Chapter Text
Another Saturday afternoon wasted on doomscrolling. Avery Taylor lied snugly in his pile of blankets draped over him whilst his AC blasted cold air through the rook. He reached for the mini fridge, placed conveniently next to his bed, only for his hand to be met with the bite of frost.
Empty.
"Damn."
Avery didn't move, torn between comfort and hunger. What's a few more hours of starving?
His stomach grumbled. A not-so silent protest.
Perhaps realising that 'death by starvation because he was too lazy to get up and get food', wasn't the best message to put on his tombstone, the brunette sighed and forced himself off of the comfortable, coziness of his bed.
That's when it happened.
A buzz of his phone. Expecting to find another alert from a mobile game reminding him to log in, he was surprised to find an email.
He hadn't subscribed to any newsletters lately.. "Is it a scam email?" He thought to himself. "Who sends text by email these days?"
| Casting Inquiry - SFAWDTE Label | ☆ | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Wifies <\[email protected]> Apr 5, 2026, 2:46PM to me, Avery Taylor▾ |
➦ ··· |
Avery almost threw his phone across the room.
Yea this was definitely a scam. It has to be right?
But what kind of scam was this!? It's so.. unbelievable!
There's no way that this was legit email right?
Who in their right mind would impersonate a famous director just for a stupid scam? Don't they know about identity theft laws or whatever? Absolutely no one would believe this either. So.. the only option left is for this to be real?
"Real my ass... I think I've been watching too much isekai slop." Yea, yea that's probably the case. Who would reach out to a no-name actor like him?
But.. on the slim, small, one-in-a-million chance that this was the actual director...
Forgetting his earlier hunger, Avery all but ran to his laptop. Minecraft had opened on launch, but he closed the tab with an efficiency bordering on impatience.
Fingers flew across the keyboard as he started to type. Call him gullible or stupid, but if it was real, he definitely wasn't missing this chance.
After rounds and rounds of deleting and rewriting, the reply was sent an hour later. "Now.. we wait," he slumped onto the desk, mentally exhausted and incredibly hungry.
Man, he should really find an agent soon.
His stomach grumbled.
And a snack.
The email was real.
The offer was real.
The audition was real.
Everything was real. Was he real? WHAT IS REAL??
Real doesn't sound real anymore.
"Okay.. calm down Avery. You sound like a lunatic," he muttered to himself. His voice echoed in the empty lobby.
Too loud. Too out of place.
The receptionist left after he checked in, probably to tell the casting director that he was here.
Deep breaths in. Deep breaths out.
The cool air conditioning wiped away the sweat building on his forehead. His reflection on his phone screen spoke of his nervousness. Pursed lips, furrowed eyebrows, and shaking emerald eyes.
Breathe in, and out, he reminded himself like a mantra.
Avery ran a hand through his hair, parting his bangs to the side. Hopefully his dyed streaks didn't look too patchy.
After he figured out that, no, this was in fact not a scam, he immediately found the nearest hair salon to retouch his dye. Green, this time. Lime not forest.
Why green?
Despite his brain unhelpfully supplying that green was not a creative colour, he thought it was nice. And it complemented his eyes.
Staring at his reflection for too long caused his phone to open. It showed him a page of the script, annotations of reminders written in red in between the edges.
His wait for the audition day wasn't spent in vain. Every hour was spent trying to understand Avery's (the role, not himself) character, his motivation, and his fears with the very limited amount of information that he was given.
Method acting is a form of acting for a reason.
"Mr. Taylor, they're ready for you," the receptionist called, beckoning him over.
Avery nodded, fixing his hair one final time. "Please, lead the way." He followed a few paces behind her. The lobby was still eerily silent, not a trace of any other actors in sight. He was lead through a long corridor, maybe a minute of two of walking, before arriving at what he assumed was the audition room.
He was gestured to enter the room. So he did.
As soon as the doorknob clicked, he felt all eyes in the room turn to him. Avery looked around, getting a general feel of the room.
A camera set up in front of a white backdrop, studio lights, very standard stuff.
...
Hey, someone please tell him that that wasn't the director Wifies sitting there.
And, that man who was quietly off to the side — that's Derek Hutchins. SAG's Best Actor of the Year Award winner and Avery's current celebrity crush.
'Fuck my life bro.'
Maybe it was a lookalike. Please be a lookalike.
