13442/There's No Shoes Like Snow Shoes

There's No Shoes Like Snow Shoes
Date of Scene:	26 November 2022
Location:	3C - Lara's Greenwich Loft
Synopsis:	Steve takes Lara for a snowshoe hike upstate, with a couple of surprise snowmobiles waiting at the end.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Lara Croft

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Steve Rogers has posed:
The winter storm has finally passed, the multiple feet of snow given way to just light flurries as one might expect at this time of year. But there's plenty of snow left on the ground.

The day after Thanksgiving, one can go Black Friday shopping. Though finding out what it was and had been like was rather appalling to Steve Rogers. Instead he'd proposed something else. Telling Lara to dress for being in the snow, the pair had gotten a car and driven up to the farm country and forests further north in New York State.

Pulling the car over, an SUV, Steve goes around to open Lara's door. He's wearing snow pants and a good jacket, warm without having to be hugely thick, and a stocking cap (no tassel!) and gloves.

"It's so beautiful out here," he comments. The fresh snowfall is everywhere, blanketing the world in white. Small farm houses can be seen here and there, some with smoke rising from their chimneys. The fields are empty and snow covered, with stands of trees often separating them.

Steve walks around to the back of the SUV and opens the hatch. He pulls out two pairs of snowshoes. They are smaller ones than people typically think of, more like the size of a big tennis racket. "These are supposed to be pretty easy to move in. Because the big ones, I can tell you from experience, take a bit more effort."

Lara Croft has posed:
'I do all my shopping online. I really don't buy that much. One of the benefits of not having a lot of friends.' Lara had said prior to the trip out, while sipping from a cup of hot cocoa. "A local trip sounds lovely though." She'd added with a soft smile.

Then they were off to get ready, and now find themselves here in the picturesque American vista. Once out of the vehicle, Lara looks around, her upper body contained inside a red snow jacket with a white fur collar, and a black and grey beanie atop her head. A thick pair of winter hiking pants tucked in to a pair of leather boots make up the rest of her attire, as she slips her hands in to gloves.

"It's beautiful." The British explorer says as she closes the door and walks back to join Steve, showing him another light smile. "Believe me, I've tried on just about every kind of snow shoe known to mankind..." She says with a exasperated huff following those words. "These look like they'll do the job nicely though." She'll reach for the gear and tuck them under an arm before looking around the horizon again. "What made you choose this area?" She asks.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve glances up at the sun which is out, the skies blue, but the weather cold enough the snow isn't melting yet. He puts on some sunglasses and answers Lara with, "Well, one of the veteran's support groups I sit in on now and then, has a guy named Earl. Former Navy. Pretty good guy. And we were talking about the snow and conversation got around to hiking and snowshoeing in it. His family owns one of the farms up here," Steve says, gesturing off in a direction that a trio of the farmhouses can be seen in the distance.

"He offered to let us hike. The fields are all bare this time of year so no crops to worry about. And said he'd post on some... internet site I guess, to let the neighbors all know a couple of his friends would be up, so we won't need to worry about trespassing," Steve explains.

He begins fastening his snow shoes on, and after he hefts a small pack. "I've got some hot chocolate in here and a couple of sandwiches for lunch, and some energy bars," he comments of the pack that goes over his shoulder. "Now, let's see, which way did he suggest going," Steve says, glancing about and getting his bearings. "Over there I believe. There's a creek and a trail, through that gap in the trees," he indicates. Steve looks back to Lara then, smiling over at her. "How is it you look that good, all bundled up?" he asks her with a grin.

Lara Croft has posed:
The explanation that he gives has her gently nodding her head whilst she takes in the scenery a little more. His last compliment then has her looking back over at him, and her face transitions from a casual expression in to one of wramth, and a smile. "Careful." She says back at him. "This is no place for seduction." The British noble says, teasing him some before she turns then and starts to sit down on the edge of the SUV bumper. She starts to put the snow shoes on to her boots then, fastening the straps over her feet and lower legs. "I've always wanted to use a metal detector around places like this, the older locations within the States." She says then as she drops her right foot down and starts to work on her left. "But... that would probably be best for warmer weather, and after some research to find the best place." She adds, her breath coming out from between her lips in puffs of steamy white.

Her left shoe is afixed properly, and she too reaches for some sunglasses out of a coat pocket. "I'm ready, I think." She says, reaching for the thermos of hot tea she'd set in the back, along with her backpack that she slings over her left shoulder.

Steve Rogers has posed:
He gives Lara a quick wink back, the gesture just barely visible behind the sunglasses. "What would you be hoping to find?" Steve Rogers asks after the comment about the metal detector. "Things from the days of early settlers? Or the few battles up this way, the French and Indian War and the rest?" he inquires.

When Lara is ready, they lock the car and set off. The land is at best gently rolling. Glaciated landscape that has been smoothed a bit by the years, even if the glaciers were responsible for the numerous lakes in the region.

The air is nice and brisk, enough their breath is visible, especially once the exertion gets their heartrates up. The snowshoes are indeed fairly good ones, making the hike easier than it would be afoot.

"So out of cold weather places like this, searing hot deserts, steaming jungles full of biting insects, and... well, all the other sorts of places you've been, which would you have to say is your least favorite climate to deal with?" he inquires. "And if you say the fog of England I'm so going to quote you to Peggy."

Lara Croft has posed:
"Relics of such interactions would be nice, yes. Arrowheads are the most common, I believe." Lara initially responds. "But, coins are always the most sought after. Money. As if that surprises you, I'm sure." She says with a smile over at him before she settles in to their walk.

