattoos everywhere on their body, including arm sleeves and a few around the neck. Some of the guys have multiple piercings; one picture even has a guy with a chain across his cheek attached by an ear and nose ring. All have black, smudged eyeliner to complete the look.

Jared smiles to himself. This would be fun. Turning Jensen Ackles into a hardcore rock star would be a challenge and Jared is definitely up for it.

Excitement settles in his stomach as he closes the binder and gets ready to leave for the day. The artist in him is wound up, ideas and images flashing through his brain. He can’t wait to get his hands on Jensen, figuring out what colors will work best for him and the different kinds of stencils he’ll use.

As Jared drives to the hotel he’ll be staying at for the length of the movie, he wonders what Jensen will be like to work with side by side for hours. Long days. Long nights. For months.

It’ll be fine. He just has to remember to behave from now on. No more talking about chicken-flavored dick.



Jared gets to the set about an hour before Jensen is supposed to get there. He immediately turns on the heater because it’s freakin’ cold in the trailer. Then he loads the airbrushes and gets his notebook out so he can write down and keep for reference exactly the color mixes he decides will be best on Jensen. He changes the battery in his digital camera and deletes the picture of a really cool bug he found outside of his truck a couple weeks ago.

He glances at his watch. It’s five past eight, Jensen’s late and now Jared’s getting antsy. He wants to keep his hands busy, wants to get started already. Swiftly, Jared works on some gloves and starts to mix blue hair dye in a small wooden bowl.

Cold air hits his back as the trailer door is flung open. Jared turns in time to see Jensen stumble up the stairs, slam the door shut, and plop himself over in the makeup chair. He’s wearing sunglasses and has headphone buds stuck in his ears; although Jared can’t see what the long white wires are attached to.

Jared slowly takes off the gloves, snapping them off as he waits for some sort of acknowledgment, but Jensen either hasn’t noticed him or just doesn’t care, because he seems to be looking straight ahead.

Or maybe he’s asleep. Or dead.

“Um. Hello?” Jared tries softly, stepping towards the actor.

Nothing.

Jared clears his throat, says louder, “Hello?”

Jensen jumps in the chair, finally turns his head a little in Jared’s general direction.

“Hi. I’m Jared,” Jared reaches out his hand, “I guess we’ll be working toget--”

Jensen gets up, passes Jared’s outstretched hand completely and slumps down in the chair by the hair station.

“Fuckin’ rude,” Jared mumbles under his breath, along with some other few choice words and steps behind Jensen. Obviously this won’t be a morning spent getting to know one another. Which is just fine, Jared decides. It’ll be less distraction and now he can concentrate on his work.

First step is to get the glasses and earphones off of Jensen without getting his head chopped off.

He decides to do it in one quick motion, like taking off a band aid.

“Sorry,” He says as he pulls on the wire disappearing under Jensen’s t-shirt, “I can’t dye your hair with these things in the way. And these will have to go too.” Jared gently takes the sunglasses off from Jensen’s face.

Hey. Eye contact. Awesome.

“Hi.” Jared smiles wide, works his charm just a little.

“Can we hurry this up?” Jensen grunts, voice still lined with a sleepy gruffness. “I have a million lines I need to memorize by tomorrow.”

Jared sighs. It’s going to be such a long day. “I’ll work as fast as I can, okay?”

Jensen doesn’t say anything. He closes his eyes and leans back in the chair instead.

“Before I start is there anything you want? Don’t want? I was thinking blue for the hair, unless you want a different color. David and John didn’t really specify what they wanted.”

Jensen takes a deep breath, but doesn’t open his eyes. “Whatever.”

Instantly Jared is glad he set up a handheld radio yesterday and he switches it on. If Jensen doesn’t like country music, he doesn’t say anything, and the low sounds of guitar and life-sorrows fill the trailer.

Okay. First up: hair. Jared sinks his fingers around Jensen’s head, pulls and tugs on the locks of hair, twists and manipulates this way and that. He already had a pretty good idea in his head of what he’d do, but now that Jared sees Jensen’s hair up close, he knows for sure that it’ll work. Jensen’s got nice, thick hair. It’ll be perfect.

