Nearly a week had passed since the Dazzlings last watched a movie together, and the result of that had been… interesting. Aria found it boring and spent the entire time complaining, which caused Adagio to snap at her and… well, things had escalated from there. The morning after hadn’t done much to improve their situation; Aria had spent the day in her room and Adagio and Sonata had only briefly seen each other during breakfast before the former left for work. Yeah, the Dazzlings preferred method of getting over things these days was “ignore the problem until it goes away.”
And each to their own, while it probably wasn’t healthy for them, it was working. Aria eventually came out of her room and had slowly gotten back to bullying Sonata, which instantly perked Sonata back up. And seeing her sisters back in tune gave Adagio that warm feeling inside she got when around them (the feeling that she would rather be eaten alive than admit to). So, things had gotten relatively back into pace pretty quickly, apart from one thing they were missing.
Movies.
Sonata had not dared bringing up the subject of them watching something together again, even now that things had gone back to normal. She held herself entirely responsible for what happened when they watched Alien. It was her fault for picking a boring movie, of course Aria wouldn’t enjoy that! Aria hated things that required a long term attention span. One Christmas Sonata had treated her to a spot the difference book, which she’d payed attention to for about five minutes and then thrown in the garbage (though Sonata had later salvaged it for her own bookshelf). If only she had remembered that sooner!
Sonata silently cursed herself.
She was lay on her single bed staring at the ceiling, contemplating life. On the floor around her lay scattered toys and candy bar wrappers. She was coming down from her daily sugar high, and it was always at this time Sonata did her really deep thinking.
All the warning signs had been there that Aria wouldn’t enjoy the movie, and yet she hadn’t seen any of them. Like she never does.
"You’re the worst, Sonata", she told herself.
Adagio was not just their leader, but essentially the surrogate mother of the group. She would provide for them, protect them and lead them. Everything they had was thanks to Adagio’s leadership. She was by far the smartest of the group, she came up with their plans for everything, from world domination to this week’s shopping list.
"Oh shoot, I forgot to go grocery shopping!" Sonata cursed again.
And then there was Aria; just as important as Adagio. Physically she was the strongest of the three (which admittedly used to help out more two hundred years ago than it does now), but she was also a lot harsher than Adagio. Which surprisingly was a good thing, she was able to make the really tough calls. Vanilla Ice Cream or Strawberry? Burgers for dinner or hot dogs? Pick pocket that old man, or the blind lady? All questions that Sonata wouldn’t be able to bring herself to choose between... which was why they had Aria.
And that just left her. She was no fool to the situation she was in. Sonata was born the runt of the litter and thus didn’t particularly have any talents to contribute to the group; She wasn’t very smart, or strong, or super good looking. She could do a few things, she knew how to cut hair, she had okay cooking skills and she'd been told she has a great rack, but other than that, nothing major. That’s why she tried her very best at the things she knew she could definitely do: keep her sisters happy! They were always so busy planning, scheming, never once did they stop and just enjoy themselves. She knew she owed them a lot, and that’s why she did all in her power to keep them both happy. Where she failed? Her sisters were extremely difficult to keep happy.
The only thing Adagio really liked was herself. And she could hardly give Adagio to herself. Mirrors were a good second best, but at this point Adagio’s room was so full of mirrors she could use them as very trippy wallpaper. And Aria wasn’t much better; at least Adagio actually liked something. Aria was an insanely private person, all that Sonata knew was she listens to music and plays video games a lot. Beyond that? She might as well be trying to please a stranger. In fact no, because if you got a bad gift for a stranger they would probably just smile awkwardly and thank you for it. Aria would throw the gift into the garbage and spit in your face. (Although credit to her she hadn’t done that since the nineteen thirties).
But for a very short time, Sonata had found something that both she, Adagio and Aria enjoyed; watching movies together. It wasn’t much, but it was rare they ever had common ground. And sure, Adagio never specifically stated that she liked watching Gamera and Alien, but she at least seemed interested in them, right? And Aria (probably) definitely said that she enjoyed King Kong Vs Godzilla, and some parts of Alien. Sonata just needed to find something that all of them would love. Aria liked it when the older movies were goofy, but also liked when Alien got scary, and Adagio seemed to pretty much agree, only she was more open minded about slow horror. So she needed something scary, yet smart, with a little bit of goofy.
“Oh, brain blast!” Sonata exclaimed.
She recalled hearing of a movie that just fit those specifications. Now all she had to do was convince Aria and Adagio to give watching movie together another try…
Suddenly she didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic.
Might as well jump in at the deep end. If she could get Aria on-board with watching the movie, then Adagio would definitely be up for it.
