|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:44 am
Most people didn't randomly grab school mates for a movie... but then... most people weren't "Oddy" Corlione, bastion of the excessively social. He stood outside the movie theater, rocking slightly on the heels of his sneakers, who had seen better days before they were scuffed into near rupture from jogging, hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. It felt nice, if slightly alien, to be wearing full length pants after wearing the Meadowview uniform all week, but... well. Mostly nice. The slightly garish outfit was completed by an black turtleneck with a cuff that needed repaired... and over that, instead of a jacket... an impressively noisy Hawaiian shirt in various shades of startling blue, with sharks and surf boards. In so far as the records went... Oddy had neither been to Hawaii, or ever set foot within ten feet of a surf board. ((He had been near a shark, but that involved a field trip to the aquarium several grades ago.)) Still it didn't stop Oddy's... odd... fashion sense. it was a fun shirt. Life was too short not to have fun, and fun was exactly why he was waiting outside the theater, grinning widely and thumbing the tickets in his pockets. Movies like this one were just NOT intended to be seen alone.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:46 pm
Toby stood in front of the giant Wereninjas versus Vampaliens II movie poster, for a second, blissfully forgetting even the reason why he was here as he stared up at the large, gory poster teaser. It had involved uh, something like a classmate? And some free movie tickets or something... he thought. At any rate, it involved the words "free", so here he was, standing outside the giant movie complex he otherwise would never have been caught dead at.
Oh man, he didn't even remember what the other person looked like, they had dark hair maybe, or was it blue? Toby pulled as his hair in frustration, scanning the crowds for any familiar face.
Someone waved at him, and for a second he breathed in a sigh of relief, giving them a little wave back and a smile... only to be shoved aside from someone behind him rushing towards said waving person. A little embarrassed and getting grumpier by the second, he slid away and decided to just brood a bit by the entrance of the theatre.
Wait! There was a very strange person standing in the front of the complex, dressed in colours that would make some Sailor Senshi envious. Oh god, was it actually them? Please dont let it be them, please dont let it be them... he only hoped he looked somewhat inconspiciously invisible.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:19 am
Whatever gods were listening to Toby's silent prayer... they apparently weren't on his side, because the boy in the incredible Hawaiian shirt looked over from his distracted heel rocking and flashed an thousand watt grin, looking... oh no... straight at Toby. Perhaps it was Toby's impressively pale hair, or... well... maybe the guy just had a pretty decent memory for faces... but he sure seemed pretty sure he recognized Toby, as he pulled two tickets out of his pocket and held them up like an Olympic torch bearer.
... As if tickets to Wereninjas vs Vampaliens II were somehow the most incredible accomplishment of the decade.
"Hey!" he called over, apparently aiming to complete the humiliation in the most friendly, well intentioned way possible. "I got the tickets! Lets go get some snacks!"
That was of course the other detail that could not be dismissed without cosmic consequence. How could you possibly have a movie without at least having nachos and hot-cheese-like-substance? That failing, Popcorn with butter flavored yellow oil and maybe some overpriced, slightly stale gummy candy. It was part of the Universal Movie Experience!
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:26 am
And said person, in all their thousand-watt, rainbow-shirted glory, had made a direct beeline towards him, smiling. At this point, they might as well have sprouted pink wings and flew, from Toby's embarrased reaction.
Oh god, were they talking to him too? Quickly, he looked around, and behind him, to see if there was possibly someone else they were talking to. To his left was quite the social movie poster, and to his right an equally social wall stand. Nope, he was trapped. Could this possible get any-
Oh hello! All self-angst forgotten, Toby spotted the movie tickets, and not just any movie tickets but FREE ones. Ok, he could deal with this situation, people who gave him stuff (either willingly or unwillingly) always had a special place in his somewhat-genuine heart.
Trying to act a bit more favourable, he smiled, raising one hand slightly up in a wave. "Yo, you made it after all!" Slightly-bandaged hands finding sanctuary in their pockets again, he made a small face at the mention of theatre snacks.
"Wait, you actually want to buy overpriced snacks from the movies?" His voice went to a conversational whisper. "Is it true that this theatre is secretly run by the mafia?"
