13374/Westerly Widdershins

Westerly Widdershins
Date of Scene:	16 November 2022
Location:	Lounge - Playground
Synopsis:	Some shooting of the breeze at the playground.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Kora Johnson, Medusa, Monica Chang

---

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    SHIELD is not all glamor and glitz. Nor is it action and excitement at all times. People go through their lives imagining the spy agency as this wild explosion filled violence packed escapade that could clear a some good numbers if it was a streaming show. But no. That was not SHIELD.
    For a large part of SHIELD... was paperwork.
    It is insane the amount of paperwork generated by the simple act of taking a car for a drive and bringing it back. Then there are the forms needed for augmented contract work for an operation. Also some paperwork to report the results of an operation, the assets attached, their condition when assumed, then their condition when returned.
    It took focus, dedication, and patience to wade through this paperwork. And Alexander Aaron was running out.
    Sitting in the living area with his laptop on the coffee table as well as hard copies of some of the info, the young Olympian is frowning, rubbing at his brow with the stylus. His expression is exasperated, distant. And his breathing? Tired.
    "Man."

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora enters. A spring still in her step. She's wearing SHIELD issue trackpants and exercise top. Her body glistens from the exercise of the run she just finished. One thing that's helping keep her sane while she sorts out what her new life is - is exercise.

Also the nearest town isn't that far if you push yourself. It's the jog back that's hard work. At least the geography is very flat. With a SHIELD embroidered towel wrapped about her shoulders, she is dabbing at her forehead. At first she heads directly for the kitchen to get some water.

With water in hand she looks back at Alex and approaches. "Hey..." He certainly looks worn out. "Undercover work as a nerd harder than you thought it'd be?" she asks since that was the last thing she knew he was going to work on. This seems to be a lot of paperwork. May be it's all for that.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Alexander Aaron says, "Hey," He answers with that easy tone, and when she cracks wise at him his smile curves a little. "It is... ongoing. Though yeah." A pause as he shuffles a few of the papers together and then starts to put them aside, perhaps dividing them up between what he needs to tend to immediately and what he can put off.
    "Think Agent Chang's going to get a job there, some other gal almost picked a fight with her." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully then closed the laptop. Rising he looks over at her, "And you, ma'am?"
    He takes a few steps toward the refrigerator near and pulls it open, a glassy clink heard as two bottles rattle against each other. "I heard you departed for a time."

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora takes off her hair tie and lets her black hair fall down. She gathers it up at the base with the hair band and reties it. "You have to play the nerd more than once? Tough gig," she jests a little more with the agent. Seeing him attempt to divide and conquer his paperwork makes her glad she doesn't have to do any. Ever.

Taking a seat on the other couch nearby she can't quite relax. Her heart rate is still up so she sits on the edge with her heels risen and her knees jiggling a little.

"Wow. That must suck for the business. They think they're hiring on someone who is legit but in a little while she quits out of no where and they have to start all over again... and must you really ma'am me? Just call me Kora please. I'm not part of the sirs and ma'ams world."

She rests her hands to her lap a little rests her fingers to her pulse on the other wrist. "I did. Well. Daisy and I went to visit our mom. Do you have the security clearance to hear about this stuff or...?" she can't help but tease.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Echoing her sentiment, Alex says blithely in answer to his playing the role again, "I know. Pity me. Pity me." But his tone is amused. He takes up a bottle of orange juice and steps away from the fridge, moving back to his spot in front of the laptop and his work.
    Then she comments about the difficult a business might have hiring an agent and losing them. "I suppose you could view it that the business is getting help it otherwise might not get?" Since otherwise they'd have the same pool of talent to draw from. He eases back into his seat, crossing a leg over his knee. Though when she hassles him about the ma'am thing he replies. "Apologies, force of habit. And no, I most likely don't have the clearance." His lip twists up.

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora chuckles a little and opens up the bottle of water. A long gulp is taken and she rests it in her lap. "Well lucky you I don't care about security clearance stuff. We went to the new Afterlife. There were a lot of faces there I knew. A lot of them weren't happy to see me."

"But mom was. That was ... " she shakes her head and has a wistful expression of joy on it. "I can't describe how good it felt to see her again. But the new Afterlife sure is humid." She looks amused for a moment.

"Also my sister can fly a freakin' jet..." She looks very impressed and proud of her sister. Getting to know her seems to be something that's been turning around her mood of late. Even though they started off a bit rough. "Misses Agent must be very sad you're never home."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    When she mentions Afterlife she can perhaps recognize he knows /something/ of it for his eyebrows rise and it's clear he gets the possibility that that trip was... bad news. He nods and tilts his head slightly to the side as he listens to her, letting the words flow as she offers her insight into that trip. The emotions she projects are clouded, but he nods slowly again at points when she speaks, "I'm glad you got to touch base with her."
    Then his lips curve into a smile, "Yeah, Agent Johnson has a lot of talents. Her story is very interesting. The amount of things she's picked up in a narrow window of time effectively."
    Drawing his ankle up over his knee he tries to relax somewhat. "Ah, we actually broke up a..." His eyes lift and he looks thoughtful, then murmurs, "Six weeks ago. Because of our jobs. But it was a good break up."

