"I don't understand the sentiment in this movie," Reid grumbled, his arms crossed over his flannel-pajama-clad chest as he watched his least favorite Disney of all time; The Little Mermaid. As much as he wanted to enjoy it, for the pure scientific fantasy of a human and underwater craniate hybrid. That would be something he'd love to read about. But regardless, it was distracting to try and balance the love interest with the lack of a voice and the plotline under the sea and on land. Everything was so overwhelming, but Aaron enjoyed it so he tried his best to keep his mouth shut.
That, of course, was completely thrown out the window as soon as Ursula was able to change how she looked and used Ariel's voice from the weird shell receptacle around her neck.
Aaron looked down at the lanky man that sat curled up in his side, smiling softly at how grumpy he was. "What's not to understand?"
"How can this movie be considered child-friendly, and more importantly, how do adults continue to watch is as if it was a religious item," he tucked his hair behind his ear and threw his hands outward as Ursula began to hypnotize Eric. "See! That would traumatize a child, Aaron! How can infants look at this and not be terrified? Wouldn't they be scared that they'd get hypnotized too, if hypnosis is just a matter of staring at a damn swirling animation." Reid frowned and roughly placed his head back on Aaron's shoulder.
"Their parents most likely explained that it wasn't real, Spencer."
"Wouldn't that take away from the amazement of the movie, then?" He huffed, his bottom lip protruding and his jaw tensed. "I don't want to watch this anymore."
"You don't want to watch this anymore?" At this point, it wasn't about the movie anymore. It was about how hilarious Reid's anger was toward a fantasy, animated movie that was released when he was nine, most likely already buried in textbooks and IQ tests up to his ears. Of course he couldn't really immerse himself in a movie about the ocean—he'd read several books on the topic of the deep ocean. "Why not?"
"Don't patronize me," Reid whined, "I can't concentrate with all of the blatant mistakes. They seem to be living somewhere near the shore, because the ship crashed and Ariel was able to swim—SWIM a full grown man—several feet to shore without drowning him. I don't think so. However, the buildings, the underwater kingdom, is huge, Aaron. Hundreds of feet tall. Ridiculous, unless the continental rise is somehow steep enough to drop off almost immediately after shore, which would also be preposterous due to earlier scenes in the movie where we see Eric running with his dog near and in the water. So what is the landscape? Where are they, a planet we haven't discovered? Jesus," he reached over Aaron for the remote, "I want to watch a better one."
"A better one?" Aaron was in (playful) shock. "What's your definition of a better Disney movie."
Reid mumbled something that the older man didn't catch.
"What was that?"
"Aladdin," the younger brunette answered.
The older man audibly sighed, letting his face fall into his hands. "Spencer..."
"What?" His voice cracked as he scrambled to his knees and gently placed his hands on the sides of Aaron's shoulders. "What's wrong with Aladdin?"
"You had a problem with a magical sea kingdom and the false hypnotism," he began slowly, trying his best to hide the smile and amusement creeping into his voice as he looked up at his boyfriend, "but you'll openly advocate for a movie set in Egypt-"
"China. Most likely Turkestan."
"Sure, but you're going to be fine with the genies in the bottles and the-"
"Magic!" Reid shook his hands and made a deck of cards appear, once again amazing the man in front of him. "Yes! It's the most historically accurate Disney movie I've seen, not to mention the beautiful artwork and the—oh, and the genie makes me smile because he's funny, but he isn't just the comic relief character, he has depth. I'm okay with a love interest when they're shrouded in mystery and Turkish appeal."
The raven-haired man just watched as Reid got himself worked up over the movie he always, always watched every chance he could get.
"The songs also follow the same chord progression as ancient Cathay music would have been, especially the Arabian Nights opening. Alan Menken is truly the pulling force behind the movie, let me tell you. And Aladdin is cute, and I like the magic carpet and if I was in Turkestan as a princess being arranged to marry the meanest Maghreb villain in Turkestan, I'd want to fall in love with someone like that. So romantic."
"You..." Aaron finally couldn't keep the giggles in and burst into a fit, hooking his arm around Reid's stomach and pulling him into his lap. "You like the story with the fake prince that lies about his rank to get to you, and you wouldn't ever question his intentions? What if he just wants to be the sultan? You'd be the most naïve Disney princess."
Reid stared at him for a long time, his eyebrows furrowed and the creases of his lips pointing downward. His face was getting red, and Aaron sighed.
"I was making a joke, Reid."
"Keep talking," Reid said, bending his hand and springing the cards all over the older man before brushing off a place on his chest and laying his head down again. "I'll tie a brick to you and throw you in the scary ocean like the guards did to Aladdin and you can wait for the genie to come save you because I sure wouldn't."
Aaron shook his head, a laugh shaking his chest (and Reid's head) before ruffling his boy's head and snatching the remote to go to their movie selection. On Halloween, he'd be sure to buy Reid a Jasmine costume.