RENTAL MOVIES (1/6)
Title: Rental Movies (1/6)
Author: fairchristabel
Rating: PG
Summary: Chenzel (Kristin/Idina)
A/N: My first RPF, and, I think, my first attempt at any kind of fanfic. I wrote this back in 2006, but just posted it to the comm, and not my journal, so I'm rectifying that now. Kind of angsty, but it ends up happy, so that's something.
January, 2007
New York City
Blockbuster Movie Store
Renting movies had always been Taye’s thing. In the beginning they had gone together, browsing hand-in-hand through the rows of movie boxes, but after her third successive choice bombed Taye had declared her movie illiterate and refused to let her come along with him anymore. And even when he stopped going to the store and started using Netflix he refused to let her be in the same room with him while he made his selections, lest she taint the entire process.
“I can choose good movies,” Idina muttered to herself as she stared at a formidable wall of DVDs.
“Excuse me?”
Idina jumped, startled, at the close voice.
“You need some help?” A tall, gangly boy, his red button-up Blockbuster shirt open to show the Star Wars tee underneath, stood unnervingly close to her elbow.
“No, I’m fine. I’m just looking.”
“We close in fifteen minutes.” The boy stared at her for a few moments, then turned and walked away.
“Whatever.” Idina shrugged to herself. They wouldn’t kick her out. She and Kristin had come in five minutes before closing time and the manager had waited with them until they had made their selections. In all fairness, though, that probably had more to do with the autograph Kristin had given him than the inherent niceness of late-night movie rental managers.
* * * * * *
“There’s nothing on TV,” Kristin complained.
“Did you look through all the channels?” Idina asked from the kitchen.
“Of course I looked through all the channels, Dee. I looked through them three times. There’s nothin’ on.”
Idina smiled as she stood up and walked toward the living room. Kristin’s voice had taken on a slight twang, a sure sign that she was getting pouty. Idina stepped into the living room and saw Kristin, in sweats and a t-shirt, curled up on the couch, mindlessly flipping through the channels once again.
“Errrr! There’s nothin’ at all on this stupid TV!” Kristin turned off the television and threw the offending remote on the floor. Idina slipped up behind her and slid her arms around Kristin’s shoulders.
“I know, baby, it’s terrible. It is a stupid TV.”
“Yeah, it is,” Kristin grumped, with a slight smile.
“And to think that you, Kristin Chenoweth, Tony award winning actress, have to put up with this, why, it’s inconceivable. If your fans only knew about the hardships that you have to deal with on a day to day basis. Ha. They think it’s all glitz and glitter and glamour, but little do they know the true trials you face.”
“Idina Menzel,” Kristin said, looking up at her with a stern face, “are you mocking me?”
“Never, darling. I would never mock the wonderful, the amazing, Kristin Chenoweth. I stand in complete and utter awe of you. The strength and courage it must take to wake up each morning and face the new day, knowing that that night, after you take off that tiara, all you have to look forward to is a stupid TV. Your strength inspires me.”
Idina leaned down and covered Kristin’s mouth with her own. After a moment, Kristin pushed her away, trying to maintain her stern visage. “Oh really, Miss Menzel? All I have to look forward to every night is TV? I thought maybe we might find something more interesting to do on our off night, but it looks like you’re having too much fun mocking me.” Kristin slithered out of Idina’s grasp and picked up the remote. She sat down on the opposite end of the couch and turned the television back on. Her hand waved negligently at Idina. “Go back to whatever it was you were doing, darlin’. Have fun.”
Idina stared at Kristin in amusement, then walked around and sat down beside her. Idina put her arm around her shoulder, pulling the blonde head closer to her own. “C’mon, baby. I can think of plenty of fun things we can do together,” she murmured, her tongue sliding out and caressing Kristin’s ear. Kristin leaned away.
“Oh no. I don’t think so. I distinctly recall you sayin’ that the only thing in my sad, pathetic little life was TV.”
“I was just joking, Kris.” Idina reached out and wrapped her hands around the blonde’s waist, tugging her closer. She swept blonde hair out of the way and placed a kiss where the curve of her neck melted into her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I was being mean,” each word punctuated with another kiss on bare skin. “Let me make it up to you.” Kristin leaned back, into the kisses, and Idina smiled, thinking she had won. She slid her hands under Kristin’s shirt and ran her fingers across her abdomen. Her hands moved up to cup her breasts, and Kristin pulled away, standing up.
“Uhn-uh,” she said, shaking a finger in Idina’s face. “You don’t get off that easy.”
Idina grinned. “But I could get off that easy, babe, if you would just come back here.” She reached for Kristin, who slapped her hands away.
“Nope. TV is what you said, and TV it shall be.” She picked up the remote and flipped through the channels until she found the Home Shopping Network, then sat down on the other end of the couch. Idina groaned.
“Geez, Kris. Are you trying to torture me? Please tell me we are not going to watch Suzanne Sommers sell her crap all night long.”
“She has good stuff sometimes. Besides, this is what I do, remember?”
“I remember. But if we have to watch TV, can’t we find something better?”
“We don’t have to watch TV. You’re free to do whatever you want.”