"Oh, Mr. Taylor!" The director stood up, greeting him first. "We've been expecting you."
"Oh, the uh — the pleasure's mine, director! Just Avery's fine too."
Wifies smiled, settling back down. "No need to be too nervous."
Easier said than done...
As he flipped through the script on his table, so did the panel of judges, who he felt were silently judging what he decided to wear today. "Just stand in front of the camera over there and we can start. Don't worry about being off-book, 'kay?"
Not being able to formulate a response, Avery merely nodded and moved to the location he was told to.
"Let's see..." The director muttered to himself, glancing back at Avery then back down. "Start from Act One, after the entered the gates."
"..R-right!" It took him a moment to catch the director's words. 'Fuck me. Did I really just stutter??'
"And.. action!"
It was like a switch had flipped.
"What the fuck?" Avery'd eyes turned wide, his head spinning around to glare at the studio lights, as if seeing something no one else could.
"This.." he looked behind him, locking eyes with another member of the production crew. "This can't be real." He turned away almost as quickly.
He didn't look at the judges' reactions, not once. Any interference would mess with his mind, and with his acting.
For a moment he was quiet. He walked forward, almost like he was inside a labyrinth. His footsteps echoed loud, hurried and unsure. He glanced around again. At the blank backdrop, the props, then at him. With each passing look the fear in his pupils became more pronounced, his posture shrank in on himself.
He took a deep breath, tensing his shoulders. Emerald eyes narrowed into a fragile resolve. "At least," he hung his head low, "this could maybe get me closer to Derlord." The name melted like a whisper upon the wind.
His mind blanked.
"There's no way this is real," he repeated again, this time in disbelief instead of suspicion.
Messy hair framed his face. It shielded his expression from view as he snuck a quick glance at the next line.
A sharp breath cut his throat. Then, his voice drifted into something softer. Fonder. "But I'll find him."
He stared forward. His frame still trembled, but now — he remembered his purpose. "Even if I have to check every door."
Silence.
"Cut!" Someone yelled.
The director clapped. "That was great!" He closed the script. Avery couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not. He hoped it was good. "Just one question."
Oh god what is it.
"What made you decide to characterise Avery that way?"
Avery blinked. "I'm.. sorry?"
"What made you decide to characterise Avery that way?" He repeated the question. "We didn't give you the full picture, so I'm curious about your thoughts on him. With the action scenes I put in there wouldn't you picture him as someone arrogant or prideful?" Wifies raised an eyebrow. "Especially with some of his earlier dialogue."
Did he misunderstand the character?? His motivation was to find this Derlord guy who he clearly cared about, though Avery was unsure about the specifics why.
"Uh, well," Fuck he wasn't expecting this. "Avery.. I never thought that he would be the cocky, confident type. Not even when I first read the script."
Okay, maybe he was kinda-sorta-heavily projecting. Sue him! They had the same name anyway who cares. "The scene when him and Derlord meet sounded to me like a first meeting instead of a reunion. Someone who would go that far for a person they barely knew about..."
"I just don't think he's the prideful type."
That was such a shitty explanation. Oh god he's never getting the role now.
Wifies nodded, the enigmatic smile never leaving his face. "I see," he drummed his fingers onto the desk, filling the silence. "Well, I've already seen your stunts so I won't ask for a demonstration."
Was it just him or did the director's smile turn more.. evil?
"Instead, let's do a chemistry reading!" He turned to Derek. So did Avery, only to make eye contact with the senior actor, who was looking at Avery so intently it was making his brain go haywire. Was he already watching him?
'Pfft, as if Avery. Dream on.'
"Mr. Hutchins over there will be your partner. He's confirmed for the role so — oh! Keep this confidential, will you?"
Was this really happening?
Derek finally glanced towards the director when his name was called, standing up from his chair. "Which scene should we read through?" he asked as he strode up to Avery, script nowhere to be found.
Should he have done that? Should he have also completely memorised the script?
He'd read the interviews about Derek's insane, almost photographic memory, but he never thought it would be this good. It took him the day he received the script until the day before the audition (which was roughly around 2 weeks) remember the lines.
And even then he still blanked during the audition.
"The scene before Derlord faces the King. Also, stand a little further from each other, will you?"
Huh?
Avery glanced to his side, then nearly jumps back. When had they gotten so close!?
