[Katherine Bellamonte] She had spent most of the previous night at the Caern, well into the morning hours.
The day rising with knowledge of Katherine Bellamonte's new standing among her peers did it, for a large part of the day, without her. She slept, deeply, and only arose as dusk sank the day into brilliant reds and pinks across the horizon. Opening her closet, the Half Moon studied a collection of white, of black, of sparkling silver and a vast embassy of footwear.
She selected a pair of black kitten pumps, and came to a decision.
I am throwing a party, the declaration rang over the totemic link to her pack-mates. Tonight, at the Loft. Bring whoever you like, bring swimwear, bring wine and champagne. We're going to celebrate.
The same general message is broadcast to her tribe-mates; to those she knows of, those she can reach. Word of mouth spreads, Honor's Compass slips into a slinky silver cocktail dress, that sculpted itself to her frame and left very little to the imagination of any observing her. She pinned her fair hair from her neck, and left tendrils to frame an aristocratic chin, high cheekbones and a long, thin nose. Her mouth was painted bright, blinding red.
She was quite well pleased.
--
When the doors open for the guests, it is not simply Lucille who is there, but Asha's former Herald, Thomas, also. Not in his usual role; the Kinsman looked pale, and aged by the death of his Mistress yet details not sorted, Katherine had, being the ever-diligent hostess and Alpha of his tribe, invited him to stay with her as long as was needed for him to decide what was next to occur.
For tonight, however, he is beside the elder Kinswoman to greet arrivals; and assist with coats. Honor's Compass had not demanded his aid; but it was given without rancor. Perhaps being useful helped the Herald, and Katherine was not one to interfere in another method of grieving.
Still, they enter to the sound of quiet harmony; classical music pumping through speakers; discreetly planted around the Loft's interior. The pool has been cleaned; and fresh towels lay upon deckchairs for daring visitors. There are trays of food, carried around by waiting staff; champagne chilling in a bucket of ice upon a stand. The black sofas pushed well out of the way so the floor was opened up; all white and minimalistic and utterly elegant.
[Sinclair] [Charisma + Performance: Howl]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Sinclair]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 5, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] Sarita's been more or less staying regularly at the Loft since Amy left at the end of February. Even when he sister return, Sarita remained. Things were different between them, and even more so now. So for her, it's not difficult to be ready. She just needs to come downstairs.
She isn't dressed up at the moment. In fact, she isn't dressed in any kind of regular attire...she's gotten into her one-piece swimsuit early and is chilling in the pool. It is relaxing, being able to just float in the water or do laps. It allows her mind to stay in the moment and not drift. Drifting is bad...there's a lot on her mind.
[Sinclair] Perhaps to some it might seem wrong, disrespectful to hold a celebration such as this so soon after Asha's passing. Those some are not Garou, nor are they Unbroken. Savage, wild wolves lurking in such civilized skins, using money and the cut of a sweater and laughter and technology to smooth over the fact that not a single one of them is even close to mortal, even close to Normal.
Sinclair shows up (comes downstairs) in dark bootcut jeans and bare feet, her toenails painted metallic purple. She's got a v-necked sweater on, form-fitting and pink. The piercing in her upper arm nudges against the fabric, the sleeves pushed up show the tattoos on her inner forearms, her hair being up in a messy bun -- this passes for an updo, with Sinclair -- reveals the mark of Earth on the back of her neck.
Passing a server she grabs a slice of cucumber with some mushed-up creamy liver substance artfully swirled onto it, and pops it in her mouth. Goes up to Katherine, glomps her arms around the newest sept Adren from behind, and chews as loudly as she can possibly manage right next to her ear.
[Derek Anderson] He enters the loft and present himself ot Thomas. He never had met Asha's former herald and introdiced himself. He was allowed in. Tonight, the tall, musucula young man with blond hair was dressed in a dark suit, shoes, a blue shirt matching his eyes and tie. Over the suit was a long dark trench coat.
It was a night for celebration it seem, so he dressed the part. Still he had a bag in his right hand with his swimming trunks in. No wayt he wouldn't come to the loft and not use the pool. He offered Katherine a warm smile when he saw her "Good evening Katherine. How have you been?" He say in his deep warm voice. "I might appear totally clueless if I ask it, but I will anyway. What's the special occasion?"
He noticed Sarita in the pool and offer her a nod if she look his way, if not, no big deal. He offered a smile ot Sinclair when she came by Katherine "Hello SInclair, how are you?"He say, looking at her directly for once.
[Adamidas] If you are having a party, you have to expect gate crashers, you see. Because spirits are chatty, chatty things. Adam, however, is not a gate crasher. She's actually fairly easy to get ahold of, and-
she found herself thinking of what it was that you bring to an Adren. You can't bring Kate anything pretty of bauble-ie. She had all of that. She had prestige and a title and a nice house and things. She had a pack. She had a family. She had all sorts of things. We digress.
Adam shows up at the front door. Her hair is windblown, but it looks like she'd put some effort into doing it before she hit the road. She's finally wearing that cocktail dress Harmony gave her... with the same boots she always wears because, let's face it, she doesn't own any other shoes aside from her platforms. She's not sure what she's going to do when she gets there, but she's there.
With a messenger bag.
[Adamidas] (or bauble-ie, oi!)
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She does note Derek and gives him a little wave in the midst of a backstroke. The grin is faint, but there.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] A little over twelve hours ago, there was a impromptu mini-celebration in the Caern itself, moments after Kate passed her challenge. Since then Lukas has gone home, gone to bed, zonked all day, woken up only the message comes across the totemphone.
Kate passed her challenge, he told Danicka, buttoning his shirt as he ducks his head into her study where she was cramming for her continuous-time linear systems final. She's having a hoedown. You're invited, but do you want me to tell her you're trying to unlock the mysteries of the universe?
And also:
Have you seen the bottle of Wyborowa my dad sent last month?
And not too long after that, he's parking the Beemer and coming up the walk, giving the door a perfunctory knock before simply using his key. He's wearing a black shirt, charcoal slacks. He's also wearing swim trunks under his clothes. He's carrying a bottle of fine Polish wódka, with which he bumps Adamidas's back as he follows her in.
"Hey," he says. "Nice dress. Almost didn't recognize you."
[Alejandro] Alejandro doesn't have many fancy clothes. It's not that he couldn't have got them growing up, it's just that looking good hasn't been a focus of his. Ever the student; ever the Garou; ever the boy and never the man.
Which is at odds with how he is dressed because his suit just does not fit. It's old, that could be gathered from the fact that it isn't last seasons style or even the seasons before that. It isn't so old that it's back in fashion, but it isn't so flamboyant that it could ever been completely out of fashion, either.
This suit is grey, not quite silver but not quite bland, either. There is a little matching waistcoat beneath the jacket and a black tie upon a white dress shirt. The problem is that the sleeves only reach halfway down his wrists. The garment bunches at his elbows, pulls at his shoulders, rides too high at his ankles and reveals thin black dress socks above worn -- but clean -- leather shoes.
Under one arm there is a cardboard cylinder, tucked up into his armpit and he shuffles towards the front door with steps that announce his pleasure to be here. The cylinder is large -- even more so because of his diminutive figure -- and when he reaches the front entrance he slips in beside Adam and Lukas.
A little spastic wave is given to both of them, a grin for Adam too. He falls in step beside them. "Hello!"
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] [FINE, change it to:
Kate passed her challenge, he told Danicka, buttoning his shirt as he drops in on her watching The Fifth Element on BluRay. She's having a hoedown. You're invited, but do you want me to tell her you're burnt out from unlocking the mysteries of continuous-time linear systems? ]
[Katherine Bellamonte] It is understandable that Derek might have received a formal invitation -- not a demand, not these days -- to join Kate at her home, but the circumstances may well baffle the young Detective. Katherine Bellamonte did not strike many as a woman of easy whim, not when it came to parties.
Sinclair throws her arms around Katherine, and chews noisily in her ear and her sister is bracing an arm over the other woman's hand, chiding politely: "That is very expensive dip, Sinclair," as if she expects this to make some sort of difference in the long run. "I am pleased you came, Derek. We are celebrating my achievement of new rank," a moment, one can feel the gleam of pleasure in Katherine as she says, with quiet pride.
"I am now an Adren in the Nation's eyes. Please, help yourself to food and drink."
Thomas, straying from the door, nods to those who acknowledge him, and retreats to seat himself with a cup of tea, he will not drink, and there is a certain somberness surrounding the Herald's black attire; though he had pleasure enough to greet the Silver Fang with when she first returned home, triumphant. Lucille, ever watchful, however, fusses with coat collars, and hangs each with care. She argues with the hired waiters, and demands they be more careful with the silver and crystal glass ware.
Still, with each newcomer; the sense of celebration grows.
There is something cathartic in it, for the wolves of Unbroken. They have lost someone; there must be balance to their grief.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] Hey Kate. Hey, Kate. She's been doing this every now and then throughout the day over the pack link. You're an Aaaaaadreeeeeen...
It helps put the grin on her face, and there's one on there now as she treads water, watching all the arrivals.
[Sinclair] "Everything you have is very expensive," Sinclair counters, giving her a squeeze around the middle before letting her go. "Except for that bag of Sam's Best brand Mini Peanut Butter Cups you keep in the freezer. Yeah. I found those," she adds warningly, getting out of arm's reach.
[Derek Anderson] He blinked at Kate's words then strated to say something, couldn't then smiled sheepishly. He felt very dense right now. That was something incredibly important and he had no clue about it. He took a few seconds to recover and smiled warmly "Congratulation Katherine." Was all he saud and all he could say. He could tell her it's amazing, but she knew that already. Beside what used she would have for praise coming from him? She had peers who understood better her pride and joy.
"Thank you for the invitation" He said "Enjoy your evening" Sinclair ignored him, no great surprise here. So he ignored her back and moved away to let Adamidas, Lukas and I guy he didn't know meet with Katherine
"Good evening Adamidas" He say, remembering the young woman from a short encounter a while ago "Good evening Lukas" He say smiling to both and nodded to Alejandro "Good evening to you as well." He drifted away for now. Moving toward the pool but not quite. He looked in Sarita's direction ofr a few seconds as he took off his coat then kept his attention on the Garou surrounding Katherine.
[Adamidas] There's vodka- wódka- poking her and she turns around. Finds herself looking at a very familiar chest. She grins.
"Harmony's got awesome taste, he got it for me for Christmas," of course, she missed Christmas, but that was beside the point. She is walking, and is fine to pass on until she notices Alejandro. The female perks up immediately- you'd think they were childhood friends the way she perks up.
"Hey!"
And Derek gets a wave, "hey Derek. Look at you cleaning up nice... I think this is a little classier party than I'm used to."
[Amunet Knezevic] One should, in polite society, at least tell your sister in person before vacating town for any amount of time.
She failed to do this last time, which is what brings her to the loft tonight to seek her out
[Katherine Bellamonte] It's such a strange thing, she has replied with, more than once to Sarita's reminders, on the hour like clockwork; a quiet chiming of Adren, Adren, Adren. I do not feel any different, but the spirits must see the change, if nothing else.
When Lukas, Adamidas and Alejandro arrive almost sequentially behind each other; Katherine, a shimmering vision in silver and black heels moves forward to greet them, casting a decidedly pointed look over her shoulder at her sister as she reminds her she found the Silver Fang's top secret, low budget snack storage area. "Those are for guests," she protests lightly, with entirely too much defensiveness creeping through her voice.
