Owner	Pose
Steve Rogers	Steve had come back from an Avengers mission that he'd told Lara was related to the adversaries who were time traveling. He'd been a little quieter than usual after, and other than saying it was a success, Steve had changed the subject when asked about it. Late at night, Lara might wake and find Steve isn't in bed. Max is there on the foot of the bed. On her feet even above the covers. The bedroom door is mostly closed, though ajar just enough that a faint bit of light makes it through. More than would normally be on in the rest of the house when they are sleeping. Should she get up to look, Lara might find Steve sitting on the floor down in the living room. His brawny chest and shoulders are bare, the man still wearing just the shorts he went to bed with. Around him are a few photo albums, which it looks like he must have brought when he returned from the mission, as his pack he took is sitting not too far away on the floor, opened. He has on just a small desk lamp, pointed his direction, rather than the overhead lights. Giving him a faint bit of illumination as he slowly turns a page, eyes fixed on the photos in the album.
Lara Croft	It was one of those times where you reach a hand out to feel for the person you share a bed with, only to find them gone. Lara's eyes opened a second later, and she quickly made sense of the situation around her. Her bedroom had two windows that looked out on the street on the opposite wall from the doorway inside it. Between the doorway and the windows were a dresser and Max's second doggy bed, though he tended to curl up on the bottom corner of the bed, when Lara or Steve didn't order him down. Had Steve been called out? Usually he wakes her up when he was called off for work... She tossed the covers off, dressed in just a tanktop and her slim fit undergarments, she made her way around her bed, and gathered up a blue robe that was laying across the cushioned rest at the foot of her bed. Max, was of course, staring at Lara as she put the robe on, and made her way toward the door. He leapt down to get out of the room ahead of her, and the sounds of his clattering nails on the hardwood floor would give away the movement of Lara stepping out in to the main area too. She saw him as she tied her robe shut over her stomach, "Steve?" she asked, whilst padding her way over on bare feet to join him. The Briton folded her legs under her as she came to rest down on the floor on his left. She eyed what he was looking at, then eyed him directly, her body leaning over in to his, her scent of lavender and sweet fruit further heralding her presence beside him now. "Memory lane?" She simply asks, clearly still tired, with the tale-tell looks upon her face.
Steve Rogers	Though he hears the dog's nails clicking on the flooring, Steve doesn't turn his head until Lara is settling to the floor beside him. "Sorry, was trying to not wake you," he says, reaching over a hand to rest on knee. Though the man's blue eyes go back to the album and the black and white photos within. There is one of Steve and Bucky in their GI fatigues standing together outside some little English pub. Another that is a photo of the White Cliffs of Dover. The man eyes the photo of he and Bucky for a few moments before answering Lara's question. His voice is abnormally subdued as Steve says, "The mission yesterday... it was to Normandy." He sits quietly for a few moments after, eyes on the album, but mind in his thoughts rather than on the photo now. "It was... more difficult than I expected," he says slowly, as if pulling up just the simple statement took a little doing. Max pads over and plops down behind Steve, his back against Steve's and his head towards Lara. Where she can pet him more easily. Because, dog.
Lara Croft	Naturally Lara's right hand does first touch Steve's back, but is soon sent over to the top of Max's head to rub between the German Shepherd's ears. He makes that anxious little whine noise that his breed is one to do, but it is quelled some by the pets from his favoritest person, while his ears twitch when his second favoritestt person explains himself. Lara studies the photos, absorbing some of the details of the men, their attire, and their surroundings before what Steve says draws her eyes back up to his. She doesn't know about the 'time travel' element of his story, but instead just assumes he went to modern day Normandy. "I can only imagine." She states, quietly. "I have had offers to return to the Dragon's Triangle, for a variety of reasons. I know they're not the same, but... I would think there might be some similar feelings involved if I were too." She shows him a sympathetic look as her free hand pulls her tied-back hair over her shoulder to let it drape down her chest. "Would you like to talk about it? Or is this something you just need a little time with?" She asks, her voice whispery-soft, and laced with that soothing dance of her accents through the spoken words.
