Monday, the 6th of June, dawned hot and sticky. The sun climbed over the eastern horizon, stretched out its rays, and then laid a smack-down on the city, hammering the streets and buildings and people with its relentless light and heat. It was evident that the seasons had absolutely no regard for the calendar; summer had arrived a few weeks early and had made itself quite at home, entrenching heat and humidity and evening rainstorms into the lives of Rhy'Din's citizens for at least the next three months.

Lelah had not slept at all since early Sunday morning. After Daniel had drawn her a hot bath Sunday evening, scrubbed her back, washed her hair and combed it out, he'd fixed her some food and then put her to bed. She tossed and turned for hours, restless and fidgety, unable to let go of the stress and worries of the previous few days.

Finally, at 2:30 Monday morning, she climbed out of bed, dressed, and went to the office. There was still so much to do before the VIPs showed up at nine a.m. The filming schedule had been finalized and everyone involved with the film knew that their lives would be completely consumed by vampires and ancient Terran history and shooting schedules for the next six months. But today would be the single most important day in that period. Today would set the mood for the rest of the shoot and Lelah was bound and determined to make sure that it was perfect.

Around 4:30, Scott Campbell, the assistant director and Lelah's right hand man for the shoot, rolled into the office and they quickly lost themselves in making final preparations, going over lists and spreadsheets and storyboards and fabric swatches, sketches of costumes, and hair and makeup designs. At roughly 8:00, Jenny Zahn, the studios' receptionist, came into the office, bearing coffee and croissants. Lelah and Scott broke to stuff their faces quickly, gathered everything they needed for on-set, and set out across the city to the studios' brand new sound stages and back lots.

The first scene they would be shooting was an important one in the story. After approximately 500 years of not seeing him, Juliana would be briefly reunited with her first vampire lover, Crispin, who was also her most dangerous enemy. It was a scene that would rely heavily upon Ori's illusions, as the meeting took place on Christmas Eve, during a snowfall, outside of a cathedral in Denver, Colorado.

Lelah left the VIPs names with security at the studios' front gates, asking the guards to send them back to Sound Stage C, which was located at the rear of the lots. When she entered the sound stage, she shivered violently at the sudden temperature drop. Ori had already begun his illusions, layering them like mobile pieces of scenery. The interior of the big, empty warehouse-like building lay under a cold, dark blanket that muffled sounds, just like in a real snowfall. The bulk of the big, Gothic church lay to the left, spires extending upwards to pierce the clouds, while cars lined both sides of a residential street. Heavy, wet snowflakes drifted down, piling up in little drifts that were stirred by a gentle wind.

?Holy sh*t,? Lelah whispered and flashed Ori a huge grin. ?This is amazing. Truly amazing.? She went and sat down in a pink director's chair with her name stenciled on the back. Glancing around at all the people present, she took a deep breath and smiled. ?You all ready for this? We're going to have two of the studios' investors and the executive producer in house today, so I want you all to behave.? She turned to Emma Valentine, the makeup designer, and asked, ?Have Aimee and Lasse been to see you??

?They're both in the chairs right now,? Emma answered. ?They've been through costuming already and they're almost done.?

Lelah nodded her thanks and then glanced at Larry Stern, her director of photography. ?You already spotted everything?? He nodded and Lelah felt yet another load ease off her shoulders. Things were stacking up quite nicely. With a glance at her watch ? it was a quarter 'til nine ? she turned to Emma. ?Tell them we need them on set. We're gonna start,? then she settled headphones about her ears. Emma rushed away to the makeup trailer and called the principal actors to set.

?Okay, let's get this show on the road,? Lelah whispered. ?Places, people!? she called out. Larry turned on the camera, the grips and boom operator took their places, and Aimee went and stood ankle-deep in illusory snow outside the front doors of an illusory church. Everyone on set went silent, a palpable buzz of anticipatory excitement running through them.

And Lelah called, ?And...action!?

09:15, RST

Mataya was running late. Or rather, skating late. Without a car, or the need for one, really, she still walked everywhere in Rhy'Din, unless she decided a faster means of transport was necessary. This was when her rollerskates came out of the bag. With Max tied up in performances for Wicked, at least she wouldn't have to worry about leaving him far behind her as she whizzed through the city on her way to 21twelve Studios.

Hoping like hell that she hadn't missed too much, the actress-turned-theatre owner took a corner on the very edge of her wheels, hair and skirt flying out behind her, and accelerated toward the gate of the studio complex. The young guard on duty looked terrified by the prospect of being run down by an attractive woman on wheels, but relief flooded his features as she skidded to an abrupt halt beside him.

