Jack is valiantly trying to keep up with what he thinks Annie wants from him, but he canāt help break character at this. He has no idea what āthisā is other than a very funny falsehood to throw out in front of her friends and a good chunk of the Station. A part of him worries that Annie will regret this later, that sheāll think her own cleverness and sense of gamesmanship got the better of her once she realizes āthinking about him a lotā has been added to the fabric of their untruths. Jack feels a little bad about it; heāll laugh for now.
āI had no idea LBJ and I occupied that much space in your brain,ā he says, trying and failing not to look as amused as he feels. āSounds like a great society. Is it our ears?ā
Now Annie feels like she's won whatever this is, because she's made Jack laugh, genuinely and against his will. Her manic grin softens into a self-satisfied smirk. In bed later, as she stares up at the ceiling with gummy eyes and a dry mouth, she'll get a little paranoid, wondering if it's a problem that 'thinking about him a lot' is not, actually, an untruth. But, for now, convincing others of this fact had been her intention and she's pleased.
So, she quits while she's ahead. "I like your ears," she assures him as she stands. As she pushes off the couch, one hand planted on the cushion by his head, she leans over him and kisses the air near his cheekbone. "They make your head like a piece of salt water taffy. Yum."
Her gesture is sweet and uncomplicated and makes Jack feel awful. Only briefly for himselfāall near misses of casual intimacy of any valence make his chest hurt. Mostly he feels bad for Annie, that she has to do this dance with him. Would it be easier for her without the mandatory hands-breadth of empty space? He thinks so. Jack guesses he is like a piece of salt water taffy, but the piece you don't eat that goes hard and inedible, that you must ultimately toss out.
He gives Annie a small smile, sincere but a little out of place. Then his expression changes, joking again. He feels stupid thinking about this, being self-indulgently sad, so he'll stop. It doesn't matter, he's doing that thing again where he presumes too much, and anyway Annie asked him not to imagine versions of her that didn't actually exist. Obviously she's perfectly fine.
"Careful," he squints after her. "Don't let LBJ hear you say that. You know how he gets."
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enodia_ic2023-06-10 02:11 pm
TABLE TOPICS: Jack & Annie
āI had no idea LBJ and I occupied that much space in your brain,ā he says, trying and failing not to look as amused as he feels. āSounds like a great society. Is it our ears?ā
TABLE TOPICS: Jack & Annie
So, she quits while she's ahead. "I like your ears," she assures him as she stands. As she pushes off the couch, one hand planted on the cushion by his head, she leans over him and kisses the air near his cheekbone. "They make your head like a piece of salt water taffy. Yum."
TABLE TOPICS: Jack & Annie
He gives Annie a small smile, sincere but a little out of place. Then his expression changes, joking again. He feels stupid thinking about this, being self-indulgently sad, so he'll stop. It doesn't matter, he's doing that thing again where he presumes too much, and anyway Annie asked him not to imagine versions of her that didn't actually exist. Obviously she's perfectly fine.
"Careful," he squints after her. "Don't let LBJ hear you say that. You know how he gets."