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He's….not one of the more forthcoming or cheerful Avengers. Monty's a shadowy presence even when he's not in full vigilante drag. At the moment, he's in the kitchen, making tea and toast. There is a toast rack….no matter how many years he's been feigning being an American, some things will not be given up. He's in a white linen shirt, dark pants, very informal, for him.
That's all right, there's enough forthcoming cheer in Kai for both of them. Though he's been subdued, for him. There's the clicking of doggy nails as Kai lets himself in, and he takes off Kevin's leash. Kevin beelines for the kitchen, and he pauses when he sees Lamont. Then he play bows, tail wagging. 'Wrf!' Kai comes in after him, and he offers Lamont an amiable smile. "H'lo. It's Lamont, right?"
Confronted by the dog, Lamont regards is curiously for a few moments….and then relents enough to offer a smile. It's still on his features when he looks up to meet Kai's gaze. "IT is," he says, gently. "I'm not often here, I have my own home further north on the island, but….I thought I'd drop by." Translate: Lindon is at work and I felt a bit lonely.
Kevin will take it! He comes tap-tapping in, and he wiggles his way over to Lamont. Kai says, "Don't be a pest, Kevin." Kevin heeds him not at all. Hello, new human! It is time to pet the dog! Maybe feed the dog! The ugly, ratty little dog whose mongrel heritage did not blend well. But he's just so gosh darn happy! "I've been away a bit," Kai says. "But I remember you from Latveria."
Not immune to animals' spells, is Monty. He actually crouches down with a scrap of buttered toast in hand….and he's still smiling. "Not a pest," he says, amused, and he's scruffing Kevin's ears as he looks up at Kai. "Indeed. You were a great asset to me there, an impressive fighter," he says. "Do you want some tea?" He looks down at Kevin again. Did he just offer the dog tea?
Kai glances down at Kevin as the little dog bolts down the offered toast and licks Lamont's fingers. This dog's purpose on Earth is to be happy, and he takes his job seriously. That tail just goes and goes. "You've got a friend for life," Kai tells Monty. He grins, then. "Thank you, I never thought of myself as much of a fighter, but when a robot's shooting lasers at your friends… Anyway, I'd love some tea." Kevin looks up at Monty. Wag wag wag.
"Ooh, whose father jumped a fence, eh?" Lamont is actually cooing at Kevin, before he straightens and turns to wash his hands swiftly. Then he's scooping out more tea into a cup, and pouring the hot water. Got a whole pot ready. "Amazing how one rises to an occasion, isn't it?"
Kai laughs as Kevin just keeps wagging. "That's a nice way of putting it," Kai says. "At least I'm pretty sure he's mostly dog." The goofy beast with one floppy ear falls into step with Lamont, who is his new best friend. "I always rise faster when my friends are in danger," he says, "and colleagues. And country." Though he doesn't sound like this is his country. That accent is right out of London. Kai finds a chair at the kitchen table to sit and flumps into it.
"I don't think you're American. But I also don't think you're human in the strictest sense," Lamont observes, tone entirely conversational. "Or so I understand. But yes….one always does."
Kai waggles his hand. "I've been in America for a long time." The accent persists, though. He pauses, then says, "I haven't ever been human, no, but close enough most people can't tell." He sits up a bit. "I'm Kai Alfsson. The name pretty much gives it away to people who speak proper English."
"Indeed," Lamont agrees, gravely. But his eyes are bright with amusement. "I've encountered some varieties of elves before, yes."
Kai's brows lift. "Oh, is that so? Well, I know I'm good-looking, but don't mistake me, sir. I'm only an eighth pleasure elf on my da's side." He winks, grins, and doctors his tea with too much sugar. His t-shirt doesn't entirely cover the silvery mesh that shimmers in his skin on his shoulders. "Oi, Kevin, don't beg." Kevin is gazing up at Lamont. Gaaaaazing.
With the tea poured, Lamont sits, as well….and gathers KEvin into his lap. "Only an eighth?" …..is he flirting with Kai?
The dog settles on Lamont's lap, tali wagging again. Kai just shakes his head. That dog is so pampered. He just wants to sit at the table like people. Kai tilts his head, and his grin broadens. "I've been told I take after my da." What's a little harmless flirting when one's super jealous paramour isn't around to vaporize the other guy?
Poor Lindon. His bound sorcerer is apparently kind of a slut. "I see," he says, rubbing Kevin's ears as if he were an aspiring supervillain. Then he takes a sip of his tea, and sighs. "I touched briefly on Alfheim, years ago. Only passing through, but…."
Kevin's eyes lid. Oh yes, the ears. Happy dog, heading slowly into a bliss stupor. In any case, Lindon knows who he's hitched his wagon to. Kai perks up and says, "Have you? I haven't been there in so long. I'm from the Moonlight Valley where they brew the finest Firefly wine. My family are vintners." A moon elf. That would explain the silvery little glints in his eyes.
