fic: terms of endearment
Terms of Endearment
Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Tom Hardy
PG-13
1,728 words
Thanks to tailoredshirt for enabling and beta'ing, as always.
The first time they shoot the scene, Tom plays it straight. “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger,” he says, cocky, and it’s perfect, of course, just arrogant enough, with that smirk that Joe has become incredibly familiar with these past few weeks.
“Alright, one more time,” Chris says, stepping around the cameras. “It’s good, it’s just that it feels-”
“Not quite right?” Tom asks, and Chris nods.
“Exactly,” he says. “Again.”
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling,” Tom says, and Joe can’t help but grin, breaking character at the term of endearment. It sounds exactly like something that Eames would say, but Joe knows Tom wouldn’t hesitate to throw that in to regular conversation either, just to mess with him.
Chris calls cut and Joe waves a hand at him. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, laughing a little, and Chris just grins back.
“That was good!” he says, and Tom cocks his head to the side, looking hesitantly pleased. He’s so careful about sticking to the script that he seems genuinely worried about what that one little word might do.
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” Chris says. “Adds that little something.”
“Well, we could give it another go,” Tom says, grinning at Joe. “Perhaps someone can manage to keep a straight face this time.”
“Sorry,” Joe says, largely unapologetic. “It’s just - darling? Really?”
“You know Arthur would love it,” Tom smirks, and Joe shakes his head as they resume their places.
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, pumpkin,” Tom says, and he doesn’t even bother keeping a straight face, just grins at Joe as he says it, and Joe can’t help but laugh.
“Again,” Chris says, smiling at them from behind the cameras, and they go through it again.
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, sweetums,” Tom says, and Joe actually punches him in the arm, laughing too hard to come up with a better response to Tom’s crooked smile.
“Sugarplum?” Tom tries, letting the grenade launcher hang in one hand. “Muffin? Baby? Buttercup?”
“Shut up!” Joe says, and Tom’s laughing too.
“Alright, guys, let’s do it straight, keep the darling,” Chris calls, but there’s a broad smile on his face. They run through it just a few more times, so Tom can get the intonation right and Joe can manage to keep a straight face, and then it’s just a few more scenes to go before the end of the day.
That would pretty much be the end of it, only Tom doesn’t let it drop. It only sneaks into shoots occasionally, the odd moment where Eames looks at Arthur and can’t help adding a “love” or a “pet” to a bit of teasing, but Tom’s a professional, and he doesn’t push it too far.
In between shoots, however, is a different matter entirely. “Pass me the water, would you, love?” Tom says, and Joe’s reaching for the bottle before he even realizes what he’s doing.
“Please tell me this isn’t going to be a thing,” he says, glaring at Tom half-heartedly as their fingers brush around the bottle.
“’Course not, darling,” Tom says, and Ellen starts laughing as Tom adds an exaggerated wink into the mix.
***
It doesn’t stop there. Practically every time Tom says anything to Joe he tacks on a silly pet name, sometimes stringing a few together as an added bonus. At first it just makes Joe laugh along with Tom and whoever they happen to be with at the time, but at some point he finds himself blushing more than laughing, and he comes to a startling realization. It’s possible that he may have a crush on Tom Hardy.
“Why do you look so miserable?” Ellen asks, sitting down beside him one day at lunch.
“I don’t,” Joe says automatically, and she just gives him a skeptical look. It’s actually kind of frightening how quickly she’s learned to read him.
“Spill,” she says, looking unimpressed, and Joe sighs.
“I may have a crush on someone,” he says, feeling roughly thirteen years old. Ellen eyes him as she takes a sip from her water bottle, clearly waiting for him to continue. “It’s an unfortunate crush,” he adds, hoping to leave it at that, but Ellen’s having none of it.
“An unfortunate crush,” Ellen says, and Joe nods. “What does that even mean?”
“Just that I wish I didn’t have it,” Joe responds, and really, that should be it. But Ellen gives him one more appraising look and then shakes her head, smiling.
“Everyone has a crush on Tom, Joe,” she says, and he tries not to gape at her.
“I don’t!” he says, trying to sound convincing.
“For a great actor, you’re a terrible liar,” Ellen says, and Joe sighs.
“You caught me unawares,” he says defensively, but it’s actually true. He’s really, really bad at lying to people, at least the ones who he’s close to.
“Are you…questioning your sexuality?” Ellen asks, peering at him like she’s actually concerned.
