werewolvesversus:

An excerpt from nothere’s story of the same title, published in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: HOLLYWOOD.

More of nothere’s work can be found here and here.

Marianne found the door to her dressing room open. Her surprise turned rapidly to annoyance when she saw Agnes perched on the corner of her makeup bureau, trying on a Galaxy Studios exclusive shade of eyeliner.

“You really ought to have said yes to that hunk of glorious Hollywood man-steak,” Agnes said without looking up. She was wearing a curious combination of clothes from her old life as a Kansas farm girl and her new one as a cosmopolitan flapper, a flannel work shirt over a form-fitting dress. “You don’t really think a script girl with ink on her hands is his… type… do you?”

“I don’t remember giving you a key,” said Marianne, shutting the door behind her and flopping down on the small threadbare couch she’d rescued from the Galaxy Dumpster.

“Since when have I ever needed one?” Agnes said with a toothy grin. She tossed a well-wrapped package at Marianne. “Here, oh ungrateful cousin of mine. I don’t know why I bother if you’re going to be so rude.”

Marianne tore into the package with her teeth, eagerly baring its contents: bitter dried herbs, tied up in a bale. “These are the real thing?” she said. “You know what’ll happen if they’re fake.”

“Yeah, yeah, real as the America Galaxy Studios is selling at a quarter a pop. But you know it won’t do you any good if you keep getting yourself mixed up with starry-eyed idiots who… how did Mr. Man-Steak put it? Light into you pretty good?”

Her mouth full of herbs and two more handfuls on their way in, Marianne looked up. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “This will help.”

“Uh-huh. Just like it helped at the Winter Ball when Missy Capaldi had that dance with Carson Smith instead of you?” Agnes laughed. “She still can’t walk right on that leg, you know.”

“She’s lucky she didn’t get worse,” Marianne snarled. “But it’s okay. I have everything under control.”

“Do you?” Agnes turned to face her cousin, the makeup thick on her face. “There’s a reason our folks don’t come to the city much. When we lose our tempers, things tend to get out of hand. Especially when it’s that time of the month.”

“I don’t care,” Marianne said through a freshly herbed mouth. “None of our folks are ever going to get anywhere other than Kansas if we don’t try. I’m going to be in pictures, and that’s that.”

“Well, okay,” Agnes said. “But if you don’t blow off some steam, there’s gonna be an explosion. I know you too well, Annie.”

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