"Not me."
Then, champagne flute in one hand; she moves forward. "Adamidas, I am so pleased you are here!" A press of red lips to the air beside a cheek, Lukas gets a radiant smile, a brush of a hand to his sleeve and Alejandro a neat little dip of her head to one side.
"Welcome, Seeks the Horizon. Is your brother with you, tonight? I fear he is building mystique in avoiding our meeting." Her lips quirk. Then: Amunet appears; moving toward the door to the brightly lit complex and Katherine's fair brows rise in clear surprise.
Sarita, your sister is here.
[Amunet Knezevic] She is dressed for a red eye flight to Sin City, which means she is NOT dressed for this type of party. Looking horribly uncomfortable, she makes her way into the loft and tries to stay out of the way as she sends a text.
Where ARE you? I'm downstairs.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She frowns when she hears that. Yes, when Amy comes around, Sarita tends to think something's wrong. Do you blame her? No, something usually IS wrong. FInally, you're on my side. Yep.
Oh wow, the Strider sends through the link, getting out of the pool. Thanks.
She climbs out of the pool, grabbing a towel and drying off quickly as she comes out to the main area, looking for her.
[Amunet Knezevic] She would be the one off to the side, looking uncomfortable and entirely out of place...
[Sinclair] There's laughter in the room that only Katherine and Lukas and Sarita can hear, because outwardly, Sinclair doesn't let it loose. It's in response to some mention over their link, something Katherine said that made her... well. Happy. She wanders around mostly, bumping purposefully into Lukas as though they're in lupus before she continues on, giving an upward nod to Adamidas and a curious glance at this new kid that stinks of Fang just as much as the rest of the Loft does. She does happen to ignore the kinsman. She doesn't even give him the little wave of hello that Sarita offers. And it might be that she hates him, for reasons he can't fathom.
That is something he is free to believe if it accords with his nature. Sinclair, ignoring him, can't help him interpret her behavior. She glances over at Amunet, tipping her head to the side. So that's Sarita's sister.
[Alejandro] Derek gets a cheery smile from the Theurge and a greeting in passing that goes something like: Hi! I'm Alejandro! But then it's on to meet Kate and the look on his face is nothing if not ecstatic. He seems proud of her, happy for her, pleased to hear of her success.
"Honor's Compass Rhya! My brother should be arriving, he is not so mysterious as he seems. I once had to wait seven hours for him to cross to the other side once. But he'll be here!" He beams, using her Fostern name because the spirits know not of any other. "I know that you said you didn't require any gifts, so please don't feel I have ignored your wishes but.."
He looks positively giddy.
"I made this!" And he holds out the cylindrical device to her. "It's that picture -- map -- of the Umbra! It has all that which is there and not there and sort of almost there marked in different colours because I find it so much easier to read maps when there are colours. Don't you?"
[Derek Anderson] He smiled back at Adamidas "Thank you. And you look lovely tonight" He reply to her "And don't worry about it. Later everyone will be in swimsuits probably and make it a lot less classy or formal"
He move slightly away from the young Fury to let her speak with whoever she desire. He noticed Amy, recognizing her from the only encounter and nodded to her. Well at least he wouldn't be the only kin in a Garou party. Not that he was uncomfortable being the only one surrounded by true borns, especially the Unbroken. For some reason it seem to happen that way.
He folded his trench coat over his arm and then Thomas appeared to help him with it. Once his fellow kinsman was away, he took a champagne glass from one of the waiters.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Because obviously," Lukas says drily, "you'd serve economy peanut butter cups to your guests."
Then he breaks into a grin, side-hugging Kate briefly before pressing the Wyborowa into her hands. "Congrats, Kate. This is my last bottle until I nag my dad into sending more, so make the most of it and get smashed."
[Adamidas] She's seen this in movies. She knows, in theory, how this air kiss thing works. She doesn't necessarily understand the entirety of it, but in her mind she chalks it up to Katherine being classy and somewhat French. Sinclair gets another nod in return which, while somewhat urban in its nature,doesn't look quite as cool when she does it.
"I haven't seen the place on this side of the umbra, it's... huge, and you have a pool," given her inflection it's quite clear that the Fostern approves.
[Sinclair] "We have a big pool," Sinclair says, though Adam is really talking to Katherine. She says 'we'. This is, in a way, pack territory after it is Katherine's. "It used to be smaller. We begged her and made puppy eyes til she had it expanded. That pool is a triumph of teamwork."
[Gabriel Ferreira] He doesn't look nearly as uncomfortable or out of his element as his brother does. When the Cliath of Honor's Compass's auspice arrives, it's with some sort of gift for Lucille that the lower-class writer of this post can't be fucked Googling but it's expensive and classy; the grieving herald is given condolences, and once he actually makes his way into the domicile, far more expansive and luxurious than it appears on the outside, he makes a quick sweep of the room to map everyone out.
Once he's located his brother and found that nothing has been set on fire, his shoulders relax.
The first person he approaches isn't the triumphant hostess, or his perpetually cheerful brother, but the kinswoman standing off to the side, isolated and irritable. Without any in hand, no champagne glass or hors d'oeuvres, without having met before, the immediate question that comes to mind as he walks up to Amy is What does he want?
His hands are in the pockets of his dress pants as he casually comes to stand by the wall beyond arm's length from Amy.
"It's a party," he says, lightly, in a voice that lacks an accent, "not a tribunal." A beat. "Unless I read the invitation wrong. That would be embarrassing."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She smiles a little and makes her way to her sister, coming up next to her. "Hey you." She smiles to her, and then looks to Gabriel to give him a nod. "Hola."
[Adamidas] She looks at Sinclair, and her eyes widened. The Glass Walker might as well have said Katherine got the pack their own individual ponies. It's sheer amazement, "those had to be some pretty intense puppy eyes. I tried to convince Alec once that we needed a pool, and it didn't happen. I can't really talk the Coltranes into getting a pool, because it wouldn't really be practical."
And the lake is right there. But a lake isn't a pool, you see.
[Amunet Knezevic] She laughs in spite of her complete unease, fingers running in her hair. "Well. You got an invitation, which puts you a rung above me here.
Oh hey. There's Sarita. Fresh out of the pool. This is handy, should anyone need the super secret access point to fucking Bizarro land, she'll just direct them to the loft.
[Katherine Bellamonte] Gabriel hands her a map of the Umbra, and Katherine seems genuinely fascinated as he points things out on it. "Look, Lukas, Adam, Gabriel has drawn an Umbral map for me." As if he were her toddler, presenting his first finger painting to his mother, her beaming and proud.
The Cliath Fang's brother makes an appearance, then, and Katherine, carefully passing off Lukas' gift to Lucille to tend after, finds his figure with her pale eyes and watches him, intently. She glances side long at Alejandro and her eyes ask the question without ever parting her lips to speak it.
Waiters bring around fresh offerings in the shape of colorful seafood snacks; trout and salmon with caviar, more of the same cucumber and avocado relish Sinclair had plucked from a tray earlier; other fanciful combination with names that involved things such as a side of or a sprig of to complete them.
Despite the press of combined Rage in the air around them; the atmosphere of the Loft is airy; pleasant. There is no demands being placed on either of the Kinfolk there; Amy is offered a flute of champagne by a waitress dressed in black slacks and a white collared shirt. There is also sparkling cider and wine on tap.
The Theurge Elder is impressed by the sheer mass of the pool; Honor's Compass smiles. "I am quite convinced I have the happiest water spirits in it second perhaps only to the lake itself."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "You're here. That's awesome." She looks from Gabriel to Amy. "Um...Alejandro's brother, this is my sister Amy. Amy, this is...Alejandro's brother."
Isn't she good at introductions? "Kate made Adren," she explains to Amy. "Thus, the party."
[Katherine Bellamonte] [oops, I meant Alejandro. Shut up, there's a lot of you.]
[Derek Anderson] He walked around, watching everyone but no one in particular. He knew everyone except two right now. At least by sight. He drinks from his champagne glass, not mingling right now. Everyone was congratulating Kate as they should, people were getting acquinted with others.
He put his bag on one of the benches, for later, when it'll be time for swimming. Right now, Sarita was the only one dressed ofr swimming and after their last discussion, he won't go in the pool alone with her if she gets back to it. She mgiht get the impression that he didn't understood what she said that night. And he did and respected it.
So for now, leaving them alone was ok with him.
[Gabriel Ferreira] "Look on the bright side--"
Whatever that bright side is, he isn't afforded the opportunity to impart it to his unwilling audience.
Hola, Sarita says, and he leans slightly past the kinswoman to regard the Ragabash. Given his height compared to hers, he could have looked clear over the shorter woman's head to address her--guardian, sister, cousin, he can't tell--tribeswoman. As he's glancing over, that universal sense of being watched creeps up his spine, and his eyes wander across the room to find the source of it.
Spotted!
"Olá," he replies, the accentuation different, the accent on a different syllable. That said, he steps away from the wall to form a lopsided sort of triangle between himself and the two females, extending his hand to shake should either of them feel inclined to do so. "Nice to meet you. My name's 'Gabriel' but I'll answer to 'Alejandro's brother,' too."
He steps back.
"If you'll excuse me."
[Amunet Knezevic] "Amunet. It's nice to meet you, Alejandro's brother." Not that she has the slightest idea who Alejandro is, but....
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "New Fangs," she says as Gabriel walks off, and she takes a lean next to Amy. She's content to be at the side of the party with her sister, though she's keeping her packmates in view.
"I'm glad to see you here. How'd that meeting go?"
[Amunet Knezevic] "Good. Really good."
She has the same irrational panicked thought now that she did after she lost her virginity to Ox. Can they tell? Does something seem somehow different? Is she marked in some invisible way? Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to her, which she took as a good sign.
[Alejandro] There are things to point out on the map, things that Alejandro make sure they see because they're fascinating. His index finger darts across the surface of it once it is unfurled and they read labels that are formal and artsy like: Where Water Spirits Whisper, The Windy Peak. There are other labels though, less formal and more personal - notes and edits too.
Fun times with Fire spirits! Caution: Take sunscreen!
Warning: Hole in the basement, unsure where it leads. I totally understand how Locke felt though! I want to open the hatch!
Once he has taken up enough -- too much -- of her time, he wanders off. It's in Sinclair's direction that he seems to meander, a thin youth with a too small suit. He doesn't say anything yet, though he'll flash her a sheepish smile if she looks at him. He just sort of.. loiters.
[Adamidas] She peeks along with, but there's quiet recognition and genuine pleasure on her features.
"Oh wow," she looks from the map to Alejandro, "how far down does it go? That's seriously handy."
She then addreses the rest of the Unbroken, or whoever else could muse about the pool. She grins, "more than likely? It's a well loved, well-tended place. And nothing is going to mess with them in here. It's a good, safe place to be. "
[Sinclair] Sinclair is by the food. She's not as face-stuffing as a Bone Gnawer's best stereotype, but she's making pretty good progress on some finger foods with more of that avocado stuff on them and looks to be considering bringing in a bag of tortilla chips and some bean dip to round out Katherine's impromptu spread, which would take most people two weeks to set up.
Alejandro wanders over. She's chewing, and slows down a bit as he loiters. Stares at him. "What?"
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She gives Amy a weird look. "Well, awesome." It's said in the teasing tone that they used to use with each other. Amy and Sarita can bicker and snipe at each other like there's no tomorrow, and they can have some of the biggest knock-down, drag-out sister fights this side of a Cops episode. But there hasn't been much of that lately. Just quiet words, no less frustrated, and hugs and the occasional tear.
