run like a fox

He shook his head.  “I’ll never understand the moviegoers.  I go to movies to be entertained!  They might not be my favorite, but I’d rather see one of those Tom Cruise movies than something made half a century ago with outdated themes.”  Chase rolled his eyes again.  “I wanna be an actor and all, but I’m gonna have to start taking up writing.  With some of the shit that gets made, I’d have no problem.”  Once his rant was over and done with, he focused his attention back on this Fox guy.  He chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear - he needed to get it cut soon.  “I just like good movies,” he smiled.  He felt bad that he thought of his father as a mess, but also wondered what that was like because his parents seemed to be so squeaky clean.  Sometimes he wished they weren’t, it would make things so much more fun.  “Wait, what?  Define famous?”

          He couldn’t help that he was pretty much in love with the entire movie industry. The way films were made at least -- maybe not the politics. Fox shrugged. “I’m entertained by lots of things. Including those movies that make me think. I like both? But that’s just me. And there were a lot of movies with LGBT+ characters before the church protested it.” He shrugged again. Everyone had their own likes and dislikes. Fox wasn’t going to try and convince him otherwise. “I agree, good movies over movies that are shitty. Most of the films I like are kind of just a bit quirky. I like strange and unusual stuff. I think it matches my personality.” Fox adored his family, but it sucked waking up some mornings to see his father’s face on some tabloid for some stupid stunt he tried to pull while he was drinking. “I mean my mom’s a director and my dad’s an actor. Famous. He’s not like Brad Pitt famous or whatever, but he does have some fans. My older sister wants to go into theatre, I’m studying film, and my younger sister plans on doing animation.” 

“Have you ever sat through Citizen Kane?” he asked, rolling his eyes.  “Good god, it’s the worst.  I had a film class in high school and I skipped for that whole week - I couldn’t take it anymore.  Like, if you’re gonna come home after a rough day and think ‘what will make this better?  Citizen Kane!’, then you’ve got some problems - no offense - to figure out.”  He smiled.  “I love Forrest Gump.”  He listened to the explanation of the movie and nodded along.  “I’ll definitely think about it; you tell it pretty well.  I feel like I’m pretty vanilla in my movies.  I like Disney and I don’t like to think.  That about does it.  What’s with people making all these big, statements and symbolism?  Movies aren’t entertaining anymore, a lot of times I leave confused and kind of sad.  Anyway.”  He shook it a little and smiled.  “I don’t get the reference, but cool.  That’s awesome your parents are involved, to, that’s like a guaranteed in, you know?”

          Fox chuckled and nodded his head. “My dad’s always watching it when he’s home. I swear it calms him or something. I have no idea. It’s the worst film. My mom rolls her eyes every time he watches it because even she doesn’t like it.” He laughed again. “No offense taken. If you met my dad you’d understand. He’s kind of an idiot.” That was an understatement. “The tabloids love him.” Fox tended to get wordy and passionate about his favorite movies. He had different favorites for different genres, although his tastes still mostly stuck to the stranger movies. “It’s great. I don’t know you that well, but I feel like I have to make you watch it.” Fox listened to him talk. “I have a diverse taste. I’ll practically watch anything. Doesn’t matter if it’s sad or confusing.” He let out a sigh of relief when the other didn’t know the reference. “It’s more of a pain than anything. My parents aren’t super famous and my dad tends to be more of a mess than anything else.” 

He shrugged.  “My favorite movie is Forrest Gump,” he said.  “I’m not really sure why.  I just always really liked it.  Everyone hates on Jenny, but I think she’s really misunderstood.  I like watching it when I’m in a bad mood.”  It’s safe to say that by now, he could recite the whole movie to memory.  “I’ve never heard of it.  I’m not really the biggest fan of the fantastical genre, but I guess I could broaden some horizons.  I like to watch plays and musicals online, like the ones people record.  I guess I should watch some more movies.”  He looked up at the other kid with a little smile.  “I’m Chase, like the verb, but a person.”

