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renferretEx meets Keir and is very friendly to all.
Tenement Building - Ground Floor(#2451RJ)
The ground floor of the apartment building is taken up mainly by the lobby, an open space with the front doors at one end and the elevator and the door leading to the stairwell at the other. The floor is covered in black and white tile in a checkerboard pattern, and the walls have been painted a neutral grey shade. A couch, two squashy armchairs, and two wooden chairs have been set up in a rough semi-circle around a square wooden coffee table, facing toward the front doors and positioned so as not to interfere with any traffic moving between there and the stairs. The furniture does not seem to be very old, but it has been well-worn in its short lifetime. A few potted plants have been set in corners, to give the old lobby a more welcoming atmosphere.
To the right of the main doors are mailboxes for building residents, and off to the left is the doorway into a cramped rental office (see +view), and other doors that lead to the building's large laundry room.
Contents:
Rina
Keir
Sue
Obvious exits:
Stairs Salem's Apartment Out
Rina nods. "I can go up and get her... I mean, shit, if you're a Stargazer, maybe you can help. Who knows."
Sue nods again, wrapping his free arm around himself a little bit, and grins at Rina. "Something like that. It's as worth a try as anything, and Keir'd said, yeah," he says.
Kavi has arrived.
Rina looks to Keir, narrowing her eyes. "Fostern, huh."
"I'm willing to talk to her," Keir replies with a shrug of a shoulder. "Most of my duties in the past have involved cub-teaching, so I'm usually good with them." His chin lifts just barely at the question. "Yes. Why?"
"This one's different," Rina says quietly. "Really off the deep end." She heads for the stairs, then.
Sue glances between Rina and Keir, at the last of the exchange, though his gaze drops to the floor. "I told Keir-rhya 'bout that, too, Rina," Sue adds. "Though, I suppose I forgot to mention the part where she knifed the couch yesterday." It's the couch Sue's sitting on.
The door opens under Rina's hand, but clearly not under her direction. On the other side, Kavi has a basket of laundry in one hand, and the aforementioned cub stands behind him with a basket of her own.
Ex is, as usual, scowling, looking not remotely thrilled with being made a part of this chore, though she does flick an immediate glance into the lobby once the door opens.
Rina says "Oh. Um." She steps aside hurriedly. "Hi."
"Poor couch," Keir replies, with a wry half-grin. He's slouched in one of the seats in the room, beer case on the table, and one of the half-empty beers in his hands. As the door opens, the blind Gazer's attention turns thataway, but he obviously doesn't fully turn in that direction.
"And coffee table, and wall, and door frame," Sue adds, shaking his head a slightly. Kavi and the cub get a nod of greeting.
Sue: --a--
Kavi gives a small start, but his expression softens, and even shows a hint of a smile. "Hey," he says to Rina and then glances back to the cub. "I thought... It would be something real." He takes a few steps into the lobby, and then pauses just long enough to acknowledge the others with another soft, "Hey."
Ex mutters, so quietly that she may not even be heard, "Werewolves doing fucking laundry." That's all, however. She follows along right behind Kavi, and once she gets a decent look at the unfamiliar Garou in the room, she peers in Keir's direction.
Keir tips his chin up a fraction as Kavi enters, making it to where his hoodie doesn't completely obscure his face. "Evenin' Kavi."
Physically, Keir is not that imposing of a figure; he's lower-mid twenties, he stands perhaps 5'8", and he slouches much of the time. He's pretty damn fit, though, which is visible in his motions more than anything. His skin isn't dark but isn't pale, either; it settles somewhere loosely in between. His hair is a dark black, and about eyebrow-length. Possibly the most immediately noticeable thing, though, is the dark cloth that is always, always bound around his eyes.
He wears a dark grey-blue military style hoodie with the sleeves ripped off; it's a zip-up style but usually hangs open. The lining is dark and black and warm, and he usually wears the hood up. It's layered over a standard white button-up shirt that has the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, and that in turn is layered over a red t-shirt. Loose slate jeans are held up by a belt, and he wears well-worn in and well-fitting black shoes.
