Laurie & Namor | Sunday Movie Night

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Laurie and Namor discuss priorities before movie night.

He was doing her a service.

Well, no. A gentleman did not think that way. Tandy had invited him, and Namor had agreed to sacrifice his evening with Rebecca — an Pratt Multimedia student with excellent strokes — to encourage that friendship. That's what they said he needed. Peers. He felt he needed a little more deference than the healing power of friendship, but no one had really listened to Namor since he had left Attilan.

Sighing inwardly, Namor tucked away his mobile and surveyed the common room. He was, of course, early, and there was only one person here. He had tried to familiarize himself with most of the mansion's popular via the journals, but the blonde was unfamiliar.

He smiled politely, locking gazes. "Boa noite, Miss."

"Portuguese, right?" Laurie asked, smiling slightly as she gestured to one of the sofas. "I take it you're one of the movie nighters?"

"Sim," came her answer with a crisp nod and polite smile to provide translation, "and Miss Bowen believes I need to see more movies."

"Be grateful it isn't more books, they take longer to get through then a movie."

Laurie curled her legs up and got more comfortable. She'd been meaning to read a few more chapters of a book published on the rise of the x-gene and theories on why it kicked off such a variety of different expressions. She supposed getting to know the new kids was important, especially since it would be rude to ignore him now he was here.

"I take it you're not a movie buff?"

"No," and a beat, "I would rather books forced upon me. While the conversation after both can be stimulating, reading offers a bit more depth."

"I read more for pleasure then I did but I still prefer to do other things with my time."

Laurie had lessened her adamant dislike of fiction since Kyle had been introducing her to a variety of good authors but she didn't have a lot of time for indulgences. She still found television and movies which she could sometimes watch as just background noise preferable.

She got a nod for this explanation. "I am student, so it is my duty to learn as much as I can," the word "duty" was underscored with a swell of pride in his tone, "So I prefer to wrap my goals up in subjects that will be useful."

"Just don't forget to have some fun along the way as well," Laurie said, amused suddenly that here was someone much like herself. It was interesting to see that properness from the outside. "Life was meant to be experienced, not just lived."

It was hard to parse Namor's exact expression. Was he unimpressed with that statement? Confused by it? Objecting to it? Could that be a smile to humor her suggestion as a joke? His icy politeness drowned out exactly what he might be thinking. "I will be sure to remember that, Miss..." The end was left hanging with a definite visual queue to fill in the blank.

"That's usually a polite way of saying you think the person is crazy, you know."

Laurie picked up the tea she'd been letting cool on a side table and took a sip before asking his question.

"My name is Laurie, Senhor."

"That's merely my way of dismissing platitudes, Sehnorita Lorena." He stressed his accent on the name as if trying to inject as much formality as possible. "It is a true enough statement, but there are as many ways to live as there are cliches to talk about it. I have fun."

"Cliches only become cliches because there's truth to it, Senhor Namor. Besides, if you are having fun, then I don't need to check on you. As someone who has been hospitalized for overdoing study, I tend to caution others from doing the same."

Laurie took another sip of her tea, and gestured at the pot sitting on the little table.

"Would you like some?"

She got a raised eyebrow for her previous statement. "Hospitalized for overstudying? Are you that zealous in everything, or just your books?"

Namor accepted her invitation happily and made motions to his fix himself a cup. "I thank you. Would you desire more, Miss?"

"I would, yes. Thank you."

Laurie thought about what he'd asked as he poured her another cup of tea, taking the cup from him gratefully when he passed it to her. She took a tentative sip to test the temperature and then another longer one as it didn't burn her tongue.

"I've always thought anything worth doing was worth giving your all too. It just happens that I have a lot of things I feel are worth my time these days, and while studying so hard would not be a problem otherwise, I find my countless extra-curricular activities were weighing me down. I've since cut back on all but the most important to me, with a few left over for moments that I feel I'm up to the task."

Namor cradled his own tea carefully as he considered Laurie's words. "Being able to prioritize is an admirable quality. There are many tasks worth doing, but the value of the endeavor must be properly assessed first. One," and this was stated in a derisive tone that implied Namor was referencing everyone else and not himself, "may only have so much bandwidth."

"That sounds like somebody else," Laurie replied, amused by his tone as well as the incongruity of someone who seemed ill used to using common slang. He reminded her so much of her friend Crystal that she felt a pang of sadness. She knew Crystal was happier in Attilan but that didn't mean that Laurie didn't wish she had the time to visit, or do something more then the occasional phone call. "Do you often run out of 'bandwidth'?"

"I," and there wasn't a hint of doubt here, "Have impeccable bandwidth because anything that cannot fit into my schedule is not worth my time."

"Wait until you're an adult, you'll find there's lots of things that aren't in your schedule that are worth your time."

Laurie shook her head in amusement, finished off her drink as she noticed the other mansionites starting to drift in.

"And looks like we've got some life to this movie night, after all."

Laurie's shift in focus toward the inbound movie-goers made her miss the brunt of Namor's affronted reaction to her statement, but his words were tinged with enough indignation to underscore his feelings. "We adults must simply prioritize what matters. Everything else is a matter of leadership and delegation."

He did not turn to acknowledge the other guests, but raised a hand to wave off the contention as quickly as it had arisen. "But now the priority is appreciating whatever work Tandy has chosen for tonight."