After that failed attempt to pull away, he doesn’t try again. It’s obvious that Tom needs contact, needs something to keep him grounded, so he keeps a hand on him, even when he goes to shake the interviewer’s hand, his other rests low on Tom’s back, almost possessively, but he thinks it comes off as casual, just there because they’re standing so close, a kind of wordless way to let Tom know he’s moving past him so he doesn’t bump into him. If it reads as more than that, if it comes off as too intimate, Robert doesn’t acknowledge it. He acts just the way he always does when he’s touching one of his costars too much, casual, overly-friendly, playfully charming and he gets away with it. Maybe people wonder, maybe they talk, but when he’s touched any and all of them on a whim, there’s not much to speculate on.
That is, he’s touching him until he slips away. It’s fairly obvious that he wants to be followed — there had been a definite moment there when he’d excused himself where the look in his eyes conveyed that quite clearly — but even if it wasn’t, if he didn’t want him to come after him, he’d still go to check on him at the very least. With the way he’s been through the interview, he can’t let him go without finding out if he’s alright. And that requires somewhere private because he’s still so certain that he’s right about what’s wrong that he’d put money on it, and that’s not a conversation that can happen in public. Unfortunately he’s still caught in a conversation, but maybe that’s alright, maybe Tom needs a minute before he follows. Still, he extricates himself at the soonest opportunity, and then he’s following in the direction he’d gone. The bathroom feels like an obvious choice, so though he’s not sure if he’ll find him there, he checks there first, and he’s lucky. Tom is standing there at the sinks, staring at himself in the mirror, face wet and flushed. He’s never seen him like this, so very on edge, so outside of himself, like everything’s too much to bear, and it’s at once a little worrying and completely breathtaking. He’s got this urge to take him and wrap him up in his arms and just hold him until it’s alright, if that’s what he needs. He wants to give him whatever it is that he needs, all of it.
He locks the door behind himself and stays where he is, standing just inside the door, giving Tom space for the time being. He slips his hands into his pockets and eyes Tom, trying to figure out just what to say and how to say it. He’s second guessing himself, just a little bit, because it’s awfully presumptuous to just assume that because he recognizes a certain look that it means he knows what happened. He could have gotten bad news, perhaps… but he’s still sure enough that he’s right that he’s willing to risk this. Because if it’s the right question, if it’s the question that Tom’s hoping he asks, then it’s worth the risk of being wrong and looking foolish.
“The time change on the interview fucked up my plans this evening, too,” he begins, rambling a bit, but getting around to the elephant in the room in short order, “Just dinner reservations, though, nothing earth shattering. Seems like maybe you were in the middle of something, too. Are you alright? Having to stop in the middle of a scene…” he doesn’t know just where he wants to go from there, so he stops, and lets it hang. Lets it sink in that he knows. That he’s certain enough to say it.
“…is he, or she, around and able to get back into it? I could give you a ride.”
no subject
That is, he’s touching him until he slips away. It’s fairly obvious that he wants to be followed — there had been a definite moment there when he’d excused himself where the look in his eyes conveyed that quite clearly — but even if it wasn’t, if he didn’t want him to come after him, he’d still go to check on him at the very least. With the way he’s been through the interview, he can’t let him go without finding out if he’s alright. And that requires somewhere private because he’s still so certain that he’s right about what’s wrong that he’d put money on it, and that’s not a conversation that can happen in public. Unfortunately he’s still caught in a conversation, but maybe that’s alright, maybe Tom needs a minute before he follows. Still, he extricates himself at the soonest opportunity, and then he’s following in the direction he’d gone. The bathroom feels like an obvious choice, so though he’s not sure if he’ll find him there, he checks there first, and he’s lucky. Tom is standing there at the sinks, staring at himself in the mirror, face wet and flushed. He’s never seen him like this, so very on edge, so outside of himself, like everything’s too much to bear, and it’s at once a little worrying and completely breathtaking. He’s got this urge to take him and wrap him up in his arms and just hold him until it’s alright, if that’s what he needs. He wants to give him whatever it is that he needs, all of it.
He locks the door behind himself and stays where he is, standing just inside the door, giving Tom space for the time being. He slips his hands into his pockets and eyes Tom, trying to figure out just what to say and how to say it. He’s second guessing himself, just a little bit, because it’s awfully presumptuous to just assume that because he recognizes a certain look that it means he knows what happened. He could have gotten bad news, perhaps… but he’s still sure enough that he’s right that he’s willing to risk this. Because if it’s the right question, if it’s the question that Tom’s hoping he asks, then it’s worth the risk of being wrong and looking foolish.
“The time change on the interview fucked up my plans this evening, too,” he begins, rambling a bit, but getting around to the elephant in the room in short order, “Just dinner reservations, though, nothing earth shattering. Seems like maybe you were in the middle of something, too. Are you alright? Having to stop in the middle of a scene…” he doesn’t know just where he wants to go from there, so he stops, and lets it hang. Lets it sink in that he knows. That he’s certain enough to say it.
“…is he, or she, around and able to get back into it? I could give you a ride.”