Alex isn't entirely sure when movie nights became a tradition for them; Emma has roped him into many things, over the years, in the name of friendship. There was the ill-fated book club she started. That seminar on watercolor painting she dragged him along to (he pointed out watercolors weren't exactly tango lessons, to require a partner, but he was, as ever, overruled). Tango lessons.
But this one has remained surprisingly permanent. Surprising for him, really; Emma tends to get the final say on the movies they watch, and her tastes don't necessarily match up with his. Alex doesn't know why he always ends up indulging her choices.
Maybe it's that watching a movie he favors with Emma pouting next to him wouldn't be any more pleasant than whatever she's chosen. She is, after all, a hard person to say 'no' to. And even if Alex has much more practice at it than most people—in harmless instances like this, it seems unnecessary to rob her of that shiny luster of excitement she exudes.
He sets the lights in the den to an acceptable configuration (Mr. Woodhouse is constantly after them about their movie nights, and the inevitable eye strain that must result from staring at a bright screen in the dark for too long), grabs the giant bowl of popcorn Emma always insists on having, and settles in his seat just as Emma comes bouncing in.
"Two choices tonight, dearest and grumpiest Alex," Emma holds up the DVD cases, her beaming face between them. "What do we think?"
He takes them and examines the covers. Silver Linings Playbook and Pacific Rim. He doesn't pay much attention to Hollywood and hasn't heard of either. Emma sighs when he tells her so.
"The rock you live under must get so uncomfortable; I don't know how you manage to stay there. Silver Linings Playbook," she holds up her hands dramatically, as if framing a scene, "Two lost souls find an unexpected common bond—"
Alex scrunches his face. "Sounds like your typical tedious indie film."
She snatches the case back. "It happens to also be a touching portrait of mental illness. And as you know, I've always thought cultured human beings should be aware of those kinds of important issues."
At this he stares at her, arms crossed, face deadpan.
"What? I'm very Socially Conscious."
"Of course you are, Emma," he says, "I remember your enduring concern about the social unrest in Northern Uganda after watching Kony 2012."
She frowns, biting her lip. "I—bought a bracelet."
"I'm sure the child soldiers were very grateful for it."
Emma huffs and brushes that aside. "Anyway, Pacific Rim. Charlie Hunham—" she breaks off and stares a little dreamily somewhere into the distance. "Yes. We're watching this."
"You haven't told me what it's about." At least the cover looks a bit more promising for this one.
"You're a smart boy, you'll catch on. If you'd just watched it in theaters with me like I'd asked…"
He smirks as she puts the disk in. "You'd still be persuading me to watch it now. Anyway, I was busy doing—"
"I know, I know," she cuts him off. "Important, boring stuff."
They're silent during the (painfully expository) opening monologue. He's surprised that Emma's chosen an action movie. That's a far cry from her typical choice.
"Giant robots… punching dinosaurs," he remarks. "I see we're off to a promising start."
"Alien dinosaurs, Alex," she sighs, reaching over for the bowl of popcorn on his lap, "And shhhh."
It's practically a routine of theirs; Emma isn't fond of his commentary during films, but he can't help pointing out the flaws in whatever she's twisted his arm into watching. And sometimes he catches the corners of her mouth tugging into a smile when he says something, even if her eyebrows are drawn in an attempt to pretend otherwise.
The film turns out to be pretty much what he expected—ridiculous premise, a bit simplistic in its representation of the kaiju genre, and definitely lacking in subtlety, but not bad. Every time he looks over at Emma, she has a widespread grin on her face, though. At its heart, Alex realizes, this is a movie about hope, the age-old story of good triumphing over evil. There's something refreshing about its decidedly optimistic outlook on humanity.
No wonder Emma loves it.
A/N: I'm not quite sure about these characters yet; I've read Emma but we've only had 2 episodes of EA to work off of so far. We'll see how well this holds up in a few months...
(Also, I feel obligated to add that I love Pacific Rim, I just don't think Mr. Knightley would be quite so enamored of it.)