They were filming in Griffith Park again the next day, so James planned accordingly. Now that he knew that Ned was available, he wanted to take advantage of it. He knew that Ned had been responding to his flirting—what had all that banter at the lawn chair been for otherwise—and James was fully prepared to pull out all the stops to get Ned to date him.

Never let it be said that James wasn’t confident in his flirting abilities, despite his sad habit of falling in unrequited love with straight men.

James wore one of his best shirts, the light green button-up shirt that he knew contrasted nicely with his eyes, the one that was just a little small on him because Sophie had put it in the dryer by accident once. It stretched over his chest and shoulders nicely and was just this side of indecent. When he rolled the sleeves up so that his forearms were exposed, and left the top couple buttons on his shirt undone to show off his collarbone, he knew that he looked good. He even wore his best jeans, the ones that he usually only wore for dates or for auditions. He’d been informed by Sophie and Brandon that they made his ass look fantastic.

He didn’t style his hair, but that was because he knew that hair and makeup would do whatever they wanted to him, so there was no point in spending half an hour doing his hair only to have it destroyed when he walked on set. Still, he knew he looked good.

His call time wasn’t until eight a.m., but he knew that Jack, and therefore Ned, would be on set hours earlier. He didn’t want to interrupt Ned while he was working—that would be unprofessional—but he did show up forty-five minutes early for his call time. He just hovered around the edges for a minute, then found a crew member and asked what he could do to help. On a larger set, there probably wouldn’t be much, but on a small independent set like this one, any extra pair of hands was appreciated.

James didn’t go out of his way to be in front of Ned, trusting that his very presence on such a small set would mean that it wouldn’t take long for Ned to realize that he was there. James happily took on the projects that needed heavy lifting, like lugging the cameras and lights around and climbing up trees to set the lights and stuff in them. After about ten minutes, he noticed Ned watching out of the corner of his eye, like Ned was trying to stay out of James’s line of sight but still observe him. James had to smother a smile in the crook of his arm to block it from Ned’s view. He made sure to show off his body as much as possible. He kept himself entertained with the thought that Ned must surely be aware that, thanks to the difference in their physiques, James could easily lift him up and pin him to the wall. It made his stomach feel hot and liquid at the thought.

When his forty-five minutes was up, he hurried over to wardrobe and makeup to get changed and ready for his scene. He didn’t much look forward to the idea of putting his mask on for the next however many hours. Not that he minded it in and of itself, it was mainly because he couldn’t send Ned sly winks in between takes without taking the mask on and off. Still, there was nothing for it, and it was time to focus on his acting.

James breathed carefully through the mask, focusing on his character as Jerry. His character didn’t speak, and his face couldn’t be seen, so he had to use his body language to let the audience know what he was feeling. He had to be one hundred percent confident and focused on what his character needed so that there would be no doubt in the audience’s mind what was going on.

The scenes were going well, and for the next couple of hours, James was so busy focusing on Jack, Dex, and the scene that he didn’t really think about Ned. Then they took their first ten-minute break so that Jack could change some camera positions and take a look at some of the footage.

James took off the mask and handed it to the prop master and immediately looked around for Ned. He didn’t have to search for long—Ned was over at craft services, getting some water.

James walked over to him, watching as Ned tried and failed to twist open the cap on the water bottle. It was because the bottles were all in a bucket of ice, making them covered with droplets and difficult to grip, not from any lack of strength on Ned’s part. James plucked the bottle out of Ned’s hand before he could second-guess himself.

“Thirsty?” He asked, keeping his tone low and intimate. He was rewarded by seeing the blush start to creep up Ned’s neck again, his eyes going a little dark.

“Um, yeah, I—” Ned stuttered, watching as James finally got the cap twisted off and handed it over to him. “It must be difficult, working underneath that mask,” he added, blurting the words out as if he couldn’t help himself.

“It’s fine.” James grinned at him, slow and sure. “I mean, if Hugo Weaving can pull it off in V for Vendetta, then why can’t I?”

Ned laughed at that. “Hugo still had lines, though. It’s impressive what you’re managing to convey without saying a word.”

“Oh?” James leaned to the side so that he could brace his hand on the food table. It wasn’t bracketing Ned in the way he wanted to, but it was hopefully still enough to convey the idea of it. “What am I conveying right now? Without saying a word?”

He ran his gaze over Ned’s body, the lean, tight form that had probably gotten that way from running around film sets all the time. He took in the tight black jeans Ned was wearing and the way that they hugged his hips, the soft gray v-neck t-shirt he was wearing. He thought it would be so easy to just pull the collar aside and bite lightly at the soft skin over Ned’s collarbone, to lick a stripe up his pale throat. The t-shirt was loose but still tight enough that James could see the outline of Ned’s body, and knew he might be naturally skinnier, but he was still fit, and would be able to handle whatever James gave him. The thought made him shift a little, his pants feeling tight. He watched as Ned’s gaze tracked the movement, and James licked his lips, sucking on the bottom one a little, ending with a sly grin as the look in Ned’s eyes sharpened.

