OOM: Movie Time

[dovelike]

The room that Bar has offered to Eirene for her stay is small. But, barring that and the trouble that she has with small spaces, it's nicely appointed. The walls and ceiling are a pale blue, offsetting the dark blue bed in one corner. Opposite that is the small television/dvd player combo and a desk large enough to paint on.

Small, but comfortable.

Eirene dumps her things on the table. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable," she offers before vanishing into the bathroom to clean up the paint.

Comments

[hero_farmboy]

The room is about the same as he remembers from last night. The coffee mug is set on the desk and the accompanying chair turned to face the television.

When Eirene returns from the bathroom, this is where she'll find Clark seated, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

[eirenikos]

She's tempted to make him sit on the bed, which is more comfortable, but it is her job as hostess to give him whatever he wants. And if Clark wants to sit in that chair -- so be it.

Instead, Eirene kneels down in front of the dvd player and attempts to get the movie into the slot without her fingers getting pinched again. Tricky process.

[hero_farmboy]

Right. He's here to help.

He's beside her on the floor quick enough - not speeding, just a big guy moving across a small room - holding out his hand for the DVD. "Here. The trick is," he takes the disc from her, holds it over where the tray will slide out and then presses the button, "to be ready for it in advance." The disc settles in place and the tray slides back in successfully.

"There," he says, tilting his head to give her a grin.

[eirenikos]

Oh sure! It looks so easy when someone else does it. Eirene presses the button, waits for the tray to open and then swoops down to rescue the disc so she can try it herself.

And ends up getting her fingers pinched. Again "Ouch!"

Doesn't matter if the pain is fleeting, either. Obviously the machine likes Clark better. Blue eyes narrow on aforementioned piece of technology -- it will not beat her! -- and Eirene tries again.

Successfully, this time.

Also, Clark's nose gets tweaked.

[hero_farmboy]

Said nose is scrunched up immediately afterward. "Thanks. You'll get the hang of it. It just takes practice, but you've got the basic idea."

Beat.

"It's the remote that's confusing."

[eirenikos]

"Welcome."

Wait for it.

"What's a remote?"

[hero_farmboy]

Clark sighs. "Yeah, that means I get to be in charge of that." It's totally not a guy thing shush.

He picks up the small rectangular box sitting beside the DVD player and holds it up for her. "This thing with all the buttons. It lets you control the player without having to sit right here or get up all the time and push the buttons on the machine itself."

[eirenikos]

Eirene isn't completely up on the deep and abiding love between a man and his remote --yet-- so she can't exactly call Clark out on that. Instead she'll just lean over and peer at the object, perhaps reaching out to run her fingertips gently against the buttons in some awe.

"Show me."

[hero_farmboy]

"Uh, okay."

Clark stands and walks back over to the chair, then points the remote at the TV and preses the appropriate button to bring the machine to life.

"The confusing part is knowing what button to push for which machine and what action you want," he shrugs.

[eirenikos]

"And you know how to do that." She assumes, anyway. He mentioned living several years ahead of her in his own world, so these remotes can't be all that mysterious for him. "Will you please ... do whatever it is that needs doing so that we may watch? Please? Pretty please?"

Eirene gets to her feet. "I need to change. Won't be but a minute."

Or, actually, about six, because she had to wash her face and admire the shower again (it's like an indoor waterfall!) before climbing into her pajamas.

Which, as Clark finds out when she steps out of the bathroom and curls up on the bed, is an oversized tee shirt and boxer shorts - both blue.

"Okay. Ready."

[hero_farmboy]

By the time she returns, Clark is back in his chair and the DVD menu is on screen, the selector already highlighting the 'play movie' option.

He's nothing if not thorough.

Her return prompts him to look up and reply with a "Ready when you are." Of course, his gaze doesn't last as long as the sentence before he reverts back to focussing on the screen.

[eirenikos]

It takes a few minutes for her to get into the movie, though she's seen a movie or two at the theatre during her hopping through the twentieth century.

...revenge, giants,monsters, chases, escapes, True
Love, miracles....

And so quickly, she falls in love. "Oh..."

A word, my lady. We are but poor, lost circus
performers. Is there a village nearby?

Eirene slides from the bed to the floor, completely caught up in the story now.

"No, Buttercup. Don't believe them. They'll hurt you!"

[hero_farmboy]

Oh, she's a talker.

