11946/In the Court of Food

In the Court of Food
Date of Scene:	09 July 2022
Location:	Food Court: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Lara and Darcy talk about archaeology, something vague in Peru, and rock wall climbing, all over waffles.
Cast of Characters:	Darcy Lewis, Lara Croft

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Darcy Lewis has posed:
    It's a sunny Saturday morning in New York City, and by extension, at the Triskelion. The sort of day for early rising and enjoying a weekend off work. For hanging out with friends and enjoying the prime of summer, maybe even going out to the beach or something.

    Or, if you're Darcy Lewis, it's a perfectly good time to /not/ be an early riser because that would imply you've been to sleep yet. But who can sleep when there are so many /interesting SHIELD files/ to read?! Her chosen cafeteria table isn't quite an alarming tower of hardcopies and file folders, but there's a definite... wall of stacked papers arrayed in an arcing crescent acting like some sort of medieval fortress wall to protect her... is it still breakfast if you haven't been to sleep? Well, it's protecting her morning meal. And really, the SHIELD cafeteria's waffles are far superior to her old standby of toaster waffles. And their syrup game is on point. Real Vermont maple syrup is /totally/ worth the splurge when it's being splurged by a budget line in SHIELD's books and not doing a dent to Darcy's bank account.

    Still, it also at least probably goes partway to clearing any accusations of Darcy being a vampire... vampires don't eat waffles /or/ maple syrup, she's sure. She lets out a strangled little noise, mumbling loudly, "We own... a /mall/?! Oh my god, is it like... fully stocked? Do they have /snap bracelets/?! Okay, this one's going in the keeper pile... I mean... I'm a /special/ agent, and checking on SHIELD's mall real estate sounds pretty damn special to me..."

    She's definitely not talking to herself because of sleep deprivation. It's because she just thinks out loud! Honest.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara is wearing her post-workout clothes. She WAS an early riser, then an early run-through-Triskelion-to-keep-fit-er, followed by a shower, and now she's a late breakfaster. At least some of those were even words! While Lara's physical fitness regimen provides her with a body that can handle expeditions into trapped ancient ruins and jungles, it also provides her with a hearty appetite.
    With a waffle and some chicken on her plate, Lara decides that the woman talking to herself with a little file-fortress is the most interesting person to sit near. She's usually an introvert, but for this moment, she decides to reach out. There are more people in SHIELD than just the narrow group of specialists she usually encounters.
    Walking up to the table, Lara looks at Darcy and smiles. "Hello," she says. "Is this seat taken?" she asks, gesturing with full hands toward a seat opposite the file-browser.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy's not quite glaring out from her file fortress like a raccoon raiding a dumpster whenever anyone gets within potential-threat-to-her-waffles range... but she's /kind/ of glaring out time to time like that? Mostly keeping those anonymous, polite government workers, lifeblood of SHIELD, intimidated at her Specialness. Her Agentness. Her Special Agentness.

    At least until Lara's making her entrance, and getting a different look. A more 'Oh my god, she has /clearly/ done more physical activity this morning than I did in the last week' look. A 'Maybe I /do/ have too many waffles' look.

    A quick little cut-and-stab-and-eat of a bite of waffles helps with that though. See? Less waffles now.

    Of course, this does mean she's mid-chew when the fit brit arrives and asks if that seat is taken. But Darcy manages to just let out a muffled negatory sound, a little 'nuh-uh' as her cheeks flush... see? Not a vampire. Vampire cheeks don't get that pink. She thinks.

    She swallows and gestures with her free hand, "Oh no! It's totally fine! Sorry if all the... /stuff/ is in the way! But there are so many files that aren't digitized yet and that's where all the real neat stuff is! All the things SHIELD did and then people like... forgot about! Because they were so secret! ...I'm Darcy, by the way! Darcy Lewis! I... uhhh..." She furrows her brow thoughtfully, teeth worrying her full lower lip indecisively, "I do... you know... /smart/ things? Like book things. For SHIELD. Sometimes."

