Hands of the Vulnerable- A Jewnicorn Fanfic
Title: Hands of the Vulnerable
Fadom/Pairing Jewnicorn: Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: sexual overtones, slight hand fetish? This is RPS, which means I'm taking two real people and slashing them together- I'm sorry boys, you just make it too easy lol
Disclaimer: I of course have no claim to these characters, am making no money off them and can make no claim that these events are real anywhere other than my dreams.
Summary: When Jesse takes a part as a piano prodigy Andrew comes to the rescue of his poor abused hands.
A/N: This is fresh off the press and I'm certain full of errors- but I wanted to get it up before abi goes to bed. Abi is my lovely die-hard jewnicorn fan who converted me and it is because of her this, my first Jewnicorn ficlet, exists. I don't know if I did these lovely boys justice, but I sure tried.
Graphic courtesy of my best friend Abi (Mitsukakecat)
“I find vulnerability very sexy. I find it very attractive
in other people. I really appreciate it in other people.”
“You could look at Jesse’s face and you just want to engulf
him and protect him from the world, this vulnerable creature.”
“I care about Jesse deeply and I cared about him as soon as I
met him, because he just looked so fragile and vulnerable.”
Hands of the Vulnerable
He should be sleeping. It was the first thought that had flicked across Andrew Garfield's brain when he'd woken at 6am that morning and as he lay there still, mind whirling, an hour later it was an eve persistent nag at the back of his head. He had the day off, he needed to be sleeping, resting so that the following day he could return to the grueling pace of his production schedule for The Amazing Spiderman's New York scenes. Instead, he was laying here wide awake still, mind humming with worry.
He knew what he was fretting over, the problem was that he wasn't supposed to do anything about it. Jesse had cut off communication a week earlier so he could focus on getting into the mindset of his newest character, a piano prodigy for a film called Predisposed. The time wasn't something Andrew begrudged of his friend, he understood the desire, the need to portray a character honestly, to really feel the person from the inside out. He was happy to give his friend the time to do this.
The problem was that he knew Jesse. Sometimes he was sure he knew him better than he knew himself and the nature of this project worried him. Jesse was forever finding fault within himself, it was one of those broken qualities so beautiful in this vulnerable man. The fact that this new character played piano- and not just well but passionately and as easily as he drew breath, and Jesse did not play it all worried Andrew. He knew that Jesse wouldn't be able to stomach his own performance if he couldn't learn to play the Piano at least a little, and Jesse was never satisfied with 'at least a little'.
So it was that Andrew kicked off his covers and reached for his phone, dialing a number far more familiar than his own. The voice that answered the phone was tired, distracted.
“Hello?”
“Hey Jess.” He waited a beat and heard shuffling as Jesse set aside what he'd been doing and turned more fully to phone.
“Andrew, hi.” The voice was lighter now, but still worn through and Andrew bit his lip.
“Hey,” he repeated, smiling to himself because even worn out as he was, it still sounded like Jesse. “Thought I'd make sure you were still alive over there. How goes the character study?”
There was a yawn and some more shuffling before Jesse answered, tapping a couple keys from a keyboard. “Fine, I guess. I'm trying to at least imitate this piece the character does but my stupid fingers are being lazy today and keep cramping up on me.”
Andrew frowned and shifted the phone to his other shoulder. “I have the feeling suggesting you take a day off would go unheeded. Why don't you go see a massage therapist?”
“No,” Jesse said quickly, too quickly. “I mean, I don't really like people I don't know touching me... And besides its just these stupid hands being stupid. I have to think too much every time I set them on the keys and when I don't get the angle right I have to do it again and I just.” Andrew could hear him groan, “I just know I'm going to fuck this character up and then they'll send me home and I'll get blacklisted - ”
“Hey - ”
“ - And then I'll never get a good part again because they'll know I'm just a fraud at this after all and I'll have to go - ”
“Hey.”
“ - work at some normal job where I have to actually be me and I wont be able to hide behind these other characters and I'll just fall apart and be back in a mental hospital - ”
“Hey,” the third one was more forceful and came with a short, exasperated laugh as he was finally able to break Jesse from his tirade. “I'm coming over. Sit tight. No arguments.” And he hung up the phone before Jesse could think to protest and grabbed his jacket. Sleep be damned, this was worse than he'd thought.
