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renferretMouse and Nick discuss the Cyberrealm and his new shapechanging trinket.
Rustic A-frame Cabin(#3380RAJh)
Imagine what a well-constructed, rustic, open-design, lofted A-frame cabin with vaulted ceilings would look like. Now imagine it's furnished like a largely undecorated cheap dorm room that all but screams "bachelor pad!" The greatroom features a central, natural stone fireplace. Across from the fireplace, clashing with the theme, is a cheap metal futon and a metal and glass coffee table. An assortment of gaming consoles and a laptop roost beneath the coffee table's glass. There are two 32" HDTVs in the greatroom: unless used for entertainment, both cycle through live-stream feeds from hidden security cameras around the property. And then there's the mismatched bookcases, which hold a small library's worth of texts. The majority of the books are dedicated to mathematics, computer science, the occult, and Star Wars. A metal perch for a parrot is tucked into a corner near the dining area, though there's no parrot to be seen. Upstairs, the open loft serves as a not-entirely-private bedroom--assuming a second metal futon equipped with blankets and pillows counts as a bed and that a dozen stacked plastic drawers counts as a dresser.
The perceptive might eventually notice three not-so-obvious things. (1) A 12-gauge shotgun is concealed beneath the downtairs futon and a handgun is concealed near the upstairs bed. (2) Transluscent silicon aquarium tubing, packed near-solidly with granular white material (salt?), rings the house's entire interior perimeter, like a baseboard, in one continuous, unbroken circuit. (3) A small tuxedo cat can occasionally be spotted lurking, watching, or hiding from any visitors.
Contents:
Nicodemus
Obvious exits:
Front Door
Ah, a cabin in the woods, far from civilization, including what passes for civilization among certain supernatural shapeshifters. There's a knock on the door.
"Mouse," Nick says before the door is opened enough for him to look out or you in. When it does open fully, Nick can be seen wearing navy blue silk pajamas beneath what looks like a jedi-styled bathrobe. "I hadn't been expecting you. Come on in," he says, indicating that unexpected does not necessarily mean unwelcome. "Emma might turn up soon," he cautions. "Or have you had a chance yet to catch up on all the e-mails I'd sent while you were away?"
Mouse looks almost entirely like her normal self. Her old normal self, who could stand without showing pain. She has slightly longer hair, a certain level of gauntness around her face, and her black coat is starting to fray at the bottom, but they're minor differences at most. "That's not a problem is it?" she asks, concerned. "Yeah, I've taken a look at them, and Emma filled me in on your--" she makes a gesture with one hand. "--being a serious thing." Her other hand lifts, and /that/ one is holding a Best Buy bag. "Got you a replacement. Same model, I made sure."
Nicodemus huhs in an amused tone as he accepts the Best Buy bag and phone within it. "Thanks. I'd debated getting one today, but I opted to stay home and do some work instead. Funny how that just seemed to work out," he says as if, perhaps, it wasn't all that entirely unexpected after all. "Yeah. Since you've been gone, I filled in Emma. And Silvertip, who's back. And female. Emma because it felt wrong to keep her in the dark forever, and Silvertip because I figured Jacinta would tell him--her--at some point. And better to reveal myself when she needed help than until she didn't need help." He nods towards your new accessory. "One of the first things I did when you turned back up was scan you to verify it was you. In case you were wondering, you're you. With a new cybernetic-style fetish, it would seem. No more custom orthopedic brace, I see? That's good."
"It's always a relief to know I'm still me," Mouse quips, though it only seems like half a joke. She does enter now, letting the door close carefully behind her. "Yeah. Mission accomplished, and all that." And like her joke, it doesn't seem entirely light hearted. "I mentioned last night that Sewall's gone. Afraid I don't have nearly the amount of news that you guys do. Most of my time was, ah, surgery."
Nicodemus exhales, making an amused noise. "Yeah. We've had a lot of excitement in your absence. I'm pretty certain that Salem moving people out of the tenement complex likely saved it--and some of the residents. The corrupted roach situation that reared its ugly head right before you left? Emma led an umbral raid against that recently and cleaned that half out. Realmside in the city? We're doing a lot of pussyfooting around while The Suits are in town.
