A Wolf Among Sheep

"Lucia." The wolfen actress grumbled out a soft correction absentmindedly to her name while fighting her ever saying war against rice. It was a sad sight no doubt to any native, but she wasn't exactly practiced in making this work. When she used to get friend rice back home from the Chinese places, it was as simple as tipping the carton sideways and just shoveling the rice into her mouth. Even now she was considering doing that here with her small walled in tray.

"I don't really watch local programming, no time really. Besides, I get enough of that when I film here." Commercials mostly. Surprisingly well paying as well. Her name and likeness carried weight overseas, and while America had likely forgotten about the werewolf warrior princess, Japan embraced the cheesy schlock that put her on the map as if it was the greatest thing ever.

"Eh?" She looked down to her chopsticks in hand, then to Paige's with a furrowed brow. She corrected her technique, but it felt off to her. Trying to undo years of wielding chopsticks wrong was likely something she would have to actively work on for awhile still.

Lucia had opened her mouth, about to make a snippy comment when Paige swifter a clump of rice up, automatically assuming the woman had done it to tease her and intended to eat it herself. When it was presented to her though, she had no real words. She stared at the rice at the end of Paige's chopsticks, a faint blush gracing her cheeks. Her golden eyes flicked to the side before she took the offered rice between her lips, embracing the slight embarrassment of being fed by Bethany. She justified this to herself as it being rude to turn it down.

"I ask for help when I need it. I… just don't need it very often. I prefer to just get in there and learn something by doing, ya'know?" Lucia looked back to her meal, letting her hair slip down to mask most of her face. Normally she would tick the obstruction back but she could tell there was a bit of heat in her face at the moment and chose to hide it. She went about demonstrating her point by trial and error of using Paige's technique into pick up some rice of her own. It took a few tries but it worked.

The restrained and tempered approach she had adopted was coming along like gangbusters in Paige's twitterpated eyes, the lovesick domme tickled pink that Lucia willingly partook of the offered rice clump. Something that she was positive would not have been possible had she been as amorous and lovey dovey up until this moment in the day. It was a curtailment of behavior that she was finding increasingly difficult to maintain when Lucia just looked so gosh darn adorable pouting there all flustered after their sweet little re-enactment of Lady and the Tramp. Someone so stoic and rebellious blushing faintly while retreating into herself...Mmm...Paige just wishes she could snuggle up to her wolfen warrior princess and have unfettered control over Lucia and those succulent lips of hers...a ball gag strapped to her mouth as she whimpered and barked on her hands and knees as Paige stood in her most fetching dominatrix gear, clenching onto a dog collar with sparkly gleam to her ey-

*...Whoops...almost lost my train of thought...* Paige's kinky thought bubble being popped as if someone came along with a sewing needle to do just that, her head perking up with a bit of a startle as her now awakened eyes spotted Lucia already somewhat getting the gist of her rice-eating pursuits. "Well...my horoscope says that I am a naturally gifted teacher with a sunny disposition...so you'll be getting my tutelage whether you like it or not, missy." Paige merrily stated with an emphatic point from her chopsticks, than sitting back in her chair to continue picking away at her plate which was about halfway consumed. "OH...but that does remind me. I was thinking...we're both kinda struggling to get our acting careers back on the rise, so why don't we help eachother out, ya know? Toss eachother some acting roles every once in a while. I for one, think you would be fantastic as some like...intergalactic bounty hunter on my show Super Sentai Dairanger...or maybe I could even get cast in one of your movies~...Wouldn't that be amazing!!!" The sound of her chewing her food at certain points mumbled her words, but her point would be accentuated with a giggling smile at the end.

Bethany got a begrudged grunt from Lucia, the only real form of acknowledgement for the other woman's role as a teacher. Despite that, it was apparent her eyes would drift up from her own chopstick work to observe the domme's across the way as she actively moved to improve her own technique after a spotlight had been shone on it.

"I haven't been struggling." Lucia remarked rather flatly, accompanied with its own look of stoney indifference that sold the lie quite well. It seemed more like a casual correction than the defensive comeback that it actually was. The wolfen actress set her chopsticks aside, arms crossed as she eased back into her chair to lean with a slouch.

