622/And Many Happy Returns, Lord Rogers

And Many Happy Returns, Lord Rogers
Date of Scene:	19 March 2020
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Back Yard
Synopsis:	The Avengers present in the manor meet after Thor, Steve, and Natasha return to discuss the outcome of the visit to the Court. Not all is settled in the end.
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, T'Challa

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Thor has posed:
    The morning had arrived and likely ill humors and tempers along with. The sun rose and well before they departed Thor had been making preparations. None too obviously sent about, nor staggeringly impressive. More last minute orders and a few requests from the courtiers that owed him favors. Yet it did make it that when Captain Rogers and Natasha arose he was likely waiting for them.
    The return to the Bifrost was quick. Heimdall, ever vigilant, stood sentinel and ready, triggering the rainbow bridge to launch the Avengers back to their home...
    And once again infinity greeted their senses with that several minutes ride across the universe, hurtling so fast as to blur the senses unless one held a single focal point for that time.
    Then there was the rush of arrival, the brilliant beam scoring across the cement drive, the blast burning the crest of Asgard into the surface of the stone and depositing the heroes back upon Earth. A brilliance from whence Thor emerged, hammer in hand and his steps quick as he looked around their surroundings then shook his head.
    "Before we speak we should step inside."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha does not generally have a 'throw up in the morning' kind of constitution for drinking; even though she usually doesn't drink much at all. But she felt oddly tempted to for half the night. While she was successful in holding her collective lunch, she's lost a touch of vibrancy by next morning', tired and troubled, though still able to will a friendly smile onto her face in the presence of non-Avengers.
    The trip home just about breaks her.
    "Huffummmnnn..." she huffs and groans muffledly behind tightly closed lips. Still a feast for the senses! But unfortunately the feast for her stomach is NOT ready for it.
    "... Yeah." She finally manages with some effort and begins to head inside, sparing a rueful glance at the ground which she has now had a hand in defacing instead of just Thor for once.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Admittedly, Steve hadn't slept well. The super-serum didn't allow for much of a shadow beneath his eyes, but there was a pensive reticence to all that he did. The weight of the responsibility gifted to him was something he still worked to balance on his shoulders. In order to avoid the worst of the sensory overload of the Bifrost's travel, he had affixed his attention on Thor's left epaulet; beyond and around them, reality shimmered and strung out into endless prismatic strands.

Then, familiar gravel sporting a familiar circular burn, and despite the sharper scent of heated rock, he sighs in relief. Home. Natasha gets a sympathetic glance, poor thing.

"Yeah, inside. Anybody who needs to can change out of clothing or get some water, get comfortable first." A lifted gesture of hand towards the door and Steve moves to open it for the others to pass into the confines of the mansion.

Thor has posed:
    Through the back door of the mansion, Thor strides. Once within he takes a deep breath and then bellows, "JARVIS! Make those within the bounds of these halls aware that Thor is returned with the good Captain and Lady Natasha." He sets Mjolnir down with a thump upon prep island in the middle of that well provisioned kitchen. His cape snapping as he walks, armor clanking, though a silvery flame flickers to life over his frame. Each place the flame touches his clothes slip away to be replaced by the more usual garb he wears when on Midgard.
    << Yes, sir. Informing the Avengers. >>
    He stops and looks to the others as they walk in as well and he says, "Do we have any other ways to stop others from listening in on our words?" That question is sent towards Natasha, but also likely to JARVIS as well.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha winces as Thor bellows at full volume, holding one eye shut  as she passes through the doorway and into the mansion before leaning against the nearest wall with one hand.
    Taking deep slow breaths for a moment, Natasha answers "Depends on if Jarvis is allowed to shut down that part of security for a little while." She sniffs sharply and straightens up, visibly centering herself. "Apart from that... quiet voices and a white noise generator?" She shakes her head. "Short of sailing out to the middle of the ocean, we're probably in the safest place we can be for handling our business."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Nat's right," comments Steve from over by the fridge. His ear is still ringing a little from being nearby that particular bellow, but nothing a little orange juice won't fix. Still in full spangled regalia of his navy-blue stealth-suit and with shield on his back, he plucks the juice from the shelf in the fridge and then a glass from the nearby cupboard.