He's accessorized with a few things; plain rings on both thumbs and forefingers, and a leather band around his left wrist.
"What, they can't have clean underwear?" Rina says dryly. She goes to sit down on that tortured couch, with Sue.
Sue grins a little at Rina, scooting into the corner of the couch a little bit when Rina comes over, but it's to make room for the kinswoman, rather than flinching. "I like clean clothing rather much, myself," he remarks. "Hi Kavi-rhya."
Kavi continues across the room, but pauses just this side of the laundry room door and sets his basket down by his feet to look back at the woman behind him. "I. You know Sue," he says, and then nods across to Keir. "But. Have you met Keir?"
Ex's jaw tightens, and she shakes her head roughly. She hasn't quite taken her eyes off of Keir either, even though she continues to plod along behind Kavi.
Rina's actually studying Keir from this new vantage point, and putting two and two together to get blind.
Keir finishes off the beer and leans forward enough to put it on the table, finding the edge by clinking the bottom rim against it and tapping it onto the table with a finger. It wobbles a bit, but stays put. "I'm taking it that the commentary over werewolf laundry is someone I /haven't/ met. Hi. I'm Keir, fostern ahroun of the Stargazers." Apparently he's abandoned the more flowery introductions for simplicity after giving it a few times tonight.
Kavi puts his hands out as a offer to take the basket from the cub. "I can get this started, if you'd rather stay out here? Or you can start it, yourself." His words are quietly spoken, without pressure.
Ex flicks a glance toward Kavi, and then pushes her basket ungraciously into his hands. She's careful not to actually touch his fingers; not that this is a danger, as she's wearing Nick's gloves. "You're a what of the what?" she says, in Keir's direction.
"That," Sue remarks quietly in Keir's direction, "is the cub."
"Ex, meet Keir," Rina says dryly. "Keir, this is Ex."
Keir takes a moment, mulls this over. "Essentially, an assumptive ass of the assumptive asses," says he at last regarding the 'what of the what' bit. To the rest: "Ex, then. Good to meet you."
Kavi watches the blind Stargazer for a moment after he takes the basket, and then nods, perhaps to himself. "I'll be right back," he says, and slips through into the other room, pushing his original basket with his foot.
Ex frowns after Kavi, then turns that frown on Keir, her eyes narrowing. She says nothing.
Sue looks between Ex and Keir for a moment. "The Stargazers are a tribe," he tells the cub. "Like the Black Furies, or the Glass Walkers." That's all the explanation he offers for the moment, though, a small grunt at the end of the sentence.
Keir looks amused at something or another, but lets Sue poke at explanations. "I don't know what they've told you," he says frankly, with a lift of a shoulder in a shrug. "But. Essentially what he said, yes."
The washing machines come to life, the muffled sounds of running water audible in the lobby.
Ex shifts her weight from one side to the other, her frown eternal. "I don't know. It's all pretty ridiculous." Her jaw works for a moment. "You've got tribes and horoscopes and shit. And supposedly there's a big evil worm, a crazy spider, and a big chaotic nothing running stuff."
Rina winces at that, and looks over to Sue with a slightly queasy expression. "I tried."
Sue huffs, quietly. "'Sokay," he assures Rina, though there's a slight wince echoed in the Fury's expression.
Keir gives a wry sort of half-smile, though with his eyes fully covered his expression is difficult to read in entirety. "It all does sound pretty ridiculous," he agrees, evenly. "Then again, most religions sound pretty ridiculous, too. There's a lot in science that sounds ridiculous, unbelievable. There's usually at least some thread of truth in most of those things, though."
"Stargazer sounds even dumber than Glass Walker or Black Fury," Ex says, in a tone of casual observation. "What's that about?"
The door to the laundry room opens again, and Kavi returns. He stands just at the threshold for several seconds, and then moves across to where Rina sits.
Keir doesn't take visible offense, and he reaches for another beer. His third for the evening, if anyone's counting. "That's hard to explain in any short way," he says, rotating the beer under his fingers find the tab to pull it open. "Balance. Wisdom. The cohesion and mastery of body and mind as one." He relaxes back into the chair. "And," he adds, "not letting anger or emotion control your actions."
