Owner	Pose
Lara Croft	After arriving home, Lara set her things down just inside the door of her apartment and then spent a few minutes catching up on her phone. She'd been given a task, someone in her building had gotten themselves on SHIELD's radar and as happenstances are, Lara was flagged as the best contact for the young man. Softly saying his name while reading over his profile on her phone, Lara exhales and goes to get a drink from the fridge that she guzzles a good solid chug from since she was fairly hot and tired today after having spent the last half hour of her time at the Trisk on their rock climbing wall. She eventually leaves her apartment and starts down the hallway to go to the room the young man was said to occupy. A moment later, a knock comes to his doorway. Lara is outside of the door, her hair tied back, wearing a dark blue tshirt and a shield light jacket pulled on over it to make her look more presentable. Dark pants and boots cover her lower half.
Alexander Aaron	The third floor apartment, first on the left off the stairs, that's the one. Just down a ways from Lara's and closer to the stairwell, though there really isn't any difference to it than her own. Plain wooden door with nothing upon it save the apartment number. She knocks and then the door opens from the inside after she hears a bit of sound and shuffling from within. There's some footsteps, and then the door opens after a faint click and clatter.     The door widens and within the foyer she'll see, yes that's him. The teenager with the blond hair and the wary hazel eyes that takes her in at a glance. A look down, a look up. And then the jacket has him easing his head back a little.     "Agent," He steps back from the door and gestures inside. "Come in if you like."     And within that apartment she'll see it's... rather non-descript. Few pieces of furniture, though there are some chairs, a sofa. But what might draw the eye in that instant is the pull up bar that's embedded in the wall that has seen some use, particularly now as the youth's features are flushed with effort, a faint sheen of sweat on his brow and soaked into that white t-shirt he wears. He's bare of foot, only wearing a pair of grey sweat shorts for now.     "How can I help you?"
Lara Croft	Lara affords him a quick smile when he addresses her after opening the door. She steps in to the apartment and lets her eyes wander for a second. It's a lot cleaner than hers. Her apartment is filled with boxes and bookshelves covered in books, with more still in their boxes. So she just smiles lightly and turns around to him. "I didn't realize you were expecting me." The Briton woman says. "Honestly. I'm just here to introduce myself and to let you knwo that I'm right down the hallway from you if you need to contact SHIELD in a pinch." She offers her hand to him. "I'm Lara. Lara Croft. Relatively new to the agency, but learning quickly." She gives another quick glance between right and left before back on to him. "I'd love to hear your rundown on what... all has been going on for you, Mister Aaron. Just so I can get your take on it, personally."
Alexander Aaron	"Not... particularly." Alexander says as he walks back and grabs a towel from a nearby plastic basket of laundry, using it to wipe over his brow and head before tossing it back... on /top/ of the laundry as if it was still clean. The barbarian. But he tilts his head toward her and quirks an eyebrow.     "You live down the..." He glances as if he could see the hallway and tilts, "So like, you just moved in or have... has SHIELD been spying on me all this time? With like you?" Since apparently he hadn't seen her before, no times in the hallway, no passing near the mailboxes. Just the now.     "Weird. Lara. Ok."     But then he nods and murmurs, "But ok, sure. What do you want to know? Do you want something to drink?" He starts to walk away toward the kitchen.
Lara Croft	Lara laughs softly at his question and her hands go into her side pockets as she stands there in the middle of the main room. "No." She says with humor on her voice. "I believe you moved in after me in fact, and I haven't ever heard of your name until this very day when I was told that I live next to someone who was just put on SHIELD's radar." The British agent turns to face him as he moves and at his question of a drink she smiles and nods her head once. "I'd love something, water or tea if you have it." She adds before continuing. "I'd love to know why you think I'm here?" She then asks as her right hand comes out to brush her hair on that side of her face back behind her ear. "Why do you think SHIELD would ask me to becom an unofficial liason for you? What is it about you that would require such a thing?" She asks then before adding. "And I'll admit, I was told that I didn't have to even tell you I worked for them, but I chose transparency."
