13095/Heavy Hearts

Heavy Hearts
Date of Scene:	16 October 2022
Location:	3C - Lara's Greenwich Loft
Synopsis:	After the fight at the spaceport and the magic ritual gone wrong, Cap receives a few stitches from Lara and they try to make sense of what has happened.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Lara Croft

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Steve Rogers has posed:
On the transport back from the spaceport, Steve was pretty quiet. The magic ritual had gone awry that was supposed to create portals between the Nine Realms, leading to a spot that would be better suited to handle arrivals than random locations like Central Park.

Steve Rogers had gotten some temporary bandages in place to stop the immediate bleeding of the two slashes and one stab he'd taken. The sleeve of his sweater was gone, having been used to stop the bleeding of Red Arrow. He'd sat quietly with Lara, resting his hand in her and squeezing softly, answering any questions but otherwise not very talkative during the duration of the flight back to New York City.

Then he drove them back to Lara's apartment. Taking the elevator up with her. "I don't suppose you have a good first aid kit?" he asks. "I'm guessing somewhere in your journeys you probably learned how to do stitches?"

Lara Croft has posed:
"I do... on both counts." Lara's calm British voice says as she steps off of that lift and in to the hallway. "However..." She interjects herself, now facing him, looking at his wounds. "I fully believe we should've gone to the Triskelion, to get you properly seen by the medical teams there..." She says as she pulls her door keys from her jacket and steps over to the apartment to the right of the lift.

A moment later and the door is pushed open, Lara offering him room to step inside.

The apartment is in pretty good shape, cleaned up recently, though there are boxes pushed up against neaerly every wall, all filled with books, and all manner of items.

The door is closed then behind them, Lara pulls her jacket off and tosses it over one of the dining table's chairs. "Sit here." She tells him, of that same chair. I"ll go grab what I have." She says as she steps to the far wall where the small hall dips in to her bedroom...

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers steps in at Lara's invitation, saying in a quiet scoffing voice, but one with just enough notes that Lara won't take it seriously, "Tonight? It's Dr. Jacob's normal night. Have you had him take a needle to you before? Even a jacket needing a button reattached would say 'ow' several times," he kids.

Steve gets his second look at the apartment. "Honestly," Steve says somberly, "I could just use not being around a bunch of people. Especially officious ones who will want details on what went down." He falls silent a moment, though one can tell his thoughts about what happened didn't stop with his words.

Lara is given an affirmative nod and Steve goes over to the chair she's chosen for him. He carefully removes the remains of his sweater, folding it in a way he can set it down without any stains rubbing off. He sits down then, head hanging forward a bit as his eyes search the floor in front of him, lost in his thoughts.

Lara Croft has posed:
There's an actual freaking Crystal Skull sitting on the table beside Steve. Just a Crystal Skull center-piece on Lara's kitchen / dining table. And it's staring at him....

"I have not." Lara says. "I see Doctor Andrews, when she's available. She's quite wonderful." The Briton says from her bedroom, a bit of ruffling around going on in there.

After a minute or so, Lara comes back out, her own jacket and sweater gone, but she's wearing a black tanktop now. She paces over to Steve with the First Aid kit, and moves one of the chairs to sit in front of him, her knees on either sides of his, so she can get close in on him.

"Now then... let me see it." She asks, pushing him back a bit on the chair to lean him back some in to the light.

The kit is set on her lap, Lara eyes his chest, and tries to stay focused on the injury, obviously.

"Is this the only really bad one?" She asks him then as she takes off the bandage that was put on at the starport."

Steve Rogers has posed:
The crystal skull and Steve stare back and forth at each other for a few moments while Lara is gone. "If you're out of something crystal creature's actual head I'm going to have to talk to Lara about her interior decorating sense," he tells the skull quietly.

As the Briton rejoins him, Steve says, "Doctor Andrews. Yes, a much better hand. But she seems to... er... blush around me a lot," Steve says hesitantly then clearing his throat.

