Fffc Bingo Card - At the movies

[m_findlow]

Title: At the movies 
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Gwen, Rhys 
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none 
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt 38 - Cinema at fffc
Summary: There's no such thing as a quiet night off for Gwen. 

Gwen could hear Rhys hand scratching around inside the bottom of the bucket of popcorn. She just knew he'd been itching to do it for the last hour and a half. Why he couldn't eat it quietly was beyond her. She could happily sit there for the entire film chewing on the odd piece of popcorn just very delicately slipping her hand into the box and pulling one out. She assumed it must be because Rhys could only ever eat it by the handful, which required a lot more jostling in the box to haul out the requisite amount. She'd always scolded him for making noise during movies, because Rhys was just the sort of person who would get uptight about others in the cinema making noise, unwrapping their chocolate bars and slurping their tall cups of soda. ‘Make all the noise you like during the ads and the previews,’ Rhys would complain, ‘but scoff your bloody noisy food before the real movie starts.’ 

She could hardly be a hypocrite. Her favourite food when they finally got a night out at the movies was a bag of jelly snakes, adding the challenge of trying to eat all the red ones first by their smell alone, even though it was pitch black. Not that she wouldn't eat the rest as well, but the red ones were the best. 

Better yet, tonight there hadn't been a single interruption from Torchwood. That was almost unheard of. No matter how she threatened Jack not to ruin her date night with her husband, it was almost inevitable. Jack, of course, was always apologetic about it. He knew all too well how nigh on impossible it was to find a night to share alone with the one you loved. She couldn't remember the last time Jack had managed a date night. She was at least well ahead of him on that count. 

The film of course hadn't been one of the best she'd ever seen. That was the trouble with planning date nights around the rift. Still, it was better than just being plonked in front of the television in their flat, even if the seats weren't quite as comfortable. Because the storyline lacked any real focus or logic, Gwen found her own focus drifting around in the darkened room. It was hardly a packed room, with maybe only a dozen other people filling seats, mostly behind them in the very back row. She'd never quite understood the attraction of the back row, claiming it broke the illusion of being the only ones there, seeing the shadowy heads of those in front of her. Jack said the back row was for making out, so that no one else saw you, and somehow that didn't surprise her in the least. Ianto was always a bit vague on the details of any film they saw. She'd always suspected there was more to it. Ianto never forgot a single detail of anything. 

Tonight however there were two people in front of them, about four rows further forward that caught her attention. They seemed to be wearing funny bobble hats or beanies that were terribly misshapen. Who wore hats in a cinema? 

It wasn't until the lights began to slowly glow back into the life at the end of the film she got her answer. They weren't cash strapped, charity shop, uni students. The funny shaped heads she'd seen were that way on account of not being human at all. 

‘Jesus,’ Gwen cursed, spinning her head around to check the rest of the cinema, which was blessedly empty, its remaining patrons having already left as soon as the credits began to roll. 

Rhys did a double take and Gwen's sudden alertness, staring in the same direction as her. ‘Blimey, are those aliens?’ 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘Are they supposed to be out here like this?’ 

Gwen felt her face harden into its work frame of mind. ‘No,’ she replied bluntly. She pushed up out of her seat and twisted her way through the narrow aisle until she reached the end and then moved down to where they were still sitting. 

‘Excuse me,’ she began, trying to pull their attention away from the screen. She didn't recognise them specifically, which only annoyed her more. If they'd been here a long time, before even she'd started working for Torchwood, they should know better. 

One of the bobble headed creatures looked at her and raised what would have been an eyebrow if it had one. ‘Yes?’ 

‘You can't be here. Everyone can see you.’ 

The pair of aliens frowned at her. ‘We like to watch the end credits. No one else ever hangs around for them. Who's going to see us?’ 

‘Well, us for a start,’ she said, scowling at them.

‘We came in whilst the previews were on. We're citizens here, too. Why can't we go see a film like everyone else?’ 

‘How did you even get tickets?’ 

There was a triple eye roll. ‘Online, obviously.’ 

Gwen set her hands on her hips. Just once, she mentally begged herself. ‘Haven't you heard of Netflix? Or just buy them on DVD and watch them at home.’ 

‘It's not the same. Have you ever tried living in one of those pokey flats Torchwood set us up in?’ 

‘You know,’ Rhys began, ‘my mate Daf knows a bloke who can set you up with some decent home cinema kit.’

‘Rhys!’ Gwen scolded. 

He shrugged, playing down Gwen's displeasure at him getting involved. ‘Just saying. Those flats are a bit rubbish. Remember that time we had to say in one when they fumigated our building?’ 

‘Just…’ She took a deep breath before she said "shut up". It wouldn't look good, she knew. ‘Right, well, I'm going to take your planetary identification numbers and let you deal with Jack.’ 

‘You'd dob us in?’ 

‘If you plan on breaking the rules, then yeah.’ 

The pair of them grumbled, begrudgingly handing over their details for Gwen. ‘The film was complete rubbish anyway.’