"No place more safe unless we want to find a subterranean meeting room over in the Triskelion 'nd that'll take some travel time." He glances over at Thor and Natasha before drinking a third of the glass in one sitting, just to make room for more to be poured. "JARVIS has that protocol 'Earmuffs' if we need it. White noise 'nd other things like temporary cut-off of electrical signals."

Thor has posed:
    "Very well," Thor says, features stern and his expression grim as he murmurs sharply. "JARVIS!"
    << Sir. >>
    The Thunderer folds his arms across his chest, denim jacket bunching up around his biceps as he grimaces. "Invoke protocol Earmuffs." He nods slowly, solemnly, awaiting the reply.
    << At once, sir. >>
    And with that the room's lighting very subtly changes and there is the slightest ringing in the background almost like a level of tinnitus newly discovered. It's enough, and will have to do as Thor looks around. "And I see no ravens," Which is apparently another requirement.
    "We should await the others, however."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony, for the most part, had been lingering around the Mansion awaiting the return of his fellow Avengers from Asgard. It was less a case of wanting news, and more of wanting to make sure they didn't have too much fun without him. He'd done plenty of fun stuff while they were away - sure he had! He got a selfie with Power Girl! Also, he'd made syrniki, but they'd stuck to the pan, so he'd more accurately made a bowl of syrniki bits. Whatever, he can experiment with cooking when nobody's around to judge. Just try and stop him!

"The yelling's alert enough," Tony announces, emerging into the hallway with hands shoved casually into his pockets. He's in his blazer and the Black Widow t-shirt his merchandising effort has rendered, the front of it dusted with what looks like no small amount of flower. He reaches down to bat at it and clean off it as he strolls towards them.

"How's Papa Odin? Bearded? I bet he has a beard."

He pauses a moment as the white noise generator kicks in, sticking a finger in his ear and wiggling it around irritably.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha gestures to Tony when he makes her arrival, as if to indicate 'there you go' in response to Thor. She makes a slightly greater effort to stand up straight, and crosses her arms. "There's- yeah. Yeah he has... a big white beard- Tony there's been a serious complication."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Hey Tony." The usual curt and friendly greeting comes from over by the kitchen island-counter where Steve leans against it. He lifts his orange juice in further greeting and glances over at the Widow when she speaks up.

"Things got complicated, yes." However, the Captain's attention slides back to Thor. After all, the Asgardian speaks possibly more plainly than him in regards to most things -- except for grand tales of dering-do at the dinner table over drinks. Thor wins in this case.

Thor has posed:
    As the others seem to defer to him, Thor folds his arms across his broad chest and nods again slowly. He chews on the inside of his cheek as if forming the appropriate words, settles on them, then embarks upon the tale as he looks toward Tony.
    "The news is in essence ultimately good news." He offers, perhaps trying to mitigate or taking this tack as he then looks to the others as if expecting them to back him up. Though that cursory glance to Natasha and Cap likely comes back without much success nor support. He turns his blue eyes back upon Tony and says, "My father thought well of our good captain, and accepted him almost instantly. So our mission was a success."
    Again, true. In a way.
    "However, the complication arises in that he was so impressed with Steven that..." He tilts his head a little, again searching for the right words. "He chose to elevate him to the role of Lord of Midgard. Equivalent to one of the Princes of the extended realms. In essence..."
    He looks at Steve as if to make sure the man is still with him and not on the verge of a verbal explosion. "In the eyes of the Court of Asgard, Captain Rogers is the ruler of Midgard, responsible for what passes here and its sole voice to the Court."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony leans back against the refrigerator, nodding his head as Natasha makes mention of the 'serious complication'. His features draw a little, the space between his eyebrows creasing. Complications with Asgard, when last they had them, led to New York coming under attack. But he stows the smart remarks, letting Thor tell the tale.

