"Up here's the fun part."

[renferret]

Phoebe manages to get a tiny bit of information, Ex is extremely bad at apologies.


It seems to have become something of a habit for Ex to climb up to the roof and lurk, sometimes for hours. Normally, apart from the occasional scraping of shoes against shingles, she's relatively quiet. Not today, it seems. She's perched up at the very peak, with her head back, shouting wordlessly--and ceaselessly--at the sky. She has a decent set of lungs, to put it mildly.

The first sign the ahroun takes notice is when her bedroom window opens and she leans out, looking up. "What the hell, Ex?" she yells. A moment later the ahroun is climbing out, using a trellis to work up the side of the house til she can can pull herself up to the rooftop.

Ex pauses for breath a few times, and, once Phoebe pulls herself onto the rooftop, her shouting stutters out a bit until she finally stops, at least for the moment. She watches the Ahroun with rapt, if tense, attention.

Phoebe isn't winded, but it's not every day she uses that method to get to the roof. She brushes her hands clean and settles to a seat. "I see why you come up here," she comments. The tense, rapt look is noticed, but the ahroun doesn't address it right away. She is studying the cub in return, however.

"If anyone comes to get us," Ex informs Pheobe, as though she weren't just mindlessly shouting half a minute ago, "I can jump on them and break their back."

Phoebe finds that highly amusing. It makes the ahroun lean back against the roof, look up at the stars, and laughs warmly. "Chandini would like that."

Ex tips her head to the side, regarding Phoebe quizzically.

It takes a while before Phoe even notices, as she becomes wrapped up in watching the Stars. When she does glance over, she quickly answers the quizzical look. "Sorry. Chandini was a sister--another Fury that used to live her. She's actually Kavi's sister. Real sister. She used to come up here all the time. And I remember, her fostern deed-name was Falls on Her Enemy Like a Star to Earth."

Ex digests this in silence, while her gaze wanders away from Phoebe to the front lawn below. "I've been practicing," she states plainly. "And I can jump down from here if I'm in hybrid form, no problem. They'd be squashed, with their bones sticking out."

Phoebe doesn't argue. "Yeah. If they're human. Other things...maybe not." There's a small pause, and she adds, "By the way, please don't smoosh the humans. Like the mail man and such? It's not a good idea."

"Okay," Ex says, as if the request were terribly serious. If she's joking, there's no sign of it. "What about cops?"

"Yeah," Phoe says, as if she's actually thinking about it. "I'd stay away form them too. That's just trouble. Plus, I think some of our kin are cops." She looks over at the cub, then, and asks, "Why do you want to kill cops?"

Ex shrugs, rolling her shoulders forward. "They might tell the doctors where we are."

Phoebeblinks at this. "Why.." she begins, but then thinks of a better questions, "Were there cops where you were? Helping the doctors?" the ahroun gets excited, and she sits up from her casual star watching to turn more purposefully towards the cub.

Ex frowns, then gives the briefest shake of her head. "I didn't see any. But I think the doctors /listen/. I think maybe some cops tell them things. That's how they know to come and find you and stick you full of needles. So you shouldn't trust any cops. Before Fezzik found me, I made sure to run away from them. They ask questions."

Phoebe's shoulders tense. The ahroun brings her legs up so she can rest her arms on her knees, clasping her hands. One of those hands balls into a fist. "That's bad. It means other cubs could..." She stops and looks back to Ex. "Did you see any others in there? Like you? With the doctors?"

Ex's jaw momentarily locks, but she shakes her head again. "You see lots of things, you know. But they're not real. Only the doctors were real, most of the time."

Phoebe winces at that. It brings an anger to the ahroun's eyes, and that fist tightens just a little more. "Do you know where you were when the garou picked you up?"

Ex jerks her head to the side. "A park in the city. The one by the water, with the fountain. There's a bridge downriver where I was sleeping."

Phoebe continues the questions. "And you don't remember how you got there? Or from where?"

Ex frowns, and says, rather slowly, "I walked."

Phoebe nods, smilin ruefully to herself. "Yeah. 'Course." the ahroun decides to try and force herself to relax, so she leans back again and looks at the stars. "Do you think if we went back to that place under the bridge you might be able to see something familiar?"

"Rusting metal," Ex says, with a half shrug. "The water smelled bad. Before that, I followed the road to get here. It was a while, I was really fucking hungry. If I knew how to be a wolf that'd have been a whole lot easier."

Phoebe listens, frown deepening. "I wish someone else was here. Kavi, or something. I don't know the city well enough to know if that's a good clue, or nt. We should go see him. Ask the Walkers, or Gnawers."

"Okay," Ex says, without much commitment. "It's not a really good place to sleep though. This house is way better."

Phoebe double-takes. "I'm not taking you there to /sleep/," she says with a snort. "I'm going to track down the doctors and kill them."

Ex blinks a few times. "...Oh," she says, at last. "Okay, but the doctors aren't /there/. And you should be damn careful. They've got needles and gas. Drugs. Guns with needles. You'd have to kill them before they knew you were there."

Phoebe looks confused. "What do you mean the doctors aren't there?"

"Not under the bridge," Ex says, as if this should be obvious. "They might be in the city, but they're sneaky. I didn't see them. I think with all of you guys around, if they were in the city, you'd know. They'd shoot needles at you."

Phoebe explains. "We have gifts. Rituals. things that could lead us to what we want, if we know enough about the target--the people, or things. Names, or even just plain details. Maybe the bridge would be a good starting spot to try and track them." she thinks about the rest of what the cub says and answers, "Maybe. don't matter though. Gotta try and find them. Have to."

"That stuff," Ex says, knowingly; in a manner that makes it clearly she knows pretty much nothing about it. "Okay, but it was a pretty long time between the doctors and the bridge." And then she pauses. "Have to?"

"How long?" she asks, although the ahroun's visage suggests she doubts Ex will gauge time well enough to really answer. As to the question aimed at her, she shrugs. "That's our job. Besides, it angers me. Infuriates me. And I want to do something about it. Need to do something about it."

Ex frowns and shakes her head. "I don't know. A whole lot of weeks, maybe. I got away and I fucking ran."

Phoebe considers, "Maybe form a whole other town?" she suggests.

"I went through a bunch," Ex volunteers. "Fezzik's the only reason I stopped, because he made me. I wasn't going to. There's cameras everywhere, and cops looking at me. I was going to keep running forever, just in case."

Phoebes chin lifts. It's hard to tell whether the sigh that escapes the ahroun is one of relief or frustration. "that makes finding them much, much harder. Yes."

Ex says nothing. She tucks one foot under the opposite leg, and her gaze meanders toward the lawn again.

----


Greek House: Common Area(#2409RAJ$)

This is the central hub of the house. From here, you can still see the entrance foyer to the west, as well as the stairway that heads to the second story. Towards the eastern side of the common area is a set of glass doors that lead out to a courtyard. To the north, an arched doorway leads to what apparently serves as a less formal lounge, with a couch and an armchair, and to the south, an arched doorway leads to what appears to be a kitchen and dining area.

