[a/n: the image above is a screenshot I found on instagram and it made me audibly gasp so here you go]
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Clay looked at himself in the closet mirror as he pulled on an oversized black hoodie and a pair of matching sweatpants. George would drown in that hoodie if he were to wear it. Clay squinted at his reflection and rubbed his face, shocked at the residue still left on his eyelids after last night's makeover.
He was pulled back from the mirror by a buzz emitting from his phone.
Sapnap
yo, skep and bad wanted to do a movie night thing, are you and george down?
3:49PM
Clay sat down on the bed, typing back.
Dream
yeah for sure, when?
3:49PM
Sapnap
around 10 today if that works
3:49PM
Dream
sure, i'll give you guys a call later
3:50PM
He stowed the phone and walked out into the living room to notify George of the plan.
"Ooh, fun," said George when he heard the news.
Clay observed that George's skin was covered in the same streaks as before, and he smiled involuntarily at the random adventure they had yesterday.
The day was filled with lounging and laughing, and as the sun set yet again, Clay tasked George with calling the boys while he rummaged around his pantry for some popcorn.
"Hello, world!" George sang from the living room as a set of speakers crackled to life. A cacophony of voices rose out of them.
"Georgie!" BadBoyHalo yelled in delight, followed by Skeppy saying his greetings.
Clay heard snippets of conversation from his spot in the kitchen, and he grew more and more excited to be finally spending time with his friends.
He found a large bag of microwave popcorn and tossed it in to cook while he prepared the seasonings.
George hooked his laptop to Clay's TV and adjusted the volume controls. Soon, the TV came to life and opened to Bad's Netflix page.
"Please ignore that 'RuPaul's Drag Race' is in my continue watching..." Bad giggled through the call.
The chat laughed and the TV screen began scrolling.
The warm smell of popcorn wafted softly into the room, and George turned around from his seat on the floor to see Clay emerge from the kitchen with a bowl of snacks and a couple drinks. He dimmed the lights on the way and set his stuff on the floor.
"Dream's here, we can start," George said.
Clay was greeted with just as much enthusiasm as George had, and after a couple more moments of banter, the show was about to begin.
The two plopped down on opposite ends of the small couch and Clay put the bowl of popcorn between them.
"What do you guys wanna watch?" Bad asked, opening the category search on the screen.
"I'm good with whatever, but I'd watch an action movie or something," Sapnap replied.
"I was thinking a comedy of some kind, maybe a drama-" called Skeppy.
The five threw ideas back and forth until 'horror' popped into view on the category list.
"Ooh, scary movies are always fun," George said to the agreement of others.
The crew decided on the gory side of horror, rather than movies with sci-fi or fantasy elements. The energy in the room was growing restless.
Clay briskly read the description of a movie that everyone had settled on. It was about a serial killer that gutted his victims and sold them on the black market. Dark stuff...
It turned out that Sapnap had already seen this particular movie, but insisted they watch it anyway.
"It's really good," he said, "so many jumpscares!"
"You're gonna scream, George," Clay said to his friend as the other three conversed on the call.
"I don't think so," George smirked, "I actually like gore and jumpscares."
"Please, when we play for our channels, you cling to me so hard I can almost feel you in real life," Clay joked, thinking back to all the times the two got themselves tangled in difficult Minecraft challenges.
"Well that's different! It's Minecraft!"
"So... you're saying you're more scared of Minecraft than horror movies?"
George's expression fell into a pokerface as he backtracked.
"...Well when you say it like that, it sounds stupid," he smiled and turned towards the TV.
Clay wheezed. "That's literally what you meant!"
"No!" George grinned, "I said it's different!"
Clay kept wheezing as the trio turned their attention to the commotion.
"You're so annoying," George said to Clay as the voices in the speakers demanded to know what they missed.
-
By the time they were roughly 15 minutes into the movie, everyone had relaxed and deflated into comfortable positions. The five chatted a bit through parts of the movie, either making fun of awkward scenes or betting on what would happen next.
Clay was leaning back fully, his chin almost resting on his chest from how far down his posture dipped. He had rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie, feeling the warmth coming up through the apartment heater. He noticed that George had his sleeves down despite the heat, just like every time he saw him in the past week.
George had opted to draw his legs up to his chest, leaning his back towards the middle of the couch so he had the movements to shovel popcorn into his mouth.
The couch was arguably a bit too small to house company. After all, Clay never really expected guests, and his furniture was small for the sake of being affordable. As a result, the more comfortable his seating position got, the more room he took up, and the same could be said for George, who was a stretch away from becoming sprawled out and taking the whole sofa for himself.
Patches came into the room then, her saucer eyes reflecting the action on the screen. She trotted over to the right side of the couch, jumping onto the armrest beside George.
"You're sitting on her favourite cushion," Clay said, nodding at how the cat stared at George as if to say 'gtfo.'
George glanced at Clay and gave him a face, then turned to Patches and gave her an apologetic ear scratch. The cat batted his hands away, implying she wanted the seat.
