"I've gotta find it. I've gotta find it and get it /out/."

[renferret]

In which Ex chats with Slug, stresses about head bombs, hears more about the Furies, and completely misses that her Auspice is discovered.


Tenement Building - Basement Apartment(#1849RJh)

The basement apartment is roomy but windowless. The wooden steps come down near one wall, against which is the boiler and a large washer/dryer. The area underneath the steps is used for storage, though the boxes tend to get quite dusty and cobwebby down there.

The rest of the area is set up as living space, albeit rather unlived-in at the moment. The battered rust-orange couch and heavy, scarred wooden coffee table still hold court in the main room, and a scattering of rugs soften the hard concrete floor. But the bookshelf is mostly empty, and there's a pale spot where the entertainment center used to be. Instead, hanging on that wall is a framed painting, two and a half feet by a foot and a half; the landscape merges a dark, brooding city into a primeval forest, in an Escher-like transformation that moves from left to right. There's a subterranean aspect to it -- not a simple cutaway view, just a hint of energy and movement around the roots of the towering trees.

Everywhere there are cockroaches, oval brown forms often seen scuttling from point A to point B or hanging quietly on the ceiling with their antennae waving.

Doorways lead to a narrow kitchen (colored in dull yellows and browns) and a small bedroom that contains an empty bed and an equally empty desk.

Obvious exits:
Out

Slug has arrived.

The lobby is nice and quiet today. Nothing untoward. No arguing, no fighting, not even anyone lounging about, apart from whoever is in the office on duty. The only thing out of place is that the door to the basement apartment is ajar--and there's a reddish smudge on the doorknob.

Slug steps into the lobby from the outside world, a light sweat on the Gnawer's face. He whips his hood off his head as soon as he's shut the door, then starts to root around in the takeout bag he's carrying. The boy pops an eggroll into his mouth and starts for the stairwell door, but pauses when he catches sight of the oddity. He glances back to the security door, then looks back the odd door. He cautiously approaches the door while chewing on his food, half expecting something to jump out at him.

The door isn't fully closed, but nothing leaps out at him as he draws near. There are muffled sounds from down the stairs; grunts and the like, deliberately quiet. But just inside the crack between the door and the frame, the first step is visible. There's part of a bloody shoeprint there.

Slug carefully draws the door open enough for him to peer at what lay beyond, chewing on his food as he inspects the area. The discovery of the shoe print causes him some alarm, but not enough to make him stop eating. He sets his bag down near the doorway, then draws his can of mace from one of his many pockets. The Gnawer Ragabash gradually rises into the form of Glabro, then eases down the stairs towards the source of the sounds.

He doesn't have far to go. Ex is sitting in the middle of the room, head bowed over one arm. The noises are coming from her. She's discarded her hoodie and the gloves; they're visible off to one side, well away from her. The reason for this is plain. There's blood all over the floor around her, and especially up and down both arms. What she's doing becomes clear as Slug gets closer--she's digging into her forearm with her switchblade, presumably the source of all the similar injuries all over her arms, with a look of pained concentration. She makes a frustrated noise and shakes her head. The level of blood doesn't seem to be bothering her in the slightest.

Slug fades back down into Homid when he catches sight of her by her lonesome, still clutching the eggroll in his teeth. He heads to the very bottom of the stairs but doesn't announce himself just yet, studying her quietly from afar. The sight of the blood and the open wounds seems to make him more curious than concerned.

Ex is certainly not being delicate about it. For the moment, she appears unaware of Slug, with all of her attention focused on the knife blade. She pulls it out sharply, closes her eyes, grits her jaw. After a moment of harsh breathing, her eyes open again, she shifts the blade, and shoves it into her flesh again, an inch or so down her arm. More blood flows, but she ignores it. Instead, she appears to dig around with the knife blade, pushing the wound open enough to peer into it.

"You know, if you leave bloodtrails around, people are going to follow them." Slug murmurs, finally taking a bite out of the roll he's been drooling on. He looks down at his feet for a second, making a face when he's realized he'd stepped in some of her blood.

Ex jumps up and twists toward Slug, brandishing the bloody knife (blade down, like he showed her, how about that). Her eyes are wild, and too, too bright to be healthy as she stares at him. There's blood on her face too, if no currently visible injuries.

Slug holds up both hands when she turns around, not looking all that concerned about being confronted by the crazy girl who's been digging into herself with a knife. "I'm surprised you managed to get that far. Most people don't have that kind of pain tolerance, not even Garou." He nods in the direction of her arms, studying her wounds as best he can from a distance.

Ex stares wildly at him for a moment, before she lowers the knife. "Won't kill me," she says, low. She is, however, looking rather out of sorts. Judging by the amount of blood on the floor, it's a wonder she hasn't passed out. "Go away." The injuries go up and down both arms. There's no sign of injuries elsewhere...except for a great deal more of blood. Face. Neck. There's something dark and sticky that's run down the top of her black shoes.

"I'm not going to stop you. Even if you nicked an artery, you'd still be able to shift before you passed out... Well. Probably." Slug takes a few steps closer, aiming to get a better view of her arms. "I'm just kinda wonderin' why you're going at yourself like that. Well, I mean, you're lookin' for somethin' or trying to get somethin' out- But the devil's in the details." Slug sniffs at the air, taking in the distinct coppery scent of blood in the air.

"I've gotta find it," Ex replies, shakily. "I've gotta find it and get it /out/."

"Find *what*?" Slug asks, in a quiet tone, with sympathy starting to leak into his voice. "Some kinda... RFID tracking chip?"

Ex jiggles the bloody knife blade up by her ear. "I don't fucking know. Something. They put things in. All the fucking time, putting things in. They /left/ something in, I can hear it. Gotta fucking find it before it's too late."

"Y'care to tell me anything about them? I know you don't wanna talk about it, but... " Slug trails off, looking around the room for something to sit on. Eventually, he settles upon the coffee table. "I knew of another girl, just like you in some ways. It didn't really click at first, it was *so* long ago, but I remembered. Her name was Hope."

"I am," Ex says, with deliberate emphasis that only seems to accentuate how very edge of control she is, "telling you." She continues jiggling the knife near her ear, heedless of blood drops; still heedless of her excessive bleeding. "The fuck kind've a name is that? Is that a fucking joke? Fucking /joke/. Hope! Cut her open, stick the wires in, stitch her up. She won't die, you don't /die/ to the knives. Why are you so AGGRESSIVE?"

"She had implants inside of her. I don't know how many, but she had ones large enough to stick out of her skull." Slug leans forward to take a better look at her, ever mindful of the bloody knife in her hand. "I think that they knew she was a werewolf, and they were trying to figure out what she was. They were trying to apply science to magic. I don't know what happened to the people that did it to her, but if I had my vote, I'd have gone for the 'Kill them' option."

Ex turns her head a little and stares at Slug for a few moments, more out of one eye than the other. The knife lowers a little, so that she can gesture at Slug with it. "You're not so secret. Fighting evil rapey werewolves and big fucking worms. They're already inside you know." She lightly taps a bloody finger against her temple. "They crawl inside when you're sleeping, in your nose and your ears, and they change things. They deny it but I /know/. And everyone around here can't stop fucking going on about monsters."

Aaron has arrived.

Slug smiles sadly at the girl and bows his head to her, his growing hair tickling at his cheeks. "Even without evil, even without 'the worms', there is still plenty of blood and violence in the world. I kind of wonder if the world would really be all that different if none of us existed." Slug huffs out a breath, then rolls his shoulders, slouching forward in his seat upon the coffee table. "If you really tihnk there is something implanted inside of you, we could get an ultra sound machine or somethin'. Use it to scan beneath your skin. Anything that's metal or weird should stick out like a sore thumb."

Ex shakes her head wildly. Her arms are covered in blood and bloody gouges, she's holding a bloody knife, and her face hasn't escaped the blood either. Nor has the floor. There's an awful lot of it all over. "No, no no. They're too fucking smart. Can't just scan for it. But it's fucking /there/. You could hear it if you tried."

Aaron heard on the street that the Tenement is the place to be, so he decided to make an appearance. The grown man ventures down the stairs, not missing the blood found on the stairs. Since he cannot really call out, he simply walks up to the room and cautiously peeks around the corner.

"If you put your knife down for a few minutes, I'll try and listen." Slug assures her, slipping off the table to stand on his knees near her. "S'long as you don't mind."

Ex only grips the knife handle more tightly, though she does lower it to her side. Aaron goes unnoticed for the moment, as all of her vastly dwindling attention is on Slug.

Aaron notices something going on between Slug and the girl bleeding, so he keeps his post adjacent to the door to listen and wait for the right moment to enter.

"Look." Slug starts, holding out his hand between the two of them. "The reason I'm tryin' so hard to figure this out is, these dudes, y'know. They could have someone else. Other people they're messin' with. I want to find out what's going on, and *why* they're doing it. I want to put and end to this crap."

Ex's staring becomes a little more focused. "Of /course/ there's others."

Aaron remains where he is, worried that his entrance might stop whatever interaction is occurring.

"Then tell me about them. Tell me about what happened to you, tell me about where it happened. If we can find them, we can stop them. *You* can stop them." Slug sits on the floor near her and folds his arms ininto his lap. "Or tell me to fuck off, and we can talk about other things. People been teachin' you, right?"