Alexander Aaron	"Ohhh," She'll hear his voice from the other room as he pulls open the refrigerator door, the blower kicking up to a higher rate to counter for the door being open. There's a faint sound of glass clinking, then a thump of something before he reemerges holding two plastic bottles of water. One he offers to her as he returns from the kitchen, the other he keeps and twists off the top.     "I think... why you're here." He meets her gaze with those curious eyes, so deep with pale blue, but then drifting to a jade green in their depths. "Is that my father and I made an agreement with SHIELD to keep a low profile. I sort of... did something that caused some trouble. So now I guess they're calling you in to keep an eye on me so I don't do more things. Though I appreciate your transparency."     He gives a nod to the living room and starts to walk in that direction, footsteps light on the hardwood floor. He'll drop into one of the few overstuffed chairs there and bounces a little before drawing his leg up into his lap.     "Did they tell you anything about me?"
Lara Croft	Lara accepts the bottle of water with a soft and quiet 'Thank you' in her polite voice. She smiles softly as he guides her toward the living room. "I think you got the nicer apartment out of the two of us too, by the way." She tells him, showing the hints of a sly grin before she finds a place to sit down. The top is removed from the bottle and Lara takes a sip from it. She looks to him again, sitting on the edge of the seat she sholds the bottle between her hands between her knees. "I don't want to act like a parent to you, Mister Aaron, or even an older sibling. I'm not here to look over you or be any measure of a hindrance to your life. I'm just here to be a resource, should you need it. That's my main desire for being here, to let you know that I'm ... here." "They only gave me the basics. Nothing detailed. Physical description, and a brief rundown of what happened." Lara tells him in resposne to his question. "I'm not your average Agent either, mind you. I'm an archaeologist. A 'nerd' as they say." She grins softly again for a second. "But I've had a lot of experience in a short amount of time, dealing with 'odd things' as well as high danger. So in that regard, you can trust me to help you if you're ever in need."
Alexander Aaron	"Want to trade?" He asks as he walks, smiling the while as he looks across the way to her, giving a wave of his hands openly. "It's my father's, I just sorta crash here and plan to stay here when I go to ESU." He takes a sip of his water and then affixes her with that curious eerie gaze of his. "It's just a place to sleep for right now I think."     But then he listens to her, eyes following her lips as she speaks for some reason, though they didn't mention he might be deaf or anything. He just looks on, nodding at points. "Alright," He says as she states her desire to be an asset.     "Ahhh, not a field agent? Or more perhaps thrust into the lime light?" He bites his lower lip for a moment and nods, "Alright, mmm." He tilts his head to the side, "I don't mean to be a jerk, but... may I see some ID if you have it?" His smile slips towards the apologetic.
Lara Croft	Lara leans forward then to set her water bottle down on the floor between her feet. She reaches for her jacket and opens it up to dip a hand in. "Of course. I should've given it at the door. My apologies." As she draws her hand out she brings out a black leather badge book and turns it around to show it to him as she flips it open with her thumb. It has her picture and ID, along with a silver SHIELD badge. "I don't have any official field experience as a member of a military or police force. But I am extensively trained in wilderness survival and exploration tactics, harsh terrain navigation. I went to college for Asian Archaeology, though my life long studies have given me a wide array of knowledge of the ancient world across it's entire surface." She smiles softly for a second. "There's always more to learn, however. Much to study. Surprises around every avenue." She'll close the badge book again and stuff it into a side pocket on her jacket. "You're in college then? ESU is a nice campus. What are you studying?" She asks of him then.
Alexander Aaron	"Oh hey..." Alexander says as he looks at her badge and checks the number, but then hands it back to her. His smile broadens a little as he murmurs, "I was... actually thinking of making that my major. Archaeology. Though I hadn't narrowed to a focus." His lip twists a little, "I thought about choosing something focused on Greece if only to, you know, hedge my bets."     But no she didn't know to be fair.     "I'm not quite in college yet. Soon though, next semester. Probably taking a few classes over the Summer, but..."     His eyes distance for a time, looking past her before they return to her features. His head tilts slightly and he murmurs. "But I suppose I should tell you all the things. Though would have been easier if they gave you my file I suppose"
Lara Croft	Lara leans back in her chair when she accepts her badge back and she has another larger smile play across her lips as she hears him say his intended major. "Oh really?" She asks. "Well then, I guess it was meant to be that I'd become your neighbor and SHIELD liason." She's being friendly, of course. "Greek Mythology is oen of my favorites, though if I had to choose I'd likely choose Norse over it. No real reason to it, it just goes back to influences from my parents. My father specifically. He was a rather notorious name in archaeology in his day." "Feel free to only tell me what you're comfortable with. I'm not looking to pry you for all your private details, Mister Aaron. Again, this is just a friendly visit." Lara crosses her legs at the knee then and leans forward/twisting to grab the water bottle up once more before lounging fully once again.
