Teddy & Namor | Backdated to May 11
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ax_mainSlowly coming to terms with his new lot in life, Teddy goes to an actual prince for help.
The decision to seek out the forbidding (and often mostly-naked) Prince of Atlantis was maybe not one of Teddy's smarter ideas, but he didn't exactly have a whole lot of royalty on his speed-dial. There was Loki, but Teddy had only ever seen him in passing, and from the very little that Teddy knew of him, the guy didn't seem to take much very seriously. Namor, on the other hand, gave the impression that he took everything very seriously indeed. Either way, he felt more comfortable heading down to the lake after class then he did knocking on the door of the room that Loki shared with Duo.
Not that he really knew whether Namor was down there or not, just that no-one had been in the pool, and this seemed to be the next best choice. What was he even going to say? 'Hi, teach me everything you know about prince-ing'? Please.
Still, Teddy sat down on the end of the dock that headed out into the lake, the soles of his shoes barely skimming the water's still, serene surface.
It seemed that on the surface, even the most isolated bodies of water were, sadly, slightly polluted at the very least. Even the most advanced of Atlantean purification technology wasn't able to keep up at the scale they could safely execute it in secrecy. It seemed more and more that Atlantean presence and intervention was necessary in the course of surfacer history.
However, he was distracted by a presence on the small dock, and Namor was one to investigate anyone who was coming to the lake. His classmates were still a mystery to him, by and large, so he was eager to still learn more of them.
Namor ascended from the lake about five feet from the end of the dock, with a grace that barely disturbed the surface of the water. He wore his more courtly attire, a blue scale outfit that consisted of an open vest and pants that came down to mid-calf to accommodate his ankle-wings. When he rose fully, his toes, pointed downward, hovered less than an inch above the surface of the lake.
"Greetings," Namor said, leveling his gaze with Teddy, whom he recognized from classes that they shared.
Namor's appearance caught Teddy a little off-guard, despite the fact that he'd come down there for that exact reason. At least he's wearing pants this time. Lil'd had similar comments to make, but ... yeah. Teddy'd be willing to bet they were for very different reasons. Not that Teddy was the least bit tempted to flirt, but he did still have eyes.
"Your Highness," Teddy replied, a painfully (and newly) self-aware half-smile tugging up at one corner of his mouth. "I was wondering if you had a minute. I- " Ugh. How did he even announce something like this? How did he even begin to explain? Turns out I'm a long-lost prince- It was still so utterly ridiculous. "I could use your advice on some things."
That wasn't what Namor had expected. He quirked an eyebrow. He'd expected questions; meaningful ones at most, and petty ones at least.
"Whatever advice you seek, I will give," Namor said. He was generous. Magnanimous. That was how Namor would define his reign.
Teddy's lips twitched; was it polite to be amused, however over the top the guy was? He had to know he was being at least a little bit overdramatic. Maybe that was his thing. "I appreciate that, thank you. It's a bit complicated, and that's putting it mildly. So I understand if you don't want anything to do with this mess.
"But. Uh. I had a visit recently. From a delegation who had some information about my - about what I thought was my family history. And it turns out I'm going to need to learn how to be a prince. And apparently an emperor, someday. As insane as that all sounds." he laughed darkly, dragging his hand through his blond hair and pushing it back off his forehead. It flopped forward again, determined to be difficult. "Believe me, it's insane from my end as well. And I have no idea where to start."
A conflict was in Namor's mind in that moment, evidenced only by a slight momentary crease of his brow. This could very well be a joke, meant to poke fun at him, and he was possibly playing into it. On the other hand, was this not one of the reasons he came here? To establish contacts with other kingdoms, other nations, other lands? To be dismissive was perhaps too obvious of a choice, too easy. To be a ruler, he knew, meant making hard choices, even if those choices would possibly put you in a place to be humiliated. A leader knew how to shrug off humiliation with grace that would make others envious.
"To me, it does sound strange," Namor began, carefully. "Mostly that you were not aware, from the beginning, of your birthright. However, the past is the past, and it cannot be changed." Then again, to figure out where to start, Namor needed more information. "It would help to know of this empire of which you will be prince," he said. "Knowing how much you know of their culture, customs, norms and mores."
"Not much," Teddy replied, a certain grey resignation setting in. "Though General Zedrao-" the name felt so strange on his tongue, a combination of vowels and tones that he definitely wasn't quite getting right "-left me with a lot of reading to do. And this is all going to sound so strange, but unless Simon and the Professor are both in on some kind of long-game prank, it seems to be true.
