"Aw man, Amadeus, torrents are the greatest thing ever since like, the internet was invented or something."
Torrents? I scan my mind briefly, wondering if a torrent is something I am aware of or something I have forgotten, but I can come up with no definition of the word, and so I look to Hanna for clarification.
"Torrents?"
"Oh, yea. Guess you dunno much about uh, the internet. Hehe." He smiles apologetically before he shifts around on his mattress, making room for me to presumably join him on the bed as he pats the space next to him. His smile broadens when I take the spot, and he then points to the screen of his laptop perched atop the nearby chair. I look, but I am unsure of what I'm seeing. I'm not terribly savvy in the ways of computers or technology in general, and can only guess as to what all the numbers mean. "Yea, torrents. They uh, let you download things like movies and albums in a maybe notsolegal way for free."
"I see."
Yes, I can understand why Hanna would be so fond of these so-called 'torrents'; we're not particularly rolling in the dough (so to speak,) and from what I've gathered about the subject, DVD's and the like are a bit on the expensive side. I'm sure though, if Hanna had the money to spare, he'd go out and actually buy the material instead of settling for this second-rate method. A 'support the artist' type thing.
"Yup. The connection here sucks though; these are taking foreverrrrrr, I want The Watchmen nowwwwwwuhhhhhh." He whined pitifully.
I was unable to determine just how it was that he was able to tell how long each torrent took to download and merely agreed in companionable silence. Hanna pressed a few keys and clicked around for a bit before he soon grew bored. He frowned at the screen and the apparently slow torrents before another large smile crept across his face.
"Hey, hey! Wanna watch a movie while we wait for this one?"
He didn't wait for a response (though it would've been an affirmative) and opened up a few files. The screen was then filled with the opening credits to a movie, and Hanna looked on excitedly.
"I really love this movie, man. I haven't seen it in so long. It's so great, like. MAN OH MAN. I can't even explain. It's just that good."
He smiled giddily beside me and began bouncing up and down gently on the mattress as I shook my head, bemused.
"Let's just watch it, then. I'm sure I'll catch on."
He agrees and utters another few quickly spoken words that I have no hope of understanding, and then he's silent as the movie starts. It takes a little while, but soon I'm beginning to see some similarities. The main character, a young child by the name of Hogarth (I pray that Hanna never, ever, chooses to call me that), reminds me so strongly of Hanna, it's as if I'm being given a glimpse as to what he could've been like as a kid.
Energetic, curious, and an incredibly strong, active imagination make up most of what I'd picture Hanna to have been like. It makes both the kid, Hogarth, and Hanna more relaxed and open to accepting the oddity of such strange happenings the two separately encounter. For Hogarth, it is the Iron Giant. For Hanna, it is me.
It is not hard to see how similar we are, the Iron Giant and I, our respective memory loss issues aside. Our understanding of things and the how's and why's that make up how the world works are both molded and influenced by our younger counterparts. They teach us things, whether we are aware of it or not. Life lessons that may or not have been learned in a life before we met them.
There is another similarity between that strange metal contraption and me; we are both feared.
In different ways, surely, but fear is still fear no matter the form. I get odd, curious, confused looks wherever I go, and while those are easy to ignore and shove aside, it is much harder not to notice when people deliberately cross a street in order to avoid you. I don't mind it too terribly much, but Hanna always jumps on the defensive whenever something like that happens, speaking loudly about how rude some people are while glaring at the offender across the way.
I love Hanna like I'd surely love a younger brother when he does these things. It speaks volumes for his character in the fact that he's not afraid to stand up for his friends even if he looks like he'd barely be able to stand up for himself should a conflict arise.
While the fear of the Iron Giant is certainly more justifiable (a giant, metal robot from space with no definable origins during the time of the redscare is certainly upsetting), it has still done nothing wrong to warrant that type of fear.
"They're just not ready for you yet." Hogarth had said, and the robot had sadly agreed.
Society might never be ready for that kind of think-for-itself technology. People fear what they cannot control, after all. Most people generally categorize robots as killing machines, and the fact that this one could think and act on it's own was severely upsetting to them. So imagine, then, how they must feel to see a zombie who can think and act logically on it's own when most are feral, brain-hungry monsters. They must be terrified, and probably cannot comprehend that I'd be anything but some mindless terror, but Hanna had had no doubts. He'd taken me in without fear that I might turn on him and use him to sate my unearthly hunger, just as Hogarth had seen through the initial terror of a metal-munching mechanical being and had taken him in in much the same way.
…perhaps I'm looking too far into this. After all, it is only a childrens movie. Surely there wouldn't be so much thought put into something directed toward such a young audience.
Initially when the movie had started, Hanna had been laughing and giggling at all the appropriate places, but now he was quiet and somber, staring intently at the screen in what appeared to be deep thought. Maybe he's noticed the same things about the movie that I have.
"You know, Gallahad, you're a lot like the Iron Giant." Ah, it seems he has. He pauses the movie and stares into his folded hands thoughtfully. "You're strong and really kind and soft-spoken-ish and, heh, you both have memory problems."
He smiles a bit, and I almost feel inclined to do the same, but he continues on.
"But uh, I'm sure you've noticed how some people look like they're afraid of you when we're out together."
"I don't mind."
"Yea, I know; you're always saying that. But uh," he gives me an odd smile/frown/tilt of the head before he makes eye-contact, staring and holding my gaze firmly. "I just want to let you know that uh, you're not a monster. Despite what other people think ok? You're my best friend, and everyone else can just go suck a fuck. I love you, man."
He smiles, frowns, then smiles again, adding in as an afterthought:
"In a strictly platonic bromantic way, you understand."
I smile.
"Of course."
It wasn't something I worried about nightly, or something that even plagued my thoughts till recently, but even so Hanna's words were nice to hear.
"You are what you choose to be."
I am me, and Hanna is Hanna. I have no worries about one day turning into a blood-thirsty version of my undead self, and I know Hanna doesn't have any either. We know each other and how we work, regardless of how the rest of the world might portray us. They can live in fear if they so choose, but we will not let it affect us and our way of living.
Hanna is smiling again and looks back at the screen, nodding slowly to himself in silent thought as the paused Giants bright glowing eyes stare back at him. I'm waiting patiently for him to press play so we may finish the movie, but even after several minutes he doesn't move, and it appears that he has no intention of doing so.
"Hanna? Are we going to finish the movie?"
Hanna is snapped out of whatever train of thought he'd lost himself in and blinks at me curiously.
"Oh, no." Hanna shakes his head somberly and looks back at the screen with a sad smile. "If I watch the end now I'll cry."
I give him a questioning look but he ignores it and I decide not to press the issue. I admit, I'd like to see how the rest of the movie plays out, but if Hanna says it'll make him cry, well. I'd prefer not to see him shed any tears if it can be helped.
"Hey," It's my turn to blink as I turn to Hanna, and I see he's grinning again. "Look, both you guys' eyes glow. Haha, why are you guys so similar? Crazyyyyyy."
I chuckle along with Hanna as he exits out the movie and goes back to checking on his torrents, groaning loudly about having yet another hour to go before they finish.
Yes, me and the Iron Giant are the same in many ways, and I can only hope that whatever happens to him and Hogarth in the movie that could make Hanna cry does not befall us, and I make a resolve right then and there to protect Hanna as best I can and to keep him safe, especially from annoying paranoid CIA Agents who may come prying for whatever reason.
A/N: The Iron Giant is the greatest movie ever. Go watch it right the fuck now. Gogogo.