Super Awesome Friend Bonding Times

[ghostking]

[It was Jason's idea.

He said it would be good for him. He needed to spend time with friends and have fun. Do things that teenagers are supposed to do. Things that don't include fighting for your life or saving the world from complete and utter destruction at the hands of vengeful deities.

A movie night was his suggestion. A movie night with Piper. Jason had been so eager and earnest about it that it was hard for him to say no. So he didn't. And that's how Nico found himself sitting on her couch on a Friday night with the strained awkward silence that seemed to follow him like a rain cloud planting itself firmly between them.]

... Nice place.

Comments

[keepitsimple]

[Tristan Mclean's Malibu home was definitely nice. Nice to the point of overwhelming, for some people. Set on top of a beachside cliff, it was a very Modern-style sparsely-decorated place, all interestingly-shaped poured concrete walls and countless panels of glass. To anyone who wasn't used to it, it probably felt a little like being in a fishbowl.

Piper had never really gotten used to it. It was too fancy, too out there design-wise for her taste. Her room was the one room in the house (aside from the garage) that wasn't glass on three sides. She liked having the ocean view, but she liked being able to close out any prying eyes even more. Thank the gods for shutters and curtains.

In response to Nico's comment (it didn't quite feel like a compliment, somehow), Piper just gave a one-shouldered shrug and said rather noncommittally,]

Yeah, well. It's what people expect from a movie star, right?

[In an attempt to ease the awkwardness, she busied herself with spreading out their snacks for the night. Jason had been so excited when he'd proposed this movie night idea, she hadn't had the heart to do anything but agree. In any case, she hadn't been against the idea at all. It wasn't that she disliked Nico or anything. He was just hard to read, and still tended to keep people at arm's length; Piper didn't want to force her way in where she wasn't wanted, even if he'd gotten a bit better about that recently.

Case in point, the fact that he was here at all.

...Well, hopefully Jason was right about this, and things would be a little more comfortable and easy between herself and the son of Hades by the time the night was over.]

So. What do you want to watch?

[A few clicks with the TV remote and they've got access to...just about any movie they could possibly think of. (Perks of being a movie star's kid.) With a little grin, she'll offer him the remote.

Congrats, Nico. You now have phenomenal cosmic power.]

Guest's choice. It's only fair.

[ghostking]

[Nico takes the remote from her with a small sense of trepidation and wonder. He's never had access to so much TV ever in his life. Never had the opportunity to really sit around and watch movies either.

He tries not to show how excited he is.]

Alright, then you forfeit the right to complain when I inevitably pick something terrible.

[He pulls a leg up on the couch with him, leaning forward as he flips idly through the channels. Unfortunately, there's a lot of movies he hasn't seen so he spends a bit of time reading some of the blurbs until he finds one that is just so terrible he can't pass it up.]

Crescent Rising, huh?

[His lips twitch up into an amused smirk as he reads the description out loud.]

A deadly disease is laying waste to a futuristic society. Liam Crescent (Tristan McLean) is a hard-boiled detective searching for answers... and a cure. Is the scrappy young hacker Io Rhodes (Cecelia Martin) up to the task?

[Nico brings his other hand up to his mouth, trying to keep himself from snickering, but it doesn't do anything to hide the amusement in his eyes.]

Yeah, this sounds good.

[keepitsimple]

[For just a moment, Piper freezes when Nico stops on that movie. Because, really, out of the literally THOUSANDS of films he could've picked...it had to be one with her dad in it.

Of course.

She can't help but give a little chuckle as he reads out the description and levels judgment on it, though she has to comment on his comment.]

If by "good" you mean "super terrible," you'd be right.

[...But...she had given him the remote, and he was right, she'd forfeited the right to complain. Even if it was a really awful movie and she'd be doing him a favor by charmspeaking him out of the whole idea and convincing him to watch something else...but no, that's not what they were here for.]

But, hey, if super terrible is what you're in the mood for, be my guest.

[She gives a one-shouldered shrug as she reaches of a bag of caramel popcorn.]

The special effects are actually really neat, so I guess it's not all bad.

[ghostking]

[Honestly, he hasn't quite put together that the Tristan McLean that's in this movie is Piper's dad. Despite the fact that the living room he's sitting in is clearly one that exists thanks to a movie star's budget, it's still one of those strange things that still really hasn't sunk in.]

Super terrible is exactly what I meant.

[With a sardonic grin, he presses play and leans forward to place the remote down on the table in front of him. He rummages around for a bag of chips, popping them open before the opening crawl starts.

He shoves a few chips in his mouth, not bothering to finish chewing before he speaks again.]

You've seen this one?

[keepitsimple]

[She watches them all, no matter how bad they are. Sometimes she even gets to see some of them as post-production rough cuts, which she actually greatly preferred. It's something that everyone in the world won't get to see, something that she gets to see because he's her father. It makes it easier to feel just a little closer to him, when the movie is still unpolished, with more clips of him showing raw emotion; he can feel so distant when it's the finished product.]