"Y'okay? You seem a bit...off."
[Adamidas] "Oh! Kate! When you have time!" she half lifts up her bag, "I have stuff for you. But I didn't wrap it."
And, apparently, it's personal enough that she doesn't want to take it out yet.
[Amunet Knezevic] "Um. I wanted to let you know I was taking off for the weekend. You know. Not by text this time."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "Oh." She nods a little bit, reaching up to brush her hand over Amy's hair. "Well, that's cool. Just the weekend?"
[Katherine Bellamonte] Honor's Compass does seem very pleased with her gift, she holds it carefully against her side; one arm folded over her middle, the other holding a flute of no doubt very expensive champagne. She's sipping from it idly, every few moments and smiling around at her gathering of guests.
She has to stand, one should note, rather carefully in her gown; while lovely and light-catching; it was rather on the short side, and dipped into a daring V that bared a great deal of flesh without becoming cheap about it. Still; Katherine wore it elegantly, as was to be expected of her and as Alejandro's brother crosses toward her she quiets, and sips from her flute, watching him through pale eyes; her lids painted a smokey gray.
"You must be Gabriel," she greets him, voice quite amicable. "I wondered when you would surface into the light."
Adamidas has things -- but she didn't wrap them. Katherine's eyebrows rise. "What have you brought me, Adamidas." There's a lightness to that, she's teasing.
[Amunet Knezevic] "Yeah."
Wow, this is uncomfortable.
"We're going to Vegas for a couple days"
[Alejandro] She stares at him and he stares back. The question has his smile shift from sheepish to comfortably cheery. "I'm Alejandro. Do you live here?"
A small hand reaches out and takes up a carrot stick or celery stick if they are on offer, stabbing it into some nearby dip before he chomps on the end of it.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "Good." She smiles and nods. She is picking up on Amy's discomfort, and that is affecting her, but mostly because she doesn't see why it's so weird, and she's concerned. That worry for her sister will always be there, whether she has a mate or not. And in addition, there is joy for her sister. She may not be convinced this is her best course of action, but she's keeping it down.
"That'll be awesome. You guys can have a blast, get away from all this. It'll be good for you. I'm happy."
[Derek Anderson] He stop somewehre between the pool and the lobby. His kind bluee eyes moved from Garou to Garou, his glass f champagne almost empty. He's not mingling right now. If it was only the Unbroken, it would be easier, but right now, he kept his distance.
He would probably stay there only for some time nd leave finally. Politly representing the Fang Kins and then let the Garou to their celebration. He move to the food, grab a snadwich and move away again.
[Gabriel Ferreira] Alejandro's brother isn't wearing anything quite as eye-catching as Miss Bellamonte, which both ought to go without saying and fill everyone in the room with gratitude. Considering that this isn't exactly a formal tribal affair, he is not wearing a tuxedo. He wears a three-piece suit, because it's cold as the devil outside, but it fits better than whatever it is that Alejandro is wearing, and he doesn't look as though he'd rather be outside rolling around in a mud heap.
There is quite a bit to look at, but she's his elder, and his eyes behave themselves.
She wondered when he would surface.
"Wonder no more, -rhya," he says, taking his hands out of his pockets for etiquette's sake.
Then the Adren is addressing the Fostern, so he waits his turn.
[Amunet Knezevic] The pod people were here. Awesome. Her eyes flicker around the room quickly as if expecting an uncomfortable surprise.
"So.... I guess I should say congratulations and get out of here, hey?"
[Sinclair] What makes Sinclair intimidating -- and she is, in fact, very intimidating -- is not her rage. That's eclipsed quite neatly by other Garou in the room. Gabriel and Katherine and Lukas all have more of that internal fire to draw on, to carry with them, to endure. With Sinclair, it's something else entirely. She looks at Alejandro, another wolf, as though she is gauging whether he is higher or lower on the food chain -- literally -- than she is. The fact that it takes her little more than a moment to determine just how far below her he is, how quickly she could eat him, how many bites it would take,
unnerves every mortal she meets. Makes Kinfolk uncomfortable. Makes her a little less than popular even among other wolves. She's not a woman, purple toenails and piercings and human trappings notwithstanding. She's savage thing made only more dangerous, not more civil, by opposable thumbs and technological intelligence.
She blinks at him, slow and lazy, once. "I'm Sinclair. And yes."
Over there, people are giving Kate presents, like it's her birthday or something. Somehow, something completely bizarre seems utterly natural just because it's Kate. "I'm Kate's packmate," she adds.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Soon after showing up, Lukas disappeared into the kitchen to...
...mix drinks, as it turns out. While Katherine sips on champagne, Lukas reemerges with some eight or ten collins glasses of distinctively blue liquor. It's not often that he plays chef or bartender, but one supposes tonight's ample justification for an exception.
So he passes that tray around - to Kate, to his packmates, to the guests. When everyone who wants a shot has one, Lukas raises his voice enough to cut momentarily through the conversation.
"I'd like to make a toast," he says. "Here's to Katherine, who proved today what everyone already knew: that she's a badass Adren Philodox. Here's to my pack, my brothers and sisters past and present and future.
"Here's to booze and pool parties. Here's to friends. Here's to celebrating us, and the savage joy of our lives."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "Well, you can hang out if you want. It might be fun."
She gives a little shrug. She wants Amy to be comfortable, but there are a lot of people here she doesn't know. And it's not exactly the best time for introductions.
Lukas comes out, and he has shots. Sarita takes one and gives one to Amy.
[Amunet Knezevic] Ohthankholygod alcohol. She gratefully takes the shot, eyeing Lukas and trying to stay invisible.
[Sinclair] Sinclair takes two shots. When the toast is given, she clinks them together. "Hear, hear!"
First goes the left, then goes the right.
[Katherine Bellamonte] Katherine doesn't offer her hand to Gabriel, or do much of anything but look at him for a good few moments. It's not challenging, per say, that stare, but rather more curious; considering. She does add, after a long pause of silence, broken by the soft classical music, tinkering from the background. The lapping of water in the pool, as the cleaner is activated and hums along the bottom; greedily eating anything daring to pollute it.
Were Sinclair's spirit with her; he'd no doubt be EEEing over the machinery.
"It's nice to put a face to the name, Resurrection. I am obviously Katherine, Honor's Compass. I am your tribal Alpha, and your auspice Elder in the city. I look forward to seeing you show yourself to be a worthwhile addition here, along with your brother." A beat, Lukas brings out that dreaded blue mixture of his; Katherine clings to her champagne.
A corner of her mouth flicking with the toast, she raises her glass, eyes gleaming.
In the corner; Thomas and Lucille, sharing conversation among themselves, also toast.
[Alejandro] The only response to Sinclair's undeniable predatory nature is the fact that Alejandro waited for her to initiate conversation before speaking. After that he is smiles, he seems comfortable. It might be ignorance or innocence or the fact that his spirit soars so high compared to his human nature, but he doesn't shy away from her despite the fact that yes: She could eat him all up, one bite perhaps two if he were lucky.
Just like her intimidating otherness, there is something strange about the boy - and he is most definitely a boy, not a man. It isn't strong enough to pin-point, but it isn't weak enough to be only revealed in the Umbra either. She might get a sense of the elements, perhaps a familiar one because it strikes each individual differently. It's masked beneath his breeding, but it's still there.
Her name is Sinclair, she lives here and his smile broadens. Before he can respond, however, there is a toast. He has no drink, no glass, so he takes one of the shots. He's not entirely sure that he should be allowed to have one but he raises it anyway along with what's left of his celery stick and joins in the cheer with everybody else.
Once it's all over and the cheering has subsided along with the speeches he looks again at Sinclair. "I'm going to be living her too," he says, like that is wonderful news. "I heard you have a friend," his tone has shifted, something more secretive, something that excites. "I would love to meet him."
EEEing indeed!
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Okay," Lukas explains the rules with great patience, "you can't get Sinclair to take your shot by proxy, Kate."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She smiles and raises her glass. In another time, another day, she would have given some kind of ululation, an over-the-top cheer or the like. She's certainly that pleased for her packmate, and the warmth shows in her expression. The response however is more restrained. She just raises her glass and winks at Kate, giving her a nod that is both congratulatory and grateful.
And then the shot is knocked back.
[Derek Anderson] He took the shot from Lukas "Thank" He say to the man. He raise his shot like everyone else and down it after the toast. He let the strong mix of liquors burn down his throat. It was really good and wondered if he shold get more. Then again being drunk here mgiht not be the best thing. He had to look respectable in front of Katherine after all.
He handed the shot to a passing waited and took another glass of champagne.
[Amunet Knezevic] "I should go."
Sarita belongs here, not her. Her fingers brush in her hair again, then she reaches to squeeze her sister's arm.
"I'll see you Monday, hey?"
[Gabriel Ferreira] A tray of glowing-nuclear liquid is passed around by a larger, heavier wolf, and it would be terribly rude to not partake in a drink prepared by his elder. The Cliath flicks a glance to Katherine, standing cool and poised with her flute in one hand and the Umbral map in the other, and he suppresses a smile as he reaches out a hand to take one of the Collins glasses.
There's a ring on his left hand, visible only because that's the hand he uses to pick up the glass.
"Thank you, -rhya," he tells the Lord.
A toast, and then Katherine is being teased. Gabriel thinks about tossing his back, but holds onto it while his tribal and auspice elder is reminded of the rules of engagement. There is no verbal teasing, but there is an air of expectation about the taller Philodox.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She frowns. "You sure? I know it's a lot of people here, but..."
She sighs, and then nods. "Okay. Listen, when you get back Monday we'll hang, okay? Just you and me?"
[Sinclair] Sinclair's eyebrows flick up a bit. "A... friend?" is all she can give Alejandro, since the cheerful little poppet doesn't get more specific than that.
[Amunet Knezevic] "We've got a flight to catch." The words tumble over themselves in a rush to make it out. "I mean, it seems like a great party and all, but we've got a flight. Yeah, Monday. It'll be fun, right? " She smiles, taking a couple of shuffly steps toward the door.
[Alejandro] The poppet nods his head and takes another bite of his celery stick. The shot remains untouched but he eyes it now and then, like he wants to drink it all the same.
"Yes," he confirms once he has swallowed the vegetable. "Names are.. not meaningless, but I find trouble in translating them. A spirit, or so I'm told. Is he truly your friend?" He asks the last part in a hushed tone, like he doesn't want to have the hope that such a thing could be possible. The spirits love him -- at least the nice ones -- most assuredly. But he doesn't have that; he has never had that.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She sighs. She knows when Amy's coming up with bullshit excuses to get away. She rubs at her eyes. "Yeah, totally. C'mon, lemme walk you out."
[Katherine Bellamonte] "I already have a drink, Lukas," she primly shoots back at him with an expression of great forbearance. Then, as eyes watch, and wait she heaves a sigh and gestures for the tray. "Very well, but I drink under protest. This is peer pressure, hm?"
She holds one up, studies it, and then swallows it out with her eyes closed.
[Sinclair] At that, Sinclair blinks. "Oh. Tripoli," she says, like she might actually be talking about a two-legged, five-fingered sort of friend. It isn't that Sinclair doesn't understand or respect what it means to have a familiar like the one she does, that she's received something special in the little metal gaffling's affection and devotion. But it's Tripoli.
