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renferretPost unexpected Silvertip encounter, Ghost is Not Happy with a certain raven shifter.
Athena Library, Main Reading Room
High, vaulted ceilings, painted a bright white and ornamented with baroque moldings, reflect light into all the corners of this expansive room. The floor, tiled with aging marble laid in a grey-and-white checkered pattern, is not quite polished enough to reflect the room above. All around you, tall shelves reach to the ceiling, and racks of newpapers and magazines stand against the walls. Rows of shelves, packed with reference books of all kinds, take up roughly half the room, and scattered tables and comfortable chairs dot the rest, all in dark-varnished, beautifully carved wood.
Obvious exits:
Archway to Lobby
Ghost has picked out a spot near the very back corner of the library's main reading room, and absolutely everyone is giving her plenty of space. She's next to the start of book shelves, sitting in a chair and glaring at a book she's clearly not finding easy to read.
Val wanders in, not looking for Ghost this time, but in search of a reserved book. She heads for the reserved book shelf and starts scanning.
It's the hair that betrays her. That flash of color is impossible to miss, even in the barest of peripheral visions. Ghost's head snaps up when she catches a glimpse of it, and her eyes narrow to thin, dark slits. After a moment, she closes her book and stands up, leaving it on the table without bothering to mark her place.
Val pulls a number of books dealing with ghosts and hauntings off the shelf, removes the little paper wrapped around the titles with an elastic band and drops it in to a handy trash bin.
Ghost moves quietly up behind Val. She doesn't get close enough to risk a collision, but she's definitely right there. Tension is almost physical about her.
Val glances up from the books in her hand, head held at a slight angle. If she is surprised or worried, she doesn't show it. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about ghosts, would you?"
Ghost replies in a low voice that doesn't carry, but isn't quite a whisper, "No, but I might be about to make another one. We need to /talk/." Every individual sound in the word is enunciated with unpleasant sharpness.
"You know, I'd mentioned once that you're prone to issuing threats," Val notes, mildly, as she starts to move away from the shelf. "I'll be right with you," she says, as she heads for the automatic checkout. In short order, she has the books checked out and motions towards the door. Indicating that Ghost should lead the way.
Ghost does, though she never quite takes her eyes off of Val as she goes, and her movements are stiff. Angry. She continues down the steps and around the back of the building, away from evening foot traffic that might still be hanging around the civic center. It's good timing anyway, as the library's close to closing.
Civic Center
Silver-blue steel and tinted glass rises above other buildings of concrete and cement, especially to the northern end of this area, approaching Four-Leaf Clover Street. Occasionally, along the southern edge, golden sandstone replaces the other construction materials for a building or two. Courthouse Avenue marks the southern boundary of the civil sector, with city hall, the city library, and other buildings scattered across the four or five blocks from Beaugregory to Riverfront. Those buildings are but a few stories tall; the further north in the sector the taller the buildings, until they nearly approach skyscraper status.
Contents:
Val
Obvious exits:
City Hall Courthouse Department of Motor Vehicles Athena Library Ramp to Interstate Beaugregory Boulevard Riverfront Drive South
Once outside and somewhere suitably private, Val opens her mouth. "So, why are you wound up so tight?"
Ghost whirls on Val, teeth flashing. She doesn't strike the younger woman, but both hands are clenched into tight fists. Her voice is that same low not-a-whisper, but there's a lot more fire in it. "You might think this is some kind've fun little game, /Vee/, or maybe just impersonal business, but this is /my fucking life/ you're fucking with, and you are goddamn /lucky/ all I've done is issue threats. You could have got me killed. You might /still/ get me killed."
Val blinks, clearly taken aback and caught off guard. "Pardon?"
"Some native woman?" Ghost says angrily. "Fancy clothing, short, barely speaks english, really obviously one of your fuzzy little pals? Ring a fucking bell? She called me 'Sen', and there's only one person I've told that name to, and she's standing right in front of me. What the /hell/, Vee? You've got the gall to lecture me on not telling you anything and the one thing I /did/ tell you that was personal, you ran off and ratted on me to the locals?"
Val blinks, looking more puzzled then anything else. "I've mentioned you to two people, total. Along with the information that you don't appear to be an enemy and that you'd be pissy if you knew I'd said anything," she says, some annoyance leaking through. "Two people who aren't about to go spreading that around, but will be able to step in and ward off a hunting party if someone a bit more killhappy decides that you're a risk. In case you do something silly, like take photos of people. That ring a bell? I had to wave some other bones in front of her as a distraction, you know. What did you do to attract the native woman's attention? You must has done something."
