At the entrance to the cinema, Dean walked up to see Harry. He heard on a text message that the last ticket was going to go to a girl called Mary. He was quite intrigued to meet her. Eventually the whole group had met outside the cinema. Seeing two girls with their heads in their hands and three normal humans.. yeah this looked pretty interesting.
“Hey!” Harry waved over to Dean. “Here’s your ticket.”
“Thanks.” He smiled looking at Mary. “So, you’re Mary?”
“Yep!” She said. “Nice to meet you.” The girl gave a little wave.
“The movie starts in a half hour, shall we get ourselves inside?” Harry gestured in. However he quickly went to open the door for Jasmine. “Uh, lady’s first!”
Jasmine gave an awkward look- well- even more awkward with he head in her hands. “Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what to make of it really. She was being treated as a girl. She was kinda hoping for things to be a bit more.. normal? They were just going to see a movie! Then she chided herself for looking too much into it. ‘Come on he just opened the door for you- you do have your hands full! He was being nice!’
They walked into the lobby. The dazzling lights of future films, the smell of popcorn assailed their senses. Jasmine wondered if movies in this world were different. Given that they now had actual demi-humans in the world.. and of course it didn’t take her long to see two centaurs- “James?”
“Hey!” he smiled. “Oh, and this is my sister Samantha.”
Samantha looked to have gone a little.. extra in trying to look ‘mature’. She had a red dress on her human torso and her blonde hair was made a little curly. She seemed excited to be with people too and waved to Harry. “Hello!” she seemed so extra eager to see him in particular.
Harry gave a light wave back- a bit bemused to see a centaur in a dress- well- it was nice anyway. She was a kid though. She seem to catch him looking at the dress.
“Isn’t it pretty?” She asked hopefully.
“Oh- sure is,” He said. ‘awkward.’ he quietly thought to himself. ‘she’s probably thinking I’m some hero or something’. It wasn’t exactly like that of course but… maybe it was okay to be all heroic to a young centauress.
While the theatre was being prepared the group had time to mingle and look at the new various movies being advertised. Jasmine was trying to see evidence of changes to the timeline through movies. She couldn’t see anything all that different though one particular poster caught her eye. It didn’t look like CGI.. the person looking a bit.. a bit too real. Perhaps because of the odd way the fin was angled. She was used to seeing fins portrayed horizontally then vertically.
Mary walked up smiling. “Oh the new mermaid film is out!” She giggled in delight. “I remember watching her as a kid.”
“The same mermaid? She was a child actress?”
“Yeah. Her name is Claire Smith. She’s like the ‘go to’ girl if anyone needs a mermaid. She’s like- an actual stereotypical one with green fins and red hair. I think Disney signed a multi-million contract with her. She’s in all the movies that want a mermaid.”
Jasmine gave a soft whistle. She wondered what a Dullahan movie would be like but.. couldn’t find one. Maybe they didn’t get the parts or people thought something like her would be way too freaky. Maybe she would be in a monster movie… people running away from her in the latest scooby-doo? Maybe getting a real demi-human was frowned upon in this world, or too expensive? So many questions for her disembodied head.
Lucy wondered closer to Jasmine thrusting her head closer to hers. “Hey, you doing okay?”
Seeing another disembodied head looking like a mirror was.. unsettling. “Oh- yeah. I’m fine. Just you know, still finding this all weird.”
“Weird- sure. Interesting though!” Lucy winked. “Hey look at this one!” She pointed to a new poster. “Daamn… that looks so cool!”
Jasmine raised her hands to have a look. At first he dismissed it as CGI. Some weird generic thing- but it looked rather real.
The woman seem to have huge wings on her back and blue skin. She even had a tail behind her. However it was possible the blue skin could be makeup. Slightly pointed ears and a very angry looking face. She had some kind of mace and dressed with a loin-cloth, looking all ‘battle ready’. She had a beautiful face though of course this was the movies.. everyone did.
“Wow it’s a demon!” Harry said. “Damn, she looks so hot.”
