Lewis Hamilton/Sebastian Vettel, 1k, stuck together
FADE IN:
INT. CANTINA – OUTER RIM – NIGHT
WE OPEN on a cantina, on the planet, SELVERA, known for around the solar year brutal storms and endless oceans. The structure is precarious, built on wooden stilts in the middle of the sea. The walls shake and shudder with the waves.
The air is thick with saltwater and spice smoke. The room is dimly lit. Most of the tables are occupied.
The door flies open, banging the wall, and SEBASTIAN (20), smiling, steps in. His boots leave wet footprints as he walks up to the bar. Not even his scuffed hat could keep the rain off his face.
SEBASTIAN
Hearthbrew. Thank you.
JENSON (29), flashy, laughs from across the room. His blond hair is cut close to his skull.
JENSON
You even old enough to smell that, mate?
A few laugh around the room. Most don’t bother looking up from their drinks.
SEBASTIAN
We friends, mate?
JENSON
Hmm, don’t think so. I’d ask if you’d like to be but teenagers aren’t really our speed.
SEBASTIAN
(laughing)
I’m twenty!
LEWIS (24), steady, leans back in his chair. His arm brushes against JENSON’s. There is a long white scar curling around his left eye and down his cheek.
LEWIS
Jense. Leave him be.
JENSON settles, tipping SEBASTIAN a wink. The blasters on their hips are military grade. This does not escape SEBASTIAN’s notice. Nor do the matching prancing horse matches sewn on the upper arms of their damp coats.
SEBASTIAN takes his drink. It already begins to warm his fingers. He knows that horse. The entire galaxy knows that animal.
CUT TO:
INT. CANTINA - TIMESKIP – THREE HOURS
It is noticeably emptier. The storm is still raging outside. SEBASTIAN has finished his drink, and two others, along with a bowl of stew. He heads for the door.
JENSON
(waving a pack of battered cards)
Care for a game, mate?
SEBASTIAN turns back around. LEWIS says nothing, watching. The rings on his hands gleam with every flash of lightning.
SEBASTIAN
Just one.
JENSON
Of course, wouldn’t want you to miss your bedtime, now, would we?
LEWIS rolls his eyes, smiling. SEBASTIAN wonders what his laugh sounds like.
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACEPORT – BRAXIS – DUSK – FIFTEEN YEARS LATER
BRAXIS is a near barren planet, with rocky mountains and a surface burnt by long ago warfare. The local spaceport is an overcrowded sprawling complex, every terminal full with loading vessels and starships. Because of its position on the nebulous border between the INNER and OUTER RIM, it is commonly used by smugglers.
Alarms break through the night, followed quickly by shouting and yelling. Patrols of armed guards are seen running through the streets as a fire in the distance grows steadily. The dark sky stretches on.
CUT TO:
INT. SPACEPORT STORAGE ROOM – BRAXIS – DUSK
LEWIS, worn, frustrated, sits slumped on the floor, back to the wall. There is no longer a patch on the sleeve of his jacket. SEBASTIAN, older, frantic, is crouched by the door’s terminal, tapping at the screen.
SEBASTIAN
Fucking hate – what ever happened to normal locks, for the life of me, I don’t know –
LEWIS opens his eyes. He says nothing.
The terminal sparks warningly. SEBASTIAN flinches away and sighs. He sprawls against the opposite wall, needing a break. Silence hangs between them.
SEBASTIAN
I saw you out there, before – um. I saw you. You’re still flying that old ship of yours?
LEWIS
(shrugs)
BONO is reliable.
He does not need to say the words: unlike you.
SEBASTIAN
Yeah. Honestly, I didn’t expect to ever see you again. Let alone on Braxis of all places. Thought you were done with this life?
LEWIS
I was, yeah. I am. Still wanted though, aren’t I? Can’t do places that ask too many questions, or even ones that ask just the one. BONO needed some repairs that I had to dock her for, so. Here I am.
SEBASTIAN
Here you are.
LEWIS
No, just, no. Don’t start.
SEBASTIAN
I didn’t even say –
LEWIS
Don’t even try that – you know – just. Stop. I’m fine, okay? I am doing fine. I just want to be left alone, okay, so. Stop.
