15851/Happenstance in Circumstance

Happenstance in Circumstance
Date of Scene:	12 September 2023
Location:	Salem Center - New York
Synopsis:	Lara meets Alderic who is caught in a trap! Using her expert trap disarming skills, the wiley Miss Croft sets him free! Then she has to figure out what to do with him after that...
Cast of Characters:	Lara Croft, Alderic

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Lara Croft has posed:
The sun is still up, but it is rapidly descending behind the western landscape. Casting long shadows and golden rays across the quiet town of Salem Center which resides just 20 to 30 minutes drive north of Manhattan. Located in Westchester, a very well-to-do countryside, where the average household income is well over 100 grand a year. It's a pretty idylic place to live.

Lara doesnt' live here, but she does stop in to Salem Center from time to time.

Such is the case today. Her black Jeep Wrangler is parked outside of a small Occult Shop that has a number of oddities within it. Being that Lara Croft is employed by SHIELD, to search for all manner of oddities around the world, she has accustomed to checking in on local locations like this. Sometimes she even brings the store owners a few gifts, small trinkets she picked up on her endless travels.

Today, Lara is stepping out of the shop, having picked up a few books she'd ordered from the shop. She holds them hugged up against her stomach as she pushes the door open with her hip, and steps outside. The British explorer offers a few parting words to the employees inside, then starts toward her Jeep. Dressed in blue jeans, a dark grey tanktop, and a light grey button-up over-shirt, Lara walks with a casual gait to her step toward her vehicle, clutching the three books to her stomach.

Alderic has posed:
    "Rroowl!"

    It's a loud, sudden, startling sound that comes from the growing shadows, pitched almost like a scream but with something more bestial behind it. It comes again, the shout echoing off the walls of buildings. Whatever it is, it's making quite a racket!

    What it is, of course, is Alderic. The poor felinoid man got himself tangled up in something not far from that occult shop, in a narrow alley between two buildings. Unlike Lara, he doesn't work for SHIELD, and has little to no business even being in Salem, save for the occasional trip out to Xavier's! Now, of course, it seems someone had booby-trapped one of his shortcuts, and the cougar-man has found himself tangled up in some kind of high-tensile rope! It looks almost like he had gotten himself caught up in it, but surely the puma wouldn't be dumb enough to play with something like that. ...Would he?

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara was in the process of putting the stack of books in to the passenger seat of her Jeep when she heard the noise. Being that Lara has trekked through even the most dangerous parts of the Amazon Jungle, and explored more of the wilds in her 25 years on this planet, than most ever would in their whole lives, she's pretty accustomed to the sound of wild animals that don't belong in places like Salem Center...

The noises instantly garner a strange look from the young woman's face. She closes her Jeep door, keys the alarm with her remote on her keychain, then starts toward where she'd heard the animal's noise.

Arriving at the mouth of the small alley, Lara tentatively steps inside it, on alert. She pauses at what she sees, and just stares at him. "What in the Hell.." Lara utters in a breathy variant of her British voice. She glances back out of the alley, then looks back to Alderic in the netting. Is he a wild animal? Something looks off about him, let alone the situation.

She doesn't want to get ripped apart by a wild beastly thing here either, thus she reaches for the small of her back where she pulls out a fairly intimidating claw knife that she'd had sheathed on the back of her belt around her waistline.

Lara steps hesitantly toward him, one booted foot after the other, knife brandished to her side.

Alderic has posed:
    As soon as Alderic hears Lara's voice, he stops struggling. He dangles there, slowly spinning for a moment, limbs twisted about as well. It might take Lara a moment to realize that the mountain lion in the trap has a rather humanoid shape to him! Though his face still looks quite felinoid, complete with ears and muzzle! He stares at Lara for a moment, just dangling helplessly there in front of her.

    "Rrowr?" The raspy sound that comes from the cougar sounds almost questioning, and his eyes flit from her face to the knife that she draws. He twists and wriggles and struggles a bit, but his efforts to get free or upright himself are in vain. It seems the big cat has gotten himself into quite the predicament!

