Rictor & Shatterstar, Saturday evening
Sep. 9th, 2023 07:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsRictor prepares a little birthday surprise for Shatterstar. They get uncomfortably close.
Rictor got to the second-floor common room a few minutes early for movie night this week to ensure he had time to set up. After all, this was a special occasion. It's not every day you turn 18, so Shatterstar deserved something special: a beautifully wrapped present, a cake (from a bakery, of course, no one should suffer Rictor's baking fails), and a six-pack of Tecate beer that Kane had graciously provided him, understanding the barbarism of the US's drinking laws. (Sure, Kane had made Rictor promise to be responsible and not flaunt it, but sharing a beer or three with a friend at home was responsible, right? Right.) Satisfied, he sat on the couch and scrolled through Instagram on his phone while he waited for Shatterstar to arrive.
Shatterstar hadn't really thought much about his birthday and had no reason to suspect Rictor had done anything for it. He didn't even know Rictor knew when his birthday was. Unsuspecting, he came into the common room, pausing in the door-way. "What's all that?"
Phone tossed aside and forgotten, Rictor withdrew a small party popper from his pocket and pulled the tab. A small pile of phosphorous-scented confetti slowly fell to the floor. "¡Felíz cumpleaños, güey! How does it feel to be a man now?"
Shatterstar's mouth twitched at the confetti and he gave into a small smile. "I feel the same as I did yesterday," he said with a shrug as he went to sit next to his friend. Making a friend in Rictor might be his favorite thing that happened to him as a seventeen year old, though. Even if he still wasn't exactly sure how they stood. "You didn't have to do anything..." He trailed off, seeing the cake box and the wrapped gift.
"But I wanted to. I thought it would be fun." Rictor's face fell for a moment as he doubted whether this effort pleased Shatterstar, but shook it off. There was cake and beer and present. Who wouldn't be pleased by that? He picked up the small rectangular package from the coffee table and handed it to Shatterstar. "Here. Open it."
Shatterstar rubbed the back of his neck, face hot with embarrassment. He didn't really know how to react to having a friend do something nice like this for him. Was this a normal friend thing, or was this more? "You got me a present?" He took the package from Rictor and used the penknife in his pocket to cut the tape and bow.
"It's just a little thing, You mentioned you had never seen it and couldn't find it anywhere. I don't think it was even formally released in the US," Rictor laughed. "This might be stuck with Tagalog subtitles."
"Toxic Janitor 2 starring Simon Williams!" Shatterstar said gleefully. "It's the only Simon Williams movie I haven't seen." He went on as he folded the wrapping paper. Hack: if you reused wrapping paper you didn't have to buy it new until it ripped. "Technically it stars someone else, David M. Brown I think it is, but Williams does all the body doubling with the make-up on. It's considered only a one-star movie, so you know it's good." Only then did he realize he was talking too much and went quiet for a second.
"Thanks. It's a really good gift. How did you even find it?"
Any doubt Rictor had instantly vanished. The feeling was replaced by a giddy happiness accompanied by butterflies in his stomach. What did that mean? He couldn't be sure, but being the source of Shatterstar's glee felt good. "By becoming very familiar with Google Translate and the mechanics of international shipping," he answered, grinning. "I know we were planning on watching C.H.U.D. 2 tonight, but we could save that for another night and watch this."
Shatterstar knew they had watched some bad movies together, but something about this offer felt more special. "It's probably terrible quality. You don't have to," Shatterstar said. The advice of Hope Abbott loomed in his mind. Somehow Rictor knew him so well, but he felt like he barely knew the other boy at all. Still, to be known felt so good. It was a rush. "But. I'd like that."
"If I wanted to watch a good movie, I would have brought Father of the Bride," Rictor teased, clapping Shatterstar's shoulder. His hand lingered there for a few seconds as he savored another flutter of the gut butterflies, but pulled his hand back before it could get weird(er). Blushing, he turned to the other box on the table. "Oh, and cake of course, but please don't ask me to sing. It'll ruin your mood." Voila, a professionally baked and decorated carrot cake, just enough for the two of them. (Probably intended for more, but Rictor was famished and they had a long crappy movie to get through. So in reality, just two servings.)