"The really long and short of it is that I'm not from here. In a similar kind of way to the way you're not from here, though I'm going to have to learn everything going the other way. They're - I'm - not human. A lot less human than I thought." He was starting to ramble again, and Teddy visibly stopped and pulled it together.
"They're from out there-" he nodded at the sky, tipping his face up to stare at the faint wisps of clouds scuttling by. "The Skrull Empire is based in the Andromeda Galaxy. There were problems when I was a baby, apparently, some kind of political trouble or an attempted coup, and they sent me off with a caregiver to keep me safe. Only now my mother - not the woman I knew, but someone else who's apparently my real, birth mother - is Empress, and her Generals have been trying to find me. And now they have, and I have to un-learn almost everything I thought I knew. It's just all very... overwhelming."
"Interesting," Namor said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Most of our technology comes from beyond the stars, actually," Namor said. "Though Atlanteans further refined it and have since learned to assimilate it to our own needs," he explained.
"The first step is to remember, always. You are a prince. Your position commands respect. It should be given, but it should also be earned. Therefore, you must comport yourself in a manner befitting of a prince. Straighten your spine, shoulders back, that sort of thing," he said, smirking ever-so-slightly. "There should be no doubt when you are seen that you are royalty." Though perhaps that was a bit too grand a thing for Teddy to immediately implement. "However, I urge you to ... approach the time you have spent here on Earth as an opportunity to introduce new thought into a system which you may find unsatisfactory."
Namor could already tell that this wasn't a problem that was going to be solved in an afternoon.
That didn't sit right, though it certainly meshed with the way Namor carried himself. Teddy pulled back his shoulders and sat a little taller without realizing, then caught himself at it and tried to relax again. "It feels wrong to expect respect just because someone dropped out of the sky and said 'you're a wizard, Teddy.'" He huffed a soft laugh at himself and the faintly desperate attempt to find some kind of humour in the situation. "If I've earned it at all, it should be because of things I've done, not a title I didn't know I had."
Thankfully Namor's surfacer education had incorporated enough popular culture for him to not stumble over the expression Teddy used.
"It is earned by the triumphs and conquests of your ancestors," Namor said. "Your family has guided an entire empire for at least a generation. No small feat, no matter the style of governance. You have much to prove, yes, but that does not mean that your inheritance is of no worth simply because you were ignorant of its existence," he pointed out.
That sat a little better, even if the idea still chafed. 'Style of governance' and 'empire' sure as heck didn't include 'democracy' as an option. "I'm apparently 'Dorrek the eighth,'" Teddy replied, his thoughts distant for a moment. "So it's more than one generation." He looked back up at Namor, focused again. "Atlantis had alien technology? Do your histories include anything on this stuff? The Skrulls, or the other species out there? Were you allies?" That was a pleasant thought, maybe having someone at school who could have his back in bigger ways.
"Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Dorrek the Eighth," Namor said. As far as ... Skrulls, he said?
"I will be frank. We have not made explicit contact with forces beyond the stars. What we have salvaged were bits of wreckage. Barely-functioning pieces of technology we coaxed back to life. Some of it may be of ... Skrull origin. We have never encountered a live alien, let alone a corpse."
"Hey," Teddy half-smiled again and gave him a little wave. "I'd prefer to stay a live specimen rather than a corpse, just for the record." And knowing that the Skrulls hadn't actually made friends with Atlantis was disappointing on a couple of levels, but he hadn't gone in expecting that anyway. "Is that partially why you're here? Looking for new thought to inject into an unsatisfactory system?"
"Partially, yes," Namor said, though he bristled slightly. The Atlantean government had not treated his mother well since he'd been born. "It is, also, partially about the inevitable revelation to the surface that Atlantis exists."
"Yeah, I don't think that one's on the Skrull agenda." Teddy pulled one knee up to his chest, looping his arms around his bent leg and resting his chin on top. "Earth doesn't interest them all that much, except that it's where I am."
"If it matters to you," Namor began, carefully, "then you should make it matter to them. The interests of royalty are the interests of the people they govern, and vice versa."
Teddy grimaced. After TJ's reactions - "I think until I know a lot more, I'm happy keeping Earth off their radar. At least until I get some idea of what their expectations and goals are. Future ruler or not, this has always been my home." How was he supposed to just switch his loyalties over, after seventeen years of belonging somewhere? That was one thing he simply couldn't do.
