Closed [The Amphitheater] Method Acting (Alia, Rinya)

[Jorin Ertihan]

Day 15, Season Winter, 513 AV

Jorin didn't make much of a production of the fact, but the truth was he was something of a conservative actor. He didn't go for the newfangled acting styles that all the kids were trying. Perhaps he was acting too old for his age but he saw nothing wrong with the "traditional" acting method. Simply displaying the emotion on stage while maintaining a calm center; it was the only way he knew how to act.

It was true, he had used it occasionally outside of his professional career. For the odd job involving merchants or politicians it became quite necessary and expedient to put his acting talents to work looking or acting a specific way to get what he needed. As far as Jorin was concerned it wasn't so much lying as showing people what they needed and wanted to see.

Jorin was never very comfortable with outright lying, but he had put on enough masks to know that unless he was interacting with his wife, he wasn't really sure how to behave around other people, so he simply showed them what they wanted to see. He was always acting, at least to some degree, and this day was no different.

Jorin didn't actually know what had possessed him to drag his wife to join him in rehearsals. He knew every time he did this, she probably had to do a lot of extra work behind the scenes that she didn't tell him about to arrange the necessary time off in order to come. And truthfully he didn't even know if she'd enjoy seeing the 'behind the scenes' work that went into making a production.

In some sense, it was easier. When Rinya had arrived, it wasn't like before when he had to essentially sneak her in the back. This time she walked in the front, and Jorin brazenly walked her in unchallenged. Their Chevas Marks serving as proof that they were married before the Goddess of Marriage and Vows, and thus granting Rinya the privilege to visit her husband anytime she chose so long as she did not interfere with their rehearsal process.

There weren't very many new faces at the Amphitheater. A very young actress had briefly joined them before just as suddenly vanishing; an oddity that was still being discussed to that day. And of course their newest addition and rising star: Alia Beudouin. Jorin did not begrudge the young woman's success. Her meteoric rise quite neatly mirrored his rapid descent; as Farline's machinations continued to throw obstacles in his path despite her physical absence from the city. He suspected it would take many Seasons to fully extract her influence from his life.

As he led Rinya to the semicircular stage of the Amphitheater where practice was about to occur, he was accosted by none other than the stage manager himself, who huffed and puffed as he gave Jorin a carefully blank look which would have been an annoyed glare if it hadn't been for the attractive woman on his arm bearing the same mark as himself.

"Jorin, were the hai have you been?" he asked. He opened his mouth to rely but was cut off when the man simply plowed on ahead. "We needed you up on stage two chimes ago. Get a move-on!"

Jorin sighed and nodded, heading up on stage where a few of the understudies and actors were milling about. Among them was the red hair of Alia. Despite the fact that Jorin knew she hated being defined by her hair. But he couldn't help it; the red was so bright and distinctive and it was the first thing he saw when he was just quickly glancing over. At the very least, a moment later Jorin recovered and quietly brought his wife over to the seating arrangements in front of the theater, giving her a quick but bright kiss on the lips.

"Don't worry about me," he smiled. "Just enjoy the show!" He squeezed her hand encouragingly before releasing her to go back up on stage, were a few of the actors were la-la-la-ing a few notes to loosen up their voice. It was actually a good idea, though if there was one thing Jorin could not do it was sing.

Nodding at Alia, he smiled gently at her. "I see you're fitting in quite well," he commented, as he noted she was speaking with ease to her fellow actors. It was to be expected; after all if one wanted to be an actor one had to be a natural entertainer. Why else would someone choose this line of work?

"Well, anyhow, I'm really glad that-" Jorin never got to finish his sentence as the stage master leaped up onto the stage, arms sweeping dramatically as he called for places. Jorin barely had time to step into place when the man threw on a cheerful grin and announced that they would be putting on a production of "The Thief of Hearts" in a short thirty days.

There was a chorus of groans, and Jorin was tempted to join them. "The Thief of Hearts" was what some people would term a "crowd-pleaser". It was one of those plays that was put on to please a certain demographic - in this case it catered to the romantic single young ladies of Riverfall. As such it was a tale mostly of romance and heartbreak, with a few action scenes that Jorin was convinced were only in there to make sure what men were in the audience didn't sleep through the entire thing.

"Oh quit your bellyaching!" the stage master admonished. "Look we're going to need a lead couple, but Laran had another engagement and our usual lead is of too advanced age to pull off the main character," he continued. Shrugging, he pointed at Jorin and Alia, effectively ordering them to be the lead couple.

Petch.

Jorin knew that there were at least a dozen scenes where he would be required to kiss Alia. It was, after all, written in the script. [Forthan kisses Dalissa passionately]. [Forthan gives his love a quick kiss]. [Forthan is kissing Dalissa way too much...] Oh alright. That last one wasn't real. But it was certainly what Jorin was thinking. What couple kissed this much? And then he suddenly remembered just how often he kissed Rinya. Oh. Right.

"Uh, boss, do we have to..." he ventured, but the protest died in his throat at the stage master's harsh glare.

"Only if you want to keep your job," the stage master replied harshly. "We only have a few days to rehearse this so let's get moving, people! Jorin! Alia! Places! I want to see the first romance scene pronto!"

Jorin glanced over at Alia helplessly. The first romance scene... it was supposed to have been "love at first sight" for Forthan and Dalissa. Of course, them being from opposite sides of feuding families, they were not "supposed" to be together. A typical tragedy love story, regurgitated repeatedly over the centuries. Jorin for his part wished they could do a more imaginative play, but then he wasn't the one who set the agenda at the Amphitheater.

"Love" he could successfully fake. He'd done it before in other productions. But at the end of the scene, they were supposed to kiss. And that he wasn't so sure about. Up until that point Jorin had avoided any sort of romance scenes mainly because he wasn't highly billed enough to warrant a part that would require it. But now... he vaguely considered turning down the part. But that would be foolish. No actor turned down a leading part; that was professional suicide. He'd just have to follow Alia's lead, and hope and pray he could act convincingly enough for the stage master.

He knew, though, that he'd never fool Rinya. The bond would already be telling her he hated this already. And when he kissed Alia... he'd have to put every ounce of his acting talent into it, and even with that the bond would tell his wife exactly what he'd be feeling: nothing. Because he didn't want to. Not with anyone but her.

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[Rinya]

Day 15, Season Winter, 513 AV

Rinya wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed her to say yes. She had been to the Amphitheater several times—okay just two—and the first time had been pleasant enough. It had been just Jorin and her though and it had a most beneficial outcome for the two of them. They had ended up bonded that day… or rather just acknowledging that the bond had already been made. Either way it was moot point to the fact that they both were finally aware of it. Her second visit however had been chaos… the kind she had no idea how to handle. That had become clearly obvious.

Rinya of course knew why she said yes. Jorin knew why as well—they both just didn’t bother saying it outloud. He had asked and it wasn’t something Rinya couldn’t give him. Even if chaos would ensue with this visit, Rinya would still accompany Jorin any time he asked—short of being banned of course. There were even ways of getting around that. Being a bird Kelvic with amazing eyesight certainly could pay off at times, but thus far it wasn’t required, and it was much too cold to just remain in feathers.

Oddly enough it didn’t take any work to accompany Jorin on this particular visit. The Warren itself was fairly quiet in the winter season as there was little new product to be brought it. Mostly it was just patrolling and because it got darker much sooner, most of her shifts tended to be shorter. Raistren didn’t want another distraction of her eyes in the dark over any kind of danger. He may have been a firm leader, but since Rinya never complained—at least outwardly at work—over her schedule he didn’t entirely begrudge her of faults she couldn’t fix. At least… she didn’t think he did. Sometimes the Akalak were hard to judge considering her pet like status.