Mouse grimaces. "It's always something. Short of touching base with Salem and letting Jacinta know what's happened to me, I may go to ground at Maxwell's for a few days. Err, the hotel, I mean. Last night was a few too many people in an enclosed space for me. Haven't been that crowded since the infiltration."
Nicodemus nods thrice, apparently understanding the situation. "It was a bit too much going on for me, too. Too many threads to try and keep track of all at once. And my brain was full from earlier in the day." He then inquires, "That trick you did where you came through the telephone. Was that a gift, a rite, or just the Digital Web piercing through to the Realm?"
Mouse nods herself. "The Computer Web. It's attached to the Cyberrealm--or above the Cyberrealm, to be more accurate. It's how we got in, and it's how I got out. Trouble is, I think I got a little turned around. Had to backtrack a little. I was trying for Portland. So...sorry. Again." She looks a little bit sheepish. "Last night, it was less trying to keep track for me, and more--well, I've been in the Cyberrealm. And I don't think coming through your phone did well for me, /or/ it, though I certainly came out better than it did."
"I'd rather have you back than ten billion phones," Nick states without hesitation. "Now ten billion and one? Then it starts to get a little iffy." He smiles to indicate he's not being serious. "So. I guess the big question is this: Was it worth it?"
Mouse's response is her usual small, lopsided smile. "Yes," she says, without hesitation. "For me, anyway. I can't really quantify losing Sewall."
Nicodemus nods once, seemingly a bit relieved at your 'worth it' response. He inquires, "Is he lost lost? Or would a rescue operation be a worthwhile expenditure of resources?"
Mouse shakes her head. "He decided to stay. Don't get me wrong, it's a good cause, a good fight. But not really...our fight. And I think--" She inhales, and then sighs. "I think it was more than just wanting a change of scenery. I think that place fascinates him a little too much. I should've noticed it earlier, when I first mentioned the Cyberrealm." Another headshake. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he had nothing holding him here."
Nicodemus huhs at the news. He's silent for a short space of time. "Well," he finally says. "I'd only met Sewall a handful of times, and he did strike me as being a very analytical, detached kind of guy who didn't really fit in terribly well with all of this. I realize that's only a superficial impression, but that's the impression I got. If that's where his passion lies, who are we to judge?"
"It's a decent insight," Mouse says. She slides her hands into her coat pockets. "He always had the Silver Fang aloofness, and obviously the breeding, but he's never quite...been your typical Silver Fang Garou. Even when he was an Ahroun cub, I remember him being far more interested in reading than hitting things." She pauses a moment before continuing. "...Feels pretty familiar, really. As for judging, /heh/! You're talking about the Garou. There's a reason I'm not planning to share that part. I wouldn't have made it back without Sewall. That's the part I'm going to tell them."
Nicodemus laughs at that judging comment. "Yeah, you guys really do love to judge, judge, judge. Like about a fifth of you /are/ judges by birth, so that's probably, what, about twenty thousand times more prevalant than among humans? You reap what you sow," he jests with a smile. He then nods in agreement. "Probably best to sugar-coat things a bit. Especially for a traditional tribe like the Fangs. They might up and disown him on principles alone."
Mouse points out, "To be fair, it's not sugarcoating to say that. As it turned out, the Cyber Wolves wanted a task, not Juice. We ended up saving each other the whole way up. But disowned?" Her mood briefly sours. "When I pointed out that his mother was still around, he told me she'd disowned him for renunciating years ago. She pretends he doesn't exist." A breath. "...Maybe I ended up identifying with that guy more than I realized. It'd be nice if something good happened to the former cubs I knew, though."
Nicodemus says "I hope Sewall has found his calling. We're more often than not born into it, and it often takes some trial and error--sometimes a lifetime of trial and error--to find it. If it even exists for some individuals." He muses aloud. "Cyber Wolves. You'll have to tell me what those are. Oh! A couple weeks ago, one of the shifters called me a Corporate Wolf." He shares this information as if it were almost a badge of honor, grinning widely and showing teeth in the process."
