Work Text:
can I get your opinion on something? I need to pick a necklace
of course, he shoots back, grateful for any distraction from the paragraph he’s been staring at for the last – at least twenty minutes. Some days the scripts almost seem to write themselves. Today is not that kind of day.
Not that he ever needs an excuse to want to chat with Jane.
Or to give his opinion on her fashion choices – which are usually impeccable anyway, so this is really just a chance to either gas her up or bug her just a bit. Two things he enjoys immensely, for the exact same reason. And with the way his writing is going today – well, he won’t say no to an easy win, is all.
And then the pictures load in, just two, almost the same; a close up shot of her upper torso, cutting off just under her chin – which even if there are more than enough photos including her whole face and he sees her all the time anyway, is still a shame – but offering clear view of her shoulders, the pale skin of her throat, framed by the curtain of her black hair and adorned, in the first one, with a bare silver chain, simple but elegant.
The second option is silver as well, but longer, weight down by a circular pendant that dips dangerously low into her neckline, pulling his gaze along to where it rests against her skin, just short of the frontal zipper of her dress - the one that’s been making his fingers itch since the first time he’s seen her wear it; to a press event, of all places, the kind where you couldn’t just sneak off to the nearest bathroom for a moment of privacy, because there were too many people who might see, too many who knew them.
It doesn’t help that he’s seen her in less, doesn't make the sight less tantalizing, the vision of tugging that zipper down to bare more of her soft, pale skin less clear. He can almost feel it, how easy it would give under his fingers, the fabric parting until he could brush it off her shoulders with a single sweep, leaving her bare before him, flushed and breathless with anticipation.
He’s a little distracted, is what he’s saying.
And Jane’s still waiting for an answer.
Unless this was some carefully manufactured ploy to get him to lose his mind a little, drop whatever he’s doing and rush right to her. Which might not be strictly necessary – a simple are you busy? would have done the trick just fine, not that he’s eager – but that the artifice isn’t needed , doesn’t mean it can’t be appreciated. Also Jane enjoys torturing him as much as he enjoys annoying her, occasionally, so maybe-
Andy? It’s kind of time sensitive
Or maybe not.
Damn.
He sighs, unable to help his disappointment even as he knows there will be plenty of other chances for him to help her out of that particular dress.
go with the first one, the one without a pendant
Because it does really lead the eye and if he doesn’t get to enjoy the reality of pulling that zipper down with his teeth, no one else better get to enjoy entertaining any fantasies along those lines. Call him petty, see if her cares.
There’s a pause in which he watches Jane type, the little dots dancing on the bottom of the screen as she either repeatedly rethinks her words of composes an entire novel.
that was a very short reply for you. everything okay?
She’s not wrong, he admits to himself, he’s not usually this curt, especially not when asked for an opinion. And now he’s wondering whether he came across as dismissive, when in truth he’s anything but. That’s the problem with texting, the tone that would be obvious in direct conversation gets lost along the way, sometimes.
So now he has a choice – either, to tell her that he’s fine, just keeping it quick for the sake of her time and that while he prefers the shorter necklace for it’s simplicity, the way it rounds out the look without distracting, she will look stunning either way.
Or-
I was trying to be time sensitive, but it’s a bit hard to judge with only a piece of the picture
might be easier if I could see all of you, if you want a detailed review
There is another pause as she types and retypes and he’ll confess to being just a tiny bit nervous, even knowing fully well that the only reason she’d outright reject him would be because she really doesn’t have the time right now.
It’s not that time sensitive
And then -
do you want to come over? I’d really like to hear your thoughts ;)
The tone of which is impossible to misread even over text. i’m on my way, he shoots back, hastily, already halfway out the door.
That script wasn’t going to get finished today anyway.
-
Jane does go with the shorter necklace in the end – because the other one might get tangled with the microphone and she doesn’t need that hassle. And because torturing Andy is really only fun when he can do something about it.
Practical reasons, yeah?