Namor crossed his arms, thinking. "You will be unable to do so and keep yourself here," Namor said. "If you demand to stay, they will want to know why, and will ask you and look for answers themselves, I imagine. If you go to ground, you do yourself a disservice and run the risk of them tearing the world apart looking for you."
"We've..." 'made a deal' sounded weird. "Come to an agreement on that, at least for now. The Empress is letting me stay here to finish my education, so I have at least a few more years of living in relative obscurity." (And then maybe a chance to renegotiate? The idea of leaving was still awful, and the longer he could push it off, the better.) "But in return I have to be available for royalty stuff when they need me. Diplomatic functions, that kind of thing. And that's where I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing," he admitted.
"Ah." That was much more Namor's wheelhouse. "Diplomacy is half image and half actual political prowess," Namor said. "No matter what you think, no matter what you feel, you must always, at all times, present yourself as a wall. A fortress. Unassailable. Impregnable. Stoic and firm," Namor advised. "As a prince, it is likely you would only be seen and not heard. However, do not shy away from any invitation to speak, or any moment when you have something to say. Whoever is across the table, so to speak, should see you as a force to be reckoned with, not a child hiding behind the legs of his parents."
Of course, there were other things. "Learn everything you can of those who you speak to, but not from them. From your peers, from your parents, from advisers of theirs. From texts, if they are available. Learn their history. Civilizations are simply patterns of political behaviors, steps and missteps. Allow your parents to coach you on things. Take what they say to heart, unless your heart speaks otherwise." It was important to Teddy to not lose himself in this, and Namor agreed with the sentiment.
Teddy chewed that over for a minute, turning the advice over in his mind and tucking it away for further thought. "It's all theatre, isn't it? Theatre with major consequences, but everyone at one of these events is going to be doing the same kind of acting." That made it easier, in a way. He wouldn't be the only one pretending to be something he wasn't.
"Of a sorts, yes." He wasn't exactly happy with his life being compared to a theatrical production, but it did have a certain grandeur to it that he found appealing. "But there must be no doubt to anyone watching that you are acting." He thought about it. "If you like, we could... perhaps have some sort of practice. I understand this 'Danger Room' can be utilized for a number of things."
That was something that hadn't occurred to Teddy at all. He sat up straighter, letting go of the security blanket of his knee and dropping his foot back down to the surface of the water again. "Like a role-playing scenario? Set me up against simulated politicians and see how long it takes me to make a big enough mistake to start galactic war?" he added somewhat more ruefully.
"Something like that, yes," Namor said, thoughtfully. "I will need to learn to program situations within the simulator, but in the meantime, there are scenarios that you and I can engage in against one another," Namor said. "I can think of many both from simple imagination to actual historical scenarios. And yes, study your history. Thoroughly. Both that of Earth and that of these... Skrulls."
"I wonder if the Professor would give me credit for that instead of AP History next year," Teddy sighed ruefully. "I've going to have a lot of reading to do once finals are over." He was half-tempted to see if the database could be exported into the Danger Room so he could watch and engage with it rather than all the note-taking in his future, but he had a hard time imagining the Professor being alright with downloading alien programs into the system. "And all of the Skrull history is going to be from their point of view, of course. Unfortunately I don't have any way to contact anyone else out there to get other versions."
"History is written by the victors, as they say," Namor said. "Still, there could be, at times, things to glean. Or at least, imagine." He shrugged. "Much of this is going to be hypothetical."
"It sounds reasonable, however hypothetical." Diplomacy was diplomacy, right? And if he could get a head start on learning any of this before he got thrown into the deep end- Mom'll be proud-. That didn't matter. What mattered was that he had a new job, even though he'd never applied for it, and he had to start figuring out how to do it properly. "I'd appreciate anything you think will help. Is that how you learned?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. "Or has it all been by being involved as things happen?"
"A bit of both," Namor said. "My mother made certain that my political career would be cemented before I could walk. I grew up watching her speak on my behalf as the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. I was close, always."
It showed, his obvious certainty about his place in the world something Teddy'd never felt -- not until Xaviers' and X-Force, anyway. He'd finally started to feel like he belonged somewhere, only to have the ground fall away underneath him all over again. "She's not the heir herself? Is it men only?" Talking about Atlantis was a much better idea than digging more into Teddy's current uselessness as either politician or royal.