"She tracked me down," Ghost counters. "And the only thing I /did/ was rescue a prechange Cub from getting snatched up by all the Dancers you say are in the area, and drop her off. I didn't have to do that. I put my neck on the line for a cub that's going to hate me if she ever thinks of me again. And since when is taking photos a beating-worthy offense? Everyone takes pictures of everyone around here. There's a camera in every store and on most main street corners." She turns away again, and her fists have yet to relax. "I should've known better than to trust a damned Corax. You don't get it, you've got no idea...you don't just tell people things you were told in confidence just because you think they'll keep them a secret!"
Val lifts a hand and pinches at the bridge of her nose. "Not while being all sneaky about it, because some people are flipping nuts. And, yes, that would drag her fuzzy butt out of the mountains. She'd want to know who dropped a cub in her lap. I could have helped you with that, you know, then you wouldn't have had to put your neck on the line."
"Right," Ghost says flatly, half turning back. "Because you really kept your yap shut about my name, didn't you? You wouldn't tell me about the Dancers unless I gave more up, but you still ended up telling me, didn't you? Telling people is what you /do/, Vee. I know enough to know that. And now I've got more than twenty Dancers in the area on one side, moving /everywhere/, and a Sept full of Garou on the other, two of which know I exist and at least one of which almost certainly has an idea about what I am. Which is great. Really great."
Val snorts. "I still told you about the Dancers, even after you wouldn't give me any more. I was getting you worked up, to see your reaction. I really couldn't tell if you were a Dancer plant, some sort of Mage-Altered human, or Gaia knows what. Felt a hell of a lot more comfortable, after you nearly shit a brick when I brought them up. If you're gonna get this bent out of shape and you're worried, why don't you just move on?"
Val pulls Scent of True Form out of her butt via Mynah's Touch.
"Oh, well, as long as you're /comfortable/," Ghost fairly growls. "Move on to where? You said the riots are from the Dancers. In case you haven't noticed, they're spreading all over the damned place."
Ghost: Garou.
"And here I thought I knew exactly what Garou Spirit-Magic tasted like," Val says, looking surprised for a brief moment. "Me being comfortable means that I don't go screaming for the killhappy people, Sen. And you know, had you just told me that you were a wolf, I would have stopped worrying awhile back."
The words are still coming out of her mouth when Ghost's fist swings in at the side of Val's jaw. It's a very practiced, very /fast/ right hook. There wasn't even a wind up.
Val is small, light boned, and surprisingly fast. She notices the punch coming, barely, as she lurches violently to one side. She misses the brute force of the punch, but it does manage to graze her cheek. It's enough to turn her practiced dodge in to a slight stumble.
And it /hurts/, that graze. It doesn't feel like being grazed by a fist, more like being grazed by something harder and heavier. The majority of the punch hits the wall and actually chips off a piece of brick, and it sounds less like flesh hitting a hard surface and more like something hard and solid hitting something equally so. Ghost yanks her fist back--that clearly hurt, and she's smashed her knuckles open badly--but fortunately while she keeps it raised, she doesn't try to hit the stumbling Corax again. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she hisses. "You just can't fucking help yourself, can you?"
Val regains her balance, as she probes her injured cheek with her tongue. "Ow. Being honest and nosey? I'm one of raven's children. I am what I am. Now, are you going to calm down, or not?"
Ghost flexes the fingers of her injured hand; it's starting to heal already, though as soon as she notices she shoves it into a pocket, bloody knuckles and all. "I am calm," she says, tension thick in her voice. "I'm not frenzying. ...Yeah. You are what you are. A damn spy with no head for consequences. What a completely unexpected shock. Just go away."
"I actually have a very good head for consequences," Val claims, as she lifts a hand to her cheek. "I'd rather stick my neck on the line by being a nosey git, rather than risk others. Even if that comes back to bite me in the ass and pisses some people off along the way. People end up dead, when I leave well enough alone. Now, if you can get over that, I can offer you a place to crash for the night."
Ghost shakes her head very slightly. "Oh, okay, you have a head for consequences when it concerns you. Did you somehow miss my mentioning a few times that you nearly got me killed? Might still get me killed? It seems to me that at least one person is going to end up dead because you can't leave well enough alone. Some people have very good reasons not to want you uncovering and reporting every last detail of their existence that have nothing to do with any actual danger aimed in your direction. And what...what on earth makes you think I would actually take an offer of shelter from you /now/? At the rate we're going, I'll wake up to find myself surrounded by Garou."
