Owner	Pose
Copycat	Vanessa had a lot to think about lately. After returning home and showering, she'd decided to hop on the subway and just ride it for awhile before finally getting off at a random stop. It was nearly noon and she was getting hungry, and the chance to walk along and find somewhere new to eat just seemed to have appeal to her. No familiar sights or faces. Just New York, and her. It sounds so intimate except for all those other millions of people. The sight of the Triskellion nearby was one of the first things to draw Vanessa's eyes once she made it up to the street. She walks along the sidewalk that borders the water, looking out at the imposing structure, before finally the smell of something delicious catches her attention. A little Greek restaurant, not far from the Triskellion bridge. There's an few outdoor tables there, nothing fancy, but the aromas are mouth-watering. Vanessa peeks in her purse at the money that is in there. She makes her way over to take a seat at a table, picking up a menu from where they are stuck between the salt and pepper shakers for people to start looking as soon as they sit down.
Lara Croft	Lara had eaten at this restaurant a number of times, usually alone, but she was first introduced here by a SHIELD agent who had been with WAND but had retired last year. WAND was a little slim on qualified agents these days, in fact, because of reasons like that and it was leaving her with more and more responsibility, even though she wasn't a wizard, she isn't an alchemist, and she only knows necromancy in so far as she's left a wake of dead people behind her in her life since she was 21 lost an island filled with sacrificial cannibals... But she's making due, as best she can, as she ever has. She's also at the table beside Vanessa when the woman sits down. She doesn't look up at her, she's become quite the 'New Yorker' in her days since moving her place of residence from London to Manhattan... and she's used to people coming and going on the regular. But what Vanessa might notice, is that Lara is kind of an odd duck. On hand she's physically attractive, around the same age as Vanessa, and wearing a dark navy blue tank top that clings to her athletic and lightly tanned body. The tanktop has the SHIELD logo over her left breast and that probably stands out quite a bit. On her forehead are a pushed-up pair of sunglasses and in her hands in front of her is a broken down object between a series of books laid out out in front of her. And, Lara is muttering to herself. "Belobog and Chernobog. Dark brothers... united through opposition." She's reading something on the 'thing' she has broken apart in front of her, it almost sounds like a corny incantation from a movie or book.
Copycat	Vanessa thumbs through the menu, which is very easy to do since it only has the pages opposite the front and back covers inside, nothing else. Laminated so they last, Vanessa scans down the list of dishes before picking one out. A waitress comes out, a Greek girl who is pretty despite a too-large nose, with curly hair and glasses. She takes Vanessa's drink order of iced tea, and then, "I'll have the... oh I'll never say this right. The chicken and rice dish," she says, pointing to it on the menu. The girl takes her order and stops to check on Lara. "Hey, that's from the video game, right?" she says of what she hears from Lara. Once she's taken care of Lara, she'll move on again to the next table. Vanessa glances up and over towards Lara. She sits regarding the beautiful woman for a few moments. At first, its her stunning looks, but after a moment Vanessa says, "You know, we have the same sunglasses I think." She pulls off her own to look and confirm they are the same pair. "My bestie bought these for me on my birthday," she says proudly of the pair of chic designer glasses.
Lara Croft	Lara looks up at the server as she speaks to her of a video game. She goes to the first place that her mind can think of... the video game that they made of her time on Yamatai. It came out earlier this past year and she'd participated in some of the creation of it... against her better judgment. The movie hadn't gone well, but the game had been in production a long time and they asked her if she'd let them body-scan her into it. She'd agreed because she was told it'd be good for her public persona with the aftermath of Yamatai still yet-lingering on today in courts in Japan. Some still blamed Lara for much of what happened there. "Oh uh, yes, I'm that... Lara. Croft." She tells the server before the woman moves on again. Vanessa's comments draw the British woman's eyes to her. It takes her a second before she smiles and reaches up to her sunglasses on her forehead, she'd forgotten that they were even there. "The mall at World Trade, yes?" She asks in her thick London accent, smiling to Vanessa. "They're good, sturdy. I need sturdy such shades, because I'm always sitting on them. Or stepping..." There's a pause. "Oh, and Happy... birthday? Or was it some time ago now?"
