3276/Just Dropping By

Just Dropping By
Date of Scene:	30 November 2017
Location:	Triskelion, New York City
Synopsis:	Peter pays a call on Lara before he heads off into the stars. He does leave a phone though, should she want to get in touch.
Cast of Characters:	Star-Lord, Lara Croft

---

Star-Lord has posed:
Lara gets a call from security someone was just caught 'flying' to the Triskelion and says he knows her. Someone named 'Star-Duke'.

"Dude, not even funny!" comes Peter's voice from the background.

The security guy sighs, "You want to come sign him in?"

Assuming she comes, she finds Peter waiting in a security room, sans guns, jet boots and a couple other pieces of high tech gear. Spotting her, he waves. Like being held by a spy agency was just Tuesday for him.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would indeed come to rescue him and she'd enter wearing her dark navy blue SHIELD jacket and a black tanktop benath it with black cargo pants and black boots. She gave him a smirk as she entered and saw his greeting.

The agent would walk to where the security guard was and she signed the forms and released a light sigh. "He's not from around here. He doesn't fully grasp our concepts of societal norms." She told the guard in her thickly accented British voice.

Lara would then step over toward him and she'd offer him a soft smile. "Well, Star-Duke? You were bumped down a notch in title?" She teased him then.

Star-Lord has posed:
Star-Lord is dressed pretty much the same as they day they met, just a different t-shirt and slightly different pants. He stands up when she comes in. "Hilarious," he says with a grin. As ticked as he can be about the name thing, Lara gets a pass. "And isn't Duke higher than lord? But then you'd know, /Lady/ Croft." Yep. He did some research on her.

He holds up his hands in cuffs. "Gonna let me out?" he asks. The guard looks to Lara, waiting on her call.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara flashed Peter a grin. "Oh god..." She uttered. "You've been researching me. I'm not precisely sure how to take that. Either you're planning to stalk me, or you're wanting me to sign up for some kind of dreadful pyramid scheme." She did a little more teasing for nodding to the guard.

"It is okay. The only real trouble he poses to anyone is himself." She was just playing around though, because Peter was fun to do that with... he had a good sense of humor and that was actually really rare around this kind of disturbingly serious building, especially lately.

"Are you okay?" She'd ask him then, a bit more serious herself now.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter grins, and the guard unlocks his shackles. He rubs his wrists as he's let go and chuckles at her words, "She's right, totally harmless," he says with a solemn nod. The guard doesn't seem convinced. "The weapons stay, Mr. Duke, but you can take your phone."

Peter sighs, and he picks up the phone like device from the array of his kit. "Thanks, but seriously don't touch my stuff." He does the I'm watching you sign, then steps out of security with Lara.

Outside he says, "Of course I researched you, badass treasure hunters are a big deal," he grins, "Not a stalker though, so if it makes you feel better I can try to sell you a bridge on D'Bari." D'bari was blown up by the Phoenix years ago.

"Aww, you're worried. And nah, I'm good, just ran off on a thing before I could talk to you again, so thought I'd drop by and give you this," he holds out the 'phone'.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would grin at the guard to try to reassure him that Peter was just playing around, but she'd follow the Space Man out of the security area and then look to him. "A whole bridge of my own? I'm not terribly certain what I would do with such a thing... but I'll consider it."

"We're a very big deal." She'd add with a smile before her eyes would look down toward the phone object that he was offering to her. "Oh my. What is this contraption now?" She'd ask, tentatively reaching out for it. "I still have the jetpack, though I have not had the chance to use it yet. Well... I've played around with it some in the training area. That certainly got a lot of jealous looks." A little grin was shown then.

Star-Lord has posed:
"Think on it. Lots of other buyers are interested," Peter says about the bridge breezily as he walks with Lara.