"The Atlantean chain of succession was... capable, I think, of taking my mother on as the heir. However, my grandfather lacked the spine to flaunt traditionalists. With my birth, a new opportunity arose to keep the status quo, of sorts. There are Atlanteans who chafe at the very idea of a half-blooded Atlantean who is part surfacer, and I imagine a fair number more who have distaste at the idea of being ruled by one," Namor said. "Given the fact that my mother is, by our social standards, unfit to wed, I was the only suitable option."
That was something to consider. Teddy still had no answer to the hybrid question TJ and Simon had raised, no clue who his father was -- or if it was something that would become an issue later on. "How do you plan to deal with that, when you take the throne? Or do you have a plan?"
"My plan is to let my reign speak for itself," Namor answered, without hesitation. "I will be, as others have before me, an ideal Atlantean emperor."
Hoo boy. There was the arrogance, but then- could Teddy blame him? He'd just said that his own people weren't all that happy about him being the heir, and he'd made that big speech about not showing any kind of weakness. So now Teddy had his example of exactly what that looked like. "I'm sure you will," he demurred respectfully.
"And I am certain, that with proper assistance, your reign can be of equal prosperity and worthy of respect," Namor said. "Do you have time now? As you can see, I am relatively unoccupied."
"Now? Uh - sure," Teddy blinked, surprised. "I've got a couple of hours before I'm meeting Billy for dinner. Should I go change clothes, or is there anything I need to bring?"
"Only your knowledge of the operation of this Danger Room," Namor said, alighting on the small dock next to Teddy. Or rather, Dorrek, he corrected in his mind (far more of a regal name, Dorrek, than Teddy). "I am as of yet unfamiliar with its operation."
Teddy'd gotten comfortable with talking to a hovering merman, but sitting at Namor's feet to talk was a bit much even for diplomacy. He pushed himself to his feet and nodded, accepting the offer. "Sure, I can show you how it works. The interface is pretty intuitive, once you've seen it. I've messed around with designing my own programs a couple of times, but it's been combining existing elements in the system rather than writing new code."
"Excellent. We will make a proper prince of you yet, Prince Dorrek," Namor said, smirking ever-so-slightly.
That, Teddy thought ruefully, very much remained to be seen.
The decision to seek out the forbidding (and often mostly-naked) Prince of Atlantis was maybe not one of Teddy's smarter ideas, but he didn't exactly have a whole lot of royalty on his speed-dial. There was Loki, but Teddy had only ever seen him in passing, and from the very little that Teddy knew of him, the guy didn't seem to take much very seriously. Namor, on the other hand, gave the impression that he took everything very seriously indeed. Either way, he felt more comfortable heading down to the lake after class then he did knocking on the door of the room that Loki shared with Duo.
Not that he really knew whether Namor was down there or not, just that no-one had been in the pool, and this seemed to be the next best choice. What was he even going to say? 'Hi, teach me everything you know about prince-ing'? Please.
Still, Teddy sat down on the end of the dock that headed out into the lake, the soles of his shoes barely skimming the water's still, serene surface.
It seemed that on the surface, even the most isolated bodies of water were, sadly, slightly polluted at the very least. Even the most advanced of Atlantean purification technology wasn't able to keep up at the scale they could safely execute it in secrecy. It seemed more and more that Atlantean presence and intervention was necessary in the course of surfacer history.
However, he was distracted by a presence on the small dock, and Namor was one to investigate anyone who was coming to the lake. His classmates were still a mystery to him, by and large, so he was eager to still learn more of them.
Namor ascended from the lake about five feet from the end of the dock, with a grace that barely disturbed the surface of the water. He wore his more courtly attire, a blue scale outfit that consisted of an open vest and pants that came down to mid-calf to accommodate his ankle-wings. When he rose fully, his toes, pointed downward, hovered less than an inch above the surface of the lake.
"Greetings," Namor said, leveling his gaze with Teddy, whom he recognized from classes that they shared.
Namor's appearance caught Teddy a little off-guard, despite the fact that he'd come down there for that exact reason. At least he's wearing pants this time. Lil'd had similar comments to make, but ... yeah. Teddy'd be willing to bet they were for very different reasons. Not that Teddy was the least bit tempted to flirt, but he did still have eyes.
