Chapter Text
i.
“Gabrielle Jr, you’re up after Jonah.”
“Oh god, Dad I don’t think I can do this,” Gabby whimpered, panic setting in. He’s been nervous for an hour now, watching all the other actors walk in and come out.
“You’ll do amazing. Just do what you know best.” Gabrielle smiled, “Go in there and absolutely blow their minds.”
“But what if I’m not what they’re looking for?” Gabby sighed. He looked at the sheet his agent gave him, the role reading, ‘Raphael Hamato’.
“Junior, I’m proud of you for trying. You’ve made it so far, you can’t tell me you think you’re shit at acting when you’ve been in so many award-winning films.” Gabrielle said, placing a hand on the top of his son’s shell, softly shaking it, “You got this, big man.”
“Gabrielle Junior, you’re next.”
Jonah came out of the room, sighing as he dragged his feet back to his parents.
“Breathe in,” Gabrielle whispered, “and breathe out.”
Gabby did just that, standing up and entering the room.
“Hello!” Gabe smiled, making his way over to the marked spot on the floor. He took note of the accompanist and the camera pointed at him.
“I am Gabrielle Junior Gray, I’m 15 years old.” He nodded, and stated the agency he worked with.
“Hello, Gabrielle, nice to meet you. We’ve got a script for you to read off of,” the woman smiled, “Let’s get this started, shall we?”
“When you tell Mikey that, if he doesn’t take out the trash, a trash monster will eat him in his sleep?”
“I only do that because you guys are irresponsible!” Gabby said with a defensive tone, “I can’t trust you to do simple stuff, like, show up for a mission!” He turned to the group, “And not. Eat. POISON.”
“What poison? I don’t feel anything.”
Whipping his head to the right side of the group, he checked what came next on the script, “Meat Sweats put a mystic toxin in—… Are you sweating?”
“Could you do line 2?”
“Okay Raph, you’re a little lost. A bit scared, and very alone.” He said gesturing with his hands. He paused for a minute, “Time to panic!” He whimpered, looking around nervously.
“Okay, good. Can you do that again but with more… Anxiety in your voice?”
“Gotcha.” Gabby nodded, taking a second to breathe. Redoing the scene, he kept in mind to keep his hands closer to his chest. The faces of those watching made him a bit nervous, causing Gabe to genuinely panic and affect his acting. He blanked, loudly breathing in and out to try and regulate his breathing. He sighed, opening his eyes a bit only to see the same unimpressed faces. “Time to PANIC!” He screamed, pure fear in his voice. “PANICKING, PANICKING, PANICKING!” He’s 90% sure his family could hear him through the wall.
“Perfect!”
“Could you perform your chosen song?”
“Yeah, I can.” Gabby smiled, shaking hands with the accompanist and giving a brief explanation to how the song should be played. Humming the tune for the accompanist, he then used his hand to count in, ‘1, 2, 3, 4’.
“Here we are in the future, here we are in the future and it’s bright!” Gabe started, using his hands to truly act out what he’s singing.
.
“And now I saved the world, not just that, the whole galaxy saved, we did it!” Swinging his arms out, he looked at the table of people, “Here we are in the future!”
He nodded to the accompanist, signaling he was finished.
“Well, thank you, Gabrielle, for coming in.”
The snapping turtle nodded before heading out, bursting into tears almost immediately.
“Oh, I fucked up, I fucked up dad! I completely butchered it!” He sobbed, hitting his head against his dad’s plaston.
“Woah woah! Junior, you didn’t fuck up anything!” Gabrielle exclaimed, “I have a good feeling about this son, don’t make assumptions so fast!” Gabby just sobbed louder, hugging his dad like his life depended on it. “Hey, c’mon big guy, let’s go home alright? We can watch your favourite movie!” He smiled, peeling his son off of him to hold his shoulders, “You did amazing, and I’m proud of you for giving it your all.”
ii.
“Baneen, you’re gonna do great! Stop carving a circle into the ground with your pacing,” Theodore laughed, pulling his son into a chair, “you’re going to tire yourself out before you get in there.”
“Dad I’m really fucking scared,” Tobias shook his leg while leaning against his dad’s arm. Theodore patted his head, “Oh c’mon now. I’m really impressed with how far you’ve come, they’re going to adore you.”
“Tobias Gray?”
“Oh, you’re up, you got this Toby, I’m here for you no matter what,” Theodore smiled, patting his son’s carapace as Tobias stood up and made his way into the room.
Putting on his best smile, he waved to the group, “Hi! I’m Tobias Gray.”
“Tobias Gray? Theodore’s kid?” One of the women asked.
“Mhm! Theodore Gray is my father,” He clarified.
“Well then! How old are you, Tobias?”
“I’m 14!” He smiled, stating the agency he works with.
“Good to know! Let’s see what you got.”
“I knew I shouldn't have bet on red.”
“I may be bald,” Tobias smirked, leaning forward while putting a hand to his chest, “but call me the hare because I smoke tortoises!” He put his hands on his hip, looking back at the group assessing his audition.
“Could we see that again, but with heavy confidence and a bit more gesturing?”
