Snooker II- Sports!fic / Birthday present for Ema
Title: Snooker II
Author:
insane_songbird
For
envious_ema . Happy BIRTHDAY!
Pairing: Jared/Jensen (what else?)
Words:~6.500
Rating: PG13 (much more schmoopy than my usual)
Warnings: Sports I am anything but an expert on, snogging
Disclaimer: Do not own, never will.
Summary: AU. Jared’s agent said the leading role in this movie would show that he had range and could do drama as well as his usual action flicks. But what his agent didn’t say was that he had to play a lot of Snooker against a real pro. Thankfully Jensen Ackles has no objections to showing Jared the moves.
For Ema. Happy birthday, sweetheart!
Snooker I
Snooker II
Soon after their second frame - Jared slowly got the hang of the game but was far away from understanding the rules or potting with every strike - they had to break it up. Jensen was being filmed potting one ball after the other wearing different costumes (including wigs) in angles that did not show his face. The takes would be edited into the movie later. Sometimes the camera only caught the tip of the cue, following the ball neatly into the pocket.
In the meantime Jared rehearsed the first dialog of the day. He had to act a fight with his brother while potting balls on one of the tables in the back of the club-room set. When he was up, Jared and his co-actor tried to get the hang of their characters. The first takes were always the hardest since he was still getting comfortable with acting out the role but he did fairly well. The most complicated thing were all the props he had to do and every time they had to go back with a take, one of the PA's had to respot the balls where they had been lying before and Jared needed to start emptying the table all over again.
It was an emotional scene and he worked himself up over the fight they had sure that it would come across great if he just put enough into it. His strokes at the balls became more violent and he missed more often, running a hand through his hair in a distressed gesture.
Jensen was watching and at first Jared was very nervous about that but the other man looked mesmerized and soon Jared was quite comfortable with the snooker pro watching him. He actually enjoyed Jensen’s interest.
At the end the director wanted just one more take to play it safe although he was pretty sure they already had all the material they needed. But as Jared bowed over the table, growling out his lines with annoyance flashing in his eyes, his hard stroke at the cue ball resulted in a loud ripping sound. Jared’s eyes went wide as he felt the pull of fabric around his shoulders lessen. “I ripped my shirt.”
Jared slipped out if the black vest and twisted his upper body trying to look between his shoulders which mus have looked amazingly funny but didn’t bring him any closer to seeing anything.
The roaring laughter of the production team officially ended this take and Jared’s forehead collided with the billiard table he still leaned on. The director’s ‘Cut!’ nearly drowned beneath the mad giggles of the onlookers and Jared didn’t dare look up.
A warm hand settled on his shoulder and he felt someone’s breath play over his ear. “Just be glad it wasn’t your pants instead, dude. You’re too great for your own good… at least you lightened the mood”, Jensen’s voice drawled close to his ear and Jared felt a shiver run down his spine.
He finally looked up, seeing an amused sparkle in Jensen’s eyes, as the man stepped a little away, letting Jared get up. “Did something like that ever happen to you in public?”
Jensen shook his head. “Nope. But I bet that will find its way into the outtakes.”
Jared sighed. “At least some people can have their fun with it then.”
“I most certainly did.” As Jensen intoned another fit of milk-and-honey laughter Jared couldn’t help himself. He pounced the smaller man with one quick move, hugging him from the side with one arm, pulling Jensen flat to his chest and ruffled the guys hair. Jensen yelped and tried to twist away while Jared giggled - yes, there was no more masculine way of saying this -, talking between breaths: “Who are you laughing at, shorty?”
The ended squirming around each other, Jared trying to tickle the life out of Jensen, while the blond man twisted and turned to sneak from Jared’s hold in vain while laughing like a child. Jared had stooped down, his arms tightly wound around Jensen’s waist while his hands moved up and down prodding an poking on ribs and making Jensen giggle between hasty breaths.
Jensen seemed to give up his run for freedom and instead leaned over Jared, tickling him back. The tall actor yelped in surprise and did the only move yet untried. He tightened his arms around Jensen’s waist and put his muscled body and the hight advantage to good use as he shouldered Jensen. The other man’s feet lost contact with the floor as he was scooped up, dangling over Jared’s shoulder. His legs were kicking the thin air while his hands grabbed Jared’s ripped shirt.
“Set me down! Please, set me down!” Jensen’s words were hard to understand as he was laughing, panting and speaking all at once.
“Only if you admit your defeat, Ackles.” Jared was panting as well, but he didn’t work out constantly for nothing. He walked a few paces through the set, for the first time since the beginning of the banter noticing the production crew watching them with wide grins.
“Alright! I give up!”
With a triumphant laugh, Jared set Jensen back to his feet. The other man glared at him without any heat and grabbed his side, bending over while trying to catch his breath. “I thought I signed up for a movie called ‘Snooker’ not ‘The Return of the Caveman’, Sasquatch.”