Copycat	Vanessa smiles and says, "I hope they are sturdy. I'm going to feel horrible if I ever break them. I think these need to last me the rest of my life," She says of the shades that probably could have paid for her apartment for three months or more. "And thank you, though yes, it was a little while ago. A month plus," she says. Vanessa looks up as the waitress returns with her iced tea. The dark-haired woman in her mid-twenties starts adding a little sugar to it. "Vanessa," she offers, when she looks back to Lara. "Did you say something about a video game?" Vanessa inquires. Not that she doesn't like video games, she just can't afford her own system. But she goes and plays with Gabriel in her building sometimes, at the mercy of whatever game the teen currently has. He trades them in for the next one, so it is always changing.
Lara Croft	Lara can't help but softly laugh to the concept of sunglasses lasting to the rest of her life. "I can't even get them to last me a month, generally speaking." The Brit responds to that before she shows a knowing light smile back to the other room. She reaches for her glass of tea then and raises it up for a sip. Her eyes have fallen back to the table where her research items are, but its Vanessa's question that makes her look up again. Once the glass of tea is settled again, Lara draws in a breath and clearly takes a moment to try to formulate her words. "Yes." She answers in-short, initially, clearly a little torn on how to describe this... "I'm in a video game. Or... a video game is about me... loosely. Very loosely. In fact it kind of painted me out to be a ravenous murderer, or... perhaps just a very frightened person who killed a lot of people to stay alive. Some part of that is true, I was very afraid, and there was death, just... not that much death." She stops herself, because she knows she's already made this weird. "Vanessa." She repeats her name and smiles again, looking a little embarrassed now. "I'm Lara, Croft." She says. "The... game, and film... are called 'Tomb Raider'. I'm not terribly fond of that title. But, they don't really ask you if you are or not before they label things." She seems jaded about all of this, at least a little!
Copycat	Vanessa turns a bit in her seat to face Lara more directly. Sipping her iced teas as she listens to the explanation about the video game. "Oh, Tomb Raider! I've heard of it. And... I'm really sorry about your experience. I... would hope to never be in a situation a game was worth making about me, either," she says. Her thoughts go back to a subway station though- no, not going to think about that! "Actually," Vanessa says, "My friend would probably flip out if I got a picture with you, with you being in the game and all. If that wouldn't be too weird or anything?" she asks. Vanessa leaves out how Gabriel was raving about the girl in the video game. She had kind of just nodded along at the time. But seeing Lara in person, Vanessa understands.
Lara Croft	"Well." Lara starts then. "Admittedly its my fault, the film and the game were an element of an agreement that I signed. They pitched it at me as a story based on my explanation of events as they unfolded... and that story, I was told, was going to be turned into a book. I thought a book would be fine, but what I didn't realize is that that book could be turned into a screenplay and that, well, it could also be then licensed as a video game." She draws in a breath and sharply exhales. "My father always said that lawyers were the true bane of mankind. I see now what he means." She smirks a little and then sits up a little straighter in her seat. "A picture would be fine, too, of course." She smiles then to the other woman. "Here..." She reaches over to pull one of the other chairs at her table over to be beside her own. "This should do?"
Copycat	Vanessa get out her phone from her purse. As she does, Lara might notice a 9mm handgun in there as well. The gun stays in the purse though as Vanessa rises and moves over to take a seat in the chair beside Lara. She holds up the phone for the selfie. "Oh he's going to get a kick out of this," Vanessa says. She even manages to get most of their upper bodies in the shot. Yes, Gabriel is going to owe her quite the Christmas present this year! Click! Vanessa takes the picture and grins over to Lara. "Thank you so much. You just made an eighteen year old kid's day. He's such a great kid too," she says, with a smile as she sends the picture off. Glancing back to Lara, Vanessa motions towards the woman's attire. "So are you part of SHIELD? Or just... um, I don't even know, do they have a souvenir shop in there?" she asks, laughing gently.