There are several chairs here, simple, elegant, yet functional in their design and intent. The room has a comfortable feel to it, but is a bit ascetic in design. The walls are off-white, the molding dark cherry wood and decorated with acanthus-leaf ornamentation at the corners. A pair of antique spears are hung crossed against each other on one wall, and a wall-relief depicting a scene of Grecian warriors hangs on the other. Above the mantle of the fireplace is a small statue of Artemis, on either side of that, dark metal candlesticks with ivory pillar candles. The entire room is a study in the contrast of light and dark.

Contents:
Phoebe
Sue
Twitch
Wallchart

Obvious exits:
Downstairs Upstairs Courtyard Out

Phoebe blinks at the Thing, but it's Sue's tone that surprises her more. She looks to the pup. "So, this is the infamous Twitch?" she says, crouching down to get the pup's attention. "Wow, she doesn't look like a Fury. Where does she come from?"

Twitch's ears and head come up and twist toward Sue, and a paw is set firmly down on the Thing. Her ears turn back slightly after a beat and she drops her head to pick up the Thing, only to pause when Phoebe speaks her name next. The toy, it certainly doesn't seem to fit in for anything else, is snapped up between her teeth and she approaches the Ahroun slowly.

"The Talons said she was a captive wolf somewhere. She got free. They had her for a while, then she decided that she wanted to be here, rather than the Talons' eschewing of all things human," Sue says. The abrupt sharpness from his tone is gone again, really, and Sue heads for the kitchen. "Melodie-rhya agreed, so."

There's a faint scraping from the roof, likely a familiar noise of late.

Phoebe listens, watching the cub while sue explains. "Huh," she says, tugging at the Thing idly, but not taking it from her. "C'mere, girl," she says, tugging again. To Sue, she asks, "How far have we gotten with her?"

Twitch growls quietly when the Thing is first touched, the sound almost a warning. It cuts off in surprise when the toy is actually just tugged and not actually taken. She pulls on it, experimentally, then releases it when she's close enough to start nosing and snuffling Phoebe.

Sue glances up at the ceiling, and towards the roof for a moment, before attention turns to the interaction between Twitch and Phoebe. "Not as far as Mel or I'd hoped," he admits. "Some things yes, some things... not so much. Was going to see if I could work with her on s-h-i-f-t-ing today." The word, one that Sue suspects Twitch may recognise in English, is spelled out, rather than alarm the cub. He sets the hiking pole aside, and when he comes out from the kitchen with a glass of juice, the metis is in Glabro. He steps back, to lean on the doorframe for the moment.

Phoebe lets the pup sniff her, the ahroun smiling faintly at the play. When the pup is done, she runs a hand over her back and then stands up to join Sue, encouraging the pup to join them. "If you give me a bit, maybe I can help? But first, I have an errand to run." She looks back down at the pup, and then to the metis. "I'll be back soon."

The scraping from the roof turns suddenly to running steps, heading toward the courtyard side of the house--and then a moment of silence, followed by a heavy, unpleasant /thud/ from ground-level.

Twitch crouches slightly when she's touched, wariness working into her posture. It all vanishes in an instant with noise from above demanding investigation. Her head tilts backward and eyes and muzzle follow the sound with soft whuffing sounds.

Sue nods to Phoebe, and offers Twitch a piece of chicken that he must have gotten from the fridge, to let the Ahroun get away without incident. His attention is briefly drawn to the courtyard, before he sets his juice down, and shifts abruptly to lupus to more easily address Twitch, a bit of dominance of posture backing his point. Twitch cub is going to work on learning to shift better, today, the metis declares.

Ex appears at the glass door, looking none the worse for wear, apart from being a little out of breath, and lets herself in. Her eyes go immediately to Sue, but then drop to Twitch, and she pauses just inside with her head faintly tilted.

Twitch stretches cautiously to take the piece of chicken. Once it's caught up in her jaws, she darts away from Sue and practically swallows the offering whole. An ear twists back and a small measure of attention is given to the Philodox, enough that she snorts at his decision for lessons.

Stands-Between huffs slightly, neutral greeting when Ex comes into the room, then paces over towards Twitch and bares his teeth. Twitch will *not* rite and become first-ranked, if she cannot shift smoothly to two-leg form, and *use* it. There's another pause, and the metis points his head in Ex's direction for a moment. Rogue can use wolf form, and she was born on two. Twitch must learn to do the reverse, use two-legs despite being born wolf.

Ex's teeth briefly show as she's pointed out, but it looks as though her mood is quickly souring. She vacates the door area and heads toward the kitchen, moving more at a stalk than what one would consider a normal human gait.

Twitch flicks a glance in Ex's direction, looking more toward the movement than at the woman herself. As Sue crowds closer, the wolf pup backs away. Ears fold back, flattening, and her muzzle furrows though teeth aren't shown. Pup can shift. Can be two legs or warform. The Shifting Briar has taught pup.

Doing once does not make doing. Stands-Between reenforces this with a quick, mostly gentle biting of Twitch's muzzle, then backs up, and sits down on his haunches. Shift.

Ex moves into the kitchen. A moment later, there's the sound of the refrigerator door opening.

Twitch snaps at the Metis when her muzzle is released, coming close but not enough to actually make contact. Done many many much times. She huffs and slinks away from Sue, turning to go into the kitchen after Ex.

Stands-Between doesn't seem to accept this as an answer, and gets up, placing himself fully in the Twitch's way, and baring his teeth at her again. Do again, now. Twitch cub has not done enough. Cannot /just/ shift in practise with one tribemate. Must do it when others ask you to, as well.

Moros comes down the stairs from the second floor.

Moros has arrived.

Ex reappears in the doorway, her mouth full of bread; and in one hand, what little of the slice is actually left. She eyes both cub and Cliath narrowly.

Twitch scrabbles backward when Stands-Between appears in front of her. Teeth bare this time, hackles rising, but she turns away to flee across the common area.

Stands-Between shakes his fur out, exasperation and frustration showing, and annoyance, before he moves to catch up with Twitch. For the moment of movement, the metis is a blur, and there's a snarl, as teeth dig into the scruff of Twitch's neck, his own hackles raised. Twitch will /do/, the metis reaffirms.

Ex methodically stuffs the rest of the bread into her mouth, nevermind that she hasn't swallowed all of the last, and takes this opportunity to slip out of the kitchen again, settling a few steps into the more open common area herself. She's watching the conflict carefully, but with an air of unconcern.

Moros clomps down the stairs, heavily and noisily. Upon entering the common area, he gives the scene a squinted, scowly look.

Teeth grab the pup and suddenly the world is at an end. Twitch lets out such a yowl, the apocalypse must be coming. She's dying apparently, turning to dead weight in the Cliath's jaws, unmoving but for the horrible, crying howl.