Steve Rogers	The touches both from Lara and from Max seem appreciated. "It wasn't quite the same as ours was. The.. place, the time, that we traveled to on the mission. The Germans had more Hydra weapons. Robotic... walking cannons and beam weapons," Steve tells Lara. He slowly turns the page in the album. This one has a number of photos taken at military bases. A quiet exhale can be heard before Steve says, "But a lot of it was too familiar. Struggling out of the landing craft. Trying to get people to shore before they drowned from it taking a hit before making it all the way to the beach. And... and the rest." Steve's eyes seem to focus on one photo in particular. It's a band of soldiers standing together. Steve is in the version of the Captain America costume Lara would know from the old photos and the series of movies to promote war bonds that he made back in the day before he finally got into the fight. He's gazing down at the photo, a thumb moving to touch one of the soldiers in particular. "I wasn't expecting to see someone there that I knew. Wasn't even the same spot on the beach we landed here," he says, glancing up at Lara. The look in his eyes foreshadows what transpired.
Lara Croft	Lara's eyes go back up to Steve's when he starts to indicate there was combat at Normandy again. Much of what he says seems confusing, but she's learned all too well what kind of strange things the Avengers get themselves up to, let alone the other groups that Steve works closely with around the world. She just silently listens, though her eyes do look down again to the picture, and she focuses on the soldier that he indicates with a point of his finger. She simply stares at the image, at his face. He's a person she never would've known even if he hadn't died in the war. Their ages so different, she never would have had a chance to know the person. For a second, she sees Steve in his old Captain America costume, and it makes her realize that he very easily could've, if not should've been the same. She leans against him a little closer because of this. Steve has helped her a lot in the past year of them being together. Lara hadn't ever sought out the help of someone like this before, as Steve was the first real relationship she'd ever had with a man at all. "What was his name?" She asks quietly. "Tell me a story about the two of you. Something worth remembering..." She adds with a slight smile sent to him on her right side.
Steve Rogers	The face is that of a boy just becoming a young man. Maybe nineteen or twenty. Dark hair. A helmet tipped back on his head that looked a little a big for him. A jaunty smile adorned his face as he leaned against one of the soldiers in the group picture, the men clustered around Steve in the middle. "Jenkins. PFC Richard Jenkins," Steve replies to Lara. He muses quietly before saying, "He was from... Indiana? Yes, Indiana. Some small town. I can't remember the name of it. Down south. He had more of an accent than I expected for Indiana." Steve passes over the picture to Lara. The faces of the young GIs are all expectant. The kind of faces of men expecting to go out and win a victory. Though no doubt many of their expressions would be changed after the grizzly invasion of Fortress Europe. Max gives a tiny whine for what he perceives as a lack of attention perhaps. It does make Steve reach back and give him a few soft thumps that result in a tail wag. "In the days before, waiting for the final orders the invasion was on, we went to a saloon the English had set up for us near the base," Steve recalls. "You'd think this spindly guy wouldn't be much for drinking. But he coaxes out some homemade drink the bartender had. I think it could be used to degrease airplane engines it was so strong," Steve says, shaking his head with a wry grin. "Half the unit could barely get up for roll call the next morning. I think Jenkins' people maybe had some experience with the stuff, the way he savored it and didn't seem affected the next day. Laughing at everyone else and their hangovers," he says.
Lara Croft	Lara continues to pet the top of the dog's head too, proving further that he's not going without, but that he is simply spoiled. He's one of those animals that is very empathetic toward his people's emotions as well. Lara silently listens to the story, the picture passed to her she accepts it with her left hand, and holds it over her lap to stare upon it. She makes an affectionately amused little noise at the story that Steve tells, her eyes upon those in the picture. "Have you checked to see if he has any living relatives today?" She asks. "Perhaps still in Indiana? They might be thrilled to get a letter from you, if anyone still reads letters." She states, showing a little playful grin. "But.. that's how you keep your friends and loved ones alive, with stories and tales of the various good times you had with them." She lingers her eyes on his face then and there, studying him for physical reactions as her right hand leaves Max to go to the back of Steve's neck to stroke the little hairs found there, her fingertips brushing lightly across his skin. "If something turned up in Indiana, we could even consider a trip out there. I've never been before, and you know how much it bothers me when I find a place I haven't been before..." She softly tells him, grinning just a little once more.
