Early Friday the 3rd [angst! gasp!]
Stephen was in the rec room, sprawled across a couch, staring up at the ceiling. He really needed a hobby. One show a week on the radio wasn't good enough, and he had no family to deal with or...friends or anything. He had been sitting there doing nothing for so long that really, he should have just given up and gone to bed for the night.
But he was just so bored. Too restless to try to sleep, so he stood and went to the bookshelf, glowering the whole time.
Something entertaining, something entertaining...
He pulled reels out that had incredibly boring titles, getting more and more annoyed. What was with all the educational films?! They were probably full of lies and anti-American propaganda anyway.
Finally -- Blade: Trinity.
He paused. Why did that name sound familiar?
Well now he had switched from annoyed to curious, so he went to set it up. Since he had done it for Coraline before he only flubbed it up once, not that anyone was around to notice. Flopping back into a seat, he settled in to watch. And okay, he almost fell asleep waiting for the actual images to start - because seriously, why did the movie makers seem to think people wanted to go to the movies to watch blood for what felt like five hours?
But then he was nearly blinded by sunlight in a desert, and it wasn't all that interesting yet until the random people got deep into a cave thing, removed the things covering their faces and--
And he may have stopped paying attention because one of the people on-screen looked an awful lot like Asher. It was difficult to be sure, since there were apparently about five hundred others that looked just like him. But the more he watched, the more things began to come together.
The comic that Asher found. Some of these characters' names. And oh yeah, the whole vampire thing. That was definitely a giveaway.
That still didn't stop him from inwardly freaking out a little once Asher's name was finally said. Was no one but Stephen real anymore?! And why the hell was Asher barely actually on screen? That didn't seem fair, somehow.
He did, of course, approve of all the action. Kept things interesting. Especially since he didn't care much about anyone, but that might have been because it was late at night. During a lull in the chaos, he took the time to wistfully think about his own personal movie theater in his home, and the fact that he would have hot popcorn if he were there.
About the time Asher kicked that other guy in the head, Stephen was thinking about how even with that, Asher seemed nicer to everyone in the movie than he was to Stephen... Minus the whole not actually killing him thing and all. Stephen appreciated that part.
The tension was upping and Stephen leaned forward where he sat, not really at all disturbed by the fact that he was kind of rooting for the vampires. And then it happened. Onyx died. Asher died. His sister died. Asher died.
"What the fuck?!" Stephen exclaimed after he got the power of speech back. The movie ended soon after that and he had to stop himself from removing the reel and just kicking it across the room. He sat in the darkness.
He knew there were fictional characters walking around. He knew there were people that had died back where they came from. But both of those things... Stephen had never really thought they would include Asher. For some reason.
Trying to convince himself that it didn't make any difference, and really he was just sad for Chloe, that her husband had died before, Stephen called it a night. He descended the stairs to the basement slowly, yawning. He took off his glasses, fell back onto his bed, got comfortable...and couldn't fall asleep. Sure, he had only been trying for all of ten seconds, but it was forever to him, and he couldn't get the damn image out of his head, of Asher just - burning up.
Annoyed again, he sat up and squinted into the dark in the direction of Asher's bed. Before Onyx could jump on top of him, he climbed off the bed and walked over. Fell to his knees beside the bed and was promptly licked on the nose by Chloe. He made a grossed out sound and then whispered loudly.
"Asher. Are you awake?" No movement. And if there was, Asher would probably kill him, so it was probably better this way. Still: "You're still alive, right?"
This time, Asher made a vague sound, so at least he was still in the land of the living. Relieved, Stephen patted Chloe on the head (he was so generous) and made to stand, then clearly lost his damn mind instead. Because instead of that, he leaned forward and gave Asher a quick hug, awkward in the position but a hug it was. Then he made a shushing noise to Chloe, and wandered off to his own bed.
This time, he fell asleep.
But he was just so bored. Too restless to try to sleep, so he stood and went to the bookshelf, glowering the whole time.
Something entertaining, something entertaining...
He pulled reels out that had incredibly boring titles, getting more and more annoyed. What was with all the educational films?! They were probably full of lies and anti-American propaganda anyway.
Finally -- Blade: Trinity.
He paused. Why did that name sound familiar?
Well now he had switched from annoyed to curious, so he went to set it up. Since he had done it for Coraline before he only flubbed it up once, not that anyone was around to notice. Flopping back into a seat, he settled in to watch. And okay, he almost fell asleep waiting for the actual images to start - because seriously, why did the movie makers seem to think people wanted to go to the movies to watch blood for what felt like five hours?
But then he was nearly blinded by sunlight in a desert, and it wasn't all that interesting yet until the random people got deep into a cave thing, removed the things covering their faces and--
And he may have stopped paying attention because one of the people on-screen looked an awful lot like Asher. It was difficult to be sure, since there were apparently about five hundred others that looked just like him. But the more he watched, the more things began to come together.
The comic that Asher found. Some of these characters' names. And oh yeah, the whole vampire thing. That was definitely a giveaway.
That still didn't stop him from inwardly freaking out a little once Asher's name was finally said. Was no one but Stephen real anymore?! And why the hell was Asher barely actually on screen? That didn't seem fair, somehow.
He did, of course, approve of all the action. Kept things interesting. Especially since he didn't care much about anyone, but that might have been because it was late at night. During a lull in the chaos, he took the time to wistfully think about his own personal movie theater in his home, and the fact that he would have hot popcorn if he were there.
About the time Asher kicked that other guy in the head, Stephen was thinking about how even with that, Asher seemed nicer to everyone in the movie than he was to Stephen... Minus the whole not actually killing him thing and all. Stephen appreciated that part.
The tension was upping and Stephen leaned forward where he sat, not really at all disturbed by the fact that he was kind of rooting for the vampires. And then it happened. Onyx died. Asher died. His sister died. Asher died.
"What the fuck?!" Stephen exclaimed after he got the power of speech back. The movie ended soon after that and he had to stop himself from removing the reel and just kicking it across the room. He sat in the darkness.
He knew there were fictional characters walking around. He knew there were people that had died back where they came from. But both of those things... Stephen had never really thought they would include Asher. For some reason.
Trying to convince himself that it didn't make any difference, and really he was just sad for Chloe, that her husband had died before, Stephen called it a night. He descended the stairs to the basement slowly, yawning. He took off his glasses, fell back onto his bed, got comfortable...and couldn't fall asleep. Sure, he had only been trying for all of ten seconds, but it was forever to him, and he couldn't get the damn image out of his head, of Asher just - burning up.
Annoyed again, he sat up and squinted into the dark in the direction of Asher's bed. Before Onyx could jump on top of him, he climbed off the bed and walked over. Fell to his knees beside the bed and was promptly licked on the nose by Chloe. He made a grossed out sound and then whispered loudly.
"Asher. Are you awake?" No movement. And if there was, Asher would probably kill him, so it was probably better this way. Still: "You're still alive, right?"
This time, Asher made a vague sound, so at least he was still in the land of the living. Relieved, Stephen patted Chloe on the head (he was so generous) and made to stand, then clearly lost his damn mind instead. Because instead of that, he leaned forward and gave Asher a quick hug, awkward in the position but a hug it was. Then he made a shushing noise to Chloe, and wandered off to his own bed.
This time, he fell asleep.