“No,” Joe replies, exasperated. “I’m not questioning anything! This is not a huge revelation-”
“Oh, so you knew about the guy thing,” Ellen interrupts, and Joe scowls at her.
“What guy thing?” Tom asks, sitting down beside Joe on the bench. He’s sitting unnecessarily close, so their thighs are brushing and Joe can feel the prickle of Tom’s hair against his arm. Ellen grins at him and Joe tries to scowl harder.
“Nothing,” Joe says.
“Mate, for an actor, you are a terrible liar,” Tom says, smirking at him, and Joe just barely resists the urge to drop his head to the table.
“I’m not lying about anything,” he says calmly, and Tom gives him a skeptical look, then grins widely.
“Whatever you say, pumpkin,” Tom says, stealing one of his grapes, and Joe sighs as Ellen starts laughing.
***
The other disconcerting thing about having a crush on Tom - other than, well, having a crush on Tom - is the fact that Joe is suddenly much more aware of how attractive Tom is. Before he was objectively aware of it, sure, but now it’s like it actually means something, and it’s completely unavoidable. Suddenly Joe doesn’t feel like mocking Tom’s tattoos, he feels like licking them. And he finds himself spending an alarming amount of time staring at Tom’s lips.
“You’re staring,” Ellen hisses at him as they prepare for another take in the hotel room.
“I’m not,” Joe says immediately, startled, and Ellen rolls her eyes.
“Joe,” she says.
“Ellen,” he responds, trying to match her tone, and she just shakes her head.
Joe knows this scene like the back of his hand - it’s not really particularly complex, just setting everyone up to slip down into the next level - but he’s leaning over Tom when Tom says his line, and suddenly Joe gets a little distracted by the colour of Tom’s eyes. He’s trying to decide whether or not they’re mostly blue or mostly green, and when he finally realizes he’s supposed to be saying something, Tom’s grinning at him.
Tom grabs his tie and pulls him down, much closer than he needs to be since the set is pretty much silent, just waiting on the two of them. “I believe you’re meant to say something about a merry chase, sweetheart,” Tom says in a soft voice, and his breath is warm against Joe’s cheek.
“Uh, yeah,” Joe manages, proud of his eloquence, under the circumstances. “Thanks.” He straightens and smoothes out his tie, and takes a deep breath before waiting for his cue and going through the motions again.
This time he gets it, but just barely (he finds himself wondering what Tom’s stubble would feel like against his skin, and when did that become something he actively thinks about?) and when he grins down at Tom to say, “Go to sleep, Mr. Eames,” it feels more like he’s talking to Tom than it does Arthur talking to Eames.
***
Joe may or may not rush to his trailer to jerk off once they’ve finished for the day. Even if he had done something that unprofessional, he definitely wouldn’t do so thinking about how Tom’s lips would look wrapped around his cock, or what his skin would taste like under that tattoo that runs low along his stomach.
Joe honestly isn’t even sure if Tom has a tattoo there, because he never really looks when Tom walks around set with his shirt off.
Joe’s finishing up with that thing he’s definitely not doing when there’s a knock at his door, and he opens it expecting to put up with Ellen’s annoyingly knowing smile and her frequently crude innuendos (she has a particular talent for them that Joe never would have expected). Instead, though, it’s Tom, leaning against the doorframe wearing a pair of worn jeans and a white t-shirt. He grins at Joe in a way that makes Joe think Tom knows exactly what he might have been doing a few minutes before.
“Uh, hi,” Joe says, because apparently he’s incapable of coherent speech when Tom is anywhere near him. He has no idea how it got this bad, this fast.
“Hullo,” Tom says. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Yes,” Joe says, and steps back to let Tom into his trailer. “What brings you to my humble abode?”
“I was just wondering,” Tom starts, and then Joe gets distracted because Tom is sliding his hand along the small of Joe’s back, under the white shirt so it’s skin on skin. He says something else, but all Joe really hears is the accent. How did he not know he had a thing for British accents?
Tom is looking at him expectantly, hand a firm pressure on Joe’s back. “Sorry?” he says, hoping he doesn’t actually sound quite so breathless.
Joe thinks Tom might be laughing at him as he leans in close. “I asked if you wanted to grab a beer, love,” Tom says, and Joe is torn between wanting to laugh and melting into a puddle at Tom’s feet.
“Yeah,” Joe says, trying for nonchalant. “Sure. I’ll just get changed.”
Tom sits down on a chair and looks at Joe expectantly as Joe fingers a button. “Well, go on then, darling,” Tom says, grinning. “I haven’t got all day.”