In the very least she didn’t have to sneak in like last time. Rinya had remained dressed in her work clothing with her winter cloak wrapped around her and her hair in a loose braid down her back, exposing the Cheva Mark across the skin of her neck. Jorin met her at the front of the Amphitheater and she easily took one of his hands in hers and let him lead her. Some of the people she recognized, others may have been new or simply ones she had not met yet. There was just so many people that went into making a production work, Rinya was sure she would never meet—much less remember—all of them.

The stage manager seemingly popped up out of nowhere with a look she considered rather odd on his face. Like the man was completely torn over something and had no idea how to handle it. For some reason Rinya got the feeling Jorin wasn’t actually late, but the stage manager was still harboring ridiculous notions that Farline had put into his head—which always came back on Jorin. If it hadn’t been for Eric, Rinya might have eventually come to see the man herself. Farline wasn’t the only woman who knew how to get what she wanted—it just wouldn’t have been nearly as pleasant as Farline’s visits.

None the less Rinya bit her tongue and kept her face a neutral as possible. It would be easy for her to become hostile towards the idiot and she knew it. As it was Jorin probably could feel her annoyance from just looking at the man, much less the fact that he didn’t even give Jorin a chance to answer his question. Her words would serve Jorin no good at the point; actually they probably would have made things worse. But it was obvious now where Jorin’s frustration came from while he was at work. Jorin was clever enough to lead her away from the man before he said something stupid and set her off.

Regardless of the stage manager’s attitude, Rinya returned his kiss before she settled into the seats he brought her to. Jorin moved on, mingling with several of the actors and actresses on the stage already. In the very least his removal from the Amphitheater hadn’t totally damaged his friendships, though she was sure there were rumors on why he disappeared so abruptly, only to return by the end of the season. Her thoughts were interrupted however when the stage manager hopped onto stage and announced their next play—which most of them were not at all happy about the choice. Jorin himself didn’t feel too pleased.

The stage manager just scolded them, leading on that Laran was apparently busy and the usual lead didn’t fit the bill. Pointing at Jorin and a beautiful young red haired girl, Rinya realized Jorin had apparently been chosen for lead. He didn’t feel too happy about it however. She had no idea why… the only play she had ever seen before had been the first one on this very stage. But as Jorin tried to wiggle his way out of something, the stage manager only glared at him and threatened his job—again.

Rinya couldn’t help the snort that came from her; it was a general response she took to people like him. However unlady like—and it was easily heard of course—she actually managed to keep her face blank, even as her stomach dropped at his next words. Romance scene? It would figure that her first calm visit to the Amphitheater would not be chaos of the physical sense, but the emotional one. She had just assigned herself a wonderful seat to watch Jorin romance another girl, a very beautiful one at that. There was no stopping the surge of jealousy, but in the least she knew better. That didn’t particularly make it easy however.

It helped of course that Jorin wasn’t enjoying the idea either. Interestingly enough Rinya wasn’t actually angry at the girl—not like she had been with Kirsi. Of course at the time the two of them weren’t technically together either. There was nothing to cause such an issue this time around. So Rinya crossed her arms and kept her thoughts to herself for the moment.

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[Alia Beaudouin]

Day 15, Season Winter, 513 AV Alia was having quite a bit of fun at the Amphitheater, the actors were all very welcoming, and quite a few of them could sing. Or at least they thought they could. It had been fun teaching them a couple more melodies. Though eventually, her voice grew tired and Alia retired to speaking with another member of the cast, Several chimes later a familiar face arrived, after a great deal of yelling from the stage master, of course. Jorin seemed to be too late for the stage master’s liking. As the stage master scolded Jorin, Alia caught sight of Rinya. The Kelvic seemed to be very close to verbally attacking the stage master, though she was holding back quite well. Jorin left a quick kiss on her cheek and started walking towards Alia, who said a quick goodbye to the actor she had been speaking to. Jorin immediately started conversation with a congratulations towards her fitting in with the other actors. She opened her mouth to thank him for encouragement, but both of them were cut off as the stage master told them to get in their places. The production theme was announced with enthusiasm on the stage master’s part, but The Thief of Hearts production didn’t seem to have many fans. Alia stayed silent. She hadn’t heard the story of The Thief before, although she was getting the feeling she should know what it was. The Thief of Hearts was definitely not one of the stories she had heard before, though it seemed to be quite popular in the Amphitheater crowd. The stage master scowled and, after scolding the crew for groaning and quickly explaining about how some person named Laran couldn’t make it, the stage master finally announced the cast. Alia fully expected him to go on and name two of the other, more experienced actors, so she let her gaze wander around the outdoor theater. The mention of her name shocked her back to Mizahar. The stage master had called her? What was happening? Had she gotten a lead part? Alia wasn’t sure if she should have been happy or terrified. She had never had a lead part. What if she messed up? What if something went wrong? Would the whole play derail should she petch up? Doubts flickered across her mind, every part of acting was still new to her, yet she had been cast as a lead? Glancing over at Jorin as if he could telepathically tell her what was going on, Alia saw that he didn’t seem to happy about getting the part either. Was something wrong with the play? The actors had resented it, but shouldn’t he be more excited about his lead part anyway? He wasn’t new, like Alia, so what was wrong? Was he simply unhappy with the part? Or was the problem the fact that Alia was the leading lady? So many questions, yet no one to ask. Several ticks passed until Jorin spoke up, asking if he could be excused from something, but he was cut off before he finished his sentence. The stage master threatened his job, which quickly shut him up. Yet another set of questions flew across her mind. Why didn’t Jorin want to be the leading man? Was being partner to Alia that terrible? Her expression slowly melted into a slight frown. Jorin had seemed so accepting of Alia, why was associating with her so bad now? The stage master began issuing orders, Jorin and Alia were mentioned specifically. The attention surprised her, she had to get used to that, having a lead part meant having a more important role. She tried to keep her face blank, until the stage master issued his final command. Her concentration shattered. The first romance scene? The play was a romance? That was why Jorin was so unhappy. Alia was his partner in a play about.. Kissing. This was not… Right. Her first lead part in a play was not only was with the only person she truly knew in Riverfall, but it was a romance. Did the gods simply not wish for her to have friends? Because the quickest way to end a friendship with a man was to petching kiss him. Alia’s eyes flickered around the stage until her stare fell upon Jorin, who had a peculiar expression on his face. It was a bit strange, as Jorin had always seemed.. In control. Adaptable to every situation. Always one step ahead, planning the next move. She breathed out slowly as her feet shuffled over to Jorin almost subconsciously, her mind was too full of doubts to pay attention. Were they supposed to preform without scripts? Was the play really that popular, if all actors were supposed to know it’s lines? She sighed. Sure, she could improvise a line or two, but an entire scene? If all else fails.. Blame it on the city. Alia coughed quietly before tilting her head towards the stage master. ”Excuse me.. Sir, but I never memorized The Thief of Hearts. It was never a popular story.. Back in Wind Reach. I’ve never heard it’s lines…” Her momentum trailed off and she instantly regretting ever speaking up. It made her sound stupid, mentioning back in Wind Reach every two ticks, but then again, it was true. The play had never been preformed in Wind Reach. Though, even if it had been, Alia never actually went to watch any of the showings. She had only listened to stories, and most of those were told by here father, who was never a big fan of romantic tales. After another few ticks of silence, the stage master mumbled something angrily and threw a packet of papers onto the stage. The flimsy parchment immediately scattered everywhere. Why is life so hard? After a quick inspection of the closest script, Alia righted herself. The page seemed romantic enough, and it was labeled to be in the first act, so it might have been the right lines. Even if it wasn’t.. Rehearsals couldn’t possibly go too badly. Her eyes skimmed down the paper. It was a stereotypical love story, forbidden love, romantic gestures, lots and lots of kissing. Whoever wrote the play was a big fan of kissing, at the end of practically every act, the leading man and leading lady were to kiss. Saying goodbye? Kiss. Saying hello? Kiss. Running away from pitchforks and fire? Kiss. The day had just gotten that much more terrible. It would have been so much easier, should Alia have to kiss a stranger, one of the other actors, but no, she had to kiss Jorin. Jorin, who had helped her begin acting. Jorin, who had so been so helpful honing her skills. Jorin, who was married. Alia slowly took her place, doubts flying through her mind. Oh, why did it have to be this play?