Grinning, she presented her credentials. "Mataya De Luca, I was invited to take a peek at the first day of filming. No guest."

"Oh, Ms De Luca," the young man nodded, ticking her name off the list on his clipboard. "Sound Stage C, round the back of the lot. You can't wear those things inside, you know." He pointed to her rollerblades.

"I know, don't worry," she assured him. "I've been on a ton of film sets. I'll take them off before I go inside, I promise."

Chuckling, she pushed off. 21twelve was reassuringly laid out in a fashion that was almost identical to every studio complex Mataya had ever been on, allowing her to knock several minutes off her lateness as she sped straight for the right building, past several people she recognised from the Shanachie. Her winnowing of her own staff had provided Lelah with quite a few employees, it seemed.

It only took her a couple of minutes at the door of the sound stage to exchange rollerblades for shoes, flat-soled for silence, and she let herself in quietly, looking around with nostalgic wonder. It felt so good to be home again.

Sympathy for the actress had Mataya wincing as Lelah dressed her down, but understanding of the strictures of the studio system also had her wondering how many takes the silly girl had ruined to earn such a vitriole from the director. She'd been on the receiving end herself, having earned such a dressing down from none other than Sofia Coppola in her own time.

Her minor empathy for Aimee evaporated when the actress talked back rather than taking in what she was being told. "And this is Lelah's lead?" 'Taya murmured to herself. "Geez, maybe I should have auditioned."

A gentle shiver took her as she waited there, rubbing her hands over her arms, and it came to her that sound stages were never cold. So what was ... She gasped as the realisation hit her. Real snow! Lelah had hired a wizard to give her special effects that were real! Oh, with a studio like this behind them, 'Taya and Max could have conquered the world in their time.

Hearing the A.D. call a break, she tore her gaze from the ceiling - away from trying to work out where the snowflakes were falling from - and lowered her gaze in time to receive air kisses from the beautiful Ms. Rivka. Laughing, 'Taya let Lelah play her little game of greeting, and then wrapped the other woman up in a warm hug.

"This is incredible, LeeLee," she assured her newest friend. "I mean, c'mon on, CGI's nice, but this is fantastic!" Chuckling, she looped her arm through the director's. "I haven't seen Alain, but the guy on the gate had already checked off Edward Batten's name, if that's the Ed you're looking for."

She had turned, automatically heading for the gallery over the studio, where most directors would choose to take a break in her own experience. With a glance over her shoulder to the now empty set, she lowered her voice. "Aimee not working out as well as you'd like?"

Ed and Liv, in the meantime, had taken it upon themselves to tour the studio grounds on the way to the sound stage, ostensibly wandering as though perhaps confused about where exactly they were supposed to go. It's not the case, of course - if there's one thing that can be said about the Playboy, it's that there are few things he does without reason.

Finally, though, the pair finally make it to the sound stage, entering quietly just behind Alain, and both at once look around at the scene laid out before them. He can feel the chill from the set, chuckling softly at Liv's delighted "Ooooh!" as they walk over to look everything over. Liv's eyes light up and it's an effort for Ed not to roll his eyes and laugh as she gushes. "Wow, is that, like, real snow? That is so cooool!" Her voice echoes around the now-empty scene, the actors clearly on a break from shooting.

He grins, looking around for himself, visibly impressed. The realism is actually kind of cool, he has to admit, right down to the chill coming off the set from the arctic-like breeze flowing from the air itself.

Catching the sound of Lelah's voice, he grins as he turns that way, looking down at his 'date.' The bare portions of her skin are showing goosebumps as they start to walk over towards the director, Alain, and another unfamiliar woman with them, and she makes a show of shivering as she rubs her bare arms. "Eddie, it's so cold in here." He can catch a hint of mirth in her eyes as she looks up at him, her lips forming a very pretty pout as she flutters her eyelashes.

Damn, Liv, you should have auditioned for this thing. The girl had been a minor stage actress and the two of them have done this sort of thing before - for a simple receptionist, Liv has a surprising number of hidden talents - though usually she plays a more demure persona, rather than the bubbly, giggling girly type that is used to using her looks to get her what she wants.

Rolling his eyes, he pulls off the long coat and drapes it over her shoulders, where she hurriedly wraps it around herself as she leans against his side, dewy gratitude in her expression as she giggles. "Such a gentleman."

He chuckles softly to himself, leaning down to murmur to her as they're walking over towards the other VIP types, soft enough so no one else can hear. "Sorry, petit...if'n Ah knew dey were gon' be shootin' in cold weat'er Ah'd've had ya wear somet'in warmer."