"Yeah, I'm always giving you things, but to be fair, you did give me my Walkman back and that battery," the sale of that had brought in more than enough units for what he'd given. But you know, thought that counts and all that. He smiles when she asks him what this last device was, "A phone," he answers simply. "But from up there," he says gesturing vaguely skyward. "Like, if ET had this the movie would have been over in five minutes. Basically, not sure how long I'm going to be hanging around Earth, but, if SHIELD or you, needed to get in touch with me, you'd have that. Range is pretty close to unlimited, so um, don't let the Top Men take it from you."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's smiling face looked back down at the device in her hand as she heard his explain all of it... She'd never seen the movie E.T. so she wasn't really sure what he was talking about but she just nodded her head as though she had seen it cause she figured it was probably important to him... and people TALKED LOUDLY AT HER whenever they realized she'd not seen something like that film. Which was always, vexing.

"Wow." Lara said at hearing the devices function. She turned it around in her hand and then tried to activate it to see how it worked because the curiosity was just too great, an actual space phone? Come on.

"I can't imagine what the monthly charge on something liket his must be, lots of Space Bucks?" She asked him with a slight grin. "Thank you though, its very sweet. I'll try not to use it too often though, I'm sure you're quite busy selling bridges."

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter would be mortified if he'd learned that Lara hadn't seen ET. He'd probably have rushed her off, found a copy and watched it with her so he could wash away the stain of what simply had to be child abuse. Hadn't seen ET. Unthinkable.

"Wow's my line," Peter smirks before nodding when she finds the right button and it comes to life. A hologram springs from the phone, the text in English, there's one name floating in the air "Peter". "Yeah, pretty much works like one of those new phones you've all got now, just, holograms, and really good long-distance plans." He grins, "Anyhow, um, when I am on the Milano to pick up, I'll appear up there," he gestures at the holo. "And we can talk. Pretty simple, battery should be good for like 10 years, so that shouldn't be a problem, so yeah."

He chuckles about the cost. "Really no big deal. This stuff just sort of works plan free," he grins. "Yeah, very busy with all those bridges," he grins. "And saving the Galaxy from time to time. What about you? Any more exciting adventures?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara considered everything he just said while eyeballing the hologram phone. "I'm impressed. Really, this is... very interesting technology. I feel humbled to have it." She said to him then giving him an honest smile and she reached out to give his left elbow a squeeze with her right hand.

"Well... lets see... its been awhile since we talked. I've... gotten into a few fights, had to shoot some people. I think that I saw the actual Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow, and I've discovered some alien technology that I think might actually be up your alley than it is mine. Though it may be mildly combined in both our alleyways as it were." Lara smiled a little again.

"That is all a very long story though. Did you come here just to give me this?" She asked then holding up the phone.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter smiles fondly when his elbow is squeezed. "It's nothing," he says again, playing the generous spaceman.

Peter listens to Lara's stories, the fights get a smile, the shooting people? He looks at her, seeing if she was taking it okay. Then came the Headless Horseman. "Wait? /The/ Headless Horseman," he smiles like a kid. "You're not shitting me? What happened?" he asks, excited.

Though when she mentions other matters and the purpose of his visit, he says, "Well, mostly yeah, but if you want to give me a tour or get out of here for a bit, I'm game."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would gently nod her head at that last request. "I can give you a tour of this place... I'm technically not supposed to leave though because of all the problems going on in Washington. I'm on an 'on call' status for any backup agents that SHIELD may require for all the madness going on."

She continued to walk with him, passing by others in the hallways toward the main foyer area again. "But yes... I... was asked to go investigate a call in Sleepy Hollow, its a short drive north from here." She cleared her throat. "When I got there, there was just a man going under the bridge to confront some other men who were digging for--" Lara sighed. "Burried treasures." She seemed pained by saying that.

"When I announced myself, it all got hazey and gunshots were exchanged. Shortly there after the dark phantom appeared--pumpkin head and all--and it attacked the men with the guns. One of their heads went down a ledge and it went after it and just 'disappeared' into the darkness."