Sonata took a deep breath. She knocked on Aria’s bedroom door.
There was a few moments of silence, before she heard a heavy sigh, some shuffling, footsteps, and the door creaked open just enough for Sonata to see a purple eye staring at her.
“What?”
“Hey Aria,” Sonata waved cheerfully.
“What do you want?” Aria asked, already growing impatient.
“Well I was wondering if you wanted to watch a mov-“
The door collided with Sonata’s foot, which had become firmly wedged between it and the door frame. Aria growled.
“- movie with me tonight?”
“Sonata why would I want to do that?” Aria asked.
“Because it’ll be fun?” she smiled.
“Leave me alone Sonata,” Aria spat.
Aria again tried to push her door shut, but Sonata’s foot remained tightly wedged in the gap.
“Oh come oooonnn Aria,” Sonata pulled her best puppy dog face.
Aria did her best impression of a vampire in the sunlight.
“No! No puppy dog faces! I’m not watching another one of your stupid movies!”
Drat. Puppy dog eyes almost never fail!
Time for plan C.
“B-BUT Adagio’s said she’ll watch it with me! S-she was the one who actually said you should watch it with us!” Sonata tried.
Not technically true, but she was sure if she could get them in a room together they’d both apologize anyway.
“I’m not wa… really?”
Gotcha.
“Yeaaah… she said she felt bad about what happened with the last movie and wanted to give it another go.”
“Well, well I…” Aria thought for a moment. “That’s not an apology though.”
Sonata shrugged.
“Guess she’s trying to make the first move towards it, you know how she is.”
Aria was silent again.
“What movie is it?”
Ooooh this was so happening now.
“The Thing.”
“What thing?”
“The movie.”
“Yeah, what’s the movie?”
“The Thing.”
“Yeah, that.”
“What?”
“What thing are we watching?”
“The movie?”
“Yeah.”
“The Thing.”
“Yes the thing! What movie is it?”
“THE THING.”
“WHAT THING?”
“THE MOVIE IS THE THING.”
“I KNOW.”
“OKAY.
“SO WHAT MOVIE IS IT?”
“THE THING.”
“YES!”
“THE MOVIE IS THE THING.”
“I KNOW.”
“Okay, let’s start again,” Aria put her hand to her head, “Sonata, what is the name of the movie?”
“The Thing.”
“Yes, that. What’s its name?”
“The Thing.”
Aria grunted. “Yes, now… what is the things name?”
Sonata shrugged. “Well… I dunno, we’ll have to watch the movie to find out I guess.”
Aria waved her off, abandoning this back and forth all together.
“What’s it about?”
“A thing.”
“SONATA.”
“EEP! Erm, I don’t know. But it’s got lots of gore in it, it’s rated eighteen.”
The perked Aria’s interest.
“Oh really?” She thought for a second. “Technically you’re barely old enough to watch it then, in this world.”
Sonata shrugged again, “Adagio said I could.”
Aria mused.
“Well okay then. Sure, I’ll watch your stupid movie with you. But it better be a good one this time.”
“Oooooh thank you Aria!” Sonata squee’d.
“And Sonata one more thing?”
“Yep?”
“GET YOUR FOOT OUT OF MY DOOR.”
Ecstatic that she had gotten Aria on board with her plan, Sonata set about eagerly awaiting Adagio’s return. All she needed to do was get to her before Aria did, and then tell her that Aria had suggesting the film to make up for what happened last time. Yes it was lying, but Sonata had seen plans like this on TV dozens of time before and it had all worked out fine then -she just needed to get her sisters alone in the room together and they’d make up on their own!
When she’d spoken to Aria it was around 5pm, and Adagio finishes today at 6:30pm. That left her with an hour and a half to prepare.
She made her way into the kitchen and took out three large plastic bowls. She then went over to the cupboard and opened it, only to deflate a little.
“Shoot… groceries…” Sonata hung her head.
Sonata wasn’t allowed to leave the house without one of her sisters with her, and she doubted she’d be able to convince Aria to pay her any more attention today.
It was okay, they could just watch the film without snacks! Adagio was always talking about her diet and Aria just threw up any food she ate these days anyway!
Putting the bowls away again, Sonata skipped her way into the living room and looked out the window. She did a quick scan of the street below, checking for any signs of “The Poof”. Satisfied she still had a while before Adagio returned, Sonata sat, her attention still out the window.
The apartment block they lived in was slap-bang in the middle of the city, just next to a main road. They lived on the ninth floor, which provided them with quite a view of the town -a view that Sonata always enjoyed, even though she was very used to it by now. The sky had turned orange and on the horizon the sun was beginning to set.