"Wow, brat," George whispered lovingly. The cat was too cute to get mad at.
"She won't stop," Clay said, focusing on the gruesome kill on the screen.
George sighed and unwillingly inched towards the other side of the couch, allowing the cat space to settle down. Clay moved the half-empty popcorn bowl to his lap, motioning for George to scoot closer.
George pulled his knees up again, returning to his lounging position. It felt nice to be closer to someone, especially while watching a horror movie. He knew Clay wasn't really the flinchy type, but Sapnap was right; the movie was interesting and super jumpy.
Clay straightened up at the end of the first act and draped his arms over the back of the couch, completely engrossed in the story. George, on the other hand, sank deeper into the couch, as if trying to hide from the killer. Even Bad, Sap, and Skep grew silent as the tension of the scene spread. Patches whacked her tail against the cushion, seemingly just as interested in the film as everyone else.
Suspenseful droning gave way to a loud clatter as the killer flew out from behind a steel door, going in for an attack. Bad's scream echoed through the speaker before giving way to laughter, and both Clay and George jumped as well. Clay clutched his hoodie and grinned at the adrenaline.
"Not as tough as you thought you were, huh?" George teased, wrapping his arms around himself protectively.
"You jumped too!" Clay reminded him, laughing at George's innocent and nonchalant expression in the dark.
Clay felt the man beside him cower down slightly, subconsciously leaning into his side. George might have been a fan of horror, but that didn't mean he faced all the scares head on. He loved the fight-or-flight feeling it brought up, and the way he felt more powerful after the film ended, but for its duration, he always reached for the nearest beacon of comfort.
After both their nerves settled down, Clay slowly lifted his left arm from the couch back and inched it over to George's shoulder. It was a movie night, so a small amount of friendly cuddling was acceptable, right?
When George gave no reaction, Clay left his arm wrapped loosely around his friend and dropped the thought, returning to the movie. George just shuffled his arm over to the bowl and snatched up a few kernels.
The boys sat on one end of the couch for the rest of the movie, with each jumpscare bringing them a bit closer. Neither minded, in fact neither even noticed. By the time the finale came along, Patches had enough room to completely uncurl and stretch along along the sofa. With a bang, the film faded to black and dramatic clapping could be heard from Skeppy and Bad.
It was midnight by the time the movie ended, but the squad stayed up until well past 1AM just chatting and catching up. Despite the terror being over, George didn't move. He could feel Clay's body shift beside him every time he laughed at what his friends said, and George's shoulders bumped against Clay's side when he giggled along.
The night died down and Clay and George both went on their phones while Sapnap talked.
Skeppy and BadBoyHalo had both logged off within minutes of each other, ending their calls with goodnights.
"How's life as roommates?" Sap asked, yawning.
George locked his phone and leaned back, causing his head to fall on Clay's arm.
"Not bad at all," he said, a smile evident in his voice.
"George is practically a maid," Clay said, which earned him an elbow in the rib.
Sapnap giggled. "I wish we could all hang out," he sighed.
"Me too..." Clay replied sadly.
"When this pandemic is over, George has to come back again so we can all meet up," Sap said, "right, George?"
George hummed in response and Clay turned to find him still leaned back, with closed eyes and a smile on his lips.
At the sight, Clay yawned, realizing just how tired they both were. As if on cue, Sapnap spoke up.
"Alright, guys, I'm gonna go to bed. This was fun!"
"We have to make this a weekly thing," Clay said.
"Yeah, man, for sure," Sap replied.
"Goodnight, Sap," George said, opening his eyes and getting off the couch. He left Clay's arm cold as he left.
"'Night, Sap," Clay echoed, hearing Sapnap wish them likewise before logging off.
George knelt down in front of the laptop and disconnected the cable, plunging the room in darkness as the TV switched off. Clay blinked but it made no difference. He could only orient himself by the blue light emitting from George's laptop as it illuminated his face.
"That was good," George said, trying to find Clay in the dark.
He shooed Patches off the sofa and fluffed up a couple pillows, preparing his bed for the night.
Clay shook the empty bowl, swishing a few unpopped kernels around.
"It was," he smiled, knowing George couldn't see him.
The laptop shut off, taking with it the last remnant of light. After their eyes adjusted, the living room glowed gently from the streetlights outside. George grabbed a blanket that was folded over the edge of the sofa and flung it out over the cushions. Clay got up to throw out the drink cans and place the bowl in the sink.
He came out to George already underneath the blanket, taking up the entire length of the couch.
"Will you be able to sleep, or do you need a night light?" Clay joked.
George flipped off Clay, the gesture barely visible in the dark.
"I saw that!" Clay cried in mock offense, turning to leave.
"That's the point!" George sang, already heavy under the call of sleep.
Before Clay entered the hallway to his bedroom, George called out a final phrase.
"Good night, Clay..."
Clay glanced at the man on his couch, framed softly by night glow.
"Good night, George," he whispered and followed his cat into his room.
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Catalyst
/cad-y-lyst/
noun: a person or thing that precipitates an event.
example: Patches is a great cat-alyst.