And Alejandro talks in hushed, awed tones and Sinclair just looks at him like he's grown a third head. Yes, a third. Two wouldn't quite cover the weirdness she's attributing to him. "Uh, yeah." A beat. "Dude, don't take this the wrong way, but you're really giving off this desperate freshman vibe. Have a shot and chill out."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] And move to walk Amy out she does. She stays outside the Loft once Amy heads off, going into her van and changing out of her swimsuit. Yes, she keeps clothes in her van. You would too if you lived out of it cross-country for ten years. Once she's dressed she lights up a cigarette, hanging outside and smoking for a bit.
[Adamidas] No one can be quite sure where she went, possibly off to the bathroom (which meant that Adam got lost on the way there) or possibly to the umbra to check out and see how the water spirits actually felt about Kate's pool (pretty damned good. They like the pool, yay pool!) but what matters is this.
The Black Fury comes back and she's adjusted herself. she's got chalk dust in her hair again. Just a little bit of it. Enough to be telling. She snags a drink on the way.
[Alejandro] "Oh.." Colour flushes his cheeks then drains just as quickly. He turns his head down for a moment. It isn't the first time such an opinion has been expressed and it won't be the last time.
"I should.. I'm sorry, I just.." Resignation at first, then something else: Nervous courage. He looks at the shot glass again then throws it down the hatch with the awkwardness of someone who is probably doing this for the first time.
[rolling stam for his first drink! +1 dif newbieness]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 7)
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I applaud your courage," says the Ahroun who, some time ago, gave a cub a semi-serious lecture about the booze of the tribes. The corner of his mouth tilts, "Now have another one."
Lukas picks up another one himself then. A moment or two after Sarita escorts her sister out -- long enough to let them say their goodbyes -- he follows the Strider. Finds her smoking outside, which is one minor sin he's never really picked up.
"Those will kill you," he says wryly, taking a seat beside her on the van's floor, legs hanging out the side sliding door. "But if you've got a toke, I'll share that with you."
[Sinclair] The Galliard smirks as Alejandro downs the AMF. She glances up as Lukas and Sarita head outside; there's a flicker of something in her eyes. Maybe longing. She doesn't go to join them, though. She stays inside the party. There have been times when Lukas has gone to her when she's down, too. Times when, really, it helps to just have some one on one conversation with their brother.
She goes to find the tray and gets another shot. "Hey, Brass Petals-yuf," she calls out. "Have a shot! We're toasting Kate's awesomesaucesomness."
[Katherine Bellamonte] The Hostess goes and perches herself on a black leather sofa; crossing her long legs at the knee and balancing at once a flute of champagne and another of the bright blue death drinks her Alpha seems to be intent on her consuming until she falls on her head and has the Grand Elder appearing to strip her of Adren on account of being a drunken dolt.
She tries a second one, however and finds it not quite as eye-watering as the first.
A discreet cough goes unheard beneath a palm and she watches; quite amused as the Theurge re-appears, looking a little dusty. Katherine waves Adamidas over. "What did you want to give me, Brass Petals?"
[Gabriel Ferreira] There's no triumphant whooping or raucous encouragement as Katherine breaks down and gives into the double-fronted peer pressure from the males. The corner of the Philodox's mouth quirks into what almost becomes a smile, and then he tosses back his own shot without much effort. The fruitiness of it surprises him, and he blinks.
"I wouldn't call it 'peer pressure,'" he says, once he's recovered.
Her Alpha applauds her courage, bids her take another one, and Gabriel fixes her with another look. She can't pussy out in front of the Cliath, now, can she?
Then he spares a brief glance around, as if trying to see what his brother is up to. He's downing shots. Fantastic. A second shot is taken, and Gabriel wipes his mouth before ambling over to collect Alejandro.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She looks over at Lukas and smiles, exahaling a lungful of smoke. "Lots of things that'll kill you, mi capitan. Whole mess of 'em." She stubs out the smoke on the fender, and then leans back into the van to pull up a piece of carpet next to the wheel well. It fit seamlessly enough that you wouldn't even know it was separate from the rest of the laydown carpet in the place if you didn't see it get removed. There's a little compartment there and she flicks a combination, then opens it and pulls out a baggie with a several joints. It wasn't the only baggie in the compartment.
"The key...as I've learned..." She pops the joint into her mouth and lights it up. She takes a drag, holds it in and then slowly exhales before she passes it over. "...is to do the things that you enjoy, whether it kills you or not. Odds are, it's not the thing that's gonna."
A pause. "'sides, if you live denying every joy you've got? You ain't really living."
[Adamidas] "Weeoo!"
Don't have to tell her twice. The female trots over and grabs a shot, only to hear Kate calling her name. She stops about mid step and turns, "the hostess doth beckon. Prost!"
The shot goes back, and it's sheer force of will and a fair bit of practice that keeps Adam from gagging and looking dazed. She lives at the brotherhood. She drinks. She pays tribute to grain (or maybe it's potato... she didn't look at what she drank and the female isn't experienced enough of a drinker to notice the burn in her throat is distinct depending on what she's drinking.)
She sidles up and sits herself beside Kate. Or, rather, near Kate. She's got a grin on her face, and her voice drops to the tone of conversational. But not entirely openly so. Shotglass in one hand, she finds something in her bag with the other. It's offered to Kate.
[Matthieu] Matthieu was not the kind of man to make a casual appearance. Every thrum of his heart was another beat of a living legacy in the making. Pulsing through his veins wasn't just the blood of the Heroes of the Garou but the blood of the greatest heroes the world had ever seen. The Silver Fang wasn't simply born into luxury despite the filth the Shadow Lords would attempt to spread about them. Each and every one of Matthieu's ancestors was a Hero in their own right. Whether they were eradicating the Black Spiral menace from much of France or helping to draw the Wendigo into the Garou nation in a glorious reunion of cousins removed by countless millenia Matthieu's ancestors were anything but lazy. Each life was a story all it's own. Each one leaving behind a story to be shared before all. Some would end in tragedy and some would end in triumph but one thing that could never be said about this ancient family was the fact that they had not earned the greatness that pumped through their veins.
Matthieu was not great... Matthieu was not amazing or incredible. He was smart, he was cunning, and he was charming but he was young and inexperienced. Yet he knew that the weight of his own families greatness rested firmly on his shoulders. It wasn't just that they wished him to be great, no no no these were Silver Fangs. House and Tribe depend on that greatness in both character and strength. A Silver Fang must be faster he must be stronger and he must be smarter because the fate of the nation, and through the nation the world, rested firmly upon their shoulders.
Others would complain, they would boil with discontent, and they would throw themselves against his people again and again. It has happened time and time again and it would happen again several times in his lifetime. The Silver Fang's life was a double edged sword. They carried the weight of an entire nation on their shoulders and in turn they carried the contempt and hatred of the enemies of that nation as well as their enemies within. Yet there would be no complaint, and there would be no tears.
The wyrm comes and it tears its way through their world it falls upon the weak and the strong alike but against the walls of the Silver Fang's ancient fortresses is where it is halted like a bull charging against a brick wall.
The Silver Fangs don't know they are strong because they were born to rick parents. The Silver Fangs know they are strong because their enemies have thrown anything and everything you can imagine their way and still they stand tall and fast. By the Shadow Lords, their ancient rivals, own reasoning it is the strongest who rule. Well so far the Silver Fangs have ruled for how many Hundred Millenia? Longer than any kingdom of man... Longer than science, and agriculture, longer than man has had fire the Silver Fangs have ruled and still to this day they continue to rule.
This is the legacy Matthieu carries to the door of the Loft. It was an ancient legacy and one which swelled his heart with pride. He might not be great yet but he belonged to a tribe who was judged solely on the merit of their greatness. He would be great in action and deed because he, like every other Silver Fang, will accept nothing less than that.
Patient, and quiet until the time came to speak, the Galliard, and now Elder, stood outside the door biding his time. So much to be done in this city and with this city. So much was going on, and so much needed to be fixed. Ten thousand things might cross his mind on any given day but he was a Silver Fang he would address each one individually, if he has to, and confront them all.
[Alejandro] Alejandro takes down whatever was in that glass, he's not entirely sure. Then Sinclair's gone with no promise to introduce him to her spirit friend. "Nice going Alejandro," he mutters to himself then stuffs the rest of the celery stick and a second one into his mouth, much more uncouth now that he's alone. He mutters again while he chews. "Desperate freshman vibe.. I've never even been to college!" Like the statement makes no sense to him at all.
His brother wanders over and Alejandro hastily hides the empty shot glass amongst a pile of bread sticks.
"Hello Gabi."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I'll drink to that," Lukas says quietly, and then does just that: downs his second adios like nothing.
It's not nothing, though. It's one of the more potent mixes on the face of the earth, and when Lukas sets his collins glass down on the pavement between his feet he can feel his head lightening. Sitting up again, he grins -- a little lazy, a little crooked -- as Sarita pulls a joint out like magic.
"I knew you had a stash." He sounds satisfied. "Anyone who lives part-time in a van has a stash."
Lukas takes the joint over, then, taking a long slow hit. They don't see their Alpha indulge in illegal substances much, and the truth is: he doesn't. He popped a tab of ecstasy with Danicka the night they got -- well. Married. Married in front of a city clerk, in a tiny tender ceremony witnessed by exactly three people, all parental units. Married, and then off to a reception that consisted of a club, groundshaking bass, and a harajuku girl that sold them MDMA; then off to a honeymoon of sorts that consisted of holing up in one of the more exclusive suites in the city for a week.
Before that, the last time he touched anything on the DEA schedule was... well. The week before Mrena died. The week he was too busy tailspinning for his own personal reasons to tend to his pack.
He smokes like he knows what he's doing, though, passes the joint back and lays himself back, stretched out on the floor of the van with his feet still on the ground outside. His eyes close for a while. Then they open and he looks over at his newest sister.
"So how come you're so quiet tonight?"
[Gabriel Ferreira] The kid is muttering to himself as his brother crosses the room to join him by the table. Gabriel frowns, curious, and casts a glance back over his shoulder at the barefoot blonde who had been speaking with him a few moments ago. Lips form words, and while he is hardly adept at parsing words out of noiseless movement of the mouth, what he can see on the boy's face tells him that it didn't go as well as he'd hoped.
That shot glass isn't tucked away as quickly as he might think it is.
"Jano."
He comes to stand beside the Theurge, keeping his eyes facing the rest of the room, hands in his pants pockets again now that he's devoid of a glass to keep them occupied.
"What happened?" he asks, and it's hard to tell if he's asking because it's in the Decent Concerned Brother script or because he actually wants to know.
[Alejandro] "Nothing." He grumbles, swallows down the vegetables in his mouth. It's a moment of brief silence and then: "I just wanted to be friends with her and her stupid spirit buddy." He says, childishly and low to Gabriel. The way he says it makes it clear that he thinks her spirit friend is anything but stupid. A beat later and he's proving this when he says:
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. No spirits are stupid. Not even concrete is stupid, Adam really likes concrete. It can be quite clever."
[Derek Anderson] His second glass of champagne is empty, he pick another shot of AMF151. He start walknig again, picking up a carrot as he pass near the food table. He downed the shot, feeling a nice buzz by now and keeping it at that. He leave the empty shot glass on the tray and munch on the carrot.
