WHO: Calix and Annabeth (brief appearance by Alex) WHAT: Two friends chatting opportunities WHEN: 28th May, afternoon WHERE: Maverick production offices RATING: Medium, purely for smooches at the beginning
“You know I wish I could just throw everything off your desk and…” the rest of Cal’s thought was cut off by Alex’s very distracting mouth, a groan taking over the tail end of his words as thighs closed around his waist, pulling him in. His hands sought purchase on the edge of said desk, either side of Alexei as his lover kissed him hard enough to make his head spin. He supposed it was his own fault for teasing his boyfriend, but he also knew that some part of him had wanted this fly by visit to devolve into a make-out session. Only the awareness that Alex had a meeting in about ten minutes brought him back to his senses.
“Babe…” Cal broke the kiss long enough to catch his breath but the attempt at being sensible was derailed by Alex turning his attention to his neck instead. “Honey… your-” His eyes fluttered shut and a deep moan rumbled in his throat as that wicked mouth left its mark, the edge of pain at the bruising pressure making him weak at the knees. Well, that and the way Alex’s fingers were tugging his hair, tipping his head back to get better access to his canvas.
A chime on Alex’s phone went off, their five minute warning, and Calix whined before making a monumental effort and reaching up to loosen Alexei’s hand from his hair. “Lexi, Sweetheart, I have to go, but we can definitely pick this up later.”
"You're damn well right, we're picking this up later," Alex practically growled. He fixed Cal with a stormy blue-eyed look that held nothing but wicked promise overlaying the kind of open adoration he didn't have to hide anymore. But just because he was giving in to reason didn't mean he didn't have one last parting shot. Just a little something to make things nice and memorable.
His hand slipped away with a tender caress across the side of Calix's neck, but there was nothing at all sweet in the way Alex forced him back as he slid from his desk and got to his feet again. No, that was all a slow, deliberate push of hips and groins together, along with a sharp smile right before he leaned in and gave his boyfriend one more innocent peck on the lips. "See you tonight, baby. Go save the galaxy."
The expression in Alex’s eyes made his mouth go dry and he had to swallow down his reaction, otherwise he would never make it out of the office, and whoever Alex was having his meeting with would get a serious shock when they arrived. A half whine, half moan escaped him as Alex purposefully slid against him as he stood up. Nipping Alex’s bottom lip slightly as his boyfriend pulled away, Calix gave him a wicked grin, then headed for the door. “See you tonight.”
Stepping out into the hallway, he was still flushed and more than a little off kilter, so it was no wonder he almost ran into somebody. “Oh, sorry!” The embarrassed apology was out of his mouth before he realised who he had run into, but when he recognised Annabeth his blush deepened. Suddenly aware of the mark that was likely already visible on his neck. “Hey.”
Hallway collisions were just kind of professional hazard, so Annabeth wasn't remotely fazed when she came very short of bouncing off of someone's chest. She took a half step back and blinked up (and up), but her own apology lodged in her throat. The red face, the mussed hair, and the shirt that wasn't quite sitting right, all coupled with the direction from which he'd obviously come painted a clear enough picture. And this was even without the hickey that didn't have the sense enough to stay hidden beneath Calix's collar.
Her smile, not unlike the realization, dawned slowly across her face, equal parts knowing and completely tickled. "Hi," she dragged out the word like it was a feast, and then dug through her bag and pulled out a small pot of bruise paste which she held out for him. If she was being offhand about the gesture, something decidedly impish still played around the corners of her expression. "I stand by my Wixpix comment. The cutest."
“I’m--” Calix took the offered pot, looking at it for a moment before actually comprehending what it was Annabeth had given to him. He was still discombobulated if he was honest, Alexei just seemed to have that effect on him. “Is it that bad? I have to go and collect Theo from school! What will the teachers think?!”
His flustered state didn’t look to be going away any time soon and Annabeth’s impishness just fanned the flames. Wrinkling his nose a little at being called cute to his face, Cal gingerly dabbed a little of the paste on the place on his neck that felt tender. “Alex is the cute one.” Securing the lid, he handed the tiny pot back with a grateful smile. “Thanks. Are you headed home? Or just to a different part of the building?” He knew what long hours his friend worked so he suspected it was the latter, but hoped it was the former. She definitely deserved an early finish once in a while.
His face was enough to cue the insta-guilt, so the pleased, knowing grin vanished quickly. There was a line, and she knew better than most not to cross it. Flirt with it occasionally, but that was it. "It's not that bad, I promise. It's just my job to be observing. And if Theo's teachers have any sense, they'll be as tickled as I was." She stowed the pot again and offered him a compact mirror. "Check for yourself. No harm done."
Annabeth waved a hand vaguely at the hallway and shrugged. "Just a few more items to do, most of it's just running things from point A to point B. Scripts, mostly. Security's gotten a lot tighter around here, for obvious reasons, so we're having to do a lot more things manually, without magic. I don't mind it so much. I definitely don't skip leg day." She laughed and grinned up at him. "I hear-tell you've got something fun in your pipeline, though. You wouldn't happen to have anything for me to do, would you? I just finished up the little independent project I've been working on, and I'm probably driving the studio offices crazy bouncing in and looking for something to work on."
