The Play's the Thing
a fic i wrote for elekanahmen from her prompt...i know there are other prompts i received and i am working on them this one just got done first.
Emily poked her dark head around the door frame into JJ’s office. She paused for a moment before speaking taking in the blond head bent over an open folder on her desk. It was a critical moment for Emily as she took a deep breath calming her nerves. She’d been waiting a long time to do this, her only hope was to make it through without letting too much of her inner geek shine through. She could usually fight it off for hours, even sometimes a couple of dates, but with JJ it was different. When they were just being friends and there were other friends around they could banter and even, though neither admitted it, flirt a little. Emily had no confidence that her nerves would stay in check if it was just the two of them with no other people around as unwitting chaperones.
This was miles different from girls’ night out with JJ and Garcia. If things went well this could be…might turn out to be…an actual date. With an almost imperceptible squaring of her shoulders Emily knocked lightly on the doorframe causing JJ to look up from her papers. Those deep blue eyes never failed to cause a flutter of warmth in Emily’s chest and she made no effort to control the response. Nor did she do anything to stop the smile that painted its way across her red lips.
When JJ saw the soft smile and dark eyes that met hers and she could feel her own lips stretch into a welcoming grin. For reasons she had long since stopped analyzing and just accepted there was nothing that made her happier on the end of a Friday than seeing Emily at her office door. Whatever after-work activity Emily proposed JJ knew she would join her. There was no question that given the option JJ would spend as much time as possible with the other woman. Part of her wished one of them would be brave enough at some point to actually cross the unspoken barrier between them, but she was well aware that possibility seemed slim at best.
“Hey,” Emily felt herself melt a little inside at the sight of JJ’s smile, “you about done?”
“Yeah,” JJ said flipping the open file in front of her shut, “actually I’m just finished. You wanna go grab a drink?”
“I’d love to,” Emily answered quickly and continued before she lost her nerve. “I was actually wondering if you have plans for tomorrow?” Once the words were out of her mouth Emily felt the strangest mixture of relief and fear. She had spent so much time preparing herself for the asking she hadn’t prepared herself for waiting for the answer. The seconds seem to stretch to excruciating length as JJ’s blue gaze examined Emily.
JJ had expected the usual invite for drinks with whatever team members felt like blowing off some steam but something about this invitation was different. There was something in Emily’s eyes that was sending an altogether different message. JJ was forced to reexamine her earlier thought that the chances of one of them being brave enough to move beyond drinks with the office may have been a bit more pessimistic than was warranted.
As she continued to watch she could see signs of nervousness in Emily. The shy foot shuffle, the way her eyes looked around the room avoiding lingering too long on any one thing and particularly not on JJ, it was sweet, adorable really. JJ considered prolonging the silence just to watch for signs of the sweet, shy Emily that Emily Prentiss, FBI kept so well hidden. As enjoyable as it was for her though, JJ was aware it was probably not nearly so fun for Emily and opted to answer after only a few interminable minutes.
“I had a big date with my laundry basket,” JJ grinned, “but I think I just got a better offer.”
“But you don’t even know what the offer is yet,” Emily knew she sounded nervous but there was a big part of her that was still expecting rejection.
JJ stood up from her desk and flipped her jacked over her shoulder. She took a few steps toward the door stopping before she had completely invaded Emily’s personal space. She gave Emily one more appraising look before she spoke again. She didn’t want to cross the line too far in case she was misreading all the signals that had been bouncing between them for the better part of the last two years. There was still a certain amount of fear that kept her in the grey area of friendly and flirting without putting herself too far out there.
“I’m pretty sure whatever your offer is it beats the hell out of laundry,” JJ’s tone was tinged with laughter.
“I don’t know,” Emily countered, “some people would rather do just about anything than what I’m proposing.”
“Okay,” JJ quirked a brow, “now I’m intrigued. What sort of trial are you asking me to join you on?”
“Musical theatre,” Emily blurted, “but not just any musical theatre. The Broadway touring company of Wicked is in DC at the Kennedy Center.” Emily forced herself to stop talking before she launched into a treatise on book versus musical and character comparisons of Elphaba and Glinda and how excited she was to see the show again. She hadn’t seen it since 2004 and the original Broadway cast and she was dying to go again. She’d purchased the tickets the moment they had gone on sale but had not had the nerve to ask JJ to go with her until today when she’d had no choice but to speak now or go alone. Somehow the idea of sitting with an empty seat beside her while she listened to ‘For Good’ just seemed like the most tragic of events. So here she was waiting to see if, in fact, JJ would say yes or if she, like some, was pathologically allergic to musicals.
JJ almost laughed, not at the idea of attending a musical with Emily but at how excited and animated the normally even-keeled Emily had become with those few words. The light in her eyes was unmistakable and undeniably cute. JJ quickly realized that she had absolutely no power to say no to that almost childlike glint in those dark eyes. Even though she wasn’t a huge fan of musicals the idea of saying no never crossed JJ’s mind. She knew the night would be fun based solely on the joy that radiated from her companion at the mere mention of the show.
“I would love to go with you,” JJ responded her smile widening at the look of mixed excitement and disbelief that found its way onto Emily’s face.
“Really?” Emily knew she sounded like a kid who couldn’t quite believe they’d just gotten everything they asked for Christmas but she also couldn’t quite bring herself to care.
“Yes, really,” JJ laughed.
“Excellent,” Emily beamed, “I’ll pick you up at 6 and we can grab a bite first.”
“It’s a date,” JJ said the words hoping they were true, hoping Emily picked up on them but at the same time feeling the tiniest hint of doubt, or possibly fear, that she hadn’t.
It was all Emily could do to keep from bouncing up and down and clapping her hands. This had worked out better than she could have hoped. Not only was she going to see Wicked, a long time obsession of hers, but she was going with JJ. As the two of them left JJ’s office and walked through the bullpen to pick up Reid, Morgan, and Garcia for the usual Friday night drinks Emily felt as though her feet weren’t even touching the floor. She was quite certain she had an extremely goofy grin on her face but she really couldn’t be so concerned about that at the moment.