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

[hasaknightjob]

Steven had needed Marc's help to acknowledge the mutual feelings building between Steven and Llewellyn back in the day. Steven couldn't really point fingers at anyone about cluelessness.

"And either way both are all of us enjoying ourselves, right?" Steven said. "Good time had by all?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Exactly. And those of us who don't know a lot about this world's movies--" He pointed to himself, in case it wasn't clear. "--get to learn more about what you all consider entertainment."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"That's true," Steven said, perking up. "I hadn't thought of that, you not being familiar. You should chat with Llewellyn about it. He's been learning a great deal about movies as well, since he's originally from when they were only just getting started."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Ooh, that's a good idea. We can give each other recommendations," Cal said. "It's interesting how my world is more advanced in some ways, but you all seem to have a big advantage in entertainment."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"Really?" Steven asked. "That is interesting. Do you've any idea why?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal made a little wincing face. "Well, there's been more of a focus on live plays, and holovids lack some of the color and vibrancy of what I've seen from movies," he said. "But we also have a regime in place that cares less about people's happiness and more about control, so there aren't advancements being made in anything except weapons right now."

It wasn't the best small talk, but he didn't want to be dishonest.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"Oh dear," Steven said. "I'm sorry. Is this something that strikes particularly close to home for you? Friends and family, or the like?"

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

[moreofaponchoguy]

"This kind of stuff is helpful. Hanging out with people, having pleasant distractions that keep me from stalking Portalocity," Cal said with a smirk. "It's really great to know there are places in the universe where people get to just be happy. It makes me feel more hopeful for my own future, if that makes sense?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[hasaknightjob]

"It does, absolutely," Steven said. "Hope is everything, you ask me. Inspires you to make things better. Helps you keep going when things are at their worst. If being here helps you feel more hopeful about things, that means a great deal, actually."