Alexander Aaron	"Ah see," Alexander's smile widens as he looks away, "You had to go and choose Norse over the Greeks? What the hell, man?" He looks away shaking his head and tsking at her as if judging her entirely on that, holding up a hand and rolling his eyes. "Asgardians, everyone loves Asgardians."     His eyebrows lift, "You know they're not even really gods, right?" He points at her as if so terribly insulted, but he's also sort of grinning and his eyes are laughing as he takes a deep breath. "But I suppose I might be a bit biased."     With that said he lets a breath ease from his lungs almost a sigh as he shakes his head and takes another drink of water. "Mmm," He says softly as he orders his thoughts and tries to figure out how to phrase things properly, how to perhaps tell the story without taking too long or assuming too much knowledge. Eventually he pushes a hand through his hair and then fans himself with the collar of his t-shirt, still a touch flushed from earlier.     "You see, I am kinda Greek. In that my dad. He was known as Ares. He decided a while ago to try and live life normally. And when he met my mother I came about." A breath is taken, "So you're here because he didn't want to be hassled, so he agreed with SHIELD to check in once a month and to not go crazy and blow things up. And I promised too when people found out that I was a god as well. And so you're here because... of me. And my family."
Lara Croft	Lara is taking another sip from her water after popping the cap off once more, and grinning at the initial words about the Asgardians. "There are many twists and turns of truths and myths, along the journey of history. That's why it's such a fun journey to take." She quietly replies to him, being vague and not challenging about Asgardians versus Greeks. When he gives the revelation of his bloodline, Lara starts to sit forward as he's clearly caught her attention. Her legs uncross and she waits for a moment. "You're a child of Ares?" She asks him. "I mean, I know that he's said to have fathered more mortal children than he did divine--" She pauses then as she stares at him for a second. "Is this related to why SHIELD wishes you a liaison contact?" She asks him. "Are you a mortal child of Ares or a Divine?" That's not personal at all! She's clearly getting personal!
Alexander Aaron	Alexander smiles a little as he worries at his lower lip, that smile growing at her excitement but he shakes his head as he looks away before answering. "My father was living as John Aaron, a mortal though he was still powerful. I was born 18 years ago, my mother unfortunately passed in child birth." He tucks his leg in a little better under the other, sitting almost like a half-lotus yoga posture as he looks cross the way to her.     "I was mortal, for a time. But then my father and I went away. When I returned I had inherited the mantle of Phobos. I'm... the third one to hold that name now. But I am divine, and immortal and all of that craziness. God of Fear."     He takes a deep breath, "And the thing that has you as one of my contacts is that my uncles were having a feud. They asked me to look into it as arbiter. I did, but..." His words falter for a moment, eyes looking past her and then to the side as he remembers what passed on that island. Shaking his head a little he murmurs, "I dealt with it. But it required SHIELD to come in and clean it up, lock it down. Technically I broke the agreement so I am getting more attention I think."
Lara Croft	Well this of course gets Lara's attention. It takes a few seconds for her to respond but she just points at him with the hand she's holding the plastic bottle in. Her finger just points across the distance between them. "You're Phobos?" She says, flatly, dryly. Not with disbelief, just, surprise? There comes a half-cocked grin that spreads across Lara's lips and she sweeps her head left and right as she raises her free hand up to slide it through her own hair now. She reaches her hand back to touch the hair band that she is using to tie her hair back. She tugs it up and down to adjust it a little and then runs her fingers through her pony tail, causing the dark hair to cascade between them. Then she drops her hand to the top of her thigh with a slap. "I'm sorry." She says then, still smiling. "I just... it's a lot to take in to suddenly find out that you're apparently sitting across from a Divine being, that which you thought was just a young man with a troubled life. A 'normal life' as it were." She laughs softly then, very amused by all of this apparently. "Again, I'm sorry. I've been reading about your family's... colorful history... on and off since I was a very little girl running around my father's extensive library. Of which, I'm sure most of what I've read isn't true, or isn't entirely true... as I've come to learn most myths are. But still. I imagine a fair amount of it does hold some measure of truths." Lara smiles /at/ him now, warmly. "You seem very well adjusted, is what I'm ultimately getting at. Considering."
