Chapter 28: Bolt Down

I'm sprawled across one end of the twins' massive sectional sofas, with Rose's head resting in my lap and Lilly perched on the armrest beside me, her fingers absently playing with my hair. "I can't believe you've never watched Evangelion before," Rose says for the third time since we started the show. She shifts against my thigh, her auburn hair spilling across my jeans like liquid fire. "It's literally a cultural cornerstone." "Sorry, I'm uncultured," I laugh, my eyes fixed on the TV where a red-haired girl in some kind of mechanical suit is currently decimating a bizarre geometric shape that apparently qualifies as an "angel" in this universe. The animation is pretty cool, I'll admit that much. The story seems complicated, though, something about the end of the world and giant robots piloted by traumatized teenagers. Classic anime stuff, I guess. "Isn't Asuka so sick?" Rose asks, tilting her head back to look up at me. Her green eyes are wide with genuine excitement. "Look how she absolutely fucks up all the angels!" "Totally," I agree, watching as the character delivers some finishing move that causes the screen to explode in a flash of light and geometric patterns. "But why is she wearing a Chargers jersey?" The words leave my mouth before I fully process them. On screen, the character is clearly wearing a blue and yellow football jersey with a lightning bolt logo. It seems weirdly out of place in a Japanese anime about the apocalypse. Rose's entire body goes still in my lap. She twists around to stare at me, her expression shifting from confusion to utter disbelief. "Are you serious right now?" she asks, her voice flat. I glance between her and the TV, suddenly uncertain. "Um, yeah? She's clearly wearing a Chargers jersey, but the show hasn't mentioned it at all. It seems like a random detail." Rose sits up abruptly, her hair whipping around as she turns to face me completely. "Everyone knows Asuka is a Chargers fan," she says, like I've just questioned whether water is wet. "It's literally her whole character." [A/N: I am not a Chargers fan] Lilly's fingers pause in my hair, and I feel her shift slightly beside me. "Seth," she says, her voice carrying that patient tone she uses when explaining something simple, "Asuka has always been the Chargers fan." I look back at the screen, completely baffled. The character is now shouting at someone off-screen, still wearing the jersey that apparently everyone but me recognizes as canonical. "But we're only on episode two," I protest weakly. "How is that already established?" Rose suddenly sits upright, fist pumping in the air. "BOLT UP!" she shouts, her face flushed with excitement as Asuka lands another devastating blow on screen. Lilly nods in agreement, a small smile playing at her lips. "Bolt up," she echoes, her voice much more controlled but with the same underlying enthusiasm. I'm about to ask what the hell "bolt up" means when the front door swings open. Margaret walks in, grocery bags hanging from her arms, and pauses when she sees the three of us clustered around the TV. "You're watching Evangelion again?" she asks, setting her bags down on the entryway table. "Yeah," the twins answer in unison, neither taking their eyes off the screen. Margaret shakes her head fondly as she moves toward the kitchen. "Rose, be careful, okay? You know how excited you get when you watch this show." She pauses at the doorway. "Bolt up, by the way." "BOLT UP!" the twins respond in perfect synchronization, their voices blending together like they've rehearsed this exchange a thousand times. "Bolt up," I add weakly, not wanting to be the only one left out of whatever bizarre ritual I've stumbled into. The words feel wrong in my mouth, like I'm betraying something important within myself I don’t quite understand. Rose turns to me with such genuine delight that I immediately feel like I've done something right. "You're learning!" she squeals, throwing herself back into my lap with enough force to knock the wind out of me. "I still don't get it," I admit, adjusting to accommodate her weight. "What does 'bolt up' even mean?" Rose rolls her eyes and gives me a playful shove. "It just means what it means, Seth. You don't ask a flower why it grows or why music makes you dance. It just is." Her explanation makes absolutely no sense, but the conviction in her voice tells me I'm not getting a better answer. "Alright," I say with a sigh, finally dropping the subject. Margaret reappears in the doorway, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. "Seth, are you staying for dinner? I'm making Carbonara." The invitation is tempting, Margaret's cooking is incredible, but I can't help thinking about Chris. "Thank you for the offer," I say, carefully extracting myself from Rose's grip, "but I want to check on my little brother today." Margaret's face softens, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she gives me a warm smile. "That's so nice," she says, and something in her expression makes my chest tighten. There's a wistfulness there, a longing that speaks volumes. “Maybe you can bring him over for dinner sometime soon?” I consider it for a moment, but it seems like it’d make her really happy. “Sure, let’s try for Saturday?” “I look forward to it.” The twins when they usually watch the anime:  Reverse world Evangelion: