**This is the chapter that was originally called "Audition/Guys and Dolls". This is an AU where the stories of Warcross or Wildcard didn't happen. I just really like writing stories where Ro and Tremaine meet for the first time.**

**Warnings: There's a romantic actor-director relationship in this story, if that bothers you. Nobody is underage and it's not creepy, because Roshan is relatively the same age as Tremaine. That's about it. Unless...you don't like Guys and Dolls, for whatever reason. Or you're Paul from The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals.**

The day did not start out so Nicely Nicely - that's a pun, Sue Me. First rehearsals always made Roshan uneasy. Especially when he barely knew anyone in the cast. He wasn't even serious about this whole theatre thing, but since he got fired from his job at UK Disneyland, he didn't really have much else to do.

     It had felt like an eternity, but he could still recall two points in the misty fogginess: Walking into the audition hall and mumbling out 16 bars of On The Street Where You Live, and receiving an e-mail two days later offering him the role of Sky Masterson.

     However, that didn't turn out to be His Time Of Day. He stumbled into the rehearsal room. As a cheerful thought, he noticed how the bustle reminded him of the days spent parked under the beating sunlight, watching young children run ahead of their families or young couples mull over their maps of the different park sections.

     Taking his coat off, he eyed the directors' table. Sitting in between the choreographer and the music director was the artistic director, whose name, as Roshan recalled, was Tremaine. His eyes, an icy blue the color of the sky in winter, had sent Roshan's heart on a wild, sprinting race the first time he saw them, but that probably meant nothing. Audition jitters. Everyone has them.

For the next couple hours, Roshan was sitting at a table in between the actress who would play Sarah and one of the members of the ensemble, reading his script through scene after scene of mid-40's hilarity. He had to admit - this was one of his favorite musicals.

They finished the read-through, each actor and actress content with their work. Tremaine gave a short talk welcoming everyone to the cast. Roshan noticed the subtle way Tremaine's lips played at a smile as he spoke, the sparkle in his eyes as he turned to address the entire cast. The chill suave that emanated from
him. Roshan hadn't noticed he was staring until Tremaine was done with his speech.

The crowd began to disperse after being released.

"Roshan?" the sound of his name nearly made him jump. The voice's smoothness, like a purr, sent a chill rolling across his skin. He hadn't noticed until now that he was virtually alone with Tremaine, the stage manager absorbed in packing up her laptop and various notebooks.

"Do you need a ride home?" Tremaine offered, making Roshan blush. He hadn't meant to stay this long. "It's okay," he said, fishing his keys out of his pocket and grinning sheepishly. "Just got distracted reading the script, I guess."

Before he could leave, he was pulled back by Tremaine's voice. The space between them felt smaller. "I'm really glad you could be part of this production. You're very talented," Tremaine said, carding a hand through his wild white-blond hair.

"Th-thanks," stammered a blushing Roshan, smiling a little. An awkward - but at the same time, comfortable? - silence rested between the two. Those eyes. Like the etchings in a Squip. Like periwinkles. Captivating in the subtlest of ways.

Snap out of it, Roshan, he warned himself, dragging his eyes away to sling his rehearsal bag over his shoulder. But Tremaine had come closer. His air was gentler now, more...intimate.

Roshan stuttered meaningless syllables with the intent of thanking him for casting him. Flustered, his heart turned into a butterfly that beat its wings so rapidly it nearly drowned out anything and everything else.

"You're very interesting, have you acted before?" Tremaine inquired, barely a whisper.

"I mean," he stammered. "It's been a hot second. Like, I was in a school play when I was a kid, but, you know..."

"Must be natural talent, then," Tremaine replied with a charming smirk.

Roshan's cheeks tinged pink. "Y-yeah I guess..."

Now they were so close that their noses could've touched. And Roshan wasn't sure how exactly it happened, but Tremaine captured his lips in his own in a kiss that made his knees buckle. He squeaked in surprise as Tremaine caught him by wrapping an arm around his waist, and Roshan felt himself letting his arms drape around Tremaine's neck.

It might've been an eternity. Maybe two eternities. Or maybe just five minutes. But holy shit, it felt like forever to Roshan. He wanted it to be forever. Just there, nestled in Tremaine's arms, their lips connected with an unspoken, undying passion. Roshan's denial fell from his consciousness like a weight. This was what he had wanted ever since he set eyes on Tremaine. Intoxicated by lust, Roshan didn't care that technically he was a cast member making out with a director. In that moment, nothing mattered except this. The fact that this director was indeed the director that set Roshan's heart aflutter was exactly what made this so desirable, so...magical.

Ask me how do I feel
Ask me now that we're cozy and clingin'
Well, sir, all I can say
Is if I were a bell, I'd be ringin'
From the moment we kissed tonight
That's the way I've just gotta behave
Boy, if I were a lamp, I'd light
Or if I were a banner, I'd wave
Ask me how do I feel
Little me with my quiet upbringing
Well, sir, all I can say
Is if I were a gate, I'd be swinging
And if I were a watch
I'd start popping my springs
Or if I were a bell
I'd go ding dong, ding dong ding