pt 2 of dream a little dream of me
summary : after the first commercial, everything starts to change between chiara and bombsight as they learn more and more about each other
pairing : fem! self ship x bombsight (robbie)
warnings : 50s misogyny, objectification of women, toxic family and soldier boy is a warning in himself
The next commercials were slowly becoming easier to film. They served as the perfect practice for her even if she still stumbled over her marks and forgot some lines from time to time.
But Vought seemed pleased by her. They were putting so much importance on performances and were slick enough to put a good pr on a few mistakes, even the bigger ones.
To her, only bombsight seemed genuine, if she based her thoughts on him on their first encounter during that commercial. .
Maybe it was because she didn't meet the other supes yet but deep down, she knew that it wasn't the sole reason.
The words he spoke to her, the way he was truly seeing her impacted her more than she would have thought. She blamed it on the fact that he was the first person who saw her for who she really was.
Not a product. Not a failure. Not a bad daughter.
After this day, she couldn't help but notice him constantly. She was always on the lookout for him, always searching for his leather jacket whenever she was walking around the Vought's headquarters.
She didn't dare to put a name on what she was feeling yet because in all honesty, she didn't even know what those feelings truly were.
The current commercial set looked like a suburban street once again. At this rate, she was starting to doubt that Vought owned different sets.
She was assigned to work with Bombsight once again. The mere thought made her stomach twist, especially since they were now playing husband and wife.
âPlaces !â The director's voice shook her out of her thoughts, taking her right back to where she was, in the front yard of their fake family house.Â
She was making float a few glasses of lemonade that she was bringing to Bombsight as he was standing near a fake telephone pole that he was supposed to repair.
âMiss your mark one time and we will restart the whole sequence, Windfall.â
Just those words were enough to both annoy Chiara and make her nervous. No matter how much she was getting used to filming, she still wanted to please Vought, to please the director.
Her annoyance did flicker through a little when the overhead lights flickered. Not enough to truly worry the crew members but enough to be noticed by Bombsight.
His gaze flickered directly toward her, studying her to make sure everything was alright (and that a storm wasn't going to destroy the entire set).
The annoyed gaze from the director didn't waver and before he could bark another reproach to her, he was interrupted.
âBark at her again and I'm pretty sure you're going to lose a few cameras this time,â Bombsight drawled. The director was annoying him already and the filming only started.
Right behind him, stood Chiara who stared around in embarrassment. Unsure how to feel in the middle of this situation.
âIt's alright,â she quickly said, her gaze darting between Bombsight and the director. âI can do it.â
âYeah, I know,â the other supe replied to her, his words catching her off guard.
âJust breathe before they blow a gasket,â he murmured to her playfully, leaning in slightly so they wouldn't overhear him.
A small giggle escaped her lips at his words, her hands moving to cover her mouth and muffle the sound.
It was his time to be confused by his own feelings brought by her laughter.
Rest wasn't an option after filming, both were brought by Vought to a military fundraising gala downtown aka her very first official social event.
She remembered how gala events always looked magical in the films she watched as a little girl. The women were wearing elegant gowns while orchestras played on stage. She imagined movie stars descending staircases while receiving praises and looks of awe.
But reality was different when both her and Bombsight were forced to keep their costumes. After all, their costumes were what they embodied and without it, they would be nothing. Well, according to Vought.
In her opinion, Bombsight had it easy. His costume was identical to the ones worn by the combat pilots in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was meant to show in which faction he belonged to during the war, before becoming a supe.
Her costume was worse, way worse. The pale blue bodice hugged her waist so tightly that breathing became a challenge, and the sweetheart neckline of her costume dipped way too low in her opinion. She had to resist the constant urge of tugging it higher. The skirt stopped short and she had to keep tugging on it to feel, at least, a little comfortable. In her opinion, she was wearing something that came out of a pinup calendar. She didnât feel like a supe at all.
The golden clouds embroidered on the cape were shimmering beneath the ballroom lights. It was beautiful but also completely humiliating.
