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“Have you ever seen The Shining, Jojo?”
“That movie by Stanley what’s-his-face? Yeah. Sure.”
Joseph had probably never seen The Shining. But if it would make him look cooler, then he definitely did, according to him.
Caesar sighed and picked away at the bowl of candy Suzi Q had placed on the table as she and Lisa Lisa left for the night for some evening errand.
‘Just in case kids come around!’ She had told him enthusiastically. Caesar failed to mention that their large house in the middle of the woods in the middle of Nowhere, New York would probably have no children in sight for miles.
He honestly felt a bit bad. Lisa Lisa let her decorate the house with tacky orange, purple and black decorations even though no one else would see it. He supposed it was the thought that counted. At least Joseph seemed enthusiastic about it.
Joseph and Caesar had the day off from training, but coach never really specified why as she and Suzi left the house in a flash that evening. Joseph thought she was out getting drunk. Caesar thought she just liked Halloween.
“Have you now? I bet you were terrified when you watched it,” Caesar snickered. Joseph growled and threw a mini-chip bag at him. He caught it without even looking his way.
“We can’t watch The Shining if we’ve both seen it. Then it won’t be fun,” Jojo whined.
Caesar picked at his nails. Of course, Joseph wanted to do something Halloween related tonight. He knew Jojo wasn’t fond of scary movies in the slightest, but it was another thing to boost his ego.
Caesar himself didn't exactly like horror movies, either. He prided himself in always being honest; if he was scared of something, he was scared of something. But something about those movies just didn't do it for him.
It seemed like after all the bullshit they went through, something as trivial as a chainsaw murderer wasn't as terrifying as before.
"Hey, Caes," Joseph's voice broke him out of his thoughts, "What about The Candyman? Have you ever seen that?"
“Too much gore,” he sighed, setting the chip bag down “I hate that kind of stuff. Half of it isn’t even necessary, and it's disgusting to look at.”
“I bet you’re just scared of that kind of stuff. Never took you as squeamish, Caesarino.”
“I’m not scared of something as typical as blood,” he scoffed, “That kind of stuff doesn’t make a good movie, and you know it.”
Joseph was quiet for a moment.
“...you ever heard of Braindead?”
“Jojo, what the hell did I just say?”
The chip bag was being thrown back in Joseph’s direction, along with a couch pillow.
“Okay, okay, I thought I’d be able to get it past you!” he yelped, dodging the second pillow Caesar decided to throw at him, “What are your suggestions, then?”
Caesar smirked and crossed his arms.
“Have you ever seen Alien?”
"That's not even a story set on earth! How can that movie even be scary?" Joseph groaned, and Caesar rolled his eyes. He had to be kidding.
“What about—”
The conversation went on for God knows how long, until Caesar felt his mouth getting dry from arguing. This was ridiculous—they were getting absolutely nowhere.
“Look, can we just agree on something from Tim Burton and go to bed?”
There was a fiery look in Joseph’s eyes as he slowly shook his head.
“No,” he said simply, “I want something scary.”
No, you want me to get scared, so you can win whatever game you're trying to play, he added on in his head; Not gonna happen, Jojo.
Caesar wracked his brain for ideas for something—something that would keep Joseph satisfied while also making sure that Caesar didn’t fucking dissolve in his seat while he watched someone get brutally decapitated.
It clicked.
“Hey, Jojo,” he said, trying to hide the smirk on his face, “Have you ever heard of the Blair Witch Project?”
The blank look on his face proved that Caesar’s plan was definitely going to work. Especially since Joseph was known for being an airhead that would believe anything.
“You’ve never even heard of it?” he made sure, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
“Nope,” he said absent-mindedly. His hand went to the candy bowl, “Why? Is it good?”
“Oh yeah. It's pretty good. Really creepy, too,” Caesar said, trying to keep a straight face. “It's found footage, actually. It’s about a couple college kids that try and find a witch. Everything you see on the screen is based on things they actually found.”
Not. Everyone knew by now that it was all just bullshit. Everyone except Joseph, apparently.
Joseph’s eyes lit up.