“Well, I want to be with you, ergo, I must watch the TV.”
Kristin didn’t reply, but the corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile. They watched Suzanne Sommers for a few minutes before Kristin turned off the TV with a sigh. Idina, sensing that this was her chance, scooted closer. “Hold it.” Kristin thrust her hand in Idina’s face.
“What?” Idina asked innocently. “There’s obviously nothing on right now. The only choice left is to find some way to entertain ourselves.” She leaned in for a kiss, but Kristin moved even faster, and with nowhere to place her forward momentum, Idina fell face-first into the cushions. She picked herself up and glared at Kristin, who smiled sweetly at her.
“Are you okay, Dee? Why, you just fell right over.”
“I’m fine,” Idina muttered, rubbing her nose.
Kristin walked over to the TV cabinet and opened the doors beneath the television. “You know,” she said, conversationally, “your DVD selection is sadly lacking.”
Idina was still feeling her nose. “Yeah, well, usually Taye just rents ’em.”
“Oooo, Dee, let’s go rent a movie!”
“Kris, it’s late. Nothing’s open.”
“Something’s always open. And it’s not that late.”
“All right, all right. Just let me get some shoes.”
Idina walked back into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of tennis shoes. She was about to walk back to the living room when she heard the door to the bathroom shut and the shower start up. She walked over and knocked on the door.
“Kris? Kris? What’re you doing?”
The door opened and a blonde head poked out. “I’m taking a shower. I won’t be long.”
“Kris!” Idina pushed the door open. “C’mon, there’s no time for a shower. You look fine. No one’ll care what you look like, anyway.”
“Idina Menzel, I care what I look like. And what if I meet a fan? I can’t very well go out looking like this. My hair’s a mess.”
“Your hair looks fine. And you look beautiful.” Kristin looked at her doubtfully. “Just put your hair back in a ponytail, and I’ll get you a hat to wear, okay? ’Cause we’ve got to leave now.”
“All right,” Kristin agreed slowly. “If you say so-”
“I do,” Idina said firmly.
As Idina walked over to her closet she heard the water shut off. She opened the door and rummaged through some boxes on the floor until she found what she was looking for. Idina walked back to the bathroom and rapped on the door.
“Hey, Chenoweth, you decent?”
“As if you care,” came the muffled voice. The door opened and Kristin walked out, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
“Here you go.” Idina handed Kristin a salmon-colored cap with I *heart* NY written on it in big white letters.
“Why, Dee, how very tourist-y of you.” She grinned and pulled the cap on her head as they headed out of the apartment. She linked arms with Idina. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, darling, but why do you have an I heart New York hat?”
Idina didn’t answer as they stepped onto the sidewalk. “I think the store’s this way,” she said, pulling Kristin to the left.
“Dee, there’s a Blockbuster a few blocks the other way. I don’t even live here, and I know that.”
“Oh.” Idina turned around and began to retrace her steps. “I told you, Taye rents the movies. I just watch ’em.”
“Yes, but don’t you ever go with him?”
“No, he thinks I’ll curse him if I’m in the same room as him when he’s making his choices.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Kristin directing their steps. “Dee, you didn’t answer my question.”
Idina pretended to be confused.
“About the hat?” Kristin said, pointing at her head. “Where’d it come from? Did
someone give it to you? Did you steal it out of the lost and found at work?”
Idina shook her head and smiled. “I bought it.”
“You bought it? Oh, Dee, I thought we talked about this. You know you’re supposed to let me come along with you anytime you go clothes shopping.”
“A hat is not clothing.” Idina grinned at the tiny blonde.
Kristin gestured emphatically with her free hand. “It’s an accessory, Dee. Clothing and accessories, you don’t buy unless I’m there with you. Otherwise, you end up with a closet full of these,” she said, gesturing to the hat. Idina stared at the sidewalk, silent, and Kristin relented. “Not that the hat’s not cute, in its own way. At least it’s not black.”
“I didn’t buy it to wear.”
“You didn’t?” Kristin sounded puzzled.
“You didn’t?” Kristin shook her head. “I obviously have a lot more work ahead of me than I thought. Okay, lesson one, Dee. Clothes, and accessories, are for wearing. You should not buy something if you’re not going to wear it. Otherwise, what’s the point? You just keep it in your closet to look at? I don’t know, Dee. Sometimes I worry about you.”
“It reminded me of you.”
“What?” Kristin stopped, her arm pulling out of Idina’s as Idina walked on. Kristin stared at Idina’s back for a moment, then ran and caught up with her. Idina had her hands in her pockets, and Kristin folded her arms across her chest as they walked. “You bought it because it reminds you of me?” Idina nodded, staring intently at the sidewalk. “Have you ever even worn it?”
Idina shook her head. “I was saving it for a rainy day.”
“Oh.” Kristin’s nose scrunched up in thought as they stopped on a corner. Once the street was clear and they crossed to the other side, she looked at Idina. “When did you buy it?”
“After I got back from the try-outs in San Francisco. I saw it in the window of an airport gift shop.”
“And you bought it?”
“I missed you.”
Kristin smiled, and slipped her arm back through Idina’s. “It’s a beautiful hat, Dee.”