It's at about that point that it becomes clear to Clark that the movie isn't anywhere near as interesting as watching Eirene's reactions to it. So that's more or less what he does, a hint of a smile playing on his lips the entire time.

...and well, the movie turns out to be not so bad, either.

[eirenikos]

I just don't think it's right, killing an innocent girl.

"Good for you, Fezzik," she mutters, leaning back against the foot of the bed to get a better view of the television. At this point, Eirene is utterly absorbed in finding out what happens to these people.

Although, at one point she conjures up two glasses of milk and a package of oreos, gesturing absently for Clark to share them with her (possibly because she forgot about the 'any cookies not his mom's are bad' rule).

Look! He's right on top of us. I wonder if he's using the same wind we are using.

That produces an honest-to-gods giggle. The kind he's used to hearing.

[hero_farmboy]

That's good. That's a good sign, the laughter, that she appears to be genuinely enjoying herself and maybe just forgetting, for a while, what happened.

It because of that - and that only - that Clark grabs one oreo. He's kept bigger secrets from his mom before.

[eirenikos]

It's the movie, somewhat, and the company. And the oreos. And maybe the magic of storytelling as a whole. The Greeks were always big on their oral traditions, and the preserving of the myths and legends - this is simply another way of doing so.

The Forbidden Forest takes Eirene by surprise, eliciting a few 'oh' and a gasp of outrage when Buttercup's valiant efforts to save her true love are foiled by the dastardly prince with the terrible name.

Miracle Max and his wife prompt another round of giggling. Needless to say, most of the oreos are gone by this point.

[hero_farmboy]

Clark has decided that Inigo and Fezzik, and fine, Westley, are actually pretty cool. He's beginning to feel an awful lot like the little boy this story is being read to.

Clearly, this means it's not a chick flick after all.

The rest of the oreos are left for Eirene - they're her favourite - but Clark finally takes his milk, still splitting his attention between the movie itself and the goddess enthralled by it.

[eirenikos]

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam. And wove, twue wove, wiww fowwow you fowevah and evah… So tweasuwe youw wove…Have you the wing?

Eirene is literally lying halfway prone against the floor by the end of the movie, unable to stop a gigglefit. Wesley, Inigo, Buttercup, and especially Fezzik, have obviously captured her heart.

She sits up eventually, while the credits are still rolling, and lifts a hand to wipe tears out of her eyes (she was laughing that hard).

"Oh, dear Zeus. I want to watch another one."

[hero_farmboy]

Clark grins down at her, almost half laughing himself at her gigglefit, and then steps around her to take out the current disc.

"Sure. What else do you have?"

[eirenikos]

Still bursting into a giggle here and there, Eirene waits until he's clear of the player again before pushing away some of her paintings to get at the stack of movies lying on the desk.

"We have ... Lion King, Underworld, The Music Man, Troy," Which gets an odd look, "something called the Lord of the Rings and Gladiator."

[hero_farmboy]

Most of those names are familiar on some level - he's even seen Lord of the Rings already - but he's not sure many of them are right for keeping someone cheered up. Except, of course, Disney. That never fails, right?

"Let's give the Lion King a try," he decides, nodding toward the player. "You want to fight with this again, or shall I?"

[eirenikos]

Eirene gives a long, hard look at the player. "I will not fight with it, I will simply coax it into behaving," she announces, while carefully removing the movie from its case. Of course, this is easier said than done.

Dropping down to kneel in front of said machine again, she holds the disc just above the slot like Clark demonstrated and presses the little button. Tray opens, movie goes in, and the goddess is so pleased with herself that she forgets to move her fingers.

Resulting in said appendages being pinched again.

"Ow."

[hero_farmboy]

"You'll get the hang of it," Clark assures her, moving back to the chair and picking up the remote. "Just about ready?"

[eirenikos]

"Yes, I will." She'll have to, living in the era she is now. "Ready."

Okay, so, ready means scooting over to sit in front of him, her back nestled against the chair legs. For some reason, Clark's presence is having a calming effect on her.

[hero_farmboy]

Once the menu has loaded on the television screen, he leans down, holding the remote in font of her.

"In case you want to watch one of these when I'm not here, you use these arrow buttons to highlight the different options on the menu," this is demonstrated as he moves the indicator so one again 'play movie' is lit up, "and when you have the one you want, you just press this bigger 'select' button to activate it." Which he does to get the movie going.

[eirenikos]

Naturally, her attention is split between the remote and the television, eyes darting back and forth while he works the magic remote, even though she does know it works on technology, and grins in absolute delight.