Medusa has posed:
    Medusa comes in, making her way into the lounge here, as she looks about, checking out the building and the room. Her expression is somewhere between curiosity and confusion, especially as it lights onto the Pac-Man game. She sees the others there and gives a nod of her head. "Greetings." she states as she enters.

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora's eyes widen. She didn't know there was even a story to Alex's love life but she got the sudden scoop on it. "I'm sorry about that." It did make sense though. His job seems very full-on. "Who was it? Anyone famous?" she says with a coy little smile.

More water. Her heart is slowing down and she is relaxed enough to scoot her butt back and relax in to the couch. "I did mean to pry, but it was rude of me. Daisy and I are headed to Nepal soon. Where Afterlife used to be. Where I grew up. That's going to be weird."

She goes quiet for a bit and her eyes drop. The entry of Medusa makes her aware that the stranger probably just heard her talking about Afterlife. She looks up and smiles to her. A tight smile. Medusa isn't dressed like an Agent but then again not all the Agents dress like Agents.

"Hi.." She glances at Alex to see if he knows who she is. "Are you part of Daisy's team too? ...Quake..." And she can't help herself, "Quackers. Quackeroonies. ShakeyMcGee..." She clears her throat, "Agent Daisy Johnson."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    As Kora delves, Alexander's response is a parting of his lips as if about to answer. But then the tips of his ears colour slightly as he murmurs, "She's an individual of discretion. Ma'am." Alright that ma'am was on purpose. The jerk.
    But he listens as she speaks about the investigation into Afterlife and hmms quietly, "If you need some aid in that let me know."
    Though when Medusa enters, the young Olympian sits adjacent to Kora, casually talking and sharing a few words. When he spots her he turns and then stands up as he gives a nod, "Ma'am."
    A quick glance back toward Kora to see if she recognizes her and it's clear he doesn't. Not at first at the least. But he doesn't seem too stressed since if she didn't have clearance in some form the security cams would be displeased.

Medusa has posed:
    Medusa looks to the others, and seems amused. "No. I am not a member of SHIELD. I am of the Inhumans." She's not sure what they're cleared to know...but then she's also not so concerned with it. SHIELD's secrets and who knows them is their business, not hers. "I am new to this location, however. I am still learning my way about it."

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora looks down at the exercise top she's wearing with the SHIELD eagle logo right across her chest. She laughs a moment and says, "Oh I'm not an Agent either. I just live here. All the clothes they give me have their branding on them."

Still, an Inhuman she doesn't recognise. It's not uncommon of late but this one is wandering about the Playground. "Attilan?" A word that still seems like a fairy tale off of her tongue. But Daisy assures her that Inhumans do in fact live on the moon and that there's even a King. She countered that Kings are a terrible idea in this day and age but.. still.

She stands up and offers her hand to Medusa, "Kora. Kora Johnson. Jiaying's first daughter." The leader of Afterlife, the primo Inhuman settlement on Earth. Kora was supposedly dead. But then so was Jiaying at one point. Johnson's are hard to keep ded apparently.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ah, I'm Agent Aaron, ma'am." He clears off the couch where he was sitting and then rises to move across the room and grab one of the office chairs near the bank of monitor. He wheels it along and takes that seat, giving the Inhuman leader the better seat. "Part of the team that's at times tasked with aiding you and yours."
    A glance is given to Kora thus relaying in those words and his manner as much intel as he has most likely. Then he looks back to her, "We're just socializing a bit. You're welcome to stay."
    For a moment he looks between the two of them and in one of the small moments between their words for each other he offers, "Can I get either of you anything?" So very facilitating.

Monica Chang has posed:
There was the sound of another door opening and shortly after, Monica appears. She is carrying some sort of computer motherboard in her hand and she moves immediately to one of the R&D tables setup for anyone that needed to use them. She glanced up as she put down the piece.

"Hi. Sorry to interrupt. Don't mind me. Just a figment of your imagination." She flicked on the circular magnifier with light, shifting to position it so she can see what she's looking at. But then she pauses as she spies a Medusa. "New recruit? Hi, I'm Agent Monica Chang."

Medusa has posed:
    Medusa nods in reply to Kora's statement. "Of course, where else--" And then she brings up Jiaying. She seems a little surprised, eyes going more over Kora now, though she takes the offered hand, and gives it a very formal shake.