Steve Rogers	Steve's eyes drift off, as people are often wont to do when they are looking into their memories of the past. "I don't know if he does. I hadn't really thought of him in... well, since I woke up. Hadn't thought of him specifically at least," Steve replies to Lara slowly. He draws in a slow breath. Then lets it out just as slowly. "So this... this alternate dimension we went to. To retrieve the... energy manifestation these time travelers are seeking," Steve lets out, each word coming slowly one after the next. "We got ashore. On a section of Omaha. Code name for one of the beaches. My unit landed on Juneau. But, we made it out of the surf, paused behind some tank traps for cover before pushing on," Steve says, talking about the Avengers mission. "And then, there he was. Jenkin's Southern accent. "Steve? I thought you were parachuting in," Steve says, even trying to do the accent justice. His voice fades at the end, tightening with emotion. "Remembered, the last time I saw him. Kind of the same spot, different beach. And... told him he needed to get into the dunes, he couldn't stay there." Steve's voice fades and he looks down. And the little shake of his head tells Lara what happened even before he says, "But I couldn't change it, even there, in some other timeline."
Lara Croft	Lara continues to gently stroke the back of Steve's neck as he reflects internally, then shares with her his thoughts and memories of it all. Normandy wasn't quite far enough back in history for Lara to have ever really focused that indepth upon it, but she did know a decent amount compared to the average person in the world, to be sure. She slowly nods her head to him, as she glances toward her desk where she sees a stack of her belongings. One of the items she spots is her leather bound journal filled with notes and entries related to her various expeditions. Steve would know by now that she keeps a separate journal for every trip she takes, and one central journal that gets a brief overview entry, or chapter, related to the whole of her adventures. "I think you need to write all of these memories down, Steve." She says to him, voice still silken soft. "I think, that if Jenkins was there for you in a completely different reality, twice now, that he was there for you for a reason. Perhaps his presence somehow saved yours, and this crazy existence of ours ensured that something similar took place when you found yourself in a time-displacement situation. Which is to say... you were destined to be inadvertantly entwined with Jenkins." She smiles for just a second then before her shoulders shrug inside her robe. "Just a thought, though." Her left hand offers him the picture back then before it goes up to stroke some of her bed tousled hair out of her eyes. "But yes, I think all of these memories of yours should be kept in a book. Not necessarily to publish, of course, but to keep as fresh as possible. It's not really a common thing for there to be someone alive today, who experienced that battle... and the others before and after it... that still has the thoughts so fresh within their mind." How long ago had it been, for Steve? His man out of time element comes with so many intricacies like that.
Steve Rogers	Steve looks thoughtful at the suggestion of capturing his memories in the written word, his blue eyes indeed glancing over to Lara's journals. "Apart from just, not forgetting things. Have they helped you? Helped you deal with Yamatai?" he asks her quietly. Lara has been sitting to Steve's left, and he turns himself to face her more directly now. A hand briefly ruffles Max behind the ears, before Steve will reach over, to gently move Lara into his lap if he allows him. His arms ending up around her, and his forehead resting against her head as Steve closes his eyes. Seeming to just soak in her presence. "It's a good idea," he says, of capturing the memories that for him are not even a decade old yet. A half dozen years out of the ice are all that separate Steve and his memories of two years at war. "Maybe I'll stop down at that place on the corner, see if they have a nice journal I like," he says, mentioning a quaint little bookstore that deals in stationary and similar things. "Maybe we can stop by in the morning after getting some breakfast," he suggests, then opening his eyes to look about and spot a clock to see what time it is. "Speaking of, sorry that I caused you to get out of bed," he says, moving a hand to brush softly through Lara's sleep-tussled hair.
