2023-03-17: A Natural
- Log: 2023-03-17: A Natural
- Cast: Alto Saotome, Ranka Lee
- Where: Pacific Island, Bird Human Movie Set
- OOC - IC Date: 17 March 0097
- Summary: Is it really your first kiss if you're just acting?
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
The day has come.
One of the nearby resort's tour boats has been hired out as the launching platform for this particular scene shooting. The trip out wasn't especially far. Just far enough to reach depths that were deemed appropriate enough for what the scene called for. A couple of safety divers are in the process of suiting up to assist with the filming, while a small submersible to be used for the actual recording is being lowered into the water.
Alto appears to be watching this all take place, leaning against the outer railing of the ship. He's already prepared, dressed in simple shorts and a shirt. In his hands, his diving mask and snorkel. Though most weirdly is his hair... It's been dyed brown! His long ponytail has been tied up and tucked into itself on the back of his head. It looks weird and nothing like the real actor's hair. But it's close enough that it'll only require a little editing to fix.
But while Alto looks to be watching the movie crew prepare, his thoughts are actually on something far different as he's been somewhat nervously anticipating this day. And now it's come. He's not even sure why he should be nervous. He's kissed people while acting before... And...
The memory of the kiss with Sheryl in the Nadesico's hangar flits through Alto's mind. He goes a little red, before shaking his head to try and dislodge the memory and shift his focus away.
This is different. It's just acting! Right?
... Right?
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka hadn't arrived quite yet, as they were applying makeup. The whole concept feels a little silly to Ranka in a way.
It's an underwater scene, but they assured her that the waterproof makeup is better for the cameras. Thus she let Nanase and Bobby fuss over her until it was perfect.
At least they had the good sense not to devote time to her hair.
Once they were finished, she asked to go to the restroom and...
"You can do this you can do this you can do this!" Psyched herself up for a good fifteen minutes, "It's not like you've been wanting this to happen for real for, over a year now!" Ranka looks at herself in the mirror with nervous laughter, before she droops, "Okay. It's acting! It's definitely acting. Even if you want this to happen for real!"
Ranka thinks of the Prom and almost claps her hands to her cheeks and smudges her makeup, "But wait what if he knows I want him to kiss me for real!"
This may go on in a rather circular fashion for a while. When she does arrive, she's in costume, a dress of light orange, with floral accents in Mayan style. She's come barefoot for this scene, as she waves up to Alto and walks up the dock to him beside the boat, hands behind his back.
She has no diving gear, her Meltrandi blood gave her wonderful lung capacity, making her well suited to playing Mao in this sense.
"Hey Alto!" She sounds a little nonchalant after all that time working up to this, but her heart feels like its beating out of her chest. "Are you ready?"
She asks, her red eyes searching him for any sign that... it might be more than just acting.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
By the time Ranka joins Alto outside, he's calmed himself a bit again so is no longer a little red around the cheeks. He turns to Ranka, eyeing her in her Mao outfit. He stares for a moment, the style not Ranka's usual. Though it is cute...
Quickly pulling himself together he tries to be a little more professional as he says, "Hey, Ranka. Yeah, I'm good to go. And I think they're ready for us."
Alto moves to the ladder on the boats exterior, climbing down a few rungs before jumping the rest of the way into the water. Submerging for a moment, Alto comes back up and slides his mask of his head onto his face. Not that a snorkel is going to do much good underwater. While Alto has some pretty decent lung capacity due to general fitness requirements as a pilot, he's no Zentradi. So he's definitely grateful that there will be safety divers down there with spare air for him (and Ranka too of course) if he needs it.
Holding on to the boat's ladder for a moment, he watches Ranka as he waits for her, asking, "How about you? Are you ready for this?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Alto seems nervous? Is that a good sign? I mean she's nervous, even if she's trying not to show it. So maybe it is! However, he talks just as casually about it, and it leaves her wondering. Ranka quickly follows down the ladder, once in the boat however, she carefully walks to the side, then carefully moves one leg over the edge.
Then she raises the other, but in the process of shifting her weight, Ranka's clumsiness kicks in and she falls off the side with a splash with a yelp, "AAH!" that's cut off when she hits the water and submerges.
Breaking the surface, Ranka's hair is just, soaked on both sides. It's perhaps an adorable look, but the way its weighed down now she looks a touch like a wet dog.
Its only now that her eyes betray a hint of anxiety as he asks his question, "I think so. I think..."
Ranka's mind wanders, to that moment when Sheryl and Alto's lips met. That look on both of their faces. The aftermath.