Jared gaped playfully at the snotty remark and built himself up to full hight, drumming his fists against his pecs with a maniacal grin. ”Me Jared, me want!”
Jensen shook his head laughing and leaned against the billiard table. Jared knew that he would not resist the urge of padahugging Jensen ever again if this was what it would be like.
Jared didn’t even spare a second thought to the fact that he knew Jensen for less than 24 hours. It just felt right. Admitted, Jensen was really hot, but more so they were on one frequency and Jared couldn’t tune him out anymore. The reserved silence Jensen had worn for the first hour of their acquaintance was long gone and Jared could hardly remember it anymore.
~+~+~+~
The next few days went by in a whirlwind of Jared rehearsing and shooting scenes, watching Jensen trying to explain the game to some other actors, laughing with his newest friend and just basking in the awesomeness that was this movie-shoot. Jared had hardly ever had that much fun working. Although the script was demanding and the dialogs were long Jared got a real feeling for his role, Samuel. Playing him was fun even if the whole emotional wreckage that went down during some scenes sometimes left Jared drained for a few minutes until he recuperated. But best of all was his bickering around with Jensen.
On the last set he worked the person most interested in him was that skanky blond would-be starlet that died halfway through the movie. Jared hated that kind of attention. Being gay, he had no real interest in women (at least not the way they did in him), but since he was not out and proud due to career-issues, he really couldn’t complain about being flirted with. But some flirted and others just wanted to fuck him, so they had once fucked Jared Padalecki. He smiled at the first kind and hated the second.
The last take of the day was very emotional. Samuel stood at the grave of his brother, apologizing for the last fight they had, devastated that he hadn't had a chance to apologize or say goodbye. He swore at god, at their dead father and even at his brother fr abandoning him to loneliness. When the last take was cut, Jared was sniffing, tears streaking his face - thank God for water-proof make-up. His heart was thumping a little too fast and he bit his lip, wiping at his eyes. Sometimes method acting sucked once the shot was over.
Jared had to walk it off. This had been the last shot of the day and all he had to do was return his costume to it’s maintainers and get rid of that make-up and he was free to leave but for now all he could do was tying to hold it in until he was somewhere less embarrassing.
Jared meandered through the set and down a corridor towards the back exit. He breathed the air that was rapidly cooling during sundown, sniffing some more as the rest of his tears ran freely. The door opened behind him and he looked away, breathing deeply. He felt a light pressure against his palm and looked down to see a pack of Kleenex. “Thought you might need it.”
At the soft drawl of Jensen’s voice, Jared looked at him, unheeding of the besotted state his face was in. Jensen’s eyes shone bright, like he had chopped a bag of onions. “Thanks.” He wasn’t sure if he thanked his new friend for the hankies or for crying with him but it didn’t really matter. Jared blew his nose a few times, wiping the wetness off his face.
Jared closed his eyes, calming down quickly after having used up the last of his pent up tears. Jensen stood next to him, silent but for th rustle of clothes. After a minute Jared felt the touch of Jensen’s shoulder on his and turned his head to look at the man. Jensen gave him a small smile that said “Are you alright now?” and Jared scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly.
“Method acting sucks sometimes.” He looked at Jensen with his head ducked, eyes peering through his untidy bangs.
Jensen nudged him with his shoulder a little harder this time, his smile widening a little. “You were awesome.” Jared loved the fact that Jensen was genuine and he felt his chest swell a little at the pride of having truly impressed Jensen.
“Thanks.”
“So… errm. I guess you are pretty exhausted now, right?”
Jared squinted at him, a speculative smile of his lips. “Why are you asking?”
Jensen lowered his eyes and Jared found it adorable. “I saw that you got quite a few snooker shoots tomorrow and I thought you might want to practice some more.”
Jared was positively surprised. “I’d love to… But I’m starving. Do you mind if we order something before we lock ourselves into the back room of the set?” Only after he said the words the thought what he might just have implied hit him and he blushed.
Jensen’s eyes came back up but he fidgeted from one foot to the other. “Actually I thought about somewhere more comfortable… I got a snooker table and a few cold beers at my place. We could grab take out on the way there.” He shrugged awkwardly. “But we could just as well stay here…”
“No!” Jared interrupted Jensen faster than could be called inconspicuous. “I’d- Sounds like a plan.”
~+~+~+~
“So, Jensen… Why does a professional snookist - sorry, I bet that is not the politically correct name - … errm, a professional snooker player live in L.A. of all places and not wherever it is where people play snooker all day long?” That sentence was proof to Jared that he had had one too many beers. Was he even still coherent enough to actually make sense? He hadn’t drunken much but he just wasn’t well practiced. Thankfully he didn’t have to be on set at the crack of dawn the next day.