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter nods slowly, like oh right, about the President. The President died? Who was the president now? When he left it was Bill Clinton. "Sorry to hear that. If me and the Guardians can be any help let us know. We've caught a few assassins in our time." And one of the best was on the ship.

As they walk the hallways, Peter's head is going this way and that, letting folks know he was an outsider more than the TEMP badge on his jacket did. Though as Lara tells her story he listens. "Crazy. So think you're going to find him again, or was one time enough with that guy?" he asks. Even he wasn't sure what he'd do against something like that.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would gently nod her head at his first question. "If you have any skills in finding a mutant shapeshifter who can literally turn into anyone in the blink of an eye... then SHIELD might be up for your assistance on this, with agents far above my paygrade." She smiled faintly at him.

Lara would release a light sigh then and shake her head. "I have a mountain of jobs I have to get too, I passed the Sleepy Hollow one off to another agent in the WAND division. Although I find it quite interesting, fighting ghosts and phantom murderers is really far removed from my speciality." She showed him a light smile then.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter frowns at tracking down the shape-shifter. "Like a Skrull?" he asks. "A mutant one?" he asks. I mean it stood to reason that human mutants could shapeshift too but it was the knee jerk reaction to think Skrull. "Hmm, hard to track even with the Milano's tech. I assume they could be anywhere?" he asks.

Chuckling, Peter says, "Wait? Does that mean there's someone /with/ that specialty that works here?" he asks, his expression filling in the unspoken, 'how cool is that!' As for the work piling up. "Any of that work, involve raiding tombs or aliens? If so, I am probably just the guy to help."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would walk alongside Peter as they made their way deeper into the Triskelion and toward a seemingly random location.

Her head would lightly shake left to right. "Tracking down someone with the ability to appear as anyone they wish?" She'd say, looking over at him and showing a faint smile. "That is something that I would say is beyond my capabilities. Which is why my status as an active agent here right now is simply one 'on reserve' incase any such thing comes up that I can actually assist the agency with."

Lara would motion them both down a different hallway.

"My office is just down here, in the WAND section." She'd tell him then.

"I am unsure if anyone around here can do similar things, I'm probably not on that level of clearance to know." She'd glance back to Peter with a sly grin.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter walks along taking it all in, keeping his hands to himself when it comes to any little bits of tech that he might walk by. The staff too. "Yeah, tried a bounty on a Skrull once, they're shapeshifters, didn't work out so good, so yeah, if SHIELD is looking for someone like that," he makes a face. "Good luck."

As they go deeper and deeper into the building, his lips curl at the corners threatening a smirk. "So is this tour going to end up with me in a crate next to the Arc or are we going for one of those, oh no, we're lost, what are we going to do now scenarios? Of the two, I'd prefer the second-"

He stops short, and manages to look embarrassed.

"Or you just have an office that's really, really far, my bad, after you then," he says before meeting that sly grin with a smile of his own. "Gotcha, so this place is one of those places where everyone keeps secrets, even from each other. Fun times, what do you guys even talk about at lunch?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would listen closely to him as they continued down the hallway with a few other Agents walking past them here and there, mostly minding their own business though.

"Yes, this is a tricky situation that the country has found itself in." Lara wasn't even a U.S. citizen, but she was growing to feel more like this was a home to her each passing day.

"I wish that I could show you to the more interesting parts of this facility, such as where I have stored the most fascinating items that I have brought to SHIELD... but sadly I don't think I have clearance to do that." She knew she didn't in fact.

"And the WAND offices themselves are not that terribly interesting." She smirked at him then. "We have a nice athletics area here though. Climbing walls, swimming pools, sporting courts and the like. But uhm..." Lara cleared her throat and glanced away again.

"You have a starship... so... none of those things really compare." She glanced back at him and offered a slight grin. "This might be the absolute worst tour of all time." She'd say that in her British flavored voice and then release a romoreseful sigh.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter does make a show of listening to the tour until at the end. Then, he's most definitely paying attention.