As it goes on, there's a palpable change in Tony's demeanor. What begins as a thoughtful expression grows sterner over time. His arms, folded over his chest, twitch a little and his fingertips dig into the joint of his elbow enough that his knuckles whiten. After Thor starts talking about princedom, Tony's eyes flick over towards Natasha and pointedly avoid Steve as he does so.

His lips are drawn in a thin line, a muscle at his jaw twitches once. Twice. A vein on the side of his neck stands out against his skin. There's a long, pregnant pause before he speaks and his tone is completely even when he does.

"Okay."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Setting the tune to 'it's good news, actually' makes makes Natasha wince internally, bracing herself.
    Tony's reaction is subtly worse than she thought it would be.
    "Suffice to say-" she says, stepping closer to Tony, "... Steve doesn't *actually* have authority here, and," she glances at Steve, "he doesn't want it. And none of us wanted it." She's going to an unusual length to clarify this, for some reason. "This is all... just a consequence of Odin seeing us as his subjects, and... we're trying to think of a way out. If we even need one. I mean..." Natasha gestures to Thor as if seeking his confirmation, "Asgard barely noticed us for centuries before now, they might never..."
    Natasha can't even finish that. She's not an optimist.
    "We're working on this."

Steve Rogers has posed:
When Thor checks in with a glance to his spangled teammate, Steve has merely set the glass of juice aside on the counter in order to rest his arms crossed over his broad chest. He simply nods acknowledgement, entire mein of stoic patience: indeed, that is precisely what happened, plain and simple. He does watch Tony more carefully now and one can see the Captain's lips slowly thin more and more in an echo of tension kept in check.

Natasha speaks up first and behind her, Steve resets the cross of his ankles in his lean, momentarily glancing down at his boots as if this required some form of care. "Nat's right, Tony. I accepted what I thought was a ceremonial title. I didn't think I was accepting a title involving ruling all of Earth," the super-soldier says, voice even. "I intend to stick to acting as Ambassador. Didn't get a chance to speak with the All-Father before we left. It's still in the books, but not in the near future. For now, there's apparently a way around this," he echoes of Natatsha's sentiments.

T'Challa has posed:
When he wants to be, T'Challa is a very sneaky man. JARVIS is aware of his presence, of course, and it's unlikely anyone in this room is ultimately surprised when he appears in the doorway, but his footfalls still make little noise. A product of Shuri's engineering which she calls sneakers. Of course the names double meaning was not lost on the King.

Yet, there he is.

"I believe the problem would arrise specifically if Odin required a concerted decision be made.. It is unlikely, ney impossible, to get all of the world leaders to make that single minded decision on any given topic... and it will hardly serve our relationship with Asgard if the Ruler of Midgard was unable to police his own subjects."

Standing with his thick arms crossed his thicker chest, the Wakandian glances between the quartet with a raised brow.

Thor has posed:
    T'Challa's arrival noted with warmth, Thor nods across the way to the man, uncurling a hand in his direction, "And, in truth, it is unlikely such a thing will be required. It has been centuries since Asgard's eye has turned to Midgard, it may well be centuries more before it draws attention again."
    Then he frowns and takes a deep breath. "I have a way out," Thor says as he looks at them, expression stern as he watched Tony most of the four, for clearly it's him they need to be focused on updating... and convincing. But as he starts to tell of this way, he shifts his attention more to the others equally, expanding his audience with the subtle shift of body language, turning to face them more, unfolding his arms to seem more accessible.
    "And that way is Midgardian Independence." As he says this he lets the words hang there. "To establish to the Court that Midgard is a realm unto itself, capable of maintaining against the predations of the universe, though still as a staunch ally to Asgard."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Right," Tony says at last, seeming to notice the intense focus being laid upon him. Rather than straighten up, he grows a little looser. His shoulders slacken, his folded arms become less 'death-grip tight'. His expression goes from grave concern to that sort of flippant, mild (very mild) interest that is more common from him.

