Later that night, Jon was bored, and found himself kinda wishing something interesting would happen. All of his teachers had thankfully had the good sense not to assign any homework on the first day back from the break, and he didn't have any plans after school. The Stone was still in his pocket, and every so often his mind would drift down to it; but then it would occur to him that thinking of the most powerful item he'd ever lain eyes on as a toy was imprudent to say the least, and so, in his pocket it stayed. His phone, however, did not share that fate.
"Welp, I'm bored. Wanna watch a movie?"
Jon Gibson @ 5:12 PM
"Sure"
Karyn Black @ 5:13 PM
"K. My turn 2 pick! C u"
Jon Gibson @ 5:13 PM
And that was that. Jon and Karyn had been to each other's homes so many times over the years there wasn't any awkwardness or hesitation in it, and most of the details could be decided by pure tradition: Jon would walk over to Karyn's house, they'd mooch off her mom's Netflix, Jon would take her older brother's former place on the couch, Jon's mom would want him home by 10, dinner would be on his allowance, and so on, and so on. Ever since Sean had gone off to college, it was just Karyn and her parents living in that house, meaning movie nights could happen almost anytime if neither Karyn nor Jon had other plans. The only unusual thing there could possibly be about it all was Jon having to say hi to Karyn's newly-blond-and-busty mom without getting caught staring (a bit difficult, considering he hadn't expected her to be changed at all and was a bit shocked when she opened the door looking like a middle-aged version of her daughter post wish, but given the wish's retroactivity it wasn't hard to figure it out and regain composure).
"Hey Jon-Boy." Karyn saw the look on his face and grinned. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 "Karyn's Mom has got it goin' on, 𝅘𝅥𝅮 huh?"
"Oh, shut it," Jon shoved her half-heartedly. "I bet you weren't expecting it either!"
"Not really, but it makes a lot of sense. She was a redhead like me earlier today, y'know? Honestly, I'm glad the extent of the changes to my life seems to be just that and a few other minor things. No butterfly effects or anything."
"Well, thanks for saving me the trouble of asking," Jon replied, in a voice as deadpan as he could manage. "I was genuinely trying to think of the nicest way to phrase 'So what's it like having giant cow udders now' on the way over here."
Karyn half-heartedly shoved him back. "They're not THAT big!" she griped. "And it's only been a few hours. I can definitely see the novelty wearing off with time."
"Oh? So in the meantime~...?" Jon asked with a teasing, sly grin.
"In the meantime, we have a movie to watch." Karyn rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too. "I picked what we watch last time, so that responsibility falls on your shoulders, my friend." She made a big show of handing him the remote to the TV. "Did you have anything in particular in mind?"
"Mhm." Jon didn't say anything more, but took the remote and started up his search. When it became apparent what Jon was looking for, Karyn let out a sudden laugh.
"What?"
"Another Broadway Musical Adaptation!?" Karyn laughed a little more.
"Well, what's wrong with Broadway?" Jon asked.
"Nothing's wrong with Broadway, it's just... man, this is what, the third time in a row you've picked some big dramatic song-and-dance show for us?" She chuckled. "Jon, how are you not like, The Theater Kid at school by now?"
"I don't have a single ounce of musical talent in my body," Jon replied earnestly. "Can't sing, can't play. Doesn't mean I can't appreciate some good showtunes when I'm in the mood."
"Yeah, but like, I dunno, it's just unexpected and funny. We're the Nerds, right? We oughta be into Star Trek and Anime and shit!"
"You aren't a Nerd, not like that, Kare."
Karyn did not deny it, but continued "And you're the guy here, too; shouldn't you be like, rejecting my cheesy rom coms and dramedies in favor of some testosterone-fueled action flicks or something, instead of pushing the show biz yourself?"
"A good movie is a good movie regardless of its 'testosterone content' or whatever," Jon insisted. He got up, hands in his pockets and towering over Karyn to make his point, "And I, for one, think there's nothing but entertainment to be had in the occasional 'big dramatic song-and-dance' in a movie."
"Honestly, I for one think it can definitely overstay its welcome sometimes," Karyn shrugged. "They can be fun and all, but like, they can also kinda ruin your immersion in an otherwise good show. People in real life don't just randomly bust out into a big musical number every so often, y'know?"
"Real Life is way too tedious and dull for that to be a fair comparison. Honestly, I kinda wish life were like a big Broadway production sometimes; it'd be more fun that way, y'know?"
And then a flash came from the inside of Jon's pocket.
