33 Apocalypse Ave, Saturday Evening

[hotceltogoth]

So it wouldn't be a movie night without snacks. Which was why Ronan was coming into the living room with a giant bowl of popcorn (tossed in butter with just the right amount of sea salt and a little cayenne pepper and cumin) in one hand, a couple of bottles of Guinness Foreign Extra in the other or enough for Jack and/or Emma if they are joining in

Comments

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan's expression betrayed a mix of resignation and amusement and maybe a trace of reluctant nostalgia. Even now, over a month after Shepard's death, he was finding himself cornered into watching one of these movies.

He didn't even like them all that much. It just seemed to have become-- not a habit, but some quirk of the universe he couldn't escape.

"A hanar," he confirmed. "They're a species of bio-luminescent... well, they prefer not to be called 'jellyfish', but... that's probably the easiest reference. Blasto is supposed to be the first hanar Spectre, which is... the Council's personal branch of special ops operatives."

Beat.

"Don't expect too much of it. It's just a stupid action movie."

And he'd just found out they were planning another one next year that featured an elcor as Blasto's vitriolic best bud. Sigh.

[hotceltogoth]

"So we'll do the deep culturally important movies some other time. There is nothing wrong with stupid action movies."

Ronan grinned and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "So jellyfish is a slur, then -- anything else I should know about them before we start this, or can I probably pick it up as we watch?"

[not_a_whiner]

"No, I, uh... I think it mostly speaks for itself." He was not going to do something stupid like think about the last time he'd heard 'jellyfish' used as a slur.

The movie kicked off with a cold open; Kaidan chose the better part of valor and reached out to pick up a beer.

"But feel free to let me know if you, uh, have any questions," he said a moment later. Probably was a lot going on in it that Kaidan figured was, you know, normal. Come to think of it.

[hotceltogoth]

Ronan was staring at the screen in something that resembled incredulity. "... This is going to be awesome," he declared, popping open his Guinness.

"So can you tell me more about the Spectres? You said they're special ops -- do they have a degree of autonomy, or are they directed-only?"

[bitten_notshy]

Normally, Jack would have let Ronan and Kaidan have the living room to themselves, but sometimes something on the TV attracted even him.

Such as what looked to him like an enormous squid holding guns.

"... what in blazes is this?" he asked, and snatched a handful of popcorn before anyone could stop him.

[not_a_whiner]

"'Blasto: the Jellyfish Stings'," Kaidan said. Yeah, he made it sound as ridiculous as it was. "Just another piece of fine entertainment from my galaxy."

Shepard probably would've said that more earnestly.

[bitten_notshy]

"So I'm to take it action movies are universal," Jack said, with the sigh of one who was still Victorian enough to prefer a nice night of vaudeville.

He gestured to the squid-thing. "That's the jellyfish?"

[not_a_whiner]

"A hanar," Kaidan corrected idly. "I think 'jellyfish' is technically a speciesist slur..."

[icecoldfrost]

It was a little bit later when Emma finally came home, kicking off her shoes by the door and dumping her duffel bag right on top of them.

"Do I smell meatballs?"

[hotceltogoth]

"Good nose!" Ronan said, laughing. "They should be done if you want to grab some. Crockpot on the counter.

"And there's Guinness."

[icecoldfrost]

"I have a radar for food, especially food I don't have to make," Emma reminded him, making a beeline for the kitchen.

If she came out a moment later with the entire crockpot and forks for all, well, Emma was hungry. Life with Hank meant lots of mac and cheese.

[hotceltogoth]

Life with Ronan could mean mac and cheese, too, but his was usually made with rotini instead, and three cheeses, and-- okay, so basically all it had in common was that there was cheese.

Ronan laughed at the sight of the crockpot, pulling out a Guinness to hold out for Emma. "And, really, is there any other kind of food in this house?" It's not like the fridge was full of leftovers or anyth- oh, wait.