Jared plays a little more since he can, stares at Jensen’s reflection as he scratches his skull, massaging at the base just slightly. He smiles to himself when Jensen bites his bottom lip between his teeth, slick with spit when he relaxes against Jared’s touch. Jensen is incredibly tense, and while Jared would like to work it out for him because even though Jensen is a dick, he’s still really a hot piece of ass, massaging is not what Jared is here for.

He has to focus.

Jared checks the time as he slaps on some more gloves. He can hear bustling outside the trailer, crew members passing and talking as they go. He’s glad no one has stopped in to see how they’re doing. The less interruptions, the better.

He tucks a towel around Jensen’s shoulders and into the collar of his button down flannel shirt, doesn’t bother with a full protection wrap because it shouldn’t get that out of control. The dye isn’t the greatest, but it’ll do. He paints it in even coats on the top of Jensen’s head, leaving the sides and the back his dark brown natural color. Jared separates the hair, makes sure to get an even coat down to the roots before he lets it set for twenty minutes. He sure hopes that Jensen likes blue because that’s going to be the color of his hair for the next couple of weeks.

A small smudge of dye gets on Jared’s forearm and a smear had dripped down Jensen’s temple. Jared throws the gloves away and gets the Vaseline and a towel, rubbing the stains away carefully, tilting Jensen’s jaw gently away from him for better access.

Jared motions for Jensen to stand up. “That has to be left on for twenty minutes. I’m gonna do your makeup while we wait.”

Jensen wordlessly gets up and makes his way to the other side of the trailer. He sits down and yawns, closing his eyes again.

“Okay,” Jared says, more to himself. It’s actually getting really hard for him not to talk. He usually can ramble on and on, but now he’s nervous and Jensen appears to not want to be any part of a conversation. So Jared does the next best thing and starts to hum under his breath as he opens the makeup kit.

He starts with testing out the different shades to match Jensen’s skin. It’s a shame he’s going to have to cover up those mighty cute freckles, but supposedly this rock star isn’t supposed to have any. He sprays around Jensen’s jawbone, finds the shade he chose is a little too light. Jared adds more bronzer in and gets right up in Jensen’s face and damn, he has the most perfect eyes, nose and mouth Jared has ever worked with.

Jensen is flawless. Not one blemish, not one freckle out of place, like the angel who kissed them all on really took her time. The only problem is that his mouth is pouty, but even with the corners of his lips turned the wrong way, they still look perfect. It just says that Jensen would rather be anywhere than in this trailer right now and that - well, it makes Jared uncomfortable.

“I’m gonna do your skin after I wash the dye out otherwise I’ll just have to touch it up.” Jared says. He’s not even sure if Jensen is paying attention. “But your eyes… I’m going to line them real quick, okay?”

Jensen gives a slight nod and Jared takes out the thin brush and a pot of smoky shadow. Since Jensen’s eyes are already closed, Jared does the upper lid first, trailing his fingers first down Jensen’s cheek and then up again, pulling the skin around his eye tight in order to get the line straight.

“You’re breathing on my face.”

It’s a good thing Jared doesn’t embarrass easily, “Sorry about that. Just keep still and I’ll be done in a second.”

Jensen doesn’t respond.

“Does my breath stink?” Jared asks, trying to lighten the mood. “I had tea instead of coffee this morning.”

“S’fine,” Jensen mutters.

“Open your eyes,” Jared turns to get a blending brush and has to take a second to remember how to think when he faces Jensen’s eyes dead on. They’re wide open, blinking with a certain kind of vulnerability and Jared instantly feels a flutter in his stomach, an ache that he hasn’t felt in years. Stupid stomach doesn’t know what’s good for him.

The liner is a smoky grey and Jared is careful about not poking Jensen in his very green eyes. It doesn’t take much to bring out the color and Jared takes a step back to look at his work.

“Hmm,” He tilts Jensen’s head back and forth, watching as the different lighting shadows his face.

“What?”

Jared’s slightly amused that Jensen’s paying attention now, even if he’s still scowling, “Nothing. Do you always wear contacts?”

“If I want to see, yes.”

“Just wondering,” Jared takes a darker shade of shadow, almost black and applies it to a thin bristled brush. “I’m gonna color in your lashes to make ‘em darker. I just don’t want to get it in your eyes.”

Jared doesn’t give Jensen a chance to say anything back, just pushes his chin down and slides his finger to the side of his eye, stretching the smooth skin taut again. The difference is noticeable and really makes Jensen’s eyes pop, the green now intense and striking.