[Jorin Ertihan]

Jorin was absolutely convinced that fate was out to get him. The one time he brought Rinya to see him rehearse and it had to be "The Thief of Hearts". There wasn't anything specifically wrong with that play, at least not in any literal sense, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth. He couldn't help but feel Rinya's surge of jealousy when the romance scene was announced, not that he was surprised in the least.

He had been none-too-happy watching Rinya kiss Rhys during Beautyfest, even though he knew there wasn't any passion coming from Rinya's side during the act. And of course there was the drunken understudy who brazenly stole a kiss from her, that had been a really pleasant day. Jorin's sarcastic thoughts were interrupted when Alia mentioned that she didn't know the lines.

There was a brief awkward pause, during which Jorin realized no one was planning to help her. For some reason that upset him. Really? Was this political bullshyke still going on? Jorin really hated politics. Whether it was actual politics in the city or the workplace politics of the Amphitheater it was the same petching shyke. He briefly wondered if politics was also why Alia, a relatively new face, had been promoted past much more veteran actresses to snag the role of the leading lady for this production.

Was it because she was young and pretty? It was certainly a possibility; fair or not, oftentimes with plays like these, it wasn't the best actress that got the leading lady part but the prettiest. It was a cruel sort of arithmetic; if one could bill the leading lady as a stunning beauty, one could get a much greater male attendance to a play that would otherwise not possess much appeal to that particular demographic.

Finally, the stage master threw down a packet for Alia, and Jorin frowned even more. There was no need for that! It wasn't Alia's fault that Wind Reach had never done a production of The Thief of Hearts. Jorin for his part thought higher of Alia's birthplace because of it; the play was awful and he really wished it wasn't so... so... sappy.

Granted his own relationship with his wife often approached similar levels of sappy, but the two things were entirely different! Well, at least that was what he told himself. In any case, the scene was at least a fairly simple one. Given that this was rehearsals, there weren't any props, any makeup, any costumes. And both of them would be reading mostly from the script, trying to memorize their lines.

Typically, the Amphitheater gave about a week to memorize lines, then after that it was work on delivery. But, stage directions such as "the opponent falls down, dead," or "the main character kisses the leading lady" would still be followed during the initial read, at least to the best of the actor's abilities while holding the script in hand.

Jorin picked up his own copy of the script and glanced over it. The first scene, then, was to take place at a party. No doubt during the actual play, there would be props and costumes to represent that he and Alia were at a party but for the moment, imagination would have to suffice.

"The evening draws ever long," Jorin sighed, following the stage directions on his copy of the script. One other thing he wasn't a big fan of was how florid the language of this play happened to be. Not that he was all that surprised; he rather suspected that whoever wrote this play had never been with a woman. Or even kissed one, given the number of times the playwright had indicated the two leading actors had to kiss. Practically every scene!

"... and this event is adding bells to it. How much longer must I remain amongst these pompous pompadours?" By the gods. "Pompous pompadours"? Really? He had to fight to avoid rolling his eyes at the dialogue that was being forced into his mouth, and he now understood why Laran had ducked out of this particular duty.

Certainly, Jorin would gain exposure as the lead actor on this production, but it would be the wrong sort of attention. The sort he really didn't want to be getting. And as he strode across the stage to where the script indicated he needed to be, he did his utmost to give the lines he was reading the gravitas they really didn't deserve.

"Well, Forthan, their coin pays for your games," an understudy read, with a bit too much enthusiasm. That was often the problem with novice actors: they acted too much. There was a delicate subtlety to acting; while emoting was one of the most important skills in the art and one of the first to be learned, it was also a crutch that beginner actors leaned on when they did not know how to proceed with a scene properly.

Jorin's response was more muted. Despite his own misgivings about the quality of the play, Jorin took every production seriously. Acting was his art, after all, and he had no respect for actors who would not give it their all just because they happened to not like the play they had landed in, or the part in it they'd been given. He'd protested, he'd been shut down, the discussion was over. Now it was time to continue with the play.

"My games end when I go home," 'Forthan' replied, though Jorin sincerely doubted those words. As such, he made sure to deliver them in a sarcastic tone though the script did not call for it. In fact no stage direction was given at all for delivery on that line, an oversight Jorin was sure so he made his best guess as to the context of the words.

"Is not your betrothed at this gathering?" the understudy asked, once more over-doing his part quite severely. Fortunately, Jorin knew that the actual actor reading that part would likely be returning in a few days. He would have a great deal to catch up on but then, that was part of the job. As such he did not worry overmuch about the lower quality of the understudy's acting. After all, that was why he was still an understudy and not an actor.

But that drew up another problem. Where was his 'betrothed'? That actress had not appeared, and he glanced about with a rather surprised look on his face. It wasn't like her to be late to a rehearsal though he supposed with the recent snows it was possible she'd come down with a nasty cold or something along those lines. Regardless, he thought to perhaps skip ahead a few lines when the stage master suddenly barked, "You there! Could you come up here?"

Jorin almost choked with surprise when he realized the stage master was pointing at Rinya. What?! It wasn't that he wasn't thrilled to be on stage with his wife. But he knew she was not an actress and didn't even know what to do. And while this was just a rehearsal, there was also the problem that she didn't even know how to read yet. Oh sure, Jorin was teaching her, and Rinya was making very good progress. But still, she was a long way from being able to read a script.

"Uh, boss, I don't think my wife is quite ready to be even a stand-in," Jorin stage-whispered, but the stage master shook his head stubbornly.

"She doesn't need to emote or anything. Just play the part and say the lines," the man insisted. Jorin's heart fell. He didn't want to embarrass his wife in front of everyone, but how was he going to tell them that she couldn't read? Although, as a Kelvic, perhaps that wouldn't be so surprising to them. Still, such personal things wasn't something Jorin particularly wanted to share with others.

Jorin gave Rinya a sort of helpless look. If she refused to be dragged onstage, he was sure the stage master would throw a fit. The man looked prepared to use any excuse to make Jorin's life miserable. Ever since Farline had turned him against Jorin, there had been a tension between them that didn't exist before and now, even the smallest infraction cost Jorin in some small fashion. If he didn't love acting so much, Jorin might have considered the hostile working environment not worth the trouble.

Regardless, the stage master indicated that Jorin continue the scene, so he did. Turning to the understudy, Jorin nodded, making sure to put just the right amount of nonchalance and ennui into the motion. "Indeed," he sighed. "She should be arriving at this social event shortly, though I do not know why I have been asked to attend. It is not as though-"

Jorin paused, dumbstruck, as he stared at Alia, just as the script demanded that he did. Fortunately, surprise and attraction were certainly things he had to act out on stage many times before, so the effect was instantaneous and quite realistic. However, Jorin thought he might have overplayed the surprise just a bit too much. Ah well, practice made perfect. Regardless, he glanced back down at the script before continuing.

"Ye gods," he gasped, putting the appropriate amount of wonder into his voice, his eyes wide and wondering as he continued to stare at Alia as though she was the most incredible thing in the world. It was strange, doing this in the presence of Rinya. Because while the look was quite realistic it still did not match the one he regularly gave Rinya.

In some sense, Jorin could understand the stage master's obsession with method acting. It certainly would look more realistic if he could recreate that look on stage. but the problem was, Jorin was not convinced he could recreate it, and even if he was able to, he was not convinced he wanted to.

"Do I see an Alvina before me?" Jorin breathed. "A child of the gods, come down to visit our puny mortal realm? Has a star fallen to the ground, and blessed us with its presence?" Ye gods. Such sappy lines. Even Jorin, for all the hopeless romantic he was, thought those particular lines were painfully overwrought. Like the playwright was trying too hard, which he likely was.