As Lara gets seated, his eyes stay on the young woman. There's a stab on the back of his shoulder and a scratch across forehead. But it's the slash across his abdomen that is the most serious. "Yes, think the others are probably ok to close on their own," he says. "I've never really been too susceptible to infections, though I'm sure the Avengers staff will push some antibiotics on me. Mostly worried about this one breaking open again," he says as she gently removes the bandage. The cut goes from the middle of one 'tray' of his six-pack, over towards his ide about five or six inches total. Enough some stitches would be best.

Lara Croft has posed:
The Crystal Skull just stares back... so judgey.

Lara smirks at his words when he mentions Andrews blushing. "She just got married. I think you'll be safe around her. But... it's true, I do hear all the women talk about you quite often..." Lara says slightly disstractedly as she pieces together what she needs to do.

"How fast do you tend to heal?" She then asks him, her brown eyes going up to his blue. "I mean... you're... advancced, in a lot of ways... I'm assuming in your recovery abilities as well?"

Lara pulls out a few things from the Kit, and then sets it aside. She starts unwrapping, and preparing. "Honestly.... if you recover faster than the average person, have you ever had a wound sealed up with Super Glue?" She then asks, a serious look on her face as she stares at him.

Steve Rogers has posed:
While some might take a comment like Lara's with a bit of pride, Steve just seems to gently deflect it. "Well, there's one, at least, that I wouldn't mind that of," he says of women at SHIELD talking about him. Which leads him to looking over into Lara's eyes. "I'm glad you were ok," he says, before he lets just a bit of levity show in his eyes and touch his lips. "Though I feared I'd probably have to protect the elves and giants from you more than the other way around." Despite the light-hearted words, his eyes are honest to a fault. Lara can see in them the remnants of the worry, and then relief, he had.

Steve glances down at the cut that needs stitches. "A bit faster than most," he admits. "If this is sealed closed it'll probably be ok to take the stitches out in... three or four days," he says. Rather than probably the week and a half or longer it would take most people.

"Super glue?" Steve asks, his head tilting to the side a bit, expression suggesting he isn't quite sure if she's being serious or teasing him. "Is that something doctors use now?" he asks.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara just grins at what Steve says. She pulls open a packaged item and sets it aside. "It works, in a pinch..." She says to him with a small smirk as she leans forward again. "It's quite effective if you only need to wait a small amount of time before you can reach a hospital... and if you're able to heal above, and beyond, the average person?" She shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Might do the trick."

Lara's left hand moves around the wound on his chest then. "Do you need some alcohol? If I'm doing needle and thread, you might want the numbing of it." She says as she's got her gear ready and is just waiting on him to give her the go-ahead now... still grinning lightly at him.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve considers the question. "Well, a glass of whiskey wouldn't be amiss. Though it usually takes a lot of it to get to me," he admits with a soft grin. "I can handle it like this though," he tells her with a nod. "Just trying to remember if I've said anything I might regret to someone who is going to poke me with a needle," he tells her.

He looks down at the slash. "Much easier than doing it yourself," he comments. He's likely had enough practice at that too. Though there aren't really any visible scars on him, so one might gather that Steve must heal pretty thoroughly.

Steve clears his throat, looking up and away for a moment. "I didn't see what happened," he tells Lara, and then makes more clear what he's talking about. "If you have any thoughts on why Thor didn't come back with us, or what we can do," he says slowly. "I'm way out of my element on this, beyond turning to Doctor Strange and Zatanna. And hoping Sif and her people can do something."

Lara Croft has posed:
"So you can drink just about anyone under the table too?" Lara says as she smirks softly at him. "You're quite the specimien, Captain Rogers" There's a playful sassiness to her tone, as she leans in again to start the process. "We'll see how this goes, maybe save the liquor for afterwards."

And soon there after the process begins. Lara is gentle, and precise... but, hey, it's still stitches!