"Your Highness," Teddy replied, a painfully (and newly) self-aware half-smile tugging up at one corner of his mouth. "I was wondering if you had a minute. I- " Ugh. How did he even announce something like this? How did he even begin to explain? Turns out I'm a long-lost prince- It was still so utterly ridiculous. "I could use your advice on some things."
That wasn't what Namor had expected. He quirked an eyebrow. He'd expected questions; meaningful ones at most, and petty ones at least.
"Whatever advice you seek, I will give," Namor said. He was generous. Magnanimous. That was how Namor would define his reign.
Teddy's lips twitched; was it polite to be amused, however over the top the guy was? He had to know he was being at least a little bit overdramatic. Maybe that was his thing. "I appreciate that, thank you. It's a bit complicated, and that's putting it mildly. So I understand if you don't want anything to do with this mess.
"But. Uh. I had a visit recently. From a delegation who had some information about my - about what I thought was my family history. And it turns out I'm going to need to learn how to be a prince. And apparently an emperor, someday. As insane as that all sounds." he laughed darkly, dragging his hand through his blond hair and pushing it back off his forehead. It flopped forward again, determined to be difficult. "Believe me, it's insane from my end as well. And I have no idea where to start."
A conflict was in Namor's mind in that moment, evidenced only by a slight momentary crease of his brow. This could very well be a joke, meant to poke fun at him, and he was possibly playing into it. On the other hand, was this not one of the reasons he came here? To establish contacts with other kingdoms, other nations, other lands? To be dismissive was perhaps too obvious of a choice, too easy. To be a ruler, he knew, meant making hard choices, even if those choices would possibly put you in a place to be humiliated. A leader knew how to shrug off humiliation with grace that would make others envious.
"To me, it does sound strange," Namor began, carefully. "Mostly that you were not aware, from the beginning, of your birthright. However, the past is the past, and it cannot be changed." Then again, to figure out where to start, Namor needed more information. "It would help to know of this empire of which you will be prince," he said. "Knowing how much you know of their culture, customs, norms and mores."
"Not much," Teddy replied, a certain grey resignation setting in. "Though General Zedrao-" the name felt so strange on his tongue, a combination of vowels and tones that he definitely wasn't quite getting right "-left me with a lot of reading to do. And this is all going to sound so strange, but unless Simon and the Professor are both in on some kind of long-game prank, it seems to be true.
"The really long and short of it is that I'm not from here. In a similar kind of way to the way you're not from here, though I'm going to have to learn everything going the other way. They're - I'm - not human. A lot less human than I thought." He was starting to ramble again, and Teddy visibly stopped and pulled it together.
"They're from out there-" he nodded at the sky, tipping his face up to stare at the faint wisps of clouds scuttling by. "The Skrull Empire is based in the Andromeda Galaxy. There were problems when I was a baby, apparently, some kind of political trouble or an attempted coup, and they sent me off with a caregiver to keep me safe. Only now my mother - not the woman I knew, but someone else who's apparently my real, birth mother - is Empress, and her Generals have been trying to find me. And now they have, and I have to un-learn almost everything I thought I knew. It's just all very... overwhelming."
"Interesting," Namor said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Most of our technology comes from beyond the stars, actually," Namor said. "Though Atlanteans further refined it and have since learned to assimilate it to our own needs," he explained.
"The first step is to remember, always. You are a prince. Your position commands respect. It should be given, but it should also be earned. Therefore, you must comport yourself in a manner befitting of a prince. Straighten your spine, shoulders back, that sort of thing," he said, smirking ever-so-slightly. "There should be no doubt when you are seen that you are royalty." Though perhaps that was a bit too grand a thing for Teddy to immediately implement. "However, I urge you to ... approach the time you have spent here on Earth as an opportunity to introduce new thought into a system which you may find unsatisfactory."
Namor could already tell that this wasn't a problem that was going to be solved in an afternoon.
That didn't sit right, though it certainly meshed with the way Namor carried himself. Teddy pulled back his shoulders and sat a little taller without realizing, then caught himself at it and tried to relax again. "It feels wrong to expect respect just because someone dropped out of the sky and said 'you're a wizard, Teddy.'" He huffed a soft laugh at himself and the faintly desperate attempt to find some kind of humour in the situation. "If I've earned it at all, it should be because of things I've done, not a title I didn't know I had."
Thankfully Namor's surfacer education had incorporated enough popular culture for him to not stumble over the expression Teddy used.