Mouse returns to looking mildly amused at the revelation. "Congratulations," she says, her mouth quirking up again. "Cyber Wolves are Garou or spirits--Mostly Garou--that fight the ruling powers in the Cyberrealm. And they're well known for creating the sort of fetish I went looking for. The leader of the group we met used to be a Glass Walker, but I think it's been so long for him that he remembers it like early childhood. Garou things don't really mean much to them any more."
Nicodemus summarizes, "Regional specialists, more or less. I imagine the majority of the garou among their ranks are Glass Walkers. So Sewall joined them? That's saying something right there."
"It is," Mouse agrees. She's silent for a few moments before she shakes her head roughly. "Sorry, I didn't show up to be a wet blanket at you. Do you, ah...want to see it?"
"I already have," the mage claims. He hooks a finger around a thin metal chain looped about his neck, pulling a bronzed ring with a claw attached to it out from beneath his shirt. "So I suppose a 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine' is in order." He offers it over to you. "I went out of town for a while. Did a little swapping with some other warpers. Came back with that number in exchange for, well, a metric buttload of other stuff I had laying about and collecting dust. It lets me change into a cougar a couple times a month," he claims. "Tried it out once already. It was an interesting experience. So if you smell a cougar out around the Walker lands or my place, it might be me."
Nicodemus dropped Bronze ring.
This bronze ring consists of a simple, circular band to which a small cougar's claw--also bronzed--has been affixed. When worn on any finger (other than the pinkie), the claw is tucked between two fingers, as if mimicking one of a cougar's retractable weapons.
Mouse takes the ring, and she looks decidedly less weary, and less guarded. "Seriously?" She turns it over between her fingers, though Nick might notice that she's rather clumsy about it, and careful about keeping several fingers on it at all times, lest she drop it. "How many times a month? I knew a kid...I don't know if I mentioned it before. We found a kid with something like this, years ago, it let him turn into a wolf. Finally worked it out that it was probably some sort of mage trinket, but that was when you were out of town."
"Twice a month, tops. More than that would probably push it too hard--damage or break it." He confides, "It was kind of a reject. Someone's first attempt at making something like that." He looks intrigued by your story of a kid with a trinket that allowed him to turn into a wolf. "Really? I'd thought--after that particular item came up for trade--that I might be able to hold out for one that let the wearer turn into a wolf instead of a cougar, but wolves are /so/ cliche," he says with mock disdain meant to be humorous. "But seriously? I'd be interested in a trinket that allowed that sort of thing. Do you know what happened to it or the kid?"
Mouse responds with a thin smile, mischievous. "I don't know where he is now," she admits after a moment. "But I sent him to my grandparents in New York, when people started making noises about a normal human kid knowing about the Garou. They put out some discreet feelers. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess, because no one ever came around to me asking about him after that. Crossed my mind a few times that maybe he was...a pre-mage? Does that happen like it does us? Anyway." She carefully offers the ring back. "If you find you have a spare transformation, and feel like running..."
"Typically it.... Well, generally there's this moment of just absolute clarity, briefly, and then you lose it and spend a lifetime chasing it again. Most never succeed. And my moment of clarity was dying and coming back and screaming my lungs out at a bunch of banes in a hospital. Followed by a nice trip to a mental ward." Nick sums the experience up. "I can't exactly recommend it. But I think, yes, it merits checking the kid out just in case he is a mage. And if he is, then the trinket is his to keep. And if he isn't, he probably doesn't need that trinket. If he even still has it or uses it anymore. Tell you what. Give your parents a call? If he's still around, I might take a plane out that way to go see what's what and get him where he needs to go." Following the latter half of what you said, Nick claims, "It took me a full night just to figure out walking. I'm saving up my next trip for when the moon is fuller, Emma's no longer sleeping over, and I can spend two or four days straight getting familiar with the form. It's trickier than it looks, but I've been studying LOLcat to get some tips."