Lukas has left for the moment, possibly to check on Sarita and Amy. Katherine is talking to Adam with Sinclair nearby and the two unknown Garou were talking together. And now another unkown has stepped inside. He looked at his watch and wondered if he should head out. Maybe text Kristen and see if she was still awake and wanted to go out for a late snack or something. Probably not though. The Fianna was probably asleep right now.
He drifted closer to the entrance. He'll stay a little while longer than get home.
[Katherine Bellamonte] Mirror's Whisper enters into a glittery -- and strangely eclectic in terms of those present -- party in full swing. The Galliard Elder has his coat taken by Katherine's dutiful maid, Lucille at the door, she nods to him and points him inward hanging it up carefully on a hanger.
Down the corridor; the space opens up into Katherine Bellamonte's white washed dining area. Large black sofas have been pushed outward to make room for guests and three or four waiters are doing tours with trays of food and drink. Asha's herald, the Kinsman known as Thomas is here, too. A respectable fellow sitting quietly near the hostess, herself. Honor's Compass, newly minted Adren, is listening to something the Theurge Elder is telling her, her eyes on a bag that seems to contain something of importance.
Katherine notes Matthieu, he gets a bright smile, and a gesture to enter, and make himself at home as Rain of Brass Petals offers Katherine over a beautiful, if broken necklace. Honor's Compass frowns at the delicate thing in her hands, setting her glass down so she might better cradle it. Her pale eyes quite focused on what the Theurge is attempting to convey.
"Thank you, Adamidas. It is ... beautiful. I am very moved you should give this to me, but are you quite sure you wish to part with something so dear to your heart? It was your friend's, your words are enough."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She grins. "Of course I have a stash. Shit, Lukas, how do you think I keep myself in gas, smokes, fast food and cell phone service?" A little chuckle comes forth, fairly dry as he takes the joint. She's never been blatant about how she and Amy scrape by, but she never really hid it either. Patrick knows; Hunter and the rest of Defiance know. It's a psuedo-living, nothing more.
She watches him take the hit, surprised when he handles it like a pro. "Well, ain't you just hardcore? I'm impressed, boss-man." She takes it back and takes another hit, eyes wandering up to the sky. She always finds herself looking at the sky for some reason when she doesn't have anywhere else to go. She's never gotten why, and she rarely even thinks about it. She'd attribute it to Luna if she did. It's not why.
And then he asks why she's so quiet. Her eyes drop from their upward cast and look over at him. She lets the smoke out in a sigh and brings a foot up to rest against the fender, knee against her chest. "Lot on my mind, I guess. Lotta changes, and I know change can be good. Some changes...obviously...very good. I'm ecstatic over. Others..." She looks down the road where Amy's cab took her. "The two don't correlate and the reasons behind Amy have little to nothing to do with the rest, but it feels like I traded a sister for four (three) siblings."
[Sinclair] It's easy to interact with Sinclair -- or even try to say hi to her -- and end up feeling like she just isn't interested. That her pack is enough for her, thanks, she doesn't quite want or need to get to know anyone else. She ignores kinfolk to the point of it seeming as though she despises them -- and she wouldn't be the first Garou to get to the point of just not wanting to deal with them anymore. Alejandro comes over because he's heard she has a spirit familiar and he's really, really interested in being introduced, and Sinclair tells him to chill out and goes to get another drink.
This apparently meant, to Alejandro, that she wasn't coming back. That she was blowing him off. Hardly. She gets her shot, yells at Adamidas to get one, and then she's coming back to the food, blinking as she overhears some of what Alejandro tells his brother. She looks amused, downing her third -- fourth? -- shot and laughing as she comes up, slinging an arm around the wee Theurge.
"See? Desperate freshman vibe. You like the shot?"
[Adamidas] "Wouldn't do it unless I meant it. And I wouldn't give it to you unless I'd thought about it, besides I don't think Hera's gonna be pissed about the regifting," she says. Can't be too serious but... well, the first statement is serious enough to carry her weight, "and if she is she'll just kick my ass in the homelands and we'll call it good."
Because even though Adam's outlived her friend by a fair bit, Hera will still be able to kick her ass in the homelands.
[Gabriel Ferreira] The look on the older Garou's face becomes one of enlightenment, as though the word Nothing contains everything that he needs to know. Nothing. Just talking to an older, higher ranked, more experienced Garou and she wasn't impressed by what she saw. No big deal.
Without waiting to be pressed, without Gabriel even looking over and down at him, Alejandro explains. There's a snort when he calls her familiar 'stupid,' and that's when Gabriel looks over at him.
"Which one's Adam?" he asks, looking back to the room.
The tall blue-eyed kinsman is slowly sneaking towards the exit, and Gabriel watches him a moment before yet another tall creature joins the fray. Matthieu, too, is watched a moment, and by process of elimination, he comes to the tiny teenage girl speaking with their elder.
Before he can start teasing the younger Cliath about his choice in female companions, the Glass Walker returns, slinging an arm around him. Gabriel watches, and though he's being introduced as the boy's brother, there is not even a whiff of hypermasculine overprotectiveness in him.
Must be the age difference meant he never had to slam another kid into a locker for fucking with his brother growing up.
[Alejandro] "That one," he points her out just as Sinclair is wandering back over to them. Her laughter is noticed before anything else and he's half prepared for something that just isn't there. She's amused and it isn't mean-spirited, not that he thought she was being mean just dismissive. There's none of that though, just an arm around his shoulders and he tilts his head to look first at his brother with a surprised twisting of his lips into that boyish smile of his and then at Sinclair.
See? Desperate freshman vibe. You like the shot?
I found it.. interesting." A beat and then: "I may require another before I can truly give a fair judgement."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "That's me. Hardcore." Lukas laughs quietly. "Truth is before we came out here we used to run under Kate's brother Ed. Total prodigal son, a charming wastrel. My best friend for a long, long time ... it's a long story. But he had the hookups. Silver Fangs, nothing but the finest green."
And then that quiet, and then he's asking her why so serious, and she's ... telling him. He turns to look at her as she does; follows her eyes down the road, lifting his head to see. Then, laying back again:
"I don't blame you for feeling like that, but I don't think it's quite that. It's true that with you getting packed up, she might feel a little like what used to be you and her has become you-and-your-pack, and then her on the side. I think it's always going to be a sort of tension in our lives. We're not like real wolves, whose families are their packs. We've got pack-family. We've got blood-family. I think it takes a lot of work and balance and understanding to make it work, and the sad thing is I think a lot of us ... don't really make it work, ever.
"But I don't think that's the only reason she seems to be drifting farther away. You told me from the start that your sister's a wildcard, and even though you love her you don't really think you're capable of protecting her and warding her the way you're 'supposed to'." He doesn't have to make air quotes for Sarita to hear them. "She's like a kite. As much slack as you feed out, if there's too much strain the line's going to snap. And a whole lot of shit went down for her, fast. It wasn't your fault and there wasn't anything you could do better than you did.
"I don't think there's anything you can do better than you're doing, either. Try to keep her close. Try to protect her, but ... "
Maybe it's the booze. Maybe it's the pot starting to unfurl. Either way, Lukas's thoughts are loose and languid, drifting easily from one subject to the next.
"I heard from my tribesman that he's claiming her as a mate. Is she happy with that?"
[Katherine Bellamonte] The Silver Fang laughs; a light, tinkling sound rather like windchimes and honey, it is all sweetness, that noise. You would never believe that the creature making it could rip your heart from your chest while it was still beating with her claws in another form; she is entirely too much of a lady; too demure and composed.
"Well, let's just say I'm only looking after it for the time being, before one day, it is passed along again." A moment's quiet, Katherine looks steadily at Adamidas. She had done a rite of reawakening with the Theurge, once, not so long ago. They'd brought back the new season; seen much.
"In the spirit of honesty, Brass Petals, accept my words to you. You've grown a lot since I've seen you last, I know there is much that we do not know of one another, but what I have glimpsed makes me quite proud to know of you, to introduce you as the leader of our Theurges in the city. It is not an easy thing, being the one looked to, to make the choices."
[Sinclair] "Yeah, you totally need more," Sinclair says, hearing that. She pulls back, clapping him on the shoulder. "Get some more, get trashed. It's a party and if you're gonna live here then it's not like you have to worry about getting home safe."
Nothing more is said about Tripoli, her stupid spirit friend. She actually heads off on her own again. Adamidas is giving the defiantly sober Katherine a gift, something shiny. Sinclair doesn't seem terribly invested in getting to know the latest and greatest Silver Fangs in town, and in general she gives Matthieu a wide berth in case he either thinks being a Galliard means she wants to hear him regale her with tales of his ancestors or that being a Glass Walker means he can snit at her. So far he has never done either, so she's perfectly happy to keep it that way.
And, with a brief moment of eye contact with Kate to let her know she's slipping out for a bit, Sinclair heads outside in the direction of her only brother and her newest sister.
There is a knock on the van's door. "OPEN UP!" she hollers. "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN THERE."
[Adamidas] "You get old, you grow up," she says. The situation she's in right now isn't that different from the one that she was in a year ago. All things considered, though, it's a world away and a different place in time. She's not as... well... she's different now. She's learned from failure.
"And someone has to make calls, it's not easy but... ya know... gotta do it," she says, but she smiles anyway. It's something sincere and she bites back that little bit of failing to accept a compliment graciously. She mulls it over and reaches up to push some of her own ahir back, "that means a lot to hear, thanks."
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She listens to Lukas as she looks down the road. Her eyes don't leave the path that the cab left down, but she is clearly listening to him, He's telling her things she already knew, but they haven't come from anyone else yet. They've been in her own mind--rationalizations and blind optimism that she did everything they could, or platitudes from Amy, who is far from reliable lately at being open with how she really feels. So the words from the Shadow Lord are comfort. They reinforce her.
However, it's not all true. Not to Sarita, and she shakes her head. "I shouldn't have lied to her about what happened with Hunter and John. I mean, I know that it was for the best. I know that if I'd told her right then and there, I'd have had to keep her on a damn suicide watch for...hell, days, weeks. But she would have trusted me, at least. Now...that's broken, because I sat there and smiled while she talked about how he was going to be back soon when I knew he was fuckin' charcoal."
She shrugs. "I know what you're saying. Things...they'll normalize. I just don't like the way it is right now, and I don't like how she's uncomfortable when she comes here. Which isn't anyone's fault, really. I'm worried about her and I hate that I can't help her."
The van door gets knocked on, and Sarita hears Sinclair yell. She smirks and shouts through the open back door. "Come around, dork. I an't crawlin' through the damn thing to open the door when we got a perfectly good open one here."
She looks back to Lukas now and nods. "Yeah, it's true. She's...yes, she's happy. I personally don't know that she's ready to move on after what happened? And I'm still worried for her. But when I talked to her last night...yes, she cares about him, and he cares about her from what she says. That makes her happy, so..." He shrugs.
"I'm gonna make you kick his ass if he hurts her, though. Just FYI." A faint joke.
[Sinclair] "WHAT?" Sinclair yells back, as though she didn't hear. But then she's laughing, and it's clear that about four AMFs have got her more than a little buzzed. "Fuck me," she says, and tromps around to the side door, crawling in like her legs stopped working right as she got to the carpeted edge. She sniffs. "You guys are smoking weed."
Nevermind that they have the joint out still. She is only using her keen powers of nasal perception. Yup.
[Gabriel Ferreira] "Try not to get too drunk, huh?" Gabriel asks the Theurge, after the Fostern has left to find the rest of her pack. It's a rhetorical question. "As cute a story as it would be for the grandchildren, if I have to clean blue vomit off of anything I will not be happy."
