[Hunter] It was unseasonably warm that evening in Grant Park. The steady drop in temperature had spiked back up to nearly 60, and Hunter was taking the brief respite as an opportunity to relax and attempt to enjoy herself. As much as someone as dour and intense as she was could ever be said to enjoy anything. She was seated on the edge of the Millennium Fountain, feet up and arms draped loosely around her knees. Her eyes were closed, and as the breeze brushed through her dark hair, she listened to the sounds of the world around her and breathed in the scents brought in on the wind.
Water. Dry leaves. Pavement. Grass.
She sat perfectly still. Were it not for her breathing, one might wonder if she was a part of the monument herself.
[Gina McClaren] *She was hurting. She was heartbroken twofold. That and she was hella hung over and had a damn cold now. She had no idea where her coat had gone, likely lost in one of the bars she's hit up last night on her bender. She pads along beside Soledad. A contrast in body types. Gina short, stacked, curvy and generous. The Uktena tall, lean, and hungry looking. Gina was generally all softness and smiles, where as her current companion was hard stoicism. A deep sigh as Gina pads through dried leaves, stooping to scoop one up and twirl it between her fingers dismally. She's a shot of color under starless skies, thick purple knit sweater/tunic hanging mid thigh, cream colored jeans. Brown leather boots. Her hair unbound. She mutters.*
Fookin.. needs tae be fall, oor be winter. Thes mix match shite es bullshite.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] A nearby streetlamp throws Wyrmbreaker's shadow over Hunter before he comes to a stop beside her. The Ahroun is tall, his shoulders quite broad in his wool coat. He wears no scarf, no gloves; it's not cold enough for that. The buttons on his coat are undone.
"Mind if I join you?"
It's really only a courtesy. He's sitting down already. He brings a warmth with him; it's hard to tell if it's rage or simply the heat of his body. The Shadow Lord's profile is angular and stark, his hair very dark, his eyes very pale. Thunder runs in his veins. His tribe is utterly unmistakable.
"You're the only Strider in the city right now. Am I correct?"
[Theron Locke] He hadn't been in town that long, all he had received from Anezka was an address for her brother which she had begrudgingly given him. Anezka hadn't particularly wanted him to make this trip, but in the end both of them had come to the agreement that it had to happen sooner rather than later.
Thoughts had been given to just turning up on his doorstep unannounced, perhaps the site of an old friend would soften the blow of the news he had for him. He had spent many hours on the trip over picturing such a reunion. it didn't tend to end well. So here he was at the water's edge lost in thought, staring out into the crashing waves of the sea.
Theron hadn't announced himself to the others of his kind yet, perhaps that was going to be the best step forward.
[Muerte Fria] Soledad walked alongside Gina without anything remotely close to an expression on her bronzed face. She'd come by earlier to check on the Kinfolk, see how she was doing, and perhaps pick up a meal since it'd been over a day since she'd eaten last. Her stomach got larger, yet felt emptier as the weeks dragged on. The Strider Kinfolk had been in something of a state, looking quietly pained, a little bit irritable. Soledad picked up that there was some sort of hurt or betrayal laying underneath the hangover, but she didn't question it. Instead, she followed Gina's suggestion of eating out and was her escort for the evening.
After eating enough that they were happy (and under Boar's dictation, Soledad ate far more than any normal person ought to, most chocked it up to the swell of fertility under her shirt and thought nothing of it though) they crossed a few blocks to walk the food off on a jaunt through the park. The weather was pleasant, Soledad didn't have to go hunt for a sweatshirt yet, instead opted for her trusty jeans (which she'd had to jerry-rig with rubber bands through the button hole to stay up) and an overlarge T-shirt that advertised some local band she'd honestly never heard of before. Her hair was in a ponytail at the nape of her neck, and her hands were in her pockets.
"This is Nature teasing us. Offering a last smell of pleasant weather before laying snow and misery down." She sniffed, almost indignantly. "She'll do it again in March. The weather will be warm, the snow will melt, and we will hope for an early spring only for another storm to strike and for us to freeze until late April."
[Hunter] She felt them before she saw them. Footsteps. Gina's familiar scent (which Hunter could not forget even if she wanted to.) The way the air moved when a body came to stand nearby her. Rage.
Only when Lukas spoke did she open her eyes, and when she glanced up at him, the clarity in her dark irises belied the fact that she hadn't really been dozing off, for all that she might have looked as if she'd been in some kind of trance. He asked if he could join her, but it was really only a formality. Both of them knew this. Tonight, Lukas' rage was greater than her own. But only by a little. They were both full moons, and the truth of their natures radiated for any nearby to feel.
Sitting up, Hunter let her feet slide back to the ground as she shifted to sit facing forward with her head turned towards the Shadow Lord. Waiting to see what he had to say. When he asked if she was the only Strider in Chicago, she nodded. "I haven't heard of or met any others."
[Gina McClaren] Well.. Nature needs tae stop bein a cunt. *Gina sings darkly. She'd expected a chill, only to be trapped in a sweater while it was warm. Her charms tinkle faintly as she reaches to brush her hair off her shoulder, approaching the Millennium fountain with a tired smile. She was so drawn to water.*
[Joshua Walker] "You know Joshua, the girls would love to see you for dinner some time while you're here."
"Yeah I know Mat. I'll see what I can organize. Meanwhile I got to get a run in before I head home."
"You...running. Man you are insane boy. Okay I'll catch you later."
The older of the pair heads off out of the part while Joshua looked around. It was funny to think he needed to get a run in but he found that running seemed to keep the wander lust at bay. Not caring who may be out in the part this evening he sets off at a steady pace jogging. Wearing sneakers, tattered jeans and tshirt with the phrase 'Stop reading this and buy your own damn shirt' on it he might seem a little out of place but it doesn't bother him. Takes all sorts in his mind.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "You've kin in the city." He doesn't ask if Hunter already knows that. She knows. He knows she knows. He knows she knows he knows --
Let's not get carried away. He tips his chin up; there's Gina, right there, as if on cue. "She has no guardian, and after the death of my brother Sampson, I've been checking in on her occasionally. She mentioned you didn't want to ward your own kin. Is that true?"
[Muerte Fria] Gina led them toward the Millennium Fountain, which took them away from the trees and out into the broad flat clearing of sprawling acres of grass that surrounded the monument, the place that was often center to fairs, political gatherings, protests and flea markets. Soledad walked alongside Gina, keeping her strides slow and even, something that took actual thought since she was so used to traveling across the country on her feet-- literally. Left to her own devices her long legs would eat up distance like a pig does slop. She had to keep in mind that the Kinfolk was shorter, stockier, and that she could and would easily fall behind.
Two shapes came into focus on the edge of the fountain, both of them striking Soledad's recognition. A string of thoughts tied together in her mind, and she slowed, dropping a long-fingered hand on Gina's shoulder to keep her back as well.
"Look," she stated blandly in her deep alto voice, nodding her chin toward Lukas at the same moment that he nodded his chin upward toward Gina.
[Gina McClaren] Och.. well.. *Gina tilts her head to Lukas, a tired smile and the vaguest of waves. Hunter gets the same, though the curvy little kin remains under the taller female's hand. Singsong lovely across the distance.*
Allo Loves!
[Joshua Walker] After following several paths he makes his way towards the Millennium Fountain. His feet keeping a steady pace while keeping an eye out. Slowing down as he reaches the fountain he can't help but notice Gina and several others. A slight smile on his face as he shifts into a walk and makes his way up to them. His calm voice calling out to Gina.
"Evening Gina. Hope you are doing well this evening."
[Hunter] The creature sitting next to Lukas tonight may not have been the most...diplomatic of garou. But neither was she an idiot. There was a pause before she responded, as if to consider her words very... carefully. Her eyes flicked towards Gina, and stopped there for a moment. Something about her expression shifted, but it was difficult to tell exactly what she was thinking. Only that the sight of her kin in such a bruised and battered state had possibly taken her off guard.
"Not exactly," she finally answered, turning back to Lukas. "When I spoke with her about it the first time, I was not really sure how long I would be here, or if I was the best choice for that responsibility. I travel often. It is unavoidable." Such that it was to be what she was. Cursed. Never home. Never satisfied. Always hungry. Always alone.
"But that was not a good answer. I was being foolish. My years on the road have made me forget some things I shouldn't have." She frowned slightly. "If she still needs a warder, I would claim her. She is my responsibility."
[Theron Locke] Theron turned his back on the water and looked back into the park, His black sports jacket was opened, revealing a white collared shirt opened at the next. The light from the lamp above caused the silver chain around his neck to glint A small detailed pendant hung from it but would require closer inspection from anyone wanting to know the actual design.
In the distance , soft voices could be heard. Faintly intrigued by who else would be out this night, Theron headed in what he thought was the right direction, soon spotting several figures around a large fountain. Standing off at a distance, he leaned against a tree and watched on, his eyes soon drifting to the imposing dark-haired male.....could it be...he wondered.