Nonetheless, he approached Alia, despite the understudy, following the guidance of the script, attempted to prevent him from going. Looking directly into the girl's large, expressive eyes, he swept a low bow to her, giving her a shy smile as instructed.

"My lady," he breathed, his voice catching as he spoke. Despite the awkward lines, he did his utmost to at least try to sound infatuated with Alia. "Might you grace me with your name?" he asked, as he seized one of her hands and kissed it, then looked up soulfully into her eyes.

If Jorin remembered correctly, he was playing the role of a dashing rogue who was settling down with a young merchant's daughter, whose role was temporarily being filled by Rinya, whom the stage master and one of the understudies was trying to convince to come onstage, insisting it was just practice and it would be OK. This party was where he met Alia's character, "Dalissa", a young scullery maid whose beauty captivates Jorin's character Forthan's heart, despite her low station.

It was perhaps one of the oldest stories in the book. So cliched that the play didn't even need to be listened to in order to get the general gist of the story. But then, Jorin suspected most of the young ladies didn't come to the production to hear a gripping tale. They came to see the "dashing lead actor" (though up until that day he had never been said person). And most of the young men came because the young ladies dragged them there. That or to see the beautiful young lead actress.

Jorin supressed the urge to sigh heavily. It was going to be a long day.

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[Rinya]

To say that something was wrong was a terrible understatement. Jorin was not pleased by the choice of play, and even Alia seemed to notice his discomfort. Approaching the stage manager, she indicated that she didn’t actually know the play. It only seemed to make the stage manager all the more angry however and he pulled out several copies of what Rinya assumed to be script and threw it on the stage floor. Well that certainly didn’t help morale over the whole play now did it? Rinya couldn’t help but roll her eyes—no wonder the man was so very easily manipulated by Farline.

Jorin’s disdain for the play only seemed to grow the more the stage manager pushed for it. They both picked up their scripts and scanned over them quickly, and Jorin’s annoyance while staring at the script flowed across the bond nearly as seamlessly as the love he felt for her. It can’t actually be that bad of a play… Rinya thought to herself, but her doubts were quickly erased within the first few lines Jorin sighed out. What the petch!? No one every used words like that… at least not in that kind of sentence. The stage manager really thought this would be a good idea?

But then the man did strike her to be quite the idiot already—this just added to it. To make matters worse, the man reading his lines to Jorin was clearly over acting. Rinya had no skill or knowledge in acting, but even she could see the amount of emotion the kid put into it… way too much of it actually. And she was the one terrible at reading other people. Jorin seemed fairly unaffected. He carried one with his lines as if it was all part of the play—he was good at that. Then again, she was quite biased over her mate.

At the mention of a ‘betrothed’ however it seemed the rehearsal came to its first hiccup. Jorin glanced around them, but whoever he was looking for was obviously absent. And then everyone else seemed to follow in line—including the stage manager. After barely a tick, the man pointed in her direction and ordered someone to come up to the stage. Rinya raised her brow, but it wasn’t until Jorin’s surprise hit her—followed by his words—that she realized the idiot actually meant her. The stage manager… wanted her on stage?

If Rinya hadn’t considered him an idiot before she certainly would have now. Jorin tried once again to argue with the stage manager that she wasn’t a good choice for a stand-in, but the manager refused to listen. Rinya could feel her teeth grit together. There was nothing he could do, especially if his face told her anything. But in her opinion the play could continue without this ‘betrothed’, and Rinya wanted nothing more than to ignore the man apparently intent on having her get on the stage. "You’re joking right?" Her voice was deadpan as her attention was pulled from her husband to the lousy man.

"Just read the lines would you?"The stage manager sounded exasperated and Rinya finally felt her face pull into a frown. Honestly she didn’t mind others knowing that she couldn’t read, but oddly enough she didn’t want that reflecting on Jorin. "Of all the people here... I am your only choice?" Rinya hissed at him. Seriously there had to be an understudy somewhere just waiting for this chance. And here the man wanted her to do it.

"If you haven’t noticed, I don’t have any other female actors here at the moment." He spoke to her as if it was obvious, but it just caused Rinya to purse her lips slightly. She couldn’t tell the differences between actresses, understudies, and stage hands. It was quite tempting actually to reply with ‘Well why don’t you do it yourself?’, but that was apparently out of the question. Rinya had to remember that she didn’t want to make things worse for Jorin here than they already were.

"I can’t read." It was a last ditch effort that was actually quite true, but the stage manager just shrugged. "Someone will prompt for you then." Rinya groaned inwardly as she realized she was losing this battle. If it was just lines, why couldn’t one of the males do it? Jorin was already moving along the script at a decent pace, already ‘noticing’ Alia across the so called room. Not only did she have to watch Jorin and this girl together, apparently now she was getting on stage as well.

If you dare speak to me the way you do Jorin, I’ll have your guts… Rinya kept the thought internalized, but it was a threat none the less. She did not work here, and she had no issues making this man’s life a living hai either. Grumbling low under breath she pulled herself on the stage and planted herself to stand where the stage manager was pointing. Arms crossed and a scowl firmly planted on her face, anyone could see she wasn’t entirely happy with the situation, but Rinya reminded herself in a loop in the back of her mind. This is for Jorin… this is for Jorin…

white

[Alia Beaudouin]

In answer to an earlier question, yes. The rehearsal could get worse. So very much worse. The stage master pushed passed his normal point of being a shyke when he ordered Rinya up onto the stage, speaking to her as if she was another one of the actors he just had to deal with. Alia didn’t quite enjoy the stage master’s presence, although he wasn’t exactly her sworn enemy either. Though, her distaste for the man was growing with every tick spent in his presence. At first Alia had thought he was ok, but now with every act, every play, it seemed that the stage master was growing more and more irritated with Alia’s skill, or lack thereof. She tried to find reason in why the man seemed to dislike his own actors, but so far, there didn’t seem to be any real reason. On top of that, he didn’t just command around his actors, he seemed to think that he was in charge of Rinya too. Alia felt bad for the Kelvic, not only was she not an actor, but from her reaction, she couldn’t read. Though, sympathy probably wouldn’t help anything, as it was plain that Rinya was none to happy to have to take part in the rehearsal. Alia didn’t blame her. At least the others got paid for being bossed around by the stage master. Alia sighed inwardly. It was as if the stage master simply didn’t know how to interact with other people, acting like conversing with others was a waste of time. What was his problem? Question bubbled around in her mind, but her attention snapped back to Jorin as he began walking towards her. Just listening to the words he recited from the script gave her a headache, it seemed as if the play was written not in common, but in some ancient language, back when people actually used works like pompadours. After listening to several lines, Alia finally understood the actors aversion to the play. All the words were long and overdone, every scene ended with a kiss, and in reality, love at first sight simply didn’t happen. She seriously considered raising her hand and asking for a smaller, less idiotic part. That probably wouldn’t go over well, though. The idea of boycotting the play gave Alia the energy to continue listening. As Jorin finished his lines with a kiss of her hand, Alia curtsied, just as the script demanded. She was supposed to be playing some sort of maid, and Jorin’s character had a far higher social standing than Alia’s, so she put on a slight mask of surprise and began speaking. Her voice cracked at one point as she stifled a laugh at some of the lines, but mostly, everything stayed level. ”Oh, fine sir, no need for such wondrous accolade, my name is Dalissa, humble servant of this fine household.” Her lines weren’t quite as bad as Jorin’s, though she had less of them. Still, Alia was pretty sure the play demonstrated all the wrong ways to write a play. ”Shall I get you a drink?” Alia wondered how the stage master had chosen the play. Had he stumbled upon it, or Couldn’t the lines just be my name is Dalissa and you have other woman to woo? It would make everything much easier that way. It seemed as if the characters in plays didn’t know how to speak normal, simple common. Maybe there were some plays that weren't so complicated, but if there was, Alia had yet to see them. Scanning the next few paragraphs of script, she mocked the lines silently. What her lines lacked in length, they made up for in complexity. Eventually, Forthan with his dashing good looks and mystically wonderful voice would woo Dalissa and they would run off to marry in secrecy. It was all rather made up, and it took all of Alia’s self control not to sigh. If the fact that she had to kiss Jorin at the end of practically every scene hadn’t been hanging over her head, she would have started laughing about the whole idea of this being an actual, serious play. Unfortunately, it was an actual, serious play, and Alia was the leading lady. Why was acting so complicated? Then again, since coming to Riverfall, everything had been complicated. Meeting people, making friends, having to petching kiss those friends in order to keep your job. Her silent feud with life came to an end when another actor, playing the part of the man who was hosting the banquet in which Dalissa and Forthan met, began speaking. Alia all but tuned his words out, no interaction came between his character and Alia’s, so there was no reason she should pay him any attention. All he really said was thank you for coming in long, overcomplicated words like frivolous and pompous. When the other actor stopped speaking, Alia began the last few lines before Jorin’s turn again. ”I wish not to burden you with my presence, I must go back to my duties. Excuse me, please.” Alia shifted from her place on the stage slightly closer to Jorin, technically disobeying the script, as it said she was to push past him, but Alia was in no hurry to speed up the process in which eventually, Jorin and Alia, Forthan and Dalissa were to kiss. Alia wondered if Jorin was as worried about this as her. It seemed slightly strange that her first kiss would be forced onto her by her job, and even more strange that she had to kiss the only person she really knew in Riverfall, just to add insult to injury. Then again, Jorin’s wife was in the audience, how would she react to Alia having to kiss her husband? It probably wouldn’t win her any friends. Then again, to Jorin, it was just another part of the job, right? Keeping her job was probably more important than not kissing Jorin, and she wouldn’t have to kiss him on a rehearsal, right? Alia hoped the stage master would understand that.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Jorin was half-tempted to claim a headache. If he tried hard enough he was sure he could get one to manifest. After all, just reading the lines of this play was enough to give anyone with a brain a headache. Alia, at the very least, had the acting chops not to outwardly display how she felt about the lines she was being made to say, though Jorin thought that she might be putting too much emphasis on acting coy and coquettish.