“Demon?” Samantha queried. “That’s a bad word you know.”
“Uh- well-” Harry found himself flushing. He didn’t mean to say something like that to the kid. Especially given how she seem to like him.
“They are called Erinyes.” Samantha said stated matter of factly. “Many different types exist. It is thought that they can carry phenotypes across more then one kind of demi-human resulting in very unique and unusual combinations.”
Harry looked at it with confusion. “Man that’s-” He glanced at Samantha. “Uh- I mean that’s really.. interesting.” He said uncomfortably. He wanted to say it was freaky or crazy but- well- Samantha seemed disappointed in him and it was kinda like when Jasmine was upset at him too. He was also surprised at how smart the girl seemed to be.
“Do you know much about demi-humans?” Samantha asked tilting her head to Harry.
“Not much- but I am learning.” He replied. Harry might be just one of those guys that made girls upset at him for any little thing. Why should he even care? He tried to move the crowd on. “Well let’s go get some popcorn!” He thought it was just CGI- of course he wouldn’t have called an actual person a demon. Damn it! Why couldn’t he say -anything- right! At least nothing can go wrong with the food. “Want any popcorn?” he asked Jasmine trying to show her some more courtesy.
The two centaurs waited quietly in line much to the amusement of a few people who were looking in their direction. Centaurs were an.. unusual sight after all. Known but- still kinda weird. There were a few giggles here and there.
‘Do you think they’ll put that popcorn in a feedbag?’
Harry quietly heard that- and felt a little annoyed. He suddenly felt the young centaur girl pulling on his arm. “Hey come on, the movie is about to start.” she insisted. Harry was.. not quite able to pull away. Damn she was stronger then she looked! “uh- yeah. We got all the food?”
“Uh huh, Dean was kind enough to pay for it all.”
Jasmine gave a credulous look as she looked at the popcorn bucket awkwardly with her head in her hands wondering just how they would hold all this. “Uh- can maybe… someone else carry it for me?” She felt herself blushing.
“Sure” said Harry and Dean at the same time.
“I think you got your hands full already,” said Dean gesturing to the centaur grinning that he was stuck baby-sitting.
“What about mine?” Asked Lucy.
“Oh- I can get that!” Mary offered. “See? No prob- uh-” she nearly toppled and popcorn fell out of her hands. She looked embarrassed as there was now a sea of popcorn.
There was a bit of a chuckle to the mortified girl but all good natured. “You can share mine. I think we over did it on the pop-corn anyway.”
Soon enough the group of seven took their seats going into the dim dark corridor. Harry gave a slight grin. “You know, you could have probably not had to pay for a seat- someone carried your head for you.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Our bodies still need somewhere to be though!”
“Hm, well you could always leave your body at home, I mean- would you ever consider something like that?”
Jasmine glanced at her body. “Uh- no… well- I mean-” It was an odd question. “I’d literally be just my head and well-” That thought really terrified her.
Dean shook his head. “Let’s just watch the movie yeah? Stop scaring the girl.”
“I’m not trying to scare her!” Harry groaned.
One by one each took their seat, going through the trailers and eventual feature movie.
When the two Dullahan’s sat down however it was pretty clear the seating was useless for them to watch the movie with. That was unless they spent the entire two and a half hours with their hands above their.. shoulders. Jasmine had tried to put her head directly above the strange vortex of energy but Lucy tried to warn her cousin-
as those strange sensations came upon her. It was like a.. feeling of a chalkboard being scratched with the sound on some kind of feedback loop. Jasmine quickly removed her head from that light above her shoulders. “YEESH!” she cried out. “What the heck was that?”
“Well to me, it felt like looking in a mirror reflected over and over and I got car-sick… I dunno what you felt. Yeah, this isn’t going to work,” muttered Lucy. “Maybe we can get something in the front?”
“I don’t know we’d have to buy new tickets,” said Mary.