Intergalactic bounty hunter… she had never done sci-fi before. It wasn't hard to see her in a role like that though. Some cocksure badass babe who always got her prey. Not all that dissimilar to her other role really. She saw a woman with a form fitting bodysuit, garbed sparingly with futuristic bits of armor in places that didn't really amount for any form of protection. Some sort of high cut signature jacket, belts, bandoliers, and possibly some sort of cool holographic looking visor. Maybe she would even have her own AI sidekick l. A cute little droid like Star Wars or a sassy voice that came from a high tech forearm mounted multitool device. All the slick design of a space explorer with the overall esthetic of some post apocalyptic biker woman…

"Eh?" Lucia's own wandering imagination faded away, only half hearing the tail end of Paige's suggestion. It took her a moment to play the words back in her mind to make sense of what she had been suggested. Bethany and her in a movie? Yeah, okay. That almost got a snicker out of her. The other actress basically played roles of living cartoon characters, she wasn't sure what role she could possibly fulfill in a darker more gritty settling of one of her own films… also as of right now there were no movie roles to have. That fact caused her to furrow a brow briefly before lightheartedly playing it off out of her mind.

"Sounds reasonable." Lucia was almost certain a soft agreement to this deal would benefit her almost entirely. The likelihood of her having to come through on her own end of things was something that would almost assuredly never come up while Bethany opening doors for her here in Japan could legitimately cause a resurgence of her career. They loved her over here still after all, she just needed to be put in contact with the right people.

Like how one hardened card-shark could always recognize another consummate gambler from across a room, one struggling actor/actress can always spot and sympathize with another. No matter how fervently they tried masking it under gruff surliness and begrudging grunts. Paige noticed all the forlorn looks Lucia was directing towards that T.V. at the convention table earlier, showcasing clips from her movies like a highlight reel of her former glory. Paige could tell that Lucia was wishing she was back in Hollywood making movies just like that instead of moping around here trying to acclimate herself to a foreign audience and the challenges that come with it. So she just thought they could offer each-other a helping hand in getting their respective careers back on track. Paige has helped other fellow actresses do the same and actually has quite the intricate network television celebrities who owe her favors, so there's a good chance the domme could have Lucia piloting an intergalactic spacecraft on televisions nationwide before the year was through.

"Splendid than~...Ohhh, I can't wait until we someday get cast together on the same project. It'll just be the absolute bomb-diggedy yo~..." Paige cheerfully declared with a hooking swing of her right arm. Showcasing her absolute lack of awareness in terms of lingo among kids today, and her mother-like obliviousness as to how uncool she looks right about now. Sheer giddiness on her smiling face as she continued eating her bento box, which was just then being officially finished with nary a morsel left. Paige taking one last swig of her drink to wash it all down before starting to collect her refuse together on her food tray in preparation for it all being chucked into the waste basket. Humming pleasantly despite the culmination of their meal signalling that their playdate was beginning to come to its end. "Sooooo...do tell...what are your plans for the rest of the day? I know I'm due back at my autograph booth soon or else my agent will give me an absolute ear-fill of his nagging. Bethany, you gotta stick to your scheduled appearances...Bethany, can't you dress more formerly for your auditions?...blahblahblah..." Paige having a nasally inflection as she imitated her hard-working, but still badgering agent.

"Can't wait." Lucia responded with her patented lack of enthusiasm, brought to a sudden silence. Had they been in a movie together right this instant, this would be the point of the trailer where the record would scratch and the music track would die for comedic effect.the wolfen actress opened her mouth to draw attention to Bethany's absolute miscarriage of recent day slang when she felt a tumble beside her.

She blinked in surprise at the sensation, setting her chopsticks aside to reach down and collect her phone. She waved her fingers over the screen eyeing the fact she had a text. She unlocked the screen of her phone, tip-tapping away at her screen.

