Chapter Text
After placing the disk on the CD tray, she decides to have a look over the control panels. Few buttons here and there, two wheels to adjust volume and play speed. Simple enough, given how everything is all labeled, or has a small illustration above to explain what they do.
-Taking sometimes just to put the disk in there.
The obviously mocking remark got a sneer out of her. The effect is even doubled when adding in the ‘pop’ sounds of cans opening.
-Would you like to do the honor then? Seems to me like you’re more familiar with this than I am.
Ho’olheyak cannot recall the last time she used a CD player, or a CD disk in that matter. Nothing against this kind of technology. It’s just that her life as a researcher uptil this point has been in favor of books, projectors or advance processing systems. Any document stored in CDs can usually be found in other, more convenient formats nowaday.
So how did Muelsyse know how to use a CD player? The Liberi’s guess is that she onced had too much free time to kill, so much so that she even developed a hobby out of.
-Just a bit curious about its design.
There’s a button for the tray to automatically go back in. Still, an intrusive thought, and Ho’olheyak gently pushes it with her hand. Worked. She doesn’t remember from whom she learned of this pointless knowledge. It may cause damage on the player’s program though, so she probably won’t do it again.
Done. The TV lights up, and Ho’olheyak returns to her seat. In the middle of adjusting her posture, the Liberi raises an eyebrow as Muelsyse slightly nudges the bowl of popcorn on the table to her side.
-You’re surprisingly nitpicking when it comes to stuff like this. -Said Ho’olheyak, who had to go the kitchen to ask one of the chefs to make them the snack.
-A certain someone told me to make time tonight for some movie instead of working, so I have to make sure I enjoy it. -Said Muelsyse, who claimed that they needed popcorn if they’re going to have a movie night. -And look, I did help bought some cold drinks.
-Which was also one of your demands. I would rather coffee or just water.
-See? This is how you tell someone you don’t usually do movie night without telling them.
Muelsyse lets out a long sigh and picks up two cans of soda. She then takes a sip out of one and the other handed over to Ho’olheyak, who also nonchalantly goes for a taste test.
-Not like I’ve ever denied it. Still, that’s quite presumptous. There must be at least a few people out there who like to drink water while watching movies.
-Probably. But anyhow, just go along with it. It’s part of the experience.
“Well then”, Ho’olheyak grins a random note. It’s not like she has extreme allergies to soda. Moreover, Muelsyse has gone out of her way to show the good will, perharps a one-in-a-life-time occurrence considers their relationship. What little harms in indulging herself for only one night?
Just as she closed off the thought, the opening sequence started to roll. A few more credits, and the title drops.
-Oh right. What is this movie about anyway?
Might be too late to ask that when you’ve already passed the title screen. Although, looking at Muelsyse’s muching on the popcorn, she probably only asked for the sake of it, rather than actual curiosity.
-A rather old horror movie centering around a female medical student. The horror aspects seem to be about the cruelty of human experimentation, not supernatural element.
-Neat. At least you know who to ask for some decent movie recommendations.
-The roundabout way, indeed. But it got the job done, also saved a lot of time and effort than searching myself.
Not many things about herself that Ho’olheyak wants others to see through. This is one of the few exceptions, since she sees no reason to hide it: she hasn’t watched enough movies to come up with a recommendation herself. Nevertheless, she doesn’t regret not spending the precious hours on the hobby, so Muelsyse can take this silly win.
The stage is set, and the first line is spoken. Silence falls between the two. At about 5 minutes in, there’s a scene of main character being secretly sexual harassed by her teacher in front of the other students. Interesting. The corner of Ho’olheyak’s lips curves up a little as she subconsciously reaches for the bowl. She can’t feel much of the texture or the taste, as her focus is mainly on the screen. Props to them for not afraid to show things like this.
-I’m glad that they’re being truthful about these moral aspects in medical study. -Muelsyse comments as the movie shows the students handling dissecting corpses, and how they show the proper respect before getting to work.
Medical is built upon science, and science is built upon experiments and results. Without the experiment, without the results, there would be no basic foundation for science to take ground. Medical is one of the more touchy matters as it, naturally, requires real experiments and results on the human body. Anatomy, as being displayed, was first studied by doctors who illegally dug up and dissected corpses in the beginning years of development. Ethical violations were already a no brainer, but they still held onto the responsibility to show respect and be thankful toward the dead whose eternal rests had been disturbed.
