Summary:Mera talks to Thor about possible Asgardian shenanigans that threaten them all. Log Info:Storyteller: n/a |
Related Logshttp://empirestateheroes.wikidot.com/plot:gorgon-rising Theme Songn/a |
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It is a bright and crisp morning, early in the great city of Manhattan with the muted sounds of the metropolis starting to come to life as the world recovers from the festivities of the night before. In the affluent area of the Upper East Side there is still evidence of revelry, still clusters of trash along the overflowing bins on the sidewalk where people had waited and celebrated the turn of the year. It had been a great city-wide party that at this time of day… everyone was still recovering from.
Save at least one.
For upon the balcony of the Avengers' mansion, the Thunderer stands tall and looks on with a small smile on his lips… and an breakfast sandwich in his large hand. Facing the sunrise, he continues to bite and chew and seem distantly thoughtful, likely reflecting on the year that had passed and this ritual to celebrate its passing.
Whatever thoughts flit through his mind, the Avenger seems to only let them rest once he finishes that sandwich, dusts his hands off and brushes a forearm over his mouth, then /leaps/ off the side of the building and lands before the wrought-iron gate of the manor. Pushing it open he steps out onto the sidewalk… only to pause for a moment. Then he starts to pick up some of the trash, slowly, casually. As if just doing a small bit to make his corner of the street seem a little better. Less industrious and more distractedly. Something else in his thoughts.
Mera hadn't even noticed the New Year celebrations. For a start, it's on the wrong date. As for as the Atlantean was concerned, it was the surface dwellers making a mess for no reason and the pouring their trash into the ocean. And what's with those colored light displays over the ocean? The smell of smoke will linger over the water for days.
Though it is not these everyday displays of barbaric ignorance that has Mera heading for Avengers Mansion, it is something far more important. It was a toss-up about whether to go to the Asgardian Embassy or the Avengers but seeing Thor outside, that kills two birds with one stone.
Dressed in her covert clothes of cream pants, shirt, and long jacket, she strides imperiously towards the God of Thunder. "Thor. I would like to talk with you. It is important." All business is the redhead. "It is about preventing a war…or worse."
The tall Asgardian straightens up from his partial crouch, tossing a plastic mug with a 2020 logo on its side into the already mostly overfull bin. The over-sized pair of 2020 glasses is next as he turns to look upon the redheaded Atlantean, eyebrows lifting with recognition at her features. Then his lip slightly twists as he recalls her manner. Both memorable for their own reasons.
That turn of his almost-smile quickly disappears, replaced with the proper manner he holds when presented with an individual of due repute and nobility. He lifts his chin, "Lady Mera," A greeting, remembrance. Though perhaps a better title might be more fitting he hedges on one side of propriety over the other.
"Then it is fortunate you have come upon me, for I am here and my time is now yours." And with that his attention is granted entirely.
Mera acknowledges his politeness with a nod - how does one address a god when he is not your god? 'Lord' will do for now. "Perhaps we should not talk on the street, Lord Thor?" She gestures towards the Mansion. "This does not concern the issue we last discussed. This is something even more disturbing and, it seems, directly involving Asgard. Let me explain the situation in private." She will start for the door, though she does cast a disapproving look at the piled garbage. Mera knows where that will end up.
One can at times only follow in the wake of the Atlantean and so in this instant Thor does so, his presence and manner helping the security systems not classify Mera's approach as one of threat but instead the virtual intelligence classifying her as an acquaintance or colleague of Thor, Mighty.
Which explains why the door will be unlocked before her should she presume to attempt to open it when she reaches there. If she does not Thor will allow entry, pushing it open and gesturing for her to precede him as is proper. Then once they are inside the foyer, he steps past her and to the side, his shoulder brushing hers briefly as he turns and then he leans close enough to murmur in a curiously hushed tone for him.
"Ware, Lady Mera. For the celebrations ran late and long for those of this household. They are great warriors and heroes true, but even such festivities as passed would weigh heavily upon mighty worthies such as these." Or translated from the Asgardian, 'People are asleep.'
That said he gestures down the hall, "Will you join me for a morning repast or is this news best broken with due attention?"
Mera will allow Thor to be polite and open the door for her. No sign of gratitude though, it is expected. Her brow furrows as she listens to the ornate way of saying people are asleep. Though she doesn't buy it completely. "They are drunk" she surmises more accurately in her mind. A sigh, though it is only important she talk with Thor for now.
"No time for breakfast. This is of great import and we have dallied long enough." A glance around before she decides on a corridor. She has no idea where it goes but once she finds a quiet room, Mera slips inside. It seems to be a stationery storeroom but it will do. "Are you aware of recent events offshore involving a group of merpeople attempting to assemble a crystal to destroy New York? Koa and one of the bats were there.
There in the hallway as they walk, Thor looks so entirely at home and at ease with the mortal surroundings. Dressed as he is in jeans and a t-shirt as well as a pair of slippers, he has a certain homey look to him with his hair tied back in a ragged ponytail. Add to it the mildly bewildered look to him as he stands there watching as she rushes off down a hallway and then into…
The storage closet, likely for resupply by staff or used by contractors when they're on site… as Thor enters, he looks a little curious as he says, "I believe I've never been in here before…"
But with the presence of the Asgardian suddenly the small room seems all the smaller as his broad shoulders take up entirely more than his fair share of the area, lending to their conversation to be a touch more intimate than one might at first imagine.
