(Untitled)

[thewordofweb]

I had found the book months ago, but I'd yet to crack open the yellow-tinged pages of it in order to read the information inside. It had been like a Christmas gift from a morbid donor, some hint at what my future days might hold in terms of ambition and drive. And no, this is not my war memoir, but rather my true passion before me. I've started the

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[peeweemartin]

Johnny came across Webster sitting in a quiet corner, absolutely lost in the movie he was watching. After he'd stood next to the writer for several minutes, but still hadn't really figured out what the movie was about, he sat down in the empty chair next to Webster.

"What's it about, Web?" He asked.

[thewordofweb]

I glance up after a long moment of attention paid to the movie, clutching the book tightly (protectively) against my abdomen. "The movie? Sharks," I say with a child's delight lurking in my words. I sit up straighter, just to check that he's alone. "Joe didn't follow you, right?"

[peeweemartin]

Johnny turned around as if to check if somebody was behind him before turning to Webster, his eyes gone wide. "Shit, he was there jus' a second ago!"

Upon seeing the look of horror on Webster's face, he sniggered. "Jus' kiddin' with ya, Web. Why would Liebgott be followin' me 'round?" He shook his head, trying to follow the arch of the movie a little more.

"What sorta shark movie? Don't look like a documentation t'ah me."

[thewordofweb]

"I don't ask about the intricate workings of Joe Liebgott's mind," I assure Martin because even if he and I are together, I don't think I'm ever going to receive a how-to manual when it comes to him. "It's a uh, well...a horror movie, I guess. About the perils of swimming in Amityville and sharks. It's a little stupid."

[soldier_singled]

"Oh, Jesus fucking Christ."

To say that Joe is unimpressed would be a little bit of an understatement. He's not comfortable with sharks at the best of fucking times, and he's not comfortable with Web and sharks at the best of the time, and he's not sure when the fuck murderous fucking beasts became entertainment.

"Are you fucking serious?"

[thewordofweb]

At least he's giving me warning with announcing his presence. The moment I hear his voice, I slide the book slowly on the far side of me on the couch and keep my attention on Joe. "Trisha said I should watch it," I explain with a rueful smile, staying right put even though I might have leaned up to steal a kiss if not for the book I'm trying to conceal.

"It's...a little tacky," I have to admit. "No shark would ever come that close to shore, it's ridiculous."

[soldier_singled]

"Me and Trisha are gonna have words," says Joe, glumly, eyes on the screen. "I mean, what the hell is this, anyway? What happened to Rita? A picture with Rita's a picture I'm gonna be able to sit through."

[thewordofweb]

"Come on, Joe, she's a kid who knows I love sharks, give her a break," I protest as I lean forward and cup a palm around his neck, leaning up on the couch to tug him down to me and press my lips to his slow and long. Sure, I've seen him hours ago, but if I can't take what's mine for spoils, then what's the point. "There are girls in bikinis? How's that for something?"

[nightwandering]

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I happened upon Web watching, "Jaws! Alright!" There was no mistaking it, at all. As I approached Web, I spiderwalked my index and middle fingers up his spine and did my best cello solo impression of the theme. So I was a little flat, but who cared? It was Jaws!

[thewordofweb]

I stare warily at Jim for a second with utter confusion. I have absolutely no idea what he's going on about and recline further, flipping the page of my book. "Is that Bach or someone?" I ask warily, not really paying attention to the movie for right now.

[nightwandering]

There was a pause, my head tipping to the side as I thought about the question for a moment. It should have hit me that it definitely wasn't Bach right away and I wasn't dumb, but the question did stump me for a second. "No," I finally answered, pressing two fingertips to Web's forehead. I gave it a little shove, then moved away to look at the movie. "I didn't think you'd like this movie," I commented.

[thewordofweb]

"Why not?" I ask curiously, shifting in my comfortable position to be able to look at him. After all, it's not as if I spent that much time thinking about movies I wanted to see and not, and this one is all Trisha.

[plntfood]

There weren't a lot of movies that Mathias knew well, but he liked Jaws and he grinned a little as he came into the rec room and saw that it was playing. The grin disappeared when he saw Webster, though, and he came over to sit down beside him. "You're watching Jaws?" he asks a little warily, remembering what Webster has told him about the boat.

[thewordofweb]

"Trisha recommended it to me. Said it would change the way I viewed sharks, that I would forever be scared of swimming with them," I announce, as though an obituary in a newspaper hadn't already done that. "As far as I can tell, though, this is just gross exaggeration and gruesome scenes to fulfill the role of a homicidal maniac in a horror movie."

[plntfood]

"I liked it the first time I saw it," Mathias remembers, but he doesn't know anything about sharks, really, and doesn't know how accurate it really is. "Why don't you turn it off it it isn't to your tastes?" Of course, he isn't sure if that's the case either, but if Webster feels so strongly about it, it can't be good.

[thewordofweb]

"Because I still love sharks," I admit with a hint of a boyish grin. And maybe there's a part of me that wants to see more of it for the majesty of the animal. The facts may be wrong, but the movements, the grace of its swimming when it's not some robotic creation, that's what's keeping me watching.

[never_atone]

"Oh my!"

Briony was not afraid of sharks. To be completely honest, she'd never given the creatures much thought. The mundane and the fantastic had filled her mind as a child: pigs, cows, chickens, unicorns and dragons. Things in between had passed by her without much attention.

But seeing such a great beast eat its way through half a boat was enough to startle anyone, especially if that one were not expecting it.

"What's this?"

[thewordofweb]

I sit up a little straighter and glance over my shoulder to greet Briony with a light smile, trying to encourage her in the room, even if there's gruesome fare playing all over the television. "This? It's a uh, a shark movie. A horror movie, I guess you could say," I note in a monotone. "It was recommended to me because I love sharks so much."

[never_atone]

"A horror movie?" she repeated, finding the concept unfathomable. "Why on earth would anyone want to watch something horrible for any amount of time?"

[thewordofweb]

"It apparently becomes a genre in film as the century progresses," I inform her as I settle comfortably into the couch, repeating words that I'd read before in a book. "I don't know, I guess the pathos of the audience also extends to them wanting an adrenaline high?"