Summary:Starfire is called for an interview with SHIELD as a known alien entity on Earth, Natasha is asked to assess her as a threat or friendly. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Being a refugee from an alien world requires a fair amount of regular supervision. Check-ins, biological containment inspection, fixing up backstories and aliases, discussing *why* Kori's been fired from twelve different jobs… Handling the refugees isn't something typically assigned to someone of Natasha's stature, but there's always a lot more work than hands. The alien woman known as 'Kori Anderson' is pleasant enough but she's been flagged as a new student at Midtown High, popped twice for low-altitude flight outside her approved area, and was tracked near Westchester which is technically out of zone for her.
And, as Natasha's discovering, Kori's not keeping a very good low profile. Evidence: the video texted to her of the redheaded alien woman grabbing Steve Rogers and kissing him rather soundly in the middle of what looks like a high school gym class.
Needless to say, Steve's been getting trolled pretty hard for that one.
*
Natasha wasn't happy when she was handled a rather mundane seeming task, but when she went to check up on it, looking to toss it on an underling, she wound up discovering just why this specific file made its way to her.
A short walk and one elevator ride later, followed by a slightly longer walk, and Natasha steps into an small office that is clearly used solely for interviews, where Kori would have been told to wait for someone to see her. "You're Kori Anderson?" She asks in a rather friendly tone, before extending her hand, "Natalie Rutherford, how are you doing? Hope it wasn't too much of a drag to stop by for a routine interview…" because this is by no means any form of an interrogation, nope.
*
Kori's sitting in the interview room with a pleased, vacant smile firmly fixed on her face. Either she's unbothered by the bureaucracy or she just doesn't care. Or she's unaware of the gravity of the situation.
"Hello, Natalie Rutherford!" she says in greeting. The redhead gets to her feet (wow she is tall) and carefully accepts the handshake with a care that'd be pompous if it wasn't so sincere. "I am Kori Anderson," she acknowledges. She's not really dressed for an 'interview', either. Black skirt worn too high up around her waist to be comfortably decent and a thick white blouse unbuttoned to just above her navel. With nothing under it. It'd be inappropriate in the extreme on anyone else but there's something about Kori's open and smiling expression that tweaks to Natasha's people-sense. Like she's just wearing a costume, unaware of the nuance of clothing her outfit expresses. "I have brought the paperwork you asked for of me," she tells Natasha, and digs a messy stack of crumbled, folded papers from her too-small purse. No makeup or jewelery, either, which is weird. The pile's set on the table. "All of my reciepts from the last month!"
*
"So you're a registered alien, Vega sector," Natalie says as she peers at the folder in her other hand. "Are all your people this tall?" She muses with a faint smile.
As she looks over how Kori is dressed, Nat arches a brow, and then asks, "how long have you been on Earth exactly? And for that matter, did anyone go over basic everyday attire with you?" Nat's eyes narrow at the paperwork submitted, "terrific, let's have a peek shall we?"
Natasha moves to sit down, motioning to Kori to sit as well, if she wasn't already, as she reaches to browse through the papers and reciepts. "Was there anything else…perhaps…that you may have forgotten?" Nat asks a leading question.
*
"Yes, we are!" Kori says, beaming enthusiastically. "Humans are actually typically short compared to many species. You will have a hard time getting things off the upper shelves when you reach spacefaring maturity."
"I have been on Earth for four months and sixteen days," Kori explains. "I was told to 'wear appropriate clothing' when I arrived here, as I only had my travelling clothes. I asked what that meant and was told 'look it up online'. So I look up clothing ideas every day on the Pinterest and try to find those clothes at the thrifty store."
"Did you know there's a store for people who are of the thrift?" she asks, leaning towards Natasha with wide green eyes. She at least remains on her side of the table. "It is not only *for* the people of thrift but they are the only ones who do of there the shopping! There are many clothes that are very expensive from the shopping stores but very cheap there, for some reason. Even the wearing for under! I am not allowed in Victoria's store anymore," she admits, crestfallen. "I complained that the clothing items were all too delicate and fragile and then I was escorted off the premises for 'being of the lewd' when I started putting the clothing back. I did not understand this, because I was being of myself, who is Kori, and that is not remotely akin to how it is pronounced."
She brightens. "Perhaps they thought I was someone else?"
*
"Is that so…?" Nat muses, "I guess I should get out of Earth more often and see for myself." She really didn't imagine humans carried a reputation for being short on average. Then again, if one was to judge by Thor as an example, and now Kori, it certainly seemed to carry a theme. "I guess we'll come up with a solution sooner or later, we're pretty handy with those."
"Well, all things considered, I'd say you did well, although you may want to consider wearing the skirt a little lower on your waist, and maybe button up a few of the buttons on your shirt?"