LEWIS sets his jaw. SEBASTIAN doesn’t let himself look away this time. He wants to bring up JENSON, who never would’ve left LEWIS alone. He also knows it would mean LEWIS would be lost to him forever.
SEBASTIAN
(soft)
I understand that, I do. And I didn’t mean to – I don’t mean to drag you back into anything. I, uh, I’d say ‘I promise’ but that’d require you trusting me and. Yeah. I know. I’m, I’m just sorry, Lewis. I’m sorry.
LEWIS’s eyes are dark.
LEWIS
(tired)
I know.
SEBASTIAN fidgets with the ends of his sleeves.
SEBASTIAN
You know, I’m thinking of maybe getting out of the game too.
LEWIS has an incredulous look on his face. He exaggerates looking around their cramped situation, alarms muffled but audible still ringing outside.
SEBASTIAN
I said I’m thinking about it!
LEWIS
Right. You’d be bored shitless, man.
SEBASTIAN
I would not.
LEWIS
I’d give you a month. Two max.
SEBASTIAN kicks LEWIS lightly in the foot.
SEBASTIAN
I’d give myself at least seven. It takes a while to set up a farm, you know.
LEWIS bursts out laughing. SEBASTIAN’s fingers are all warm and itchy. He feels fifteen years younger.
LEWIS
A farm?
SEBASTIAN
Well, I’ll need something to do, wouldn’t I? And I like animals.
LEWIS
Mhmm, sure.
SEBASTIAN
I do!
The terminal hums suddenly, blinking green, and the door unlatches. LEWIS and SEBASTIAN sit very still, listening for the alarms outside that have fallen silent. They are left watching each other watch each other.
LEWIS
(getting to his feet)
See you around.
SEBASTIAN has never had to be the one watching LEWIS leave before.
SEBASTIAN
I miss you.
It isn’t a lie. It also isn’t fair. LEWIS lets SEBASTIAN get away with it. He always does.
LEWIS
Let me know how that farm of yours turn out. If you want.
"On the first of May in the year 1900, a party of schoolgirls from the Mercedes College for Young Ladies set out to picnic at Land’s End in the county of Cornwall. Several members of the party were never to return."
@leadoutlap's and my collaboration for @hypersoft-fest w1! read her writing below!!
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Picnic at Land’s End, dir. Toto Wolff
On the first of May in the year 1900, a party of schoolgirls from the Mercedes College for Young Ladies set out to picnic at Land’s End in the county of Cornwall. Several members of the party were never to return.
Lewis Hamilton, aged seventeen, is the belle of Mercedes College. Beloved amongst students and staff alike for her creativity, charm, and beauty, her disappearance from the cliffs at Land’s End shakes the prestigious finishing school to its very core. However, none are more shaken than Lewis’ roommate, Georgina “George” Russell. Orphaned at an early age and attending Mercedes thanks to the financial assistance of a wealthy but distant relation, fourteen-year-old George is everything Lewis is not—meticulous, bookish, and disliked by all.
Disliked by all, that is, save for Lewis.
Selected as George’s roommate as the result of a clerical error, Lewis nevertheless becomes a beacon for the younger girl in an otherwise dark and unwelcoming landscape. Is it any wonder, then, that George’s feelings towards Lewis have begun to transgress the boundaries of what is considered proper for two young ladies? And what does it mean if, despite the animosity George is treated with by the other students, Lewis appears to reciprocate these emotions?
Forbidden from attending the picnic by a vindictive headmistress, George is shocked to discover upon the party’s return that Lewis, along with fellow fourth-year students Jenson Button and Sebastienne Vettel, has gone missing without a trace. Devastated by the loss of her friend and wracked with guilt over her inability to prevent it, George is spurred into action. Defying the expectations of her peers, the College staff, and greater society, George dedicates herself to discovering what truly happened on that sunny afternoon at the westernmost point in England. George’s journey will carry her across the cliffs and moors of Cornwall, forcing her to confront unforgiving truths about herself, her friend, and the limits of reality.
Loosely based on the novel of the same name, Picnic at Land’s End is a gripping, mind-bending tale of romance, fate, sexuality, self-discovery, and the supernatural in the uppermost echelons of Edwardian society.
