Chapter Two: The Movie

[backinthsaddle]

Today was the last day of finals for Cole, and it's with a silent sigh of relief that he heads home, ready to ditch the books for the summer. Not that he'll stop studying altogether, but a break is welcome after the week long cramming session.

Liam doesn't appear to be home once he gets back to the apartment, but he's slowly been getting used to there being someone else living there, and she isn't really the going-out-and-about type, at least not right now. So he makes a little noise on his way in, so he doesn't startle her.

Comments

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Might as well while it's fresh in your mind, right?" And tests are still about learning, otherwise no one would ever give them back all marked up.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, totally. Except when I'm really nervous about it, then I don't even check."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"In any case, that's this semester over with."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"You did great, I know it." She swings her left leg forward and back like a hinge, white sock brushing the carpet.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure what to do with myself now." Normally he'd sit down and do his homework like a good little student, but he doesn't have any homework.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Play a game! Or... or see a movie! Dude, you need to decompress, for serious."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"A movie sounds good about now." He almost asks if she wants to go out to a rental place, then decides there is no way in hell. "We've got a lot of DVDs. Anything catch your interest?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She makes her way to the shelves and tilts her head at a most certainly uncomfortable angle to read the titles. "They all look good," she answers, honestly. Her face heats. "'Cept... I think Liam left a few... films here."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"...yeah. He does that. Just... try to ignore them?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Uh, other than that, they all look pretty nice. I, um. I dunno. What do you like?" She does that, defers to other people, avoids making simple decisions.

((AIMage?))

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much everything. I've seen most of the stuff on these shelves. Minus Liam's, uh, 'stuff'." Yep, adult entertainment is a noooo. "Do you have any favorites?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I, um. I don't like girly movies, but other than that...."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

He's trying to let her pick, but it's one of those things where both people want to let the other go first, and they just go in circles. "How about..." He scans the titles, looking for something he's been wanting to rewatch, or one of the few he hasn't seen yet. "Boondock Saints?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

It's that, and it's the fact that Victor is having an excessively hard time making decisions since the J debacle. Even simple decisions like what to eat, she waits for someone else to choose and then she'll do what they do. She looks relieved. "I've never seen it! Let's go for it."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Me either," he says, slipping it off the shelf. "I've been meaning to get around to it for ages."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

Victor leans over to get a better look at the cover. "Oooh, it has Willem Dafoe in it!"

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Bet he's a bad guy," Cole predicts, letting her look at the cover while he pops the disc in the DVD player and gets the TV set up. "He plays a good villain."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I hope so!" He is not, in fact, a villain. He plays a closeted gay FBI agent. He is beyond brilliant, and is the biggest threat to the Saints, the Irish twins. Even so, he's not a villain. More of a troubled hero, trying to uphold the law against vigilantes who he thinks are doing the right thing, maybe.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Do you want popcorn? We've got extra butter," he offers, as the DVD menu pops up.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She looks to him uncertainly, that same look she gets when she has to decide on anything. "Are you gonna have popcorn?"

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Sure. It's the rule, isn't it? Popcorn and soda." He pretends not to see the uncertainty on her face, instead putting the remote down and retrieving a bag of micropop.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

It's funny, that dynamic. Vic's older than him but she acts so much younger, like a child in some ways, and right away her shoulders lower, she looks content. "I'll have what you have."

Cole is the alpha male to her. Cole and Liam. It's not on purpose that she falls into the submissive role, it's just better for her brain to be focused on things other than decisions. By giving up her control on that, she can use that control to try to harness her emotions. Hold herself together. Stave off panic and unsureness.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take long before he has an enormous mixing bowl full of popcorn, and two cans of Coca-Cola, bringing them over to the couch in front of the TV. "Here we go. Everything we need for movie-watching."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Awesome." She takes a delicate bite of popcorn, pulls a pillow to her chest, and waits in rapt attention for the movie to begin.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

He puts the bowl between them so they can share, and starts the movie. The lights are set to dim when the DVD player comes on - thanks to some tinkering when he had nothing to do one day - so it's easy to become immersed in the movie right away.