Mouse gives a short laugh. "Don't feel bad, cubs have that problem too. Hell, if it makes you feel any better, when /I/ shifted for the first time? It was to homid form, and I spent what felt like forever tripping over and into everything, even when I did manage to stand up. I kept wanting to put all my weight onto my toes. And then I felt half blind because I couldn't smell anything that wasn't drop-dead pungent. I suppose going into the whole wearing clothes thing would be awkward--but you get the idea." She rubs the back of her neck, and nods. "I'll call them. I've been kind've deliberately not asking, because I didn't want to chance anyone going after him. He's...it was almost like having another cub to teach, when he was staying with us. Except not a cub I have to teach to fight and then watch go off into hideous battles that stand a good chance of killing them." She glances at the ring again, and then up. "Offer's still open for then, then. Because I can /run/, Nick. Hell, I can run better than I ever could."
Nicodemus nods to everything. He then suggests, "Interested in doing some parkour in the future? The lumber outside that's mostly not been touched in a month? I'm setting up a balance-based parkour thing, but a romp through the woods is good, too. I'd offer to do something sooner--now even--rather than later, but I'm saving up everything I've got for the upcoming rescue operation." He belatedly adds, "Oh, and you saw how you managed to restore Naomi's wolf, then supplied her with temporary talismans--which you had delivered by courier to me or Salem--that helped to prevent her from being tracked by the mage that stole her wolf? From the emails?"
Mouse actually looks a little startled. "Parkour. Shit. I didn't even think about--" She trails off, still with her hand on the back of her neck. "I guess I /can/ try that now. My back always hurt too much to do anything more than walk, run, and occasionally fight, and the fighting, as fairly useless as I usually am with it, usually resulted in me being laid up for a day or so afterward." No, not startled so much as overwhelmed. "...Yeah, yeah, I saw all that. I'm...I'm sorry I ran out on that. I'd promised to do it, and then I just up and left."
"And we all managed to keep the city from going up in flames," Nick says, somewhat dismissing your sudden absence. "But we're damn thrilled to have you back and in better shape than when you left. Does you new fetish do anything beyond augment you physically?" he asks.
"It's hell with my fingertips," Mouse admits, holding both hands out in front of her. "Some time during the operations, I started losing feeling in them. Now it's--I can tell when I'm touching something, and generally how hard I'm pressing, but texture, fine movements, typing?" She shakes her head. "Hard or impossible. Except, I can switch the fetish off--and it all comes back. Unfortunately, all the pain and partial paralysis do too, but it's an option. And there's something..." She pauses. "It's a little hard to explain. I haven't fully explored the limitations yet. Kavi taught me a gift months before I left that let me operate computers without touching them. I ended up using it constantly during the infiltration, but now it seems...different. More powerful. It's something I'll have to experiment with, but I've definitely noticed."
Nicodemus listens, taking this all in, and looking intrigued at the latter part. "Interesting. If you get involved in Naomi's rescue operation--and I think Salem is the one planning that--then that ablity might prove to be very useful in the raid, particularly with security systems. If you think you'd be up to that sort of thing?"
"We'll see," Mouse says. "Although security systems have definitely been on my resume for a while." She glances toward the door, and then back. "So, ah. Should I get going before Emma shows up? I mean, I don't want to interrupt your, ah. Thing. Night. I mean. Your night."
Nicodemus makes a lewd, sexual gesture with his gloved hands, then collects his cougar ring necklace and returns it to his neck. "You being here might make things a little on the awkward side," he jokes, blushing just a tad in the process. He's not completely shameless.
Mouse clears her throat, and there's a tiny bit of color around her face. "Yes. Ah. A bit. I imagine. Right, sooo..." She entangles her own fingers in front of her. "Nothing like a Metis to ruin the mood," she jokes. "See you soon, Nick. I should have my cellphone back by tomorrow, so call if you need or want anything."
"Absolutely, Mouse. And it's good to have you back." Nick offers, "If you need anything, just let me know."
Mouse half turns, waves, and then shows herself out. There's no sound of a car, but then, there wasn't one when she arrived either. Someone's taking advantage of the ability to walk, perhaps.
