A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
-BEFORE-
Tressa checked her watch for the thousandth time, the chill wind tousling her red hair.
"I can't believe this line is so long," she muttered.
Fisk sighed, glancing over at the throng of giggling preteens hastily re-applying their sparkly lip balm and fiddling with their GigaPets towards the front of the line. "I can." She pulled her coat closer. It was chilly for Louisiana.
Will stretched up on his toes, peering at the far-off ticket window. "I thought you said you had a pass for six people."
"I know, but this movie theater's crazy," Tressa said, glancing at her watch again. "They're making me check it up with the ticket window." She glanced back over in Will's direction. "I still don't know if it was such a good idea to bring... you know."
Alec raised his eyebrows under the shadows of his fedora and the high collar of his trenchcoat. Ann touched his arm comfortingly. "He's not attracting any attention!!" Will insisted. He jerked his thumb towards the back of their little clump. "*I* still don't know why you insisted on bringin' THEM with us." His attention was directed at Dr. Arcane and Graham, who were doing their best to look bored and detached. Well, at least Graham was. Arcane actually looked impatient... even a tad bit... fidgety.
"I don't like it any more than you do, Will, but they were close by, and I had to get rid of the rest of the coupons before Ms. Reiger dumped Josh on me."
Arcane decided to ignore the fact that they were acting like he couldn't even hear them. He folded his arms, snapping, "I honestly can't believe I'm standing out here waiting in a bloody line for this melodramatic piece of tripe. Rubbish, that's all it is. Nonsensical, over-budgeted slop cloaked in the guise of some sort of cinematic masterpiece." He turned to Graham. "Do you know how honestly sick I am of hearing how bloody tragic this movie was?!"
"You're telling me," Graham muttered. "I wanted to rent 'Die Hard', remember?"
"You and your moronic action movies."
"This was all your idea."
"It bloody was not!!!"
"You begged to go."
"You're on thin ice, Graham."
He can't kill me in public, Graham thought smugly as the line moved up.
Alec was almost bowled over by a large, motley group of people crying as they staggered out of the last showing. A man with glasses and two sniffling teenagers were supporting a woman with the words "Sick Puppy" tattooed on her arm. Another woman with a decidedly British accent tried to calm the paralegal next to her, handing her a tissue. "DIE, FALSONE, DIE!!!!" snarled the young woman with the MiB shirt at the tail end of the clump.
"This is bloody obscene," Arcane snapped, folding his arms as the throng of mourners passed, one wailing, "POOR OSCAR!!!"
"TAKE COVER!!!" Graham screamed, shoving Arcane and Fisk out of the way as he dived into Alec and Will. Tressa flattened herself against the snack counter in horror.
"LEONARDO LEONARDO!!!!!" shrieked the pack of 8th-graders as they shot out of the theatre, jumping up and down.
One of the teenagers from the first group, the one with the hair, turned away from the exit door and levelled her gaze at the preteens. "He's the 5th freakin' HANSON!!!"
The leader of the clique raised her eyebrows imperiously to the group. "Get her," she commanded. The roving pack gave chase.
Tressa felt a strong hand pull her out of the way as the 8th-graders stampeded towards the wayward movie-goer. The sounds of a riot could be dimly heard from the parking lot. She looked up at Alec, dazed. "Thanks."
"You could have been trampled," Alec intoned gravely.
-AFTER-
Fisk turned to Tressa as the credits rolled. "So, what did you think of it?"
Tressa shrugged. "Eh."
Alec poked Fisk on the arm. "So, uh... are you finished with that popcorn?"
Ann slammed the bucket down into the mutant's lap disgustedly. "Just take it!! Take it ALL!!!"
Reminder to me: Make Alec bring his own damn snacks next time!!! Tressa turned to her stepson.
Will was just sitting there with the most blank look on his face. "Will?" Tressa asked concernedly. "Will, are you okay?"
Will just stared. "I don't get it."
Fisk leaned over to Tressa, inclining her head toward the row behind them. "So, how are Frankenstein and Igor doing?"
Graham clung to Arcane, sobbing. "It was... I... I..."
Arcane's shoulders were shaking as he buried his face in Graham's chest, sobbing his lungs out. "That was so BEAUTIFUL!!!"
Graham was going into small convulsions. "The whistle guy looked like you!!" He lapsed back into crying.
Arcane sniffled and looked up, his eyes pink and wet. "For God's sakes, don't be so bloody morbid!!" His voice cracked as his gaze softened, glancing back at the credits, Celine Dion's voice yodelling throughout the theater. "OH, HOLD ME, GRAHAM!!!" Arcane wailed, clinging tighter to him as Graham continued to sob loudly.
"Man, this sucks," Alec rumbled.
<eg>--end--
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