A flicker of surprise crossed Derek's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the taller boy's words spilled out in a panic. He almost seemed flustered.
"Nah, it's fine man," Avery laughed, waving away the concern.
'Oh now I've done it. So much for flirting — I called him MAN. MAN???? WHO EVEN SAYS THAT???????'
Derek smiled, seemingly relieved and thankfully ignoring Avery's slip. "I'm glad."
'?>WDASWADD?????'
Two simple words. But it made Avery's heart do thirty cartwheels then backflip twice off a cliff. Forget about his heart skipping a beat, he might have a cardiac arrest this very minute.
That smile could genuinely start wars. No, he wasn't being biased. Anyone would understand if they saw the look on his face.
Derek (unfortunately) followed the director's words, taking a few steps back to create some distance. He didn't know whether to be grateful or annoyed.
"Action!"
"Avery." Derek called to him from afar, breathless, as though it was a long awaited reunion.
Hearing his name from that voice should not be this attractive. 'Stay in character Avery. STAY. IN CHARACTER.'
"Derlord?" He sputtered, taking a hesitant step towards the man. His eyebrows furrowed together, in disbelief at the sight in front of him.
Derek took a step back, widening their distance again. A chasm, never to be crossed. "Avery listen —" he started, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Are you okay?" Avery urgently cut him off. Eyes roamed the other's body, searching for signs of injury or hurt. "What happened?"
He could tell a heavy weight sat on the knight's shoulders, as he refused to meet his eyes. Clearly, he had gone through something to make him so shaken up. But what? What secrets were he hiding?
"I'm fine," Derek hissed, in a voice that left no room for argument. They were running out of time here. They both knew that.
"What happened, I just.." Avery repeated, more fearful this time. "I like.. blacked out and woke up in front of the gates again."
"Back in your world?"
"Yeah, back in my world."
"Okay listen."
"What happened to you?"
Silence.
He still wasn't looking at him. "I need you to hurry. We don't have a lot of time." Ignoring the question again, huh?
Should he press? No.. no, let him have his way. He knows better, has more information.. probably. It's best to just trust him.
"You've seen the tree right?" Derek questioned, but it felt wrong. Misleading, in a sense.
Avery nodded anyway. "Yeah. The big one on the disappearing mountains."
He has to trust Derlord.
"Right," he nodded as well. "You need to get to the top."
"Why?" He knew he shouldn't question any of Derlord's decisions. But rarely were his instincts wrong.
"There's a giant pile of gold up there." Now his words felt rushed. Frantic. "I couldn't get any before but I need you to collect it, and cover up all the doors you can find."
"Like the book said to do."
That.. made sense. Probably. There was nothing wrong with the logic, from what he could tell.
"At the top of the tree?"
Derek nodded. "Exactly. It'll take me too long to get there, so you have to do it."
So why did it feel like he was being pushed away?
"Okay." In the end, what came out of his mouth wasn't a protest, but an agreement. "I'll try." One thing rang true, Derlord would never try to harm Avery.
To those words, he smiled. Dazzling, and bright. "I'm counting on you."
With a newly found resolve, he made a promise. "I won't let you down, Derlord."
"Derek is good too," he laughed, golden eyes crinkling into crescent moons.
Avery knew the next line. He would repeat Derlord's real name, in a voice gentle and tender. Then he would smile, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Got it," but saying that name required a courage he didn't have. Not right now. Avery took a step back, turning away from the actor. "See you soon, just.. stay there."
He snuck a final glance back.
Derek nodded — small, reluctant.
A lie.
"Cut!"
The exclamation brought Avery back to his senses.
Oh right, he was still in the middle of an audition.
"Haha, it really didn't seem like you were acting for a moment," one of the judges remarked. Was that supposed to be praise?
Just how was he supposed to respond to that???
For some reason, he found his gaze drifting back to Derek.
...Okay, it wasn't an illusion. He really was being watched by THE Derek Hutchins. Probably just sizing him up since he was a potential co-lead. Unfortunately it was unlikely to be anything more.
Derek nodded, unyielding his gaze.
Was that some sort of signal??
He turned back to the panel of judges. And the director, who's grin seemed to grow wider. "Um thank you..?"
At least they seemed pleased? He really hoped he wasn't reading their expressions wrong. They have seriously insane poker faces.
"We'll be in touch, okay?"
That meant he didn't fuck it up, right?