Lara Croft	It is a very good picture and the two of them side by side is a pleasant sight. Since she was scanned IN to the video game, Gabriel will definitely recognize her to be the true to-form Tomb Raider herself. "Awww..." She says about him being a good kid. "Feels like just yesterday that I was 18, now I'm creeping toward 30." Lara says with a sly grin. "They go fast." A glance is given down to her tank top and she'd forgotten it had a logo on it at all. "Ah, uh, no gift shop." She smiles back up at the other woman. "I'm a mid tier Agent within their ranks. After everything that happened to me, I was recruited to be an acquisitions specialist for one of their defense wings, a wing dedicated toward... well... things that align with the sorts of stuff I go after in this world." There's a short pause then. "Primarily I'm still just an archaeologist with a fancy side job, I would say." She grins more openly then. Leaning back in her chair, Lara motions toward Vanessa. "What about you?" She asks. "You're very pretty, I'm guess you're a model or an actress, singer perhaps?"
Copycat	Vanessa gives a smile which is soft with a touch of rueful and self-deprecating humor. "Um, no, but I have been known to have to put on an act from time to time. At the moment I do some dancing. Not the Broadway variety," she says, managing it without looking too embarrassed about sharing that. "Though I don't know, maybe something else is opening up for me," she says. "So, you seem to have lived quite an interesting life, Lara Croft. And with that great accent too. You know if you ever lost your other jobs you could probably make a fortune doing voice over work. I think I'd probably run out and buy whatever you were extolling the virtues of," she says with a grin.
Lara Croft	Lara does a soft 'Ah' face when she realizes what Vanessa means. It doesn't bother her one bit though, she's been all over this world and seen/met people who do all manner of professions. "Well I hope its of better pay and benefits, if so." She says about something else opening up perhaps. The other part of what Vanessa says makes Lara smile again, this time a bit more bashfully, which is rare for her. She gets compliments about her voice fairly often here in the States, but the way that Vanessa frames the compliment is creative and well received. "Thats sweet." She says to her then quite quietly. "I'll think about that. I had the misfortune of reading the comments section on a interview I did that ended up on Youtube. Apparently my own people back in London believe I'm faking it, or not a 'real Brit' because my accent doesn't 'sound right'." She smirks softly. "Truth is, I spent a lot of time all over the world. Growing up abroad has seeming influenced how I speak, but... I guess that is too complicated for some people to consider as a possibility." Lara reaches out for her tea then and she draws it toward her to take a sip from it. "You're from around here, I take it then? Born and raised a classic New Yorker?" She asks with a soft smile.
Copycat	"Oh no," Vanessa says, and she does have a bit more of a Midwestern sound to her. That lack of accent, if there were such a thing in America. "I'm from Ohio originally. A miserable little place outside of the city," Vanessa says. She picks up her iced tea, swirling it as she looks down at the beverage. "My uncle, raised catfish. I'm the only girl I've ever met, who grew up on a catfish far," Vanessa shares with a soft chuckle. "Came to New York awhile ago and... well, I suppose 'got stuck here' is both accurate and a kind way of putting it," she says. "Though I guess by now I haven't really considered trying to live somewhere else."
Lara Croft	Lara sets her own glass back down next to some of the books she had strewn across the table space in front of her. "Oh." She initially replies. "I guess I haven't perfected my American geographical accent detection quite yet... Ohio... I've not been there, that probably doesn't help much either... Nor have I ever seen a catfish farm... Quite frankly I didn't know such a thing existed." She keeps her brown eyed gaze locked onto Vanessa, politely and with great attentiveness, she's a good listener. "What do they farm catfish for precisely? Repopulating lakes for fishing purposes?" Seems like a fair guess for her, but then again she wasn't much of a fisherman either. She'd done a bit while on camping trips in her life, but no more than the average person who camped a fair amount. "I've been to many places around the world, Vanessa, and let me tell you there are far worse places to be 'stuck'. Though I do hope that if you don't enjoy it here, that you find a place where you do. Its all any of us should deserve, yes?"