Rustic A-frame Cabin(#3380RAJh)
Imagine what a well-constructed, rustic, open-design, lofted A-frame cabin with vaulted ceilings would look like. Now imagine it's furnished like a largely undecorated cheap dorm room that all but screams "bachelor pad!" The greatroom features a central, natural stone fireplace. Across from the fireplace, clashing with the theme, is a cheap metal futon and a metal and glass coffee table. An assortment of gaming consoles and a laptop roost beneath the coffee table's glass. There are two 32" HDTVs in the greatroom: unless used for entertainment, both cycle through live-stream feeds from hidden security cameras around the property. And then there's the mismatched bookcases, which hold a small library's worth of texts. The majority of the books are dedicated to mathematics, computer science, the occult, and Star Wars. A metal perch for a parrot is tucked into a corner near the dining area, though there's no parrot to be seen. Upstairs, the open loft serves as a not-entirely-private bedroom--assuming a second metal futon equipped with blankets and pillows counts as a bed and that a dozen stacked plastic drawers counts as a dresser.
The perceptive might eventually notice three not-so-obvious things. (1) A 12-gauge shotgun is concealed beneath the downtairs futon and a handgun is concealed near the upstairs bed. (2) Transluscent silicon aquarium tubing, packed near-solidly with granular white material (salt?), rings the house's entire interior perimeter, like a baseboard, in one continuous, unbroken circuit. (3) A small tuxedo cat can occasionally be spotted lurking, watching, or hiding from any visitors.
Contents:
Nicodemus
Obvious exits:
Front Door
Ah, a cabin in the woods, far from civilization, including what passes for civilization among certain supernatural shapeshifters. There's a knock on the door.
"Mouse," Nick says before the door is opened enough for him to look out or you in. When it does open fully, Nick can be seen wearing navy blue silk pajamas beneath what looks like a jedi-styled bathrobe. "I hadn't been expecting you. Come on in," he says, indicating that unexpected does not necessarily mean unwelcome. "Emma might turn up soon," he cautions. "Or have you had a chance yet to catch up on all the e-mails I'd sent while you were away?"
Mouse looks almost entirely like her normal self. Her old normal self, who could stand without showing pain. She has slightly longer hair, a certain level of gauntness around her face, and her black coat is starting to fray at the bottom, but they're minor differences at most. "That's not a problem is it?" she asks, concerned. "Yeah, I've taken a look at them, and Emma filled me in on your--" she makes a gesture with one hand. "--being a serious thing." Her other hand lifts, and /that/ one is holding a Best Buy bag. "Got you a replacement. Same model, I made sure."
Nicodemus huhs in an amused tone as he accepts the Best Buy bag and phone within it. "Thanks. I'd debated getting one today, but I opted to stay home and do some work instead. Funny how that just seemed to work out," he says as if, perhaps, it wasn't all that entirely unexpected after all. "Yeah. Since you've been gone, I filled in Emma. And Silvertip, who's back. And female. Emma because it felt wrong to keep her in the dark forever, and Silvertip because I figured Jacinta would tell him--her--at some point. And better to reveal myself when she needed help than until she didn't need help." He nods towards your new accessory. "One of the first things I did when you turned back up was scan you to verify it was you. In case you were wondering, you're you. With a new cybernetic-style fetish, it would seem. No more custom orthopedic brace, I see? That's good."
"It's always a relief to know I'm still me," Mouse quips, though it only seems like half a joke. She does enter now, letting the door close carefully behind her. "Yeah. Mission accomplished, and all that." And like her joke, it doesn't seem entirely light hearted. "I mentioned last night that Sewall's gone. Afraid I don't have nearly the amount of news that you guys do. Most of my time was, ah, surgery."
Nicodemus exhales, making an amused noise. "Yeah. We've had a lot of excitement in your absence. I'm pretty certain that Salem moving people out of the tenement complex likely saved it--and some of the residents. The corrupted roach situation that reared its ugly head right before you left? Emma led an umbral raid against that recently and cleaned that half out. Realmside in the city? We're doing a lot of pussyfooting around while The Suits are in town.
