altruism

[Leyna Stidolph] Leyna walked along, her mind nearly blank as she droned her way. She was cleaned up now, her dark brown curly hair washed and pulled back, her jeans cleaned and her coat unzipped with her hands inside her pockets. She barely looked like the vagrant from a few days prior, thanks to certain people be ever so kind.

She kept her eyes on the pavement, in reality Leyna was bored and had nothing to do... it bugged the shit out of her.

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] These days bordom was something sought after by the Garou of Chicago, it being that when one wasn't fighting or performing some sort of duty for the sept and caern? There was always something else that needed doing. For the priviledged class in this area, downtime was aplenty.

Such was why the Silver Fang could be found seated on a park bench in the path which Leyna was taking. It was very nearly the same spot where the two had ran into each other before, when he had faced down that Shadow Lord scum. It seemed (speak of the devil) that the only Shadow Lord Caleb had any respect for, indeed liked was his packmate Lukas.

[Leyna Stidolph] For some reason unbeknown to Leyna, she gave a glance upwards towards the bench, lo and behold there was Caleb. She stopped for a brief moment, feeling somewhat like an ass for getting growly, though not really she could be blamed for that part as she was completely new. However even letting it cross her mind that perhaps his intentions were not the best and that he could be something far worse than a Silver Fang, left a bad taste in her mouth. She might never have said it, but just thinking it made her uncomfortable.

She detoured her footing and made her way over to the bench and without a word sat next to Caleb. She would wait for him to acknowledge her presence before speaking.

[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] ...his packmate Lukas who is, in fact, parked on the same bench as Caleb. They're not talking much, but the silence is comfortable -- the Shadow Lord's arms draped along the back of the bench, his ankle crossed over his knee. His posture necessitates a greater distance between them, each at the opposite end of the bench, but like the silence, the distance is companionable.

They're packmates, and have been for the better part of a year, even if Caleb's umbral excursions made him a rare sight in Chicago. It didn't matter. They're bonded to the same totem. They sometimes literally share the same mind. Distance and silence made little enough difference in the end to them -- though perhaps an outsider like Leyna would naturally mistake them for strangers, and think nothing of taking the empty space between Wyrmbreaker and his packmate.

The Shadow Lord looks at Leyna when she does so, his pale eyes flicking over the woman before he turns away again. Chicago was full of wellbred kinswomen. Leyna would be recognizable anywhere as what she is: kin to the northern wolves.

Know her, do you?

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] Perhaps seated at opposite ends of the bench as Lukas and Caleb were, it would seem likely that she sat between them. Shadow Lord and Silver Fang, the upper echelons of power within the Western Concordiat. A glance to Leyna, and he gave her a small smile of acquaintance.

Yes, he said through the mental ethers of the totem link. I met her a few days ago, although she was quite rude and jumpy. It likely had to do with a tribemate of yours. I didn't learn his name... But this one, Leyna, was travel-stained and road weary.

"Good evening, Madamoiselle Leyna," he said quietly to her. The kingly man, in truth a Count, sat dressed differently than she'd remember. Business attire of a suit and overcoat, black with a pin in the design of the sigil of House Gleaming Eye fixed to the tie.

[Leyna Stidolph] Leyna's eyes flickered to Lukas, ah crap. She started mentally calculating all the Garou verses the Kinfolk, she was starting to feel like a minority. She took a deep breath and kept her attention forward, she hoped she didn't bust in on a meeting of some sorts, that would have been perfect! Yeah! Not.

She debated standing up or not, until Caleb spoke to her. She cleared her throat and looked over at him, trying to offer some sort of smile but it was hard for the bile in her stomach threatened to make an appearance. "Bonjour... Caleb." She remembered his name... only because of the conversation Joss and her had. Her thick German accent not only slaughtered the English language but it slaughtered the French. Rough and grating.

"If you were busy I am sorry." She motions her head slightly to Lukas. "I can speak with you some other time." She said as she stood up, it was completely rude of her to just take a seat.

[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "You're not interrupting," Lukas is the one that answers Leyna. "We're packmates," he adds, as though by way of explanation. "Sit. Please."

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] "Indeed. This is Lukas," he said by way of introductions. "Lukas, this is Leyna." While his counterpart already knew the name, for the woman's benefit it introduced the two out loud.

"It seems you've found accomodations and a chance to clean up since the last we met, my dear. How have you found our little city so far?" A smile, here. Ah yes, ever the charmer the Silver Fang was. Then again, a bit of polish usually went far rather than being a crude brute.

