their eyes are red *

[rob]

WHEN YOU SEE THEM, YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, COS THEY WANT SOME MEAT

YOU CAN'T FIGHT THEM
WHEN YOU SIGHT THEM, THEY WILL END YOUR LIFE
----------------------------------------------------

Rob was glad that, despite the fact that his character was an archaeology professor, he wasn't dressed like an awkward geek. In the wardrobe trailer, they had selections of shirts and sweaters, blazers - and jeans. Brilliant - no stereotypical professor wear. He liked that, considering he was quite a young professor. A bit like Indiana Jones, minus the heartthrob qualities. Rob would be captaining a young troop of faux-students in a deadly national park in Arizona, where they would fall into the mitts of dead Native Americans. He was glad that he didn't end up dying like a pussy, instead he got to go out like a hero after killing the Indian chief. Rob was used to dying in film by now, that was how his acting career started. He'd died as a soldier so many times, often on some beach or during a big fire fight with the enemy in a handful of different wars.

Apparently he was good at dying! It was amusing his mates to no end. Especially since he didn't die when he was a legit soldier and now all he seemed to do was die! Even in Terminator, he died. Twice! He'd completed a film recently in which he didn't die and played someone completely different to what he was used to. It was the role that broke the ice for him. He was so nervous and it was only a supporting role playing the fire-fighter husband to a lawyer wife, played by his good friend and past cast mate, Natalie Delaney. But it filled him with pride that he'd managed to step out of his comfort zone. It wasn't an action film or war-related and it was something touching and dramatic. He just hoped the critics like that. But even if they didn't, he was impressed. It was something he had worried about, the more he got into acting and the more known he became. He was worried that he'd never be able to progress as an actor.

Because he took his career seriously now. In the beginning, he did it to accompany a friend. And then did it because it was easy money and it was a fun experience. And then he stepped up to credited roles before he was selected for a major Hollywood movie. And he realised that he had fallen in love with it. Which was funny because he hated drama class in high school. Rob stood in a smart-casual blue shirt and a pair of snug jeans, trying to keep cool with a bottle of water. It was fucking hot. They were working in some forest and it was just humid and uncomfortable. He'd had to shave and trim his hair for this role having let himself grow fuzzy over the past couple of weeks and he donned his glasses, which he would wear in character and out of too! He felt old on set. He was in his early thirties and the rest of the cast were early to mid twenties. But he was glad that some of his old Six Lives cast mates were a part of this film.

He sat down in one of many chairs set around the medium marquee which was set up for the cast and catering with trailers parked around, watching some of the crew were setting up props for a scene which was to be shot next. Rob was eager to see the zombies. He thought being a half-robot was fun but imagine being turned into a zombie for the day!

---

TAGGED: NO ONE COZ IT'S OPEN! SETTING: THE ARIZONA FILM SET. OUTFIT: IS HERE. LYRICS: ZOMBIES - ATTAK. NOTES: YEAH, I KNOW IT'S A BIT SHIT BUT HE NEEDS ACTIVITY. CLOSED TO THE FIRST REPLIER - SOMEONE ATTACHED TO THE RED SKINS MOVIE, THANKS! :]

[hannah]

Things for Tristan were going really well, and that was just downright strange for him. He was used to his life spiraling out of control, draining helplessly from the pool of reality. It was pathetic, but he didn't know how to not let it happen. And when you think of over-worked actor, one of the first names that popped into your head would probably be Tristan Silvers. Ever since he hit the big time, all he'd been doing was starring in production after production. It was needless to say that being an A-list actor was a lot different than he had imagined. When he thought of the lifestyle of the rich and famous, he thought of parties every night with glamor and orange juice from champagne glasses. But instead, he was this exhausted person that barely knew who he was anymore since he spent so much of his time in front of a camera, pretending to be someone else. That was a bit of a lie, considering he would always know who he was. Tristan had been the same way for quite some time, and change didn't seem to be in his near future. That was a bold-faced lie though; he'd changed a lot since he got together with Paige. He did love her though, with all his being. She was perfect in his eyes, despite all the shit she constantly put him through.

Tristan stood just inside the door of his trailer, starting to pull on a jacket before he realized he wasn't in Canada anymore. He was in Arizona, where it was way too hot to wear anything heavier than a t-shirt. He groaned a little, but just threw it back onto the couch, on top of Paige who was sitting there, looking a little groggy. He rolled his eyes a little and said goodbye to her before slipping out the door. He had mixed emotions about shooting this movie, to say the least. He was excited he actually didn't play the villain this time, but he still died... which somehow he had become proficient at. For some reason, in all his big roles he ended up dying. Of course it was always in valiant fashion: in Six Lives he was a terrorist who died for his beliefs, in Slayer by Night he was hunted and killed violently by Cash, who, for some reason, had become one of his better friends. He also was kind of confused why he cared so much for Cash and Chesa's relationship, and their future child. It was all really weird to Tristan, to say the absolute least.