[Gina McClaren] *Gina has been in better states when the center of attention. Today she is tired, hungover, and dismal. Dark eyes flicking to Lukas and Hunter, then back up to Soledad. Like last night, people were congregating..and like last night, a strange man was addressing her as though he knew her. The SAME strange man in fact. A frown spreads on exotic features, last night fuzzy. She tilts her head at Josh.*
Hold up darlin, who are ye? Ah saw ye last necht, aye?
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Well," the corner of Lukas's mouth turns wryly up, "you should probably tell her that. And the Sept, before someone else thinks to claim her. Will you be staying on in the city now?"
There's a newcomer in the distance, well-dressed, darkhaired. Lukas's eyes are drawn past Hunter for a moment, resting thoughtfully on the stranger for a second. Then they return to the Strider.
"And if you do leave, will you make sure your kinfolk are warded before your departure?"
[Muerte Fria] Soledad and Gina were still standing a healthy distance away from Hunter and Lukas, far enough that they were their own separate groups. So when Joshua approached, smiling and addressing the Kinfolk, Soledad's eyes jumped immediately over to him and flashed warily.
The Uktena didn't appear to be a whole lot, though her Rage pronounced her as an obvious Garou. She had a young face, old jaded eyes, and an expression of stoicism that didn't look like it would chip even if a nuclear warhead was aimed at it. Her lips were chapping from the cool of winter setting in, her thick mane of black hair, grown out past her shoulders but recently trimmed even, was wrangled in a ponytail, and a rather pronounced bump of pregnancy protruded under her shirt.
She stood like a Warrior, however, and when Gina said 'hold up' and looked uncertain she behaved like a Guardian.
The Uktena, hand still on Gina's shoulder, took a step forward while guiding faintly with pressure from her palm, positioned herself between Joshua and Gina, and set a gaze harshened by the faintest scrunch of her eyebrows and lift of her chin upon the older man. She said nothing, but her actions spoke plenty loud for her.
[Joshua Walker] "Oh now you ask questions."
Chuckles as he just smiles at her. He didn't seem bothered in the slightest at her reaction to him.
"Yes you did see me last night and might I add others would not take to being told to fook aft, regardless of your state of inebriation."
Gives a chuckle as he nods his head in greeting.
"I'm Joshua. Nice to formally meet you Gina."
[Hunter] It was beginning to get crowded around the fountain, and Hunter's posture changed slightly, sitting up more stiffly, with an alert gaze that flickered between the various faces, both familiar and unfamiliar. For a long moment her eyes rested on Joshua, but he was as much a mystery to her as he was to Gina. There was no particular breeding to decipher. Not like Hunter's own blood, which sang of Anubis, and of the desert.
"I'm never anywhere for long, but yes... as much as I can be, I plan on staying." She didn't say why. It didn't really matter. She had her reasons.
"Gina," she asked, and her voice was surprisingly gentle as she addressed the kinfolk. As if she feared she might frighten her. This... from the same woman that had snarled and barked orders upon their first meeting. Maybe people really did change. Maybe a bit of care and comfort really did go a long way towards softening even the most bitter of personalities. "...Do you want me as your warder?"
[Gina McClaren] *Nice to formally meet her? Gina arcs an eyebrow up, rancor beginning to stir. A hand drags through her hair as she narrows dark eyes at Josh "of little information" Walker. A scowl and a shake of her head.*
Joahua es et. Well. nice tae formally meet ye tae.. but since yer nae explainen why the fook we'd be formally meetin. Allow me tae tell ye moore formally.. fook aft.
*She motions with her hands, jingling dischordant with an exasperated shake of her head. Jesus.. did she offer to fuck this guy last night and he's still sniffing around or something? CHRIST. A huff, before Hunters question catches her off guard.*
..Och.. jaysus.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] All of a sudden Gina's the center of attention for four Garou. Lukas's eyes turn toward her last, pale and cutting. A beat later, he's also the first to look away.
"Excuse me. I'm going to talk to the fellow over there."
He gets up. Passing the small kinswoman, his hand falls to her shoulder briefly. Maybe he means it as reassurance, but perhaps it's hard to take reassurance from the grip of a Shadow Lord. In any case, he meets Muerte Fria's eyes for a moment, steadily, perhaps consideringly, and then brushes past.
As he closes on Theron, his eyes drop to the pendant he wears. And Lukas's face changes, tensing noticeably. He stops a little within arm's reach of the stranger.
"Where did you get that?"
[Muerte Fria] Lukas passed, hand grazing over Gina's shoulders, eyes locking with her own for a second. Soledad met the Shadow Lord's gaze and held it evenly without any suggestion of challenge. Simply study, search for a message or implication. Whether anything is found our not, Lukas moves on, and Soledad keeps her gaze on Joshua, braced to muscle the man back if he keeps at Gina after the woman's blunt (and brash) dismissal.
Then there's Hunter, the terribly tall woman whose blood and body sang of Egyptian deserts and jackal-headed gods. She's asking Gina if she would like her as a warder, and Gina's looking overwhelmed. Soledad's eyes flickered to Hunter, her gaze was even, forehead smooth. The dark amber focus was shifted to Gina, and her hands were shoved into her pants pockets, her low voice all but rumbling quietly to the Kinfolk.
"We can leave," she offered.
[Joshua Walker] Gina's response gets him laughing. A deep laugh that seems to echo a little. When he looks to Hunter he gives an incline of his head and smiles. His eyes regarding her for a moment as if he was considering something. Then a look Gina again with a raised brow before looking to Hunter again and gives several hand gestures towards the true born. Then looks to Soledad.
"Are the locals always this friendly these days?"
[Theron Locke] It always paid to gather as much information as one possible could before entering an unknown situation. So far he had gathered at least two of the names of the group gathered. The tall dark skinned woman was still unknown to him, as well as the other woman who was standing by Gina.
However his attention was broken, as he realized the imposing male had covered the distance between himself and the group. Brushing his dark hair from his face he looks up at the man when he is asked that question. "I think the answer to that depends on who is asking the question." the comment isn't snide or cocky. It said simply as a question as if indeed the answer did depend on who this person was.
He looks the man in the eyes for a moment and responds "If you used to live in New York. Then I would say I received this from a close friend. If however I am right and your name is also Lukas then I would add that I received this from your sister Anezka."
[Gina McClaren] *Gina is looking more and more confused by the second, and more and more frustrated. Her fingers come to her temples and she shakes her head to Sol's question. singing back softly* Ets fine. Thank ye Sole darlin. Och.. Hunter darlin.. reckon Sol was askin me tha same theng few hours ago..
*A deep breath as she turns to Joshua, simply weary at this point.*
DArlin, ah'm saerry.. effen we spoke ah dinnae mooch remember wha aboot. But, ah'm nae really en the mood fer wha'ever et es yer sellin, an' ah'm sort o busy o the moment... Aye? Sae ah've nae time tae be playing cheeky "who am ah?" games wi a stranger. Aye?
[Hunter] "&+1593;&+1575;&+1583;&+1577; &+1575;&+1606;&+1607;&+1605; &+1571;&+1587;&+1608;&+1571; &+1605;&+1606; &+1584;&+1604;&+1603;." She offered dryly in Arabic. Whether the other Strider (for that was, unmistakably what he was, and this realization seemed to relax her slightly) spoke the language or not, she had no way of knowing, but she used it out of habit. "&+1608;&+1604;&+1603;&+1606; &+1571;&+1606;&+1575; &+1604;&+1610;&+1587; &+1571;&+1601;&+1590;&+1604; &+1548; &+1608;&+1604;&+1584;&+1575; &+1601;&+1573;&+1606;&+1606;&+1610; &+1604;&+1575; &+1605;&+1603;&+1575;&+1606; &+1604;&+1607;&+1575; &+1601;&+1610; &+1575;&+1604;&+1581;&+1603;&+1605;."
In English, she greeted, "Hunter. Cliath Ahroun."
Then she stood up from the fountain, stretching up to her full 6'2" height so that she looked down on the two other women, both of whom she had fairly mixed and enigmatic feelings about. Soledad behaved protectively towards the pikey, and asked if she wanted to go, and Hunter's reaction was not, perhaps, what it ought to have been. It was fairly neutral, in fact. For now.
"I asked because it seemed such a question was required. If you prefer not... I won't bother you about it. Do you prefer the Uktena, then?"
[Muerte Fria] Hunter spoke to Gina, and her tone was calm and smooth. Gina seemed agreeable with the very tall, very Middle Eastern woman, so Soledad let that conversation be. The offer to leave was dismissed gently, so Soledad nodded and relaxed her posture a little. Hunter was offering Gina the option, and Soledad would have done precisely the same thing, so she said nothing on the topic, simply let Gina make the decision. One hand moved to scratch the underside of her expanding belly (she was learning that the more the skin stretched, the more it itched), and her gaze hardened onto Joshua once more.
She spoke, and her voice was low, words slow and quiet but stern nonetheless, difficult if not impossible to go ignored.
"You'd best go."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] When Anezka described Lukas to Theron, she would have used words like that brat and the little shit, and laughed. She would have also used words like thoughtful, honorable, unimpulsive, steady. Reliable. Trustworthy.
She would not have used words like angry, reckless, full of rage.
