Smoke on the Water

[Anonymouse]

Loli-Popp wanted to see more Marble Hornets material around here, so I'm writing this for her in exchange for a Metalocalypse fic. I'm actually getting more excited about this than I thought I would, though I still haven't gotten caught up with the series yet so forgive me if it's a little awkward. I plan on continuing it once I learn more about the characters and how they fit into the overall story, but for now here's the first part, which is based on the scene from Entry #9. Tim is an interesting character, even moreso when you consider the possibility that he might actually be totheark.

---

Maybe it was the heat, but Alex was acting unusual today. Usually calm and easy-going, he was being downright mean to Sarah, and Tim wasn’t sure how much more he could take. Any other time he would have lost his own cool and punched those glasses right off Alex’s stupid face, but he was feeling a little off today. The heat was making him languid, and he knew he was slurring his words a bit as he recited his lines, but Sarah was doing the best she could. Alex was just being a straight-up dick.

“What a stellar pair of actors I’ve found for myself,” Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Can’t even memorize three pages of a script…”

Sarah bit her bottom lip, looking for a moment like she might start crying. Tim straightened up out of his slouch, prepared to say something to Alex, but Seth announced that they were rolling again. Determined to wrap this up and go home, Tim closed his eyes briefly to get back into character before delivering what he personally felt were poorly written lines with as much conviction as he could muster.

“He's seemed really distant ever since he came back, you know?”

He was quickly losing interest in this whole project and his heart wasn’t in it, but Alex didn’t stop him this time, at least not yet. Sarah hesitated, as if waiting to be rudely cut off again, then shrugged her shoulders. It was the character Sarah, not the real person Sarah, who replied. “And…?”

"I mean, have you talked to him at all?"

So far so good. Alex was nodding in subconscious approval and Tim felt relieved. If they could just get through this fucking scene and be done for the day…

...

“Come on, Tim, where’s your head?”

Tim blinked. Seth and Sarah were staring at him questioningly, and Alex looked like he was on the brink of a coronary. “How many times does she have to say the line before you respond?” he continued, tossing a script in his direction.

It fluttered to the ground between them like a large, dying moth, and Tim could only stutter for a moment. “I didn’t—?” he began, confused. When did Sarah say her line?

“Well, did he come back because of you?” Alex interrupted, reciting Tim’s lines from memory. “Because he never told me why he was here. All you have are the two sentences after Sarah says ‘no’. Seriously, is it that difficult to remember? You’re supposed to be an actor!”

“Hey!” Sarah said, her voice shaking slightly as she turned to face Alex. “Lay off, okay? We’re doing the best we can under these conditions.”

"Conditions? Now it's the conditions?"

Tim watched them argue back and forth, his mind feeling fuzzy. It was too hot out, the air too thick. He coughed a couple of times, cleared his throat, then ducked his head against his shoulder, muffling a sudden sneeze. “IhhnkXSSH!”

Sarah and Alex stopped bickering and glanced over at him. Sarah’s expression was sympathetic but Alex just looked angrier than ever. “Again,” he commanded, stepping out of the camera’s view and snapping his fingers at Seth. “Make sure the camera is rolling at all times.”

Startled, Seth started the tape again. Tim had a feeling that he was stopping it after every take, like any sane person would do. Why would Alex want video evidence of what an asshole he was being? Besides that, it was just a waste. Tim dreaded the idea of filling this tape up with a string of failed scenes broken only by Alex’s bitching and having to wait as he fetched another tape from the car.

“Action.”

Taking a deep breath and trying to keep himself focused, Tim cleared his throat and fiddled with the cigarette carton in his pocket. “He’s seemed really distant ever since he…”

He trailed off, earning himself a perplexed look from Sarah. Tim wasn’t even sure why he stopped, but it hit him soon enough. Twisting away from Sarah, he threw up his arm to catch another sneeze. “IhhnXSHHuu!”

“Goddammit!" Alex exclaimed, throwing down the copy of the script he had just picked back up moments earlier. "We don’t have time for this!”

“Alright, now you’re just being ridiculous,” Sarah said. “That wasn’t his fault.”

“What’s with you today?” Seth added, sounding more concerned than accusatory.

“Nothing is with me…” Alex retorted, though his expression was softening a bit. “Look, guys… do you think we can take a ten minute break and come back and do this right?”

Tim sniffled and nodded, eager to go sit in the shade somewhere and have a few minutes to himself. Trying to get a break out of Alex today was like trying to force a cat into a bathtub, and he hadn’t had anything to drink in over an hour. The others voiced their assent and Alex made a show of setting a timer on his phone. “Ten minutes,” he said, tapping the screen, "and then I want you right back here."

Tim was the first one out of the gazebo. Behind him he heard Alex telling Seth to leave the tape running, but for what? There wasn’t anything out here except trees. There were some children running around earlier, a couple walking their dog, but nothing worth filming. Tim made sure to find a spot out of the camera’s range, settling in the ample shade of a large oak at the edge of the stream. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, then broke off mid-drag to sneeze openly off to the side. “IHHHHuhh!”

The smoke curled out from his nostrils and from between his lips, burning his nose and his throat and making him cough.

On second thought, maybe it was about time he quit. He tossed the cigarette into the stream, watched it get carried off by the rippling current, stood up, and walked off.