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:11 pm
"What? Mafia?" Oddy blinked as he considered this question, handing one of the tickets over to Toby. "Nah, probably not. I mean if they ended up with most of the profits -here-, they'd at least have changed the carpets since the last decade." He shrugged. I mean my cousin owns a theater, but not this theater. He's not Mafia obviously but it is too bad he -doesn't- own this one. He'd just let us in the side door. And yeah I'm gonna buy snacks. I mean damn, thats part of the fun isn't it? And if it was run by the mafia they'd probably break your knees for sneaking stuff in..." he shrugged at this thoughtfully, although the idea of knee-breaking at the movie theater were about as ordinary as... well. Never mind. Given that outfit he might well think it WAS. "You don't want anything then?" He asked, sounding vaguely disappointed at this unexpected and unthinkable suggestion.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:36 pm
Curious, Toby looked down at the carpets, and noticed they were indeed probably older than he was, filled with a collection of beautiful carpet stains such as old butter, soda drinks, everything but the Monday Meatloaf.
He was distracted instead by the even more interesting comment at hand. "Wait, your cousin owns an entire MOVIE THEATRE?" How does one even start their own theatre anyway, just buy some film strips and a giant tub of popcorn? "Oh man, he must be super rich or something."
He blankly nodded for a second, trying to process the enormity of someone having access to an entire theatre, and finally realised belatedly it was the wrong gesture, quickly shaking his head. "No! I'm good!" Despite saying that, his traitorous eyes kept on glancing towards the tantalizing refreshments stand. "I uh, left my wallet at home and stuff, so I couldn't afford anything anyway."
Well, technically the part about him not being able to afford anything was true.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:41 am
"Well he really sort of got it from his Dad, it's been in the family for a while." He wasn't really sure why but people seemed to occasionally look at him strangely when he used that particular turn of phrase 'in the Family'. I mean there really wasn't any Mafia ties in the Corlione family. Well, not that anyone was talking to anyway. Who knew about Georgie. Even Georgies mother wasn't talking to Georgie. She'd talk to the wall and tell the wall she wasn't talking to Georgie, but she wouldn't talk to Georgie. But then that was really his fault after the snake-in-a-can thing a few Christmases ago. Georgie really needed to work on his sense of humor. "My Cousin always says it costs more than you'd think to run a theater, especially finding good help." He admitted. "I'll probably go help him out on vacation. I figure it'll be ok, and it's never bad to help out family. Anyway he's going to do an mini film festival. He's trying to get copies of stuff like Casablanca that he can actually put on the big screen, then he really wants to do a costume contest and see if people dress up for it. I think that sounds like a blast." He seemed to realize he was sort of rambling, and shrugged broadly, causing small riples to go through the woven sharks and surf boards. "I'll get some stuff then, you can share mine. Cool?" Couldn't hurt. He wasn't exactly swimming in money himself, but it was the movies. He didn't go very often, and liked it to be a treat when he did.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:37 pm
He waited what seemed to be an adequate amount of them for them to stop...whatever they were talking about. Toby had no clue what 'Casablanca' was, but he sure as heck knew a free offer for food.
He tried to nod, conversationally, not wanting to offend the other now that potential refreshments AND movies were in play. "You and your family must be really close then." There, that sounded convincing enough. Now for the creme of the crop. "Oh man," here, he pretended to bite his lower lip some, as if conflicted, "I wouldn't really want to take your stuff, but only if you insist..."
Toby tried to let the rest of the word linger, as hopeful as he could possibly wring it out. This might be the first and only time he would ever get to sit in the movies WITH popcorn! He pondered this thought for a second. "Dude, thank's for inviting me though, the last time I've actually sat in the movies was five years ago, and I think I was watching 'Beauty and the Beast' with my mom or something." His brows furrowed at that thought, and he decided to smartly abstain from the fact that he had cried during it (well, what did they expect, he was 9 at that time ok!). "If you ever need a favour, I'm your man!" And here, he really meant it, assuming it didn't involve like, money.
Another absurd question popped into his brain. "Um, what time did the movie start again?" Hell, he wasn't even sure what they were watching!
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:41 am
"Oh we got about ten minutes." Oddy promised. "And then we've got time to get seated anyway because they've gotta advertise... well... just about everything. He was grinning enthusiastically as he reached over to pat Toby vigorously on the shoulder. "Isn't yours?" He asked, regarding the family. "Ours is a little bigger than most..." ((Understatement of the decade...)) "But I like to think we're pretty much normal. Just keep an eye on things for a second, I'll go get us some snacks!" He promised, jerking a thumb at the snack stand before moving in that direction. "It's in theater three if I get stuck in line. Wereninjas versus Vampaliens II, just save me a seat if you do!"
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:10 pm
Toby could have literally lept up and hugged the other, at them having actually purchased tickets to his favourite movie equal ever (well, other than Ratman: The Dark Knife) but he'd rather not let the other person get the uh, 'wrong idea'.