"Well, I think that goes without saying," he tells Steve, "I don't think any of us - "

A look from T'Challa to Thor, and then back to Steve.

"I don't think any of us are ready to support your total overlordship of Earth, no matter how pure your intentions. I'm not that worried about suddenly having a liege lord."

He pays another glance to Natasha, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth and nodding slowly.

"Okay, so, working the problem. Good."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha's response to T'Challa's sudden presence is not exactly surprise as most people would recognise it. Such is her... 'conditioning' that when caught off guard, her expression goes perfectly neutral for half a second, as if defaulting when she's not specifically telling it to do something, before she wrangles it into a more 'honest' look of concern. Acting, to convey her actual feelings. "T'Challa." She greets with a little bit of a sigh, letting the surprise pass without comment. "Did you hear everything?"
    Natasha nods to Tony and then turns her attention to Thor, brow creasing in thought. "... Can we do that? This soon, without upsetting him?" She asks. Odin *did* just recognize them, after all.

Steve Rogers has posed:
T'Challa gets a small half-smile from the Captain leaned against the counter in his spangled suit. Indeed: what's a platoon worth who won't listen? Ineffective, that's what. His eyes return to Thor and, slant-wise, Tony as well; as everyone appears to deflate from their unconscious stress, so does Steve join in the process, content to encourage it. His crossed arms fall to him resting a hand on each side of his suit's belt-buckle while he continues leaning.

"Right. Long-term plan is Midgardian independence, which 'm fully behind. We don't need to be minded anymore -- no insult to your father, Thor, I get where he's coming from," the man adds with a briefly lifted hand towards the Asgardian and a nod of respect. "'s'not gonna come immediately though, I think. For now, figure it's best that I remain the Ambassador as the All-Father asked, though, like I said, not gonna go about acting like the overlord of Earth." This is repeated specifically towards Tony and T'Challa with a lift of blond brows.

T'Challa has posed:
"Enough." T'Challa responds to Natasha, he had only been here for the later half of the conversation. Thor's warm greeting is met with a nod and a slight easing of his own hard demeanor, but he is every bit his usual stoic self. Specifically when speaking of grave matters as this, and even MORE specifically when they've suddenly a ruler of all of Earth.

The notion is, at its core, an amusing one.

They'll all have a lark about it later, no doubt.

"And how would we do that? From historical experience, claiming independance is rarely done over a cup of tea and warm farewells.. I can imagine Odin's opinion on the matter might be a great deal more significant than that of our own Imperial rulers?" With that posed, he moves from the wall to join the others around the island, leaning upon his palms gripping the edge of the counter.

"When it was simply an ambassador to a place none of the leadership of Earth would ever see and had almost no contact with aside from Thor, it was a lot easier to think we were in a position to make the decision to keep them in the dark about it-" For now anyways, "-but if it leaks to the United Nations or other volitile countries that through our subterfuge we have thrust them beneath a Lordship chosen outside their own consideration?" His brow remains elevated, pointedly so.

Thor has posed:
    A deep breath is taken as Thor lowers his eyes, then lifts them back to Natasha to answer her question. "It must be done and seem to originate from the Court itself. It must come as something Odin may well have been wishing to achieve." He lifts his chin, "Which may be what he is actually doing here, my father sees the world and the future in ways we cannot possibly understand. This could all be... some plan of his."
    He then shakes his head and gestures to the side, "However we cannot function that way, and must do as we can. Take time, look for opportunities."
    A breath is taken and held, then he murmurs, "And, I know I shall regret pondering this, but perhaps bringing mine brother into this would be wise. For his goals may align with ours. If Midgard gaining its recognition would grant him his freedom..."
    Then his expression darkens, "But there is another reason for this. My brother has his contacts in the Court. He will hear of this. And if we do not bring him on, he could well use it to hurt our efforts."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony is remarkably tight-lipped about the whole thing. Almost every other problem they've met to discuss has engendered an outpouring of verbosity from him, but this one has barely netted more than a few words strung together. It doesn't sit well, and no matter how much he may appear to have 'calmed' his tension over the subject.