But Lukas's hand shoots out like a weapon, grabbing the pendant and yanking it forward, almost hard enough to snap the chain. Lukas is quite tall, well over six feet; he bends down to cup the pendant to his nose. He sniffs like a dog for several seconds.
Whatever he smells there takes the edge off his aggression. He drops the pendant and straightens.
"What does Anežka need?"
[Joshua Walker] That gets a laugh from him as he nods to Hunter. Then looks to Gina and nods.
"You are correct. However I wasn't given a chance to speak to you in a manner that wasn't cryptic or annoying."
He looks to Hunter and responds.
&+1608;&+1607;&+1610; &+1603;&+1604;&+1607;&+1575; &+1580;&+1610;&+1583;&+1577;. &+1575;&+1604;&+1606;&+1575;&+1587; &+1575;&+1604;&+1605;&+1578;&+1606;&+1608;&+1593;&+1577; &+1575;&+1604;&+1578;&+1610; &+1578;&+1580;&+1593;&+1604; &+1575;&+1604;&+1581;&+1610;&+1575;&+1577; &+1605;&+1605;&+1578;&+1593;&+1577;
Then he looks to Soledad with a raised brow before responding to Hunter.
"Hunter of Truth and Answers. Philodox, Fostern."
[Gina McClaren] *Gina nods her head, considering things. Hunter speaks in Arabic, addresses the man who had been "formally making her acquaintance", and the pikey's dark eyes flash wide, head whipping from One strider to the Other. FOSTERN!? Gina's curvy form stands frozen in horror. This was beyond mortification. She's so tense you could likely pick her up and use her still rigid body as a croquette bat. A hand comes to her mouth.*
...
Fook me.
[Theron Locke] Lets out a small *oof* as he dragged forward, not wanting to pull back lest the chain snap. So he goes with the motion letting the larger more muscular Lukas find out whatever he is looking for. Theron reaches out a wraps a hand lightly around one of Lukas' wrists "It's okay my old friend, nothing is wrong. Anezka is perfectly fine." He offers a small smile "She doesn't need anything, she..we... just need you to know somethings." He watches Lukas' carefully, trying to sense his current mood and temprement.
"It's me Theron...Lukas.. I know it's been 6 years or so....we've probably both changed a lot since those days. I know it took me awhile to be sure that it was indeed you."
[Hunter] The situation was tricky here. On the one hand, there was Gina, who clearly wanted little more than to be left alone. But the stranger was not only of her tribe... he also outranked all of them but Lukas, and the Shadow Lord was presently distracted with business of his own. Hunter glanced between the pikey and her tribesmate, then took in Soledad's prickly demeanor and her protective stance.
"I would like to speak with you, Gina." The tone wasn't admonishing in any way. Serious, but not angry. "But if now is not a good time... I can come by later." This was the closest that she ever got to being considerate. Empathetic was probably asking a little too much. But there was concern there, for all that it was mostly buried beneath a stony exterior.
She didn't correct Soledad's bristling towards the Philodox, but she did briefly shoot the other ahroun a warning glance. As if to say....careful.
[Muerte Fria] Soledad's had her share of disciplining about disrespecting her elders. She went through an entire Rite of Punishment for it, and still kept the stone tucked away in the Caern's Bawn, at the miniature lean-to that she's been sleeping in. She's lost massive doses of Honor, disciplined here, disciplined there. She knew to tread lightly around Fosterns and higher, even if they were being, in Soledad's opinion, out of line.
She grit her teeth together and issued a quiet growl that sounded off in her human throat, but imposing by the Rage that backed it. Her head ducked momentarily, faintly, and she took a step back toward Gina, glancing down at the Kinfolk and moving a hand so that her knuckles pressed lightly into the center of her back, to get her moving.
"Go with The Hunter," she encouraged.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Theron?"
The name fails to make an impression. The moon is waning from the full, but Lukas's rage runs high, and there's still wariness in the way he looks at the other. He stares at him for a long time, on and on, and then abruptly there's a spark, some circuit closing, some synapse firing, and his eyebrows shoot up and his expression opens.
"Theron! Wow." When he reaches for the man again it's to take him by the shoulders, slapping the left one solidly as though to ascertain his reality. When his hands drop, one goes to his side; the other rubs the back of his neck. "My god. So you're still alive. I'm sorry about that. I had no idea who you were or why you had my sister's pendant.
"So what's going on? What brings you to Chicago?"
[Gina McClaren] *She wets her lips, cheeks burning coral as she clears her throat, finally taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Once she's done she opens her eyes and songsings in a voice thats as soft and pleasant as it is quiet and tired.*
Mayhaps.. we could aul hunker down, aye?
*She had apologies to make afterall, a hand coming to rub at the back of her neck, heart pattering too fast in her chest as she moves with a jingle towards the bench and takes a seat. Shoulders tense.*
Reckon.. we can has thes out.. aye?
[Joshua Walker] Looking to Soledad he gives a casual smile.
"No harm done. You took action appropriate to the given situation. Thank you."
Then he looks to Gina and that smile still remains plastered on his face.
"I apologize for not taking the time to introduce myself properly. That was a mistake on my part that I wished to have corrected but was unsure of the company around us."
Then he looks to each in turn and takes a few steps back.
"I'll give you some space to have your discussion. After all it is I who have disrupted your talks."
Then he moves to sit near the fountain just out of the way and let the trio talk.
[Theron Locke] Theron is silently thankful when the light finally goes on for his fellow tribe mate. He definitely had no interest in crossing swords with the superior warrior, although the Theurge had finally added some strings to his bow in his time away from New York.
He chuckles wryly "Yes Lukas by some small miracle I'm still alive and I'm not a spirit" waiting till the man-handling stops, he reaches to the pendant cradling it carefully as he slips it back under his shirt. "Well now you know who I am... in regards to the pendant, well that is sort of what brings me to Chicago and has a lot to do with your sister. I'm not certain but did you receive a letter from her recently ?"
[Hunter] It wasn't in the lone wolf's nature to want to sit down with a group and talk things out. If a conversation was in order, one-on-one was how she liked it. Still, Gina was the one who was being discussed, so if she preferred to have it all out in the open, then... so she shall have it. Hunter nodded almost imperceptibly and stepped back to sit down on the edge of the fountain once more, a couple of feet away from the philodox. She's wait until Gina had taken a seat as well. Soledad could sit or stand, as she chose.
For awhile she was quiet, mulling over in her head just how much of what she wanted to discuss was suitable in such mixed company. Ultimately she said simply, "You need protection. But you are not a pet. You are a Strider, and free to make your own choices. I would... prefer that the choice be one of your own kind, but I will not tell you what to do."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I talked to her on the phone last Saturday," Lukas replies. "Why?"
(sorry about the slowness -- dice in the other room! ping me on AIM when you post, will ya?)
[Muerte Fria] Gina suggested that they sit.
Joshua dismissed her initial hostility, forgave it and let her off the hook that he could easily have skewered her on.
Hunter planted herself on the edge of the fountain when Gina planted herself on a bench.
Lukas and the unknown kept to a conversation of their own off to the side.
Soledad, however, hefted a heavy breath and moved to stand near the bench, but did not sit. She shifted her weight so that one hip set out further than the other, her weight was settled onto one leg while the other was a buttress for balance and support. Her arms folded between the bump of her stomach and the increased swell of her breasts, and she took up a role she was most comfortable with-- that of a sentry.
To watch, to listen, to guard.
[Gina McClaren] *Gina settles herself very diplomatically, on the ground. Long hair pooling on her thighs as she looks up to Hunter, Sole, and Joshua in turn. A perplexed expression twisting exotic features.*
When et rains et pours, doesnae et?
*Helpless laughter, rueful and halfhearted. Gina rubs her temples. They were letting her pick.? They were letting her pick. *
Well, reckon any folk wha's wardin me jes cause nae wan else was es aft the hook, yer lettin me make the choice? Reckon.. ah just wan tae be where ah can dae the most good fer a folk, aye?
Where dae ye thenk, because truth be taul, ah'd be happy wi' any o' ye. Reckon.
*That said, she looks to each in turn when next they speak.*
[[three rolls comin! 1st of three - PER EMPATHY - motives? JOSHUA WP]]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) [WP]
[Theron Locke] Theron has the decency to at least look somewhat uncomfortable talking about this subject. His eyes still on Lukas, trying to gauge if he has perhaps said too much . Though he looks uncomfortable , he is doing his best to not show any sign of weakness. He is still standing tall and his voice is still strong, he then replies to the question "Did she happen to mention that she had a new person in her life... from a romantic standpoint I mean.."
[Gina McClaren] [[2nd of 3 PER EMP - motives? HUNTER]]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 5, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)
[Gina McClaren] [[Last of 3 PER EMP - motives? SOLEDAD]]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) [WP]
[Muerte Fria] Soledad looked down at the Kinfolk when she settled on the ground, then sighed quietly, discreetly, and eased herself into a sit on the bench. She ached, and it was an unfamiliar sort of pain. She was still a little queasy from time to time, and that was an entirely new sensation to her, as Garou simply didn't get sick. Her nose ran from time to time, her gums tended to bleed at random.... Well, there was a whole slew of changes going on, none of it she liked, and absolutely none of it she would disclose to others. This simply wasn't something she liked talking about.