Ex continues to stare at Slug for a long, long moment, before she looks away. Her gaze settles on the bloody knife, and then she blinks a few times at the still oozing wounds. Slowly, with obvious effort, she slides up into glabro so they can start closing. "I don't know. Some things."

Aaron takes a cautious step to the doorway and looks in at Slug and Ex. He pauses there, waving to them both. "Hi," he says in a whisper-breath.

"Probably most of that shit about the Triat, and the way the 'world' works. That kinda stuff, I'm guessin'. You ok?" He asks, watching her as her wounds close up. When Aaron introduces himself, the Gnawer looks up, momentarily startled. He then flashes his tribemate a quick smile. "Hey."

"The Wyrm and the Weaver and the Wyld," Ex says, sounding unenthused. "Sort of, I guess. I don't know." Her gaze darts sharply to Aaron as he steps into view, and the bloody knife tip lifts a little away from her side.

"Everything alright?" Aaron asks. He speaks only in whispers, although they have a thick southern accent. His eyes look warily at Ex before glancing over to Slug. "Hey there, don't let me interrupt you two from whatever you were talkin' about."

"Yeeeah. She just had a bit of a paper cut." Slug shakes his head at the mention of the triats, huffing out an indignant breath. "I didn't really like learning about the 'Gods' when I was in your position. Not like *I* could do anything to affect a God, y'know? Even if they are real. I've seen the spirits, but the Gods, no, never. I always thought they should teach you more practical stuff, like how to tell a lie. How to hotwire a car. How to pick a lock."

Ex shrugs one shoulder. "Kavi's teaching me how to kill people."

Aaron crosses his arms while listening to Slug's idea of real world theology. "Gods is an improper term... they are greater spirits." Aaron says. Then his attention goes directly to Ex, "What?"

"The Triat might as well be Gods. None of us will ever see or understand'm." Slug casts a glance back at Ex, a small, wry smile appearing on his face. "I wouldn't have guessed. Probably with a gun, or with your claws. Most of the Walkers I've known aren't big on the blades or hand to hand."

"Guns," Ex says. "Claws." She shrinks back down to homid. None of the injuries remain, though the blood certainly does. She lifts the knife again as she studies the arm she was slicing at. "I'll learn the rest."

"Well," Aaron begins to say to Slug, "The spirits that you interact with are servants to a more powerful spirit, but I guess I cannot convince you of anything that you don't believe in..." He lingers off to listen to Ex. "So... slicing your arm and bleeding everywhere is a part of your training?" His whisper sounds a little sarcastic.

"When you want to learn the other things, ask for permission, and I'll see what I can show you. Probably be a ways off before they let me show you have to jump and fall, though. Further off'n that before they'll let me show you have to hotwire a car, or open doors." Slug shrugs at Aaron, then gradually pulls himself up off the floor and stretches out with a yawn.

Ex flashes her teeth and whirls on Aaron. "No, slicing /you/ open and watching /you/ bleed everywhere is part of my training. You want me to demonstrate?"

"I'm good," Aaron replies calmly to the disturbed cub. He turns to Slug, "Hey, I was looking for Ish... will you just let him know that I was here the next time you see him?"

Slug is somehow just cool with the threats of bodily harm and general violence. His eye drifts upwards for a second, and then he nods at Aaron. "I just told him. He said he's doin' something for Terminus now, but he'll try to get to you soon."

Ex wrinkles her nose at the Ahroun. "Then don't say such stupid fucking shit."

"Cool," Aaron replies. Meanwhile, the hairs at the back of the Ahroun's neck stand on end. "I'll let the Walkers deal with his one..." he leaves that comment with Slug. Without even addressing the cub and her rudeness, he just leaves.

Slug sits back down on the coffee table and pulls his arms behind his head, with his elbows pointing out. "Y'need to work on that." He comments after the Garou has left.

Ex gives the direction Aaron departed in the middle finger, then frowns at Slug. "Work on what?"

"Your anger." Slug replies, his tone low and relaxed. "You'll get into some real trouble talkin' like that to some Garou. Mostly Garou that aren't grown here in the city."

Ex shakes her head very slightly. "You make 'em sound like mold. Get in trouble for what? Cursing?"

Slug chuckles beneath his breath. "Nah, it's like this. You know how wolves work, right? With their packs? You have the big wolves on top, smaller wolves on the bottom?"

Ex shrugs. "I guess? Not really."

Slug snaps his fingers and brings his hands back around in front of him, clapping his hands together. "S'like this. You've got the alpha wolves. They're usually the oldest and the strongest. They've been in battles, led packs, taught cubs. Basically they tend to be people that get important shit done, and didn't die doing it. Then you've got the betas. They're like the right hand men, the second in command types. Not quite as strong or as good as the Alpha types, but not bad. Then there is everyone below them."

"Okay," Ex replies. "Guess that makes sense." She's watching him now, clearly expecting more.

"Garou are kinda like wolves, even the human ones. They don't really like it when you mouth off, or don't surrender or whatever when they tell you to. It's a challenge to them, to their rank. It's like flipping off your boss at work... Only instead of being fired, you'll get mauled by an angry furry retard because you didn't fall into line." Slug taps the ruined size of his face with two fingers. "Like so, an worse than that."

Ex's eyes narrow. "But they're not my bosses yet. I haven't signed on."

Slug shrugs his shoulders. "You can change. You signed on. That's the way it is. Right now you're the lowest of the low, and you've got to learn to be a bit more careful around these dudes. Especially on the full moon. Me? I don't give a shit. I think respect should be earned, not given. You don't know me, and have no reason to respect me. But I'm like, a novelty werewolf. Not a lot of them think like I do, and most of the time I'm on my own anyways. More like a coyote than a wolf, I guess."

"Fuck that bullshit," Ex says, immediately. "If I sign on to your crazy cult war, it's gonna be because /I/ want to, not because I inherited your fucking genetic disorder. Didn't get away just to have someone else locking me down."

Slug whistles at the girl, then snaps his fingers again. "Y'listen to the part where I wasn't agreeing with it? I'm just trying to save you a bit of grief. Sooner or later you'll be out of this joint, probably training with other Garou. Other Garou might have hair triggers and shit, and you aren't going to be able to take them in a fight. The best way to win a fight is to stop it before it happens. Don'tcha think you have enough scars? I know I do."

Ex merely regards Slug with open suspicion in response. She's begun tapping the knifeblade rapidly against her pantleg.

Slug looks at all the blood around them, then he looks back at her and stands up. "Y'should ask Kavi for help with controlling your temper. Take it from someone that used to flip out on a semi-daily basis. If you get permission for a lesson or two, or just want to talk, come upstairs to my apartment sometime. I'm up on the second floor, in one of the only apartments that's occupied. Listen, and you'll be able to find me pretty easy."

"He's trying," Ex mutters. "Most people around here can't seem to control their own tempers though."

"That's what I was drivin' at. Most of them can't, and if you piss them off, you won't walk away without blood. Your's or their's, probably both." Slug nods at her, then turns and starts walking for the stairs. "There is some takeout up by your door, by the way. Feel free to get some, I'll leave it there."

Ex watches Slug go, but makes no attempt to follow him up. Her frown gets a little deeper.

Slug vanishes back up the stairs, pausing near the top to take the lionshare of the takeout that he ordered. With his food bunched up his hands, the Gnawer slinks off to his apartment to pig out.

----


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:
Memorial
Information Board: Skindiggers Cult

Obvious exits:
Out

Nieve has arrived.

The breakroom is mostly quiet; there's no sound of TV, microwave, not even any of the computers. Its sole occupant is sitting on the couch, hunched over, with her legs pulled up close, in a position that doesn't look remotely comfortable. She has one pantleg hiked up, and is currently running her fingers over her right calf muscle, eyes narrowed.

There's the sound of someone coming out of the stairwell and through towards the breakroom. It's Nieve, sporting the vaguely disheviled look of someone who's not long woken up, dreadlocks in disarray and eyes sleepy. She pauses by the door, eyeing the cub. "'sup?"

Ex likewise pauses. Her eyes slant toward Nieve, and there's a slight tensing around her jaw. "Nothing."

"'kay." Nieve doesn't push the issue, instead drifting in and towards the kitchenette, to begin fixing some food for herself. "M'a put a pizza in. Y'want any?" she prompts amiably.

Ex's frown deepens. "Why do I get a pizza?" she asks, tone all suspicion.

"Well, I'm doin' pizza for me. Ain't no bother t'do pizza for you too," Nieve replies placidly, though there's a touch of prickly edge about her posture even if her voice is mild. Then again, it is her moon. "So, y'hungry or no?"

"'Kay." Ex gives this a half shrug, and leans back over her leg, poking and prodding in a manner that's methodical, but not remotely delicate.

"What's wrong with y'leg?" Nieve unwraps two pizzas and turns the oven on to warm, quite happy to remain over in the kitchenette rather than coming any closer to the cub.

"Nothing," Ex says, with a sigh that's somewhere between exasperated and disappointed. "I'm looking really hard and I can't find anything."

"What? Lookin' for some kind of trackin' device or somethin'?" Nieve asks, closing the oven and drifting a bit closer, though plopping down on the couch rather than joining Ex at the table. "We don't do that shit."

"'Course you don't," Ex says, without looking up. "I got told all about it, you've got magic or some shit to do that. But /they/ do. They stick all kinds of things in."

