12147/Resonants: And an Archaeologist!

Resonants: And an Archaeologist!
Date of Scene:	25 July 2022
Location:	Jonah's Place (Bar and Grill)
Synopsis:	Lara Croft Get!
Cast of Characters:	Lara Croft, Thor, Caitlin Fairchild
Tinyplot:	Resonants

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Lara Croft has posed:
It's a relatively quiet Sunday night at Jonah's Place. It's a restaurant designed to the spirit of a pirate ship. With rope netting, all wooden floors, walls, tables, and railings between levels, and a bar at the far end from the doorway inside. On the walls are pictures of Jonah and Lara's travels, primarily of Jonah since the place ultimately belongs to him... but he's a big fan of Croft, and hangs up many news articles about her, as well as photos he takes of her on their journeys around the globe.

Currently there's only a few people here, with a smattering at the bar. Jonah is tending the bar, with Lara stepping out of the back office and walking toward it. She's speaking in her British accented voice.

"Jonah, have you seen the box I brought in this morning?"

"Yeah." The large Hawaiian man says. "I put it in the closet on the top shelf."

"Oh. Right. Thank you." Lara responds, turning, as he calls out her name again.

Lara pauses as Jonah slides her a drink, and she smirks at him. "I'm good." She says back.

"Come on, I'm bored." He adds in his smooth voice, which makes her relent and walk over to accept the fizzy drink.

"Fine." She says happily before taking a sip, with her free hand on her hip as she stands at the corner of the bar side now.

Thor has posed:
    It is not too much commotion to be sure. And likely those within the fine restaurant known as Jonah's won't be inconvenienced. For Thor, God of Thunder, has emerged from the Asgardian Embassy to head off and out into the evening wih good Caitlin at his side.
    It was a casual stroll, for not always must one hurtle around in flight, rushing hither and yon. Also he has decided to be garbed in the way of Midgard this e'en. For he likely would not wish to cause too much discombobulation for the individual he seeks to meet at this her place of business. An eatery of all things! Yet here is where the expert is to be found.
    The door opens, a slight jangle heard and there in the way stands not one but two tall figures of some remark. Perhaps not from recognition, however. For Thor is in such disguise. What with his brown work boots, torn blue jeans, and grey hoodie. Clearly he can't be recognized, especially now with his short hair and only a bit of stubble instead of beard.
    Yet if one has ever heard his voice there's no mistaking it as he enters in mid discussion with his umbrella tucked under his arm.
    "So your lessons seem to be coming along well, a good handle on the matter assuredly."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is a Norse Mythology expert. It was one of her considered majors in college at UCL, but she'd ultimately chose Asia as her primary focus of study. That being said, she still has her Norse books that her father gave her when she was little at her apartment down the street. She'd recognize Thor immediately, if she looked over at him, but she doesn't.

Instead she just stands there sipping the ale as Jonah speaks about the evenings events to her.

Jonah does look up though, and offer a wave to the entering customers, but he doesn't recognize Thor based on his casual appearance. Instead, he looks back to Lara.

"I got his autograph though." He says proudly of a New York Yankees player who'd come through the eatery a few nights ago. Jonah proudly displays it to Lara who steps over and leans over the bar to look at it.

"Nice penmenship." She says, because of course. "So he's... good?" She asks then with a look back up to her big friend.

Jonah just shoots her a grin. "Very good."

Lara smiles warmly at him. "I'm happy for you then." She tells him as she starts to turn away. "I'm going to retrieve that box... It has some papers in it I need."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Well, the upside is that it's more embarassing than painful when I fall off," Caitlin agrees with Thor as they move to the entrance. "But I'm getting the hang of it, I think. It's... weird. The braking, the gravity. I've got some good horse habits from Themyscira and I've got over a thousand flight hours logged across a bunch of different airframes. I'm just not sure if I've got a lot of good habits or bad habits from it," she admits with a laugh.