Alia was plenty pretty as it was. And she had a natural look that many people would describe as "cute". All she would have to do was look down slightly and that would have been sufficient. For his part, Jorin had learned over the years that when it came to acting, oftentimes less was more. It did not take screaming histrionics to portray sorrow, nor raging fury to demonstrate anger. To be sure, such emoting was sometimes required - indeed even written directly into the stage directions.

But Jorin saw it more as a failing of the stage master than of Alia, since it was the stage master's job to point out that Alia might have been emoting a bit too much when she said her line, announcing herself as "Dalia" as Jorin already knew. "Wonderous accolade"? Jorin certainly felt for Alia, the poor girl had lines nearly as bad as his. At least she didn't have to say as many.

Jorin fought the urge to raise his eyebrow when Alia disobeyed the her stage direction, which instructed her to push past Jorin, not just stand a little closer to him. That was what caused the stage master to interrupt the play, waving his hands slightly as he walked up onto the stage, saying, "No, no, no, no, no!"

Great. So he doesn't come up there when Alia might need a little coaching on her acting, but he does when she doesn't follow the stage direction to the letter. Jorin suppressed a sigh, dropping out of character as he gave Alia a sympathetic look. He knew she was about as excited as he was when it came to this play - especially after she got a taste of what the play was actually going to be like. Meanwhile, the stage master was speaking to Alia.

"The stage directions said to push past him!" he was saying, holding up the script for Alia to see as though she couldn't read. Jorin was quite sure Alia could read, she just was not particularly eager to get to the next scene. After all, that was the scene in which she'd have to kiss him.

Jorin briefly wondered if they could perhaps get out of that particular stage direction, but given how the man was jumping down Alia's throat even for this minor stage instruction, it was unlikely that something as major as the kiss that caps off the last scene from the act would be permitted to be skipped.

"The whole point of the scene is that he's supposed to lightly grab you when you push past him!" The stage master continued, pointing to the rest of the scene. "How is Forthan supposed to do that when you're standing this far away from him?" Alia wasn't actually that far from Jorin, being only about a foot or so away after she'd moved a bit closer. If he'd wanted to, he could have easily 'grabbed' her as the script demanded, but apparently that wasn't good enough.

"Ok, let's take it from the last line," the man ordered, handing the script back to Alia as he did so. "And do it right this time!"

Jorin suppressed a sigh and got back into character. Sometimes it was all-too-exhausting, being an actor, slipping on the mask and only taking it off when he was at home with Rinya. Here, though, she was once again going to see him put it on, something she very rarely saw since most of the time he was with her and never acted at all. He knew that his emotions across the bond would not match the expressions on his face, but nonetheless, it was a requirement of his job. Normally, it wasn't a problem. But nothing about "The Thief of Hearts" was normal.

Alia repeated her line about not wishing to be a burden, and having to return to her duties. Jorin decided to save her another tongue lashing from the stage master, himself moving almost imperceptibly but enough that she would have to brush past him in order to continue moving in the direction she was moving. As she did so, Jorin's arm shot out and he grasped her forarm, spinning Alia slightly and looking deep into her eyes.

"Dalissa," Jorin breathed, trying to put as much feeling into the word as he could. Jorin wasn't quite sure how well he was succeeding, but then the stage master was not jumping up onto stage so he supposed he at least fooled him. Rinya did not seem impressed by the play thus far, but her lines were forthcoming and honestly Jorin just wanted them over with so that she wouldn't have to be tortured by this play any longer than she had to.

"Would that you could treat with me instead, your duties to me and mine alone," he intoned, inwardly grimacing at the lines. What did that even mean? Jorin thought himself a fairly educated man, yet he wasn't quite sure what Forthan had actually asked of Dalissa. Great. Now his character was spouting nonsense. At least he managed what he hoped to be a "charming smile" as he said it. At least, that was what the stage direction called for, and Jorin did his utmost to comply.

"Alas, the chains of duty pull us apart tonight," Jorin concluded, releasing Alia's arm and waving her off. She wouldn't be gone long - though Rinya's part was now upcoming. Jorin turned to the (currently mostly empty save the stage master) audience, crying out "Ah, but the chain of love upon my heart hath strength even greater!" Truly. This play was written by a madman.

The stage master now prompted Rinya, reading out her lines for her to repeat. "Walk over to him," he stage-whispered to her, as he indicated with his hand that Rinya was to approach her husband. "Tell him, 'The high life suits you well, ye of the high seas. How goes the festivites?'" he instructed. When Rinya repeated the lines, Jorin almost couldn't suppress a grin at the expression on her face. Unlike himself or Alia, Rinya certainly wasn't an actress, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He was sorely tempted to kiss her right then and there, but that was not in the stage directions at all. Nonetheless, Jorin was tempted to do it anyway, if only to annoy the stage master, but he decided against it. The man did not look amused, and the last thing Jorin needed was to drag out this petching thing longer than it had to be. He turned to Rinya, his face lighting up in surprise even as he spoke the next line.

"Why Selenia! How delightful that you should be here, light and jewel among the cobblestones!" he cried, and the stage master prompted the next line for Rinya.

"Cobblestones, aye, for you walk past mine eyes towards that scullery maid!" Jorin was half-tempted to ask how Rinya's character was supposed to know about Dalissa, given that the two had not met; at least not in character. But then again, the entire play had logical holes that one could drive a horse through, and this was one of the smaller ones. Jorin just continued grimly, plastering a contrite look onto his face.

"These feet walk only toward the gold, not the gray, and mine eyes shine only for you, my sweet," Jorin insisted, though the stage directions called for him to "sound insincere". Well, that would not be difficult, given that he'd been wanting to sound that way the entire play. The stage master then instructed Rinya to slap Jorin and walk away.