          Fox smiled. “That’s a great film. At least your favorite is better than my dad’s. I think he wants to be pretentious as fuck because he says Citizen Kane is his favorite film. We’ve got some fancy copy of it back home. Aw, but I love Jenny. Forrest Gump isn’t a favorite of mine personally, but I’ve seen it a million times.” Fox nodded as the other spoke. “Oh, you should come watch it. Basically, it’s about this stunt man who falls and is in the hospital where he meets this little girl who doesn’t speak good English and tells her this story of a masked bandit. So there’s this element of storytelling inside of a story and you can see the parallels between the main character and the masked bandit. Lee Pace is the star, so you know it has to be good.” Fox cold talk about that movie forever. “I’m a film major. I have to see everything. My parents are also in the industry too, so I’ve grown up around all sorts of films.” Grinning, he nodded at the other boy. “I’m Fox, like the animal, not Agent Mulder.” He was actually named after the X-Files character, but he didn’t like admitting it. 

“Yeah? Is he that handsome? I mean, you are so I guess it has to come from somewhere.” He teased lightly. At the talk of cameras, he only waved away the other’s talk of money for them. “No way, the junky 2000′s ones aren’t worth anything yet. Now the massive vcr recording ones from the 90′s, that’s where the money lies.” He said with a little nod. “I think fox is good then. Its a very complete name.”

          He shrugged. “I’m not the best judge on if he’s handsome or not, since he’s my father. But he does have a following of fans, so some people must think he’s handsome.” The boy smiled. “I think we’ve got a couple of those somewhere. I meant like, this is from the 60s. It’s really cool, but still I like film.” Obviously. “Yeah. Something like that.” 

He looked back at him with a little grin.  “I do like being right,” he chuckled.  “It’s crazy when people get so up in arms about their favorite movies and stuff.  But it’s literally made to be a Western, just in space.  It has all the same tropes.  I don’t get why people don’t see it.”

          Fox shrugged. Star Wars was a weird movie and not really one that he’d ever really gotten into like the millions of people that did happen to like it. “I’ll admit, I can get a little defensive when it comes to my favorite movie, but it’s not a popular one. Not a lot of people even know about it. The Fall? It’s such a good play on the fairy tale ending and the visuals are amazing. Probably one of the only movie on my favorite movies list that isn’t directed by my favorite director or my mom. But back to Star Wars -- yeah, it does. I don’t even know why people like it.” 

“to be honest, i’ve mostly just accepted that this is my life at this point.” piper brushed off her shirt one final time and shrugged. “i wouldn’t say you shouldn’t complain – like, men have it rough, too. everyone has it rough sometimes, y'know?” piper was a firm believer that suffering was relative and everyone ahd a right to complain as long as they weren’t being obnoxious about it. “besides, i’m tired of there being some unspoken rule saying that men can’t have feelings.”

“Yeah? Our dad’s should get together then. My dad loves sports, always played. He was always nice about it though, he figured out early on that I wasn’t exactly competative, but my sister wasy, so he took her to every practice, rehearsal, performance, game, everything he could.” He said with a smile. He missed his dad a lot. “Oh yeah? what kind of camera was it? one of those funny little camcorders?” He asked with a little chuckle. “What is it?”

          “I think my dad would complain the whole time about how he can’t mess his face up because he’s got a film to shoot the next day,” Fox laughed, mentally picturing his father in that kind of situation. The older man would probably not last very long playing any sort of sport. “It was actually a vintage Minolta. It’s my personal favorite brand, but I love Canons too. I wouldn’t say it’s that funny. It’s in a case now. ‘Cause it’s worth a lot.” Fox smiled. “Daniel. See? It doesn’t fit me. Together it works. Fox Daniel Kelley. But just Daniel seems too... plain to me. I wish they would have named me something normal, but still unusual.”

“to be completely honest,” she said as she brushed off any crumbs she might’ve missed, “most of the time i don’t even notice when it happens.” crumbs falling down her shirt was somewhat a predictable occurance in piper’s life, and it happened so often that she not only knew when it would, but didn’t even notice unless they were big crumbs. “just be grateful you’ve never experienced it before.”

the blonde had been reaching for a bottle of gin when the boy said he doesn’t drink which, in her eyes, seems ridiculous. university without drinking? what are you supposed to do? study? “i’m sorry? what?” stephanie’s eyebrow cocks as the boy asks where he could find the water at a frat party. “you are aware where you are right?” she inquires, eyes narrowing at the other. perhaps it was the alcohol she had already consumed, but the question had irritated her to no end. 