Joe thinks the beer will probably have to wait.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Tom Hardy
PG-13
1,728 words
Thanks to tailoredshirt for enabling and beta'ing, as always.
The first time they shoot the scene, Tom plays it straight. “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger,” he says, cocky, and it’s perfect, of course, just arrogant enough, with that smirk that Joe has become incredibly familiar with these past few weeks.
“Alright, one more time,” Chris says, stepping around the cameras. “It’s good, it’s just that it feels-”
“Not quite right?” Tom asks, and Chris nods.
“Exactly,” he says. “Again.”
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling,” Tom says, and Joe can’t help but grin, breaking character at the term of endearment. It sounds exactly like something that Eames would say, but Joe knows Tom wouldn’t hesitate to throw that in to regular conversation either, just to mess with him.
Chris calls cut and Joe waves a hand at him. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, laughing a little, and Chris just grins back.
“That was good!” he says, and Tom cocks his head to the side, looking hesitantly pleased. He’s so careful about sticking to the script that he seems genuinely worried about what that one little word might do.
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” Chris says. “Adds that little something.”
“Well, we could give it another go,” Tom says, grinning at Joe. “Perhaps someone can manage to keep a straight face this time.”
“Sorry,” Joe says, largely unapologetic. “It’s just - darling? Really?”
“You know Arthur would love it,” Tom smirks, and Joe shakes his head as they resume their places.
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, pumpkin,” Tom says, and he doesn’t even bother keeping a straight face, just grins at Joe as he says it, and Joe can’t help but laugh.
“Again,” Chris says, smiling at them from behind the cameras, and they go through it again.
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, sweetums,” Tom says, and Joe actually punches him in the arm, laughing too hard to come up with a better response to Tom’s crooked smile.
“Sugarplum?” Tom tries, letting the grenade launcher hang in one hand. “Muffin? Baby? Buttercup?”
“Shut up!” Joe says, and Tom’s laughing too.
“Alright, guys, let’s do it straight, keep the darling,” Chris calls, but there’s a broad smile on his face. They run through it just a few more times, so Tom can get the intonation right and Joe can manage to keep a straight face, and then it’s just a few more scenes to go before the end of the day.
That would pretty much be the end of it, only Tom doesn’t let it drop. It only sneaks into shoots occasionally, the odd moment where Eames looks at Arthur and can’t help adding a “love” or a “pet” to a bit of teasing, but Tom’s a professional, and he doesn’t push it too far.
In between shoots, however, is a different matter entirely. “Pass me the water, would you, love?” Tom says, and Joe’s reaching for the bottle before he even realizes what he’s doing.
“Please tell me this isn’t going to be a thing,” he says, glaring at Tom half-heartedly as their fingers brush around the bottle.
“’Course not, darling,” Tom says, and Ellen starts laughing as Tom adds an exaggerated wink into the mix.
***
It doesn’t stop there. Practically every time Tom says anything to Joe he tacks on a silly pet name, sometimes stringing a few together as an added bonus. At first it just makes Joe laugh along with Tom and whoever they happen to be with at the time, but at some point he finds himself blushing more than laughing, and he comes to a startling realization. It’s possible that he may have a crush on Tom Hardy.
“Why do you look so miserable?” Ellen asks, sitting down beside him one day at lunch.
“I don’t,” Joe says automatically, and she just gives him a skeptical look. It’s actually kind of frightening how quickly she’s learned to read him.
“Spill,” she says, looking unimpressed, and Joe sighs.
“I may have a crush on someone,” he says, feeling roughly thirteen years old. Ellen eyes him as she takes a sip from her water bottle, clearly waiting for him to continue. “It’s an unfortunate crush,” he adds, hoping to leave it at that, but Ellen’s having none of it.
“An unfortunate crush,” Ellen says, and Joe nods. “What does that even mean?”
“Just that I wish I didn’t have it,” Joe responds, and really, that should be it. But Ellen gives him one more appraising look and then shakes her head, smiling.
“Everyone has a crush on Tom, Joe,” she says, and he tries not to gape at her.
“I don’t!” he says, trying to sound convincing.
“For a great actor, you’re a terrible liar,” Ellen says, and Joe sighs.
“You caught me unawares,” he says defensively, but it’s actually true. He’s really, really bad at lying to people, at least the ones who he’s close to.
“Are you…questioning your sexuality?” Ellen asks, peering at him like she’s actually concerned.
“No,” Joe replies, exasperated. “I’m not questioning anything! This is not a huge revelation-”
“Oh, so you knew about the guy thing,” Ellen interrupts, and Joe scowls at her.