Giving one last smile at the view, Sonata leaned over and tugged the curtains shut, enveloping their living room in darkness. Alarmed at suddenly being plunged into darkness, she let out a quick ‘eep!’ and quickly switched the lamp on. It illuminated the room in a peaceful orange glow, which allowed Sonata to see the house phone on the coffee table opposite her.
It read 5:20pm.
Sonata let out a sigh.
She had ageeesss to wait before Adagio was home!
“Adagio I don’t want to.”
“Oh come on, you both did it to me.”
“But Sonata creeps me out when she sleeps… she talks.”
“You sleep talk all the time!”
“Never in Latin though!”
“Is she really still doing that?”
“Only when it’s a full moon.”
Sonata’s eyes slowly opened. As her vision focused, she spotted two figures looking down on her. Her sisters quickly hid a marker pen behind them and smiled.
“Good morning, sleep head.” Adagio purred.
Sonata’s eyes shot open.
She’d overslept! This could ruin everything!
“GAAHHhhoooood mornin’ ‘dagi,” she sat bolt upright.
Her sisters both stifled a laugh and moved away from her. Aria took a seat beside her on the sofa, while Adagio lingered, slowly taking off her work gear.
Sonata’s heart beat increased. She had to play this very carefully or she could risk everything. All her hard work and planning would be lost!
“Soo… er…” Sonata thought of the words she needed. “How was work?”
“It wasn’t too bad. I just got in actually.”
“Though she got home like half an hour ago,” Aria sniggered, “spent like ten minutes knocking on the door for you to answer it, I had to take off my headphones to let her in.”
Adagio sighed, “you shouldn’t have them on when you’re in charge of Sonata anyway.”
“Whatever,” Aria shrugged, having heard this all before.
Sonata looked between her two sisters, “you guys… seem to be getting on better.”
The two glanced at each other with uneasy expressions, then merely shrugged.
“When are we putting the movie on?” Aria asked.
“You’re watching a movie?” Adagio asked, folding her jacket up and placing it on the back of the sofa.
Sonata’s heart skipped a beat.
“YES-yes, we’re watching one… remember?” Sonata squeaked her last line out.
Adagio frowned. “What’re you talking about? I never-“
“ARIA REMEB-bers don’t you?” Sonata shouted.
Aria frowned. “Erm, yeah? You said we were going to watch a movie and Adagio was going to apo-“
“-APPEASE THE GOD GOZER.”
Both her sisters turned to Sonata. Their blank stares were met with a nervous smile.
“Gozer?” Aria asked.
“Gozer…” Sonata thought, “…is an ancient Sumerian demon… He was worshiped by the Hittites and the Mesopotamians in 6000BC, and they believed that one day he would crossover into our dimension to bring about the end of the world.”
The two other sirens simply continued to stare.
Aria turned to Adagio.
“And you want to appease him?”
“What? No! I don’t even know who he is.” Adagio spat.
“Then what’s she talking about?”
“I have no idea! Why would I want to summon a Mesopotamian god!?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time…” Sonata said under her breath, adding fuel to the situation.
“Oh drop it Soanta,” Adagio pointed her finger at her, “you were both as much a part of that as I was.”
“Yeah but it was your idea.” Aria waved her off.
“Sorry for trying to get us home...” Adagio glared back. “Anyway, what movie are we watching?”
We?
Adagio was inviting herself to watch the movie with them.
This was perfect!
Sonata’s heart did the giddy dance.
“The Thing.” She said brightly.
“What thing?” Adagio asked.
“The Thin-“
“THE NAME OF THE MOVIE-” Aria butted in, “-IS CALLED THE THING. That is the title, it’s called John Carpenter’s The Thing. Alright!?”
Adagio shrank away from Aria’s sudden outburst, “erm, alright.”
Aria frowned again, “wait, I thought you knew what movie we were watching?”
Sonata’s heart did the panic dance.
“Why would I know?” Adagio frowned.
“Becaauuusseee… you’re gonna watch it with us, silly!” Sonata forced a smile.
Adagio looked at Sonata, squinting.
Sonata, sweating, continued smiling.
“Hmm. Okay,” Adagio said finally.
A wave of relief washed over her as Adagio took over place on the lounge chair beside the sofa.
“Awesome, Sonata go put it on.”
Sonata grabbed the remote off the coffee table.
“Wait are we not getting snacks first?” Adagio sounded disappointed.
“What happened to your diet?” Aria sneered.
Adagio waved her off, “I told you, I’m starting it tomorrow.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I-“
“And the day before.”
“Well-“
“And every day last week.”