Jensen snickered into his own bottle, leaning his head onto his cue. “I think that strange place you are looking for is Great Britain. I fly to Europe for several weeks, probably months if you add it all up, every year for playing… but in between competitions it is rather lucrative to play for the movie industry as well.”
“I bet the producers love you. You look good and you can pot any ball.”
Jensen grinned around the neck of his bottle. “I hope that’s not the only qualities I have, though.”
“No, you’re awesome, Jen.” Jared saw his new friend smile shyly at the new nickname and filed it as a good thing. “When you were all quiet at our first meeting I was kinda anxious, but it seems that we are quite good together.”
Jensen laughed silently, settling down his empty beer and stacking the cue back in the rack on the wall. “You were anxious? I was petrified. I mean I’ve played in several t.v.-shows and quite a few movies by now… but meeting Jared Padalecki in person? That was kind of a big deal.”
Jared frowned, putting away his cue as well. “Why? I’m just some action/horror movie guy. It’s not like I got an Oscar or anything.”
Jensen grinned, eyes dropping to the floor, shrugging. “Not important.”
Jared squinted at him, his curiosity trying to force it’s way to the forefront. “Spill it, Ackles.”
“I dunno…” Jensen shrugged once more, sighing and looking at Jared only for a second before averting his eyes. “I mean you can be intimidating, being a Sasquatch and all…”
“Oh c’mon, Jensen, I’m as cuddly as a huge stuffed animal!” To emphasize his point, Jared threw one arm lazily over Jensen’s shoulders.
Jensen chuckled at that, amusement dancing in his eyes. “You are. But how should I have known that? All I knew about you was that you were built like some Greek statue and earned your living by jumping through windows and kicking ass. I push balls around for a living… I got all right to be intimidated.”
“Because I’m so fucking gorgeous!” Jared grinned mockingly and mimed throwing some stray locks over his shoulder, whacking his hand in front of his face.
“Narcissist.” Jensen was snickering, leaning against Jared’s side unhesitant, poking Jared with his elbow to make him listen. Jared looked at him and was completely certain of one thing.
“You snookered me.” Jared said it before he could rethink it. Jensen frowned slightly showing his lacking insight in that random sentence. “Even if I wanted to, you make it impossible for me to play straight anymore.”
Jensen looked at him, mouth falling open into a silent ‘oh’. Jared took one huge breath, collecting all his courage as he turned to face Jensen completely. The arm that had rested around Jensen’s shoulders came to rest on the nape of his neck. Jared swallowed as he brought his other hand up to caress Jensen’s cheek as he slowly leaned in. Moving slowly was the only restrain he was still able to do, giving Jensen a chance to back out if he didn’t want the impending kiss.
Jensen did not pull back but stood petrified until their noses touched, then his head tilted a little up and to the side to fit their mouths together smoothly.
The kiss was languid and longingly slow. Jared tightened his hold on Jensen, pressing against the smaller man, who let his arms slide around a muscled waist to find purchase on Jared’s back. They kissed for a long while. Needy presses of lips changed into careful nibbling, tongues licking over red soft skin. Both men tasted beer mixed with the very special taste of the other.
When they finally broke apart again, Jensen leaned his forehead against Jared’s designer stubble - Jared had to take the chance and peck a kiss onto a blond hairline. “I think I can never go to work again without thinking of snookering you…”
Jared’s grin was wide, dimples showing on his cheeks. “Sounds good with me.”
+~+~+~+
2009-04-28 ~ L.A. Today:
Inside sources on the set of ‘Snooker’ - the newest drama presented by Big G - lay witness to the great mood throughout the production team. A special friendship seems to have developed between the movies male star, Jared Padalecki (26), and Jensen Ackles (31). Ackles is a professional snooker player, currently living partly in Dublin and partly in L.A. The Texas born sportsman has been potting the ball in several t.v.-shows and movies before taking up his so far biggest movie-job on the production of ‘Snooker’. Insiders say that Ackles and action movie hero Padalecki hit it off on the first day of productions and have since become the best of friends. (...)
2009-12-16 ~ Movie Review:
The red carpet ran hot at the premiere of historic sports drama ‘Snooker’ last night. The fans were charmed by leading actor Jared Padalecki (27) who left his date at home and sprayed of energy as he pulled set-colleague and professional snooker player Jensen Ackles (31) through the flashlights. Padalecki and Ackles are best friends since working on ‘Snooker’ together and the 6’5’’ actor says that it is ‘due to the great atmosphere on set that this movie has become a masterpiece’. (...)
~ End
I want/need/love FEEDBACK! Tell me what you think? I know it's an open ending but I had like 2 days to write it before Ema's birthday came up,so bear with me, yeah?