"Sorry, business stuff. Should only be a minute." Her golden eyes scanned over her phone, quietly exchanging a few texts back and forth. Each new one receive left the device audibly vibrating in her hands. Lucia spared a glance over at Bethany between texts, working away at her own meal. Once her lunch date started to gather up items for the trash, she nudged her own tray towards her with a small but fleeting smile of appreciation despite the fact there was still a decent portion of rice still on her plate.

"Sorry, that was my agent. Needed some information." When she finally slipped the phone away she gave her hair a toss over her shoulder, visibly in a brighter mood. She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms loosely just under her breasts.

"I have a meet and greet in a bit, but I need a bit of "me" time to weather that onslaught. I don't like cutting people off so they tend to go long." The dark haired woman quirked a brow as she eyed Paige at the impression of her agent, the last part in particular she was curious about it. Was she wearing her sentai dominatrix getup to auditions? Did she wear something even less appropriate? She was tempted to ask if the former and see if the latter… but she kept that to herself.

"Thanks for the help with the toy. It was nice to see you again… away from, you know, last time we saw one another and got off on the wrong foot." Although she was mostly referring to their argument outside the arena. While she wished she could feel the same about her utterly humiliating match against the woman, she still found herself reliving parts of their last encounter. The other woman's touch… her soft lips… Lucia rolled her eyes, coughing softly into her closed fist.

Paige could tell by Lucia's gobsmacked silence that she didn't expect the domme to be so impeccably hip and down with all that millennial slang kids are so into these days. Her younger fan-base being rendered just as speechless during autograph signings whenever she started letting fly with all of today's current slang, asking if they've checked out that dope new single...or commenting on how phat those kicks are of one of those fans. Being so knowledgeable of today's slang being a significant point of pride for her that it would utterly crush her should anyone ever be co cruel and callous as to shatter her delirious misconceptions...so it was that she merrily continued cleaning up after themselves as she nodded understandingly about Lucia having to take her call. People in their line of work having to be on call 24/7 from their agents so as to not miss crucial information regarding impromptu casting auditions and the such. All of their bento boxes and refuge being scooped up into a plastic bag until their table was spotless and ready to be exited from.

"Ah...well, think nothing of it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an ulterior motive in buying that for you. As a way to help mend fences between us and...well...apologize for losing my cool back at the gym...*sigh*...I never did take kindly to being out shined in front of a live audience...But you see? I had to drag you kicking and screaming into all of this, and I might have come on a little bit too strong...but look what happened? We had a relaxing, lovely little lunch break in the middle of a hectic day. Your badass reputation is still comfortably intact. The world didn't end~...I see no harm in us doing this again from time to time, you know..." Paige soothingly enunciated with a calming tone and demure smile, eyes never once being diverted from her cleaning duties before flicking her head off to their sides to signal it was about time for them to depart. All of this being uncharacteristically...restrained for Paige. Who deep within was bottling in a tidal wave of emotion at actually being thanked from Lucia, and hearing her say it was nice to see her!?!?!?!?!? The love-struck dominatrix bottling up her repressed jubilation...waiting very, very patiently...

Lucia was slightly annoyed, more with herself than with Paige. She wanted to speak up on just how not okay their encounter had started. The whole cornering her and groping business, nearly putting them to the fans… but the tail end of their insightful little.lunch date had really smoothed things over. If she was being honest with herself, looking back at it now that they had gotten away without being fingered, was actually pretty fun. It didn't seem fair that Bethany should get a pass for doing that to her… but she couldn't bring herself to care enough to bring it up again, even with her rampant cynicism.

It was helped by Bethany's flattery. Try as she might to cast off much of the chains of Hollywood stereotypes, there was still a part of her ego that loved to be stroked. Coming from a former rival it seemed to carry more weight and the effects were visible in her posture as she embodied the traits assigned to her by the other woman.

Lucia nudged her chair out standing with a large stretch. Most of the day had been spent in chairs, the earlier walk about the convention floor had been a nice reprieve from it. She wasn't sure to staying so still outside of a makeup chair or a press circuit. The wolfen actress liked to be active, physical. Hitting the gym or riding around town. Anything to keep herself from getting too self reflective. A distracted Lucia was a happy Lucia.

