The Making of…

Chapter 50

An Unpleasant Awakening

“Hey Kira! Vig! Wake up! Jeez, did you two spend the whole night out here?” I heard Orlando mutter through my sleepy haze. I frowned in confusion and rolled over, but stopped halfway. I panicked as I realised that I was trapped in something, but then the claustrophobia gave way to mild amusement as I realised that I was caught between the sleeping bag and Viggo. I cracked one eye open and peered blearily up at Orlando – who was shining a torch at us.

“Piss off, it’s still dark.” I muttered, rolling back to Viggo and nestling against his chest as he began to wake up.

“Yeah it’s still dark Einstein, did you forget why we’re here? We’re filming a sunrise.” Orlando sighed sarcastically.

“I’m not in the scene…” I grumbled.

“Viggo is.” He retorted as I clung to my sleeping companion. “Get up.”

“No.” I moaned rubbing my eyes sleepily, “Put that torch away.” He responded by shining the bright light in my eyes.

“Alright, I’m coming…” Viggo groaned, sitting up and pulling me with him. “What time is it?”

“Just after 4am, the sun’s rising in forty minutes, so shift your asses.” Orlando replied.

“Wait… How much sleep did we get?” I asked, shivering as I slipped out of the sleeping bag. The morning was cold after the cloudless night, and I was already missing Viggo’s body heat.

“Two, maybe three hours, give or take.” He replied, “Now, up.” He demanded as Viggo and I rose to our feet. I bundled up the sleeping bag that still held pockets of warmth and hugged it to myself. “C’mon Vig, makeup time.” Orlando said as we followed him through the dark over to the bus.

“You can go to the tent and catch some sleep if you want.” Viggo murmured to me, but I shook my head.

“No, I don’t think I’d be able to get back to sleep.” I sighed, throwing the sleeping bag into our tent as we passed it. We climbed up into the bus and I slumped down in my chair, yawning my head off as the makeup artists started working on Viggo, Orlando and John. “Why is the sun rising so bloody early?” I grumbled, running my hands through my tangled hair. John started explaining something about hemispheres, but I was too tired to listen properly. Instead I stared at the walls which were totally plastered with photographs of our time on the set. It mainly consisted of photos that Viggo had taken, but there were a few others littered around. I smiled as I spotted one of Viggo and I smiling at the camera as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I couldn’t remember if it had been taken before or after we had entered our relationship, he’d always been very affectionate – I supposed it explained a lot. I caught sight of another one that had obviously been taken recently, as in it; Viggo was kissing the side of my forehead and hugging me tightly as I laughed with embarrassment. There were also a few that made me laugh, ones that had been taken during some of our night-shooting, I’d fallen asleep in my chair and Viggo had started taking photos of me (I later accused him of being a pervert for it) there we some of me surrounded by the Stunties in Uruk-Hai costumes pulling ridiculous poses whilst I slept on – totally unaware.

As I stared at the walls, I felt Viggo wrap his arms around my neck and kiss the top of my head.

“I’m just going to go get my costume on.” He smiled as I turned to him.

“Ok.” I smiled, “I’ll probably go change too, I’m all muddy from last night.” I grinned as I plucked at the shirt I’d borrowed from him.

“Spend a lot of time rolling around did you?” Orlando heckled from where he was having his wig pasted to his head.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I smirked, standing as Viggo made for the door. I followed him out of the bus and caught his hand in mine. I pulled him towards me and lightly kissed his lips. “I never got to say good morning after our rude awakening.” I smiled.

“Mmm.” He agreed, leaning his forehead against mine, “Sorry about falling asleep out there, I must have dozed off.”

“It’s ok, I didn’t mind.” I murmured as he pulled me into a quick hug.

“Right, I’ve got to go, see you in a minute?” He sighed.

“Yeah.” I nodded, kissing him again before slipping away and skipping back through the darkness to our tent. I ducked in and rooted through my backpack, pulling out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black top. I changed into them and cursed under my breath as I realised that I hadn’t packed a hoodie, so I stuck my hand into Viggo’s bag and pulled out his blue one. I smiled as I slipped it over my head and passed my arms through the too-long sleeves. I stood and walked out of the tent, spotting a camera crew setting up a few meters away. There was a thin strip of light appearing on the horizon as the stars of the scene appeared in full costume. I smiled as Viggo jogged over to me and eyed his hoodie with a raised eyebrow.

“Thief.” He smiled accusingly as he kissed my forehead.

“But I didn’t pack one…” I mumbled defensively, wrapping my arms around his torso.

“Sure you didn’t.” He laughed, hugging me back.

“Hey Vig, do you want to do a quick run-through?” One of the crew members asked as he slipped out of my arms.

“Coming!” He called back, affectionately ruffling my hair before walking over to where John and Orlando were standing. I smiled and smoothed my tousled hair as I made my way over to one of the chairs set up behind the camera. I sat in it and curled my knees up to my chest as I watched the guys run a few feet in front of where the sun would soon be rising. Once they were happy with how they would carry out the scene, they waited a minute for the sun to peek over the far away mountains. The sky was suddenly alight with fiery pinks and oranges as the cameras started rolling and they played their way through the scene again. The backdrop of the sky was perfect, and I found myself concentrating more on the sun’s path across the sky, rather than the scene in front of me. I was so engrossed that I didn’t hear anyone approaching me until I felt a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not often that you get to sit and watch the sun set and rise in the space of a few hours.” Viggo murmured softly in my ear as I smiled and nodded. Once the sky was fully lit with the pale light of dawn, I stood and turned to Viggo.