He trotted down the stairs with a spring in his step for perhaps the first time in a very long while. He wasn't exactly excited about seeing Jack, but he was hoping to mend the friendship he'd somehow managed to break. He couldn't help it that he was a whiny pessimist - that was Tristan, and always had been. He wasn't so sure why it got to Jack now. Whatever, it wasn't like Tristan gave a damn right now. He had his girl, and he was getting laid. That's all he wanted from life. He greeted a couple of the staff members with a bright smile, a real one even. They all seemed genuinely happy to see him, or maybe it was that he was genuinely happy to be alive today. He dug his hands into his pockets and walked past a couple people, eventually joining a small group forming around the set. He wasn't in this scene, but he was due in hair and makeup in just a little while. He paused to watch what was going on, catching sight of his old co-star Robert Care. Yeah, the guy was a good bit older than him and not an A-lister, but that didn't matter to Tristan. He could have been a senior citizen and a hobo, but Tristan would have still acknowledged him. That was one good quality he'd kept about him and actually improved on once the fame was added to the recipe of his life. Before, he only talked to people who could help him, who could advance his fame. Now, it didn't really matter.

"Hey man," he greeted as he took the seat next to Rob. He'd only been out of his air-conditioned trailer for a minute or so and he could already feel himself starting to sweat a bit. Arizona was every bit as miserable as he'd imagined. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Reminds you of Morocco, eh?" he commented jokingly, though he was actually being quite serious. He tended to be a little more mature around his older cast mates, aside from Lucia. Lucia brought out the immaturity in him like no other, but that was what friends were for right?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

howdy ho there robert care &or laura, here's a nice 803 words for you. tristan is wearing this. the lyrics are pulp fiction -- motion city soundtrack and everything else is me. in other news, we've both been here since it's opened and i think this is the first time we'ved rp'd.

[rob]

Heat was more difficult when the air was dry. You just had to keep loading water into your system. Why did he always wind up in the hot and dry or hot and humid climates, usually accompanied by sand or dirt? At least Morocco and Arizona didn't smell like shit. The stench from places in Iraq and Afghanistan was just shocking. And because it was so dry and hot, the air was filled with it and it would hit the back of your throat and make you want to gag the first few times you were exposed to it. It was something you never got used to but something that became easier to ignore the longer you were there. Rob unscrewed the cap of his water bottle no more than five minutes after he'd replaced it and took another drink. At least this place was open but not exposed to the blistering sun because sitting in some cramped little cabin or trailer was far from ideal on a day like today.

His eyes caught sight of his co-star Tristan and acknowledged the young man who approached and took a seat while greeting Rob, who was in the middle of chugging water. Rob and Tristan had met on the set of Six Lives and while the pair weren't what you'd call friends, Rob liked him. You never knew what to expect when meeting celebrities and Rob didn't consider himself to be a celebrity or to be famous whereas Tristan was well-known and talked about, in both bad and good ways. But he was a nice chap and Rob found him easy to get along with. One could only imagine how tough it was to have people always trying to pry, trying to know your business and publish it on the front of their glossy magazines. It was good to see Tristan again, seemingly doing better than he had been lately. He liked that he knew a handful of actors working on this film already, as it was always better when you weren't going to feel completely out of place in the cast.

Because seriously, he was a nobody compared to most actors in the business and that was intimidating. It was fucking scary being the little bug on this big windshield sometimes! "It certainly does." the Englishman said. "I'd actually look forward to being posted somewhere Artic-esque in the near future." he added, with a smile. That was something good about this job, that he got to travel. He wasn't the kind of guy who was a homebody. He loved his family, his friends and having a place to call home but after a while, he became restless. He liked being 'posted' or 'deployed' to different places, different countries. The upside to his current career was that he wasn't going to get blown up or shot. Not in reality anyway, just in film. "At least then we wouldn't be sweating like beasts." said Rob with a movement of his arm as if trying to air out his pits, and laughed,

He sighed and sat back in the seat, putting his water bottle on the table and turning his attention to Tristan. "So how're you doing, mate? Feels like it's been forever since I last saw you." he said, though it was months ago, it felt longer. Rob had only come on set yesterday, he had yet to really make the rounds and say hey to everyone. It would be nice to catch up, reconnect with people he knew already and connect with people he was meeting for the first time.

