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]

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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

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[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

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[camila calderón]

March 4, 2029

Seated on her sofa, a cream-colored one that she wouldn't have purchased if not for her ability to clean it with magic to keep it looking nice, Camila found herself fidgeting. Her hands were moist against the letter as she held it, and she kept looking it over as though it might change. She tried to keep remain calm by reminding herself that Lance was on his way.

At the sound of a knock at her door, Camila flung the letter down on the sofa and bolted up from where she had been sitting, very nearly leaping over her coffee table. She walked across the room to answer the door, checking the peephole as a precaution and then opening it as soon as she saw it was Lance.

Camila didn't want to ambush Lance while he was on her doorstep and make him worry, especially when she needed his perspective on the letter she'd received to gauge what she needed to do next. "Gracias," she told him immediately, still jittery. She didn't come outside all the way to greet him with a kiss, as she would have otherwise done. "I didn't want to scare you on the phone, but I think I'm… being sued?" He had a right to know.

lancelot ray linley

[lancelot ray linley]

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Rocking gently back and forth on his heels, Lance waited patiently for the door to open. It was quiet enough that he could hear as Camila approached on the other side, pausing slightly before the lock clicked and the door opened. He could tell that whatever was going on, it was bothering her a lot. The look on her face said it all, as if the voice text earlier wasn't enough to tell him something serious was up.

Opening with the fact that she might be getting sued was definitely not what he expected to hear though. Lance blinked a few times at her as he stepped all the way inside and closed the door behind him. Referring back to her text, it was work related. That could really only mean a few things in the music industry: either someone that did work for her wasn't paid or a copyright issue popped up. Or there was a disgruntled employee. Lance highly doubted that, but some people would say or do anything for a few seconds of fame. Suing Camila Calderon would make every paper in the magical world. Perfect for a book deal too.

"Alright. That's definitely a way to start the day," he breathed out. Kicking his shoes off, Lance took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before proceeding into the living room. He was about to ask her how she'd received word of this supposed lawsuit, but spotted a letter laying on the couch. "Is this it?" he asked as he let go of her hand and picked it up. His eyes scanned it, first picking out that it was coming from Spellbound, and which one of Camila's songs they were saying had stolen parts. "Wait, seriously? They don't sound anything alike at any point," Lance stated, baffled that such an acclaimed set of musicians could even think this was the case. "I mean, yeah, you're definitely being sued. You should probably get this to your manager and lawyers as quickly as possible." Who even saw legal cases like this in the magical world?

camila calderón ● 348

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[camila calderón]

March 4, 2029

Camila would have been more surprised if Lance hadn't been equally stunned by her news. "Alright," he began. "That's definitely a way to start the day." It wasn't good, and Camila did feel bad about dragging him into her legal issues immediately, but she didn't want to hide it from him, either. As soon as word got to the media, it was going to be everywhere.

Taking a look at the letter she'd received for himself, Lance's reaction made her feel a little better. He, too, was in disbelief. "Wait, seriously?" he asked. "They don't sound anything alike at any point." Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to end it right there, because Lance confirmed that she was "definitely" being sued by a girl group whose popularity had been long before she'd even existed.

Though it would take her a more careful read-through to make sure that she had everything about their case straight, Camila didn't believe that Spellbound had any real argument. "I didn't do anything…" she muttered, shaking her head. "I-I didn't steal their song, or… It doesn't make any sense…"

lancelot ray linley

[lancelot ray linley]

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While processing how Spellbound, or their legal representation, could even think that the two songs were similar in nature, it all started to leave a bad taste in his mouth. They were a formative band in the magical community. To do something like this with zero basis screamed like an attempt to try and knock Camila down a peg for her recent popularity while also making themselves known again. As if they ever lost relevancy in the first place. He probably spun one of their records at least once a week and this made him not want to do it at all.

Then there was the part that really confused him the most: if a musician within the magical community wanted to commit copyright infringement, they would just steal it from a no-maj. The odds of their world being as acquainted with no-maj music would make something like this so easy to slip through the cracks. Ripping off one of the largest magical rock bands though? That was career suicide, and everyone knew that. And as far as he could tell without lining both songs over one another, there wasn’t even a similar chord progression that aligned. This whole thing reeked of a publicity stunt. If Camila didn’t meet their demands, he was sure this would ‘leak’ to the Daily Prophet or the tabloids. Assuming it wasn’t already public knowledge. He hadn’t had the time to look at this morning’s paper yet.

”I know,” he consoled Camila as he wrapped his arms around her. ”It’s all nonsense. Someone probably got in their ears and talked them into it. Happens all the time in the no-maj world.” But mostly from estates of the musicians hoping to get a little more money from royalties, years after the well had dried up. Maybe that was the case here. Spellbound had been doing a world tour of their greatest hits for what? Two decades now? Surely the ticket and merch sales were going down. Meanwhile, Camila was new. If they stirred up a bit of trouble, they’d have a contingency of fans that would believe them no matter what.

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