The entire time they've been in each others' presence, Resurrection hasn't shown himself to have much of a sense of humor. Granted, when they first met after however long their previous absence had been, the Philodox had been half-starved and definitely crazed after spending Gaia knows how long hunting the Umbra for a creature of whom he only had scent memory to guide him. He wasn't cracking a whole hell of a lot of jokes after that.
Tonight it's a full moon. That certainly isn't helping.
He claps his ring-bearing hand on the shorter boy's shoulder, then picks up a pair of champagne flutes from wherever the booze station is. Apparently he'd learned that the best way to approach wallflower Kinfolk is with alcohol in hand; he approaches Derek slowly, careful not to make eye contact least his Rage give the kinsman the impression that he's undergoing trepanation.
"Here," he says, handing one of the flutes to Derek before he can sneak out. "This will make the entire affair less painful."
[Alejandro] He totally needs more, so he totally goes to get more. It's with a grin to his brother and a nod of his head. "I'll try not to! But I also may try to get a little drunk, I'm awful curious."
And he scampers off to collect a pair of shots. These ones he eyes like they've got promise rather than any unknown threat. He takes them both over to Adam and Kate, offers one of them to the Theurge.
"Hi Adam!" He beams. "You can have one of these if you would like."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "No, you shouldn't have lied to her." There's this, at least: his blunt honesty has a sort of gentleness to it. "That's what I think, anyway. But at least you lied because you loved her, not because it made your life easier."
Sarita talks about Stefan, though, about Amy being happy, about Stefan caring about her. A flicker goes through the Ahroun's eyes. He's on the verge of answering when Sinclair bangs on the door and then crawls in the back, making him laugh quietly, reach out, grab her in a bearhug and tumble her down.
"You bet your ass we're smoking pot in here. Here, let me have another hit."
And taking it, exhaling it, he goes back to the subject -- not bothering to backtrack for Sinclair, figuring she's bright enough to pick up on the gist even if she's packed down godknowshowmany AMFs.
"The thing is," he says, "I am a little worried that Stefan might hurt Amy. Maybe not on purpose. Everything I've seen and heard about him says he's an upstanding Garou, does things right. Does things by the book. But that's sort of the problem. My mate -- who reads people like I read books -- thinks maybe nothing's really there under the surface. Like he's just ... cold and barren inside, just going through all the motions the way he was taught without feeling any of it. Without feeling for any of it, maybe.
"And then there's this whole business about him apparently doing something so shocking and hush-hush that Defiance might not want to pack with him anymore." Lukas shrugs the best he can, flat on his back as he is. "I don't know. I don't want to smear a Garou's good name on nothing but conjecture and rumors, and I haven't had the time to followup on anything yet. But she's your sister, and you're my sister. I just think ... maybe for a while at least, keep a bit of an eye on her. Even if she's not technically your concern anymore."
[Derek Anderson] He had been about to move toward Kate, thank her ofr the party and get out when one of the three unknown Garou stopped near and offered him a flute of champagne. Now, he could be impolite and refuse, bid good night and run home or he could be the proper Silver Fang kin, smile politly with a nod of the head and say
"Thank you, and yeah, I guess it helps" He took the flute
"How are you doing Sir?"He say very polite. He didn't knew the man, so he didn't dare being too friendly "My name's Derek by the way" He say offering his hand to him. He didn't need to tell him of his tribe. He knew the man could msell him and beside that, he was the only kin, obviously not one of ladies mate, so technically he must be of Kate's tribe.
"Are oyu new to the city or we just haven't crossed path?"
[Adamidas] "Oh kick ass," there is a shot brought to her and she perks up. Half flesh, and she's content to live in it. Pay homage to it, attempt to beat her liver into submission with whatever Alejandro has in his hand because it goes straight to her lips and down the hatch. Pride keeps her head from swimming but pride also tells her to drink more, which is usually how you end up playing chicken fight in swimming pools and waking up bound to a completely foreign totem.
"Thanks. You having fun?"
A moment.
"We should play, like, Apples to Apples or something. Best game ever."
[Sinclair] Sinclair has no idea what they're talking about in here right now. She has only the barest knowledge of Sarita's troubles with her sister, she never met Drawn in Blood that she can recall, she has only dim awareness of what happened to him and as a rule she avoids thinking about, talking about, or dealing with the pack that is now Defiance, was once the Vanguard. She crawls into the van on her hands and knees, is grabbed,
"Ack," she says blandly, "ack. Ack." And flops down.
Lukas leaves her there, gets another hit. Sinclair rolls onto her back and stares at the roof of Sarita's van thoughtfully, her knees bent and her feet akimbo and her hands on her belly. She listens. "You should talk to Kate about Gabriella," she says, after Lukas has finished talking for a minute.
Her arm lifts. She snaps her fingers. "GIVE A GIRL A JOINT. Joint. Jointjointjoint."
[Katherine Bellamonte] The Theurge brings over more shots, and Katherine accepts one with a little smile from the Cliath. She clinks the glass against the Theurge elder and downs it; grimacing briefly.
"Oh," Katherine says with pink-cheeked enthusiasm. "We have a great mass of games somewhere. On those machines upstairs that Sinclair yells at frequently when she uses them. I also purchased -- " A little hiccup. Katherine covers her mouth, apology never looked so sincere. Continues. "Some gear for the pool so they can play water tennis or something in there. The net just needs affixing."
[Alejandro] "I am!" He says and tips his own shot back, albeit slightly more delicately so than his Auspice Elder. There's a brief moment of silence where there's confusion and indecision on his face before he blurts out:
"What's Apples to Apples?! Let's play. It doesn't matter what it is." A pause and he fidgets with his ill-fitted suit, plucks at it like it's constricting him -- which it is -- followed by: "We must."
And then there's more games. Upstairs apparently. "Let's go explore, Adam."
[Matthieu] Matthieu enters the house with a pleasant smile. He was a naturally charming individual, he did not necessarily radiate the intense heat of rage that so many others did. Make no mistake those eyes burned with passion and fury alike but that smile showed control. Matthieu was not some savage wild beast he was a beast in complete control of his faculties. This was part of what made one a Silver Fang the ability to exert complete control at all times. To never let your temper flare past a certain point, to never lose your cool unless it was warranted. Matthieu might as well have had a red carpet rolled out before him by the way he strode across the floor and greeted his host with the warmest of smiles. In his hands a small box was held firmly and close to himself. The box itself was hard wood and polished, it was quite decorative but likely not what the Galliard had intended as a gift for the eldest of his tribe within the city.
He came upon his hostess and took the time to greet all in the room with a polite and friendly smile though his intention was in greeting the hostess first. She was his direct elder and was this not a celebration of her achievements? Silver Fang achievements were special affairs. Not to belittle or speak down to the other tribes but when a Silver Fang reached a milestone in their life it was simply grander than that of the average garou. Certainly the other tribes would argue otherwise but if there is one thing that a Silver Fang is used to it is resistance from the other tribes. It doesn't mean the other tribes aren't impressive in their own right it is just that Silver Fangs hold themselves to a higher standard than the other tribes. Matthieu has tried to lecture the others in these matters but rarely do they seem to hear him. No only a Silver Fang can truly understand.
He waits until she turns to face him or greet him or otherwise acknowledge his presence. He does not with to impose or intrude in the middle of his elder's party! When she does turn her attention back towards him he finally speaks in a proud and carefully practiced voice."Katherine Bellamonte, Truth's Meridian, Honor's Compass there are few in the region who have not heard of your ascent. Allow me to honor you Rhya with a gift sent by my own father to celebrate this momentous occasion."He says this while presenting the box, which was roughly five by five inches on a side and roughly four inches high. The hard wood was held together by hand crafted metalwork and the box itself looked as if it could be older than Chicago itself. A tiny latch held the box closed, and the top of the box held two markings denoting the Silver fang tribe as well as the glyph of the Half Moon.
"We all work hard in our lives Rhya but the rise to Adren is a symbol that few achieve. No longer are you a young woman working to make her way in the world your voice will carry itself within our tribe and nation. For when an Adren speaks even the most stubborn of elders will stop to listen and those cliaths foolish enough not to hear the wisdom spoken from her lips will soon learn to regret their decision."He adds in the warmest of tones to his elder. His smile shows through and he allows her to take the box before stepping backwards and folding his hands neatly before him.
Matthieu was dressed surprisingly well. It was hard to pick out the designer, however, unless one was familiar with local designers. Everything he wore was custom tailored and each and every thread was carefully placed to fit his figure perfectly. Simply looking at him revealed that he must have spent two hours getting ready for this affair. Appearance was important it showed honor and respect for ones peers. To appear disheveled and worn in the company of others showed a lack of respect for oneself as well as their peers. Matthieu was old money, tradition, well bred and trained. The last thing he would ever wish to do is appear as anything less than who he was.
[Gabriel Ferreira] The flute changes hands, and the strange, Rage-heavy Garou lifts the one remaining in a silent toast before taking a sip. Sir, he calls him, and this doesn't strike him nearly as strange as it likely ought to. It's analogous to a civilian referring to a Private First Class as 'sir,' but Gabriel doesn't correct him, or mock him.
He folds his lips to get the moisture off of them and answers, "No complaints, yet."
His name's Derek, by the way.
They shake, the Garou's hand dry yet powerfully warm.
"Gabriel," he says, yet it is not pronounced as though he was born in America, to American parents; it's a rounder 'a,' stress on the last syllable rather than the first, though he himself does not seem to have much of an accent. "Pleasure, Derek."
In the scant amount of time that Derek spends asking his question, the slightly shorter male takes another belt off of his flute. He doesn't have the typical Full Moon's social awkwardness or the typical Gibbous Moon's propensity for long-winded speech, yet his Rage would suggest he could easily be either of those auspices.
"Both, it seems. My brother--" He turns towards the rest of the room, briefly, to point out the floppy-haired blond who's about to disappear with the Theurge Elder. "--and I just arrived this week." He turns away from the room again to ask, "So which one's yours?"
[Adamidas] "No no no, that's water volley ball. If it was tennis then you'd have raquets and the ball would have to bounce and I don't think I wanna play water volley ball with Lukas because he looks like he has a seriously good vertical leap and spiking the ball could cause a concussion and I don't want to, like, drown while playing volleyball. It's not that important."
She grinned, and her expression is surprisingly mellow. She's not a very heavy person, she didn't eat much today and despite her bravado, Adam doesn't do this often. It seems that her ability to drink, much like a lot of things about her, happen to be directly tied to her strength of will and her strength of purpose. Her purpose tonight, it seemed, wasn't to look like a badass while drinking. It was to celebrate Kate and get shitfaced.
"And it's a word game! There are cards and you have a hand of them, right? And someone throws down a word- an adjective specifically, and you have to throw down nouns that match that adjective. It's really, really fun and I promise it's not half as lame as it sounds."
He wants to explode. Can they explore?
"It's Kate's house!"
Ergo, Kate's call.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] She's already had another hit by time Lukas calls for it, and she passes it over. Sinclair gets a grin when she makes her keen observation. "Good call."
She looks at the Ahroun when he says she shouldn't have lied. She doesn't take it as reproach, just as agreement. She gives a frown though, when Lukas talks about Stefan. Well, he is a pretty crazy sunovabitch. Yeah, but Sarita doesn't know that. Dude, it's right on his freaking sheet! You mean that thing that Sarita doesn't have access to? Oh...yeah, right. Exactly.