The ride over to Jesse's was short, but seemed an eternity when he was in a hurry and it seemed he could not get to his friend's door fast enough. Finding the door unlocked he let himself in and moved through the apartment until he found Jesse settled cross-legged on his bed over the covers, a keyboard across his legs and one of his cats sprawled on its back like a dog next to him.
“Does that cat know he's a cat?” He asked to get a smile even as his eyes took in Jesse before anything else. He checked the bags under his eyes, the strain in his posture, the defeated slump of his shoulders and he sat down next to him and pulled the keyboard away.
Jesse's lips did quirk for that and he reached over to tickle the tummy of the sleeping animal only to wince and bring his hand back to his lap. “Well hello to you too,” he said, feigning nonchalance.
A smile pulled at his lips. Even now, when Jesse was so obviously overstressed and in pain, he was trying to be cheerful for Andrew's sake and he felldeeper in love with this friend of his. Reaching across the bed he took Jesse's hand, looking over those long fingers of his and tsking softly.
“You should take better care of your hands, these are great hands.”
Jesse scoffed and flushed a little, as he always did when Andrew said something nice about him, never able to really believe it. “My fingers are way too long, and boney, and they don't move right, and I always touch my fingertips in a weird way.”
Andrew shook his head, not verbally able to convey to Jesse just how wrong he was. Instead he let his own long fingers trail over the palm of his friend's hand, testing the response of the digits. “I think they're just stiff from being overworked.” He said, shifting to pull the hand more into his lap where he could examine it better.
Without comment or permission he set to working the cramp out of those beautiful hands. He started at the wrist, the slender, expressive wrist and worked his way out toward the fingertips, taking pause at each dip in the flesh. He was so engrossed in his task, so captivated by the long fingers settled between his own hands that he didn't notice Jesse had slouched backward and fallen asleep until he reached up for the other hand.
He smiled for that, watching the even rise and fall of his chest as he quietly set to work on the other hand. He sent his friend further into sleep, focused once more on his tasking, taking pleasure in working the strain out of the talented fingers.
When he'd finished, and was sure the hands were now pliant and loose, he lifted himself from the bed and moved to tuck Jesse in under his blankets. There it was again, that breathtaking vulnerability, never sweeter than it was right at that moment, while he lay sleeping off his own self-imposed exhaustion. Andrew's fingers slid over his forehead, brushed the soft curls back a bit before he just smiled and left the room quietly, content now to head back to his own place and sleep.
~~
A few days had passed and Andrew found that his thoughts more and more drifted to his friend. Not that thinking of Jesse was unusual, it wasn't, but just that his thoughts were rather focused on Jesse's hands.
As much as loved Jesse, as much as he enjoyed touching his friend and eliciting little flushes and smiles from him Andrew had never really given much though to why he enjoyed being so close and affectionate with him. He was affectionate to everyone, and perhaps he was moreso with Jesse, but that hadn't needed to mean anything until he'd started dreaming about his hands.
For someone as fond of touch as Andrew, hands had always been a big focal point for him and he'd always thought Jesse had beautiful hands but never really beyond that. Now though, he was thinking about them, and it made him think about Jesse in a much more specific manner.
Was he legitimately attracted to Jesse Eisenberg? He'd always been protective him, and as previously stated liked being affectionate, liked touching him. Jesse's skin was so much softer than it looked. And when you could persuade someone like Jesse to give you their undivided attention and be affectionate back, well that was something you just took advantage of as often as you could.
But was it more than that? Was there an obvious reason why he wanted to be so close to him? Why he didn't like other people touching him? Why he worried about him more than anyone else and went out of his way to do anything to make him feel better?
Taking a breath he shifted his laptop onto his lap, trying to distract himself with the terrible and wonderful Tumblr website. He clicked randomly, but it didn't take him long to figure out he was clicking on things likely to pull up Jesse and then he just gave in, choosing the tags likely to bring up not only Jesse, but himself as well.
He knew which one he was looking for, an old post that showed himself with quotes that he'd given in interviews, about Jesse, about vulnerability. He'd meant everything he'd said but now he was wondering if he'd meant it in the way that the fans seemed to believe he did. He stared at the words on the screen, whispering them over to himself a couple of times, testing the weight of the casually expressed words on his tongue. With a sigh he snapped his laptop shut and closed his computer again.
