"No, Sam", she said stubbornly. Her friend had taken hold of her wrist with both hands and was trying to pull her out of her chair with an exaggerated effort.
"Lara! Please…?", she pleaded. Lara closed her eyes and tried to contain the sigh of surrender that had densely packed itself into her lungs. She failed. Exhaling so that her shoulders loosened and her muscles went slack she allowed Sam to haul her to her feet.
"Why is this necessary?", she breathed as Sam's pull on her wrist drew them together. Already she could feel worms of anxiety burrowing together into a weighted ball in her gut. A feathery pass of Sam's lips over her jaw turned the worms to butterflies.
"Because it's normal", Sam spoke directly against Lara's skin. They could both feel the growing warmth it created between them. "It's normal, and you know, stuff."
"Stuff?", Lara asked, thoroughly chuffed.
"Yes, stuff. Normal people go to superhero movies, it's normal people stuff. Instead of…", another kiss, this time where Lara's neck connected to her jaw. Her eyes fell closed as Sam continued. "Well, I mean, could you imagine Thor sitting down to watch The Avengers?" That had made Lara chuckle warmly.
"Well, actually", Lara began, but Sam pressed a finger over her lips.
"Totally not into hearing about how wrong Marvel got it", she said with a grin. Lara relented. "The point is that superheroes don't watch superhero movies, so I need you to come to the movies with me. Obviously."
Lara shook her head, unsure how to even respond. Sam had already won, she was going, but the reasoning seemed so off. "I'm not a superhero, Sam", she whispered in the other girl's ear.
"Why, because you have no powers? What about Batman?", Sam pulled away just enough to place her hands on her own hips and give Lara her best mock glare.
"No, sweetie", Lara said. "Because Batman doesn't kill people", she regretted saying it when she saw how wounded Sam looked by her words.
"You didn't really… it wasn't your… Thor kills. Thor's a good guy", Lara gave a sad smile at how perfectly Sam it was to hide her feelings behind the pretty picture she was trying to paint of her friend. Just like the rest of her, Sam always kept her heart behind the camera, and tried to make everything in front of it look great.
"Thor's a woman right now", Lara corrected her, more comfortable with playing the geek than stirring up Sam's feelings.
"Wait, what?"
"Marvel made a rather big deal about it, actually", Lara began to explain but Sam had already come to a conclusion which amused her.
"You read comics?", it left Lara without an answer, Sam looked so excited that she couldn't bring herself to deny it, but she certainly wouldn't confirm it; beneath Sam's excitement was visible smugness. 'Dork!', Lara heard Sam's sing-song voice in her head. It warmed her. Sam took her silence as confirmation, and nodded her head in satisfaction. She didn't need to say it.
"Well, that's even better, you're a woman, too", Sam's hands hitched themselves to Lara's hips as if she were drawing Lara's own attention to something about herself she might have missed.
"So I am", Lara admitted. "I'm also terrified of crowds, Sam, and Christ, an action movie? What if I…?", she let the question stand.
"You won't. You're a superhero", Sam told her. "The mighty Lara Croft, courageous and brave", she was staring into Lara's eyes. "Beautiful…"
"And about to drag you to bed if you don't put a stop to that", Lara interrupted with and air of forced sternness. Sam's laughter was music. "So, which is it, Sam, am I normal or not? Shall we go to this normal movie for normal people? Or is the…", she had to roll her eyes a little just to let herself speak the phrase, "mighty Lara Croft unfit to be seen at a superhero flick?"
"No, you're definitely a superhero. That's why this is so perfect. Who could possibly guess your secret if you act so normal?"
"Your logic is undeniable", Lara replied sarcastically, but Sam's hand found hers and their fingers curled together. She knew Sam had won whatever bizarre form of debate they'd had. They were going to see the movie, and she would simply have to deal with it. Playing normal for Sam would be good for the both of them. She didn't really feel like a superhero, but she had no doubt about Sam's feelings, and that was enough.
She grabbed her keys and began pulling Sam after her. "To the chariot!", she bellowed. "Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr await."
"Who?"
"Goats, Sam."
"Goats?"
"N-Nevermind."