Sue grabs a second beer from the pack himself, scooting a little bit further over so that there's room for Kavi to sit down on the couch as well. Other than that, though, the Fury's silent.
"Freakin' Buddhists," Rina murmurs. "Not that I should talk."
"Werewolf Vulcans," is Ex's unhelpful summary. "Is that why you're wearing a blindfold?"
Kavi doesn't sit, but he does come to lean against the side of the couch, and one hand reaches for Rina's shoulder.
Keir gives a wry grin at both the comments. "Actually," says he to Rina, "if there was a world-religion counterpart, that would be the closest." To Ex, he just says, "Live long and prosper," with a straight face, and then shrugs. "No. That's because most find how I look /without/ it a bit unsettling."
"Oh." Ex glances toward Sue, then peers more intently at Keir. "Are you Gee-el-ess Two too? He's got horse feet."
"Deer hooves," Sue corrects, a slightly bitter grumble. "Horse hooves would be an improvement."
"GLS.. two." To his credit, Keir puts this together pretty quickly. "Yeah," he replies, after Sue. "Was born without eyes."
Ex's eyebrows arch upward. "Can I see?" To Sue, she wrinkles her nose. "Why?"
Keir shrugs. "If you want." He pushes the hood to his hoodie back - he's recently cropped his hair down to a buzz - and pulls that bit of cloth off. The empty eyesockets would be weird enough; it's weirder that he's got two thick black X's tattooed over them. "Wasn't born with those, though" the Stargazer says offhandedly in a manner that makes it apparent he's just being flippant.
Sue just shakes his head. "Nevermind," he offers, glancing first to Rina, then to Kavi. "Deer hooves aren't made for walking on two legs," is the only explanation offered. Attention turns to the other metis with some interest, for a moment.
"Horse hooves aren't either," Ex points out, her nose still wrinkled. She's distracted almost immediately by Keir's lack of eyes, however, and her eyes widen just a little. "/Weird/. Why'd you tattoo them?"
Kavi gives Sue a curious, if very brief, glance, and then nods. His hand closes over Rina's shoulder, and he rises from his perch to head back to the laundry.
"Would still be an improvement," Sue mutters, a little tensely, though it's partially empty protest.
"Grass is greener," Keir reminds Sue with a quick grin, and then sobers a fraction. "Because," he says. "I don't need them. Hurt like a bitch getting it done, but it was... closing a chapter on a time when I was younger when I was very angry about it." He gives a wry smile, though there's no bitterness at all in it. He makes an 'x' with his index fingers, rings on both fingers clinking together. "Marking out what I don't need, and," he adds, tapping a finger on his chest, "Marking what is. The inner eye, here. That one came later."
Ex doesn't say anything right away. Her eyes narrow faintly, and she appears to be studying the empty sockets. Two fingers on her left hand tap rapidly against the side of her leg.
Sue takes a slow breath in, steadying, and looks down at his lap. "Yes, Keir-rhya," he acknowledges, but there's a grin, and it's reflected in the tone, a quiet thanks.
"Wait, that shit was *voluntary*?" Rina asks.
Keir doesn't replace the blindfold - he doesn't seem to care one way or the other - but he does slouch back into the seat, beer still in hand. He doesn't seem to be oblivious to the studying - some things you can just /feel/ - but he doesn't acknowledge it, either. And then, Rina. "What, the tattoos? Yeah, they don't just grow on trees."
Ex glances briefly toward Rina, and then back to Keir.
"No, the-- losing your sight."
Rina's voice is decidedly unsettled.
Keir snorts. "Fuck no. I was born this way. Metis, all that jazz."
There's a quiet grunt from the younger metis, tone of understanding. "What got you to the point of not being angry about it all the time?" Sue asks, the question obviously directed towards Keir. The question's quiet, too. Very quiet.
Ex mutters, very quietly, "It's just weird feet."
"Because. You go through this life. Being angry sucks. I made the decision to let it go." Keir shrugs a shoulder. "It isn't easy. But everyone has shit in their lives that isn't easy. Some worse than others. Point is: enjoying life is a hell of a lot better than being angry at it."