Lara Croft has posed:
It became more obvious that this was some kind of a Mutant man caught in a trap. "How... odd." Lara quietly says as she observes this. "Are you all right?" She has to ask him. But he only gives her a animal noise in response. "Naturally.." She dryly quips before she glances over her shoulder again. there didn't appear to be anyone else dealing with this, but who had set the trap and how did this...

None of it made sense. Lara just exhales lightly.

She pauses a few steps away, then notes where the net is tied to the wall, and is quick to decipher how the trap functions... she's pretty good at that, as a matter of fact.

"I... uh..." Lara looks back to Alderic. "I can get you free." She tells him. "But if you're a danger, I'll have to report you to the authorities." She warns him, just assuming he can understand her since some measure of him seems humanoid.

Within moments though, Lara is stepping over to the net fastener on the wall, and using her knife to cut around the knot. "Hold still." She quietly says. "Be ready for--"

The net drops to the ground as the line is snapped via Lara's silvery bladed knife!

Alderic has posed:
    With catlike grace, Alderic collides against the ground with a heavy thud. He groans, and starts trying to untangle himself from the web of netting. His tail flicks and he gradually works his way free, and before long Lara has a feline man, complete with fur and tail, crouched on all fours beside her. He takes a moment to smooth the fur along his forearm using his tongue, and he rubs his arm against his head to help smooth down the fur there as well. After a moment he finally looks up at Lara, tilting his head curiously.

    "Rrowl!" he greets her, peering up at her with wide, curious, feline eyes. It seems her warning had proven effective, because the cougar-man doesn't immediately try to pounce and eat her. Instead he seems to be waiting for a moment, watching her. It's very off-putting just how catlike it is in expression - especially since his eyes shine when the light hits them just right.

Lara Croft has posed:
It is unsettling, because Lara has had to kill big cats in the past. She had never wanted to, but they'd not given her a choice. It had been a kill or be killed situation, and she did the killing.

But that was then, this is now. She does keep her knife at her side, but as Alderic is freed, and begins to tend to himself post-netting, Lara just takes a couple steps back, and observes.

She gently dips her slim pointed chin down in a little nod toward him. "I'm not sure how you got yourself caught in that, or why there was such a net even setup like this here to begin with, but... you don't seem injured. So that is a positive." She states.

She tilts her head to the side ever so gently then as she observes him. "You don't speak any English at all?" She asks. "Do you understand it?" She further inquires as her brown eyes do give another glance toward the mouth of the alley, before her stare returns to the Puma Man.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic's expression perks when Lara asks if he understands English. He certainly doesn't speak it! However her question gets an enthusiastic nod from the cougar-man! At least there's that. Her curiousity seems to have encouraged the feline man's as well, and he prowls fearlessly closer to her. That dim-witted bravery might have something to do with how he got himself tangled up. Now, of course, he's using it to investigate Lara a bit, and he prowls around her in a circle while sniffing at her curiously. When he comes around the other side of her, he nuzzles up against her hand - not the one still weilding the knife. He purrs, the sound deep and resonant from his chest as he nuzzles his cheek against her hand. Perhaps he just wants to thank her for freeing him!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara can see that he does seem to at least be able to understand her. "Well, that's something." She quietly notes before he begins his circular inspection of her. She simply watches him, until he ends up on the other side to brush against her non-knife hand. "Right." She quietly says before she slips that claw-shaped knife back behind the small of her back where it is tucked back in to the leather sheath on her belt. "I'm glad you're not injured." She tells him, her left hand going up to press fingers to the top of his head then.

Her eyes return to the net, then bounce up to where the net was hanging from. "So strange..." She says, taking a step forward to look directly up at the rigging. She's a curious one.

Her eyes return down to the Puma then, and she nods to him again. "Do you know who set this trap up?" She asks. "It seems like it was almost designed specifically for you..."

Alderic has posed:
    The gentle press of fingers to the top of his head is met with a warm purring from the feline man, who seems quite happy to let Lara investigate the trap as well. He follows her over to the ropes again, leaning in close, peering at them curiously alongside her. However, Alderic has no idea what she's looking for, or what might give her a clue as to the trap's origins. When she asks, Alderic straighens upright a bit, and after a moment of thought shakes his head! He doesn't know, himself, who might be looking for him here. It's a dangerous game to come after him, what with Xavier's being so close.