Lara Croft	Lara, of course, is easily coaxed in to slipping on to his lap, her robe falling around his left leg some as she uses it primarily to perch upon now. She leans in to him, and smiles at the suggestion of breakfast and a bookstore trip. "You know I cannot deny a place filled with leather bound tomes, rather than everything being digitized." She says back at him in that old-world charm that her parents instilled within her as a child. She settles in a little more comfortably upon his lap, and smiles faintly at the question of if it had helped her too. "And yes, it does help. Better than the therapy sessions, I think. Putting pen to paper has a natural connection between your mind, and the world itself. I feel it is somewhat like a spiritual connection, though that could just be the hour speaking through me." She laughs ever so softly before she takes in another light breath. "And do not fret on the sleep. Your presence alone has given me more hours of sleep in the past nine or ten months, than I've had in the past three or four years. I can handle a night of needing a bit of extra time reserved for reflection." She grins lightly up at him then as her head lays down against his left shoulder. "It's almost time to get up for Max's morning run anyway." She notes with another little laugh, and his name being mentioned obviously perks the dog's head up with a series of ear twitches too.
Steve Rogers	If Steve's presence has been a boon to Lara in dealing with the aftermath of her experiences in the Dragon's Triangle, her own presence serves Steve the same. Especially tonight. The fresh memories of the wet beach, the sound of continual gunfire and the cries of wounded men fade away as Steve holds the shapely young woman in against him. His fingers brush every so gently through her hair as her head rests upon his shoulder. "If sorry I woke you, I'm grateful you are here," he whispers to her before leaning down to nuzzle a very gentle kiss to Lara's lips. "Coming home to the arms of a loved one was never really an option for dealing with... with those experiences, in those days," he murmurs after the kiss as he nuzzles his face against hers. Steve has a little bit of coarse stubble by this time in the morning, the nuzzling just a little rougher than his normal cleanshaven face would give. "A run sounds good," he agrees. The dog itself has perked up. Recognizing his name. And 'run'. His head comes up, the dog more alert as if wondering if it is time for that morning ritual!
Lara Croft	That kiss is returned, gentle and sweet, to his own lips before they part again. Lara stares at his face for a extra moment though, just to make sure she believes that he is okay. But Max rising up, and Steve indicating it, draws her eyes away to the dog who is starting his anxious pacing now. "Oh. Now we've done it." She says with a light hearted tone touching her voice, and a large smile crossing over her lips. Her head leans back against Steve's shoulder, and a deep breath is pulled in through her nose. "Mmmm... I can get the tea going, and we can be at the park just before sun-up." She says, now tensing up as she stretches before going limp again in his lap. "Though I rather like it here too." She finally notes, in a more sultry tone with her eyes going back up to his, gleaming with a mischievous way that he's quite familiar with by now. But, Max is sooooo insistent at this point.
Steve Rogers	Steve Rogers's fingers run slowly along Lara's back, the tank top doing little to mute the feeling of the fingertips playing across her delightfully toned body. His eyes slide down along the woman's luxurious curves. Feeding the temptation of making the canine wait. Though the dog's quiet whine that seems to ask why the two humans aren't moving already when there's a PARK waiting for him gives no reprieve. Steve leans his lips down to Lara's ear to whisper, "A nice sweaty run, and then the cleaning up after can take its time," he whispers in a suggestive voice. His fingers stray enough to reinforce what he might have in mind for when the run is done. Rather than let himself give into the desire to sit there and just keep touching the beautiful young Englishwoman, Steve gives her temple a soft kiss and then scoops her into his arms, having no difficulty in rising to his feet while carrying her. "Alright, tea it is," he agrees. "I'll go grab our running shoes," he says as he sets Lara on her feet. His fingers trail along her derriere as if one more promise of later before he lets her go to head upstairs to grab shoes and jogging attire for them.