Jorin could sense across the bond that Rinya was none-too-pleased with essentially being asked to hit him, though eventually she did, trying her best not to slap him too hard. The stage master shook his head. "You are the scorned lover! The slap must be realistic!" he cried, but Jorin just sighed and turned to the man. "Rinya's just standing in for the actual actress. Isn't it enough that there's a slap at all? My wife is not an actress, after all."

The stage master thought about it for a moment, then nodded his assent. Jorin was a bit relieved that his wife was not required to give him a "real" slap. Despite her slight frame, he knew his wife was deceptively strong and an actual slap from her would have hurt. At the very least, Jorin knew she'd never do so willingly, but then he was glad that she was off the stage. All throughout her presence there, Rinya had not seemed happy about it and he knew she did it purely for his sake. He desperately hoped she wouldn't be asked to do anything else...

Alia had come back up onto the stage, as per the instructions. Technically it was a scene change and the props and backdrop were to change, but this was a rehearsal so the stagehands were not there to do it. Regardless, the show had to go on, and they simply had to pretend that the required actions had been taken and the backdrop was different now. The scene was outside, and Jorin's character Forthan had caught Dalissa sneaking out for her favorite pastime - stargazing.

"Ho, ho! My little servant breaks her curfew! What nefarious purpose brings you out beyond the shadow of the sundial, deep beneath the twilight celestial bodies?" he asked. Seriously, why did every single line have to be ten times more complicated than it needed to be? The line could have been simply, Why are you out here so late at night? and be perfectly understandable. At least Rinya didn't have to read these lines, Jorin was sure she'd gag first.

When Alia answered, Jorin walked forward, giving her what the instructions demanded to be a "winning smile". He wasn't sure he had a winning smile, at least not for anyone but Rinya. Still, he did his best to produce one, approaching Alia's position while dutifully saying his line.

"Watching the stars in their heavenly orbits? Why-ever should you wish to do that?" he asked with a smirk. "Why, your radiance far outshines even the brightest star, high in Zintilla's realm," he insisted, drawing even closer. It was at this point that Jorin was supposed to kiss her. Alia was supposed to protest at first, but then, as the stage direction insists, "melt into Forthan's arms".

Jorin really didn't know what to do at this point. Rinya was still watching, and he knew she was not entirely happy seeing her husband kiss another woman, even if it was for his job. And while Jorin liked Alia a lot, and thought of her as a very vivacious and friendly girl, he was not sure how she would feel about this. Deciding to take a risk, he broke character to turn to the stage master seated in the stone terraces.

"Do we really have to..." he asked. Jorin didn't think he sounded whiny or upset - the last thing he needed was for the man to label him a prima donna - but the stage master cut him off immediately.

"Are you kidding me right now?" the man growled, tossing Jorin a small glare. "You're an actor. The directions say to kiss her. So kiss her." Jorin barely suppressed a sigh. He gave Alia an apologetic look. It wasn't that he thought kissing her was necessarily a terrible thing. Alia was very attractive and under different circumstances, he might have been quite eager to kiss her.

But Jorin had always felt that something as intimate as a kiss should only be shared for the right reasons. This would not be like kissing Rinya, whom he loved with all his heart. Simply doing it for a play - Jorin wasn't even sure he could pull it off. Oh, he was sure he could kiss Alia, but he wasn't certain he could convince an audience that the kiss was real. The only thing that would convince him to try was the fact that he knew if he couldn't make the kiss look convincing, the stage master would simply instruct him to kiss Alia again. And again. Until he got it right.

Jorin resumed the play from his last line, then approaching Alia and grabbing her lightly again by the forearm, leaning down until their faces were mere inches apart. "What wonders I see in your eyes, such brilliant orbs of jeweled beauty," he insisted, and he leaned in to press his lips against Alia's.

It wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be. He certainly did not feel the passion, fire, or love that he felt whenever he kissed Rinya, but it didn't feel bad necessarily. It did feel somewhat wrong though, in the sense that something that should be accompanied with strong emotions of love carried... nothing. It wasn't that he did not like Alia. Nor was it that he did not find her attractive. But he did not love her, and Jorin was quite worried this fact would be all-too-obvious to the watching audience. Certainly, it would be obvious to Rinya.

"Not too bad," the stage master mused after a few ticks, when the kiss finally broke. "But I feel like that kiss didn't really have the oomph it needed, you know?" he complained.

"She's supposed to be the most beautiful woman Forthan had ever seen!" the man exclaimed, his hand waving in Alia's general direction. "Your kiss was good, but it needs to be more. More passion. More fire. More everything!"

Petch.

Petch, petch, petch, petch, petch.

Spacer

[Rinya]

Rinya wasn’t sure if she was glad the stage master found someone else to focus on, or upset that the only thing he could do was apparently yell at everyone for not doing as the script said. Honestly she could understand to some extent… the script said it, they were actors, so they were to do as told unless he found an otherwise better way to get the point across. But seriously… was yelling like a banshee the only way to tell someone what to do? Gritting her teeth, she forced her breath out through her nose and crossed her arms. This day that was supposed to be enjoyable had just become a nightmare.

Rinya couldn’t do much other than watch as Alia and Jorin were forced to repeat the scene - terrible dialogue and all. Jorin’s emotions were just a tumble of unhappiness and it did surprise her a little. Usually he loved acting even when it was small parts that the audience might not remember in the long run. This was a lead spot and despite the dialogue - he was the leading man. Wasn’t this something that he would have wanted? Especially since the whole mix up with the stage master in the first place…

Almost immediately however Rinya was beginning to understand just why Jorin might hate this play so much. He snagged Alia’s arm and breathed her characters name in a very similar fashion to what she was used to when he spoke to her. There was nothing across the bond that told her there was genuine emotion from the words, but Rinya couldn’t help it. It seemed entirely instinctive to both sides of her to feel the spike of jealousy up her spine. There was nothing logical about it, especially since Alia seemed as uncomfortable as Jorin felt, but it was there none the less.

In the back of her mind Jorin was hers. She had fought off Farline and won of her mate’s heart with what seemed like now… ease. There was no honest threat from Alia and oddly enough Rinya didn’t even harbor any harsh feeling towards the girl… save for the jealousy. Judging by the rate of the play already however, Rinya didn’t have to take a guess… there was going to be kissing. Probably lots of it if the over extended lines had anything to say about it. To make things worse, the lines were starting to make less and less sense. She was having trouble sorting out just what the petch the lines meant…

"The play is ridiculous..." Rinya hissed, uncaring if the stage master heard her. She wasn’t even gracious enough to glance in the man’s direction to see if he looked at her over her words. Her eyes were firmly glued on Jorin as Alia parted the stage with a wave of Jorin’s hand. The stage master ordered her to step over to her mate and husband… telling her some absurd line that honestly she had no intent on trying to get right. Rinya let out an insufferable sigh and trudged her way across the stage to stand in front of Jorin, brow furrowed as she tried to remember the twisted words.

"The high life suits you… well," Rinya huffed slightly and glanced backwards at the stage master. He wasn’t pleased by her lack of effort - though they both probably knew she couldn’t care less. He prompted the rest of the sentence and Rinya rolled her eyes and turned back to Jorin. "Ye of the high seas. How goes the festivities?" The words were clearly bored and forced, but Rinya managed a strained half smile for her mate. If nothing else he didn’t have to be put through this torture by himself. Jorin delivered his lines… in what she thought was supposed to be a greeting, but she was sorely tempted to roll her eyes again as the stage master prompted more lines from her.

"Cobblestones, aye, for you walk past mine eyes towards the scullery maid!" Rinya couldn’t help it, she turned to the stage master with an exasperated expression. "You’re telling me people show up for this play? You can’t even understand what they’re saying!" The stage master grit his teeth at her defiance. "Just say the lines would you!?" He practically snarled and Rinya glared right back at him. Jorin delivered some line about her eyes - at least she thought it was about her eyes - and the stage master told her to slap her husband… wait what?