"Groovy."

She's enchanted with this film as well, humming along with the little cub's King song once she learns the rhythm.

[hero_farmboy]

Clark vaguely remembers having seen this when he was a kid, but he hasn't seen it since. To his surprise, there's a lot more depth to it than he recalls, but then, most of the layers would have been lost on a sheltered seven year old.

He will, however, leave any and all musical attempts up to Eirene. No matter how catchy the songs are.

[eirenikos]

Eirene is sucked in, as mentioned, pretty quickly. She giggles through Simba's young flirations with Nala, and clings to Clark's leg during Mufasa's death and his son's banishment.

"Oh, if only Hercules could get his hands on that traitor!" she mutters at one point in regards to Scar, her head nestled against the farmboy's knee.

[hero_farmboy]

Seemingly of its own accord, his hand ends up resting gently against her head, fingers threading idly in her hair. He doesn't say anything to reassure her that indeed, Scar will get his due, because that would spoil it, and as with the last movie, her genuine reactions are too priceless to muddy.

[eirenikos]

Clark's touch is soothing on a basic level, promoting healing instead of harm, so she leaves her head where it is and watches the lion cub grow up -- as a vegetarian, no less. This strikes her as intimately funny, resulting in a quiet round of giggling.

So, too, does the meerkat's motto. "I'm gonna find a tee shirt with Hakuna Matata on it," Eirene murmurs after the big song and dance routine, idly stroking her hand up and down his calf.

[hero_farmboy]

That's a little distracting, but beyond stilling briefly when she starts, Clark tries not to make any indication he might prefer if she stopped.

"I'm sure you could get one from the bar easily enough."

[eirenikos]

Eirene would stop immediately if Clark asked her to, but since he doesn't, she continues the idle caress until Simba reunites with Nala and returns to face that despicable uncle of his.

During which Eirene all but freezes in place as her new favorite animated lion almost dies, but manages to triump in the end.

She may also be sniffling happily at that point.

[hero_farmboy]

With the credits now rolling, Clark hits the stop button on the remote. "I take it you liked that one, too?"

[eirenikos]

Eirene nods happily. "I did, yeah." She's female. Of course she likes Disney movies. Talking animals, for the most part, are very cool.

[hero_farmboy]

"Good," he smiles back. "So, what's next? Another movie or something else?"

[eirenikos]

"Did you have anything in mind?" She tilts her head back to look up at him.

[hero_farmboy]

He shrugs. "Nothing in particular. Whatever you want, really."

[eirenikos]

Eirene bites down on her bottom lip, debating on the choices she has. "I know I said I wanted you to stay, Clark, but I ... I don't want to have kept you from something important in your own world. Am I?"

She may be feeling a little guilty.

[hero_farmboy]

"Like I said, time isn't moving for me outside, so anything I need to do can get done whenever I go back," he replies. "So don't worry about it, okay?"

[eirenikos]

"Okay." It takes under a minute for her to study the remaining movies and pick one via 'eeny meeny miney moe'. "Underworld it is." This time, she manages to get the disc into the player without pinching her fingers.

Of course, Eirene could be assuming it's a Greek-based movie.

[hero_farmboy]

It's one Clark isn't familiar with and given the company, and some of the other movies selections she was given, it wouldn't surprise him if it was mythology based either.

Oh, how wrong they both are.

Clark hands her the remote. "Your turn."

[eirenikos]

Settling back against the chair legs, Eirene concentrates on remembering which buttons get her to the menu screen, and the one that makes the movie play. It is, after two false tries, deceptively simple.

The credits are confusing, really, because that doesn't look like Hades' realm. Ten minutes into it, and she's staring at the television with an open mouth.

"Lamia..." she whispers.

[hero_farmboy]

Ten minutes into it, Clark is intrigued. Because he's a guy and therefore has heard the siren call of the action movie. It almost hasn't registered that Eirene's said anything.

"Lamia?"

[eirenikos]

Eirene isn't quite as thrilled as Clark, mainly because it is an action movie, but she's intrigued despite herself.

"Vampire," she answers absently, though the Lamia of her world bears only superficial relations to the creatures onscreen.

[hero_farmboy]

"Oh." Right. They do appear to be vampires. Clark was distracted by the shooting and the fighting.

"Vampires aren't all that much fun, but they kind of work here."

[eirenikos]

"They do."

Eirene settles to watch the rest of the movie, finding the violence oddly cathartic.