---

NOTES: Well I joined in March, but it's long enough! Don't think I role-played with you back on previous sites either, so at least we're doing it now?!

[hannah]

If there was anything Tristan didn't enjoy about being a celebrity, it was that the entire world knew who he was, but he could only make a couple names to faces. He knew his manager and his close friends, and, grudgingly his family, but along with some other people he worked with, they were all just random faces to him. He often even forgot he was famous when he wasn't filming nonstop, just walking out of his house or trailer only to be swarmed seconds later by fan girls and creeps with cameras. It was a life he didn't mind though. All his life, he'd been a bit of an attention whore, so now that he did have a lot of attention and the spotlight was focused on him, he was pretty damn happy. Sure there were times he wished he could spend a weekend alone without anything to do but spend time with Paige, but eventually, reality set in. He would inevitably get himself into trouble if he had more than about twenty seconds of free time, and he and Paige couldn't get along for a couple hours let alone an entire weekend. Their attention spans would become much too tired of the other, and it would result in a fight. Of course she always bitched now about how he wasn't around. Sometimes, it was confusing as fuck why he even loved Paige.

Tristan knew the last time he'd seen Rob, he wasn't as figured out as he was now. He was still on his stretch of alcoholism and extreme depression, having just been shoved into the spotlight of the a-list and by extension, under the microscope of the entire world. He was drunk all the time and almost never smiled on the set of Six Lives, but he could say with certainty that during the duration of Slayer by Night, he changed. A lot. Well, it was the events leading up to filming his last movie that sort of prompted the change. He preferred not even thinking about it, though. He was honestly just glad he recognized Rob. He laughed as the older male talked about being sent somewhere much colder. "I feel you there, man," he said shutting his eyes for a bit. His body had gotten so used to Canada where it was really only wet and cold. Sure there were a couple days that were nice, or even kind of warm, but it was moist and miserable. Here, the air was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife and the heat hung around like old flypaper in a barn: gross and ever-present. He just wanted to go home to LA, take a shower, and be rid of this awful atmosphere.

Tristan laughed again at Rob's statement and movement. He was actually surprised everyone didn't smell like body odor on set. He guessed that was the beauty of running with a crowd of people all obsessed with what they look like and what everyone else thinks. "I'm pretty sure costume design is going to throw us all out for sweating in their clothes," he joked as he eyed where he was supposed to go and get all dolled up for whatever he was doing today.

How was he doing. That was a question he'd received a lot since his personal problems had hit the media full-force. Apparently, two a-list members dating was cause for some serious talk among the paparazzi and absolutely everything anyone found out about either of them was something the world needed to know. That was fucking annoying, but being asked by someone that Tristan felt genuinely cared about how he was doing, that was refreshing. He hated answering the question on every interview he'd given recently, having to explain what he didn't want to relive. But that's life, right? "Pretty good, pretty good. I can't exactly complain.. A lot better since we worked together on Six Lives, right?" His tone was light and jovial, as he tried to make fun of his previous, constantly-drunk state. It wasn't a secret - everyone knew he had some serious problems then. He hadn't figured out how to hide them from the media yet, but now he felt like he was doing a damn good job. Nothing he'd been going through had gotten out lately, and he was happy about that. He and Paige (and by extension, their sometimes-failing relationship) hadn't even been on the front page of a newspaper in a while, which qualified as an accomplishment.

"What about you?" he asked with a smile. It was a smile the world had gotten used to not seeing, but it was back and could light up a room again. Tristan got compliments on everything, but his personality was something everyone loved about him. He liked joking around and at least pretending to be happy, even if he wasn't.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

howdy ho there robert care &or laura, here's a nice 814 words for you. tristan is wearing this. the lyrics are pulp fiction -- motion city soundtrack and everything else is me. in other news, finally!

[rob]

They'd probably complain about it being too cold if they did get located somewhere with a freezing climate. No one was ever happy! It reminded Rob of the British summertime. People would complain about it being dull, cloudy or raining and once the sunshine was out, they'd complain it was too hot. Arizona honestly wasn't that bad. California could be just as sticky and sweaty too, even back home in the northwest of England it could feel unbearably hot. He really ought to be used to it, but even if he wasn't Rob tended to just shut up and deal with it. He had been used to being around a load of blokes all in the same situation, not being allowed to take off their shirts so they'd all just sit around sweating, stinking and chugging water. For a while after quitting the army, Rob would constantly have to remind himself and remember that he wasn't with them anymore and had to watch his mouth, had to think about what came out of it before he spoke. It took him a while to simply cut out inappropriate swearing. "Well it's alright for them, they can go hang out in nice air-conditioned trailers while we're out here, dying." Rob said and smirked. Because he literally meant dying - well they weren't dying but their characters were. Which was weirdly, a lot of fun.