There was no true reason for her to hit Jorin… so she raised her hand and barely gave a half hearted slow slap to his face… there wasn’t even sound to accompany the hit. And apparently that wasn’t good enough. He cried out that she was supposedly some lover scorned and had to really hit Jorin… right that wasn’t going to happen. Rinya whirled back around to face the stage master with a sharp glare. "If you want a real slap I will be more than happy to show you-” Rinya didn’t even get the chance to finish her threat. Jorin interrupted her lightly with the fact that Rinya was barely even a stand in. Why did it matter if the hit was real or not?

If nothing else Rinya did a fair job of storming off to one side of the stage as Alia returned. More flowery lines ensued and Jorin suddenly drew up close to Alia… but he hesitated. She could feel it across the bond actually, and Rinya frowned further than she already was. He turned to the stage master in attempt to balk out of something, but the stage master insisted that the directions said to kiss her so kiss… oh that was just petching lovely. Out of all the fighting she did to win Jorin’s heart she never actually had to watch him kiss someone else. Logic once again flew out the window as jealousy settled in her stomach.

Jorin leaned forward and pressed his lips to Alia’s and Rinya made sure she was rooted to her spot on the stage. She didn’t need to act like a scorned lover despite the jealousy racing through her. Jorin was going to feel that enough as it was - it was a natural reaction after all. He had felt jealousy when the little punk kid from the Amphitheater kissed her without permission. He wouldn’t hold it against her anymore than she would hold it against the two of them… but it was still there. Her fingers tapped across her upper arms in an attempt to distract herself even minorly.

When they broke there was silence across the stage. Rinya had successfully managed to keep herself in one spot despite wanting to throttle the stage master. It was Jorin’s job, she could understand that… mostly. But he wanted more from their kiss. More everything... the things that Jorin and her felt when they kissed. Passion and desire and love… things that didn’t exist between Jorin and Alia. He was a good actor but just how was he supposed to pull that off? Sighing roughly, Rinya dropped her forehead into her left hand, rubbing her fingers over her eyes as if a headache had settled in… actually the play kind of had. But she wasn’t sure she could watch them kiss.

Over and over and over again.

white

[Alia Beaudouin]

The day kept getting worse. Alia's face turned as red as her hair as the stage master's called her out for what, not walking forward enough? Now not only did she have to deal with acting her part, but she had to deal with the stage master's stare of death. At least Jorin seemed to understand. His sympathy was welcomed when the stage master marched up onto the stage just to scold her. The longer she kept acting as a profession, the more she hated the stage master. Even Jorin - who seemed incapable of messing up a performance - was occasionally ridiculed by the stage master. What was up with that man? Alia simply held back a scowl as the stage master ranted on about how she was supposed to step right there not right here. She very desperately wanted to rip the script he held out of his hands, but she refrained, as, if she ever wanted to be on the good side of that man, annoying him was not the way to go about it. Sighing softly as the stage master returned to his perch offside the stage, Alia began her lines again as the man ordered, holding herself back from the urge to snatch the script from him instead of lightly taking it back. This time around Alia had half the mind to overact walking past Jorin, but ruining the scene for the second time wouldn't get her any props, so she simply did as she was told, back into character as Jorin did. Really, if she disliked acting so much, why didn't she just crawl back to busking? She still hadn't checked out the white swan, and should she audition for that and get in, it would probably be much more exciting than standing here being ridiculed for not stepping two inches to the right. Replaying her lines of basically, I have to go, Alia actually pushed pass Jorin this time, just as the petching script demanded. Was the stage master happy now? Most likely not, but then again, he was never happy. Even though Forthan grabbing Dalissa's arm was plainly written in the script, Alia still let out a small gasp when Jorin span her around, his mask of being Forthan seemingly perfect. Hopefully, the other actors would just see her surprise as part of the script, not Alia actually being startled by Jorin. Alia had to admit, even up close, Jorin completely mastered the part of Forthan, every word filled with emotion, he was obviously a much better actor than her, and sometimes he was a tad intimidating. Behind her, Alia could practically feel Rinya fuming. She felt quite bad for Jorin's wife, as she had come to watch Jorin practice for a play and instead was met with her husband having to drone out meaningless phrases and all in all- kiss another woman. Petch. Alia had never really been formally introduced to Rinya, but she sure didn't want the Kelvic hating her over a script. Hopefully, there were no hard feelings over Alia.. Kissing her husband As Jorin let go of her arm, Alia realized that the next scene was the one in which Rinya would be forced up onto the stage. Although she definitely felt bad for Jorin's bondmate, Alia was definitely curious about how she would respond to acting- or being forced to act. As Rinya stepped onto the stage, Alia could tell she hated everything about this, and obviously was not amused by the fact that she had to preform part of The Thief of Hearts. Alia could understand why, as she wasn't even an actor yet she had to speak the absurd lines. Though seemingly unlike everyone else there, Alia wasn't aware of every action that the actors were supposed to make in The Thief of Hearts, and she only understood Rinya's hesitation for the next line when Alia looked down at the script herself. Rinya, playing Forthan's betrothed, was actually supposed to hit Jorin- and from what the script was implying- hard. What Rinya actually did, though, could barely even be classified as a slap. It was almost comical, with the drastic difference between Rinya's action and Jorin's reaction. As the other actors continued onstage, Alia allowed her mind to wander. Her kiss with Jorin was in the next scene... The sentence sounded so strange, her kiss with Jorin. Jorin wasn't hers, he was Rinya's, and it felt almost like cheating to kiss him. Especially for her first kiss. Biting her lip until she was sure there were teeth marks in the skin, Alia waited as Rinya and Jorin exchanged lines before Rinya was returned to her seat in the audience, and the actors pretended the scene was changed. Now she was to walk back up on stage, once again Dalissa, once again having to think about all the ways it was wrong that she was about to kiss Jorin, though she was thinking about that offstage too. It couldn't be too bad, could it? She was an actor, she was expected to do new things all the time and get them perfect, how was kissing any different. Stepping back onto stage and pretending to stargaze, Alia waited until Jorin had said his first outrageous line and then began to speak hers. "The stars in their heavenly orbits do call for me, I must stand proud out here in the night air and present myself to their righteous gaze! The lines were extremely overdone, and though Alia tried to keep her enthusiasm, humour over the lines and anxiety over the kiss were stealing her mind farther and farther than what she was supposed to be saying. As Jorin flashed what Alia supposed was supposed to be a wide smile, but came out just slightly forced, Alia restrained herself from turning to the stage master and telling him right there that she wouldn't do the kiss, but Jorin beat her to it just as Alia began to writhe in his grasp, as the script demanded. Her protests were only slightly acted, as she was getting increasingly uncomfortable showing affection, even when scripted, in front of others. Then again, she was going to have to do it in front of an entire audience, which Alia hadn't even begun to think about. Alia winced as the stage master blasted Jorin for pitching the thought of skipping over the kiss, and for a moment Alia was almost hurt about Jorin not wanting to kiss her, but then she remembered her distaste for the kiss, and, most likely, Rinya's distaste, and once again she was with Jorin about skipping the act, but their protest was to no avail. Alia returned Jorin's apologetic look, and returned into character to accept her fate. Alia attempted to make the kiss believable, closing her eyes and allowing herself to be closer to Jorin than she ever thought she would be, especially in the presence of Rinya. The kiss was short lived, and afterwards, Alia immediately broke away from Jorin, who was officially the first person Alia had ever kissed. A wonderful story, that would be. Luckily, it was over and done with, and now she would only have to do it once the actual play was preformed.. Right? Apparently not, Alia decided as the stage master went on about how the kiss hadn't been believable, about how it needed so much more. It took several ticks for Alia to realize what the stage master was implying: she was going to have to kiss Jorin. Again. With more fire, more passion, more everything! Alia imitated in the voice Alia had come to associate with bad fortune and acting, all rolled up into one man, who also happened to be her boss. Alia looked away as the stage master continued on, pacing the floor and critiquing the kiss, about how Alia had broken away too quickly, about how Jorin hadn't smiled brightly enough, about how every little thing was going to have to be redone again and again, until they got it right. Petch. She was going to have to re-live the embarrassment of kissing Jorin, this time affectionately, in front of the other actors. There were other acts to work through, other scripts to read, why did they have to repeat this one? Finding Rinya, who was stiffly standing on the side of the stage, Alia attempted to give her an apologetic look, but Jorin's wife had dropped her head into her hand, rubbing at her forehead as if to relieve an ache. Alia didn't blame her, should she not have been on stage, she would have her head in her hands too. This whole thing made acting seem so.. Stressful. It would have really helped if an intermission, or even a run through of a different scene happened next, but no, the scene was to be reset, with Jorin and Alia once again ending it with a kiss. Petch, sometimes she hated acting.