Lara Croft	Temptations are an ever-present struggle. Some more than others. There comes a little noise of surprise when he stands up, carrying her to rise with him, his strength always being deceptively powerful, and his actions like this the only times Lara would ever dare make such noises as she just did! But then she's on her bare feet, and Max is rushing up to circle around them, trying to shunt some of his own energy in to conjuring them in to moving faster no doubt! Lara adjusts her robe a bit as she feels Steve's touch, which draws a knowing smile out of her. "That sounds like a plan to me, Captain." She says, emulating the 'proper' air of a Duchess that she was instilled with throughout her childhood, but he knows she's just being playful in the moment. She yelps again when he gives her backside the stroke, which has her laughing softly whislt she moves toward the kitchen. Max is right there with her, his mind now torn between the walk, and the fridge where some of his favorite treats reside. Within moments, Lara has a pot of tea going, two cups and the additives that they both like on the counter, and Max chewing on a treat after being asked to perform some of his training to 'earn it'!
Steve Rogers	Steve Rogers comes back from the bedroom. Carrying shoes and socks, running shorts and a top for Lara. A scrunchy for holding her hair back. He's changed into shorts and a t-shirt as well. A charcoal one that is made to stretch across the man's physique to fit over his form. The aroma of the tea is inhaled and Steve's smile grows as he sets down Lara's clothing and shoes, and then picks up his cup. While he's more of a coffee drinker most of the time, he's more than happy to indulge in the God-given tea obsession that Lara shares with most other Brits. As he sips the tea, Steve moves over to drop a pair of English muffins into the toaster, and pulls out some marmalade for them for a little bit of energy boost before the run. The toaster pops and Steve sets one on a plate for Lara as he smears the topping across it, using just a modest amount. "You all set, Max?" he asks as he uses one hand to tug a running shoe on a foot, the other delivering another sip of tea to his lips.
Lara Croft	Lara is quick to receive her clothing that Steve brings to her as he steps back to the kitchen. She has the tea all ready to go, while she strides over to the sofa to change beside it. She spares a glance toward the windows, one of which the blinds are not closed on, but it's not even sunup yet and surely the neighbors are asleep. If not, well... should they happen to be looking out their windows, they get a treat, even if just for a minute. Her clothing is swapped, the robe draped over the back of her sofa, and her sleepwear is draped over that. She turns back to face Steve then, sitting down on the arm of the sofa to get her shoes on and laced-up. As she ties them, her eyes are on Steve and Max in the kitchen, she sees him get those muffins in to the toaster, which has her smile again. "Now my stomach is growling. Much like Max's always is. I've heard that people with pets slowly start to turn in to them, which is suddenly... and randomly... concerning." She says with a grin as she rises up to her full height again, pulling her hair loose before she starts to tie it back freshly behind her shoulders, cleaning up her browline a bit so her hair doesn't sweat in to her eyes on the jog. Ultimately, she ends up beside the island counter again, sipping her tea and checking her phone which had been sitting there on a charger this whole time. "Okay, I'm ready." She tells them both, eliciting louder whines from Max!
Steve Rogers	Steve tugs on his other shoe and ties it, then takes a bite out of his muffin. His eyes sweep over Lara, the honest blue orbs not trying to hide his appreciation of her in the largely form-fitting clothing. "Then I suppose," Steve says, taking another bite to finish off the muffin and dusting his hands over the sink, before continuing with giving certain words extra emphasis, "That if we are going to take Max for a run. That we should probably get his LEASH. So we can go to the PARK. And take MAX for his RUN." Each of the dog's favorite words is spoken a bit more clearly and loudly. And each causes Max's anticipation and energy to grow. He does a little spin and then rushes over, going up on his hind legs to pull his leash off the peg where it hangs on the wall. He darts back over to Lara energetically, trying to shove it at her leg. Someone's ready!