    Alderic doesn't particularly provide any useful information for the investigation, but Lara might find some peculiar marks that might suggest it was a group of people rather than one individual. Though where they came from, and where they went, is left largely to mystery at this moment!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara was not oblivious to the News. Mutants were having a tough summer this year, what with that Mutation Reversal drug being voted on soon in the US Senate. She had heard about an uptick in Mutant related violence. Is this part of that? She may never know.

She observes his response, before nodding her head softly. Lara leans down then to pick up the net, bending her legs at the knees for a moment as she gathers up all the pieces, and balls them up in her arms. "Well. I'm glad I found you before they did." She states, before rising up again to her full height.

She affords the Puma a small smile before she steps past him to one of the green trash recepticals in the alleyway. She uses her right thumb to lift the lid up, then drops the net in to it, letting it spill out of her possession down in to the plastic bin.

The lid drops down with a thud, and Lara wipes her hands on her denim covered thighs as she looks back to Alderic again.

"Are you safe now?" She asks him. "Do you need a ride somewhere?" She tilts her head then as she stares curiously at his feline-face.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic watches Lara curiously - he could understand her words, certainly, but he had no idea about the news or the struggles the mutant populace of the city is really facing. He doesn't know anything about politics or things like that! Instead, the feline man continues to follow her as she heads over to one of the trash bins to dispose of the netting. He looks up at her with a curious expression, head tilted slightly, ears twitching. Her question draws another "Rrowr!" from him, and he suddenly springs forward to nuzzle against her side, purring warmly! That may be an affirmative, of course the big catman is going to have a difficult time telling her where he might want to go!

Lara Croft has posed:
The response from the Puma has Lara showing a soft smirk. "Not a very great question for someone who cannot speak." She tells herself outloud as he shows his affection. She holds her keys between her hands then, pouring them from her left palm in to her right, and back again, as she mulls the situation over in her head.

"I doubt you're from Manhattan if you're up here on foot..." She quietly says to him as she glances back down at him on her right side now. She draws in a breath and exhales sharply.

"I can drive you around, and you can ... I don't know... make noises when we get closer to where you want to be?" She asks with a light laugh at the absurdity of the suggestion.

"For all I know you're from Boston though..." She says in a bit of a defeated sounding tone of her English accented voice.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic's head tilts a bit, and his eyes shift back and forth as they follow the keys being transferred from hand to hand, back and forth. His tail twitches a little, ears perked as he watches the shiny, jingly metal move, and his eyes widen a little...

    Then she's saying something longer and Alderic has to struggle to get his attention back on her! He only hears 'make noise when we get closer to where you want to be" and the cougar response with a vocal, enthusiastic "Rrrowl!" Perhaps this is closer to where he wants to be! But what that might mean is anyone's guess, as well. Alderic tilts his head again, peering up at Lara curiously now. He doesn't, either, know how this might work out! But from the looks of him, he might not have a place to go to, anyway!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara smirks softly at his reaction before she shakes her head once. "Perhaps I should ask around at some of the stores. Maybe the employees know something about you." She further states before she fidgets a bit where she stands. "Hang out here for a bit?" She asks him then, before she turns to walk toward the mouth of the alley.

Unless otherwise stopped, Lara would spend the next several minutes checking in with a couple of the nearby stores that are open and have life inside them.

It's about a ten minute wait before she's returning, the sun down behind the horizon now with the sky still visibly lit, but getting rapidly darker, street lights on now across the town of Salem Center.

"You're a bit of a Ghost, it seems." Lara says when she returns to where she'd left him.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic tilts his head again, curiously, as Lara leaves him for a moment to go question the stores nearby about him. He isn't quite where she left him when she returns - the city got darker and Alderic is quite accustomed to lurking in the dark, what with all the time he spends around Gotham. He isn't far away, though, just hiding in the shadows while he waits for her to come back. He greets her again with another friendly "Rrowl!" as he prowls out of the darkness towards her. She's met with another nuzzle against her hand, a warm purr coming from the big cougar-man. He looks up to her again when she mentions his being a ghost - he sort of is! Though if she asked around in certain hero circles she might learn a lot more about him! At least there's the collar on his neck, and the tag on it that might give her a clue about where he came from. His name is there, too!