When Gina looked at her, the Uktena leaned forward a little, legs apart, and rested her elbows at the ends of her thighs.
"If you are to go with Hunter-of-Truth-and-Answers here, he will no doubt seek to claim you as more than his Ward. Your choice will be severed. He will choose you in such a way, you will not choose him." She paused, looked to Hunter, and nodded her head. "I expect your being within mine or Hunter's guardianship would be the same situation. You may roam as you please, take whatever lovers or guests or missions you want, and we will not intrude. However, we will be there when needed, standing for your safety and freedom because it is what we want for you-- the best.
"Hunter would be the better choice in the eyes of the Law for she is your tribe. I would be better because I am more permanent a figure here in Chicago, and you will likely change hands to another Warden in a few months when the Winds take her away anyways."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas is no fool. Even when they were cubs -- boys, really, 16, 17 years old in a wooded and watered Sept in upstate New York -- the Ahroun was thoughtful, contemplative, the type to think before he acts. His affect is changing again. There's a distinct tension, a suspicion in his pale blue eyes.
Still, he continues, "Yeah. A kinsman, she said." A beat. "Why?"
[Danicka Musil] Considering the season and Chicago's intimacy with one of the Great Lakes, the weather tonight is surprisingly pleasant. Overcast and cold, perhaps, but not freezing, not wet, and that makes up for the wind. Where Danicka is from, it's significantly colder right now. Where Danicka's family is from, where her bloodline is from, it is just barely above freezing. It is overcast and the air is thick with moisture. Go far enough back, to when they made their dens in mountains, and you will find a resistance to the assault of winter that rivals that of Fenrir and Wendigo.
Danicka does not make one think of mountains and darkness, though. She is wearing a green knit cap with a small brim up front, a white and yellow flower nestled together to one side. Her gloves are green striped with thin bands of white. Hair occasionally described as 'golden' and more often simply 'blonde' spills out from under the cap, in loose waves past her shoulders. Her revere coat goes to her knees, the breast entirely buttoned and the collar up to protect her throat where a scarf does not. Dark-washed skinny-legged jeans cover her from the coat's hem downward, a pair of boots with stacked heels taking her up several inches from her natural height.
She is carrying a heavy-looking black leather messenger bag with an iconic downward-pointed triangle emblem on the side, its weight thumping against her thigh slightly. She has both hands wrapped around a lidded coffee thermos, the sort with an insert that can be covered in photographs. Danicka's photographs are of a group of seven people that all look rather similar, only four of which have ever been seen by anyone in this city. She sips as she walks, crossing through the park on her way to wherever she's going.
[Danicka Musil] [LESS LURKY MOAR JOINY. Everybody stare at Lessa!]
to .fly., Gina McClaren, Hunter, Joshua Walker, Lukas Wyrmbreaker, Muerte Fria, Theron Locke
[.fly.] [LESSA JUST SPENT 3 HOURS WITH HUNDREDS OF ELEMENTARY KIDS HYPED UP ON SUGAR AT A "SCHOOL CARNIVAL" SO YOU CAN BE PATIENT ELSE MY HEAD EXPLODE AND I KILL EVERYONE. *shining grin*)
to Danicka Musil, Gina McClaren, Hunter, Joshua Walker, Lukas Wyrmbreaker, Muerte Fria, Theron Locke
[Theron Locke] Theron stands his ground, both he and Anezka had wanted her brothers approval. It was the right way to go about things and hopefully would makes things easier in the long run He takes an inward breath and looks contemplative as if searching for the right words. "Well it's not entirely true that he is a kin...the person in question is actually a true blood. " He goes to stop there, but realises that may be a bad mistake... best get the truth out in the same manner of ripping off a band aid.. short and sharp "Lukas...the gar...the person that has been seeing your sister is me...that's why I have her pendant and that's why I'm in Chicago. I've come to ask your permission to seek Anezka as my mate." He says the last line proudly, his eyes resolute.
[Hunter] Gina was leaving it up to them, and oddly enough, this prospect seemed to make the ahroun a little uncomfortable. Perhaps she preferred that the matter not be left in her hands. Ultimately, if she'd wanted to, Hunter could dismiss Soledad's claim. They were of equal rank, and Gina was of Strider blood, not Uktena. But that would require that Hunter admit she had something invested in this.
Did she?
Sometimes, the simplest things could be like moving mountains.
"If you wish us to choose... then perhaps some compromise could be arranged. I could be your warder, but Muerte Fria could watch you while I am away, as I inevitably will be. She seems to desire such, and if she has your best interest in mind, then I do not object to her involvement in your life. Does this sound... satisfactory?"
Hunter's eyes went first to Gina, then to Soledad. Finally they settled upon Joshua. "That is, unless Hunter of Truth and Answers-rhya has something else in mind."
[Joshua Walker] Looking at each of them he says very little. His dark brown eyes taking in each member of this little discussion. When Soledad says what she had to say he simply shakes his head and looks to Hunter. He was weighing each answer they gave as if seeing something they may have missed. Hunter's comments bring a smile to his face as he nods.
"I'm not one to lay claim to anyone."
Lets out a sigh as he shakes off a sudden thought and looks back the them.
"For a full moon you have wisdom dear sister. It is not uncommon for our kinsmen to have two or more warders in some cities. We travel a lot and sometimes never come back. You have your freedom while under the eyes of these two. I can see that Hunter requires a little more time to warm to the idea of caring for others but that is a natural side effect of our paths in life. I have no intention of claiming Gina as my mate however I will ask that you both care for her till someone claims her as their mate."
He was simply acting as a Philodox.
[Gina McClaren] *Gina McClaren is no great vision. A charmer, on her better days, not twice heartbroken and frightened of Falcon's retribution at any moment. But hardly a model. She's robust curves and ample softness, a sweet face and a voice that's been known to sooth garou down from the edge of frenzy. She's been called a Dirty pikey. She's what some refer to as a "good kin". She's what others would agree on as "the sept welcome wagon", for good and for ill. But what Gina generally is not, is in control of things. Kin so seldom are with Garou, and such a position leaves her nervous, in light of recent events. Her eyes slip to the three garou and she smiles softly at whatever she sees there. Joshua gets an apologetic quirk of her lips, gratitude an sympathy in one, before she looks from Sole to Hunter. This might work out even better than she'd imagined. *
Mayhaps.. tha would work? Sole, ye'd nae have every strider swingin dick in town challengen ye fer me on principle... On account o Hunter.. and Hunter, ye'd nae 'ave tae worry aboot yer walk'aboots, on account O' Sole's here an' more thank capable.. aye?
[Muerte Fria] The Uktena's response was simple and very easy to read.
A nod, and nothing more. She leaned back, folded her hands over her stomach, and relaxed for the time being.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas is staring.
Lukas is staring while his mind wheels, grasps, looks for something to say. Congratulations? Fuck you with a chainsaw? Die, now? The Ahroun's hands come up, slowly, rather uncertainly, and then fold tightly across his chest, fingers tucked under his arms. He frowns at Theron for a long time.
"She told me it was a kinsman," he says finally, as though this were the only point he's managed to process thus far.
[Theron Locke] Theron just stands there looking back, he doesn't really have anything more to say ..and perhaps it's actually better if he doesn't. Instead he reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a photo. Slightly crumbled he hands it to his tribe mate, the photo is kind of small probably from one of those photo booths. It shows Theron and Anezka with their arms around each other in an affectionate embrace. "Yes I know she did, she thought it would make it easier for you. But we did a lot of thinking and well....that's why I'm here."
[Hunter] Everything had been resolved peacably. Considering some of the participants, it could have gone much, much worse. It was a lucky thing that they had caught Hunter on a night that she was able to think more calmly than usual. She listened to what the half-moon had to say and nodded, accepting it, though he did not need her approval.
Soledad agreed without saying a word, and this seemed to suit Hunter just fine. The situation was amenable to all, or at least... all had agreed. So Hunter stood up once more, nodding to those gathered, and finally to Gina. "In that case, I think the matter is settled. Gina, I wish to speak to you in private, but we can do that later. I'll come by your home."
Then the statuesque ahroun turned and walked off down the path. No doubt she preferred to be alone for awhile, after such an eventful evening.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas takes the photograph automatically. His eyes flicker down to it for barely a second before he drops his hand to his side with an exhaled ohmyfuckinggod. He turns his face away from Theron as if being out of sight would put him out of mind.
A beat passes. Then he turns back. The muscles of his face are tight. There's a sense all around him that he's striving for control.
"It's not," he says slowly, carefully, "that I think you're unworthy. Or worthy. I barely even know you anymore. We were kids." He's digressing, and catches himself. He bites the insides of his lips for a moment, then adds, "It's just that I never wanted my sister to be a Garou's mate. That's a hard life."
For what it's worth, he doesn't drop the photograph on the ground. He slips it into his coat pocket.
"I'll have to think about it. After you make your greetings to the Sept elders, come by the Brotherhood. I'm in room 2."
[Joshua Walker] As Hunter turned to leave, Josgua makes several slight hand signals and then nods to her. Looks to Gina and Soledad as he slowly stands up.