“That doesn’t sound as boring as I thought it would be…” he pondered, sitting up straighter, “Let’s do it. I’m sure you’ll be scared shitless, anyway.”
“If you think I’m the kind of guy to get overly emotional during movies, you don’t know me, Jojo.”
“I saw you tearing up when we all watched Titanic that one time!”
Caesar felt his face start to burn at the memory.
“That was one time, Jojo. One.”
“And you’re never living it down.”
Another pillow was thrown.
They ended up driving out into town, although it took almost half an hour to leave the wooded area where Lisa Lisa currently had them training. Joseph would only agree to keep on going after the Kars battle if he was at least a little closer to Erina if something ever happened.
Lisa Lisa supposed it was only fair that they move to the states for a while after being in Italy for so long.
Their takeout was probably already getting cold as the pair searched through the aisles in Blockbuster, trying to search for the movie they so desperately desired.
Caesar spotted Joseph eyeing Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas as he dragged him to the back of the store. Maybe this would be too hard on him; knowing Joseph, he was probably stupid enough to think this was real found footage.
But he wanted to prove his worth, didn’t he? And Caesar would let him do that, whether he actually did it or not.
“Hey, Caesar...is this movie even that scary? I mean— I don’t get scared easily. I’m just worried about you,” he fumbled as the pair made their way to the R-rated section.
“Oh, it’s scary, alright,” he deadpanned, “But I know you’ll be able to handle it. You’re not scared of anything, right?”
“Y—yeah! Right!” he sputtered. Caesar had to stifle a laugh as he finally found the DVD they were looking for. Joseph stared in curiosity at the cover—honestly, it was almost baffling that the man had never even heard of it before.
Caesar supposed he could be playing bluff just to seem braver, but he seemed too frazzled to be pulling his leg. Besides, Joseph was the one who wanted to watch something stupidly scary, anyway.
They checked out, movie and receipt in hand, and pulled out of the parking lot. Caesar spotted children already outside, going from house to house. He always thought it was a bit of a phenomenon—it wasn’t until he moved here that he realized that trick-or-treating was actually a thing that people did.
He thought to ask Joseph what kind of stuff he did as a kid on Halloween, but he wasn’t ready for whatever little infodump the man was bound to give.
“So...when did this movie even come out?” Joseph asked quietly. Caesar realized that this was the first time the man had spoken since they got in the car.
“A couple years ago. Sometime in the 90s,” Caesar replied, swerving the car onto some mountain road. Joseph fidgeted in his seat, not bothering to take the movie out of the glove compartment.
Caesar wondered why he put it there. Now it was pretty obvious.
“You know, it’s not too late to just watch some other movie. I’m sure we have some old tapes somewhere in the basement,” Caesar finally said. Joseph’s shoulders tensed up, but let out a loud, surprising laugh.
“Are you... scared, Caesarino? Because I think you are,” he stuttered. His voice was far from smooth, but Caesar knew Jojo would just blame it on the rocky road they were driving on.
“—you know, if you’re really that scared, I’d be fine not watching it! For your sake, of course.”
So that’s how he’s gonna be.
“I’m fine watching it, actually,” Caesar said, “So if I’m fine and you’re fine—”
“—Then it’s agreed.” Joseph interrupted quickly.
“Uh-huh.”
“Yep.”
“Great.”
Caesar had pride. The last thing he was going to do was ruin it just because Joseph couldn’t admit that the last thing he wanted to do was watch this movie.
The car pulled into the driveway, and the two of them slipped back into the house before they froze their asses off. The sun was already reaching the edge of the sky, and Caesar felt the feeling of frost nipping at his nose as he tried his best not to mess up the thermostat.
Joseph shrugged off his jacket. By the time Caesar came into the living room with cutlery, he was already under a mountainous pile of blankets.
Without a word, Caesar popped open the DVD player and turned off the lights. He could already feel the look of triumph on his face the moment the movie was going to end.
The screen faded back to black as the last bit of the movie played out, and Joseph wasn’t even going to pretend that he wasn’t fucking terrified anymore.
Empty candy wrappers and boxes of takeout lay spread out on the coffee table around them. Joseph felt like burying himself further into the blanket pile he had slowly absorbed himself into and rid himself of whatever he had just watched.
