Sometimes life gives us moments of clarity, where your feelings and perceptions light up and everything suddenly starts to make sense. Other times, things just happen bit by bit, in such small doses that you don’t even notice the picture forming right in front of you. It’s like one of those thousand-piece puzzles with a surprise image: you start putting it together, piece by piece, but you can’t see what it’s becoming in those first few moves.

Wave and Dan were in the early stages of that giant puzzle, and neither of them could quite understand what was happening. Wave, with his excitement and curiosity, was the one bringing all the pieces at once and showing them to Dan, who unknowingly fit each piece into place as if he were completing the other’s game. You will understand what I’m talking about later.

Were either of them in love at that point? Of course not! I’m not dealing with easy, love-at-first-sight stories here. I’m not saying that kind of love isn’t real, okay? I’m just saying I prefer to work with love that unfolds more realistically and, honestly, more beautifully. But if it wasn’t love or passion yet, then what are we talking about here? Well… interest.

Wave hadn’t realized it, but he was very interested in Dan: interested in his personality, his mystery, his uniqueness. And as we know, interest is one of the fundamental pieces for completing a long story. And that’s why he was there, standing at the entrance of an old movie theater, smiling from ear to ear, feeling his heart beat a little faster with every step the other guy took toward him.

“You actually came!” Wave exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He shook a bucket of popcorn and a soda in a celebratory gesture, nearly spilling the drink as he leaned forward. “I thought you might bail.”

Dan didn’t respond at first, and as he got closer, he noticed what Wave was holding, a look of confusion appearing on his face. That look deepened when he saw the movie theater behind them. Quickly, he pulled out his phone and started typing, making a notification sound go off in Wave’s pocket.

“As you can see, there’s no way I can check your message right now,” Wave announced, raising the popcorn and soda. “Either you grab my phone from my back pocket or you talk.” He was smiling, hoping to hear his junior’s voice again.

To his disappointment, Dan just sighed and turned his phone screen toward him, showing the following message:

[Dan Zanon]
What’s this?

“This? You mean… this?” Wave nodded toward the theater, and Dan nodded back. “Well… it’s exactly what it looks like: a movie theater.”

Dan’s expression grew even more tense, and he started staring into the distance as if searching for the right words. Then, he grabbed his phone again and typed something, showing it to Wave. He read the message in a whisper to himself:

“Why did you arrange to meet me at a movie theater? Why?” He was trying to figure out why Dan seemed so uncomfortable with the location, and after a few seconds, it hit him, and a loud laugh escaped his lips. “Oh, I get it! This seems really weird, doesn’t it? Like a date.”

Dan’s eyes widened instantly at that word, and seeing this, Wave tried to stifle his laughter and stepped closer to calm him down.

“It seems like a date, but it’s not a date, got it?” He was still chuckling at his junior’s reaction. “I know it feels weird, but relax, you’re not my type… you’re not, like… a girl.” He gave a subtle wink, trying to put Dan at ease. “And more importantly, I’d never hit on someone from the theater, no matter how good-looking you are. It would be way too much trouble.”

Dan still looked skeptical, so Wave continued, “Trust me, I want to show you something really important.” He smiled broadly, his eyes locked on Dan’s with steady certainty. “Let’s watch this movie together, and I promise you won’t need to audition tomorrow, okay? You won’t regret it.”

Dan just took a deep breath, and it seemed to erase the lines of worry from his face. This made Wave keep smiling as he took the chance to observe him: he was wearing black jeans ripped at the knee, a tight striped shirt, and a white jacket over it. His hair was more styled than usual, perfectly matching his almost cold expressions. It made Wave wonder if he could ever actually get someone this good-looking to go on a date with him, and he laughed to himself at the thought.

“For obvious reasons, I only bought one soda,” Wave said. “I can’t carry that much. We can share this one, or you can buy another…”

He didn’t have to finish the sentence; Dan quickly headed to the snack counter and got in line for another drink. Meanwhile, his eyes scanned the posters of the movies playing that night and the upcoming days, bringing a look of confusion to his face.

“You’re probably wondering what kind of movie we’re going to see, right?” Wave asked suddenly, making Dan jump at his quiet approach.

Dan didn’t answer but nodded.

“Well, you’ve inspired me!” Wave said with a genuine smile. “All these movies have one thing in common: they tell a story without anyone speaking.”

Dan looked even more confused by this information, as if nothing coming out of his senior’s mouth made any sense at that moment. Seeing this, Wave continued with an enthusiastic tone and a wide smile that lit up his face:

“Welcome to the world of silent film!”

I always said Wave was a theater kid, but the truth is, he wasn’t limited to that; he was someone fascinated by nature, engineering, and anything else that sparked his interest, no matter how different it was from other aspects of his life. Various forms of art made his eyes shine like diamonds. So when he met Dan and felt unsettled by his silence, Wave started to realize how much it attracted him. But why?

To explain himself, he related it to art and remembered when he was a child, watching old movies with his grandmother. But these weren’t ordinary films; they were movies where the actors didn’t say a single word and communicated only through exaggerated performances and expressions. It fascinated him and was comforting, as if words weren’t necessary. And despite being bothered by Dan’s lack of responses, he began to notice that he also felt comfortable with it. A comfort amidst the discomfort.

He wanted, somehow, to show Dan that even if he was shy and didn’t like to talk—whatever the reasons—he communicated very well just through his eyes and expressions, and that it was also a form of art, sometimes even more beautiful than the conventional kind. Maybe it would make him view acting, theater, and visual arts from a new perspective.

“See, it’s amazing, right?” Wave asked with excitement in every syllable as they both made their way to their seats in the theater, which, surprisingly, wasn’t very empty.

Dan had a peculiar expression on his face the entire way, probably thinking his senior was even more peculiar than he had initially thought. In fact, I’m being generous using the word ‘peculiar’; he was probably thinking Wave was completely strange and wondering how he ended up there, but that’s just my speculation.

“I hope you like it.” The movie hadn’t started yet, but Wave was already whispering and leaning his head close to Dan’s ear, who, by the way, seemed to lean away a little.

The film was The Kid, telling the story of a mother who abandons her baby in a car because she can’t raise him. Then a tramp makes his morning rounds and finds the baby. Initially, he wants to get rid of the child, but various factors keep preventing him, and gradually he grows to love the baby. A good story, with truly exaggerated performances, as is typical of silent cinema.

Wave tried to focus on the movie, but within the first five minutes, his attention turned to the guy next to him. He was more interested in observing Dan’s reactions than in following the plot. Initially, Dan seemed tense and confused, but over time, his expressions softened, and his head began to tilt slightly to the side.

“Sign of interest,” Wave murmured almost inaudibly as he leaned in again. “You see? No words are spoken, but you can clearly see the mother’s panic and her regret at returning and not finding the baby. She now realizes there’s no going back and that she’ll never see him again.”

Dan subtly shifted his gaze to the guy almost resting on his shoulder and nodded in understanding. Wave then settled back into his seat, his whole body vibrating with enthusiasm. His eyes sparkled with an almost childlike brightness, and he frequently dipped his hands into the bucket of popcorn between them, with a wide smile that wouldn’t fade. Every time he grabbed a handful of popcorn, the corners of his mouth curled up even more, revealing the excitement that overflowed into his gestures. In one of those movements, his fingers brushed against Dan’s, and he laughed.