Rina smiles faintly, drawing a knee up to her chest.
Even with the words from the older metis, there's a noticeable flare of anger and tension in Sue's posture at Ex's statement, and then Sue refocuses on Keir, nods. Several deep breaths follow, breathing returning to normal from being nearly a hiss of breath through clenched teeth. "I... think that makes sense," he says. "Yeah. Being angry sucks."
Ex doesn't appear ignorant of it. At the flair of temper from Sue, she turns her head and stares directly at him. Her gaze is feverish, intense. Inflexible.
Sue doesn't look up at Ex for more than half a second, but he bares his teeth, hisses breath out, one hand clenching into a fist, though it's well hidden in his lap.
The tension isn't lost on Rina, and she sits normally again, alert and wary. "Easy, Ex," she says softly.
And, likewise, the Stargazer doesn't seem clueless, either. He calmly reaches over and sets the beer down on the table. "And, anger and rage are tied together. I'm an ahroun. I'm a ragey bastard. I get how it feels." There's a moment of quiet at that flare, and he says, "People are going to stare. Some are going to be shits about it. You know how many times I've been given shit for being a blind -ahroun-?" He shrugs, gives a half grin, and says, "We might should talk about this later. One on one. Yeah?"
Sue's breathing steadies once more, and his focus steadily ignores the cub for the moment. Instead, the Fury listens to Keir, nods. "Yeah," he agrees, quietly. "I'd appreciate it."
"What's your /problem/?" Ex says toward Sue. She flicks a glance toward Rina, but nothing about her seems to ease. "--Or maybe that /is/ the problem. All you can focus on is your fucking problems." And with more heat, "/Lots/ of people have awful shitty problems. You need to make some fucking /room/."
Rina unfolds herself quietly from the couch, and heads for the door, double-checking it.
"Half moon, cub," Sue growls. The words are a warning, clearly, though that's the only answer he gives, the rest of his attention clearly paid to maintaining his composure, and eyeing the elevator.
Keir doesn't get up, but he sits up a little straighter, though that's not saying much from his usual slouch. It's not hard to tell that his full attention is on the cub. "That's right," he says quietly, evenly. "They do. But making one or both of you explode isn't going to solve the question of people's problems."
"I don't know what that /means/," Ex practically snarls in return. Her gloved hands clench into fists, and there's a trembling about her that she can't quite contain. Keir manages to distract her enough that she looks toward him. If anything, her eyes are brighter than ever.
Sue nods, once, drawing one knee up to his chest. "Yes Keir-rhya," the Fury says, most of his attention still paid to keeping himself calm, especially with the cub being less so.
Rina presses something to the lock, and slips outside. The door buzzes again behind her.
Keir seems appreciative of Sue's de-escalation, and just says, /still/ without moving from that seat (and still mostly slouched in it). And, he doesn't say a word, merely waits for something.
Keir: Er
Keir: The first says = sits
"Fuck it," Ex snaps, quieter, but with no less heat. "Fuck you." She twists away from both Sue and Keir, and stalks toward the wall. Her back, pointedly, remains to both metis, even if one of them can't exactly tell.
Sue glances towards the door which the kinswoman left out of, then towards the cub, and there's another deep breath, steadying. A few expletives are muttered, but under his breath such that Keir can likely hear them, and Ex likely can't.
Keir only gives a wry smile. "C'mon," he urges the other metis, finally hefting himself up and getting ahold of the case of beer. "I have a few awakened ones in my fridge." The hint obviously being to get out while there's no bloodshed. "Kavi? You still--" he listens, and then adds, "We're heading up."
Ex leans her forehead against the wall, closes her eyes, and clenches her jaw tight enough that the teeth grinding is audible.
Sue nods, pushing himself to his feet. "Alright," he agrees, concentration still for the moment such that agreeing is the easiest path to take. "Yeah. Elevator," he adds, before walking quietly over towards the elevator, leaving Kavi to eventually get Ex, and the laundry, back up to the fifth floor.
Keir gets up, follows toward the elevator, only bumping into one chair on the way (he seems to have this place pretty thoroughly mentally mapped), whistling lightly as he goes.
