#lafmads

“Rose let go.” Lafayette says, blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. He purses his lips, thinking of a better explanation. “The movie.”

“You’re crying over Titanic?” James asks.

Lafayette is about to retort, then pauses. He smiles a bit, wiping his eyes. He hadn’t realized he’d been crying, but that was of lesser importance. “You have seen Titanic?” He asks.

“Everyone and their mom has seen Titanic.” James explains, walking in and closing the door with a foot. He sets his bag down, then settles next to Lafayette, who has paused the movie. Whether the movie pausing was to cry or because he heard the keys rattling, James doesn’t know. He doesn’t ask.

“I paused the movie to cry.” Lafayette says, like he can read James’s mind, and James lets a little smile crack.

“It’s not that sad.” James says, but Thomas cried over Titanic, too. So did Hercules, and James had to pretend to be empathetic and say, ‘Oh that’s so sad’, so he didn’t look like a hardass.

Lafayette smiles. “It is that sad.” He argues, but his tone isn’t argumentative.

He plops his head onto James’s lap, then groans.

“You laid on the remote didn’t you?” James asks.

“Yes.” Lafayette mumbles, wiggling. He pulls the remote out from under himself, then plays the movie. He pauses, rewinds a bit.

“You want to watch the sad part, huh?” James questions, “Are you a sadist, now?”

Lafayette smiles. “No, but I know you are.”