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Prompt: Cherry, Joe, Miya, & Shadow are at the movies and they’re at the concession stand buying snacks before heading in.
“What flavor of popcorn do you want?” Joe asked, looking at the concessions menu.
“I don’t want any; I’m not hungry,” Cherry said.
“You’re always hungry.”
“I just said I’m not.”
“Okay but I know for a fact that if I listen to you and only get popcorn for myself, you will have eaten most of it before we’re even halfway through the movie,” Joe insisted.
Cherry rolled his eyes. “That sounds like a horrible exaggeration—”
“Oh, hey, it’s Joe! And Cher—” Higa choked mid-word, strangled by Cherry’s sharp glare. “Uh, Sakurayashiki-sensei..?”
“Are mama and papa on a date?” Miya grinned mischievously.
“No.”
“No!” Cherry and Joe answered simultaneously.
“Anyway,” Joe said, “what are you two doing here?”
“Uh, watching a movie?” Miya offered. “What do people usually do at a movie theater?”
“I meant what are you doing here together, brat,” Joe grumbled affectionately, putting Miya in a headlock.
“Joe! You’re gonna squish my brains out!” Miya complained, wheezing dramatically and smacking at Joe’s arm. “Your boob is suffocating me. This is child abuse.”
“Funny how you’re only a child when it’s convenient,” Cherry noted dryly.
“So you guys came here, uh, together? To watch a movie? Together?” Higa fumbled.
Joe laughed easily, releasing Miya. “Nah, we just kinda ran into each other—”
“Yes,” Cherry cut him off. “I lost a beef and this is what Kojiro wagered so here we are.” Three pairs of eyes stared at him in shock. “W-what?”
“You just admitted you came here with Joe?” Miya asked incredulously.
“You admitted you’re together?” Higa asked.
“You really admitted you lost to me in a beef?” Joe finished.
“Hey, we all have bad days,” Cherry said haughtily, trying to recover. “You’ve all seen me…lose…” He cleared his throat, half-choking on the word. “…before. Can’t win all the time, even when I should. But I’m not a liar or a cheater and I honor my word. So, here we are.”
“Wow,” Miya said, taking that in. “Though I’m kinda surprised, Joe. You get a big win like that and all you wanted was a trip to the movies?”
“Well he picked a sappy romance knowing that I utterly, completely despise them,” Cherry explained. “So it really is the worst punishment he could think of.”
“Now, Kaoru, they aren’t that bad—” Joe insisted.
“They’re worse,” Cherry said tersely.
With a resigned shake of his head and a little eyeroll, Joe let it go. “Anyway, how about you two? What are you here to see?”
Higa panicked. “Oh, um, just—”
“Werewolf Yakuza vs Vampire Assassin: Battle Beyond Death?” Joe peered over Miya’s shoulder and read his ticket. “Isn’t that supposed to be—”
“Really good?” Cherry asked, eyes alight with interest.
“—super violent and gory?” Joe finished, ignoring him. “And they’re letting you in?”
“Of course, I’m with an adult, after all.” Miya gave a little wink and stuck out his tongue, striking a pose for a second before laughing. “Nevermind the fact that old man Shadow’s the one who needs the chaperone, not me.”
“Oh?” Cherry asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I hate stuff like this,” Higa admitted, shoulders caving slightly in embarrassment.
“Then why are you watching it? Just to get Miya in?”
“You’ve got it wrong,” Miya said mischievously. “I’m the one helping him. He’s the one who begged me to come.”
Higa flinched at Cherry’s and Joe’s puzzled expressions, obviously waiting for his explanation. “Ok—uh, a, um…friend…of mine mentioned maybe wanting to see this movie. With, uh, me. But I don’t—don’t want him to know this stuff kinda scares me so I thought…I thought if I watched it with someone else first, I could kind of get used to it and not embarrass myself when I watch it with Ok—my friend.”
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell your friend that you can’t handle certain genres and would love to join him for a different movie?” Cherry asked.
“Rather than forcing yourself to watch something you hate?” Joe added. “Twice?”
“No,” Higa answered. “No, that wouldn’t be easier. I don’t want to make things weird or give him any reason to cancel, so…it’s just easier to go along. It’s important to me.”
“There you go,” Miya said, then shrugged. “So I guess half of us are watching something we hate out of a sense of obligation.” He grinned up at Joe. “But at least you and I will get to enjoy ourselves, huh, Joe?”
“Right,” Joe said slowly.
