Page 29 of Method Acting

“Ooh, I like these,” Chase said, opening the packet.

“Good,” Deirdre said. “Put the end in your mouth. Amos, start at the other end, and you’re both going to bite the ends until your lips touch.”

Oh.

Lip contact.

Okay then.

Chase put one end of a pretzel stick in between his teeth, and I put the other end in between mine. “Like this?” I asked Deirdre.

“Yep. Now eat.”

Chase snorted and began to bite his way up the pretzel, getting closer and closer. I only got a few bites in before his lips met mine.

Warm and all too brief.

He pulled back with a laugh, chewing his mouthful of pretzel. Then he put another one in between his teeth. “Your turn.”

So I did the biting this time, crunching my way up the pretzel until our lips touched.

It was silly and fun, and I could see why this was a technique used to acclimate to intimacy between actors. It made a game of it.

Well, Chase did.

“My turn,” he said, putting a pretzel stick between my lips. He didn’t even give me a chance to bite it. He just munched his way up the stick until his lips met mine.

“Now you.”

I met his gaze and began to slowly bite up the pretzel, and he smiled around it as I got closer. “I can’t kiss you when you smile,” I mumbled around the half-eaten pretzel in my mouth.

He laughed but pursed his lips, so I finished it, pecking his lips.

We did it a few more times, each time becoming more familiar, more fun. Until he put the packet down. “I need a drink,” he said. “Too many pretzels.”

He walked over to our bags, grabbed my water bottle too, and brought it over to me. “Thanks.”

We sipped our drinks as Deirdre came back over to us. “How’d you find it?”

“Fine,” I answered. “It’s a good way to practice.”

She gave me a nod, then turned to Chase. “And?”

He shrugged. “It’s fine, but I don’t think we need it. I could kiss Amos right now and it’d be fine.” He looked at me, his raised eyebrow asking if I agreed.

I half shrugged, embarrassed and nervous, and... I wasn’t sure. “I guess.”

“And we discussed boundaries and consent. We’ll be fine.”

“Did we discuss consent?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. I asked if you’d be okay with general affection or kissing. You said yes.”

“Actually, I said I can think of no good reason why kissing in public should be a thing. For anyone, not just us.”

Chase snorted. “But you said if it was required for a scene, then yes.”

I sighed. “True.”

---