[ Benedict hadn't been lying when he said he hated parties.
He's very much used to them, being a Lancaster, since his aunt is famous for throwing the sort of parties celebrities vie to be invited to, but even though he's been attending them since he was little, he's hated them. They're loud, they're boring, they're so fake... Having Gwen's sarcastic company improved them somewhat, but even his cousin's biting comments about one guest or another wasn't enough to make them any easier for him to bear.
He's always hated the feel of speculative eyes crawling all over him; Benedict hit puberty early and shot up like a weed, filling out his shoulders while still in high school and towering over everyone around him. He's always been acutely aware of the unhappy wives and happy divorcees eyeing him like a piece of meat, waiting until he got old enough for their interest to no longer be illegal. He'd thought joining a monastery would have dissuaded such gossip, but he was wrong. It only made it worse. Now he wasn't just a handsome young man (apparently), he was a sheltered, closeted virgin who needed the guiding hand of an experienced older woman. The eyes watching him felt even hungrier the few times he returned home, and he had been more than happy to escape back to the safety of the Temple after his familiar duties were done.
They're a little easier now that he's pretending to be Danielle's boyfriend. She acts as a buffer between him and any hungry widows, a convenient excuse to extricate himself from conversations and a pointed reminder that he's off the market.
He's kept his hand on her back all evening, not letting her out of arm's-reach, let alone out of his sight. It's just for work, though. There's definitely no ulterior motive for him wanting her nearby. ]
[ benedict hates parties; dani loves them. it helps that she's rich, or at least her father is, it helps that she's young and beautiful and there's always plenty of alcohol at these parties. most of all, it helps that she's never really had to give a shit about what anyone thinks of her, not really — she doesn't care about the opinions of pretty much anyone here and that gives her a power over them that they give up all too easily, and it strips them over whatever power they might have had over her.
she's too rich and too young and too beautiful to care. usually, she's also too drunk. tonight, she isn't, though she's had on her third cointreaupolitan and counting, benedict's hand warm and steady on her back. there's tension there, she can feel it, and even without it, she'd know that he's not happy.
this is his job, though. it isn't hers, so she refuses to be tense, to not enjoy herself. ]
You should at least have a beer. [ she says, leaning in close to be heard over the music. maybe closer than is strictly necessary, really, but he is supposed to be her boyfriend. she can rationalise this, easy. she's not sure she cares to, right now. ]
[ She's tiny, even in her towering high heels, but not so tiny that her breath doesn't ghost across his neck when she leans in to whisper to him. He doesn't shiver, but his hand flexes at her spine. ]
You know I don't drink, Dani.
[ That's not particularly true, but it's true while he's working, and he can't exactly tell her I can't drink while I'm working with all these people milling around them, ripe to overhear an incautious word.
He should be having fun. Most of the people in attendance are his peers, quite a few he even went to school with. Gwen's not here, but that doesn't really mean anything, and honestly, he's grateful not to have to manage her as well as Danielle. His sisters are too young to attend this kind of thing, so he should feel free enough to let loose, to dance, to laugh. And yet he's defaulted to his usual party stance: straight-backed, alert, unsmiling.
It takes conscious effort to relax his shoulders, to let them curl in slightly and lean towards Danielle, to smooth out his frown. ] What's the name of this song?
[ he doesn't shiver, but his hand flexes at her spine, enough for dani to notice - and that's enough to send a thrill through her, something deeply feminine and powerful and knowing that she has an effect on him, no matter how prim and proper he tries to be. ]
Yeah, I know.
[ for a moment, she thinks of pouting, about telling him to live a little. he should, is the thing - but dani doesn't actually love exerting peer pressure, despite the fact that she's good at it. so she doesn't.
she's glad for that choice when, a moment later, his body turns toward hers, the lines of his shoulders and his features softening. she rewards him with a smile, dancing her fingertips up his chest. ]
[ Her hand settles on his chest, fingertips exerting light pressure as they make their way higher, and he pointedly looks down at it, his eyebrows lifting in amusement. He doesn't tell her to stop, though, just smirks slightly at the sight of her neatly-manicured nails scratching at his shirt before turning his attention away.
She's his girlfriend. She's supposed to touch him. ]
I don't recognize it.
[ Hardly a surprise, really. Benedict is not up on popular music. It's not that he listens to meditation chants all the time (just...when he meditates), but he's never really cared for the music played on the radio, and finds the stuff that blares out of the twins' room incredibly bizarre and hard to follow. It's another thing that makes parties hard for him. ]
It's not my favourite, but I like the bits that have Idris Elba.
[ does he even know who idris elba is, or has he been living under too much of a rock even for that? she's not actually sure. this is one of those things where it could really go either way.
she leaves her hand where it is, flat against his upper chest. he can raise his eyebrows or smirk all he wants. ]
[ He knows who Idris Elba is, thanks. He's seen Pacific Rim. ]
Oh. He's an actor though, right? Not a singer?
[ He knows who he is, but not anything else about him. She's not wholly wrong about his level of ignorance.
Nobody's paying them much attention — Benedict has lost some of the fascinating appeal he'd had immediately after he left the monastery now that everyone has learned once more how boring he is — so he can just continue to stand with her and do nothing. But he feels a little bad about it. Danielle likes parties, and yet she's standing here with him, keeping him company, and all he's doing is bringing the mood down. He tightens his arm around her slightly, bringing her closer against his side, and looks down at her. ]
[ and utterly attractive, but dani doesn't say that. she doesn't actually want benedict to scowl - but she also doesn't want to see him completely indifferent to her thinking other guys are being attractive. that's probably silly, isn't it, seeing how he's fbi and this is a job. he's not actually her boyfriend, but - he's pretending. that's good enough a reason, really.
his arm tightens and she lets herself be drawn closer against him, smiling up at him. sliding her hand up to rest at his neck instead of at his chest. ]
Next song. Pretty sure it'll be slower than this.