Alexander Aaron	"Well, to be fair." The blond youth smiles and she might well see small hints of the divine in him now. It would explain those curious eyes, the pale complexion, the too too perfect physique that normally is hidden behind thick clothes but with the sweaty t-shirt hugging the supple contours of his body, it might be all the more apparent. "I'm sort of both. It's... I'm told there's not been anyone before to exist as I do. As I have."     But then she's apologizing and he shakes his head, "No hey, it's alright. I know it's weird, sorta why I don't exactly lead with that when I meet people and I sorta try to play it down. I'm not like..." His lip curls, "I don't have a secret identity or anything. But you tell someone you're the God of Fear and then it's all bluster, with people saying, 'C'mon and scare me then!' and they never know what it is they're really asking for."     There's a story there most likely, but he doesn't elaborate. Instead he nods with a smile in response to her last comment about his being well adjusted.     "Yeah, I try to get along. I like... being around people. I used to just be a normal kid for the most part. When I became Phobos though things changed a little. I don't feel fear, and that..."     A pause as he looks to the side, then back. "Can be a little rough. But other than that I just feel like I've always felt."
Lara Croft	Lara's eyes are on his, she's an attentive listener and doesn't have a shy-away approach when it comes to eye contact. She's confident, likely been through a lot to earn it too at the level she has. At his talk of fear, a quick smile crosses her lips and leaves just as fast. "I've felt more fear than I could ever ask for. Debilitating levels of fear. Fear so palpable that I wasn't sure if I was living in reality any longer, or if I'd slipped -- body and soul -- into a nightmare." She shows the quick quirks of a little grin. "So I envy you, in that regard." There's a quick pause then and a little exhaled laugh from the Briton's pleasantly alluring voice. "Although I wouldn't mind dabbling in immortality. It's something my father was obsessed with too." She shows a quick smile again, but it's replaced by inner sorrow. "My mother passed when I was young also. Perhaps not at my birth no, but still... When she passed, my father became even more obsessed with finding a way to restore her. To cross the valley between life and death, find her, and draw her back. He said it was the only way to be happy again, to have her back alive, and to keep us then all safe by providing us with immortality through some sort of magic, or divine gift." She nods once to Alexander. "He very much would've liked to have spoken to you. But, he's gone now too." she sips her water once more then and there. "I'll admit, Mister Aaron, you're intriguing to me. But I won't gush at you with 'fangirl' questions. Such a thing would be impolite and unbecoming of my social standing." Now she's grinning more openly.
Alexander Aaron	She shares of herself and he watches her with that calm regard, nodding along at points and watching the way her lips form those words when she relates her past to him. She speaks of nightmares and he frowns, accepting that she as endured such and has grown stronger from it.     When she speaks of her family, and the passing of her parents, his gaze softens a hint. Thens he speaks on her father's search for immortality and he says quietly, "I wouldn't be much help with him. The questions he likely would ask I'd be of little use. I know barely what I experienced and much of it was... symbolic though there was a ritual, and a celebration. My family called many forth and I was accepted into the pantheon."     But when she grows more animated at the last, grinning and such, she can see that her words do have an effect on him, for his features color again, just a subtle flush of red as he looks away. Though he does wave off her words as if she was being silly and having him on.     But he does feel moved to speak to a thing. "You shouldn't envy a lack of fear. It touches on a lot of things as I've sort of discovered. You need fear to have good relationships with people. To value them, you need to fear... a world without them." Alexander lifts a hand to his neck and murmurs, "To really love someone, you have to fear losing them. To empathize full with someone, you need to be able to experience what they're going through, right?"     A small shrug is given. "But I get by."
Lara Croft	Lara's water bottle is uncapped and she takes another soft and sweet drink from it before she twists the cap back on. When he finishes speaking she nods very lightly toward him. "Wise words, for someone still yet to cross in to his twenties." She shows a hint of a grin. The SHIELD agent glances around his apartment's living room then. "Well, I don't wish to take up any more of your time." She starts then. "I am just down the hall, around the corner. If you do need any quick attention from SHIELD, or help with your upcoming studies should you indeed embark upon Archaeology as a study focus."