Unfortunately.

[She smiles as she says it, but still instantly regrets it just a little. It's not that she doesn't like ANY of her dad's movies, but...some of them are just... Still, she should probably try to be more supportive...even if this one isn't one of the good ones. At all.]

It did pretty well in the theaters, though, so there's almost definitely gonna be a sequel or two. I guess lots of people really liked it.

[ghostking]

[The expository scenes begin to play out: wide angled shots of a bleak, gray city, unrecognizable streets riddled with cyberpunk technology, people and buildings cast in harsh neon light (because apparently neon and weird holographic signs = futuristic). The camera dips through various seemingly day-to-day activities, including a moment that lingers on a citizen flipping through the news and headlines that read, "CDC STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP WITH NEW REPORTS OF DISEASE OUTBREAK" and "5 NEW CASES OF CWW CONFIRMED IN QUADRANT 7".

Eventually the camera focuses on a pair of shoes sluggishly trudging along the sidewalk. It pans up slowly to reveal the main character and it's only then that Nico realizes exactly what movie he chose.

He looks from the screen to Piper and back again a few times.]

I... didn't realize this had your dad in it.

[WOW HE FEELS LIKE A DUMBASS.]

Gods, I even read the name out loud, but it didn't register that it was the same person. If you don't want to watch this one I can find something else.

[keepitsimple]

[Piper just smiles and waves away Nico's almost-apology, and this time she can't help reflexively putting just the barest trace of charmspeak in her words. She isn't trying to brainwash him, just put his mind at ease. She doesn't really want to watch it, but...if he does, then that's what they're going to do. Tonight is about getting to know him better, and making more of a friendship connection, and she's not going to shut him down when it's something this small.]

Nah, don't worry about it. I'm used to it.

[Then she flashes Nico a bright, mischievous grin, her tone dropping into an obvious mimicry of the voice-over Tristan McLean had just done in the movie, as rough and world-weary and heavy-smoker-esque as she could manage:]

You made your choice, di Anglo. Now you have to live with it--no take-backs.

[ghostking]

Used to your dad being in terrible movies, used to having to watch them, or both?

[He tries to hide his laughter after her impression of her dad by quickly stuffing some more chips in his mouth, but he can't quite manage to force the corners of his lips to stay in a straight line like he wants them to.]

Oof, harsh.

[But in the end Nico just shrugs before settling back onto the couch.]

All right, if you say so.

[keepitsimple]

Both. But to be fair, they're not all terrible. Not even most of them. It's just...when they're bad, they're really bad.

[Her dad is a good actor, after all, not just a pretty face. And he's passionate about it, and dedicated too--enough that it was hard not to feel a little...well, jealous sometimes. Piper didn't doubt that her father genuinely loved her, but there were plenty of times over the years (and even now) when it felt like he paid more attention to his career than his own daughter.

...But that's not important tonight. Tonight is about paying attention to Nico, and really, what better way to bond with someone than to rag on a bad movie together?]

Most of the acting isn't so bad, it's the script that's awful. I mean, Anthony Hopkins is in this one, and even he couldn't save it.

[Piper turns her attention back to the screen, munching on popcorn in silence for a few minutes before chuckling at a certain line, then reaching over to lightly tap the side of Nico's shoulder with the backs of her fingers.]

Hey, we should play a drinking game. "Take shot every time someone says some obviously made-up piece of wannabe futuristic slang."

[She's almost completely joking...but then again, they've lived through way more dangerous stuff than most people twice their age, and technically Nico is well over the legal drinking age. If he does actually want to go for it, Piper is on board.]

[ghostking]

[He chuckles, shaking his head a little.]

Look, if you want to meet my dad that badly there are other ways to arrange a meeting that don't involve actually killing yourself. I mean, if we were to play that the way drinking games are supposed to be played we'd be dead before the movie was over. That's just a guarantee. You have better chances of survival trying to sneak into the Underworld.

[keepitsimple]

[The fact that he can tell that already and it's only about 10 minutes into the movie...well, that sure says something for the quality of the film. Or "quality", in air quotes. In any case, Nico's totally right and Piper knows it--that's why she said it in the first place, to be ridiculous--but that doesn't mean she's gonna back down so easily. She gives an offhanded shrug.]

Hey, if you don't wanna play the game, that's totally your call.

[Somehow it's ridiculously tempting to teasingly push him about it, to throw down the if you're not up to it, I understand completely, di Angelo gauntlet, but...the mood right now is light and he's chuckling and almost really smiling and Piper doesn't want to do anything to make him go serious again.

So instead she thinks: what would Leo say right now if he was here? and says that.]

Then again, we could always play it with hot sauce instead of booze...though honestly, as someone who's already seen this movie, that could probably kill us, too.