Harry was also looking at concern at the two centaurs. They had to get different seats anyway and couldn’t really sit with them but- even the seats they did get… well.. the cinema wasn’t really going to accommodate them easily. Eventually they did get a seat in the corner but.. Samantha looked rather upset about it. The centaurs had to make do with the situation. Their larger bodies required a whole three seats vertically, but they were allowed to get it with one given the cinema wasn’t that packed.
Harry looked at them a bit conflicted. Was there a solution to the situation he wasn’t seeing? “Maybe we can move closer with them.”
A bt of a re-shuffle was made for all the seating available, though it was a bit awkward. James had to stay close to Samantha on their mother’s orders, Samantha seemed keen to sit next to Harry, and Harry wanted to be next to Jasmine. Mary was next to Lucy, while Dean tried to just be wherever... So.. yeah, complicated.
Jasmine and Lucy had to use their hands to keep their heads above and to the left slightly of their seated position- which was putting a strain on their backs. It was getting to the point where neither Dullahan could really watch or enjoy the movie.
Harry then ran out of popcorn. Of course Dean didn’t eat as much and offered to pass some to him. Dean passed it to Jasmine, and Harry picked up- something soft-
“Hey!” The dullhan gasped. “That’s me you got-”
Harry gasped as the head fumbled in his arms and fall softly into the half empty popcorn bucket. “Ah- I’m so sorry!” He quickly fished her out, and could almost feel her body staring daggers of anger towards him.
Harry picked up her head and stared at Jasmine. ‘her head.. it really is.. kinda beautiful…’ There was a slightly masculine nature to it now that he thought of it but it was.. stern face. Strong looking but not overly masculine. He found himself drawing the head closer towards his face…
Though Jasmine’s body quickly grabbed her head. “You- you were going to kiss me?!”
“I- uh- I was- I was just looking-” Harry blushed.
Jasmine looked mortified. Harry was going to just bring her head right up and kiss her?! How could he even think of such a- she looked at him and Harry seemed just as much terrified as what he almost did.
“Um- I’m sorry,” Harry said quietly. “I um- I gotta use the bathroom.”
Dean watched him go. “I think he’s really sorry,” He said to Jasmine. “You really mad at him?”
“… I don’t know. Yeah a little.” Jasmine needed time to process this. Also her arms were getting tired as she had to rest her head back on her lap, so she couldn’t watch the movie any more. She glanced enviously towards his cousin who was giving her head to Mary with an expression of absolute glee.
“Hey I can’t hear- maybe just hold it underneath?” Lucy tried to instruct.
“Oh- right!” Mary adjusted herself and soon was holding the dullahan head for her friend. Mary was actually quite content with this.
Dean looked with a little chuckle and glanced to Jasmine- who was looking at the two in abject terror, confusion, and even a dose of horror given what happened when Harry hel her head.
“Why cuz why,” she groaned as she kept her head close to her lap. Her arms had given up at this point, she couldn’t keep her head over the chairs any more and there was still an entire hour left of the movie!
Dean sighed. “I could hold your head… if you like?”
Jasmine thought about it. Dean has been pretty calm about things… so… “Well… I guess it couldn’t hurt. Just you know-”
“Yeah I know.”
It did get a little relief from Jasmine. This whole situation was bizarre. She envied how easy Lucy seem to have it. She was carefree with her friends, and was happy to let them hold an actual physical part of her. Granted her body was close by but…
It seemed her hands were already letting her head go- giving it gently to Dean.
Dean looked down at it… feeling- well- confused. It felt lighter then he expected but still pretty weighty. This was his friend? It wasn’t like when they were kids…
“… aren't you going to lift me up?” she asked.
“Oh- sure!” He did so. He held her head up to watch the movie and.. once again everyone was settled. Lucy gave Jasmine a sly wink.
Dean felt a bit… awkward on this. He was uncomfortable with the head but.. not so much with Jasmine’s body. He could see she was a bit tense so.. he leaned a bit and held her hand. “It’s okay see?”
Was this okay? Jasmine wasn't sure but.. it felt comfortable. She wondered if Harry would return or...
