Work Text:
“Long day at work indeed, huh?”
“Tell me about it. I began typing in the wrong cell in my spreadsheet, so I was forced to reformat the entire document, and guess who spammed our department comlink from 1300 to 1600 today?”
“Who?”
“Her Over-Extravagance apparently was under the impression that m- our research did not go far enough in depth into Martian gravity on sentient beings, despite the fact that that is completely outside my jurisdiction! ”
“Goodness. I expect an evening of absolutely nothing is in order?”
“Affirmative, sir.”
The taller Martian absentmindedly ran his fingers over the crest of his counterpart’s helmet as he spoke. “Mel, you are aware we’re both off duty? No need for those titles...”
“Perfectly aware, my stardust.” Mello leaned upwards on their toes to give Marvin a peck on the cheek. “Force of habit, that’s all.”
Heading over to the comlink, Marvin paused before dialing, his finger hovering over the touchpad. “Is it alright with you if we order in? It’s been a bit of a hassle today for me as well.”
“That sounds like a great idea. What were you feeling like ordering?”
“Pizza?”
“Sounds great!” Having hopped onto the couch, Mello powered on the holoscreen and began scrolling through available titles. “Do you want to watch a movie? And if so, are you feeling like watching a film that’s actually enjoyable, or laughing at something that’s bad?”
Finishing keying in his order, Marvin pondered the idea for a moment. “I do certainly want to watch a movie with you. Do you have anything specific in mind?”
Closing out of an article entitled “Top 10 Worst Sci-Fi Films Ever”, Mello let out a snort of laughter before proposing their idea. “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”
Mello settled their head into the crook of Marvin’s neck as they watched the absolutely inept ridiculousness that was this “movie” play out onscreen, quietly chuckling at the Commander’s bombastic reaction to the glaring scientific inaccuracies.
“Wha- this is malarkey! A craft as low-capacity as that would under no circumstances possess a warp drive capable of traveling at that speed! Thousand-light-year jumping drives are reserved for large freighter vessels and high-priority military dreadnoughts! There is no safety measure to prevent it from being torn apart from the force of warp travel! And what’s this baloney about necromancy?”
“Marv, this is a low-budget film produced in 1959 by Earthlings with no experience regarding space travel or filmmaking. I think you may want to cut them a bit of slack.” The researcher snuggled a bit closer to Marvin. He grew a bit less tense, fidgeting with their hands with his fingers threaded through theirs.
“This is ridiculously poorly-made and it is positively hilarious how off this is. Where did you even obtain this?”
“Pirated it off the internet.”
The Martian feigned recoiling in shock at this seemingly sudden revelation. “ Mello! We work for the government! Do you mean to tell me you have given in to a life of crime and debauchery?”
“Yes, I also jaywalked across the street when we were out last Friday. I have been swept too deep into the dark underbelly of lawlessness for redemption.”
“Positively barbaric.” Marvin murmured as he gently pressed his lips against theirs.