"Lovely stuff that. If you're ever tempted to import, I'd pay handsomely. I've a friend who's a vintner and fascinated with foreign and arcane liquors," Lamont notes, idly. Kevin is unmercifully scritched. Vicious attack dog subdued.
Yes, the loyal and fierce hound has been defeated. He spaces out, his tongue lolling. Kai looks at the dog and shakes his head. No dignity, that animal. Not that Kai has all that much of his own. "I'm going to be heading that way again soon, I hope. I just got back from one hell of a journey and I think I'd like to see where I come from again. I'll bring back some wine, sure."
Lambert will be delighted. "Excellent," he says, rubbing Kevin's belly. "And I sense a tale there. YOu're welcome to tell it, if you like…."
Kevin drools. As a general rule, but he drools now. Doggy bliss. His leg starts to kick as he's scratched. Yesss that's the stuff. Kai laughs softly at the ridiculous pup. He leans back and takes a drink of his tea, then says, "I died. I died and a bunch of people who care about me stormed Hel, and then Chernobog's domain to bring me home."
He's got no reason to disbelieve Kai….so Lamont's brows go up at that, his expression going still. "That's amazing," he says, simply. "Few ever see so very clearly who their friends truly are."
"It's a humbling thing," Kai says. "First to be murdered, then to have your loved ones say no, it doesn't end like this. I'm forever in Asgard's debt, and Midgard." He doesn't say t like it's a burden, though. There's quiet awe in his voice. He still can't believe his friends pulled that off, the mad, glorious fools. "It makes me more determined than ever to do right," he adds. "I feel like a life given back from death should be devoted to service."
There's something like approval in his face at that, nodding. "Exactly," he says, quietly. "One must never waste the second chance." THen he's finally setting Kevin down to devote himself to tea and toast, the latter with plenty of butter.
Kevin shakes himself out of his blissful daze and settles under the table, vigilant for scraps of toast that might get dropped. He's there for Lamont, to clean up, like a pal. "So far, I've just been taking it easy," Kai admits, "and doing my rounds in Hell's Kitchen. It's just… I don't know. I still have the dreams. There's times I wonder if I'm still there and this is my brain trying to escape."
Lamont is idly spreading jam on toast, but he looks up sharply at that. "They may never leave you," he says, trying for gentleness. "I have dreams of a war that ended forty five years ago. They still haunt me."
Kai shakes his head ruefully. "That's not cool," he says, "but you play the hand we're dealt, I guess. It's funny, I've been through some heavy stuff and it rarely left a mark, but this." He takes a drink of his tea-flavored sugar in water. "The death was bad, and the disorientation from it has taken some getting used to, but the torture before is what keeps me up. My bed frame is metal, and if my foot or hand touches the frame, the feel of cold metal makes me think I'm in chains again."
Lamont Advises, a little drily, "I would change your bed, if you can. In fact, if you need help paying for it, it'd be my pleasure. I understand. Pain and helplessness…" He looks down into his teacup, as if trying to divine from it. "My dreams," he says, slowly, offering the confession as a gift, "Are of the plane I was flying …..I was shot down. But the plane began to burn as it fell, and this was before parachutes. I could've ended it quickly but then I'd've fallen on the trenches of my own side. Those last few moments…." He shudders, once, hard.
"Oh, that's so kind of you to offer," Kai says with a sudden, broad smile. "I have a, er, friend. Who keeps me…" He lick his lips slowly. "Who keeps me. I should mention it to him." He lays a hand on Lamont's wrist. "Pain and helplessness," he echoes. Then he whistles low. "Shot down? Oh, man. That's heavy. How did you survive?" Humans are so squishy, after all.
There's a touch within that touch. The human's a telepath, and the connection's made so much stronger by physical contact. Pain, burning…..the terrible silence as the engine dies and the only sounds are minuscule by comparison: the crackle of burning wood and canvas and the whistle of the wind through the wires. The knowledge that these are his last moments, the gashes in the earth that are the trenches, first his own and then the Germans, the fields like a quilt of green beyond. Then pain and blackness and an echoing nothing. All of it come through in a flash, before he realizes what he's done and withdraws his hand, gently. "I very nearly didn't. One of the nurses in the German field hospital was a true healer."
Kai's eyes widen, and he gasps, but he doesn't pull away. He's a stalwart little elf and not half as afraid as he should be of most things. "That's terrible," he says. "Good you were found by a healer, but how awful that was for you." He pats Lamont's wrist, then withdraws to reclaim his teacup. "Ugh, I can't imagine that descent." And he doesn't have to. "Isn't it crazy what we do to ourselves for a cause?"
"It is," he concedes, softly. "And yet, here we are again."