Was it...really real?
That’s what the movie said. That’s what Caesar said. His friend pressed up against him with one of his blankets wrapped around his shoulders, looking utterly unphased.
“So, what did you think of it?” Caesar finally asked, getting up to stretch. Joseph flinched back as he felt something graze his back, only to realize that Caesar was dumping his blanket on top of his head. He felt his ears burn as the blond raised an eyebrow at him.
“Not bad,” he choked out. The lights were off. He had no idea what time it was, but he knew it had to be late, “Didn’t scare me, though.”
God, even he knew he was a painful liar.
Caesar smirked and turned off the tv, leaving them in complete darkness. Joseph shivered as he felt the couch dip next to him. Would it be weird if he moved closer? Yes. Definitely.
“You know, Jojo,” a voice in the darkness started him, “The woods where they found that footage. It isn’t too far from here. It might even be connected to the woods behind this house.”
Joseph felt his blood freeze. What? That can’t be true. There was no way that was true.
“You’re an awful liar, you know,” he laughed nervously, relieved to all ends that Caesar couldn’t see his face right now, “There’s no way that’s true.”
He could feel Caesar’s shoulder’s moving up into a shrug from next to him.
“I guess I can’t make you believe me.”
Joseph would have slapped Caesar on the shoulder had it not been for the fact that he was still buried under god knows how many blankets.
“Well,” Caesar said, standing up, “I’m going to bed. You’d better lock your window’s tight, Jo—”
“—Wait!”
Caesar’s body jerked backward as the weight of Joseph’s arms looped around his shoulders became apparent.
“You can’t just leave me here and—wait, I mean—” he fumbled with his words and practically pulled down Caesar with him, “I mean, I can’t just leave you to go wherever you’re going because—because you’re scared. Obviously. Even in the dark, I can tell that you’re terrified.”
Caesar snorted and tried to pry Joseph’s arms from off his shoulders.
“Yep,” he deadpanned, “Absolutely terrified.”
“I knew it!” Joseph exclaimed, “I’ll protect you, don’t worry!”
Jojo left his position behind Caesar and bounded toward the bathroom. After a few seconds, Caesar could see the light on down the hallway and heard Joseph whisper-yell something incomprehensible.
Joseph kept looking out into the hall out of the corner of his eye as the two of them brushed their teeth and ran to make sure the door was locked properly as Caesar went to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.
As they finally parted ways to go to bed, Caesar felt a hand tug on his shirt. He internally fought back a chuckle. He could probably cut him a bit of slack tonight.
“You know,” he said, with a hint of sarcasm. “I would feel a lot better if someone slept with me tonight.”
He wondered if Joseph even knew that he was being sarcastic, but the man had zipped into his room before he could even see the look on his face.
The bastard had taken the spot by the window by the time he made his way in there and already had most of the blankets pulled toward his side of the bed. Caesar sighed.
“If you do anything to disturb my perfectly lined-up sleep schedule, I’ll kill you,” he muttered, yanking the blanket away from Joseph's grasp, “And don’t even think about touching me.”
Joseph made a non-committal groan before stealing one of Caesar’s pillows and rolling over on his side.
“Night,” he mumbled, his voice already muffled into the pillow.
“Sweet dreams, Jojo,” he snickered, “You’d better hope that window is locked.”
As Caesar felt sleep finally take him over, he couldn’t help but feel an ounce of satisfaction as he felt the person next to him shift and the lock to the window unlatch, then lock again.
He won. Definitely.
“Hey. Caesar.”
Caesar stifled a groan as he felt a hand on his shoulder, trying to rouse him awake.
What the hell? What time was it?
He squinted his eyes open, seeing nothing but pitch blackness around him. His body felt heavy, and he could feel his eyes starting to close again.
“For fuck’s sake, Caesar! Wake up!”
Harsh whispering had his eyes flying open again before he felt a strong kick hit him square in the chest. Oh, now he was definitely up.
“Jojo, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he groaned, rubbing the now-sore spot on his chest. He sat up fully in bed only to find Joseph perched up against the window like a housecat watching a bird.
