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Chapter Six
Russell
“I stand corrected,” I say as Marco and I step out of the movie theater, “I didn’t think Pattinson could do Batman, but you were right, he pulled it off.”
“I told you, man!” Marco exclaimed, grinning, “That was epic!”
“It was, I thought I was burnt out after the Nolan trilogy, but they brought it back,” I agree.
“So, where should we go to eat?” he asks.
I’m finally on the date I’d been expecting last week, just me and Marco. And while I’d kind of wanted to do something unique with him like I had with Sofia, we were both itching to see the new Batman movie that had just come out in theaters. So we’d both agreed on just a classic movie and a meal date, but we opted to do the movie first.
It always made more sense to me like that. Seeing the movie together gives you something easy to talk about at dinner, so it had always confused me that most people did it the other way around.
“How would you feel about pizza?” I ask, “There’s this amazing local place just down the street.
“I don’t trust anyone who can turn down pizza,” he replies solemnly.
I laugh. “A man after my own heart. It’s close enough that we could walk it, if you want, or I could drive and then bring you back so we’re not taking two cars.”
“Let’s walk it,” he says, “It’s nice out.”
“Sounds good. It’s down this way,” I say, pointing, then leading him across the parking lot to the sidewalk.
“You know, I wonder why there hasn’t been a Batman movie with a Robin in it since the 90’s,” Marco muses as we walk.
“Well, there was that thing at the end of Dark Knight Rises-”
He groans and rolls his eyes, “That doesn’t count. He never actually suited up as the Boy Wonder.”
“True enough.”
“He’s in most of the comics, and they seem to keep him in most of the animated stuff.”
“Maybe they have a hard time finding a kid that can pull off crazy action stunts,” I suggest.
“I don’t know, I’ve seen child actors pull off some crazy shit. But I guess there’s probably a lot of liability there or something.”
“But who knows, with all the crazy CGI stuff they’re doing these days, soon they might be able to cast an adult and make him look like he’s 13. Or however old Robin’s supposed to be, I think it varies based on the comic.”
“True enough,” he laughs, “They made the guy who played Gimli look like one of the shortest members of the Lord of the Rings, but the dude’s six foot one and the only actor who was taller was Christopher Lee.”
The conversation shifts from Batman to Lord of the Rings, then somehow we end up having an in-depth discussion about musicals. Somewhere along the way, we actually make it to the pizza place, but we’re still deep in our conversation when we’re seated, until the server comes by for our drink orders.
We agree to split a pitcher of a local beer that he’s tried before and swears by, and as the server walks away, it feels a little bit like a spell’s been broken, and suddenly I’m reminded that there are other people in the world besides the two of us.
“We should probably decide on food before we get sidetracked,” Marco says with a laugh.
“Very good idea,” I agree.
We settle on a house special that I’ve tried before, despite Marco’s hesitation. “Pine nuts on pizza?” he’d asked.
“I know it sounds weird, but they add a really interesting texture, and it just works. Trust me.”
And he said he does, so when our server comes back around, I order a medium for us to split.
I pour out a glass of beer for each of us, then hold mine out. “Well, cheers.”
“What are we toasting?” he asks, holding his glass out in anticipation.
I think for a moment, then slowly grin. “To sidekicks.”
He laughs and we clink glasses, “Are you calling me a sidekick?”
I have to hastily swallow a mouthful of beer to avoid choking on my laughter. Even so, I splutter and cough a little, so I shake my head in lieu of speaking. “Nah, if anything I am. Have you ever thought of auditioning to play Superman, dude? Because like…” I look him up and down, gesturing, “You’ve got the ‘Clark Kent’ down.”
He laughs, and to my delight, he actually blushes a little bit. It’s fucking adorable. “Not a chance,” he says, shaking his head, “Even if I had any acting skill. I’m not movie material. And I don’t think Superman ever had a sidekick, did he?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I admit, “Other than Batman, I’m mostly a Marvel guy.”
Marco gasps dramatically. “Blasphemy!”
And just like that, the two of us launch into another easy, nerdy conversation. I feel like I'm talking to an old friend, but at the same time...I've never had an “old friend” who I kept deliberately bumping hands with across the table. Or one I wanted to kiss so much.
Admittedly, though, the more I feel pulled to him, the more guilty I feel. Things with Sofia yesterday had gone so well, and I honestly couldn’t knock her out of the running at this point.
Our conversations had been a little heavier, but I liked getting to know her better. I liked that she shared that with me, and I found myself wondering if she’d shared it with Marco, too, or if maybe it just hadn’t come up.
I’d been a little jealous initially that Marco and Sofia got to go out one-on-one first, even though it had simply been a matter of scheduling. But with the way things were going for me, I wondered how things had gone for them. They both seem pretty keen on continuing to pursue something with me, which makes me kind of suspect that they hadn’t clicked, but I don’t know, and I don’t want to sour things by asking.
A thought occurs to me that I hadn’t really thought about before. What if both of them choose me? We hadn’t really planned for that scenario. Or if both of us guys choose Sofia, or she and I choose Marco…there’s a lot of ways this could end in someone’s heart getting broken.
And as fast and hard as I’m falling for them both, I have a nasty feeling it’s gonna be mine.