Thor holds the door for her and she walks in, falling in line behind him because let's face it-- there's just not enough room for two to walk abreast on most sidewalks, let alone a bar. Caitlin wears pale blue jeans that are close-fitting without being indecent, and sensible low-heeled brown boots of some supple leather peek out from underneath the hem. A white dress shirt is worn under a light purple vest, giving her a stylish but very modest look with her hair tied back out of her face by a leather wrap. The only jewelry she wears are the bracelets on her wrist, which glow with a luster that gold would envy.

She smiles at Lara when they make the approach, and offers introductions when a moment presents itself. "Hi, I'm Dr. Fairchild," she tells Lara and Jonah, and extends a gentle handshake for both. "But please, call me Caitlin. I've heard a lot about you two," she assures the duo. "It's really swell getting to meet the legendary team, finally."

Thor has posed:
    Further into the bar and the tall man in the grey and blue raises his voice, holding up a hand as he seeks to summon Jonah's attention. There's a warmth in the man's tone, and a brightness in his blue eyes as he announces clearly, "Barkeep! Your finest beverage of choice and a..." A glance to the side toward Caitlin, "A ginger ale for my good friend."
    Which those words are enough to cover the time it takes for him to wander toward the bar and along within his comrade, though he does take a moment or two to offer nods and a smile to those that meet his gaze should it so happen. Once there he'll gestures as he asides to Caitlin after she introduces herself, "Ah so these are the individuals we seek?"
    Then it's his turn and he will offer his hand as well, "Good day to you, I am Thor, Son of Odin."

Lara Croft has posed:
JOnah has his large hands spread out on the edge of the bar that he stands in front of. He's wearing a white tshirt over his tatted arms, and a red vest that is zipped up to the middle of his barrel-sized chest. He watches the two other large-types stride in toward the bar, and he greets them with a big smile, leaning over the bar to shake Caitlin's hand. "Doctor. Welcome to my Place. Feel free to take a seat wherever you'd like."

Lara is quick to step back and do the same, shaking Caitlin's hand, and offering her a warm smile. "Indeed, it's a pleasure to have new people here." She states to the redhead before her. It's THEN that she does a double take when she sees Thor, and even with his unusual appearance (for him?) she recognizes him. Her perception is pretty good, you know?

She stammers a bit though, and reaches out to shake his hand.

"You got it." Jonah says to Thor, getting the drinks ready, before he catches the big man's name. "What?" He quietly asks then as he offers Caitlin her Ginger Ale firstly. "The. Thor?" He then asks.

This, of course, has Lara exhaling a short laugh, as she looks to the bar, and then back to Thor. She takes her hand back from his after shaking it and strokes some of her loose brown hair out of her forehead, and off of her eyes. "I believe it is." She answers her friend, and the bartender. "To what do we owe this occasion?" She then asks, looking between Cait and Thor then.

Thor has posed:
    "Ah, you've heard of me, but yes. Indeed." Thor says with a touch of recognition about... well the tales of him get around. But also a pleasant ease of understanding that has the slightest hint of self-deprecation. So slight. Yet his eyes drift between Jonah and Lara. "I am come to have words with thee, Lady Croft. And I fear the need is dire. Caitlin and I are working on a project together."
    Then when the drinks are ready he smiles his thanks and accepts them, then motions with a nod toward one of the tables that seems suitably private and away from the rest of her clientele. "Shall we have a seat?"
    And with that he'll make to move off with his drink in hand and his umbrella in the other. Over to the Captain's Table which has the largest number of seats and sits beneath a large ship's wheel that offers something of a more somber tone to matters. Once there he'll lightly draw out a chair and gesture for Caitlin or Lara to please join him, and do so again for the other before he takes his own seat.
    "How familiar are you," He asks, "With travel between the realms?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin settles into her seat when Thor offers it, flashing a smile at him and settling carefully atop it. She's not *quite* as heavy as Thor is, but there's always a non-zero chance some barstool will give up the ghost when she sits. Just to be safe, she keeps one foot planted on the ground with her leg straight.