"Please, sit."

[Leyna Stidolph] She shakes her head, "I can't stay long." She said to the both of them with a reserved smile, trying so hard to be polite, it wan't her thing and it was obvious. She rocked on her heels slightly as she fidgeted with the items in her pocket nervously and highly uncomfortable.

Her eyes then focused on Caleb, just before she started glancing down at the ground.. "I umm.. just us.. wanted to apologize... for the umm.. other...uh day." She cleared her throat again, obviously being apologetic was not her forte. She pulled a hand out of her pocket and rubbed the back of her neck. "City's tend to make me a bit nervous..." She tried pulling off a grin, but Leyna was about as smooth as jagged rocks.

"So yeah.. umm.. thanks for trying to help me out." She gives him a thumbs up. "I hope to repay the kindness Caleb-rhya." That didn't sound to corny did it? Probably. Leyna queen of the cheesy. She looks over at Lukas, "It was nice meeting you Lukas-rhya." She offered him a nervous smile.

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] Caleb nodded a touch. "Myself as well," he said. "Lukas has been trying to convince me to move from Tekakwitha Woods to the city, but I keep maintaining my cabin out there." If by cabin he meant timberwood damn-near mansion.

"There is nothing to apologize for, Leyna," the cajun drawled on with a ready smile. "And you are welcome. And please, call me Caleb. I know you Northerners are sticklers for protocol, but around here? We can be a bit lax." This coming from a Silver Fang, albeit one that mingles with Shadow Lords and lesser tribes.

[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] The two men seated on the park bench are not much alike at all, though they call one another brothers. Caleb is leaner, more graceful; Lukas is wide-shouldered and powerfully built, as befits their respective auspices. Caleb has the sort of complexion that would turn golden with sun; Lukas is simply swarthy. Caleb's breeding, which Leyna cannot feel the way a werewolf can, but nonetheless is so rich as to be intuited even by the humans, speaks of glorious deeds and shining ancestries; Lukas's, darker, more forbidding, a thousand years of warfare and dominance.

Both, however, have direct, unflinching stares, and a certain gravity of presence. And the skies always seem a little darker over them.

"And just Lukáš for me," Lukas replies, which is not exactly how Caleb pronounces it. "No rhya. You're not Garou, are you? Kin to the Fenrir, yeah?"

[Leyna Stidolph] She liked the relaxing mannerisms of the Garou and Kin here, but without structure or some kind of protocol she felt a bit at a loss. Granted she hated using the term 'rhya', but it was tradition.

She wanted to just bale from the awkwardness that was her in social situations. Trying not to act formal around a Silver Fang was difficult. Even how they worded themselves it made it difficult, this was not the way things worked. She would try though. "Right." She squeezed her shoulders together.

"Yeah, Fenrir Kin." She confirmed Lukas' observation. "And before it can be asked, no I don't have any family here, I am not with anyone.. I am on my own." She suddenly gave a firm nod, as though she wanted to keep it that way. She turned her attention back onto Caleb for a moment, "I felt a need to apologize for my behavior, whether or not you saw a need to it, doesn't matter... It has been done and I will assume it has been accepted." She straighted out her shoulders a little bit more.

"I would like to continue the conversation but I have to go, I can assume we can finish this at a later date?" She asked him, whether or not it happened wasn't the point. She offered it. She looked at Lukas and offered him a nod, "I extend the same offer." Again, didn't matter. Likely chance was they would forget her name the moment she left their sights. (The roommie is hounding me.)

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] "I am not hard to find, Leyna," he said with a smile.

(Actually, I gotta get going too.)

"May we escourt you home?" he asked, glancing to Lukas.

This woman is alone in the city. That isn't good - a pity we have no Fenrir with us, but we can keep a look-out for now I suppose. Altruism at it's finest.

[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "Actually," Lukas says, standing, buttoning his coat, "I have to see the Child of Gaia, Lila, about some strange occurrences the other night. Caleb will be happy to walk you home, though."

On his feet now, the Shadow Lord towers several inches over six. He tucks his scarf into his coat and does up the last button.

"There are plenty of Fenrir in the city, though," he adds. "If you need to be put in touch with them, drop by the Brotherhood. Caleb can give you the address. Have a good evening, Leyna."

And as he's strolling off, the totemlink opens with a wave of amusement -- Very charitable of you, Caleb, but keep out of trouble, hm?

[Caleb Delacourt-Alden] You know me, my brother. Don't I always? Just a hint of cheek in that.