“You’re conveying…” Ned’s voice trailed off and his gaze darted to the side, like he was scared that someone might overhear them.

James decided to throw him a bone and leaned in just a little. “I’m conveying that I want to take you out,” he said, keeping his voice low. Ned seemed to have a thing for his voice, judging by the shiver that he gave when James spoke.

He worried for a split second that he was being too forward, but then Ned’s mouth dropped open just a little and he leaned in towards James, like he couldn’t help but be drawn towards him, like a magnet.

“I bet you say that to all the assistants,” Ned replied, looking up at him coyly.

James’s smile widened. “Just the handsome ones.”

Ned’s blush spread. “I should get back to work,” he said, motioning toward Jack and the set.

“By all means.” James stole the water bottle from Ned’s hands, taking a long gulp that didn’t strictly require him to tilt his head back but when he did it, helped expose the long line of his throat. He handed the water bottle back to Ned, satisfied that the other man’s mouth was now open and his pupils were blown wide. “See you later.” He let his gaze linger for a moment on Ned’s surprised gaze, a moment that Ned couldn’t have missed, and then headed back to set, taking the mask back from props.

They got back to filming, but James couldn’t concentrate one hundred percent now. He hoped that he’d made his intentions crystal clear—Ned had seemed to like them, if the blush and his facial expression were any indication. James was in the moment while the cameras were on, but the moment they weren’t, he was searching through the eye holes in the mask for a glimpse of Ned.

At one point, as the filming took another quick break, James found himself suddenly pushed down onto a bench by a pair of strong hands. He didn’t have to take his mask off to guess who it was.

“You’re too tense in this scene,” Ned replied, his voice low in James’s ear as he bent over him. “Jerry is supposed to be relaxed, confident, sure that he’s won. We can’t see that when your shoulders are all hunched up and tense like that.”

He started kneading James’s shoulders, and James immediately started to relax. The firm and expert pressure on his body was making heat build low in his stomach, but he ignored it. This was clearly Ned’s way of getting back at him for the whole deal with the water bottle earlier, but Ned also had a point—maybe it was his being distracted, but James was all tense and that wouldn’t do for this scene.

“You’re really good at this,” James noted, letting his voice come out soft and easy instead of trying to force it to a more normal pitch.

“Thanks,” Ned replied. His voice was still closer than it had to be, and James was pretty sure—although he couldn’t see, thanks to the mask—that Ned was bent over him, keeping his mouth near James’ ear.

Ned dug into a particularly pent-up knot in his shoulders, and James let out a low groan, allowing his head to fall back against Ned’s chest. Now he could feel the long, firm line of Ned’s body pressed against him, and he had to bite his lip to keep his moans in. Already this was skirting the line of professionalism, and James didn’t need the entire crew hearing him moan obscenely just because a gorgeous guy had decided to give him a massage.

“You know,” James said, trying to sound casual and probably failing completely, “if we were alone, I’d be hauling you into my lap right about now.”

Ned’s fingers dug in a little too deeply in response, either instinctive or a pointed reminder that they were in public. “You’re incorrigible,” Ned responded. “I should have let you keep thinking that I was dating Jack.”

“Mmm, but then you wouldn’t have this,” James replied. He smiled, hoping that even though Ned couldn’t see it, he could feel it. Heat wasn’t just in his stomach now but spreading out steadily from Ned’s fingers, making his entire body feel languid and relaxed. Blissful, even.

Except for the annoying throb of want between his legs, which was getting harder and harder to ignore—no pun intended—as the massage went on. He wanted Ned to slide his hands over his shoulders and down his chest, cup him through his jeans, slide them underneath…James bit hard on the inside of his cheek and breathed slowly, carefully, through his nose. Now was not the time to be sporting a hard-on, even though he wanted Ned to see it, wanted Ned to see how he was affected by him.

He let his full weight rest against Ned, and he felt it too—it seemed like Ned was getting as affected by this as James was.

“Is that a machete in your pants,” James quipped, referencing one of the weapons that the character of Jerry used, “or are you just happy to see me?”

Ned snorted, and the massage stopped. “We need to go back to filming now,” he said. “Stay relaxed.”

James was just starting to get disappointed when he felt Ned’s breath hot in his ear. “And it was a Bowie knife, not a machete.”

A Bowie knife was another of the weapons used and definitely not the hardness James felt against his back, but he laughed anyway and then nearly fell over as Ned neatly stepped to the side, removing himself from James’ back and depriving James of his support. James flailed, trying not to fall over, and he heard Ned’s soft chuckle again. James had no time to do anything except glare at Ned’s back, and then he had to get up and get into position on set, while trying desperately to will down his arousal.

Oh, he was so getting Ned back for that.

The thought buoyed him up through the rest of filming, until they wrapped for the day and James could go into wardrobe. He deliberately lingered this time, taking forever to get back into his regular clothes, double-checking his rolled-up sleeves, until Ned entered the tarp tent that served as wardrobe. The others had already cleared out, which was perfect.

James neatly stepped forward, right into Ned’s space. Ned had his head down, looking at something on his phone, and he literally ran into James.

