afraid_of_marshmallows | Midnight Manor Boarding House's Living Room, Wednesday Night

Okay, sure. Arden didn't know much more than what TV said about throwing movie nights, but surely she had the gist. Many ~~moddable~~ pizzas and sodas had been ordered from Pizza Planet - look, Arden loved sweet tea, but even she knew soda was necessary for movie nights. A truly disturbing number of bags of popcorn had been popped and put into bowls and a quick stop at T&C had been made to grab a couple of different popcorn seasonings in case people wanted to experiment with popcorn flavors.

All that was left was to wait for people to show up. She'd texted both Kamala and Cal in full capslock mode about the glory of this movie, and then had ~~handwavily~~ tried to contact as many other residents as possible to tell them about the movie night - texts, email, sign on the door, whatever. Sure, nobody had to come, but she at least wanted to make sure everyone knew they were welcome. She'd also invited Steven and Watts (while double checking that, yes, it really was okay to move furniture around the living room and also eat in there) and had made sure to get a few bags of unbuttered popcorn just for them. Did she think the butter flavoring had any actual dairy in it? No. But she was gonna be careful all the same.

Now she was just pushing the furniture around to make sure that every possible seat had a good view of the incredibly large TV and was in reaching distance of a bowl of popcorn and places to put their cups of soda and plates of pizza down. Midnight Movie Night was about to begin, showcasing the absolute work of art and cultural tour de force that 2 Fast and 2 Family 4 Oceans, the fifteenth 2 Fast 2 Family sequel that was also a prequel to the Oceans Edge series.

This was gonna be great.

[Open to all Midnight Manor Boarding House residents!]

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"If you try and bite me, we're gonna have words," Henry pointed out.

"It really is a perfect food," Cal agreed. "And you get to socialize without being attached to anyone, and enjoy a film. Hopefully enjoy it. That broad tolerance might need to come into play again."

"That would be why I said strategic not-biting," Arden reminded. "If I tried to bite you, I'm guessing we'd be having more than words."

As, you know, was right and fucking proper.

Talking to Steven sometimes reminded her so much of talking to Townes that it made something in Henry's chest hurt.

"Interesting locations? Like what?" Of course, she could go to whatever interesting location she wanted on a whim, but then she was on her own.

"What does 'strategic not-biting' even mean?"

"Erm, tropical resorts?" Steven said, trying to remember the ones he knew of. "A boating trip through France?"

Steven left off the last one since as interesting as it sounded originally the part about the hotel collapsing around them might not be considered a selling point for Henry.

"I admit, this is not the type of moving picture I typically watch," Watts shared. "So I am- broadening my horizons."

"Mostly? I was using it to say 'heard and remembered,'" Arden said with a shrug. "I don't bite people, I don't even really joke about biting people--" that was Illyana but 'joke' might be stretching it a bit, it was more a threat, "--but on the off-chance either of those change in the future, I'm still not going to bite you because you've been very clear that you're not into that."

Honestly, considering this island could turn you into a gremlin or a vampire or make you think you were a giant fucking mosquito or whatever, 'strategic not-biting purposes' could cover a large swathe of scenarios.

"Cheers to that, then," Henry said, holding up her root beer in a mock-toast.

"Huzzah," Arden said, holding her can of Coke up right back. "Now that that's cleared up, should I get veggie pizzas without olives next time?"

"I suppose that would depend on whether or not you like olives," Henry said.

"If I liked olives enough for it to matter, I would have offered to leave them off of half."

"I think olives are fucking gross, personally," Henry told her.

She still wasn't gonna tell you what to do with your own pizzas, Arden. But yeah, she wouldn't mind if next time there weren't any fucking olives.

"And I don't really eat veggie pizza, so it doesn't matter to me one way or another," Arden said. "But I think you're the only one eating the veggie pizza right now, and if you don't like olives, then it makes sense to leave them off."

She pulled out her phone, quickly typing something into it, before tucking it back away.

"Yes," Kamala said, laughing. "Changing diapers and dealing with teenage drama. It's hilarious."

Not that Kamala had a sophisticated sense of humor.

"Oh I totally have a picture of that!" Kamala said bringing up her phone and displaying said photo of Kamala in her full Ms. Marvel regalia. But as a pony. "Also, Midnight was so helpful! They turned my doorknob from a regular knob to a lever thingy so I'd have an easier time getting in and out of my room. I love this house."

"Okay," Kamala said carefully. "As long as you're not repressing those feelings. Sometimes it's better to share them."

And not just the traumatized emotions, Cal!

"Yeah. Self-service," Kamala said looking entirely confused. "What did you think I meant?"

Clearly something other than pumping gas!

"Don't worry, babe," Kamala said with a finger gun. "I got the perfect movie for you."

Steven patted himself down to get his glasses so he could properly appreciate the picture. "Look at you! Very nice. Lovely mane and tail as well. And glad to hear Midnight took good care of you. It likes having you about as well. Very happy when it can be a home for people."

"I love living here. The people are so nice and helpful," she said looking at everyone in the room before her eyes came to Arden and Cal.

Hmm.

"Just out of curiosity, if there were two people-"

Note the emphasis head-bob toward Arden and Cal

"-who say... have feelings for each other-"

Again. Emphasizes headbob toward Arden and Cal

"-and have a hard time admitting it to each other. Ahem. Hypothetically speaking, do you think Midnight would be helpful in say... helping them along?"

Steven needed until the second bob to realize it was something Kamala was doing on purpose. Once he did, he nodded to show they were on the same page.

"Possibly?" Steven said, lowering his voice so it was harder for the subjects of those head bobs to hear him. "We've not done anything like that before, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Did you have something in mind?"

"Well. Nothing harmful. Or illegal," Kamala said to ensure that Steven didn't think she was some nefarious villain. "Buuuuuuuut maybe just keeping them in an enclosed area for an extended time until they work things out."

Nothing wrong with that!

"Oh!" Steven said, then remembered to lower his voice again. "Like trapping them in the lift?"

Who knew Steven's need to research TV Tropes for an island event would come in handy yet again?

"Yes! Excellent example. Or perhaps their doors now lead to a merged room of their own but there is only one bed," Kamala said with a slow nod in appreciation of Steven's trope studies.

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Midnight Manor Boarding House's Living Room, Wednesday Night

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