“I never said which tomorrow.”
Aria shrugged, “just don’t come crying to us when you get thunder thighs.”
Adagio looked offended, "my thighs are amazing I’ll have you know... You see this gap? Can measure pasta with it.”
Aria grimaced.
“… I am never eating food prepared by you again, oh my god.”
“At least when I eat food it stays eaten.”
Aria squinted, "what’s that supposed to mean?”
Adagio’s answer was interrupted by Sonata.
“Girls can you not… Like for realzies, can we just watch the movie?” Sonata pleaded, activating puppy dog mode.
Muttering under their breath, the two reluctantly turned their attention towards the screen.
Happy with their decision, Sonata smiled. She pressed a button on the remote and the movie began to play.
She had been doing very well today!
First she’d gotten Aria and Adagio to watch the film together without getting caught as a liar, and now she was telling them what to do?
"Let the reign of Sonata begin!" she thought giddily to herself.
“Oh my god, Kurt Russell’s in this movie?” Adagio asked, her face lighting up.
“Lemme guess, you know him too?” Aria said sarcastically.
“Oh I’d like to know him.”
“Who is he?” Sonata asked.
“My daddy,” Adagio purred.
This earned her a snort from Aria.
“You’re disgusting Adagio.”
“Wait,” Sonata stopped them, “daddies in this?”
Adagio laughed and Aria face-palmed.
“See what you do?” Aria asked Adagio. “No Sonata, our dad isn’t in this.”
“Then why did Adagio call him daddy?” Sonata frowned.
“Well… She meant… Look, Adagio’s a freak, okay?”
“Only when they want me to be.”
“Not. Helping.” Aria spat at her older sister, “just ignore her, watch the film.”
“I’m only kidding Aria, relax,” Adagio giggled.
“You aren’t though,” Aria sighed. “And that’s the worst part.”
“A pupper!” Sonata sat upright.
Adagio frowned. “A what?”
“There, a pupper!” She pointed to the dog now on the screen.
“What’s a pupper?”
“A tiny doggo.”
Adagio grew irritated.
“A what?”
“It’s an internet thing,” Aria waved her off.
“WAIT WHY’S HE SHOOTING AT THE DOGGO!?”
“I thought it was a pupper?”
“A doggo’s just a big ol’ pupper,” Aria slipped in again.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?”
“MAKE HIM STOP SHOOTING DAGI, HE’S GOING TO KILL IT.”
“It’s not real you numb nut!” Adagio snapped.
“Sonata, we talked about this,” Aria sighed. “What did I tell you about movies, TV and the wage gap?”
“They’re make believe?”
“Exactly.”
Adagio snorted in response.
“Oh, helllllooooo,” she purred as Kurt Russell appeared on screen.
Aria rolled her eyes.
“Put that hair in a man bun and I’d be his thing any day of the week,” Adagio watched the TV with predatory eyes.
Aria turned to Sonata and gestured putting her fingers down her throat. They both giggled.
“Careful Aria, wouldn’t want your force of habit to kick in,” Adagio sneered, catching Aria’s impression.
Aria looked like she was going to respond, but then let out a sigh and shrank back into her seat.
“Are they smoking a spliff?” Sonata asked.
Time itself skidded to a halt.
Adagio’s eyebrows hit the ceiling.
Aria’s mouth hit the ground.
Both of their heads snapped in Sonata’s direction. Aria did her best goldfish impression, while Adagio's face was a cross between anger, confusion and... yeah no, more confusion.
“How… the hell… do you know what one of those is?” Adagio asked
Sonata simply shrugged.
“I get around.”
Adagio looked like she was going to vomit.
“Sonata erm…” Aria laughed nervously, “no... you don’t.”
Sonata let out a small giggle and shook her head, "naaahhhh I don’t, I just saw it on the internet.”
Adagio pointed an accusing finger at Aria.
“You let her on the internet alone again didn’t you!?” she yelled.
Aria rolled her eyes and held her hands up in defense. “Hey she's sneaky! She must have got on when I was asleep!”
“That’s bullshit Aria she doesn’t know the laptop password!”
“Language!” Sonata covered her ears.
“Sonata, where did you find out what a spliff was?” Aria asked.
“Don’t repeat that!”
“You just said bullshit!”
“Language!”
“SONATA!” They both snapped.
“I wanted to find out what Aria’s nickname meant!” she said quickly.
Her older sisters frowned.
“Aria?” Adagio asked.
“I don’t know what she…” Aria thought for a minute, “…oh god.”
Adagio rolled her eyes. “What is it?”
“My name on Youtube...” Aria laughed awkwardly. “It’s er… AriaBlazeIt420…”
“It’s what?”
