[ He's not stupid, he knows she's making concessions for him. He's taken her to clubs often enough to know that she can dance just fine to fast, frenetic music, and her deciding to wait for something less energetic is wholly for his benefit, not hers.
He squeezes his arm around her in a gentle half-hug and ducks his head down to press a kiss to her hairline. They're in love, he can show her affection. ]
I'm sorry I'm such a bad boyfriend.
[ He hasn't said in so many words that he has no experience with this; at his age, it's a little embarrassing to say out loud, although he would think it's sort of obvious, given the whole monk thing he had going on for years. Even so, he feels bad sometimes that he's cramping her style, but he tries to remind himself that he's here to protect her, to make sure she doesn't get hurt in her service to the FBI. ]
[ he presses a kiss to her hairline and dani has to remind herself that he's just pretending. if he were her actual boyfriend, that action would have prompted her to move onto tiptoes and press her lips to his, the people around them forgotten or at least ignored. she doesn't, now. she finds herself smiling, though, lifting her free hand to pat his upper arm a little.
(maybe also to feel up his biceps. he has nice arms, all right.) ]
[ He scoffs a little at shy, rolling his eyes and chuckling, but he doesn't refute her assertion. He is shy. He doesn't know what he's doing, and it's intimidating. In some ways, it's easier because he's pretending, it gives him license to be bold enough to do things without overthinking them, safe in the knowledge that she might laugh at him, but it wouldn't be as soul-crushing as if she laughed at him and they were seriously involved.
He's grateful they don't have to be intimate in the most real sense. He definitely doesn't know what he's doing there, and he would never, ever admit that to anyone, especially not Danielle. Talk about embarrassing. ]
[ he is shy, though, it's only the truth. he's shy and he's awkward and he's kind and big and she likes all of those things about him. she likes that he seems to genuinely give a shit about protecting her, not just about his job, too. that's - comforting, really, seeing how it's her neck on the line, too. ]
Anytime, sweets.
[ the song ends, slower tunes starting up as dani predicted, and she turns more fully toward him, winding her other arm around his neck as well. ] Sure you're ready for this? [ that's definitely teasing. ]
[ He's never going to come out the winner in a nuclear endearments race, and he knows better than to try. She can be the victor for now.
Either she knows the playlist, or she's psychic, because sure enough, the next song is exactly as she had predicted, slower than the others and a little schmultzy, in his opinion. He wouldn't be surprised if this was Ed Sheenan, or whatever he name is. The twins like him a lot, and he's had to be subjected to listening to his music on their Spotify whenever they're in the car with him.
He wants to decline, but he did sort of promise to dance with her, so he nods, doing his best to look like he's not going up to an executioner's block. ] After you.
[ dani's grin is quick and wide, obviously pleased with the concession even if it's ultimately an inconsequential matter. what can she say? she likes winning. who doesn't?
she's neither psychic nor does she know the playlist - she just knows the dj and he always follows the same pattern. it's easy to predict, by now. not specific songs, but the type of song that'll come on next. ]
You look like you're on your way to the dentists.
[ that's exaggerated - he's trying and mostly succeeding in not actually looking like it's that terrible. dani puts a little extra sing in her step when she moves away from him, looking back over her shoulder. ]
I like my dentist, [ he protests, following her as she minces away from him and letting himself watch the sway of her hips. She's putting on a show for a reason, after all. ] I've never had a cavity in my life.
[ This isn't the kind of music he's learned to dance to — being who he is, and his cousin being who she is, Benedict had been forced to learn all sorts of proper, formal dances growing up, mostly because Gwen was expected to and she needed a partner — but it's close enough, and he's fairly certain Danielle will just expect him to sway her around in a circle and call it a day.
His legs are longer than hers, and he's not wearing ridiculous shoes that shorten his stride, so he catches up to her in no time and slides his arm around her again, letting his hand settle low on her spine possessively while the other curls around her fingers and lifts her hand to his chest. Not quite a closed hold, but close enough that he feels comfortable with that, at least.