Once they get under way, Lara has her hands at her sides, freed up and her thermos is tucked in to a pouch on her backpack.

"Rain. No question. Rainy locations are always the absolute worst. I don't like having wet clothing, especially my feet. Nothing makes me more miserable 'out and about' than having wet socks." She fires right back at him. "So, begrudgingly, save for the visual beauty of it, the rain forest has always proven to be the most frustrating to traverse, but... rain-- and fog --can strike anywhere, mostly... save for the sandy deserts of course... So... I suppose snow deserts might count too? Really though, I'm blessed enough to be able to have access to the best gear, so it is rare to feel that kind of discomfort anymore. That being said though... bad luck always comes up when you're really getting in to the grittiest of expeditions."

She adjusts her backpack straps on her shoulders some, tugging on the little straps to make the bigger sections tighter over her shoulders.

"What would you dislike the most?" She asks him back.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Their snowshoes leave distinctive tracks that might puzzle a few people later who see them and are not familiar. The pair are making good time, crossing the fields and going through the gap in the trees. There is indeed a trail alongside a creek. The water sometimes wide enough a normal person might struggle to leap across with a running start. A layer of ice covers it, though occasionally they can hear the water beneath gurgling as it flows beneath.

"Oh, cold rain would definitely be it for me," Steve says, not needing to think very long on it. "Granted, the gear we had in the forties was nowhere near what it was today. But you're absolutely right about how miserable wet feet can be. And then throw in 40 degree weather to sap the warmth out of you on top of it? I think cold rains are an infantryman's most hated weather."

There's a spot a little bridge crosses the creek, the trail going across it and then leaving the water to head off across more fields. Steve angles over across the fields, heading towards a stand of trees where a particularly tall maple tree dominates the landscape. "So peaceful and beautiful," he says with a smile. "It helps knowing you've got somewhere warm to go back to anytime you want."

Lara Croft has posed:
"I want you to write a book about your experiences." Lara tells him as she trails either just behind him, or on one of his sides, depending on the terrain before them. She looks over at him when beside him though, her sunglasses are black with reflective red lenses. "You're a living, breathing, historic figure, and you have unique experience like none other. Your book would fly off the shelves." She says with a grin cast to him as they cross that bridge.

Once across it and to that tree, Lara shoots out a exhale, puffing out a burst of white steam. She nods her head softly as she does a circle, looking around the horizon. "It's beautiful country. I would imagine that owning a farm, tending to the fields, and soaking in the ambience of it all... is quite a life for those out here..." She huffs then.

The thermos of hot tea is produced and Lara offers him the cap with a bit poured inside it already.

Steve Rogers has posed:
One of Steve's eyebrows goes up a bit at the suggestion he write a book. "I can't imagine too many people would want to something like that," is his first comment, and not false modesty but just what he believes of it.

"Or if they did, I'm not sure it would be for what was in it so much as who wrote it," Steve adds after a little more thought. "I've noticed there's a lot of... fame for the sake of fame, I suppose you'd call it? And that people seem to soak up things just for them being famous," he says thoughtfully as they walk along across the snowy field, their snowshoes keeping them from sinking in too deep. "I probably wouldn't do a good job of making something exciting. The truth is rarely as glamorous as people think. Is it?"

He takes the offered tea with a thank you, sipping from the cup, pausing to not spill it until he's finished it. When they resume again, they are nearing the stand of trees with the enormous maple. "So I mentioned Earl. There was one other favor he did us, actually," Steve comments as they are passing through the trees.

They come out on a clearing that just has the big maple in it, like the other trees didn't want to grow in its shade. And beneath the tree are two snowmobiles. "I figured we might get tired of walking after awhile," Steve says with a grin towards Lara.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara laughs at his response about the book. She shakes her head side to side as they resume their walking after she shared a sip of tea herself before recapping the thermos. "People don't buy books like that to have some kind of.... summer movie blockbuster experience. They buy it to read it and see through your eyes the experiences that you lived. People are absolutely obsessed with World War II information, from even the eyes and ears of a non-super soldier perspective. Your experiences are a story never before told, really... I think that's partly why you're so popular, and little children run down the streets with plastic America shields on thier backpacks." She grins at him quite happily, then reaches out to stroke his arm through the jacket and her glove.

"That, and the muscles. But, that's another story." She smiles before they reach where he's been leading them and she laughs softly at the snow mobile part.

"Oh really? You want to do a bit of racing, is it then?" She chides him, in a playful sort of way. "Come on then..." She notes, her snow shoes carrying her toward the pair that he'd apparently rented, or loaned!

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Well, if are fond of them, then I suppose I'll have to keep them," Steve replies coyly to the muscle comment. "Though starting to skip 'leg day' was really sounding like a positive option until you said that," he quietly teases.

A warm laugh is given as Lara hurries for the snowmobiles. "I do wish I'd had one of these back then," he says. "There was a mission in Norway that this would have come in very handy in," he muses as they reach them. Steve begins removing his snowshoes. "Want to eat those sandwiches, or just snack on an energy bar before we go?" he asks. He pulls out a spare set of keys for them from his pocket, putting one in each.

"Earl said there's a lot of great trails. Some bumps and things you can catch a little air on, even. Apparently it's a really big thing with the farmers up here. If the snow wasn't this fresh I think we'd have probably seen tracks by now."