She giggles, tossing her hair as she leans her head back, a touch too loud as though he'd said something very funny, before she drops back to the same level of conversation, her gaze moving back and forth between Ed and the others as though they were gossiping between themselves. "I'll send you a list of my demands for repayment later, boss."

The two of them laugh together as they close the distance to the director and the other VIPs, Ed nodding to Alain with a casual grin, though he looks the man over with an expression that shows a hint of that sharp, alert intelligence behind those eyes, as well as a touch of curiosity. He'd heard about the bombing, of course, and the man still looks healthy to his eyes...of course, being someone with that same practice of moving in such a way as to hide injuries, he can spot the more subtle signs, as well.

Ed's just about to open his mouth to introduce her to the rest of them when Liv steps forward away from him, her hand extended, her whole manner blaring that sort of cheer that is best described as a ray of noontime sunshine into the eyes of a person experiencing a tequila hangover.

"Hi there, I'm Monica, Monica Dolan, I'm a consultant for Ed, and he likes to spoil me by bringing me to silly little 'exclusive' events like this." Lowering her voice to a conspiratorial stage whisper, she goes on, "I think he does it to try to get in my pants."

Straightening again, she gushes on, seemingly unstoppable. "And you must be Lelah! Eddie's told me so much about you! Like the time you dumped a bottle of water on a guy in the middle of a bar?" She giggles, winking at Lelah. "I wish I could have been there, there's nothing better than seeing a man being abused in public." She glances over his shoulder and gives Ed a sassy wink, who for his part is standing there, his mouth fallen slightly open, a look of mixed amazement and perhaps a hint of nonplussed embarrassment on his features.

She turns to Mataya next with the same cheerful approach. "And your name is Mataya? That's so exotic! And with a last name like De Luca, you just have to be Italian! Are you an actress in the movie?"

As 'Monica' gushes on, Ed finds himself standing there watching, not sure just how to react. He's had Liv out before as an observer to get her impressions, but he'd never seen her throw herself into it like this before, and for the moment he's caught somewhere between laughing out loud and trying to find somewhere to hide.

Alain's eyes slid away from Lelah as soon as the introduction was offered. In her eyes he was a crook, and while he was interested in checking on the studio to evaluate his business decisions, he aimed to be out of the line of fire a.s.a.p.

His smile for Mataya came easier, and he was thankful for the introduction. "Miss De Luca, it's a pleasure. I'll have to visit the Shanachie again soon - I've heard great things about your work, and seen it in action a few times myself." He grinned, but the expression quickly slid over to Edward at his date's antics.

When there was a spare moment, though, he mouthed to Ed, It worked, by the way. Rapped his knuckles against his chest and flashed him a quick thumbs up. The OmniProof armor had likely saved his life that day.

Besides those pleasantries, though, the Baron stayed pretty quiet.

Lelah was rarely caught without having anything to say, but in light of the onslaught of Monica's cheerful tirade, the director just stood there, dark, kohl-lined eyes wide with shocked surprise, her grip on Taya's arm just a little too tight.

This girl was some piece of work, wasn't she? The too-perfect makeup - like a professional had done it - and the strip of white skin around her left ring finger sent up warning flags in Lelah's head, but hey, if Ed was gonna play some game, she'd willingly play along. After all, he'd given her a tidy sum of cash and there were certain liberties to which the Money Men were entitled. If one of them wanted to parade a, um, whatever the hell Monica was and try to pass her off as a bubble-headed idiot, far be it from her to let on that she knew they were up to something.

Alain's strained smile tugged at her and she was less than five seconds away from pulling him aside and throwing herself on her own sword and begging his forgiveness. The responsibility for the entire broken relationship between them rested squarely in the lap of a particular arrogant, spoiled brat and now that he was permanently out of her life, perhaps she could make some sort of overture to Alain, try to mend what had been sundered.

Thank goodness Jonny appeared and saved her from an embarrassingly public display of begging. She wrapped the actor up in a huge grin, kissed both his cheeks and said proudly, "And this is our male lead, Jonathon Granger. This is Alain DeMuer, Ed Batten, and Monica...something or other," she flashed the woman a contrite smile. "I'm sorry, I've completely blanked on your last name. And you already know Taya."

She took a couple of steps back from the group now, and spread her arms dramatically. "Now then, introductions and pleasantries aside, you came here to see how movies are made and to check on your investments. If you will head up the stairs there to the gallery, we'll start shooting again in just a few moments and after that, I've arranged for a tour of the entire facilities."

Lelah looked around the sound stage and spotted that pretty brunette fourth assistant director she'd had her eye on. Olivia. Olive. Ophelia. Oh-something. "Darling," she called out to her. "Take good care of these folks for a while. Get them anything they want, okay?" Then Lelah turned and went back to her spot next to the camera. "Places, everyone! Places!"