"D'you want me t'check you over? S'like x-ray, only ain't no machines used," Nieve offers matter-of-factly. "Should show up anythin' in you that ain't flesh an' bone."

Ex's nostrils flare. That suspicious look is back, and she regards Nieve very carefully. "What does that need?"

"You t'stand still 'gainst a wall, an' to turn around when asked," Nieve replies. "An' if you've got anythin' in your pockets, please take it out so it don't hide somethin' that's there."

There's a flash of teeth at this, just barely reigned in. Ex pushes out of her seat, but she's all tension now, even as she pulls the switchblade out of her pocket and grips it tightly in one hand. "This's the only thing."

"Sure. Keep it in y'hand if needs be." Nieve seems nonplussed, rising to study Ex from a distance. "Okay, here we go."

Ex doesn't just keep it in her hand--she's wearing the gloves Nick gave her, still--she clenches it so tightly that, were her knuckles actually visible, they would undoubtably be bone white.

The Adren makes a faint humming noise as she scans Ex all over, back and front, finally shaking her head. "Nothin' in there. No trackin' devices, no scanners, no nothin'. You'd notice anythin' foreign when you change shape, anyway - if it ain't dedicated to you, it'd cause problems."

Ex shoves her switchblade back into her pocket. "You did it wrong," she declares, flatly.

The dreadlocked woman shakes her head. "These things either work or they don't. I saw all the usual stuff, includin' the button on your jeans an' the metal bits in your shoes. If y'want to test it by hidin' somethin' about your person t'see if I can find it, we can do that. But, it weren't wrong."

Ex sucks in a breath. "I /know/ it's there. I can--" she waves her hand hear one ear, fingers spread, "hear it. They left something in."

Nieve's gaze sharpens a bit. "Hear it? What does it sound like?" she asks, cocking her head slightly. "There ain't nothin' solid in you, that much I can promise."

Ex's lips peel away from her teeth. "Fucking buzzing. All hours of the day or night, buzz, buzz, buzz. It wasn't too bad until you people locked me up in here, now it just gets louder all the time."

Nieve: Cybersenses isn't just for the eyes. Nieve is going to shift her hearing out along the radio spectrum and back in along the electromagnetic. See if she can identify something Ex may be hearing that she isn't.

The Walker's eyes get a faintly distant look to them. "Nothin' spiritual," she murmurs softly, then touches a fingertip to her lips, indicating a request for silence while she listens for other things.

Ex: Nil. I imagine there'd be things Nieve would pick up (it is the Tenement, after all), but nothing that isn't normally there or that seems particularly focused around Ex.

Nieve nod.

Nieve: So, she's got an imaginary buzz. :D

Ex keeps a close eye on Nieve, though she's looking at the other woman more sidelong than directly now. That suspicious look has yet to entirely fade, but there's an antsiness, to her finger movements. Holding still and quiet does not seem to be an easy task.

Ex: Seems so!

The woman shakes her head again slightly, steel dreadlocks charms clinking a little. "I can't hear anythin'. Nothin' electronic, nothin' on radio frequency, nothin' out of the ordinary. Can y'describe it better for me?" Nieve asks finally.

Ex rubs the palm of her hand into the side of her jaw. "It's /buzzing/," she says, sounding more agitated. "Like a fan, or a bunch of bees in my brain. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe they stuck a nice little bomb in there, and I'm gonna splatter brains all over your electronics." She waves her fingers again. "They're always /sticking things in/."

"Does th' sound ever change, get louder or quieter if you're with company or alone, indoors or outside?" NIeve persists quietly. "Have you tried meditatin' to see if you can shut it out?"

"Meditating," Ex echoes, still fidgeting. "You're fucking serious?"

"Serious as cancer," Nieve replies, her voice quiet. "There ain't nothin' solid inside you other'n bones. There ain't nothin' picked up on x-ray, ultrasound, RF or EM frequencies. Which leaves a couple'a options. One is, it's somethin' they're broadcastin', which means that 'cause you ain't human, you've got th' option to meditate and try blockin' it out. There's a simple way t'try if you want to, but s'your call." The Theurge moves away to the kitchenette, to check on how the food is doing.

Ex sits down as though her seat were suddenly covered in needles. "Says you," she mutters. "How am I supposed to get all zen if my head's going to explode?"

"It ain't gonna explode," the Theurge replies, closing the oven again and coming back over. "D'you wanna try or no? Takes maybe ten, fifteen minutes, so 'bout when the pizza'll be done."

"That'd be a good way to kill a werewolf, wouldn't it?" Ex digs her fingers into her knees. "It'd be really hard to heal from your skull and brains being blown into pieces. No, I don't want to try meditating. I can't--no. Maybe later."

"Should get easier as th' moon gets smaller," Nieve replies mildly, leaving it to the cub's decision. "Out of curiosity, has anyone told you what your moon auspice is?" she prompts then. "D'you know it at all?"

Ex's left eye narrows a little more than her right. "Moon aus...oh. That horoscope shit. No. Kevin's a rag-something, and his job is to say stupid things for some reason. Fezzik's an Ahroun, and uh. So's the creepy guy, I guess. Dunno what they do."

"Ragabash. They question things. Make us re-evaluate our traditions, so we don't become hidebound," Nieve explains. "They're also the scouts, the ones who get us intel on our enemies," she finishes. "I'm a Theurge, that means I'm kind-of like a shaman. I deal mostly with the spirit world. Half-moons are Philodox, they're the judges of our nation, they bring us wisdom in resolving disputes and maintaining the peace. Flint and Kavi are Galliards, they're the ones who know the history of our people, and keep our lore. They also carry messages and information between us. Then, yeah, the ahroun. They're our most skilled fighters."

"That's me," Ex says, with a jittery sort of confidence. "Learning how to kill shit and constantly trying to eat people. I'll fit /right/ in." She can't quite seem to sit still.

"Eating people ain't part of the role. I'll ask a lune about your auspice, they'll be able t'tell me," Nieve then replies with a nod, rising to move away to the kitchen. "Can you keep an eye on th' pizza while I do that? Il'I'll be gone maybe ten minutes."

Ex blinks slowly at Nieve. "You're going to ask a what? Do you mean the bird, or are you going to stick your head out the window and shout at the first crazy homeless person you see?" The request to keep an eye on the pizza has her glancing toward the oven, but she doesn't get up or otherwise move toward the kitchen.

"A lune is a moon spirit," Nieve clarifies with a smile. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Then, holding up the mirrored keyfob on her keyring, she focuses beyond her reflection ... and fades out of sight. Just like that.

In the meantime, Ex half falls, half jumps out of her seat when Nieve disappears. The Theurge misses a whole lot of swearing, not all of it intelligible, though eventually the young woman settles back down...somewhat.

Returning about ten minutes later, having traded a little gnosis for some answers, Nieve fades back into view. Faintly ghostlike strands of webbing cling to her arms and hair, though these drop out of sight within a few more seconds, and she stretches her arms out to double check she didn't carry any passengers with her. "Interestin'."

Ex fairly hisses through her teeth. "That is the /creepiest/ fucking thing. What'd you do? How'd you do that?"

"I crossed over to th' spirit world," Nieve explains. "It's where spirits live. It's where we summon them from - like when you saw the spirits we brought here before, that's where they normally are." She seems quite relaxed about the whole thing. "If I thought I could trust you not t'try it alone, I'd show you how to do it. Maybe another time."

Ex snorts. "Yeah, fine." She crosses her arms over her chest and slumps in her seat. The table is given an unfriendly look.

"Sorry, Rogue. You ain't exactly given us much reason t'trust you," Nieve offers quietly. "an' you could get into a lot of serious shit in th' spirit world." She goes to the kitchen to open the oven, pulling out two slightly overdone pizzas. "Th' spirits reckon you were born on th' new moon."

Ex says, without directly looking at Nieve, "Yeah, well, you guys haven't given me much reason to trust /you/ either. So what's that mean?"

"May I ask why you say that?" Nieve turns her gaze back to Ex. "We ain't lied to you, we ain't hurt you, we ain't done anythin' 'cept try an' protect you an' the people out there from you, t'my knowledge."

Ex gives a short, tense exhale. "You kidnapped me, /locked me up/, half of you I can't understand at all and the other half keeps talking about how I have to go fight evil werewolves and spirit monsters or they're going to kill me, and then the person who said that got punched and I haven't seen her since. Then you do all sorts of inexplicable shit like disappearing into spirit worlds and summoning monsters and playing Magneto with garbage."

"All of that is the truth," Nieve replies simply. "We're not going to lie to you just so you feel comfortable with us. That's how humans work. And the things we do? Those are the weapons we use against the enemy. Nobody is using them against you, except to show you that it's real. Hell, one day if you change your mind, you'll be able to do them too."

"Or you'll blow my brains out if I don't," Ex says, darkly. "It feels like all I managed is to swap cages. Why /should/ I trust you? You want to use me to fight your enemies. Maybe later you'll start cutting too. Cut, cut, cut, and the whole time telling me it's for my own fucking good."

"Who said anythin' about blowin' your brains out?" Nieve asks. "We've told you th' truth there too. Our enemies will come an' find you, because you're a werewolf. Your best chance of success fightin' 'em is stickin' with us, but I ain't heard nobody say we'll blow your brains out if you don't." She cuts up and plates the pizza, bringing Ex's over to the table and setting it down. "An' frankly, we've no need t'cut you up. You're nothin' unnusual."