Ned looked up, incredibly put out, and then James had the joy of seeing Ned’s vaguely irritated and surprised face morph into something half embarrassed, half aroused. His cheeks went pink and his pupils were blown wide, his mouth nearly falling open before James saw his jaw tense to prevent it.

“Mind reminding me when my call time is tomorrow?” James asked.

“You’re not called tomorrow,” Ned replied automatically. “You’re called again in three days.”

“Oh, thanks, my mistake.” It wasn’t his mistake, he had his schedule memorized so that he could work at the hotel concierge on his days off, but it was enough to strike up a conversation again. “You doing anything later today?”

“I’ve got stuff to go over with Jack,” Ned said, but the corner of his mouth turned down, and he seemed genuinely sad about it.

“When are you free, then?” James asked.

Ned thought about it. “Saturday night. Jack insists on one night off for everyone, and Tanya’s dad insists that they observe Sabbath together anyway so without our AD there’s not much point.”

“Saturday night, then,” James said. He dared to take another step forward and put his hands on Ned’s hips, grinning like an idiot when Ned almost dropped his phone, shoving it into his front pocket with a look of betrayal, like how dare someone turn him on and make him fumble his device. “Am I conveying something right now?”

Ned huffed. “If you don’t stop teasing and kiss me, asshole, I’m going to—”

James didn’t find out what Ned was going to do, because he swooped in and finally, finally got his lips over Ned’s, slotting them together and getting to taste him. Ned brought his hands up to wrap them around James’s shoulders, tugging them closer together, and James dug his fingers into Ned’s hips a little. Ned’s body was slimmer than his but about the same height, and solid, warm, something he could latch onto and hold on tight.

Ned’s tongue snaked out, flicking against James’s teasingly, and James groaned, opening his mouth and letting their tongues slide together. He hadn’t meant for this to become hot and heavy, but he certainly wasn’t going to say no to the way that Ned’s tongue curled around his, or the way Ned’s body rubbed up against his as they clung tighter to each other. James had no idea how long they stood there, exploring each other’s mouths, getting their lips slick and swollen, but he was seriously starting to consider the possibility of picking Ned up and putting him on the makeup counter so that he could slide between his knees and blow him. That wouldn’t take too long, right? James slid one hand from Ned’s hips up to between his shoulder blades and the other down to cup his ass. Ned made a delicious moaning sound and spread his legs a little, as if encouraging James to do more. James slid a leg between Ned’s spread ones, rocking up into him a little. Fuck, fuck, if his tongue wasn’t otherwise occupied he would have been swearing up a storm at the feeling of Ned’s hips pushing up against his and then down against his leg, the feeling of hardness jutting up against his thigh, fuck.

James kept rocking their bodies together, grinning into another kiss as Ned slid his hands over James’s arms, his shoulders, his back, tangling his fingers in his hair, and tilting his head so that James was at the perfect angle for Ned to slide his tongue in as deeply as it could go. James gave a rumble in his throat with pleasure, and started to make his tongue slide in and out of Ned’s mouth in time with the rocking of their hips. Ned pulled back just a little, gasping, nails digging into James’s hair and tugging. James groaned.

“I want—we—” Ned was struggling for words.

“What do you want?” James whispered. He kissed the corner of Ned’s mouth, his cheek, his nose, everywhere, skin hungry and desperate for him. “I want to get my mouth on you. Is that okay? Will you let me?”

Ned gave a filthy moan and kissed James ferociously, biting a little. “You can’t just say stuff like that, we’re—”

“Ned!” It was Jack, calling out and obviously frustrated. “Ned, one of the cameras has a full memory, and I need it swapped out now before I forget, can you…”

Shit. There was no way Jack could see them like this. Forget just the unprofessionalism and the fact that James was essentially about to fuck his director’s assistant. Jack was Ned’s best friend. If James caught Sophie or Brandon making out with some guy, he’d haul the dude in for questioning pronto.

Ned jumped back from James as if he’d been burned, hastily fixing his hair and disheveled clothes and tried putting himself to rights. He looked at James, as if to ask him what he thought, and James gave him a thumbs up. There was nothing to be done about the swollen look of Ned’s lips or the red flush on his neck and ears, but otherwise he looked fine.

“Saturday night,” James whispered at him, winking.

Ned flushed harder and hurried out of the tent, leaving James alone to collapse into a chair and relive that makeout session in every glorious detail. He’d never been so turned on by a guy before, the way Ned combined coyness and confidence, acting shy and overcome one minute and then brazenly giving him a massage and holding his head still so he could kiss him properly the next minute. James pressed the heel of his hand down into his crotch, squeezing his eyes shut and thinking of his mom naked, Sophie naked, Brandon leaving a mess of clothes all over the floor so that James tripped on them when he came into the room at night, cockroaches in the bathroom last spring, anything to calm himself down.

As he got his breathing and his body under control, James reflected on his behavior. It had been rather brazen, and he didn’t want Ned thinking that he just wanted a torrid affair. He wanted to take him out properly, as he’d said, but that probably required more than a breathless promise just before and after a bunch of kissing.

James grinned to himself. He’d go the old-fashioned route.