"Mjolnir was essentially... Thor's taxi through the stars. It was ... not said to be able to be destroyed. Something is quite unsettling about that." Lara states while working on him. "I don't think Thor is dead.... though. He could be in peril, of course, or he could be on a beach somewhere. Either way.. there are not a lot of options for us, aside from his closest allies, and family members. I mean, there are rumors of alternate versions of the hammer having been stowed here on Midgard, or even other types of weaponry, and armor... but those things have been lost to time, as things go."

There's a small pause, Lara breathes through her nose gently. "I can look in to some things, but... well, such items might take a Hell of a long time to track down, if they exist at all."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve stays relaxed as the needle with the sterile thread is passed through him where the wound is pinched together. "If you're able to spend any time on researching it, I would appreciate it greatly Lara," he tells her. She can hear the grief in his voice, matching the troubled look in his eyes as they speak of Thor. Though he doesn't seem to want to burden her further as he returns to the earlier topic.

"Oh, there are people who could outdrink me I'm sure. But for someone who just has an occasional beer mostly, I probably would be considered a high tolerance. There are definitely times I've let myself get a bit tipsy," he says. "I think everyone needs that from time to time."

He looks down at the good work that Lara is doing. "Red Arrow took a bit of a slash. Probably going to leave a little bit of a scar on her, though if she gets good care it won't be too bad. Had you met her before today?" he asks. "She went to Niflheim with us."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is a gentle nurse, so to speak, and she keeps her eyes on the man's wound as she works. Her head does gently nod to what he initially responds with. "Truth be told, I've been ... idly searching for those items my entire life. Ever since my father bought me a selection of Norse mythology books when I was very little. They occupied me on my first plane trip to America, actually. But, yes, I can start to look in to it more deeply."

She goes back to what she's doing then, pausing intermittantly to adjust the noddle, the thread, and how Steve is seated before her, let alone she before him.

"Yes, I'm familiar with her. She was at Alfheim with us, though I didn't get to work with her as much as I would've liked. She seems like a great person..." Lara states. "We're all lucky to have gotten out of this as well as we did..." She then says softly.

IT's only another minute or so of this before she snips the thread and draws in a breath. "I think that should do it." She tells him then. "Though, I do hope you see someone who is, you know, actually a doctor, soon." She tells him with a slight grin while cleaning up her lap, and the table then.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve lets out a quiet sigh and states his agreement with Lara. "If we hadn't gotten out when we did... well. It was just in time," he says somberly as he regards Lara while she finishes up the stitches.

He looks down at her work when she declares it complete. "A wonderful job, didn't even pinch," he tells her in a more light-hearted tone. "Yes, I'll let the medical staff at the Mansion do their thing. They have 'scanners' and things that they use to make sure nothing else is wrong. And if I say no they get such hurt expressions. I've begun to wonder if they teach them those expressions in medical school to get patients to agree," he says with a quiet chuckle.

He rises from the chair, looking for something to help with, though there's not all that much to do. "So give it to me straight, just how much should I worry about my competition?" Steve asks. "Because if there's an ear thing involved, I'm afraid he's got me beat there," Steve says, fingers going to his ears that are not pointed like an elf.

Lara Croft has posed:
While Steve speaks, Lara stands up and nimbly steps around him. There-after and she's looking at his shoulder wound. Her fingertips brush over it before she watches him step up, and she turns to pick up the kit and put it back together within its red canvas bag.

His last question then has her thinking for a moment, then smiling, then laughing, as she catches up with his meaning. "Teagan?" She asks, looking back at him. "I didn't even know he was there. He just came out of ... nowhere." She comments before turning to face him after zipping the bag up again.

Lara holds it at her side, and places her hand upon his chest. She steps forward in to him then, and looks up in to his eyes. "You've nothing to worry about." She tells him sincerely. "We're just rival archers, and... I'm not prepared for that long of a distanced relationship." She says with a glimmering grin.