Settling with a rather misty-eyed look that could be deemed so wrong in any other situation, he tried his best to restrain fanboying all over the hapless other. "Y-yes I'll um, definately go secure those movie spots and stuff. Can't miss all those ads about alcohol that we're too underage to drink anyway!" he joked.
As he was just about ready to leave, he pivoted back, pausing. "Nah, my rents are too busy working anyway." This was half the truth. He grinned, "Anyway, I'm kinda glad they aren't around much, otherwise I would have never been able to come to the theaters."
He paused, for a second, all prior action forgotten. "Don't you ever feel...smothered, with such a huge family? Well, I guess it shouldn't be too bad its not like you have ten cousins or something." Toby admitted he was a little curious at how 'normal' families operated in general
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:12 am
"Smothered?" Oddy blinked, as though he'd been asked if his mother had two heads. "Mm. Only when I'm trying to wrap Christmas or birthday presents without having to send out people to intercept spys." He joked, grinning hugely. "Couldn't imagine it any other way though." He admitted, walking backward a few steps into line as he did so. "Anything you can't eat?" He asked. Might as well make sure he wasn't accidentally going to hand Toby something in the dark that he was allergic to. His mothers technique would have been a lot more direct, and her questions on weather or not someone had a problem with something were really more of a statement that you didn't, or shouldn't.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:18 pm
He had to admit, the thought of the rather gargantuan (in Toby!vision) other trying to swat his siblings away while wrapping Christmas presents was highly amusing. Toby snorted at the mental image, and curiously ended up following Oddy into line at the concession stand, peering at the assortment of artery-clogging goodness.
"Nope, I'll eat anything with a face on it." Well, technically, nothing at the food stand HAD a face on it. "Or without," he added belatedly, now squinting at the candy bar section to figure out what the heck a 'snickerdoodle' was, "There's nothing I cant eat, um, other than chili." He paused. "Popcorn doesn't have chili in it does it?"
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:21 am
"Not unless you're sharing a bowl with my great uncle Ernesto." Oddy explained, pausing to order a tray of nachos, and popcorn for Toby since he seemed fascinated by the stuff. ((Oddy personally was convinced the Nacho's were tastier, as far as fake food was concerned, a pack of strawberry 'liquorish' and two sodas. The sour candy was tempting, but he was already going to have his arms full. He continued as he handed over some money to the vendor, before handing Toby the tub of popcorn and a soda. "But then he puts chili powder on pretty much everything. Except his wife's pastries. If he tried to put chili powder on her deserts she'd pound him a good one. Deservedly. She makes awesome pastry. Lets get some straws and we can head in."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:54 pm
Blinking a little, he took the proffered popcorn (it was GIANT, he seriously had a hard time wrapping both arms around it!) and tried to balance the soda at the same time. Trying to move slowly as to not offend the buttery goodness, he looked around for straws.
Toby had no clue who 'Ernesto' was, but as long as he never met them, it would all be ok. As far as he was concerned, anyone who could like that 'chili' stuff had to be from an alternate planet, probably the same one as the 'alien girl' he had met ages ago. Plus now, he was getting confused. Was that another great uncle or the great uncle of that uncle that ah, heck, his brain hurt. "Man," he muttered instead, "Remind me not to visit any family reunions you have, I bet you guys take up the whole ballroom." It made him appreciate what little family he had..sometimes.
Lost deep in thought, he almost forgot about straws until he almost hit the condiment stand. With an absent 'sorry' to the napkin dispenser he had nearly tumbled over, Toby tried to procure two straws with all his skills as an, ahem, 'items borrower', wedging them between his index and middle fingers before following Oddy into the cinema room itself.
The room was seriously, GIANT. Were theatre screens always this big? Trying to restrain himself from literally shaking with excitement, Toby stared at the 'cinema ads' playing in the screen in awe.
Oddy might be a little wierd with his giant family of Doom, but in Toby's books, he was totally cool.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:56 am
Oddy probably could have spent most of the movie giving poor Toby an run down on the various connections and uncles, great uncles, great aunts, great great whatevers and first, second, and third removed cousins, or at least spent most of the previews introducing him to the Cliffs notes edition of the clan, although he might have forgotten a few in the process, or simply gotten side tracked on another entertaining (To him anyway) personality trait of someone, but mercifully he didn't. There was a movie to watch, and that was a little more important right at this moment than trying to recite that particular jumbled list, though he did stop to juggle some napkins into his grip, before they marched into the theater to find seats. Toby's awe was of course the crowning moment of the occasion. Yeah. It was going to be a FUN movie.
-Fin
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|