“For sure!” Tobias smiled, resetting his position on the mark. He leaned forward with a confident smirk, “I may be bald, but call me the hare because,” He leaned back, pointing at the group before crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto one leg, “I smoke tortoises.”
“Yes, that! Exactly!”
“Which one will you choose?”
“Give him the bugs, just give him the bugs!” Tobias panicked, the pitch in his voice wavering.
“And then you’re dropped off a building, could you scream without tipping into—“
“With my last breath, I told you soooo!” Tobias interrupted, drawing out the ‘o’. He looked at the table of people, his grin falling as he realized his mistake, “O-oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t… I should’ve…”
The woman looked down at her sheet and to the person on her right, before writing something down on her paper. “Well, we will for sure keep that noted.”
“Could we see you perform Fearless Hero? Your chosen song?”
“Oh, ho ho! Sure you can!” He smiled, looking at the small band, counting them in. Starting his song, he might as well go all out like he does in his bedroom, practicing for this exact audition.
“Who’s brave and ready for trouble?” He leaned to one side of the table, hand on the ledge as he raised a brow. Pushing himself off, he moved to the other side while holding his chin with his thumb and pointer finger, “Who is so unbelievably humble?” While gesturing for the non-existent crowd to chant louder.
Making his way back to the marked spot in the room, he sang the next part as dramatically as he could, “Who is your favourite, fearless hero?” He spread his arms out, looking around as if there were thousands watching. “Who is your favourite, fearless hero?”
Continuing his song with as much energy as he could muster up, he finished off with a dramatic pose. Panting, he slightly bowed.
“Thank you, Tobias Gray, for auditioning.”
Making his way out Tobias nearly passed out and face planted on the floor, “Toby! Tobias, are you okay?” Theodore caught him, quickly shifting his son to look at him.
“You were so right, I shouldn’t have paced around like that before my audition,” He laughed, wrapping his arms around his dad’s neck and deciding that now, he wants a nap.
“My god… What am I going to do with you?” Theodore laughed, standing up while carrying his very exhausted child out the door.
iii.
“You feelin’ okay?” Felix asked, lightly rubbing his son’s softshell.
“Barely,” Jasper sighed, drinking from his water bottle, “I’ve never auditioned for a leading role, this is…”
“Nerve-wracking.”
“Yeah,” Jasper sighed, “What if I embarrass myself?”
“You won’t embarrass yourself. If anything, they’ll prefer you to go all out.”
“I know… But you get what I mean,” Jasper sighed, straightening his back.
“Yeah, yeah. But you made it this far, I’m proud to say I’m your dad, I always brag about it,” Felix smiled, “genuine.”
“Awh, dad,” Jasper laughed, “I love you but that’s really cheesy.”
“It's ‘grate’ support, no?” Felix snickered, laughing as his son loudly groaned.
“Dad, puh-lease! A minute of peace would be nice,” Jasper smiled, leaning against his dad’s arm, “I think I got this, I rehearsed the cold read a billion times.”
“Jasper Gray?”
“Well, You’re up kid. Don’t sweat it,” Felix turned Jasper to look at him, “Uncle Theo and Mike say your acting is phenomenal. You got this. No matter what, I’m so damn proud of you.”
Jasper smiled, taking a deep breath in, “Thanks dad.”
Walking right into the room, he looked around, deciding to nod his head in respect, and shaking his hand with the accompanist.
Finding his spot on the red mark, he glimpsed at the camera before looking at the group, “I’m Jasper Gray and I’m 14 years old.”
“Well, that’s a good agency to work with,” A man replied after Jasper finished, “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Hey. I got something. Like a, uh…”
“Uranium! Oh we should absolutely ask for uranium!” Jasper gasped, a hand holding his chin in thought while the other supported his arm, “I mean, if I could finally get my hands on a little of that, we would be virtually unstoppable!”
“Could you do that again but… On the verge of being unhinged?” (help me its 8:30am i dont know how to describe it)
“O-oh! Yeah! I got it,” Jasper smiled, resetting himself.
“Hey. I got something. Like a, uh…”
“Uranium!” Jasper yelled, using his whole body he bent his legs and brought his elbows in, “we should abso-LUTELY ask for uranium!” He brought himself forward, squeezing his eyes shut, “I mean, if I could get my hands on a little of that, we would be virtually unstoppable!” He opened his eyes, looking at the group for any indication of dissatisfaction. They wrote something down and looked back at him.
“Wonderful. Could you do your second line?”
“What do they do in the movies?”
“They find that perfect outfit!” Jasper started with a thinking tone, bringing in some of that dramatic gesturing he had done for his first line. He shifted his body sideways and pointed a finger towards the group, “you know the one I’m talking about! The one that just pops and says,” he didn’t rehearse poses. Panicking, he pulled some iconic moves from a current anime he’s watching, “You might have thought of me as some country bumpkin, but now with my hair down,” he twisted his torso and threw his arms out, ending off his line. “I’m awesome.”
Looking at the group, they were hard to read. Writing something down once more, they looked back up to him, and Jasper knew it was time for them to test his singing range since the accompanist was shifting some music sheets around.
“Your chosen song is pretty difficult, let’s see what you got.”