"I'm afraid I must be on my way. I have some errands to run. If either of you need me I can be reached via Helen Luther. SHe'll know how to find me."
He gives a slight bow and starts to wander off
[Danicka Musil] Danicka is only dimly familiar with Gina, having seen her at bonfires and around the Brotherhood up until sort of recently. She does not know Hunter and Joshua, though. She recognizes Soledad from a day much earlier in the year when the Uktena was jumping on a man Danicka met at a club. Danicka does not alter her course to go say hello to the curvy Strider kinswoman. She does see Lukas. And she knows Lukas.
When she sees him talking to someone she's never seen before, sees the tension rising off of him like steam, she considers going to sit on a bench and waiting for whatever this meeting is to be over. That is not what she does. She sips her coffee and walks that way, her heels tapping softly on the sidewalk.
[Gina McClaren] Aulrecht Hunter loves. Travel careful.
*Sings the kin to the ahroun's back, raising a hand in clinking good bye. A sigh, her attention going back to Soledad, dark eyebrows darting up as though to say "what a night huh?" The soft bubble of chukled laughter caught in her throat, as the pretty pikey waves to Joshua, shaking her head.* Aye Joshua.. Take care tae. Saerry.. about aul tha snarlin.
*And with a final wince of embarrassment, she sees him off, looking back to Soledad.*
Christ aul fookin mighty darlin..
[Joshua Walker] (catch you all later if you're still on :) )
[Muerte Fria] Soledad's eyes followed after Hunter when the tall Ahroun, not too dissimilar from herself, perhaps even an older version of herself if her growth spurts didn't come to an end, and she nodded her head in a farewell when their eyes had met. Joshua was watched more cautiously, less amiably, when he departed. The old over-confidant man didn't sit well with her, and she was a creature of first impressions and snap judgments that took time and proving of ones self to break.
They were left alone, and Gina looked up at her and cursed her embarrassment and exasperation with the events that had just occurred. Soledad answered with a small shrug of her shoulders and a more comfortable slouch in her posture.
"Neither will stay long, yet I feel you will."
[Theron Locke] The Shadow Lord watched the photo disappear into the coat pocket, a part of him wanted to reach for it and reclaim the photo like a prized possession. But he can sense the rage boiling within Lukas' exterior, he had already pushed him so far tonight. Plus the Shadow Lord hadn't dishonored him or told him no. They were at an impass that probably wouldn't get resolved for some time and much talking.
"That we were, but even kids develop crushes, when I was ready and I thought I could offer your sister something I caught up with her to see where things would lead. It's probably not what you want to hear though." He looks at Lukas' thoughfully "Take as long as you need my friend, I will seek you out after I have made my introductions. The Brotherhood..Room 2" he files the information away. His eyes looking past Lukas' as he watches a female approach "It seems like someone is headed our way. looks like she knows you. So I'll leave you now Lukas..... don't be too hard on your sister okay. She didn't tell you everything because she didn't want you to worry." He looks thoroughly convinced of that fact.. as he extends his hand briefly "It was good to see you again Lukas...hopefully we can work all this out." waiting for a handshake as he gets ready to leave
[Gina McClaren] Ah threw ah bottle o' schnapps o hem... *She laughs helplessly, hauling herself up to sit on the bench beside Muerte Fria. Gina settles herself with a tinkling metallic cacophony, nearly touching the ahroun. She lays her head back on the bench and rolls her head to look at Soledad.*
Reckon ah'm stayen on. Long as ah'm needed. Ah've stalled out o wanderlust fer the now.
*She raises her head to nod, and looks towards where the two shadowlords are congregated. Hunter and Soledad would be her warders, but first Lukas had to give them that title, or demand challenge be made. He was a Lord.. and as much experience as she had with them, never had one taken her on formally. *
[Gina McClaren] [curiosity - whats goin on over there?!]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 7)
[Muerte Fria] Gina settled close enough to Soledad that their thighs nearly touched, and the Uktena had no apparent objection to this. She stayed seated for a while, nodding plainly when Gina laughed about throwing a bottle of liquor at the Fostern, and making a 'hmm' sound of recognition when Gina said she'd probably stick around Chicago for a while, as she had suspected.
The Pikey's eyes flicked over to the Shadow Lords, and Soledad's followed out of curiosity that has dimmed from exhaustion and social numbness. Lukas was having a hard time, and his blonde-haired woman was hovering nearby in wait. She wrinkled her nose at something inexplicable, lifted a hand to scratch at her head, then rolled up to her feet.
"You may discuss what you wish with Lukas, he will likely reject my proposition and award custody to Hunter alone. I am going to lay for the night." Pause, thought. "Thank you for dinner."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas wants to bare his teeth in a grin. Lukas wants to say, What makes you think I'm going to be hard on my sister?
What Lukas does, however, is take Theron's hand. Or rather, his forearm, clasped in a warrior's handshake. His grip is firm; not painful. He holds a moment and then releases.
"This is my mate," he says, "Dani&+269;ka Musil. Dani&+269;ka, this is Theron Eyes-of-the-Oncoming-Storm, a Theurge of our tribe, a cubhood friend, and ... apparently my sister's boyfriend."
To Theron, then, "I'll be seeing you, then."
[Danicka Musil] Danicka twists something on top of her coffee mug's lid to stopper it as she nears Theron and Lukas, shifting it to one hand as she sees the two clasping arms. Apparently they are not going to kill each other tonight in the park. All the same, she keeps her steps light, and watches carefully, and tries to ignore the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She smiles softly at Theron as she's introduced, offering her now-free hand. It's warm, even through the thin knit of her glove.
Her eyes, a murky and amber-flecked green without straight sunlight to brighten them to blue, flicker when Lukas tells her that this young man is Anezka's boyfriend. "A pleasure," she says deferentially, dropping her eyes from his to his chin after the greeting.
[Gina McClaren] Dae ye've a place tae stay darlin.. Ye ate yer food like ye'd nae touched meat en days. *Gina rises to her feet, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear and offering the Uktena a warm intimate sort of smile. The sort that spoke of quiet nights and secrets shared. Eyes ringed from exhuastion.* Effen ye need tae, spirit pop entae me house an' sleep. Jes dinnae kill a sly no moon.. effen ye stumble on 'em.
[Theron Locke] The hand is skipped and the arm is taken, silently pleased that the offered hand was taken
He turns to the new arrival, offering a small smile and a nod of his head. "Nice meeting you Danicka" taking her hand in his softly, giving it a squeeze before letting it go , "I'm sorry that I'm parting so soon after your arrival Danicka. Hopefully after I have made my formal introductions here in Chicago we can get to know each other." With that he begins to turn and head off into the night "Good Travels Danicka, Good Travels Lukas"
((sorry guys really need to dash now ))
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] (bye man, thanks for the RP!)
[Muerte Fria] Soledad regarded the Kinfolk for a few moments, then huffed a little when the offer reached a request for no bloodshed.
"I'm not going to attack someone in your home unless they are unwelcome there." She didn't answer whether or not she had a place to stay, let that inquiry slide by forgotten, unnoticed. She glanced again toward the Shadow Lords, then nodded to Gina and gestured away with a vague lift of her hand.
"I will be by on occasion, to check on you. For now, though, I'll let you have your home to yourself. Thank you again," the Uktena nodded her farewell, jammed her hands in the back pockets of her pants, and made her departure.
[Gina McClaren] Ah mean't cause ee's a shadowlord, an ' a bit o ' a grinnin bastard! *Gina hollers at Sole's back, tossing out a wave of goodbye., shaking her head, and finally, genuinely laughing. Speaking of shadowlords... the pikey pivots on her heel and jingles softly towards Lukas and Danicka, raising a hand.*
[Joss Lehrer] The Godi is weird. That much is well established when anyone speaks of her - though she is also very good at what she does, what she is and that goes miles in the acceptance of how she acts, sometimes
That is to say - like a 2 year old hyped up on sugar.
Tonight is no different. Tonight, it's not racing to play tag, or drenching herself playing with the water in the fountains. No, tonight? She's dancing. Under the light of the fading moon, she is dancing. She doesn't use the paths, no - she prefers a more instinctive route, across the grass through the trees, her skirts flaring about her as she spins and moves, her laughter free as her dreads whip about as she spins. She dances as if she has a partner - unseen - in a beautiful floaty waltz...
Her ipod is in her pocket, one earbud in her ear, the other hanging about her neck, the music audible for those who are close enough.
Sometimes? It's best not to ask.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Theron departs. Lukas watches him go, and has enough time to look at Danicka for a moment, expressionless but for his furrowed brow, before he turning to face the jingling pikey.
The Shadow Lord is clearly tense. Gina can see him draw a breath as she approaches, as though to recenter himself and reset his state of mind. Then he says, "Did Hunter speak to you? I saw you were with Muerte Fria and a stranger."
[Gina McClaren] Reckon sae, tha strange felly es Josh Walker, Strider fostern, wha wan's nae part o thengs.