Resigning himself to doing this badly, he starts to move. ]
[ only benedict would like his dentist. sometimes, dani thinks he must be from another planet, for all his differences and oddities. not that they're bad - most of them are nice, in fact. cute, even, or just the kind of thing that makes her question if he's even real, if someone like him can really exist.
in her world, there aren't a lot of genuine and genuinely nice people.
but the way his hand settles low on her spine isn't nice - it's possessive and it's tantalising and her lips curve into a smile at the same time as her back curves into his touch. she settles the hand he isn't holding against his chest on his shoulder, high enough that her index finger can slide against his neck over the collar of his shirt.
he starts to move and it isn't smooth or amazing, but it isn't bad and dani falls into it easy, letting him move her along with himself. ]
[ Objectively, they fit well together. Benedict is hugely tall, and Dani is pretty petite, so in some respects it's surely comical, but the way she tucks in close to his front feels nice, and when she's wearing high heels like the ones she's got on now, it feels natural to use his hand on her spine to press her a little closer and duck his head to just barely nuzzle at her hair.
Benedict has never felt a dearth of affection in his life. He has a large extended family that's perhaps too close for comfort, his cousin is only a few years younger than him, and his parents were very affectionate people who gave their son anything he needed from them.
This is different, though. He's always been too reserved, too shy, to have managed a proper relationship, and so he hasn't had much opportunity to hold a pretty girl close and feel her fondle his collar pointedly as they dance together.
Sometimes he wonders if she would have ever noticed him if he hadn't been assigned to her. He doubts he would have gone up to her and struck up any but the most casual of conversations, which means that he might never have been afforded the opportunity to realize just how normal people live their lives. This shouldn't be as novel to him as it is, but here he is, dancing with his girlfriend at a party like any other guy in the city. ]
[ they fit well together - at least when she's in high heels, when she can rest her head against his shoulder at the slight pressure of his hand against her spine that brings their bodies closer together, too. it's more quiet, in many ways, than what dani usually goes for, but the quiet isn't unwelcome. benedict is a lot calmer than most people she knows. more reserved, more thoughtful.
she finds herself humming along to the song, quietly, resting her cheek against the soft material of his shirt. she imagines she can almost hear his heart beat. ]
I think when the dance is over, you should kiss me.
[ Even without her shoes, when her head wouldn't nestle so easily on his shoulder, he thinks that they'd fit well together. Despite himself, he imagines doing this in the kitchen of her apartment, barefoot, music playing from tinny phone speakers as coffee percolates on the counter.
It's more than nice. It's tempting. ]
You do, do you? [ Now that she's put the idea in his head, he finds it hard to think about anything else. Not like it's such a stretch from what they were doing, but still. He had been doing pretty well thinking about other things, and now all he can think about is tangling his fingers in her hair and tasting the champagne she's been drinking all evening. ] It's not midnight, yet.
[ if she knew the thoughts running through his mind - dancing through his mind - she'd smile. not mockingly, not from amusement, but something softer, something joyous. it sounds romantic and it sounds sweet and perfect. it sounds like the kind of thing he would do.
[ He's that kind of guy. It's easy to forget that Benedict's first inclination after graduating was to sequester himself in a monastery where he could contemplate the quiet, joyous things in life. For all that he wound up getting a degree and leaving the Temple — and then joining the feds, of all things — he's still that person inside: calm, peaceful, reserved.
He pulls his head back a little to look down at her, his lips curling a little in a smile despite himself. ]
You present a valid argument. [ Benedict is pretty sure kissing wasn't part of the deal. Oh, sure, he'd have been happy to kiss her to help sell their cover, in front of her father or someone who might ask questions, but it's not like anyone is paying them much attention at all right now, which means any kiss they share would have less to do with his assignment and much more to do with...
Well, with the fact that she's a pretty girl and he likes her and he's pretty sure she likes him too. She likes his muscles at least, he knows that much. ]
[ she likes his muscles. she likes his muscles a lot, even, and that would really be reason enough all by itself for her to kiss him, to take him back to her place or follow him to his and sleep with him, if he was interested and less likely to start talking about professionalism. but she likes more than just his muscles - she likes the quiet stillness he carries inside him.
he looks down. dani feels it more than she sees it, her field of vision limited by his chest in quite fundamental - and quite pleasant - ways. he looks down, so she tips her head back and looks up. ]
Glad you see it my way.
[ her words are cocky, confident, a quip - but her tone is more quiet, something befitting the song and the atmosphere between them right now. ]
[ There's a tiny part of his brain that's screaming about professionalism, about not blurring the line between his work life and his personal life, about not endangering his mission by getting too entangled in what he's doing, but that part is easy to ignore, or to at least explain away.