Nat smiles a little more at Kori's mangling of the language, as she nods at her revealation, "yes, I have heard of such stores, though I can't say I've been to one. Maybe one day you can show me." Nat maintains the friendly tone, building trust and all that jazz. At the anecdote at Victoria's, Nat stifles a laugh, as she remarks, "yes, you don't want people to say that you are of the lewd, as it were, it will give you a bad rep. Maybe look at how others conduct themselves in such stores, before taking some action that will paint you as…lewd. So, maybe don't waltz about the store with items you consider purchasing. There fitting rooms for that."
"I would wager they didn't know, Kori, is it okay to ask you a question?"
*
"Oh! My thanks!" Kori beams a cheery grin at Natasha, utterly lacking any self-consciousness. "I think you are very much the lovely as well. It is because we have the shared color of red hair. I have been told this is a very desireable trait on your world."
She quirks her lips to the side and her eyes arc through a space overhead, thinking on Natasha's question. "Oh! I am much taller than most humans," she says, perking. "This is something that is often told to me, so I believe it is much the exceptional. I have one hundred and ninety three of your centimeters in height. Is that something that is helpful?"
*
"I'm not sure how truthful that is," Natasha muses, "but there are people with affinity for red hair," she decides to stay on a positive tone. No need to bring up those who discriminate on gingers. Natasha just nods along to the very mundane details that Kori shares, before smiling, "of course…and how about shooting beams from your eyes? Fingers? Anything like that? Maybe a telepathic or telekinetic skill?" Likely enough to give Kori an idea of what she was actually meaning when she asked about exceptional abilities.
*
Kori hesitates. It's just for a fractional moment, and as erratic as her body language is it's possible Natasha might not even pick up on it. "Oh! No, nothing so grand," she assures Natasha, shaking her head. "My people are capable of flight. We're much hardier than humans, I have observed. For instance, your bodies struggle under more than five of your earth units of gravitational attraction. I do not believe any of your viral organisms are capable of interfacing with my biology, and it is very unlikely I am carrying any sort of 'space plague' that could threaten any humans." She considers. "I mean, anything is possible, but the odds of your species being wiped out by a plague are still extremely low. It is unfortunate when it happens, of course."
*
The top student the Red Room ever produced? Not a chance, Natasha absolutely picks on the minute hesitation, even if she doesn't go out of her way to stress as such. Then again, what is the body language of aliens like Kori? Being wrong in one's assumptions and cues is entirely possible. For now she looks at Kori patiently, studying her as she waits for her reply. "So flight," Natasha jots down on the file as she repeats Kori, "durability, endurance, potentially immunity…" Natasha nods as she finally ends with, "any offensive abilities we should be aware of?"
*
"I try very hard not to be offensive, but I know I make mistakes sometimes," Kori says contritely. "Your customs are very confusing to me and I am struggling sometimes with idioms, and your numbering system does not make much sense. You use a very peculiar counting system called 'base ten' which has been very difficult to learn. And your currecy, you exchange meaningless scraps of paper for perfectly good services and products. I thought you were all being the Clorbag Varblernek when your moneies were explained to me!"
Her eyes go wide and she covers her mouth. "Oh, please do the excusing of me! I am being the rudeness again," she says, sorrowfully. "I do not mean to disparage your planet, it is very rustic and pleasant compared to the rest of this galactic sector."
*
"I'm sure there's a great deal of culture shock between alien cultures," Natasha accepts the obvious, heck, she had to adjust to quite a bit since relocating from the USSR to the USA back in the day. She can understand what Kori is going through, to an extent. "I would ask of the currency or numbering systems you are used to be, but that's for another time, perhaps over coffee?" Natasha offers, "but I would ask what's a Clorbag Varblernek?" Her pronounciation is surprisingly good, for someone who never heard Kori's language, must be the ear of a polyglot. "The most important thing is that you're honest with us, and exhibit no desire to harm humans…" she jots down a few more notes and extends her hand towards Kori, "been a pleasure to meet you, Kori, I will make note to lower the level of monitoring you've been experiencing. I think you're one of the good guys…"
*
"No, I only get shocked when I licked the elctrical outlets," Kori tells Natasha. She smiles at the question. "And the Clorbag Varblernek is…" She bites the inside of her cheek and her brow furrows. "It does not translate well. It is a story about a Tamaranean who would find travellers and change the markings of their route, or add rocks to their backpacks while they slept. They do things to inconvenience people and then it is the funny afterwards," she says, with a merry laugh.
*
Nat looks concerned at the mention of licking electrical outlet, immediately stating, "I hope you know not to do that now…" she does seem to get the gist of Kori's explanation of Clorbag Varblernek though. "I assure you, there are many inefficent system used by humans, not all of them for a particular reason." Closing the folder and getting up, she adds, "looking forward to meeting you again, maybe I can help explain some concepts that confuse you about Earth. Have a great day, Kori."
*