Display of Affection
“Blimey!” Vince exclaimed as he and Stuart walked out of the cinema. “That was fantastic! I knew Alfonso Cuaron would be spot on. That was the best one yet, don’t you think?” He didn’t wait for Stuart to respond before he continued. “Not that the other two were bad, mind. But Prisoner of Azkaban is so much darker than the first two that it needed a different tone. Bloody excellent choice to hire him. He directed Y Tu Mama Tambien. You remember that one, Stuart? We watched it with Alexander and Dane.”
“I remember the snog at the end. Wanked off thinking about it for weeks afterwards,” Stuart replied. He fished his keys out of his pocket and pressed the button to switch the car alarm off.
“You and every other queer in the world,” Vince answered with a grin. “But you see what I mean then, about Cuaron being darker? More adult.”
Stuart made an agitated sound. “You twat, it was PG.”
“It had adult themes,” Vince argued
“They were bloody ten years old.”
They slid into Stuart’s Jeep, and Vince spoke as he buckled his seat belt. “Thirteen, actually. In their third year at Hogwarts.”
Stuart rolled his eyes while checking the road to make a right turn. “Same thing.”
“It’s not! There’s a huge difference. Remember you at thirteen?”
“It’s a kids’ film. It’s a film about kids running around having adventures.”
“It’s got other stuff though. Murder and betrayal and all that. Plus, that Draco’s quite good looking.”
“Vince, he’s a teenager.”
“Yeah, but you like that sort of thing,” Vince responded, grinning cheekily.
“Fuck off,” Stuart answered. “The point is, I paid eight quid to see it, and you could have taken Alfie in my place.”
Vince’s eyes lit up. “Do you think Alfie’d want to go? Every kid in the country goes crazy for Harry Potter, but Alfie’s a bit young yet. Do you think Romey and Lisa would let me? I’m up for seeing it again, definitely. Maybe next weekend? I’ll ask the lesbians. The Dementors might scare him though, they were done really well. All the special effects were brilliant. I loved the Boggart. You know, when it turned into Professor Snape.” He paused a moment to think. “Snape though, he’s gorgeous. Alan Rickman. I’d shag him as Snape.”
“Of course you would,” Stuart snapped. “He’s older than your father, completely mad and probably a raging closet case. Just your type.”
“Did you see all the people in the cinema, though? I know it’s opening day, so there was bound to be a crowd, but that was mental! I bet it does better than the first two movies. Deserves it too. It left loads of the book out and people are going to complain, but I didn’t mind. Gary Oldman was great as Sirius. He always does a good job, but this time especially. Cor, I think I’m going to watch the first two movies when I get home, to compare. I should have done that before I saw this one, but I’ve been too busy at work lately. I’m hungry, do you want to stop at Manto’s?” He turned his head to look at Stuart when no answer came. “Stuart, are you listening to me?”
“No. Even if I was, I don’t know how I’d get a word in edgewise,” Stuart answered.
“I asked if you wanted to go to Manto’s for tea.”
“Yeah, all right.”
The next night at Via Fossa, Vince sipped his rum and Coke and smoked a fag, listening to Hazel tell the story of her and Bernie’s latest exploits.
“So then he tells the guard, ‘Yeah, but have you ever sucked a twelve inch cock?’”
Vince sniggered as he stubbed out his fag and lit another one. “Like Bernie’s ever sucked a twelve inch cock.”
“That’s what I said when we finally lost them in an alley,” Hazel admitted. She knocked back the rest of her g&t and stood up, glancing around at the packed pub. “Christ, it’s chock-a-block in here today. You want another one of those?”
“I’m good, thanks,” Vince said, indicating his half-full glass.
“All right, I’ll be back. Don’t let Alex take my seat.”
She began pushing her way through the thick wall of male bodies between her and the bar. Vince scanned the room, eyeing the men through the smoke and haze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Stuart walk up to the table, his usual confident swagger letting the dim lights catch on the bracelet and rings on his swinging arms and leaving men gaping at him in his wake.
“Hiya,” Vince greeted over the music, taking another long drag from his Pall Mall.
Stuart didn’t respond. Instead, he met Vince’s eyes for a moment and skittered something across the table to hit Vince’s arm.
Vince glanced down and saw a blank disc inside a clear jewel CD case. “Stuart, what—“ He looked up, but Stuart had already melted into the crowd.
The rest of the night, he refused to tell Vince what was on the CD. He’d only smile mysteriously when Vince asked, in that way meant specifically to piss him off. Stuart knew Vince would die of curiosity if he didn’t figure it out.
Vince fucked off home early and inserted the disc into his computer as soon as he got to his flat. The hourglass appeared on the monitor for several seconds, and then an error message popped up telling Vince his computer wasn’t compatible with the disc.
He cocked his head in confusion. Opening the CD-Rom, he tried turning the CD over, only to receive the same message. He ejected it and stared, his mind turning to figure out the problem. Stuart would never give him something that didn’t work.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and a disbelieving smile tugged at his lips. He placed the disc back in the jewel case, taking care to put it in the correct way. Walking to the kitchen, he threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. When the popcorn finished, he went into the living room, toeing off his shoes next to the couch.
He opened the DVD player and placed the disc into it before sitting down on the left side of the couch, the worn cushions moulding perfectly to his body. The afghan his dad’s wife made him for his twentieth birthday rested behind his back, and he pulled it down to cover his legs.
Once he was comfortable, he reached his hand out to take the remote off of the end table and play the disc. His smile widened, suspicions confirmed, when the titles for Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban appeared on the screen.