The redhaired woman from Attilan looks at Alex moving the furniture over, and that seems to get an amused look. "Did I give you the impression that I would be incapable of finding a seat?" Her tone, at least, carries the amusement too, not offense.

And then Monica is arriving. She pauses a moment, and then chuckles. "Is it customary for SHIELD recruits to look as I do? No, I am Medusa of Attilan, not an agent."

Kora Johnson has posed:
Kora gives a wave to Monica, "Hey Agent." She totally remembers her name. Definitely. Easy peasy because Monica just said it. This is the second meeting so it'll probably stick this time. Alex evacuating the couch makes her raise an eyebrow though.

"Attilan... I grew up hearing stories about the Inhuman kingdom on the moon. But where else? since so many new Inhumans have been popping up - anywhere really. Or Afterlife during the time I was gone." Medusa. Her first ever Moon-person. She has questions. Oh so many questions.

"Alex you know I'm good right? No one has died even a little bit since that first day." And to be fair, Jane didn't die either so zero deaths and counting. She might be making light of it but even so her body tenses just a little extra. "Afterlife born and raised... and it's hard to tell with this group. Since everyone on Daisy's team seems to have gifts of one kind or another and only some of them wear a uniform."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "You'd be surprised, ma'am, at the difficulties some folks have in navigating the lay of the land." He offers in casual rejoinder back to Medusa, and as Monica strolls by protesting the state of her ignorance, he motions to her with a nod. "Exhibit A, after all."
    Though hopefully Monica doesn't entirely catch it.
    But he's fine now with his own office chair, though it does slowly rotate as he reaches for his laptop. And it squeaks.
    His eyes slide over to Kora and he replies, "Well, there's good. And then there's 'good'." Is it his turn to crack wise back? Rude agent that he is.

Monica Chang has posed:
Monica has no idea she is being made fun of having just entered and all. That's what happens when one shows up in the middle of a conversation. So her response is a very intelligent, "Huh?"

Then she opts to just ignore Alexander because, really life is better that way. "Oh no, ma'am. I just presume everyone on SHIELD property is an agent just in case they outrank me. That way I stay out of trouble. Nice to meet you, Medusa."

She gave a little grin to Kora and her insistence on using Agent. Then she goes back to her tinkering though she his paying attention.

Medusa has posed:
"I am happy to answer what I can for you, if you have questions. I am curious about Afterlife, as I have not been there." Medusa offers to Kora's words. She is, indeed, a crazy Moon person, with crazy Moon logic and all of that. "I do not tend to a uniform. Though, if everyone here is at least versed in Inhumans..." And with that, she'll relax her hair some. Having to keep it "held back" for Earthers is a little like having to keep your tummy sucked in at all times. As she does so, her hair seems to double, almost triple in volume, spreading more to the sides, like a giant mass behind her. "That is so much better."

    She nods to Alex, in concession. "You are not wrong. Navigating anything down here has been a trial, slow to learn." She smiles a little at his riff towards Monica, and she nods there as well. "It is nice to meet all of you.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Catching Danger Jacket's (Monica's) glance, Alex's reply is to just give a smile and look as if he had no idea what she was talking about. But then he lowers his head and starts to focus on his paperwork again, but not before giving Medusa a friendly nod of acknowledgment. "Think there's an app for navigation, though it sometimes shuts down at random points."
    Lifting his head, Alexander calls out, "Hey, Agent Chang?" He sits up a little, resting a hand on the top of his laptop, "What are you working on?"
    He turns his head aside to Medusa and confides, "Miss Chang is our resident AI and Robotics expert."

Monica Chang has posed:
Hearing her name, Monica looks up and glances over at the duo. Just in time to see Medusa's hair triple in volume. "Okay, that's a neat trick. Does your hair have something to do with your powers, if it isn't too rude to ask?" Which she already asked so if it is too rude, too late!

She does take a moment to answer Alexander's question. "Examining this motherboard. It was retrieved from a new type of drone Hydra seems to be using. I wanted to see how they were managing the power levels required for them on such a small battery source and noticed the motherboard was..." Were his eyes glazing over? She had the feeling they were about to. "Nevermind the details. Just trying to parse it together."

Medusa has posed:
"Your "Google Maps" has proven extremely helpful." Medusa acknowledges to Alex. She looks curious when she hears what Monica's specialty is, and looks over to her just as Monica is asking. "Indeed. My hair is fully under my control. Prehensile, and extremely strong. My ability after exposure to the Terragen Mists."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    At the mention of Google Maps, Alex sort of half-smiles, but then he considers Medusa's exhibition of her powers and his eyebrows rise with surprise. A quick look is sent Monica's way as if seeing if she knew anything more about this kind of power since he hasn't encountered such a thing before.
    "That's interesting, do you... perceive through it in a way beyond touch?" Perhaps some thought is given to the way Gorgons function with their connection to the snakes in their hair.