From the way that Stands-Between is positioned, it's quite clear that all he's doing is holding the scruff of her neck in his jaws. It's also evident that /he/ at least expected this racket from the cub, because it doesn't seem to impress him at all, and one forehoof is lifted to tap at the cub's muzzle. Stop that and behave.

Ex scowls darkly at the noise. It takes three swallows before she's got all the bread down, but when she does, she attempts to turn at least part of her attention toward Moros. "Hi."

Moros's scowl deepens at the noise; his head lowers slightly, oily tendrils of hair sliding over his face; his right hand tightens into a fist. His hard gaze slides away from the wailing lupus and over to Ex. He stares at her for a beat before flicking his hair back (well, some of it at least) and grunting something back that sounds like a hello.

Twitch finds footing that gives leverage enough to turn over. Somewhat. And but for a brief pause when she's knocked in the head, she continues bawling as if tortured.

Stands-Between releases the scruff of Twitch's neck with a growl, and knocks her in the muzzle again for a moment. And then bites her muzzle, firmly. Not enough to break skin, but enough to make her shut up. /Stop that/, you're annoying our tribemates. And me. The metis is insistent, keeping his advantage in position. Twitch refusing to shift when it is time to practise means Twitch is being bad, he adds. Twitch could be good, shift to two-legs.

Ex looks back to the confrontation. Her mouth opens--there is /clearly/ a remark there, and judging by the unpleasant, faintly mischievous look on her face, likely not one that will be either helpful or kind--but she bites back whatever she was going to say. Instead, she forcibly jerks her head back toward Moros. "I bet if you jumped off the roof on someone, they'd /really/ turn to jelly." From her tone, she apparently considers this a complimentary observation, rather than something completely out of the blue.

Moros's obvious annoyance lends truth to Sue's words to Twitch, though Ex's remark prompts a twitch of an almost-smile from the monster. "I've done that," he says. "Once. Not a roof, but... jumped down on a man from a fire escape." The smile widens crookedly, showing teeth and letting loose with a low, cruel-sounding chuckle.

The howling cuts off, but not the whining. Paws lift to push against Stands-Between's face or shoulders while a high pitched whimpering follows.

Stands-Between still seems unimpressed with the cub's antics of misbehaviour. At least, not enough to renege on the lesson that she had scorned to begin with and earn this, and at the high-pitched whimpering, the metis takes a forehoof and knocks her in the head again. Not hard, really, just as one might cuff a cub otherwise.

Ex's ever-present frown twitches briefly upward at Moros's response; but once again, she can't seem to truly ignore what's going on between Sue and Twitch. The cub suddenly twists toward them, drops neatly into lupus, and barks a single 'word' at Twitch. /Shift/!

Moros's good mood, brief as it was, vanishes like a drop of water on a hot frying pan. Indeed, as Ex is shifting down to wolf form and barking at the reluctant lupus, the big metis is choking back his own transformation... and clearly, had he shifted, he'd have done a lot more than just bark a command. He stands utterly still, rigid, hands opening and closing like they'd dearly love to be around someone's neck.

Twitch bats at Stands-Between, twisting and wriggling to gain some space. She's almost started by Ex's interjection, and her intent to escape becomes more frantic. However while paws push and slap at the Metis, she shifts. Practiced, she shoves the lupine philodox aside in passing through crinos. And on settling into homid, she crawls a little awkwardly away from everyone to settle, seated and panting, on the floor.

The halfmoon bares his teeth at Rogue this time, as Twitch pushes him aside, and he regains his footing, shifts up to glabro. The younger metis is very clearly annoyed, even if it's not threatening violence. He moves to grab a blanket from the couch, then. ~Next time,~ he growls, in Twitch's direction. ~You obey. The first time.~ Then his voice gentles, at least a little, but it is no less firm as he drapes the blanket on Twitch. ~For now, you are going to spend the rest of today in homid. When the moon comes up, you may retake your birth form.~ He pauses. ~Further, you are going to spend at least two hours in homid in the house, each day. For the full cycle of the moon.~

Rogue bares her teeth right back, without hesitation, her ears flattening even as her tail flags high and she fairly prances away from him. Her demeanor is triumphant, and definitely a little smug.

Moros simply glowers from his place near the stairs.

Twitch turns away from Sue, quiet pointedly implying that she's ignoring him. Her teeth bare when she comes near, though, showing her displeasure and that, despite being outside of her birth form, she can still bite. Without looking at the Philodox, she flicks her gaze to Rogue and then Moros, lips peeling away from teeth again, albeit more briefly.

Sue pulls his lips back from his teeth towards Twitch, but is distracted by the other cub. Instead, all that Twitch gets is another grunt. ~No excuses.~ Sue stands, and then there's evident and visible work for the metis to rein in his own anger that's brought up by something in Ex's manner, hands clenched into fists and teeth still bared. ~Do /not/ act superior!~ he says--clearly to Ex rather than Moros--volume raising dangerously for a moment.

Rogue makes her way back to Moros and drops to her haunches near his shoes. Sue's words draw a blank, irritable look from her, though the rest of her body language hasn't much faded.

Moros glances down at Rogue, then at Sue, then back down at Rogue. "He wants you to apologize," he tells the cub.

Twitch blows out a breath, what might be a derisive huff in another form sounds more like a heavy and resigned sigh in this one. She's otherwise silent, gaze angled toward Moros, Rogue, and Sue while her face remains turned away from them.

Sue's nostrils flare, and his glare abruptly turns from being focused on Rogue to being focused on Moros. It's brief, and most of the metis' anger remains focused on Rogue, and whatever else that Sue has to say is choked back for the moment.

Rogue tips her head up to look at Moros, and then back down a little to peer at Sue. Her ears splay a little looser to the sides now, irritable confusion overwriting everything else. Why?

Moros's gaze lifts from Rogue to Sue and settles there, heavy and... expectant.

Sue growls, a moment, teeth bared, and moves over to somewhere he can lean, stiffly, against a wall, and look at Moros, and Rogue. Mostly at Rogue. ~I don't /care/ if she apologises,~ he growls. ~Tell her what I said, the /first/ time!~ There's not really much calm in Sue's manner right now. ~/Superior/,~ he spits. ~She is a cub. She--~ the words choke off again, replaced by barely constrained anger.

Moros's lip curls up into a scowl as he flips his hair back and glares at Sue. "Tell her yourself," he says roughly.

Rogue hunkers down in place, her teeth showing again.

Sue glares at Moros for a brief moment, chin jutting out, and then there's a deep breath, that doesn't do so much to calm him on this issue. "For your presumption of superiority, and for being smug," he says, gravel and anger both colouring his voice, words quicker than they ought to be. "You will apologise for interference. You will apologise for impertinence." His teeth are bared still, and there's effort in holding himself still, and it's not entirely clear who his anger is aimed at.

Twitch shakes out of the blanket and starts for the stairs. It's mostly a crawl, given that she's moving like one who doesn't wish to be seen or stopped. She keeps her gaze angled toward the three as she approaches, but there's no intent to join in their discussion, only to slip past and climb to the upper floors.