"Riley," Ex says. She pulls her plate closer. "She said if I didn't sign on, she'd kill me herself. Kavi was fucking /pissed/. He keeps saying he wants me to be safe, and that makes no sense." She frowns at the pizza. "I just want to breathe."

"Riley. Don't worry 'bout her. She ain't the boss," Nieve replies firmly. "I outrank her, as does Kavi, an' I can promise you, there will be no blowin' out of brains. So, breathe. An' enjoy your pizza." The Theurge quirks a small smile at the cub, and then heads out with her own food.

----


In the breakroom, Rina nods, bowing her head, elbows leaning on her knees. "Cutta would know," she says quietly. "I d'no who else. Mouse, maybe."

In the breakroom, Kavi pushes up from his seat again to walk to the windows. "It's not the same," he says, his voice almost too soft to hear. "But. I." He pauses, swallowing. A hand rests on the wall beside the window, and another pulls the blinds aside enough to see out. "I could try."

In the breakroom, Flint glances at Kavi, and there's a quick, quiet nod. "If. With. Working on, slowing down," comes the quiet agreement. "Yeah." Another pause. "Maybe Norman-rhya would. Ideas, at. At least. As to." Flint curls into the arm of the couch carefully, and adds. "Thanks."

In the breakroom, Rina takes a slow breath, and nods.

In the breakroom, Just down the hall a door opens opens and then closes with a soft click. The footfalls that follow mark a quiet approach toward the breakroom, with Devon's silhouette soon appearing just outside the doorway.

There's a sizable, heavy THUMP from the direction of the cubroom. Just one though.

In the breakroom, Kavi turns sharply at the sounds from the hall and moves quickly toward the doorway.

In the breakroom, Flint tenses a moment, then sits back down on the couch, attention towards the sounds and the doorway nonetheless.

In the breakroom, Rina half-rises from the couch, her brow furrowing. She's still in her jacket, still carrying guns.

In the breakroom, Devon looks toward the sound, then toward Kavi, taking just a second to duck past and into the break room. And out of the way, though the hall is given an uneasy look.

There's a low rumble. And then a louder THUMP, as if something heavy was just dropped.

In the breakroom, Kavi leaves the breakroom.

Kavi comes out of the breakroom.

Kavi has arrived.

In the breakroom, Rina's stance is guarded, her eyes on the doorway.

Kavi moves past Devon and on toward the cubroom, the rising tension seen in his shoulders and in his step.

In the breakroom, Flint raises both hands to rub at his forehead, bending over for a moment to lean on his lap. "Hey Devon," Flint offers.

In the breakroom, Devon takes a few backward steps, still looking at the hallway. Flint's voice draws his attention partially from it, gaze flicking to the other Cliath and nearby kinswoman. "...Hey."

It doesn't exactly take much looking on Kavi's part to find the source of the noise. There's a black-furred crinos inside the cubroom, with both of her arms wrapped around the bunkbed (that same bunkbed, poor thing). Just as he approaches, she starts lifting it off the floor again by one side, straining, teeth bared.

"Ex," Kavi calls, though even then, his voice is relatively quiet, relatively gentle. "What's wrong?"

In the breakroom, Rina wets her lips, glancing from Devon to the door. "Come get a drink, yeah?" she suggests.

In the breakroom, Flint looks at Rina. "I. I could start tea," Flint offers, quietly, getting up and to his feet with some care.

In the breakroom, Devon looks to the doorway again, nodding after a moment. He moves further into the breakroom, a few creases beginning to form along his brow.

Rogue's ears flatten at Kavi's voice, and she shoots him a terribly furtive look for a ravaging death monster. She hefts the bed off the ground again, just by half an inch, and then lets go of it. THUMP.

Kavi's brow furrows and he comes to stand just at the threshold. He gives a soft shake of his head as he watches. "What do you need?" he asks her, still keeping his voice calm.

In the breakroom, Rina nods to Flint, distractedly.

In the breakroom, Flint nods, and moves over to the kitchen. The kettle is refilled with water and then Flint sets it up, though most of his attention is on the door, and the cubroom beyond it.

In the breakroom, Devon jams his hands back into his pockets, glancing toward the door again. A couple of steps draw him in line to look toward the cubroom, if not see it properly. He casts a glance over his shoulder to Rina then Flint again, then takes himself from the room, angling back for Nieve's apartment.

Rogue's rumble deepens and her lips curl back. "/Out/," is the very grated, barely comprehensible reply.

In the breakroom, Flint looks at the kettle a moment, and then looks to Rina. "Tea, still?" he asks Rina. "Or, should I just." There's another pause, as Flint considers. "I should go up to, to the roof a bit. And, then maybe to bed and rest."

Kavi glances back over his shoulder as Devon approaches, but his focus quickly returns to the cub with another shake of his head. "No," he says. "You called me. And I came. Like I promised. If... If you don't need me? Shift back to homid and tell me, and I'll go."

Rogue shakes her large, furred head back and forth vigorously, then jabs a claw at herself. Her teeth bare a little more.

In the breakroom, Rina glances to Flint, then to the door. "Yeah, that, ah." She looks to him, then, warily. "Might not be a bad idea."

In the breakroom, Flint turns the kettle back off, and then nods. "Alright, then." There're a few steps taken toward the doorway, and Flint pauses. "Goodnight, mom," he says, much more quietly, before he steps out into the hall.

In the breakroom, Flint leaves the breakroom.

Flint comes out of the breakroom.

Flint has arrived.

Flint steps out into the hall with a careful glance towards where Kavi is and a nod, but the cliath's headed for his own apartment, further down the hall.

Kavi casts another backward glance when Flint approaches, but once more, his attention quickly returns to Ex. This time, he nods, and his gaze turns downward, expression apologetic. "Shift," he tells her again, this time more firmly. "We can talk about when. And how."

Rogue runs a tongue over her teeth and whiskers. She takes one step back from the bed, and closes her eyes. It takes a few moments, but it's not nearly the struggle it was last time. The shift is smoother as well, though the homid Ex looks rather disheveled, and nearly as agitated as she was in crinos.

Kavi nods when Ex takes homid form again, and he gestures to the break room. "You... You can come have some tea, or juice. And we can talk. I. I talked to Morgan. About the island. And we can go there."

Ex starts toward the hallway, fidgeting all the while. She doesn't say anything to the mention of the island, though Kavi does get another quick, furtive glance.

Kavi heads back to the breakroom as soon as Ex starts moving, and his path takes him to the table where he left his glass.

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)
Rina
Memorial
Information Board: Skindiggers Cult

Obvious exits:
Out

Ex picks out a seat of her own, and sits down at the table without any fuss. One gloved hand makes a loose fist on the table top.

Rina's busy making tea. She glances over her shoulder--though her body language holds a wary tension.

Kavi takes a sip from his glass before joining Ex at the table. He sits where he can see the kin, and his gaze rests on her for a long moment before he returns to the cub. "I wanted to take you, before. I. I'm sorry we couldn't. But I talked to Morgan, and. She said it would be okay."

"Okay," Ex says. Her tone is low. "...But can we go to the Fury people place? I'm not gonna run. Heard you can find me with magic and shit."

Rina glances over her shoulder to the girl.

Kavi swallows at the question and looks up to Rina. "I. I don't know. I can ask." He looks down at his glass and takes another sip. "Can I... Why do you want to go there?"

Ex wets her lips as she glances between both Kavi and Rina. "The Fury girl said it was in the woods. I /gotta/ go outside. The buzzing's too loud and the rooms are getting too small. There're things around that bed when you're not looking. You can come too, you and her, and that guy who gave me the gloves."

"The island, for a while, first," Rina says gently. "You'll like it there. And it's outside. No rooms. No locks.

Kavi nods. "We can go to the island, for now. The woods near the other houses... It's not safe, right now. But on the island? You can be outside, without the walls. We'll be with you, but you'll be able to have some space."

Ex's exhale is clearly frustrated. "What do you mean? Why's it not safe?"

"There's some... really bad shit goin' on in the woods out there, right now," Rina says quietly.

"It's hard to explain. I..." Kavi trails off for a moment, catching the corner of his lip between his teeth as he looks across to Rina. "I can show you. When we go to the island, we can stop on the way. But. If you saw how Devon was hurt, yesterday? It's. It's because of what's happening, there."

"Well, but--" the frustration only seems to grow. "They're out there, aren't they? Don't you have someplace with people that's not here?" Ex's fist clenches a few times. "The island's great, but then I gotta come /back/. Or I gotta stay there alone."

Rina shakes her head swiftly. "No. LEast, I don't think so." She looks to Kavi for confirmation.

Kavi folds his arms on the table, and his brow furrows with worry, with confusion and concern. "I. There's no place that you could be outside easily. There's a house that... That all the tribes share..." He trails off again, looking to Ex and studying her closely. "I don't know if that would be better... or worse. It... It would be harder to protect you. And it would still be walls, all the time, just different walls, and different faces."

Ex seems to entirely deflate. She brings that fist up to rub hard at one eye, and then ends up resting it against her forehead.

"I think the island was a good idea," Rina murmurs.

Pouring cups of tea, she brings two over.

