[PART TEN]
Part 10 is open and prompts from 1-4 can be re-posted here if they were not filled.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK KINK MEME
ASK THE MODS * FAQ * DISCUSSION * RESEARCH * FILL LIST * PART ONE * PART ONE (OVERFLOW) * PART TWO * PART TWO (OVERFLOW) * PART THREE * PART THREE (OVERFLOW) * PART FOUR * PART FIVE * PART SIX * PART SEVEN * PART EIGHT * PART NINE ( Read more... )
THE SOCIAL NETWORK KINK MEME
ASK THE MODS * FAQ * DISCUSSION * RESEARCH * FILL LIST * PART ONE * PART ONE (OVERFLOW) * PART TWO * PART TWO (OVERFLOW) * PART THREE * PART THREE (OVERFLOW) * PART FOUR * PART FIVE * PART SIX * PART SEVEN * PART EIGHT * PART NINE ( Read more... )
Early March always means kids screaming at their parents and sticky fingers pink with fairy floss. Mark thumbs the inside of his pockets, hunching his shoulders so he won't be noticed. It's difficult sometimes, being famous.
He skirts around a large gaggle of squealing children and harangued adults, taking care to look preoccupied. Narrowly avoiding crashing into a fair-haired boy in a Cars 2 top, he pauses at a nearby bench and slips on his headphones. Muffled silence replaces the clamoring voices and he sighs in relief, craning his neck to see what's drawing such a large crowd.
As if by magic, the crowd parts to reveal someone in a large lemur suit.
'I like to move it, move it!' the lemur calls in an Indian accent. It waggles its stumpy legs in a pitiful attempt at booty shaking. Mark rolls his eyes. Lemurs aren't even from India.
None of the kids staring adoringly at the lemur seem to have any of Mark's misgivings. They squeal and wave their arms like octopuses. Even Mark's noise-cancelling headphones can't block out the rhythmic beat of the speakers and the resulting ear-splitting shrieks which follow.
Usually, when confronted with such a situation, Mark would remove himself from the area, but there are cameramen on the prowl down at the south exit and the dancing lemur is blocking the path to the north. Cursing cameras and children and all things fluffy, Mark slouches further down on the bench and waits for the show to end.
'Goodbye, everybody! Keep shaking those booties!'
With a cheeky wave, the lemur - apparently his name is Julien and he is the King of the Lemurs - begins to march away from the disappointed children. Mark gives an audible sigh of relief, headphones lying forgotten on the bench beside him. Despite the ridiculous dancing, King Julien's voice is almost soothing. Mark wonders what the person beneath the suit is like. Are they Indian? Do they dance better than the character they act as?
The departing lemur looks at Mark - or, well, points its open mouth with the see-through mesh at him - and he blushes, ducking his head as if he's been caught spying on the girls' changing room. Pushing all thoughts of dancing lemurs out of his mind, Mark takes out his phone and makes a note:
KING_JULIEN: Lo (x, w) -> (angle 30 dir SW 13), brushstroke-even? texture.?
Staring, he bins the file and begins to sketch out a new rendering formula. The 4D effects he's going to program into the next Facebook update are going to revolutionize the VFX world. Again.
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Warm brown eyes crinkle at the corners, amused. They're large eyes, and so watery they almost look teary as well as sparkling. They remind Mark of King Julien's huge glassy eyes, only a thousand times livelier. They're breathtaking.
'Hey.'
By now, Mark is used to having strangers accost him on the streets. He looks back warily at the man with the beautiful enormous eyes.
'What?'
It's probably a little rude, but the other man doesn't seem overly offended.
'Mind if I sit here?' he asks. Mark sidles sideways suspiciously, shifting his headphones closer to himself.
'I wasn't taking up the whole bench. You didn't have to ask me.'
The other man tips his head back and laughs. Mark tries very hard not to look at the curve of the man's throat or the protrusion of his Adam's apple.
'You got me,' the man says, throwing up his hands ruefully. 'I saw you watching and felt like talking to you. I'm Eduardo, by the way.'
