Owner	Pose
Lara Croft	Not everything Lara Croft recovers is of massive magical origins with mega amounts of mystical powers. Nope, some of it is just really impressive relics of a by-gone era. Its these items that Croft brings to the Natural History Museum in the United States (when able to of course, some of the items can be challenging to get out of the country she discovers them in). As of today? Lara is in attendance of a Japanese Imperial Historical event. She'd brought two things to the event and donated them, an ancient Japanese sword from a blacksmith of legendary renown, and the helmet of a famous Samurai warrior. Certainly not items that her employers SHIELD would wish to have, but ones that the Nat History Museum are quite glad to take, this is why she's considered a valued associate to the museum. Lara is wearing a black leather jacket over a white top and a black dress that goes down to her ankles, its fancy attire, though the leather jacket adds a bit of casual flare to the ensemble all together. She's speaking to a few patrons visiting the exhibit.
Jason Todd	Truth be told, Jason Todd is not a cultured sort. Most of his culture is usually a cup of yogurt. However, he needs help - and he knows it. After learning of the death of someone close to him and an attack on him and Kitty a few evenings ago, he realized he was going to need help with the undertaking that he's planning. And he doesn't want Bruce or any other member of close family involved. This is personal business. That is what brings him to the Museum of Natural History. The Wayne Foundation has made plenty of donations to the Natural History Museum in the past. It's a piece of leverage that Jason hopes to use to his advantage to at least get his foot in the door to meet with one of their curators. The other part of getting in the door he carries beneath one of his arms in a satchel. It's scanned at the security station and passes through with little issue as he makes his way through the small crowds - thankfully these events aren't as well attended as a social soiree. He glances at a picture on his smartphone that he had found of his target. Dressed in a pair of nice slacks and a polo shirt, he does try not to stand out in a crowd as he approaches where Lara is speaking with the others. "The blade of Minamoto No Tametomo is an impressive addition, Miss Croft." Jason offers as he glances towards the exhibit. "Is it true that it is the blade that he committed seppuku with, marking him as the first to do so?" comes the curious question to her.
Lara Croft	Jason's approach, and spoken words, draws Lara's brown eyed gaze onto him and she registers what he says after a moment which draws a smile across her red hued lips as she glances back to the sword and then back to him. "There wasn't a body there when I found it." She admits to him. "But... its a romantic story, if a bit sad at the same time, so it is one we can continue to believe to be true. Evidence hasn't been found to suggest otherwise yet, at the very least." She has a very smooth and very British voice, London standard accent in fact. Her right hand extends toward him then and she keeps a smile. "You know my name, but I'm sadly at a loss for yours. Are you a contributor to the museum or just an admirer of this particular era of history?"
Jason Todd	"My father is more the contributor than I am. I'm more into other works of art." Lara would definetly count as that, but Jason's on his better behaviour this afternoon. His own accent marks him as Jersey born and raised - though there's hints of other languages in there. "My apologies for not making the introduction." Accepting Lara's hand in a warm grip of his own, he gives a bob of his head in greetings. "Jason Todd - though you're probably more familiar with my father, Bruce Wayne." He adjusts the satchel on his arm and grins. "It's ironic that you were having a meet and greet over a pair of swords. I have information on another pair of blades I wanted to ask your assistance with. I have one half of the blades with me and I'm putting together an expedition to find the other half. I was told that you were one of the foremost expiditionists in the world."
Lara Croft	Lara draws her hand back after they shake exchange and she continues to softly smile at him, even nods once more to his words. "I know of your father, I've yet to ever meet him or see him in person though. He seems like a wonderful man though, from what I hear he does everything in his power to help your city be a better place." She motions to the exhibits on display here today, its a busy weekend mid day in the museum too... a place that is a very popular tourist location inside Manhattan. "Now that I know he's a donating contributor, I'd very much like to meet him someday as well." Lara adds before she looks back to Jason. His next words amke her tilt her head just a little in an physical expression of sudden curiosity. A slow and small grin shows on the Brit's lips. "I'm certainly in that category, or so I'm told." She says back at first before she then laces her fingers together in front of her lap. "Are you inviting me to join this expedition then?" She asks further. "It does sound like an interesting goal you are seeking, admittedly."