“Alright. Come on, let’s wash the dye outta your hair and I’ll style it real quick.”

Jensen gets up, silently. He stands still while Jared puts on gloves again, looking around like he’s lost.

“Where’s the sink?”

“Bathroom’s through here,” Jared opens the door and while the bathroom is incredibly small, there’s just enough room for a stool by the sink.

Jensen stares at it, “I’m supposed to fit on that?”

“Yes.”

“It looks like it was built for a kid.”

Jared snickers. “You’ll be fine. Let me go in first.” He steps over the stool, sits on the toilet and slaps the leather on the small seat. “See? Just enough room for the both of us. C’mon.”

Sighing heavily, Jensen rolls his eyes and almost loses his balance. Jared catches his by the arm and guides him to sit, his back towards the low dip in the sink.

“You should really be thanking me. I had them install a basin; otherwise you’d be bending over right now while I rinse you out.”

“Mmm.”

Jared watches Jensen’s face closely and freely as he begins to shampoo. He doesn’t have to, but Jared makes a point of giving him a really good head massage, way longer than necessary, but the way Jensen’s lips part a little and the crease in his forehead finally relaxing makes it all worth it.

“Okay. You’re done,” He throws a towel over Jensen’s shoulder and motions for him to move, “Back in the hot seat.”

It doesn’t take long to cut Jensen’s hair. Jared takes the clippers and cleans him up a little around the ears and the back of his neck, then spikes the hair on top of his head. It’s definitely not a Mohawk, but in Jared’s opinion, this is better and not too crazy. Secretly, he doesn’t want Jensen’s hair to take away from his amazing face, and since his hair is blue, a simple cut will make it stand out fine.

“You like it?” Jared asks Jensen’s reflection when he finishes putting in enough gel in to make his hair hard as a rock.

“Looks okay.”

“Sorry, we gotta move again.” Jared steers Jensen back into the makeup chair.

Even though he tested it, the foundation Jared thought would work is still way too light for Jensen’s skin tone. He has to fill the air brush again and go over Jensen’s forehead and cheeks, then takes a thick blending brush to smooth away any lines, focusing under his eyes and jawbone.

When he’s satisfied, Jared takes out a notebook and writes in exactly the combination of different shades he used so tomorrow he can do the same thing without wasting time.

Jensen eyes him suspiciously. “What’re you writing?”

“Oh I’m just writing some notes about you for my blog. By tonight about hundred people will know you use Old Spice.”

Heat rises quickly in Jensen’s face and before he explodes, Jared laughs and shakes his head, “I’m just kiddin’ around, dude. I wrote what numbers I used on your face and hair so I don’t have to remember.”

“Oh.” Jensen still looks a little miffed and then mutters, “And I don’t wear Old Spice.”

Jared smiles and reaches for the stack of stencils off the counter, “You want to take a break or anything before I start on the tattoos?”

Jensen’s shoulders slump like he forgot about having to get fake ink sprayed all over his body. “I guess not.”

“Okay.” Jared grabs a water bottle from his bag and takes a sip. “You can just sit back and relax while I try to figure out what patterns will look the best.”

Luckily all the tattoos will be in black ink and probably be in the shape of some of sort of tribal design, which will save a ton of time. The outlines Jared brought with him are already detailed and carved in thick plastic, but airbrushing them on won’t take too long. He chooses a circular stencil for Jensen’s neck that will lead down over his collarbone and down the back of his shoulders. Next is a tribal sun for the inside of Jensen’s forearm and a strip of ancient letters that will be inked from his elbow down to his wrist on the other arm.

After holding different stencils up to various parts of Jensen’s body, Jared decides that should do it. For now. Since Jensen will be in at least a t-shirt for most of the movie, this is all Jared’s required to figure out today. There’s one scene where Jensen will be in just jeans, but that won’t be for a couple of weeks so Jared has plenty of time to think about what else he can paint on Jensen’s chest and back.

“Okay, so if you can take your shirt off then I can get started on your neck.” Jared says easily, grabbing the airbrush that is loaded with black, long-lasting ink.

“What? Why?”

“Um,” Jared looks down at the stencil and brush in his hand, trying to state the obvious, “Half the pattern will be hidden by your t-shirt so I have to get to the skin under there.”

Jensen squirms in the seat. His forehead creases as he processes the information.