[ as much fun as it'll be to lose herself on the dance floor for a while - or in benedict's arms - she doesn't want to see him flounder. a slow song'll do just fine. ]
[ 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. ]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2018-01-06 08:42 pm (UTC)He's very much used to them, being a Lancaster, since his aunt is famous for throwing the sort of parties celebrities vie to be invited to, but even though he's been attending them since he was little, he's hated them. They're loud, they're boring, they're so fake... Having Gwen's sarcastic company improved them somewhat, but even his cousin's biting comments about one guest or another wasn't enough to make them any easier for him to bear.
He's always hated the feel of speculative eyes crawling all over him; Benedict hit puberty early and shot up like a weed, filling out his shoulders while still in high school and towering over everyone around him. He's always been acutely aware of the unhappy wives and happy divorcees eyeing him like a piece of meat, waiting until he got old enough for their interest to no longer be illegal. He'd thought joining a monastery would have dissuaded such gossip, but he was wrong. It only made it worse. Now he wasn't just a handsome young man (apparently), he was a sheltered, closeted virgin who needed the guiding hand of an experienced older woman. The eyes watching him felt even hungrier the few times he returned home, and he had been more than happy to escape back to the safety of the Temple after his familiar duties were done.
They're a little easier now that he's pretending to be Danielle's boyfriend. She acts as a buffer between him and any hungry widows, a convenient excuse to extricate himself from conversations and a pointed reminder that he's off the market.
He's kept his hand on her back all evening, not letting her out of arm's-reach, let alone out of his sight. It's just for work, though. There's definitely no ulterior motive for him wanting her nearby. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-06 08:56 pm (UTC)she's too rich and too young and too beautiful to care. usually, she's also too drunk. tonight, she isn't, though she's had on her third cointreaupolitan and counting, benedict's hand warm and steady on her back. there's tension there, she can feel it, and even without it, she'd know that he's not happy.
this is his job, though. it isn't hers, so she refuses to be tense, to not enjoy herself. ]
You should at least have a beer. [ she says, leaning in close to be heard over the music. maybe closer than is strictly necessary, really, but he is supposed to be her boyfriend. she can rationalise this, easy. she's not sure she cares to, right now. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-06 09:19 pm (UTC)You know I don't drink, Dani.
[ That's not particularly true, but it's true while he's working, and he can't exactly tell her I can't drink while I'm working with all these people milling around them, ripe to overhear an incautious word.
He should be having fun. Most of the people in attendance are his peers, quite a few he even went to school with. Gwen's not here, but that doesn't really mean anything, and honestly, he's grateful not to have to manage her as well as Danielle. His sisters are too young to attend this kind of thing, so he should feel free enough to let loose, to dance, to laugh. And yet he's defaulted to his usual party stance: straight-backed, alert, unsmiling.
It takes conscious effort to relax his shoulders, to let them curl in slightly and lean towards Danielle, to smooth out his frown. ] What's the name of this song?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-06 09:25 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know.
[ for a moment, she thinks of pouting, about telling him to live a little. he should, is the thing - but dani doesn't actually love exerting peer pressure, despite the fact that she's good at it. so she doesn't.
she's glad for that choice when, a moment later, his body turns toward hers, the lines of his shoulders and his features softening. she rewards him with a smile, dancing her fingertips up his chest. ]
Dance off. Why?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:22 pm (UTC)She's his girlfriend. She's supposed to touch him. ]
I don't recognize it.
[ Hardly a surprise, really. Benedict is not up on popular music. It's not that he listens to meditation chants all the time (just...when he meditates), but he's never really cared for the music played on the radio, and finds the stuff that blares out of the twins' room incredibly bizarre and hard to follow. It's another thing that makes parties hard for him. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:26 pm (UTC)[ does he even know who idris elba is, or has he been living under too much of a rock even for that? she's not actually sure. this is one of those things where it could really go either way.
she leaves her hand where it is, flat against his upper chest. he can raise his eyebrows or smirk all he wants. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:31 pm (UTC)Oh. He's an actor though, right? Not a singer?
[ He knows who he is, but not anything else about him. She's not wholly wrong about his level of ignorance.
Nobody's paying them much attention — Benedict has lost some of the fascinating appeal he'd had immediately after he left the monastery now that everyone has learned once more how boring he is — so he can just continue to stand with her and do nothing. But he feels a little bad about it. Danielle likes parties, and yet she's standing here with him, keeping him company, and all he's doing is bringing the mood down. He tightens his arm around her slightly, bringing her closer against his side, and looks down at her. ]
Do you...want to dance?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-07 04:37 pm (UTC)[ and utterly attractive, but dani doesn't say that. she doesn't actually want benedict to scowl - but she also doesn't want to see him completely indifferent to her thinking other guys are being attractive. that's probably silly, isn't it, seeing how he's fbi and this is a job. he's not actually her boyfriend, but - he's pretending. that's good enough a reason, really.
his arm tightens and she lets herself be drawn closer against him, smiling up at him. sliding her hand up to rest at his neck instead of at his chest. ]
Next song. Pretty sure it'll be slower than this.
[ as much fun as it'll be to lose herself on the dance floor for a while - or in benedict's arms - she doesn't want to see him flounder. a slow song'll do just fine. ]
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)
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