"I should clarify too, I'm not just here on behalf of Asgard," Caitlin tells Lara after shooting a quick glance at Thor for permission to speak ahead of Lara's response. "We're trying to improve Earth's safety net and prevent all these... alien incursions and crashes and random teleportations. The Titans have been working with GIRL to pursue some technological angles here." Oh, so she's THAT Fairchild. "So we're pursuing solutions that'll work on, um, multiple levels," she clarifies.

Lara Croft has posed:
The three men at the bar all turn to look at Cait and Thor also. Two of them are younger, and together, while the other is a old man who seems to be just lost in his ale. Jonah is all but gawking at this point, and when Lara accepts the invite to join them at a table, she looks back over her shoulder. "I'll get autographs, don't worry!" She whispers loudly to her friend.

Her glass is carried with her, and she quietly 'Thanks' Thor when he gets a chair for her, then she settles down in to it, and her eyes go over to Caitlin firstly. "Well..." She starts to say, before exchanging at look toward Thor. "I assume you both know that I work for SHIELD, specifically with their WAND division.... Such matters are of rather dire importance to them. I haven't had a great deal of experience with creating doorways to other realities, myself, but I have participated in a number of instances where traveling to an alternate reality, has taken place..." She admits in a lowered tone of her British accented voice.

"If I can help you two, I'm more than happy to do so. Since I know that you, Prince Thor, are quite highly regarded amongst SHIELD>.. And if you're a friend of his, you must be as well." She says to the Doctor across from her.

Thor has posed:
    Thor leans to the side in the chair causing it to make... an ominous creak. But it holds for now. He nods as Caitlin speaks, when she gives her own angle on the task at hand, and he does not gainsay her. Instead he waits until she declares they are looking for a multi-tiered solution, then his attention returns fully to Lara.
    "I did not know this," That she worked for SHIELD. "Though I perhaps should have expected such, Jane Foster is often giving us her aid of late. And others have spoken well of you."
    He looks to Caitlin for a moment as if to make sure she's comfortable with him taking the lead in the discussion, then back to Lara as he elaborates. "We have accepted a quest to gather the components needed to craft a way that...travelers from other realms, other dimensions, will not do so haphazardly. That if they wish to pass through Midgard they shall in essence travel to a center that accepts these visitors. Something for the peaceful travelers to have a place of safety. To do this I've conferred with magical individuals who are experts on the matter and we must collect various items to enact this enchantment."
    He takes a deep breath, then smiles a little, "To do this will require much research, will likely be very dangerous, and will take a good amount of time. I am told you are quite the researcher and explorer. Perhaps you can help us. Of course Asgard's resources will be open to you. Not just Midgard's studies, but ours as well."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin smiles politely, but the expression is a little brittle after Lara's comment about being 'you must be as well'. When Thor glances at her she does a brief double-take back at him, realizing a silent question's being pressed, and nods vigorously once she realizes what he's requesting.

The redhead's not one to interject, it seems, and while Thor poses his query to Lara, she takes a quick sip of her ginger ale. A brief look around the bar is hastily aborted when she realizes that there are still people (Jonah included) gawking at the Titan and the God of Thunder talking casaully Lara Croft.

Lara Croft has posed:
"Jane is a good friend." Lara says in a warm tone of her voice. "We used to have desks beside one another in the WAND offices." She adds with a bit more positivity hinted at her memory of it.

She then raises up some on her chair, sitting straighter at Thor's offer of including Lara, in so far as to say she could access what information they already have for deeper research options. It's like she was just offered a exclusive pass to Fun Land World theme park, all by herself.

Her eyes dart from one of them, to the other. "I would be... quite gracious to get such an opportunity to help with this. Though, I cannot promise that I'd be able to truly assist yet, without more information.... a list of what precisely it is that you're after here. But, if you have the basics, I could get a better picture of what needs to be done, and once I settled in to the research material available to me, well... you never know." She tells them both, before showing a light smile upon her pink lips.

