![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
renferretIn which Mouse is somehow completely sober.
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322 From: Salem At: Mon Feb 18 18:54:35 2013 (Conn)
Fldr : 0 Status: Unread
To : *Glass_Walkers
Cc : Nicodemus, Rina
Subject: The Bullfrog
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Email from Salem over the secure Walker-net. Subject: Andrei the Bullfrog
----
A heads-up:
Some of you may remember the shitstorm that went down with Andrei and Ky last year. Well, Andrei's back. In a sense.
He's Renounced to Bone Gnawer and is calling himself Jeremiah, or "Bullfrog". He says he's back by accident -- fell out of the Umbra or something like that -- and wants to stay. I've advised him to scram, but I doubt he will. I'll be talking to Elliot and Lefty, get their input.
And let's hope the stupid Russian isn't being chased by something big and nasty again, but just in case he is... best keep your eyes open, and get the word out.
-- S.
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Tenement Building - Cockroach's Breakroom(#3365RJ)
Here, a large studio apartment has been converted into a mutual meeting space for the tribe, one with its own kitchen and bathroom. The walls are a simple, plain white, and the floor is covered in stain-resistant beige carpet. The windows look out onto the somewhat less than scenic view of downtown St. Claire, but more often than not, white blinds prevent anyone from peeking in, or out.
Amenities are what might be expected--a well stocked refrigerator and cupboards, a microwave, a coffee maker, a toaster. There's a wooden table that seats four, five or six if people scrunch, and enough chairs to service it. There's also an old couch and armchair along the walls, angled to face a large, plasma screen television. Most of the entertainment goodies are here. An old NES system, an original Sega system, and an XBOX 360, each with assorted games. There's also a DVD/VCR combo player, and nearby a box of movies, most of them Ed Wood and Roger Corman specials. Ah, classics.
Along one wall is a row of tables and chairs, on which sit five desktop computers as well as the Walker's network server, a printer, and a scanner. (+view for more details)
Contents:
Kavi(#3249PJOc)
Memorial
Information Board: Skindiggers Cult
Obvious exits:
Out
Rina has arrived.
The room is full of the scents of Rina's cooking, and a kettle has been set to boil for tea. The galliard is currently on his back underneath the computer tables working wires through the cabling bundle.
Rina comes in, with her laptop. "How's it going, so far?" she asks.
Kavi scoots back a bit, until he can crane his neck to see her. "I think... I think I got it," he answers, and reaches back up to clip one last piece into place.
Rina smiles faintly, heading for the fridge to get herself a drink.
"The tea--" Kavi starts, and then pauses as he rolls out from beneath the table. "The tea should be ready, soon." He casts a glance over his shoulder, and then sets about replacing his tools.
Rina offers, "Want I should pour you some?"
Zipping the case closed, Kavi pushes up to his feet and sets it on the table. "If it's ready? I just want to see if this works."
"Sure," she answers, pouring two cups, adding sugar to her own.
The computer churrs to life, and the galliard taps at a few keys. The monitor flicks over to an image of the empty apartment on the first floor, construction clearly evident on the black and white image. Kavi gives a single nod, and turns to join Rina in the kitchen area. "It works. And. I think the camera won't be obvious."
"What'd you do?" she asks softly.
With a nod to indicate the monitor, Kavi reaches for his tea. "The. I don't know what to call it. The safe room? The apartment on the first floor that... that I've been working on? I put a camera in. It's... It's small. It won't stand up to... to anything. But I think I hid it well enough. I didn't connect it into the rest of the security feed. I don't want it to be... to be watched the same way."
Rina nods swiftly. "Cool. You think it's fine?"
"I. I think so," Kavi answers, and then pauses to take a sip from the tea. Setting the cup down, he reaches for her hand and nods again to the monitor. "Do you think it shows enough? I... I didn't want to make it obvious, but. I wanted a way to keep track, without someone going in."
"Show me?" she suggests.
Kavi keeps hold of Rina's hand, and starts back toward the computer. "You can see most of the livingroom and kitchen. But there's a lot that's..." One shoulder rises in a shrug.
"It's good, though... I mean, better than nothing, right?" Her voice is quiet. And if they don't *know* where it is..."
Kavi frowns, thoughtful, and his fingers tighten around hers. "I think so?" With his free hand, he taps at a few keys and the image disappears again. "I think... I don't think I'll tell anyone. Just Mouse. And. And if she decides to tell the others, but. If something happens... Like--" He breaks off, swallowing, and it takes a moment before he resumes. "Like with Devon. It's better, maybe, if they don't know."
Rina nods swiftly.
Kavi catches the corner of his lip between his teeth and lets it slide free. "I took out the stove. I don't know... I thought. Maybe a microwave would be okay. One that's built in? Someone could rip it out, still, but. But it wouldn't be as easy."
Rina looks thoughtful, then. "Yeah, makes sense..."
Kavi frowns, and he lifts her hand, thumb tracing across the backs of her fingers. "I want to make it feel... safe? Feel... okay. But not... But I want it to /be/ safe, too."
Salem has arrived.
Rina nods to him, tipping her chin up to study his face. "It's good," she says softly.
Kavi manages a small smile and nods. "Maybe... Maybe you can help me paint it, after I surface the walls? Make it... Make it feel right?" The oven timer beeps, and the galliard glances across to the kitchen area.