Mouse grimaces. "It's always something. Short of touching base with Salem and letting Jacinta know what's happened to me, I may go to ground at Maxwell's for a few days. Err, the hotel, I mean. Last night was a few too many people in an enclosed space for me. Haven't been that crowded since the infiltration."
Nicodemus nods thrice, apparently understanding the situation. "It was a bit too much going on for me, too. Too many threads to try and keep track of all at once. And my brain was full from earlier in the day." He then inquires, "That trick you did where you came through the telephone. Was that a gift, a rite, or just the Digital Web piercing through to the Realm?"
Mouse nods herself. "The Computer Web. It's attached to the Cyberrealm--or above the Cyberrealm, to be more accurate. It's how we got in, and it's how I got out. Trouble is, I think I got a little turned around. Had to backtrack a little. I was trying for Portland. So...sorry. Again." She looks a little bit sheepish. "Last night, it was less trying to keep track for me, and more--well, I've been in the Cyberrealm. And I don't think coming through your phone did well for me, /or/ it, though I certainly came out better than it did."
"I'd rather have you back than ten billion phones," Nick states without hesitation. "Now ten billion and one? Then it starts to get a little iffy." He smiles to indicate he's not being serious. "So. I guess the big question is this: Was it worth it?"
Mouse's response is her usual small, lopsided smile. "Yes," she says, without hesitation. "For me, anyway. I can't really quantify losing Sewall."
Nicodemus nods once, seemingly a bit relieved at your 'worth it' response. He inquires, "Is he lost lost? Or would a rescue operation be a worthwhile expenditure of resources?"
Mouse shakes her head. "He decided to stay. Don't get me wrong, it's a good cause, a good fight. But not really...our fight. And I think--" She inhales, and then sighs. "I think it was more than just wanting a change of scenery. I think that place fascinates him a little too much. I should've noticed it earlier, when I first mentioned the Cyberrealm." Another headshake. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he had nothing holding him here."
Nicodemus huhs at the news. He's silent for a short space of time. "Well," he finally says. "I'd only met Sewall a handful of times, and he did strike me as being a very analytical, detached kind of guy who didn't really fit in terribly well with all of this. I realize that's only a superficial impression, but that's the impression I got. If that's where his passion lies, who are we to judge?"
"It's a decent insight," Mouse says. She slides her hands into her coat pockets. "He always had the Silver Fang aloofness, and obviously the breeding, but he's never quite...been your typical Silver Fang Garou. Even when he was an Ahroun cub, I remember him being far more interested in reading than hitting things." She pauses a moment before continuing. "...Feels pretty familiar, really. As for judging, /heh/! You're talking about the Garou. There's a reason I'm not planning to share that part. I wouldn't have made it back without Sewall. That's the part I'm going to tell them."
Nicodemus laughs at that judging comment. "Yeah, you guys really do love to judge, judge, judge. Like about a fifth of you /are/ judges by birth, so that's probably, what, about twenty thousand times more prevalant than among humans? You reap what you sow," he jests with a smile. He then nods in agreement. "Probably best to sugar-coat things a bit. Especially for a traditional tribe like the Fangs. They might up and disown him on principles alone."
Mouse points out, "To be fair, it's not sugarcoating to say that. As it turned out, the Cyber Wolves wanted a task, not Juice. We ended up saving each other the whole way up. But disowned?" Her mood briefly sours. "When I pointed out that his mother was still around, he told me she'd disowned him for renunciating years ago. She pretends he doesn't exist." A breath. "...Maybe I ended up identifying with that guy more than I realized. It'd be nice if something good happened to the former cubs I knew, though."
Nicodemus says "I hope Sewall has found his calling. We're more often than not born into it, and it often takes some trial and error--sometimes a lifetime of trial and error--to find it. If it even exists for some individuals." He muses aloud. "Cyber Wolves. You'll have to tell me what those are. Oh! A couple weeks ago, one of the shifters called me a Corporate Wolf." He shares this information as if it were almost a badge of honor, grinning widely and showing teeth in the process."
