6071/Hi Story Museum

Hi Story Museum
Date of Scene:	28 April 2021
Location:	American Museum of Natural History
Synopsis:	Lara and Roland meet at the Natural History museum in NY. Conversation is had, details are shared, and its a good bit of social fun.
Cast of Characters:	Lara Croft, Roland Livingston

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Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had spent the past few weeks back home in England. She'd had business to attend to her at her family home in Surrey. Being the Duchess of Surrey, Lara was required to make public appearances and maintain a presence amongst the socialite side of the British nobility. She didn't like that stuff, not even a little. But it was important to her parents, and she'd do it and maintain it for their legacy. Plus, the family home was in utter dissarray after a bad storm hit the region She'd had to setup repair plans to get the old country manor back in to the historic levels it deserved to uphold.

In the now, Lara was back in New York City. She'd brought with her a few items from her father's collection she'd taken out of the Manor's own display museum. Egyptian artifacts, something she was eager to get put in to a more public display status,a nd out of the hands of private collections, likeher family's.

So this is where the young explorer and SHIELD Agent is now. Standing in the Egyptian History section of the Natural History Museum, Lara is dressed casually, having been walking with one of the curators of this section after turning the items over to them. She's smiling and nodding her head to some of the things that they're saying to her before the part from her and move off in to the museum.


Lara is left there on her own for the now, her eyes going to the glass wall beside her to look at a sarcophogus behind the reflective display covering.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Needing to kill some time, Roland has finally found his way to the museum for the first time since he visited New York as a kid. It's a good spot to contemplate and study all that came before. He looks fairly relaxed as he strolls the halls and looks over the exhibits, enjoying himself as he reads the placards on display and views the various items.

By the time he ends up in the Egyptian section he's pulled out a small recording device so that he can quietly mutter into it, "The magic of Kemetism is known to have its background in ancient Egypt and predates even the pyramids. It's not usually particularly flashy when compared to more modern European influenced sorcery, but there are exceptions..." He trails off when he spots the young woman looking over the sarcophagus. He heads in her direction to check out the display, "The funerary rituals of the Egyptians are quite interesting, aren't they?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is dressed in a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a pair of khaki cargo trousers and a white tanktop beneath the black shirt, a set of simple leather boots on her feet. She looks over to the man as he approaches and offers him a quick smile. "Quite." She says in response to him.

A look is given tothe man before she motions back toward the display. "In fact, I've been spearheading efforts to get some of those types of items taken out of privately held hands in London and brought back to Egypt. Or at least, here first, then back to their home." She glances back at him with another smile. "Mummy Unrapping Parties of the 19th century left a number of rather interesting artifacts in the hands of people who really simply do not need to have them." She grins  faintly then. "The oddities of the not so distant past are just as odd as the much more distant past."

Roland Livingston has posed:
As Roland speaks his own upper class English accent becomes more apparent. The fellow smiles and nods, "I can't tell you how many of those things my ancestors went to looking for magical bits and bobs." There's faint laughter, "They recorded everything in their journals. Dreadfully dull. Until they weren't." His eyes scan the sarcophagus once more, "Getting these things out of the hands of private collectors is an admirable goal. My family collected quite a lot of crap and hoarded it, which was, it turns out, not the greatest idea." Attention returning to the woman he smiles, "I intend to share my findings and knowledge if I can. Demystify a lot of the stuff out there."

Lara Croft has posed:
When he delves in to a bit about his own family's history of partaking in those things, Lara suddenly looks a little more intrigued in him and his general presence as a while. "Is that so?" She asks, tilting her head to the side a little. "I don't suppose I might know your name hten?" She asks, offering a hand to him along with a faint smile. "I'm Lara. Croft." She offers her own first, a name he may very well know, or at least know half of it. She's made headlines in the past year though, starting with a rather big revelation regarding the discovery of a lost Japanese island, and several more things since coming to the United States to work for SHIELD.

"But yes, the boom of Egypt mania that swept across England back then has left a very deep mark in the rich history of such an amazing part of our world." She smiles again, before adding softly.