Rina smiles faintly. "Sure," she says softly. She heads for the kitchen in reflex.
Kavi follows after only a moment, but keeps back enough to stay out of her way. "Do you... Do you want your tea, or something else?"
"I'm good," she murmurs. "You wanted to have dinner down here?"
Salem enters the Breakroom from the hallway, not /currently/ smoking but stinking of the cheap-as-fuck cigarettes that is his habit lately. It's his moon, and his mood is, unsurprisingly, rather sour.
Rina looks toward the door, instantly; something crosses her expression, swift, worried.
Kavi pauses at the question and shakes his head. "I... I was going to bring it to Mouse, but..." Salem's arrival saves the galliard from having to explain further and he nods in greeting.
Only half a minute or so after Salem steps in, there are more footsteps in the hallway. Mouse's particular shuffling gait is hard to miss, even if it's a little faster than her current usual, and especially because she's not actually trying to be quiet. The Walker elder appears in the doorway, her hair just slightly more rebellious than usual, with a pronouncement. "/Circles/."
Salem lifts a hand in vague greeting to Rina and Kavi, then turns to raise an eyebrow at Mouse. "Circles?"
"Circles?" Kavi echoes, his own brows pulled downward, creasing his brow.
Rina just raises both eyebrows.
"Circles," Mouse repeats. She sounds...satisfied? Satisfied might be the best descriptor. While she moves into the room at least a little, she stays close enough to the entrance to use the doorway for balance. "It's all circles, all of it. And that's what you get when you're a Theurge, all those patterns in your head. You start seeing patterns in the patterns when you spend too long looking at them, thinking about them, living and breathing them." One eye squints at her tribemates. "...You decide the more socially acceptable course to take is to go talk to someone instead of writing on the walls. It's not like I can discuss the patterns of the universe with the local hacktivist boards."
Lefty has arrived.
"Oh-kay..." Rina says doubtfully, going to get some potholders to take the pan out of the oven. "Ziti?"
Salem moves over toward Mouse so she can lean on him rather than the architecture. "I... see."
Salem's tone makes it clear that he doesn't.
"There's tea," Kavi offers, nodding toward the pot on the counter and then looking to each of the other adren with raised brows.
Mouse does in fact shift her weight, such as it is, so that she's leaning on Salem. "No, I can show it to you." She fishes out a pen from an inner coat pocket, but fails to find actual paper near at hand. "It makes perfect sense, and I can make it make a little sense in that 'oh, gee, that's nice' sort've way." She looks with interest toward the mention--and smell--of the ziti. "You two've been there, right? To the Caern?"
Rina's brow furrows in confusion. "Not me," she murmurs, turning to get down plates.
Lefty gets buzzed in by the Walker on duty in the lobby. The Gnawer pauses to make small talk for a moment and then wanders deeper into the tenement. She peeks into the breakroom, looks around, and grins. "Hey." The Gnawer's nose lifts at the scent of the ziti.
Kavi looks from one to the next, his gaze shifting back to the doorway again as Lefty appears, and pulls down enough cups to pour tea for each. "There's paper," he says, nodding toward the printer table.
"Went there for the realm-side Cleansing," Salem says, steering Mouse toward the table. He glances over at the Gnawer and nods to her.
Mouse snaps her fingers around the pen, and lets go of Salem to begin limping--as fast as she can, which isn't--in the direction of the printer. "Right. Good. Hi, Lefty. Okay, but Kavi and Salem, you've seen the Caern's new face? Let's just--" She snatches up the first few sheets of paper, roughly, and drags them in that same shuffling, limping, extremely awkward and painful looking gait back to the table, where she lowers herself into a chair not at all carefully (though she does make use of Salem again, for balance). There are a few winces throughout this, small and half forgotten. "Okay, at the Elder's Moot, I said that the Wheel was gone. This is true and /misleading/. Instead we've got Three. Wyld, Weaver, uncorrupted, primordial Wyrm."
Rina turns, frowning as she listens. Then she starts dishing out the ziti, adding an extra plate for Lefty.
Lefty focuses on the tea, thanking Kavi with an even wider grin. "Thanks, I could use the warm-up." The tea gets sipped as she watches Mouse. "Hey," she answers in a return of the Walker's greeting. Her curiosity leads her to shadow Mouse and watch whatever she's writing or drawing.
Kavi brings tea to the table for the others, as well, and then returns to help with the plates.
Salem pulls out a chair next to Mouse and slouches into it. He utters an interested, if distracted 'hm' noise as he gets out his cigarettes and lighter.
Mouse is no artist. She sketches out a quick, rough few lines that are recognizable as a tree, and nothing but. Then a blocky formation, and then a spiral. "Tree - Wyld, rocky outcropping here - Weaver, strange spiral pattern over here - primordial Wyrm." She draws a quick and careless triangle between them. "So, I said the Wheel's gone. Well, it is. There's no seasons, no specific way you have to walk, all that's a jumbled mess or buried. But there's still a circle. Wyld to Weaver to Wyrm to Wyld. It's not /the/ Wheel, but it's still /a/ wheel." She begins scratching something else out below the rough tree drawing, and this is more practiced; it's clearly the glyph for Wyld. "Here's where I started to see it. They're all circles. Here's the Wyld. A circle without direction, or a circle with all directions. No set course, so every course, right?"