"It is earned by the triumphs and conquests of your ancestors," Namor said. "Your family has guided an entire empire for at least a generation. No small feat, no matter the style of governance. You have much to prove, yes, but that does not mean that your inheritance is of no worth simply because you were ignorant of its existence," he pointed out.
That sat a little better, even if the idea still chafed. 'Style of governance' and 'empire' sure as heck didn't include 'democracy' as an option. "I'm apparently 'Dorrek the eighth,'" Teddy replied, his thoughts distant for a moment. "So it's more than one generation." He looked back up at Namor, focused again. "Atlantis had alien technology? Do your histories include anything on this stuff? The Skrulls, or the other species out there? Were you allies?" That was a pleasant thought, maybe having someone at school who could have his back in bigger ways.
"Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Dorrek the Eighth," Namor said. As far as ... Skrulls, he said?
"I will be frank. We have not made explicit contact with forces beyond the stars. What we have salvaged were bits of wreckage. Barely-functioning pieces of technology we coaxed back to life. Some of it may be of ... Skrull origin. We have never encountered a live alien, let alone a corpse."
"Hey," Teddy half-smiled again and gave him a little wave. "I'd prefer to stay a live specimen rather than a corpse, just for the record." And knowing that the Skrulls hadn't actually made friends with Atlantis was disappointing on a couple of levels, but he hadn't gone in expecting that anyway. "Is that partially why you're here? Looking for new thought to inject into an unsatisfactory system?"
"Partially, yes," Namor said, though he bristled slightly. The Atlantean government had not treated his mother well since he'd been born. "It is, also, partially about the inevitable revelation to the surface that Atlantis exists."
"Yeah, I don't think that one's on the Skrull agenda." Teddy pulled one knee up to his chest, looping his arms around his bent leg and resting his chin on top. "Earth doesn't interest them all that much, except that it's where I am."
"If it matters to you," Namor began, carefully, "then you should make it matter to them. The interests of royalty are the interests of the people they govern, and vice versa."
Teddy grimaced. After TJ's reactions - "I think until I know a lot more, I'm happy keeping Earth off their radar. At least until I get some idea of what their expectations and goals are. Future ruler or not, this has always been my home." How was he supposed to just switch his loyalties over, after seventeen years of belonging somewhere? That was one thing he simply couldn't do.
Namor crossed his arms, thinking. "You will be unable to do so and keep yourself here," Namor said. "If you demand to stay, they will want to know why, and will ask you and look for answers themselves, I imagine. If you go to ground, you do yourself a disservice and run the risk of them tearing the world apart looking for you."
"We've..." 'made a deal' sounded weird. "Come to an agreement on that, at least for now. The Empress is letting me stay here to finish my education, so I have at least a few more years of living in relative obscurity." (And then maybe a chance to renegotiate? The idea of leaving was still awful, and the longer he could push it off, the better.) "But in return I have to be available for royalty stuff when they need me. Diplomatic functions, that kind of thing. And that's where I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing," he admitted.
"Ah." That was much more Namor's wheelhouse. "Diplomacy is half image and half actual political prowess," Namor said. "No matter what you think, no matter what you feel, you must always, at all times, present yourself as a wall. A fortress. Unassailable. Impregnable. Stoic and firm," Namor advised. "As a prince, it is likely you would only be seen and not heard. However, do not shy away from any invitation to speak, or any moment when you have something to say. Whoever is across the table, so to speak, should see you as a force to be reckoned with, not a child hiding behind the legs of his parents."
Of course, there were other things. "Learn everything you can of those who you speak to, but not from them. From your peers, from your parents, from advisers of theirs. From texts, if they are available. Learn their history. Civilizations are simply patterns of political behaviors, steps and missteps. Allow your parents to coach you on things. Take what they say to heart, unless your heart speaks otherwise." It was important to Teddy to not lose himself in this, and Namor agreed with the sentiment.
Teddy chewed that over for a minute, turning the advice over in his mind and tucking it away for further thought. "It's all theatre, isn't it? Theatre with major consequences, but everyone at one of these events is going to be doing the same kind of acting." That made it easier, in a way. He wouldn't be the only one pretending to be something he wasn't.
"Of a sorts, yes." He wasn't exactly happy with his life being compared to a theatrical production, but it did have a certain grandeur to it that he found appealing. "But there must be no doubt to anyone watching that you are acting." He thought about it. "If you like, we could... perhaps have some sort of practice. I understand this 'Danger Room' can be utilized for a number of things."