Not actually that relevant of a story anymore, given how many inhumane experiments are happening with no remorse in our current age. The thought made Ho’olheyak’s stomach turned a little, but she smirked it off, as it’s no reason to ruin the mood.
“The necessary evil”, things will get awkward if she speaks too much, “What the first anatomy students did.” It’s as necessary as it was evil. The same can’t be said about many scientists and researchers nowadays.
-There’s no harm to just phrase it nicely as “noble sacrifice”, you know.
-Whatever suits you. Also, make sure to finish what you ordered.
Ho’olheyak taps the tip of her tail on the popcorn bowl. It’s good, as with anything that’s made by Rhodes Island’s renowded chefs, but not something she’d have in large amount. Even just by looking, each of Muelsyse’s grab is at least twice the amount compared to hers.
-A little sweeter would be nice.
-Bold words, Muelsyse. Very brave, especially coming from someone who used her clone to sneak away to work despite the resting order, but refused to go order the food she wanted herself.
-First of, it was you who told me to rest, so it’s not really an order. Secondly, thank you. People did say that I have a talent in asking other to run errand for me.
You little. Ho’olheyak couldn’t contain her grin upon seeing the smug look. It would have been so much harder to swallow the fact that she herself did help proving those words, had Muelsyse not acted so childishly.
-Just don’t let the chef’s efforts go to waste.
Shrugs her shoulders, and the Liberi shifts her eyes back to the screen.
-Of course. That much is guarantee.
A self-satisfied nod, and the Elf grabs another handful.
The movie continues to be an interesting trip, the most pleasant kill time Ho’olheyak has had in a long while.
After many small twists and turns, it is now the scene where the main character has to escape from the hospital building, running away from all the people trying to kill her. Just when she finally gets to the elevator, power gets cut out, forcing her to find another way to get to the first floor.
The chaser is one of the staffs, so he must be familiar with where the power source is to turn it off. In that case, the best place to ambush her should b-
-Hiy!
Despite how small it was, the yelp was still too unique and too strange of a sound to not be noticeable, especially when it came out right next to you. By the time Ho’olheyak glanced over to check, Muelsyse was already staring at her with one hand covering her mouth. And given her bewildered expression, it looks like the Elf is just as surprised by what she just did.
-…
Silently, the gray-haired retracts her gaze.
-…You have nothing to say? -It is the small voice that speaks loudest when you’re quiet.
-I was…confused, probably, and started wondering if that scene was that much of a jumpscare.
-Why do you always choose the worst timing to be so serious? Ah, how annoying…
Had they not sat on different ends of the sofa, Ho’olheyak would have reached out her hand. Those two reddened, vaguely puffy cheeks are simply too tempting. But since it’s not as fun poking them with her tail and not her finger, she might as well settle with just looking for now.
…Although, there’s no rule against the smirk on her face.
-Aww, there’s no need to feel embarrassed, Muelsyse~. Honestly, with how tense the scene was getting, it was such a great comedic relief.
-Can never shut your words when it counts, can’t you? Whatever! Tease me all you want, I don’t care.
-No reason to, then. It’s only fun to get a reaction out of you.
-Wearing your wicked heart on your sleeves today, aren’t you.
The back-and-forth continues, with them not paying any mind to the movie that’s still running. What a shame. It’s also the climax of the story, too.
Oh well, it may not be that bad of a trade, since they seems to be having a time of their lives.
At least, one of them is.
Not long afterwards, the end credit starts to roll. Ho’olheyak stretches her arms, and turns to check the clock on the wall. 2 hours, about 15 minutes spent setting up at the beginning. Honestly, doesn’t feel like that much times have passed, which shows how good a movie it was. Nevertheless, the night is far from over, and she’s already more than spent.
Go to sleep early? That’s an option, although not the most favoured one, nor the most satisfying.
-You didn’t look tensed once during the entire movie. –Muelsyse clearly hasn’t gotten over her steal-the-show moment earlier. The Liberi was about to go and take out the disk, but decided to stay in her seat upon hearing the grumpy comment. It is the star of the night that deserve the attentions, correct?
-Doesn’t necessary mean the story was bad or lacked intensity. I guess I just didn’t care about the main character’s well-being enough to be on edge.
Her eyes wander to the cans on the table. Muelsyse has opened the second one long ago, while hers is still a quarter left.