Jonah is tending to the bar behind them, and indeed glancing over at them now and then, but another couple had entered and gone to the bar to greet him, sounding as though they are regulars here.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"We don't entirely know what we're looking for, either," Caitlin admits. "I mean, not on a granular basis. One of the recurring themes we have stumbled on are ley lines and places of power. Ley lines are sort of... currents, you could call them, of magical power. They're spread out across the globe. Some of them move, some are static. When ley lines intersect, they create a location of great magical power. I asked a friend to write me a search algorithim for the American Journal of Archaeology and a couple similar ones in the UK. I'm working on the Indian and Chinese translations. But the point is that we've found a *very* high correlation between where we think a place of power is, and where people have built.... temples, fortresses, that kind of thing. Anywhere that has a reputation for being deeply mystical, or haunted, or the grave of some deity or something, is a potential lead to explore."

Thor has posed:
    As Caitlin speaks Thor remains in his chair and takes a sip from his drink now and again, watching, nodding. His eyebrows climb at the point when she mentions some of the criteria as he was not entirely away of it. Then when she finishes speaking he looks to Lara, "Indeed, as Caitlin says, the difficult part..." Thor uncurls a hand in Lara's direction as he speaks, as if asking for her to take the words from him in answer. "Is that for the artifacts they must have..." He again looks to Caitlin and smiles as she's heard this rigamaroll several times already, so he looks a touch apologetic as she's about to hear it /yet/ again.
    But then here it goes again.
    "They must have a resonance connecting the two realms. It doesn't have to be a magical artifact per se, but it must have that connection, historical or some grand event. Yet the greatest challenge..." He chews the corner of his lip for a moment before murmuring, "Is we must find a suitably strong site of power, which is as Caitlin has said. Ley Lines. Places of great life, or grim death. The Shui of Feng. All such things."
    Which at the end has Thor nodding as if he knows the ins and outs of such things. And, to be fair... he knows more than when all these shenanigans started, but he is far from an expert.

Lara Croft has posed:
As the two before her talk, Lara just leans forward a smidge, with her right hand going around the base of her cold drink glass. She has it sitting on a coaster, and raises it up for a sip before they finish speaking, and when she sets it down again, she just gently nods her head again to what they'd told her.

"I have history of working with Stephen Strange, as well as Zatanna Zatara, and with my growing immersion in to the magical realm of our own reality... I've begun to experience such things related to leylines in much deeper ways than I had ever expected I would." She finishes that with another soft smile paid to them.

Her eyes bounce from one, to the other, before she sits up and reaches her hands down to straight her white button-up shirt that hugs her form closely. "Leylines, and earth-grids themselves, have been a point of great contention amongst the archaeological community." She spares a smirk toward Caitlin. "I'm sure you've run across the dogmatic ways of many within the field of study, Doctor." She tells the redhead. "But yes, I have a growing interest in this subject matter, actually. I've been trading e-mails with a colleague of mine, one Graham Hancock, with regard to his work on sacred geometry, dodecalhedron geometry, numbers that are harmonic across the planet itself. Pentagons that make up the various sites across the map, from the lost ruins of South American civilizations, to the Great Pyramids themselves. You might even have to explore these sites, for what you're after..."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Geometry does seem to figure in prominently to many faith structures," Caitlin agrees. "It's not at all uncommon to see extremely complex designs worked into buildings, whether they're tile mosaics or just the layout of the place itself."

She sips more of her ginger ale and sets it down again, pressing on. "Full disclosure, I'm a biologist," Caitlin admits. "My doctorate work is in genetics and cellular biology. But I've been in the game since the Invasion in 2010," she clarifies. "It's not something we broadcast much, but our teammate Raven is an extremely accomplished spellcaster. You've seen me an' Troia on the news; she's also deeply attuned to that kind of thing."

"What I am good for is pattern analysis," she states. No brag, just admission of fact. "I'd like to propose exchanging whatever notes we have on the topic, feeding it through the search system, and see if we can't stir up more leads or eliminate some false ones. There are a lot of people pulling weight together on this, even if it's Prince Thor's baby."