Kavi takes a moment, but then nods again. "Tomorrow. We'll go out there, tomorrow, and. We could bring tents, if you want to stay the night?" He looks to Rina, the question meant for her, as well.

Ex's mouth tugs at the corners, but she still doesn't say anything.

Rina nods swiftly. "Yeah. I'll make sure we can borrow the car."

"We don't have to decide until it's time," Kavi says. "We'll bring what we need and. And if we want to stay, we can, and if not, we can come home, again."

Ex gives an odd little, fully bodied jerk, and then she looks up. "What?"

Rina looks to Ex, warily.

Kavi stills his body, his breathing, as he looks across to Ex again. "After we're there. If we want to, we can stay the night. And if not, we can come back here."

Ex licks her lips again, and then gives a shaky, jerky nod. "Yeah." Pause. "Sure."

"Not gonna leave you alone," Rina says softly.

Kavi nods his agreement. "We'll give you space. But I promise. We won't leave you."

"I think my head's gonna explode," Ex says, after a few moments of silence. "I think it's gonna blow right apart and splatter all over the room. But the Bitch said she couldn't see or hear anything."

Kavi catches his lower lip between his teeth and he casts a glance to Rina. "Do you think... Can you wait until tomorrow? We could go, now. If you think that would help? If Nieve couldn't find anything--" He breaks off there, and swallows.

Rina frowns a little, looking to Ex worriedly.

"I don't know," Ex says. "If there was a bomb in my head, it's not going to care if it goes off here or somewhere else."

Kavi pushes up from his seat, slowly, carefully. He looks to Ex and then to Rina. "I want to try something. But. I think we should go downstairs. In case." He swallows again, and his gaze dips downward before returning to the cub. "I can do something. A. A gift. A magic trick? It isn't meant to hurt, but... But for people like me, and like you... Sometimes it's hard. I won't do it, if you say no, but. But if you're willing to try? It could let me hear what you're hearing, and. And feel what you're feeling. And maybe... Maybe I could understand what it is."

"What about doing it out on the island?" Rina asks. She might feel better outside-- I mean, would you?" she asks, looking to Ex.

Ex eyes Kavi for a moment. "...You're not bald enough to be Professor X," she says, very seriously. Rina gets a glance. "I dunno. How's it work?"

Kavi's brows crease at Rina's suggestion, and he nods to her. "It. It's not telepathy. I wouldn't see anything, or hear anything, you didn't want me to. It... it would connect us, though. Inside." He touches the fingers of one hand to his temple. "It makes a world, inside. A world... like a dream. I could see and hear whatever you want to share, but only that much."

Ex looks back to Kavi. "...I'm not sure you'd like that very much. What exactly do you want me to share?"

Kavi's gaze ducks downward, just for a second, and then returns. "When. If you allow it? When we're there? You can share the sound, so I can hear it. You can share the... the feeling of it. So it's more than just words. So I can /know/ what's happening to you."

Rina watches quietly, something guarded in her eyes.

Ex's chin tips up just a fraction. "Okay," she says, after a beat, though she sounds a little confused.

Kavi draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. "Do you want to go to the island, first? We can do it, there, where there won't be any walls?"

Ex shrugs. "Don't think it'll make any difference."

Kavi nods. His gaze ticks to Rina and then to the door. "Let's... Let's go to the basement. In case. And after, if you want to go to the Island, we can."

Rina looks to Kavi. "I'll stay up here?"

Kavi nods to the kin. "Maybe... Maybe pack the tents, in case we go?"

Ex pushes against the table and stands up.

Rising, Rina comes over to him, a hand lacing into his as she gives him a swift kiss. Inoffensive, but the link between them is obvious. "Will do," she says, and walks out/

Kavi gives Rina's hand a squeeze before he releases it, and he watches her for a moment before he leads the way down to the basement. "Don't worry," he says, as he turns to face the cub. "I don't need to touch you."

Ex looks a little uneasy, but nothing worrying. She watches Kavi carefully, with her hands hanging loosely at her sides. The reassurance doesn't seem to do anything to ease her discomfort; but then, it doesn't seem to make it any worse either.

Kavi takes in a slow, deep breath, and then another. "Okay," he says, his voice dropping to near a whisper. "I'm going to start." There's a beat, and then the subtle pressure of the galliard's attempt to connect them.

Ex jerks again; it's smaller this time, less alarmed, and she reigns in the initial resistance fairly quickly. There's a grunt from the cub, and then she lets it happen.

The initial appearance of the dream is that of darkness, a column of light in the center of a space whose walls are far enough off to be lost in the darkness, but close enough to affect the way sound travels. Sound. The space is mostly silent, except for the galliard's steady breathing, and somewhere, far away, a faded echo of a higher pitch. It's muted, and difficult to make out, but still faintly audible. Here, Kavi appears younger than he does in the world, everything about him seems somewhat softer. He extends a hand in invitation. "All you have to do is think about it. Think about what you hear and feel, and you can share it, here."

Ex breathes deeply. "Okay." Nothing seems to happen for a little while. But then, a version of the basement super-imposes itself over the dreamscape. The shadows seem darker, the lights brighter--painfully so, in fact--and there's a dull, constant throb behind the eyes, weird little needle prickles across the skin. There's a buzzing too, a sound that comes and goes, first quiet, then unbearably loud. Sometimes it cuts out altogether. And sometimes there are whispers, barely heard or imagined, underneath the buzzing. The walls seem immediately far too close, the ceiling far too low. It's hard to breathe, even though air is plentiful.

In the real world, Kavi takes a sharper breath, tensing against the sensations. He forces his breathing to slow, to steady, and the act is reflected in the dream. "Breathe," he says to Ex. "Slow. Calm. Let the walls go." He swallows, and focuses again on his own breath. "Let me hear the sound... Feel what you feel." His eyes close in both worlds, letting him concentrate on the sounds.

Ex breathes, slowly and not entirely smoothly. There's a sense of panic, of eyes in the walls, staring at them, of the shadows opening up and swallowing everything. Underlying it is a sort of manic, crushing despair, restrained, but only just. And threading through it all, the panic and the breathlessness and the despair, is an unending, burning /fury/, a constant furnace of Rage, a desire to destroy everything around them. Ex's image has slightly changed in the dreamscape as well; her eyes look black and dead, with no whites showing.

Kavi nods slowly, and though it takes obvious effort, now, he keeps his breathing in that steady rhythm. "You're safe, here," he says, and then falls silent for several breaths. "Let me... let me hear the sound again. Just... Just the sound that you think is something they put in you. Let me hear it, the way you do."

The buzzing rises and falls again, with the unintelligible whispers which may or may not actually be there. Sometimes the buzzing sounds like bees, but more often it's mechanical--like a rattling fan, or a distant engine. And then, without any warning, there's a scream that makes Ex jump, both in the dream and in reality It doesn't sound human. A monkey, most likely.

There's a flare in the background the inhuman scream echoing off walls far more distant than the ones in Ex's version of the dream. Kavi clamps down, and the echoing scream ends almost as quickly as it began, but a moment later the galliard lets the dream world fall away. "Okay," he says, and pulls in a deeper breath. "Okay."

Ex, her eyes back to their usual feverishly bright blue now that reality has returned, watches Kavi carefully. She seems no more and no less tense than before, though there's an air of added wariness to her.

Kavi shakes his head. He's tense, but controlled, and he works to keep his breathing steady. "It's okay," he says to the cub. "I... It's okay. I don't know. Yet? I don't know, yet, what it is. But. But I think that will help. I know... I don't think there's a bomb in you. Or anything like that."

Ex's jaw tightens, and her lips thin. "Okay," she says in return, though she doesn't sound entirely convinced. "Maybe I /am/ a bomb. Figuratively. Literally. I don't know. Ticking away. That's how it feels."

Kavi nods and as his breathing steadies, he looks to Ex with a softer expression. "It hurts," he says. "I'm sorry. I... Some of it is the rage. The bomb that... that you are? That you feel like you are? Some of that is because of the rage we have. But. There's more. I don't know how to heal the rest, but. We'll find a way."

"Get more guns," Ex says, her eyes narrowing faintly. "I keep telling you. They're human, so they die when you shoot them."

Kavi swallows and shakes his head. "We have guns," he tells her, and gestures toward the stairs. "But the guns... They won't heal the things that are hurting you. All the rage... You can learn to have that as part of you, and learn to use it, and let it out. The other things... The rest of what they did?" His lips press tight and he breathes in through his nose. "We'll find a way to make it stop hurting."

Ex shakes her head very, very slightly, but she doesn't say anything.

Kavi starts up the stairs, but he pauses and looks behind him. "Do you want to go, now? Or. Or sleep, first, and go in the morning?"

"I'm tired," Ex says, slowly. She apparently considers that an answer, because she starts up the stairs as well.

Kavi nods and continues on his way. "After breakfast. We can have pancakes."

Ex gives Kavi's back a very strange look. She says nothing.

----


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:
Flint
Memorial
Information Board: Skindiggers Cult

Obvious exits:
Out

Out in the hall, Rina goes into the breakroom.

Rina enters from the hallway.

Rina has arrived.

Out in the hall, Kavi goes into the breakroom.

Kavi enters from the hallway.

Kavi has arrived.