Hearing Tristan's response brought that rare smile to Rob's face. Most of his smiles seemed so awkward and uncomfortable, even fake. But you could always tell the real one from the one you'd see him sporting at most events because he felt so uncomfortable in front of all those flashing cameras. "That's great to hear, lad." Rob said in a genuine sort of way. "You definitely seem in a better place." he added and nodded accordingly. And that was a great thing, you heard about all sorts of stories in the media about celebrities losing their way. It made Rob be real cautious and wary of this entire industry but especially of Hollywood. The lifestyle and the atmosphere seemed to lead people astray and fuck shit up for them. The media had a hand in that too, especially gossip magazines that spread lies or even spread truth that someone would rather be dealt with privately. He didn't feel sorry for the media attention-whores, but there were some people who didn't deserve to walk the path there were on. Some had even met their end too soon and that was who Rob's heart went out to. Because they were capable of so much more. "I'm not too bad, really. Been really, really busy but I can't complain either." Rob said, echoing Tristan's comment.

Seriously, you couldn't complain if you were working, especially in the current economic state! You had to be thankful you were working at all. There were plenty of unemployed actors out there and knowing that made Rob feel guilty considering he seriously sort of fell into this profession, while some people had dreamt of being an actor since their childhood and still hadn't got to where they wanted to be. There were plenty of unemployed people out there, period. It was shocking. Thank god he wasn't one of Hollywood's big earners. It was so frustrating to read or see news stories about people struggling to take care of their families, how his home country was going through major budget cuts but celebrities were able to spend their money on cars, clothes and gadgets they don't need, on properties they didn't need that had way more rooms than they required. How their employers were willing to spend millions of dollars for their services and yet other people were having to miss out on opportunities or on things they really needed because the government couldn't afford it. What a load of bullshit. "Hopefully I'm gonna be visiting home at the end of this, if I can." he said with a satisfied smile.

It was both his halfsister's and his stepmother's birthday in October, he really wanted to be with them for it because he wasn't away for most birthdays and other special occasions, sometimes he felt really bad about it, especially since he wasn't away with the army anymore. If he wasn't working, he could surely take the time to get back home to be with them.

[hannah]

Having grown up in Maine, Tristan was not used to this kind of weather. He'd lived in LA for quite some time, since he was nineteen, but he still couldn't really get used to it. He did like the rainy, often times cold, weather of his home state. Of course he often forgot that he did spend time in France as a youngster, but that was such a long time ago, and it involved his mother. Almost every memory that involved his mom he tried to cut out of his brain. The woman was just so awful in Tristan's eyes, and he harbored so much resentment for the woman and the choices she made not just for herself, but their entire, dysfunctional family. He also partially hated her for leaving him with Cassie all the time. He loved his sister, but she was blind and required a little more attention than most toddlers and little sisters demanded, which was enough to handle anyway. But he did his best to put that behind him and remember some good things about his childhood because honestly, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. He laughed a fair amount at Rob's statement about them dying. "I've died three times now, I think I have license to sweat," he joked, recalling that every major role he'd played since hitting the A-list had required him to die on screen. Sure it was a little weird and people were probably getting tired of watching him pretend to die, but he had fun with it. Ever since his close encounter before Slayer by Night, dying meant something all-together different for him.

He watched the smile that happened on Rob's face and for a split second, he felt like maybe someone cared. Sure he had Paige, but most of the time he felt like she didn't give a rat's ass what happened to him. She was a good girlfriend until it came to feelings and the emotional side of things. Tristan nodded in agreement. He'd been a celebrity for quite some time now, but he still kind of felt awkward talking about himself to much. He was about as egotistical as the next guy and never really minded talking about himself unless it was something negative, like his drinking problem or the rocky relationship he shared with Paige. Those were both nothing he wanted to talk about. He smiled, hearing that Rob, too, was doing well. Though Tristan had to admit, the guy didn't look like he let a whole lot get to him. If Tristan hadn't been nearly-forced to get to know him during Six Lives, he would probably still cause Tristan to shit himself a little. "That's great, man," he said genially, just to keep the conversation flowing. Usually he wasn't big on just sitting around and talking, but this was easy conversation and good company.