Rogue stares blankly at Sue for quite a number of long, drawn out moments, with her neckfur slightly rippling. Then she tips onto her side with exaggerated slowness, her back legs spread as if to emphasize what's between them, though her tail doesn't tuck, and her ears don't lay back. The apology she offers is anything but sincere, and is clearly focused entirely around her genitals, and not on anything that Sue demanded she apologize for.

Sue snarls wordlessly, much louder in volume this time at the apology that Rogue does offer. "I did not say /mock/ me!" There's the hints of frenzy being pushed back, or something that easily could become frenzy, and he stalks forward, to move and put a hand firmly around her throat, teeth bared in her face.

Rogue's false apology doesn't last past the realization that Sue means to actually touch her. The cub suddenly gets her paws underneath her and attempts to dart away from him, biting at any fingers that come close; even going from that awkward position, she has a certain natural speed.

There's a part of Moros which takes a certain cruel amusement in watching this interplay between Sue and Ex. It's most likely the same part of him that enjoys watching things burn. The rest of him is just surly about the whole thing, surly and impatient.

Sue lacks natural speed, but this interchange hasn't left him lacking in anger. The expending of it to catch up with Rogue, however, pushes the metis up and into his birthform, with as close as he is to losing the grip on his anger at this topic, and the ragabash cub's actions. One clawed hand digs into her scruff to push her over and get her throat, regardless of biting and resistance. The grip's much firmer than the one he used on Twitch earlier, too, and his claws don't pierce skin, but they dig uncomfortably. There's a wordless, furious growl.

Rogue's entire demeanor changes. There's genuine anger and panic in equal measure, and she twists like a weasel in her attempts to get free. Quite abruptly, she too is in crinos, frothing, snarling, and kicking. It's not a frenzy; not /yet/ anyway, but she's clearly on the edge of one.

Moros, head tilted, watches the altercation intently.

The cub shifting to crinos doesn't seem to do much for Sue's temper, and he bares his teeth at her, abruptly shoving her away and relinquishing what grip that he has to focus on reining in anger. The whites of his eyes show, though. ~Do /not/ mock me!~ is the half-worded snarl, shoulders stiff with the effort of not giving into rage.

Rogue staggers back a few steps. She's hunkered over, with her hands flexing repeatedly. The Mother's Tongue is met with a snarl of her own, wordless and angry, her body language dripping with both fear and deep resentment.

Moros, scowling, lurches forward, boiling upward into Glabro form as he steps between them. "Act your auspice," he growls at Sue, and then turns angry, beady little red eyes onto Rogue. "And you..." He's still kind of struggling between anger and perverse amusement at her actions. "You provoked him deliberately."

Stands-Between's nostrils flare, but there's no further acting on the anger. It slowly, slowly starts to dissipate, helped by Moros's presence in front of him instead of Ex's.

Rogue makes a meaningless noise, and then, with considerable effort, manages to drop down a step into glabro herself. Words still take a while to come, though she's clearly /not/ looking Moros in the eyes now, and definitely not looking anywhere near Sue. "Yeah," she agrees, eventually. "Because he wouldn't be so mad if I had a penis. He wouldn't. He teaches everyone but me. Always wants to get away from me. Won't fucking /listen/ to /anything/ I say. I'm /the problem/. He gets mad at The Other Bitch because she won't follow the rules, but /he treats me like she treats him/." A little of the fire dies; if not much. "Life-on-the-Line says I have to respect him."

Moros places his hands on his waist and lowers his head slightly, gathering patience. After a bit, he jerks his head up, flipping his hair away from his face, and steps back enough to look at both of them. Slowly, roughly, he recites, "Submission to those of greater station. Respect for those below. Accept an _honorable_ surrender." He stares at Rogue at this last one. "Your surrender wasn't honorable, and he has every right to kick your ass for it." He pauses a beat. "_I_ would kick your ass, if you'd done that to me."

Stands-Between doesn't shift out of crinos, and instead of calming down, Ex's words seem to have made him more angry, and there is a moment of teeth bared wide in nothing but aggression, a step forward that's followed by stiffly regaining control. Hands flex into fists, and he growls, first wordlessly. ~Every chance you get, you twist and mock and push,~ he tells Ex, fairly regardless of whether or not the girl understands, and then the tenuous hold of control slips, though the halfmoon regains it quickly, but doesn't make any attempt to push the rage away.

Ex mumbles, without looking up, "I wouldn't do that to /you/," she says quietly, as if she felt the need to make sure Moros knew. "You don't care what I am." Her gaze wrenches up and finally toward Sue as he steps forward, and her response is clenched fists and utter frustration. "You /know/ I can't understand that!"

Moros's brow creases, his eyes squint, his nose wrinkles, and his whole expression bespeaks of a headache born out of impatience and frustration. He mutters under his breath. "...strangle the _both_ of you."

Stands-Between's hands remain clenched into fists, and then he just snaps. Or perhaps it's more along the lines of that he simply gives into the frenzy that's been building, rather than fight it, but it's frenzy nonetheless as Stands-Between charges Ex, murderous intent evident there, and in the slashing of claws that starts.

And at that, Moros abandons any further attempt to be _sane_ and _reasonable_ and _civilized_. He snaps into Crinos form with a snarl of frustrated anger and grabs the frenzying Philodox by the throat.

Stands-Between jerks and thrashes when he's grabbed, his claws doing little against the other metis' fur, but there's a flurry of attack nonetheless, eyes too wide, frothing in anger. His head twists to try and find what to bite, hooves kick out /hard/ in the direction of the Ahroun.

Ex just barely manages to stay in glabro, but she hovers close, fingers curled, balanced on her toes, primed to help out if it seems necessary. Her own eyes are a little too wide, her breathing too short.

Bad Moon Rising grunts as he gets kicked, red eyes narrowing dangerously as his fingers tighten, claws digging into Sue's throat. His gaze flicks upward, noting the ceiling that brushes against his ears despite his rather hunched posture, and with some effort of will restrains himself to simply choking the breath out of the other metis.

Phoebe comes in from the courtyard at that precise time. The fostern ahroun's eyes go wide, her muttered curse is incomprehensible. She's mindful to close the door before she bulks up into crinos herself. ~Bad Moon!!~ she snaps out, but she doesn't interfere--as she takes in the sight of the mindless metis he holds. Apparently she's still figuring out exactly what's going on.

Stands-Between continues to struggle and fight, tearing at the arm that holds him, up until his breath fails him. But the younger metis' actions are clearly those of frenzy, until he slumps unconscious.

Ex's arms jerk a few times, restrained would-be punches. Phoebe gets a somewhat wild glance. The cub is all tension, frustration and Rage leaking off of her.

Bad Moon Rising releases his grip, letting Sue drop unceremoniously to the floor. Phoebe gets a surly, rather dangerous look truth be told, and then the monster's clomping toward the door, shifting down to homid as he goes and brooking no resistance to his exit.