Jared gapes, dumbfounded, and speaks before he can filter his thoughts, “Dude, you got a great body. Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed.”

That wasn’t the best thing to say. Jensen’s cheeks flush and his gaze darts to the door. For a minute, Jared is sure he’s going to bolt.

And then he does, “I’m taking a five minute break. Be right back.”

Jared barely gets out “Okay,” before the door slams shut and Jensen is gone.

Great. Actors with body image issues are really not fun to work with. Besides, Jared meant what he said about Jensen having a great body. He could tell by Jensen’s broad shoulders, thin waist, and strong biceps that he at least worked out. Maybe not as much as Jared, but he was still in good shape.

Jared watches through the tiny window as Jensen walks to his own trailer and disappears inside. Sighing, he starts to clean up his stations. He glances at his watch. Dave and John will be here in about an hour and he’ll need exactly that if he wants to finish on time.

The door opens suddenly and Jensen appears with a black, ribbed tank top on. It clings to his form and Jared was definitely, very right about Jensen being in good shape. Excellent, fine shape this man is in.

“This will work.” Jensen declares sternly and sits back down, “I don’t care if it gets ink on it.”

“Uh, okay.” Jared really doesn’t see a huge difference between a skimpy shirt and just taking the damn thing off.

Oh god. What if it’s because he’s gay? What if Jensen thinks he’ll molest him or something? That’s just fucking great. Jared takes a deep breath to calm himself. It’s just a job. He needs this job. A couple of months and it’ll be over. It’s fine. He can handle it. He has dealt with plenty of homophobes before. He’ll just keep his distance and keep his mouth shut.

“That’s fine.” Jared can hear his voice harden and he clears his throat. He can’t start shit up now. Hell, it’s the first day. As long as Jensen doesn’t act like anymore of an asshole than he already is, Jared can deal.

He has to get right into Jensen’s personal space again when he lines the stencil up to his neck. Jared can almost feel Jensen go stiff again, like he’s about to pull back and wants nothing more than for Jared to stop touching him. There’s anxiety radiating off of him, his knuckles white with his fingers twisted together. God, it reminds Jared of the last time he was at the dentist office getting a root canal and tried to hold it together. There’s not much he can do though, and he doesn’t think he’s hurting Jensen for Pete’s sake, so all he can do is hold the stencil steady as he presses the button on the airbrush firmly. The dark ink shades the top of the outline in one go, leaving the rest because it’ll just get hidden by a shirt anyway.

The tattoos on Jensen’s arms don’t take long at all but Jared has to switch to a smaller tip on the air brush in order to get finer lines. When he’s done, Jared brushes powder over the ink that will set the paint and prevent any smudges. Jensen breathes easier as soon as Jared steps away from him. It’s all very frustrating.

“These will last about two weeks before I have to do them again. Use only mild soap when you shower or I’ll have to retouch them up every day.”

“Okay.” Jensen agrees while he looks at his reflection in the mirror. He seems surprised and then continues to sit and stare, like he’s trying to find himself in the stranger that appears across from him.

Jared is tired and there’s a nice, piercing headache that’s brewing right at his temples. He chugs some water to rehydrate himself and thinks that he probably should’ve eaten about an hour ago. He checks his watch and breathes a sigh of relief. Right on time.

“Knock knock!” John’s voice is loud when the door swings open. David is with him, along with an assistant who Jared’s never met.

“Hey,” Jared greets warmly and moves to stand by Jensen, “What’d you think?”

“Wow, looks great, Jared.” Dave smiles with approval as he looks Jensen over.

John has a much more critical eye and narrows his gaze. “Hair looks good. Tattoos look good too. Make sure wardrobe has a leather jacket for him, jewelry like leather bracelets and silver rings… and piercings for his nose and chin.” He nearly snaps out the orders as the assistant scrambles to write it all down. “Jensen?” John’s voice is now smoother, much calmer than it had been two seconds prior. “How do you like it?”

“Looks good,” Jensen shrugs.

“You sure? Is there anything you want to change at all?”

Jared tilts his head at the interaction going on in front of him. John is a straight shooter, tells it like it is, and doesn’t really care what you have to say about it. At least, that’s the experience Jared’s had with him. The fact that John’s giving Jensen the opportunity to give suggestions is odd.