Ed watches while 'Monica' laughs at Mataya's comment, her hazel eyes twinkling wickedly as she makes her way back to Ed's side, her small hands wrapping around his bicep as she leans against him. Both turn towards Jonathan as he makes his way over to the group, and Ed nods his greeting to the actor, holding out a hand for Jon to shake. "Ah seem t' 'member bein' intr'duced, t'ough Ah'm thinkin' there was ot'er stuff goin' on at de time."

He throws Liv a warning glance not to ask, but she looks like she's going to be winding up into another ramble anyway, until things start to get going and the tour looks to be moving on, and he shushes her with a soft chuckle. "Quiet time, darlin.'"

Liv immediately adopts a look of chagrined wonder, though perhaps a trace of a mischievous little grin lingers in her expression before she takes to being an appropriately starstruck audience in the presence of movie magic. It doesn't look hard - as far as he knows the girl's never been to anything like this, and even he has to admit, as he turns his attention to the set, that the setup is impressive, and has to make for an extraordinary amount of realism for the actors and actresses to work in.

She turns to him briefly with a soft chuckle, lowering her too-cheerful demeanor for a moment as she murmurs to him. "I like De Luca...I think maybe I turned it up a little too high for Lelah, though."

He laughs softly before he murmurs back to her. "Pers'nally, darlin, Ah t'ink yer havin' jus' a l'il too much fun wit' dis."

Liv giggles at him as she lets go of his arm to move with the others, falling into silence for the moment, seeming to take exaggerated care in keeping quiet in preparation for the action going on set, and he takes the opportunity to give everyone a once-over again with those cool, blue-grey eyes, his gaze moving around the sound stage and over all the people present.

So far - to his eye, any way - it looks like a worthwhile investment. Of course, he knows movies can be chaotic, at best, in their production process, but not everything can be neat and ordered in life.

Jon's appearance came as a bit of a surprise to Mataya. She'd thought today was his day off ... although he was as bad as her when it came to actually taking that time off. Still, she couldn't wait to get Lelah and Jon back into the Shanachie cast list. Until they were available, she had no big names to exploit but those of her fiance and herself, and even they couldn't perform in every show until September.

Unlike the other two VIPs - and guest - she knew roughly how long it took to set up after a break, laughing a little as Ed told Monica it was 'quiet-time' now. "Y'know, they'll call for silence on the set when they're ready to roll," she offered by way of reassurance, flashing a grin after Lelah as the director made her way back to her seat.

With Olivia leading the way, she hung back to let Ed and Monica go in front, sliding herself around to Alain's left side to loop her arm through his in a friendly manner. "Since we're both without our significant others, how about we escort each other, Baron?" she teased lightly as they made their way up toward the gallery. "I promise I'll keep that man-eater on Ed's arm away from your virtue."

This was said with no attempt at keeping herself quiet, simply because she didn't actually mean the insult. It never occurred to her that anyone might take offence at her overly-exuberant attitude to everything, even those she had only just met. Hopefully, Monica wouldn't attempt to bitch back - if she thought Lelah was bad, she wouldn't know what had hit her if 'Taya was riled enough to expend energy on nastiness.

Alain smiled over at Mataya as she slipped her arm around his left: "We've only just met, and already you're putting yourself in the line of fire for my sake... I didn't realize how dangerous a profession acting could be."

He chuckled at that, and strolled along with her after Ed and Monica. "So what got you involved in all of this?" His eyes ticked around the studio to indicate what he was referring to, then returned to her. "Have you done film before, or is it usually theatre?"

Up in the gallery, Mataya was all about keeping the Baron entertained. Was she a VIP or not? Truth was, she was just too comfortable here in a film studio to even try and pretend to be just the money.

"Well, I started out in theatre when I was a teenager," she explained to Alain with a winsome smile. "Moved to L.A. to pursue the dream and completely by accident got myself hired for an independent film that was in production at the time. Kinda got the bug, met Max, went off the rails ..." She laughed, shaking her head merrily. "I only really got back into theatre when I came to Rhy'Din and opened the Shanachie."

Her gaze lingered for a moment on 'Monica' and Edward, shifting to watch the quiet words being shared between Lelah and her sound-stage crew.

"It's really weird being back on a sound-stage," she admitted with a smile. "But I guess that's why I got involved. Lelah offered me a chance to stick my nose back into film on my terms; I don't know any actor that'd turn that down."

She squeezed Alain's arm gently. "So what brought you into all this mayhem?" she asked curiously. "You don't strike me as a casual patron of the arts. Or you, actually, Ed."

