Naomi sighed in relief, filming was finally done for the day and everything was packed up. This one particular day had felt long, what with Alex's temper which had been like a hair trigger lately. She didn't know what was with him.
She walked over to Liam and nudged him with her elbow, she was driving him home today since Brian had a thing for a class.
"Ready to go, kid?"
@dogtoothcanidae
Liam jolted as he zoned back into reality, looking up at Naomi. He was a little jittery from earlier- he'd messed up a shot by knocking over a camera, and Alex hadn't taken it well. Thank God Sarah and Naomi were there, or a fight might've broken out between he and Tim.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Thanks for, uh, taking me home."
Normally, Brian would be the one taking him home, but he was busy with school. Naomi had offered to drive Liam home (he guessed it was because she was the only person on set he wasn't at least mildy afraid of), to which Brian gratefully accepted. Liam stood from the rock he'd been sitting on, prepared to follow Naomi to her car.
(@bl00dstainedbl0nde)
"Yeah, no problem. C'mon."
Naomi grabbed her purse, just side eyeing Alex and not saying goodbye to him like usual. She'd had enough of him for awhile.
She lead Liam to her car and unlocked it, getting into the driver's seat and tossing her purse in the back while Liam got into the passenger seat. She knew he was pretty skittish and tried to make him feel as comfortable as possible.
"I have a ton of CDs in the glove compartment, you can pick one out if you want."
"Oh, thanks," Liam smiled slightly, opening the glove compartment and flipping through the discs. He picked the first album he recognized- American Idiot- and popped it into the car's dashboard.
Liam glanced up at Naomi, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he hesitated.
"I hope I didn't, y'know, mess up the shoot too bad. Alex seemed- pretty upset."
Naomi grinned at Liam's choice in music. "Great choice."
She cranked up the volume as she pulled the car out and drove off set, slowly picking up speed. Her car was a shitty 1999 Toyota Corolla that spelled faintly of weed and perfume. It had seen some things.
"Don't worry about Alex, you didn't mess up anything. He's just... Stressed, about the project going well. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, y'know?" Not even she sounded sure though, there was something more than that. She could tell.
Liam grinned at the floor of the car at Naomi's positive reaction to his pick, nodding along as she spoke about Alex's recent disposition.
"That makes sens, I guess. Marble Hornets seems really important to him."
That was true, at least. This film seemed to mean the world to that guy, for better or for worse. Often worse (at least for the rest of the crew). Liam wondered what had brought Naomi and Alex together, considering how different they were from one another.
"Speaking of Alex, uh, how did you guys meet?"
"At a party in someone's dorm, he shares a class with one of my friends so she introduced us. He was so nervous to ask for my number." Naomi chuckled fondly at the memory, she clearly still had feelings for him, despite how much he tested her patience. If she didn't still have feelings, she would've kicked him to the curb by now.
"I gotta talk to him about how he's treating everyone though. It's so annoying."
"Yeah, I mean, I get it. But he's, like, honestly kinda scary. Brian trusts him though, so that's something."
Liam shrugged. His moral compass was 6-foot-something and had a tooth gap, apparently.
"Has he always been like.." Liam gestured with his hand, "..this?" He couldn't really imagine why anyone would stick around somebody like that.
"Nope... He's usually really sweet, like I said, just stressed about filming..."
Naomi sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as Liam.
"Anyways, what do you like to do besides hanging out with us knuckleheads?"
Liam could see that Alex was a little bit of a sore subject, so he wasn't opposed the topic change.
"I don't do.. a lot. I mean, outside of school, I mostly just read? And write. Or I just do whatever Brian's doing. What about you?"
"Well, I'm a criminology major, that and filming this takes up quite a bit of my time. But I also love to draw and paint n stuff. What's your favorite book?"
Naomi asked, suddenly cheerful again.
Naomi's quick emotional adaptations were a bit jarring to Liam, but she didn't comment on it, so neither did he. It simply surprised him how easily she managed to do so.
"Criminology sounds cool. I like.. I really like The Iliad and the Odyssey, but more recent stuff? I enjoyed Blood Meridian."
Liam turned back to look out the window for a moment before turning back, seemingly remembering a skipped step in the rules of conversation.
"-do you have a favorite book?"