She knelt down to scoop up her bag, slipping her arm through the plastic loops to let it dangled from the crook of her elbow. Looking back to Bethany, she sincerely hope she hadn't made a huge mistake by sharing her contact information with her. It felt right in the moment, but hindsight was 20/20 so time would tell.. She just had to trust it wasn't a misstep.

"Well… I should be going." An awkward pause as those Amber eyes surveyed the area. A force of habit, looking for any rogue cameraman looking to make a quick payday by snagging something that would make for a scandalous headline. Nothing jumped out to her so she took a step towards Bethany, holding open an arm to go for a respectable, friendly, non-committal half hug. She wasn't sure if that was too American after she had already gone in, perhaps a bow would have been better.

Paige dutifully tended to their soon to be vacated luncheon table until it was as spotless as they found it, never once breaking character since first settling into her tender-hearted, motherly persona meant to chink and thaw away at that glacially cold shoulder Lucia kept giving her. Though this was hardly an elongated stretch for her acting abilities, as this was more or less an exaggeration of her natural knack for teaching...guiding...and offering a helping hand toward others, especially in the art of theatricality and stealing a scene. And her efforts were nothing if not effective, as Lucia has loosened up considerably since their clandestine meeting started amidst the herding throngs of magical girl cosplayers and the bespectacled anime nerds who kept stopping those cosplayers for pictures. How Lucia couldn't see that their miraculous reunion was no less than the Hand Of Fate bringing together destined sweethearts was beyond Paige's comprehension...

...but for now she played it cool and strolled beside Lucia until finding a trash bin to dump their discarded refuse. Paige than turning to face Lucia all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, clasping her hands behind her in what were the awkwardly uncomfortable seconds before splitting ways...both parties patiently waiting for the other to speak departing words to make it official. But than...as if Cupid's arrow had strike twice upon Paige's lovelorn heart, Lucia willingly went in for a hug...opening her arms as if letting Lucia in to her inner circle of trusted compatriots where she can bear witness and heal her tortured soul~...A quivering shudder brought upon Paige's shoulders as she briefly averted her gaze to the floor below...her torrent of emotion finally breaking free of the dam she erected as she swooped up Lucia in a passionate, moving embrace~...in that Paige would haul the wolfen off of her feet and spin them both in place on the Domme's tip toe. A stark reminder of how strong yet graceful Paige could be as she settled Lucia back down and affectionately nuzzle-wuzzled their soft cheeks now playfully mushed together.

"..."Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave"...May one day our shooting stars become intermingled once more if only in the twinkle of an eye, for it would be an eternity spent when shared with you~..." Paige jubilantly quoted The Merchant of Venice before kinda ad-libbing the rest, remembering as best she can the supple softness of Lucia's skin before letting go and skipping backward with a wave goodbye before turning around to start the long trek back to her autograph booth. Though on her way, she checked her smartphone to see what time it was...but balked when she noticed four missed calls from her agent, and one voicemail...

It took all of two seconds for her to regret sweeping her arm wide in open offer for a hug. She bore witness to the chemical reaction bubbling up inside of Bethany, too late to snuff out any wildfires that might have exploded out across the edge of the food court. The abrupt lunge of the domme for the offered embrace had her trying to take a step back away from her dining companion only to be scooped up anyway. Lucia let out a small grunt of protest as she was hoisted up and squeezed, legs lightly kicking as she was whipped around in a dizzying spin.

Lucia's cheeks flared crimson when she was set down only to have her face set upon with nuzzles, trying her best to turn her head and lean away, only making it easier for Bethany to lay siege to her. She pushed at the other woman's shoulder, trying to squeeze free like a feline in the grasp of a certain cartoon skunk of old to little effect until she was set free willingly.

Clearly flustered by the brief but impassioned interaction, and completely missing the origin of her rival's sweet poetic words she was left baffled for a long moment making their departure even more awkward than it had been moments prior. Slowly she straightened up, turning those bright golden eyes away from Bethany.