Rina starts bringing over plates, looking decidedly thoughtful.
Lefty doesn't get a chair. Instead she stands behind Mouse and watches over her shoulder. The gist of the conversation starts to sink in as she sees the crude drawing of the caern. For the moment, the resists the call of the ziti so she can continue to watch and listen.
Kavi brings a plate to Lefty and then returns to stand near Rina, one hand reaching for hers. He watches, quiet, a furrow at his brow as he listens to Mouse's words.
Salem lights up and leans forward, elbows on the table to get a better look at Mouse's scribblings. "Mmhm..."
"The Weaver." Mouse scratches out a quick sketch of the Weaver glyph below the 'dais' representation. "That's a circle that's been forced into a different design, stasis, only one course forever, this way, that way, only meeting once. Perpendicular and parallel lines." She returns to the spiral and draws a second one below it. "A spiral is a /broken/ circle. Instead of meeting itself, it goes inward and inward until it's nothing. The Wyrm. They're all circles, but they're all wrong on their own, hence, the Triat balance. Wyld needs direction, Weaver needs possibilities and endings, Wyrm needs new beginnings."
Lefty finally gives in to the call of the Walker kin's cooking. she diverts enough to pull up a chair and sit so she can eat. Even so, half of her attention remains on Mouse. The other half happily begins devouring the food.
Rina just delivers food, and tries not to look like she's listening to things that make no sense; the result is this kind of bemused expression.
Salem takes a drag and exhales foul smoke as he listens to Mouse talk. "That... that's something." He cocks his head, favoring his good eye and squinting as he studies the Theurge's marks.
Mouse pulls her helping of ziti nearer, but she seems far too preoccupied to think of actually eating it. "We have reached 'oh gee, that's nice' territory." She doesn't sound annoyed, or even smarmy. She sounds pretty satisfied, pleased even. "But see, every major ritual I know is a circle. Caern building, that's the most intricate circle pattern I've ever known. Gaia is a circle. The seasons are a circle. Life and death a circle. The solar system, galaxy, hell, they're hotly debating whether or not the universe actually rotates. Protons and neutrons. But that's all esoteric. Coming back to the Caern, our /Caern/ is a circle. Destroyed, reborn, destroyed, reborn. When you put a wheel on the road, every edge will eventually touch the ground, but it'll never be the same part of the wheel and the same part of the ground together more than once on the same journey. No season is exactly the same as the last one. That's us. That's our Caern. We cycle, but the cycle evolves. It's always a little different the next time around."
Lefty is polite enough to finish swallowing before speaking. "That's very philosophical. But what's it /mean/? I mean, you know, beyond the obvious Lion King symbolism."
Salem snorts a brief chuckle at Lefty's remark, though most of his attention's on Mouse; the lean, scarred face is full of admiration. "You brilliant, skinny little bitch," he says. He cuts a glance sidelong to Rina -- he's not ignoring her.
Rina chews on her lower lip, and finally sits down with her own plate. "It means the Caern can be rebuilt around the trait, right?" she asks, before her first bite.
Mouse's mouth quirks up just a little at Salem's words, but it's Rina she answers directly, "It means what meaning we find in it. But it means that, yeah. Something clicked, I think, I /get/ it, how this ritual pertains to our Caern in particular. See, that's the fun thing about Theurges and spirits, stuff is meaningful because we believe it enough. But this Caern's like a Phoenix, always burning out and remaking itself. And so, the Sept's like that too."
Lefty doesn't seem to understand--at least not completely. Her gaze darts around the room, looking into the faces of the other people, hoping to glean some further enlightenment. Eventually, she turns back to the Ziti and takes another bites. That, i itself, is enlightenment enough for the Gnawer, apparently. At least for the moment. Mouse's words bring a grin, finally, and although the Gnawer doesn't have two hands, she uses the one she has to clap against her thigh, quoting Peter Pan, "I do believe! I do believe!"
Salem barks a laugh -- the first any of them have heard from the old soldier in quite a long damn time. It settles into a low chortle as he takes another drag of his cigarette.
Mouse looks wry at Lefty's antics, but it's Salem's laugh that startles her, causes her to look up at the older Walker and flash a brief, contented grin. "Well, I did warn you guys. It's one of those nights. My brain just keeps going."
"Yeah, apparently," Rina says dryly. "Eat your fuckin' ziti before it gets cold, though."
The laugh elicits a similar reaction from the Gnawer. She sorts out a laugh to compliment Salem's. She doesn't need Rina to remind her to eat, though, and her plate is polished off in no time. Sitting back in her chair, Lefty seems as satisfied as Mouse.
Salem, still smiling faintly, leans back against his chair.
Mouse salutes Rina with her pen, before setting it down in favor of a fork. She eats; not aggressively, but enjoyably.
Lefty mulls over what's been said, while her meal digests. With a faint smirk, she mutters, "The Sept of Never Never Land?"
"Would that mean one of our totems would be a crocodile with a ticking clock in him?" Salem asks, dryly.
"I'm fond've Caern of the Phoenix," Mouse replies, not quite through her ziti mouthful. Swallow. "Kind've pretentious though."
"I'll just be ... over here," Rina says dryly.