Confused, he scooted over to where he was looking.
“What are you—”
“—SHHHH.”
Caesar frowned. Has he actually gone mad?
“I heard something outside,” he whispered, “It sounded like twigs snapping.”
He blinked. “Jojo, we live right next to the woods. We train in the woods. Of course, there’s going to be—”
“—It’s her, Caesar,” he said in barely a whisper, “She heard us watching that movie earlier, and now she’s mad.”
Caesar was about to ask what the hell Joseph was talking about when he remembered—right. They had watched that movie earlier.
And he didn’t exactly tell him that it was fake, did he?
“I don’t think you need to worry about it,” was all he said. His voice still sounded groggy from just waking up, and he reached over to place a hand on his shoulder when he found it...shaking?
Wait—was he actually afraid for real?
“I locked all the doors,” Joseph muttered, “And the windows once you fell asleep. But maybe there’s still a way for her to get in...oh god, what if they already have Suzi and my mother?”
This had gone on far enough.
Caesar didn’t expect him to be genuinely shaken by something like this. He had only meant for it to be a joke—for them to forget about it by morning.
“Joseph, the—”
“—Jesus, after all that happened last year, what if she’s just like them? What if we have to fucking fight one of them again?” Caesar could hear Jojo’s breath catching in his throat, building up to an unsteady yell, “What the hell do I do if I fuck up again and aren’t so lucky this time? What if I lose you for real?”
Caesar felt a sour taste in his mouth. Shit. Shit shit shit. This was not how he wanted things to go. This isn’t where he wanted things to go. He had thought that last year was far behind them, but instead—
“It isn’t real.”
The room filled with unsteady silence, and Caesar didn't like it. Joseph sucked in a sharp breath but said nothing. Caesar continued, trying to swallow the guilt starting to form in his chest.
“It was made by three film students,” he said quietly, “it wasn’t even filmed anywhere near here. It takes place in Maryland.”
There was a short silence before Caesar felt Joseph utter out a weak “oh,” and slip slowly away from the window above the bed.
“That makes sense, I guess.”
He couldn't tell if Jojo was laughing or if his voice just wasn't steady enough to talk properly. Still, Caesar's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and watched as Joseph slowly sunk back into bed.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he started, “I just wanted to mess with you a bit. I didn’t think you would—”
“I'm the one who jumped to fucking conclusions," Joseph cut him off thickly, "I was just stupid. It's just hard not to think about last year when you…”
His voice trailed off before he could finish, and Caesar heard a sniffle coming from beside him. Shit.
“Come here,” he said as softly as he could muster.
No response. He could hear Joseph’s breath hitch in the silence.
“Jojo, come here.”
A hand reached out to Joseph’s trembling shoulder, and the man was rolling over and burying his face into his chest. He couldn’t tell if the man was crying or not, but his silence was pretty self-explanatory.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Caesar murmured, “We’re both here right now, and we’re not going anywhere.”
Joseph responded with a sad-sounding noise and just hugged him tighter, tensing when Caesar’s hand found its way into his hair.
“It’s not real,” he said again, “so you can stop looking out that window, okay?”
Joseph let out a watery laugh and turned his head to face Caesar again. “Jesus. I was fucking terrified, Caes. I don’t even like horror movies.”
“You aren’t exactly a pro at lying, Jojo,” he chuckled. Joseph lightly slapped him on the shoulder and laughed into his chest.
“ God. It sounds so stupid now. Of course, it was fake.”
“You know, I’m just surprised that you’d never even heard of it before.”
"No, kidding," Joseph responded tiredly. He felt his chest tighten as Caesar's thumbs rested above his cheeks and swept away any wetness that still remained there.
"Look, if you don't tell coach and Suzi that I let you sleep in my bed, I won't tell them about the fact that you were scared of a movie. Deal?" Caesar proposed.
"Deal," Joseph groaned, pulling the covers above his head. He was still locked into Caesar's embrace, and it didn't look like either of them was going to let go anytime soon.
Caesar felt himself starting to drift back into the world of sleep before being interrupted by Joseph's hesitant question.
“Do we have training in the morning?”
“Yep.”
“...Fuck.”