“What guy thing?” Tom asks, sitting down beside Joe on the bench. He’s sitting unnecessarily close, so their thighs are brushing and Joe can feel the prickle of Tom’s hair against his arm. Ellen grins at him and Joe tries to scowl harder.
“Nothing,” Joe says.
“Mate, for an actor, you are a terrible liar,” Tom says, smirking at him, and Joe just barely resists the urge to drop his head to the table.
“I’m not lying about anything,” he says calmly, and Tom gives him a skeptical look, then grins widely.
“Whatever you say, pumpkin,” Tom says, stealing one of his grapes, and Joe sighs as Ellen starts laughing.
***
The other disconcerting thing about having a crush on Tom - other than, well, having a crush on Tom - is the fact that Joe is suddenly much more aware of how attractive Tom is. Before he was objectively aware of it, sure, but now it’s like it actually means something, and it’s completely unavoidable. Suddenly Joe doesn’t feel like mocking Tom’s tattoos, he feels like licking them. And he finds himself spending an alarming amount of time staring at Tom’s lips.
“You’re staring,” Ellen hisses at him as they prepare for another take in the hotel room.
“I’m not,” Joe says immediately, startled, and Ellen rolls her eyes.
“Joe,” she says.
“Ellen,” he responds, trying to match her tone, and she just shakes her head.
Joe knows this scene like the back of his hand - it’s not really particularly complex, just setting everyone up to slip down into the next level - but he’s leaning over Tom when Tom says his line, and suddenly Joe gets a little distracted by the colour of Tom’s eyes. He’s trying to decide whether or not they’re mostly blue or mostly green, and when he finally realizes he’s supposed to be saying something, Tom’s grinning at him.
Tom grabs his tie and pulls him down, much closer than he needs to be since the set is pretty much silent, just waiting on the two of them. “I believe you’re meant to say something about a merry chase, sweetheart,” Tom says in a soft voice, and his breath is warm against Joe’s cheek.
“Uh, yeah,” Joe manages, proud of his eloquence, under the circumstances. “Thanks.” He straightens and smoothes out his tie, and takes a deep breath before waiting for his cue and going through the motions again.
This time he gets it, but just barely (he finds himself wondering what Tom’s stubble would feel like against his skin, and when did that become something he actively thinks about?) and when he grins down at Tom to say, “Go to sleep, Mr. Eames,” it feels more like he’s talking to Tom than it does Arthur talking to Eames.
***
Joe may or may not rush to his trailer to jerk off once they’ve finished for the day. Even if he had done something that unprofessional, he definitely wouldn’t do so thinking about how Tom’s lips would look wrapped around his cock, or what his skin would taste like under that tattoo that runs low along his stomach.
Joe honestly isn’t even sure if Tom has a tattoo there, because he never really looks when Tom walks around set with his shirt off.
Joe’s finishing up with that thing he’s definitely not doing when there’s a knock at his door, and he opens it expecting to put up with Ellen’s annoyingly knowing smile and her frequently crude innuendos (she has a particular talent for them that Joe never would have expected). Instead, though, it’s Tom, leaning against the doorframe wearing a pair of worn jeans and a white t-shirt. He grins at Joe in a way that makes Joe think Tom knows exactly what he might have been doing a few minutes before.
“Uh, hi,” Joe says, because apparently he’s incapable of coherent speech when Tom is anywhere near him. He has no idea how it got this bad, this fast.
“Hullo,” Tom says. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Yes,” Joe says, and steps back to let Tom into his trailer. “What brings you to my humble abode?”
“I was just wondering,” Tom starts, and then Joe gets distracted because Tom is sliding his hand along the small of Joe’s back, under the white shirt so it’s skin on skin. He says something else, but all Joe really hears is the accent. How did he not know he had a thing for British accents?
Tom is looking at him expectantly, hand a firm pressure on Joe’s back. “Sorry?” he says, hoping he doesn’t actually sound quite so breathless.
Joe thinks Tom might be laughing at him as he leans in close. “I asked if you wanted to grab a beer, love,” Tom says, and Joe is torn between wanting to laugh and melting into a puddle at Tom’s feet.
“Yeah,” Joe says, trying for nonchalant. “Sure. I’ll just get changed.”
Tom sits down on a chair and looks at Joe expectantly as Joe fingers a button. “Well, go on then, darling,” Tom says, grinning. “I haven’t got all day.”
Joe thinks the beer will probably have to wait.