Leaning closer he nods along with her words, then answers. "I am not." In defense he glances to the door then back to her, turning his hips a little so that he can move a box of paper clips out of the way, he tries to give them a little more room as he replies, "My time has been spent between here and Asgard of late. Tell me what you would."
It is quite the small room…and no windows. It's like being in a cave filled with strange objects. Mera has seen many of them before but they are usually rotting on the bottom of the seabed. Surface dwellers really love this paper stuff - it's not much use under the ocean.
"The details of the incident are not important, but I shall explain the issues pertinent to yourself" Mera explains clearly and quickly, her personal space in danger of being shared. "I was able to capture one of the mermaids and questioned her." Atlantis are not signatories of the Geneva Convention. "She claimed that she was directed to place the destructive crystal at that exact place to make the area ready. I assume she means to destroy New York. But what will be of interest to you is who she said ordered her to do so. It was Aegir. Your God of the Ocean. Do you know anything of this, Lord Thor?"
"Aegir?!" The response is abrupt, sharp like the lightning so often summoned to hand by the blond man. He tilts his head to the side, and then pushes some more paper boxes out of the way if only now to give him a place to sit down on a filing cabinet in the corner…
A filing cabinet that complains with a metal squeal and compresses faintly under the God of Thunder's weight. Thor pays it no mind.
"Nay, Aegir tends to keep with himself and his wife. This is unlike him if it is being said. Perhaps it is being performed, this act, in his name. Someone taking an expression of his wishes and making it bear fruit beyond his true desire." So often he attempts to think the best of others.
Mera studies his reaction with the gaze of a person who does not trust easily. "Is Aegir's wife a Gorgon?" she asks lightly. "The mermaid had more to say. They were attempting to ship items into New York without being noticed. That sounds like an invasion from inside to me. But something even more alarming. They are searching for a great weapon for Aegir. A weapon that will be handed on to this Gorgon. Perhaps you are right, Lord Thor. Aegir may be under the sway of this 'Gorgon'."
Mera picks up a staple remover, peers at it, pokes at the points and then places it back down. It has her flummoxed, but it is not important. "No good will come of this, Lord Thor. If you have a way of contacting Aegir or discerning the truth of his involvement, it will be of great help to peace."
The Thunderer's thoughts are engaged and she can tell with the way he looks to the side, eyes distancing as he casts towards reflection on the matter. The inside of his cheek is worried slightly as he considers then he quirks an eyebrow to look back at her, "Like many of my family he…" Is exiled? Is estranged? Is displeased with his father. Any of those things may be true, but Thor settles on…
"He values his privacy. My brother may have an easier time of it, they are closer than he and I." But his eyebrows climb, "Though nay, his wife is not a gorgon." A moment of thought, as if entertaining the possibility, but then he dismisses it with a shake of his head, "No," He reaffirms, "She is not."
That said he frowns, "I will put matters in motion and send word along what lines I have access to. And if battle seems in the offing you may call upon me at your discretion." He grants her that access and 'privilege'. Then he straightens up a little, "Is there aught further you would have of me, Lady Mera?"
"If you could also tell Captain America this information, it would be of great assistance. I will, of course, continue my investigations under the oceans but I wanted to inform you first. If I have to battle Aegir, I wanted you to understand the reasoning before it happened" Mera states solemnly, even a bit apologetically. A deep breath before she shakes her head. "That is all I wished to discuss for now. Thank you for your time, Lord Thor, you have been most accommodating." She looks around before nodding towards the door. "Is that the only way out?"
The smile granted her is that earnest and honest one granted easily when he knows that he has perhaps done the right thing and perhaps meets the approval of the other party involved in such a conversation. Then she shakes her head and gestures toward the door, causing him to gain his feet a touch hurriedly, "Ah. As to that…"
He turns and one shoulder casually crunches a box of pens on its shelf, sliding it to the side where it catches on a pile of yellow note pads. He holds a hand up and tries to push the small box out of the way, then turns. For a moment his back is toward her and he's forced to step back slightly, almost on her foot as he then turns his head and murmurs, "Pardon me,"
A box crumples under foot as he steps back and there's a crackle of wood before there's the slight twist of the doorknob and the release of the lock. "Ah, there we are." The Asgardian says as he finally opens the door and then he turns back to her…
Only for him to be standing so very close, his chest brushing hers as he then meets her gaze, eyes lowering a little as he breathes out and his features colour faintly with a slight rush of blood. His smile shifts a little wry, brushing off the embarrassment as he murmurs, "Forgive me." As he steps back then to allow her to be able to at the least get by, though should she wish he can depart first himself.
Mera waits impatiently as Thor does his pirouettes, contortions, and stretching exercises. Doing her best to keep a steady smile at his antics. His proximity causing her to blush a little as her mind races. "Perhaps if I step there and you step…no… that object with the numbers along it will stick you." A ruler. "If you go port and I go starboar…nope…that's not working either."
Mera also turns to the side to try and slip past him and out the door. "Maybe if we both breathe in at the same time?" A deep breath in as she attempts to shuffle past, smiling up at him with chipmunk cheeks, exhaling once she is past and half out the door. "You need to build bigger meeting rooms" she offers helpfully before a polite nod. "I shall see myself out. Thank you again, Lord Thor." She marches off, disappearing from view, before reappearing a few moments later and walking in the opposite direction. "Wrong way" she explains quietly.