Ex remains as she is, even when the two depart.
Tenement Building - Ground Floor(#2451RJ)
The ground floor of the apartment building is taken up mainly by the lobby, an open space with the front doors at one end and the elevator and the door leading to the stairwell at the other. The floor is covered in black and white tile in a checkerboard pattern, and the walls have been painted a neutral grey shade. A couch, two squashy armchairs, and two wooden chairs have been set up in a rough semi-circle around a square wooden coffee table, facing toward the front doors and positioned so as not to interfere with any traffic moving between there and the stairs. The furniture does not seem to be very old, but it has been well-worn in its short lifetime. A few potted plants have been set in corners, to give the old lobby a more welcoming atmosphere.
To the right of the main doors are mailboxes for building residents, and off to the left is the doorway into a cramped rental office (see +view), and other doors that lead to the building's large laundry room.
Contents:
Rina
Keir
Sue
Obvious exits:
Stairs Salem's Apartment Out
Rina nods. "I can go up and get her... I mean, shit, if you're a Stargazer, maybe you can help. Who knows."
Sue nods again, wrapping his free arm around himself a little bit, and grins at Rina. "Something like that. It's as worth a try as anything, and Keir'd said, yeah," he says.
Kavi has arrived.
Rina looks to Keir, narrowing her eyes. "Fostern, huh."
"I'm willing to talk to her," Keir replies with a shrug of a shoulder. "Most of my duties in the past have involved cub-teaching, so I'm usually good with them." His chin lifts just barely at the question. "Yes. Why?"
"This one's different," Rina says quietly. "Really off the deep end." She heads for the stairs, then.
Sue glances between Rina and Keir, at the last of the exchange, though his gaze drops to the floor. "I told Keir-rhya 'bout that, too, Rina," Sue adds. "Though, I suppose I forgot to mention the part where she knifed the couch yesterday." It's the couch Sue's sitting on.
The door opens under Rina's hand, but clearly not under her direction. On the other side, Kavi has a basket of laundry in one hand, and the aforementioned cub stands behind him with a basket of her own.
Ex is, as usual, scowling, looking not remotely thrilled with being made a part of this chore, though she does flick an immediate glance into the lobby once the door opens.
Rina says "Oh. Um." She steps aside hurriedly. "Hi."
"Poor couch," Keir replies, with a wry half-grin. He's slouched in one of the seats in the room, beer case on the table, and one of the half-empty beers in his hands. As the door opens, the blind Gazer's attention turns thataway, but he obviously doesn't fully turn in that direction.
"And coffee table, and wall, and door frame," Sue adds, shaking his head a slightly. Kavi and the cub get a nod of greeting.
Kavi gives a small start, but his expression softens, and even shows a hint of a smile. "Hey," he says to Rina and then glances back to the cub. "I thought... It would be something real." He takes a few steps into the lobby, and then pauses just long enough to acknowledge the others with another soft, "Hey."
Ex mutters, so quietly that she may not even be heard, "Werewolves doing fucking laundry." That's all, however. She follows along right behind Kavi, and once she gets a decent look at the unfamiliar Garou in the room, she peers in Keir's direction.
Keir tips his chin up a fraction as Kavi enters, making it to where his hoodie doesn't completely obscure his face. "Evenin' Kavi."
Physically, Keir is not that imposing of a figure; he's lower-mid twenties, he stands perhaps 5'8", and he slouches much of the time. He's pretty damn fit, though, which is visible in his motions more than anything. His skin isn't dark but isn't pale, either; it settles somewhere loosely in between. His hair is a dark black, and about eyebrow-length. Possibly the most immediately noticeable thing, though, is the dark cloth that is always, always bound around his eyes.
He wears a dark grey-blue military style hoodie with the sleeves ripped off; it's a zip-up style but usually hangs open. The lining is dark and black and warm, and he usually wears the hood up. It's layered over a standard white button-up shirt that has the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, and that in turn is layered over a red t-shirt. Loose slate jeans are held up by a belt, and he wears well-worn in and well-fitting black shoes.
He's accessorized with a few things; plain rings on both thumbs and forefingers, and a leather band around his left wrist.