It was late, but he didn't bother to glance at the clock to determine how late. Though perhaps he should have, shooting skewed his sense of time and though he'd gotten off work not too long ago, it was well past proper visiting hours when he knocked on the door of Jesse's apartment.
His friend answered the door a few moments later, far too pristine in the pajamas he already had on and Andrew brought his hand up to rub the back of his head as he so often did. “Hey, uh, I just realized I have no idea what time is it. I'm not bothering you, am I?
Jesse smiled at him, that gloriously perfect smiled and Andrew's heart picked up a bit - did it always do that? Stepping back he let Andrew in as he shook his head. “I was just practicing some more. I'm glad you're here actually, I never got to thank you for fixing my hands.”
Looking up at him he chuckled softly, happily and squeezed Jesse's shoulder, hand sliding easily across it to drape his arm over the broad line. “It was just a massage Jess, and you needed it.” Reaching down with his spare hand he pulled up one of Jesse's hands to examine it, thumb smoothing into the muscle. “You've been working them too hard again.” He said, no accusation, just fact, as he tipped his head to look at Jesse.”
His friend shrugged a little in embarrassment. “I just get caught up in getting it right.”
Andrew squeezed his shoulder and nodded, leading him to the couch and dropping him down, plopping himself next to him. (Though mindful always of whether a cat had dropped under him; that was a mistake he wasn't likely to repeat.) His hand reached out and after only a moment Jesse gave a half smile and handed his over to Andrew.
Shifting a little Andrew set back to work on the hands, carefully not watching Jesse's face as he focused on his own fascination with these hands. His friend was quiet, though that wasn't unusual and so Andrew didn't think much of it, only glancing up to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep.
Jesse was still awake, just passive and with a contemplative look on his face as he watched Andrew massage his hands, their long fingers and interesting compliment to each others. Not seeing any protest Andrew focused again on his own reactions, on the feeling in his chest from being close to Jesse, on imagining those fingers occupied in specific tasks as he had several times the last few days.
By the time Andrew had finished massaging the second hand he was no longer questioning his attraction to Jesse, he was certain of it. Running his tongue over his teeth he watched the hand in his lap, now just running his fingertips lightly over the flesh. “I need to go..” Andrew breathed, yawning for good measure. “I need to get some sleep before tomorrow, long day ahead.”
Jesse's eyes were watching him still and he wondered if his friend had ever looked away. There was a quizzical quality there, but also something Andrew couldn't read and he nodded. “Thank you, again.” He said, flexing his fingers as he drew them back.
Grinning he adjusted his beanie on his head and looked up at Jesse, saluting. “Andrew Garfield, Massage Therapist at your service.”
Jesse smiled and nodded, standing and moving to see him to the door. Andrew stepped forward and enveloped Jesse in a typical hug - except that perhaps he lingered a moment or two longer than he usually would have, paused to absorb his feel and his scent and yeah, he needed to leave.
That same quizzical expression was covering Jesse's face once again but Andrew just smiled and waved as he stepped back and turned to leave again.
~~
“Andrew?” Jesse's voice coming over Andrew's phone surprised him.
“Jess, hey. What's up?” He was standing in his kitchen, teapot in hand and phone propped against his ear, enjoying a free afternoon where he'd been letting his thoughts wondered. Now of course the object of his preoccupation was talking to him and he shifted to pay attention.
“Uh well,” Andrew smiled, Jesse sounded a little apprehensive, uncomfortable even, and that likely meant he was about to ask Andrew for it. He wouldn't deny him the work of getting the question out for anything, he took too much pleasure in saying yes once Jesse got it out. “I've been practicing more, it seems like its starting to come together but well - I mean, I think I might have overworked my right hand again. Not like a lot, but just a small bit.”
Grinning more to himself he decided to torture Jesse just a bit and played dumb. “Well why don't you rest it for an hour or so? I'm sure it will be fine.”
“Oh, well. Yea I guess it probably would. Just uhm, well I was hoping to get back to work...” He was still trying to lead Andrew into offering but Andrew just smiled to himself and waited. Jesse's sigh on the other end was deep and adorable. “Do you think you could come work your magic again?”
Andrew's heart danced a little, happy he'd gotten him to ask for it himself. “Of course, I'll be there soon.”
