The Elvenking and The Girl Behind the Scenes

Distracted

A few days have gone by since that episode. The young costume designer and the acclaimed actor did not see each other since then. Lee was anticipating her sight every time he came on set for rehearsals or principal photography. He longingly scoured the crowd of production staff during his call time and stand by moments, but without success. Maybe she was busy at the workshop designing some other character's garbs or perfecting his own? Or perhaps she was avoiding him by hiding behind racks of uncountable vestments? No, of course not. Lee laughed at his own clumsy worries and redirected his attention towards repeating his lines as his co-star, Evangeline Lilly, was busy going over her dagger choreographies.

"Such is the nature of evil..." he practiced, emphasising on his developed British accent and pacing the marked floor slowly, ensuring that his steps were light-footed and body poised, "... a shadow that grows in the dark, a sleepless malice as black as the on-coming wall of night... In time, all foul things come forth..."

The royal Elf, content with his delivery, soon lifted his head from the ground. What he saw next ticked him off. There was his crush, Tania, but she was not alone. She came strolling onto the set with a visibly very flirty Orlando Bloom lightly holding her by the arm. Both convulsed with a hysterical laughter that made Lee wonder how Orlando could have managed to get such a reaction from Tania.

His eyes narrowed in a sliver of jealousy as the British actor kissed her on the cheek before they parted ways, Tania heading up to her fellow Department teammates and him strolling towards the Elven platform.

"Hello, dad," the Elfling greeted gleefully as he walked up to his father.

Lee stayed silent for a long second before replying indifferently "Hello, son." He turned his eyes towards his favored dresser and saw her still smiling, which made his lips press flat. "So, what were you and Tania laughing about, huh? Did I miss something?"

Orlando, who was being suited into his gray armor by a team of other costumiers for the upcoming scene, answered "We just came back from Block A and I showed her my fan made hit song, you know, 'They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard'". He cackled once again and continued "Tania actually challenged me to cover the song, so she held the iPad up to my face and I had to sing the exact part of the song whenever she put the screen down. It was pretty hilarious. I wonder how she contained her laughter while other crew members were losing it, but had to stay silent because they were filming me for fan service." Then shifting his body in her direction, pointed out "But look, it seems that she's still letting it all out right now."

Thranduil followed Legolas' finger. He has not seen her in a shorter delay than his liking, and the fact that her bright smile and joyful energy were caused by someone else made his blood boil a few degrees higher than its original temperature.

"Well it's nice that you both get along," the king muttered flatly, and placing a notifying hand on his co-star's shoulder, "but beware, son, you're married already. So, looking is for free; touching is gonna cost you something."

With those last words, Lee granted Orlando a sly glare. The latter actor had horizontal wrinkles form across his forehead, as a sign that he had understood what the former said. It meant that Lee had his eyes set on Tania, and consequently Orlando had to keep his hands to himself. But that did not matter to him. Like Lee said, he was married to a very beautiful brown-haired and blue-eyed woman of his own anyway. Orlando simply smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Okay everybody, get into position! Let's lock it up!" Peter Jackson hollered from his uncomfortable high-backed director's chair, his voice resonating from the megaphone and reaching all ears around the set. The three actors and two Elvish guard extras located themselves to their respective marks. Silence fell into the large room, with only the subtle sounds of technical equipment beeping in the background. "Roll sound, roll camera, and... Action!"

Tania stood quietly behind a screen showing the scene being filmed. She admired the stars' performances and simpered at how magnificent they looked dressed as their characters. She thanked Peter Jackson in her head for always getting the casting spot on, as she thought that nobody else would be able to pull off the unique feel and distinct personality that the selected actors portrayed to their roles.

As she observed them, she could not help but notice on the B-roll screen that Lee's gaze seemed to be deviating from where he was supposed to be looking. It almost felt like he was staring at the crew, searching fervently for someone, or intrigued by something in the distance instead of focusing on staying in character and following his co-stars' lines.

"I would not antagonize her," Legolas warned the Orc as he clenched its hair tightly with one hand and held a knife against its neck with the other.

"You like killing things, Orc," Tauriel voiced towards the disguised creature with hatred fuming in her eyes. "You like death... Then let me give it to you!" She spat furiously as she jotted forward in a swift motion, with her dagger ready to impale the horrid enemy.

An awkward silence soon followed. Orlando and Evangeline darted their eyes towards Lee, eagerly waiting for him to deliver his line. Somehow, he did not even blink or flinch. His attention was centered towards Tania, who was completely clueless that he could see her from where he was standing, even if it was only from her shoulders up.

A few more seconds which felt like interminable minutes of quietness reigned over them before Tania decided to trace where his stare was pointing at. It led her to around the corner of the set where she was watching the scene. Curious to know what the halt was all about, Tania stepped from behind the TV and observed the throne. It was then that she locked eyes with Lee, and that he finally appeared to have regained his senses.

"Oh, crap... It was my turn to speak..." He cursed under his breath, thankfully not loud enough for the boom mic to have capted.

"Cut!" The director ordered, and the whole crew obeyed. "Actors, stand by, please. Lee, are you okay?" The master filmmaker questioned with a hint of worry in his tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that, I just got... Distracted," the royal Elf replied, reddening from a little embarrassment, and also excused himself towards his companions.

"Okay good, but focus please. We're so close to wrapping this scene up... Now, let's pick that up, right where you guys are currently positioned, because everything before that was spotless," Peter Jackson inquired as he sat deeper into his chair.

Tania detected a smirk dedicated to her on Lee's lips, but it disappeared as quickly as it formed. His eyes lingered on her frozen face a little longer before his expression turned devoid of all emotion as he set himself back into character for the cameras to capture.

The sequence advanced slowly but steadily towards the end. More cuts had to be done due to slight dialogue or movement mistakes here and there, but at least it was not because Lee's mind was cogitated on Tania. Deep inside her, she felt somewhat guilty for causing such distraction towards him, even if she knows she had not done anything wrong per say.

She knew how time was precious in moments like this and how much money was lost even for a few seconds of cuts. Tania therefore studied the Elvenking on the elevated platform and caught him sometimes glancing at her between exchanges with the other characters. She then snuck past a few staff mates stealthily and made her way to the exit doors.

"... No one enters this kingdom," Thranduil commanded in an intimidating manner towards his son and for all the palace to hear, "and no one leaves it..."

Ironically, as he said those lines and right after Peter Jackson yelled out "cut!", the last thing he saw was Tania heading out of the set, and the white doors silently closing behind her.