"What, they can't have clean underwear?" Rina says dryly. She goes to sit down on that tortured couch, with Sue.
Sue grins a little at Rina, scooting into the corner of the couch a little bit when Rina comes over, but it's to make room for the kinswoman, rather than flinching. "I like clean clothing rather much, myself," he remarks. "Hi Kavi-rhya."
Kavi continues across the room, but pauses just this side of the laundry room door and sets his basket down by his feet to look back at the woman behind him. "I. You know Sue," he says, and then nods across to Keir. "But. Have you met Keir?"
Ex's jaw tightens, and she shakes her head roughly. She hasn't quite taken her eyes off of Keir either, even though she continues to plod along behind Kavi.
Rina's actually studying Keir from this new vantage point, and putting two and two together to get blind.
Keir finishes off the beer and leans forward enough to put it on the table, finding the edge by clinking the bottom rim against it and tapping it onto the table with a finger. It wobbles a bit, but stays put. "I'm taking it that the commentary over werewolf laundry is someone I /haven't/ met. Hi. I'm Keir, fostern ahroun of the Stargazers." Apparently he's abandoned the more flowery introductions for simplicity after giving it a few times tonight.
Kavi puts his hands out as a offer to take the basket from the cub. "I can get this started, if you'd rather stay out here? Or you can start it, yourself." His words are quietly spoken, without pressure.
Ex flicks a glance toward Kavi, and then pushes her basket ungraciously into his hands. She's careful not to actually touch his fingers; not that this is a danger, as she's wearing Nick's gloves. "You're a what of the what?" she says, in Keir's direction.
"That," Sue remarks quietly in Keir's direction, "is the cub."
"Ex, meet Keir," Rina says dryly. "Keir, this is Ex."
Keir takes a moment, mulls this over. "Essentially, an assumptive ass of the assumptive asses," says he at last regarding the 'what of the what' bit. To the rest: "Ex, then. Good to meet you."
Kavi watches the blind Stargazer for a moment after he takes the basket, and then nods, perhaps to himself. "I'll be right back," he says, and slips through into the other room, pushing his original basket with his foot.
Ex frowns after Kavi, then turns that frown on Keir, her eyes narrowing. She says nothing.
Sue looks between Ex and Keir for a moment. "The Stargazers are a tribe," he tells the cub. "Like the Black Furies, or the Glass Walkers." That's all the explanation he offers for the moment, though, a small grunt at the end of the sentence.
Keir looks amused at something or another, but lets Sue poke at explanations. "I don't know what they've told you," he says frankly, with a lift of a shoulder in a shrug. "But. Essentially what he said, yes."
The washing machines come to life, the muffled sounds of running water audible in the lobby.
Ex shifts her weight from one side to the other, her frown eternal. "I don't know. It's all pretty ridiculous." Her jaw works for a moment. "You've got tribes and horoscopes and shit. And supposedly there's a big evil worm, a crazy spider, and a big chaotic nothing running stuff."
Rina winces at that, and looks over to Sue with a slightly queasy expression. "I tried."
Sue huffs, quietly. "'Sokay," he assures Rina, though there's a slight wince echoed in the Fury's expression.
Keir gives a wry sort of half-smile, though with his eyes fully covered his expression is difficult to read in entirety. "It all does sound pretty ridiculous," he agrees, evenly. "Then again, most religions sound pretty ridiculous, too. There's a lot in science that sounds ridiculous, unbelievable. There's usually at least some thread of truth in most of those things, though."
"Stargazer sounds even dumber than Glass Walker or Black Fury," Ex says, in a tone of casual observation. "What's that about?"
The door to the laundry room opens again, and Kavi returns. He stands just at the threshold for several seconds, and then moves across to where Rina sits.
Keir doesn't take visible offense, and he reaches for another beer. His third for the evening, if anyone's counting. "That's hard to explain in any short way," he says, rotating the beer under his fingers find the tab to pull it open. "Balance. Wisdom. The cohesion and mastery of body and mind as one." He relaxes back into the chair. "And," he adds, "not letting anger or emotion control your actions."
