#yllowpages feat. johnny cage.

[nightsprung]

incorrect quotes: classic hollywood pr relationship edition, featuring jordan riley and johnny cage ( @yllowpages ).

[survivall]

she's lost track of time again. it happens whenever she ends up preoccupied with something else — getting lost in a good book, rearranging the furniture in her apartment, strumming on her guitar and messing around with a new song. today's distraction is significantly less pleasant. they're getting into night shoots with fight dirty and she's sitting in her trailer ahead of going into hair and makeup, inspecting the state of her forearm. bruises blossom like flowers, an array of purples and blues that are accented by the angry red marks that have scabbed over. a tabloid journalist had gotten a little too bold and handsy earlier, taking personal offense to jordan ignoring their very loud, very obnoxious questions ( jordan! do you have a comment coming up on the seven-year anniversary of the massacre? ). maybe they didn't know their own strength — or maybe they had wanted a reaction. if that was the case, they got exactly that. she had no doubt word of her mean right hook was making the rounds on social media right now. it's a secondary concern for her; at the moment, she's trying to figure out how pissed the director and head of makeup are going to be and if this is something they can cover up at all.

the door to her trailer opening startles her. she jumps like a kid who's been caught snooping where they shouldn't — silly, considering it's her trailer — and there's no use in hiding the state of her arm. johnny stands in the doorway, coffee in each hand, beaming one moment but it doesn't last. he's quick to slide into concern, anger — protectiveness?

“  who  did  this  to  you  ?  ”

yeah, protectiveness.

' I'm surprised you haven't already heard. ' a subtle means of deflection; and still, she sighs and sinks into the chair, her hand brushing her hair away from her face. ' I had a bit of an altercation with a reporter. it looks worse than it feels. ' that last bit is debatable, but she manages a small smile as she looks back up at him. ' promise me you're not going to make a big deal out of this? '

[survivall]

it's rare they get a day off from shooting in the middle of the week, but jordan's learned not to question blessings as they come. getting to sleep in past the california sunrise was one perk; spending the day lounging poolside and looking over the sides for tomorrow's shoot was another. it's not like she needs the extra practice; nearly two decades of experience in theatre made line memorization a breeze, but it didn't hurt to double check, triple check, and make sure she knew her cues as well as she knew her marks. besides — she can only practice one of those things while soaking up the sun.

while she stretches out on a recliner, her gracious host opts for the pool, swimming laps at his heart's content. she's still reading over her script when @yllowpages asks her if she's trying to absorb it all before call time tomorrow, albeit in jest, and jordan sighs. he's got a point. maybe she should take a break, go for a dip herself. book is set off to the side and she turns to say something, though she can't help but lose her train of thought momentarily as she realizes johnny is now out of the pool, standing much closer than she expected, and she's got a full view of those rippling muscles glistening in the early afternoon sunshine.

hey! my eyes are up here!

under any other circumstances, she'd be blushing. maybe she is; regardless, a finger comes up to slide her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose, big brown eyes moving from his pecs to his own gaze. of course he's smirking. she almost rolls her eyes, settling for an arched brow instead. ' it's not my fault they're practically staring at me! '

[survivall]

it's been getting easier and easier to sell the whirlwind romance of jordan riley and johnny cage to the tabloids, paparazzi and chronically online general public as a whole. it was a tale as old as time — hollywood's hottest action star and the up-and-coming starlet makes easy and entertaining headlines, and in the interest of the action flick they're in the process of filming, anything that can drum up good buzz is a blessing. according to metrics (so says the studio) fight dirty is set to become one of the hottest films slated to release next summer.

all she can think is that it better be a smash hit. not that she doesn't like spending time with johnny; once she got past the awkwardness of pretending to be in a relationship with her co-star (a cardinal rule she swore she'd never commit) it was sort of nice. he was funny, and the more she got to know him, the more she realized they had more in common than initially thought. throw in the fact that he's becoming a good friend and holding his hand in public and exchanging the periodic picture-perfect lip lock was less of a chore and more of... well, she doesn't have the word for it.

all the same, there's that voice that's always been in the back of her head telling her that people are going to see her less as an actress who fell for her co-star and more as a gold digger using people who have already made a name for themselves to build her career. she knows there's a small subset of people who believe that, a vocal minority that has her avoiding twitter any time her name is trending for the sake of her mental health. when that voice isn't tearing her character apart, it's telling her that everyone can see through the facade. you're not as good as you think.

maybe that's why she's putting a little more into the kiss she's pressing to @yllowpages' lips, slow and deliberate and, dare she say it — sensual. her hands cradle the back of his head with a gentle touch and when she pulls away, she's hoping the photographers keeping a safe distance down the santa monica pier got a good shot. she almost misses johnny's words.

you're getting better at this, you know.

suddenly she's very aware of how close they are; she can smell the delicate and near-intoxicating mixture of his cologne and aftershave, and there's a familiarity to his hands resting on her hips. when did she get used to this? she's not sure. her gaze lifts to meet his, nose brushing nose and she raises a brow. ' thanks. I've been thinking about getting into acting. '

and then the corner of her mouth quirks up — a subtle crack at breaking the tension as she pulls herself away, though her hand still finds his. anything to sell the ruse.

[survivall]

' no, it has to be cholula hot sauce — trust me on this one. ' it's been a fun twenty-four hours back in the buckeye state, and when it came time to do a last-minute grocery run to secure some necessities that abuelita's kitchen was low on, jordan was quick to volunteer herself and johnny for the task. since strolling into the local grocery store, they've gotten a number of stares followed by some excited back-and-forth whispers that are just out of earshot, but no one's swarmed them with questions, anecdotes or requests for a picture, yet. she's grateful that it seems that the tenants of midwestern politeness are safeguarding them, affording more than a few moments of normalcy as they walk each aisle in search of the next item on the list. ' you can taste the difference, it'll throw the whole dish off if it's not cholula. I'm trying to protect you from a situation. '

home for the holidays with @yllowpages as johnny cage

[survivall]

a sentence meme I'm too lazy to hunt down, co-starring @yllowpages as johnny cage: ❝ so that did happen. it wasn’t a dream. ❞

there’s a gruffness to his voice first thing in the morning that pairs well with the california sunrise lighting the sky up in oranges, pinks and the palest of blues. as sound as she slept the night before, the soft brush of his lips against her own and the firm hold his arms have wrapped around her, pulling her closer, are more than enough to coax her into a gentle type of alertness — the kind that comes with time, and trust, and a togetherness that is something more than just romance — even more than love.

the moment strikes her as something semi-ironic. if you had asked jordan at the table read if she would end up falling for her co-star, she would have laughed in your face. if you had asked her during the early days of the tabloid-fueled PR relationship if she would have ended up developing true, deep feelings for him that stretched far and wide beyond friendship, she would have scoffed and rolled her eyes. for someone so stubborn, who hated being wrong when it came to her personal life, she couldn’t be more happy to be wrong than she was right now. she opens her eyes, deep browns meeting soft blues, takes in johnny cage’s perfectly messy bedhead and the way his dimples emphasize that signature boyish grin and she can’t help but feel like she’s floating. it makes a smile spread across her own face, palms coming up to cup either side of his face.

“I’m not so sure,” she finally murmurs, pressing a gentle kiss of her own to his lips, and then another, and then another. their legs are tangled and she has no interest in un-tangling, instead letting her arms wrap around his shoulders, pulling him closer, skin pressing against skin. “need me to pinch you? just to make sure.”