When they got to the scene where the little elephant with the large, flappy ears gets cruelly separated from its mother, Ban wasn't surprised in the least to hear a soft sniffling sound beside him. In fact, he was probably expecting it.

He cast his eyes a bit sideways to his right, promptly confirming the accuracy of his thoughts. In the darkness of the small, half-full movie theater, with what little aid of light flickering from the huge screen, Ban saw Ginji weeping alright. Bottom lip quaking, unruly tears spilling down his cheeks, he was quite the image of a young child who'd just had his ice cream cone swiped clean from him. (...erm, but that was a lot like Ginji himself, wasn't it.)

Right out Ban was inclined to snort, It's just a movie, idiot -- a cartoon at that, for chrissakes; it's not real. (Besides, knowing this Disney business, the crap was sure to end Happily Ever After, anyway.) But then, as he found himself watching Ginji cry at each passing moment, Ban suddenly felt the urge to tell -- demand Ginji to stop, because something inside of him twisted and hurt and annoyed him an awful lot seeing Ginji like that.

Instinct, however, had other goofier ideas. Acting on pure, spontaneous drive -- wherever the heck the stupid thing came from -- Ban then leaned towards Ginji, tilted his head to the side, and just as Ginji turned to him and gave a little gasp at the startling nearness of his face to his own, Ban kissed the weeping idiot.

When he drew back after a bit, Ginji's eyes were still doubly round in stark surprise.

A small, reassuring smile began to slink its way into Ban's face...

"Wh-wh-what was that for, Ban-chan??"

...only to make a hasty retreat.

Eh. That wasn't quite the response Ban was hoping -- looking forward to get, out of Ginji.

"Ne, Ban-chan, why did'ya kiss me??"

Hah, cute. Instead of smiling that bright, winning smile of his and finding comfort in the soothing kiss Ban had just very kindly given him, Ginji had to act all mongoloid and make a big dopey fuss about it. Suddenly Ban regretted wasting his first kiss on this idiot.

"Ban-chan??"

"Just shut up and watch the damn movie, idiot," Ban grumbled in a forced undertone. He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms in annoyance.

Ginji leaned back in his own seat, drying his cheeks with the sleeves of his t-shirt.

Well. At least he'd stopped crying.

Without one more word, then, Ginji paid close attention once anew to the huge canvas and finally resumed watching his stupid cartoon.

With nothing better to do Ban tried to focus his own mental faculties on the picture, however he couldn't quite seem to do so, as he couldn't stop thinking about how...

soft...

and how...

nice...

The sky had begun to grow pink by the time they stepped out of the movie theater.

"That was a nice movie, ne, Ban-chan?" Ginji stretched his arms out over his spiky blond head, cracking a wider smile when Ban turned to him.

"Aa," Ban replied, only half-concurring, if what 'nice' meant was something that only came close to boring him to tears. He put his purple-tinted shades back on and took a puff of the cigarette he'd just lit, watching Ginji watching the little kids and their parents trickle out of the theater lobby.

"Ne, Ban-chan?"

Already Ban knew what was to follow: I'm starving, Ginji would say next. So he turned promptly on his heel and led Ginji down the sidewalk. "C'mon," Ban simply said, spotting a little takoyaki stand from a couple of yards away. He slipped a hand into his pants' pocket, weakly fingering the thin fold of bills there.

Ginji was quick to fall in step with Ban. "I'm not really hungry," he remarked, catching Ban by total surprise (the last time they'd grabbed a decent bite to eat was two nights before), until Ginji added with wanton cheer and without hesitation, "but if you're buying me some food then I'll eat it!"

They reached the stand within seconds. "One stick, please," Ban called out to the old vendor.

"Just one? You aren't eating, Ban-chan?" Ginji's tone carried a ridiculously heavy weight of concern.

"Nah," Ban shook his head. What he wouldn't give to fill his own empty stomach, of course, however the car was in dire need of gas already and he'd just bought himself a fresh pack of smokes. Mortifying as it was, the yen in his pocket would only do a single stick, which in itself wasn't enough for Ginji alone, in any case.

It looked as if Ginji had "Why?" in mind to ask him, but only gave Ban a quiet, thoughtful stare as they awaited to be served.

After a moment, "Here you go, sonny," the vendor called, handing Ban a little platter of three octopus balls on a stick. Ban handed the whole thing to Ginji, who just had to exclaim, "Wah, looks delicious!"

Almost as an afterthought, Ban grabbed the white plastic bottle on the counter and gave the takoyaki a lavish slobbering of mayonnaise.

"Itadakimasu!" Ginji sang, just before swooping on his food.

Ban simpered watching Ginji with some amusement, feeling his hunger pangs fade, somehow, although wishing there were more than enough yen right now in his pocket to buy Ginji a dozen more sticks. Heck, no -- if Ban had more than enough yen in his pocket, he wouldn't take Ginji to just a takoyaki stand, anyway.

"Ban-chan."

"Hm."

"Do you like movies?"

"Not really." Ban shrugged. "Once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all."

"Really?" There was no hiding the disappointment in Ginji's voice, more so in his eyes. "I was hoping we could see one that's got real people, next time...if we get a coupl'a free tickets again."

"Hah. The hell if I let a client pay us with tickets to the stupid movies again."

"But, it's fun to watch movies, Ban-chan," Ginji contended, softly.

"Well, stupid is what it is, Ginji. I'd rather be out making oodles of money than sit two hours watching crap that don't happen the way they happen in real life anyway."

Ginji paused a moment, giving Ban's words solemn thought, at the same time slowly licking the excess mayonnaise off the stick.

Ban was just about to lean away from the counter, when,

"Ne, Ban-chan."

"What is it, Ginji."

Ginji bit down on a corner of his smilng mouth as he trained earnest hazel eyes on Ban, and said, "Arigatou."

It wasn't the first time Ginji had thanked him for anything at all, even for something as stinking cheap as takoyaki on a stick, but, hearing it, Ban just couldn't help but feel something profound warm a large part of him.

"...that was my first kiss."

"...oh. That." Ban plucked off the cigarette from his lips, staring a little open-mouthed at the violently blushing Ginji. Then, from out of the clear blue, he felt a pair of soft, and nice, and mayonnaise-sweet lips --and maybe even some tongue -- brush against his own.

Ban blinked. Ginji was now chuckling.

"Ban-chan's all red as tomato!"

And then the chuckling idiot turned to sprint ahead.

Watching Ginji run, Ban flicked his cigarette away, before breaking into a smirk, as well as a sprint of his own to follow. Once he'd caught Ginji, he'd pull him into himself, gather him tight in his arms, and take his breath away with a long and passionate kiss...just like in the stupid movies. Afterwards they'd have se--

"Ngyaaahh!"

Suddenly Ban found himself flat on his face on the solid pavement.

...jeezuz. Did he just trip on a frigging rock?!

"Oooooooiiiii! Ban-chaaaaaaaaaan! Whatcha doing down theeeere?"

"SHADDAP."

Stupid movies.

END

"Dumbo" was my first Disney movie ever. Don't remember too much of it, though; I was only about...4? ^^