Check-In: Not-Mother Hen

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Kitty sat at the bar with a cup of coffee and her notebook, watching the 'welcoming committee' make themselves busy. Liz was here, as she'd promised Kitty she would be and Kitty gave her a quick smile of encouragement.

One of the worst things about Check-In Days was that you never knew whether it'd be a whole long day of no one arriving, one spectacular fall from the ceiling and dropping dead after another, or anything in between. It made it hard to know what to do with yourself. After awhile, you got used to it and just kept on with whatever you'd do otherwise, and know that if you didn't step up for a new arrival, someone else would. But for someone not used to treating it like a responsibility to be here, especially someone with Liz's anxious need to be perfect at it, Check-In Day could be emotionally exhausting.

So Kitty made sure to have milk warmed for hot cocoa and her plans for the obstacle course handy in case Liz needed something to do with herself. Otherwise, she was working on a modification of Cerebro to see if she could start detecting new arrivals.


[ooc: Regular check-in day gathering post. If you want Kitty, ping me.]

Comments

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor is happy to drink to that. Frankly, he's happy to drink to anything right now. He takes a long swig of his beverage then asks:

"How long have you been here?" he asks. Then a second, more important question: "If we drink everything worth drinking in the bar, how long will it take for them to replenish their stores?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"This month makes it six months. So half a year. Crazy, right?" As for his second question, he peered over at the bar. "Not sure. Probably the next morning. Things generally reset here. I should know, I've destroyed the vending machines here enough times and they're still back to their regular condition."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

"You serious? So you can just... break whatever you want, and it doesn't matter?"

Thor frowns, thinking about that.

"You ever stay awake long enough to watch things reset?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"If you watch it, it won't happen." So yes, he had. Even he couldn't be awake 24/7 and there were at least a handful of distractions here. "And yeah, technically. Though there are some people who will probably protest. They see it as being disrespectful."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor thinks briefly back on his fight with Hulk back on Sakaar. Not in the stadium, but in the room, when both of them started throwing stuff at one another.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try anything," he says, though he does store away that particular snippet of information for later. Thor pauses. Thinks. Then thinks some more. Then he gets tired of thinking and just takes another drink instead.

"What are your opinions on snakes?" he asks. "Are there snake people where you come from?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

The question was weird, but that seemed to be Thor's general state of being.

"Snakes?" He shrugged. "I know a lizard guy or two, but I wouldn't put it passed Manticore to have some sort of snake thing somewhere... You're a fan, right? How'd you grow to like them so much?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

"I'm not a fan, I'm an admirer," Thor clarifies, as if that choice of words makes all the difference. "Have you ever held a snake? I feel that if you held a snake you wouldn't even have to ask that question."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

He narrowed his eyes a little as if trying to understand an entirely different language.

"I've killed a snake. Was offered the blood of one before too. I declined."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor looks scandalized.

"Why would you ever kill a snake?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"The snake was going to be used to kill me and a friend of mine and spawn future superhuman cult people." And so, the snake had to go. Actually, the snakes had to go, but Alec thought that might upset Thor more.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor considers this.

"Self-defense," he says. "The only time it is ever acceptable to kill a snake."

Thor takes another swig out of the bottle.

"I have a snake story too," he says. "From when I was a child. I was out in the palace garden when I discovered this large snake out among the bushes. It was truly a creature to behold; its scales glistened green prismatic. So naturally, I picked it up to admire it, but it turned out to be my brother. He transformed back into himself and he stabbed me."

A beat.

"Just one of many sibling-involved attempts on my life," Thor says, smiling fondly to himself.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"You ever try to kill him back?" And how his brother never succeeded was beyond him. It sounded like maybe Thor's brother didn't actually want to kill Thor at all. Maybe Thor's brother was just pretending.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

"No," Thor says, looking genuinely disturbed by the suggestion. "He's my brother."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

He considered that then shrugged. "Okay. I guess if you like it?" What the hell did you say to something like that? Alec had, unfortunately, killed at least one of his own unit before. Max would have called them brothers and sisters. Alec didn't like to get that close.

