Love in Red and Blue

Love in Red & Blue

"Ooo. I know what we should watch next!" said Niko as the credits for an episode of Scooby-Doo she and Edwin were watching started to roll.

"We can watch another if you'd like," said Edwin from his spot next to Niko on her colourful bed, her laptop propped up between them. "I'm quite enjoying it."

"Oh, we can go back to it after, but I think you'll really like this one. It's a love story," said Niko as she folded her hands together, then pulled the laptop toward her to bring up the film.

"Romances aren't really my thing." Edwin's brow furrowed. He'd been enjoying the bonding time with Niko, and the antics of Mystery, Inc. were a welcome distraction from the drama they were mired in. "Perhaps a Sherlock Holmes adaptation? I understand there have been many."

Niko jostled Edwin's shoulder gently. "Come on. Please? I promise if you don't like the first bit, we can watch something else."

Edwin sighed. "Very well."

There weren't many people Edwin would indulge the way he did Niko. Well, indulge was probably the wrong word. Despite their differences, he very much enjoyed her company and found her both charming and insightful. It was no chore at all to spend time with her, and as a result, he was more willing to go outside his comfort zone with her than anyone else. Aside from Charles, that was.

"Ah, here it is! Okay. Get comfy." Niko clicked on a thumbnail and the movie began to play.

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE

Edwin spent the opening scene quite confused as to why Niko thought he would enjoy the film. It felt saccharine and slapstick, though he did chuckle a little as the massive cake toppled onto the president's son Alex and the spare to the throne, Henry. But then, as the film progressed, he started to get uncomfortable. He came to the slow realization that the movie was a gay romance. He very much wanted to ask Niko to turn it off, but he found himself oddly sucked into the charming, idealistic world and the charisma of its leads.

When Alex and Henry had their first kiss, Edwin surreptitiously dragged one of Niko's fluffy pink throw pillows into his lap under the guise of leaning against it. He nearly ditched it a few times, but held onto it like a liferaft. It turned out to be a good thing, because he was especially glad for the cushion when the first sex scene played out.

By the time Alex and Henry were making out in a tack room at a polo match, Edwin was hooked. He barely blinked as he watched queer joy unfold on a small laptop screen. He saw himself, as he suspected Niko knew he would, in Henry - and Charles in Alex. They weren't directly analogous, of course, but in them he saw a path to love and joy he'd never let himself imagine before.

When Alex came out to his mother and the scene cut to her holding him with great tenderness, Edwin let out a little sob that he barely crushed down with all the Britishness of his soul. He looked down to see Niko's hand curled tightly around his.

Niko scooted a little closer and kept holding his hand because she knew the heartbreak of Henry's cold feet was coming soon.

"Oh no, Henry," Edwin murmured to himself as the young prince dove into the water and swam away from Alex. There had been a dozen times over the years when he had symbolically swam away from Charles in just such a manner. So seeing that behaviour from the outside was sobering.

"Don't worry," Niko whispered as she leaned in, "It has a happy ending." Then she patted his hand and shifted to grab a bowl of popcorn.

The reassurance was unnecessary given the genre of the film, but Ediwn felt comforted by it nonetheless. He was relieved when they didn't drag out the separation between Henry and Alex and the two were reunited once again and ready to fully embrace being together properly.