“I was thinking that Jensen could not shave for a couple days, it’ll make him look a little scruffier.” Jared jumps in. “I could do some work with his sideburns too and --”

“Leave the sideburns.” John interrupts. “But yeah, Jensen, don’t shave tomorrow and we’ll see how the look goes.”

Jensen nods and Jared’s glad that John takes his idea.

“How long will you need before shoots, Jared?” Dave asks.

“Every two weeks I’ll need to touch up the hair and tattoos, which will take me around three hours. Other than that, I’ll need about an hour before scenes and I can do touchups throughout the day. In the scene where Jensen has his shift off, I’ll need a couple of hours… unless I have an assistant help me.”

Dave nods, eyes focused on Jensen again. “No assistant. First call is at eight o’clock tomorrow.”

Damn. It’ll probably take five hours to do all of that himself, but Jared can’t complain. “Sounds good.”

John’s been rubbing his chin, staring at Jensen up and down and then snaps his fingers, “I know what’s missing. Give him black nail polish and we’ll be all set. Thanks guys, great job. See you tomorrow. Jensen, let me know if you need anything.”

The group leaves the trailer and Jared almost collapses onto the counter. Thank god that’s over. He’s so thankful that it went well.

“Can I go now?” Jensen asks, stretching as he stands up.

“Yeah. I just need to take a couple pictures of you first, so I have something to reference to if the tattoos come all the way off.” Jared grabs the camera and snaps a few shots, first some close ups and then at different angles. “You want me to take the makeup off for you? It’ll only take a few minutes.”

Jensen shakes his head, “I’m just gonna shower.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

The door slams shut when Jensen leaves.

Jared pats himself on the back.





The next day goes fairly well. Jensen shows up wearing sunglasses and earphones again. Jared lets him get away with it until he’s done styling Jensen’s blue hair up in short messy spikes.

“Wow,” Jared says as he removes the sunglasses, “You get any sleep last night?”

Jensen answers with a big yawn.

“No worries, man. Covering up dark circles is sorta my specialty.”

Jared pulls out the nail polish though, figuring he better do it now so it’ll have plenty of time to dry. He lifts himself onto the counter between Jensen’s legs and reaches for his hand.

“So did you learn all your lines?” He asks, resting Jensen’s hand on his knee. Jared can feel the warmth from Jensen’s palm sinking through the denim of his jeans.

“I guess.”

Jared starts to carefully paint Jensen’s fingernails with steady concentration. His hands are small in comparison to Jared’s but they’re strong, a little rough in patches of callused skin on the bottom and all smooth on top. “That’s cool. I bet its pages of dialogue, huh? Being just you and Brent… I can’t imagine how long the script is of just dialogue.”

“Yeah.”

The frustration of Jensen only saying one or two words back to him is really starting to wear on Jared’s nerves. He’s about to call him out on the whole gay thing when the trailer door opens.

“Hey guys!” Trish rushes in with a big cup of coffee. “You need anything?”

“No I think we’re fine --”

“Good because I have a million things to do. Jensen, here’s your coffee - oh.” Trish stops when she sees the wet nail polish. “Well I’ll just leave it on the counter. See you on set in about thirty minutes. Don’t be late ‘cause John’s already on a war path and everything is running on schedule and he doesn’t want to fall behind. See ya.” And with that, she’s out the door.

Jensen immediately goes for the coffee and Jared pushes on his chest so he falls back into the seat. “You smudge that polish and I’ll kill you.”

“If you don’t let me have that coffee, I’ll kill you.”

It turns into a staring contest and Jared is sure he sees a smirk on Jensen’s face, even if his green eyes really do look like they’re about to lunge daggers at Jared if he doesn’t give up the coffee.

“Okay, okay. Just be careful. That’s all I ask.”

Jensen gives a little moan when the cup hits his lips and he visibly relaxes.

“Can I finish your other hand now or should I wait till you’re done?” Having sex with the coffee… is what Jared really wants to say, but he holds his tongue.

Jensen slides his hand onto Jared’s knee, a little higher up until he spreads his fingers out to span Jared’s thigh.

Jared doesn’t say anything and starts to paint. He’s glad that Jensen seems to be less tense today. Maybe it’s because he knows what to expect, doesn’t have a fear that Jared will pluck at his eyebrows or something. Jared glances at Jensen’s knuckles, no longer a sickly pale lined with trepidation.

Progress.

Part 2