"Got it," he says, pushing himself away from the refrigerator and stepping into the middle of the kitchen, "For the foreseeable, Cap's Asgard's man in Midgard. Cap, we can all trust, is going to treat it like an ambassadorship with a fancy title. Alright. Workable."

He's talking mostly to himself, focused on some point in the middle distance. He moves towards a stainless-steel mixing bowl on the kitchen counter, picks it up, and without looking pour the floury, cheesy contents into a pedal trash can near the sink. He dumps the bowl into the sink with a clatter.

"I've got somewhere to be," Tony announces coolly, turning his shoulder towards the door and trying to navigate his way out of the kitchen without bumping into any of the larger-than-life Avengers that currently occupy it, "Someone let me know if we declare anymore kings. Send me a DM."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha makes a conscious decision not to look like she's about to be violently ill, which is how she feels for a good several seconds as Thor answers her question and describes his thoughts. This is horrible. It's a useless thought, but she indulges in it privately for a second, closing her eyes tightly. This is *horrible*.
    Natasha winces when the bowl is dumped into the sink, turning as Tony walks by. "Tony-" she starts to call after him, but ultimately lets him go, putting hand hand over her eye and clutching at her forehead.
    She holds it there as she turns to Thor. "Loki." She says very softly. "... *Loki*." She repeats a little louder than she intends to, as if trying to emphasize the frustrating absurdity of the idea. One can imagine she's thinking of Clint Barton. "He was helpless *two days ago* and now we're vulnerable again? I..." Natasha shakes her head, then slowly lowers her hand, putting both hands on her hips. She takes a deep breath, and when she opens her eyes again, she seems a little more like Nat, speaking in a gentle composed tone, "*Can* we keep him from complicating this if we enlist him? Can we stop him from playing both sides?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve blinks at Thor. By his wide eyes, allowing Loki into this messy affair was clearly not an option that had crossed his mind in the least.

"Exactly. How are you going to guarantee that your brother doesn't immediately hare off to the United Nations 'nd tell 'em about all this? T'Challa's got a point," the Captain notes with a shrug of his head towards the monarch. "Doesn't matter how many times I say 'm not going to act like the ruler of Earth, somebody gets wind of it 'nd wind up 'em in the process, it'll be a fracas."

Don't think that the manner of Tony's departure is missed. Quietly, keenly, the Avenger observes the process of the exit itself and lets out a slow sigh. His eyes end up averted off to one side. It's tempting to rub the beginnings of a headache away from his temple, but he avoids it...for the moment.

T'Challa has posed:
Well that's certainly not what any of them wanted to hear, clearly. T'Challa looks down rather than voicing the same concerns as the others, none so loudly as Tony's sudden departure for reasons yet unknown. "It seems very unlikely, Natasha, but Thor observation is almost certainly accurate. If he finds out about it on his own, his involvement will be exponentially worse." It doesn't satisfy the need to keep him out of it completely, however.

That's just not likely.

One of his hands peels up from the counter and motions to Steve, nodding with Captain. "A fracas, indeed." Not even being sarcastic about his chose of words. It suits.

Like the others, T'Challa watches Tony's departure amidst an unusual quiet for the usually animated inventor. His gaze shifts about those remaining with a curious elevation of a brow, but.. it's always very hard to pin down Stark's motivations or intents.