This entire outfit made her feel displayed like some sort of toy and the men at the gala clearly agreed. She could feel the way their stares lingered, the way military officers lingered too long when she passed and the way older politicians were openly glancing down her body mid-conversation with a smile that made her skin crawl.Â
One senator even placed his hand right on the spot where the skin of her back was bared while complimenting her âfigure.â At this moment, she could feel her powers crawling under her skin, ready to summon a gust of wind directly into his face. Yet, she bit her cheek until she tasted blood to hold herself back.Â
By the time they passed both the photographers and the journalists, her nerves felt frayed raw. The blinding flashbulbs that kept exploding didnât help at all while she could only smile at everyone.Â
She barely remembered the questions asked and the answers she replied. To be honest, she didnât really care because every word she spoke tonight sounded artificial. It didn't feel like herself at all.Â
Eventually, a few hours later, she managed to escape towards the refreshments table when the Vought handler that had been by her side the whole night ended up caught in a discussion with a businessman. She received no answers when she told him that she was going to get some champagne.Â
Once there, she exhaled shakily while leaning against the wall, trying to fight off the knot that was forming inside her throat the whole night.
âThat bad?â Bombsightâs voice startled her as he now stood beside her, appearing out of nowhere and holding two champagne glasses. She was so focused on calming herself down that she hadnât even seen him approach.Â
âIâm alright,â she replied automatically. She knew that it was an obvious lie and he definitely knew about it when his gaze lingered on her for a second before drifting across the ballroom and toward the men still staring at her. At this, annoyance flickered briefly across his face.Â
âSure you are,â he muttered. His tone made her glance at him properly. He didn't sound teasing, he sounded annoyed and protective. As if he was ready to throw a businessman through a wall if the older man opened his mouth.
Instead, he handed her one of the champagne glasses that he intentionally grabbed for her.Â
âThank you,â she said softly.
He shrugged casually, but his eyes flickered towards the way her fingers were once again tugging down the edge of her skirt. Something she did constantly tonight. At this thought, his jaw tightened.
âThey got you dressed like a goddamn calendar girl,â he said flatly.
âI didnât choose it.â she replied while heat rushed into her cheeks in embarrassment.Â
Something about his answer made her chest ache. He said it without hesitation and without blame. It was almost like he was angry on her behalf but she had a hard time believing that. After all, they barely knew each other, there was no way he would get protective and attached to a rookie like her who kept messing everything up.
Before she could respond, Bombsight glanced once more toward a group of military officials openly staring nearby. His expression darkened at that.
Then, with visible annoyance, he shrugged off his brown leather flight jacket where his name was embroidered on the back. It made her blink in clear confusion, trying to understand what he was doing.
âWhat are you doing?â
âUnless you enjoy half this ballroom starinâ at you like starving dogs.â
She couldnât even process his words or how her breath hitched at because he was already draping it around her shoulders, preventing her from trying to protest.
The jacket swallowed her almost entirely. It smelt like heavy leather, smoke and cologne. It smelled like him and in a way, it was comforting.Â
âThere,â he muttered as he adjusted the collar once before stepping back. âThatâs better.â
Something fluttered violently inside her chest but she was unable to focus on it while she was drowning in his scent and under his understanding gaze.
The next morning, as she returned to her brand new apartment offered by Vought, she found flowers waiting outside her door. Her brows furrowed as she crouched to search for a note tucked between the roses.Â
One she found it, in a familiar handwriting, she could read :Â
âWe saw your billboard in Times Square. Weâre proud of you. Call us.
She stared blankly at the note for a few seconds. She remembered her sixteenth birthday when her father told her that actresses always ended up lonely or disgraced when she dared to express her dream.
Or when her mother laughed after she got rejected from a theater production while telling her to âgrow upâ already. That she was still a foolish kid.Â
But ever since Vought checks arrived every month and that her face was printed on magazines and posters. They suddenly became proud and loving parents.Â
The flowers ended up in the trash as soon as she stepped inside her apartment.Â
Her career was growing as organically as possible when she was literally Voughtâs new products because a few months later, she was invited to the premiere of privateâs angel new movie.Â
The photographers delayed her entrance from the theater by nearly forty minutes, drowning her in constant flashes. Surprisingly, she was allowed to wear a blue and gold satin dress for this event. But she didnât think too much of it, at least she received less hungry stares.
By the time she entered the theater, almost every seat was occupied. Well, except the one beside Bombsight.Â
He was sprawled comfortably in his chair; way too casual for someone who was wearing a tailored navy suit worth more than the apartment she grew up in and that appeared on almost every ad sponsored by Vought.