Copycat	"Should deserve, and do, aren't always the same thing," Vanessa says with a bit of a laugh directed at herself. "Well, some people might buy them to stock other places, yes. But just like any farm they were raised to sell for food. Sell to restaurants or wherever. Just a bunch of big manmade ponds, lots of mud and muck in them. The catfish liked them that way. And they didn't smell particularly nice," Vanessa reminisces. She gives a soft laugh, about the time the waitress brings her food out. "It was not exactly a glamorous life. So no wonder I was ready to set out for the 'Big Time' the moment I found someone to take me there," she says. Vanessa gives a little shrug and a shake of her head. "Well, turned out he wasn't ready for the Big Time. But, this isn't particularly stellar dinner conversation is it," she says. "So is this where you plan to settle? Or just where you are for now?"
Lara Croft	Lara doesn't appear to be dining here this afternoon, either that or she already ate prior to Vanessa's arrival. She just remains seated there and watching the other as she speaks, gently nodding her head along with her explanation. "Well that is certainly a unique explanation for your childhood, one I won't likely forget any time soon." She can tell that the woman doesn't want to go into too much more detail about her personal life, which likely means there's a lot of things there that she's not proud of it. Lara can understand that, at least in concept. At the question for her, she glances away then around them to the city of New York in all directions. "It suffices, for now." She replies before placing her eyes back upon Vanessa, though they don't linger long now, as its rude to stare at someone while they're eating. She places them instead here and there while she responds. "With my parents no longer with us, I've no design to be at my family home back in London, and my extended family has been fighting me for legal ownership of the property. I believe I've finally settled that after thankfully garnering a copy of my parent's last will and testament that I was worried had been lost for good. But, yes... My relations with my extended family are not the best, so... I thought I should start a new life, in the 'new world' as it were." After a small exhale, she does look back to Vanessa. "Plus, SHIELD pays me enough that I don't have to dip into the family inheritance, which there-by allows me to fund my own research and projects." She motions to the table and the books before her. "As you see here... some of that, at least a little."
Copycat	Vanessa glances over at the books with a bit of curiosity. "It seems like you end up in an awfully dangerous line of work, for someone who starts out dealing with these," she says of the reading materials. She gives a little shake of her head, but whatever else was about to say is forgotten as she says, "This may be the best chicken I've ever had. The marinade... I'm going to soak up every bit of it with the rice," she pronounces. Vanessa looks thoughtfully over at the Triskellion before turning back to Lara. "Well, I'm glad you were able to hang onto it. Family is... the kind of thing people should be able to have," she says. "I hope maybe in time yours can square things away with each other," she says.
Lara Croft	Lara just smiles at both of the things Vanessa initially says. She raises her own tea up for a sip. "We live in a world where there are a lot of terrible people, Vanessa." Slightly ominous. "Many of them are looking for a leg-up on the battles that they're fighting, and to get that leg-up, they'll do whatever it takes, even if it means searching for long lost relics on the off chance that some of the ancient magics behind said relic, are yet still lingering around today. My goal is to stop those things from being found by the wrong people... and, yes, that leads to some challenges. Many, really." She softly exhales then. Lara's eyes travel over to the Triskelion and then back to the woman. "Thank you." Lara says softly about the hope for her squaring things away with her family, and she says those two simple words in that very British way where each syllable is very pronounced, yet still somehow soft and very sweet to the ears. A sip of tea is taken then Lara lowers her tea glass. "Thank you also for the conversation. Its nice having something take my mind off of what I was working on, admittedly. I'm going to buy your food now, to show my appreciation in fact." She says, showing a soft grin to the woman then and there.