"Every little bit helps though, setting right the wrongs of the past."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Of the Surrey Crofts?" The young man asks her, sounding faintly surprised. "Roland Livingston, at your service." He takes her hand for a firm, friendly squeeze, giving off a bright smile.

"It's hard to undo all the damage that was done by people who didn't know any better, but anything one can do to preserve history is quite important. I'd love to get into Iraq, myself. Mesopotamian and Arabic magical history is absolutely fascinating to me. I can get lost studying the stuff for days before I remember to surface for food."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara accepts the hand and shakes it before she nods her head to his question. "That's right, yes." She states softly. "Livingstons?" She fires back. "I believe I've heard of your family as well, I was rather obsessed with castles when I was alittle." She once more shows a little lopsided grin before she lowers her hand down to her lap where she laces her fingers together.

His talk of Iraq and the opportunities for archaeological research there has her smiling yet stilll, reserved, but still pleased!

"Are you a teacher?" She asks him then. "In the field in some capacity, I assume, unless you're just an avid fan of all things old and dusty." She states in good humor before glancing toward the case and then back to the man. "I haven't spent a lot of time in the Middle East, but you're right, it'd be easy to get in to the history there as well."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Our castle was quite nice, until it was razed," Livingston replies to Lara with a shrug of his shoulders. "All I've got are a handful of photos and a pile of rubble any more."

"I'm an assistant teacher at Happy Harbor High School," he says rather proudly. "And my field work is mostly non-traditional. Us Livingstons collected all things having to do with magic and mysticism. Had quite the collection, too."

Roland chuckles and nods, "There's so much history there it makes home look young in comparison. Unfortunately much of the region is inaccessible or the historical sites there were damaged or destroyed over time."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara keeps her eyes on him as he explains a bit about the castle which has her showing a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry that it was subject to such a fate." She quietly says to it.

The rest of what he says has her eventually tilting her head again toward him. The magic and mysticism part in particular. "You might fit in well with my day job." She says then in response before she takes a second to smil eand explain.

"I work for WAND, a deivision of SHIELD." She starts. "The lovers of on the nose acronyms." She states with another little flicker of a smile. "But yes, this one standing for Wizardry Alchemy and Necromancy division. I've been working as an artifact acquisition specialist for them for a little over a year now. It... opens up borders quite a lot, to places like." She motions toward him. "Iraq, for instance. I've enjoyed my work with them, and I'm rather certain that if I weren't in the Agency I'd have a much harder time doing the things that call to me, such as I do."

Roland Livingston has posed:
Roland shrugs, "Me too, but I can't worry much about it now. I'll find the being that did it and take care of him some day."

"WAND, you say? That does sound quite interesting. I could certainly use something like that to open more doors for me. Are they hiring consultants? I do that for the local police department from time to time."

An expression of curiosity settles on his face, "What does SHIELD do with the items you retrieve? I assume they've got the facilities to keep them safe."

Lara Croft has posed:
To be honest the initial response to his castle's destruction does intrigue her, but Lara lets it lay for now. She nods her head softly at the next part. "You'd definitely have a lot more doors opened up to you working with SHIELD's magical department rather than local law enforcement. I... I can't even describe the strange magical situations I've found myself in in the past year." She smirks softly then before she reaches in to her pocket on her thigh and pulls out a smal lleather book that has her phone in it along with a few cards. Lara offers him one.

"SHIELD contact information." She tells him. "You may like what you find with them, I believe anyway." And with that she nods softly one time. "They have storage facilities that we keep things safely contained within. I... wish they could reside in museums, but some items are just too dangerous. We've recovered things that would likely make your eyes pop." She adds with another soft grin for the man.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Taking the card from Lara, Roland looks at it for a moment before he puts it away. Then he reaches into his jacket to pull out his own business card case and offers one over. It's black with metallic letters and numbers. Name, phone number and email are all on there. "My contact information. Should you ever need me for anything, or if you need a presentable date to any of your affairs back home." He smiles. "We kept numerous artifacts like that safe for hundreds of years. I doubt SHIELD will get as complacent as we did, but they should be prepared for anything."