She stopped beside him, sending him a confused look. âYou saved me a seat?â
âNah,â he replied immediately as if it wasnât an obvious lie. âNobody else wanted it.â
She scoffed in amusement as she sat down beside him, not noticing the way he looked at her or the way that the producer sitting in the row behind them looked deeply offended, as if Bombsight just cursed his entire bloodline.
Halfway through the film, Chiara ended up leaning slightly toward him. âYou threatened somebody for this seat, didnât you?â she murmured, not wanting to disturb the audience that was clearly focused on the movie playing.Â
âI threatened lots of people today,â he murmured back.
A small laugh escaped her lips before she could prevent it. She didnât care about the people hushing around her, she only cared about the way the sound made him glance sideways at her.Â
And for some reason, they exchanged sideways glances and amused smiles the entire night as they completely forgot about the movie in front of them.
Eventually, staying late together on set became their new normal. They told themselves that it wasnât intentional, that it just kept happening but they both knew the truth.Â
Around them, the crew would dismantle sets while they lingered nearby, sharing their thoughts about almost everything that crossed their minds. Those moments felt real, and it was necessary to stay sane when you end up working for Vought.Â
One night, they remained on set long after filming wrapped, the crew not having enough power to fire two of Voughtâs coveted heroes from their workplace. And it was not like they were destroying the set, they were just talking.Â
Half of the artificial suburban street had already been dismantled but this now usual scenery held some kind of comfort for her because she knew that she would always share this type of commercial with Bombsight.
Chiara sat cross-legged on the stairs of the porch of a pale yellow wooden house while he was leaned against the railing of the stairs, on her left, smoking lazily as the smoke curled upwards.Â
âYou ever think about quittinâ?â he asked suddenly. The sudden question surprised her, she didnât think he would even breach that subject with her during their talks.
âActing?â she asked to make sure that she did understand his question.Â
Her gaze ended up drifting across the dismantled set around them. He was talking about Vought and the fake happiness, the fake America they were selling to every citizen. Then, slowly, she shook her head.
âI canât. Because if I fail now, they were right about me. About how Iâm made for failureâ
Bombsight frowned slightly. âWho?â
The words tasted bitter on her tongue. It was normal, she guessed, after all she knew that parents were supposed to be encouraging and loving but she ended up having no luck in that department.
âMy father used to leave newspapers open whenever actresses got divorced,â she admitted quietly. âHe was telling me that it is what happens to women who chase attention with their silly dreams.â
Bombsight stayed silent, it seemed like he understood that it was something that deeply affected her§
âMy mother said acting was embarrassing after a certain age,â she continued with a slight tremble in her voice. âSaid eventually Iâd stop marry somebody sensible to start a family, that it was what I should do.â
A breeze shifted unconsciously around her, her hurt at those memories manifesting once again due to her powers.
âBut now I get money from Vought and now I am suddenly their little star. Suddenly they always believed in me.â
For a long moment, he said nothing as he tried to process everything and not hurt her feelings more by speaking carelessly. Then he finally muttered: âThatâs a hell of a thing to do to your kid.â
Something tightened in her chest at his words, after all, it was the first time someone acknowledged what she went through and didnât diminish it.Â
It seemed that a few nights later, it was her turn to learn something new about Bombsight, or Robbie like he asked her to call him.Â
That night, she forgot her gloves inside the soundstage after filming and only returned when everyone was supposed to already be home. At first glance, the studio seemed empty but movement near the lodges caught her attention.
She knew that she should just leave with her gloves and leave some intimacy to that person but something inside her told her that it was not the right choice to do.Â
So, she tried to walk as sneakily as possible and stopped near Robbieâs opened lodge. He sat alone beneath the soft lights of the lodge, exhaustion clearly visible from her spot. It seemed like he didnât even notice her.
She watched him tilt two small white pills into his palm before swallowing them dry with cold coffee.her nose scrunched instinctively at the thought of the cold coffee taste but the sight clearly made her worry.
It looked like he did this before, and many times at that.Â
When he realized that she was there a few seconds later, he stiffened but he hid it with his usual smirk. Slowly, she learned to read behind that smirk but tonight, she felt a little clueless.Â
âDonât look at me like that,â he said lightly as if she didnât walk on him seemingly taking drugs.