~~
There was something decidedly different about stepping into Jesse's apartment this time. For one thing, the cats all seemed to be, elsewhere. Everything had been freshly cleaned, cat hair meticulously gone from the couches and it smelled just.. fresh? Jesse wandered out from his bedroom as Andrew stepped in and Andrew felt his breath catch just the tiniest bit.
Jesse was wearing jeans, not so unusual but these were, new jeans. These hugged across his hips and Andrew was sure if he turned around they'd hug his ass just right.. And the button up shirt he was wearing was rather typical of Jesse, but it was left open, an undershirt underneath that showed off just how gloriously slender his friend was.
Clearing his throat he smiled to him. “Did Emma take you shopping?” He asked, laughing a little.
The little embarrassed flush and self conscious shrug of his shoulders was answer enough and Andrew laughed as he moved to pull him into a hug. He was warm and clean and smelled absolutely delicious and he pulled back with a chuckle before he could linger too long. “You look good.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said, expression again unreadable as he wet his lip. “Uhm, are you hungry or something? Or thirsty? I have uhm, water or there's some wine maybe..”
Andrew tilted his head, watching him as he reached down and lifted his hand up for examination. “I'm good for now, thanks.” He said, wondering at the nervous energy coming from Jesse now. The hand between his own was perhaps a little tense, enough to warrant the phone call and agonizing process of asking for a favor?
Smiling he tugged on the hand, leading Jesse over to the couch and tugging him down. “Alright, this is the one bothering you?” He asked and Jesse nodded, lip caught between his teeth as he shifted and leaned forward to make it easier on Andrew and dammit he was cute.
Andrew glanced down at his hand and then back up at him as he started to work on his hand, more interested this time in watching Jesse. “So why did you decide to get all dressed up? Going somewhere after I leave?”
“No,” Jesse replied, looking away and then back to Andrew's hands on his own. “Uhm, I dunno. I just felt like it. Been kind of a slob lately.”
Andrew was distracted watching him, let his thumb slide over the inside of Jesse's wrist and watched as Jesse swallowed and then wet his lip, eyes riveted on where Andrew's hands worked.
He didn't know what possessed him do it, only that he couldn't resist and he moved to hold the hand with one, the other trailing lightly from his wrist to his fingertips, and then again. Jesse's fingers curled in elegantly to touch Andrew's fingertips as they came down and then Andrew couldn't help himself.
The fingers were pressed to his lips before he knew what he had done. He watched Jesse carefully as he kissed the fingertips, watched the way his eyes followed the hand up and then locked on Andrew's lips, not quite able to travel the rest of the way up to Andrew's eyes.
Turning the hand over Andrew's lips pressed to a knuckle, and he couldn't have stopped if he wanted to when his tongue came out to flick the space between his fingers and Jesse actually shuddered with the breath he took in.
Scarcely daring to breath Andrew shifted his hold on the hand and pulled one long, beautiful digit between his lips, lapping his tongue against and then scraping teeth every so gently over the pad of his fingers. Jesse first whimpered and then moaned, and then could be still no longer as he pulled his hand from Andrew's lips and latched it to the back of his neck, pulling the happily bewildered Andrew to him for a desperate kiss.
Andrew pushed him back against the couch and kissed him again, wondering how he could have ever missed this heat between them, how it could have ever not have been obvious. It scorched over them now and no hand was idle as the two set about touching as much as they could, frantically working under clothes to touch heated skin.
It was furtive, fast and slightly clumsy but when then two released it was with their hands latched firmly together and their fingers stayed entwined for long moments after as they lay together a mess of limbs and sweat.
“We should have done that a long time ago..” Andrew murmured with a lazy smile, nuzzling into the soft neck that carried so much of Jesse's perfect scent. “I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time..”
Jesse snorted and chuckled, fingers of his free hand carding through Andrew's hair. He shifted, moving as if to say something but then just sighed and wrinkled his nose at the mess they were.
“What?” Andrew asked, tipping his head to rest his chin on his hand, watching him.
A flush rose on Jesse's cheeks and he wet his lip, debating a long moment before he relented and admitted. “I had planned on seducing you tonight.”
Blinking in surprise Andrew then just grinned and laughed, happy and warm. “Don't worry love,” he said, bringing the captured hand up to his lips for another kiss, “your hands did that for you.”
