15900/Knight to Asgardian

Knight to Asgardian
Date of Scene:	21 September 2023
Location:	Belvedere Castle
Synopsis:	Chess in the park with an Asgardian prince.
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Monica Chang, Daisy Johnson

---

Thor has posed:
    In the shadow of Belvedere Castle...
    Kings and Queens and Knights and Bishops lived out their lives and shaped the realms in which they dwelt. On tiles of white and blac, soldiers sortied, knights rode forth, and armies clashed. Lives were lost and the clatter of pieces was heard as the warriors were removed from the board. Sometimes, at various tables under a plastic awning, there was the sound of hands striking wood and metal, as timed clocks were used to keep the pressure upon the combatants.
    And though faces were stern and grim, there still was room for rulers of these boards to embrace a more relaxed version of the game they were playing.
    For today there was a Prince amongst them. And he was enjoying a game.
    "I am more familiar with the older version of this game... if memory serves." The blond noble was picking up the pieces, setting them in their place, "Though we did not call it Chess. It was the King's Table. Which made sense, since we played it on his table."
    He took one of his pawns from his opponents pile, added it to its place on the board, then started to set all of his pieces aright.

Monica Chang has posed:
Sitting across from the Prince of Asgard was an unassuming young woman. She was rather plain. No clothes to set her out from the crowd, no makeup to change her appearance from what it normally was, no fancy haircut nor elaborate fingernails. Her dark hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and she wore a black, baggy t-shirt which had the a white van on it with the words Free Candy written on the side of the van in sloppy script. The words around it? I see the candy first, then I get in the van...I'm not stupid. A pair of joggers on her legs in a matching black, black and white sneakers covered her feet. No makeup. Nails were trimmed short but kept clean and neat.

Monica started setting her own pieces as she considered his words. "The King's Table. Never heard of it. I'm always up for learning new things. You could teach me?" A little hopeful rise in the question as she asked for such a boon despite the fact the probably didn't really have time to teach such complex games.

Thor has posed:
    Thor chuckled, "In all honesty it has been some time. Usually..." He says as he finishes getting his pieces in order, then flares his hands slightly as if confused as to the next step. Yet he continues speaking. "I sort of stumble along, and I make a move and I hope that it is not against the rules for one thing or another. Sometimes I am chastened, sometimes I am not."
    A brief moment of a pause, then he adds. "Perhaps there is a metaphor for life that can be cobbled together from within those words I just spoke."
    He smiles slightly to himself, amused on some level for some reason, then he asks, "Which side goes first?"

Monica Chang has posed:
"I'll be sure to let you know what can and cannot be done as we go. You can't learn if you were never told, after all. And I get that you're a prince and all that stuff, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you."

Monica motioned to the pieces in front of him. "White goes first. And slightly more often, statistically speaking, wins. Fifty-two or fifty-six percent, dependant on the study," she added because Monica was nothing if not a geek. It sort of came with the territory when she worked in R&D in the Artificial Intelligence department. "I'll look up the King's Table later and we'll play that next time." Like there would be a next time?!

"Do you want me to run through the basics of what piece can move how? Or you think you have it mostly?"

Thor has posed:
    "No, no, I'm sure I'll be fine." Thor straightens up and rubs the stubble upon his chin, still sporting that slightly haggard look, apparently shaving but not as regularly as someone should if they are say, attending court. For now, however, he does seem to fit in with the crowd, considering he's wearing the same thing many of them are. It's that typical American uniform of sneakers, blue jeans, and a hoodie. Though he had added the accessory of a blue baseball cap that truly makes him blend in with the crowd.
    Were it not for the three and a half foot long heavy axe that rested against the leg of his metal park bench seat.
    "Very well, then I shall begin. The typical border skirmish, the lone soldier's assault." And with that he moves a pawn two spaces forward. The battle has begun.