Sue grabs a second beer from the pack himself, scooting a little bit further over so that there's room for Kavi to sit down on the couch as well. Other than that, though, the Fury's silent.
"Freakin' Buddhists," Rina murmurs. "Not that I should talk."
"Werewolf Vulcans," is Ex's unhelpful summary. "Is that why you're wearing a blindfold?"
Kavi doesn't sit, but he does come to lean against the side of the couch, and one hand reaches for Rina's shoulder.
Keir gives a wry grin at both the comments. "Actually," says he to Rina, "if there was a world-religion counterpart, that would be the closest." To Ex, he just says, "Live long and prosper," with a straight face, and then shrugs. "No. That's because most find how I look /without/ it a bit unsettling."
"Oh." Ex glances toward Sue, then peers more intently at Keir. "Are you Gee-el-ess Two too? He's got horse feet."
"Deer hooves," Sue corrects, a slightly bitter grumble. "Horse hooves would be an improvement."
"GLS.. two." To his credit, Keir puts this together pretty quickly. "Yeah," he replies, after Sue. "Was born without eyes."
Ex's eyebrows arch upward. "Can I see?" To Sue, she wrinkles her nose. "Why?"
Keir shrugs. "If you want." He pushes the hood to his hoodie back - he's recently cropped his hair down to a buzz - and pulls that bit of cloth off. The empty eyesockets would be weird enough; it's weirder that he's got two thick black X's tattooed over them. "Wasn't born with those, though" the Stargazer says offhandedly in a manner that makes it apparent he's just being flippant.
Sue just shakes his head. "Nevermind," he offers, glancing first to Rina, then to Kavi. "Deer hooves aren't made for walking on two legs," is the only explanation offered. Attention turns to the other metis with some interest, for a moment.
"Horse hooves aren't either," Ex points out, her nose still wrinkled. She's distracted almost immediately by Keir's lack of eyes, however, and her eyes widen just a little. "/Weird/. Why'd you tattoo them?"
Kavi gives Sue a curious, if very brief, glance, and then nods. His hand closes over Rina's shoulder, and he rises from his perch to head back to the laundry.
"Would still be an improvement," Sue mutters, a little tensely, though it's partially empty protest.
"Grass is greener," Keir reminds Sue with a quick grin, and then sobers a fraction. "Because," he says. "I don't need them. Hurt like a bitch getting it done, but it was... closing a chapter on a time when I was younger when I was very angry about it." He gives a wry smile, though there's no bitterness at all in it. He makes an 'x' with his index fingers, rings on both fingers clinking together. "Marking out what I don't need, and," he adds, tapping a finger on his chest, "Marking what is. The inner eye, here. That one came later."
Ex doesn't say anything right away. Her eyes narrow faintly, and she appears to be studying the empty sockets. Two fingers on her left hand tap rapidly against the side of her leg.
Sue takes a slow breath in, steadying, and looks down at his lap. "Yes, Keir-rhya," he acknowledges, but there's a grin, and it's reflected in the tone, a quiet thanks.
"Wait, that shit was *voluntary*?" Rina asks.
Keir doesn't replace the blindfold - he doesn't seem to care one way or the other - but he does slouch back into the seat, beer still in hand. He doesn't seem to be oblivious to the studying - some things you can just /feel/ - but he doesn't acknowledge it, either. And then, Rina. "What, the tattoos? Yeah, they don't just grow on trees."
Ex glances briefly toward Rina, and then back to Keir.
"No, the-- losing your sight."
Rina's voice is decidedly unsettled.
Keir snorts. "Fuck no. I was born this way. Metis, all that jazz."
There's a quiet grunt from the younger metis, tone of understanding. "What got you to the point of not being angry about it all the time?" Sue asks, the question obviously directed towards Keir. The question's quiet, too. Very quiet.
Ex mutters, very quietly, "It's just weird feet."
"Because. You go through this life. Being angry sucks. I made the decision to let it go." Keir shrugs a shoulder. "It isn't easy. But everyone has shit in their lives that isn't easy. Some worse than others. Point is: enjoying life is a hell of a lot better than being angry at it."