Fadom/Pairing Jewnicorn: Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: sexual overtones, slight hand fetish? This is RPS, which means I'm taking two real people and slashing them together- I'm sorry boys, you just make it too easy lol
Disclaimer: I of course have no claim to these characters, am making no money off them and can make no claim that these events are real anywhere other than my dreams.
Summary: When Jesse takes a part as a piano prodigy Andrew comes to the rescue of his poor abused hands.
A/N: This is fresh off the press and I'm certain full of errors- but I wanted to get it up before abi goes to bed. Abi is my lovely die-hard jewnicorn fan who converted me and it is because of her this, my first Jewnicorn ficlet, exists. I don't know if I did these lovely boys justice, but I sure tried.
Graphic courtesy of my best friend Abi (Mitsukakecat)
“I find vulnerability very sexy. I find it very attractive
in other people. I really appreciate it in other people.”
“You could look at Jesse’s face and you just want to engulf
him and protect him from the world, this vulnerable creature.”
“I care about Jesse deeply and I cared about him as soon as I
met him, because he just looked so fragile and vulnerable.”
Hands of the Vulnerable
He should be sleeping. It was the first thought that had flicked across Andrew Garfield's brain when he'd woken at 6am that morning and as he lay there still, mind whirling, an hour later it was an eve persistent nag at the back of his head. He had the day off, he needed to be sleeping, resting so that the following day he could return to the grueling pace of his production schedule for The Amazing Spiderman's New York scenes. Instead, he was laying here wide awake still, mind humming with worry.
He knew what he was fretting over, the problem was that he wasn't supposed to do anything about it. Jesse had cut off communication a week earlier so he could focus on getting into the mindset of his newest character, a piano prodigy for a film called Predisposed. The time wasn't something Andrew begrudged of his friend, he understood the desire, the need to portray a character honestly, to really feel the person from the inside out. He was happy to give his friend the time to do this.
The problem was that he knew Jesse. Sometimes he was sure he knew him better than he knew himself and the nature of this project worried him. Jesse was forever finding fault within himself, it was one of those broken qualities so beautiful in this vulnerable man. The fact that this new character played piano- and not just well but passionately and as easily as he drew breath, and Jesse did not play it all worried Andrew. He knew that Jesse wouldn't be able to stomach his own performance if he couldn't learn to play the Piano at least a little, and Jesse was never satisfied with 'at least a little'.
So it was that Andrew kicked off his covers and reached for his phone, dialing a number far more familiar than his own. The voice that answered the phone was tired, distracted.
“Hello?”
“Hey Jess.” He waited a beat and heard shuffling as Jesse set aside what he'd been doing and turned more fully to phone.
“Andrew, hi.” The voice was lighter now, but still worn through and Andrew bit his lip.
“Hey,” he repeated, smiling to himself because even worn out as he was, it still sounded like Jesse. “Thought I'd make sure you were still alive over there. How goes the character study?”
There was a yawn and some more shuffling before Jesse answered, tapping a couple keys from a keyboard. “Fine, I guess. I'm trying to at least imitate this piece the character does but my stupid fingers are being lazy today and keep cramping up on me.”
Andrew frowned and shifted the phone to his other shoulder. “I have the feeling suggesting you take a day off would go unheeded. Why don't you go see a massage therapist?”
“No,” Jesse said quickly, too quickly. “I mean, I don't really like people I don't know touching me... And besides its just these stupid hands being stupid. I have to think too much every time I set them on the keys and when I don't get the angle right I have to do it again and I just.” Andrew could hear him groan, “I just know I'm going to fuck this character up and then they'll send me home and I'll get blacklisted - ”
“Hey - ”
“ - And then I'll never get a good part again because they'll know I'm just a fraud at this after all and I'll have to go - ”
“Hey.”
“ - work at some normal job where I have to actually be me and I wont be able to hide behind these other characters and I'll just fall apart and be back in a mental hospital - ”
“Hey,” the third one was more forceful and came with a short, exasperated laugh as he was finally able to break Jesse from his tirade. “I'm coming over. Sit tight. No arguments.” And he hung up the phone before Jesse could think to protest and grabbed his jacket. Sleep be damned, this was worse than he'd thought.
