"WHAT do you want to watch?" Wulfric asked as he led him to the couch. "I have every kind of movie ready."

Astrid tilted his head, pretending to think it over. "There’s a movie I really want to watch right now. It’s called [Opening Up To You]. Do you have it?"

Wulfric had never heard of that movie before. But then again, it was not like he had seen a lot of movies or even knew much about them. Based on the title, maybe it was a romance? The thought made him feel giddy inside. This suddenly felt like an actual movie date. Maybe he could put his arm around Aster while they watched. He might even get to sneak in a kiss or two.

A small virtual screen appeared in front of him showing a grid of movie posters and titles, arranged in rows like a digital catalog. Whatever he saw on that screen also appeared on the big one in front of them. He typed in the title, [Opening Up To You], and a few different movies came up. That was probably normal. With how many films came out every year, it was not strange for several to share the same name.

He looked up at Aster, who was still standing. "Which one do you want to watch?"

"Can you scroll up?" Wulfric did as he was told. "Stop. There. The third one."

Wulfric looked at the movie’s thumbnail. It showed two plump peaches. He frowned a little. Why would the cover be a fruit? But he did not dwell on it for long. What did he know about movies, anyway?

So he just patted the space beside him on the couch. "Come sit down, Aster, so we can watch it."

Aster glanced at the couch. "Can you turn this into a sofa bed?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

A sofa bed? Then, like a light bulb going off in his head, Wulfric’s eyes lit up. Why had he not thought of that to begin with? Watching the movie on a sofa bed would be way more comfortable. They could even snuggle together better.

"Yes," he answered.

He got up quickly and tapped a few options on the virtual screen. The couch shifted into a sofa bed with a tall backrest, so they could lean back more comfortably. For once, he was glad they were in VirtualNet. Here, he could turn a couch into just about anything he wanted with a few taps.

He sat down first and leaned back, then looked up at Aster with a big grin. "Come sit next to me."

"I think there’s a better place I could sit on."

Before Wulfric could understand what Aster meant, Aster placed his hands on Wulfric’s knees and pushed them apart. Then he stepped into the space between them, lowered himself down, and settled right against his chest. His back pressed flush against Wulfric’s front, and he leaned his head back just enough to rest against Wulfric’s shoulder. The position was close, intimate, and left no space between them.

His breath caught. He could feel the pressure of Aster’s body against his, the way he fit perfectly against him.

What the actual fuck--?

Aster tilted his head back and smiled up at him. "This is the perfect position, don’t you think?"

Looking at the playful smile on Aster’s lips, Wulfric felt a powerful urge to just lean down and kiss him until he could not think straight. But he held back and cleared his throat instead. "Yeah," he said, his voice rougher than usual, as he wrapped his arms around Aster’s waist. "This is perfect."

Aster stared at him, their faces only inches apart. Just when Wulfric thought Aster might close the distance between them, he leaned closer and whispered against his ear instead. "Press play."

And like the well-trained dog that he was, Wulfric did exactly as he was told.

After he pressed play, the movie began. The production logo appeared first, a small naked fairy sitting on a rainbow with the word ’Milky’ underneath. Then the first scene came on screen.

The first scene showed a lean guy with thick glasses fumbling with a tangled mass of charging cables. He tripped over his own feet and nearly fell, catching himself on the edge of a desk. People in office clothes walked past him without stopping. A woman called his name from across the room and told him to get coffee. Then another person handed him a stack of external hard drives and told him to update their firmware. The guy just nodded at each order and shuffled off to do what he was told.

Wulfric watched the screen and could not help but notice how cheap everything looked. The office set was plain. The lighting was flat. The acting felt a little stiff. It was clear this movie did not have much money behind it.

Why did Aster want to watch this movie?

Wulfric watched the screen, immediately noticing the cheapness of everything, the plain office set, the flat lighting, and the stiff acting. Clearly, this movie lacked a significant budget.

The big guy looked at the glasses guy with an expression that made Wulfric frown. Why was he looking at him like he wanted to eat him?

"Lock the door," the big guy said.

The glasses guy lowered his head and walked back to shut the door. He turned the lock.

"Come here."

The glasses guy walked toward the desk, his steps slow and his head still down.

"Pull down your pants and bend over."

Wulfric’s eyes went wide. What? Did he hear that right?

The glasses guy did not argue. He unbuckled his belt, let his pants fall to his ankles, and bent over the desk. The camera zoomed in on his bare backside. Then, in the next second, what had been a pale round shape shifted into a ripe peach with a small stem on top.

The title of the movie appeared across the screen in squiggly letters.

[Opening Up To You]

Wulfric blinked several times, barely moving in his seat. What... what in the world had he just watched?