[Jorin Ertihan]

In six years of being in the acting business, five as an understudy and one as an actor, Jorin had never once been this upset about it. Oh sure, things went wrong before. Things always went wrong. If there was one constant in the world it was that something will always go wrong, and always at the worst possible moment. But this...

The surge of jealousy that Jorin felt across the bond when he breathed Dalissa's name did not surprise him. Despite the fact that none of the emotions that was associated with that tone of voice was present, he was a good enough actor to pretend they were. Truth be told, Jorin had no real love for Dalissa the character. He liked Alia very much, as he thought she was a very friendly girl with a bright future as an actress.

But Dalissa the character, at least according to her actions in the play, seemed (to Jorin anyway) to be a shallow, silly girl who falls head-over-heels in love with a man without honestly really getting to know him at all. The scene they were currently playing was occurring the very next day after they first met. Jorin didn't kiss his wife until quite a few days after they'd met - and even then it was a shy, hesitant one.

Not that Forthan was really any better. While Jorin could heartily agree that you should marry who you love, that didn't mean Forthan had any right to be going behind his betroth's back like this. If he truly loved Dalissa he should have just said so, to both women, and then offered to marry Dalissa immediately thereafter. But of course, there wouldn't be any drama in that case. Not that Jorin necessarily felt that the "Thief of Hearts" was dramatic so much as exaggerated and overly theatrical.

Truth be told Jorin wasn't entirely surprised that the kiss did not meet the stage master's expectations. He could feel Rinya's jealousy across the bond like a hot brand, and he himself was not really willing to do it, only being forced into it because it was his job. He certainly felt bad for Alia - after all, it wasn't her fault the petching play was so dumb. And it wasn't that he necessarily hated kissing Alia. But the harsh truth was, between Alia and Rinya, Jorin would choose Rinya every time.

It was a moot point anyway. He couldn't put the sort of emotion he usually was able to into the kiss, and it was obvious to the stage master if his command for "everything" to be more was anything to go by. He could feel Rinya's frustration grow, as he glanced over to see her rubbing her temple as though she had a headache. Alia tried to give her a sympathetic look, but he wasn't sure if Rinya even saw as he himself wondered how exactly they were going to do this.

Clearing his throat slightly, Jorin turned to the stage master. "I'm not sure I can put more than I have into the kiss," he confessed, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. It was the truth. He was a good actor, but in the end some things just weren't possible for him. But the stage master threw him an incredulous stare, before scowling at him.

"I seem to remember you were kissing her just fine during the afterparty a season ago," he noted, pointing at Rinya as he said so. Jorin turned a bit pink at the words - he was well-aware of the highly publicized kiss he shared with Rinya during that party. He was just glad the man did not bring up what he and his wife had done after the party - not that half the Amphitheater didn't already seem to know anyway.

"I want to see passion and fire! The audience is not coming here to see shy, chaste little pecks!" Suddenly, the man's face lit up as he smiled broadly. "Why don't you try method acting?" he suggested, and Jorin groaned. Oh gods not this again. Jorin was not exactly the biggest fan of the acting method - he thought it was a load of shyke if he was being honest.

But to have to use method acting here, with this... Jorin sighed. "I really don't think that..." he began, but the stage master was too caught up in his idea to listen as he barreled on, interrupting Jorin's protest. "The passion would be real! It would be the first time the Thief of Hearts would be performed in this fashion - the first production of the play with method acting as the core!" he exclaimed.

Though he did not actually say it, Jorin suspected the man wanted the accolades of making a successful production with method acting, thus "proving" the validity of the technique. While Jorin didn't doubt that method acting had its uses, he nonetheless saw the technique as little more than a gimmick and really wasn't very interested in it.

"Just think of a time when you were feeling it," the stage master was saying. "Try to replicate the emotions you felt then, and use them to make the kiss better!" Jorin resisted the urge to sigh and rub his own temples as Rinya was doing. He looked over to his wife, then at Alia, before turning to the man.

"Can we just have a fifteen-chime recess? I think we've done enough rehearsals for now," he requested. The stage master looked like he was about to protest, but eventually relented. Jorin turned to Alia with an apologetic look.

"I really didn't think they'd start the Thief of Hearts this season," he sighed, as he led his fellow actor over to where his wife was standing. He could still feel muted jealousy from Rinya, but he was hoping the two women could still become friends, despite the rough start they had.

"I'm hoping it's not turning you off to the Amphitheater or acting in general though," he continued with his best smile. "I can promise you that not every play is going to be like that. I mean, it's really quite something when we put on a grand production," he grinned. There were so many stories he could tell her about it - the colorful costumes, the breathtaking props being wheeled in the back. But she'd see for herself, he was sure. Alia was already shaping up to be a damn good actress, and Jorin wanted to make sure she made it big.

In any case, they'd reached Rinya's location, and Jorin gave his wife a warm smile to try to put her at ease. He strode over to where she was almost unconsciously, so that he was standing next to her as he made the introductions. He had not considered that leaving Alia's side to be by Rinya's might have been construed as rude - in his mind it made perfect sense. Rinya was his wife, after all.

"Rinya, this is Alia Beaudouin. She's a fellow actor who came here from Wind Reach," he introduced. Turning to Alia, he indicated Rinya... by wrapping his right arm around Rinya's waist and drawing her up against him slightly. "As I'm sure you know, this is my wife, mate, and bondmate Rinya. She's usually at the Warren this time of day - she's a guard there." Introductions out of the way, he sighed slightly as he gave them both a rather sympathetic look.

"What a day, eh?" he asked rhetorically with a small groan. Turning to Rinya, he shrugged slightly. "My love... if you want to go home I'll understand. I'm not sure I can do what the stage master is asking - you know how I feel about method acting." Jorin sighed with frustration. "I don't know... I might even try asking for a smaller part..." Jorin had no idea if he'd even be granted such a request. And even if he were, he was certain it would hurt his chances of ever getting first-billed again.

"Think of a time when I did feel it, huh?" he echoed, looking at Rinya intently as he said it. He could only think of one period of time when he felt the passion the stage master was speaking of - when he was kissing Rinya. In fact, Jorin realized he felt it all the time - their love always sang across the bond, nonstop. it was a constant in their lives, and only intensified when they were closer. Jorin supposed he could try to imagine he was kissing Rinya during the scene, but he had no idea how successful he would be.

Realizing he was being a bit rude, Jorin cleared his throat slightly. "Alia tells me her native land of Wind Reach has a lot of birds," he offered. Not really knowing where he was going with this, Jorin decided to just press forward. "My wife's actually a bird too - she's an osprey Kelvic to be exact. A very pretty osprey..." Jorin wasn't sure what else to say. He really did want the two women to like each other, but he felt like he should apologize to them both about the awkwardness of the situation. He just didn't know how.

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