Olego's RPS

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REAL PERSON STORY, AND COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. THIS STORY IS ABOUT LUKE MACFARLANE AND MATTHEW RHYS, AND THE STORY IS TOTALLY MADE UP BY ME. IT'S ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES, NOTHING ELSE.

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Rate: PG-13
Disclaimer: Just borrowing.
Summary: During the shooting of season one, Luke and Matthew gets to know each other.
Word count: 1105
Thanks to: Sueli for beta-reading.

“Nice lunch.” Luke looks up at Matthew when he sits down on the bench next to him. In less than an hour they will start shooting, and now they are on the set, just waiting for everything to get ready for them.
“Yeah, it was,” Luke agrees.

“It’s gonna be fun to do this with you, in case I didn’t say that,” Matthew says, his voice more relaxed, leaning forward a bit.
“Oh yeah,” Luke says. “I think so too. It’s gonna be great. Frankly,” he continues. “I’ve been a bit nervous about it.”

“You haven’t had a lot of gay roles either?” Matthew asks. Luke doesn’t reply right away, instead he stretches his neck a bit, rubbing it with a hand. Matthew watches it move over his neck before he slowly lowers it to his lap again.

“Not really, no,” Luke replies quietly.
“Me neither. But it’s not that bad, from what I hear,”
“Being gay or acting gay?” Luke asks, maybe sounding a bit more harsh than what he planned on doing. He has no intentions of coming out to anyone on the set, but something in him says he can’t drop this, especially not with Matthew.

“Acting. I guess being gay is harsh sometimes, but only because other people behave badly,” Matthew says. If he understood why Luke was so anxious to ask him about it he doesn’t show it. Before Luke can continue, Matthew does.

“I read an interview with some actor that played a gay role in a movie in the 90’s. It was a big movie, and a lot of kids said that they had the courage to come out and stand up for themselves in school and to their families because of that role, and that actor says in an interview that it was hard to do the big kisses, because he was uncomfortable kissing other men,” Matthew takes a sip of his drink before continuing. “Somehow that is incredibly arrogant. To say that it’s hard to kiss a person when all these people use that fictional relationship as fuel to even get out of bed.”

“Yes, people behave like they are doing it against their will, basically,” Luke says, not sure how to phrase his worries about the gay issues many actors seem to have. Even when he hasn’t been open with colleagues, the homophobia has felt personal.
“Like they do it and therefore are a part of making things better, but then they say other things. Like they don’t care.

“Exactly. I haven’t kissed guys before, but judging from our experience before it’s not that bad,” Matthew says.
“No, it’s not,” Luke laughs.
“So you’ve kissed guys before?”
“Yes, I have.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m just not out,” Luke says quietly.
“Oh,” Matthew replies. They are both quiet for a while, and just when Luke thinks he has ruined their entire working environment, Matthew starts talking.
“I mean, I could say ‘it’s okay’ but I don’t want to say that. It’s so patronizing.”

Luke looks at Matthew, his eyes big with surprise.
“It is!” He says. “I always thought so, and yet you have to swallow it when nice people tell you how big they are when they can tolerate you. I hate that,” Luke rambles, tensions releasing in him.

“I hate it too,” Matthew says evasively, “So I passed then?”
“You passed,” Luke confirms and they both laugh.
“I’m glad to hear that.”

*****

Matthew sees Luke across the room. It’s the wrap party of season one and all the cast and crew that’s been working together the last few months have gathered one last time to celebrate a successful first season and to get seriously wasted before the summer begins and they all split up.

Luke gives him a slight nod and Matthew returns it. He starts walking towards Luke, figuring they should get a proper goodbye. Just when they meet in the middle of the room, an assistant from the wardrobe staff shows up between them. The three of them greet and smile to one another. They wave their beers in some kind of quiet toast, suggesting all of them have been drinking for awhile already.

Over the loud noise in the room, the assistant screams to them:
“I must say I really liked your story together,” she points her finger from one to the other. “You guys have real chemistry.”
“Thank you,” Matthew says. He exchanges a look with Luke. They have heard it before and it’s been obvious to them too. Their relationship comes very easily to them in front of the cameras.

The wardrobe assistant smiles and disappears in the crowd, leaving Matthew and Luke alone.
“I could use another of these,” Matthew says, holding up his bottle to show that it’s almost empty.
“Me too,” Luke agrees, holding up his equally empty bottle.

They move to the table with the beers and to get new ones. Matthew hands one to Luke, his hand a bit unsteady from the intake of the alcohol. Luke grabs the bottle with both his hands, either because he too is unsteady or because he noticed that Matthew is and saved it from dying on the floor. Matthew smiles goofily at Luke and withdraws his hand from the bottle.

They move to an empty bar table in the room, leaning against it. They end up quite close to each other so they can hear the other speak over the loud music. Luke tells Matthew about a photographer who’s exhibition he saw a couple of weeks ago, and Matthew listens intently. He tilts his head when he listens, enjoying Luke’s voice and how passionate he gets when he talks about something.

“I think I read about her, I saw some of her work in a magazine,” Matthew says.
“I didn’t know Playboy printed real stuff,” Luke quickly quips, earning a nudge in the side from Matthew. “I got one of her books, it’s wonderful.” Someone walks by behind Matthew and gives him a slight push in the back, making him lean closer to Luke.

“I’d love to see it some time,” Matthews says, not moving back to his space, instead staying so close to Luke that he can almost feel Luke’s breath against his skin. The crowd in the room makes it impossible for Luke to back away and when he notices that Matthew doesn’t either, he relaxes a bit.

“You should come over and have a look,” Luke says.
“Yes,” Matthew agrees. He quickly looks at the watch around his wrist. “Maybe I can come over tonight? I’m kind of hungry.”
“We could pick something up,” Luke quickly fills in. Matthew smiles and puts his hand on Luke’s bicep, leading him out of the room.