"Encanto, Encanto!" Bethany shouts. "I wanna watch Encanto!"
Shannon sighs. "Alright, if you lot are fine with it."
"Sure," Hailey says. "I've heard the soundtrack is phenomenal, so it should be worth a watch. What about you guys?"
Luke smiles. "I've also heard good things about it." He's always been interested in movies, and the reviews for Encanto have been good.
Zander, squeezed on Luke's left on the couch, nods. Luke interlaces their fingers again. "I promise it'll be fun to watch, h—Zander."
"For gods' sake, Luke, you can call him honeybuns in front of us," Hailey groans. "None of us mind."
Luke feels the tips of his ears heating up, but it's nothing compared to Zander's full-face flush. Luke finds it incredibly cute.
Bethany jumps onto the couch, sitting next to Luke. "Do we have popcorn?"
"Yes," Shannon says tiredly. "I'll get it after I start the movie—"
As the intro of the movie begins, Luke carefully gets up. "I can make the popcorn."
"I've got it, it's fine," Shannon insists. "You're supposed to be the one enjoying the movie."
"I really insist, then," Luke says. "I've seen the first bit already." He hasn't, but he knows the gist of it.
"I see there's no point in debating," Shannon replies. "The popcorn's where it always is, and no, don't make a bowl for me, dear!"
Luke grins at her before heading for the kitchen. He remembers the seemingly endless box of popcorn packets that he, Hailey, and Zander would squeak with glee over as little kids.
He's been making his own snacks since he could walk. He likes doing it for others, likes seeing the look of contentment on their faces.
It takes maybe fifteen minutes total to pop all the popcorn, using the combined power of the popcorn machine and the microwave. Luke pops back into the living room during the time he spends waiting for the popcorn to pop or the machine to heat up, just so Shannon won't stop him from offering to help again in the future.
Luke adds cheese to his own bowl and just one drizzle of caramel for Bethany(Too much means cavities) before managing to carry all four bowls to the couch. He wonders why Zander and Hailey insist on eating plain popcorn. It might be one of their few food agreements.
"Well, I'll leave you kids to enjoy the movie!" Shannon exits the living room with a dab, causing Zander to cover his eyes.
Luke has to admit that Encanto's animation is stunning to watch. He tries to absorb every detail, every little motion of cloth or particles, but there's just so much that he gives up and sits back(or leans into Zander) to enjoy the movie. He glances at Zander now and then, but Zander is surprisingly focused on the movie.
Hailey's right about the soundtrack; the songs are catchy. Surface Pressure has to be his favorite song by far, although We Don't Talk About Bruno is a masterpiece in its own right. He hears Hailey furiously scribbling on her ever-present notepad during the entire song.
Luke dutifully covers Bethany's eyes when Camilo transforms into Bruno, and when the real Bruno appears(which also startles Zander, who inches closer and closer to Luke during the buildup until he's half sitting on Luke's legs), but he does convince her eventually that Bruno is, in fact, not evil. And he doesn't mind Zander causing his legs to go numb.
All four of them have their eyes glued to the screen when Casa Madrigal collapses. Bethany sniffles. Hailey's stopped writing on her notepad. Zander has cut off Luke's hand circulation, but Luke is also too invested in the movie to care.
Bethany falls asleep when Abuela and Mirabel reconcile, her head drooping onto Luke's shoulder. Luke gently moves her so that the couch's armrest acts like a pillow and brushes a bit of popcorn from her cheek. She'd finished her entire bowl.
When the movie comes to a satisfying conclusion, Zander seems half-asleep but content.
"I'll get Bethany upstairs," Hailey whispers. "You two put the bowls in the kitchen."
Luke nods and picks up two bowls while Zander gets the other two; Hailey manages to hoist Bethany off of Luke's lap without waking her up. Luke stretches as he gets up.
The house settles into comfortable quiet as Zander and Luke set the bowls down on the countertop. Luke slides his hand into Zander's. "How was the movie, honeybuns?"
Zander smiles. "It wasn't bad."
"I guess that's a good thing," Luke chuckles. "Coming from you. Let's get upstairs."