The ride over to Jesse's was short, but seemed an eternity when he was in a hurry and it seemed he could not get to his friend's door fast enough. Finding the door unlocked he let himself in and moved through the apartment until he found Jesse settled cross-legged on his bed over the covers, a keyboard across his legs and one of his cats sprawled on its back like a dog next to him.
“Does that cat know he's a cat?” He asked to get a smile even as his eyes took in Jesse before anything else. He checked the bags under his eyes, the strain in his posture, the defeated slump of his shoulders and he sat down next to him and pulled the keyboard away.
Jesse's lips did quirk for that and he reached over to tickle the tummy of the sleeping animal only to wince and bring his hand back to his lap. “Well hello to you too,” he said, feigning nonchalance.
A smile pulled at his lips. Even now, when Jesse was so obviously overstressed and in pain, he was trying to be cheerful for Andrew's sake and he felldeeper in love with this friend of his. Reaching across the bed he took Jesse's hand, looking over those long fingers of his and tsking softly.
“You should take better care of your hands, these are great hands.”
Jesse scoffed and flushed a little, as he always did when Andrew said something nice about him, never able to really believe it. “My fingers are way too long, and boney, and they don't move right, and I always touch my fingertips in a weird way.”
Andrew shook his head, not verbally able to convey to Jesse just how wrong he was. Instead he let his own long fingers trail over the palm of his friend's hand, testing the response of the digits. “I think they're just stiff from being overworked.” He said, shifting to pull the hand more into his lap where he could examine it better.
Without comment or permission he set to working the cramp out of those beautiful hands. He started at the wrist, the slender, expressive wrist and worked his way out toward the fingertips, taking pause at each dip in the flesh. He was so engrossed in his task, so captivated by the long fingers settled between his own hands that he didn't notice Jesse had slouched backward and fallen asleep until he reached up for the other hand.
He smiled for that, watching the even rise and fall of his chest as he quietly set to work on the other hand. He sent his friend further into sleep, focused once more on his tasking, taking pleasure in working the strain out of the talented fingers.
When he'd finished, and was sure the hands were now pliant and loose, he lifted himself from the bed and moved to tuck Jesse in under his blankets. There it was again, that breathtaking vulnerability, never sweeter than it was right at that moment, while he lay sleeping off his own self-imposed exhaustion. Andrew's fingers slid over his forehead, brushed the soft curls back a bit before he just smiled and left the room quietly, content now to head back to his own place and sleep.
~~
A few days had passed and Andrew found that his thoughts more and more drifted to his friend. Not that thinking of Jesse was unusual, it wasn't, but just that his thoughts were rather focused on Jesse's hands.
As much as loved Jesse, as much as he enjoyed touching his friend and eliciting little flushes and smiles from him Andrew had never really given much though to why he enjoyed being so close and affectionate with him. He was affectionate to everyone, and perhaps he was moreso with Jesse, but that hadn't needed to mean anything until he'd started dreaming about his hands.
For someone as fond of touch as Andrew, hands had always been a big focal point for him and he'd always thought Jesse had beautiful hands but never really beyond that. Now though, he was thinking about them, and it made him think about Jesse in a much more specific manner.
Was he legitimately attracted to Jesse Eisenberg? He'd always been protective him, and as previously stated liked being affectionate, liked touching him. Jesse's skin was so much softer than it looked. And when you could persuade someone like Jesse to give you their undivided attention and be affectionate back, well that was something you just took advantage of as often as you could.
But was it more than that? Was there an obvious reason why he wanted to be so close to him? Why he didn't like other people touching him? Why he worried about him more than anyone else and went out of his way to do anything to make him feel better?
Taking a breath he shifted his laptop onto his lap, trying to distract himself with the terrible and wonderful Tumblr website. He clicked randomly, but it didn't take him long to figure out he was clicking on things likely to pull up Jesse and then he just gave in, choosing the tags likely to bring up not only Jesse, but himself as well.
He knew which one he was looking for, an old post that showed himself with quotes that he'd given in interviews, about Jesse, about vulnerability. He'd meant everything he'd said but now he was wondering if he'd meant it in the way that the fans seemed to believe he did. He stared at the words on the screen, whispering them over to himself a couple of times, testing the weight of the casually expressed words on his tongue. With a sigh he snapped his laptop shut and closed his computer again.