"I doubt that very much," Val says. "Nearly getting you killed, that is. You brought more attention to yourself than I did. Also, that particular wolf isn't prone to that sort of nonsense. Also, it's not danger aimed at me that worries me. I can give you promises, if you like. I always keep my word." The young woman smirks. "Also, a bunch of Garou appearing in my home would drive me out of business and I need to make an income, somehow."
Ghost sighs and rolls her eyes skyward. "And I'm sure you'll admit you were wrong when my body's in the gutter, rather than keep justifying every little thing like some kind of sanctimonious asshole would do, wouldn't you, Saint Vee? She wouldn't have been able to find me without that name, I took a car back into the city. How would she even know who to look for? Can you at least stop telling me you understand Garou politics better than I do? You clearly don't have any idea why I'm upset."
"I never said a damn thing about Garou politics," Val says with a soft snort. "If I was to guess, I'd say your Ronin. By choice or otherwise. Which means that you're free game, if anyone was too decide to take offence to you."
Ghost rubs her face. "You keep talking about how I'm not in danger. If I was Ronin, that would mean more than fair game. Being Ronin would mean as far as any Garou is concerned, I've got no standing. I'm less than a cub, less than a human, I'm nothing. No name, no rank, no tribe, no Sept and a big 'come and get me' beacon for the Wyrm. At best, they'd drive me out. At worst they'd call a hunt. Anyone can kill Ronin, any time, for any reason or no reason, and no one gives a shit. Not one person. And that's just one option, isn't it? Do you really think I'd be on my own if I could just walk into a Sept who'd take me in with open arms?"
Val sighs, as she partially turns. "Otherwise, then. Suit yourself, Sen. I'm going home. You can accept the shelter for the night, or not. Your choice. The riots will start around here. Soon." The Corax looks around, then gives a little shudder. "They're close. Practically breathing down my neck. A chill in the air, despite the warmth."
For a moment, a brief, broken moment, there's some hint on Ghost's face of what she's feeling. Fear. Desperation. She bundles that up very quickly and without a word turns to walk off in the opposite direction. Her shoulders remain hunched, the hand she hit the wall with remains in her pocket.
Athena Library, Main Reading Room
High, vaulted ceilings, painted a bright white and ornamented with baroque moldings, reflect light into all the corners of this expansive room. The floor, tiled with aging marble laid in a grey-and-white checkered pattern, is not quite polished enough to reflect the room above. All around you, tall shelves reach to the ceiling, and racks of newpapers and magazines stand against the walls. Rows of shelves, packed with reference books of all kinds, take up roughly half the room, and scattered tables and comfortable chairs dot the rest, all in dark-varnished, beautifully carved wood.
Obvious exits:
Archway to Lobby
Ghost has picked out a spot near the very back corner of the library's main reading room, and absolutely everyone is giving her plenty of space. She's next to the start of book shelves, sitting in a chair and glaring at a book she's clearly not finding easy to read.
Val wanders in, not looking for Ghost this time, but in search of a reserved book. She heads for the reserved book shelf and starts scanning.
It's the hair that betrays her. That flash of color is impossible to miss, even in the barest of peripheral visions. Ghost's head snaps up when she catches a glimpse of it, and her eyes narrow to thin, dark slits. After a moment, she closes her book and stands up, leaving it on the table without bothering to mark her place.
Val pulls a number of books dealing with ghosts and hauntings off the shelf, removes the little paper wrapped around the titles with an elastic band and drops it in to a handy trash bin.
Ghost moves quietly up behind Val. She doesn't get close enough to risk a collision, but she's definitely right there. Tension is almost physical about her.
Val glances up from the books in her hand, head held at a slight angle. If she is surprised or worried, she doesn't show it. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about ghosts, would you?"
Ghost replies in a low voice that doesn't carry, but isn't quite a whisper, "No, but I might be about to make another one. We need to /talk/." Every individual sound in the word is enunciated with unpleasant sharpness.
"You know, I'd mentioned once that you're prone to issuing threats," Val notes, mildly, as she starts to move away from the shelf. "I'll be right with you," she says, as she heads for the automatic checkout. In short order, she has the books checked out and motions towards the door. Indicating that Ghost should lead the way.