Even when Rictor pulled his hand away, the heat lingered. For some reason, Shatterstar didn't mind being touched when it was Rictor. He told himself that it was just because Rictor telegraphed the touching. He knew it wasn't true. "Father of the Bride is a good movie," Shatterstar agreed as he opened the cake box. He smiled at the little carrots frosted onto the cake. "Carrot cake is my favorite, how did you know?" he asked, though he had a suspicion that this was information gleaned from Terry. "This is... this is really nice. Thank you." For a moment he almost wanted to suggest watching The Spineless Ones, but no. That was too intimate, it would be moving way too fast. He didn't know if he could trust Rictor with something so personal.
"You said on the socials, remember? I'm sneaky. Bueno, sientete." Rictor waved at the couch and set to cutting them each a (massively oversized) slice, and plucked a can from the six-pack. "¿Querías? Don't tell anyone, though, or Kane won't trust me again."
Shatterstar took one of the beers from the six pack and tapped it against Rictor's before cracking it open and taking a sip. He didn't drink often, and not in over a year. It was sweeter than other beer he was used to, but not a saccharine sweet. "This is actually good," he said, reaching over Rictor slightly as he set up the DVD player. "And I won't tell Kane. Thank you."
Rictor popped the disc into the player and took a seat next to Shatterstar, sitting cross-legged so he could balance the plate of cake on his thigh while he held his beer in one hand and the remote in the other. It took him a minute to notice that they were sitting so close that his knee was brushing Shatterstar's leg, and he tried not to call attention to himself when he scooched half an inch over.
Shatterstar had tried not to bring attention to the fact Rictor's knee was touching him, hoping Rictor wouldn't notice so he wouldn't move. It surprised him that he didn't want Rictor to move. Normally he didn't like people touching him. It was... disappointing when Rictor moved. He moved his hand so that it was in the space Rictor left behind. The movie loading screen had started. "Simon Williams went missing, you know," he said to fill the space. "It'd be funny if he was on a superhero team too, like Arthur."
That premise even sounded like a Simon Williams movie plot. Rictor laughed at the thought. "What abilities do you think he would have? Is he really the Toxic Janitor IRL?"
Shatterstar considered it for a moment. "No, too handsome. He'd probably be Captain America's long lost nephew or something." A smile played on his lips and he knocked his knee against Rictor's.
"What would he call himself?" Rictor wondered, knocking Shatterstar with his knee again in return, his soft smile mirroring the other boy's. "Lieutenant America? Mister USA? That sounds like a beauty pageant winner, actually. And no offense, but I don't think that face is winning contests any time soon."
"I don't know," Shatterstar said without thinking. "His ass might." He turned bright red when he realized what he had said. He didn't think Rictor was homophobic, but it was still an embarrassing thing to say in front of your probably straight friend. Maybe even best friend. Shatterstar tugged one of his braids. "I mean. Objectively."
Rictor tried to laugh along with Shatterstar, like they were both in on the joke. No homo. Of course it didn't matter if Shatterstar were yes homo, right? Rictor had plenty of queer classmates in high school and university, they had just never been his friends. So Shatterstar was the first. And that was fine. Totally fine. And maybe it was just a joke, the kind of thing guys say to unnerve each other and give one another a hard time. Just bro code. So he laughed, finished his beer, and immediately went for another.
"What do you think actually happened to him?" Change the topic to something easier to manage, like conspiracy theories.
Shatterstar didn't even notice how awkward Rictor's laughter was now that he had inadvertently brought up The Conspiracy. Shatterstar took a long swig of beer. "Okay, so," Shatterstar said, which was always a sign of something unhinged about to be said. "I think he's murdered, for a multitude of reasons. How much do you know about Major Domo Industries and Arthur Centino- have you met Arthur by the way?"
Shatterstar had transformed completely, sitting straighter and staring at Rictor more intensely, even pausing the movie. This was a topic he was serious about.
Rictor was going to have to get treated for whiplash, but he was grateful to this new conversation, so he continued down the path. "No and no. What's Major Domo Industries?"
"Arthur- he lives here by the way- used to work for a film production company called Major Domo Industries and then when he tried to distance himself from them he was in a train crash and presumed dead. Obviously, he was too talented to die but most people still think he's dead. There's been a few other disappearances or mysterious deaths of people who worked for or with Major Domo Industries, like "Ricochet" Rita Wayword." Shatterstar paused for a moment at his mother's name. "Simon Williams also worked for Major Domo Industries and goes missing right after he had a very public court case with terrible publicity AND was just cast in a major studio picture. Coincidence? I don't think so. Plus, even if it wasn't MDI, Stark's people could have had him killed. I doubt that, but you can't be sure. Also, he was suspected to be some sort of mutant or mutate and Arthur turned out to be one. MDI was known for hiring a lot of mutants before M-Day. So even if he wasn't killed, if he was a mutant it could have to do with the disappearances not connected to deaths, as most of those were suspected mutants or super humans."