A few tugs at her attire, fixing odds and ends that weren't actually misplaced but she saw to adjusting them anyhow. Once she had mustered her resolve once more, she opened her mouth to say something, likely a reprimand of some sort given the certain harshness to her furrowed brow. But when she looked at the other woman who just seemed to blissfully happy… she decided not to ruin that for her. Instead she gave a small, curt nod, and hurried past with nothing more.

The wolfen actresses muttered any complaints she may have otherwise voiced out loud to herself only after she was out of earshot. She truthfully didn't mind the idea of chatting with Bethany again. She hadn't really made many friends since coming to Japan so having anyone to talk to outside of a gym spotter seemed… nice. All of that really depended on how well behaved her fellow actress could be, especially if they were in public. She had an image to maintain after all. Lucia slipped her phone from her pocket, checking the time only to find the screen lit up with an incoming call. She must have accidently turned the vibration off when she was texting before.

"Hey." The wolfen actress wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, slipping through the crowd of bodies. "Sorry if I missed an- what?" She blinked, scanning the crowd before walking to a nearby wall, scooping the phone back up to hold it in her palm as she spoke. "Of course... Are you kidding? Tell me everything."

Paige reflexively recoiled with a mouthed *Yeesh...* from noticing just how in-demand she apparently became in the past hour or so. Her personal talent agent, Jerry McIntyre, almost never reaches out to her with this level of intense perseverance. On the contrary, usually she's the one hounding him when it comes locking down better acting gigs for her. Especially when his "best efforts" amount to no more than bit parts in Japanese soap operas and the infrequent dog commercial that requires an elegant and feminine hand seen operating the can opener. Every lame-duck appearance like that only emboldening Paige's resolve to get more out of her career than plopping pet chow into a dog food bowl...but whatever these missed calls were about, Paige had the sneaking suspicion that this sudden uptick in her popularity had nothing to do with any of that, and that only bad news awaited her. No doubt another acting gig was robbed of her and granted to someone else with more luscious lips and a perkier smile and a few less years behind her. Jerry probably just wanted to let Paige know before she showed up and had to be given the bad news on set...or maybe she was late getting back to her autograph booth and the convention officials called Jerry to complain...rightfully so.

Paige sighed and called back Jerry in mid-stride, adopting her brightest smile as she heard Jerry pick up the phone on the first ring. This must be worse news than she thought. "Heyyy Jerry~...Sorry I didn't pick up. Listen I know you’re mad, but I ran into an old friend and we just got to gossiping ya know and I swear I'm on my way back to the autograph booth right now-" Paige's attempt to out-talk Jerry and hopefully curtail any angry rant on his part was interrupted by him mid-sentence. The unusually hyperactive talent agent jabbering away while Paige was just than recognized by some random conventioneers and fans of her Sentai show. These star-struck fans jubilantly asking for Paige's autograph on some of their poster's and portrait's that had her playing the villainous dominatrix. Paige gave them a winking thumbs-up to non-verbally approval, wedging the phone between her shoulder and her cheek so she could keep chatting with Jerry and start scribbling her John Handcock on the posters. "Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Well yeah, of course I've heard of Full Moon Rising, it's one of the biggest Summer blockbuster franchises ever. It's actually kinda funny you should mention that considering who I just ran into...No, I'm not sitting dow-..." Paige kept signing and remained silent until she finished hearing Jerry speak and allowed the information to settle...

...her black marker stopping before trailing off the poster to the fan's perplexed confusion. A dawning realization evident on her face was illuminating her smile even more than it was before, tears of repressed elation swelling up in her eyes as Jerry bid his farewell with a promise to call again later. Paige managing to catch the phone sliding off her shoulder, scarcely managing to contain herself before howling out the good news with her arms extended to the sky as if she were shouting it to the Heavens.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"I'M GONNA BE IN FULL MOON RISING!!!!!OHMAIGAWDOHMAIGAWDOHMAIGAWDOHMAIGAWD!!!!"

Off Paige would go, sprinting fanatically down the convention halls and spreading the news to all in attendance, not knowing what to do or who to call or where she was even going right now.