Ghost does, though she never quite takes her eyes off of Val as she goes, and her movements are stiff. Angry. She continues down the steps and around the back of the building, away from evening foot traffic that might still be hanging around the civic center. It's good timing anyway, as the library's close to closing.
Civic Center
Silver-blue steel and tinted glass rises above other buildings of concrete and cement, especially to the northern end of this area, approaching Four-Leaf Clover Street. Occasionally, along the southern edge, golden sandstone replaces the other construction materials for a building or two. Courthouse Avenue marks the southern boundary of the civil sector, with city hall, the city library, and other buildings scattered across the four or five blocks from Beaugregory to Riverfront. Those buildings are but a few stories tall; the further north in the sector the taller the buildings, until they nearly approach skyscraper status.
Contents:
Val
Obvious exits:
City Hall Courthouse Department of Motor Vehicles Athena Library Ramp to Interstate Beaugregory Boulevard Riverfront Drive South
Once outside and somewhere suitably private, Val opens her mouth. "So, why are you wound up so tight?"
Ghost whirls on Val, teeth flashing. She doesn't strike the younger woman, but both hands are clenched into tight fists. Her voice is that same low not-a-whisper, but there's a lot more fire in it. "You might think this is some kind've fun little game, /Vee/, or maybe just impersonal business, but this is /my fucking life/ you're fucking with, and you are goddamn /lucky/ all I've done is issue threats. You could have got me killed. You might /still/ get me killed."
Val blinks, clearly taken aback and caught off guard. "Pardon?"
"Some native woman?" Ghost says angrily. "Fancy clothing, short, barely speaks english, really obviously one of your fuzzy little pals? Ring a fucking bell? She called me 'Sen', and there's only one person I've told that name to, and she's standing right in front of me. What the /hell/, Vee? You've got the gall to lecture me on not telling you anything and the one thing I /did/ tell you that was personal, you ran off and ratted on me to the locals?"
Val blinks, looking more puzzled then anything else. "I've mentioned you to two people, total. Along with the information that you don't appear to be an enemy and that you'd be pissy if you knew I'd said anything," she says, some annoyance leaking through. "Two people who aren't about to go spreading that around, but will be able to step in and ward off a hunting party if someone a bit more killhappy decides that you're a risk. In case you do something silly, like take photos of people. That ring a bell? I had to wave some other bones in front of her as a distraction, you know. What did you do to attract the native woman's attention? You must has done something."
"She tracked me down," Ghost counters. "And the only thing I /did/ was rescue a prechange Cub from getting snatched up by all the Dancers you say are in the area, and drop her off. I didn't have to do that. I put my neck on the line for a cub that's going to hate me if she ever thinks of me again. And since when is taking photos a beating-worthy offense? Everyone takes pictures of everyone around here. There's a camera in every store and on most main street corners." She turns away again, and her fists have yet to relax. "I should've known better than to trust a damned Corax. You don't get it, you've got no idea...you don't just tell people things you were told in confidence just because you think they'll keep them a secret!"
Val lifts a hand and pinches at the bridge of her nose. "Not while being all sneaky about it, because some people are flipping nuts. And, yes, that would drag her fuzzy butt out of the mountains. She'd want to know who dropped a cub in her lap. I could have helped you with that, you know, then you wouldn't have had to put your neck on the line."
"Right," Ghost says flatly, half turning back. "Because you really kept your yap shut about my name, didn't you? You wouldn't tell me about the Dancers unless I gave more up, but you still ended up telling me, didn't you? Telling people is what you /do/, Vee. I know enough to know that. And now I've got more than twenty Dancers in the area on one side, moving /everywhere/, and a Sept full of Garou on the other, two of which know I exist and at least one of which almost certainly has an idea about what I am. Which is great. Really great."
Val snorts. "I still told you about the Dancers, even after you wouldn't give me any more. I was getting you worked up, to see your reaction. I really couldn't tell if you were a Dancer plant, some sort of Mage-Altered human, or Gaia knows what. Felt a hell of a lot more comfortable, after you nearly shit a brick when I brought them up. If you're gonna get this bent out of shape and you're worried, why don't you just move on?"
"Oh, well, as long as you're /comfortable/," Ghost fairly growls. "Move on to where? You said the riots are from the Dancers. In case you haven't noticed, they're spreading all over the damned place."
"And here I thought I knew exactly what Garou Spirit-Magic tasted like," Val says, looking surprised for a brief moment. "Me being comfortable means that I don't go screaming for the killhappy people, Sen. And you know, had you just told me that you were a wolf, I would have stopped worrying awhile back."
