Midnight Manor Boarding House's Living Room, Wednesday Night

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

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!]

Comments

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[pocketpretzels]

"I have a fairly broad tolerance when it comes to things I will eat and none of the- creations- from this afternoon fell into that category," Watts said. He held up his slice of pizza. "This is vastly more preferable."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[pocketpretzels]

"And does he ever lament," Watts said wryly.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"That's often the way of it in Europe," Steven said. "At least, in the Europe of my world. The buildings are old and lovely but not built for modern conveniences like air conditioning. My flat in London is on the top floor as well. Heat rises and all that."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

Steven chuckled as he thought of something. "Perhaps one day he'll accompany you on the piano. Some opera to go with your music."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

"It's... really close to home," Cal admitted. "Being here has been like an amazing vacation. It's why I'm so torn between trying to reconnect with home and just biding my time. It's complicated either way." He laughed softly. "That's why I'm a little envious of you and Watts and the folks who get to just be here without more complicated problems."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm sorry," Steven said, with sympathy. "It's - I mean not wonderful but perhaps a comfort to know there are others on the island for whom it is that complicated? Particularly when in their case going home isn't an option?"

Darn those portals that seemed to know exactly when to not work.

"But if there's anything we can do to help, here or home," Steven said, "please don't hesitate to let us know. The three of us, that is. We'd be more than happy to."

Well maybe not happy for Marc but that was because Marc was rarely happy about anything, nothing to do with Cal.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

“I think he mostly shoots people and grimaces,” Kamala agreed. “Though he once did a movie where he was a nanny.”

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

“Oh, it was all true,” Kamala said with a shrug. “But the one girl just wanted to solve mysteries which wasn’t so bad. And I also got turned into a cool pony. Honestly that was pretty awesome.”

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[singlenakedwhat]

"Winter wasn't so bad."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

Kamala blinked. “Oh. I didn’t realize your world was so oppressive like that,” she said sincerely. “That’s horrible!”

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"Mysteries can be a great deal of fun to solve," Steven said. "I enjoy a good puzzle myself. Clues, codes, all that sort of thing."

On the odd chance Kamala hadn't yet picked up that Steven was a bit of a nerd.

"Shame I couldn't see you as a pony," Steven said. "Do you know I missed it entirely last time? I was on the island but didn't see a single one. I think because I was working when it happened. I'm told they looked colorful."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"It doesn't bother you?" Steven asked. "Not - I don't mean to pry if you'd rather not say. Only I know a few people who don't care for the dark or cold of winter."

Re: Watch the Movie

[slothbabyproductions]

“Well. I am the hero who saved Jersey City,” Kamala said with an overly dramatic hair flip. “But no, it’s a weird law where you can’t have self service in New Jersey. But we have great beaches!”

Re: Watch the Movie

[slothbabyproductions]

“Okay, fine,” Kamala said with an eyeroll. “But I’m dipping into the Bollywood collection. I think Detective Watts would be happy with a musical.”

Re: Watch the Movie

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Um. Self-service?" Arden asked, boggling at Kamala. "Oh! That's what you say - pump your own gas! Okay! Never mind!"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[pocketpretzels]

"Ah," Watts nodded. "And I assume the humour there was in his appearance being somewhat incongruent with the stereotype of that of a nanny?" he checked, to be sure if he'd gotten the joke right.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[singlenakedwhat]

"I don't love it or anything," Henry clarified. "But I don't hate it. It's- fucking whatever. Just weather. I can put on a coat."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"Good to know," Steven said. "I don't mind it either. Can be rather fun, actually. This past winter I learned to ice skate."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

"It's okay," Cal said quickly. "I mean, it's not okay, obviously, but this place is great and everything here is great, and I'm getting to do all these things I can't do at home so... I'm just focusing on the good to not drag anyone down with me."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"They are, but they're also still on fucking notice until I get over the bite I got last week." Arden glowered, not at Henry, just off into space. "Piece of advice - don't get bitten by fucking gremlins."

Especially when out on a very normal friend outing with your just-a-friend.

Re: Watch the Movie

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Do you have any with Dev Patel?"

Important questions only.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[singlenakedwhat]

"I try to avoid being bitten in general," Henry shared. "Not into that."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[singlenakedwhat]

"Yeah?" Henry said, with an air of polite disinterest as she studiously picked olives off of her pizza slice, dropping them on her plate.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I'll keep that in mind, for any strategic not-biting I have to do in the future," Arden said.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"I thought it was fun," Steven said. But he could tell it wasn't a worthy topic. "Er - the school does holidays now and then. Don't know if you're aware? Week away, interesting locations, that sort of thing."