“Don’t tell me you don’t like the movie you picked either,” Miya said with a frown. “What’s the point of making Cherry sit through a movie he hates if you hate it just as much? That’s not very smart.”
Joe ignored Cherry’s snort. “You know, you’re right, I shouldn’t watch something just to torture Kaoru with it.” He held out his tickets to Higa. “So trade me. You guys go watch something that won’t give you nightmares and me and Kaoru will go watch something that won’t make Kaoru vomit.”
“What?” Cherry frowned, uncertain. “Kojiro—”
“But…” Higa said, relieved but obviously conflicted.
“Besides,” Joe said, “maybe you’ll want to suggest watching this movie with your friend.”
“I dunno—” Higa stammered.
“I do.” Joe grinned. “I have a hunch—”
“Oh great, you and your hunches,” Cherry muttered.
Joe ignored him. “—that your…friend picked this gory movie because he thought that’s what you’re into. I bet he’d think it’s cute—I mean, cool, to see you have a softer side.”
Higa frowned. “You really think so?”
“I wouldn’t steer you wrong,” Joe promised.
“Is that how you get so many women, Joe?” Miya asked too-innocently. “By showing them your softer side?”
“His softer side and his cleavage,” Cherry answered dryly, plucking the ticket out of Miya’s hand. “If I decide this movie is alright for children, we can come back next week.”
“And you wonder why people think you’re forty,” Joe teased.
“Because I act like a responsible adult?”
“Right, because a hyper violent movie about vampires and werewolves totally screams adult,” Joe replied, swapping tickets with Higa and giving him a wink.
“I can’t believe I’m sitting through some sappy romance with an old man,” Miya lamented.
“You’ll have a head start on the memes,” Cherry said with a shrug and a little wave as he called over his shoulder, “Have fun.”
“Was this really okay?” Cherry asked as they took their seats.
Joe laughed. “A little late to worry about that now, isn’t it?” He shifted, trying to get comfortable, holding his half-and-half tub of popcorn between them and tilting it slightly toward Cherry. “Why the hell did they pick the back row? Doesn’t Shadow know these are the make-out seats?”
“And we can tell what you come to the movies for,” Cherry said flatly, grabbing a handful of popcorn and tossing some in his mouth. “They’re also the best leave-if-you’re-scared-shitless seats—caramel?”
“Well you wouldn’t tell me what flavor—”
“But you don’t like sweet stuff.”
“Obviously, since I hang out with you—” Joe broke off in a laugh as Cherry stomped his foot in retaliation. The people a few rows ahead of them half-turned, giving them a passive-aggressive look of disapproval.
“Behave, you’re making a scene,” Cherry hissed dramatically.
“You are such a shit,” Joe whispered back, shooting a playful glare before turning to the screen and crunching on his own popcorn.
After a few minutes Cherry leaned over in his seat, so quiet he almost had his lips to Joe’s ear. “Hey. Kojiro.”
“What?” Joe near-snapped, flustered, as he turned to see what the hell Cherry wanted—
And his eyes flew wide as Cherry kissed him, closing a second later as Cherry licked Joe’s bottom lip, sucking slightly as he encouraged Joe to open his mouth and let him in.
It was over all too soon, Cherry staring back with a mischievous smirk when Joe opened his eyes.
“Salt, huh?” Cherry asked quietly. “Just wanted to see what flavor you chose.”
“What? You’re wrong,” Joe lied, thumbing across Cherry’s bottom lip and leaning back in. “Better take another taste and try again.”
“Why the heck were you so surprised by the twist at the end?” Miya laughed as he and Cherry left the theater. “Didn’t you and Joe just watch that a week ago?”
“I wasn’t surprised, I just didn’t want you to feel left out,” Cherry insisted.
“Mmm hmm,” Miya said skeptically. “Or maybe you were too…distracted last time and didn’t pay much attention? I wonder why that would be…”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Cherry said haughtily.
“Then why are you blushing?”
“I’m not, I just got overheated because I love violence—oh, hey, there’s Oka.”
“I didn’t see him in our movie,” Miya said. “I wonder who he’s here wit—oh.” Miya and Cherry watched in silence, sheltered from view by other theatergoers as Oka and Higa passed by, hand in hand. Higa noticeably red-faced and biting his lip to repress a smile while Oka wore a satisfied smirk and his hair looked just a little too mussed.
Miya huffed, crossing his arms over his chest with a disapproving glare. “Does anyone come to the theater to actually watch movies anymore?”