It was late, but he didn't bother to glance at the clock to determine how late. Though perhaps he should have, shooting skewed his sense of time and though he'd gotten off work not too long ago, it was well past proper visiting hours when he knocked on the door of Jesse's apartment.
His friend answered the door a few moments later, far too pristine in the pajamas he already had on and Andrew brought his hand up to rub the back of his head as he so often did. “Hey, uh, I just realized I have no idea what time is it. I'm not bothering you, am I?
Jesse smiled at him, that gloriously perfect smiled and Andrew's heart picked up a bit - did it always do that? Stepping back he let Andrew in as he shook his head. “I was just practicing some more. I'm glad you're here actually, I never got to thank you for fixing my hands.”
Looking up at him he chuckled softly, happily and squeezed Jesse's shoulder, hand sliding easily across it to drape his arm over the broad line. “It was just a massage Jess, and you needed it.” Reaching down with his spare hand he pulled up one of Jesse's hands to examine it, thumb smoothing into the muscle. “You've been working them too hard again.” He said, no accusation, just fact, as he tipped his head to look at Jesse.”
His friend shrugged a little in embarrassment. “I just get caught up in getting it right.”
Andrew squeezed his shoulder and nodded, leading him to the couch and dropping him down, plopping himself next to him. (Though mindful always of whether a cat had dropped under him; that was a mistake he wasn't likely to repeat.) His hand reached out and after only a moment Jesse gave a half smile and handed his over to Andrew.
Shifting a little Andrew set back to work on the hands, carefully not watching Jesse's face as he focused on his own fascination with these hands. His friend was quiet, though that wasn't unusual and so Andrew didn't think much of it, only glancing up to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep.
Jesse was still awake, just passive and with a contemplative look on his face as he watched Andrew massage his hands, their long fingers and interesting compliment to each others. Not seeing any protest Andrew focused again on his own reactions, on the feeling in his chest from being close to Jesse, on imagining those fingers occupied in specific tasks as he had several times the last few days.
By the time Andrew had finished massaging the second hand he was no longer questioning his attraction to Jesse, he was certain of it. Running his tongue over his teeth he watched the hand in his lap, now just running his fingertips lightly over the flesh. “I need to go..” Andrew breathed, yawning for good measure. “I need to get some sleep before tomorrow, long day ahead.”
Jesse's eyes were watching him still and he wondered if his friend had ever looked away. There was a quizzical quality there, but also something Andrew couldn't read and he nodded. “Thank you, again.” He said, flexing his fingers as he drew them back.
Grinning he adjusted his beanie on his head and looked up at Jesse, saluting. “Andrew Garfield, Massage Therapist at your service.”
Jesse smiled and nodded, standing and moving to see him to the door. Andrew stepped forward and enveloped Jesse in a typical hug - except that perhaps he lingered a moment or two longer than he usually would have, paused to absorb his feel and his scent and yeah, he needed to leave.
That same quizzical expression was covering Jesse's face once again but Andrew just smiled and waved as he stepped back and turned to leave again.
~~
“Andrew?” Jesse's voice coming over Andrew's phone surprised him.
“Jess, hey. What's up?” He was standing in his kitchen, teapot in hand and phone propped against his ear, enjoying a free afternoon where he'd been letting his thoughts wondered. Now of course the object of his preoccupation was talking to him and he shifted to pay attention.
“Uh well,” Andrew smiled, Jesse sounded a little apprehensive, uncomfortable even, and that likely meant he was about to ask Andrew for it. He wouldn't deny him the work of getting the question out for anything, he took too much pleasure in saying yes once Jesse got it out. “I've been practicing more, it seems like its starting to come together but well - I mean, I think I might have overworked my right hand again. Not like a lot, but just a small bit.”
Grinning more to himself he decided to torture Jesse just a bit and played dumb. “Well why don't you rest it for an hour or so? I'm sure it will be fine.”
“Oh, well. Yea I guess it probably would. Just uhm, well I was hoping to get back to work...” He was still trying to lead Andrew into offering but Andrew just smiled to himself and waited. Jesse's sigh on the other end was deep and adorable. “Do you think you could come work your magic again?”
Andrew's heart danced a little, happy he'd gotten him to ask for it himself. “Of course, I'll be there soon.”