Lefty's eyes widen on Salem. "And Tinkerbell too!" Mouse's suggestion seems lost in the excitement of potential totems."
Salem grins crookedly, both at Lefty's suggestion and Rina's remark. "...Fuck if I know. I've never been good with names."
Mouse forks another mouthful of ziti into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Rina takes her plate to the kitchen, then, smiling to herself a bit.
Lefty leaves her plate on the table, at least for the moment. She studies the walkers in the room while she has the chance, seemingly pleased with what she sees. But, the faint smile she has is replaced by something more somber, and she takes a deep, steadying breath. "So, uh. There's a new gnawer in town. Right?"
Aaaand just like that, Salem's good mood curdles. "That fucking Russian /idiot/, Jesus Christ."
Mouse's mood seems unflappable, for the moment, and she continues eating between words. "Yeah, I read the message. My condolences?"
Rina glances over her shoulder, busy in the kitchen. She slips out after a while, though, letting them talk.
Lefty's expression turns rueful at Salem's reaction, and she offers Mouse little more than a faint nod and wrinkled nose. "Yeah. I told him he had to talk to Elliot. And whatever he says, well, we'll go from there."
Salem glances over toward Rina as she leaves, then turns back to Lefty. "I gave him my best advice, which is to leave town and not look back. But, he wants to stay. He wants a fucking /Judgement/." The halfmoon takes another drag, finishing his cigarette, then crushes it out. "I told him I'd talk to you first," he tells Lefty. "You and Elliot."
Mouse's eyebrows both arch at that. "I figured that whole part where he got kicked out on his ass constituted a judgment of sorts."
Lefty's brows lift with mild surprise and perhaps admiration. "Well, if it were me, I'd take the advice. It's /good/ advice. But...the fact is, when I /was/ in his shoes, and I /tried/ to leave town, Jacob stopped me. And it's a good thing, too. Cuz this place has been the best for me. So, I dunno." She offers a faint shrug on top of that, and shakes her head. "Maybe it's for the best? Judge him, have done with it, and move on?"
Salem folds his arms across his chest and grimaces. "...Yes. Fuck me, yes. I'm the fucking /king/ of second chances. Second, third, fourth, fifth..." He rubs a hand over buzzed white hair and sighs. "And if you're willing to have him around... that's step one. Elliot's the other."
Lefty suddenly straightens up, her expression moving quickly through several different emotions. She swallows dryly. "Honestly, I don't know. I'm not a prick, but..." she trails off and doesn't spell out her own flaws. Apparently she figures those in the room know them all too well already. "I don't want to kick the guy or anything. But I'm not sure I want him under my roof, either."
Mouse presses an index finger against the bridge of her nose. "And Jacinta. But I'll...admit, that one more body, even one with very little brain, and probably less Gnosis, does put a small tick in our favor."
Salem grimaces. "He's got the brains of a slug and the perceptiveness of a puddle of water." He looks at Mouse. "And you know how seriously Jacinta takes her duty as Warder. Do you think she'll even let him /near/ the Bawn? I'm guessing he'll be lucky to get 'tolerated Anruth' status. Able to stay in the city but not a foot on the Bawn, that kind of thing."
Lefty, for her part, seems happy enough with that idea. She slouches a little in her chair, remaining attentive but quiet.
"Not a chance," Mouse replies. "But I have to say it anyway. And I'll say this, I dooo not want him at the Tenement. I don't think anyone tipped him off to it last time, so keeping with that would be great."
Salem nods. "I'm also thinking of calling up a friend of mine who knows Voice of the Jackal." He taps out another cigarette and sticks it in his mouth.
Lefty noticeably winces at that, but she doesn't voice any verbal objection. All she asks is, "Have you contacted Elliot yet?"
Mouse asks, curiously, "Which friend?"
"Speaks-Through-Pager," Salem says, lighting up. "From Hundred Stars." He shakes his head at Lefty. "I only just met with Bullfrog today."
Lefty offers a nod to Salem's response and then Quiet's again.
"Ah." Mouse taps her fork lightly against her plate. "She's the one who came up here a few years back, wasn't she? With Stolen Wolf?"
Salem nods. "I keep... sort of refusing to learn Punishment rites," he says dryly. "But, if she's busy, we can figure something else out." He takes a drag and gets up. "Voice of the Jackal until and unless he proves himself... or leaves town. /If/ he's allowed to stay at all, of course."
Lefty gets to her feet. After a small, awkward couple of half steps, she turns back and grabs her plate and tea cup in order to bring them to the sink. Once her dishes are dealt with, she lets her breath out in a small sigh. "I should probably head out. God a couple of things I gotta do before heading home. But, uh, you'll call me, right? I'll come meet you and elliot anytime. Just let me know."
Mouse takes another bite of the ziti before pushing her own, only half finished plate slightly away. She doesn't say anything just yet.
Salem nods to Lefty. "For better or worse, he's a Gnawer, so." He shrugs and gives the Ragabash a mildly sympathetic look.
Lefty meets it with a pained one of her own. she grunts, nods, and shuffles towards the door. As she passes Mouse, she puts her good hand on the Walker elder's own. It's a brief touch, nothing more than a passing contact, but its enough to express the gnawer's admiration and affection. And then she's gone. From out in the hall, her voice echoes back, "Later Biatches."
