5218/Finding Footing

Finding Footing
Date of Scene:	21 August 2018
Location:	Avengers Mansion, New York City
Synopsis:	Thor asks Tony's advice on a few subjects in the Avengers' game room.
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Iron Man

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Thor has posed:
    There are few fates more grim for a being of action than to be deprived of such. To be without purpose even for small windows of time in an otherwise enormous scope of existence can weigh heavily upon someone more used to having their task set out before them and for most of their time be spent... on trying to attain their goals. Yet, as some of the house residents may have come to notice, Thor is currently without such a drive.
    He had arrived a handful of days ago, and the way he behaved around those normally there was as if he had never been away. He settled, made himself as much as he could at 'home' and proceeded to try and distract himself. People are the best diversion, speaking with others, enjoying conversations and being able to tell stories of what has passed would allow him to cultivate some illusion of not being idle...
    Yet it all faded when he was alone, left to his own devices. And such idleness had a cost. Currently the butcher's bill for having a distracted and aimless Thunder God was; one bar stool, several square feet of the gymnasium floor, a broken chandelier, several bottles of Cognac, a damaged 65 inch LCD screen, and a go-kart that had been in storage.
    Yet at least those things served to temper his distraction and calm his mood as for now... he stands in the game room and ponders the foosball table while the neck of a bottle of brandy is held light in one hand.

Iron Man has posed:
    "What would you think about going on a trip for a few days?" Tony's voice comes, amiable, from the doorway. A glance will certainly pick up on the relaxed billionaire as he rests one shoulder in the doorframe. One hand is relaxed against a pocket, the other idly keying in something to the device that passes as a phone, thumb circling over a raised holographic pad, though his gaze lifts smoothly to the occupant of the room not long after.

    "Unless you're enjoying knocking about here, that is," Tony adds, with a sleek shrug of one shoulder. He's dressed as casually as it gets for him - graphic tee blares a colorful band logo. Short sleeved and unlayered, which means the arc reactor is emitting a boost to those colors from his center chest. "I'm thinking tropical, though," Tony says, thoughtfully looking off into nowhere. "Somewhere with an excess in pina coladas."

Thor has posed:
    The Asgardian looks up and for a moment it might seem like he doesn't see Tony Stark there with his colorful ensemble and that faint glow upon his sternum. But then he lifts his chin slightly as if recognition dawned and then his brow knit, that strapless eyepatch seeming so curiously grim upon the man's normally jovial face. "I do not know if that would be advisable. I told the others that I would be here." He lifts his hands slightly as if to indicate not necessarily the mansion but perhaps the city as well.
    "If I am needed this is where they will send word, likely." Though, assuredly, there are any number of other ways they would send word, since he does actually have a phone of late, Stark's equipment might have picked up on that as well.
    But then with no warning he changes the subject as he lifts his seemingly empty hand and lightly drops the ball upon the foosball table. "This contest, the armless warriors beset upon by their equals. What battle does it commemorate?" It's then that he looks to Tony for answers, at least for this.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Not so much battle. More one of the most popular games in the world," Tony supplies, having given only a raised brow to the rest of it. "Most of that world calls it football. Americans call it soccer, because they have another game called American football here. Both involve using teamwork to get the ball to a goal," Tony explains from his doorway, before he finishes fiddling with his phone and approaches.

    One of the various screens lights up to his left, showing a recent competitive football game in Brazil. Tony loosely flicks a few fingers that way to indicate it, and comes to the foosball table to give one of the rods holding a row of golden yellow men a spin. "This ends up being a lot of reflexes and angles -- and practice," Tony says. "And like lots of things -- or almost everything -- it's even better when drunk," he smirks. He pulls one of the balls up and tosses it into the middle, giving a brief demonstration of how the rods are pulled to knock the ball up and across into the other goal. "Rhodey's almost as good at this as he is at beer pong. Just don't bet on it."

Thor has posed:
    "I've seen children playing it," He looks up towards one of the monitors as he espies the movement of the game, his blue eye following the movement of the ball. A small smile settles on his features as he ponders, but then he touches a hand to one of the spinning rods and gives it a light twirl. "Then I shall ask him to show me at some point."
    But with that said, Thor takes a few steps away from the foosball table, wending his way around some of the chairs and lounges, moving far enough into the room until he finds a place and then gestures to a seat opposite it as if offering should Tony wish to join him. Once that's done, however, he drops into his seat and lifts the bottle for a drink.
    "I should tell you that I have misused your hospitality. There have been..." His brow knits together and then he says, "Damages. I shall repay when..." His lip twists a little as he adds, "When we have a currency."