He said all this like it was the most natural thing to believe. "But I think he was killed. Seems more likely to me."
"So, okay, wait." Rictor tried following Shatterstar's train of thought, but the first thing that came to mind was the Pepe Silvia meme. "Why would a movie studio murder an actor if he was just cast in a big movie? Why did they try to kill this Arthur guy? Trust me, I know big corporations and billionaires are evil, but they usually have a reason for being evil. Usually it's greed."
"He was cast in a movie outside the studio, so he could have talked about what people suspect MDI is doing on the side," Shatterstar said. "Same with Arthur- he was getting very high profile and out of their control. I mentioned the involvement with mutants and superhumans right? People think they were involved with human experimentation or mutant trafficking. And Williams and Arthur knew too much. Plus if Arthur left, they would lose their cash cow, but it turns out all the residuals of his shows if he died would go back to the company and they could market his image after, like with Bob Ross. But for Williams it was probably that he was drawing too much attention and trying to leave the studio."
"Huh." Rictor could not find any fault in that reasoning. Big corporations were always involved in shady stuff the hoi polloi wouldn't understand. That is how, ultimately, Rictor had found his way here, with an ancient magic–obsessed billionaire narcissist threatening his family, because Meróz wanted what they had. Was it some kind of cosmic sign that Rictor had lived a similar conspiracy that Shatterstar obsessed over? "Is MDI still active? Do you think they're preparing their next sacrifice?" As weird as those words sounded strung together in that sentence, his tone was sincere and inquisitive, not disparaging.
"They're still active, but less so since around 2020," Shatterstar said. "And I don't think they do planned sacrifices. More just cutting their losses." Shatterstar realized with surprise that Julio had believed him with barely any questions. He turned away, face hot at the concept of someone being interested in what he had to say. He took another swig of the beer Rictor had brought. "I think they're trying to get the rights to do a jukebox musical based on Dazzler songs, but I haven't had the opportunity to keep up with it lately."
"You're such a fan, maybe we should watch one of Arthur Centino's movies soon. But not next week, next week is my turn. I found one called El extraño hijo del sherrif. It looks completely crazy. I think you'll like it."
Rictor got to the second-floor common room a few minutes early for movie night this week to ensure he had time to set up. After all, this was a special occasion. It's not every day you turn 18, so Shatterstar deserved something special: a beautifully wrapped present, a cake (from a bakery, of course, no one should suffer Rictor's baking fails), and a six-pack of Tecate beer that Kane had graciously provided him, understanding the barbarism of the US's drinking laws. (Sure, Kane had made Rictor promise to be responsible and not flaunt it, but sharing a beer or three with a friend at home was responsible, right? Right.) Satisfied, he sat on the couch and scrolled through Instagram on his phone while he waited for Shatterstar to arrive.
Shatterstar hadn't really thought much about his birthday and had no reason to suspect Rictor had done anything for it. He didn't even know Rictor knew when his birthday was. Unsuspecting, he came into the common room, pausing in the door-way. "What's all that?"
Phone tossed aside and forgotten, Rictor withdrew a small party popper from his pocket and pulled the tab. A small pile of phosphorous-scented confetti slowly fell to the floor. "¡Felíz cumpleaños, güey! How does it feel to be a man now?"
Shatterstar's mouth twitched at the confetti and he gave into a small smile. "I feel the same as I did yesterday," he said with a shrug as he went to sit next to his friend. Making a friend in Rictor might be his favorite thing that happened to him as a seventeen year old, though. Even if he still wasn't exactly sure how they stood. "You didn't have to do anything..." He trailed off, seeing the cake box and the wrapped gift.
"But I wanted to. I thought it would be fun." Rictor's face fell for a moment as he doubted whether this effort pleased Shatterstar, but shook it off. There was cake and beer and present. Who wouldn't be pleased by that? He picked up the small rectangular package from the coffee table and handed it to Shatterstar. "Here. Open it."
Shatterstar rubbed the back of his neck, face hot with embarrassment. He didn't really know how to react to having a friend do something nice like this for him. Was this a normal friend thing, or was this more? "You got me a present?" He took the package from Rictor and used the penknife in his pocket to cut the tape and bow.
"It's just a little thing, You mentioned you had never seen it and couldn't find it anywhere. I don't think it was even formally released in the US," Rictor laughed. "This might be stuck with Tagalog subtitles."