Jason Todd	"This is not an expedition to be funded by my father - this will come my own personal funds." Jason has enough funds and favors to call in to make sure that the trip is handled. "The place I am searching for is known as the Acres of All." The name of the place might mean something to Lara - a mystical location deep in the Himalayans that have previously gone undiscovered. A mythical place that is said to be suspended in time and space - a place of memories captured and held in check. A place that supposedly doesn't exist. "Now, before you call me mad and send me on my way.. first, you would not be the first pretty girl to say that." Jason smiles wryly at that. "Second. I have the proof of it's existance in this bag. If there a place taht we could speak more quietly on this, without prying eyes?" he asks with a fold of his hands into his pockets to give him the appearance of being non-chalant - though Lara can read the small signs of his body language - he's telling a truth. But there's things that he's also keeping out of it.
Lara Croft	The first of what he says earns nothing more than a nod, if he has the funds she is inclined to believe him--being that he's the son of Bruce Wayne he likely has some money of his own at this point in his life. She does spend a second or so trying to figure out how old Jason is just by staring at him, she summarizes that he looks like he may have just recently graduated college. Younger than her by a few years most likely. Her eyes then move to the bag that he has indicated, she has indeed heard of this place. "Don't worry." Lara then quietly says, looking back up to him. "A number of years ago I would likely not be so ready to believe you, but now? I've come to change my perception on the secrets of this world not always being stories to entertain the imaginations of children. Some of the, many, have turned out to be quite... real." Lara then draws in a breath and she nods once to him. "Come with me, there's a conference room just around the corner there." She starts to walk, her shoes clicking on the polished floors of the museum. There is quite a lot of natural sunlight shining in from the glass ceilings above, but as they pass out of the main area and into the hallway where there are doors set between exhibits, the lighting shifts to strips along the tops of the walls near the arched ceilings. Lara opens a door to a conference room that has one glass wall out onto the city and the rest are simple white and covered in pictures or display screens. "So what have you found, Mister Todd?" She asks as she steps in toward the oval table that dominates the middle of the room's floor.
Jason Todd	The fact that she didn't immediately call him crazy and send him away brings a moment of relief to Jason. Usually, telling the normal people about the fantastic tends to draw looks. Though Lara Croft probably doesn't count as /normal/ by any stretch of the imagination. Following her back to the conference room that she has indicated, Jason follows Lara in and moves over to the table and sets down the satchel. "Not found, Miss Croft." he corrects. "Given. Some time ago by the leader of the All-Caste." He doesn't know if Lara knows of them or not, the anctient warrior monks that supposedly occupy the very Acres that Jason is searching for. "I have a rough idea of where to find it - but I need someone that can help with what we may find within." With that, he opens the satchel. He takes in the sun and the view, relishing being out in the light - even if the dark is usually his wheelhouse. With that, he puls out a blade. Correction - he pulls out the remains of a blade. Made of copper, Lara can faintly make out the anctient runes that are along the flat of the blade. The blue metal that makes up the hilt of the blade. The metal is old. Very old. Perhaps even dating back to the Bronze Age. And it's shattered.
Lara Croft	As the sword is produced, Lara is flipping on the overhead lights in the conference room. The sunlight from outside had the room very well illuminated for the average needs of getting around, but the overhead lights would make inspecting that sword he just produced far more easy. Lara steps toward him, and more specifically it. She motions for him to deposit it onto the table while she is already running her eyes over the entirety of its surface. "Its certainly seen better days, I would imagine." She comments then, the runes and inscriptions are certainly what she's investigating the closest to try to get information on the origins of the item itself. "How exactly did you come across this again?" She then asks while staring at it yet still, able to see a lot more about it than the average person would.
Jason Todd	"Would you believe me if I told you I was trained by the All-Caste?" Jason asks as he gets just the thinnest of smiles. The blade looks as though it was recently /used/ in fact. The breaks in it are fresh. This weapon hasn't had time to sit and weather and rust. It was carried. It was use. It appears that it wasn't shattered no more than forty-eight hours ago. The remains of the blade are set upon the table with reverence. "It is said that the blades can only cut into absolute evil or magic." he explains. He would know he was the wielder - and as the heir of the All-Caste, they were his blades to have. "This one was to given to me by an old monk. The second is in the Chamber of All, waiting to be retrieved. It needs to be retrieved. In a very expidted manner." "I know you are going to ask for proof of this claim." He considers for a moment, and then smirks. "Don't take this as me being forward." Slipping off his jacket, he reaches down and untucks his shirt to remove it. There are marks on his body - similar to the Demon's Head of anctient orders, and script in Chinese that definetly doesn't look like it was applied at a back alley tattoo parlor. It is a ward of cleansing - a clearing of the mind and body - of removing something very dark from someone's soul- if the script on his skin is to be believed.