The story of Shin Kudo and Sara Nome. She's the same age as Sheryl and only newly on the same path as her, but the parallel still fits in a way.
"... I think I understand Mao's feelings now."
There's determination in those red eyes after saying that. She won't lose to Sheryl without a fight.
That much is certain to her.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
A smile forms on Alto's face for a moment as Ranka trips into the water and comes up like a wet dog.
But then she mentions that she understands Mao's feelings now...
Alto hadn't put much thought into it. He was roughly aware of the movie's plot, but for the most part he didn't think too hard on it. He had no voice lines, after all. And he'd only be on screen for a handful of seconds...
The filming coordinator calls out, "Alright! Safety divers in position. Cameras are rolling. We're ready! Go ahead you two."
Alto nods, giving once last glance to Ranka as he takes in a deep breath, before diving underwater.
Alto begins to swim towards the location where the fake Protoculture remains had been set up... But as he does so he now starts to wonder what Shin's feelings were. The man was clearly enamoured with Sara... But did he know how Mao felt about him? Did he feel similarly for her? Could he reconcile those feelings with the ones for Sara?
Of course, Alto knows how the story ends. Shin chose Sara, only for the two to be separated. But is that the only choice? To choose one?
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
That look of determination remains upon her features, as if all uncertainty is gone. Today, she would kiss Shin Kudo - or Alto Saotome. Such things blur perhaps in the moment, but...
... she wants this.
The crew calls for them to go ahead, Alto descends, Ranka counts to three, then follows.
As Alto swims, he might be surprised when Ranka swims down like a fish, at such a speed so as to almost pass him within seconds despite his head start.
That too can be easily attributed to her Meltrandi blood. However, it makes her suitable to play Mao and do her own stunts in that sense.
As she catches up to him, she grabs his hand in one of hers, fingertips squeezing as they wrap around his palm. She tries not to look at him, the script calls for her to just pull him with her deeper into the depths, to the ruins.
It's hard not to, holding his hand.
The fake Protoculture remains glow with a luminescence set up by the effects. And NOW she looks at him, stealing a glance at him to the side as 'Shin' is meant to look entranced.
A single eye from the ruins opens, glaring at them. Ranka tries not to look too nervous. She knows what happens next, she knows.
She starts readying herself for it. What will it feel like, kissing someone underwater? Is it a weird way to have her first kiss? Will it feel right? Will it be everything she ever imagined?
Either way, it's going to be, so the moment Alto starts pretending to drown...
Will be the moment she swims up to him, for that first kiss.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto's hand is taken, surprising him as Ranka actually manages to catch up to him so quickly. He didn't know she was such a good swimmer! She helps pull him along, taking him down deeper to the cave where the ruins have been set up.
The two come to a stop and float there, Alto's eyes transfixed on these leftover vestiges of the Protoculture civilization as they begin to glow. This next part is going to be dangerous... To fake drowning without actually doing it.
The ruins shift, a giant eye opening and turning to look at the two. Alto's mouth goes wide in shock, a cloud of bubbles quickly rushing out like he had gasped in surprise. He then immediately moves to clutch the snorkel and his mouth, closing his eyes and starting to struggle in the water. Alto's kicking pushes him upwards and he feels the roof of the cave hit his back, halting his progress.
He's faking it all. He never actually took a mouthful of water. He still has enough air in his lungs to keep him going for a while yet.
... And yet, re-enacting this situation is oddly disturbing.
Alto calms himself though as he feels Ranka move the diving mask off his face. His eyes are closed so he can't see her. And yet he can feel her looking at him. Like she always does.
Like when they first met in the gardens of the Frontier concert hall.
Like at the observatory when he encouraged her to pursue her dreams.
Like when she was in his lap as the two of them flew through Earth's skies.
Like when he asked her to dance at the GUTS prom.
Alto's eyes open wide in surprise, seeing Ranka looking at him. Like she always does. She leans in, bringing her lips to his in a kiss.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka knows what the script calls for, the bubbles fall out of Alto's mouth, she looks at him in alarm. He's acting, some part of her knows however, it looks so real. He's such a good actor, it's no wonder his brother wanted him back.
He never wanted to act again in this capacity, but he's doing it right now. He's doing it for her. Just as he taught her to dance when she was failing to even handle the most basic choreography for a low stakes High School concert.
It feels like there's so much he does for her. So much he sacrifices for her. Maybe he worries about who he is often, but Ranka feels like she knows who he is.
Swimming up to him, her concern is not feigned, its not acted, its real in the uncertainty of the moment. He's such a good actor, but what if he's not?