*A shake of her head and a sigh, common theme that, Gina jingling to a stop and setting her hands on her hips. She's tired, but there's a veneer of civility over grief and anger now, that wasn't there when she'd entered the park. She tilts her head back to look Lukas more squarely in the face, eyes only kept for a moment.*
Reckon we've aboot worked thengs out though.. Soledad an' Hunter are gintae ward me both. Hunter es a strider, sae there'll be nae tribal bumfuckery, an' Soledad es stayen en wan place, sae she'll aulways be round, even effen Hunter's aft on a wander. Z'at work fer ye, biggun?
*The strider kin's eyes drift over Lukas's shoulder, a wistful sort of fancy flitting over her exotic features. Her chin tilting behind him atthe private dance Joss was having. She'd seen the woman at the bonfire, and knew she was one of the local Get.*
[Danicka Musil] She nods to Theron as he leaves, then opens her coffee again and takes a sip. She hears the tinkling of Gina's bells as she heads over, but turns to Lukas anyway and lifts her eyebrows in response to his inscrutable expression.
"It was nice meeting Theron," she says mildly, as Gina's making her way over. "Too bad Theron had to go so soon after I got here. I hope Theron has good travels." Beat. "Theron. Therontheron."
Danicka takes another sip of her coffee and gives a nod to Gina, noting her mood and going a bit quiet. She quirks a brow at 'bumfuckery', blinks, and keeps her damn mouth shut.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "He was a good man when we were cubs," is all Lukas has time -- or inclination, at present -- to say before Gina's there.
He listens, then, as she explains the deal worked out between Uktena and Strider. When she's finished he shakes his head. "I don't understand Striders," he says, vaguely amazed. "Moving from place to place, not wanting to ward what's theirs. But if it's fine with your tribe, it's fine with me."
He turns his head as Gina looks over his shoulder. His face blanks when he sees Joss -- dancing with a ghost, it seems -- and then he turns back.
"I should go talk to her. Excuse me, will you?"
[Joss Lehrer] There must be a song change, because the steps change, though the laughter remains, as the Godi spins in a circle, her arms outstretched, her head tipped backwards, her face to the sky as she spins, fast at first, then slowing until she falls into a standard 4/4 beat....
and then starts to sing along...
"Every daaaaay I try and I try and I try....
but everybody wants to put me down,
they say I'm going craaaaaaazy..."
There's something to be said about a girl who has the freedom to let herself to, to enjoy a walk in the park late at night, to dance her way through the grass and trees as if she were the only person on earth. It might not be something NICE that's said - but there's something, of course.
She gathers her skirts in her hands to hold them out, flared, and, lost in her own little world, brings it to a spinning close...
"Oooooh Somebody... somebody....
can anybody fiiiiiiiiiind me....
Some.... body.... to loooooooooove..."
And then falls into breathless laughter once more, her hands braced on her thighs, as he shakes her head, murmuring something, and though she certainly has a bounce in her step when the next song starts, it's not quite the full exuberant performance - and certainly more hiphop-ish than the groove just recently finished, humming along, murmuring softly... "go'on an' hate on me hater..."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas doesn't interrupt the Theurge's dancing. When he's within ten feet or so he slows, clasping his hands loosely at his back, waiting for the Fenrir to notice him.
Sooner or later she will. Wyrmbreaker's presence is all thunder and rage.
[Gina McClaren] *Gina's all wistful grin and softness as the Godi dances about, turning her head slowly to regard Danicka.*
Och, allo loves. Ow' are ye?
*A glance up at the moon, cursory, before she tosses too long hair back over her shoulder, and goes hipshod.*
[Joss Lehrer] She notices his presence before she lets him know she's noticed, and when she stops, it's within a few feet of him, her eyes clear and focused as she meets his gaze evenly, her skirts fall in a swirl about her calves, and her dreads settle about her shoulders, falling down her back heavily. She may have seemed unaware - but aware she was.
The corner of her lips quirk, sightly upwards as she studies him, and reaches up to pull the earbud from her ear, then pull the ipod from her pocket and thumb pause. There's a moments kick up from the breeze around her, there's a reflection of moonlight in the face of the ipod, before it fades away as she murmurs, "later" and tucks the ipod back into her pocket again.
Only when there is perfect stillness about her slender form again does she speak. Gone is the freedom of the Godi at play, of the teenage girl dancing with the moonlight, the wind. Her now is Gossamer Wing, Fostern Godi. Only then does she greet him with a single word.
"Wyrmbreaker."
[Danicka Musil] Danicka shrugs one shoulder, that heavy bag still hanging off one shoulder, resting against her hip. "Well enough. What was all that about?" she asks, nodding in the direction Hunter and Soledad and Joshua were.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas nods to her, a brief cant of his head that's curiously formal. "Gossamer-Wing-yuf," he replies.
There's a small pause. Then: "We have some things to settle. I need to make reparations to you, the spirits, and Sheridan for my behavior at her Gathering. And you owe me the same for disrespecting my fallen packmates."
[Gina McClaren] Och christ. Ah gaw dumped on tall dark an' thundry there after Sampson kicked et. Couldnae find a strider tae ward me oor another folk wi' tha minerals tae dae et, until taenecht, when a fostern strider shows oop, an the tae lasses both decide tae claim me o tha same damned time. A recht clusterfook. Banjaxed aul o et.
*A deep sigh and she waves her hand as though banishing the confusing scenario altogether.*
Och, bollox.
[Joss Lehrer] She arches a brow, slightly, and tucks her hands into the pockets of her skirts, her stance curiously relaxed, despite the formality, the seriousness of the matter. A different Fenrir would demand reparations in blood, a different Fenrir would act before speaking....
But she is different than most. She has the mark of wisdom that is all but impossible to find on one of her age in any nation - let alone their own. She is no wet behind the ears Cliath, she is no newly ranked Fostern. She is a Godi of renown, of talent.
And she is calm. "You do. And I admit easily enough that I lost my cool. And while I had no intention of disrespecting your fallen packmates, Lukas." And here there's a break in the expression, a little self-depreciating grin that barely shows itself as she speaks honestly, "I had every intention of disrespecting you."
She lifts a hand before he can bristle. "Even I can lose my calm, despite what the stories say. I do not intend disrespect you now - just admit my feelings then."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Contrary to expectations, though, Lukas does not bristle. He snorts quietly under his breath, but it seems more wry humor than anything else.
"Well," he says, dryly, "don't worry, you managed to do that too. But of my former packmates of the Circle, only one left in dishonor. The remainder were scattered for the sake of Gaia, whether lost to the Umbra or to the Wyrm. Suggesting they were lost because of inept leadership disrespects their sacrifice as much as it disrespects the ability of the Alphas," plural, because the Circle saw no fewer than four alphas in Chicago, "that led that pack.
"Anyway. I'm ready to pay my debts. Will you return the favor without our having to take this before your packmate, the Elder of Philodoxes?"
[Gina McClaren] *A yawn, and Gina says her goodbyes, waving to Lukas and Joss, singsonging pleasantly to Danicka, and with the jingle of charms she's away to the little yellow house in Bronzeville she calls home. With any luck, a no moon won't pop out of a closet or crawl out from under her bed.*
[Danicka Musil] The two kinswomen, one considered either the Whore of Babylon or Chicago's Friendliest Welcome Wagon and the other once thought to be turning packmates against each other through the force of what she has between her legs, stand chatting as the Fosterns confront one another. Danicka mostly just sips her coffee as Gina tells her what was going on, laughing quietly at Gina's dismissal. She nods to Gina as the Strider heads away, wiggling her fingers in goodbye, wishing she could stay a bit longer.
Gina is, compared to many, a breath of fresh air. Danicka, no longer playing polite, goes to a bench in front of the fountain to sit down, setting her bag beside her while she drinks her coffee and waits for her mate. The last thing she intends to do is interrupt what seems like a conversation just as serious but not as friendly as the one he was having with Theron.
[Joss Lehrer] "Yet you show Bones to Dust and La Familia that same disrespect."
Her voice is quiet, sure. "I was there, Lukas. I saw the aftermath, I saw the bodies, I did the clean up myself to ensure the veil was not broken, as were the bodies of Sheridan, of Bones to Dust. I was there. You were not. I was not in time. You did not know until we arrived at your door. That is why I came with her, you know."
She sighs, softly. "La Familia follows one of the most demanding of Totems, and I am here to tell you that Bones to Dust did her best to save Sheridan. We have all had our packmates fall. I failed to save another sept member just days ago, and bear not only the scar in my flesh, but in my soul, because sometimes it is simply not enough, no matter that we claw back from the edge of our own grave to continue fighting."
She looks up at the sky then, closing her eyes briefly, before she returns her gaze to his. One would imagine her eyes to be dark - but they are not. Vibrant, brilliant blue. Piercing, intelligent, bottomless - Windows to her soul, a soul that aches for her own failures, that aches for the pain of those she failed.
"I see no need to drag my packmate from the warmth of his mates bed, Wyrmbreaker."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas -- a thoughtful, logical Ahroun if ever there was one -- is not logical when Black Unicorn's pack is mentioned. Black anger clouds his brow. His hands come unclasped, hang at his sides now, relaxed but ready, dangerous.