Mouse returns to looking mildly amused at the revelation. "Congratulations," she says, her mouth quirking up again. "Cyber Wolves are Garou or spirits--Mostly Garou--that fight the ruling powers in the Cyberrealm. And they're well known for creating the sort of fetish I went looking for. The leader of the group we met used to be a Glass Walker, but I think it's been so long for him that he remembers it like early childhood. Garou things don't really mean much to them any more."
Nicodemus summarizes, "Regional specialists, more or less. I imagine the majority of the garou among their ranks are Glass Walkers. So Sewall joined them? That's saying something right there."
"It is," Mouse agrees. She's silent for a few moments before she shakes her head roughly. "Sorry, I didn't show up to be a wet blanket at you. Do you, ah...want to see it?"
"I already have," the mage claims. He hooks a finger around a thin metal chain looped about his neck, pulling a bronzed ring with a claw attached to it out from beneath his shirt. "So I suppose a 'you show me yours and I'll show you mine' is in order." He offers it over to you. "I went out of town for a while. Did a little swapping with some other warpers. Came back with that number in exchange for, well, a metric buttload of other stuff I had laying about and collecting dust. It lets me change into a cougar a couple times a month," he claims. "Tried it out once already. It was an interesting experience. So if you smell a cougar out around the Walker lands or my place, it might be me."
Nicodemus dropped Bronze ring.
This bronze ring consists of a simple, circular band to which a small cougar's claw--also bronzed--has been affixed. When worn on any finger (other than the pinkie), the claw is tucked between two fingers, as if mimicking one of a cougar's retractable weapons.
Mouse takes the ring, and she looks decidedly less weary, and less guarded. "Seriously?" She turns it over between her fingers, though Nick might notice that she's rather clumsy about it, and careful about keeping several fingers on it at all times, lest she drop it. "How many times a month? I knew a kid...I don't know if I mentioned it before. We found a kid with something like this, years ago, it let him turn into a wolf. Finally worked it out that it was probably some sort of mage trinket, but that was when you were out of town."
"Twice a month, tops. More than that would probably push it too hard--damage or break it." He confides, "It was kind of a reject. Someone's first attempt at making something like that." He looks intrigued by your story of a kid with a trinket that allowed him to turn into a wolf. "Really? I'd thought--after that particular item came up for trade--that I might be able to hold out for one that let the wearer turn into a wolf instead of a cougar, but wolves are /so/ cliche," he says with mock disdain meant to be humorous. "But seriously? I'd be interested in a trinket that allowed that sort of thing. Do you know what happened to it or the kid?"
Mouse responds with a thin smile, mischievous. "I don't know where he is now," she admits after a moment. "But I sent him to my grandparents in New York, when people started making noises about a normal human kid knowing about the Garou. They put out some discreet feelers. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess, because no one ever came around to me asking about him after that. Crossed my mind a few times that maybe he was...a pre-mage? Does that happen like it does us? Anyway." She carefully offers the ring back. "If you find you have a spare transformation, and feel like running..."
"Typically it.... Well, generally there's this moment of just absolute clarity, briefly, and then you lose it and spend a lifetime chasing it again. Most never succeed. And my moment of clarity was dying and coming back and screaming my lungs out at a bunch of banes in a hospital. Followed by a nice trip to a mental ward." Nick sums the experience up. "I can't exactly recommend it. But I think, yes, it merits checking the kid out just in case he is a mage. And if he is, then the trinket is his to keep. And if he isn't, he probably doesn't need that trinket. If he even still has it or uses it anymore. Tell you what. Give your parents a call? If he's still around, I might take a plane out that way to go see what's what and get him where he needs to go." Following the latter half of what you said, Nick claims, "It took me a full night just to figure out walking. I'm saving up my next trip for when the moon is fuller, Emma's no longer sleeping over, and I can spend two or four days straight getting familiar with the form. It's trickier than it looks, but I've been studying LOLcat to get some tips."
