Mike and Jamal had been dating for almost year, and as a pre-celebratory event they decided to watch a film together. They cared for each other dearly and shared a bond through their love for many things, but somehow neither of them could ever agree on their taste in cinema. Mike adored fast paced and flashy productions; from explosions and fights in action films to backflips and pirouettes in dance movies. Jamal on the other hand was a completely different person. The Lyon lived off of great storylines. He absolutely thrived from watching complicated and intelligent conversations whilst being mesmerized by thoughtfully artistic cinematography. The boys were far from alike when it came to films but somehow they decided to celebrate a momentous time in their relationship by indulging themselves in such.
"Hmmm," Chang mumbled aloud as he studied the screen with his remote in his hand and his boyfriend's arm over his shoulder.
"Could you just pick something, please?" Jamal said, turning his face close to the Asian's.
"I'm trying, I'm trying! I'm just figuring out the perfect movie to watch!" Mike's eyes were so fixated on the screen that it'd be easy to forget that his lover was sat beside him.
"Okay, well, can you hurry up, then? By the time you've picked something we'll probably be celebrating our fifth anniversary!" Jamal chuckled aloud but mostly to himself, knowing full-well that his boyfriend could never appreciate his humour.
Mike's state remained the same as he carefully scanned each potential film that he was considering watching. "Avengers? No. Step Up! Wait, no... Iron Man! Grease! The Dark Knight… Footloose!"
Jamal rolled his eyes and groaned in his seat, falling further into Mike's arms. They were wasting the day because of his indecisiveness. "Hey, okay, give it to me!" Jamal sat up and grabbed the remote from his boyfriend's hand. Let's just watch Avatar, then, okay? Jamal pressed play before waiting for a response and then smoothly tightened his grip on his partner's shoulder, forcing the two closer together. "Now, just relax and watch." Mike pursed his lips together and readjusted his position so he'd be more comfortable in Jamal's arms.
Half an hour into the film the two managed to sit together and not say a single word of dispute, that is, until Mike grew bored.
"See, what I don't understand is why there has to be so much dialogue! Can they not just fight each other, swing from vines and spill a bit of blood already?" He leaned back with his squinted eyes staring at the screen.
Jamal let out a miniscule sigh at what Mike had just said. "You ever heard of a little thing called backstory?" Mike's position remained the same. 'You do realise that we need to find out why they want to fight each other, swing from vines and spill a bit of blood before they actually start to do that, right?" Jamal looked over at his bewildered boyfriend with a small smirk on his face. "Nobody randomly does all of that with no on-screen explanation and then gets nominated for a dozen Oscars now, do they?"
"And I get that, but why must it be so boring?!" his head was shaking in disinterest. "They just all say the same thing in every single movie. We get it. You had a rough past, the guy that's coming for you wants you dead, you're not ready to fight but you have to. Sooo... as we already know all of this then why don't you just beat the crap out of the bad guys already!?" Mike expressed, as his arms over exaggerated his words for him. Jamal had kept his eyes focused on Mike as he listened to him speak, but he couldn't figure out whether he was being spoken to or if Mike intended for the actors to hear the words.
"Do you even know what this film is about, Mike?"
"I literally just told you!" For the first time since the film began Mike's gaze moved to his partner. "Do you want me to repeat what I just said? I won't be the only one doing that, clearly." Jamal knew that Mike's humour wasn't funny, but because it came from him it was so it always made him giggle to himself.
"Listen," Jamal began, "if you don't care for the dialogue then just lose yourself in the cinematography. Look at the detail of those plants, or the makeup team's work on the actors. It's insane that this all started out as an idea and now it's this. Don't ya think?"
"Yeah sure, but all I want to see is the action. Isn't that what the trailer was all about? Right?" Jamal sighed heavily and leaned back into the sofa. He was about to say something but he knew that he wasn't going to win this one so decided to just enjoy the film for what it's worth. If he didn't entertain Mike's bewilderment then maybe it wouldn't happen. And he couldn't have been more wrong.
Another ten minutes went by as the couple endured the film in their own way until Mike broke the silence again. "You've seen this before, right? When does it actually get good?" Jamal looked at his watch. "Uhh, around forty minutes ago, my friend!" Jamal couldn't help but let out a proud smirk at his joke.
"Ha ha, very funny, my friend," Mike mimicked. "All I want to see is fighting and running and all of that stuff! When does that happen?"
"Do you think I have some kind of pre-written time code or something?"
"Well you seem to think you're some movie genius or whatever so I wouldn't hold it against you." Jamal gave Mike a playful nudge after hearing this before turning his head back to the screen. The film continued to play and as time went on Mike became increasingly bored. Jamal's focus remained on the movie as he allowed it to engulf him with its script and aesthetics. After around an hour of doing so he was taken away from the film by the sound of his snoring boyfriend that was laying on his shoulder.
"Oh my God. Hey, get up!" Jamal shook his arm to force Mike to wake up but instantly felt guilty after seeing his drowsy look. "What are you doing?"
"Surfing," Mike responded with an angry expression on his face. "What do you think?"
"We were supposed to be watching a film together you idiot!" Jamal said as he flicked Mike's ear.
"Hey, stop that!" Mike responded slowly due to his tiredness. "Ugh. How long was I asleep for?"
"I don't know. I was watching the film, the thing we both agreed on doing, and your stupid snoring interrupted me!"
"Not my fault you chose the worst film possible," after Mike said this he knew he'd lit a fire inside his boyfriend.
"Woah! Okay, since you have just disrespected the single greatest cinematic masterpiece that mankind has ever graced us with, you may remove yourself from the room. Go to bed upstairs!"
"This is my house, stupid." Mike pushed Jamal's head, intentionally trying to get under his skin.
"I don't care. Go up there now. Avatar doesn't deserve the disrespect you're feeding it! Now leave!" Jamal pointed towards the stairs with a serious expression on his face that Mike knew wasn't at all serious.
"Fine, I'll go. You're coming up after you watch this snooze fest, though. Okay?" Jamal tried to ignore Mike but the small smile he was failing to fight off ruined that plan for him. "Thought so. Goodnight, boyfriend!" Mike laughed as he walked up the stairs.
"Whatever," Jamal said to himself. "Now I can actually enjoy the film the way Cameron intended for me to!" The young man stretched his legs across the space that his boyfriend was previously laying so that he could be even more comfortable as he watched the film.
A while later Mike came back down the stairs to get himself a cup of water but was stopped on his way back to the bedroom by a sound he heard from the living room. He walked into the doorway and saw that the noise was coming from Jamal. He was fast asleep - snoring! The Asian shook his head with a little grin on his face as he glanced at his boyfriend from across the room. What a dork, Mike thought to himself as he thought of their debate from earlier. After contemplating what to do, he decided to walk away. Mike took a sip of his water and climbed the stairs with a bit of pride in his step. I'll just pretend that I didn't see a thing.