Jasper nodded, quickly made his way to the pianist and told him which bar to start at. He rehearsed that part thousands of times, so humming the tune and counting the pianist in wasn’t hard.
“A melody floats through the air, when silence falls, does no one care?” Jasper started. He knew starting at this part of the song would be difficult, but auditions can’t last too long, and he wanted to impress the room.
“Now all that said and done, isn’t there anyone to tell me who I am?” Jasper sang with his whole heart. Panting a little, he made sure to incorporate that with his emotions. “Like John I’ll be, eternally, a forgotten name. Some lost refrain, just Jane…”
Taking a deep breath, “Jane,” Good run,
“Doe…”
Ending off his last note, he nodded back to the accompanist as his thanks. Good, it went how I wanted it to go. No voice cracks, nothing.
“Well, thank you, Jasper Gray.”
Smiling, he made his way out of the room and immediately clung to his dad’s arm, “It went how I wanted it to go! The song!”
“Really? That’s wonderful! Your voice is amazing, were they blown away or what?” Felix asked, patting his kid’s head.
“Well, they have to stay neutral,” Jasper laughed, “But I have a feeling they were happy with what they got!”
“Ah, I see. Your Uncle Theo always came home and boasted about how ‘he’s probably the best they’ve ever seen, he saw it on their faces’.” Felix chuckled at the fond memories, “But I honestly think that was him getting his hopes up, your uncle was a little shit when he was your age,” He shook his head before turning to Jasper, “how about we get some dinner? Something nice since you put your all into this audition.”
“Really? Can we go to a hotpot?” Jasper gasped, jumping up and down and doing small tappies with his feet, “I’ve been wanting hotpot for a while now!”
Felix let out a laugh, taking his keys out, “Sure thing, Jazz. We can go to hotpot.”
iv.
“I want to go home,” Max whined, “I don’t think I’m good for this role, momma!”
“Oh shush, Max, you’ll do great! You’ve been hyped for this for a long while, you’ll regret it if you walk out now!” Michael exclaimed, patting the box turtle’s carapace, “… and did you just call me mom?—“
“The other cousins already did their auditions and they said that it’s scary! What if I fuck up because of stage fright?”
“Okay, first off, language. Second, they’re always like that! Just do what you’ve been doing, ignore if they look unimpressed or not. They only look like that because they don’t want to indicate if you got the part or not. It has nothing to do with your performance,” Michael put his arm around his son’s shoulders, pulling him closer, “I think you got that ‘mom’ habit from Jasper—“
“You’re right!” Max stood up suddenly, a small yelp coming from Michael, “I can do this! Just gotta… Razz my tazz!” Max said, hands on his hips.
“There you go!” Michael smiled.
“Max Gray, you’re next!”
“Well, good luck, remember to just do what you do best.”
Shaking out the nerves through his hands, he made his way in front of the group. “Hello! I’m Max Gray, and I’m 13!”
“Oh, you’re Michael Gray’s kid, I recognize that agency and last name,” one of the women smiled, “wonderful, well, show us what you got.”
Looking over his lines one last time, Max began his performance, “Bullhop, we’re friends, so this will be very easy to say.” Max smiled, clasping his hands together. He took a second to breathe in, his face and body only taking a near millisecond to switch up, “YOU GOT TO GO!” He yelled, bringing out some rasp in his voice like he usually does when yelling at his cousins, “HIT THE BRICKS, SLOPPY!”
Max resumed his cute nature, holding his hands behind his back as he was satisfied with the wide eyes and slight flinches he got from the group. They nodded and wrote something down, gesturing for him to move onto the next line.
“We want you to have some… pizazz, in your voice as well. May we see you incorporate that into your acting?”
“‘Razzmatazz’ is what I do best!” Max pointed to himself, pretending he has a phone in his hand.
“Razzmatazz. I like that.” The woman nodded, writing on her paper.
“For a big dude, Raph’s got some swe-et moves!” Max popped his hip out, “Suh-LAY!”
“And your musical performance?”
“Gotcha,” Max held a thumbs up. I hope this is going well. Before he started, he let the accompanist know what bar he wanted to start at. “My head is saying, ‘fool, forget him’,” Max made sure to concentrate on his voice, his hands either slowly raising up and down, or on his chest.
Carrying through and hitting every note, his nerves calming down and settling into a warm feeling into his heart. He loved singing and this was no different than the karaoke nights he and his cousins had often. “Hopelessly devoted to you.”
“It was nice to meet you, Max Gray. Thank you for coming in,” The woman said.
“Thank you for having me! Have a wonderful day!” He called, grinning wide and waving with his whole arm while making his way out. His smile is contagious, leaving the room a little lighter than it was before.
“I think it went well!” Max smiled, stretching. “I am very tired though.”
“I told you to take a nap an hour before the audition, no?” Michael laughed, a hand on his son’s carapace as they walked out.
“Yeah, but y’know, I have to follow through with my teenage duties and doubt everything my father says, even though he’s been in this field since middle school.”
Michael laughed aloud, shaking his head in amusement, “Well, you’re very good at it. And I’m sure you were phenomenal in there.”