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322 From: Salem At: Mon Feb 18 18:54:35 2013 (Conn)
Fldr : 0 Status: Unread
To : *Glass_Walkers
Cc : Nicodemus, Rina
Subject: The Bullfrog
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Email from Salem over the secure Walker-net. Subject: Andrei the Bullfrog
----
A heads-up:
Some of you may remember the shitstorm that went down with Andrei and Ky last year. Well, Andrei's back. In a sense.
He's Renounced to Bone Gnawer and is calling himself Jeremiah, or "Bullfrog". He says he's back by accident -- fell out of the Umbra or something like that -- and wants to stay. I've advised him to scram, but I doubt he will. I'll be talking to Elliot and Lefty, get their input.
And let's hope the stupid Russian isn't being chased by something big and nasty again, but just in case he is... best keep your eyes open, and get the word out.
-- S.
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Tenement Building - Cockroach's Breakroom(#3365RJ)
Here, a large studio apartment has been converted into a mutual meeting space for the tribe, one with its own kitchen and bathroom. The walls are a simple, plain white, and the floor is covered in stain-resistant beige carpet. The windows look out onto the somewhat less than scenic view of downtown St. Claire, but more often than not, white blinds prevent anyone from peeking in, or out.
Amenities are what might be expected--a well stocked refrigerator and cupboards, a microwave, a coffee maker, a toaster. There's a wooden table that seats four, five or six if people scrunch, and enough chairs to service it. There's also an old couch and armchair along the walls, angled to face a large, plasma screen television. Most of the entertainment goodies are here. An old NES system, an original Sega system, and an XBOX 360, each with assorted games. There's also a DVD/VCR combo player, and nearby a box of movies, most of them Ed Wood and Roger Corman specials. Ah, classics.
Along one wall is a row of tables and chairs, on which sit five desktop computers as well as the Walker's network server, a printer, and a scanner. (+view for more details)
Contents:
Kavi(#3249PJOc)
Memorial
Information Board: Skindiggers Cult
Obvious exits:
Out
Rina has arrived.
The room is full of the scents of Rina's cooking, and a kettle has been set to boil for tea. The galliard is currently on his back underneath the computer tables working wires through the cabling bundle.
Rina comes in, with her laptop. "How's it going, so far?" she asks.
Kavi scoots back a bit, until he can crane his neck to see her. "I think... I think I got it," he answers, and reaches back up to clip one last piece into place.
Rina smiles faintly, heading for the fridge to get herself a drink.
"The tea--" Kavi starts, and then pauses as he rolls out from beneath the table. "The tea should be ready, soon." He casts a glance over his shoulder, and then sets about replacing his tools.
Rina offers, "Want I should pour you some?"
Zipping the case closed, Kavi pushes up to his feet and sets it on the table. "If it's ready? I just want to see if this works."
"Sure," she answers, pouring two cups, adding sugar to her own.
The computer churrs to life, and the galliard taps at a few keys. The monitor flicks over to an image of the empty apartment on the first floor, construction clearly evident on the black and white image. Kavi gives a single nod, and turns to join Rina in the kitchen area. "It works. And. I think the camera won't be obvious."
"What'd you do?" she asks softly.
With a nod to indicate the monitor, Kavi reaches for his tea. "The. I don't know what to call it. The safe room? The apartment on the first floor that... that I've been working on? I put a camera in. It's... It's small. It won't stand up to... to anything. But I think I hid it well enough. I didn't connect it into the rest of the security feed. I don't want it to be... to be watched the same way."
Rina nods swiftly. "Cool. You think it's fine?"
"I. I think so," Kavi answers, and then pauses to take a sip from the tea. Setting the cup down, he reaches for her hand and nods again to the monitor. "Do you think it shows enough? I... I didn't want to make it obvious, but. I wanted a way to keep track, without someone going in."
"Show me?" she suggests.
Kavi keeps hold of Rina's hand, and starts back toward the computer. "You can see most of the livingroom and kitchen. But there's a lot that's..." One shoulder rises in a shrug.
"It's good, though... I mean, better than nothing, right?" Her voice is quiet. And if they don't *know* where it is..."
Kavi frowns, thoughtful, and his fingers tighten around hers. "I think so?" With his free hand, he taps at a few keys and the image disappears again. "I think... I don't think I'll tell anyone. Just Mouse. And. And if she decides to tell the others, but. If something happens... Like--" He breaks off, swallowing, and it takes a moment before he resumes. "Like with Devon. It's better, maybe, if they don't know."
Rina nods swiftly.
Kavi catches the corner of his lip between his teeth and lets it slide free. "I took out the stove. I don't know... I thought. Maybe a microwave would be okay. One that's built in? Someone could rip it out, still, but. But it wouldn't be as easy."
Rina looks thoughtful, then. "Yeah, makes sense..."
Kavi frowns, and he lifts her hand, thumb tracing across the backs of her fingers. "I want to make it feel... safe? Feel... okay. But not... But I want it to /be/ safe, too."
Salem has arrived.
Rina nods to him, tipping her chin up to study his face. "It's good," she says softly.
Kavi manages a small smile and nods. "Maybe... Maybe you can help me paint it, after I surface the walls? Make it... Make it feel right?" The oven timer beeps, and the galliard glances across to the kitchen area.