Lara Croft has posed:
As it turned out too, Lara returned with a gift for him. "Here." She offers him a hotdog with all the fixings inside of a little cardboard tray. At first she went to offer it directly out to him, but then she realized he was more of a animal than a man when it came to holding such things, and soon she's crouching to set it on the ground for him, should he be hungry enough.

It is here that she notices the collar, and is quick to lean in over him to read the name enscribed on it. "Alderic?" She asks, sitting back on her heels then. "Well, that's something." She notes, exhaling softly. "It looks pretty worn though..." She sighs as her left hand moves up to stroke at her forehead, over her hairline. "I would take you to SHIELD, but I get the feeling you'd hate that." She mutters before smirking down at him again.

"My place is off limits, I'm afraid too. My German Shepherd wouldn't understand... and I'm not sure you'd like him either." She huffs out a small laugh.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic is immediately interested in the hotdog, the big feline man purring loudly as he crouches there beside her. He's staring up at the hotdog, laser-focused on it! He seems to have been taught -some- manners, though, because he waits for her to set it down before he chomps down on it! He nearly eats the cardboard tray too, and before long he's licking at the remnants of the container on the ground.

    It seems Lara is the cougar's newest friend, and he lifts his head when she says his name. He response with a happy "Rowl!" as though affirming that it's his name. He tilts his head at the mention of SHIELD, but he doesn't know anything about them! Of course there's a good chance that he'll get poked and prodded at until they figure out what to do about him! It might be safer for him to go somewhere else, perhaps, though somewhere with a dog seems to have Alderic in agreement with April! He does not often get along with canines!

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara looks down at the emptied cardboard tray, she can only smirk at the clean job he'd done on it. She picks it up then, and dumps the tray in to the same bin she'd put the net, then turns back to face the wild one once more. "Alright, well. I know a farm near here, I can see if they'd be up for having you stay over for a bit. I think my vouching for your kind heart might be enough to let them warm up to you." She states with a soft laugh before she turns toward the mouth of the alley and motions for him to follow her. "Come on."

She invites him toward her Jeep, which is only teen or so paces away from the alley. The doors are unlocked, and she offers him passage in to her vehicle while she pushes the books she'd bought in to the back.

"I think that's the best option I've got for you, Alderic." She says, using his name to keep it memorized within her mind.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic listens curiously, tilting his head. He's never been to a farm! The idea excites the cougar, and when Lara invites him into the car the puma-man eagerly bounds up into it. Of course, he perches on the seat, crouched on all fours rather than sitting in it like he should. His tail swishes, twitching excitedly, and he rowls excitedly at Lara! It seems he's ready to go!

Lara Croft has posed:
The Cougar Man gets a small smile from the Briton, and she slips the door shut once he's inside. It takes her but a moment to get in to the vehicle herself, and once inside she has it keyed on. The music comes on rather loudly, but it is a soft piano melody at least! She's quick to dial the volume down, and smirks over at him again. "Right, well. I'm going to try and bargain for you to get a place to stay in their barn. I get the sense from you that a barn would not be the worst place you've stayed." She notes, as she gets them on the move.

Lara gets the jeep out on the road, and is sure to glance over at him again on her right side now. "You're okay with this?" She asks him then, her eyes glancing at his collar once more, since the company name on it did concern her a bit, but she'd have to check in to it later.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic is purring, happily riding along beside Lara in the front of the car. He leans his head out the window while they drive along, maw parted with a little panting as the wind whips past his furred face! He leans back in and looks at Lara when she asks if he's okay with it. He replies with another "Rowr!", which seems to be a good thing! He's not trying to escape at least - he's not even wearing a seatbelt, though that might not be much use with the way he's sitting anyhow.