The breakroom is quiet, not quite empty. There are two empty beer bottles on the dining table, and in the kitchen, Flint leans over the sink. The other empty bottles are clearly and easily visible, three of them at the top of the recycling. The teen is dressed in loose jeans and a loose teeshirt, which leaves his lower arms visible as they support him against the counter, and both arms have been haphazardly makeshift bandaged from wrist to elbow, though blood wells through in places.

Kavi opens the stairwell door, but he holds it for the others, rather than simply stepping through.

Rina comes through, windblown and a little sun-kissed, her smile fading when she sees Flint. "Jesus, what happened?"

Ex comes in shortly after Rina; she's shoulder hunched, though there's color to her cheeks where there hasn't been in some time, and her hair has a reason to be disheveled beyond lack of care. She remains slightly behind Rina, peering toward Flint from under hooded lids.

Kavi lets the door close behind him and he follows the others into the breakroom. He moves faster, after Rina speaks, and he comes to where he can see the cliath, brow furrowed.

Flint bends over further, elbows on the counter and retching for a moment, head tilted forward. Nothing's said, yet, though, and shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath. "Had to, saw April today, got out of there before I lost it on her," Flint says, words slurred but perhaps more coherent and with less of the usual word salad. "But."

Rina lets out a breath, walking across to Flint with worry in her eyes. "Christ."

Ex's eyes slide from Flint to Rina, and then to Kavi. Her face scrunches up a little; there's clearly a remark there, sitting on her tongue.

Kavi tenses as he sees Flint more clearly, as he hears the boy's explanation. He swallows, and when Ex looks to him, he gives a little shake of his head. "Thank you," he says to her, his voice too soft to travel across the room.

Flint reaches, turns on the water in the sink, and there's a dry heave even as he does so. Turns the water off again, and though there's a nod of acknowledgement to Rina, the younger galliard doesn't look at her, just down at his arms. "I'm fine," he say slowly, but it comes across rather flat. "'ll be fine."

Rina drops to one knee by the couch. "Tell me what happened?" she asks softly.

Ex chews on the unspoken words for a moment, and then clearly says something else. "Who's April?"

Kavi draws in a breath and then lets it out again, slowly, control evident. He gestures toward the area by the computers, giving the other two space as he moves out of the doorway. Looking back to Ex he answers, his voice still quiet. "She's one of the Furies. She. She knows how to... to make people angry. And. And doesn't always know when to stop."

Flint leans over the sink for a moment longer, then moves, slowly, steps not straight, to sit down on the couch, looking at Rina. "Don't want to shift," he says to Rina, one hand wrapping around the other wrist, around the bandages.

Rina's eyes are haunted. "You don't hafta, kiddo," she says softly.

Ex follows after Kavi, with one last glance over her shoulder. "I can do that," she tells him. Her voice is quiet, but there's confidence there. She doesn't seem to consider this a bad thing.

Kavi's eyes close for a moment and he nods as they open again. "You can," he agrees, and his lips pull downward in a frown. "But you don't have to." He glances toward Rina, and then the doorway, before returning to the cub again. "Anyone... Anyone who can read people? Anyone who can... can understand people? Can use that skill, that knowledge, to make them angry. But it's not... It's a dangerous thing to do. Not just because of... how we might react? But. Because if you do it enough? You lose. You end up... without anyone." Though his voice remains soft, it isn't a whisper, and his words may carry to the much closer couch.

Ex's mouth tugs downward as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I /am/ without anyone," she points out.

Flint takes a deep breath, hand closing a little tighter around his wrist. If nothing else and the younger galliard doesn't shift, it'll need to be rebandaged. "Lex an' I," he starts, now obliging with Rina's request, "were at the park. Her friend Harper went into the water to go after some, some kid? And. Firsted, and so. And the girl was really. Was plainly Fury, and." The boy's shoulders shake, a little, and he swallows.

Rina wets her lips, relaxing on her heels. "Fuck."

Kavi shakes his head, a sharp denial of Ex's words. "No," he says aloud. "You have me."

Ex looks at Kavi for a moment, and then glances toward the other conversation. "I don't understand."

Flint runs one thumb along the bandaging, up towards his elbow, presses down at some point along it, enough that he draws in breath through his teeth, but it seems to help Flint concentrate. "We took her t-to Edgewood," he says. "Lex was gon' stay with her and Ky left a note with the Furies t' come pick her up, but. But when we, when we got out there, April was all already there."

Flint takes another, slower breath in, and adds. "Tristan was--- he was at the park. His driver gave us a ride, he made. He dealt with all the people and made sure, we had space, clothes for Harper."

Rina takes a breath, and gives him a small nod.

Kavi catches the edge of his lip between his teeth. His gaze follows Ex's and then returns again to search her face. "Ask me," he says, his voice once again dropping to a near-whisper. "Ask me anything, and. I'll help you understand."

Ex gives a faint sigh. "Is this all because she said /mean words/?"

Flint leans over his lap, leaning on his elbows, and tears creep down Flint's cheeks. Just a few. He doesn't look at Rina anymore, but at least he doesn't seem to be paying any attention to Ex and Kavi. "April was April. Harper was-- at the park, last time. That 'some girl' I, I mentioned. And Harper recognised April and April started, threats, spewing stupidity about, about men and all," he says, "and other stuff, and I. I left. I came home." He pauses, then adds, more quietly yet. "The... the first aid kit's still up on the roof."

Rina nods minutely. "I'll go up and get it." She touches a hand to Flint's knee. "Ya did good, kiddo."

Kavi's expression changes, hardening, but only slightly, and he stands a little taller. His voice, though, remains soft, remains both quiet and gentle. "We all. All of us have scars. Have things that... that put us back into our worst days. Sometimes, all it takes is words." He glances across to Flint and then returns. "I don't know what it was. When he's ready, he might tell me. And the more we heal, the... the harder it is for someone else to put us back in that place."

Ex looks away from that hardening expression, and one hand lifts to scratch harshly at the cheek scar on the cheek closest to Kavi. She continues frowning, and again she glances toward Flint. "What's this men shit? Fezzik said something about that I think."

Flint takes another breath inwards, this one closer to a hiss. "I tried to shower, first. Tried other things that didn't make it better, didn't help," he says, very quietly. "And..." the younger galliard looks at Rina, now. "I. I think my knife... is still on the roof, too? It... by the garden."

Rina gives his knee a little squeeze. "It's a'right. I'll get it."

Kavi's eyes close at the question, and he takes a moment to draw in another deep breath. His eyes open again, but it's still several seconds before he tries to answer. "Every tribe believes different things. We all... We all have the same core. About Gaia and our purpose. But. Every tribe has a different way to serve that purpose. The Furies. They believe." As he speaks, the tension in him rises, and his voice takes on a slightly different tone. The whisper changes from an attempt at quiet, to a tightening of the throat. "They believe that women should be in charge. That men... That we're not worth..." He pauses, and when he begins again, the words flow more smoothly again. "They have no men in their tribe. Only metis, because they feel shame for bringing them into the world. The rest. They give away. They used to kill them. But now they give them away to other tribes."

Rina rises, and slips out.

Ex blinks a few times during Kavi's explanation, but her expression remains more or less the same. Eventually, after a few mouth twitches and a slight narrowing of one eye, she says, "...There's a tribe with a 'No Boys Allowed' rule?"

Flint glances up, and his gaze tracks Rina out, lingers on the doorway for a long time. It's uncertain if Flint's paying attention to Kavi's words or not. He switches which wrist is held in which hand, presses down hard and bites his lower lip, silent.

Rina leaves the breakroom.

Rina has left.

Out in the hall, Rina comes out of the breakroom.

Kavi looks to Rina as she slips out, watching the doorway for another moment even after. He nods to Ex as he returns again. "Some... Some just don't want men in the tribe. But some. Some take all their anger and use it against us. Some..." He trails off without offering anything more.

Ex shakes her head slightly. "That's a real weird thing to make a whole tribe around." She pauses. "But they've /got/ men in the tribe. Fezzik's a guy, and the horse feet guy is a guy. Why's metis different?"

Flint rises shakily to his feet, moving back to the kitchen. His steps are slow, slow enough to be steady despite the teen's drunkenness, and then Flint goes about getting down a cub, to fill it with water. This is done almost with no regard for his current injury, though there's strain evident in the lines of his posture.

Kavi brings a hand up to rub against his eye, and his fingers rake through his hair before he brings it back down. "Did anyone tell you about... how metis come to be? About our laws, or. Or about what it means to be metis?"

Ex shrugs and shakes her head. "Metis are GLS-2," she replies. "They've got some weird handicaps, I guess. The horse feet guy said that weird shit about killing GLS-2 babies."

Flint sets the cup of water down on the counter, wordlessly, slow-moving as he goes to take the two bottles from the table to the recycling. Then, carrying the water in both hands and still not avoiding spilling a little, Flint makes it back to the couch.

Kavi casts a quick glance toward Flint, brow furrowed. "Weird handicaps..." he repeats, and then nods. "Metis. Our laws say that no garou is allowed to mate with another. When we do? If someone breaks that law? A metis is born." He pauses there, and his brow furrows again, lip caught between his teeth. "You. You're homid. At least one of your parents was human. Or kin. And you were born in this form. If one of the parents is wolf, or wolf kin, then the child is born in lupus. But a metis? A metis is born in crinos. And. A lot of the time... Even an infant crinos is dangerous. A lot of the mother's don't survive."