Rina smiles faintly. "Sure," she says softly. She heads for the kitchen in reflex.
Kavi follows after only a moment, but keeps back enough to stay out of her way. "Do you... Do you want your tea, or something else?"
"I'm good," she murmurs. "You wanted to have dinner down here?"
Salem enters the Breakroom from the hallway, not /currently/ smoking but stinking of the cheap-as-fuck cigarettes that is his habit lately. It's his moon, and his mood is, unsurprisingly, rather sour.
Rina looks toward the door, instantly; something crosses her expression, swift, worried.
Kavi pauses at the question and shakes his head. "I... I was going to bring it to Mouse, but..." Salem's arrival saves the galliard from having to explain further and he nods in greeting.
Only half a minute or so after Salem steps in, there are more footsteps in the hallway. Mouse's particular shuffling gait is hard to miss, even if it's a little faster than her current usual, and especially because she's not actually trying to be quiet. The Walker elder appears in the doorway, her hair just slightly more rebellious than usual, with a pronouncement. "/Circles/."
Salem lifts a hand in vague greeting to Rina and Kavi, then turns to raise an eyebrow at Mouse. "Circles?"
"Circles?" Kavi echoes, his own brows pulled downward, creasing his brow.
Rina just raises both eyebrows.
"Circles," Mouse repeats. She sounds...satisfied? Satisfied might be the best descriptor. While she moves into the room at least a little, she stays close enough to the entrance to use the doorway for balance. "It's all circles, all of it. And that's what you get when you're a Theurge, all those patterns in your head. You start seeing patterns in the patterns when you spend too long looking at them, thinking about them, living and breathing them." One eye squints at her tribemates. "...You decide the more socially acceptable course to take is to go talk to someone instead of writing on the walls. It's not like I can discuss the patterns of the universe with the local hacktivist boards."
Lefty has arrived.
"Oh-kay..." Rina says doubtfully, going to get some potholders to take the pan out of the oven. "Ziti?"
Salem moves over toward Mouse so she can lean on him rather than the architecture. "I... see."
Salem's tone makes it clear that he doesn't.
"There's tea," Kavi offers, nodding toward the pot on the counter and then looking to each of the other adren with raised brows.
Mouse does in fact shift her weight, such as it is, so that she's leaning on Salem. "No, I can show it to you." She fishes out a pen from an inner coat pocket, but fails to find actual paper near at hand. "It makes perfect sense, and I can make it make a little sense in that 'oh, gee, that's nice' sort've way." She looks with interest toward the mention--and smell--of the ziti. "You two've been there, right? To the Caern?"
Rina's brow furrows in confusion. "Not me," she murmurs, turning to get down plates.
Lefty gets buzzed in by the Walker on duty in the lobby. The Gnawer pauses to make small talk for a moment and then wanders deeper into the tenement. She peeks into the breakroom, looks around, and grins. "Hey." The Gnawer's nose lifts at the scent of the ziti.
Kavi looks from one to the next, his gaze shifting back to the doorway again as Lefty appears, and pulls down enough cups to pour tea for each. "There's paper," he says, nodding toward the printer table.
"Went there for the realm-side Cleansing," Salem says, steering Mouse toward the table. He glances over at the Gnawer and nods to her.
Mouse snaps her fingers around the pen, and lets go of Salem to begin limping--as fast as she can, which isn't--in the direction of the printer. "Right. Good. Hi, Lefty. Okay, but Kavi and Salem, you've seen the Caern's new face? Let's just--" She snatches up the first few sheets of paper, roughly, and drags them in that same shuffling, limping, extremely awkward and painful looking gait back to the table, where she lowers herself into a chair not at all carefully (though she does make use of Salem again, for balance). There are a few winces throughout this, small and half forgotten. "Okay, at the Elder's Moot, I said that the Wheel was gone. This is true and /misleading/. Instead we've got Three. Wyld, Weaver, uncorrupted, primordial Wyrm."
Rina turns, frowning as she listens. Then she starts dishing out the ziti, adding an extra plate for Lefty.
Lefty focuses on the tea, thanking Kavi with an even wider grin. "Thanks, I could use the warm-up." The tea gets sipped as she watches Mouse. "Hey," she answers in a return of the Walker's greeting. Her curiosity leads her to shadow Mouse and watch whatever she's writing or drawing.
Kavi brings tea to the table for the others, as well, and then returns to help with the plates.
Salem pulls out a chair next to Mouse and slouches into it. He utters an interested, if distracted 'hm' noise as he gets out his cigarettes and lighter.
Mouse is no artist. She sketches out a quick, rough few lines that are recognizable as a tree, and nothing but. Then a blocky formation, and then a spiral. "Tree - Wyld, rocky outcropping here - Weaver, strange spiral pattern over here - primordial Wyrm." She draws a quick and careless triangle between them. "So, I said the Wheel's gone. Well, it is. There's no seasons, no specific way you have to walk, all that's a jumbled mess or buried. But there's still a circle. Wyld to Weaver to Wyrm to Wyld. It's not /the/ Wheel, but it's still /a/ wheel." She begins scratching something else out below the rough tree drawing, and this is more practiced; it's clearly the glyph for Wyld. "Here's where I started to see it. They're all circles. Here's the Wyld. A circle without direction, or a circle with all directions. No set course, so every course, right?"