    Yep, this is definitely because she's sleep deprived and not because Darcy sometimes steers full on into awkwardness.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara is distinctly more calm, and almost certainly better rested. She smiles politely. "Pleasure to meet you, Darcy Lewis," she says. She gestures at the files. "Are you working to digitize these?" She then begins to carefully prepare her own breakfast for consumption while letting Darcy explain herself.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy clears her throat softly and reaches over to take a s ip of orange juice, head shaking mutely before she swallows, "Oh no, I'm just reading through them to see if I can find anything interesting that's been overlooked by anyone and could use a little checkup."

    She pats one of the piles of folders, a smaller one for sure, "So far I've found a few interesting things! ...I mean, I still need to like, hunt down the things mentioned in the files, you'd be surprised how often there's a file talking about them confiscating a teleporter or something, and then when you go to find it in storage it's just... gone!" She pauses for a second, "Okay, well, actually that's probably not that surprising for a teleporter. But like, totally surprising for a freeze ray or whatever." She perks her eyebrows and smiles lopsidedly, "But enough about me! What brings you 'round this morning?"

Lara Croft has posed:
    "Just went for a run and a swim," Lara explains. "I do mostly field work for WAND, so I need to keep myself in shape. Any interesting ancient artifacts that haven't had their records digitized, yet?" she asks, her mind wandering back to the singular point of her obsession.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy's eyebrows lift and she frowns thoughtfully, rummaging in one of the larger piles, head bobbing in a little nod, "Yeah! I mean, there was something in here about some sort of... Mystical dealybobber. Something about the Orb of the Gods or the Jewel of the Others or... something." Her lips press in a little line, "It was right here, I swear... I think it was in... Peru? It said something about a mountain cave..." She starts flipping through the files faster and faster.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara just eats her waffles as Darcy goes through all the various things. "Careful about sticky fingerprints," she says between bites. She's famished, but also a lady, so she eats carefully and slowly, using her silverware in a very dignified fashion.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy freezes as she's about to grab the file, reaching back for a napkin to make sure her fingers are clean and pull it out carefully, like she's removing a block from a jenga tower. She eyes it and then lifts it up to sit it atop the pile, "Ah! This is it! I'm afraid the details are a little sparse. Just something about an ancient cult and a temple in the mountains... nothing about what the... thingy itself actually does." She shrugs, "No one's running around New York using it to fight the Avengers, so maybe it's still in the temple and/or doesn't do anything dangerous!"

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara gives another polite, gentle smile. "Archaeology is hardly the same as experimental physics," she says. She places down her fork and knife, dabs the corners of her mouth with a napkin, carefully checks her fingers for stickiness, then reaches for the file. She opens it and looks it over as she continues. "Frequently, I'm playing detective on cold cases so ancient, only the most common beliefs usually have enough evidence to piece together even a rudimentary understanding of anything even vaguely resembling the truth." She flips through, reading the paper carefully, but with some speed. Eventually, she says, "And this isn't even an exhaustive account," she concludes. She closes the folder and sets it down on the opposite side to Darcy's wall of pages. "Which makes sense. SHIELD's priorities don't frequently align with historical exploration."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy laughs softly and grins, bobbing her head, "True, true... although, I mean, we can always rely on good old... normal physics!" She tilts her head thoughtfully, "Well, physics and some other sciences. I mean, I'm sure we can have a satellite fly over the area and probably even do some imaging they didn't have the tech for back when SHIELD first took a look at this stuff, right?" She bobs her head and sighs out softly, "Yeah, it'd be pretty amazing if we could dedicated more resources towards... you know, /not/ saving the world and monitoring threats of all kinds. But I guess it's not so bad that we're keeping an eye on the threats, since /not/ monitoring them would be worse."

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara nods. "Though, without a global threat, I don't see SHIELD doing dedicated satellite surveillance of some random burial mound in Peru."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy nods and shrugs lightly with a grin, "Well, if we can't do dedicated satellite surveillance, maybe we can at least steal some time during a repositioning window. I'm sure something'll be passing over on unrelated business and we can just... y'know... /borrow/ some shots!"

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara shakes her head. "Of course," she says, "right under the noses of the most observant, paranoid spy organization on the planet. If you do that, I don't know you," she adds, playfully, taking another bite of her waffle.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy sighs out and huffs softly, "Aww, c'mon, they'll totally let us do it! I mean, like, it's not like we're using it for /nefarious purposes/ or something! We're following up on /their/ file!" She heaves out another breath and shrugs lightly, "And c'mon, knowing me is great! ...Well, maybe not on karaoke night, I totally get disavowing me for that."