The sigh is met with a smile. "Hey, you're here so that's got to make it at least top five," he counters on the status of the tour. "And this may come as a shock, but, the tour? Just a ruse to get to see you a bit before I have to go. Crew's putting its foot down. Got to get going onwards and upwards. Just didn't want to go and not say goodbye."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would look over at him then and she'd show him a smile that was both lit up with pleasure from his kindness and nervousness in her struggles with dealing with compliments. The lingering effects of her social awkwardness were always there, even if they'd gotten a lot less since everything she'd gone through in the past 5 years of her life.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said about him having to leave. "I mean, I completely understand... You have to do what your crew desires or they'll pull out their space swords and buckle your swash. A right old space mutiny on your hands." Lara looked back at him and flashed him a quick grin at her little nerdy attempt at humor.

The grin faded and her visage grew more somber and caring. "Do be careful out there though. I'd very much like to see you again someday and... if something happened to you, I strongly doubt that I'd ever receive any news of it. So... stay safe!"

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter smiles a little brighter when she smiles back at him. He might be a bit self-absorbed at times, but he could tell Lara didn't get that many compliments and he was glad he could at least put something in the other column.

"Yeah, they're pretty pissed, can't really get out much, being weird alien people," and psychopaths, let's not forget that.

The part about being careful earns Lara a grin, "Right, well I can promise I'll be careful, and you can promise you'll be careful, but something about how we met says, somehow we're not really going to be able keep that promise all that well," he says with a little chuckle. "Tell you what? How about we promise to stay lucky? Seems to have worked for us this far."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would stand then outside the doorway into the WAND offices, there were other member sof the team inside of the larger space beyond the doorway... some of them were kind of odd looking as well since WAND employed witches and wizards and a few 'monsters' even. But the place had a general 'office feeling' to it overall.

The Brit would grin at him, her hands in front of her waist with her fingertips touching each other. "You gave me a jetpack to stay safer..." She reminded him. "I gave you a battery... to what? Charge your laundry machines?" Her grin would blossom a moment before she'd let it fade and then she'd just nod two quick times to him.

"Luck I can promise I will do my best to maintain though, as well as my wits. Without those two things and well... I might become a lost relic myself."

Star-Lord has posed:
Weird. Peter is used to weird, but he is getting all gushy and they are definitely standing in public. "Hey, can we do this in your office?" he asks. "Unless you can let me spring you from this joint?" he offers brightly.

"True, and also because it` was cool," Peter says about the jetpack. "And nah, it's an antique, don't even have the power hookups for it, but there's a guy on Xandar that might take it off our hands for some units," he gives a shrug of his shoulder.

"I hope not," he says about Lara becoming a relic. "And yeah, we'll keep being baddass, I can definitely keep that promise."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara nodded to his initial question and she summarily turn and lead him into the WAND offices which had a bunch of cubicles in the stretch of the main large room. She'd look back to him then while they walked.

"Xandar..." Lara said. "My mind is jumping to all the hidden ruins and treasures that an entire new world might possess." She'd say back to him while flashing a little grin.

A moment later and the brunette approached her office door and turned the silver knob and then stepped into the open doorway and pulled it back for him to enter as well.

The office was fairly large, not cramped, it had two 'fake windows' that let in 'fake sunlight' but were covered over with blinds that kept the illusion feeling like they were real windows letting in a comforting natural light. It had one dark wooden desk in it with a computer atop it and a bunch of books around it and some odd trinkets, but otherwise there were just four white walls and some adventuring gear in the corner on a shelf.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter takes a look around the office and smiles, "Guessing you're in the field a lot right?" he asks, the total lack of décor being the big give away.

Then he nods, "Not world, worlds, tons of them out there, if you get tired of Earth, let me know. But yeah, Xandar is nice, some friends of mine got married there once, great beaches, and yes, also ruins. We saved that place one time. It was pretty nuts."