Monica Chang has posed:
"I would think they'd send more than one but who am I to judge. I'm normally the one going for recon before the fight." Though she had been in her own fair share of battles, of course. Even during the fight against the Dark Elves, though her part in that battle was tiny. Just one face in the masses.

She considered the board then brought out her own pawn as well. "And the maneuvering for advantage begins," she adds with a grin, following his own narrative.

This was not her game really. She could play chess but she wasn't that great at it.

Thor has posed:
    "Indeed, we shall see who shall prevail." Thor offers as they begin to make their moves and the occasional counter-move. No clock for them, for it is a 'friendly' game, though really can any game with Monica be considered friendly? Hard to imagine. But for now Thor continues as the two players go about the play of the thing.
    "I was surprised to find that the King's Table had gained such prominence. I was told by your Agent Greyhame that they have crafted fine movies about the playing of this." He moves another piece, takes one of hers, promptly loses his in return. "I admit I feel a touch dubious about that. How can the playing of a game be... worthy of the telling of tales."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Do you often play with people that bring murder axes to the park?"

That's Daisy. Approaching at a pace towards the table, amused looking expression as she takes in the visage in front of her of the shield agent playing against the asgardian god, "Hello, Danger Jacket." she greets Monica. Then a glance to Thor. And it's not like he could hide who he is even if he wanted to. Specially not to someone with observational skills like those of Daisy!

To be honest she recognized him only because of the axe.

"Prince Thor."

Monica Chang has posed:
Hearing that familiar voice, Monica's expression shifts to a smirk. "At least if they carry an ax, you know what you're getting. It's the one's trying to hide things that you have to worry about."

She turned to spot Daisy and gave her a nod with a flash of a smile. "Thor was just talking to me about how can there be movies about chess. That are good an entertaining. Cause I've gotta be honest here, I've yet to see one. And I've seen a few. They're so... not fighty enough."

Probably suggesting she watch the Queen's Gambit would be a fail.

Thor has posed:
    "Ah, Lady Johnson," Thor does pause for the moment, looking up. "Good of you to join us. I received the message of this outing and it seemed like it might well be enjoyable." In truth it was a stroke of pure luck. For Thor rarely keeps track of _anything_ upon his cellphone. Yet he had been in the process of picking it up off of his desk in the study in the embassy when in that moment... a message was received. Right in that perfect moment.
    To be fair, perhaps Thor thought it was a message meant for him and just him and not just for a particular old mailing list that had his number on it connected to the Avengers. Yet he did show up, and voila.
    He then focused back on the game and moved his knight into place. The eyebrow over that strapless patch rose up as he asked, "Danger Jacket?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Queen's Gambit." Is what Daisy says next, "See it. Love it. It's all about the meeting of the minds." she explains with a somewhat vague gesture of her hand. "Not fighty ..., no." she replies with a slow nod.

"Although if we are talking about games, well, I can suggest you a couple with a lot of battle and chess." of course Daisy would know aaaaallll about chess games. Her gaze then goes to the game at hand, arms folding together. "It's a good place to relax, Prince." she tells the Avenger in agreement.

"I see a mate in five." she doesn't. She is just jostling the two of them but she keeps a serious expression about it. As for Monica's codename? She makes no comment about it.

Monica Chang has posed:
The question of the nickname is ignored. Even as Monica says, "I see mate in four. Where are you getting five?" And she leans her arms on the board, actually trying to work out what Daisy is talking about. And ignoring whatever that suggestion was for a chess movie. Cause nope. Give her an old Chuck Norris flick any day of the week. Some Bruce Lee. The world was good then.

The mention of the nickname has her scrunching up her face a little as she finds Daisy failing to fill in those blanks for Thor. "It's what she's taken to calling me because I haven't chosen a codename. Apparently I will be called this until I elect for something official. Since we already have someone using the one that is kind of obvious for me, I'm left trying to figure something out. Got any suggestions?"

She slid a bishop out into play.