"It's nowhere near the same, Gossamer Wing. One of my packmates died with the man she was fighting alongside. The other died saving the rest of his hunting party. They did not die under the watch a pack whose very raison d'etre was to protect their allies, the way Sheridan did.
"You may have seen the bodies, but I've seen La Familia pick their own up and run with their tails tucked. I've seen them abandon their allies to the Wyrm after calling for their help in the first place. We've all seen them lose their totem twice, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why. They might be sworn to protect their allies, but all I've seen from them points to the contrary.
"Believe what you like, Yuf. Until I see evidence to the contrary from La Familia itself, I can't help but doubt."
[Joss Lehrer] "And I have fought beside them and see Brother to the Lost and Bones to Dust throw themselves in front of blow after blow, blocking time and time again to save those they fight with. Not every battle falls perfectly the way we wish them too. I just ask that you keep in mind that you are not there with them for every battle, just as they are not there for each of yours. You are not all-seeing, any more than I am. I ask that you think before you judge, Wyrmbreaker. You base this on a handful battles that you have seen when there are dozens sung of to choose from. Do not discount those to focus only on the failures. We can point the fingers at any of us. I chose to go for the Wyrm's throat, instead of healing my ally first. He paid the ultimate price and we lost another warrior."
A pause, and she pushes back her dreads with both hands, holding them at the nape of her neck for a long moment, and then admits softly. "We are all guilty, Wyrmbreaker. That is what I ask that you remember. We have ALL failed. You will doubt, as I will, as others will, many times over. But remember that we are all the sum of many parts, our stories written of many battles. And we have all dropped the ball more times than we wish to admit."
He is relaxed, but ready. Dangerous. She is as she has been - respectful to an ally, and earnest in the lesson she wishes to impart. He could strike now, and she would fall. Of that there is no doubt. But it would not make her any less right.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "That I remember none of us are perfect is the only reason I haven't torn that pack to shreds, Gossamer-Wing. But my doubts will remain until I see something to dismiss them."
A short breath, and then he slides his hands into his coat pockets. In his right pocket, his sister's picture -- with her supposed boyfriend, the Theurge of his tribe -- crumples a little before he rearranges his fingers.
"Anyway, that's between La Familia and I. Let's talk about our own business. What do you want as reparations?"
[Joss Lehrer] She doesn't press. He's almost as stubborn as she is, though she is able to let it go. He relaxes, and she considers him, considers his errors, considers what she should demand of him. If he were a Theruge, she would ask a rite, to have him teach her something of his tribe - but he is not. If she were a Rotager, she might ask that he dance with her in the moonlight. But she is not.
She is Godi. And she takes a breath. "I would ask that you apologize before the Sept for the disruption of the Gathering - and I would ask that you learn the Rite itself, and the next member that falls, you lead us all in the memory of our fallen, to shine the light on the path that they will take to their next life. Do so, and do it well, and the Spirits and I will both be appeased. And if you wish, as Theurge Elder, I will be your teacher, unless you have another that will teach you well. Keep in mind that the Gathering is different for every tribe - you must learn the nuances of each, in case you are called to lead one other than your own blood."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Wyrmbreaker thinks a moment, his left hand coming out of his pocket to scratch at his jaw. There's stubble there, scritching under his fingernails. Then he nods.
"All right. If you'll teach me, I'll be honored. What about the spirits? What's your suggestion, as Theurge Elder, on ways to make amends to them?"
[Joss Lehrer] "Of course." she nods. She is a patient teacher, as many have seen. Even when it comes to tutoring a stubborn Lord.
The second question requires more thought, and she sinks to a crouch easily as she does so, her eyes lowered as she trails a finger on the ground before her toes. Perhaps she is listening to something he can't hear. Perhaps she is discussing something in ways he can't possibly understand. Or maybe she's just weird. Or maybe all of the above.
Softly, her voice carries, as she rests her chin on her knees, as the breeze kicks up around her again, almost as if running under her fingertips to be pet, caressed, consoled. "Sheridan was a Daughter of the Rat, and they came en masse to view her passing, and many linger still near her grave. I know you will tend to her grave, as you have the others of the Unbroken. This one is different. They wait there, and will for the next moon. At least three times a week, I ask that you stop by her grave, ensure that it is tended, and tell them one new thing about Sheridan. It matters not if you don't know their language, they will infer what they will of your words. If you run out of things to tell them of her, then seek the talesinger, seek those that she knew, that she battled beside."
She stands, then, a smile as she watches something that either he can't see, or only exists in her imagination. "One new item, three times a week. An even dozen under the moon to be remembered of our Fallen Daughter of the Rat."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "One item, three times a week," Lukas remembers, as though to remember it. "An even dozen for our fallen Sister of Perun."
He stays on his feet, though out of courtesy, he looks away from her to avoid looking down at her. His eyes stray the dark shadows of the trees; the dark, cloudless sky, so unusually warm for this time of year. If this can be considered warm.
"In return, these are the reparations I seek for your comments against my lost packmates: that you help me devise a way to send messages into the Deep Umbra. Wherever my lost packmates might be, whether or not they can answer, I want a way to contact them.
"If it's a spirit, I will pay appropriate chiminage for as long as I require its services. If it's a fetish, I'll upkeep it as long as necessary. Just put me in touch with a way; that's all I ask."
[Joss Lehrer] She tips her head, brushing her hands together. She turns her face to the sky again, to the moon, as if the answer might lay there within the cloud covered shine, that it will come to her if she simply listens long enough. She is quiet for a long moment, and then nods, slightly, returning her gaze to Lukas with a little grin.
It's a puzzle.
She likes puzzles.
"Done. Well, not done, as I'll need some time to discuss the best ways with the Spirits, but I will find a way." She does not tell him she does not have the means to make a fetish - it is not for him to know. She simply says she will find a way - and she will. In fact, her mind is already ticking off the possibilities. Wahya sent her a message from the Realm of Pain in the deep umbra - she find a way to make it work for Lukas.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas nods, then holds his hand out to grasp Joss's forearm, if she lets him.
"That's how we'll settle it, then. I'll find you in the Caern tomorrow, after I tend to Walks the Track's grave?"
[Joss Lehrer] She does, her hand small against his forearm, his swallowing her smaller arm whole. He knows as well as any, however, that power comes in small packages just as easily as the large.
"I'll see you there." a beat, and she tips her head slightly, putting an earbud back in place. "Tell me, Lukas - do you waltz?" Idle curiosity, and a wistfullness dancing underneath. "I think I'd very much like to learn to waltz.. or the tango..." She nods, slightly, eyes distant again, as if she's not really there any longer, as if she's already moved away... "I should find someone to teach me to tango.."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I can waltz," Lukas admits with a quirking, faintly smirking smile as their hands part, "but I don't tango."
He lets the Godi return to her own eldritch thoughts. For his part, the Shadow Lord turns to his mate, walking out from beneath the trees, crossing the path, coming to the edge of the sprawling fountain on which Danicka sits.
[Joss Lehrer] She somehow knew he did - it doesn't surprise her in the least. Then she's thumbing the ipod back on again, and of all things - the Thong Song comes can be heard thumping through the bud still resting against her chest.
It's likely not his imagination that the wind kicks up again, as she starts to bounce, and than resumes her earlier path through the park, living the old saying with the open delight...
Live like there's no tomorrow, and dance like no one is watching...
[Danicka Musil] His mate, on a bench, watches the faces of Chicagoans spit water into the Millenium Fountain. She is almost done with her coffee when he moves over, and turns to look up at him as he approaches. Her head tips to one side, her laptop bag sitting beside her thigh. She smiles, no more or less slightly than she did when she greeted Theron, or when she spoke to Gina.
"Long day at the office, darling?" she asks lightly.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] As the Godi dances off -- as though no one were watching, or as though she just didn't care -- Lukas approaches Danicka, his hands in his pockets. He gives her a wry smile; then he holds his left hand out to her, the angle of his regard changing if she stands.
"Housewife doesn't suit you at all," he replies. His hand shifts on hers, takes hers a little more securely. When he tucks his hand back into his pocket, he takes hers with him. It's warm there, heated by his hand and his body both. "I'd like to go home with you, though."
They leave Millennium Fountain behind, and its shifting images of Chicagoans spitting water. Strangest damn idea Lukas has ever seen for a fountain, though he can't say he dislikes it. The flickering screen casts changing lights on the pavement ahead of him; their shadows are long and tall, cutting across the dim glow.
After a while he pulls the little strip of photobooth pictures out of his pocket and passes them over without a word. After Danicka has a moment to look he asks, "Do you think she looks happy with him?"
[Danicka Musil] "Everything suits me," she disagrees mildly yet archly, putting her free hand in his and lifting herself to her feet. He was just talking to Joss about waltzing; the way he takes her hand and the way she rises almost seems like they are about to do so, nevermind the coffee in her other hand or the bag that hangs off her shoulder, bumps her thigh, tells the world that she shops Prada.
They do not, however, begin to waltz. Their hands drop between them, hers gloved, and they begin to walk. She shifts her hand so that her fingers slide between his, as though because she wears green and white knit over her skin she'll keep his preternaturally, perpetually heated hands warm from the November chill. She turns her head and smiles at him. The last time he saw her wear this hat it was February, deep into winter, not yet spring. He had never touched her in adulthood except to shake her hand. She didn't smile, then.