“So, what now?” I asked as he rested his hands on my waist.

“Well, I’ll need to change and get my makeup off, and then we’ll have to get the tent down and drive back.” He replied with a smile.

“Sounds great.” I sighed, gazing into the depths of his eyes. It was nice to get lost in those eyes every once in a while, and it was even nicer that I was now allowed to do it without feeling guilty about it.

“You’re staring.” Viggo smirked as I blushed – so much for not feeling guilty. “Am I really that interesting to stare at?” He joked, releasing my waist and taking one of my hands in his as we walked back to the tent.

“Uh…” Was all I could mumble in reply as he laughed. He helped me pack away the sleeping bags and soon we were in the process of taking our tent down – even though some people hadn’t even woken up yet. As we bundled the tent into the back of the Jeep, I looked out at the tents that still stood. “I think a wakeup call is in order.” I smirked.

“How diabolical.” Viggo scolded me as he followed my gaze. “Who should we wake up first?”

“Hmm…” I sighed thoughtfully, before pointing at the nearest tent. “Sean and Raven.” We tiptoed over to their tent and I went and stood on one side, whilst Viggo stood on the other. I winked at him before I started beating the canvas with the palm of my hand – creating a satisfactory flapping noise – whilst shaking the tent poles. I was rewarded by hearing Raven shriek in alarm.

“What the bloody hell?!” Sean yelled as I laughed and gave Viggo a high five.

“Earthquake!” I cried, shaking the tent once more for good measure before running off to repeat the process on Karl and Rylee’s tent. After waking Miranda and Bernard up, Viggo and I observed the masterpiece of chaos we’d created. One by one, everyone stumbled out of their tents and gave us a death glare. “Good morning!” I smiled cheerfully.

“You’re so dead Ki!” Raven yelled, and I yelped in alarm as she ran towards me. I cowered behind Viggo as she shouted various threats at me from a safe distance.

“Stop hiding.” Viggo laughed, pulling me in front of him and wrapping his arms around me.

After everyone else had taken their tents down Raven, Sean, Viggo and I climbed back into the Jeep and started on the journey back to the studio. I nestled comfortably in the front seat, with my legs curled up to my chest and my head resting on my knees. I was already starting to feel drowsy after our insanely early wakeup call and I could feel my eyelids getting heavier with each passing second. I couldn’t suppress a yawn as I curled into a tighter ball. My conscious mind gradually slipped away, and I gave in, closing my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

*

I was woken by a familiar, comforting feeling, but I couldn’t exactly put my finger on what it was. As my thoughts gathered together and I blinked awake, I realised that the sensation was the feeling of Viggo lightly kissing the side of my forehead. I looked up and blinked in the bright sunlight and saw him smiling down at me. The car was no longer moving and he was standing outside the open car door.

“Hey sleepyhead, we’re back.” He murmured softly, brushing my tousled hair out of my eyes.

“Mmm?” Was all I managed to respond with as I let my head flop back down onto my knees.

“Come on,” He laughed, “Are you planning to get up?”

“It wasn’t on my list of things to do right now, no.” I replied, closing my eyes again.

“I could carry you back to your trailer if you like.” He smiled.

“Piggyback?” I mumbled.

“If you want.” He shrugged as I glanced up.

“Ok…” I sighed, swinging my legs across the seat as he turned his back to me and I clambered on – draping my arms around his neck and resting my head between his shoulder blades as he hooked his arms under my legs. “Thanks.” I murmured.

“No problem.” He replied light-heartedly as he walked to my trailer door, “Key?”

“Yeah?”

“No, not ‘Ki’, I meant the key for the door.” He laughed.

“Oh…” I mumbled, “You can put me down, I’ll get it.” He loosened his hold on me and I slipped down from his back, rooting around in my pockets until I located my keys and unlocked the door. Viggo followed me inside as I walked to the sofa and slumped down gracelessly. As he sat down beside me I pulled him into a hug and ducked my head against his chest.

“Are you alright?” He asked, wrapping his arms around me.

“Yeah, just tired and in dire need of cuddles.” I smiled, looking up at him and brushing his hair out of his eyes. “You need a haircut – you look like you’ve taken style-advice from a spaniel.” I grinned as his hands combed through my own hair.

“Woof.” He smirked, leaning forwards and lightly kissing me.

“Alternatively, you could wear a headband; I suggest a nice pink sparkly one.” I observed once he’d pulled away slightly.

“I think I’ll go for the haircut.” He smiled as I sat up a little.

“Suit yourself… Do we need to get anything out of the car?”

“It can wait.” He assured me, his arms curling around my waist as I leant against him.

“We’ve almost finished filming The Two Towers, haven’t we?” I sighed.

“Yeah, I think we only have a week before we move up to the Edoras set, and then we’re on to The Return of the King.” He replied.

“I don’t want any of this to end…” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper as he held me tighter.

“It’s not over yet, we still have lots of time.” Viggo smiled, kissing the top of my head. It was reassuring to know that we still had a while to go before the end of filming… But the idea of all this ending was still an unpleasant thought.