"Toxic Janitor 2 starring Simon Williams!" Shatterstar said gleefully. "It's the only Simon Williams movie I haven't seen." He went on as he folded the wrapping paper. Hack: if you reused wrapping paper you didn't have to buy it new until it ripped. "Technically it stars someone else, David M. Brown I think it is, but Williams does all the body doubling with the make-up on. It's considered only a one-star movie, so you know it's good." Only then did he realize he was talking too much and went quiet for a second.
"Thanks. It's a really good gift. How did you even find it?"
Any doubt Rictor had instantly vanished. The feeling was replaced by a giddy happiness accompanied by butterflies in his stomach. What did that mean? He couldn't be sure, but being the source of Shatterstar's glee felt good. "By becoming very familiar with Google Translate and the mechanics of international shipping," he answered, grinning. "I know we were planning on watching C.H.U.D. 2 tonight, but we could save that for another night and watch this."
Shatterstar knew they had watched some bad movies together, but something about this offer felt more special. "It's probably terrible quality. You don't have to," Shatterstar said. The advice of Hope Abbott loomed in his mind. Somehow Rictor knew him so well, but he felt like he barely knew the other boy at all. Still, to be known felt so good. It was a rush. "But. I'd like that."
"If I wanted to watch a good movie, I would have brought Father of the Bride," Rictor teased, clapping Shatterstar's shoulder. His hand lingered there for a few seconds as he savored another flutter of the gut butterflies, but pulled his hand back before it could get weird(er). Blushing, he turned to the other box on the table. "Oh, and cake of course, but please don't ask me to sing. It'll ruin your mood." Voila, a professionally baked and decorated carrot cake, just enough for the two of them. (Probably intended for more, but Rictor was famished and they had a long crappy movie to get through. So in reality, just two servings.)
Even when Rictor pulled his hand away, the heat lingered. For some reason, Shatterstar didn't mind being touched when it was Rictor. He told himself that it was just because Rictor telegraphed the touching. He knew it wasn't true. "Father of the Bride is a good movie," Shatterstar agreed as he opened the cake box. He smiled at the little carrots frosted onto the cake. "Carrot cake is my favorite, how did you know?" he asked, though he had a suspicion that this was information gleaned from Terry. "This is... this is really nice. Thank you." For a moment he almost wanted to suggest watching The Spineless Ones, but no. That was too intimate, it would be moving way too fast. He didn't know if he could trust Rictor with something so personal.
"You said on the socials, remember? I'm sneaky. Bueno, sientete." Rictor waved at the couch and set to cutting them each a (massively oversized) slice, and plucked a can from the six-pack. "¿Querías? Don't tell anyone, though, or Kane won't trust me again."
Shatterstar took one of the beers from the six pack and tapped it against Rictor's before cracking it open and taking a sip. He didn't drink often, and not in over a year. It was sweeter than other beer he was used to, but not a saccharine sweet. "This is actually good," he said, reaching over Rictor slightly as he set up the DVD player. "And I won't tell Kane. Thank you."
Rictor popped the disc into the player and took a seat next to Shatterstar, sitting cross-legged so he could balance the plate of cake on his thigh while he held his beer in one hand and the remote in the other. It took him a minute to notice that they were sitting so close that his knee was brushing Shatterstar's leg, and he tried not to call attention to himself when he scooched half an inch over.
Shatterstar had tried not to bring attention to the fact Rictor's knee was touching him, hoping Rictor wouldn't notice so he wouldn't move. It surprised him that he didn't want Rictor to move. Normally he didn't like people touching him. It was... disappointing when Rictor moved. He moved his hand so that it was in the space Rictor left behind. The movie loading screen had started. "Simon Williams went missing, you know," he said to fill the space. "It'd be funny if he was on a superhero team too, like Arthur."
That premise even sounded like a Simon Williams movie plot. Rictor laughed at the thought. "What abilities do you think he would have? Is he really the Toxic Janitor IRL?"
Shatterstar considered it for a moment. "No, too handsome. He'd probably be Captain America's long lost nephew or something." A smile played on his lips and he knocked his knee against Rictor's.
"What would he call himself?" Rictor wondered, knocking Shatterstar with his knee again in return, his soft smile mirroring the other boy's. "Lieutenant America? Mister USA? That sounds like a beauty pageant winner, actually. And no offense, but I don't think that face is winning contests any time soon."