"I'd like that," she says, "if you don't mind ordering delivery and watching me get some reading done." Nevermind that it's Friday night, that she has all weekend for homework. It's half-teasing. Very likely she won't get much reading done tonight, if he comes home with her. Which is alright.
When he takes out the strip of photos, her expression wrinkles in confusion. She trades Lukas her coffee cup for the photos and looks them over, and from the look of things, she actually is trying to read the people in the pictures before she hands them back, trades again. "It's hard to tell with photographs," she says honestly, as though the question matters, as though it is worth a considered action. "Even sincerity looks false. Most people get very tense when they know a camera is on them. Even the very confident."
There's a pause. She sips her coffee, looks forward as they walk along the winding sidewalk in the direction of the train station.
"That said," she goes on, a little bit lower, a little bit more carefully, "she seems to be paying more attention to the camera, in those. And he seems to be paying more attention to the fact that he's holding her."
Whatever that means.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas takes the pictures back, peering at them through the darkness. Then he tucks them into his pocket, exhaling shortly.
"Theron's a good man," he says, "not so goddamn conniving or domineering as half our tribe. Or at least he was the last time I saw him, which was before I'd even met the Bellamontes. We were cubs together in the Sept of the Stark Falls. For about six months, anyway. Then I had my Rite of Passage and he ... stayed on to train under his mentor."
That's not to point of all this. That's just background, which a sense of fairness or honesty spurs Lukas to offer.
After a moment he continues, "But Anežka told me her boyfriend was a kinsman. And then he just shows up in Chicago to ask for her hand and I haven't even heard a word from her on the subject and ..."
Lukas trails off, frowning. They go another ten yards or so, out of the light, into the shadow beneath the trees. A sensible woman in a big city would be wary of dark places at night. Sensible people in big cities would be wary of dark places at night, male or female. Whatever else his strength and supernaturality brings, though, one suppose it at least gives a certain sense of security against things that go bump in the night.
Himself excepted, of course.
"Would you mind if I called Anežka while you're reading?"
[Danicka Musil] Lukas has seen her walking alone after dark before, in some of the worst areas of this city. He's seen her waiting for a bus in Bronzeville, not to mention walking through Grant Park after sunset on her way home. She has a car. She usually takes the subway or the El or buses, though. She has a gun. He knows she carries it, though no one has told him specifically about a green-eyed blonde kinswoman shooting a fomor in the back some time ago or a clawed fomor in a jazz club. Danicka certainly hasn't told him herself about these occasions. Not yet, anyway.
Word gets around, though. Eventually someone will say it in front of him, assuming he already knows what his own mate has done, and he'll know that she has garnered attention even from Garou who don't know her personally.
She sips her coffee as he talks about who Theron was, and the fact that his sister lied to him, watching the path ahead of them. "I only remember Anežka as she was when we were younger," she says thoughtfully, "but I do remember that your parents were very... honest. They always made the two of you confess and apologize if you broke a rule."
Or something else.
"So if she grew up to be anything like you," Danicka continues, her voice still mild, "what do you think it tells you that she told you her boyfriend was a kinsman?"
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I don't know," Lukas says, with an edge of frustration; also, with an edge of worry. "I don't know if she's afraid to tell me or what. I don't know, if she is afraid, if it's because she genuinely likes this guy and doesn't want me to say no, or if she's afraid of him, or..."
Lips pressed together, Lukas frowns at the sidewalk. They pass under a path lamp. The light paints his brow, sharpens his cheekbones, highlights the bones of his face as he passes. Then it falls behind them and throws their shadows on ahead, mismatched for height and breadth, a match nonetheless.
"What do you think?"
[Danicka Musil] The boots she has on make her taller. Not quite as tall as Liadan is naturally, not nearly as tall as Lukas is, but it gives her a model's height. The heels make the softest tap-thud on the concrete of the sidewalk as they follow it along towards the edge of Grant Park. Danicka finishes her coffee, swivels the stopper shut, and pauses on the path to take her hand from his, open her bag, and find a spot to slide it in so she doesn't have to carry it in her hand anymore.
While Lukas talks about what he doesn't know, what his sister might be afraid of, while Danicka listens quietly. When he's done, when they continue walking and her hand slides back into his, he asks her what she thinks.
"I think," she says slowly, watching as cracks approach their toes, pass under their feet, vanish, "that she probably knows better. Whether she's afraid or not, she knows -- and knew when she said she was dating a kinsman -- that if it were serious, if it were going to last, that he would eventually come to you."
Danicka glances at him, her head turned and tilted, her expression difficult to discern. "I just think that if Anežka thought that this was something she wanted to last, she would have told you herself that he was a fullblood." There's another beat. "She's not a child. And even when she was, she was very grown-up. She's also... I doubt very much that she's an idiot.
"So either she is scared of him, and he made her lie to you for some unfathomable reason, which means he is not as honorable as he once was, or she did not -- and possibly still does not -- think this relationship is terribly serious."
She shrugs one shoulder, the one not burdened by her bag's strap. "That's what I think. But you know them both better than I do, and everything I just said is conjecture."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas watches Danicka as she speaks, sparing the path ahead only the occasional glance. When her hand comes back to his he tucks it into his pocket again, thoughtlessly, as though that was where it belonged.
What she says makes him frown. He thinks. He's quiet for a while, looking away toward the end to watch the path after all. Then, when she finishes, he looks back at her.
"Thank you," he says quietly. "It's conjecture, but I think it makes a certain sense. At any rate, I'll call her up tonight and ask."
It's quite possible that when that happens, the Kvasni&+269;ka siblings will end up arguing; that arguing may devolve into fighting; that Lukas will say things like "Believe me, Anežka, I could have handled it if you told me you were seeing a Garou," and "No, I would not have flipped my lid," and "I'm not flipping my lid right now!" and "I just wish you'd have told me something before he showed up!"
It's possible she'll hear yelling from one or both sides of the phone. It's possible that even now, she'll be startled at the way Anezka dares to speak to her Garou sibling. It's possible that Lukas will end the call by proclaiming Anezka utterly impossible to deal with and then spend a few minutes brooding out Danicka's vast windows.
But then their food will arrive. And he'll go downstairs to get it because she's still studying, and by the time he's back up he'll be hungry, and his appetite will cheer him, and he'll unpack the containers and pass out the plastic cutlery and sit down on her floor to eat.
[Danicka Musil] For her part, Danicka does indeed slip her hand into his pocket without resistance, but this does not mean much. Resistance from her is rare, and the first time he pulled on her hand and she pulled it back it was as harsh a gesture as a slap in the face that -- fairly -- he probably deserved that particular night. Not because he was being cruel, or because what he was saying wasn't true, but because he had hurt her, and there was nothing else she could do. The irony, though, is that even as she stood in that club's dark bathroom and jerked her hand out of his grasp, snapping at him, it was because she trusted him not to crush her for it.
Even before she realized that she trusted him, before she ever admitted it.
"You're welcome," she says quietly, and just walks.
For the most part, Danicka will be doing her homework in the living room, on the couch rather than at her desk in the bedroom. She will suggest Chinese food and insist on crispy banana rolls, informing him that she has caramel sauce in the fridge. She also wants crab and cheese wontons. Given that Danicka does not often eat very much, the fact that she does not seem to see anything on the menu that does not appeal to her is probably a good sign. The only times Lukas has seen her eat heartily, she has been content. She has felt comfortable.
So when he argues with his sister later on, she just goes on reading. She doesn't flinch. She does little more than look at him until his voice raises slightly, and then she quietly gets her textbooks together and goes to finish her chapters in the bedroom, the door left open behind her but the walls and distance insulating her enough to keep her focus.
It may occur to him that Danicka likes being a student. It may surprise him how quickly, how voraciously, how attentively she reads, how delicate her margin notes are, some of them done only in symbols that mean something to her and her alone. She reads like a graduate student, not like the first-year, first-semester coed she actually is.
If she is surprised at how Anezka talks to Lukas, it doesn't show. If she thinks about Vladislav, she doesn't mention it.
She's done reading, interestingly enough, when Lukas is done on the phone. The timing is convenient. It's also the weekend; she has time for all of that later. She does not see Lukas every day. Every night. She does not get to eat with him even all of the times that she sees him. So she goes and sits on the couch while he broods, her cheek against her fist, her eyes on his profile, waiting.
Danicka is extraordinarily patient.
So she is not studying when their food arrives, but she is moving to get up and go get it when Lukas goes instead. There's an odd look in his eyes -- odd, at least, to anyone else -- when he says he'll go. She recognizes it. She remembers the way he looked on the solstice, the look in his eyes as he imagined what he told her only months later: that he could stay there with her. Feed her. Keep her warm. Keep her safe. And she remembers, easily, what it feels like when she makes kolace and he eats three or four in a sitting, with pleasure and satisfaction. So she sits back down, and he goes, and when he comes back
she slides onto the floor with him
and eats dessert first.
celebration.
9 years ago