Chiara hesitated near the doorway. She was unsure how to proceed, after all she never dealt with drugs directly. âLike what?â
âLike Iâm dying.â He leaned back in the chair lazily. âDocs give half the team these things. Keeps us awake.â
The casualness of it was unsettling. She could see how tired he truly was yet he was acting like it was all fine and she had no idea how to help him without losing the only person that truly seemed to see her.Â
âYou should sleep instead,â she said quietly.
That earned a soft laugh from him. He didnât seem offended, instead, it looked like he simply accepted his fate.Â
âSweetheart,â he murmured, âyou think Vought lets people like us sleep?â
For once, the petname didnât make her heart flutter but twist her hearts in concern. His words lingering with her even when she laid in bed hours later.
Today was the day. She was officially meeting another member from Bombsightâs team. And it wasnât anyone, it was Soldier Boy aka the leader and Voughtâs golden child.Â
She remembered how much her friends gushed about him whenever he appeared in the newspapers, in movies and even in his advertisements. Of course, she found him attractive, she had eyes after all. But weirdly, she never felt compelled to crush on the man.
Maybe it was because he was too unattainable or that her brain didnât have enough space to think about men when she had too many things to worry about at that time.
But now that she was about to face him, she felt nervous, just like when she was about to meet Bombsight for the first time on her first commercial.
She observed the new supe when he entered the room like it belonged to him, as if everything here revolved around him. Which it kinda did. Everyone straightened whenever he walked past them, even the members of his own team.Â
But Bombsight was the only one who looked more irritated than anything.Â
In front of him, she could understand why her friends gushed so much about him. He was handsome but he was also charismatic. She couldnât deny that. And he was aware of his own appeal;Â
âWell, hell,â Soldier Boy drawled after spotting her standing a little awkwardly near the conference table. âSo this is the new sweetheart everybody keeps talkinâ about.â
She straightened instinctively when he approached. Up close, he was intimidating and clearly scary to her. She didnât even dare to frown in his direction.Â
He took her hand before she could react and pressed a theatrical kiss against her knuckles. She cursed herself internally when she blushed, she hated being the center of attention right now, in this room full of supes and Vought executives.
âYes, sir.â she replied quickly, not wanting to mess up in front of everyone;
âAw,â he grinned. âSheâs polite too.â
Across the room, Bombsight looked unimpressed and a little irritated, if one could tell by the scowl etched onto his face. And unfortunately for him, Soldier boy noticed it, an amused smile curling up his lips at the sight.Â
âYou been takinâ good care of her, Bombsight?â Soldier Boy asked casually while still looking at the woman in front of him.
Robbie crossed his arms, holding himself back from doing anything rash when he saw the way the other man interacted with Windfall, how he talked about her. âShe ainât a dog.â
It was obvious to everyone that the tension between them wasnât anything new. It had been there for years but her presence seemed to fuel it.Â
Soldier Boy finally released her hand but stayed standing slightly too close for both her liking and for Bombsightâs too.Â
âYou know,â he said lightly, âyouâre prettier than your posters.â
Before she could even react to the flirty words, Robbie reacted instantly from across the room. âJesus Christ.â
âWhat?â Soldier Boy asked innocently. âIâm beinâ friendly.â
âYouâre beinâ a pain in my ass.â
At this, the other supe barked out a laugh. Yet, she could only focus on the man across the room as it dawned on her that he was jealous.
One evening, after another gala, she slipped away onto a balcony for air. She got used to it after her first one, months ago.
She felt more at ease, more comfortable in her own skin.
New York was beautiful from up here but the sight wasn't the reason why she escaped.
The reason why was already there, leaning against the railing with an unfinished cigarette between his fingers.
The wind was tugging at his blond strands that were usually brushed to perfection.
He looked tired tonight and his smirk wasn't good enough to hide it.
She moved beside him, leaning too against the railing and for a moment both stayed silent.
Then she looked at him, taking in his profile.
âYou know,â she said softly, âI never liked Soldier Boy that much.â
That earned a snort from him as if he didn't believe her.
âThat makes one of us.â
âNo,â she corrected quietly. âI mean I never understood why everyone is gushing on him like he is the only supe, as if he doesn't have teammates.â
Silence settled once again between them but it wasn't an awkward one. It didn't need to be filled.
Bombsight slowly turned toward her and for the first time since she met him, since she got to know him, a vulnerable look crossed his face.
This time he knew that she was also truly seeing him too, just like he was seeing her since the beginning.
Then, he moved his hand so it could rest on her and somehow, that felt right.
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