Mouse gives a short laugh. "Don't feel bad, cubs have that problem too. Hell, if it makes you feel any better, when /I/ shifted for the first time? It was to homid form, and I spent what felt like forever tripping over and into everything, even when I did manage to stand up. I kept wanting to put all my weight onto my toes. And then I felt half blind because I couldn't smell anything that wasn't drop-dead pungent. I suppose going into the whole wearing clothes thing would be awkward--but you get the idea." She rubs the back of her neck, and nods. "I'll call them. I've been kind've deliberately not asking, because I didn't want to chance anyone going after him. He's...it was almost like having another cub to teach, when he was staying with us. Except not a cub I have to teach to fight and then watch go off into hideous battles that stand a good chance of killing them." She glances at the ring again, and then up. "Offer's still open for then, then. Because I can /run/, Nick. Hell, I can run better than I ever could."
Nicodemus nods to everything. He then suggests, "Interested in doing some parkour in the future? The lumber outside that's mostly not been touched in a month? I'm setting up a balance-based parkour thing, but a romp through the woods is good, too. I'd offer to do something sooner--now even--rather than later, but I'm saving up everything I've got for the upcoming rescue operation." He belatedly adds, "Oh, and you saw how you managed to restore Naomi's wolf, then supplied her with temporary talismans--which you had delivered by courier to me or Salem--that helped to prevent her from being tracked by the mage that stole her wolf? From the emails?"
Mouse actually looks a little startled. "Parkour. Shit. I didn't even think about--" She trails off, still with her hand on the back of her neck. "I guess I /can/ try that now. My back always hurt too much to do anything more than walk, run, and occasionally fight, and the fighting, as fairly useless as I usually am with it, usually resulted in me being laid up for a day or so afterward." No, not startled so much as overwhelmed. "...Yeah, yeah, I saw all that. I'm...I'm sorry I ran out on that. I'd promised to do it, and then I just up and left."
"And we all managed to keep the city from going up in flames," Nick says, somewhat dismissing your sudden absence. "But we're damn thrilled to have you back and in better shape than when you left. Does you new fetish do anything beyond augment you physically?" he asks.
"It's hell with my fingertips," Mouse admits, holding both hands out in front of her. "Some time during the operations, I started losing feeling in them. Now it's--I can tell when I'm touching something, and generally how hard I'm pressing, but texture, fine movements, typing?" She shakes her head. "Hard or impossible. Except, I can switch the fetish off--and it all comes back. Unfortunately, all the pain and partial paralysis do too, but it's an option. And there's something..." She pauses. "It's a little hard to explain. I haven't fully explored the limitations yet. Kavi taught me a gift months before I left that let me operate computers without touching them. I ended up using it constantly during the infiltration, but now it seems...different. More powerful. It's something I'll have to experiment with, but I've definitely noticed."
Nicodemus listens, taking this all in, and looking intrigued at the latter part. "Interesting. If you get involved in Naomi's rescue operation--and I think Salem is the one planning that--then that ablity might prove to be very useful in the raid, particularly with security systems. If you think you'd be up to that sort of thing?"
"We'll see," Mouse says. "Although security systems have definitely been on my resume for a while." She glances toward the door, and then back. "So, ah. Should I get going before Emma shows up? I mean, I don't want to interrupt your, ah. Thing. Night. I mean. Your night."
Nicodemus makes a lewd, sexual gesture with his gloved hands, then collects his cougar ring necklace and returns it to his neck. "You being here might make things a little on the awkward side," he jokes, blushing just a tad in the process. He's not completely shameless.
Mouse clears her throat, and there's a tiny bit of color around her face. "Yes. Ah. A bit. I imagine. Right, sooo..." She entangles her own fingers in front of her. "Nothing like a Metis to ruin the mood," she jokes. "See you soon, Nick. I should have my cellphone back by tomorrow, so call if you need or want anything."
"Absolutely, Mouse. And it's good to have you back." Nick offers, "If you need anything, just let me know."
Mouse half turns, waves, and then shows herself out. There's no sound of a car, but then, there wasn't one when she arrived either. Someone's taking advantage of the ability to walk, perhaps.
