Chapter Text
「Deirfiúr bheag! You feeling alright? Not drowsy, or anything?」 Síat caught up to Ochako at the gate.
「A little, actually, but it's okay. I got a cheap apartment nearby so I don't have to take a 2 hour train ride to and from school.」 She gave a forced smile. 「Have fun on your date...」
Síat winced. Coward. He thought. You HAVE to tell her. She's hurting. She won't be hurting much less, but she won't be feeling like she isn't good enough...
Mina sauntered up to his side. "You're thinking too loud."
"Yeah... English?"
She giggled. "Unless your bootlegs have a Japanese audio file, I might as well..."
Síat chuckled. "Totally fair." He knelt down. "Hop on, it's a bit of a jog."
Mina climbed onto his shoulders. "We aren't taking the train?"
Síat stood with little effort, clasping his hands to Mina's knees. "Mmm, my place is closer to the nearest train station than the next. But we will be taking it to your house after the movies. Gotta let your folks see who you've been with for four hours after school." He started jogging.
"Wait, you're gonna meet my parents on the first date?"
"I'm not overly fond of putting uncomfortable things off. It gets harder to do them the longer you wait. Besides, you're about to see two rated R movies, I'd rather take the buckshot to the face like a man than let your da hunt me for it..." Síat shivered.
"Why exactly are we watching rated R movies in your apartment?"
"Motel. I live in a motel. And because you should know what kind of man you're considering getting committed with. And I'd like to know enough about you to see if we're compatible. These movies may be racey and bloody, but they're a better litmus test for me than the vast majority of relationship litmus tests I've found online. Mind you, the first is set in the 1990s, and the second a few years after, all of this in Boston, so you're gonna hear some slurs. Some of them between friends, which might throw you off a little, but that's the Irish for you. Nothing is really off limits when you're talking to a friend. As for the Mafia leaders... Well, they're just racist. Don't worry, they die."
"They die? Are these vigilante movies?"
"Yyyyyup. But they're classic. And the sequel opens with a line I try to live by. You'll see why if you can make it through the first one."
"Anything else I should know?"
"Nothing that isn't part of the test, no."
Does the cat scene REALLY have to be a surprise? Nana cringed.
It does.
"'Nothing that isn't part of the test', that's unnerving..."
Mina stayed on his shoulders right up to his door. Síat shivered. She'd been keeping his neck and ears warm.