"What, you mean they're born like..." Ex's forehead wrinkles. "How the fuck does /that/ work?" She sounds incredulous, at best.

Flint sits down on the couch and returns his attention to his lap, his arms, poking at the cuts underneath the bandages. The water's set on the coffee table, the younger galliard zoning out a little.

Kavi shakes his head. "It... It doesn't always. And then. They can't change until they're older. They can't live as humans, and they can't live as wolves. A lot... They get locked in cages." Again, the galliard's voice takes on that edge of tension, as the topic obviously cuts too close to home. "Raised in cages." He shakes his head to clear it, and draws in a breath. "But. It's important to understand. They all have... deformities. Some so severe they can't survive, some just... make things more difficult. And all of them? Male or female? All of them are sterile. They can't have children. Ever."

Out in the hall, Rina goes into the breakroom.

Rina enters from the hallway.

Rina has arrived.

"Which, in our world, kind affects your standing." Rina's voice comes from the doorway. The words are hoarse, flat.

Kavi's eyes close, tight, at the voice from the doorway, and he swallows hard, but doesn't turn.

"That is fucked up," Ex says, sharply. Loudly. "/Fucked up/." She actually straightens and steps away from Kavi a foot or so, apparently so that she can turn back to him and repeat, "Really /fucked up/."

Kavi swallows again before he opens his eyes. He nods to Ex, not even trying to find words, and then turns to look toward Rina.

Flint is backed into a corner of the couch and focused inward enough, on the pain from his actions, that he's more or less oblivious to the conversation. Of course, that could be due to drunkenness and blood loss, too.

Rina's attention falls on the Cliath, and her expression darkens visibly. The kit's still slung over her shoulder, as she heads for Flint.

"Fucked up," Ex says, and now there's more temper to it, more bite. "What the /fuck/." She breathes. "Nick was talking about you people like you were superheroes or something. Like you did all this great stuff, even though it was hard. But." She gestures with a sharp motion toward Flint. "All I see is people getting into stupid fights and half killing each other! And you're like, you're..." She looks back to Kavi, eyes narrowed, but whatever word she's looking for, it doesn't seem to come.

Kavi follows Rina's progress, still without speaking, but when Ex goes on again, he turns back to Ex with another nod. He holds his hands out a few inches at his sides, palms toward the cub. "We aren't heroes. We just are."

Flint doesn't quite register Rina's return, and his face is streaked with tears, though the tears have since stopped. His right hand is clenched around the bandage on a part of his left arm, though why is perhaps uncertain.

Rina glances toward Ex. "You'll see the rest soon enough," she says quietly. Then she heads over to the boy, taking both of his hands in her own, still standing. "No," she says firmly.

Flint is compliant, at least, and his grip tightens around one of Rina's hands. "Don't make me shift?" he asks, very quietly. "Please?"

Rina: That last was s'posed to be gentle. Idunno how it came out with the wrong adverb.

Ex's jaw clenches tightly, and she says to Kavi, through clenched teeth, "Well you /need/ to be!"

"I won't," Rina says, her voice still gentle. Her brow's lined with worry, though. "Why?"

Kavi keeps his focus on Ex, now, without even a blink. "We do what we can. What we need to do. Because we need to. But we aren't perfect. What we can do? It's not... We haven't been made better than humans. We can be strong and fast. And we can heal. But it isn't because we're better than humans. We can hurt. And we have so much anger, more anger than we can contain, sometimes. We're not heroes. We're garou."

Flint shakes his head, minutely, slowly, wincing and squinting his eyes shut at the jolt that brings to the world. The younger galliard doesn't let go of Rina's hands, and doesn't quite answer the question. "It helps," Flint says, barely audible. "It makes everything slow down."

Rina sits down, finally, without letting go. "What does, hon?"

"Isn't about being /perfect/," Ex retorts. "Locking babies in cages isn't /not being perfect/, it's fucked up! And you've gotta be--" She pauses again, visibly wrestling with her own temper, before stabbing a finger in Kavi's direction, "You've gotta be better than humans. Okay? /You/ need to be /better/."

Still with his gaze locked on Ex, Kavi nods. He looks as though he might speak, but he makes no move to do so, yet, not even to draw in a deeper breath.

Flint's grip loosens, one hand letting go, and he very slowly points that hand at the opposite arm, barely touching the bandages, but clearly indicating what he's done. "It... feeding the earth. It. Made it slow down, makes it not hurt like it did." There's almost guilt, shame in the cliath's tone.

Ex starts to say something further, but she's distracted. Her glance goes sharply to Flint, and remains there. She stares.

Pain creases Rina's expression, adds years to her age. "Oh, honey," she says, almost a sigh.

Kavi follows Ex's gaze, but his goes not to Flint but to Rina, and he swallows again.

More red seeps through the makeshift job of bandaging that Flint's done, bandage wrapped hastily around to partially stop bleeding as well as he could, some areas soaked nearly through. The cliath swallows, eyes squinting shut, and his shoulders are wracked with an unvoiced cry, but he's compliant, quiet.

If anything, Rina radiates acceptance, understanding--it's something about her posture, the look on her face. She twists around to pull the coffee table closer, so she can put the kit there. "It's all right," she murmurs. "I know. I know."

Ex's hands both clench into fists. She's still staring at Flint.

Kavi watches for a moment more and then turns back to Ex. "Come with me," he says to the cub, and then heads for the door.

Flint doesn't notice the cub's presence at all, right now, doesn't seem to hear Kavi's words either. His focus is forward, and he nods, quietly, focusing on Rina. His breathing evens again. "Needed to make it slow down, after this afternoon," he says, barely above a whisper.

"But," Ex starts to protest. And then she heaves a sigh, teenager-special, and slumps off after Kavi.

Rina presses her lips together hard, looking at him. "I know," she says softly. "I know how it--" A breath, and she twists away to put a few things in her lap: gauze, sticky vetwrap, scissors. Her gaze is on her work, as she begins replacing the bandages.

It's bad, but Flint's compliant, half-dazed, almost more at ease now. Each arm's rather a mess, not quite a whole and single elbow-to-wrist, but several smaller, deep lengthwise cuts, none of them neat.

Rina works efficiently, layering gauze and applying a minute of pressure to slow things down further. "It's all right, kiddo," she says gently. "It's fine."

Flint's breath pulls in through his teeth at one point, and he nods. "I-I'm sorry," he whispers, the guilt still there, another few tears escaping. "I. I had to." He pauses, then, even more quietly, adds, "Thanks."

"Ya don't gotta be sorry," she says, eyes on her work.

Flint nods, and just breathes through the rest of the process of the redoing bandages, holding himself still and the occasional hiss of breath of not wholly unwelcome pain. "I..." there's another whisper, and he looks up, at Rina. "Won't, do it again unless... I, really need to, yeah?"

Rina looks to him, then, something deep and compassionate in her eyes. There's pain, as well, but it's pain shared, rather than suffered. One hand comes up to touch his cheek. She gives a little nod. "I know," she says quietly. "Why y'think I got so many scars?"

Flint bites his lower lip a little, and nods, no words coming though he opens his mouth for a moment. "Thank you mom," he whispers. Flint runs his fingers gently over the newly done bandages, and eye contact breaks off, gaze dropping to his lap. There's a breath in. "Can I... get the knife back... tomorrow, or. Or, a few days?" Slight uncertainty creeps into the very quiet tone. "I. This' enough, but. I'm not, if I had it, I..."

He doesn't have to see the telltale shimmer in her eyes, when he addresses her that way. Or the ache of empathy. "Y'don't feel safe, yet?" she asks, and at least her voice is reasonably composed.

Flint nods, slowly, then again, quiet as he folds his hands in his lap and leans forward, head bowing.

"It's aright," she says quietly, a husky near-whisper. She tucks a stray lock of hair back behind his ear.

Flint's breathing is level, even, a calmness that's half-daze, and he manages a faint, tiny twitch of a smile. "Will be," the teen agrees. "It will be." He curls into the corner of the couch a little, rather than move, eyes starting to close.

"You wanna stay here?" she asks softly. "I'll get the blanket."

Flint manages to nod, again. One hand wraps around the opposite wrist, but it's not with the same forceful intensity as earlier, not hard, and the teen's dozed off, in and out and such, nearly before Rina's finished asking.

Rina moves around more quietly, after that, putting the kit away and draping a blanket over him.


----


Tenement Building - First Floor(#1738RA)

This long, somewhat narrow hallway is lined with plain brown doors on both sides; each door bears a brass three-digit number in the one-hundred range. The walls are a neutral tan color. The short carpet is a darker brown that doesn't stain easily. The lighting is both bright and easy on the eyes; there are smoke detectors spaced regularly on the ceiling and a couple of fire extinguishers along the walls. At the end of the hall, a large window leads to the fire escape.

Obvious exits:
Sue's Apartment Keir's Apartment Jack's Apartment Stairs

Sue's Apartment

Contents:
Stands-Between

Obvious exits:
Hallway

Stands-Between: So. Sue's apartment is on the first floor, not far from the elevator, and the door's usually ajar. Not just unlocked, but ajar, open, with something stuck in between door and doorframe to keep it from shutting.

Ex nodnods.