Thor has posed:
    And then Thor says with a slight furrow to his brow and a glance spared to Daisy in that open and utterly honest way he has. "Really? I was thinking four as well." He looked at the board again as if wondering what he might have missed, because of course Daisy couldn't be having him on. And he had such a good poker face, such a good honest mien... that he couldn't be fibbing either!
    Could he?
    He then looks across the stone table toward the young woman before him.
    She then speaks toward the matter of her codename and his eyebrows rise. "I... have not ever really touched on the topic of codenames. Do you represent a particular geographic area and have a rank? Or perhaps... there is some material that you use often and connect it to your gender." Is he... being serious? And again that poker face.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Listen, it was a team effort and we chose the codename that made sense." A sagely nod out of Daisy when she says those words. For Thor's benefit. And maybe Monica's too ... "And no point in changing it now. Imagine the bureaucracy." no one wants to write up triplicate forms for codename changes! Specially not Daisy.

But then Thor is giving suggestions to Monica's name ..., and that makes Daisy stiffle a giggle. "Like uh ..., Steel Girl?" she arches a brow, smirking as she eyes Monica about her GREAT suggestion.

She doesn't even comment on the mate on four. She's fibbing. They are fibbing. Whoever knows when the game is gonna end?! Probably when one of them blunders big time.

Monica Chang has posed:
"Well, my understanding is I was born in China, raised in Russia, and now I'm American. So we'll go with a big fat No on geographic location," Monica decides as she looks at the board for a moment, playing out moves in her head. Not quite on the level of the Queen's Gambit cause she wasn't under the influence of anything.

"And what the f..." Monica, you are talking to a prince here. And her little mental voice called her back into line. "Fudge would be related to my gender? Cause what I can think of that is gender related would be something like a bra and other things I'm not saying in mixed company." A beat. "Or any company, for that matter."

She pursed her lips. "Though Carrie Fisher, God rest her soul, did have a great line about bras she wanted put on her tombstone. I wonder if they actually did that for her." Then a shake of the head dismissing her nerdy side tangent and getting back to the topic at hand.

"You work with someone who trained in the same place as I did in Russia. Agent Romanoff?" There, maybe that would give him something to work with.

Thor has posed:
    They indeed, on this day, are a bunch of fibbers. But Thor, weirdly enough, manages it pretty well today that he might well take the prize. For now, however, he enjoys the chat and the casual back and forth. He does not get that as often as he'd like.
    At the mention of Black Widow his brow raises again as he murmurs, "Ah, Natasha." Which has him nodding for a few moments, as if that was all he needed to know for whatever reason. He trusted the Widow, though many say he shouldn't, he does.
    "So something along those lines? Hrmmm." His brow knits, his expression focused on this. The Creative Process. He nods once then sits up a little to _look_ at Monica. To _really_ look at her. As he ponders her possible code name.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Drowning in moonlight and strangled by your bra?" Daisy says it without hesitation, being the nerd that she is, "Look, this is a family park so I won't go into all the kinks you could make out of those..." and she manages to deliver it with a straight face too. Though as they delve further into a choice for Monica's codename there's a grin out of the former Destroyer of Worlds.

"Oooh, are we going to get you the actual codename you want to have today?" She wonders, "No longer Danger Jacket but something more fitting? If not we can always ask Poppins for suggestions too.." another victim that took too long choosing an actual codename.

"How do you guys get your uh .., warrior names in Asgard?"

Thor has posed:
    "Usually our parents give it to us." Thor offers with a slight wryness toward Daisy.
    Another move, and they are well past the fourth and fifth, so no mate yet apparently. But Thor has turned his considerable mental powers on something else entirely. So perhaps his game is suffering. He is still levelling that stern one-eyed gaze upon Monica, gauging her and then he says a single word.
    "Perthrolocke."
    A nod is given, "It means the weaver of secrets. The thrower of dice. The revealer of the hidden. Or more literally, the mysterious spider."
    He casually draws a shape in the dust upon the tabletop, cleaning a small portion of it so that it looks like a fancy letter C. But also to them who are all into the Emoji, it looks like an angry face.