The Strider listens, and she shakes her head. "Thaaaat's encouraging." She considers. "She seems to think he's good for her. I can't say I trust her judgment right now, but she seemed to trust him before this whole shitstorm of doom fell on her like a freaking Rube Goldberg-esque Jigsaw trap of melancholy and Fall-Out Boy songs. Thanks...I'll keep an eye on her."
She pauses. "But then, I was gonna keep an eye on her anyway. Assuming we both make it that far, I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping an eye out on her from the nursing home. Metaphorically speaking."
[Derek Anderson] He shook the hand firmly and briefly "It's a pleasure as well"He drank some more from the flute, listening to Gabriel talking. "So ALejandro is your brother?"
His eyes look in the same direction as Gabriel, watching them too. "He kind of told me his name in passing earlier"he say with a lgiht shrugh. The young Garou seemed energitic. His attention return on the older brother
"Which one's is mine what? Family? None, I come from Pittsburgh, mate? None either" After all one was taken, one was either possibly gay or jsut kin hateful and another was crazy...maybe two of them were. Adam seemed to be in her own world sometimes. "Katheirne is my guardian as she is tribe elder"
He simply say, drinking some more champagne.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "And that's why you're a good sister," Lukas concludes, laughing, "even if you feel like a shitty one right now."
Serious again, "I mean that. I got lucky with my sister. A lot of Garou with siblings end up a lot worse off. Kate, for one. Rebellion, self-endangerment, heartbreak, you name it. Most of them handle it by either severing all ties or locking their loved ones up. It's nice to see that you have the courage to just let her make her own mistakes. You're just there for her if she wants you. If not, you don't push it, and you make it clear that her mistakes are her own responsibility."
Lukas doesn't know where, exactly, that train of thought is going. He lets it go, tucking one hand behind his head. Quiet now.
After a while, "Is Kate still entertaining in there?"
[Katherine Bellamonte] Honor's Compass takes the box from her Cousin with a due amount of tenderness. The Galliard's father had sent it, and Katherine admires it from every angle, sweeping a hand over the carved Glyphs atop it before raising her head to listen, head slightly tilted to everything the newly anointed Galliard Elder says to her.
Pink cheeks, flushed with drink and accomplishment, further color and she offers a hand up to her Cousin in thanks.
"Your father does me great honor, Mirror's Whisper in sending such a token, please do pass on my most sincere thanks to him for this gift, and thank you for coming tonight. I am glad to see my tribe doing so well in Chicago. It brings me a great amount of happiness. I hope you will stay, and meet some of our new Cousins."
Katherine inclines her head at Alejandro. "This is Alejandro Seeks the Horizon, his brother is over by our Kinsman there, his name is Gabriel, another Half Moon as myself." They want to explore, Katherine smiles. "You are welcome to adventure where you do, but be careful on the stairs."
[Gabriel Ferreira] So Alejandro is your brother?
The noise Gabriel makes is quarantined to his throat, an affirmation that doesn't seem to believe it needs to validate the situation with an actual verbal response. Perhaps he's just loathe to admit it, yet there is nothing outwardly wrong with the Theurge that would garner such a reaction. His renown, endowed with it as he is, is impressive for someone so young. One would think the teenager's family would be pleased with him.
The rest of the family isn't present, though, so all Derek has is his older brother. He looks, more than anything else, weary, as though Alejandro is seven instead of seventeen.
No family present. No mate. Katherine is his guardian, as she's tribe elder.
"So I hear."
He's putting a mighty rapid dent in his champagne.
"How's a guy like you get away with no mate?" he asks.
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] "Thanks. Kinda just the way it had been. I could only get away with zip-tying her in her sleep once." She's grinning. But she's serious, too. It's a long story.
She scrubs at her face, then looks at the house. "I haven't seen anyone come out, so either she's entertaining, everyone passed out or everyone drowned in the pool. Those are about the options I see."
[Sinclair] "I don't have any brudders or sisters," Sinclair informs them, slurring a bit. "I have cousins, but they're not as bad." She might be talking to the van's ceiling. Nobody has given her a joint so her hand has flopped back down on her stomach.
"I think the pack-family is more important for that," she muses, but she wasn't here earlier, she doesn't know that Lukas talked about pack families and families before. "For that... siblingish thing. S'like brothers and sisters, they're s'posed to know you, nobody else in the world has really had a life like you've had or somefing, an they know you or somefing and so they get it. You know? They just... get stuff.
"But we aren't really gonna have that same kinda close thing with Kin, even if they're like, our twin. You wanna know a sad story I'll tell you 'bout some twins an one of 'em changed and one of 'em didn't and it's just... "
There are tears in her eyes. She closes them for a moment. Opens them again. "I dunnow," she says, quieter. "There's definitely stuff you can't get from pack, though. Can't get from anyone but Kin, anI'm not just talking bout sex or something, I'm not, it's... y'know there's reasons."
A beat. "There's reasons we have em and need em it sure isn't to clean up our messes or be all badass with us in battle or be our stupid heralds and servants or babydaddies or something, it's just something else and so I'm really meaning it when I say you should talk to Kate because if you don't wanna lose your sister, if you don't --"
Sinclair is crying now, the tears rolling out of her eyes and down the sides of her face, off her temples, hitting the van's carpeting. "If you don't wanna lose her. Cuz it's so easy to lose them."
She squeezes her eyes shut, and opens them after she's pushed out the rest of the tears that came so quickly and so unbidden. She takes a breath, and exhales, and seems to be done.
"Alcohol makes people sad," she concludes.
[Katherine Bellamonte] Amendment:
Katherine then does open the box.
[Alejandro] "Hello!" Matt gets from Alejandro, just as cheery as usual. He's a short boy, hair that isn't so much floppy as it is unruly. But it flops in places, so there is that. He would say more; maybe he would give Matt a proper introduction, he really would like to but Kate told them they can explore [explode].
"I like the sound of this game Adam, this apples to apples. Let us see if we can find it in this wonderful home."
He scoops up another shot and drinks it rather clumsily before literally running off into the house. He's a menace, he's going to break something, he is definitely not going to be careful on the stairs.
[Derek Anderson] He tilted his heaad at Gabriel's comment "Ha, well either I"m too fragile or just ont the type for some people." He grinned "It's ok really. I'm not comlaining at the moment. Seem like I just haven't found the right person or more probably haven't been found by said person."After all usually kin don't choose, they are chosen.
He drank some more "Also, maybe my work keep peopel at bay. I"m a detective. Many memebers of the Nation are doing dubious things related to mortal laws. Maybe some think I"ll actually try to arest them or I"ll be offended or something" He shrugh "Whatever it is, I guess eventually i'll change and I"ll be mated. Or I'll die doing my duties first. Whatever happens, happens right?"
[Gabriel Ferreira] Whatever, his hair is floppy.
[Adamidas] "He's going to break his faaaace and it's not my faaauuult-" she says as she's standing up and heading off to follow Alejandro. She's decidedly less graceful at this moment, but she's also loud and-
Oh, wait, being loud isn't a good thing.
[Gabriel Ferreira] "Don't run in the house."
He doesn't yell, but the Philodox's voice carries quite a bit further than one would suspect it to be capable of doing. It's the clapping of Alejandro's shoes that has him briefly turning his head to issue that matronly warning, and then Derek is answering him.
What he says has Gabriel watching him a bit longer than might be comfortable for the kinsman, or for anyone who happens to be looking over at them at the time. He's silent, mulling this over, blue eyes drifting from blue only when champagne flutes are lifted, and Derek continues on.
"Right," he confirms. His flute is becoming dangerously empty, and that AMF is starting to creep into his veins like a pernicious reminder that he isn't impervious to a few things: balefire, silver, and drinks mixed by Shadow Lords. At least he's not crying, yet. "You said you're a detective?" A pause for confirmation. "I can see that intimidating certain females."
[Matthieu] "My Great great great great great great great grandfather was Joseph Louis II known to the nation as Judgement's Hand a Half-Moon like yourself though he died an elder, something which I look forward to seeing you achieve. He was a staunch believer in the Garou nation and it's merits but he could also see it's flaws."He says back to her before turning his attention to the other two and greeting each with a polite bow."Well then I shall have to take a moment after we are through here and properly introduce myself to them all!"
"Judgement's Hand was not a warrior like his father he was a thinker, and a planner. He knew that we could not rule this nation by might of arms alone. He would be the first to tell you that our laws must be held sacred as the unifying force of our society and as a result there should be no one individual above those laws. Whether he be your king or your own mate justice must be blind to personal opinion."He continues.
"In this he helped to forge the strength of my own house and sought to open himself up as a judge, not just to Silver Fangs but to all tribes."He says with a nod of his head."As Europe head forcefully into the reformation he too helped to reform our own peoples ways and to make certain justice was blind to position and tribe. All garou must have faith in our laws or our society cannot function."He speaks of his ancestor with such pride, and why shouldn't he be? Each one has his own stories and tales to tell. So much to share."You may not be his descendant but he would be proud to know you share his moon, and I am sure one day when you too pass from this world he will be glad to welcome you as a friend."He says with the warmest little smile.
Inside the box she would find tiny white carvings, each individual piece was rather smooth, and shaped with enough imperfections to imply it was indeed crafted by an artisan who did not have the machinery of today on his side. Half the pieces were red, and the other pieces were white. Anyone familiar with the game of Chess would recognize these pieces as exactly that! Only very very very old pieces.
"He loved the game of Chess, it's current incarnation came into being within his lifetime and he liked to believe that while it was the Full Moon's place to rule the battlefield it was the Half Moon whose careful mind saw what the, often brash, full moon could not. In that sense he regularly challenged his peers in order to challenge their minds... In this way garou might become greater for stopping to utilize all their strengths."He adds in a softer tone."So in that sense I feel this would be best gifted to you. Might you continue to improve strength of mind, body, and spirit to honor your own ancestors as well as my own."He finally concludes.
"You will need to find your own board. The original board was destroyed almost three hundred years ago."He adds with a little laugh."His granddaughter was not so even tempered as he."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] [fuck, i misread sarita's post. i thought she passed the joint to sinclair, not lukas. lukas woulda passed it to sinclair! ohwell. *rolls with it* apparently he's just TOO DRUNK AND STONED.]
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Hey." Lukas pushes himself up on his elbows, alarmed. "Hey, hey."
It's somewhere between awkward and natural, the way he pulls Sinclair against him. He doesn't tell her not to cry. That seems at once pointless and insulting. He just -- hugs her. Sidehugs her, and lets her to cry it out. The joint is still smouldering in his hand. He's forgotten about it. It's possible he thinks he passed it to Sinclair already.
"No it doesn't," he disagrees when Sinclair concludes that alcohol makes people sad. And this sounds very wise to him right now: "It just makes you stop hiding the sad.
"You should, though." He's talking to Sarita now. "Talk to Kate, I mean. She has a sister, Gabriella, who was one of those nightmare kin siblings I talked about. It was ... hellish on all of us, but especially on her, to go through that. I think you're doing better with your sister, but you should still talk to her. She probably has insight I don't."
[Derek Anderson] He blinked when the man yelled at his younger brother then the man stared at him. And osmehow, Derek seemed almsot entirely comfortable during that time. After all, he's the one who enjoys the companie of a crazy Strider Ragabash and actually is fascinated by Sinclair and the predator feel about her. If he could, and it would never happen, he would sit and talk with the Glass Walker for hour despire the feeling, or play vdeo games or what not.