That was something that hadn't occurred to Teddy at all. He sat up straighter, letting go of the security blanket of his knee and dropping his foot back down to the surface of the water again. "Like a role-playing scenario? Set me up against simulated politicians and see how long it takes me to make a big enough mistake to start galactic war?" he added somewhat more ruefully.
"Something like that, yes," Namor said, thoughtfully. "I will need to learn to program situations within the simulator, but in the meantime, there are scenarios that you and I can engage in against one another," Namor said. "I can think of many both from simple imagination to actual historical scenarios. And yes, study your history. Thoroughly. Both that of Earth and that of these... Skrulls."
"I wonder if the Professor would give me credit for that instead of AP History next year," Teddy sighed ruefully. "I've going to have a lot of reading to do once finals are over." He was half-tempted to see if the database could be exported into the Danger Room so he could watch and engage with it rather than all the note-taking in his future, but he had a hard time imagining the Professor being alright with downloading alien programs into the system. "And all of the Skrull history is going to be from their point of view, of course. Unfortunately I don't have any way to contact anyone else out there to get other versions."
"History is written by the victors, as they say," Namor said. "Still, there could be, at times, things to glean. Or at least, imagine." He shrugged. "Much of this is going to be hypothetical."
"It sounds reasonable, however hypothetical." Diplomacy was diplomacy, right? And if he could get a head start on learning any of this before he got thrown into the deep end- Mom'll be proud-. That didn't matter. What mattered was that he had a new job, even though he'd never applied for it, and he had to start figuring out how to do it properly. "I'd appreciate anything you think will help. Is that how you learned?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. "Or has it all been by being involved as things happen?"
"A bit of both," Namor said. "My mother made certain that my political career would be cemented before I could walk. I grew up watching her speak on my behalf as the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis. I was close, always."
It showed, his obvious certainty about his place in the world something Teddy'd never felt -- not until Xaviers' and X-Force, anyway. He'd finally started to feel like he belonged somewhere, only to have the ground fall away underneath him all over again. "She's not the heir herself? Is it men only?" Talking about Atlantis was a much better idea than digging more into Teddy's current uselessness as either politician or royal.
"The Atlantean chain of succession was... capable, I think, of taking my mother on as the heir. However, my grandfather lacked the spine to flaunt traditionalists. With my birth, a new opportunity arose to keep the status quo, of sorts. There are Atlanteans who chafe at the very idea of a half-blooded Atlantean who is part surfacer, and I imagine a fair number more who have distaste at the idea of being ruled by one," Namor said. "Given the fact that my mother is, by our social standards, unfit to wed, I was the only suitable option."
That was something to consider. Teddy still had no answer to the hybrid question TJ and Simon had raised, no clue who his father was -- or if it was something that would become an issue later on. "How do you plan to deal with that, when you take the throne? Or do you have a plan?"
"My plan is to let my reign speak for itself," Namor answered, without hesitation. "I will be, as others have before me, an ideal Atlantean emperor."
Hoo boy. There was the arrogance, but then- could Teddy blame him? He'd just said that his own people weren't all that happy about him being the heir, and he'd made that big speech about not showing any kind of weakness. So now Teddy had his example of exactly what that looked like. "I'm sure you will," he demurred respectfully.
"And I am certain, that with proper assistance, your reign can be of equal prosperity and worthy of respect," Namor said. "Do you have time now? As you can see, I am relatively unoccupied."
"Now? Uh - sure," Teddy blinked, surprised. "I've got a couple of hours before I'm meeting Billy for dinner. Should I go change clothes, or is there anything I need to bring?"
"Only your knowledge of the operation of this Danger Room," Namor said, alighting on the small dock next to Teddy. Or rather, Dorrek, he corrected in his mind (far more of a regal name, Dorrek, than Teddy). "I am as of yet unfamiliar with its operation."
Teddy'd gotten comfortable with talking to a hovering merman, but sitting at Namor's feet to talk was a bit much even for diplomacy. He pushed himself to his feet and nodded, accepting the offer. "Sure, I can show you how it works. The interface is pretty intuitive, once you've seen it. I've messed around with designing my own programs a couple of times, but it's been combining existing elements in the system rather than writing new code."
"Excellent. We will make a proper prince of you yet, Prince Dorrek," Namor said, smirking ever-so-slightly.
That, Teddy thought ruefully, very much remained to be seen.