Either way, her hands press against both sides of his cheeks, as if bracing his head. And the look in her eyes, just so full of concern.
It doesn't look like acting.
Not as she leans forward. Not as she frames her lips against his, and her eyes close. Despite the ocean setting, her lips are warm as they form a seal over his. There's a light exhalation of air, as if she were blowing it into his lungs.
But she holds her lips against his, she holds it for so long. Perhaps longer even than the scene called for by just a second or two, as if she were selfishly stealing another moment or two for herself.
And when her lips do break from his, she just looks so happy. The scene calls for Mao to smile mischievously, but Ranka.
She just looks happy to have shared this moment, acting or not. It's still something the two of them shared together, and something she's been wanting to do for a long time.
The ambiguity is her shield, this liminal space between acting and not. She doesn't need to confess her feelings, she just needs to kiss him.
And hope that maybe, maybe one day, he'll understand her feelings for him too.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
As the two kiss, the glow from the fake Protoculture ruins grows stronger, lighting the two of them up. But Alto's eyes aren't looking at it, as transfixed as they are on Ranka in front of him. Thankfully the script calls for Shin to do the same, because Alto isn't sure he could look away at this point.
Finally, after what felt like an infinitely long moment in time to Alto, but in reality was only a few seconds, the two separate. Alto's continues to look at Ranka, his mouth moving briefly as another cloud of bubbles escape. Like he was trying to say something. Then the glow of the ruins draw his look, turning his head to them...
... Or rather the remote submersible with its camera lens practically right up in the two's faces.
Well if that's not a mood killer, what is?
But this does signal the point that the scene ends. And the point that the two should probably start the ascent back to the surface before Alto ends up drowning for real.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka still has that smile, that so genuine smile on her face. She releases Alto's face and, suddenly she spies the camera, and she startles.
She's definitely an amateur, looking right at the camera, but fortunately that's the point the scene ends.
She looks back and forth from it to Alto and - Ranka still has plenty of air left, but she realizes he doesn't.
Quickly she grabs his hand, and begins to swim, kicking her legs. Fortunately part of the movie magic is they're not down so deep that Alto needs to worry about the bends, they'll edit it to look that way.
As they break the surface, Ranka takes a breath, then another. She's winded, but only just. She waits for Alto to catch his breath too, the two treading water, as she looks him in the eyes and...
"So. How'd I do?"
She asks innocuously, as if just wanting the expert opinion from Alto as someone who was an actor once. It obfuscates the fact she's wanting to know what he thought of the kiss nicely.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto holds on to Ranka's hand again as she helps him swim back up to the surface. Once he breaches the surface he quickly takes in a gasp of air, followed by another and another. His air situation didn't get too serious, otherwise he would have gone to one of the waiting safety divers.
But it is nice to be breathing properly again! Funny how having air is good for you.
After he's had a moment to catch his breath, Alto turns to look at Ranka. The memory of that underwater kiss is still strong in his mind as he replies, "You're a natural."
He was talking about her acting ability, right? Right?
Though Alto isn't quite sure he has the right to give such praise, given if he were to think critically about his own acting down there, he'd probably find many flaws. Which he'd then likely obsess over, practising again and again or face the risk of being criticized by his father...
Alto closes his eyes for a moment, trying to quell those rising feelings. Finally he opens them again, given Ranka a smile, "Come on, let's go get dry." He begins to swim back towards the boat. Along the way he ponders, "I wonder if we're going to need to do another take of that..."
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka beams at him in such a genuine way as he calls her a natural. She's not certain if he means as an actress or a kisser either. But in the end, it feels great to her, just to receive that praise.
"Couldn't have managed it without your support down there."
As she gives him such an affectionate smile, "Thank you Alto."
God if she'd had to kiss Crom Thuse? Ick. Who cares what his face looks like with a personality so rotten?
"Okay." Sitting with Alto in the sun for a while sounds like a great way to spend time after that, as they swim back, she looks his way, then... contemplates it.
It'd be a real pain to set back up for it maybe in a sense but...
"I wouldn't mind." She tells him happily, "It was actually really fun."
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
"Some of it, maybe..." Definitely.
"But I'm not sure I want to fake drown too many more times... Even though it's not real, it's oddly unsettling." And dangerous.
The two soon make it back to the smaller boat and then the tour boat where they can relax after what was probably a tiring ordeal. And thankfully (or perhaps not depending on who you ask) it looks like they won't need to do that again, the ones in charge happy enough with the result.