Maybe he wascrazy himself but he didn't mind danger or feeling fear or discomfort. Maybe that's why he was a cop or maybe being a cop helped him dealing with those feelings, then again, maybe he was starting to feel drunk and had those crazy thoughts and rationalization.
Either way, he didn't squirm or look away. He wasn't bold enough to look the man in the eyes, but if allowed, he probably would "Yes, I"m a detective"He confirm to the man before chuckling at his next comment
"Seriously, my job can't be intimidating ot a woman who can turn into a 10 feet killing machine and withstand bullets, blades and jsut about everthing else"
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] Her face falls when she hears Sinclair's voice start to go in that direction. It's not just the voice...sometimes, there's a feeling like something in the air. Like ozone before lightning strikes, the hair on the back of your neck. And most of the time, you're as powerless to stop it as you would be to stop a thunder storm.
And then the tears come. And much like Lukas, Sarita hugs Sinclair from the other side. She doesn't say anything. She just nods in agreement to Lukas and Sinclair's advice.
[Katherine Bellamonte] Gabriel's voice carries a warning and Katherine's eyes flick his way instantly as it issues such; there is caution enough in that. Her eyes on him; the pale blue conveying the silent reminder. My house, my rules. Yet she does not openly reprimand him, for it does not demand such, yet. He is a brother, cautioning another -- she cannot openly fault him for it.
She returns her interest to Matthieu, and carefully extracts a chess piece to admire its craftsmanship before setting it back inside with sincere regard. "Thank you, Matthieu, they are -- " a moment, she cannot find a suitable way to word it, settles, rather than finds.
"Quite lovely. I shall treasure them."
[Alejandro] Don't run in the house.
He doesn't look over his shoulder, but he does suddenly turn his frantic bounding into a very fast paced and awkward walk. He tries on the mask of innocence, like he had never been running in the first place. Adam catches up and then he's off again, up the stairs and he trips but that's okay, and he hurts his knee but that's also okay.
Up and onwards. It would be easy to think that if he scraped himself on the concrete he'd laugh, but if he fell over on the grass he would definitely cry.
What he emerges to is.. well it's: "This is awesome!" He says to Adam, "Look at all this stuff." There's couches and bean bags and gym equipment he's not really sure what to do with.
"Where do you think Apples to Apples would be?"
[Katherine Bellamonte] [Ack, italics fail!]
[Katherine Bellamonte] Gabriel's voice carries a warning and Katherine's eyes flick his way instantly as it issues such; there is caution enough in that. Her eyes on him; the pale blue conveying the silent reminder. My house, my rules. Yet she does not openly reprimand him, for it does not demand such, yet. He is a brother, cautioning another -- she cannot openly fault him for it.
She returns her interest to Matthieu, and carefully extracts a chess piece to admire its craftsmanship before setting it back inside with sincere regard. "Thank you, Matthieu, they are -- " a moment, she cannot find a suitable way to word it, settles, rather than finds.
"Quite lovely. I shall treasure them."
[Matthieu] He nods his head back to her."I did not feel it appropriate not to measure this milestone in your life without something worthy of that moment. I am sure Judgement's Hand will be honored to know they are safe in your care."He adds with a little nod of his head."But enough of that, I suppose I should run and mingle. Seems we've had quite an influx of newcomers and I should like to have to chance to meet each and every one."He continues in a soft and controlled voice. He was practiced so far as speech came. Though he could be wordy each word was spoken in a manner intended to invoke emotions or lead a conversation in one way or another.
He so loved to invoke the names of heroes, or dreams, or beauty and passion. He was a Galliard and his voice was intended to inspire the hopes and dreams of a tribe lay with him and the hopes and dreams of a nation lay with his tribe.
[Gabriel Ferreira] Katherine attempts to shoot a look of warning to the male nagging his younger brother, but for the brief amount of time that the Cliath's head is turned, he only spares her a few seconds of eye contact.
There is no challenge in it, but neither is there apology. Blood precludes property.
If Derek gets the impression that the Philodox isn't used to the amount of Rage he has to carry with him, or that he just doesn't care what sort of effect it has on the Kinfolk with whom he speaks, he wouldn't be that far off. It seems unwieldy but nothing he can't handle, like an extra weight slung across his shoulders. He isn't a broad man, yet Gabriel looks as though his strength is belied by his build. It's in the way he carries himself versus the muscle strapped to his bones.
"Not your job," he says. "What it takes to do your job. Garou don't know what to do with smart Kinfolk, man. They exist, but they're so uncommon they've almost been classified as myths by now."
He drains his glass.
"Plus, you don't seem like you take a lot of shit."
[Sinclair] The truth is, to some extent it makes her feel weak. Like when the moon wanes -- as it will again, soon -- and Lukas and Kate tend to flank her, subtly and thoughtlessly, as though they don't even realize they're doing it. But this is worse, because she's not actually weak, she's just drunk and she wants to tell Lukas he's wrong, that she doesn't give a fuck if she can't be around Kinfolk -- her own parents, even -- for more than a few minutes, she's over that, it's fine, she left that behind after the solstice because she just gave up
but the truth is also this: she's trying so hard not to give up, and now Asha's dead too and she's just getting so goddamned tired of being miserable.
It doesn't mean that when Lukas and Sarita both end up hauling her up off the floor of the van and hugging her, one to either side, that she doesn't just bawl that much more, suddenly renewed when a minute ago it looked like she was going to stop at the conclusion that alcohol can be blamed for just about anything.
Except her sadness, which is very real, and isn't going away, and will not be reburied. And it's not like she didn't warn Sarita. It's not like Lukas hasn't been there, unaware for the longest time of what she was dealing with or how profoundly it had affected her.
In any case. The long and short of it is that in a van that smells like weed, she cries her stupid heart out until she starts wiping at her face and at least tonight she wasn't wearing a ton of eye makeup so there's that, but she reaches over and takes the joint from Lukas and says,
"I don't even remember how to do this," she says.
[Derek Anderson] He finished his champagne and smiled "I odn't know how smart I am really. Doesn't seem like it some times" He shook his head "And maybe I don't take shit much either. I learned to stand ofr others and it made me able to stand for myself as well. I mean, I know my place and will be respectful, but I will talk back some if a true born lack respect toward me for no reasons
I has happened last week, will probably happen again. I"m not pretenting I"m on an even keel that you or any others. But I refuse to be treated like I'm totally inferior either. I jsut know what I can and can't do and think tht despite the fact I'm not a true warrior of Gaia, but I"m still a person and deserve to be treated as such
Might sound pretentious, but I know my own worth"
[Sarita Ecos de la Risa] Sinclair did warn Sarita. And that's probably why she saw it coming. She doesn't complain, doesn't do anything except comfort her. That's what Sinclair needs. Well, what she needs more specifically is to come back from the brink. But for now, Sarita is just here to comfort. So she does exactly that, silently and supportively.
She only pulls away when Sinclair is done, and even then only just.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] And Lukas laughs at that, gently. And gently, he takes that joint from Sinclair, holds it between thumb and forefinger, raising his eyebrows demonstratively.
"Like this," he says. There's an irony to this: the Shadow Lord in his fine threads, teaching the tattooed and pierced Glass Walker how to take a hit. But he does it anyway: fits the joint to his mouth, brow furrowing as he inhales
and passes it to her. A little choked, holding the smoke in, "See? Easy."
[Adamidas] "Hey," she says, once she gets a look at a window. They're at a party, sure, but Adam's a little tipsy. And the moon is so big... and bright... and pretty. And she just looks at it for the time being. She takes a few steps over and taps Alejandro with one of her arms. There's a smile on her face, and it's wonder whaen she looks at the moon.
Genuine wonder. Like she's seeing it for the first time. It's never been there before, so close. Like she could touch it if she tried.
"It's a clear enough night," she tells him, "the path will be bright enough, I think we can make it."
She looks back at Luna. He'll know what she means. She has faith.
[Gabriel Ferreira] Will wonders never cease: a Kinfolk speaks, at length, and the Garou doesn't cut him off, doesn't make faces or roll his eyes or seem as though he'd rather be balancing his checkbook or reading over his stock portfolio or whatever it is upper middle-class people do with their free time. Whether Derek is able to meet his gaze or not, Gabriel keeps watching him, right hand pocketed, left arm extended with the flute lazily dangling from his fingers.
"Yeah, well," he says, glancing at his flute to reveal that yes, indeed, it is still empty, "piece of advice: stop giving a fuck if people find you pretentious. You spin it right, you're confident. Confidence makes up for a lot, you know? You can be the dumbest mother fucker in the room but if you know what you're doing and act like it, people respect that."
He's cut off; no more goddamn champagne.
"Here," he says, and reaches for Derek's likewise empty glass. "You leaving?"
[Sinclair] She's no stranger to weed. But they're more like distant acquaintances, struggling to remember one another's name at a party. Oh right, you! Shit, man, how have you been? What you been up to?
Y'know, a little of this, a little of that.
She takes the hit, with a little bit of help to remember how to do this after a very, very long time. And she manages to get a nice long drag off of it, holds it longer than a virgin, finally exhales
and has a coughing fit. "Puddin' and pie," she responds, gravelly.
[Alejandro] He wanders over to the window beside Adam and he looks up at the moon that is just so close tonight. It's right there, they're both right here. He told her once that he has seen the moon from the other side, but there are so many sides he hasn't seen it from. He hasn't touched it and right now he just wants to crawl up inside it and just be.
She taps him on the arm, says those words.
"We can." He agrees, without doubt. "We shall." His hand takes hers, and --
-- woosh
They disappear.
[Derek Anderson] He nodded to the man and did meet his eyes. Nothing about Gabriel indicated that the Garou would take offense.
"I'll consider your words Gabriel. It's just that there's a thin line betwen confidence and insolence sometime. I seen Kin coss it and seen true born having difficulties to make the distinction in kin behavior. Still you're right. I'll act how I see fit, the way I wasraised and if someone take slight of it, they can tell me about it or go over my head and seek Katherine.
Or they can be nasty and I"ll deal with it as it should be" He shrugh "Either way, I'll know I wasn't wrong. Hopefully"
Her grin slightly and let Gabriel take the empty glas "I think it's time I should go. Seem like almsot everyone is gone anyway"He say looking around. Only Kahterine and the other guy were left beside Gabriel and him
"It was really nice meeting you Gabriel"
[Katherine Bellamonte] The Theurges vanish -- nobody is surprised.
The Unbroken members are found together outside, huddled within a van -- this is no shock.
Honor's Compass does not, as her deed-name would suggest, deviate from her duties as hostess until every last one of her guests and hired waiting staff are long since departed, and in the latter's sense, paid their due. She takes those precious gifts given to her inside her own bedroom and into her closet, pressing aside wall space to find her safe. They are put thus within, as important to the Half Moon as those things already within it.
Those those linger are welcome, food continues, as does drink until all are content.
Thomas aids Lucille and Katherine, in cleaning away dishes and glasses, the Adren gossiping with her maid as if she were still a child, and the elder woman her nearest notion of safety.
[Gabriel Ferreira] [Thanks for the scene, you maniacs!]
[Alejandro] [Thanks for the scene peeps!]
[Derek Anderson] (thank you all)
[Katherine Bellamonte] [thanks guys! :] ]
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] [i'm out too! lukas is just gonna ... like ... pass out or something.]
celebration.
9 years ago