Stands-Between: In fact, I think that Sue likely replaced the door handle with one that doesn't lock, and removed the deadbolt, because Sue does Not need a door that locks.

It's mid-morning when Ex abruptly knocks on Sue's door. Hard. Hard enough to make it swing inwards, which leads to her sighing in exasperation, and knocking even more heavily on the door frame. It's a wonder she doesn't bruise her knuckles.

The inside of the apartment has a twin mattress in the middle of the room, a dresser and stereo on the far wall, the small kitchenette area to one side. Where Sue is, isn't immediately apparent until from the mass of pillows on the bed, a lupine head raises, turning to look at the door and scent the air as to who it is, eyes lazily blinking off sleep, and then there is a gentle whuff of greeting. Come in.

Ex strolls right on in, business-like, and then ruins the impression by flopping herself, teenager-incarnate, on the floor near the mattress. "You're horsefeet guy, right?" She looks a little uncertain, so she peers toward the pillows. "I gotta talk to you."

A few pillows are shoved aside as the metis gets to standing, and one of them is shoved a little further towards Ex. And then the metis shifts to homid, standing and stretching for a moment. "Name's Sue," he corrects, gently. "Good morning, Ex."

Ex ignores the pillow, apart from a glance. "Right. Okay, I want to talk to Fezzik and the really cheerful girl again. But you've gotta tell me about your tribe."

Sue nods, slowly, and he points to the boots a few feet from where Ex is, though they're closer to Ex than to Sue, as he sits down on the bed, facing her. "Alright. I can do that," he responds, though there's a hard swallow. "Can you hand me my boots? Please?" There's a pause, then he adds. "Where do you want me to start? There is a lot to tell... good, and bad."

Ex's jaw tightens--she looks like she's going to refuse--but instead, she eases up and snatches the boots, then passes them over. She's still wearing gloves; she doesn't seem to ever take them off, though she must sometime. "What's the point of them?" she asks. "Obviously Kavi and Rina and the little kid don't like them. But Kavi said you guys just don't like boys. And /then/ there was fucked up shit about GLS-2."

Sue nods slowly, taking the boots and setting them within reach, though he doesn't put them on yet. Instead, Sue looks at Ex, for a long moment. "Pegasus asks that the Furies, her daughters," he says, with a deep breath, "protect the helpless, help the abused, and protect the few, very few remaining Wyld places in the world. But her Daughters..." Sue pauses, then looks down at his lap. "The way Kavi-rhya explained it to me, explains it better than I had words for. They get so caught up in fighting against the oppression of women by men that they lose track, and sometimes they do a lot of harm, themselves."

Ex blinks once or twice during this explanation, but otherwise her expression remains set and unchanging. "What about you?"

Sue tilts his head to one side and huffs, a fairly questioning sound in and of itself. "What d'you mean?" he asks. "What about me? What are you asking?"

"Do you sometimes get caught up in stuff and do a lot of harm?" Ex asks.

Sue shakes his head as if the girl's asking a ridiculous question, though then his head bows, and she'd recognise the struggle for control and composure. "No," he says, quietly. "Pegasus asks /me/ to help those who are helpless, protect those who need it, too. Sometimes? Sometimes, though, I can't, because I'm still trying to get through things that happened to me. My tribe-sisters who raised me... lost track, and I suffered for it." He falls silent, then, for a long minute. "But Melodie-rhya hasn't."

Ex watches Sue carefully, through slightly narrowed, hooded eyes. There's no relenting when he makes that admission, though he might notice a faint, subtle /something/ shifts in her demeanor. "Well, if you can't," she says, "then sometimes you do harm, right? Not the same as the fucked up Furies, but /some/. Right?"

Sue pulls his arms around his chest. "And when that happens it... hurts me, too," Sue says, quiet. "I want to be able to help everyone who needs my help."

"Well, you can't help everyone," Ex says. There's an unspoken 'duh' at the end of that, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But I don't think it hurts you in the same way." She jabs a finger in his direction. "You're upset and guilty. But they might be dead or raped or beat up or something."

Sue nods once. "I'm not a cop, or anything-- I can't stop everything in the world. But that harm, that happens..." The words trail off. "But no. It's not the same as the... fucked up things that many of my tribesisters have done. Anyway." He glances up at her, as if moving the discussion on to the next question.

Ex crosses her arms over her chest. "But it's probably a little the same, sometimes," she pushes. "You both get caught up in stuff. There's no...you don't see what you need to, because of it, sometimes. It's all up in your brain and getting in the way."

The expression on Sue's face when he glances up at Ex is very, very hard, without any of the kindness that has been there. "And we get caught up in stuff as a result of conditioning, as a result of events as we were raised." He pauses, and glances back down. "Next question, kid," he says, words level. "Please."

Ex scowls at Sue, matching the hard look eye for eye. "What's the year?"

Sue raises his eyebrows, and then looks up at the ceiling. "Twenty-twelve," he responds.

Ex is quiet for a few moments. A shadow of something passes over her face, unreadable. "...I'm twenty-one."

Sue stares. The metis outright stares, one hand raising up to his forehead before he shifts to start pulling on his boots, which is a slow, painstaking process. "I'm eight and a half," he retorts. "But metis age different."

"I'm twenty-one," Ex repeats. "I'm not a kid."

Sue rolls his eyes, ever so slightly. "Garou define 'kid' different," he points out. "You're a kid, until you've learned everything you need to, and passed your Rite of Passage."

"Shut up," Ex snaps, suddenly harsh. "I don't care how you define it, /I'm not a kid/. I stopped being a kid a long fucking time ago, got it? Don't talk down to me like I'm stupid."

Sue raises his shoulders in a silent shrug, pulling on the second boot. "Alright. So. Next question, Ex."

Ex inhales deeply through her nose, and her eyes narrow to mere slits. "Where's Fezzik?"

Sue leans against a pillow, and tilts his head to one side. "Likely, he's at our tribe's house in the woods. He lives there. But if you'd like, I can let him know you want to talk to him, and he'll come here. Or possibly, you can ask Kavi-rhya and Rina, and they can take you there to talk to him."

Ex's chin jerks slightly to the side. "Tell him I want to talk to him. Kavi and Rina don't like Furies."

Sue bites his lower lip. "Kavi-rhya and Rina don't like the things that the Furies have /done/," he corrects her. "There're reasons I live here, and not at the house in the woods. I'm not... any more comfortable there, than Kavi-rhya would be. But I will go and I will let my brother know."

Ex sighs, exasperated, and asks, "Do you people do /any/ good things?"

Sue nods. "I volunteer, at the shelter. It's a little thing, but right now, it's what I can do. When I was in San Francisco, when," he pauses, and looks down at his lap. "The tribe there, operated a youth center to get kids off the streets, and some programs, against domestic violence, through schools, and community centers. And such. When I was... allowed out, I worked with the youth center."

"Fucked up," Ex mutters, darkly. She eyes Sue for a moment, her gaze still hard, and then looks away, off toward a wall.

Sue doesn't look up, but he does shrug. "Yes," he agrees. "Do you have any other questions, Ex?"

"Yeah," Ex says, as she looks back to him. "If I went with you guys, what would happen?"

Sue lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "What I can tell you," he says, "is that Melodie-rhya hasn't lost track. I trust her, and I trust my tribebrother." There's a pause. "But as to what would happen, you should ask them."

Ex shakes her head slightly. "I'm asking /you/. You're a Fury. And if you trust them, how come you don't like their place?"

Sue purses his lips. "I trust Melodie, I trust Moros. I trust Thea-- but April also lives at the house in the woods. And she and I have history."

He pauses, takes a breath, and continues. "And I don't live there, which is why you should ask them. Because I would be less involved in your teaching, and things, given as I don't live there."

"But you're a Fury," Ex pushes. "So you know what Furies do and think. And anyway, who the fuck is April? Everyone keeps complaining about her."

Sue shakes his head from side to side. "I'm a Fury, but I grew up isolated from my tribe, from my sept, exposed to the things that are fucked up and very little of the good," he says. "And even once I was cliath? Once I was considered an adult by the nation?" There's tension in the metis' posture, in his voice. "Things happened and I was still kept-- in the warehouse I grew up in, not allowed out, not given food or water beyond a bare minimum needed to stay alive. As punishment for existing, for having opinions."

Ex regards Sue flatly, eyes still hooded. "So why the fuck should I buy into any of this shit? Why shouldn't I just leave?"

"Because we're wolves. We're not meant to be alone. And because one Garou, against the fomor, the namebreakers, the leeches, the Black Spiral Dancers? Stands no chance." Sue pauses, and then continues. "And because here? The Hidden Walk is a good place. A truly good one, from what I have seen..." Another pause. "Also, who else keeps complaining about April-rhya?"

"You're not making it sound very good," Ex says. "I'm supposed to go die for you guys because if I don't I'll die to these other things. Meantime, everyone's so fucking.../broken/, they're almost having contests about it." The question about April, she blatantly ignores. "/Why should I give a shit/?"

Sue lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "You will figure out why you should care on your own. I can't answer that question for you, Ex," Sue says. "And now, you need to leave and give me some time to myself. I'll speak to you later."

Ex flashes her teeth at him. "Sure you will." She shoves up from the floor, turns, and stalks for the door, temper riding at her heels.

Sue settles down on the bed, and the metis shifts back to lupus before she's even at the door.