Iron Man has posed:
    "I'm pretty current about what happens around here," Tony answers. He observes Thor with the bottle, and made a path for himself over to the bar, instead of accepting the seat right away. He rummages around there, looking through what is in stock in the game room. He does stop and set one hand on the top of the bar as Thor mentions owing him. It is fairly rare for anyone to actually offer to repay him for much. Tony, the endless supply of free stuff, to many Avengers.

    "We'll just be sure you work it off, then," Tony flippantly replies, shrugging with a cool little smile. He found a wine bottle that he fancies, and opens it with obvious skill. But keeps loose stock of Thor, to tease, "Any reason for these damages that I should know about? Or just the ongoing hurricane of Thor?"

Thor has posed:
    "Ah," The Thunderer grimaces as he looks past Tony for a time, as if trying to plumb the depths of his mind and needing to take a moment to gather a lamp and some pitons. But he holds up the bottle, "No, mistakes. What was the phrase that Rogue used on the ship? Idle hands?" The blonde man shakes his head and sprawls on his seat, legs further out than his back is high in the cushions. The bottle rests on his knee as he taps a finger upon it.
    "Ever since I returned I have felt like there was always something that... needed doing. Now, that the task of reconstruction is at hand, I find that there is less and less need for a warrior who knows not how to turn his hammer from defeating his enemies into building a home."
    His smile shifts wry as he looks across the way, "You recall Bjarke?" The captain of Frigga's Mercy, "He is heading up the effort for construction and I was trying to aid them but... well, let us say that my help was more a hindrance. Thus, I am here."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Interesting way to put that. I'm your opposite, here. I'm a builder first, warrior second," Tony replies. "Or eighth. I think warrior's not usually on my list of titles, just gets drowned out behind 'philanthropist' and 'playboy' and so on." Tony, as per usual, is chatty and overly descriptive, particularly when talking about himself.

    "You're good with your /people/, though. So maybe stick to that. It's not just about building the walls and so on, is it? That's sort of just where the home can exist. It's about forming groups for them, keeping their minds and hands busy. Train them in something /you/ know and care about," Tony suggests, gesturing around quite a bit with his empty wine glass, before fixing that problem and filling it. "If I were you?" Tony takes a moment to think, but he's quick on the ideas. Tony processes rapidly. "I'd take groups of them to visit various parts of the world and soak in the cultures here. Nothing quite like travel to open perspective. And to see that their home isn't just what they're building. There's a lot more here."

Thor has posed:
    A grunt comes from him, not at all effusive. But he does look up, "I have taken steps to try and expose them to some of the better things of Midgard." He tilts the bottle back and takes a few swallows, then sets it down with a glassy click on the end table nearby. "I brought them the Starchunk coffee lattes and they have been enjoying that, the brew is superior to what we had in some of the emergency supplies."
    He rubs at his chin for a moment, finger scratching at his beard. "But is Earth ready for bands of roving Asgardians traveling around their cities? I know not. I am reluctant, yet perhaps that is my own worries holding me back from taking steps that are needed."
    He shakes his head, "In any case, I shall repay you." He says that as if to reiterate and to solidify the statement. Not quite an oath, but a clear agreement to action.
    "What brings you here, Stark? Does something prey upon your thoughts?"

Iron Man has posed:
    "I'm not suggesting you parade uninvited. Even though that's the example it looks like I'm setting, I /am/ invited," Stark smirks over the wine, approaching to where Thor had suggested he sit, and relaxing there.

    "To be direct? You." A pause. "Prey upon my thoughts, I guess. I'm here because you were in here," Tony replies, but has an easy, shrugging sort of manner to the whole thing. "I'm being a good leader," Tony adds with a 'selfless' gesture across his body of both hands. "At least until Steve gets off his butt and picks up some slack." A wink is given, but there's only minor annoyance there. "Which does involve finding out if our Asgardian Thunder God needs a vacation, or wants to bash some enemy heads in the next time we need it. You're a lot easier to aim than Hulk. I sometimes appreciate that."

Thor has posed:
    A short snort slips from him before it's chased by a laugh. He shakes his head, "Don't go setting such high bars for me, Stark. How will I ever live up to them?" Considering being more easily manageable than the Incredible Hulk... not exactly too much of a leap to vault over that expectation.
    But he lifts a hand, "You know e'er you need my aid then I am there. If there is a battle to be fought I shall fight alongside you. But a vacation?" His lip twists, "I say thee nay." He does, however, cross a leg over his knee and seems to sink further into the entirely overly cushioned back of that chair and knits his brow in thought.
    "It is more, perhaps..." He advances these words warily, as if it were a step to admit that such a difficult exists, "That before these last several months, I was more sure of matters. Now... they are in flux. And so with these strange tides and wild movements of events around me I am still finding my feet."
    That having been said he quirks an eyebrow as if asking if that sounds reasonable.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Sure, makes sense to me," Tony answers without pause, rolling the edge of a thumb over the side of his goatee in a relaxed scratch at some phantom itch there. His dark eyes are alert and aware. He has a long drink of his wine. Tony has a way of putting others at ease with his unerring personal confidence: at least, when they stop resisting him. After all, everything goes so much more smoothly when others accept that Tony is often right.

