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"I can't believe you hadn't seen it," Chuck says, shaking his head. "Man, it will blow your mind. It has lens flares!" he adds as if that explained everything and who knows, maybe it does.
Bryce doesn't point out that being dead can be a real drag when it comes to keeping up with cinematic releases, and that he hadn't seen the new Terminator movie either, and that the news of Sarah Connor being cancelled are still a fresh wound. Not as painful as some other recent wounds, but well, pointing that out would be same as mentioning that first thing, and it would make Chuck's eyes go really soft and his hand rest comfortingly on Bryce's shoulder and that's a little more than Bryce is prepared to deal with, right now.
"Dude, the Ring really kept you under a rock," Chuck continues, and there it is, that expression, and his light tone is not fooling anyone. "Now I'll need to explain the epic McCoy/Kirk friendship to you, and that's just so much work."
"Don't you mean Spock/Kirk?" Bryce asks, propping himself up comfortably against the headboard on Chuck's bed, the way he used to in better times, at Stanford, when they spent one whole week of the winter break, when Ellie had come down with a stomach flu and Chuck had been forbidden from coming come lest he catch it; and they watched the entirety of TOS and all of the movies, and Chuck mouthed the dialogue, cracking up at the most ridiculous bits, and at Bryce's Shatner impersonation.
Say what you want, but Bryce's Shatner impersonation was awesome. He's even tempted to bring it out now, just to see Chuck laugh like that again, like he didn't have a care in the world.
"No, that was the old movies. This is an alternate reality, they go into lengths explaining it so I won't, but you just need to know it's all about Kirk and McCoy now." He shrugs, grinning as he looks up at Bryce after fumbling with the remote for a moment. "The Internet agrees with me on that one."
Bryce smiles knowingly, raising his hands in a mock surrender. "Oh, the Internet agrees. Well, that obviously wins you the argument. Not."
"Hey, hey," Chuck punches his shoulder lightly. "The Intersect agrees with me too, you know."
"Does it now."
"Yep. And the Intersect knows kung-fu, so you better agree with me too," Chuck finishes with a flourish, and the remote flies out of his hand, landing on the floor with a loud crack. Chuck just shrugs at that; the movie is already on, and he probably figures out he's not going to need the remote for a while.
"Chuck," Bryce says, a lousy beginning, especially since he doesn't know what he was going to say next.
"It's fine," Chuck mutters, turning to look at Bryce, his face as open and honest as always and fuck, what was Bryce doing dragging him into this world over and over again? Showing up now, pretending everything was fine and they could go back to this, to the easy friendship and geeky movies and lazy days? "No, really, it's fine," Chuck says with more force. "You're alive, I occasionally know kung fu, and the new Star Trek movie is awesome. And has Karl Urban and the Choverlord. Life's good," he says, light and cheerful, and Bryce believes that yeah, that could be true.
"The Choverlord? That's the Internet or the Intersect speaking?"
"Fanboards. I always forget which one are those," Chucks shrugs and reaches out awkwardly, as they sit side by side it's difficult for him to pat Bryce's shoulder; his hand gently squeezes Bryce's thigh instead. "Now, shut up and watch the movie. The first ten minutes are going to break your heart, I swear."
Yeah, Bryce thinks, that could be difficult, considering he might have lost it a while ago.