-For example, during the light out scene, I was already expecting the bad guy to wait for her behind the door. If anything, I’m annoyed at how careless he was, letting her got away again.
-That sounds so like you, paying attention to thing that no one does.
-I can’t help it now, can I? I guess people really don’t like seeing false depictions of their jobs on screen.
-You’re saying something?
“Just an advice from a coworker.” The red-haired wasn’t confident enough to give recommendation at first, saying she didn’t know what might suit a scientist’s preference. But after Ho'olheyak said that the choice was either her or Ni’an, she reluctantly agreed. Took her all morning, and she could only play it safe with one title.
All credits to you, Fiammetta. It was a very interesting watch.
Now that the movie’s over, Ho’olheyak can move and lean as she pleases. Still, upon seeing her hand raises into a gesture, Muelsyse immediately enters defend mode to cover her still blushing face, clearly not as vulnerable compared to that heat of the moment. A shame, the Liberi humms a pity note and reaches out for her can.
Decent, but nothing remarkable. She doubts she would be able finish the whole thing comfortably, especially when it’s no longer cold.
-In the end, water would still have been better. -Her first real sigh of the whole night. -My bad. After all the trouble of you preparing this “part of the experience”.
-…You do get serious about the weirdest things, don’t you? “Part of the experience” is just a made-up concept by the majority, doesn’t apply to everyone. You said it, no? People will enjoy different things, even if that thing is as absurd as plain water for a movie night.
Is she cheering me up? Ho’olheyak isn’t sure, but it does sound like Muelsyse is trying to cheer her up. The feathers on her head ruffle confusedly. A rare sight, since the Liberi is more expressive using her tail.
-…So what you’re saying is?
-I’m telling you to just drop it and enjoy yourself. It kind of gives me a creep every time you get serious so suddenly.
As if to relax herself, Muelsyse forms a small bubble of water at her fingertip and playfully twirls it around. Eventually, she ends up flicking it away.
-Also, what someone enjoy drinking when watching movie is like, at the bottom of how you judge one’s personality. Staying quiet most of the time, but knew to reply and replied just enough when the person sitting next to you said something. Honestly, if not for the minus five points for being you, I’d say you make a decent movie night partner.
-Five on the scale of what?
-Ten.
-So I will never get more than passing grade no matter what, huh~.
With her tail waving back and forth, Ho’olheyak lets out a laugh. A secret, hidden behind her hand laugh, but a genuine one nontheless . It’s actually so hard to keep her body from shivering as her belly muscles are tensed up so much. At some point, she even imagined just burst out laughing, but that was one of the few times she managed to keep her intrusive thoughts in. Muelsyse really caught her by surprise with that one.
-Haah…Anyway Muelsyse, -Finally calming herself down, the Liberi lets out a long exhale. -that’s the only movie I got for the night. My source had cracked her head to find only this one good recommendation.
-Yeah, I figured. I left my bag in the archive. There’s a comedy title I’ve been keeping for a while, so might as well.
-Mhm, and here I was wondering where you sent that clone to when we’re already in your room.
It’s not hard to notice her purposely aimed that water bubble toward the entrance door. And to why they are in Muelsyse’s room, it’s either this or Ho’olheyak’s. And despite both usually spend little to no time in their own rooms, the Elf has somehow succeeded in requesting a sofa for her own.
-Was starting to think that you were sneaking away again.
-You’re actually deadset on spending this night just to relax huh?
-Remember the person that has to help fixed all the errors you made when you overworked yourself and had a hangover? I’d rather be safe and take a night off than having to deal with that again.
Doesn’t need to look, Ho’olheyak still can hear the sound of irritated breathing.
-Still, no matter how many times I think about it, such a convenient ability. Would probably be nice to have it while you’re getting snack.
-Fine! Here, the fruit of your own efforts. -The little annoyances have begun building up, and Muelsye lets it out by picking the bowl and (slightly) strongly puts it on the Liberi’s lap. -I did say I wouldn’t let the food go to waste, but you need to help if we are to finish the whole bowl. Not like you’re having anything against popcorn.
“Whatever you say~.” As she’s nonchalantly grabbing a hanful for herself, the entrance door slides open. Ho’olheyak looks over. Upon seeing the Elf standing to receive the disc from the returning clone, her eyes slowly relax, and faint smile takes shape on her face.
I can’t understand you, Muelsyse.
No matter how hard she tries, she can’t put away the smile on her face.
This might be a bit too sweet, even.