There was something not a lot of people knew about Tristan, and probably it was the only example of charity he could recall about himself. In addition to making himself a comfortable living, he was dumping money into funds for research on retinal dystrophy, or a cure for blindness. Growing up beside his blind sister made him promise himself that if he did make it big, he was going to try to help her see. And that was about as charitable as it got for him. He was, admittedly, a kind of selfish person. "Where is home for you?" he asked, his eyes full of genuine interest. He knew Rob was from somewhere in England, but details were beyond his recollection. He was sure he'd been told once, but just didn't remember. He didn't remember much from the scene of Six Lives, courtesy of the liquor. "I know my sister gets pretty pissed from time to time, since I haven't taken a break since Six Lives to chill with her." He and Cassie were pretty tight, and he regretted not being able to see her more. But, sometimes, Tristan got his priorities out of order and put work first. It was all just a part of being young and thinking he had forever to live. But she was justified in being angry with him, since he had taken about two weeks between Six Lives and Slayer by Night, then something like four days between that and Red Skins. He was in high demand as an actor, and he thought himself lucky he hadn't gotten tired of it yet.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

howdy ho there robert care &or laura, here's a nice 750 words for you. tristan is wearing this. the lyrics are pulp fiction -- motion city soundtrack and everything else is me. in other news, ramble!!

[rob]

Rob began to chuckle and nodded his head. "Exactly. Before I started to see it as a serious career, I worked as an extra in military films and usually ended up dying. I've jumped out of a boat and died on the beach enough times in my life!" joked Rob with a playful grin. It was great experience though, sometimes they reused you in later scenes as jus at background soldier. He must have played about five roles in one particular film just to bulk up a group of soldiers. You never saw his face in most scenes so it worked out well. He had a blast back in those days, he only started going to them because his friend didn't want to go alone. It was easy money! When he began featuring in more modern warfare films rather than films based decades ago, the casting directors saw a lot of potential in him. And they were never the only ex-soldiers. It was surprising how many of the extras were vets themselves. They even hired amputees to play bomb victims. It was fantastic. The more they worked as extras, the more Rob wanted a challenge. The more he wanted to get involved. The more he started love it! "We're doing pretty good for a couple of dead blokes, eh?" he smiled.

He almost just said "England" to Tristan's question of where home was for him. But surely that was blatantly obvious! "Well the family live up North, in this small town in between Liverpool and Manchester." he said, for some reason holding up his hands to show the distance as if it somehow helped to explain where they lived. It was hard to explain where home was to Americans so you just had to pick the most notable and known areas that were nearby. The town his family lived in - and where he had a flat (that was currently occupied by a friend) - was basically in between Liverpool and Manchester in terms of the train lines. Most people would have heard of Liverpool because of The Beatles while Manchester was known for it's football/soccer team. Rob was a northern boy through and through, having been born in Yorkshire. His mother Becca was Australian, his father Frank was born in Hartlepool but grew up in Bath and his stepmother GG was from London originally. One set of half-siblings (who were born to his mother) were both English, the other set were all registered British nationals regardless of where they were born. Jenny was born on a British army base in Germany while Ali was a Cypriot-born baby, again on a British army base and the youngest of them all was Alex, who came two months too early and was born in a German civilian hospital.

That sounded very familiar. Time just seemed to zoom on by and sometimes you'd take a step back and realise how long it had been since you'd seen or heard from your loved ones. "Oh, I know what you mean. I'm on the phone to my lot all the time, I can never get me Step-mam to stop talking when I do! Us lot are used to not seeing each other for long periods of time though, so it's not too big of a deal." Rob explained. He grew up as the son of a soldier and the family were often in a different country throughout his childhood. Germany, Cyprus, The Shetlands. Any holiday back to England wasn't really a holiday, it'd be the Care family making pit-stops to each family member, including Rob's mother. When he became worried that moving would have a serious impact on his high school career, his parents agreed to send him to a boarding school specifically for children of the armed forces, which he began attending when he was thirteen. So Rob stayed in England while his father, stepmother and eventually, his younger siblings lived in whatever country that Frank was based in. His father quit the army after Rob graduated high school, when the family decided to move back to England for good because the youngest child was born prematurely and would later be diagnosed with cerebral palsy. By that time, Rob had already enlisted in the army himself. "I've got a young niece now though and I want her to know who I am, y'know what I mean?" he said, scratching at his stubbly chin.

And at the very thought of his little Liz, he whipped out his phone and held it up to show Tristan the background wallpaper, of a apple-cheeked blonde haired and blue eyed toddler, wearing a mischievous (and toothy!) little grin. "Gorgeous little thing, she is. Last time I saw her, she could only manage to call me Wobby." said Rob, with a titter of laughter. Whenever he thought about it, he got the giggles. He had no idea why, he just found it to be incredibly precious.