Aria sighed.
“AriaBlazeIt420.”
“HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA.”
“Adagio!”
“HAHAHAHAHA I-I had n-no idea you were so GANGSTA!”
“I picked it because it sounded cool!” Aria looked away. “Aria Blaze was already taken, I don’t think I’m a gangster.”
“Okay, okay!” Adagio wiped away freshly forming tears. “Whatever you say, BlazeIt.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Blazemiester?”
“Or. That.”
“Blaze-Dawg?”
“Adagio!” Aria growled.
Adagio waved her off, continuing laughing. Aria turned back to the movie.
“That dogs creepy.”
“Don’t you mean that daaawg is creepy?”
“ADAGIO!”
“Okay! Okay! I’m done I’m done," she laughed.
“You’re not even funny.”
“I said I’m sorry! Go on Aria, what were you saying?” she purred.
“I said the dog is creepy.”
“Leave it alone!” Sonata piped up.
“What? It is,” Aria defended. “Look at it! Standing there all silent and stuff… it’s weird.”
“You’re weird!”
“Oh buzz off.”
“Look at it! Its adooowubul!” Sonata squeaked.
“Yeaaah… adorable…” Aria said slowly. “That’s the same face Adagio has when she knows one of us has misbehaved.”
“It is no-“ Adagio looked at the screen, “oh my gosh I know what you mean.”
Aria laughed silently.
“So where are they going?” Adagio asked.
Aria rolled her eyes "where you even listening?”
“Daddy was on the screen, last thing I was doing was listening.”
Aria groaned.
“They’re going to the camp where the Norwegian guy came from.”
“I love the snow,” Sonata smiled.
“We know you do.”
“We should all go on holiday to somewhere snowy one day!”
“You gonna get a job and pay for it?” Adagio muttered.
“Come oonnnn it’d be fun!” Sonata smiled. “We should go skiing!”
“Woah woah,” Aria interrupted, drawing them back to the screen, “ohhhh hold up… this is cool. I like this.”
Her two sisters returned their attention to the screen. Sonata sneered.
“It’s creepy.”
Aria nodded, “I know, that’s why I like it.”
“What happened there?” Adagio asked quietly.
“We don’t know yet.”
After a moment, Aria continued.
“I’m digging this. I didn’t know snow could have such creepy aesthetic.”
“Is that a yes to the skiing holiday?”
“Sonata," her older sisters growled.
Adagio pouted.
“My babies wearing too much, I can’t appreciate his beauty.”
“Adagio you are the most basic bitch I’ve ever met.”
“Don’t swear Aria!”
“It’s an expression.”
“I don’t care. If I hear you talking like that again you’re grounded.”
Aria opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it again, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort.
Adagio frowned and gestured towards the screen.
“How’d he do that?”
“Do what?”
“The dead guy. He’s got two slit wrists and his throat’s been cut.”
“And?”
“How’d he manage that? In fact, how’d he even manage to slit both of his wrists? Surely you wouldn’t be able to hold the razor after you’ve done on-”
“You’re thinking too much about it.”
“It’s a plot hole Aria!”
“’Dagi stooopp,” Sonata whined, “just enjoy the movie.”
“I was enjoying the movie before the movie started being stupid.”
“Stop being pedantic,” Aria hushed her.
“Ewwwwww,” Sonata grimaced, "what is that?”
Aria sat forward in her seat," awesome!”
“Hideous,” Adagio frowned.
“It has two faces,” Sonata said.
“What is it?” Adagio asked.
“No idea, but I like it,” Aria nodded.
Sonata smiled and rubbed her hands together.
Tonight was a complete success!
Sonata gasped, "oooh look who is back!”
“Aria you’ve got a point, I’m really getting funky vibes off that dog,” Adagio agreed.
Aria snorted, "funky?”
Adagio nodded, "yeah, like, weird.”
“Nobodies said funky in years Adagio,” she laughed.
Adagio rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, what is it we’re supposed to say now?”
“Ssssshhhhhhhhhh.”
“I dunno, just not funky,” she giggled.
“Shhhh.”
“Sonata shut up.”
“I’m trying to enjoy the pupper!”
“The pupper is creepy! And so are you.”
“He’s not creepy!” Sonata turned back to the screen and cooed, “he’s an ickle wickle liddle puppa wupp-SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IS HE DOING?”
“WHAT THE HELL!?”
“I DON’T LIKE THAT.”
“ARE DOGS SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?!”
“I DON’T LIKE THAT.”
“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!”
“CAN DOGS REALLY DO THAT!?”
“I DON’T LIKE THAT.”