Thor has posed:
    "No." Thor says quietly to Natasha, his features sad as he then looks away and murmurs, "Most likely not."
    To Steve Thor frowns and says, "There is no guarantee we can gain. Our only hope to contain him would to make our goals his goals. And even then..." The Asgardian shakes his head, arms folding back over his chest, though tightly so, hands resting on his elbows and his gaze distancing.
    "Tony!" He starts to call out, as if to stay the man. But then no other words come as he cannot conjure forth any more worthy of utterance. He chews his lower lip and shifts his gaze to the others, "I apologize, Steven. I... thought I was doing good for us and I have made things worse."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
    Natasha's not surprised by Thor's answer, but her heart does sink, and she seems to deflate a little bit, lowering her head and staring directly at the ground in thought.
    With her head spinning with everything going wrong, everything she'll have to do, everything that *could* happen, it takes a great effort to bite back the emotional impulse to hijack Thor's train of thought and blame him for all of this. But she wouldn't be much of a spy if she couldn't bite back her feelings about the worst men alive, and so far, at least she can bite back the urge to be angry at her ally.
    Instead she slowly says "We... all... encouraged this, Thor. None of us... could have known this would happen." She practically has to wring the words out of her throat by the end. Truly, what human with any concept of history would ever expect someone to give them *so much more* than what they asked, seemingly for nothing? It flies completely in the face of human experience.
    Natasha's going to have to tell a lot of people things they won't be happy to hear. Thor's likely to be one of them, very soon, regarding Loki. Speaking of not letting Loki get ahead of things, she'll likely need to rip that bandaid herself. Then there's Clint, who will be furious. Nick Fury, who may well demote her to janitor duty, and then drown her in the toilets. And Tony. Who can even say what Tony's going to need to hear.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"'s'okay, Thor." There's the Rogersian half-smile, a dimple both knowing and patient, rueful and understanding. By his cast of face, he's not disposed to holding any form of grudge over the matter, especially now that the team is aware of what could come of it all in both good and bad alike. "I know what you meant to do 'nd that's what counts, what's at the heart of it. We know you're sometimes split between where you stand, foot on each world 'nd your intent to balance 'em both. We're all in this together," and his gaze scans the room to include everyone, his tone to include Tony by proxy despite his absence.

"If the long game's an independent Midgard 'nd there're some risks to take in the process...we'll weigh 'em as they come," he allows, returned to the solemnity as before. "Compromises might have to made if the good outweighs the bad. An independent Midgard means more'n a few things beyond freedom: it also means our own jurisdictions to be respected in the end rather than dismissed off-hand."

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa remains largely quiet, but present. His opinions are similar enough with the others present that they needn't be voiced again, as he certainly wouldn' thave a problem voicing any disagreements might spring to mind. He does add his own reassurances to Thor, however, "It was a conscious effort on all of our part, so long as we fix it." Which he feels ocmfident they will.

Both hands extend out to push him away from the counter where he was leaning, "I should go, I've a meeting at the Embrassy, but please let me know if there are changes to our decided approach.. The only following step up form Ruler would be Divinity. We should try and prevent someone being named the God figure for the new Lordship of Midgard." A rare moment of attempted humore that doesn't go very far.

After nodding to those present, he steps away, speaking to the beads around his wrist to send around the car and he'd meet them outside.

Thor has posed:
    As for Thor he merely nods at what words are given to him, his eyes distant and clearly his thoughts are abroad. For now he tries to solve this conundrum as he can, reasoning as he can. And such has ne'er been his strong suit.
    The hammer leaps off of the kitchen's prep area with a rush of motion and that low /wum/ almost somehow sounding sad as it slaps into his hand. Thor nods and murmurs, "I believe I shall be about. If I am needed..." He nods in the direction of the wall display indicating JARVIS, but then he turns and starts toward the door, stalking to it and eventually through.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Good to see you, T'Challa," says the Captain to the Panther on his departure. As to Thor?

"We'll holler for you." There's an odd twist to Steve's lips, as if he'd actually consider once bellowing for the crown Prince of Asgard...just to see what happens. Lingering in the quiet to follow, he gives Natasha a knowing glance and then picks up his glass of orange juice.

"Could've been worse," he says quietly to the Widow as he too moves to get back to his room, presumably to get out of the suit and into more standard clothing. Before he leaves completely, he pauses. "JARVIS, disengage protocol 'Earmuff'." A finger scrubbed in his own ear canal follows and he sighs in relief. "Much better..." the man murmurs as he then leaves Natasha to her thoughts.