Lara Croft has posed:
    "If you feel that confidently about it," Lara says, "put in an official request. We are in the organization, so perhaps we're allotted more frivalous use of government tax dollars." She stands from the table. "Just don't try doing it surreptitiously," she suggests. She points at Darcy's cup. "Decaf this time?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy laughs softly and nods her head with a crooked grin, "I mean, I suppose if we /both/ put our names on the request, it'd probably like..." Her face screws up, "...Did I just come up with an entire scheme for how to do my job without officially doing my job?" She heaves out a long sigh and slumps back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling, "I think I definitely did. If I'm trying to hide doing my job from the shady government agency I work for, am I being /even better/ at my job? Or have I gone crazy?"

Lara Croft has posed:
    "Oh, you're definitely crazy," Lara says, walking toward the caffeine dispensers. She gets herself a cup before walking back to the table with her coffee made to her preferences. "I feel like ignoring you might be the safest option regardless," she teases.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy's eyes narrow, lips quirking in a dangerous little grin, arms crossing over her chest, somewhere between wicked intent, and faux pouting, "Hey! Who joins up with the shadowy international agency that fights crime, terrorism, magical doodads and space aliens if they're going to stick to /safe/?!" She points a single, accusing finger, "You don't actually wanna be safe. We're gonna get along great!"

Lara Croft has posed:
    "Don't I?" Lara asks. "I'm an archaeologist," she reminds the other. "My primary method of acquiring knowledge is using a tiny, soft brush and trying not to be too rough with it so I don't scratch a priceless artifact." Okay, not HER primary modus operandi, but that was just a technicality. She WOULD do that. She was mentally prepared to do that. Just...adventure seemed to keep her running around like the mistress of Parkour that she was.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy's brow furrows, eyes narrow, and that accusing finger points all the more dramatically, "Are you saying Hollywood has /lied/ to me about how exciting archaeology is? It's not all car chases and fistfights?! Just like how computer hacking is actually /really boring/ and doesn't take place in low, dramatic lighting with synth music playing?" She heaves out a low sigh and shakes her head, "Next thing you know I'll find out that spies don't just get to go to Monaco and play baccarat all the time... I mean, they /say/ they don't do that... but... that's what a spy who plays baccarat in Monaco /would/ say." She manages to keep her face impassive for like... /almost/ three seconds before falling into helpless giggling.

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara listens to the sarcastic quips coming off her breakfast companion. "Darcy," she finally says, hesitating as a big smile turns the corners of her mouth. "You work for SHIELD. You ARE a spy. What you're doing is what spies do."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy shudders, head shaking, "No no no! I'm like... a /nerd/! I'm Like Q! Only without the... inventive gadgets! I'm like one of those background extras that's just typing at a computer! I don't /intend/ to get into fights or anything! I don't even own a decoder ring!" She huffs and mumbles, "I can't even get to the top of that giant rock climbing wall in the athletic facility!"

Lara Croft has posed:
    "Uh huh," Lara says with a smirk. She taps the folder with the Peru information in it. "Tell you what," she says. "You find me more like this, and I'll help you get to the top of that climbing wall. Deal?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy grins lopsidedly and bobs her head, "Deal! Any /weird history/ stuff I find while I'm looking for..." She gestures to her personal pile of weirdness, "I'll totally send your way in exchange for you getting me to the top of the wall!" She presses her lips in a thin line, "I mean, unless you're just gonna put me in a bucket on a rope and use a pulley to lift me up. That, my archaeologist friend, is /cheating/!"

Lara Croft has posed:
    Lara smirks again, getting up from the table, this time taking her empty plate and tray. "Get a good night sleep, tonight," she says. "We start training at 0600." She walks and sets her tray on the conveyor that takes it away. On her way past again, she swipes up the Peru file. "That's six AM, Agent Lewis," she playfully prompts Darcy.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
    Darcy immediately stares down at her waffles as Lara's breezing off she groans out, shoulders slumping, "I know what time it is! It's sleeping time! Or like... Saturday morning cartoon time! It isn't climbing time!" She groans out in agony, already picturing feeling the burn. It's probably mostly an act. Probably. It's definitely somewhat an act.