Thor has posed:
    "Bah, it was shared inspiration." The Thunderer offers again as that /last/ bit was all that he really registered considering much of what Caitlin said was not something entirely in his wheelhouse. So he lifts his voice...        "Well then," The Asgardian says as he looks between Caitlin and Lara as his smile grows. "It seems we have your interest, Lady Croft. Can I trust we have your aid in these matters?"
    As he says that last he's reaching into the pocket of his hoodie but fails to find what he's seeking, then he shifts his weight to the other hip and reaches for his back pocket... even as that chair creeeeaks again and makes a soft crackle. Though he does find what he's looking for as his eyebrows climb and he makes a small 'ah' sound.
    Which is when he produces one of those rugged cellphones with the extra reinforced case. He sets it down on the table and gestures, "If you wish to... match your cellular device with mine, I am not always available at the tether of it, but I can be made aware of its messages by others who so inform me."
    Then he looks a Lara and murmurs, "I have already informed the Embassy that you are welcome there, and if you find your studies would be best continued on Asgard we can make arrangements." Which is when he gives a firm nod.
    "There," Then to Caitlin, "Have I forgotten anything? Besides thanking her." Which has him turning back to Lara and giving a smile. "Thank you for listening to us, in any case, Lara."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara props her chin up with the palm of her left hand then, as she leans there ever so slightly forward on the edge of her chair with her back straight. She looks to cait, smiling over her knucled-fingers as she nods her head two small times. "Well, if that is the case, you will likely be imperative in this search, Doctor." She tells the other woman before sending her eyes back over to Thor. She eyes that phone he brings out, and smiles at it. "Of course." She notes to him as her hand drops again to her lap. She stammers a glance toward Jonah at the bar, then back at the two of them. "You two have to do me a favor before you leave, however." She says next. "My friend.... he wants signed photos with celebrities that visit here..." She starts to indicate. "I can go grab his camera, and be back in just a flash... If that would be alright?" She asks next.

She laughs just a little then, before nodding two small times. "And yes, I will happily visit the Embassy and your library there to start this project. AS it so happens, I've been on a bit of a deadend period with my own work. So this will be a nice distraction to clear my head on what I've been staring at for weeks now...."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin lifts up her phone, types a couple commands, and wirelessly sends her 'contact card' to Lara's phone. "I've always got this on me, so if I can't answer, I'm probably fighting something horrible or I'm off-planet," Caitlin tells Lara with a wry (but sincere) expression.

"And considering we stole the best table in the house, I don't mind at all," she assures Lara. Caitlin gets to her feet as well, and when Lara moves to get the camera, she speaks out the side of her mouth to Thor. "If anyone asks me for my phone number, I'm going to run out through *that* wall," she says, gesturing to the one behind them.

It's a real problem for people in the superhero community.

Thor has posed:
    Another look to Caitlin as if checking if such is ok with her and he's already shaking his head, shrugging a little. "Of course, go claim his camera and we shall happily take a picture." That said he rises and slides the chair back into place as he reclaims his phone, trusting that it somehow had worked its magic and given Lara his cellular information.
    Then he's turning and stepping up to stand by Caitlin, smiling in anticipation of the camera and fulfilling her friend's wishes.
    Of course when she murmurs to him about busting through one of the walls and making a run for it if someone should ask for her number... his brow furrows and he tilts his head. Perhaps not understanding why. Yet his answer says much about the man.
    "Well then, I shall follow you then." And he smiles happily, giving her a nod as they wait.

Lara Croft has posed:
Naturally Lara returns with a old Polaroid Camera. She's turning it over in her hands as she walks, having only operated the thing a time or two in the past. Jonah comes around the bar to watch, and he folds his arms across his big chest. "This is so awesome!" He announces in a very happy tone.

Lara wobbles back and forth a little as she raises the camera up to peer through the viewfinder at the two side by side. "Okay. Say 'cheese'." She asks of them before that unforgettable sound of a Polaroid camera goes off, along with the bright flash bulb snapping in their eyes!

It isn't long after that Jonah is having them sign their autographs on the... flattering photo.... okay, it's definitely at least A photo.

And soon there-after it's hung on Jonah's Board of Heroes behind the bar with the Hawaiian man announcing "Free drinks, on me!"!