pirateangelbaby | [IC, open to all] Thor Fight Club

It's a beautiful spring day in the Nexus, rolling green hills boasting bright splashes of color where flowers have blossomed in all their glory, birds singing in trees sheltered with new green growth, and the sun is shining merrily through puffy white clouds, the breeze only a little on the cool side.

In one of the flatter fields out towards the Wilds, however, things are not quite so peaceful at the moment.

There's an enormous rough ring marked out with scorch marks in the grass, large enough to rival the gladiator arena on Sakaar, and on the edge of the ring there's a cloth laid out with a small variety of weapons that look... well, very second-hand, to put it mildly. But enough to give a good selection of swords or axes or hammers, with a shield or two for protective options.

Thor stands to one side, checking his armor to make sure it's securely fitted before battle, training session or not, and can't quite chase away the grin on his face in favor of a more serious, kingly expression that he probably should be wearing. Learning to compensate for his missing eye is a matter of life and death, probably, whether his or someone else's, but he can't help but feel excited to face something other than a half-assed training dummy shoved into the corner of the cargo hold.

Right, then, who's up for a little sparring with the god of thunder?

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Okoye is new to the Nexus, and while she's kept meticulous track of where and how she entered, she's got some time to explore before she leaves again. She's a bright figure, even against the blooming hills and sunny sky behind her, a blaze of red and gold in her uniform, outlined in intricately crafted leather. The general sternness of her expression has kept most people at bay, possibly coupled with the spearlike weapon at her side, but evidently she managed to soften up enough to do some shopping. When she comes to lean her hip against a fence at one end of the ring, she's got a Starbucks cup in her free hand.

She eyes Thor appraisingly from a distance, and he's definitely a powerful-looking specimen. For all that, she'd be inclined to assume he's just a regular old beefy white guy, except she's privy to nearly all the intelligence their war dogs bring in, and she's seen photographs of every appearance he's made on the planet to date.

"So," she calls out in greeting after a moment, "you're a god, ah? What are you doing playing around here?"

You're supposed to be in America somewhere, breaking things, my dude. If you've run out of crises, she's pretty sure she can find you one.

Granted, Thor does cut a slightly different silhouette than he has in everything Earth's media has broadcast of him, but a haircut and an eyepatch doesn't help hide those biceps and how they fit into his armor. The fact that he's used lightning to burn out the edges of his circle is kind of a dead giveaway, too.

Her call catches his attention, and while he doesn't recognize her at all, Thor is very used to being recognized himself. Comes with the territory when you're royalty, as well as being an Avenger, if the multitude of selfies he's participated in are any indication. She doesn't look like his typical fan, however; the leather and the spear stand out like beacons, and despite the casual position she's taken at the edge of the ring, he can tell from the way that she stands that she knows how to use them. She reminds him of the Valkyrie, to some extent.

"Training," he calls back, tightening the final strap on his vambrace as he turns to face her direction. "Gotta keep the skills sharp, you never know when you might need them, you know? Besides, it's a beautiful day." He might have something to do with that, too; it's hard to find people to fight you when it's storming out, no matter how exhilarating Thor finds it.

His silhouette is distinctive, his facial features just as much so (even without the one eye), but the style of armor and the scorched grass do help solidify the conclusion she's made.

She doesn't expect to be recognized. That would actually be bad; god or not, he's not Wakandan and the less outsiders know of the inner workings of her country, the better. If King T'Challa wants to introduce them to the Westerners, well enough, but you're not meant to know someone before you've been introduced.

"And do you always train alone?" She has a small smile, just for a moment. "On such a beautiful day?"

She falls back into a more serious countenance as she approaches him, peering curiously at the weapons he's got on the ground behind him. Not guns. Good. There is no elegance at all in a gun.

Her bearing is a blend of dancer, general, and queen. Back straight, head high, shoulders back. She looks like she could take flight like a bird or spring like a cat at any second. "Where I come from, we train in groups."

The Dora Milaje is a sisterhood, in a way. They can each stand their ground alone, but they're at their best when they're fighting fluidly together.

"Oh, not always," he replies with a shrug, watching her take an interest in his admittedly small arsenal and belatedly hoping she isn't going to judge the craftsmanship; after centuries of wielding Mjolnir and little else, Thor has high standards for his weapons, and these... do not quite meet those standards. But he can hardly afford to be picky now, especially not for a friendly spar.

"I do prefer targets that fight me back," Thor adds, and while she looks human enough to his eye, that doesn't mean there's nothing he might learn from her. Especially if she's used to group tactics; he's had a fair amount of practice during his time with the Avengers, synergizing his skills with theirs, but a good deal of his experience on the field of battle still comes from fighting alone. "Or at least move around a bit."

She's used to elegant Vibranium weaponry, much of which is more complicated than it looks, precision engineered to be used up close or at a distance. The weapons he has sitting here are far simpler, made practical. She makes a soft humming sound that indicates she might be judging a little. But for training purposes, this stuff isn't half bad.

"I don't know any targets," she tells him with an arch look. Her face is expressive, bright, professional dignity overlaying an undercurrent of oh-you-will-respect-me. "But I am almost finished with my frappuccino."

Look, this also counts as intelligence-gathering, facing off against an Asgardian warrior.

Oh yes, she definitely reminds him of the Valkyrie, with that attitude. More regal than drunkard, though Thor rather doubts that'll affect her willingness to knock him on his ass if given the opportunity.

He chuckles at her response. "Well, I wouldn't want to presume." She seems like she's up for it, though, and he's more than willing to meet her challenge. "Might I have the honor of your name, my lady?" he asks, and okay, yes, he's laying it on a little thick but it never hurts to stay in a stranger's good graces until you know where they stand, right? And it's only fair, if she recognizes him.

She will most certainly try. In a friendly way. There's more than one reason she might bring Valkyrie to mind, though neither of them know it. Both have been leaders of the elite guard to which they belonged, and both have known grief and political turmoil because of it.

"It would be unwise to presume," she agrees mildly. "My name is Okoye. Of the Dora Milaje. You have heard of Wakanda?"

Maybe he has, maybe not. If not, she's decided he's gonna learn. She steps around his gathering of weapons to lean her spear against a tree, and sets the mostly-empty frappuccino cup on the ground beside it. "Do not touch either of those," she tells him, with a look that says there might be a real fight, if he does.

(Maybe not over the Starbucks, but definitely over the weapon.)

Thor still has a lot to learn about Earth's geography - the sheer amount of countries in one Realm still seems excessive at best, never mind the states and provinces and territories they've further carved those into - but to his mild surprise, he does recognize the name, from both the debacle surrounding Ultron, and in conversations with the Steve Rogerses since Thor first found the Nexus. "I have. Not much in the way of detail, but I'm told your country is a sight to behold."

And a possible site for his own people to seek refuge, but that's something Thor would rather not bring up on a first meeting, especially before he's even gotten to talk to their king first. He's not an invited guest, and given how quickly he's learned that Earth politics shift and change, it'd be a foolish idea to assume they'll be welcome just because he's popular.

Okoye's warning about leaving her weapon alone has his curiosity immediately, but he knows all to well how it feels to have a weapon that feels so like a part of yourself that it would be unthinkable to let a stranger mess with it. "You have my word," he vows, serious despite his smile. "As you're the challenger, the right to choose which weapons we use is yours."

[IC, open to all] Thor Fight Club

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