Phoebe breathes as slowly and as deliberately as she can. She stares after Moros even after he's gone, only turning back to Ex and the unconscious Sue when she's certain of her own composure. ~What happened?~ she asks, and then frustration splays her ears again. she pulls herself down to homid. "What happened?"

Ex rubs a hand furiously over her face, but none of the tension appears to dissipate. "Phil was telling the wolf cub to shift, over and over. He picked her up and she was being noisy as fuck, and Phil kept saying all this stuff, so I shifted and told her to shift, and she did. And Phil got /pissed/, and he wanted me to apologize."

Phoebe listens, but she just looks even more confused--and frustrated. Her fist tightens. "And what did you do?" she asks, her tone suggesting she already knows.

Ex scowls. "I asked Moros why, 'cause he's the one who translated, and then Phil shouted some things, and Fezzik told him to tell me himself. So Phil told me to apologize for interfering and being superior and impertinence and stuff." She hesitates, and then says, boldly, "I apologized for having a vagina. Phil attacked me, then shouted things. Moros said he should act his auspice, and then told me I provoked him on purpose. And I said yeah, I did, and it was because Phil's an /asshole/ who wouldn't treat me like that if I had a penis, except I didn't say asshole, I said he treats me like the Other Bitch treats him. And Moros said he'd beat me up for doing what I did, because I'm supposed to be respectful." She glances at the prone Sue. "And Phil shouted more stuff at me, and I told him that he knows I can't understand that. Then he went b...uh. Frenzied? Lost it and tried to eat me."

There are the first few twitches of movement from the metis where he is on the floor. Ears flattening, but no true regaining of consciousness yet.

Phoebel's frustration grows, but it doesn't seem to be aimed at the cub--at least not mostly. She visibly forces herself to unclench her fist. "You and I are going to start new lessons. Speaking in the Mother's Tongue. And I am going to talk to Sue. I think it best if he not teach you."

Ex scowls even further, clearly irritated; though like the other, conscious Fury, she doesn't seem to be directing it at Phoebe. "He doesn't ever teach me /anyway/. He just yells and tries to get away from me all the time. He only told me the rules once when I threw rocks at the Greedy Bitch's house."

"But," Phoebe begins, "If I make it official, then perhaps he will not engage at all, and that will stop these incessant and ridiculous incidents." She bares her teeth in a decidedly lupine way all of a sudden. then, she levels a rather severe look on the cub. "And whether you are right, wrong, or crazy, I don't care. You will learn to be respectful. Of everyone, even the Greedy Bitch, and Sue, and...everyone." After a pause, she takes several steps closer to Ex. The fostern gets into that personal space that the cub hates to have violated. She's close enough to touch if either of them moves, and her unblinking eyes remain fixed on Ex, all her breeding and bearing and rank coming to the fore.

Ex, with all her anger and tension, isn't able to stand up to that gaze for more than a moment before she has to look down and away. Her gloved hands curl into tight fists. "Okay," she says, and her voice is as tight as her fingers. "Until I get their rank, anyway."

This curls the fostern's lips into the ghost of a smile. She takes half a step back, her eyes still engaged with the cub's, even if the cub looks away. "So, basically you're saying you /wouldn't/ treat a lesser with respect, then. Even if you complain that's what they do to you?"

The metis is conscious enough to sit up, which means that he's conscious enough to hear Ex's last remark, and there's a snarl that comes from Stands-Between, then. It's wordless, before he catches sight of Phoebe, and settles to calm himself. But his hands are clenched into fists.

Ex's eyes move to Sue, and then back to Phoebe. "No," she says slowly, resentment bleeding all over her voice, her posture. "But maybe I'll grab /them/ when they don't want it, and steal their stuff, and laugh at /them/ when I do, and burn the Greedy Bitch's fucking house down. See how they like it. Some other cubs haven't done anything to me."

Phoebe flashes out like lightning. In a moment the cub is pressed against the wall, the fostern snarling in her face. "I'm tired of it! That /house/? Is not hers. She simply runs it for /us/. And it's the home of a lot of people you've never even /met/. People who currently are without a caern, and I will be damned if I sit here and listen to you threaten to make us even weaker! Threaten to hurt people I love because some /stupid/ Get of Fenris hurt your /feelings/!" Now, it's the fostern that's close to frenzy.

Stands-Between is on his feet in that time, and there is a sense of restraint as the metis simply stands back, behind Phoebe and to one side. His teeth flash, though, and the earlier anger that spurred frenzy is still there. A low growl rises in his throat, and one hoof hits the floor in impatience, a loud click.

Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, Phoebe can feel the cub trembling under her grip; though whether it's due to fear, or Rage, or a mixture is unclear. There's a long, long silence, in which Ex looks from Phoebe to Sue, and back again, before her eyes unfocus and she doesn't look at anything at all. "She didn't hurt my feelings," the Ragabash says at last. Her tone is dull, neither quiet nor loud. "I don't have feelings. She put her hands and her eyes all over my brain. She took it and laughed and looked and touched and poked and now it isn't mine anymore. I have to wrap it up and hide it."

Despite the fact that rage continues to radiate from the fostern, she eases back from the cub and releases her from the hold. Phoebe takes several long, deep breathes. "I know," she says, and she attempts to keep the sharpness out of her tone. It almost works. "But I also know when Sue frenzied, just now, I /saw/ you control yourself. And now, just now, you did it again. You /can/ do it. If you /want/ to. You simply have to want to." The fostern leans forward, tone growing sharp again. "And if you want to live to gain that rank, you have to play by the rules. And the top rule is /respect/. Just because she didn't give it to you doesn't give you the excuse to act wrong. I won't have it."

Stands-Between splays his ears, and there's a moment where he seems to forget Phoebe's presence and focuses a glare entirely on Ex, teeth bared, and then he turns away. In his birthform still, the metis clops towards the sitting area, then abruptly away from it, clearly looking for /something/ to focus the violence on. The door towards the basement is considered, then ignored.

A faint thump comes from upstairs. Then thump-thump, once more. Faint sounds and probably hardly remarkable with the excitement going on downstairs. Then a girl's face peeks around, adolescent and wild, oddly lupine in the way her gaze studies the scene below.

Ex's jaw works in response to Phoebe's words, but she doesn't lift her head. There's no backtalk, just a slight slump to her shoulders. That is, at least, until Sue glares at her. The look she returns is one of pure, undistilled hatred.

Phoebe follows the cub's intense gaze to Sue. The turn is slow, and while there's no hatred in Phoebe's eyes, the metis would see an unpleasant anger nonetheless. Twitch, for the time being is ignored. "You and I need to talk," she tells the metis.

Now, Sue shifts, at Phoebe's words. There's effort and tension from it being his moon, and he doesn't go past glabro for the moment, and stops pacing. Then, he dips his head in acknowledgement, hands unclenching and then tightening again. ~Okay,~ he acknowledges, a low rumble. ~Now?~ The obvious question, as Sue's gaze flicks from Phoebe's feet, to Ex, and then to where Twitch has reappeared, and then back to the Fostern. Nonetheless, there is a submission that's starting to take the place of the rage and anger.