Lara Croft	"I'll go out on a limb here and assume that you're the one who recently broke this blade then?" Lara asks as she does take note of the new damage to it, seeing the fresh breaks were rather easy to spot as they had no where near the wear and weathering of the rest of the blade's surface. Lara is looking down at the blade further while the man moves to showcase his bodily artwork, she's talking while he's preparing to do that. "The All-caste?" She asks then while reaching out to trace her fingers along the blade's surface, her right hand gently inspecting it through tactile touch. "I was under the impression that an internal power struggle had ended that group of warrior monks, a long time ag--." Lara looks up and over at him, she sees his tattoos and after a sudden pause in her words she finishes her sentence. "Oh." Croft's dark eyebrows furrow a bit as she inspects the man's painted skin, it doesn't take her long to see that it looks legit to the region as she knows it. So after a few more moments, her eyes look up to his. She stares at him for a second of lingering silence. "What are your intentions with this blade, should you recover it." She motions to the broken one beside them. "Are you... using these?"
Jason Todd	Pulling the shirt back into place, Jason nods. "The Untitled have risen. They have slaughtered the All-Caste. I am the last one left." comes the quiet admission. "Yes. I plan to use them. They are an evil as anctient as this blade. And this blade could be the only way to stop them. They are only weak to copper. And they take the souls and bodies that they want. Corrupt them, and expand. There's only a handful of them that can do this though." "I plan to kill them all before they kill me." He says this, even if it may dissuade Lara from going with him on this mission. He pulls his shirt back into his place and tucks it in. "If they gain access to the Chamber of All or the Lazarus Pit, it will be the awakening of a massive evil on Earth."
Lara Croft	"No, I mean..." Lara starts then as she hears Jason say all of this. She looks tothe broken blade and then back to him. "I was under the impression that the All-caste had been, destroyed, a long time ago." She didn't know they were still operating as recently as it would take to train Jason here before her. The rest of what he says? Well that just makes her fold her arms together over her stomach and she looks from him, to the blade again. "I'm an employee of SHIELD, Mister Todd." Lara says then, her eyes returning to his once he has his clothing situated once more. "A division within SHIELD that is tasked with stopping artifacts, like you speak of, from allowing sinister individuals to do harm to the world through their acquisition." A short pause then as she knows how she talks sometimes, it requires a breaking down. "I'm tasked with getting powerful items, before the 'bad people' can." She says then, showing a faint smirk. "I can help you." Lara says to him then. "But I can't promise that we won't butt heads on the... ethics... of what to do with whatever it is we find along the way."
Jason Todd	"I tell you what. We find the blade, and after I use it for what it needs to be used for? You may have it. You can put it on display. You can lock it up in SHIELD." Jason makes in counter offer. He leans over, laying his hands flat on the table. "And in this case? I may be a bad person - but if the people that get this weapon do? Then your definition of bad is going to be turned on it's head." However, she seems to be agreeable to his terms, and Jason gives a nod of his head - he does leave the offer on the table for her. "I'm not exactly known for my winning personality. That's more my father's thing." There's a grin offered at that before he gestures to the current remains of the blade on the table. "I turn these over to you, then. As a token of my good faith that I will make sure that you are able to carry out your duties."
Lara Croft	There's a number of reactions and actions Lara takes with items she recovers. If they're thought to have power--and its public knowledge that she found them, then they often end up here at the Natural History Museum... except fake reproductions. They'll put fakes here (Or other locations depending on the legalities of the item in question) while the real one is put into a very safe location where 'Top People' can keep watch over the powerful relic. Lara is quick to show the man a smile. "I didn't mean to imply that I believed you feel into the 'bad' category, Mister Todd. My apologies." She corrects herself on that point. She looks to the broken blade again and she reaches out to motion toward it. "I just meant that artifacts such as this one, are often under the pursuit of many who very definitely and clearly--are, quite bad. HYDRA. Trinity. More-on and so-forth." When he offers her what he's brought here, she shows him a warm smile, it makes her whole face look a bit softer and happier. "Thats sweet of you." She says in a calming tone of her British accented voice. "Thank you." Her right hand produces contact information on a card from her black leather jacket's pocket. "Here, all the ways you can contact me to arrange whatever it is you have planned."
Jason Todd	Accepting the card, Jason tucks it away. "I look forward to contacting you when I'm ready then. Thank you for the assistance, Miss Croft. I look forward to working together with you." Yes, he realizes that Lara is going to find out that Jason is the Hood, most likely. Who knows, she may already know. SHIELD's sneaky like that. But this was a calculated risk that he had to take, to ensure that she would help. In that, Jason's more likely to open doors than Red Hood is.