    "You're ancient. Set in your ways. Used to certain things," Tony says, a tease in his tone at first as always, but he adjusts to be more serious. "By that, I mean, being entirely uprooted and flung into a new place, role, and situation, and doing a number of things you're probably unprepared for? Well. Yeah. Kind of unreasonable to expect to be immediately at ease." Tony watches Thor, but it isn't so much a stare as a relaxed, thoughtful look. "I'd be concerned if you /were/ fine. Then you'd be in some godly denial. Which probably would make my life harder around here."

Thor has posed:
    His hand comes up again as if to stop any worries due Tony. "I intend to return as I can, though I also feel it is important for me to do my duty by the Avengers." Thor leans forwards as he holds up his other hand now then slowly lowers them to the arms of the chair he's seated in and says, "I must become more at ease with delegating."
    A few moments pass, then he chews his bottom lip thoughtfully, "I mean, is that not what would please me most? Having another step in and lead during the mundane day to day matters? I could return to my ways of traveling, an adventurer. My time would be my own again."
    He tries to let that just stay there, as if those words having uttered might create the reality all on their own. But then he scowls and says simply. "Bah." As he knows that it is not as simple as that.

Iron Man has posed:
    "At the very least, do what I do, and pick somebody that IS good at delegating, and have them report to you." Tony seems to have run out of wine, and gets up. He's hungry too, of course, and looks for edibles near the bar. "Unless it's Loki, then maybe not," Tony's voice is briefly muffled as he bends behind the bar. He refills his glass, but lingers there, resting a palm on the surface of the bar. It doesn't last, since Tony's so prone to talking with his hands. "Use a council or something if you don't have a good number one." Tony arches his brows, drinks. He doesn't suggest Thor's time may never be his own again. After all, Tony's still often under the delusion that his own time is always his.

Thor has posed:
    Rising up to his feet, Thor takes up that bottle of brandy and then tilts it back, taking three long swallows and then setting the empty down and off to the side. "There are those I trust, aye." He offers as he starts to move across the room, nudging an ottoman out of the way with one sneaker. It takes him a bit, however, but he does close the distance with Tony as the other Avenger refills his glass.
    "I have had a thought of late, seeing if I can speak with Nuala and asking of her a boon." He leans against the bar for a moment, watching what Tony's doing for now as the other man prepares a drink. Then he looks up into the technologist's eyes and says, "Over the years many of my people traveled to the stars. I was considering asking of her to spread word to what others might be out there. To tell them of what passed and offer them a home."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Something of a reunion of your people?" Tony asks. He'd been going to come back around, but instead stays by the bar, spreading his hands to either side on the edge. He felt like an old west bartender for the moment, like he needs a glass to clean. He obviously doesn't clean any glasses, though. That's rare as is, and limited to his own penthouse.
    "At least the news would reach them. If it hasn't already. We're not exactly a hole in the wall out here, with all the visitors these days. My guess is she'd be honored to do that, though. I think you should ask her, give it a shot. Worst she says is she can't do it. I don't think you're risking much owing her a 'boon', she's a good sort, from what I've seen."

Thor has posed:
    "Difficult to say if it would be a good idea," Thor pushes away from the bar. "Those that left Asgard, they often had a good reason for doing so. Such entreaties could well be unwelcome."
    Another moment, then he slaps the surface of the bar. "I shall give it, and the other things we spoke on some thought." He turns and starts to walk away towards the door. "I shall take this moment, however, to bid you good e'en, Stark." A large hand lifts to wave over his shoulder, "I will likely see you on the morrow."
    That having been said he moves to the doorway and likely beyond lest he be stopped.

Iron Man has posed:
    "You didn't keep a list of people that left for 'reasons'?" Tony asks, with a mix of amusement and skeptical tone. "Still. A lot's changed since then. Like you mentioned: a lot's in flux. They can still choose to stay away." Tony works on his wine, with a nod in reply to Thor being very formal with his farewell.
    "... Tony," Tony 'corrects', to being called Stark. Not that he minds or it matters. "Good luck on your think-train, Thor. If you change your mind about thinking in a place like the Caribbean, let me know. I have had some /great/ thinks there." He tips his glass to Thor as the god departs.