>_<

Monica Chang has posed:
Monica stares right back at Thor as he studies her. The average person would start to get uncomfortable under such scrunity after a few moments. Monica was not the average person. But despite staring right back at him, she still continued the conversation.

"Bonus points to Daisy for knowing the quote. But not choosing a bra or any other gender related item for my codename. And yes, hopefully we can get a real codename today. Or I'll continue searching." She shrugged.

Mention of Poppins had her wince visually and she shook her head, though her eyes never left Thor. And when he said the name, she blinked. Twice in face. Though when he explained what it was, she pursed her lips and nodded a bit. "I think...I will need to look this up later." Because it had merit. "Though it's a mouthful. Could shorten it maybe. Hmmm."

Then she moved a piece on the board. "Oh and Check."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"That's the angry emoji face." Ruthless Daisy. She knows he's trying to draw a rune but she won't make it easy on him. Or her! Daisy, destroyer of codename discussions. Still, there's something to be said about the meaning of it all and she nods. "Maybe something that we can say a bit more easily on comms..." she murmurs now in a more constructive manner!

"Ooooh, she has you against the ropes now.." Daisy states once that check is called.

But who would win!?

Thor has posed:
    "Ah, I hadn't thought of that." Thor says as he looks toward Daisy. For indeed it would be important to be able to speak the name over the comms. Then she says 'Check' and he looks to the board, unperturbed. He nods once in understanding, "Ah, congratulations."
    He then makes a move with only a tiny touch of hesitation...
    When abruptly there is a soft trill from his pocket as Daisy and Monica as well as the people around them in this morning enjoyment of boardgames... they will witness history being made. For it is a ring of a phone chirping a soft bing-bong of noise. And it comes from the pocket of Thor's grey hoodie. They will likely remark to their children the look of such _surprise_ on the Thunderer's face as he is accosted not just with that sound, but the feeling of a vibration against his abdomen which causes him to draw the phone from its pocket...
    And that look changes to one of incredulity, suspicion... and then wariness. For he reads the text message upon the surface.
    "Zounds." He actually says. "I am... hm."
    He reads the message, "I believe I am being requested?" He shows it to Monica and then Daisy as if to get their expert opinion on the matter. Which shows them the message from the Embassy. With just a single word.
    'Loki'
    He starts to rise, hand opening to his side just behind him as the axe /leaps/ into his hand with the faintest 'whom' sound.

Monica Chang has posed:
That was a sight to behold. It was obviously a cellphone. To anyone born in the last century. Which had Monica realizing Thor had not been born into the digital age. Instead, he had been born into the ancient times when everything was a lot more difficult. Simpler. But difficult. Life expectancy wasn't so high back in the time he had been on Earth. Or even before that.

She had to hide her smile as she watched his reaction then leaned in because... well, because she was a person that liked secrets and getting to actually look at Thor's cell phone and read the screen was something few would ever get the chance to do.

Little did she know that the more tech savvy members of the Asgardians as well as likely his Avengers teammates likely had to look at his stuff for him All The Time.

"Loki. Not sure if it means he's the reason they want you or he's the one calling but either way, probably best if you respond to it. You could just..." And she wigggled her thumbs in the air while her hands were together as though she was holding a phone herself. "Text back and ask what's up."

She might as well be asking a squirrel to fly to Europe.

Thor has posed:
    Still with knitted brow, the one-eyed prince says simply, "I... will go and speak with them. Lady Johnson, if you would be so kind as to defeat her for me? I would be most appreciative." As he says this he takes a few steps to the side, clearing the area as he smiles to them. "I bid you both good day."
    There's a single swirl of that large axe and abruptly there's the rush of wind and in the next instant a decided lack of an Asgardian.