Then out of the sight of Lara's strange looking co-workers, Peter leans in for a kiss.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara would look around the spartan office and she'd let out a light laugh at his summation of her office's... well, spartaness.

"My head mostly ends up in whatever it is that I'm researching when I'm in here... I don't really Want for decorations beyond that. I guess I also expected to never need this space that much." She'd shut the office door then and move toward the corner of her desk.

Turning to face him she'd shake her head slowly at the very notion of 'worlds' filled with more explorable secrets. "I need to find a way to live forever." She quietly jested, showing him a smile.

When he moved in to kiss her she'd lift her hands up to his elbows, but not stop him. She'd accept it and return it and then smile at him. "For luck, right?" She'd say after the kiss had aended.

Star-Lord has posed:
"I can get that, I can forget the whole world exists if I'm listening to the right music, which, is as close as I get to work," he says with a smile. Not strictly true, but if he asked his crew they might just agree.

"We have those too, or so I'm told. Ways to live forever. Never found one yet, but yeah, there's a lot to see out there, I've been doing it for almost 30 years and compared to what's out there, I've seen nothing. It's pretty great, I got to admit."

Speaking of great, when Lara returns the kiss, he smiles, and is still smiling when their lips part. "Something like that, I'd say let's clear off this desk, but you got show back up here in the morning," he teases before he says. "Yeah, mostly for luck. You're pretty awesome. Just want to make sure you don't forget me."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara Croft had a lot of men approach her in her schooling days, especially while she was at University and Sam would drag her to parties on the weekends... She'd not really engaged with any of them though, and right after college her life as an explorer kicked up into full gear far faster than she'd anticipated it ever would.

"I'm not going to forget you." Lara would say softly to him, showing a slight grin on her pink hued lips, she did wear makeup she just applied it very conversatively when she did.

She glanced back at her desk and it made her laugh and blush even, her lef thand went up to her forehead and dipped beneath a few strands of dark hair that were hanging down over it. She slid her fingertips down the side of her face gently and then looked back up at him.

"Yes, I'm sure thats precisely what my co-workers would want to hear through potentially thin walls." She laughed at the space man.

"You just make sure to come back here, and there'll be time for that..." She'd say up at him, smiling happily to him. She liked him, she had no reason not to. He was handsome, charming, dashing... silly... and fun.

Star-Lord has posed:
Peter smiles, at her assertion, "Good," he says. "Would hate to think I was forgettable. Have people call me by the wrong name," he says, teasing despite the earnestness of Lara's statement or because of it. He does grin back, though, and his expression isn't mocking at all.

The way she glances back at her desk, though, that expression becomes a little bit mocking and definitely amused. "Dunno, could be the highlight of their day," he says still looking amused.

Peter smiles then, a genuine smile when Lara asks that he come back, but it only lasts a moment before Peter is being Peter again, "Well, I'm normally the fly off into the sunset type, but, in your case, willing to make an exception," he teases before adding, "But seriously, I'll be back."

He leans down to kiss her again, one for the road.

Lara Croft has posed:
Before he'd lean in to get another kiss, she was already grinning up at him and his words. "I can't possibly forget your name... Space-lord." She'd say to him in a near-whisper of a voice with their lips brushing and before he could retort she'd engage the kiss and put her hands softly onto the sides of his neck to give his skin there a gentle brush of fingertips, dancing them around gently beneath his ears while she kissed him back.

Lara certainly didn't have a lot of experience at romantic engagements like this and it was entirely just like her life for the man she finally was having one with to be on his way out of the entire solar system... only figured, right?

When the kiss would end, she'd smile warmly up at him. "You know where to find me." She'd say at him quietly.

Star-Lord has posed:
During the kiss, Peter, takes time for some exploratory caresses along her cheek and down her neck in return. His fingers rough on the smooth skin. When their lips part, the first thing out of his mouth is a smiled. "/Star/-Lord," and afterwards he shakes his head.

"But yeah, I do," he says fondly before asking, "So want to show me out?"