Twitch creeps a few steps down the stairs, crabbing along with her back against the wall, a hand lingering on the step above her feet for balance.

Ex tucks her chin into her chest and wraps both arms around herself. She breathes slowly, and clearly intentionally, in and out. To the observant, there's still a visible shaking about the cub.

Phoebe seems to catch Twitch's presence for the first time. She looks at the young lupus cub, then to Ex. "Ex, do me a favor and take Twitch out to the back yard and...help her practice being human. I'll be along later." Phoe then turns back to Sue. "Now." she moves towards the front door.

Sue shifts further down to homid, now, and follows after Phoebe, though tension still lines his shoulders and his hands are barely not formed into fists, and his mind is clearly on his thoughts.

Phoebe opens the door and heads out to the front lawn.

Phoebe has left.

Sue opens the door and heads out to the front lawn.

Sue has left.

Twitch doesn't seem to focus on anyone in particular, though she's certainly observing the goings on. Focus comes when her name is said, gaze staying on Phoebe for a beat longer than anyone else. And as the two ranking Garou leave, she crabs further down the stairs, head craning to continue to watch until the door hides them. Then she turns to look up at Ex.

Ex gradually unknots herself, then turns her head to regard Twitch as well. She shrugs, and then starts for the back door. "Come on. I'll show you something human."

Twitch watches Ex, showing no understanding for the woman's words. She waits until the other cub is almost to the door before following, skulking along with sure but wary steps, bare feet padding across the floor toward the door.

Greek House: Courtyard(#2280RJh)

A walled-in Greco-Roman courtyard exists here in the clearing behind the house. The western side columns look new, the others freshly cleaned and repaired in patches. The courtyard is more or less open, in a sense, the columns creating more of a border than an actual wall. There are four arched gateways that provide entrance into the courtyard, one at each cardinal direction. Near the house, in the north-west corner, there is a small fountain that adds the soothing sound of water to a calm, almost serene atmosphere. The pond around the fountain contains a few waterplants along with a handful of orange-gold koi fish swim lazily about. Diagonally across from that, on the western side, is a statue of the "Winged Victory of Samothrace", more popularly known as the "Headless Nike." By the house is another statue, a copy of Michelangelo's David. This one has been modified by someone hacking off its... equipment. Fairly violently. There are three archery butts, set up at the far southern end of the courtyard, which look fairly new, though already show the signs of heavy use.

In one corner sits a collection of around twenty glass bottles, of varying shapes, sizes and colors - clear, green, amber, cobalt blue - all of them clean and with the labels removed.

Obvious exits:
Roof North Eastern Arch Gate Doorway

Twitch opens the glass doors and enters the courtyard from the house.

Twitch has arrived.

Ex leads the way out into the courtyard, before turning to face the other cub. She points at the roof. "Wolves can't get up there, but people can. That's good, I guess."

Twitch watches Ex, or rather, watches Ex speak. Once the words have stopped, then she looks up at the roof. For a long moment she stares upward, expecting... something. Anything, it would seem. But once that minute has passed, she looks back at to the other cub.

Ex eyes Twitch for a moment. Then she points at the other cub, and once more at the roof. This second point has a bit of a jab to it, clear insistence.

Twitch shifts closer to the wall, feet shuffling through the grass. An uncertain look moves from Ex to the roof and back again, but after she points upward in mimicry of the other cub.

"Like this," Ex says, as she strides over to the wall. She demonstrates by taking a short run-up and a jump, hooking her fingers into narrow crevasses and bracing her shoes against the side of the doorframe. She's up a few more feet in a second, before she looks back down.

Twitch sidles away from the wall when Ex gets near. She follows the other cub's action, watching first and then following suit. It's not near as graceful when she attempts, limbs scraping against the rough surface, hands finding small holds after some scrabbling, legs dangling as feet try to find purchase on anything.

Ex appears to consider it acceptable, nevertheless, because once Twitch makes it a few inches up, she keeps going for another few feet, until she's reached roughly the second story, and is braced against one of the windows.

Twitch gets a foot on a window sill along the lower floor. A hand stretches overhead once she's sure she's not slipping down again, making far slower progress than the other cub.

"See?" Ex says, aware, but apparently unbothered by the language barrier. "Wolves can't climb like this." Up another foot she goes. "So you can jump on people from above."

Another foot up and braced against the top of the window, and Twitch has the other foot crabbed outward with toes clinging to some small finger hold. Her hand gropes for a niche to use while Ex's words poke at her awareness but hold no obvious meaning.

Ex drags herself up onto the roof with practiced ease, then turns around to peer down at Twitch, measuring her progress. "Come on," she says, a little impatiently. "Up here's the fun part."

A little haste goes nowhere, and Twitch's foot slips as she tries to pull herself up faster. For a second she hangs, until she blows out a breath and finds that foot hold again. She gains the second floor and keeps on without pause climbing up to the roof's edge. She considers for a moment, working her hands out to hold the edge and get herself partly up before she looks at Ex again.

Ex gives Twitch a look that's not a grin; her mouth remains set in a vague frown, but there's still a light around her eyes, something eager and pleased. "Okay, watch this." She stands and backs up the roof a few steps, then dashes forward. On her last step, she shifts upward to crinos just before flinging herself right off the roof with a wild yell. Her landing is...not graceful, but she's clearly been working on it. At the very least, she doesn't break a bone, though it doesn't look like it feels very good.

Twitch pulls herself further up onto the roof, every bit as graceless as her climb had been. She looks around the rooftop, investigating until Ex speaks again. And watch she does, head and shoulders twisting when the other cub goes running by and jumps off the roof. She scrabbles to the edge and leans far over to look down on the crinos. Were she in her birth form, ears would be straining forward in concern and askance. Her human face isn't far from that expression.

Rogue bares her teeth and looks upward. She straightens, gesturing at Twitch, looking expectant.

Twitch ;'s head disappears back behind the edge and reappears a moment later in a slightly different spot. She's standing obviously, the way she moves a few steps along the edge. And then she leaps, arms and legs flailing in the air like she might grab one of the distant trees before gravity starts pulling her down. A wordless, humanized howl follows as she drops. And if Rogue's landing were lacking any finesse, the lupine cub's is abysmal.

Rogue lets out a whoop all the same, and runs over to where she landed; that pleased look is all the more apparent. The words, presuming they are words, that make it out of her mouth make no sense, but the pleasure is audible.

It's probably a miracle or some stroke of luck that the wolf born cub isn't seriously hurt. Still in homid and banged up with bruises and scratches from the climb and landing. She grins, far too many teeth shown to be practiced at the expression, but it's not hard to miss the pleased look when she gazes up at Ex.

Rogue shrinks down to glabro again, her ugly expression still entirely pleased. "That was /awesome/. And look, you're going to heal right up, see?" She points at one of the bruises. "That's the best part."