"I had a twin brother. He went crazy and killed a bunch of people. Fun times."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor makes a sympathetic noise. A noise that says siblings, right? without actually saying anything at all.

"One time, my brother stole the Tesseract and used it to summon a bunch of alien-cyborgs that attacked New York City in an attempt to subjugate humanity."

A beat.

"He wanted to rule Earth." Thor drains the rest of the bottle and lines it up with the others.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"Yeah," his tone seemed to match Thor's except there was an underlying sarcasm there. "Crazy siblings. What will they think of next?"

Except Max had had to kill Ben.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor lets out a silent laugh at that, his shoulders shaking.

"What's your story? Half-animal, half-human people. A brother trying to kill people. Sounds like you've lived quite the life."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

Alec didn't think there was as much of a story there. He finished off his own bottle and grabbed another. This time he went with Tequila.

"You know, the usual. Born and bred in a lab, trained at birth. Yadda yadda. Soldiers who are going to save the world. Blah blah. Corrupt government. Etc etc. They tried to burn the place down when they were exposed. A lot of us got out. Now they think they can hunt us." He shrugged. "They're wrong."

They had trained them too well.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor reaches for another bottle as Alec tells his tale.

"Good for you," Thor says, clinking the unopened bottle against Alec's. "Don't let anyone hunt you down without putting up a good fight."

He breaks into the bottle, drinks again, and wonders if Alec really is capable of going toe-to-toe with him in drinking. Thor decides he's actually okay with this, particularly because this has been the first time in basically ages he's been able to drink this long with anyone. After all that's happened, he needs it.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

"Not exactly saving the while planet three times, but we do what we can." He had heard all the stories at least once by now.

Then an idea went through his head.

"Hey, can you sign this coaster?" He held up a coaster meant for a glass. "Sign it Spider-Man. Talk about how he's awesome or some shit. The kid will probably lose his shit."

And while Alec pretended not to be aware, his real birthday was coming up.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

"Sure," Thor says. He's signed autographs and taken photos with endless people before. This isn't anything new. "You have a pen?"

Thor makes a writing gesture.

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

Alec did not carry a pen with him. "No, but the bar has to have one, right?"

He got up and when he did, he was aware he definitely had a buzz going on. Thor was officially the best drinking buddy - no judgement either like a certain 16 year-old.

At the back of the bar he was able to find one. He held it out across from the bar, then paused. "You ever have a muffdiver?"

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor takes the pen into hand, uncaps it, and starts penning something down on the coaster.

"What's a muffdiver?" Clearly, Thor has not had one.

When he's done, he wordlessly hands the coaster back over to Alec for approval.

Look forward to fighting alongside you in battle sometime soon. - Thor

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_x5_494]

He looked at the coaster. He was pretty sure Peter was going to need to change his pants when he got this. "Perfect "

Alec started getting the materials together. "It's a right of passage on Earth."

When the drink was ready, he presented it to Thor. "Alright. The challenge is you have to keep your arms behind your back and with your mouth, find and grab the shot and down it without ever using your hands."

Re: Comparing Sizes - Tag Thor

[st_ormbreaker]

This was no right of passage he had heard of. Still, he figures that Alec, who was presumably a resident of Midgard, would know Earth's right of passages better than he would.

Thor looks down at the drink, foaming with whipped cream. He looks back at Alec, and folds his arms behind his chest.

"Sounds easy enough," he says. Thor leans forward and dips his face towards the cup, whipped cream smothering his beard.

As his mouth works through the shaving cream, his teeth clink against the glass. He nips at it again and this time, his teeth catch it.

Thor bends his head backwards to send the beverage down his throat.

As Thor finishes it, he loses his grip around the rim; he just barely manages to catch it before it hits the table, then sets it down with an audible sound.

Thor grins at Alec proudly, his beard still covered with cream.