Rina smiles faintly, drawing a knee up to her chest.
Even with the words from the older metis, there's a noticeable flare of anger and tension in Sue's posture at Ex's statement, and then Sue refocuses on Keir, nods. Several deep breaths follow, breathing returning to normal from being nearly a hiss of breath through clenched teeth. "I... think that makes sense," he says. "Yeah. Being angry sucks."
Ex doesn't appear ignorant of it. At the flair of temper from Sue, she turns her head and stares directly at him. Her gaze is feverish, intense. Inflexible.
Sue doesn't look up at Ex for more than half a second, but he bares his teeth, hisses breath out, one hand clenching into a fist, though it's well hidden in his lap.
The tension isn't lost on Rina, and she sits normally again, alert and wary. "Easy, Ex," she says softly.
And, likewise, the Stargazer doesn't seem clueless, either. He calmly reaches over and sets the beer down on the table. "And, anger and rage are tied together. I'm an ahroun. I'm a ragey bastard. I get how it feels." There's a moment of quiet at that flare, and he says, "People are going to stare. Some are going to be shits about it. You know how many times I've been given shit for being a blind -ahroun-?" He shrugs, gives a half grin, and says, "We might should talk about this later. One on one. Yeah?"
Sue's breathing steadies once more, and his focus steadily ignores the cub for the moment. Instead, the Fury listens to Keir, nods. "Yeah," he agrees, quietly. "I'd appreciate it."
"What's your /problem/?" Ex says toward Sue. She flicks a glance toward Rina, but nothing about her seems to ease. "--Or maybe that /is/ the problem. All you can focus on is your fucking problems." And with more heat, "/Lots/ of people have awful shitty problems. You need to make some fucking /room/."
Rina unfolds herself quietly from the couch, and heads for the door, double-checking it.
"Half moon, cub," Sue growls. The words are a warning, clearly, though that's the only answer he gives, the rest of his attention clearly paid to maintaining his composure, and eyeing the elevator.
Keir doesn't get up, but he sits up a little straighter, though that's not saying much from his usual slouch. It's not hard to tell that his full attention is on the cub. "That's right," he says quietly, evenly. "They do. But making one or both of you explode isn't going to solve the question of people's problems."
"I don't know what that /means/," Ex practically snarls in return. Her gloved hands clench into fists, and there's a trembling about her that she can't quite contain. Keir manages to distract her enough that she looks toward him. If anything, her eyes are brighter than ever.
Sue nods, once, drawing one knee up to his chest. "Yes Keir-rhya," the Fury says, most of his attention still paid to keeping himself calm, especially with the cub being less so.
Rina presses something to the lock, and slips outside. The door buzzes again behind her.
Keir seems appreciative of Sue's de-escalation, and just says, /still/ without moving from that seat (and still mostly slouched in it). And, he doesn't say a word, merely waits for something.
"Fuck it," Ex snaps, quieter, but with no less heat. "Fuck you." She twists away from both Sue and Keir, and stalks toward the wall. Her back, pointedly, remains to both metis, even if one of them can't exactly tell.
Sue glances towards the door which the kinswoman left out of, then towards the cub, and there's another deep breath, steadying. A few expletives are muttered, but under his breath such that Keir can likely hear them, and Ex likely can't.
Keir only gives a wry smile. "C'mon," he urges the other metis, finally hefting himself up and getting ahold of the case of beer. "I have a few awakened ones in my fridge." The hint obviously being to get out while there's no bloodshed. "Kavi? You still--" he listens, and then adds, "We're heading up."
Ex leans her forehead against the wall, closes her eyes, and clenches her jaw tight enough that the teeth grinding is audible.
Sue nods, pushing himself to his feet. "Alright," he agrees, concentration still for the moment such that agreeing is the easiest path to take. "Yeah. Elevator," he adds, before walking quietly over towards the elevator, leaving Kavi to eventually get Ex, and the laundry, back up to the fifth floor.
Keir gets up, follows toward the elevator, only bumping into one chair on the way (he seems to have this place pretty thoroughly mentally mapped), whistling lightly as he goes.
Ex remains as she is, even when the two depart.