Tonight isn't a threat. Tonight is about establishing the validity of their relationship, being seen together in public, spending time together so they are comfortable with each other in the way that couples in relationships are supposed to be. It's alright to get a little entangled in that case. He's her boyfriend. He should be entangled.
He drops her hand and lets it slip behind her neck, fingers sliding into her hair as he tilts her head gently so he can close the distance between them and press his lips to hers. ]
[ his hand on her neck feels impossibly large, safe and warm, and dani tips her head back, lets him tilt it - and then, for a moment, they're kissing. it's chaste, just a press of his lips against hers, lingering for barely a moment.
it ends, and dani licks her lips, slowly smiling. ]
You call that a kiss? [ despite her words, her tone is soft. pleased. ]
[ He should have known it wouldn't be good enough for her. Danielle is like Gwen in that if you give her an inch, she'll expect a mile, and a simple kiss will never satisfy her when she could have so much more.
At least, not when she's proving a point, it seems, to him or herself or the room at large.
He lifts his eyebrows at her and doesn't remove his hand from the back of her neck. ]
[ it takes two to tango, after all - though dani's not much of a tango dancer. but she is one hell of a kisser, if she may say so herself, and so she curls her hands in his hair, pulling his head back down, and sets out to prove it.
the kiss starts slow, but where benedict had drawn away before, she lingers, deepening it, letting her tongue slide against his lower lip, flicking playfully against the corner of his mouth. ]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:43 pm (UTC)He squeezes his arm around her in a gentle half-hug and ducks his head down to press a kiss to her hairline. They're in love, he can show her affection. ]
I'm sorry I'm such a bad boyfriend.
[ He hasn't said in so many words that he has no experience with this; at his age, it's a little embarrassing to say out loud, although he would think it's sort of obvious, given the whole monk thing he had going on for years. Even so, he feels bad sometimes that he's cramping her style, but he tries to remind himself that he's here to protect her, to make sure she doesn't get hurt in her service to the FBI. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:46 pm (UTC)(maybe also to feel up his biceps. he has nice arms, all right.) ]
You're just a bit shy. It's all right, babe.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 05:01 pm (UTC)He's grateful they don't have to be intimate in the most real sense. He definitely doesn't know what he's doing there, and he would never, ever admit that to anyone, especially not Danielle. Talk about embarrassing. ]
Thanks, honey.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 06:59 pm (UTC)Anytime, sweets.
[ the song ends, slower tunes starting up as dani predicted, and she turns more fully toward him, winding her other arm around his neck as well. ] Sure you're ready for this? [ that's definitely teasing. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 10:25 pm (UTC)[ He's never going to come out the winner in a nuclear endearments race, and he knows better than to try. She can be the victor for now.
Either she knows the playlist, or she's psychic, because sure enough, the next song is exactly as she had predicted, slower than the others and a little schmultzy, in his opinion. He wouldn't be surprised if this was Ed Sheenan, or whatever he name is. The twins like him a lot, and he's had to be subjected to listening to his music on their Spotify whenever they're in the car with him.
He wants to decline, but he did sort of promise to dance with her, so he nods, doing his best to look like he's not going up to an executioner's block. ] After you.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-08 09:13 pm (UTC)she's neither psychic nor does she know the playlist - she just knows the dj and he always follows the same pattern. it's easy to predict, by now. not specific songs, but the type of song that'll come on next. ]
You look like you're on your way to the dentists.
[ that's exaggerated - he's trying and mostly succeeding in not actually looking like it's that terrible. dani puts a little extra sing in her step when she moves away from him, looking back over her shoulder. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-08 09:26 pm (UTC)[ This isn't the kind of music he's learned to dance to — being who he is, and his cousin being who she is, Benedict had been forced to learn all sorts of proper, formal dances growing up, mostly because Gwen was expected to and she needed a partner — but it's close enough, and he's fairly certain Danielle will just expect him to sway her around in a circle and call it a day.
His legs are longer than hers, and he's not wearing ridiculous shoes that shorten his stride, so he catches up to her in no time and slides his arm around her again, letting his hand settle low on her spine possessively while the other curls around her fingers and lifts her hand to his chest. Not quite a closed hold, but close enough that he feels comfortable with that, at least.