Mark stares. He's pretty sure he would have remembered seeing somebody like Eduardo. His confusion must have shown on his face because Eduardo makes an embarrassed noise and waves his hand in front of his face as if preparing to say something embarrassing.
'I like to...move it, move it...' He trails off, the Indian accent veering off into softer tones. 'I'm sorry, you probably weren't watching; what am I even thinking? You look busy, I'm so sorry. I'll go now.'
'Wait!' Mark hadn't actually planned on saying anything. He knows he's a difficult person to get along with. People like Eduardo don't make friends with people like Mark, let alone anything else. When Eduardo realizes what how much Mark is devoted to his work, he'll feel betrayed. He'll leave.
You care more about that stupid program than me, Erica had said. He hadn't understood, then, when they had broken up.
'I made Facebook,' he says. It's the one thing in his life that he's actually proud of. He's not necessarily ashamed of anything, but he isn't proud of them, either, anymore. Eduardo inclines his head politely.
'I'm sorry?'
'The 3D rendering program? It's why the production of Rio 5 took two months rather than two years. Facebook uses a completely new algorithm. I'm planning on experimenting with 4D, too.' Mark stops, breathless, ideas for new features sparking halfway across his synapses before petering out. He huffs in frustration.
'I don't understand any of what you said, but it sounds amazing,' says Eduardo. Now that he's looking for it, Mark can trace the elongated vowels and track them to the stronger accent Eduardo uses for King Julien's voice. He imagines Eduardo's voice, I like --
'It is amazing,' he snaps curtly, then bites his lip. 'I mean, it actually is. 4D is going to add a whole new level to the movie experience.'
'Okay,' Eduardo says. A beat. 'Do you ever watch the movies you help make?'
Mark shrugs.
'Not really. I've never been much of a movie person.'
Eduardo grins widely, looking right at Mark, and Mark can feel his heart beat quicker, his pulse racing like he knows something amazing is about to happen. Eduardo puts his hand on Mark's knee.
'Did you work on Madagascar?' he asks. Mark nods, back stiff, wanting to both push Eduardo's hand off his knee and hold it tight, keeping it right where it is. 'We should go see it together sometime, then.'
'Did you voice King Julien in the movie too?'
Eduardo laughs, throwing his head back like he'd done when Mark had first spoken to him, and this time Mark doesn't stop himself from staring at the shadows underneath Eduardo's jaw, knowing the man is watching him out of the corner of his eyes, too.
'I didn't,' Eduardo says regretfully, 'but we can mute the movie whenever King Julien comes on and I'll do a voice over for you.'
A surprised laugh leaps from Mark's throat. Eduardo looks thrilled, as if his sole purpose is to make Mark happy. Mark's throat feels suddenly dry. He swallows, nervous, unable to speak as Eduardo looks expectantly at him.
Feeling elated and utterly stupid, he takes Eduardo's hand and laces their fingers together. When he speaks, he's surprised at how calm he sounds.
'It's a date.'
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A camera flashes in the background. Mark can already see tomorrow's headlines: FACEBOOK CREATOR MARK ZUCKERBERG RENDERS HIS OWN 3D RELATIONSHIP! He grabs Eduardo's wrist.
'Let's get out of here.'
Eduardo grins and they race out of the movie theater, followed by countless lenses zooming in on their almost-joined hands.
'It had to happen eventually,' Eduardo says conversationally, back at Mark's house. 'It's just bad luck that it happened on our first date.'
Mark glares, panting. He's not made for long-distance running. Eduardo looks as good as ever in his three-piece suit, as if he hadn't just run eight hundred meters back to Mark's house. It is, quite frankly, completely unfair.
'You could just have said you didn't want us to be secret,' Mark points out. 'I wouldn't have cared - I thought you would.'
Eduardo looks away guiltily.
'Well,' he says, 'now you know?'
Mark puts his hand on Eduardo's neck and draws him closer until their foreheads are touching lightly.
'Yeah,' he says, closing the gap between their lips. 'I do.'
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