“Star Wars is a glorified Western.  Change my mind.”

          “Why would I try and change your mind when you’re right?” Ah, Star Wars. Not his favorite series, not his favorite genre of film. “The only thing great about Star Wars is how innovative it was. Other than that, it’s kind of a terrible movie and concept.”  

black silk drapes over a petite figure, blonde tousled hair tossed over to one side, stephanie surely knows how to make an entrance– even if it’s just to a house party. stepping through the door into the congested, intoxicated house she sees familiar faces almost instantly. greeting a few with a smile she pushes her way into the kitchen where she expected the drinks would be waiting. as she expected the spread of bottles on the counter is nothing less than impressive and stephanie wastes no time mixing a drink. the blonde watches as another approaches the counter where the countless types of liquor are “lemme make you a drink, i promise it’ll be good. you can trust me.” the blonde grins, taking a sip of her own concoction and only wincing slightly. 

piper had stopped mid-sentence, half way through whatever story she’d been telling, to look down. “oh my god,” she exclaimed. “there’s fucking cornbread crumbs between my tits! how come i’m allowed to do anything ever? like i can’t eat anything without finding crumbs in my bra hours later,” she said, a laugh falling from her lips as picked the crumbs out.

“Oh, yeah no I can see where football might just be your parents tossing a football at you then.” He said with a small smile. “Well, what kind of studio? What’s your real passion if still life isn’t it?”  He asked before laughing lightly. “I like the name fox. Plus, it could always be worse, could be after the fox and the hound.”

          Fox nodded. “And my parents are kinda artsy people, so they never really went through the teach your son about sports phase. I’d like to see my dad toss a football. He can’t even throw a pair of socks.” It was true. Neither of his siblings were that athletic either. “Film. I grew up around it and I fell in love. I still have my first video camera. It’s in my apartment.” Fox laughed. “That’s true. I always thought about going by my middle name, but I just don’t think it works for me. It’s too plain.” 

jem jumped, startled by the sound of a stack of paper dropping to the ground. she turned, eyes going wide when she realized who it was. “oh my god, fox,” the girl hurried over, helping him pick up what he hadn’t already gotten his hands on. “god, are you okay? what happened?”

“that seems important,” she retaliated with a small frown, a sigh flowing through her peach lips. “do you need help fixing them up?” it was the least she could do. even though she hadnt been one of the people to step on them, she wanted to help fox in any way that she could. “not i know jack about film, but still. i could try?”

     felicity furrowed her eyebrows and gave him a sweet smile. she could sense the frustration that he was feeling after tripping in front of multiple people and the slight pessimism that tinged his language made her even more upset ( although she wouldn’t show it physically ). “i guess you’re in luck since they’re coming back in fashion. you could totally rock a skaterboy vibe, you know ?” she laughed, “well, if it makes you feel better, one time i tripped too in the middle of the hallway, but i played it off as if i were running. the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t feel too bad. it happens even to the athletes at the school.”

“I’ve been to a few, mostly for fun more than anything else.” He said with a small smile. “They’re nothing to write home about. Just nice thing to do with friends if you are bored some night.” He said with a shrug. He couldn’t help the smile on his face at the other’s rambles. “Fox Mulder, huh? I was always more of a twin peaks guy myself if we are going weird fbi.” He said with a small hum. “That’s cool, is it just a free topic for the first one?”

          “I was, uh, homeschooled until high school. I mean, kind of. I was tutored. We moved a lot, so it was easier,” Fox replied. That was the easiest explanation. “Not really the sports kind of person. More of the never leave the studio person.” Film studio that was. “Honestly, same. But my parents were obsessed with X-Files. Or so my sister says. I don’t know how she knows. She’s not that much older than I am,” he shrugged. “Kinda?”