The words are still coming out of her mouth when Ghost's fist swings in at the side of Val's jaw. It's a very practiced, very /fast/ right hook. There wasn't even a wind up.
Val is small, light boned, and surprisingly fast. She notices the punch coming, barely, as she lurches violently to one side. She misses the brute force of the punch, but it does manage to graze her cheek. It's enough to turn her practiced dodge in to a slight stumble.
And it /hurts/, that graze. It doesn't feel like being grazed by a fist, more like being grazed by something harder and heavier. The majority of the punch hits the wall and actually chips off a piece of brick, and it sounds less like flesh hitting a hard surface and more like something hard and solid hitting something equally so. Ghost yanks her fist back--that clearly hurt, and she's smashed her knuckles open badly--but fortunately while she keeps it raised, she doesn't try to hit the stumbling Corax again. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she hisses. "You just can't fucking help yourself, can you?"
Val regains her balance, as she probes her injured cheek with her tongue. "Ow. Being honest and nosey? I'm one of raven's children. I am what I am. Now, are you going to calm down, or not?"
Ghost flexes the fingers of her injured hand; it's starting to heal already, though as soon as she notices she shoves it into a pocket, bloody knuckles and all. "I am calm," she says, tension thick in her voice. "I'm not frenzying. ...Yeah. You are what you are. A damn spy with no head for consequences. What a completely unexpected shock. Just go away."
"I actually have a very good head for consequences," Val claims, as she lifts a hand to her cheek. "I'd rather stick my neck on the line by being a nosey git, rather than risk others. Even if that comes back to bite me in the ass and pisses some people off along the way. People end up dead, when I leave well enough alone. Now, if you can get over that, I can offer you a place to crash for the night."
Ghost shakes her head very slightly. "Oh, okay, you have a head for consequences when it concerns you. Did you somehow miss my mentioning a few times that you nearly got me killed? Might still get me killed? It seems to me that at least one person is going to end up dead because you can't leave well enough alone. Some people have very good reasons not to want you uncovering and reporting every last detail of their existence that have nothing to do with any actual danger aimed in your direction. And what...what on earth makes you think I would actually take an offer of shelter from you /now/? At the rate we're going, I'll wake up to find myself surrounded by Garou."
"I doubt that very much," Val says. "Nearly getting you killed, that is. You brought more attention to yourself than I did. Also, that particular wolf isn't prone to that sort of nonsense. Also, it's not danger aimed at me that worries me. I can give you promises, if you like. I always keep my word." The young woman smirks. "Also, a bunch of Garou appearing in my home would drive me out of business and I need to make an income, somehow."
Ghost sighs and rolls her eyes skyward. "And I'm sure you'll admit you were wrong when my body's in the gutter, rather than keep justifying every little thing like some kind of sanctimonious asshole would do, wouldn't you, Saint Vee? She wouldn't have been able to find me without that name, I took a car back into the city. How would she even know who to look for? Can you at least stop telling me you understand Garou politics better than I do? You clearly don't have any idea why I'm upset."
"I never said a damn thing about Garou politics," Val says with a soft snort. "If I was to guess, I'd say your Ronin. By choice or otherwise. Which means that you're free game, if anyone was too decide to take offence to you."
Ghost rubs her face. "You keep talking about how I'm not in danger. If I was Ronin, that would mean more than fair game. Being Ronin would mean as far as any Garou is concerned, I've got no standing. I'm less than a cub, less than a human, I'm nothing. No name, no rank, no tribe, no Sept and a big 'come and get me' beacon for the Wyrm. At best, they'd drive me out. At worst they'd call a hunt. Anyone can kill Ronin, any time, for any reason or no reason, and no one gives a shit. Not one person. And that's just one option, isn't it? Do you really think I'd be on my own if I could just walk into a Sept who'd take me in with open arms?"
Val sighs, as she partially turns. "Otherwise, then. Suit yourself, Sen. I'm going home. You can accept the shelter for the night, or not. Your choice. The riots will start around here. Soon." The Corax looks around, then gives a little shudder. "They're close. Practically breathing down my neck. A chill in the air, despite the warmth."
For a moment, a brief, broken moment, there's some hint on Ghost's face of what she's feeling. Fear. Desperation. She bundles that up very quickly and without a word turns to walk off in the opposite direction. Her shoulders remain hunched, the hand she hit the wall with remains in her pocket.