~~
There was something decidedly different about stepping into Jesse's apartment this time. For one thing, the cats all seemed to be, elsewhere. Everything had been freshly cleaned, cat hair meticulously gone from the couches and it smelled just.. fresh? Jesse wandered out from his bedroom as Andrew stepped in and Andrew felt his breath catch just the tiniest bit.
Jesse was wearing jeans, not so unusual but these were, new jeans. These hugged across his hips and Andrew was sure if he turned around they'd hug his ass just right.. And the button up shirt he was wearing was rather typical of Jesse, but it was left open, an undershirt underneath that showed off just how gloriously slender his friend was.
Clearing his throat he smiled to him. “Did Emma take you shopping?” He asked, laughing a little.
The little embarrassed flush and self conscious shrug of his shoulders was answer enough and Andrew laughed as he moved to pull him into a hug. He was warm and clean and smelled absolutely delicious and he pulled back with a chuckle before he could linger too long. “You look good.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said, expression again unreadable as he wet his lip. “Uhm, are you hungry or something? Or thirsty? I have uhm, water or there's some wine maybe..”
Andrew tilted his head, watching him as he reached down and lifted his hand up for examination. “I'm good for now, thanks.” He said, wondering at the nervous energy coming from Jesse now. The hand between his own was perhaps a little tense, enough to warrant the phone call and agonizing process of asking for a favor?
Smiling he tugged on the hand, leading Jesse over to the couch and tugging him down. “Alright, this is the one bothering you?” He asked and Jesse nodded, lip caught between his teeth as he shifted and leaned forward to make it easier on Andrew and dammit he was cute.
Andrew glanced down at his hand and then back up at him as he started to work on his hand, more interested this time in watching Jesse. “So why did you decide to get all dressed up? Going somewhere after I leave?”
“No,” Jesse replied, looking away and then back to Andrew's hands on his own. “Uhm, I dunno. I just felt like it. Been kind of a slob lately.”
Andrew was distracted watching him, let his thumb slide over the inside of Jesse's wrist and watched as Jesse swallowed and then wet his lip, eyes riveted on where Andrew's hands worked.
He didn't know what possessed him do it, only that he couldn't resist and he moved to hold the hand with one, the other trailing lightly from his wrist to his fingertips, and then again. Jesse's fingers curled in elegantly to touch Andrew's fingertips as they came down and then Andrew couldn't help himself.
The fingers were pressed to his lips before he knew what he had done. He watched Jesse carefully as he kissed the fingertips, watched the way his eyes followed the hand up and then locked on Andrew's lips, not quite able to travel the rest of the way up to Andrew's eyes.
Turning the hand over Andrew's lips pressed to a knuckle, and he couldn't have stopped if he wanted to when his tongue came out to flick the space between his fingers and Jesse actually shuddered with the breath he took in.
Scarcely daring to breath Andrew shifted his hold on the hand and pulled one long, beautiful digit between his lips, lapping his tongue against and then scraping teeth every so gently over the pad of his fingers. Jesse first whimpered and then moaned, and then could be still no longer as he pulled his hand from Andrew's lips and latched it to the back of his neck, pulling the happily bewildered Andrew to him for a desperate kiss.
Andrew pushed him back against the couch and kissed him again, wondering how he could have ever missed this heat between them, how it could have ever not have been obvious. It scorched over them now and no hand was idle as the two set about touching as much as they could, frantically working under clothes to touch heated skin.
It was furtive, fast and slightly clumsy but when then two released it was with their hands latched firmly together and their fingers stayed entwined for long moments after as they lay together a mess of limbs and sweat.
“We should have done that a long time ago..” Andrew murmured with a lazy smile, nuzzling into the soft neck that carried so much of Jesse's perfect scent. “I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time..”
Jesse snorted and chuckled, fingers of his free hand carding through Andrew's hair. He shifted, moving as if to say something but then just sighed and wrinkled his nose at the mess they were.
“What?” Andrew asked, tipping his head to rest his chin on his hand, watching him.
A flush rose on Jesse's cheeks and he wet his lip, debating a long moment before he relented and admitted. “I had planned on seducing you tonight.”
Blinking in surprise Andrew then just grinned and laughed, happy and warm. “Don't worry love,” he said, bringing the captured hand up to his lips for another kiss, “your hands did that for you.”