Resigning himself to doing this badly, he starts to move. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 08:42 pm (UTC)[ only benedict would like his dentist. sometimes, dani thinks he must be from another planet, for all his differences and oddities. not that they're bad - most of them are nice, in fact. cute, even, or just the kind of thing that makes her question if he's even real, if someone like him can really exist.
in her world, there aren't a lot of genuine and genuinely nice people.
but the way his hand settles low on her spine isn't nice - it's possessive and it's tantalising and her lips curve into a smile at the same time as her back curves into his touch. she settles the hand he isn't holding against his chest on his shoulder, high enough that her index finger can slide against his neck over the collar of his shirt.
he starts to move and it isn't smooth or amazing, but it isn't bad and dani falls into it easy, letting him move her along with himself. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 08:52 pm (UTC)Benedict has never felt a dearth of affection in his life. He has a large extended family that's perhaps too close for comfort, his cousin is only a few years younger than him, and his parents were very affectionate people who gave their son anything he needed from them.
This is different, though. He's always been too reserved, too shy, to have managed a proper relationship, and so he hasn't had much opportunity to hold a pretty girl close and feel her fondle his collar pointedly as they dance together.
Sometimes he wonders if she would have ever noticed him if he hadn't been assigned to her. He doubts he would have gone up to her and struck up any but the most casual of conversations, which means that he might never have been afforded the opportunity to realize just how normal people live their lives. This shouldn't be as novel to him as it is, but here he is, dancing with his girlfriend at a party like any other guy in the city. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:04 pm (UTC)she finds herself humming along to the song, quietly, resting her cheek against the soft material of his shirt. she imagines she can almost hear his heart beat. ]
I think when the dance is over, you should kiss me.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:14 pm (UTC)It's more than nice. It's tempting. ]
You do, do you? [ Now that she's put the idea in his head, he finds it hard to think about anything else. Not like it's such a stretch from what they were doing, but still. He had been doing pretty well thinking about other things, and now all he can think about is tangling his fingers in her hair and tasting the champagne she's been drinking all evening. ] It's not midnight, yet.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:19 pm (UTC)that she could see herself doing with him, too. ]
Doesn't matter.
[ after all - ] You're my boyfriend.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:25 pm (UTC)He pulls his head back a little to look down at her, his lips curling a little in a smile despite himself. ]
You present a valid argument. [ Benedict is pretty sure kissing wasn't part of the deal. Oh, sure, he'd have been happy to kiss her to help sell their cover, in front of her father or someone who might ask questions, but it's not like anyone is paying them much attention at all right now, which means any kiss they share would have less to do with his assignment and much more to do with...
Well, with the fact that she's a pretty girl and he likes her and he's pretty sure she likes him too. She likes his muscles at least, he knows that much. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:31 pm (UTC)he looks down. dani feels it more than she sees it, her field of vision limited by his chest in quite fundamental - and quite pleasant - ways. he looks down, so she tips her head back and looks up. ]
Glad you see it my way.
[ her words are cocky, confident, a quip - but her tone is more quiet, something befitting the song and the atmosphere between them right now. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-10 09:45 pm (UTC)Tonight isn't a threat. Tonight is about establishing the validity of their relationship, being seen together in public, spending time together so they are comfortable with each other in the way that couples in relationships are supposed to be. It's alright to get a little entangled in that case. He's her boyfriend. He should be entangled.
He drops her hand and lets it slip behind her neck, fingers sliding into her hair as he tilts her head gently so he can close the distance between them and press his lips to hers. ]
There.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-12 08:44 am (UTC)it ends, and dani licks her lips, slowly smiling. ]
You call that a kiss? [ despite her words, her tone is soft. pleased. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-12 09:04 am (UTC)At least, not when she's proving a point, it seems, to him or herself or the room at large.
He lifts his eyebrows at her and doesn't remove his hand from the back of her neck. ]
You think you can do better?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-13 08:32 pm (UTC)[ it takes two to tango, after all - though dani's not much of a tango dancer. but she is one hell of a kisser, if she may say so herself, and so she curls her hands in his hair, pulling his head back down, and sets out to prove it.
the kiss starts slow, but where benedict had drawn away before, she lingers, deepening it, letting her tongue slide against his lower lip, flicking playfully against the corner of his mouth. ]