There's another grin on his face, "I'd love to see what you've got in there. I'll have to see if they're hiring consultants or adventurers or what have you."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara, of course, accepts the offered returned contact information and she glances at it before she hears the offer for company to the public affairs back in England which has her conveying him a pleased look in response. He clearly knows what some of the responsibilitiesentail back home. She nods once to that as well.

"It sounds like you'd be right up the proper interest category for it." She tells him about the WAND consultation position. "To be entirely upfront, magic has never been my focus. My nose has always been buried in the books detailing the legends of the past, never so much the posibilities of magic, or how to wield it. I've been... trying to change that though, becuase clearly it'll help my job."

She glances to the display beside them before looking back toward him. "I confronted a demon in an alleyway a little over a week or two ago, and, well, I had the Grimoire with me that I believe would've helped me banish her, I wasn't sure how to read it properly to do it. I feared summoning something far worse that might help her." Lara smirks again.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I've been messing with magical knowledge without being a practitioner for most of my life," the young Englishman explains. "It's important to be the right sort of person to actually cast spells. So many things can go wrong, so much temptation to be found..." Roland smiles at her, "You're quite wise to seek other ways to get rid of demons whenever possible. Exorcisms aren't really a use of magic and can be used to rid yourself of many demons. I'm not much of an exorcist myself, though, more likely to try to silver blades and bullets and holy relics."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara looks away for a moment as a pair of museum workers that she seemingly knows speak out to her. She offers them a nod and a wave of her right hand before looks back to Roland.

His talk of how to more safely fight a demon has her smiling more largely toward him. "Yes." She replies. "My opions were the book, my sidearm, or my wits. I tried to use my wits and convince the demonic girl that her wicked ways would only bring her trouble if she continued them. I... don't think I succeeded much, but I did get her to leave the hot dog vendor alone that she was terrorizing. Some that's... something?"

Another smirk comes from the young woman then as she doesn't seem so sure of her own results there. "I'll take what I can get, I guess. But yes, if you've experience in fighting creatures and monsters, I am sure SHIELD would find that appealing as well. We've a number of agents who specialize in that too." Hellboy for instance!

Roland Livingston has posed:
"That was likely the right call under the circumstances," Roland tells Lara with a nod. "Many demons can be reasoned with. It can be dangerous, but if you're not prepared to fight one you must try to out think them. Or bluff them." There's a soft chuckle, "Even if it's still out there I'm certain the hot dog vendor appreciates what you did. Take victories where you can find them."

"I've fought a number of monsters and such. I'll add that to my resume before sending it in to WAND. I killed a Vodyanoy when I was sixteen, for instance. Dramatically reduced drownings in that part of Russia."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara purses her lips and just nods her head once to him about the demon she fought, but when he brings up a Slavic ghost she raises an eyebrow. "Impressive." She tells him. "I had yet to experience anything of the sort until I was out of college. Just barely, but still." She says with a light smile.

"I had no idea that so much... folklore was in fact real. I guess you could say I lived a somewhat sheltered life. Especially the first decade or so of it." Lara states softly before she glances toward the display beside them.

"Things have certainly changed now though. I know so much more of all of this was far more real than we'd like to tell our children at bedtime." She looks back to him and smiles once more. "So yes, it's good to step forward to help stop them before they can truly terrorize."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I was tutored extensively at the castle," Roland explains with a chuckle. "My education was quite comprehensive."

"So many more things than even we've heard of or seen are out there somewhere," the fellow lets out a sigh. "You're quite right about the importance of dealing with magical threats, though. So many people, even law enforcement and military personnel, are ill equipped to deal with the paranormal. Joining an organization that helps to combat that threat might be quite a good use of my talents and time."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara turns her back to the Egyptian display then so she can face him more outright. She nods her head at his first bit about education. "Yes, my parents hired a tutor as well, a number of them in fact, as I was quite hard on them." She says with a sly grin.

"As for WAND, yes, and if nothing else, perhaps it'd let you open some borders up to your own desires to explore." Lara says with a smile showing for him again. "But if not, a teacher is still avery respect worthy position. This Happy Harbour place is good to have you, incase any monster attacks befall it, God willing they don't of course." She tries to play up a little joke.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Lara's comment about tutors elicits laughter from Roland who nods his head, "My siblings were a little more abusive than I was, but we went through a number of them ourselves."