Twitch pushes herself backward a touch as she sits upright. Her face leans in close toward Ex, then follows the finger pointing to the bruises. Her own hands come up and she investigates the minor damage, curious, and even as she watches the small injuries heal and fade away. As that happens, she waggles her fingers then flaps her hands at the other cub, excited.

Ex nods vigorously. "See? You can heal /tons/ of stuff." At this point, it seems she's talking more for her own benefit than Twitch's. "That's why you want to shift a lot. No little fucking fall off a roof is going to kill you, no way. And it's fucking awesome besides." A brief pause. "Wanna try again?" She points, once more, toward the roof.

Twitch looks up at the roof again. Then, as reply, she clambers to her feet and hurries to the wall. She looks back at Ex and grunts, or huffs, it's a soft sound and wordless, then looks at the wall and upward. A beat later and she's starting that slow and unsure climb up.

Ex bounces on her heels, and then moves after her. She selects a slightly different place to climb up, so as not to rush over or get in Twitch's way. She's a lot faster about it this time, not stopping every few feet to offer encouragement. Instead, she pulls herself up onto the roof, then turns around to watch and wait.

Up and up, it's still slow, but Twitch seems a trifle more confident this time around. She still slips a time or two, hands and feet getting ahead of herself, but overall Ex doesn't have quite as long to wait. Soon she's dragging herself up over the edge of the roof and looking at the other cub in anticipation.

Ex swings her arms back and forth, once more slides backward to give herself a running start, and leaps as far as she can. She doesn't shift to crinos this time, but as she's in glabro, the rougher landing doesn't take any permanent toll. Naturally, she shouts again, wordless and loud.

Twitch follows a step behind and angled so she won't land on Ex. Again she flails as she falls, her own vocals more yowling than cries of any one emotion. Her landing is no better, collapsing thoroughly and heavily into the ground.

Ex whoops for her again as she lands. "Fucking /awesome/," she declares, before moving over toward the other cub. She holds her hands out, so that Twitch can see her minor injuries healing too.

Twitch looks at the hand as it's shown to her, and it seems anticipation is key in observing the healing going on. She stands again, practically wiggling and jumping for the discoveries, even showing Ex --- when she settles long enough --- her own healed hands and knees.

Ex answers the return showing with her own sort of glee, then jerks her head toward the house at a shout from the front yard. "Maybe she's beating him up?"

Twitch shows no understanding of the words, but follows the other cub's gaze to the front yard. She takes a couple of steps in that direction, then pauses to look at Ex, askingly.

Ex shrugs at Twitch, but she moves after the other cub. "We can go see." She keeps moving, even if Twitch stops.

Twitch falls in beside Ex, the excitement from just moments ago abated. She takes on the more wary approach of a young animal as she keeps pace with the other cub.


Greek House: Front Lawn(#3032RJh)

The mottled mosaic pathway heads up to the front porch of an average-sized, four bedroom, two-storey neoclassical house, then splits into a rounding "Y" shape to head towards arched gates on either side. Looking over the house and yard, the first impression is of an elegant yet somewhat stoic home. It appears that some renovations have been done recently. The columns forming the portico look freshly painted, and several bricks on the facade have been recently re-pointed. Vines and other plants have been allowed to grow up along the walls of the house and courtyard, but the gate seems to be mostly kept clear of entangling flora.

Contents:
Sue
Phoebe

Obvious exits:
Roof Gate Front Door Pathway

It continues, blow after blow, complete with kicks, and then all of a sudden, Sue stops. He taks a step back, hands unclenching, breathing heavy, and then moves forward, to gently hug Phoebe. His shoulders shake, with effort for the moment, then offers, very quietly. "Thanks." He doesn't elaborate, either.

Twitch opens the door of the house and steps into the front lawn.

Twitch has arrived.

Phoebe and Sue are a fair ways away from the front door, in an open space on the lawn. The two are, apparently, sparring. Only, Phoe is completely defensive. In fact, the ahroun is practically curled in a ball while the metis whales on her blow, after blow. A few of the strikes draw blood, even. When the metis finally stops, the two pant heavily, Phoe wiping blood from her mouth and favoring her right side, where she's obviously broken a few ribs. The hug catches her off guard, but she returns it, awkwardly, and not without a wince of pain. The metis then wanders away and sits down. Phoe gives him some space, muttering half to herself, "Any time."

Ex comes wandering around the side of the house, Twitch in tow. There's a look of curiosity on her glabro'd face that quickly hardens once she spies Phoebe, and she looks back and forth over the lawn, one shoulder hunching.

Twitch is still very much in homid, though her actions and posture sound loudly of her wolfborn nature. She takes a few steps past Ex to look, silent questions, gaze moving from Phoebe to Sue and back again.

Phoebe stretches, only to bring yet another wince. she slips up into glabro before she spies the cubs. After a brief glance to Sue, she heads towards Ex and Twitch. when she gets close, she says, "You were teaching her to jump off the roof, weren't you?"

Ex's expression doesn't change, and her response to Phoebe lacks any humor or sarcasm. "She's really good at it."

Twitch looks back at Ex, then at Phoebe. Then at Ex as she speaks, head tilting a little, then at Phoebe again.

Phoebe hangs her head. Any reproach, if there were to be one, melts into a snort of laughter and frustration combined. She takes a cursory look at Twitch, trying to see if there was any permanent damage. "Let's teach her to walk before we teach her to fly, huh?"

Ex shrugs, and gives a faint nod. "She can climb too," the cub offers.

Phoebe's ribs are already healing. She's already moving well. "Show me," she says, moving towards the side of the house, herself.

Twitch looks as healthy as an animal shoulder, the bruises and scrapes she'd gotten from the couple of trips with Ex vanished. She's obviously dirty from the experience, skin discolored with grass and dirt and grime. She looks at Ex when Phoebe moves off, then after the fostern. A few steps have her following shortly, ever curious.

Ex moves along with Phoebe as well, and once they reach an appropriate spot, she looks at Twitch and points at the roof.

Phoebe watches the two cubs interact, especially how they communicate. The fostern shifts again, taking the warm form. She lays a clawed hand on Ex's shoulder, careful not to injure her. It's just to get her attention. She then points both at Ex and Twitch, then says the word in crinos. Apparently, it's communications lessons now. ~Cub.~

Twitch watches Ex's gestures, following the motion to the rooftop. She's enthusiastic about the idea and starts up the wall without question. It's slow going, and she's careful with foot and hand placement. But toes unbound by shoes and fingers instead of paws makes the clamber upward less perilous. She pauses once, clinging to some structural outcropping to look at Phoebe when mother's tongue is used, and she waits, just a second or two before resuming her upward climb.

Sue watches all of this, but from where he's taken a seat, he seems inclined only to watch, rather than to follow for the time being.

It certainly gets her attention. Ex jumps, and it's clear she's fighting herself not to yank her shoulder away from that touch. Eventually her eyes move from Phoebe to Twitch, and then back to Phoebe. Her mouth twists, and she makes a noise that is...somewhat like ~cub~, except it's more of a croak and doesn't actually make any sense.

