Celebrity Skin (Lance)

[camila calderón]

March 4, 2029

Between living in a mews house that she had purchased only recently in a non-magical area of London and getting most of her fan mail sent to her team rather than to her directly, Camila didn't receive much by owl unless it was something that she had ordered herself, and that was very rarely because of the rules around magical secrecy. Waking up to a large owl on her windowsill holding a sealed envelope in its beak was a shock, and the official nature of the envelope was even more of one. If someone she knew needed to reach her, then they would just call her or text her on her mobile phone.

Confused but certain that the letter was for her, given that the name and address scrawled on the outside of its envelope were her legal name and address, Camila opened her bedroom window and retrieved it from the bird. It was a legal letter from someone whose name she didn't recognize. Although she was only half awake, Camila read through the letter, thinking that it probably wasn't something that she wanted to put off.

It wasn't. The letter was from a legal representative of the all-witch group Spellbound, who had been at the height of their popularity some thirty years prior, and its tone was one of the stiff sort of wording that Camila hated plowing through in contracts before she signed them. The band was issuing her a letter telling her to cease and desist in relation to her English-language song "Cat Among the Pixies" from her album Superstar, claiming that it sounded too similar to one of their hit songs from 1999.

Camila wasn't sure why Spellbound couldn't have brought that issue to her attention sooner, when the album her song was on had been released in March 2025, four years before her receiving any suggestion that it wasn't original, but the last thing she wanted was a media circus. She was going to have to contact her team to figure out her next steps, especially if Spellbound really did plan to take her to court.

There was no point in trying to go back to sleep with so much on her mind, so Camila decided to message Lance, her boyfriend. It wasn't enough of an emergency to call him and potentially wake him up, but she did want to let him know what was going on.

Sending an audio recording of her voice instead of typing, she explained the situation. "Hi. I just got a letter from someone, and I guess I want to tell you because I'm a little confused? It's work stuff… But I think in person is easier?" she began.

lancelot ray linley

[lancelot ray linley]

▲

The buzz of his phone woke Lance up from an already light sleep. He had been drifting in and out for the last hour or so, waiting for his alarm to finally chime. That was why he’d placed it so close to his head on his bed. There really wasn’t any rush to be up early on a Sunday, but consistency with waking up seemed to help him throughout the day. Plus, he sort of enjoyed waking up and having an hour or two to himself. His sister always slept late on the weekends, so having a few blissful hours of alone time in their shared apartment made a huge difference. It also gave him to formulate what he wanted to do for the day if anything. With chores simplified by magic, there was almost no wasted time on the mundane things.

But the phone vibration this time was not his alarm, which caused him to half-open his eyes to look. A voice text from Camila. That wasn’t unusual, but it was pretty early. Unlocking his phone, he pressed the play button on her message and closed his eyes again while he listened, ’Hi. I just got a letter from someone, and I guess I want to tell you because I'm a little confused? It's work stuff… But I think in person is easier?’ Well, that sounded strange and ominous. Especially a letter at this time in the morning. Lance took a moment to think of a response and was about to send a voice text back but felt his words crackle out. Having just woke up, there was no way it would register properly over the phone.

Flipping onto his back, he sent the following text: ’I can be there in 15?’ He had to wake up and make himself look semi-presentable, even though he knew Camila wouldn’t care that much at this hour. Sliding out of bed, he started about his morning routine at a faster pace than normal, knowing that regardless of what her response was, he still wanted to be ready to help her figure out whatever the problem was.

camila calderón ● 355

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[camila calderón]

March 4, 2029

Soon after she had sent her message to him, Lance responded to her with a text message of his own, saying that he could be there in fifteen minutes. Though Camila hadn't intended for him to just drop everything or to wake him, she was grateful that it wouldn't be long before he got there. He could help her figure out what she needed to do and how seriously she needed to take the letter. It didn't seem like something that couldn't wait to be addressed with her team until the next day when they would actually be at work, but she was lucky and had steered clear of any trouble. She knew the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—as a friend, rather than because she had had any issues with the law.

Camila texted Lance back with a string of hearts and tried not to dwell on the letter. Simply having him there with her would be calming. They were long past the point in their relationship where she felt as though she had to make herself seem more impressive or look perfect just because she was going to see him, though she did throw a hooded sweatshirt on over her pajamas so that she wouldn't look quite as much like she had rolled out of bed.

Knowing that there was no reason to keep it open, she shut and locked her window again then brought the letter downstairs with her to wait for Lance to arrive.

lancelot ray linley

[lancelot ray linley]

▲

The follow-up text made Lance slow down his getting ready just a tad. The letter obviously wasn’t going anywhere, and despite wanting to be there to help however he could as soon as possible, it also didn’t seem like the sort of situation that was extremely urgent. Still, he made sure to at least make himself semi-presentable, a trait that had been ingrained in him by his parents as a child and he still tried to carry over today. His sister didn’t follow through with it all, always looking like she had perpetually just woken up from a nap, knotted hair and like she had slept in her clothes. They couldn’t all be perfect though, and Georgie was Georgie. Life hadn’t been easy for either of them.

Feeling like he was all set only a few minutes later, Lance did a pocket check to make sure he had everything he needed, and then stepped outside of his flat to immediately disapparate once the coast was clear. Living in a magical building meant he was safe to do so; the one smart thing Barbara had done when getting the siblings set up with living accommodations. No no-maj would be worried about the constant ‘pop’ up he and Georgie coming and going.

His body bending and swirling, Lance was always happy he never ate early in the morning. There was no way he could have handled this on a full stomach. Later in the day was always fine, but something about waking up and immediately apparating did not mesh well. His feet eventually found solid ground to the spot that he always went to when visiting Camila, and a minute later he was at her door and knocking. He probably didn’t have to do that any longer, but it was a force of habit. Plus, it was safer for her this way. Not all fans were good fans.

camila calderón ● 316

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0