Was she flirting? Damn straight she was. Ed and Alain were very lucky that Max had not been available to come with her today.

As they're led to the gallery, 'Monica' and Ed both are looking around the sound stage, quiet except for softly exchanged murmurs back and forth. As Olivia is summoned to lead them, there's a soft giggle from his escort, and she murmurs something to Ed, which gets a soft chuckle in return, followed by another murmured remark. The interplay continues with a gentle shove at his arm, seemingly mock-offense that breaks up into another giggle, and as Jonathan introduces himself, she returns his wink with a rather blatant once-over in his direction, one that is almost too obvious.

Ed's reaction is just to roll his eyes, another chuckle from him as they're heading up the stairs to the gallery as they murmur softly back and forth again.

Mataya's remark gets a glance from the petite redhead, though not one of offense, which might be expected, but instead a rather more suggestive look, a wink and an arched eyebrow with a slow smile that is easy enough to interpret.

Apparently, she's not just a man-eater.

It's an effort for Ed to keep the shock off his face, and to choke the laugh down that wants to come roaring out after it. Just when he thought the girl had gone as far as she could go, she went and took it a step further. Part of him notes that he'll have to relate this to her fiance later - he'll be sure to get a good laugh out of it.

Another part of him listens in on the conversation going on between Mataya and Alain, whom he'd caught the look from earlier but had been...otherwise distracted.

It's still amazing to him that the quiet, professional receptionist that normally mans the front desk at his corporate offices could make his jaw want to drop open to hang somewhere in the area of his navel.

He manages to recover his composure by the time Liv looks back his way, as Mataya's asking what got him into this, and he answers with an easy chuckle. "Ah'm a casu'l s'porter of a lot o' t'ings, act'ally, Ms. De Luca. Ah make 'nuff dat Ah c'n 'fford t'keep mah int'rests diverse. B'sides," he continues with a grin, "Ah have a touch o'culture in me...s'a'matter o'fact I took Ms. Erin Dunbridge to de Grand pas Classique of de ballet Paquita dat de Black Cat Dance comp'ny did a mont' back. S'Ah r'call dey put on a very good show."

Lelah tossed a look over her shoulder at the galley and then turned back to Jon with a smirk. "Let 'em schmooze. So long as they're happy, I'm happy. And if I'm happy, everyone's happy, right?" She chuckled and then set a pair of headphones over her ears and peered into the small hand-held monitor that she held on her lap. Drawing a deep breath, she nodded to Scott, who called out, "Quiet on the set!"

An expectant hush fell over the sound stage's floor and in the corner, well out of the shot, a tall, heavily-bearded young man closed his eyes and began murmuring arcane words and making vague motions in the air. It wasn't strictly necessary, but Ori understood that with the VIPs watching, he'd have to put on a bit of a show. The set darkened dramatically and the snowfall picked up even as the temperatures plummeted.

"And...action!" Lelah called out. She immediately lowered her eyes to the monitor, which displayed exactly what Larry Stern was seeing through his camera.

Aimee Savage exited the front of the imposing Gothic cathedral, shivering a bit at the cold as she stuffed her hands into her pockets and moved carefully down the front steps. She made a left to walk along a quiet residential street, which was lined on both sides by cars and trucks.

When Aimee was about half-way down the street, the feeling of the sound stage shifted subtly. Ori murmured a different string of words, made different gestures, and the atmosphere became anticipatory, as if the world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

From Aimee's left, there was a small flash of light in the undergrowth that hugged the foundations of the church, as if the clouds that were scudding across the sky had developed a rent and allowed moonlight to spill through, illuminating a small slice of the street.

A tall, obviously male figure was suddenly standing on the sidewalk not fifteen feet from Aimee. He was limned with silver moonlight that turned his skin to alabaster and his hair to pure gold.

Aimee gasped, her jade-green eyes flying open with obvious fright, and she turned to run down the street, her car keys appearing in her hand. She stopped when she came to a newer model BMW and scrabbled at the door, trying numerous times to slot her key into the lock and throw open the door. She spilled into the car and sat behind the wheel, chest heaving, hands trembling.

"Cut!" Lelah called out and the atmosphere in the sound stage shifted again, this time not so subtly as the set began buzzing once more with activity. Aimee climbed out of the car, her eyes still wide, though this time with nerves. "That was f*cking brilliant!" Lelah said. "Print! Let's wrap this scene, guys!" There was a huge sigh of relief from the crew and the actors and Lelah turned to Jon and said to him in a soft voice, "If she can do that with every take, she'll go far in this business."