Life-On-The-Line repeats the word, pointing to both again. She then points to the roof, and names that, as well. As Twitch gets to the roof, she stops lessons long enough to watch the cub, assuming she'll jump.

Twitch disappears over the edge as she hauls herself up onto the roof, but not for long. Her head reappears, peering downward as if wondering if she's still being watched. A second time she disappears, and it's shorter this time, with the wolf-born cub reappearing less than a second later. She takes a flying leap off the roof, the caterwauling excited as she flails and falls through the air. Her landing is a tumbled thud, just avoiding anything more nasty than deep bruising and abrasions, and it certainly won't win her gold medals in the olympics.

~Cub,~ Ex manages this time. She's unenthused, that's clear, but she's paying attention. ~Roof.~ One shoulder hitches, but then Twitch jumps, and Ex watches the other cub's flight intently. "Fucking awesome," she says, loud enough for Twitch to hear, though there's no accompanying grin whatsoever. She looks up at Phoebe. "How do I say asshole?"

Life-On-The-Line levels a glare at the cub. In crinos, it's a fairly menacing expression. And, in fact, the ahroun decides its safer to shift down to glabro. "Why must you insist on that crap? you're more interested in the worst of things than the best. Why is that? i'm trying to teach you important stuff here."

Twitch picks herself up after a beat and hurries over to Ex and Phoebe. She looks from one to the other, then thrusts her hands in so they can witness the marvel of healing as well.

Sue's attention seems, eventually, to veer towards the cubs and Fostern, and it's Phoebe that he looks to longer, before the metis slips into lupus. Will be back, he informs Phoebe, and then departs off into the woods.

Ex wilts away from that glare, and frowns at the ground near her shoes. "I want to know all of it," she protests. "But I've got to figure out how to defend myself first."

Phoebe lets out a quiet sigh, still regarding the cub. Twitch gets a look, and the ahroun's mood shifts a little again, easing. "You need to be able to understand. And so does she." Phoe points to Twitch. "You two should practice together. It seems like you get along well."

Phoebe adds, in case it wasn't clear, "I can't spar with you in crinos if you can't understand what i'm trying to teach you."

Ex shakes her head. "I want to know the /words/," she stresses. "I just want to know all the words."

Twitch tilts her head and peers up at Phoebe as she speaks. She's watching, intent, but obviously not following the words. Her hands reach up to touch the fostern, very lightly, on the chin. As if that might make understanding be possible.

Phoebe's easily provoked these days, and her response to Ex is more heated than she intends. "That's what I'm talking about! Words!" Then, she's cut off by the lupus's touch. It startles her, mildly, and she turns to the cub, calming visibly. The fostern reaches up to touch Twitch's hand. She tries again, this time in English. Pointing to herself, she tells Twitch, "Phoebe."

Ex shoves her hands into her pockets and looks off to the side.

Twitch's mouth opens then closes at the sounds. But instead of trying for herself she turns to Ex. One hand starts to go for the other cub's, which happen to be unaccessible. However, undeterred she huffs at the other to gain attention, then looks at Phoebe again, even poking a finger at the fostern's mouth.

"Ex?" Phoebe calls out, then, both pointing to the cub for Twitch's benefit and hopefully to get Ex's attention as well. "Ex," she repeats, and then in the mother's Tongue she goes through both again. ~Phoebe...Ex.~

Ex's eyes flick toward the other two, though she doesn't really turn her head.

Twitch opens her mouth again. Still she doesn't try to speak herself, instead poking that finger to Ex when mother's tongue is used to name her. Since she's already pointing at Phoebe to begin with.

The fostern continues repeating, gesturing each time she says the words in English or Mother's Tongue. She gestures to Ex again, saying ~Rogue.~ Then herself. ~Life On the Line.~ Then, finally, she points to Twitch and says ~Twitch.~

Ex repeats the lines in Mother's Tongue, dully, though at least her echoes are fairly accurate. Her shoulders hunch a little further throughout.

Twitch hops once, as her own name is spoken, clearly recognizing that one. She turns to Ex again, head tilting one way and then the other, then back to Phoebe, and finally back to Ex again. She edges back a step or two to sit on the ground, watching the other two garou.

Phoebe takes the opportunity to approach the sulking cub. "Stop being an asshole," she said, and despite the demand, she's grinning faintly. The last word is repeated, this time in Mother's Tongue. ~Asshole.~

~Asshole,~ Ex echoes, with a little more feeling. She looks up at Phoebe. There's the start of another word, but she stops.

Phoebe raises a glabro eyebrow at that almost word. "What?" she asks, prompting Ex. Poor Twitch is ignored for a moment.

"He hit you," Ex blurts. It's almost accusing, though /who/ she's accusing, Phoebe or Twitch, isn't exactly clear.

Phoebe's eyes narrow thoughtfully. "I know. I told him to," she says, nodding.

Twitch looks up at Ex, concern etching into her features for the other cub's tone.

Ex glances at Twitch very quickly, before she looks up at Phoebe. "Why?"

Phoebe explains, "Because part of his problem is he's holding onto a lot of anger and resentment for the women that raised him. He needs to get it out. I told him to pretend I was them. I'm trying to help him...heal. Sometimes lashing out is what's needed. I imagine you feel like that a lot, too. And, when the time comes, I'll do the same for you."

Twitch turns that look briefly up to Phoebe, following Ex's gaze. But a beat later, she's looking at the other cub again.

"Yes, but." Ex tenses, her shoulders hunch further, and her nostrils flare. She isn't fully able to bite back the words this time. "...But his /other/ problem is he keeps thinking /we're/ them."

Phoebe offers a faint nod. she glances briefly at Twitch, but then concentrates on Ex. "I know. I'm hoping after he gets the anger out, and deals with it, that that particular problem can be better dealt with."

Ex doesn't look convinced in the slightest, but she shrugs again and looks away. "Well, you're not them."

Phoebe lets out a faint sigh. "I know," she says, and she dares to lay a reassuring hand on Ex's back. It's there less than a second and then gone. Then she's back to lessons. "What other words do we want to learn today?"

Ex's mouth tightens. "Fuck?" she offers, a little gingerly. There's no hint of humor there. She's serious.

Phoebe gives a little exasperated grunt and rolls her eyes. "Fuck," she echoes, and then says it, a little more pointedly in Mother's Tongue. ~Fuck!~

~Fuck,~ Ex says, with a tiny bit more gusto. "The doctors didn't like swearing." Pause. "The fucking asshole doctors didn't fucking like fucking swearing."

Phoebe's grin widens. "I don't either. But you and KL would /love/ each other," she comments, smirking faintly.

"Tribes," Ex says, one eye narrowing thoughtfully. "Auspices. Fezzik's other name. The whole worm and spider thing."

Phoebe leads the cubs to a secluded spot. Each request is taken in by the fostern, and slowly and methodically she goes over them in both languages. The lessons go on, into the day, until both cubs and fostern are too tired to continue.