"We've had cultists of some manner since I've been there. I'm more afraid for anything that dares attack the school than I am for the children, if I'm being honest," he says with some laughter. "I have to park my vehicle a thousand feet away from the premises so I can keep weapons in it, however, so I'm not certain how quickly I could get to them in the event of a dire emergency."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara keeps her hands in front of her lap as she listens to him and smiles back, though the talk of a cultist attack has her showing a look of concern, but he seems to convey it was handled well enough.

At the mention of his vehicle she starts to slowly grin and shake her head. "If you value your vehicle, SHIELD may not be the best for you. Why I'd just moved to the States for my assignment at the SHIELD HQ here, when a week or so in to my active duty I was involved in a high speed chase and an active shooter. He ... peppered my brand new Jeep with an Uzi, of, all, things." She sighs at those memories. "I suppose it could've gone much worse, yes. But you should've seen the look on the dealership's faces when I brought it back to the lot." She huffs out a small laugh then.

"But, I mean, that was likely a far fetched scenario, I'm sure yours would be safe. Plus, if you've trained in weapons, you'd be prepared to deal with a number of situations that do seem to crop up as a SHIELD agent. Or even a consultant. They've a number of those too who get in to trouble along side us."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I can always get a new one, though I might save the Bentley for special occasions and find something more easily replaced for everyday driving," Roland says, grinning. "Haven't had a high speed chase in quite some time, but if I do join SHIELD I imagine things would be a bit different." At the mention of the dealership's reaction he starts laughing right alongside Lara.

"I'm quite adept with everything from assault rifles to long swords, thankfully," Livingston says.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara raises her right hand up to sweep some of her dark hair back off of her forehead and stroke it back behind her ear. She smiles at the bit about the cars and nods to him. "That would be well advised." She softly says back in good humor.

When he speaks of the weapons training she nods two quick and small times to that. "Then we are in similar places when it comes to when SHIELD first became an option. I uh..." She exhales a little. "After my parents passed away, my legal guardian became my father's best friend. He was a survivalist himself, and from the start of my teenage years in to my college days, he taught me everything I know about weapons, survival training, and even a bit about flying helicopters." She grins more openly.

"These kinds of things will help you though, when it comes to joining SHIELD. I've had no military or law enforcement background training, but my life experience put me ahead of a lot of the other applicants. Seems it may do the same for you." She states with a small smile.

"But no, I'm not trying to take a teacher away from your school. I hate to sound as though I am some kind of ... recruitment officer, earning a commission off of new recruits..." She pauses, then speaks quickly. "That isn't the case, I promise."

Roland Livingston has posed:
"A survivalist? Sounds like an interesting fellow," Roland nods towards Lara. "I've never learned to fly, even amidst the other skills I've developed. I've got pilots on my staff, actually, I could probably get them to instruct me." He looks thoughtful for a few seconds before returning to the conversation, "Yes. I imagine I'd be right up their alley, so to speak, despite never having served."

Then he laughs, "I'd like to do both, so perhaps trying to get a position as a consultant would be best."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara gives a quick smile at the talk of her mentor. "He was a greatd man." She says softly, implying that she lost him just as she lost her parents too.

A light breath is taken in then and she slips his contact info card in to her leather book and then closes it and slides it back n to the pocket ont he side of her right thigh. "I agree. I'm glad I bumped in to you this afternoon, Mister Livingston." She gives him another smile then.

"I won't take up any mor eof your museum time though, I should likely be on my way, I haven't stopped by home yet since returning from London, I best check in on the loft." Lara offers him another hand then. "If you have any questions though, about SHIELD or things of the ancient and lost variety, feel free to reach out." She states with another hint of a grin.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Taking Lara's hand in his own for another shake, Roland smiles at her, "Excellent. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon. I had a wonderful time talking with you."

"You reach out to me for anything you may need. Silver bullets, for instance, or backup if you run across anything that bumps in the night."

He stops for a second, "And if you ever hear anything about Gebhard the Undying please contact me immediately."