"I don't know," Shatterstar said without thinking. "His ass might." He turned bright red when he realized what he had said. He didn't think Rictor was homophobic, but it was still an embarrassing thing to say in front of your probably straight friend. Maybe even best friend. Shatterstar tugged one of his braids. "I mean. Objectively."
Rictor tried to laugh along with Shatterstar, like they were both in on the joke. No homo. Of course it didn't matter if Shatterstar were yes homo, right? Rictor had plenty of queer classmates in high school and university, they had just never been his friends. So Shatterstar was the first. And that was fine. Totally fine. And maybe it was just a joke, the kind of thing guys say to unnerve each other and give one another a hard time. Just bro code. So he laughed, finished his beer, and immediately went for another.
"What do you think actually happened to him?" Change the topic to something easier to manage, like conspiracy theories.
Shatterstar didn't even notice how awkward Rictor's laughter was now that he had inadvertently brought up The Conspiracy. Shatterstar took a long swig of beer. "Okay, so," Shatterstar said, which was always a sign of something unhinged about to be said. "I think he's murdered, for a multitude of reasons. How much do you know about Major Domo Industries and Arthur Centino- have you met Arthur by the way?"
Shatterstar had transformed completely, sitting straighter and staring at Rictor more intensely, even pausing the movie. This was a topic he was serious about.
Rictor was going to have to get treated for whiplash, but he was grateful to this new conversation, so he continued down the path. "No and no. What's Major Domo Industries?"
"Arthur- he lives here by the way- used to work for a film production company called Major Domo Industries and then when he tried to distance himself from them he was in a train crash and presumed dead. Obviously, he was too talented to die but most people still think he's dead. There's been a few other disappearances or mysterious deaths of people who worked for or with Major Domo Industries, like "Ricochet" Rita Wayword." Shatterstar paused for a moment at his mother's name. "Simon Williams also worked for Major Domo Industries and goes missing right after he had a very public court case with terrible publicity AND was just cast in a major studio picture. Coincidence? I don't think so. Plus, even if it wasn't MDI, Stark's people could have had him killed. I doubt that, but you can't be sure. Also, he was suspected to be some sort of mutant or mutate and Arthur turned out to be one. MDI was known for hiring a lot of mutants before M-Day. So even if he wasn't killed, if he was a mutant it could have to do with the disappearances not connected to deaths, as most of those were suspected mutants or super humans."
He said all this like it was the most natural thing to believe. "But I think he was killed. Seems more likely to me."
"So, okay, wait." Rictor tried following Shatterstar's train of thought, but the first thing that came to mind was the Pepe Silvia meme. "Why would a movie studio murder an actor if he was just cast in a big movie? Why did they try to kill this Arthur guy? Trust me, I know big corporations and billionaires are evil, but they usually have a reason for being evil. Usually it's greed."
"He was cast in a movie outside the studio, so he could have talked about what people suspect MDI is doing on the side," Shatterstar said. "Same with Arthur- he was getting very high profile and out of their control. I mentioned the involvement with mutants and superhumans right? People think they were involved with human experimentation or mutant trafficking. And Williams and Arthur knew too much. Plus if Arthur left, they would lose their cash cow, but it turns out all the residuals of his shows if he died would go back to the company and they could market his image after, like with Bob Ross. But for Williams it was probably that he was drawing too much attention and trying to leave the studio."
"Huh." Rictor could not find any fault in that reasoning. Big corporations were always involved in shady stuff the hoi polloi wouldn't understand. That is how, ultimately, Rictor had found his way here, with an ancient magic–obsessed billionaire narcissist threatening his family, because Meróz wanted what they had. Was it some kind of cosmic sign that Rictor had lived a similar conspiracy that Shatterstar obsessed over? "Is MDI still active? Do you think they're preparing their next sacrifice?" As weird as those words sounded strung together in that sentence, his tone was sincere and inquisitive, not disparaging.
"They're still active, but less so since around 2020," Shatterstar said. "And I don't think they do planned sacrifices. More just cutting their losses." Shatterstar realized with surprise that Julio had believed him with barely any questions. He turned away, face hot at the concept of someone being interested in what he had to say. He took another swig of the beer Rictor had brought. "I think they're trying to get the rights to do a jukebox musical based on Dazzler songs, but I haven't had the opportunity to keep up with it lately."
"You're such a fan, maybe we should watch one of Arthur Centino's movies soon. But not next week, next week is my turn. I found one called El extraño hijo del sherrif. It looks completely crazy. I think you'll like it."