Nodding as she explained it wasn’t too bad, he believed her completely, and only took a cursory glance in the compact as it was offered. “Thanks. I guess it is kind of amusing, two grown adults making out like teenagers any chance they get.” He and Alex were definitely still in the early hot and heavy territory of their relationship, and it didn’t show signs of cooling off any time soon. Something that was a little surprising at first, given Alex hadn’t struck him as being too keen on the physical side of things before.
"Love is love," she replied with a shrug, because that was all that had to be said on the matter as far as she was concerned, "and that's pretty great."
“Actually, I’m glad you broached the subject first because I was trying to figure out how without it being super awkward. I swear I don’t always talk about work, yknow.” Calix grinned, “I’ve been meaning to catch up with you about needing your PA help on the Solo. We’re running short as a couple of the series guys didn’t want to work through the summer break.” He gave her an expectant look, hoping she would say yes, nobody else could come close to Annabeth’s level of competency. “Can you tell me more about the independent project? I’m intrigued, there are so many good little shorts and solos out there that I’m sure will pass the big studios by. Point me in the right direction so I don’t miss it.”
"Hey, being super awkward and talking about work all the time is basically my default setting outside of work, so no worries there." Her eyes grew to ridiculous size, and her grin soon matched. Annabeth bounced on her toes. If she wasn't careful, she'd start vibrating. "Ohmygosh, yes! Yes, that would be amazing! I've never gotten to work on a sci-fi show before, but I love Star Ministry. You can email me the info, and I'll show up whenever and wherever you need or want me."
But she was just as excited to talk about her project, especially to someone she admired and respected. "We haven't found a distributor yet"—and by that she meant someone who would sponsor putting it on the WOMP Box—"but it's based on my boyfriend Rowan's podcast called My Cross to Bear about a vampire finding their way through the world. Have you heard of it? It's really great, and I thought it would make a great serial. He's a really good storyteller, and I could see it was the kind of story that other people needed to see too. So we've been scraping things together and have shot the pilot. I'm just having trouble getting my foot in the door with investors to turn it into something more. I can send you a scene or something, if you're really interested. I'd love to get your opinion."
“Wow, okay. I’m glad you love the show!” Calix grinned at her enthusiasm, he hadn’t quite expected such exuberance, but he was so, so glad of it. “I’ll send you over the full schedule when I get home. Obviously we have the core crew from the show, but there’ll be new additions to the Solo cast whom we still need to decide on, so there are a couple of rehearsal days on which we may hold extra auditions.”
"That would be awesome!" Annabeth became aware of the fact that she was still bouncing as they went toward the writers' rooms, but was too excited to make herself stop. Professional was for when she was on the job. For now this was just a chat between friends as far as she was concerned.
They continued to walk as Annabeth answered his query and Cal found himself drawn into the idea of the project as she explained. He knew how difficult it could be trailing around with a demo of your project, looking for the right backer. Exactly the same had happened to him with Cosmic. “I have heard of it actually, I caught a couple of episodes and then lost track of them when filming, and everything, started up again.” He only managed to catch up with the Merlinverse episodes because Theo was such a big fan and it was something they watched together. “The theme is a great one and I agree something that needs to be seen as well as heard, the fact you managed to get a pilot together is testament to how much you believe in that too. I’d love to see a scene or two and I have the names of the people who helped me out with Cosmic all those years ago, which I can pass on. Maybe they could help?”
It made her heart happy to hear that someone as talented as Calix Shaw thought this idea had merit. She was well aware of the dangers of getting one's blinders on when it came to a creative project, but it was kind of amazing that he would be willing to even give it a chance. "Yes, absolutely! Thank you so much. Rowan's probably gonna flip when I tell him, but possibly in a more understated way than I am right now. Like, this is the point where I would do something silly like hug you and tell you I love you, but"—she couldn't keep the cloud from passing over her face—"I know better than that, especially around here. Just know that it's absolutely happening inside my head. P.S.—never go inside my head. I don't make enough to afford your therapy bills."
“You’re welcome.” Calix smiled, her excitement was infectious and he remembered feeling the same way when he’d first had interest in his project. “Understated flipping, that’s something you don’t see every day.” A frown crossed his face then as a cloud passed over hers, wondering what the cause was. Along with her words there was something behind them but he didn’t want to pry. “I mean, would a fist bump be acceptable?” Shaking his head as she went on, he gave a half laugh, “My own head is messy enough so I wouldn’t risk going into anyone else’s, but thanks for the warning.”
"He's, like, unironically cool. You should meet him. You guys can chat writing, and I can sit there and marvel at the way your brains work. It could be a whole thing." She smiled up at him and held out her fist. It was kind of a relief that he didn't ask; she still hadn't kicked up enough courage to actually fire off her emails anyway. She'd been high-key stalking Alex's office for a few days, but hadn't yet made that final step. "Fist bumps are always acceptable. Thanks for the opportunity, just all the way around. It's always more fun when you work with friends—assuming we don't drive each other crazy!"
“I’d like that, maybe Alex can come along too? Then I can marvel at you two being so on the ball and organised.” Cal tilted his head, wondering if his better half would be up for a ‘double date’ this soon. No harm in asking, he supposed. Smiling back as he bumped his fist to hers, he laughed at the driving each other crazy comment. “If we do and we’re still friends afterward that just shows how good our friendship is.” Pausing outside the admin office for Ministry he nodded toward the door, “this is me, time to get my hands on the final script and put your name officially on the books. I’ll email you later with all the details.”