Rina starts bringing over plates, looking decidedly thoughtful.
Lefty doesn't get a chair. Instead she stands behind Mouse and watches over her shoulder. The gist of the conversation starts to sink in as she sees the crude drawing of the caern. For the moment, the resists the call of the ziti so she can continue to watch and listen.
Kavi brings a plate to Lefty and then returns to stand near Rina, one hand reaching for hers. He watches, quiet, a furrow at his brow as he listens to Mouse's words.
Salem lights up and leans forward, elbows on the table to get a better look at Mouse's scribblings. "Mmhm..."
"The Weaver." Mouse scratches out a quick sketch of the Weaver glyph below the 'dais' representation. "That's a circle that's been forced into a different design, stasis, only one course forever, this way, that way, only meeting once. Perpendicular and parallel lines." She returns to the spiral and draws a second one below it. "A spiral is a /broken/ circle. Instead of meeting itself, it goes inward and inward until it's nothing. The Wyrm. They're all circles, but they're all wrong on their own, hence, the Triat balance. Wyld needs direction, Weaver needs possibilities and endings, Wyrm needs new beginnings."
Lefty finally gives in to the call of the Walker kin's cooking. she diverts enough to pull up a chair and sit so she can eat. Even so, half of her attention remains on Mouse. The other half happily begins devouring the food.
Rina just delivers food, and tries not to look like she's listening to things that make no sense; the result is this kind of bemused expression.
Salem takes a drag and exhales foul smoke as he listens to Mouse talk. "That... that's something." He cocks his head, favoring his good eye and squinting as he studies the Theurge's marks.
Mouse pulls her helping of ziti nearer, but she seems far too preoccupied to think of actually eating it. "We have reached 'oh gee, that's nice' territory." She doesn't sound annoyed, or even smarmy. She sounds pretty satisfied, pleased even. "But see, every major ritual I know is a circle. Caern building, that's the most intricate circle pattern I've ever known. Gaia is a circle. The seasons are a circle. Life and death a circle. The solar system, galaxy, hell, they're hotly debating whether or not the universe actually rotates. Protons and neutrons. But that's all esoteric. Coming back to the Caern, our /Caern/ is a circle. Destroyed, reborn, destroyed, reborn. When you put a wheel on the road, every edge will eventually touch the ground, but it'll never be the same part of the wheel and the same part of the ground together more than once on the same journey. No season is exactly the same as the last one. That's us. That's our Caern. We cycle, but the cycle evolves. It's always a little different the next time around."
Lefty is polite enough to finish swallowing before speaking. "That's very philosophical. But what's it /mean/? I mean, you know, beyond the obvious Lion King symbolism."
Salem snorts a brief chuckle at Lefty's remark, though most of his attention's on Mouse; the lean, scarred face is full of admiration. "You brilliant, skinny little bitch," he says. He cuts a glance sidelong to Rina -- he's not ignoring her.
Rina chews on her lower lip, and finally sits down with her own plate. "It means the Caern can be rebuilt around the trait, right?" she asks, before her first bite.
Mouse's mouth quirks up just a little at Salem's words, but it's Rina she answers directly, "It means what meaning we find in it. But it means that, yeah. Something clicked, I think, I /get/ it, how this ritual pertains to our Caern in particular. See, that's the fun thing about Theurges and spirits, stuff is meaningful because we believe it enough. But this Caern's like a Phoenix, always burning out and remaking itself. And so, the Sept's like that too."
Lefty doesn't seem to understand--at least not completely. Her gaze darts around the room, looking into the faces of the other people, hoping to glean some further enlightenment. Eventually, she turns back to the Ziti and takes another bites. That, i itself, is enlightenment enough for the Gnawer, apparently. At least for the moment. Mouse's words bring a grin, finally, and although the Gnawer doesn't have two hands, she uses the one she has to clap against her thigh, quoting Peter Pan, "I do believe! I do believe!"
Salem barks a laugh -- the first any of them have heard from the old soldier in quite a long damn time. It settles into a low chortle as he takes another drag of his cigarette.
Mouse looks wry at Lefty's antics, but it's Salem's laugh that startles her, causes her to look up at the older Walker and flash a brief, contented grin. "Well, I did warn you guys. It's one of those nights. My brain just keeps going."
"Yeah, apparently," Rina says dryly. "Eat your fuckin' ziti before it gets cold, though."
The laugh elicits a similar reaction from the Gnawer. She sorts out a laugh to compliment Salem's. She doesn't need Rina to remind her to eat, though, and her plate is polished off in no time. Sitting back in her chair, Lefty seems as satisfied as Mouse.
Salem, still smiling faintly, leans back against his chair.
Mouse salutes Rina with her pen, before setting it down in favor of a fork. She eats; not aggressively, but enjoyably.
Lefty mulls over what's been said, while her meal digests. With a faint smirk, she mutters, "The Sept of Never Never Land?"
"Would that mean one of our totems would be a crocodile with a ticking clock in him?" Salem asks, dryly.
"I'm fond've Caern of the Phoenix," Mouse replies, not quite through her ziti mouthful. Swallow. "Kind've pretentious though."
"I'll just be ... over here," Rina says dryly.
Lefty's eyes widen on Salem. "And Tinkerbell too!" Mouse's suggestion seems lost in the excitement of potential totems."
Salem grins crookedly, both at Lefty's suggestion and Rina's remark. "...Fuck if I know. I've never been good with names."
Mouse forks another mouthful of ziti into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Rina takes her plate to the kitchen, then, smiling to herself a bit.
Lefty leaves her plate on the table, at least for the moment. She studies the walkers in the room while she has the chance, seemingly pleased with what she sees. But, the faint smile she has is replaced by something more somber, and she takes a deep, steadying breath. "So, uh. There's a new gnawer in town. Right?"
Aaaand just like that, Salem's good mood curdles. "That fucking Russian /idiot/, Jesus Christ."
Mouse's mood seems unflappable, for the moment, and she continues eating between words. "Yeah, I read the message. My condolences?"
Rina glances over her shoulder, busy in the kitchen. She slips out after a while, though, letting them talk.
Lefty's expression turns rueful at Salem's reaction, and she offers Mouse little more than a faint nod and wrinkled nose. "Yeah. I told him he had to talk to Elliot. And whatever he says, well, we'll go from there."
Salem glances over toward Rina as she leaves, then turns back to Lefty. "I gave him my best advice, which is to leave town and not look back. But, he wants to stay. He wants a fucking /Judgement/." The halfmoon takes another drag, finishing his cigarette, then crushes it out. "I told him I'd talk to you first," he tells Lefty. "You and Elliot."
Mouse's eyebrows both arch at that. "I figured that whole part where he got kicked out on his ass constituted a judgment of sorts."
Lefty's brows lift with mild surprise and perhaps admiration. "Well, if it were me, I'd take the advice. It's /good/ advice. But...the fact is, when I /was/ in his shoes, and I /tried/ to leave town, Jacob stopped me. And it's a good thing, too. Cuz this place has been the best for me. So, I dunno." She offers a faint shrug on top of that, and shakes her head. "Maybe it's for the best? Judge him, have done with it, and move on?"
Salem folds his arms across his chest and grimaces. "...Yes. Fuck me, yes. I'm the fucking /king/ of second chances. Second, third, fourth, fifth..." He rubs a hand over buzzed white hair and sighs. "And if you're willing to have him around... that's step one. Elliot's the other."
Lefty suddenly straightens up, her expression moving quickly through several different emotions. She swallows dryly. "Honestly, I don't know. I'm not a prick, but..." she trails off and doesn't spell out her own flaws. Apparently she figures those in the room know them all too well already. "I don't want to kick the guy or anything. But I'm not sure I want him under my roof, either."
Mouse presses an index finger against the bridge of her nose. "And Jacinta. But I'll...admit, that one more body, even one with very little brain, and probably less Gnosis, does put a small tick in our favor."
Salem grimaces. "He's got the brains of a slug and the perceptiveness of a puddle of water." He looks at Mouse. "And you know how seriously Jacinta takes her duty as Warder. Do you think she'll even let him /near/ the Bawn? I'm guessing he'll be lucky to get 'tolerated Anruth' status. Able to stay in the city but not a foot on the Bawn, that kind of thing."
Lefty, for her part, seems happy enough with that idea. She slouches a little in her chair, remaining attentive but quiet.
"Not a chance," Mouse replies. "But I have to say it anyway. And I'll say this, I dooo not want him at the Tenement. I don't think anyone tipped him off to it last time, so keeping with that would be great."
Salem nods. "I'm also thinking of calling up a friend of mine who knows Voice of the Jackal." He taps out another cigarette and sticks it in his mouth.
Lefty noticeably winces at that, but she doesn't voice any verbal objection. All she asks is, "Have you contacted Elliot yet?"
Mouse asks, curiously, "Which friend?"
"Speaks-Through-Pager," Salem says, lighting up. "From Hundred Stars." He shakes his head at Lefty. "I only just met with Bullfrog today."
Lefty offers a nod to Salem's response and then Quiet's again.
"Ah." Mouse taps her fork lightly against her plate. "She's the one who came up here a few years back, wasn't she? With Stolen Wolf?"
Salem nods. "I keep... sort of refusing to learn Punishment rites," he says dryly. "But, if she's busy, we can figure something else out." He takes a drag and gets up. "Voice of the Jackal until and unless he proves himself... or leaves town. /If/ he's allowed to stay at all, of course."
Lefty gets to her feet. After a small, awkward couple of half steps, she turns back and grabs her plate and tea cup in order to bring them to the sink. Once her dishes are dealt with, she lets her breath out in a small sigh. "I should probably head out. God a couple of things I gotta do before heading home. But, uh, you'll call me, right? I'll come meet you and elliot anytime. Just let me know."
Mouse takes another bite of the ziti before pushing her own, only half finished plate slightly away. She doesn't say anything just yet.
Salem nods to Lefty. "For better or worse, he's a Gnawer, so." He shrugs and gives the Ragabash a mildly sympathetic look.
Lefty meets it with a pained one of her own. she grunts, nods, and shuffles towards the door. As she passes Mouse, she puts her good hand on the Walker elder's own. It's a brief touch, nothing more than a passing contact, but its enough to express the gnawer's admiration and affection. And then she's gone. From out in the hall, her voice echoes back, "Later Biatches."
